Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
River Carrier swam all the way downstream and traveled two hundred to three hundred miles. On the riverside, Qin Mu saw a village built beside a temple and was slightly stunned when he saw a little girl combing her three braids as she sat on the horizontal inscribed board of the dilapidated temple.
Qin Mu immediately made the River Carrier stop and went ashore while leaving the white fox behind.
Coming to this village, he could see the villagers were living in peace and prosperity. There were a few elderly women who went up to the temple to offer incense and half a pig as offerings.
Qin Mu came to the temple and when the little girl saw him, she immediately jumped down and hid in the temple.
"Woman Wu, I saw you, why do you need to hide from me?" Qin Mu smiled.
The little girl came out from the temple smiling, "I'm not hiding from you. I was waiting for you to enter the temple to offer incense and say words like you have a weak body and kidney since young so that I can make fun of you!"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Looking around, he saw that the temple was cleanly kept and there wasn't a speck of dust. Only the incense was still burning in the incense burner. He walked to the god statue which the temple was worshiping and found that it was a little girl who looked exactly like Xian Qing'er which Woman Wu transformed into.
Qin Mu walked behind the god statue and laid down his worry when he discovered no white bones behind. Walking out of the temple, he asked curiously, "Why are you staying here?"
Woman Wu was pleased with herself, "I'm earning merit here! This village is under my protection and the villagers here make offerings for me. I help them chase away fierce beasts and sometimes carry river water to help water the lands. When the rain gets too heavy, I'll help them disperse the rain clouds. When there's no wind, I would help them create wind and when the storm comes, I would drive the wind away. I wandered around long ago to catch beasts and humans to eat which caused me to be caught and suppressed by the old baldy. Now that I have become my own Buddha in my temple, not only I get offerings, there are still merits for me to earn!"
Qin Mu smiled, "Didn't you went upstream? How did you end up here?"
"After breaking the ice dam with you then, I began to wander around. In the end, I met the monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery and fought with them. I couldn't win them therefore I escaped and ended up here. As I hid in this temple, bandits coincidentally invaded, therefore, I ate them. The villagers here saw me and thought I was immortal from the temple which had answered their call. They offered cows, goats, and even incense to me. Receiving their goodwill, I was also embarrassed therefore I did some work for them."
Woman Wu jumped back onto the horizontal inscribed board and swung her legs, "And so they treated me even better and I became even more embarrassed and ended up staying here."
Qin Mu laughed out loudly, "Doing benevolent deed unintentionally, you are going to become Buddha." When he finished his words, he turned to leave.
Woman Wu sent him off and muttered softly, "I don't want to become a monk. What's the fun in being vegetarian everyday…"
Qin Mu returned to the back of the River Carrier and this huge green back beast gradually swam out of the shallow water region. Its speed gradually grew faster as he headed downstream. Looking back at the ancient temple, the little braids of the little girl in the temple swayed as she received the incense and offerings of the villagers.
The waves churned on torrential Surging River.
When they reached the dock of Border Dragon City, Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er went ashore and came into this city.
This city had already fallen into the hands of Heavenly Devil Cult and even though Granny Si didn't show her face as Fu Yundi for these few days, there weren't any problems. After all, Fu Yundi also frequently cultivated in seclusion.
Qin Mu came to the inn and called the inn owner over, "Incense master, is there any method for me to avoid the Inspection Mirrors to enter Eternal Peace Empire?"
The inn master replied, "There are two passes to enter Eternal Peace Empire. One is the Eternal Border and the other is the Secret Waters. The Eternal Border Pass and Secret Waters Pass are all heavily guarded and have Inspection Mirrors hanging on the city gate towers. Anyone who belongs to the abandoned people of Great Ruins would be shone out and be shot to death. Otherwise, they would be sent to the mines as slaves. If you want to go by the mountains, it would be even more dangerous. Eternal Peace and Great Ruins are connected by God Broken Mountain Range. God Broken Mountain Range was already so abnormally dangerous that even flying birds have trouble flying pass. Eternal Peace Empire hid Mysterious Pearl Crossbows in an ambush on the mountain range to guard against the mob of people from Great Ruins. If anyone thinks of crossing the mountains, they would be shot to death by the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows."
Qin Mu frowned and asked, "There is no other way to enter Eternal Peace Empire?"
The inn owner smiled, "Others might not have but our sacred cult has our own way. Before the trading route was open, our sacred cult had to smuggle goods, therefore, we secretly destroyed two Mysterious Pearl Crossbows on God Broken Mountain Range to cross the dull and lonely mountain range, entering Great Ruins. Now that the trading route between Eternal Peace and Great Ruins is open, that route was abandoned since the trading route is much easier to enter Eternal Peace. If young master wants to enter Eternal Peace, you can go through Secret Waters Pass. Most of the guards at Secret Waters Pass are people from our sacred cult."
Qin Mu's expression slightly changed. The power of Heavenly Devil Cult was simply too huge, as expected of the biggest sect following the path of the devil!
He pondered over, "Prepare an Eternal Peace's geographic map. I shall have a look on the way to familiarize myself with the geography of Eternal Peace."
"Understood."
The inn owner retreated. Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er ate dinner and showered before turning in.
The next day, the inn owner brought over thick documents which had the entire geographic map of Eternal Peace Empire as well as the detailed maps of the counties. Qin Mu put the geographic maps into his bag and asked, "Who's going to bring me to Secret Waters Pass?"
Inn owner smiled, "Don't worry, Young master. Your meal has been prepared and may I invite young master to dine first. when you reach the side of the river, there would be brothers from our sacred cult to lead Young Master."
Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er ate breakfast and came to Surging River only to see a ship already berthed there. A young lady in green stood on the ship and greeted politely in a soft voice, "Greetings young master. May I invite young master to come onboard."
"Drop the formalities."
Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er up the ship and she asked the young lady in green, "Can sister bring me into the city and hide from the Inspection Mirrors?"
The young lady in green smiled, "I definitely can't hide you from the Inspection Mirrors. However, I'm the high official of Secret Waters Pass, Feng Xiuyun. I'm in charge of checking the people that enter and leave the city, therefore, I can naturally bring young master in and out of the city."
Qin Mu was astonished. This young lady didn't seem to be that old and she was already the high official guarding the borders. He immediately replied, "Thanks for the trouble, Sister Feng."
Under the ship, a huge beast floated up the water surface and started to swim downstream. After it swam an unknown distance, the river surface started to get wider and fog gradually rose.
Just as the ship entered the fog, the speed of huge beast pulling the ship gradually slowed down and became irritated and uneasy. It was as if there was something under the water that frightened it.
Feng Xiuyun suddenly became bewildered, "Why did this fellow suddenly throw a tantrum and isn't willing to pull the ship anymore?"
Hu Ling'er also suddenly got nervous and whispered, "Young master, I felt a presence coming closer to us, a very chilling presence…"
Suddenly at this moment, Qin Mu could faintly feel that something was looking at him. Fish dragon leaped up behind him and spat out half of Junior Protector Sword from its mouth.
Feng Xiuyun had a grave expression and moved in front of Qin Mu to guard him. Suddenly air bubbles emerged from under the water and the fog grew as the numbers of air bubbles grew.
However, other than that, there was no other unusual occurrence.
Qin Mu composed himself. This river was too wide and with the white fog getting heavier, they couldn't determine their directions. The little white fox used her spells, wanting to control her demon wind. However, her demon wind was entirely useless as it was unable to blow the fog away.
Feng Xiuyun took out a fan and jolted the surface of the fan. The fan suddenly grew to the height of a human and the young lady raised the fan to fan forward. A gale which was more powerful than the demon wind instantly rose but she still couldn't drive the white fog away at all.
The river water gently brought the ship down the river. The huge beast pulling the ship had already gone back down in the water and didn't dare to come back up, therefore, the ship could only rely on the river water to bring it forward.
Feng Xiuyun was extremely nervous and at this moment, a singing voice came from the water. The voice was very gentle and the tune was like a mother soothing her baby to sleep. However, there was no lyric but only a tune.
Qin Mu was stunned. He somehow felt that this singing voice was very familiar.
"I've heard this song before!"
He stood at the bow and looked down, only to see a long hair woman in white floating downstream with the ship.
The ship sailed forward and the woman in the water followed like a shadow. The singing voice was coming from the mouth of the woman.
"I really heard this song before but this isn't the song that Granny Si sang to coax me to sleep…"
Hearing the singing voice, Qin Mu felt close and dear as well as a little agitated, as if a memory deep in his mind was trying to break out.
He suddenly leaped off the ship and landed on the surface of the water. Feng Xiuyun stretched her hand out to grab him but she didn't manage to. Hu Ling'er also jumped off but she felt a chill down her spine uncontrollably when she saw the woman in the water. She immediately skipped and jumped to follow Qin Mu, creating ripples from her scurry.
"Slow down, young master! I'm scared…"
The singing voice was still continuing and no matter how fast he ran he could never catch up to the woman in the water.
Qin Mu became more and more flustered and just as he was about to return to the ship, he suddenly noticed that the jade pendant in front of his chest had floated up lightly.
Qin Mu stared blankly and halted as he looked at the face of the woman in the water.
The woman in the water also stopped and it seemed that Qin Mu wasn't the one chasing her and she was the one chasing Qin Mu instead.
Bathump.
The youth of Disabled Elderly Village knelt down on the water surface and stretched out his trembling palms as he tried to touch the face of the woman in the water. Tears rolled out from his eyes and dripped onto the calm river surface.
"Is it you? Are you the one who had sent me to Disabled Elderly Village…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
His hand stretched into the river water but he couldn't touch the woman face.
"Why are you still here? Are you still thinking of protecting me…"
Qin Mu cried. He couldn't grab the woman in the water no matter what. He stopped and the woman under the water stopped too. However, it seemed like a world was between them and they could never touch each other.
"Are you my kin?"
"What happened?"
"Why did you need to escape with me? To escape to Disabled Elderly Village?"
"Did you stay here to see me again?"
…
The woman in the water could no longer answer his questions and could only look at him silently. Her eyes seemed to be filled with tender affection and gratification.
Feng Xiuyun used her magic powers to drive the ship over and she was about to attack the female corpse in the water, but when she saw Qin Mu kneeling on the water surface, she was stunned and didn't make a move.
The female corpse in the water looked at the youth from Disabled Elderly Village. Fourteen years ago she had floated here where the current had weakened therefore she wasn't washed away by the river and had sunk to the river bed instead.
A strong attachment made her remain in the water and wait quietly. Knowing the ship Qin Mu boarded was passing here, her strong attachment was woken up by the familiar jade pendant, impelling her to float up to the water to see the inverted image of the youth on the ship.
"You see, I've grown up, I've survived…"
Qin Mu looked at the woman in the water and held back his tears. He gave a smile and spoke softly, "You can be at ease, I'll look for my ancestry and find my hometown. I'll seek out your past and remember your name forever…"
The woman in the water seemed to give a slight smile before slowly sinking back into the deep waters and vanished.
Qin Mu knelt on the river surface in a daze and only got up after some time. He felt that he had really grown up and wasn't the ignorant boy he was before.
He returned to the ship, and the fog gradually dispersed on the river.
After the woman under the river had vanished, the fog also vanished. The river regained its clarity and looking afar, one could see a grand pass towering and stretching over the entire Surging River. This grand pass was actually pieced together by countless of ships which formed a huge barracks where a magnificent army of a thousand men and horses was stationed!
With chains locking the river, only a waterway was left in the middle. From this waterway, people could pass through Secret Waters Pass and entered the territory of Eternal Peace Empire.
"Young master, here's Secret Water Pass."
Feng Xiuyun urged the huge beast which was pulling the ship to enter the waterway and said, "The Inspection Mirrors are in the middle of the city where the people are all mine, therefore young master can be at ease."
Qin Mu looked around and saw the majestic troops of Secret Waters Pass. There were even steeds galloping from ship to ship rapidly. There were hardly any gaps between the ships. And with the ships joining together by tenons, they looked more like an extremely complicated construction instead of ships.
Once the tenons were separated, the ships would still be ships and be able to sally at any times.
"The person who had constructed the place could be said to have heavenly skills!" Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration.
Feng Xiuyun burst out in laughter, "Young master, Secret Water Pass was designed and constructed by Craftsman Hall Master from our cult."
Qin Mu's heart slightly stirred and exclaimed even more in admiration.
Now he finally knew why Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had to subdue Heavenly Devil Cult. Heavenly Devil Cult's power was definitely inferior to Eternal Peace Empire's great army but Heavenly Devil Cult have people from all kinds of professions. Three hundred and sixty professions corresponded to three hundred and sixty halls, where each and every one of them penetrated deeply into the haunts of the common people and had a deep foundation.
The ship came into the city. There were some merchant ships in front waiting for inspections, forming a long queue on the waterway. On the other hand, Feng Xiuyun steered the ship into a water lane and berthed to bring Qin Mu ashore.
Hu Ling'er immediately followed up and skipped into Qin Mu's backpack with a few steps. Tunneling into the bag, she left a small head outside to look around curiously.
"Young master, those are the Inspection Mirrors."
Qin Mu looked in the direction where she was pointing and saw a floating bridge suspended over the waterway. In the middle of the bridge was a sparkling bright mirror which was aimed at the waterway. Any ships passing through this waterway would be reflected in this mirror.
Merchant ships passing by must stop under the bridge and every person must go through the illumination of the Inspection Mirrors.
However, now that Qin Mu was ashore and avoided the Inspection Mirrors, he, of course, wouldn't worry being discovered by the Inspection Mirrors.
Every ten steps there were guards patrolling Secret Waters Pass and the inspections were very strict. Luckily he had Feng Xiuyun bring him around, therefore, he wasn't inspected along the way.
Feng Xiuyun brought him to the merchant's assembly area and told him, "Young master will have to stay in the city first and there will be merchants leaving Secret Waters Pass tomorrow when the waterway is unlocked. Young master can leave with a caravan."
She hesitated for a moment and continued, "Recently Eternal Peace Empire isn't in a state of peace. If Young master was to move on your own, I'm afraid it wouldn't be too safe. It's best to move together with a caravan."
Qin Mu was astonished, "Not in a state of peace?"
The young lady looked around carefully and whispered in Qin Mu's ear, "Recently there are some strong practitioners who heard that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had suffered a loss when trying to invade Great Ruins, therefore, they took the advantage to assassinate Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor on his way back. It was said that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was severely injured and nearly died. When this news was passed down, everyone was alarmed and some sects which refused to comply with the Imperial Family's discipline took the chance to create havoc. Some of them seceded, some took the chance to seize territories and many of them rebelled…"
Her fringe drooped into the youth collars and tickled him. Qin Mu's ear also itched from her breath.
When Feng Xiuyun saw his ears becoming red, she realized she was too close to him and immediately moved back.
This youth was the future sacred cult master. How can she treat such an honorable person so carelessly?
"There's still one more thing."
Feng Xiuyun composed herself and measured Qin Mu, "Young master will have to change your attire. Eternal Peace is not Great Ruins, there's no need to wear clothes that are too sturdy,"
The clothes on Qin Mu's body were made out of beast skin. Granny Si disliked him spoiling clothes when he trained every day therefore she had made him wear beast skin since young. Although his clothes were made of beast skin, it was no ordinary beast skin but a delicate and thoughtful choice.
Qin Mu's clothes were made out of the pelt of the strange beast, Snow Cloud Leopard. The skin with the fur removed made it cool to wear it in the summer and warm in the winter. The design might be good but it wasn't nice looking.
After Qin Mu learned to make his own clothes, he also used the pelt of Snow Cloud Leopard to make his clothes. The clothes he was wearing were all made by himself. If the material of his clothes was ordinary silk fabric, it would not take a day for his clothes to be spoiled from all his daily training with Blind and Butcher.
"Does sister know which place has good fabrics?" Qin Mu asked.
Feng Xiuyun led him to a fabric store and went in to choose piece goods with Qin Mu. Walking around the store, Qin Mu still couldn't find any fabric he was satisfied with and called the boss over, "Does your store have this kind of fabric?"
He took out the handkerchief that Ling Yuxiu gave him and the fabric store boss got a shock when he saw it. He immediately shook his head and replied, "This is made from Nature Fragrance Silk and belongs to tribute to the Imperial Family. How would my small fabric store have such high-quality goods?"
Feng Xiuyun smiled, "Incense Master Qu, this is the young master."
The fabric store boss got a shock and immediately wanted to bow down to greet but Qin Mu held him up by the arm, "This is Secret Waters Pass and there are many eyes watching, drop the formalities."
The fabric store boss Incense Master Qu smiled, "Subordinate didn't recognize Young master and had neglected you. Please wait a moment, Young master."
He quickly went into the storeroom of the fabric store and took out a fabric not long after, "Young master, even though Nature Fragrance Silk is the tribute to the Imperial Family, but there are also some fabrics that are not inferior to Nature Fragrance Silk. This roll of fabric is the treasure of my small store and it's called Golden Natural Silk. The Venom Insect Hall of our sacred cult is good at creating venomous insect. They change the venomous insect, Hundred Venom Golden Silkworm, into Six Wings Golden Silkworm which is incomparably venomous. When this Hundred Venom Six Wings Golden Silkworm grows, it would spit out natural silk which is extremely tenacious. This silk is impenetrable by swords and spears, immune to fire and water and repels hundreds of poisons. This roll of fabric was handed to me by Venom Insect Hall Master for sale. Young master, please have a look."
Qin Mu gently caressed the fabric and the silk was smooth with a hint of chill to it. The fabric had a light gold color with strange markings on it. Pulling the fabric with his hand, he realized he couldn't tear it at all which was why he couldn't help exclaiming in admiration and was very pleased, "How much is it?"
Incense Master Qu immediately shook his head and replied, "How would I dare to accept young master's money. This is a present to Young master from me and Venom Insect Hall Master!"
Qin Mu smiled, "You can't accept but I have to give. Ling'er, take out the coin pouch."
Hu Ling'er who was always in the bag on his back only showed her small head and immediately tunneled into the bag when she heard Qin Mu. Shortly after, she took out a coin pouch and Qin Mu said, "These are dragon coins and shouldn't be usable in Eternal Peace Empire. I'm giving them all to you."
Incense Master Qu could only keep the coin pouch and replied, "Eternal Peace Empire uses the Great Abundance Coins which are definitely different from the currency of Great Ruins. Young master, there are a few thousand coins in this pouch, so let subordinate exchange them for some Great Abundance Coins for you. It might be useful on your way."
Qin Mu pondered and nodded, "Thanks for the trouble. How do I cut this Golden Natural Silk?"
Incense Master Qu smiled, "Normal spirit weapons aren't able to cut this fabric. In my small shop, there's a Dragon's Teeth Scissors which can still barely cut it. Please wait a moment, young master."
He came to the front of the hall and took out three incense to light. At the front of the hall, there was a tiny shrine and a pair of scissors was worshiped in the shrine.
Incense Master Qu paid his respect to the scissors and carefully took it down, passing it to Qin Mu, "Subordinate shall offer this scissors to young master as a little tribute…"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Incense Master, I'm not going to keep your scissors...Hmm? Splendid scissors!"
He gave a startled expression. Touching the scissors, he felt that it seemed to be made out of warm jade and was very mild and humid. When his vital qi dipped into the scissors, it was like an extension of his body and had totally no obstruction. Furthermore, he could feel a terrifying power hidden in the scissors which were beginning to stir!
This power was extremely terrifying and very ferocious.
Qin Mu tried to cut the corners of the fabric and the abnormally tenacious Golden Natural Silk fabric was cut apart. Even though it was slightly strenuous, the sharpness of the scissors could be clearly seen.
"Truly a splendid scissors." Qin Mu exclaimed again.
Incense Master Qu brought over needle and thread which was also made from the silk of Hundred Venom Golden Silkworm.
Swoosh—
Qin Mu stretched his hand and waved, instantly sweeping up the entire roll of fabric into the air as his vital qi burst forth. With the fabric hanging down, Qin Mu used his qi to manipulate the scissors and cut the fabric. At the same time, the needle which Incense Master Qu had brought over also flew up by his vital qi and automatically threaded the needle to sew the fabric which had been cut in the air.
This skill was extremely eye-catching and made everyone who had come into the store to buy fabric to stop and look.
Not long after, Qin Mu put the scissors, needle, and thread back as a set of clothing gently dropped down. The first piece was an overlapping brocaded gown with narrow sleeves and ridges near the button area. The second piece was a belt and the third piece was a brocaded shirt while the fourth was pants.
Incense Master raised his hand, "May young master enter the inner room to change your clothing."
Qin Mu went into the inner room while Incense Master Qu and Feng Xiuyun waited outside. Feng Xiuyun frowned and muttered, "Why did young master learn how to tailor from Cult Mistress? How could this be something the young cult master should be learning to do?"
Incense Master Qu replied, "The clothes that young master made had already reached a professional level…"
Feng Xiuyun sneered, "You sure are good at boot-licking. I'm simply holding you in contempt. You just gave Young Cult Master a valuable fabric made from the silk of the Hundred Venom Golden Silkworms which required thousands of golden silkworms to weave out such a roll of fabric. A single silk spit out by a Hundred Venom Golden Silkworm is roughly equal to the worth of this bag of dragon coins here and this set of clothing for the young master is priceless…"
When the door of the inner room opened and Qin Mu walked out, the eyes of both of them lit up. The people in the fabric store also looked over as well and exclaimed silently: what a charming youth!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu walked over, looking dashingly handsome. As what people said, clothes make the man. These clothes were extremely fitting on his body and much fabulous than the beast skin clothes.
Incense Master Qu smiled, "Young master has a superb handicraft, even I want the young master to stay and be a tailor."
Qin Mu smiled, "This is granny's handicraft. I'm just showing what I have learned."
Incense Master Qu smiled, "Young master, even though this fabric is impenetrable to blades and spears, it can't block needle-like spirit weapons, so young master needs to take note."
Qin Mu nodded his head and thanked him for his good intentions.
Incense Master Qu clapped his hands and called a young guy over. He softly instructed him and the young guy took a coin pouch over to pass it to Qin Mu. Incense Master Qu smiled, "Young master, even though there's not much money in this coin pouch, this is subordinate's goodwill."
Qin Mu grabbed a bunch of coins which was about a hundred from the coin pouch and smiled, "I've taken the treasure of your store and I'm already satisfied. You should take the rest back."
Incense Master Qu understood and said, "Gifting the rouge and powder to the beautiful woman and presenting the treasure sword to the hero. This Dragon Teeth Scissor has always been worshiped at my place and rarely used. Since young master has a superb handicraft, why don't you keep it?"
Qin Mu immediately declined and Incense Master Qu could only drop the matter.
Feng Xiuyun sent Qin Mu to the inn and said as she took her leave, "Young master, when the waterway is unlocked tomorrow, the caravans would leave Secret Waters Pass. Young master must remember to leave with the caravans as these days are really not in a state of peace."
Qin Mu expressed his thanks.
When night came, Hu Ling'er lighted the oil lamp and Qin Mu took the chance to raise his glove when there was light. On the glove, a thread stretched its head out like a spirit snake and gradually became thicker. Shortly after, he could see the writings of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and analyzed them in great detail.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was a scripture which could turn one into god and into devil. When Qin Mu had left, Granny Si passed this scripture to him but she didn't teach him how to cultivate it and let him comprehend it himself.
"Granny Si said Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was originally from a saint who had come down to the mortal realm and planned to use this technique to enlighten all living beings. But this technique was too easy to be cultivated wrongly, therefore, it was known as Heavenly Devil Scriptures."
Qin Mu carefully analyzed the summary of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and the opening of this devil scripture was a sentence which could rouse even the apathetic.
"The path of the saint is none other than the everyday use for common people. Anyone who does otherwise is considered heresy! To act straightforwardly, to follow the course of nature, that's the meaning of path."
Qin Mu jumped in shock. The meaning of this sentence was that every principle, no matter it was the path of God, Devil or Buddha, was heresy if it couldn't be used for the common people!
As long as it could be used every day by common people, it was the righteous path.
What is called the righteous path?To act straightforwardly and follow the course of nature.
With the opening being so ferocious, no wonder people would call it a devil bible!
However, this sentence had also fixed the foundation of Heavenly Devil Cult. The three hundred and sixty halls and hall masters of Heavenly Devil Cult were all originated from the three hundred and sixty professions belonging to the haunts of common people. They were all for the everyday use for common people and could be seen commonly. The divine arts used by the three hundred and sixty halls were also for daily use, for example, Rain Hall Master casting spells to create rain and solving the drought problems for the commoners.
These were common works of art while the paths of god and Buddha were like elegant works of art.
As a matter of fact, Qin Mu felt that the summary of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures wasn't illogical, however, it was easy to misunderstand it.
There were many different kinds of techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. There were all kinds of unusual techniques, all kinds of divine arts that people had never thought of. The thousands of strange and weird techniques dazzled Qin Mu's eyes, dumbfounding him.
However, Qin Mu pulled the glove into a thread and read from the beginning to the end. His eyebrows frowned deeper and deeper when he realized that there was actually no technique which could link the beginning to the end!
Techniques are split into technique and skill. For example, Qin Mu's Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was a technique, an internal power. Whereas skills were Pig Slaughtering Knife Skill, Heavenly Pilfering Leg Skill, Thunderclap Eight Strikes and etc. Skills were the gateway to unleash the power of techniques.
If a skill wanted to unleash its full power, it must have a corresponding technique.
For example, Thunderclap Eight Strikes required Rulai's Mahayana Sutra to be able to unleash its full power.
There may be plenty of skills and techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, but there was no technique which was able to command all techniques and skills. With just this alone, it didn't deserve to be called the devil bible which could turn one into devil and into god!
"The Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures isn't complete!"
Qin Mu immediately thought of the crucial point. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures may be all inclusive but it lacked a technique to unify all. There were too many techniques and divine arts, therefore, it made cultivating technique of each strenuous, even though every technique and skill was not bad, actually pretty powerful. Thus it was impossible to complete cultivating Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
In Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, there were over thousand kinds of techniques and skills and each skill had a corresponding technique. There was no technique which could control all the skills!
What could have resulted this was that Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures wasn't complete.
"However, it's impossible for Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to be incomplete, for this technique to be regarded as a precious treasure by Heavenly Devil Cult. There must be a technique which could unify all these techniques and divine arts in this cult legacy technique. Otherwise Heavenly Devil Cult wouldn't relentlessly search for granny for forty years…"
Qin Mu's heart slightly stirred and read Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures from the beginning to the end again, but he still couldn't see the outline of it. He then checked it from the end to the beginning, yet he still didn't discover anything.
"Where exactly is the secret of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures? Granny also might not have discovered the summarized technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures."
Qin Mu sunk into deep thoughts. Among the nine elders in Disabled Elderly Village, Granny Si was at the lowest realm. This should be Why she wasn't able to combine all the various kinds of techniques from the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures as a whole.
She should have only cultivated some of the techniques in it to prevent herself from wasting her time and energy from cultivating too many techniques.
It was nearly an impossible feat for a person to learn all the thousands of techniques and skills as well as to master all of them in their living years.
"Could it be in that jade box which the patriarchs of the past generations had sealed?"
Qin Mu rummaged in his bag and found the jade box. This jade box had also been stuffed inside it by Granny Si. Qin Mu tried opening the jade box but there were many talismans sealing it. When Granny Si created a havoc at Border Dragon City then, she had said that the talismans were the seals of the Heavenly Devil Cult Masters of past generations.
Qin Mu pinched onto one talisman and gently peeled it. To his surprise, the talisman came off easily.
Qin Mu stared blankly and look at the back of the talisman. There were a few words written on it, "It's fake, hee hee."
"Granny sure knows how to have fun…"
Qin Mu shook his head and peeled off the other talismans to open the box. There was also nothing inside the box.
"Without the technique to unite everything, who's able to cultivate Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures?"
He couldn't help having a headache. Pondering upon this awhile, he said silently to himself, "My technique is Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and since I already have a technique, why do I need to search for the method to unify Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures? Can't I just use my Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique?"
He executed what he had thought of and opened Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and found a spell called Secrets Of Moving Rain. In just a short while, he had learned the spell.
He pushed open the window and looked at the darkness outside. He hesitated for a moment and immediately came to a realization, "This isn't the lands of Great Ruins anymore, the darkness outside is just normal darkness. There are still pedestrians outside and there's no need to be afraid."
Qin Mu relaxed and leaped out from the window. Stretching his hand out to grab the eaves, he gently pulled himself upwards and somersaulted onto the roof of the inn.
A gust of wind blew out from the window as the white fox flew out on a pillow. With the demon wind blowing, the pillow floated up to the roof and landed beside Qin Mu.
"What's that in the sky?" The fox suddenly cried out while pointing to the moon in the sky, startled and scared.
"That's the moon."
Qin Mu raised his head to take a look with a blurry gaze and said, "That should be the moon I guess? I have seen the moon in the day and it looks similar to this moon…"
He also couldn't be sure. When he was still a child, Granny Si would point to a faint silver sphere in the sky during the day and tell him that was the moon which was very bright at night. However, ever since he remembered, he had never seen the moon at night before.
The night in Great Ruins was complete darkness and nothing could be seen in the sky. Similarly, there were no stars in the night of Great Ruins.
The full moon shone brightly as it was the sixteenth day of the fifth month of the year.
Under the moonlight, Qin Mu executed the Secrets Of Moving Rain and the mist in the sky above the inn instantly condensed, and pattering rain fell.
Qin Mu waved his hand and all the rain instantly froze and strings of water hanged in the air as if time had stopped.
Hu Ling'er clicked her tongue in wonder and jumped up to touch these strings of water. She ended up drenching her fur, therefore, she immediately returned to the inn to dry her fur.
On the rooftop, Qin Mu changed his technique and used vital qi to execute Secrets Of Moving Water, to strum the strings of water. Instantly, the strings of water gave off beautiful music that could only be made with traditional music instruments. As the music sounded out, the rain turned into razor sharp water blades which flew into the sky!
These water blades flew over thirty yards before they started to lose power and turned back into flowing water!
This was the gathering area for trading and most of the people here were merchants, therefore, no one would get involved with him cultivating here.
"It's still not good. It doesn't flow smoothly."
Qin Mu's footsteps moved as he continuously strummed the strings of water. Hundreds of weapons crisscrossed and collided with each other in the rain, filling the sky with murderous aura. Hu Ling'er floated out from the window of the inn and applauded repeatedly with her furry paws!
Secrets Of Moving Rain had its own technique and Qin Mu always felt it was hard to unleash the full power of Secret Of Moving Rain while using Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
The power of his spell was already spectacular however this was because of his extremely strong cultivation. If it was another suitable skill, the power of that skill would definitely be much stronger!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu returned to the inn and continued to study Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. Unknowingly it was late at night and Qin Mu had already learned over a dozen spells. However, with no corresponding techniques, only half the power of the spells could be unleashed.
"I have to find a Unification Technique otherwise it would be hard to unleash the full power of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures."
Just as he was entranced by the book, he suddenly felt a warmth at his waist as if there was something warming him up. Lowering his head to have a look, it was the little white fox who had fallen asleep while leaning on his body and nudged her head on him.
Qin Mu revealed a smile and carefully sent the little demon fox back to her bed to let her rest her head on the pillow. He then returned to the table and continued to study Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Sometime later, he felt drowsy too and decided to extinguish his lamp. He then fell asleep unknowingly after lying on his bed.
The next morning Feng Xiuyun came to take Qin Mu to the ship, then said, "Young master, I can only see you off here. You will be able to reach Eternal Peace by following the river down from here. Young master, be careful on your journey and get to Eternal Peace Capital City as early as possible, Patriarch is already there waiting for you."
Qin Mu nodded and waved his hand to bid goodbye.
In front of the fleet of ships, there was a soldier cranking the capstan on top of the towering wharf to open up the huge iron lock. The ships gradually moved out of Secret Waters Pass and followed the currents to sail down Surging River.
Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er stood at the bow of the ship and looked around. The scenery at both sides of Surging River gradually became different from Great Ruins. There were flourishing villages hidden among the forests and mountains which were unlike Great Ruins where there were all straw huts.
The ships on the river also gradually increased in numbers. Most of them were ships carrying ores and goods, therefore, they were submerged deep in the water. There were also mines at the sides of the river and numerous slaves were mining.
"How many of the people here are abandoned people from Great Ruins?" Qin Mu thought as he retracted his gaze.
Moving forward another thirty miles, there were refineries at the sides of the river. Huge great furnaces were refining the ores which had been dropped off by the numerous ships berthed here.
The violent flames rose dozens of yards upwards from the great furnace and as their ships sailed past, Qin Mu could see several divine arts practitioners air blasting and executing spells to raise the heat and intensity of the fire.
There were some divine arts practitioners who were using spells to control the river water to cool down the black iron and red copper.
There were also some divine arts practitioners executing divine arts with White Tiger Vital Qi to cut up the black irons and red coppers into neat cubes which made it easier to stack and store in the ship.
This sight was very rare in Great Ruins.
"No matter whether in manpower, resources or wealth, Eternal Peace far surpassed Great Ruins." Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration.
One can know a lot by seeing a little. They could see the prosperity and strength of a country from just the slightest things. The refineries beside Surging River were close to a water source, therefore, it made freight transport more convenient which helped to provide materials endlessly to the empire. These materials were used to forge spirit weapons and upgrade the military armaments, therefore, one could imagine how great the military power of Eternal Peace Empire was.
"Feng Xiuyun said there were sects which took the chance to rebel and assassinate Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor on his way back after suffering a loss in Great Ruins, causing Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to suffer grave injuries."
Qin Mu thought to himself, "Even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had suffered a loss, the power of the army wasn't reduced and still had its full strength. With numerous strong practitioners by his side and being the number one man below gods, how was he severely injured from being assassinated? There is something fishy and if they misjudge the situation, I'm afraid these sects that had revolted will die miserably."
The merchant ship had a huge beast in the water pulling it along therefore it traveled at an extremely fast speed and reached Dyke River County in the evening.
Dyke River County was constructed along the river and somewhat bigger than Border Dragon City. Looking around with his Heaven's Eyes, Qin Mu didn't find any divine statue with majestic grandeur and felt slightly uneasy. Suddenly he came to the realization and mocked himself, "I thought I was still in Great Ruins…"
Living in Great Ruins since young, it was already his instinct to look for places to stay that were under the protection of the divine statue before nightfall. It would be hard for him to change this habit within a short period of time.
In front of Dyke River County, the caravan suddenly stopped. Fishing boats appeared in front of them and there were fishermen that were using hooks to fish up the dead bodies in the water.
"What bad luck." A merchant shook his head.
Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er with him and entered the city with the caravan. Just as he stepped into the city, he saw numerous coffins placed on both sides of the street. There were about four to five hundred of them.
Qin Mu jumped in shock. Some coffins were empty and there were soldiers who were carrying corpses to place them inside the coffins. Some coffins were covered up and the residents of the city had all avoided far away, not daring to come near.
"What happened here? Why did so many people die all at once?"
Qin Mu was bewildered. A merchant went forward to ask and a soldier replied, "They're floating corpses swept over here by the river. We also don't know where they came from. We reckon that there was a flood upstream and drowned them, washing them down to our Dyke River County, then they got intercepted by the dam. The county magistrate said that if these corpses piled up, a plague would occur therefore they ordered us to make some thin coffins to put the corpses in. We then will bury them tomorrow morning."
"So that's what happened."
One after another, the merchants drove their carts around to avoid the coffins and look for inns to rest their feet. Qin Mu also found an inn to stay. After dinner, he took out the geographic map of Eternal Peace to study.
Dyke River County was in the central of Eternal Peace. Heading up north, he would be able to reach the capital city in about ten days. If he continued east, he would be able to see the sea in about a thousand miles.
The sky gradually dimmed and darkness of the night got denser and denser. Qin Mu put down the map and looked out the window. The darkness here was different from the darkness in Great Ruins. The night sky in Eternal Peace Empire turned dark slowly and there were the moon and the stars shining in the sky. However, when night fell in Great Ruins, darkness swarmed over from the west and shrouded everything instantly. There was no light in the darkness.
He carefully stretched his hand outside the window and there was no danger in the darkness outside.
"What exactly had Great Ruins gone through to have such a weird occurrence like the darkness invasion?"
The youth dispelled the doubts in his heart and took out Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to continue to study.
Pulling out a thread from his white glove, he soaked his vital qi into it and the thread instantly expanded. Becoming thicker and thicker, it revealed innumerable writings.
Qin Mu studied it attentively. This time he was comprehending the Creation Writings of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. There were quite different varieties of Creation Writings in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. There were Heavenly Devil Creation Technique, Heavenly God Creation Technique, Precelestial Creation Technique, Human King Creation Technique, Ghost Creation Technique, Spirit Creation Technique, and Earth Aeon Creation Technique.
Among them, Qin Mu had learned Heavenly Devil Creation Technique but Granny Si didn't teach him the complete technique and only taught him the method to seal souls and spirits.
"There are seven writings in Creation Technique which are Precelestial Technique, Earth Aeon Technique, Heavenly God Technique, Heavenly Devil Technique, Human King Technique, Ghost Technique, and Spirit Technique. They were all interrelated to Creation so could there be some relation between them?"
Qin Mu studied writing after writing. Stripping skin to make clothes was only an additional path of Heavenly Devil Creation Technique. The most powerful point of this technique was to strengthen one's souls and spirits. Heavenly God Creation Technique was good in imitating the technique of others, however, after studying it carefully, Qin Mu felt what the Heavenly God Creation Technique was trying to express was to have an impermanence power and form. Imitating other techniques and divine arts was just the superficial of Heavenly God Technique.
Precelestial Technique reverses the aging process, therefore, this technique could make one stay young forever. The young patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult should have cultivated Precelestial Creation Technique. The Precelestial Freedom Technique of Heavenly Devil Cult should be a branch of Precelestial Creation Technique.
Earth Aeon Technique cultivates the living soul. Human King Technique cultivates the way of the king. Ghost Technique cultivates the communication with the underworld. Spirit Technique cultivates transformation.
The seven writings of Creation Technique all had their exquisite points but were difficult to understand. Qin Mu was engrossed in the book. He pondered the wonders of the writings until the late night before he realized it. The perfect stillness outside was interrupted only by occasional gong hit sounds from the night street patrol.
At this moment, a cold wind blew in from outside the window. The candlelight flickered and Qin Mu immediately raised his hands to protect the candle flame. Suddenly a soft creak came from the street which sounded clearly in the silent night.
Qin Mu was startled and extinguished the flame with his hand. Rushing to the side of the window, he closed the window and left only a slit open.
Spreading his fingers open, the thread transformed by Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures immediately flew over and weaved itself into a glove which was as thin as cicada's wing.
Looking out from the window, Qin Mu could see moonlight shining onto the streets of Dyke River County. With coffins placed on both sides of the street, the night watchman struck his gong as he walked over from the other end of the street.
Suddenly the night watchman seemed to see something as he stopped.
Creak, creak.
The weird sound traveled out. The lid of a coffin was pushed half opened and a figure sat up in the coffin.
Clang.
The gong in the startled night watchman's hand dropped onto the ground and the figure in the coffin suddenly flashed past. Landing in front of the night watchman who was currently frightened stiff, the corpse stabbed forward with both of his hands and severed the night watchman's head from his neck.
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. He could hear more creaks sounding out continuously as the coffins started to open up as the floating corpse sat up. At this moment, a door opened up on the street as dozens of Taoists came out one after another.
The Taoist in the lead wore an eight divinatory trigrams yellow robe and a Taoist cap on his head. A horsetail whisk rested on his elbow as he trod on the clouds. The Taoists behind him were wearing black Taoist robes and they all had sword cases on their backs as they followed silently.
Yellow joss paper flew out from the sleeves of the yellow robe Taoist and floated in the air, forming a long bridge.
The long bridge formed by the yellow joss paper connected from this end of the street all the way to the yamen of Dyke River County's magistrate!
Afterwards, the floating corpses leaped up and flew out from the coffins. Sprinting stiffly in the air, they stepped on the yellow joss paper and ran towards the yamen!
Concentrating his gaze, Qin Mu saw the corpses rushing into the yamen. After that, more yellow joss paper flew out from the yellow robe Taoist's sleeve and formed bridges in the sky, however, this time it was to the north, south, east and west gates.
Behind him, the black robes Taoists immediately rose into the sky and headed towards all four gates while stepping on the yellow joss paper.
"Crap!"
Qin Mu's heart jolted and spun around like a whirlwind. Packing up his clothes into a bundle, he woke up the white fox and quickly said, "Don't say a word, we need to leave quietly! Ling'er, wield your wind!"
Hu Ling'er didn't understand what he was saying and blinked her sleepy eyes in a daze.
Suddenly a world-shaking bang came from the yamen and a voice cried out in astonishment and anger, "Flying zombies! There're flying zombies! The Corpse Immortal Cult had invaded, quickly protect the lord!"
"Your lord is dead and here is his head!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
In the yamen, a booming voice rang out in a sneer, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coerces the emperor in order to command the various sects, you have all suffered for long! Dyke River County Magistrate Gao Jude acted as an accomplice and was willing to become the eyes and ears of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor therefore even his death couldn't wipe out his crimes!"
In the inn, Qin Mu frowned, "The Dyke River County Magistrate died so fast? I'm really unlucky to encounter such a situation after leaving Great Ruins for the first time! Granny is right, the people outside are really fiercer than Great Ruins. The people of our Great Ruins are more simple. Come to think of it, what rank is the Dyke River County Magistrate? How's his ability compared to the lower second ranking prefecture governor?"
There were nine grades and eighteen ranks in Eternal Peace Empire's official positions. These official rankings were granted according to status and cultivation. Some cult masters or sect leaders have extremely high cultivation, therefore, they were conferred as high officials while those who had lower cultivation were conferred as local officials. There were also some who were conferred as governors of he various regions and counties.
For example, Mu Beifeng of Li River Sword Sect was the finest strong practitioner in the southern border, therefore, he was conferred as a lower second ranking prefecture governor who was extremely powerful.
Hu Ling'er sobered up and quickly executed her spell. The demon wind whirled out from the window while Qin Mu raised his hand and threw a cushion into the air. With the demon wind blowing on the cushion, Hu Ling'er immediately leaped up onto the cushion and asked bewilderedly, "Young Master, even if they are rebelling, they won't go as far as to massacre the commoners in the entire city, right? They shouldn't be a threat to us."
Qin Mu jumped out of the window and before he could land on the ground, a gust of demon wind came blowing over and the youth immediately stepped on the demon wind to rapidly sprint out of the city, "My sword is Junior Protector Sword which is the sword of a lower first ranking high official of the Imperial Family. If discovered by these rebelling people, we are definitely going to die! Furthermore, a man won't stand beside a collapsing wall. These rebelling people will definitely not allow the commoners in the city to leave therefore we'll only be trapped if we stay here. When the great army of Eternal Peace Empire arrives, how many people will still be alive in the city? Corpse Immortal Cult seems to use corpses to cultivate."
Hu Ling'er gave an uncontrollable shiver.
Qin Mu's last sentence was simply too terrifying.
Corpse Immortal Cult used corpses to cultivate which also meant if the army of Eternal Peace Empire came forth to pacify this rebellion, the commoners in the city would probably be refined into flying zombies by the Corpse Immortal Cult regardless of their identities or statuses!
At this moment, Dyke River County was already in a great mess as battle cries sounded out everywhere. Corpse Immortal Cult came prepared this time. They first dumped the flying zombies that they had refined to block the dam of Dyke River County and then divided up their forces to infiltrate into the city.
When night came, the cult master of Corpse Immortal Cult attacked the yamen first to kill the magistrate.
Even though the magistrate of Dyke River County was also an expert and had extraordinary divine arts, he could only give up his head when he got raided.
At the same time, the other experts of Corpse Immortal Cult rushed to the four city gates to intercept and kill the soldiers in county city while the cult master brought the rest to kill officials like the county deputy, the county military officer, and the official registrar so that the soldiers would have no one to lead them.
Even though there were still experts in Dyke River County, there was no one to give commands and each fought his own battle. On the other hand, Corpse Immortal Sect used the yellow joss papers to line up a formation and constructed pathways that led everywhere in the sky. Their people in different locations could provide support to each other therefore Corpse Immortal Cult was bound to emerge victorious in this massacre!
"Cult Master has ordered to lock down the entire city and let no one leave!" A shout came from the center of the city.
Qin Mu had the foresight to leave early. With Hu Ling'er executing demon wind and Qin Mu stepping on the wind, just as the human and the fox was about to fly out of the county, sword screeches suddenly sounded out. Qin Mu even didn't look back while his fish dragon spat out Junior Protector Sword which flew into the sky and thrust backward!
Ding. A crisp sound traveled out and the flying sword which was thrust towards Qin Mu's back was deflected away. The speed of the momentum of Junior Protector Sword wasn't reduced as it flew along the vital qi thread and stabbed that person's chest, nailing the black-clothed man, who was stepping on yellow joss papers, to a flagpole.
The disciple from Corpse Immortal Cult ambushed him from his back but since childhood, he had learned sound localization from Blind. The direction where the sword came from, the location where the person was standing couldn't escape from his ears.
As that person gave a lethal blow ruthlessly, it was almost conditioned reflex that Qin Mu countered it by stabbing the opponent with Junior Protector Sword. It was a habit he had cultivated since childhood.
The demon wind brought the human and the fox out of the city when a voice cried out, "Senior Brother He Yin, someone has escaped from the city and even killed little junior brother?"
"Little junior brother?"
An astonished and furious voice sounded from the center of the city, "What are you people doing? How could you let little junior brother put himself in danger? How am I supposed to explain this to cult master? Guard the city, I'll go kill him!"
Qin Mu stopped in his steps and the demon wind instantly scattered. Hu Ling'er abandoned the cushion in the sky and leaped onto the backpack on Qin Mu's back before tunneling in.
"Little junior brother? Could he be the son of the cult master of Corpse Immortal Cult?"
Qin Mu landed on the ground and immediately sprinted away while thinking to himself, "He could also be just a normal disciple…"
Hu Ling'er's demon wind may be convenient but its speed couldn't match the speed of Qin Mu's sprint. Furthermore, it was harder to hide one's track in the sky whereas one could make use of the cover of the mountains and forest by sprinting on the ground, making it harder for enemies to catch up.
Suddenly, flames rose into the sky and transformed into fire birds flying in the sky, lighting up the sky in a snow white light. This was a divine art executed by a divine arts practitioner.
Qin Mu raised his head and the firebirds flying past. Behind the firebirds were yellow joss papers fluttering over as they laid out in the sky.
These yellow joss papers were long rectangular strips of paper that were as big as feet, which allowed people to walk on them.
"Heaven's Eyes, awaken!"
The vital qi formation markings revolved around Qin Mu's pupils as his Heaven's Eyes awakened. Looking back, he could see flying zombies stepping on the yellow joss papers and hopping through the sky.
The yellow joss papers split into two paths and the flying zombies also split into two groups. As more and more yellow joss papers appeared in the sky, they split into four paths and the flying zombies also split into four groups to search everywhere. Behind the yellow joss papers, a young Taoist carried a long sword case on his back. With the sword case opened, yellow joss papers flew out from inside and laid out continuously in the sky. This must be the Senior Brother He Yin that was mentioned by the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple.
He stepped on the yellow joss paper as he walked in the sky. As he lifted his feet, the yellow joss papers would fly up and return to the sword case. Meanwhile, there were new yellow joss papers flying out from sword case, which would appear in front of him in the exact places where he would step on.
The reason why every yellow joss paper had to return to the sword case should be because that every time the yellow joss paper was used, the vital qi in it would be depleted and it was required to return to the sword case to replenish vital qi.
He walked forward but his speed was slow.
Qin Mu's heart sunk slightly. This was a divine arts practitioner that had opened his Six Directions Divine Treasure and it was difficult for him to escape from his pursue!
There was a Five Elements Realm and a Five Elements Divine Treasure between Six Directions Realm and Spirit Embryo.
Qin Mu had been cultivating diligently for the past three years and not long ago his spirit embryo had just awakened a fourth time. He had already reached the level of perfect Spirit Embryo Realm yet he was still unable to touch the Five Element Divine Treasure.
There was a difference of two realms between him and He Yin who was in the sky. Those were two huge gaps that he could never exceed.
From the various methods He Yin had exhibited, he should be a Vermilion Bird Spirit Body and cultivated fire-related divine arts. The sword case on his back showed that he cultivated sword skills. From the yellow joss papers that came spewing out from the sword case, he should be controlling the yellow joss papers by sword skills.
The yellow joss papers flew out and came back methodically to maintain the several flying corpses as well as the young Taoist traveling in the sky. This showed that his sword skill was extremely remarkable.
In addition, these yellow joss papers weren't only as simple as maintaining them to fly in the sky. On the yellow joss papers were Taoist incantations which were written on using cinnabar and blood, therefore, the power of every piece of paper would definitely not be weak!
"If I still had the Rulai's imprint from Grandpa Ma or Nine Heavens God Eyes from Grandpa Blind, I would have the confidence to fight with him, however…"
Suddenly a flying zombie bent over and came down to chase after him. With Qin Mu frantically running forward, more and more flying zombies came chasing after him continuously. These flying zombies couldn't really fly. The yellow joss papers from He Yin came flying continuously and landed under their feet to support them. This allowed the zombies to walk and even sprint or fight in the sky, therefore they looked like zombies that could fly.
As these flying zombies landed on the ground, they actually sprinted forcefully and had an astonishing speed which was even faster than martial arts practitioners!
Hu Ling'er popped her head out from the backpack and gave a blow which instantly raised demon wind. In the demon wind, formless wind blades were thrown towards the flying zombies!
Clank, clank, clank, clank. A series of collision sounds rang out and Hu Ling'er jumped in shock. The flying zombie had an incomparably hard body rendering her spells completely useless.
Qin Mu frowned. The flying zombies' bodies were incomparably hard and even much stronger than him. They were practically equivalent to human-shaped spirit weapons!
He promptly made the decision to execute Secrets Of Moving Rain and the clouds began to gather in the sky, followed by the pattering rain.
"Ling'er, assist with your wind!"
Understanding what he meant, Hu Ling'er immediately cast her spell. Spinning around and waving his hand, the raindrops shot backward and transformed into water swords. At the same time, the violent gust came blowing, which assisted the rain momentum, instantly giving an exponential boost to the power of Qin Mu's spell as it thrust towards the flying zombies which were sprinting over.
The clanging sound of collision rang out. With the two of them acting together, the power of the spell greatly increased as the water swords instantly stabbed through the incomparably hard skin of the flying zombies, turning the five flying zombies that were chasing behind them into sieves!
However, those flying zombies seemed to have no feeling of pain as they continued to chase over frantically. They didn't avoid anything that was in front of them as they shattered everything in their way, no matter trees or boulders!
"Since I can't kill you by turning you into sieves, I'll just have to shatter all of you!"
Qin Mu continuously executing Secrets Of Moving Rain while Hu Ling'er also continuously executed her gale, wearing out the flying zombies that were chasing behind and even shattering their limbs. At this moment, a firebird which was blazing with raging flames swooped from the back of the flying zombies. As the flames burst forth, raging flames were everywhere in the radius of dozens of yards. With the extremely high temperature, both their spells were totally broken!
Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er both gave a grunt. When their spells were broken, their qi and blood became unstable from the impact of the vital qi bouncing back.
"You dare to even kill Cult Leader's son of our Corpse Immortal Cult, are you seeking for death?"
He Yin quickly rushed down from the sky and the flying zombies came down from the sky attacking Qin Mu. At the same time, the five flying zombies on land also came pouncing forward!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
"It really was the cult leader's son of Corpse Immortal Sect…"
Qin Mu's face turned black. Isn't this too much of a coincidence? The son of the cult leader just had to attack him and he just had to be so weak that he couldn't even withstand a single stab from him.
The Corpse Immortal Cult definitely wouldn't let him go this time!
Before the flying zombies in the sky came near to him, he had smelled a fishy smell. It could be obviously seen that the flying corpses were poisonous from their dark green fingernails!
"It's corpse poison!"
When Qin Mu smelled the odor, he immediately recognized the toxicity. The medicinal knowledge Apothecary had imparted to him included how to identify toxic and medicine by odors. Qin Mu was practically fed with medicine by Apothecary ever since he was a child, therefore, he had an extremely high ability to identify toxic and medicine.
The fingernails all had corpse poison on them and if the skin was pierced by them, first the blood will solidify. After that, the muscles would become stiff and as hard as boulder which no weapons could pierce through. Finally, one's consciousness would fade away and the spirit would disintegrate!
Qin Mu sprinted frantically but the speed of the flying zombies behind him was even faster. The distance between them grew closer and closer.
The yellow joss papers continuously laid the path forward as the flying zombies continued to leap repeatedly in the sky and were about to catch up to them!
Behind them, He Yin waved his hand and another firebird came flapping through the sky. Before they could even get close, Qin Mu could already feel the surging heatwave which raised up hot wind. The greenery on the ground became instantly shriveled and was completely dehydrated!
This person should have taken two approaches and cultivated both spell and sword control. This situation was rare in the past but with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor bold and decisive actions to reform the old, he had gathered all the sects in the whole world for the Imperial Family and broken numerous inherent barriers, lessened the estrangement between different classes, therefore, the situation of classes converging appeared.
Even evil cults like Corpse Immortal Sects also took advantage of this big transformation to improve the techniques and divine arts of their own cult, developing numerous new spells and divine arts.
"That's not right. It should be three different classes! What these flying zombies are exhibiting the moves from the battle technique class!"
Qin Mu frowned and suddenly increased his foot force. With his body snaking forward like a dragon, he dodged the huge firebird.
Unexpectedly the huge firebird blew up with a boom. The flames exploded and instantly formed a rapidly swelling huge fireball which had a radius of twenty yards. The surging heatwave and blaze ruthlessly smacked Qin Mu away!
Before Qin Mu could land on the ground, he saw more yellow joss papers come fluttering over as eight to nine flying zombies passed through the flames from the explosion while stepping on the yellow joss papers to attack him!
These flying zombies were all strong martial practitioners of the Five Elements Realm. Their bodies were refined as hard as spirit weapons. Their moves were simple and they could only shovel, slice, cut and stab, however, if he was surrounded by them, there was no way he could escape.
There were flying zombies chasing him on the land and there were also flying zombie attacking him from the sky. Furthermore, He Yin was also attacking him using divine arts, therefore, the situation was extremely bad to him.
The yellow joss papers fluttered and rapidly broke through the air which giving off screeching sounds. He Yin seemed to be controlling the yellow joss papers but he was actually using sword skills. This kind of sword skill was extremely intricate and was not any inferior to the sword skill of Li River Sword Sect.
The most crucial point was that he had a very bad feeling about the Taoist incantations drawn on the yellow joss papers by cinnabar and blood.
If they were normal papers, they definitely wouldn't have the power of swords, but there were Taoist incantations drawn on them, and the talismans contained a hidden power!
As Qin Mu hovered in midair, he gave no explanation and used Heavenly Devil Creation Technique to seal his own souls and spirits. After that, he shook out the little fox inside his backpack with his vital qi. With his ten fingers rapidly poking, he also sealed her souls and spirits inside her body.
Hu Ling'er was embarrassed and angry after getting poked all over by him and slipped back into the backpack refusing to come out.
Sealing souls and spirits required one to poke the intimate parts of the body. She was still a female fox after all, therefore, she was still shy.
Qin Mu had no time to care about these matters. The yellow joss papers were paper money that was burned for the deceased and the talisman drawn onto the yellow joss papers meant that the power of the talisman was most likely aimed at the souls and spirits. If the power of the talisman burst forth when he got into contact with these yellow joss papers, his souls and spirits will probably be injured therefore he had sealed his souls and spirits in advance to prevent himself from being caught unprepared from the vicious attacks.
Whoosh—
The yellow joss papers came spreading down from the sky and with the yellow joss papers were eight flying zombies. The yellow joss papers flew past both sides of Qin Mu, allowing the eight zombies to surround and envelop him from all directions.
With his body in midair, Qin Mu started to fall while the five tattered flying zombies leaped up from and attacked him!
At the same time, the yellow joss papers weaved past the crowd of zombies.
"Bind!" He Yin cried out.
A yellow joss paper suddenly burst into flames, however, the Taoist incantation written by cinnabar and blood didn't vanish and instead grew bigger and bigger at the flames floated in the air, shining on Qin Mu up in the sky.
As if he had no feeling, the fish dragon leaped up behind Qin Mu's back and spat out a sword. The arm thick vital qi of the youth from Disabled Elderly Village burst forth and swept up Junior Protector Sword before giving a horizontal cleave.
Cleave Sword Form!
The sword energy broke through the air and the head of a flying zombie came rolling off.
He Yin who was currently rushing over was astonished. The power of the rest of his yellow joss papers burst forth as he tried to bind Qin Mu.
The use of his binding talismans was to bind the three souls and seven spirits of a human. If the souls and spirits were bound, the body would be unable to move as well. However, he was puzzled at why the previous binding talisman had not exhibited the effect.
The power of the Taoist incantations on the other talismans burst forth and strange Taoist incantations surrounded Qin Mu's front and back. However, Qin Mu wasn't the slightest bound and could still flick his fingers. Junior Protector Sword was changed from Cleave Sword Form into Flick Sword Form, flicking another flying zombie into half. He then followed up with Smear Sword Form controlling Junior Protector Sword to cut the neck of the third flying zombie in a circular ring.
The sword tip of Junior Protector Sword faced outwards and was waved in a full circle, causing the heads of the flying zombies all around to roll off onto the ground!
In a blink of an eye, the eight flying zombies immediately lost their heads and collapsed to the ground.
Wave Sword Form.
Qin Mu's sword skill was extremely fast. The simpler the move was, the faster the sword could strike. With the sharpness of Junior Protector Sword, the eight zombies were all cut down before they could even attack him!
He Yin had a pained expression. It was very easy to use flying zombies to surround strong practitioners of battle techniques or spells but against sword cultivators like Qin Mu, it would be slightly difficult.
Especially so when the sword of the sword cultivator was incomparably sharp. It was practically specialized in countering his flying zombies.
He used the Corpse Breeding Ground to create his flying zombies. The durability of the flying zombies' bodies was extremely high and they couldn't be hurt by normal spirit weapons. Furthermore, the flying zombies had no souls and spirits, therefore, spells that were targeted at souls and spirits were not useful as well.
Qin Mu's horizontal cleave seemed normal and ordinary but when the heads rolled down with just a raise of his hand, it meant that this sword was definitely surpassed most of the treasures among the spirit weapons!
He Yin hurriedly stopped and called back the five zombies below Qin Mu while sending the yellow joss papers in the sword case to slice towards Qin Mu!
Qin Mu took the chance to land on the ground and faced He Yin while moving backward. He executed Heaven Pilfering Leg Skill which Cripple had taught him to sprint so even when he was running backward. His sprinting speed was no less slow.
Chi—
Sword light flashed as Qin Mu used qi to manipulate the sword to stab at the yellow joss papers flying over.
Boom—
Violent explosions traveled over when his Junior Protector Sword contacted the first yellow joss paper. The Taoist incantation on the paper suddenly exploded and the burst of power instantly detonated the other Taoist incantations on the other papers. A series of explosions traveled out and Qin Mu suffered the impact of airwaves. With huge tremors to his chest, the air in his lungs was nearly squeezed out as he flew backward uncontrollably!
Flying dozens of yards away, Hu Ling'er in his backpack hurriedly executed her spells to raise a gale to cancel out the terrifying impact, only then did Qin Mu managed to stop.
However, the vital qi that was connected to Junior Protector Sword was also shattered by the explosions, causing Junior Protector Sword to whiz away and fall into the darkness.
Qin Mu landed on the ground and took a deep breath before giving two violent coughs. Despite being prepared, his lungs were still damaged by the explosions. This was simply because he had worn the Hundred Venom Golden Silk made clothes. If he didn't have this set of outfit, he would probably have died from this explosion.
"He's actually still alive?"
He Yin took out a jar of fishy smelling ointment and threw to one of the flying zombies before flying towards Qin Mu immediately. Flame divine arts were hidden in his yellow joss papers which could be used to slice opponents and could also explode. Apart from the explosions damaging the flesh body, the greatest damage was from the thunderclaps created from the explosions!
If one faced the impact of the thunderclaps head-on, their three souls and seven spirits would be shaken out of their bodies and disintegrate among the explosion!
It was really out of his expectation that Qin Mu could actually defend against the explosions and also the thunderclaps which could destroy the three souls and seven spirits.
However, it was nothing even if he had defended against that attack. Now that his extremely sharp treasure sword had gone missing after getting blown away and with the injuries from the explosions, only death awaited Qin Mu!
Instead of retreating, Qin Mu advanced and untied the sword sheath. He actually used his ability to use qi to manipulate the sword sheath like a treasure sword to stab it at He Yin. At the same time, his footsteps flickered indefinitely like a phantom as he closed in on He Yin!
He Yin sneered and his vital qi burst forth into firebirds which swooped towards Qin Mu. At the same time, the yellow joss papers fluttered out from the sword case on his back and slashed it at Qin Mu!
Qin Mu's footsteps became increasingly swift and with a sudden shout, he thrust his fingers at him.
Stab Sword Form!
The sword sheath whizzed toward He Yin and he sneered as a yellow joss paper flew out from his sword case and faced the sword sheath head on.
Even though the power of Qin Mu's stab was not small, the opening of the sword sheath was facing towards him. Without using the pointier end of the sword sheath, even if it struck him, it won't deal much damage to him.
He only needed to detonate one Taoist incantation and he would be able to block this attack from Qin Mu and blew the sword sheath away!
Right at this moment, the opening of the sword sheath suddenly transformed into a fish dragon opening its huge mouth pouncing over.
Being startled in his heart, He Yin immediately heard the sound of something breaking through the air behind him. The Junior Protector Sword which was blasted away actually whizzed back and came stabbing at the back of his heart.
He Yin immediately moved his body and wanted to avoid Junior Protector Sword and the fish dragon transformed by the sword sheath. However, a small furry head popped out from Qin Mu's backpack and spat out a whirlwind to bind his body in place for that instant.
As He Yin broke free from the whirlwind, he felt a cold sensation from the back of his shoulder. Junior Protector Sword stabbed into his shoulder blade and penetrated through it while bringing an arrow of blood into the fish dragon's mouth!
Just as Qin Mu succeeded in his attack and wanted to chase, the blazing flames from the firebird engulfed him which was followed by yellow joss papers flying into the flames.
Boom—
Violent tremors traveled out and Qin Mu flew backward while being covered in blood. His vital qi swept Junior Protector Sword as he crashed into the forest. He quickly leaped up and disappeared into the darkness.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
He Yin flew into a fury and wanted to give chase but a sharp pain came from his shoulder. When Qin Mu used the sword sheath to recall Junior Protector Sword, the power of that stab wasn't strong but because the Junior Protector Sword was too sharp, it still managed to penetrate through his shoulder bone and created a huge hole in his shoulder!
He Yin endured the pain and took out jade bottles, big and small. He first applied medicine which could stop bleeding before applying medicines that could treat broken bones and also regenerate flesh. However, the sharp pain was very unbearable.
Meanwhile, a flying zombie behind him took out ointment from the medicine jar and smeared it on the neck of a flying zombie which Qin Mu had beheaded. The zombie then grabbed the flying zombie's head and placed it back on the neck which had been smeared with medicine.
The flying zombie's head swayed and gave a few cracks, however, his head had been assembled backward therefore he was facing the back.
The flying zombie which had 'treated' him seemed to be oblivious and walked towards the flying zombie which had been split in half. He pieced the body back together and smeared the fishy ointment on it.
These flying zombies were either beheaded or split into half yet they still couldn't die. As long as the ointment from Corpse Immortal Cult was smeared on the limbs, the limbs would be reattached and they could still leap and frisk about. It was truly a surprising sight.
Corpse Immortal Cult which was used to creating corpses sure had their unique points.
Suddenly the sound of breaking through the air sounded out. Disciples of Corpse Immortal Cult quickly rushed to He Yin's side and one of the female disciples asked in astonishment, "Senior Brother He Yin, you're hurt? Is that brat very strong?"
"No."
He Yin replied with a grim expression and gritted his teeth, "He is at most at Five Elements Realm but his cultivation isn't bad. Furthermore, he has a very strange body technique and is skilled in sword control techniques as well as spells. He had a treasure sword which could be recalled back with his sword sheath and this sword is extremely sharp, so sharp that even my flying zombies can't defend against it! His injuries shouldn't be light as well. He shouldn't have escaped too far!"
Most of the disciples of Corpse Immortal Cult were astonished. The female disciple replied, "Since he is good in sword control technique and spells, he must be lacking in battle technique. Let us give chase and capture him to hand over to Cult Leader to deal with."
More than a dozen disciples of the Corpse Immortal Cult left hastily.
He Yin rose and also wanted to head over when a figure suddenly flew over. He Yin saw the face of this person and got startled. He immediately bowed and greeted, "Senior Uncle Qiao!"
That Senior Uncle Qiao frowned, "Not only have you not yet caught the brat that killed Cult Leader's son, you are instead injured by him. He Yin, you are really something!"
He Yin was embarrassed and asked, "Senior Uncle Qiao, Cult Leader…"
"Cult Leader has already known and is extremely angry. However, he's still stabilizing the situation and quelling the riots in the city."
Senior Uncle Qiao continued, "Now that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had suffered grave injuries, there are no heroes that wouldn't take this chance to stir havoc and slay the clique of traitors in order to correct the laws and discipline of the imperial court. This time our Corpse Immortal Cult has sufficient reason to send forces to clip off Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's wings and take over Dyke River County City. Now that Dyke River County is under our Corpse Immortal Cult's power, its foundation must be stabilized so that we can catch the remaining clique of Imperial Preceptor in one fell swoop! Cult Leader may be devastated but he still prioritizes the general situation first."
He Yin understood and replied, "May I ask Senior Uncle Qiao to follow those few junior brothers and junior sisters. That person may not be old but he has a sharp sword that could transform into a fish dragon…"
Senior Uncle Qiao was astonished, "A sharp sword that could transform into a fish dragon? What is the specific shape? Tell me in detail!"
He Yin described Junior Protector Sword and the strange sword sheath causing Senior Uncle Qiao to be greatly shocked and cried out, "This is the treasure sword of a first ranking high official in the Imperial Family, a first class treasure in the world! Even our Corpse Immortal Cult doesn't have such a powerful treasure! How could such an important treasure appear in the hands of this youth? Could he be the heir to one of the first ranking high official in the Imperial Family?"
His gaze flickered and smiled, "This sword is remarkable, the heavens must be wanting our cult to prosper by sending us a first ranking treasure sword! I shall go and plunder the sword!" Once he was finished, he disappeared in a flash.
He Yin frowned as he thought to himself, "Treasure sword of a first ranking high official? This is a treasure which symbolizes one's position in the Imperial Family. How would a first-ranking high official hand the Imperial Family's treasure sword to their own heir? Senior Uncle Qiao is not thinking this through… I should still quickly report this to Cult Leader!"
He immediately headed back to Dyke River County City.
Senior Uncle Qiao followed the trails left behind by Qin Mu and Corpse Immortal Cult's disciples and searched his way over. Suddenly he frowned slightly when he saw the first corpse. The corpse of a Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple.
There was a bloody streak across the neck of the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple. Other than that, there were no other injuries on his body and there were no bloodstains at his side either. From the wound, he should have been stabbed in the throat by the sword's tip which sliced open the two biggest blood vessel in his throat.
From the angle of the wound, this Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple should have been traveling on the yellow joss papers and got assassinated from the back. Before he could react, his throat had already been cut by the treasure sword.
However, what's strange was that there were no blood stains in the surroundings.
Senior Uncle Qiao frowned. This meant that this disciple didn't die here. He was disposed here after traveling in the air for some time.
His blood had already been drained while he was in the air.
What did this mean?
It meant that the youth that had killed him was standing right behind him!
This disciple should have been rushing forward while traveling on the yellow joss papers to search for traces of Qin Mu. Meanwhile, the youth had silently appeared behind him and sliced his throat in a single blade. The youth then kept close to him and controlled his sword case so that the yellow joss papers would continue to fly forward and pave the way.
At the same time, this youth controlled the corpse of the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple to move forward continuously, making it look like he was alive as he caught up to the rest of the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciples.
"This is the art of corpse control!"
The expression of Senior Uncle Qiao changed slightly, "This youth also understands how to control corpses! The disciples of our cult are in danger! However, come to think of it, there should be no first ranking high official in the Imperial Family who is skilled at corpse control. Where is this youth from? Where did he learn the skills of corpse control?"
Now it was late at night and was almost reaching the third period of the night watch. Even though there was still moonlight, one couldn't see clearly or see too far ahead.
Senior Uncle Qiao could imagine how Qin Mu took advantage of the night to control the corpse of the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple. This way he could get closer to the other Corpse Immortal Cult's disciples without alerting them. When they could finally see clearly, it was probably too late for them to avoid his sword!
Other than Corpse Immortal Cult, there were also other evil cults and devil cults which knew the art of corpse control. However, everyone had different skills and techniques.
Corpse Immortal Cult could be considered outstanding in the path of corpse control and raising corpses, however, their reputation wasn't too good.
From the method of Qin Mu's corpse control, it was very likely to be extremely remarkable. To be able to kill a Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple and control his body afterward to make him look like he was still alive, resulting in the other disciples to be unable to see anything unusual. This kind of corpse control art was extremely rare.
"It seems to be the Great Corpse Control Skill from Heavenly Devil Cult…"
Senior Uncle Qiao continued to give chase and not long after, he saw the second corpse, followed by the third and the fourth…
The corners of his eyes twitched when he saw that the seventh corpse. The seventh corpse had no skin which must have been stripped. However, even after the skin was stripped, not a drop of blood flew out and there were no bloodstains anywhere.
Senior Uncle Qiao had a huge change in expression as he let out a murky breath, "Heavenly Devil Creation Technique! This youth is a disciple of Heavenly Devil Cult!"
Now that the corpse was unrecognizable, this means that Qin Mu could be anyone among the disciples that had given chase!
A murderous intent flashed through Senior Uncle Qiao's eyes as he continued to give chase. Not long later, he met a few disciples of Corpse Immortal Cult. These few people had grouped together and looked around cautiously. When they saw his arrival, they all let out sighs of relief.
One of the disciples called out, "Senior Uncle Qiao…"
Senior Uncle Qiao flicked his fingers and fine needles that were as thin as cow hair shot into the hearts of the brows of these disciples in a flash!
Their gaze instantly turned lifeless as their souls and spirits rapidly disintegrated while they vomited out white foam.
These needles were Senior Uncle Qiao's spirit weapon which he called Corpse Killing Needles. As long as one got hit by the needles, his souls and spirits would disintegrate and become a walking corpse that had no soul left. Even the greatest gods and immortals wouldn't be able to save them!
A female disciple stuttered, "S-senior Uncle Qiao, w-why…"
Senior Uncle Qu traveled over quickly and check the bodies of these few disciples. He then frowned slightly.
He did not find Qin Mu!
If Qin Mu had used Heavenly Devil Creation Technique from Heavenly Devil Cult to strip the skin and transformed into the appearance of a disciple of Corpse Immortal Cult, there should be a red line on his skin but there was no red line on the bodies of these disciples!
This meant that Qin Mu wasn't among them!
"Crap, I've fallen into his trap! I've killed the wrong people."
The corners of Senior Uncle Qiao's eyes twitched as he looked at the bodies of the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciples and calculated silently, "If I leave their corpses as they are, I'm afraid Cult Leader and the other old fogeys would perceive something. It's still better to get rid of the bodies."
Flicking his nails, the powder hidden in his nails flew out and landed on the bodies. The flesh and blood of the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciples instantly melted. Even the bones and the clothes on their bodies also melted and turned into a puddle of pus.
Senior Uncle Qiao gave a sigh of relief and squinted his eyes to look at his surroundings. He didn't find any traces of Qin Mu. Suddenly his body trembled and with a whoosh, countless of red dots flew down from his Taoist robes. They were thousands and thousands of corpse beetles.
The corpse beetles vibrated their wings and flew off in all directions. As the moonlight sets in the west, the east was suffused in white. As the swarm of red colored corpse beetles flew in the sky, they were like fireflies roaming in the wild before the sun rose.
"A first ranking high official's treasure sword should be enough to use as a cult legacy's treasure."
Senior Uncle Qiao raised his head and looked at the red clouds in the east while mumbling, "Cult Leader has been sitting in the leader position forever and it's time for him to move his butt…"
Great Ruins, Disabled Elderly Village.
"Mu'er, it's time to wake up and eat. Why are you still sleeping?"
Just as Granny Si finished her words, she couldn't help turning blank. These few days after Qin Mu had left, she would also make an extra portion when cooking and called Qin Mu over to have his meal. She would always forget that Qin Mu had left the village.
Granny Si sighed and finished her breakfast alone and in silence. Putting the bowls and pots aside, she didn't wash them and just sat at the table, lost in her thoughts.
Suddenly the little old woman stood up and went into her room to pack up her stuff. Carrying her basket, she walked out of her house with tiny steps and headed out of the village.
At the village entrance, Apothecary and Village Chief were still drinking tea, sitting around leisurely and contented.
Granny Si paid no attention to both of them. Carrying her basket, she continued her walk to exit the village.
"Old Woman Si, you want to leave the village. Aren't you going to say something?" Village Chief asked unhurriedly.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Granny Si turned around and blinked her eyes innocently, "Who is leaving the village?"
Village Chief smiled, "I may be a laity, but I also know the intention of a song when I hear one. You haven't been eating and sleeping well for the past few days, therefore you naturally couldn't stay here any longer and definitely want to go find Mu'er."
Annoyed, Granny Si retorted, "You even saw through this. I'm leaving, not going to stay here anymore!"
Apothecary gave a cough and said, "If you leave the village, who will help you suppress the devil in your heart? Because we are here in the past, the primordial spirit of Cult Master Li dare not be impudent. If you leave, I'm afraid you won't be able to suppress Cult Master Li. Cult Master Li has an extremely deep attainment in the devil path and even transformed into a devil seed before he died, planting himself into your Dao heart, living off your Dao heart, waiting constantly to bite back. If you can't vanquish him or suppress him, he will bite back and obliterate your primordial spirit and take over your body."
Granny Si's gaze wavered, "He will not take over my body."
"Because he loves you too much?"
Apothecary sneered, "That's where you're wrong. By taking over your body, he will be reborn with your body. That way he would become you. What he loves isn't you but your shell, so when he becomes you, he can love himself. He is the devil in your heart and you are also the devil in his heart. By using your body to be rebirth, he would have conquered the devil in his heart. Cult Master Li is using you to temper himself. He's trying to become god."
Granny Si shuddered and suddenly smiled, "Apothecary, after saying so much, can you help me get rid of this devil in my heart?"
Apothecary fell silent. The primordial spirit of Li Tianxing had already been planted in Granny Si's Dao heart and he had no way to get rid of it. It was not only him who could not get rid of it, Old Ma with his Buddhist skills couldn't get rid of it as well. Even Village Chief's sword couldn't get rid of the devil in her Dao heart.
The only one would get rid of the devil in her heart was Granny Si herself. All they could do was to help Granny Si suppress the devil in her heart.
"I've stayed here for over forty years so what's the use of me staying on if all of you can't get rid of him?"
Granny Si carried her basket and left without turning her head back, "I'm going to find Mu'er. I'm always worried that he would go hungry and cold or get bullied by others. Don't you worry, if I can't suppress that Old Devil Li, I'll come back!"
Village Chief and Apothecary frowned together.
Granny Si carried her basket and came to the riverside. She summoned a River Carrier over and boarded it, sailing downstream.
After the River Carrier had swum thirty miles downstream, Granny Si was suddenly stunned when she saw a blind man walking on the river with his cane. Granny Si's face instantly turned black and stretched her hand over to picked this blind man up, putting him on the back of the River Carrier. She then asked angrily, "Blind, are you trying to make me stay as well?"
Blind stared blankly and smiled, "So it's granny. I was simply walking, what is it about making you stay?"
Granny Si was skeptical and asked, "Aren't you trying to stop me and prevent me from leaving the village by running so far ahead early in the morning?"
Blind complained, "You walk your path and I walk mine. Why do I need to make you stay? That's right, old woman, where are you going? Can I take a lift from you?"
Granny Si blinked her blurry eyes and smiled, "I'm going to Eternal Peace Empire. Do you want a lift?"
Blind clapped his hands, "I'm going to Eternal Peace Empire as well!"
Granny Si stared at him with her eyes wide open. Looking at Blind's innocent face, Granny Si sneered, "What are you going to Eternal Peace Empire for?"
Blind replied indifferently, "My eyes are blind so I'm going to find the person who had dug out both of my eyes."
Granny Si's heart gave a jump, she then smiled, "I thought you were worrying about Mu'er's safety and planned to go to Eternal Peace Empire to find him. So you were going to take care your proper business."
"He has grown up and naturally he would be able to handle all sorts of changes."
Blind's words made Granny secretly ashamed until she heard what Blind continued to say, "I'll not find him and will instead observe him from the shadows."
At this moment, a shooting light flashed past in the sky and when Granny Si raised her head, the shooting light had already disappeared without a trace. Suddenly that shooting light turned back again and landed on the back of the River Carrier with a swoosh. Cripple's figure appeared as he looked resentfully at the two people on the beast's back.
Blind grumbled angrily, "Cripple, it's scary to see you running around like a ghost! What are you doing?"
"Going out of the village to take a walk."
Cripple took a look around and asked, "Have any of you seen Old Ma? I haven't seen him since yesterday. He didn't return last night."
Granny Si was astonished, "Old Ma didn't return? He always returns to the village punctually."
Cripple sighed and said, "I reckon he must have also missed Mu'er and left for Eternal Peace Empire. I'm going to find him. This old fellow left without saying a word and I'm going question him why. Why did he have to abandon our friendship of many years? I'm also going to take a look at my leg…"
Blind sneered, "Aren't you thinking of finding Mu'er?"
Cripple retorted coldly, "Me miss him? I wouldn't miss him! He's just a brat that was picked up by us and had been naughty and annoying since he was small. I have long wanted to send him away… Eee, look ahead! That scoundrel in front looks like Butcher… It really is Butcher!"
A while later, there were four people standing on the back of the River Carrier. Of course, Butcher was using his hands to stand. The three of them looked at one another while Blind propped himself with his bamboo cane and listen, however, no one made a sound.
Granny Si carried her basket. Cripple propped himself with his cane and whistled. Butcher put down both of his hands and placed them on his hips to look around.
After some time, Blind mumbled, "Other than the four of us, Old Ma had also run away, so only Apothecary, Village Chief, Deaf and Mute are left in the village…"
"Mute ran off."
Butcher gave a grunt and said, "Before Village Chief and Apothecary woke up, Mute had already run off while carrying a huge chest. I came out to chase him but I couldn't catch up!"
Blind was stunned and didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "In that case, only Deaf, Village Chief, and Apothecary are left."
Cripple chuckled, "We are not missing Mu'er at all. We all have our own proper businesses to take care of. I'm going to the imperial palace to take a look at my leg in case Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor decides to marinate it, grill it and smoke it. It would be bad if he decides to make it into ham."
Blind nodded his head, "I also have proper business to take care of. I need to take revenge for my eyes."
Granny Si also nodded repeatedly and smiled, "As the saintess of the sacred cult of the previous generation, I'll naturally have to meet the new cult master for his ascension to power."
Butcher took a while to think of a reason and said, "I think the lower half of my body could have been dropped at some place, I'll need to go and take a look. I might still be able to reattach it."
The four of them all gave sighs of relief and spoke in unison, "Therefore we all have proper businesses to take care of!"
In Disabled Elderly Village, Village Chief and Apothecary sat at the village entrance and drank their tea silently. After some time, Apothecary said, "There are only four of us left in the village."
"Apothecary, Old Ma had left yesterday."
Village Chief drank his tea and continued, "Their temperament is still poor and they can't sit still. Deaf is still the man of great erudition and scholarship, being able to keep himself calm and comp…"
He turned his head and stared blankly at Deaf who walked by them carrying a bamboo basket which was shielded from the sun with a cloth.
Apothecary couldn't resist asking, "Deaf, where are you going?"
Deaf seemed to not hear what he said and continued walking.
"That wretch is pretending not to hear again!" Apothecary ranted angrily.
"Now there are only two of us left in the village."
Village Chief didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He suddenly asked, "When are you leaving?"
Apothecary hurriedly shook his head, "How would I dare to leave when I have so many enemies outside? What I'm worried is now that all the baddies have run out, they would probably cause quite a big commotion. The baddies in our village…"
Village Chief smiled, "Let the people outside have a headache. If you want to leave, you can leave too. I'll stay and look after the village and wait for all of you to return."
Apothecary hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "I would only cause more trouble if I leave. Among the baddies in our village, my reputation is the worst…"
Village Chief said with a half smile, "If it wasn't the case, you would have left long ago."
The two of them looked at each other and laughed out loudly.
At the common border of Dyke River County and Tiger Sun County, Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the morning sun. With Vermilion Bird Vital Qi bursting forth from his hand, he burned the clothing he had stole from the Corpse Immortal Cult's disciple. As for the human skin, he had already thrown it away while escaping. He had still some qualms about wearing other people's skin. Furthermore, he was also carrying a huge backpack and inside were all the scattered items that Granny Si had prepared for him. He wouldn't be able to wear the human skin or else there would be a huge hunch and be easy for people to see through his disguise.
"What is hidden in Granny Si's hunchback?" A curious thought emerged in Qin Mu's mind.
As he was carrying a backpack, he would become a hunchback if he wore a human skin. Since Granny Si wasn't a real hunchback, this meant that there was definitely something hidden inside. Qin Mu was very curious at what strange and rare items would be hidden inside.
After a night of escaping, he had no time to rest and the repeated fierce battles had really exhausted him. Hu Ling'er was so tired that he had already fallen asleep inside his backpack.
A gust blew over and Qin Mu immediately caught up to the cusp of gust to travel on the wind. However a few steps later, he could feel the exhaustion in his body and could only land back on the ground to walk passively.
Suddenly, buzzing sounds came from the sky and looking towards the source of the sound, Qin Mu saw a few fire red beetles flying towards him. These beetles seemed not to be afraid of humans as they circled close to him.
"Corpse beetles!"
The corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched as he gave a yawn and mumbled to himself, "I'm so tired. I should find a place to sleep…"
Giving a few flicks with his fingers, the few beetles instantly exploded into pieces!
Qin Mu immediately increased his speed and rushed away.
He had once seen this kind of corpse beetle at Apothecary's place. There were green and black corpse beetles but the red corpse beetles were the hardest to get. These red beetles he saw were indeed the red corpse beetles!
And at this moment, more buzzing sound came out. Raising his head to have a look, his scalp turned numb when he saw a red cloud heading for him aggressively!
That red cloud flew lower and lower. Suddenly the red beetles flew into the forest and tunneled into motley burial mounds. The ground of the motley burial mounds trembled and skeletons crawled out from the ground, came striding to Qin Mu!
More corpse beetles flew over and tunneled into the bodies of wild beasts like wild wolves and fierce tigers on their way. The eyes of those wild beasts turned red with fury and actually pounced towards Qin Mu!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
"Expert from Corpse Immortal Cult! He's even stronger than that divine arts practitioner called He Yin. He's at least one realm higher than him!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. These corpse beetles should be raised by the expert of Corpse Immortal Cult. He was able to control so many corpse beetles from such a far range and use them to control the countless skeletons in the motley burial mounds as well as the various beasts in the wilderness. From this, one could imagine how dense this person's cultivation was!
This was much harder than controlling flying zombies.
These corpse beetles entered the bodies of the skeletons and the fierce beasts, resulting in their strange transformation. The bones of the skeletons turned red in color while the fierce beasts just turned into red furred carcasses which chased after Qin Mu frantically!
This kind of method was much stronger than He Yin's.
"His motive is not to kill me but to delay my escape by using these corpse beetles to control the skeletons and beasts!"
Qin Mu used his vital qi to control his sword. As Junior Protector Sword flew out, it executed Wave Sword Form and the treasure sword flew continuously in circles around him, creating loops after loops. As he continued to sprint forward, Junior Protector Sword also continuously cut its way forward, slicing the skeletons and red furred beasts pouncing from front and back into pieces!
However, every time a skeleton got shattered and a red-furred beast got sliced into pieces, there were red corpse beetles flying out from their bodies. They would either tunnel into the ground or fly into the distant forest, resulting in a never-ending cycle of corpses tunneling out and red furred beasts rushing out from the forest!
Qin Mu's scalp turned numb. These carcasses and skeletons had delayed his escape. That expert which was chasing him wound definitely catch up in a while!
Right at this moment, Hu Ling'er was rudely awakened by the commotion. Seeing the situation, she immediately executed her spell to summon the demon wind. The power of the wind grew larger and larger until it turned into a tornado and swept away all of the red furred beasts and skeletons that were blocking their way.
The pressure on Qin Mu decreased hugely which increased his speed as he sprinted forward.
At this moment, a red corpse beetle flew over and landed on Qin Mu's backpack. It then tried to tunnel into Hu Ling'er's nose.
Hu Ling'er gave an astonished scream and immediately scrambled out from the backpack and climbed onto Qin Mu's shoulder. More beetles came buzzing over. It was obvious that the expert from Corpse Immortal Cult who was chasing them had discovered that Hu Ling'er could control the wind, therefore, he had targeted her with the corpse beetles, trying to turn her into a red-furred beast as well.
"Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky!"
Qin Mu's vital qi transformed into blazing flames as he cast a mudra into the sky. The Vermilion Bird Vital Qi transformed into a burning sun shooting off its brilliant rays. The corpse beetles squeaked weirdly as green smokes started to emanate from their bodies. All of them landed on the ground and remained motionless.
"Thunderclap Eight Strikes works. It can destroy the souls and spirits of the corpse beetles!"
Qin Mu was astonished and surprised. He executed Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky as he sprinted and green smoke came out from all of the skeletons and carcasses when they got shone by the burning sun. The skeletons clattered to the ground in pieces while the carcasses dropped to the ground.
And so the skeletons and carcasses stopped blocking his way and started sprinting with him. As the skeletons sprinted, they suddenly stretched out their hands to pluck off their ribs to use them as curve blades, throwing them at Qin Mu!
Hundreds of ribs as thick as huckleberries whizzed past and whirled in the air. The ribs flew in an arc therefore even if they didn't hit Qin Mu, it would fall back into the skeletons' hands.
Qin Mu's head started to ache and he could only execute Wave Sword Form again to block all the curve ribs blades which attacked him from all directions. His speed was once again slowed down.
Corpse Immortal Cult's offensive methods were simply strange. They had flying zombies, yellow joss papers, corpse beetles, skeletons, red-furred carcasses and even skeletons which broke off their ribs to use them as flying blades. It was really fantastic oddities of every description.
Suddenly Qin Mu saw a farmland in front and there were farmers farming. It was the season of spring harvest and there were many farmers who had woken up early to harvest their crops.
"Run away quickly!"
Qin Mu waved his hands and shouted, "Everyone, run quickly!"
Those farmers raised their heads to take a look and couldn't help being startled. The skeletons and red furred carcasses swarmed over like flood and looked terrifying. They immediately threw down the sickles in their hands and escaped. However, their speed was way slower than Qin Mu and the red furred beasts. At this speed, they would definitely be caught up.
Qin Mu immediately changed direction and avoided them. However beside the fields was the official road and there were passers-by as well. In front was a horse carriage and there were two bodyguards riding draft horses. A female voice came from the carriage, "What the commotion outside?"
A bodyguard on the horse bowed and replied, "My lord, there is a disaster caused by skeletons which are currently chasing a youth in embroidered clothes. The youth was worried they would collide with the farmers in the field so he had lured the skeletons to horde onto the official road. There are also red furred beasts and they looked very strange. They should have been controlled by someone with corpse beetles. It's mostly like Corpse Immortal Cult from Xiangxi.
"Now that the world is starting to be peaceful, there will always be demons and monsters coming out to create havoc."
The woman in the carriage commanded, "Bodyguard Shi, go and get rid of the skeleton horde and red furred beasts. Don't drag the commoners into the fray."
"Yes, my lord."
The bodyguard didn't get off the horse and instead took out a silver sword pellet. With a flick of his finger, his sword pellet flew into the sky and whirled in the sky. With every spin, there would be a snow white sword light shooting out.
That sword pellet whirled at an extremely fast speed and sword lights came shooting down like rain. When Qin Mu was running, he could only hear a whooshing sound as the skeletons sprinting behind him shattered into pieces and turned into powder!
Meanwhile, the red furred beasts were beheaded. In not even a breath's time, the hundreds of skeletons and red furred beasts that were chasing him were all annihilated.
Red corpse beetles flew out from the skeletons and carcasses but before they could fly away, they were wiped out by the sword lights.
"Orthodox sword skill!"
Qin Mu immediately stopped and looked at the horse carriage in front. The sword skill which the bodyguard beside the horse carriage used was an orthodox skill. He had seen similar sword skill from Li River Sword Sect which was impressive.
This kind of sword skill required many swords to be refined into a sword pellet and was very powerful when facing foes. It could also be arranged into a sword formation.
Of course, those who could execute sword pellets were all experts because sword pellet was simply too heavy. To be able to use vital qi to make sword pellet soar into the sky, the person's cultivation must be matchlessly strong.
The bodyguard beside the horse carriage was that strong and the person in the horse carriage should be pretty remarkable.
In the distance, that Senior Uncle Qiao suddenly felt his corpse beetles completely died in an instant and was astonished. He didn't continue forward and stood at the treetop to gaze from afar.
"The horse carriage of Lizhou Prefecture Magistrate!"
His expression changed hugely and urgently turned back to leave, "The magistrate of Lizhou Prefecture is a ruthless person and I'm no match. I shall retreat first!"
He immediately flashed away and vanished without a trace.
Bodyguard Shi on horseback reported to the person in the carriage, "My lord, Corpse Immortal Cult has retreated."
The woman in the carriage said, "Call the youth over."
"Yes."
Bodyguard Shi got off the horse and bowed, "This young master, there's an invitation from my lord."
Qin Mu came forward to the side of the horse carriage. The curtain of the horse carriage was lifted up and the woman inside revealed her side face. It was a beautiful woman with rosy cheeks and red lips. Turning her face over to size up Qin Mu. Looking at his bright and neat clothes, she thought that he must be from a rich family and asked, "This young master, where are you from?"
Being neither humble nor arrogant, Qin Mu replied in neither servile nor overbearing way, "I'm from Dyke River County City."
The woman asked, "Has Dyke River County City already fallen into enemy hands and taken over by Corpse Immortal Cult?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and exclaimed in admiration, "Big sister sure is intelligent."
"Big sister? After being the magistrate of Lizhou Prefecture for so many years, it's still the first time someone has addressed me as big sister."
The woman didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She called Bodyguard Shi over and ordered, "Hand down an order to counties like Tiger Sun and Carefree Peace to prepare their troops to head to Dyke River."
Bodyguard Shi acknowledged and immediately left.
The woman looked at Qin Mu and said, "Now that Corpse Immortal Cult from Xiangxi has taken over Dyke River County City, it would most likely be a disaster for the people there. You are also considered something of an oddity to be able to escape. I see that your clothes are pretty luxurious so you should be from a rich family. What are your plans?"
She had a gaze of pity. It was obvious that she felt now that Dyke River County City was taken over by Corpse Immortal Cult, there won't be anyone who could survive in the city. Since Qin Mu was from Dyke River County, his family would have most likely died in Dyke River County and there was no way for them to come out alive.
That's why she would ask if Qin Mu had any plans.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before answering, "I plan to go to the capital."
The woman nodded her head and said, "It's also good to go to the capital. Our Lizhou Prefecture is also going to deploy our troops to Dyke River County. With the chaos from the war, there would be bandits arising. This is not a safe place to be. Do you have any travel permit to go to the capital city?"
Qin Mu stared blankly and shook his head.
The woman muttered to herself irresolutely and said, "I'm Yuyuan Chuyu, the magistrate of Lizhou Prefecture. An armed rebellion happened in Dyke River County under my rule and this is my fault. It's natural you wouldn't have a travel permit when you had to escape from Dyke River County City in a panic. I reckon Dyke River County Magistrate must have also died in the armed rebellion. Bodyguard Qu, prepare my writing materials."
The bodyguard at her side acknowledged and immediately retrieved writing materials, sending them into the carriage. Raising her brush, the woman wrote some sentences on the documents with her beautiful handwriting. She then asked again, "What is your name?"
Qin Mu told her his name promptly.
The magistrate, Yuyuan Chuyu wrote down Citizen of Lizhou Prefecture Qin Mu and stamped it with her official seal. When the ink was dry, she passed the document out of the carriage and got someone to pass it to Qin Mu.
"This is your travel permit, a document to clear the customs. With this travel permit, you can enter all the big cities you pass by on the way, and no one will give you any trouble."
Magistrate Yuyuan Chuyu placed down her curtain and her voice came from inside, "There's no need for you to miss your family. There's nothing worth reminiscing left in Dyke River County. Go to the capital city quickly. My elder brother Yuyuan Chuyun is an official there. When you reach the capital city, say that I have recommended you. I hope that I can still see you again."
"Thank you big sister!" Qin Mu bowed and went down the official road.
Yuyuan Chuyu sighed, "A pitiable boy, ruined and orphaned at such a young age. I'm afraid he's the only one left alive in Dyke River County…"
"This big sister Chuyu sure is nice."
Qin Mu kept the travel permit document properly and thought to himself, "Now if I get interrogated when I reach the capital city, I can say I'm a citizen of Lizhou Prefecture. No one will know I'm from Great Ruins. Now that I stayed up all night, I should go rest at Tiger Sun County."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu slept in an inn in Tiger Sun County until evening when he was rudely awakened by the commotions outside. He could hear the inn owner saying, "No idea where these beetles have come from. They rush in from all over the place and they can't be killed or chased out! This is the red beetle. Officer, can you take a look to see if they are harmful…"
Qin Mu's heart leaped and hurriedly got up. He woke up the little fox and packed his baggage. The inn owner was still talking about the matter regarding the bugs with the officer below, however, the officer was only a martial arts practitioner and knew nothing about this kind of bugs, "There're many bugs of this kind in the city. They weren't around earlier. It must be the upcoming war which caused this bug infestation. Just trample these bugs to death."
"They can't be crushed or be burned to death. Even when I watered them with boiling water, they were still leaping and frisking about. One of them even went into a guest's mouth and he couldn't even get it out by vomiting…"
Qin Mu left a great abundance coin on the table and pushed open the window. Hu Ling'er executed her spells to summon a demon wind and Qin Mu jumped out, stepping on the demon wind as he traveled away.
At this moment, he could see the red corpse beetles flying scattered in the sky above Tiger Sun County. Qin Mu flicked his fingers repeatedly and every flick was like a thunder bursting forth. The corpse beetles nearby him dropped to the ground before they could even see him.
"Why is Corpse Immortal Cult so persistent like a ghost? We just killed their cult leader's son. Is there a need for them to pursue us relentlessly?" Hu Ling'er ranted angrily.
Qin Mu landed on the ground and quickly sprinted away. He also bought a few trays of steam buns and just took the whole bamboo steamer along with him. Just as the owner was about to shout theft, a great abundance coin came flying onto the table of his stall, making him can't help feeling overjoyed.
Qin Mu stuffed buns into his mouth as he quickly ran out of the city. Hu Ling'er jumped onto his shoulder and grabbed a piping hot bun. Yelping repeatedly from the heat of the hot bun, she tossed it around in her paws. Enduring the heat, she took a bite and stuck her tongue out from scalding it.
The human and the fox quickly finished the buns. When Qin Mu looked back and didn't see any red corpse beetles following over, he gave a sigh of relief.
Hu Ling'er tunneled into the backpack and took out the Eternal Peace's geographic map. Qin Mu opened up the geographic map and checked it. He then raised his head and took a look at the surroundings. After he determined his location, he immediately increased his speed and rushed towards the capital city.
Meanwhile, in Tiger Sun County City, many of the red corpse beetles couldn't find Qin Mu and flew out of the city. Outside the county's city, Senior Uncle Qiao sat on top of Flat Sun Mountain and called back his corpse beetles with a slight frown. Yet at this moment, he saw a single arm elder walking over and when the elder passed by him, he stepped on one of his corpse beetle with a squash.
Senior Uncle Qiao was about to spew vulgarities at him when he suddenly came to a realization, "My corpses beetles are incomparably durable so how can they be squashed to death so easily? This single arm geezer is an expert and it's best not to provoke him!"
When the elder walked far away, Senior Uncle Qiao identified the directions and thought to himself, "There are no signs of him nearby, and since the way here has been blocked by me, this brat has only east, west and north to escape from. My flying zombies have already reached city west and city east and no traces of him could be seen there. In that case, he must have gone up north."
He immediately moved and headed north.
After a short distance, Senior Uncle Qiao met the single arm elder again. He looked at the hollow sleeve of the elder who walked slowly and steadily towards the north.
Senior Uncle Qiao had no intention to take heed of him. Some of his corpse beetles formed a red cloud and carried him into the air while the rest flew into the forest to search for any traces that Qin Mu might have left behind.
Squash, squash.
The single arm elder crushed another two corpse beetles and Senior Uncle Qiao raised his eyebrows while holding back his anger. The swarm of corpse beetles slowly descended but they didn't land on the ground, keeping the distance of a yard away from the ground and two yards away from the elder.
Senior Uncle Qiao bowed and greeted, "This elder, these corpse beetles are raised by me. It's fine if you squashed one to death but why did you have to squash two more of them?"
The single arm elder stopped and replied, "I thought they were ownerless bugs that were flying all around. So they were raised by you, excuse me, excuse me."
Senior Uncle Qiao smiled, "One who does not know is not guilty, elder please be more careful next time…"
Squash.
The single arm elder raised his feet and crushed another bug to death. Senior Uncle Qiao's expression instantly changed. The single arm elder immediately moved back and said, "I didn't do it on purpose…"
Squash.
Another few corpse beetles flew under his feet for no reason and were crushed into red color juice.
Senior Uncle Qiao sneered and flying zombies came out from the forest and surrounded the single arm elder. Senior Uncle Qiao asked with a grim expression, "Elder, are you here to toy with me? Purposely crushing the corpse beetles I've raised, can it be that you're bullying us Corpse Immortal Cult?"
The single arm elder immediately explained, "So you are an expert from Corpse Immortal Cult. Don't be misunderstood, your bugs had made their way under my feet by themselves. You can't blame me."
Senior Uncle Qiao didn't know the depth of his cultivation and was slightly afraid. His expression eased and forced himself to say, "Since it's not on purpose, let's leave it at that."
As he was about to leave, he heard another squash. Senior Uncle Qiao flew into fury and his fear grew into guts. With a thought in his mind, the flying zombies pounced on the elder!
His flying zombies were different from He Yin's. He Yin was merely just an entry disciple of Corpse Immortal Cult who had just cultivated to Six Directions Realm and cultivated his divine arts. Whereas he was a figure of the older generation in Corpse Immortal Cult with the cultivation of Seven Stars Realm. His flying zombies had long been refined into copper armored corpses which had copper tendons and iron bones. They were all packed with astonishing power!
Furthermore, he had refined quite a number of corpses and with so many copper armored corpses pouncing on the single arm elder, it was naturally very easy to get him!
Before those flying zombies could pounce on that elder, a resonating name of Buddha sounded out and the aura of Buddha erupted out. Senior Uncle Qiao's blood ran cold and could only feel a Buddha standing in front of him. He couldn't help getting frightened out of his soul and knelt down on the ground at once to kowtow deeply, "Spare my life!"
Meanwhile, the flying zombies were shone by the Buddha's aura and they fell flat onto the ground. The connections between him and his zombies were completely cut off. They were instantly enlightened by the single arm elder and could never harm people anymore.
"Stand up."
The single arm elder gave him a look and walked away, "Anyone can make mistakes, forgive them when possible. I shan't kill you but I wish you could spare people if it's possible to let them off."
Senior Uncle Qiao raised his head and looked at his surroundings. He let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself, "Luckily I'm smart. If trained properly, any skill would be able to save lives, for example, kneeling when you can't win."
He got up and composed himself with a pained expression on his face, "These flying zombies cost countless years of my blood and sweat to create, never would I expect all of them to be destroyed! Who is that single arm elder? He's really powerful. He even didn't attack and just shone once with his aura to destroy my precious… However, when I catch that brat and take away that first ranking high official's treasure sword, everything would be worth it!"
Qin Mu rapidly sprinted into the forest and suddenly stopped. He bent over and plucked a small grass that had a flower with three purple petals. Hu Ling'er was bewildered, "Young Master Mu, what flower is this?"
"This is Earth Origin Grass. It has a scent that human and beast cannot smell."
Qin Mu carefully plucked the small purple flower. He threw away the flower and kept the leaves and rhizoma. He continued to wander around the forest and search for another few herbs which were common herbs that could be seen in the forest, "However, the scent of Earth Origin Grass was abnormally fragrant to insects. Yet this grass has a poison which is not toxic to humans but deadly to insects, therefore it is called the bane of hundred insects. These other herbs that I have picked don't have other uses other than to multiply the scent and toxicity of Earth Origin Grass by a hundred times."
He quickly rushed forward. As he was running, his vital qi burst forth and propped the few herbs in the air. Using vital qi as a cauldron, he refined the medicine in the air.
Flames burst forth in his other hand and roasted the herbs. At the same time, Black Tortoise Vital Qi was used to moisturize the herbs to prevent them from getting burnt.
Before he crossed the col, Qin Mu had finished refining the medicinal energy of these herbs. Removing the medicinal dregs, his hands interlocked each other and instantly some liquid that was like clear oil appeared in the middle of his palms.
Qin Mu looked at the surroundings and found a clear spring in a col nearby and went over to wash his hands. He then exerted force and rushed away.
Not long later, a red cloud came flying over in the sky which was omnipresent. It was the red corpse beetles of Senior Uncle Qiao.
These red corpse beetles followed Qin Mu's trails and immediately caught up to Qin Mu. Suddenly the corpse beetles couldn't control themselves and flew down to the clear spring in the col.
Senior Uncle Qiao who was controlling the corpse beetle swarm from behind was startled and rushed over at once. Looking at the red color bugs that laid dead around the whole mountain and wilderness, he felt his heart turning cold. The corpse beetles that he had painstakingly raised had all died completely!
To be able to poison his corpse beetles all in one go, this ability made him tremble with fear!
"Furthermore, the most crucial thing was…"
Qin Mu who had now gone far away smiled and told the little fox hiding in his backpack, "Corpse beetle is also a type of poison and is a great poison. The red corpse beetles are even more poisonous! The poison oil that I had just refined has no effect on humans but if eaten by the red corpse beetles, it would merge with the toxicity of the red corpse beetles and turn into another poison which is even more terrifying. As long as one touches the poison, their flesh and blood will start to rot and their body would be paralyzed. They wouldn't be able to move and can only look at themselves rotting away!"
Hu Ling'er jumped in shock and cried out, "Young master, will the strong practitioner from Corpse Immortal Cult be poisoned? I see that his cultivation is quite high!"
Qin Mu said faintly, "That would depend if he would touch those corpse beetles or not."
Looking at the sky, he gently said, "This toxic will detox itself. When the sun shines on it, the toxicity will break down and become weaker and weaker. After getting exposed to the scorching sun for an hour, the toxicity will be gone. However in the next hour, whoever touches it dies!"
At the col, Senior Uncle Qiao's body trembled and he suddenly sneered, "Luckily I still have more corpse beetles and the beetle queen is still here…"
At this moment, the corpse beetles on his body climbed out frantically and flew towards the poisonous spring in the col. Even the beetle queen also flew out. Senior Uncle Qiao gave a cry of alarm and immediately grabbed at the beetle queen but the flying speed of the beetle queen was extremely fast. It had already come to the spring and drank the spring water.
Senior Uncle Qiao grabbed the beetle queen from behind and was about to give a sigh of relief when his body suddenly turned stiff. The skin on his palm rapidly rotted and this rot was spreading up his arm. His muscles started to fall off from his arm and dropped to the ground, rapidly turning into pus.
He could see his arm rotting but he couldn't feel any pain.
He wanted to chop off his arm but his consciousness seemed to be separated from his body and couldn't control his body. Gritting his teeth, Senior Uncle Qiao mustered all his strength to lift his other arm. Suddenly his body lost balance and collapsed onto the floor. With his face on the floor, there were several more corpses of the dead corpse beetles under his face.
"Grandpa Apothecary was right. He told me if I can't win, I'll just have to use poison." The cowherd boy from Disabled Elderly VIllage sighed ruefully in the distance.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Five days later, Qin Mu came to River Tomb County. River Tomb County was much more flourishing than the other counties' cities he had seen on his way here. River Tomb County was a city that was practically built entirely on the river. This river was Gold River and not Surging River, therefore River Tomb was also known as Gold Tomb.
The torrential waters of Gold River were vast and mighty like the sea. Originally River Tomb County was built on an island on the river but as more ships came and went, it flourished and became overpopulated therefore a large scale construction was carried out to build a city.
At that time, appointed as the magistrate of River Tomb County was the Imperial Preceptor today. At that time he was already a strong practitioner brimming with talent. He showed extraordinary abilities and gathered numerous skilled workmen and countless of divine arts practitioners to lay down deep stone pillars into the river. Every stone pillar was three hundred yards long and there was a total of three thousand and eight hundred stone pillars. The top of the stone pillar was a hundred yards above the water level which allowed large ships to sail below and also floods to flow pass.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor used huge stones to pave the road along with the skilled workmen and divine arts practitioners, and used divine arts to stabilize and construct River Tomb County. This was a very large project and it took tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners tiring for ten years to build this new city.
Below the new city was a few impluvia for illumination and when the rain got heavy, the impluvia could be used to carry away the rainwater. There were also some docks that were constructed below the city to facilitate the traffic.
Beside the city were also harbors, big and small, for the ships coming here to load and unload goods.
This place was simply bustling, therefore, it was also called small capital. The scholar-officials at that time criticised the construction of the new city and accused the River Tomb County Magistrate of plotting a rebellion by building a River Tomb City to intercept the dragon's vein of the empire. They petitioned the emperor to execute him.
They also said that the River Tomb Magistrate built a dragon's head on Gold River, having errant intentions.
After Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor accomplished this spectacular feat, he was summoned to the capital and many people thought the emperor was going to execute him. Never would they thought that Crown Prince Yanfeng admired him extremely and after Crown Prince Yanfeng ascended to the throne with his great skills and strategies, he promoted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor repeatedly and made him into the imperial preceptor not long later.
Qin Mu had also heard these interesting stories from the helmsman and didn't know how much of it was true. However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's capability and Emperor Yanfeng's wisdom eyes made him admire the two people.
Onboard of the same ship were some scholars from River Tomb County. Some were poor scholars from poor families and there were also scholars from rich families. Qin Mu made some inquiries and found out that most of these people were from elementary school and college. They were all students from the same school.
Qin Mu was astonished and inquired about the elementary school and college in River Tomb County. Only then did he know about the reason for it.
Elementary school and college were set up by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and had been extended to the whole country.
Imperial Preceptor told Emperor Yanfeng, "The lives at eight years old, from aristocrats to the common people, will have to enter elementary school, to learn Daoyin, etiquettes, sense of propriety, rites and music, archery, literacy, cultivation to build their foundation. The talents of the students should be observed first, then the students should be taught in accordance with their aptitude. Those students who have awoken their spirit embryos and broken the walls of their divine treasures are going to be chosen to enter college."
Imperial Preceptor then told Emperor Yanfeng, "When they are at age of fifteen, the eldest son and the heirs of the Son of Heaven as well as the heirs of the dukes, high ranking officials, senior officials, imperial scholars will attend college with the talented common people. They will learn divine arts, sword skills, how to rectify one's mind, how to cultivate oneself, how to govern the people. They will be proficient in the knowledge of divine arts at all times. At that time, all of the college's scholars will be the students of Your Majesty and there will be no need to rely on sects. As time goes by, the danger of sects would be got rid of."
Imperial Preceptor also said, "Once one graduate from college, he can enter Imperial College. Imperial College's scholars will learn the paths of being officials and generals, and study the paths and govern the whole world. That way the four seas will attain peace and Your Majesty will be free of worries."
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. With Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's way of scholarship, how can a country not be prosperous?
The living space of the sects in Eternal Peace Empire was squeezed out by the elementary school and college. Without a living space, it's no wonder the sects would rebel.
On the boat, Qin Mu took out the Computational Canons he had bought at River Tomb City. Studying it attentively, he wrote down his calculation methods with a charcoal pencil on the paper.
Suddenly a scholar with a plump physique asked, "Brother Qin is also going to the capital city to take the imperial examinations?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and smiled, "That's right. I plan to go to the capital city to take a gamble for my future. Brother Wei is also going there for the imperial examinations?"
The scholar with a plump physique called Wei Yong nodded his head and smiled, "To pass the entrance exam with scholarly honors and enter Imperial College to study is my long cherished wish!"
Another scholar laughed, "Brother Wei, it's not that easy to enter the empire's Imperial College. Your age is merely just over fourteen and you are still an elementary scholar. You won't be able to enter Imperial College!"
Wei Yong sneered, "Are Imperial College's scholars that amazing? They might not even beat me and Brother Qin!"
Most of the scholars laughed out loudly.
Qin Mu also revealed a smile. Many of the scholars onboard the same ship with them were all going to the capital city to take the imperial examinations. They all wanted to enter the empire's Imperial College.
What the college of River Tomb taught were all basic sword skills and spells which were not widespread. Whereas in Imperial College of the capital city, it had millions of books and had everything they wanted. Almost all the techniques and divine arts of all the sects in Eternal Peace Empire were gathered here. It could be said to be the empire's highest learning institute!
It was extremely difficult to enter Imperial College. The college's scholars from all around the country had all fought fiercely just to enter. As for elementary school's scholars, they mostly planned to enter the capital city to enter the college there. It was even more difficult for an elementary school's scholar to enter Imperial College. Unless they were especially outstanding then would they have a chance to enter. Every year, the number of elementary school's scholars that can pass the entrance exams and enter Imperial College was close to none.
The helmsman steered the ship towards the shore.
Qin Mu noticed that this ship used a strange furnace. There were flames in the furnace and as long as medicinal stones were thrown in, the spirit energy in the medicinal stones would be able to spin the gears on top of the furnace. The gears were then linked to a water wheel which pushed the large ship forward like a water vehicle.
The helmsman only needed to be in charge of the rudder and control the directions.
Qin Mu clicked his tongue in wonder. Where would he be able to see such strange contraptions in Great Ruins?
Not long later, the large ship finally sailed to the bank. Disembarking with the rest of the scholars, Qin Mu followed them and came to the vehicles and horses market after walking a short distance.
Qin Mu looked around and became even more curious. He could see land traveling boats, flying vehicles, cranes and land dragons for rent and sale. There were also some ships that were ready and waiting to set sail. Smokes were billowing out from these ships and there were even flames mixed in with the smoke.
"Brother Qin, over here!"
Wei Yong stood at the bottom of a ship and waved at him. The ship lowered its gangway and there were some scholars going up the ship.
Qin Mu walked over and raised his head to look at the ship, giving off an astonished expression. Wei Yong had been familiar with him from the beginning and smiled, "Land traveling boats are too bumpy, flying vehicles are too expensive, cranes and land dragons have to brave the wind and rain, it's still the most comfortable to take a ship. It's just that the speed is slightly slower. However, it's still quite early before the selections, therefore, let's take a ship to the capital city."
Qin Mu agreed with him and asked, "How much is it?"
Wei Yong took out a jar of wine and smiled, "You're more well dressed than me and you still care about the price? Sister Fox, I bought some wine for you."
Hu Ling'er surprised and delighted. She stood up like a human and thanked him earnestly before taking the wine jar.
Qin Mu came to the boatswain's location and paid the ship's fare. Ten great abundance coins were needed to travel from River Tomb to the capital city. It wasn't considered expensive seeing how Qin Mu was used to being extravagant. He had totally no idea how much a great abundance coin was worth and only knew that he had always given a great abundance coin for all his lodging and food to the other parties, making them grinning from ear to ear.
The two people and one fox boarded the ship and not long later, the ship was already fully occupied. There were apothecaries and their boys starting the furnaces. The medicinal energy was turned into magic power to be supplied to the sculptures of the bronze beasts at the aft of the ship. The huge mouth of the bronze beasts immediately spewed out intense flames and the ship gradually rose into the air. The ship slowly adjusted its direction in midair and unfurled its sails as it drove out of River Tomb, heading towards north.
On the ship, the guests all had their own rooms and food service was also provided on board. They would just have to spend the next few days onboard the ship.
Qin Mu stood on the ship and looked down at the ship got higher and higher up. With its increasing speed, River Tomb City below had become smaller and smaller but he could still see flying vehicles, flying beasts, flying ships and etcetera flying out to other cities from time to time. Meanwhile, ships were bustling on the river.
"Eternal Peace sure is a magical place."
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration to himself, "Ling Yuxiu said that the skills and divine arts of Eternal Peace were progressing rapidly and now I see it, it really seems to be the case."
He could see that Eternal Peace Empire was incorporating skills and divine arts into every corner of the everyday life. The basic needs of ordinary people were slowly changing and this was very similar to the path of the saint described in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
The path of the saint was for the everyday use of common people. Eternal Peace Empire had done very well.
He suddenly had a weird thought, "Could Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also be part of my Heavenly Devil Cult?"
There were scholars practicing their martial arts onboard and their cultivations were all remarkable. However what made Qin Mu astonished was that they were all cultivating the same type of martial arts, spells and sword skills.
Qin Mu was puzzled, "Won't it be very easy for the opponent to catch your weakness by cultivating the same types of spells and sword skills?"
From his point of view, martial arts practitioners might be a realm for one to build up their foundation but being erudite was also a foundation. When too many scholars cultivated the same martial art, the same spells, the same sword skills, it would be very easy for others to catch their weakness.
"This kind of martial arts practitioners, I can fight ten with one hand." Qin Mu shook his head silently and continued to study Computational Canons. There was a total of ten books of Computational Canons which Eternal Peace Empire had printed out. He had already finished reading them and sorted out most of the calculation methods on the paper.
When night came, Qin Mu would come to the deck and raised his head to look at the astrological aspect. Using his calculation methods to deduce, he would then record his calculations on the paper.
After flying for four days, the ship was gradually getting closer to the capital city. It was the first time going to the capital city for most of the scholars and it was hard for them to conceal the excitement in their heart. They all leaned out the side of the ship to look outside. Suddenly a violent tremor traveled over and the ship tilted to one side. Some scholars didn't have a stable grip and fell off the ship.
These few people didn't cultivate divine arts that could make them fly so they let off a long and blood-curdling scream which went on for a long time. Because the ship had flown too high up, it would still take a while for them to fall to the ground.
Qin Mu frowned. Both of his legs were like two spears nailed to the ship as he grabbed the drunk Hu Ling'er with one hand and the also drunk Wei Yong with the other in case they fall off as well.
At this moment, a loud laughter came from outside the ship and an unimaginably huge python opened its huge mouth which was laid with barbs, biting down onto the aft of the ship.
Everyone on the ship was startled. The aft of the ship was broken off by that huge python. The scholars who were standing at the aft of the ship fell off from the ship and there were even some scholars swallowed by the huge python!
There was also a person standing on the flat head of the huge python. The person wore a flowery gown and had applied rouge and powder, looking very alluring. However, it was an alluring man who was looking excitedly at all the flustered people on the ship.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Whoosh—
The huge python's thick and solid body coiled over and actually managed to coil around the several levels of the ship. The floors of these levels creaked from the bind and stupified scholars were all around the ship. Even the boatmen were frightened silly.
"Brother Wei Yong, can you fly?" Qin Mu suddenly asked.
Wei Yong had yet returned to his senses, "What?"
Qin Mu raised his hands and threw this short fatty off the ship. Wei Yong's terrified screams came from below, "I can't fly, ahh—"
Qin Mu leaped and jumped off the ship. Hu Ling'er who was dead drunk was now as awake as an owl at night. The instant Qin Mu jumped off, the little fox executed spell and a cusp of gust lifted Qin Mu up.
Qin Mu stepped on the cusp of gust and whizzed down to stretch his hand to grab Wei Yong. Wei Yong who had not yet recovered from his shock looked down and gave another scream.
"Stop screaming!"
Qin Mu exerted force and sprinted frantically. In the sky, the large ship creaked and shattered pieces of the ship came crashing down. Qin Mu continuously dodged in the sky and avoided huge woods that came whizzing past as he rushed towards the distance.
Wei Yong turned back to have a look and his gaze turned dull. The ship had been crushed into pieces. The huge snake coiled around the ship and desperately tightened the ship and split it into two halves!
The scholars on the ship jumped off the ship. There were some divine arts practitioners who had learned flying skills, therefore, they controlled their spirit weapons to assist them to fly. There were some who had never learned that before and could only flail their limbs helplessly as they were crashing towards the ground.
"Long Jiaonan! Are you trying to rebel?"
The boatswain of this ship abrupted into anger and turned into a flaming giant as he attacked that alluring man with his extremely overbearing divine art. However, the ship couldn't support the battle of the two experts and the core elixir room of the ship was shattered from the binding of the huge snake. The apothecaries and boys inside immediately rushed out and jumped off the ship.
At the same time, the huge snake spewed out a cloud of poison smoke onto the boatswain's face. The flaming giant immediately extinguished and fell down facing upwards.
"We're done for…"
Wei Yong's face turned pale white, "Dragon Rider Sect has rebelled. The person which has raised this huge worm is Long Jiaonan, the young sect master of Dragon Rider Sect. He's a well-known villain…"
Qin Mu dragged him along with great effort and rushed toward the ground. There were foothills below them where they could hide their traces and not be discovered by the strong practitioners of Dragon Rider Sect.
After some time, they finally landed on the ground. Hu Ling'er dispelled her spell and was about to say something when a blood-curdling scream came from above. A scholar crashed through the dense tree crowns and splattered into pieces in front of them, his brain and liver scattering everywhere.
Thud!
Another dull thud came from not far away.
Thud, thud, thud…
It seemed like it was raining in this foothill as the scholars fell from the sky and died horribly!
Wei Yong's expression turned ashen as he shivered uncontrollably. Qin Mu's ears twitched and suddenly pulled him to sprint forward. Behind them, a loud crash sounded out as half of the ship came crashing down and destroyed a forest. The trees that were hit, shot out in all directions, looking extremely terrifying.
The huge body of that ship slid three hundred yards and finally came to a stop before crushing Qin Mu who was sprinting.
Qin Mu continued to rush forward and an earth-shattering bang came from the ship. It was the furnace exploding and the surging waves of air smacked the two people and one fox away!
Qin Mu landed on the ground and let go of Wei Yong while whispering to him, "Let us move quickly, soon there will be experts from Dragon Rider Sect to check if there are any surviving people!"
Wei Yong had just recovered from his shock and immediately sprinted forward, "What happens if they see surviving people?"
Hu Ling'er rolled her eyes at him and looked slightly drunk. It was obvious she had sneakily drunk some wine, "Fatty Wei, what do you think?"
Wei Yong gave a cold shiver, "Dragon Rider Sect sure is extremely daring. They actually dared to attack the ship which carried scholars going to take the imperial examinations so close to the capital city. When Imperial Preceptor's injuries are healed, he will definitely not let Dragon Rider Sect go!"
"You really think Imperial Preceptor is injured?"
Qin Mu shook his head, "In my opinion, Imperial Preceptor was not injured at all. He is purposely luring the snakes out of the holes, to lure out all the powers that are opposing him in Eternal Peace Empire and capture them all in one go. Isn't Dragon Rider Sect now lured out by him?"
Wei Yong was stunned and cried out, "What you mean is… Impossible! I've heard that there are no less than twenty regions that are rebelling. They have overtaken the cities and caused countless deaths among the common people, and there are many bandits running amuck. How could Imperial Preceptor condone such a thing?"
Qin Mu replied, "These are naturally tactics. If he wasn't hurt, how could he lure these rebels and traitors out? Therefore he is injured. Suffering a defeat at Great Ruins and being assassinated on his way back, he was gravely injured. No matter if it was his reputation or power had suffered a great decrease. Who would give up on such a great chance?"
He said resolutely, "From what I see, this should be a conspiracy of Imperial Preceptor and he will definitely not quell the rebellion until all the rebels and traitors have unmasked their true nature."
Wei Yong still felt hard to accept it and muttered, "But many people will die…"
"However, the danger lurking around Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would be completely got rid of, am I right?"
Qin Mu gave a look at Wei Yong. This fatty was extraordinary nimble and could actually follow his footsteps. However, it seemed like he didn't have any comprehension to the wind and couldn't step the cusp of gust to fly. Qin Mu continued, "Once he completely wipes out the lurking dangers, who would dare to mess around with him when he goes out to battle with his troops then? Besides if Imperial Preceptor manages to capture all his enemies at one go, who would dare to object if he wants to ascend to the throne?"
Wei Yong shivered a few times uncontrollably and looked at Qin Mu as if he was a monster, "Brother Qin, you're about the same age as me right? How can you think of so many intrigues and conspiracy? Little fox, is he actually an old cunning fox spirit who had cultivated himself into a human?"
Hu Ling'er got excited and said, "Fatty Wei, you also noticed it? I have long suspected that Young Master is a male fox that had turned intelligent!"
Wei Yong replied, "Don't call me Fatty Wei. The Wei Family of River Tomb is also considered a reputable family. If word of this gets out, it's going to be embarrassing."
Little fox then said, "Then I shall call you Fatty Yong."
Wei Yong fell silent for a moment before replying with an astringent voice, "It better for you to call me Fatty Wei, at least it sounds nicer."
Suddenly Qin Mu asked, "Brother Wei, what's your cultivation?"
"I have broken through the Five Elements Wall and awakened my Five Elements Divine Treasure, however, my cultivation doesn't seem too much higher than yours."
Wei Yong was bewildered, "What's your cultivation?"
"Spirit Embryo Realm."
Qin Mu's vital qi swept and pulled out his Pig Slaughtering Knife as he said, "Brother Wei, you deal with two and I'll deal with two!"
Wei Yong didn't understand what he meant. Suddenly four huge snakes slithered from the forest in front of them. Accompanying the huge snakes were melodious flute sounds that were light and quick. It was like a charming village maiden playing with a green snake in the bushes, the tune going sometimes high and sometimes low.
The people blowing the flutes should be the disciples of Dragon Rider Sect. Looking towards the source of the sound, Qin Mu couldn't see any experts from Dragon Rider Sect, therefore they should have hidden themselves.
Dragon Rider Sect was originally the sect of Great Flourish County that was near the capital city. They raised snakes for a living. Since they could raise huge snakes, therefore, they called themselves Dragon Rider.
This sect had been subdued by Imperial Preceptor and had always known their place. Even among the strange beasts kept in the military, there were huge snakes raised by the disciples of Dragon Rider Sect.
The sound of the flute was clear and melodious as the huge snakes slithered along with the flute's music.
"Brother Qin, Dragon Rider Sect's weapon may look like the huge snakes but it's actually the flute's sound which is used to control the huge snakes' attacks…"
Wei Yong was about to tell Qin Mu about the offensive method of Dragon Rider Sect but Qin Mu had already rushed out. Without a choice, Wei Yong could only take a step and rushed forward as well.
Suddenly the flute's sounds became compressed and fleeting. The speed of those huge red crown snakes suddenly grew faster as they pounced on the two people.
The instant Qin Mu met with the first huge snake, knife light suddenly flashed and burst forth like a huge silver ball!
Midnight Battle Across Stormy Cities!
In a split second, before the huge red crown snake could pounce on him, a silver light went around it. This silver light rushed from the snake's head to the snake's tail and when the silver light vanished, all that was left was a huge snake's skeleton without any flesh or blood left.
At the same time, Hu Ling'er controlled her curved wind blades to cleave another huge snake. However, the flute's sound controlled the huge snake to suck in with its huge mouth and sucked in the curved wind blades, following which, the snake wanted to spew out poisonous smoke.
Qin Mu put his fingers together and thrust forward, which caused Junior Protector Sword to stab into the huge snake's eyes. Flicking his fingers upwards, Junior Protector Sword instantly broke out from the snake's head!
On the other side, Wei Yong pushed forward and his cultivation was dense. With a sword case on his back, he controlled flying swords to stab the huge snakes. The sword case was also a spirit weapon, however, its sharpness was inferior to Qin Mu's Junior Protector Sword and Pig Slaughtering Knife.
Wei Yong moved around nimbly under the attacks of the two snakes and managed to create lots of sword wounds on the huge snake but he couldn't find a chance to kill the two huge snakes.
Even though his cultivation was dense, his techniques in battle were far inferior to Qin Mu and his moves were also moves from the school. He didn't have the ability to kill with one hit.
Suddenly Hu Ling'er skipped and entered the forest like a wisp of smoke while Qin Mu also rushed into the forest from the other direction. Wei Yong gave out a cry of alarm as he wanted to rush over as well but he didn't have the chance to while being tied down by the two huge snakes.
At this moment, the flute's sound suddenly stopped and without the command of the flute's sound, the two huge snakes blanked out. Wei Yong took this opportunity and killed the two snakes, then rushed into the forest at once. When in the forest, he heard little fox's sound coming over, "Fatty Wei, over here!"
Wei Yong immediately ran over and saw Qin Mu along with the little fox. They were beside a towering tree which was bleeding but Wei Yong didn't see anyone. Taking a closer look, he saw that the one that was bleeding wasn't the tree but a man. The attire of this man was exactly the same as the tree bark and even his face was painted with the grain of the tree bark.
This person had dug a hole in the huge tree, which size was just right to hide in it. Without taking a closer look, it was impossible to see him.
"He's a disciple of Dragon Rider Sect!"
Wei Yong's heart skipped a beat and said, "Brother Qin, the disciples of Dragon Rider Sect usually move in a group!"
"What you mean is…"
Qin Mu also had a change in expression as he looked towards the deeper parts of the forest. The trees were verdant and lush over there and then over a hundred figures walked out from the tree trunks. Their bodies covered with grains of the tree bark.
The sound of the flute sounded out and countless of huge snakes came slithering from the back of the forest. The snakes spread out everywhere over the hills and dales and the red crowns of these huge snakes were like flowers swaying gently in the wind.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
The disciples of Dragon Rider Sect had already kept watch at the front, waiting to clean up the people that had slipped through the net!
The snakes spreading out everywhere over the hills and dales slithered forward. The scene caused their hairs to stand on end. Wei Yong's expression turned pale white and muttered, "What's the capital city doing? All kinds of demons and monsters had come running out, where are the guards of the capital city?"
At this moment, a booming sound suddenly came from the capital city. Qin Mu's heart moved slightly and immediately grabbed Hu Ling'er and placed her into his backpack and whispered, "Fall back!"
Wei Yong fell back at once and just as the two of them retreated three hundred yards away, the snakes suddenly began to stir restlessly as if they had suffered an extreme shock and slithered frantically over to them! Other than the snakes, the disciples of Dragon Rider Sect also got into a panic and jumped on the heads of the snakes. The huge snakes slithered like they were flying as they pounced on Qin Mu and his friends!
"Back to back!"
Qin Mu cried out and Wei Yong understood and immediately came back to back with him. Taking down the sword case on his back slamming it heavily onto the ground, Wei Yong closed both his hands and each hand had two fingers joined together as he clutched his sword secrets. His sword case opened up and swords rose up one after another with the tips of the swords facing down.
With a sword hum, the swords separated and circled around Qin Mu and him, the sword's tips spinning rapidly outwards!
Qin Mu was astonished. This move from Wei Yong wasn't taught by the school and was much more intricate compared to the sword skills cultivated by the scholars in the school. It should be a sword skill passed down through his family. Wei Yong had said that the Wei Family was a reputable family in River Tomb and it seemed that he wasn't bragging about it.
The snakes swarmed over and Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth. Golden rings appeared both in front and behind him and sword lights came shooting out towards the huge snakes and the disciples on the snakes' heads that were swarming over!
This was a skill that he had learned in the ancient temples of Border Dragon City. It was like divine arts yet it was not divine arts. Its attack power was not weak, and once the huge snakes were injured by the golden sword light, they would avoid them and slither away to one side. Meanwhile, the disciples of Dragon Rider Sect were disrupted by his sword light and had no time to attack back.
These people and snakes didn't seem to be attacking them and looked more like they were trying to escape. However, there were simply too many snakes that were swarming over and it was also hard for Qin Mu to avoid all the huge snakes. These huge snakes swarmed over like flood and were about to inundate the both of them!
Wei Yong cried out loudly and his flying sword revolved around the both of them rapidly to slice at the snakes that were swarming over. With flames and sparks fizzing, huge snake's scales flew around from getting sliced and there were even huge snakes that had their flesh sliced open, looking very miserable.
The pressure on Wei Yong suddenly increased, making it hard for him to withstand it. Qin Mu immediately changed his move and with his palms intersecting each other, his vital qi was like a huge raging river as it turned into currents and crashed into the huge snake's bodies. In his backpack, Hu Ling'er executed spells and raised tornadoes which swept up the huge snakes.
The pressure on the two people and one fox grew larger and larger and at this moment, the booming sound grew closer. Huge birds with black feathers and red crests sprinted among the mountain like they were flying. These huge birds were like moving hills and their beaks were several yards in length. Walking in the forest were like walking in the bushes to them. Their sharp claws shattered the mountain rocks and their huge beaks pecked on the huge snakes, swinging them in all directions!
On the back, the birds stood five to six soldiers with quivers on their waist and longbows on their hands. They continuously shot at Dragon Rider Sect's disciples who got swung away and every disciple who got swung off the snake's head would instantly become a hornet's nest!
With the quivers at their waists, they didn't need to stretch behind to retrieve their arrows and only need to lower their hands to pick up another arrow to shoot, therefore their shooting speed was extremely fast.
The huge birds charged around violently and dispersed the snakes. As their huge bird claws came down, they could grab onto the huge snakes and the sharp claws would stab deeply into the huge snakes' bodies and tear the red crown snakes apart.
The flock of birds chased the snakes until they reached Qin Mu and his friends. Wei Yong exclaimed in delight, "It's the bow and arrow cavalry of the capital city's guards!"
The flock of birds soon reached in front of them as they sprinted over. When the few archers saw Qin Mu and Wei Yong, they were startled and pull the reins at once to make the huge black feathers and red crest birds avoid them. They then shouted loudly, "There are still scholars alive. Everyone be careful not to crash into the scholars!"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Huge flags along with the flagpoles came shooting down from the back of the birds and stuck in front of Qin Mu.
"Splendid abilities!"
The few soldiers on the back of the bird exclaimed in admiration when they saw Qin Mu's palm skills and Wei Yong's sword skills, "To be able to survive from the ambush of Dragon Rider Sect's snakes, these scholars indeed have some abilities!"
When the flocks of birds charging behind saw these flags, they immediately detoured to both sides and avoided Qin Mu and the rest.
After some time, the flock of birds and the snakes all left far away. Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and Wei Yong who was behind him put his flying swords back into his sword case. Slumping down on the ground, he panted heavily. Qin Mu looked back and saw huge beasts fighting fiercely in the forest. The huge snake was like a dragon turning and twisting in the woods with terrifying impetus. The young sect master of Dragon Rider Sect Long Jiaonan must have met with the bow and arrow cavalry and ended up fighting.
A moment later, the follow-up troops from the capital city slaughtered their way over. The ones who were here this time were the sword guards. As the sword pellets rose into the sky, their radiance was blinding and ten of thousands of flying swords shot downwards, causing great casualties to Dragon Rider Sect. Long Jiaonan brought her huge snake and retreated with countless of smaller sized snakes which slithered onto the huge snake's body. Many of the Dragon Rider Sect's disciples rose into the sky and also landed on the huge snake's body.
The huge snake actually spat out a demon cloud with thunder and lighting, and rose into the air and rushed off. The sword guards chased after it. They soon left further and further away.
"Are there still scholars that have survived?" A voice asked in the forest.
"Yes, I saw two scholars just now!"
"There are only two scholars?"
The voice fell silent.
"Where's the ship from?"
"Should be from River Tomb County, the hometown of Imperial Preceptor…"
"Damn it! Dragon Rider Sect attacking the scholar's ship from River Tomb County was clearly to bring down the Imperial Preceptor's prestige. It's also our fault. We didn't guard it poorly… Follow me, let's go and meet the two scholars."
...
A moment later, a few huge birds sprinted rapidly over to Qin Mu and his companions. A high ranking military officer clad in armor jumped off the bird's back to look at Qin Mu and Wei Yong. With his booming voice, he asked, "Two scholars, do you know how many people were onboard."
Qin Mu didn't count precisely and hesitated for a moment, "About three to five hundred people."
The corners of the military officer's eyes twitched, "Three to five hundred scholars…"
Wei Yong immediately said, "General, there are many divine arts practitioners among the scholars that know how to fly. I saw many people flying out from the ship. They should have survived."
The general shook his head, "None of them survived. They were eaten by the flying snakes of Dragon Rider Sect in mid-air. You are the only two left…"
Wei Yong jumped in shock and looked towards Qin Mu. If it wasn't Qin Mu who had been quick-witted and threw him off the ship, he would have died on the ship. After throwing him down the ship, Qin Mu had brought him to step on the wind to rush down to the forest below. He was still bewildered at why Qin Mu hadn't continue sprinting in the air where it would be faster. Never would he think that all the scholars who were flying in the air were dead and only the two of them were left alive.
"Brother Qin, my life is given by you! From today onwards, you're my blood brother…"
Hu Ling'er was bewildered, "Fatty Wei, was it your parents who had given you life?"
Wei Yong immediately said, "Like a second parent, second parent! Little fox, don't always create trouble. I was about to say my heartfelt words and now I've completely forgotten after getting interrupted by you!"
The military officer was astonished, "Your surname is Wei? The Wei of River Tomb's Wei Family?"
Wei Yong nodded, "I'm indeed from River Tomb's Wei Family."
The military officer gave a sigh of relief and said, "You're really the family member of Duke Wei. Young Master Wei, Duke will definitely be happy to know that you're fine. This little brother's surname is Qin? Could it be the Qin of capital city's Qin Family?"
Qin Mu shook his head and smiled, "My Qin is not the Qin of capital city's Qin Family. I'm from Lizhou Prefecture."
The military officer said, "So you are from Lizhou Prefecture. May both scholars try to get to the capital city soon, Dragon Rider Sect has a great power and there might still be remnants. Anybody there? Send these two scholars to the capital city!"
A huge bird came over and the soldier on the back of the bird smiled, "May both scholars come up the bird."
Qin Mu and Wei Yong leaped onto the bird's back. They saw that the back of the bird was very wide and there was even a wide deck secured onto the bird's back for people to stand on.
This black feather and red crest bird strode and rushed towards the capital city.
The military officer let out another sigh of relief and muttered to himself, "Duke Wei is a first ranking high official of the Imperial Family. Lucky his family member is fine or else my official position would be at stake… The other youth with the surname Qin is not from Qin Family? His clothing looks pretty good and his power is also extraordinary. Only powerful families can train out such a remarkable child. Could it be that Lizhou Prefecture has another Qin Family?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
An hour later, the black feather and red crest had sprinted its way to the capital city. Qin Mu looked forward and his heart wavered slightly. He had seen River Tomb City before and was extremely shocked yet the capital city in front of him brought him a greater shock than River Tomb City.
River Tomb City was built on Gold River and was a hundred yards above the river surface, having a magnificent sight.
Whereas this capital city was built on mountain ranges which were like huge dragons. Furthermore, it wasn't a single mountain range but nine mountain ranges.
Nine mountain ranges which were like dragons crawling on the flatlands gathered at the location of the capital city. The place where nine dragons converged and where the dragon's heads gathered was the capital city.
This kind of majestic grandeur had already far surpassed River Tomb City which was built on Gold River. It was no wonder Emperor Yanfeng made little of the saying that River Tomb City intercepted the dragon vein by building it on top of the dragon's head. The capital city was originally sovereign of nine dragons, so why did he have to be concerned with the River Tomb City of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, which suppressed just one dragon?
With nine dragons surrounding and protecting the capital city, there were still four barracks ten miles away from the capital city. Each barrack was as huge as a city and seven miles away from the barracks were eight towns. Even though they were towns, they could be compared to cities.
These eight towns were built beside a huge river which was the second big river in Eternal Peace Empire called Mud River. The water and land transportation there was extremely convenient and fast. The first big river was Surging River which came from Great Ruins.
Even though it was the second big river, Mud River was called the dragon's vein of Eternal Peace, the orthodox dragon's vein. Whereas Gold River was just rumored to be a dragon's vein and many people in all levels of society didn't approve of that.
Qin Mu gazed into the distance. The capital city where nine dragons converged had an extraordinary atmosphere which was as expected from the place where the Son of Heaven ruled the world from.
"There still troops hidden in the mountains!" Qin Mu gazed at the Nine Dragons Mountain Ranges and could faintly see the qi of troops which made him cried out in astonishment.
The few soldiers on the back of the bird were also astonished as they looked towards him. One of them asked, "Little brother know people in the army? You even know that there are troops hidden in the mountains."
Qin Mu didn't reply. The reason he could see a magnificent army with thousands of men and horses hidden among the Nine Dragons Mountain Ranges was because of his Heaven's Eyes. The Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill which was imparted to him by Blind had the art to gaze at qi.
What was called 'gazing at qi' was to observe the fate.
Stationing troops at such a large scale in a place like the capital city to use the qi of the troops to suppress the fate of the empire, it naturally couldn't escape his eyes.
The bow and arrow calvary sent them to the capital city's gate before taking their leave. Qin Mu and Wei Yong had their travel permits checked at the city gate and entered the capital city. As the city below the foot of the Son of Heaven, it would naturally be extremely flourishing. Even though Qin Mu had been to River Tomb City and the flourishing River Tomb City had broadened his horizons, the capital city was an entirely different scenery.
It was bustling here but there weren't merchants haggling over every cent. There was wealth accumulation, but more, much more than this, there was cultural heritage.
The houses and buildings were atmospheric and the sculpting techniques of the stone lions along the roadside were also very exquisite. The rhyming couplets on the doors of big families were also distinctive. All the families here placed Door Gods on their external doors and this also gave him a wonderful feeling, as if the Door Gods could really come alive to defend against demons and monsters.
One tiny clue reveals the general trend. Checking a leaf and one would know if it's spring or autumn. Observing a drop of water and one would know how blue the sea was. As Qin Mu observed his surroundings, he became fully aware of how formidable the empire was.
Village Chief and the others once told him that Eternal Peace Empire was a sect that was disguised as a country. Only now did he know how powerful this sect was!
"Does Brother Qin have a place to stay?"
Wei Yong invited him, "If not, there's no harm coming to the duke's manor to stay for a few days. We can wait until the Imperial College opens its doors and go over to take the examinations."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "I have old friends from my hometown in the city and I'm going to live with them. Brother Wei Yong, let's part our ways here."
Wei Yong could only drop the subject and said, "When you've settled down, you can order someone to notify me at the duke's manor."
Qin Mu smiled, "Definitely. That's right, Brother Wei Yong, where is the cathouse at?"
Wei Yong had a weird expression, "I didn't know before that Brother Qin is still a disso… sophisticated person that likes this kind of taste. The biggest cathouse in the capital city is at Flower Alley. Walk all the way to the end of Flowery Phoenix Street and take a right turn, after that you will see Flower Alley after another three streets. The best cathouse in Flower Alley is called Rain Listening Pavilion. Ehem, do not ask me how I know, I've never been there… Take care of your body!"
Qin Mu was bewildered. What kind of taste is going to the cathouse? And what has it to do with the body?
The two of them parted their ways.
Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er forward and walked towards in Flowery Phoenix Street.
"This is not a cathouse…"
In Flower Alley, Qin Mu looked at the buildings on both sides and was bewildered. The buildings were the crimson red color with lanterns hanging at the doors but there were no signs of cats.
"Little brother come up and play!" Some little sisters waved to him from the top of the building.
"Young Master Mu, do you know them?"
Hu Ling'er was bewildered, "They're shouting so enthusiastically!"
"It was the same when I went to Border Dragon City. There were some sisters who were very cordial and I wasn't used to it."
Qin Mu walked forward and looked at the signboards on his way. The Flower Alley was very deep and had a lot of twists and turns. Once they were deep inside, it wasn't as bustling as before. The maidens here were more reserved as they hugged their pipas and leaned against the windows. With their faces half concealed by pipas, they gently played pipas in a clear and serene tone.
As they continued to walk in, the soft music came from inside. Qin Mu opened the door to take a look and saw light muslins fluttering about. A few maidens were running to and fro among the light muslins while some maidens were tuning their instruments.
Walking further in, there were some girls upstairs practicing their songs and dances. Peals of laughter like loud and clear bells sounded out from time to time, charming and lovely. Reaching the alley here, there were not as many passersby as before. There would be one or two men coming out from the courtyard from time to time. They seemed like the master as they had graceful and warm women tidying their clothes and sending them off reluctantly.
However, the men who walked out from inside would always cover their faces when they saw Qin Mu, as if they were afraid of being recognized.
Qin Mu was bewildered. It's nothing shameful to walk out of their own house so why are they covering their faces?
"The people in the city are really strange."
He walked deeply into Flower Alley and saw a building which wrote Rain Listening Pavilion. The door of this building was tightly locked, however, the courtyard looked deep and was very silent.
Qin Mu came forward and knocked on the door. A moment later he heard pattering footsteps sounding out with a girl's gentle voice, "I'm coming, I'm coming."
The sound of door bolt opening came from inside and a slit was opened at the door. A girl poked her head out behind the door and asked curiously when she saw Qin Mu, "Guest, who are you looking for?"
Qin Mu asked politely, "Is Fu Qingyun around?"
That girl pulled the door half open and smiled, "May I ask for young master's name? It's easier for me to inform as well."
"You can tell her that my surname is Qin."
The girl closed the door and her footsteps gradually went far away. She must have gone to inform. After some time, the door opened once again and a familiar face was revealed. It was the Cathouse Hall Master Fu Qingyun and when she saw Qin Mu, she couldn't help being surprised and delighted, "Young master is finally here! Quick, quick, come inside! Sisters, what are you waiting for? Serve the tea, young master is here!"
"Young master is here?"
The girls' voices came from inside and they sounded very melodious. Their tinkling voices sounded like small birds chirping on a tree that had just sprouted in spring. Blue, green, red and purple dresses fluttered in front of Qin Mu's eyes as the maidens from Rain Listening Pavilion came out and welcomed him, dazzling his eyes.
The maidens of Rain Listening Pavilion all had their distinguishing features. Some of them were as warm as soft jade, some were as cold as ice frost, some were delicate and charming and some were passionate like fire. It could be said that they were like a mix of flowers that gradually charmed the eyes of the person looking at them.
Fu Qingyun immediately said, "Move away, all move away! Young master has just arrived after a long and tiring journey so don't pester young master! Why are you not preparing the tea?"
These girls dispersed like a bunch of butterflies. Some went to scoop up spring water, some went to wash the teacups and some went to boil the water. That relieved Qin Mu so much, and he appeared relaxed. Fu Qingyun led him into the main room and said, 'These girls lack discipline. Young master, don't blame them! It's dangerous outside. The war brought confusion and disorder, and perhaps things unforeseen have happened to young master on your way over here?'
Qin Mu smiled and said, "I indeed met some troubles but I was lucky to get through daunting experiences without mishap. You can inform the higher-ups in the cult to inform Patriarch."
Fu Qingyun smiled, "Patriarch has been waiting quite some time for young master. Actually, Patriarch had already told us that if we met young master, we should tell young master to meet him."
Some of the girls came up with tea and sneaked a few glances at Qin Mu while giggling.
Qin Mu gave a smile in return and asked bewilderedly, "Sister Yun'er, where do I go find him?"
That girl heard Qin Mu referred to Fu Qingyun as Sister Yun'er and giggled again.
Fu Qingyun gave her a stare and ousted her out before smiling, "Of course Imperial College. Young master drink tea."
"Imperial College?"
Qin Mu was astonished and forgot to drink the tea in the teacup he had raised. Wasn't Imperial College the place the scholars go to for learning? Why did he have to go to Imperial College to meet the young patriarch?
"Young master have no idea?"
Fu Qingyun smiled, "Patriarch is the empire's Grand Chancellor of Imperial College, a lower third-ranking official that in charge of Imperial College, so naturally he would stay at Imperial College. Even though the imperial scholars of Imperial College has the honorific of being students of the Son of Heaven, but they are actually students of Patriarch."
Qin Mu's heart was strongly shaken. All the imperial scholars in Imperial College were students of the young patriarch?
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng actually dared to hand this official position to the patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult? Weren't they worried that he got too powerful?
Fu Qingyun seemed to be able to see his thoughts and said, "The human world is like a game to Patriarch. No one knows his true identity. Actually, he's an old man virtue and prestige, an otherworldly expert whose reputation had stirred the world long before the time of the first emperor and had always been mysterious. Even Imperial Preceptor had also consulted him for advice and the path. It was also through Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's vouch that he could become the empire's Grand Chancellor of Imperial College."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu slowly let out a murky breath. This news was simply too astonishing to him, making him unable to digest it in an instant.
Even though the empire's Grand Chancellor was a lower third-ranking official and didn't seem to be very high, the position was simply too important. Imperial College governed all the techniques and divine arts in the world, to select and edit them into scrolls. It could be said that it was the sacred grounds of martial arts and divine arts, a place of supreme learning.
Furthermore, Eternal Peace Empire's officials were all from Imperial College and every person who walked out of here was a student of the young patriarch. There was camaraderie as a master and disciples between the young patriarch and the students.
This official position was not high but its bully pulpit was just powerful!
Adding the hidden identity of the young patriarch into consideration, now that was very terrifying.
Fu Qingyun continued, "Since young master has come here, why don't you rest for a few days and find another day to go to Imperial College. However if young master wanted to enter Imperial College, you will have to pass some tests."
Qin Mu was bewildered, "What kind of test?"
"Imperial College is not a place anyone could just enter. You have to become an imperial scholar before you can enter."
Fu Qingyun smiled, "Patriarch's wish naturally is that young master has to become an imperial scholar first. The examinations for imperial scholars will soon begin. Young master will sit for the examinations with the other scholars from around the world. Once you complete the examinations, you will be able to enter."
"Much thanks, Sister Yun'er."
Qin Mu gave a sigh of relief and smiled, "I haven't found a place to stay yet so I'll stay here at Sister Yun'er's place for a few days."
Fu Qingyun whispered, "It's not that young master can't stay here, you'll have to guard against the few little hussies here. They have lots of intention and can't wait to climb over my head to become the cult mistress."
Qin Mu face turned bright red and mumbled, "There's actually this sort of thing?"
Fu Qingyun chuckled, "Young master, you won't be able to handle their instigation like this. Follow me, I will arrange the room for you."
The room Fu Qingyun arranged was very elegant. It was just that this room had been decorated like a female's accommodation, even the blanket was fragrant. Fu Qingyun immediately said, "This is where I rest. If young master is not satisfied, we can change another room."
"There's no need for that."
Qin Mu placed his backpack on the table. However, Fu Qingyun was still in the room and didn't leave. Biting her bright red lips, she asked gently, "Does young master still have any other instructions?"
"I've got nothing more, much thanks Sister Yun'er."
Just as Qin Mu finished his words, his backpack moved and a little white fox carrying a little backpack popped out. Fu Qingyun took a glance and immediately turned around to walk out, muttering to herself, "No wonder, he had brought his own little vixen…"
Hu Ling'er's body reeked of alcohol and Qin Mu frowned, "Ling'er, you have been secretly drinking in the backpack!"
"No!"
The white fox was drunk and suddenly gave a hiccup. She immediately shut her mouth but she gave another hiccup. She stood up with her two back legs and swayed, almost falling off from the table.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He took out an empty wine jar from the backpack and said, "You still say no? I've studied Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures these past few days and I have found a technique that's suitable for you. It's called Spirit Creation Technique. After completely comprehending this technique for a few days, I've decided to teach it to you and you ended up drunk again."
The fox on the table finally fell head first. Qin Mu carried her up and threw her onto the bed. Hu Ling'er hugged the pillow and fell asleep. Qin Mu was also very worn out from avoiding the chase of Dragon Rider Sect, thus he too fell into a deep sleep after lying down.
When night fell, he was awoken by hunger and he instantly woke up. However, he saw Hu Ling'er still asleep thus he didn't wake her up.
Qin Mu took out the toothpaste and wooden toothbrush from his backpack and washed up. Walking out of the room, there was a girl waiting outside and when she saw Qin Mu, her eyes lit up and smiled, "Young master has woken up. Sister knew young master must be hungry therefore she had prepared the dishes already and asked me to stay here to invite young master for dinner."
Qin Mu said his thanks and followed her to an elegant room in Rain Listening Pavilion. With bamboos beside the window, there was a pavilion, rock garden and pool past the bamboos, looking very serene.
Qin Mu sat down and the few girls walked in in a line and placed down the dishes. Soon there was a table filled with dishes. Outside the window, a maiden dressed in white carried her guqin and sat in the pavilion, playing it gently. A moment later, another few girls came over and there were some that carried pipa, some that carried long flute and some that carried guzheng as they sat there to perform.
Qin Mu was enthralled as he ate the food while watching and listening to the performance. He felt carefree and relax.
His gaze landed on the ten fingers of the girl who was playing the guqin and subconsciously put down his bowl and chopsticks. His fingers also started strumming by themselves. A while later, his gaze landed on the body of the pipa girl as he observed the skill of her fingers. He then looked at the finger skill of the flute girl as he reveled in it.
"Thunder Fingers Of The Pipa Player not only has to pluck but also has to flick, bow, hook, pick, struck, strum…"
Qin Mu's eyes became brighter and brighter. The finger skills of the girls who were playing in the pavilion made him more and more excited. Comparing them with Thunderclap Eight Strikes that he had cultivated, he only felt that his comprehension of the move, Thunder Fingers Of The Pipa Player, was becoming deeper and deeper. He had a feeling of understanding and was itching to jump in to play to his content!
Looking at the girls playing the instruments, he also had a desire to play as well. This desire burned more and more furiously. However, he didn't know much about temperament and didn't dare to offend these beautiful women without careful consideration.
However, that desire became more and more restless.
He was so enthralled that he had even forgotten to eat. His ten fingers were sometimes playing the guqin, sometimes fiddling the pipa, sometimes pressing onto the flute and sometimes strumming the guzheng.
The girls in the pavilion seemed to have noticed the youth behind the window. A girl said softly, "Sister Yue'er, young master is looking at you! I think he has taken a fancy to you!"
That girl lowered her head in embarrassment and didn't dare to lift it up.
Right at this moment, Qin Mu was finally so pleased and lost his sense of measure. Standing up and taking a big stride, he crashed through the window and came to the pavilion in a few steps. Without any explanation, he stretched out his hand and snatched the pipa from that Sister Yue'er's hand.
The girls in the pavilion actually thought that the young cult master was going to get rough and snatch the maiden. Never would they expect the young cult master did not snatch Sister Yue'er and instead, snatched her pipa away.
Qin Mu seemed to have entered a wonderful state. With the pipa in his arms, he gently strummed it. What came out wasn't a clear and melodious tune. It instead gave off crackling sounds of thunder splitting the sky, shocking all the girls!
Qin Mu lost himself in the pleasure and his ten fingers went up and down on the pipa. The claps of thunder became melodious music in his ears which messed up all the flute's sound, guqin's sound and guzheng's sound.
These girls had worked hard on the tune and right after they were messed up by the thunderclaps Qin Mu had strummed out, they quickly made some adjustments and played solemnly, trying to suppress the noise Qin Mu had made.
Deng! Deng! Deng!
The thunderclaps played by Qin Mu suddenly changed and became sonorous and powerful. It was like the clang of metal and stone with a majestic killing aura. It once again suppressed the tune of the girls with the weird noises from the pipa, causing everyone to look at each other in dismay.
The competitive spirits of these girls were instead ignited. The guqin girl gave a smack with her palm and her guqin was raised vertically on the floor. The guqin girl played the guqin like a harp. Her ten fingers went back and forth rapidly, causing the tempo of the music to become so fast that human's ears couldn't differentiate the flavors of the notes.
The flute girl also stood up and her footstep moved subconsciously. With every step, her loftiness grew and her flute sound became brighter. That temperament swept up flowers in a whirlwind upwards, wholeheartedly trying to suppress the weird noises Qin Mu had played.
At the side, a girl hugged a daruan and had streamers fluttering behind her which touched the floor from time to time, propping this girl in the sky, suppressing the weird noises Qin Mu made from the sky.
Another girl then ran out of the pavilion. A moment later, this girl pushed out a big yangqin and started to strike the yangqin. The temperament that the yangqin gave off was clear, fierce and actually had the momentum to turn into divine arts. The temperament pushed the girls in front of the yangqin to go along with it to suppress Qin Mu as well as the noise created by Qin Mu.
Another girl then ran out of the pavilion and a boom sounded out. That girl actually tore down the house and pushed out a bianzhong that had fifty-six bells of different sizes. That girl wielded a mallet and struck the bells, causing the bells to resonate loudly. The fifty-six bells all had their own tones which boomed towards Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was beside himself with joy and laughed loudly as he hugged the pipa. The tune that a pipa could play was very limited but in his hand, he had an atmosphere of a powerful army. It felt as if one had entered the slaughter grounds of devils and gods that was densely covered with dark clouds and lightning, with the mighty devils and gods in a full-on slaughter!
In his mind, no matter if it was the Thunderclap Eight Strikes that Old Ma had imparted to him, Village Chief's sword skill, Cripple's leg skills, Butcher's knife skills or Mute's hammer skills, they were all incorporated into his play.
The writings in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures that were related to temperament also surged into his mind at this instant, causing the sound of his pipa to hasten and his killing aura to grow heavier. Meanwhile, the god voice, devil voice, and buddha voice could be faintly heard together with the pipa sound.
Suddenly this pavilion couldn't handle the temperament of everyone and shattered into pieces. The girls and Qin Mu was about to fall in the pool when their vital qi burst forth at once and allow them to stand on the water.
As the girls traveled on the water, they revolved around Qin Mu continuously and the temperament became even more hurried and tight. Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and his pipa was raised vertically in the air. With his ten fingers dancing rapidly, the sound of the pipa hastened and blocked the tune coming from all directions.
Suddenly the pipa strings snapped off one by one and Qin Mu threw away the pipa. The girls became delighted, however, they saw the pool water suddenly floating upwards and become strings of water which surrounded Qin Mu. Qin Mu was no longer restricted by the size of the pipa and the water strings around him were strings he could strum. As he plucked the water strings, thunderclaps boomed out which caused the girls to sway from the tremors.
"What's the ruckus about?"
Fu Qingyun walked over and saw all the girls retreating step by step in defeat. Suddenly a girl laughed out loud and threw away her bamboo flute. She then started dancing along with Qin Mu's temperament as she abandoned all restraint in her messy clothes.
Fu Qingyun gave an astonished expression and went back to the house to take out her pipa at once, "Young master is comprehending a divine art, fall back sisters, let me lend him a helping hand!"
Just as she was saying that, all the girls were defeated and got controlled by Qin Mu's temperament. They sang and danced beautifully on the water, giving off smiles that were devilish.
Fu Qingyun shook her head repeatedly. The sound of her pipa rang out and suppressed the tune that Qin Mu had played using the flowing water. All the girls only regained their consciousness now and immediately bowed towards Fu Qingyun before retreating from the pool.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
"Young master's temperament seemed to have many things mixed in with it!"
Fu Qingyun gently plucked and slowly strummed, using a milder temperament to face the battle. She immediately tested out the things hidden in Qin Mu's temperament. There was god voice, Buddha voice and devil voice contained in Qin Mu's temperament which was very weird. There was also a killing aura going on a punitive expedition and seemed like it could cause a massacre as it sped along.
There were writings regarding temperament in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures of Heavenly Devil Cult, however, it wasn't as complicated and scattered like this. She could hear from Qin Mu's temperament that there was the temperament technique of Heavenly Devil Cult which was called Heavenly Devil Rainbow Raiment Tune, however, this was only a part of Qin Mu's temperament.
Apparently, Qin Mu had sunk into a wonderful state and couldn't free himself. He should be comprehending something that was even more profound and was trying to mix everything together.
Once Fu Qingyun was ascertained of Qin Mu's real intention, she felt reassured.
This kind of crazed state was extremely hard to get and only when one was in a deep level of comprehension could they access such a crazed state.
You don't succeed if you aren't crazy. You won't become Buddha if you aren't crazy.
Fu Qingyun held the pipa and the temperament burst forth from her fingers gradually grew urgent. She was trying to guide Qin Mu, to allow all his skills to converge together and complete their fusion.
The girls of Rain Listening Pavilion might act willfully when they had the battle of music with Qin Mu, but it had also been a great help to Qin Mu. The combative and high pressure had forced Qin Mu to continuously improve his temperament.
Whereas she used a method to guide and to oppose him, to allow Qin Mu to fuse better and faster.
She had extremely high attainments in temperament that far surpassed many girls in Rain Listening Pavilion. With her guidance and pressure, Qin Mu improved rapidly.
Qin Mu used Heavenly Devil Rainbow Raiment Tune and allowed her to benefit as well. Heavenly Devil Rainbow Raiment was a technique in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. Even though Fu Qingyun had learned it before, she didn't learn it completely. When she was guiding Qin Mu, she had also received Qin Mu's guidance at the same time, thus she managed to learn the parts in Heavenly Devil Rainbow Raiment Tune that she hadn't learned.
After some time, Fu Qingyun noticed that Qin Mu was gradually breaking free from his crazed state. The temperament of the two of them slowly conformed with each other as they played a song together in perfect harmony.
However, at this moment, a dozen of girls carried out a huge bell from the room. The bell was higher than a human with Hu Ling'er sitting on the top and shouting, "Let's strike the bell. We definitely can break his devil voice…"
Fu Qingyun stopped playing her instrument and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She then scolded, "Are you trying to kill young master? Stop fooling around and put back the bell!"
Those girls lowered their heads in disappointment and carried the bell back. Hu Ling'er was also disappointed. It was obvious she wasn't happy that she didn't get to use the big bell.
Qin Mu regained consciousness and looked at his surroundings in astonishment. Only now did he realize that he had created such a ruckus and apologized to Fu Qingyun at once.
"These little girls are insensible and almost delayed young master's cultivation. Young master, do not blame them."
Fu Qingyun smiled, "Young master hasn't eaten yet. You have been restless the whole night and the sky is almost bright."
Qin Mu immediately called the little fox spirit, the troublemaker, to eat together.
The youth in brocade clothes threw away the dishes that were not finished and took the empty plates to wash. The few girls saw it and tried to snatch the chore in a flurry, "How can young master do this kind of crude and lowly chores? Just leave it to us."
Qin Mu smiled, "There's no noble and lowly in the path so how can chores be noble or lowly? I have already finished washing. There's no need for all of you to dirty your hands again."
Fu Qingyun asked, "What realm is young master in now?"
With fire on both of his hands, Qin Mu evaporated the water beads on his hands and replied, "I'm still in Spirit Embryo Realm."
Fu Qingyun frowned slightly. Spirit Embryo Realm was a little too low and it would be very difficult to enter Imperial College. Even the scholars that Imperial College had made an exception to take in were normally martial arts practitioners who had awakened their Five Elements Divine Treasure.
With just Spirit Embryo Realm, it was probably impossible to pass Imperial College's examinations.
She had originally thought that Qin Mu at least was at Five Elements Realm. After all, when she saw Qin Mu three years ago, he was already at Spirit Embryo Realm. She didn't expect that Qin Mu had actually not improved for the past three years.
What she didn't know was that even though Qin Mu's realm didn't increase, his cultivation had instead increased by leaps and bounds. Furthermore, with his spirit embryo awakening the fourth time, his four great vital qi could circulate as he wished and the density of his vital qi was also outstanding among the martial arts practitioners.
"From now, there are still two days before Imperial College starts school. Young master should try as much as you can to break the wall, and succeed in two days time."
Even though Fu Qingyun had said so, she still felt a little worried in her heart. It was simply too forced for him to succeed in Wall Break in just two days. It was practically an impossible task.
Qin Mu nodded his head and smiled, "I will definitely succeed in Wall Break two days later."
Fu Qingyun drove the girls out and said, "Don't come and disturb young master for the next two days. Little fox, don't stay here as well. Let young master comprehend to his heart's delight."
Hu Ling'er could only follow them and leave. However, the girls told the little fox, "Sister Ling'er, let us teach you the skill of enticement. It's pretty interesting…"
When Qin Mu walked out of Great Ruins, he had been trying to break open his Five Element Divine Treasure to enter Five Elements Realm. After studying Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures for the past few days, he also pretty much had quite some understanding to it.
There are secrets to awakening Five Elements Divine Treasure in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. In the scriptures, it stated, "To forget the form and raise qi into golden liquid, to accept with philosophical calm whatever fate may be. To forget the form and transform it into qi then into spirit, to pass through the three passes of thus avenue."
"Purple red palace the scorching moon furnace, spirit embryo the silent great profound altar. Cinnabar the scarlet phoenix's blood, mercury the black tortoise's liver.
"Gold lead chose to classify as clay pot, wood mercury flew off to reside in mud ball. Magnificent pond right in the sea of qi, divine room right in the yellow court."
The golden liquid was the golden light in Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. Qin Mu had already created his Silent Great Profound Altar in his spirit embryo. The golden sea in his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure was already emptied and with his vital qi circulating, he had already formed the marking of the profound altar below his spirit embryo.
All that was left now was to form a profound altar using vital qi formations in his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. The center of the profound altar would be his spirit embryo.
Five Elements Divine Treasure was also called Five Phases Divine Treasure. It was located between two breasts, where the heart was. This was why the heart was also called the purple-red palace.
The cinnabar and mercury in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were all metaphors. Cinnabar referred to fire, mercury referred to water, lead was gold, wood mercury was wood and clay pot was earth, which corresponded to the five elements. They were Fire Element Mars, Water Element Mercury, Gold Element Venus, Wood Element Jupiter and Earth Element Saturn.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had stated that in order to open Five Elements Divine Treasure, the positions of the stars must be set.
The positions of the stars meant that the five elements in the sky should correspond to the five elements in Five Elements Divine Treasure of the human body. With everyone having different body constitution, different growth and different gender, this resulted in different positions of the five elements in the Five Elements Divine Treasure.
Therefore he required the help of the five elements in the sky to calculate the five elements in his body, to determine the positions of the stars and used his vital qi to break through.
Qin Mu took out a thick stack of papers from his backpack as well as a charcoal pencil and an abacus. Beside him was ten books of 'Computational Canons'. Qin Mu flipped the papers and on each page was filled with densely packed calculations. He was using the fundamental methods to calculate the positions of the five elements and after these few days, he was finally reaching the end.
The abacus clacked non-stop and when the sun was finally high in the sky, Qin Mu stretched his body and stood up to move his limbs.
On the first sheet of paper was a heart drawn by him. Beside the heart was numerous calculations that were closed together. Five lines were then drawn out which surrounded the heart in a pentagon shape. Every corner was marked out with a gold, wood, water, fire and earth attributes.
Qin Mu used the principles of mutual creation and destruction among the five elements to calculate the positions of the stars. He finally calculated out the exact location of his purple-red palace.
Qin Mu exercised his body and started to move slowly. Executing his vital qi, he let his vital qi course vigorously through his body and at the same time, whenever his vital qi passed by his spirit embryo, it became more and more boundless. Qin Mu walked faster and faster and gradually a wind was raised in the room. The wind grew bigger and bigger, blowing open the doors and windows. Qin Mu just walked out of the building and came to the courtyard without regards to other as he scampered around endlessly.
Finally, as his vital qi was circulated to its maximum, his spirit embryo on the profound altar stood up in his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. Raising both his hands to the sky, each hand had five strands of vital qi surging into the sky of the divine treasure. With the two converging into one, they turned into five stars.
The five stars were connected to each other with vital qi. With their sides and corners connected to each other, they formed a pentagon. The pentagon then gradually turned bright and shone down like a mirror with a hum in his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, opening the Conception and Governor vessels. As it continued shining down his throat, the light shone down with a hum onto his ventricle.
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth boundlessly and surged down the path of light, striking onto the place where the light was shining on.
A rumble rang out beside his ears and a formless door was opened in his ventricle. That formless wall was shattered into pieces by his vital qi and vanished without a trace. A divine treasure was hereby awakened!
A god voice sounded in his mind but before it could interfere with his vital qi circulation, his Five Elements Divine Treasure was already opened!
Qin Mu stopped in his steps. The accumulation for the past half a month was transformed into this single copious strike. It really was refreshing to his heart's content!
"Why didn't young master cultivate in silence and had instead come out?" Fu Qingyun walked over and grumbled slightly.
Qin Mu opened his eyes. His aura was continuously rising and his cultivation became denser and denser. He then smiled and said, "I've broken the Wall."
Fu Qingyun's heart leaped and stared at him with a look of disbelief. She muttered, "W-what did young master break?"
"I have broken the Wall of my Five Elements Divine Treasure." Qin Mu smiled.
Fu Qingyun felt light-headed, "But, I had just left your room…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
According to Fu Qingyun's experience, the normal speed for Wall Break required more than one try. Some people even needed to try a few thousand times before they could break the Wall and succeed in Wall Break.
Calculating out the stars positions was one thing and Wall Break was another.
Five Elements Wall Break required one to impact the Wall again and again with his vital qi to create a small crack on it and then to expand the crack slowly to finally break the Wall completely. Only then could it be considered a success when the Wall was completely unable to regenerate.
Qin Mu immediately succeeded in Wall Break right after she had just left. That was very rare.
"Unless…"
Fu Qingyun's heart leaped. Unless Qin Mu's vital qi was abnormally vigorous. This way he could be able to succeed in Wall Break with just one try.
"Young master, let us purely use vital qi to clash with our palms."
Fu Qingyun saw that he was puzzled and immediately smiled, "I'll close my other divine treasures and leave only my Spirit Embryo and Five Elements open. I just want to test how profound Young master's cultivation is."
Qin Mu nodded his head. Their palms touched and the vital qi of each other burst forth. Fu Qingyun gave a grunt and sound of wind whooshed past her ears. The scenery in front of her eyes changed continuously as she flew backward and crashed through a few buildings and a few high walls before stopping the impetus and got embedded on a wall.
Covered in dirt, she broke free from the wall and raised her head to take a look. She saw that she was about a hundred and thirty yards away from Qin Mu. In between them were a few buildings and walls that had huge human-shaped holes created by him. Through the holes, she could see Qin Mu and couldn't help having a lingering fear in her heart.
What she used was her strength from Five Elements Realm and it was only a clash with Qin Mu's vital qi, she didn't expect that the difference between them would be so huge. It couldn't help making her slight dejected.
Blow, it was really a huge blow to her!
However, she soon regained her state of mind and thought to herself, "He's our sacred cult's young cult master after all, it's perfectly logical for him to have this kind of cultivation. Furthermore, in the contest at Disabled Elderly Village, he had already ruthlessly defeated me."
Qin Mu immediately came forward. Fu Qingyun smiled, "I'm fine. Young master's cultivation is abnormally vigorous as expected. Patriarch and Cult Mistress wasn't wrong in their judgment. There was still a day and a half to the opening of Imperial College. Young master had better stabilize your realm."
Qin Mu understood. With the success of Five Elements Wall Break and the awakening of another divine treasure, there were some new transformations happening in his body and he had yet to check them.
Fu Qingyun looked around and laughed bitterly to herself. Ever since Qin Mu came here, Rain Listening Pavilion had suffered disasters after disasters. It was either the pavilion getting wrecked or the buildings getting holed.
"He's the young cult master after all, tearing places down wherever he goes. Luckily he will leave my place two days later and go tear down Imperial College. En, Patriarch is going to have a headache and I can finally relax…"
Qin Mu didn't know she harbored the thoughts of him tearing down Imperial College and went back into his room. The youth sat down quietly and his consciousness slipped into his Five Elements Divine Treasure. In the divine treasure was a starry sky and there were five huge stars shining. Other than that it was complete darkness.
"Five Elements Divine Treasure is actually completely different from Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure."
Qin Mu was astonished. There was no cultivation technique for Five Elements Divine Treasure in his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. This gave him a slight headache.
He had seen the cultivation pictures of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. There were only the first two pictures and the third one was incomplete. Qin Mu tried his best to remember that incomplete picture. In the incomplete picture, there were indeed stars but other than the five stars, there were also five gods. Each of them had his own design and his own path of vital circulation.
However, more than half of the picture was destroyed and the specific path of circulation was already blurred with age.
Qin Mu composed himself and his consciousness floated. In the high and chilly starry sky, his consciousness planned to float its way up to one of the stars.
However, as his consciousness flew, the star actually seemed to be flying away as well. The distance between him and the star always stayed the same far.
Qin Mu frowned and tried to fly to the other stars. Those stars also flew away as he tried to get close to them.
"What is going on?"
Qin Mu was stumped. He wanted to see if there were the five gods in the cultivation pictures on the stars. However, now that he couldn't reach the stars, he could only drop it.
His consciousness remained in his Five Elements Divine Treasure. He executed his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and instantly saw a strange transformation. Suddenly an orange star started to tremble and a fire red glow shot straight out from the star and onto Qin Mu's consciousness with a buzz.
Qin Mu instantly felt his consciousness flooded with energy that was blazing like fire. That energy was changing the structure of his consciousness and allowed his consciousness to have a physical body!
Under the prompts of the flame, legs grew out from his consciousness, followed by arms and head. In just a short while, his consciousness merged with the peculiar energy and he became a queer being with a human face and bull body!
Qin Mu was blank. He lowered his head to have a look and saw that his body was a scarlet bullock and there was a bull's tail that was grown behind his buttocks. His front was bare and on the tip of his tail was a tuft of long fur.
Qin Mu swayed his tail and his tail ended up whipping on his large and firm buttocks, giving off a burning sensation.
His two legs were bull's legs and his thighs were sturdy and strong. They were as thick as elephant's legs however his shanks were very slender. His feet were bull's hooves.
Not only that, the glow that shot out from the fire element star was still gathering and formed two fire dragons with fierce claws and teeth under his feet!
Fire god!
Qin Mu's heart leaped. He had seen similar sculptures in the divine temples in Border Dragon City. The people of Great Ruins worshipped sculptures of this form as the fire god.
However, the energy surging from the fire element star wasn't strong. The body that had formed off his consciousness was only a faint apparition.
"Could this be the Fire Element Divine Treasure in my Five Elements Divine Treasure? In that case, what about the other elements…"
Just as Qin Mu thought of this, another sky blue star also suddenly trembled. An aqua blue glow shot down from that star and landed on his 'body' with a buzz!
At the same time, the other three stars with different colors trembled and each of them had its own glow shining down, landing on his body one after another.
Qin Mu gave a grunt and his fire god form immediately started to fall apart, and at the same time, the other forms started rising. However, the attributes of the energies shot from the five stars were completely different and not only were they different, they even countered and restrained each other. They clashed together in his consciousness and obliterated each other in the clash!
Boom!
A loud explosion sounded out and Qin Mu's consciousness which had entered his Five Elements Divine Treasure was obliterated in the explosion. Qin Mu's eyes blacked out and fainted.
When he woke up, he realized he was lying on a bed and Hu Ling'er was placing a warm, moisturizing towel on his forehead. Meanwhile, his head was so painful that it felt like it was a watermelon smashed on the floor, splitting apart.
In front of the bed, a few girls stood there with concerned expressions.
"Young master seemed to have suffered from qi deviation. Luckily Ling'er discovered it earlier and called us."
Fu Qingyun had a worried look and said, "Young master, I had already called people to brew the medicine and it would be ready soon. However, the institution would open in two days and I'm afraid Young master wouldn't be able to make it. Qi deviation required more than ten days of recuperation…"
Outside the door, two girls were brewing the medicine and the fragrance of the medicine floated over. Qin Mu struggled to get up and took a sniff of the fragrance before saying, "I have injured my consciousness and my spirit is damaged. The medicine you are brewing is the right prescription, however, it lacks pond monkshood. Pick two mace of pond monkshood… Carry me up, let me brew the medicine."
Fu Qingyun was astonished. This young cult master actually knew how to brew medicine?
She was skeptical and ordered her girls to grab the herbs. She raised Qin Mu and found out that Qin Mu's consciousness was frail and it was hard for him to move, therefore she ordered people to carry the medicine furnace and furnace fire in.
Qin Mu endured his headache and executed his vital qi to lift up the medicine furnace. He shook it gently and the medicine furnace landed on the ground, however, the water and the herbs inside the furnace floated in the air by his vital qi. The girl who had grabbed the herbs came back and threw the pond monkshood into it at once.
Qin Mu's hand technique changed irregularly and soon he had mixed all medicinal properties together and with a gently pluck, the medicinal dregs automatically dropped out from the water. The water vapor then evaporated and a few red pellets were left.
Qin Mu took the red pellets and pushed out the medicinal energy. His headache gradually lessened, however, sometimes he still had the head-splitting pain from time to time, "I have to brew another set of medicine tomorrow morning and I'll completely recover."
The girls in the room were astonished. Qin Mu's technique of brewing medicine was pure and simple yet ever-changing, dazzling their eyes.
Suffering from qi deviation wasn't a small matter. Was this medicine really that effective, to be able to help him recover in half a day?"
"Without an advancement in technique, it looks like I won't be able to cultivate my Five Elements Divine Treasure and make the power of the divine treasure my own cultivation."
Qin Mu recovered his strength and stood up with a smile, "I got hasty and caused sisters to be worried."
"Young master is skilled in the art of healing, do you have knowledge in gynecology?" A girl suddenly asked.
Qin Mu said, "As long it involves medical skill, I know everything."
The girl's expression turned slightly red, "I have slight pain in my womb. I don't know if young master…"
Qin Mu checked her pulse and smiled, "Small issue, your inner qi lacks proper care and you have a slight cold womb. Let me write out a prescription for you."
A girl immediately came forward and passed him brush and ink. Qin Mu picked up the brush and wrote down a prescription, "This medicine is Womb Warming Pill. You take it and It will nurse your inner qi and break the root of the illness."
The eyes of the remaining girls in the room lit up. The guqin girl whose face was red from embarrassment asked in a soft voice, "Young master, I also have a little problem…"
"Young master, take a look at me too!"
"Young master, my menstruation is irregular…"
...
Fu Qingyun's head became oversized and she shouted, "Young master was just suffered from qi deviation and had yet completely recovered. All of you stop making a racket and let young master rest quietly!"
Qin Mu smiled, "It's no bother. I can't train after getting suffering from qi deviation. It just so happens that I can help the sisters to nurse their bodies while I'm resting. It doesn't take much energy. Furthermore, I eat and stay here in Sister Yun'er's place, and how could I not repay everyone for your taking care of me?"
The girls were delighted and lined them up. Qin Mu diagnosed their conditions and wrote out prescriptions for them one by one. The pipa girl saw Fu Qingyun still in the room and smiled, "Sister, why are you still here?"
Fu Qingyun sneered. After a while, she came forward and stretched her hand out and bit her lips, saying in a low voice, "Young master, my cultivation may be high but there are some problems with my body. For the past few months, I suffered from red dragon imbalance. Sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn't…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu checked her pulse and said, "Four months ago when sister was cultivating, did a side stitch hit you? It was a problem from then."
Fu Qingyun nodded her head repeatedly, "A side stitch did hit me once. I thought it was a small problem, therefore, I didn't put it to heart."
Unknowingly the night had fallen and the decorative lanterns were raised in the capital city, brightening it like daytime. The so-called flower street and willow alley were where famous scholars of capital city would frequent. There were also high officials and noble persons that would usually visit at night. Flower Alley wasn't only a place to sell bodies. The later at night it got, the more they weren't selling their bodies but their arts. The beauties of Flower Alley knew the four arts and could sing, dance and recite poems. This could extremely touch the hearts of nobles.
However, tonight, the cathouses in Flower Alley were empty and maidens were all queuing up in the alley. There were none providing services in the cathouse and when the clients, all the most distinguished people in the capital city, asked for their familiar maidens, they were told, "Here in Rain Listening Pavilion comes a divine physician in gynecology and the sisters are all queuing up to see him. They've no time to earn a living. May young masters come back tomorrow."
"A divine physician in gynecology came to Flower Alley?"
Outside the alley, an elder in civilian clothes came out from a sedan and said in astonishment, "Go and ask around about the divine physician's medical expertise."
After some time, a servant came back to report, "Old master, the ladies in Flower Alley all said he was very good and his medical expertise is a miracle."
The elder in civilian clothes muttered to himself irresolutely and an advisor beside him said in a low voice, "Old master must be thinking about that person in the palace…"
"There are ears everywhere. Do not speak too much."
The elder in civilian clothes gave a sigh and continued, "That person in the palace has been plagued by an illness for a long time. Even the Imperial Physician could do nothing about it and couldn't even make a diagnosis. We could only hope to find a divine physician that could extend her life but I'm afraid time is running out. Words are not proof. Summon Imperial Physician Xiao over and let him test this divine physician of Flower Alley."
"Understood!"
Not long later, Imperial Physician Xiao arrived and bowed, "Old Lord, what for have you summoned me here?"
"There's no need for formalities outside Flower Alley."
The elder in civilian clothes explained, "There in Flower Alley comes a divine physician. Could I request Lord Xiao to check on his abilities to see if he has the capability to cure that person in the palace?"
Imperial Physician Xiao had a full head of white hair but his eyebrows were green and his eyes were bloodshot. He sneered, "How would Flower Alley have any divine physician? There is merely just a cheat that is angling for fame and cheating women and children. why do we have to see him?"
The elder in civilian clothes frowned and Imperial Physician's heart leaped. He immediately said, "Old Lord, I have no need to see him, I just need to see the prescriptions he has written out." Once he finished saying, he snatched the prescription from a lady from Flower Alley who had just seen the physician. Taking a look, he sneered, "Take a look, Old Lord. The herbs in his prescription are all the cheapest herbs. How could someone with this kind of skill see that person in the palace?"
The elder in civilian replied calmly and slowly, "Herbs, expensive or cheap, are all equal. They are all items to save lives. The women of Flower Alley are not nobles and don't have much money. To be able to use cheap herbs to cure illness is then a real ability. You and I shall go in to take a look. You test him."
Imperial Physician grudgingly accepted and followed him into Flower Alley. Flower Alley was very deep and inside were all women of the cathouses queuing up to see the physician. The two of them finally squeezed into the Rain Listening Pavilion with great difficulty and when they entered the pavilion, they only saw a handsome youth in brocade clothes seeing the patients.
Imperial Physician Xiao sneered, "Look at him, merely fourteen to fifteen years old and he's already roamed around to cheat money. Now can Old Lord give up already? Look at his pulse condition, even though it's deep, it becomes unstable from time to time. This means that he has qi deviation. For someone that can't even cure himself, he still dares to come out and cheat people! Old Lord, we can go back now."
The elder in civilian clothes replied impassively, "I told you to go, so go."
Imperial Physician Xiao could only go forward. He pushed aside the girls and just sat down in front of Qin Mu. He stretched out his palm and said with a booming voice, "Check what illness do I have?"
Qin Mu was startled and raised his head to take a look at this elder. He didn't check his pulse and just said with a solemn expression, "Old mister, you're seriously ill!"
Imperial Physician Xiao sneered and stood up, "You cheat! How dare you…"
"You're an apothecary, aren't you?"
Qin Mu continued, "There are thousands of medicine odors on your body and you have surrounded yourself with medicines for years, breathing in their medicinal properties. Furthermore, you prescribed for yourself and frequently bathed in medicinal baths. You also took many spirit pills and miracle medicines made by yourself. However, you aren't proficient in your medicinal expertise and couldn't take care of the poison in the medicine. Now there are hundreds of poisons accumulated in your body. Your eyebrows are green and eyes are red. This means that the poison has soaked into your skin and reached deep into your eyes. At this stage, you can't be saved. There's nothing I can do about your illness, only the king of hell can save you now."
Imperial Physician Xiao flew into a rage. He was so angry that he gave a smile and asked, "Little apothecary, so how long more can I live?"
Qin Mu hesitated and replied, "If you didn't rage, you could still live a while longer. If you raged and the fury attacked your heart, the poison would attack your heart. With the fusion of the medicinal properties, you still have ten…"
Imperial Physician Xiao became even more furious and said coldly, "You said I still have ten days left to live? What happens if I don't die in ten days?"
Qin Mu frowned and continued, "Nine, eight, seven…"
Imperial Physician couldn't control his rage and his aura burst forth, shattering the desk in front of Qin Mu. He then sneered, "Are you saying I would die now? If I don't die, I will make you die!"
"Three, two, one."
Just as Qin Mu said the word "one", Imperial Physician Xiao felt a stabbing pain in his heart as if his heart was being torn apart. His cultivation instantly lost control and the skin on his whole body burst apart. Blood spurted out like a waterfall and he became a bloody man. His body then festered and turned into a pile of pus.
"I can't save you."
Qin Mu shook his head, "You shouldn't have raged. This is what happens when you anyhow take medicines made by yourself but you aren't proficient in your medical expertise. Sister Yun'er, do I have to report this corpse to the officials?"
A commotion brewed inside Flower Alley and the elder in civilian clothes was also shocked. He nodded his head silently and turned his way to leave Flower Alley.
This commotion was soon over and Qin Mu did not continue to see other patients. He instead returned to his room to rest.
The next day, he cured his own illness caused by qi deviation and eliminated all further illness. Only then did he started to see patients again and soon a long queue was once again formed in Flower Alley. Fu Qingyun was secretly worried, instead of a cathouse, her place had now become a clinic.
When afternoon came, Fu Qingyun immediately said, "Young master, tomorrow is the day for Imperial examinations. You can't see patients anymore. You should leave some energy to handle tomorrow's exams!"
Qin Mu nodded his head and replied, "You're right. I'll cure these people after the imperial examinations then."
Fu Qingyun didn't know whether to laugh or cry and told him in a low voice, "Young master, your job is not an apothecary!"
Qin Mu replied, "I'm not simply curing their illness. Even though I have learned a lot in regards to the art of healing, my experience is still not extensive. Curing these people helps me to gain my experience as well. Staying in Great Ruins for over ten years, Grandpa Apothecary had taught me countless of medical knowledge but I had no chance to put it into practice. And now, in just over a day, I have managed to test thousands of medical logic."
Fu Qingyun's head started to ache. How could the young cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult be like a wandering doctor, seeing all the cathouses" girls as patients?
Finally, it was the day of Imperial College's examinations. Qin Mu left Flower Alley early in the morning and asked for directions to Imperial College along his way.
"Imperial College is on top of the mountain in the city's central!
Qin Mu came to the gate of Imperial College and raised his head to take a look, exclaiming to himself in admiration. Imperial College was the supreme institution of the empire and it was imposing. This institution was actually built on a jade mountain and this mountain was situated at the heart of the Nine Dragons Mountain Ranges, the position of the pearl held in the dragons" mouth.
Nine dragons holding the dragon pearl together, one could imagine how wonderful it looked.
The qi's of the nine dragons were gathered here and it was naturally the spirit of the place. The dragons" qi had caused the entire mountain body to become jade.
There were many palaces on the mountain that were either green tiled or red tiled. The place near the palace also had several huge ships berthed in the sky and had yet to furl their sails.
At this moment, there were thousands of scholars from all around the world gathered in front of the mountain, waiting to enter Imperial College. Under the majestic mountain, there were over ten official registrars registering the origins and schools of the scholars attending the imperial examinations.
Qin Mu queued up and when it was his turn to register, the sun was already high up in the sky.
Qin Mu took out his travel permit and said, "Student is from Lizhou Prefecture…"
"No no, he's not from Lizhou Prefecture!"
Suddenly a fat and short youth squeezed past Qin Mu and smiled, "He's the same as me. We're from River Tomb. Lord Registrar, write down River Tomb!"
The registrar raised his head and sneered, "I write according to the place written on the travel permit. You can't anyhow change the census register."
The youth was Wei Yong and when he saw Qin Mu's registered name and census, he became vexed, "That's terrible. We are from the same ship. If you are also from River Tomb, it would be even easier for you to enter Imperial College."
Qin Mu was bewildered, "Why so?"
Wei Yong glanced around and whispered, "Didn't you hear the news? The scholars from River Tomb had mostly died on the way here. Other than our ship that was attacked by Dragon Rider Sect, other people who had traveled by land and sky were all attacked. The ones that lived to get to the capital city were merely a few. It is said that the rebelled sects had ruthlessly planned to make Imperial Preceptor lose face. After all, Imperial Preceptor was from River Tomb…"
"What school are you from? How's your cultivation?"
Qin Mu replied, "I'm homeschooled thus from no school. I have just reached Five Elements Realm two days ago."
The registrar shook his head, "Just reach Five Elements Realm and you still dare to come and take the exams…"
After Qin Mu and Wei Yong were done registering, they went through the mountain gate. There were many scholars squeezed here as they waited. When all the scholars were registered in the books, they heard a Daoist announced in a loud voice, "All divine arts practitioner move up the mountain, and the rest shall stay."
Not long later, only martial arts practitioners of the Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realms were left under the mountain. There were about two thousand people.
That middle-aged Daoist brought people into the mountains, and they didn't go far, a steep cliff that was over a hundred yards tall welcomed them.
There were no steps up the steep cliff and there was no ropeway up. They would either have to fly or run up. If one could be able to leap over a hundred yards, they could also jump up.
"If you can't go up, go home." The middle-aged Daoist stood beside the steep cliff and told the scholars from all over the world coldly.
"Isn't this simple?"
A scholar moved back a few steps and exerted power in his legs to sprint toward the cliff, trying to run up to the peak. However, just as his feet landed on the wall of the cliff, he slipped and smacked onto the jade wall with a splat, his blood spurting out from his head.
That entire wall was flawless fine jade. His blood landed on the wall of the cliff and actually slid down, not leaving any stain.
The scholars under the cliff all trembled in their hearts, "So slippery!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
That cliff was so slippery and could literally not be stepped on. It was impossible to run it up!
Not all scholars had learned the art of flying and if they wanted to jump up the cliff, the difficulty would be extremely high. In addition, these people were also in Spirit Embryo and Five Elements Realms. With their realms not there yet, they were unable to learn divine arts.
Just this wall alone could probably eliminate more than half of the scholars.
However, many scholars who had learned the art of flying started to fly up the mountain cliff and passed this stage with ease. However, they were the minority. There were also many scholars who decided to sprint up the cliff and all of them broke their heads as they sprawled on the cliff without exception.
The scholars who had never learned the art of flying frowned hugely. Some of them tried to jump up the mountain cliff. However, with the cliff being over a hundred yards tall, who had such a strong physique to jump it up?
Many of the people could only jump halfway before they fell back down. As for the scholars who fell back down, they were disqualified and chased out of the mountain.
"Isn't it easy going up the cliff?"
Wei Yong went forward and chuckled, "All of you only thought about running up, jumping up and flying up. Why didn't you think of pulling yourself up?"
He had a chubby head and huge ears but his thinking was exceptionally flexible. He actually tied his vital qi thread to his swords and controlled his swords to fly up to the top of the cliff first. Wei Yong controlled ten vital qi threads and used these vital qi threads to grip onto the top of the cliff. He then slowly tightened the vital qi threads and pulled himself up the cliff little by little. When he nearly reached the top, his chubby palms hooked onto the wall of the cliff and flipped himself up the top of the cliff. He waved toward Qin Mu below, "Brother Qin, try pulling yourself up as well?"
"There's no need."
Qin Mu bent his legs so much that he almost squatted on the floor. The power in his legs burst forth along with his vital qi and his body whizzed upward. He leaped a hundred and twenty yards upwards and landed beside Wei Yong with a boom.
Wei Yong jumped in shock and looked down with astonishment, "Brother, what you cultivated are battle techniques right? That's right, what you used was a knife. Your battle technique abilities are truly remarkable!"
Under the mountain cliff, the hundreds of scholars were all stupefied.
That middle age Daoist nodded his head and wrote a "battle" word beside Qin Mu's name. He then wrote another "wit" beside Wei Yong's name.
Wei Yong's method was somewhat an opportune shortcut and the scholars below were enlightened. Ideas flowed into their minds and they started to use sword control or other techniques to make their vital qi threads hang on the mountain cliff, helping them to climb the cliff in this way.
The number of people on top of the cliff grew more and more. Meanwhile, Qin Mu and Wei Yong continued forward. Even though it was a jade summit, there were still hills, springs, waterfall, and greenery here, looking very serene. There were even birds and animals, however, the birds and animals here looked different and were abnormally huge. Furthermore, they usually grew scales and feathers. They should have absorbed the dragons' qi from the nine dragons' veins and therefore it caused an alienation.
"Please stop, scholars!"
They came to the first great hall of Imperial College. This great hall was extremely wide, spanning three hundred yards left and right. The platform in front of the great hall was also extremely wide and could fit several thousand people. Qin Mu looked around and the divine arts practitioners that had gone up the mountain earlier weren't here. The examinations for the divine arts practitioners should be different from them.
In front of the great hall stood ninety-nine Daoists and behind every Daoist stood a god. These were gods formed by their vital qi. They only had the upper halves of their bodies floating in the air, looking very sturdy and majestic.
"Awesome!"
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. The abilities of the ninety-nine Daoists were extraordinary. Making the vital qi have a form, they were probably close to the Celestial Being Realm. The power of every Daoist was probably no inferior to the hall masters of Heavenly Devil Cult!
As expected of Imperial College which was famous for being the number one sacred ground for supreme learning!
These ninety-nine Daoists still had yet reached Border Dragon City Lord's level. The apparition of the heavenly god with eight arms and eight heads behind Fu Yundi's body was complete and looked real, which was incomparably terrifying. It was clear that these Daoists were a level or two below Fu Yundi.
"However, why are the gods these ninety-nine Daoists have formed with their vital qi completely the same?"
Qin Mu frowned. If their ins and outs were found out by their opponents, wouldn't they be slain by their enemies however they liked?
"This kind of Daoists, granny can kill ten with one hand!" The youth thought to himself.
Imperial Preceptor popularised primary school and college; however, there was also its disadvantage and that was the martial arts and divine arts they taught were very homogeneous. Qin Mu started to feel that sects also had their own good points. After all, what each and every sect taught and was good at was different, and this resulted in the diversity of martial arts and divine arts.
Of course, the effect of primary school and college was still extremely powerful. It could allow the talents of many more scholars not to be cramped and thwarted. After all, disciples that were accepted by sects previously were only a minority. Now having primary schools and colleges everywhere, talented people came forth in large number.
These ninety-nine Daoists stood there without moving. Suddenly the gods behind their backs which were formed by the vital qi floated out and landed on the circular platforms in front of the great hall.
The Daoist in front said with a deep voice, "Scholars from all around the world, form groups of ten, divide into rows and come forward. Unleash your most powerful moves and attack the gods' apparitions in front of you! You can use any method, no matter if it's the god path, devil path or the Buddha path, unleash to your heart's content and nothing is prohibited! The gods' apparitions would also attack you and only one shall remain among the ten. The last one standing on the stage would pass the test."
The scholars in front of the great hall went into an uproar. To defend against the attacks of the gods' apparitions and one shall remain among the ten, this test was much crueler than the previous test. The test to climb the cliff had already disqualified half of the scholars and this test was actually going to disqualify ninety percent of the scholars!
Everyone became frenetic and people split into groups to go up the stage. Wei Yong moved far away from Qin Mu at once and went up another stage.
Qin Mu stood on the stage and not long later, there were ten people already on the circular platform he was on. Meanwhile, the other ninety-eight platforms all had ten scholars each.
"Begin!" a Daoist shouted.
Before the sound of his voice had died away, the ninety-nine gods' apparitions moved at once and attacked the scholars on the stages and the scholars all tried to defend against the attacks!
At this moment, Qin Mu's body motion was like a phantom as he dodged the attack of the god's apparition and sprinted on the circular stage. Nine explosions sounded out one after another as nine figures flew off the stage.
The scholars that were on the same stage with him were all smacked away by him before they could even be forced off the stage by the god's apparition!
On the circular stage, the god's apparition that was attacking Qin Mu suddenly stopped and remained motionless.
"You've passed." In front of the hall, the ninety-nine Daoists gave off an astonished expression while the Daoist in the lead solemnly said.
Qin Mu bowed to him and walked down the stage. The Daoist had a heavy expression and spoke softly to the Daoists beside him, "I see that this youth is corrupted at heart and has a slightly demonic nature. The other people on the stage were working together to withstand the attacks of the god's apparition and only he laid his hands on the others."
Just as he said that, startled cries sounded from other stages. The other scholars were following Qin Mu's example and also attacking the scholars that were on the same stage with them while they were being attacked by the gods' apparitions. In just a short while, hundreds of people were forced off the circular stages.
Not long later, this test had ended and only a hundred people were left. The scholars that could pass were all of Five Elements Realm and no scholars of Spirit Embryo Realm were able to pass. Qin Mu took a look and saw Wei Yong had also passed successfully. The cultivation of this chubby youth was indeed very profound, as expected of a scholar that came from the Wei Family of River Tomb.
Many Daoists were startled. They had completely not expected that a perfectly designed examination had turned out this way.
A moment later, a Daoist shouted loudly, "All scholars that have passed enter the hall while the rest of the scholars leave the mountain."
Qin Mu and the other scholars walked towards the great hall in front; however, he kept feeling that there were gazes fixed upon him attentively. Looking back, he saw the gazes of all ninety-nine Daoists landing on him.
Qin Mu adjusted his clothes and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. He then gave a radiant smile back to the Daoists and walked into the great hall.
"Demonic, demonic!" Behind him, the ninety-nine Daoists said in unison.
The Daoist in the lead wrote down his evaluation behind Qin Mu's name and threw the name register into the air. In the sky, a crane flew past and held the name register in its mouth. It then flew past the great hall and went towards the mountains.
"Such a demonic youth, it's best to eliminate him on the way to prevent him from harming our Imperial College and ruining the Imperial College's reputation! Hope that the examiners behind could disqualify him!"
Qin Mu and the various scholars went into the great hall but they still didn't see the batch of Six Directions Realm's scholars that had gone up the mountain first. These scholars were all divine arts practitioners so the contents of their examinations must be different from them.
Qin Mu looked at the surroundings and saw some murals on the pillars of this great hall. There were hundreds and thousands of strange murals, making him puzzled, "What is this test about?"
Wei Yong smiled, "Imperial College tests different things every year so no one would know what they are testing. If we knew what they were going to test us, it wouldn't be so difficult to enter Imperial College."
Qin Mu nodded his head. Suddenly his heart trembled slightly. The murals on these pillars were actually vital qi circulation diagrams of some techniques!
Every picture was the circulation route for different techniques!
He looked at them one by one and his heart was rather shocked. For Imperial College to carve the circulation diagrams of techniques here, aren't they a little too at ease? Aren't they afraid that others might pry on them?
"The vital qi circulation diagrams in this hall are all incomplete diagrams."
A scholar beside him said, "Every technique is incomplete. I've heard that the empire's Grand Chancellor had searched the entire world for these incomplete techniques and carved them here."
Qin Mu suddenly noticed a picture and his heart pumped violently for a second. This picture was the circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!
Then he frowned. This picture should be the circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique at the Six Directions Realm and wasn't the circulation diagram of Five Elements Realm which he needed the most.
"Could it be that Patriarch had found the circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique somewhere, therefore, he had carved it here? In that case, does Patriarch know the other circulation diagrams? No matter what, I'll have to become an imperial scholar of Imperial College to see Patriarch!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu memorized diligently and committed the Six Directions Realm's circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique on the pillar to memory. He had got the Five Elements Realm's incomplete diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique in Doom Suppression Palace, and together with the Six Directions Realm's circulation diagram, the portion that he couldn't understand in the incomplete diagram gradually became clear. However, it was still pretty impossible to patch the incomplete diagram.
Since that the young patriarch had seen the circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, he might also have the Five Elements Realm's incomplete diagram with him. Even if it was incomplete as well, it might be able to patch the incomplete diagram that Qin Mu knew.
This concerned his cultivation and he must be diligent.
Suddenly a monk came out from the back of the hall and asked solemnly, "Where are the scholars from River Tomb? River Tomb's scholars, step forward. There's no need for you to take this test, wait at the next test."
Wei Yong stared blankly and walked out with two other scholars. As they walked towards the inner hall, he turned his head back, "Brother Qin…"
"Don't make noise!"
The monk solemnly said, "The scholars from River Tomb have suffered disastrous casualties and won't have to take further examinations. The rest will stay here and wait for your examination."
Qin Mu was indescribably astonished. There was actually a monk in Imperial College!
Seeing so many Daoists earlier, he had originally thought that even though it was called Imperial College, it was still a place of Daoism. Never did he expect to see a monk here.
"Buddhism and Daoism coexist in Imperial College! I wonder what Great Thunderclap Monastery would think?"
Just as he thought of this, another yellow-robed monk came out from the back of the hall. He had high and long eyebrows that were floating and had a register in his hand. Looking around, he subdued all the scholars in the hall with his snow bright gaze and opened his mouth, "This test is about your nature."
His voice boomed loudly like a huge bell ringing, vibrating the eardrums of people in the hall, making them blanked out.
He sat down in the lotus position and his eyebrows drooped as he said, "I will chant the incantations stored in this scripture, if you can't take it, you can leave the great hall. Those that can endure this scripture of mine may proceed to the next test."
He put his palms together and rotated his rosary beads, chanting neither too fast nor too slow, "Buddha said: Subhuti, all Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas should subdue their minds as follows: all living beings born from eggs, wombs, humidity or by transformation, with or without form, either thoughtful or thoughtless, and neither thoughtful nor thoughtless, are all led by me to the final nirvana for the extinction of reincarnation. Although immeasurable, uncountable and unlimited numbers of living beings are thus led to the extinction of reincarnation, it is true that not a living being is led there. Why so…"
The buddha voice vibrated and every incantation was like the descent of a Rulai, attacking into the minds of all the scholars in the hall, attacking into their bodies, their vital qi, their Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure and their Five Elements Divine Treasure!
Great Rulai Buddhas even appeared in their thoughts and shone brilliantly.
The vibrations grew stronger and stronger, becoming so powerful that it was hard for the people to endure. The sound of the vibrations made their qi and blood unstable and dispersed their vital qi, making it difficult for them to defend their divine treasures!
It was also incomparably difficult to defend against the chanting of the scriptures. Their minds completely couldn't defend against it, as if all their thoughts were laid bare without any secrets hidden.
Finally, a scholar couldn't resist getting up and sprinted out of the hall!
If he continued to hear the chant of the yellow-robed monk, he was afraid his vital qi would directly crumble and his divine treasure would be taken over by the buddha voice. His muscles, hair, skin, bones, meridians might even crumble apart from the vibrations!
Just as this scholar ran out of the great hall, another few people couldn't endure it anymore and ran out as well. Before they could even run out of the great hall, they couldn't resist puking and wanted more than anything to puke out all their organs.
The yellow-robed monk remained unmoved and continued to chant his incantation. The Buddhism incantations continued to rumble and the sounds became heavier and heavier. More and more scholars ran out of the great hall, battered and exhausted.
Unknowingly, there were only over twenty people left in the hall. Qin Mu sat in the middle of the hall as the buddha voice rushed at him, shaking him entirely. The youth remained unmoved and chanted devil voice under his breath. He was in a deadlock with the buddha voice as it attacked while he defended, causing him to fight with joy.
This buddha voice had the slightest impact on him and was unable to cause any disturbance to his consciousness.
After a while, Qin Mu changed to the god language he had learned and become awfully busy trying to contest with the buddha voice.
After some more time, that yellow-robed monk frowned as he opened his eyes to look at Qin Mu sitting there calmly while raising his head to look at the murals on the pillar. It was as if he had no reaction to his chants and at this time, there were only ten something people left in the hall.
"This is strange. It obvious wrote demonic on his evaluation and emphasized on observing him. If he was really evil at heart, how could he endure so long under my buddha voice?"
The yellow-robed monk was puzzled and the buddha voice in his mouth subconsciously slowed down as he thought to himself, "He doesn't have any demonic nature now. If I purposely force him to turn back, I'm afraid all the scholars in the hall would be forced out of the great hall as well and no one will pass."
He stopped and got up, "All of you have passed. Go out from the back of the hall and proceed to the next test."
All the people felt like a boulder was lifted from their shoulders and stood up. They had unknowingly let out a whole body of sweat which had soaked their clothes. Only Qin Mu seemed to have no feeling and didn't give off even a single drop of sweat.
The yellow-robed monk sized him up again and took out the register and added annotations to the back of everyone's name. When he got to Qin Mu, the yellow-robed monk hesitated for a moment before writing, "Heart of a newborn, unmoved by the outside world."
The monk walked out from the back of the hall and threw the register into the sky. The crane in midair flew over and held the register in its beak, flying upwards. The yellow-robed monk returned back into the hall.
The crane flew to halfway up the mountain and landed in front of a great hall. The crane passed the book in its beak to a boy that was walking over. The boy hurriedly entered the hall and passed the book to a middle-aged Daoist in the hall, "Teacher Ling Yun, the register is here."
Daoist Ling Yun flipped open the name register and smiled, "Every year Imperial College would have to give out ten places, to choose outstanding students from the Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realm's scholars. I wonder what talents are here this year?"
He took a look and nodded his head gently, "There are still fourteen people left and they all have high evaluations. Even though there were unrests this year and the talents are not as good as before, there are still young talents that deserve to pay attention to… Eh?"
He stared at Qin Mu's name with a weird expression. He read the evaluations a few times and was puzzled, "What's going on with the one called Qin Mu? Why did they write that he had a demonic nature and emphasize to observe him and why did they say he had a heart of a newborn and was unmoved by the outside world? The bunch of fellows, writing evaluations any old how!"
The boy said, "Teacher, the three scholars from River Tomb have already been selected without announcement. Teacher will have to disqualify seven people this round. Furthermore, General of Heavenly Strategies said that his daughter would be coming for the examinations and hoped teacher would show more consideration for her. Also, a letter came from Imperial Officer Manor stating that one of his grandsons wished to enter Imperial College to cultivate. There are Great General of White Horse and Qin Family of the capital city too. King Zhenan sent us a letter as well, the young master of King Zhenan also wants to…"
Daoist Ling Yun had a big headache and grumbled, "They all want to enter Imperial College and they all have powerful backgrounds. No matter what they are all higher than me. The three scholars from River Tomb have already secured three places, giving face to Imperial Preceptor. Now that ten places have become only seven, how could I arrange so many people? What's the background of this Qin Mu? Could he be from the Qin Family of the capital city?"
The boy shook his head, "Qin Family said that their young master was called Qin Yu. This Qin Mu should have no relation to the Qin Family. His census register is from Lizhou Prefecture."
Daoist Ling Yun let out a sigh of relief and said, "I can only wrong him. I won't let him pass my test later then. Who else doesn't have a background?"
"There are still two brothers Ding Shan and Ding He, as well as this girl called Si Yunxiang. The others have backgrounds but are not as powerful, this person is the relative of Sparrow Mountain Prefecture Head and there's also her who is the cousin of Yu City Magistrate…"
Daoist Ling Yun let out another sigh and said, "Second and third ranking officials can't be offended as well but with the present situation, I can only offend them."
After Qin Mu walked out from the back of the hall, he raised his head and there was a mountain road. Ten something scholars climbed the mountain together and not long later, the road ahead suddenly spread out. With waterfalls hanging down the jade cliffs, they were like flowing jade and with the sun shining on them, they gave off brilliant lights and vibrant colors. The spectacular sight caused Qin Mu and the rest to give off exclaims of admiration that it was truly a sacred grounds of the immortals.
"Elder sister, your surname is also Si?"
Qin Mu looked at the young girl beside him and asked curiously, "The surname Si is pretty rare and I have a kin that has the surname Si."
The girl beside him was called Si Yunxiang. She was a gentle and quiet girl with big eyes. There were not many people with the surname Si and other than Granny Si. It was still Qin Mu's first time meeting someone else with the surname Si. He couldn't help taking a few more looks at her and went forward to talk to her.
The young girl that had the surname Si seemed to detect his gaze and revealed a shy expression. She lowered her head and continued to walk forward, ignoring him.
"She knows how to be shy, definitely not granny in disguise."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief as he thought to himself, "Granny would never be shy. Granny is now at Disabled Elderly Village and can't leave Great Ruins, much less running all the way here. If she was granny, she would definitely not use the surname Si because I would suspect her. Haha, maybe I'm just thinking too much?"
He was now slightly skeptical. When he heard the girl's name was Si Yunxiang, he was already slightly suspicious that's why he had gone up to test her.
Not long later, they had come to the front of a great hall. They only saw a boy holding a name register in his hand as he looked at them and said clearly, "Scholars, the examination for this stage is very strict and there might be injuries or even death. Is there anyone that wants to fall out?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
In front of the hall, the fourteen scholars all remained silent and no one fell out.
The boy gave a smile and continued, "Since no one is falling out then we shall begin the test. Teacher."
Daoist Ling Yun walked out from the hall and his gaze circled around Qin Mu and the rest, smiling, "The first few stages tested your foundation, creativity, and nature. This stage tests your power. Even though all of you are scholars, it's extraordinary for you to have reached here. Every one of you has astonishing power. I, the hall master of Hall of Pure Yang, will personally test all of you."
The scholars looked at each other and a scholar said in a low voice, "This isn't fair…"
Daoist Ling Yun's gaze flickered and he chuckled, "Of course it isn't fair. All of you are from primary school and college, which can't be compared to Imperial College. In addition, I'm a directorate of Imperial College and have read all the scriptures stored away in Imperial College, even if I'm in the same realm, I far surpass any of you here. Therefore in this test, you only have to persevere under three of my moves. As long as you aren't defeated in three moves, you will have passed."
He smiled warmly, "I've sealed my cultivation and only left Five Elements Realm open so all of you can be at ease."
As he said that, all the scholars let out sighs of relief. As long as it was a contest of the same realm, they were not afraid of anyone.
After all, they were the outstanding martial arts practitioners in their own primary schools and colleges. They had the confidence!
Daoist Ling Yun also gave a smile and became at ease. Even though it was three moves of the same realm, there was much space for him to control the results. In just three moves, he could go easy and no one would be able to see any loophole and he could also disqualify the other scholars in three moves!
After all, he was a directorate of Imperial College. Even though he didn't dare to admit he was invincible in the same realm, his prowess was still rare in the world!
"Ding Shan, you'll be the first."
Daoist Ling Yun sealed his own cultivation and said solemnly, "Boy, fetch the wooden swords."
That boy brought over two wooden sword cases and placed them vertically on the ground.
Daoist Ling Yun stretched his hand out and a fine vital qi thread flew out from his finger. Sweeping up a wooden sword from the sword case, he said, "There are thirty-six swords stored in this sword case which is suitable for Celestial Dipper Sword Skill. You can carry the sword case on your back or however you like. Meanwhile, using one sword would be enough for me."
The scholar called Ding Shan went up and carried the sword case on his back. He bowed to Daoist Ling Yun as a greeting and executed Celestial Dipper Sword Skill, causing the wooden swords to fly out from the sword case.
Celestial Dipper Sword Skill was a sword skill that scholars from all around the world must learn. Qin Mu had already seen this kind of sword skill on the ship to the capital city. When he had first seen it, he was shaken in his heart and thought that the martial arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire were remarkable. Just a random martial art practitioner he met could already execute such intricate sword skill.
However, after he saw nearly all the scholars cultivate Celestial Dipper Sword Skill, in his mind he thought that he could easily fight ten of these scholars with a single hand.
Ding Shan executed his Celestial Dipper Sword Skill. The thirty-six wooden swords flew up and down. and the power wasn't weak. However, the moment he executed this sword skill, Qin Mu knew he definitely couldn't block the three moves from Daoist Ling Yun. He couldn't even block a single move!
Chii—
Daoist Ling Yun used qi to manipulate his sword and gave a stab. The move of the sword was incomparably tricky as it penetrated through all the thirty-six swords in a flash and hit Ding Shan on his chest. This youth flew backward from the stab and crashed into the ground, unable to get up for quite a long time.
"Your cultivation isn't weak." Daoist Ling Yun raised his head and smiled.
The other scholars were frightened in their hearts. Daoist Ling Yun's sword skill had entered the realm of transformation, also called perfection. The meaning of transformation was the realm of transformation, to transform into a realm and form a world.
Reaching the realm, one would no longer be constrained by their sword skills and even careless moves were sword skills.
The most terrifying thing was that even though Daoist Ling Yun had sealed his other divine treasures and left only his Spirit Embryo and Five Elements Divine Treasure opened, his cultivation was still incomparably dense and far surpassed Ding Shan!
This was too terrifying. Was there really anyone capable of blocking three of his moves?
Daoist Ling Yun's gaze flickered and said, "Ding Shan, leave the sword case. You can go down the mountain now. Next scholar, Qin Yu."
"Qin Yu?"
Qin Mu was startled as he looked at the youth who had walked out. That youth was extraordinarily handsome and had exquisite features. He had a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing and his face gave Qin Mu a familiar feeling.
"He looks slightly like Qin Feiyue, Little General Qin." Qin Mu thought to himself.
Qi Yu moved forward and carried the sword case on his back before bowing.
Daoist Ling Yun smiled, "Even though you are from Qin Family and they have a huge power and influence in all levels of society, I will not hold back in this examination. Show me your greatest abilities or else you will end up like Ding Shan."
Qin Yu replied yes and stretched his hand out to pull out a sword from his back. With a wooden sword in his hand, the other thirty-five swords flew out at the same time; however, they didn't form the Celestial Dipper Sword Formation and instead the swords moved nimbly like swimming dragons. This kind of sword skill wasn't the sword skill taught in primary schools and colleges.
Even Daoist Ling Yun had not seen this kind of sword skill before. He only felt these wooden swords were all like swimming dragons and when these wooden swords formed together, they became a huge dragon which accumulated the powers of all thirty-five wooden swords, having an extraordinary power!
Qin Yu shouted and his vital qi burst forth. His White Tiger Vital Qi suddenly became incomparably vigorous. As his vital qi soaked into the wooden swords, it actually made the wooden swords golden in color just like they were gold swords!
Now, these thirty-six wooden swords which had surpassed gold and iron attacked to Daoist Ling Yun under his control.
Daoist Ling Yun exclaimed in admiration and thought to himself, "This isn't the sword skill of Qin Family. It should have resulted from his own fortuitous meeting and he managed to comprehend the sword skill which had the form of swimming dragons. Even if Qin Family didn't send the letter to take care of Qin Yu, he's still qualified to become an imperial scholar of our Imperial College."
Qin Yu had walked the path of the battle techniques school and the divine arts school. His sword skill was like swimming dragons and was very sharp and powerful. The thirty-five wooden swords flew up over like thirty-five small dragons and the wooden swords merged together in twos and threes from time to time. It was like a few small dragons combining together to become a big dragon with greater power.
Meanwhile, the wooden sword in his hand was even more overbearing. The sword in his hand was like another section of his arm, striking wherever he pointed and was abnormally tricky. What he used was a very powerful battle technique.
Qin Mu was aside and his heart slightly leaped, "This Qin Yu has seen a real dragon! That's right, Qin Feiyue had brought the child of Surging River Dragon King that was sealed in the mysterious ice out of Great Ruins and back to Eternal Peace! The sword skill of Qin Yu should have been comprehended from that young dragon. Could it be that the young dragon was saved?"
Other than the young dragon that was pierced through its heart, there was also the crown prince's junior protector, Gu Linuan, that was sealed in the mysterious ice as well.
Being a crown prince's junior protector of the lower first ranking, his ability must be extraordinary and now that he had cheated him of his Junior Protector Sword as well as the sword sheath that was stolen by Cripple. if Gu Linuan recognized him, he would definitely not let him off.
He did not bring Junior Protector Sword with him to the examinations this time and had left it in Rain Listening Pavilion with Fu Qingyun safeguarding it. After all Junior Protector Sword was still the sword of a lower first ranking official. Even though it was missing for years, there will definitely be people who still recognize it.
"I wonder if Gu Linuan is still the crown prince's junior protector. No matter he still is or not, he is not someone I can face. I should find Patriarch first!"
Qin Yu and Daoist Ling Yun had a marvelous battle. It was a pity there were only three moves and in that three moves, the two of them had attacked and defended multiple times.
After three moves, Daoist Ling Yun returned his sword and smiled, "You've passed."
Qin Yu let out a sigh of relief and returned the wooden swords back into the sword case before placing it down.
Qin Mu frowned slightly. Daoist Ling Yun and Qin Yu's battle looked marvelous but it gave him a weird feeling. It was as if Daoist Ling Yun had not used all his strength.
Qin Yu's moves were indeed very intricate but his cultivation was not much higher than that Ding Shan earlier. Daoist Ling Yun could have used his dense cultivation to pressure Qin Yu, but instead, he used a sword to fight with the opponent's thirty-six swords. Wasn't this using one's shortcomings to fight against the opponent's strength?
Qin Mu's cultivation was very strong and furthermore Blind had taught him Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skills and despite him cultivating only the first heaven, his eyesight was astonishing and could see this point.
"There's something fishy going on…"
"Next, Qin Mu." Daoist Ling Yun smiled.
Qin Mu went forward and was about to carry the sword case when Daoist Ling Yun asked, "Your surname is also Qin?"
Qin Mu raised his head and nodded to him, "My surname is Qin."
Daoist Ling Yun smiled, "It's a pity that it isn't Qin of the Qin Family."
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows and didn't carry the sword case. He then gave an inarticulate smile, "Teacher, I'm slightly dumber and I like more. Can I have both sword cases to use?"
Daoist Ling Yun thought nothing of it and smiled, "Feel free to use them. I just need a wooden sword."
Qin Mu moved the other sword case over as well and placed them beside him. His vital qi flew out, turning into an arm-thick vital qi thread which entered one of the sword cases and a wooden sword flew out.
Daoist Ling Yun broke into laughter, "How did you train? Did your teacher not tell you how to refine your vital qi, to refine qi into thread?"
Qin Mu bowed again and smiled honestly, "I have not learned. Teacher please."
Daoist Ling Yun had his hands behind his back while an undetectable fine vital qi thread brought his wooden swords to fly around him as he smiled, "You may attack."
The fingers on Qin Mu's right hand clutched together to formed a sword skill. With his vital qi suddenly bursting forth violently, he took a step forward and the sword skill in his right hand stabbed forward which was followed by a flick upwards!
Chii—
Everyone's eardrums were almost exploded from the whistling sound of the wooden swords breaking through the air. Daoist Ling Yun's heart leaped and hurriedly controlled his wooden sword to defend; however, he blocked nothing. It was then followed by Qin Mu's wooden sword flicking upward and he flew into the air.
Flick Sword Form!
Qin Mu remained expressionless as his sword fingers continued to stab forward. Just as Daoist Ling Yun was flicked into the air and could make a reaction, that wooden sword had already stabbed him on his chest, blowing him backward. As he crashed through the door of the great hall, he vanished without a trace.
At the same time, Qin Mu stomped his legs and the two sword cases were jolted three feet off the ground. The buckles of the sword cases exploded with a pop as the wooden sword shot out like lightning and stabbed into the great hall in one after another.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud—
A series of splitting sounds caused by wooden swords stabbing into wooden swords traveled from the inner hall and in a blink of an eye, the two sword cases were empty as the seventy-one wooden swords formed a single line. Once the front sword stabbed Daoist Ling Yun's chest and used up all its power, the sword behind would come stabbing and split apart the front sword to continue stabbing Daoist Ling Yun in his heart. As the sword came one after another, there was no time for him to even catch his breath!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Thud thud.
Beside Qin Mu's legs, the two emptied sword cases fell to the ground and rolled two rounds.
Behind him was startled scholars that were staring blankly. Even the boy that was under Daoist Ling Yun had also turned his head with his neck twisted at a startling degree. They all had their mouths agape as they looked towards the inner hall speechlessly.
Behind Hall of Pure Yang was Imperial College's Hall of Supreme Learning. Hall of Supreme Learning was several times bigger than Hall of Pure Yang. In front of the hall was a long flight of stairs that had nine hundred and ninety-nine steps. On the top of the stairs and in front of the great hall was the Saint Seat, a place that only the empire's Grand Chancellor could seat.
However, at this moment, the one on Saint Seat wasn't the young patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult who was also the empire's Grand Chancellor. It was a middle-aged man that wore a yellow robe on his body and a crown on his head. The young patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult was seated below him and below Patriarch were hundreds of civil and military court councilors that were standing on the stairs, as well as a directorate.
Below the stairs were the scholars of all around the world that were currently in a contest.
The scholars that could come here were all divine arts practitioner and the content of their examination was different from scholars like Qin Mu. The scholars who could come here had all gone through tests that were extremely difficult.
When these scholars had reached here after trials and tribulations, some of them fainted and were directly disqualified when they saw the yellow-robed man on Saint Seat along with such a large disposition.
The person on Saint Seat was exactly the current Eternal Peace Empire's Son of Heaven, Emperor Yanfeng.
Emperor Yanfeng had personally graced Imperial College and this wasn't unexpected. Emperor Yanfeng had come here many times to check on the scholars around the world that were seeking knowledge and becoming the students of the Son of Heaven.
Imperial College, colleges and primary schools were weapons for Emperor Yanfeng to confront sects that were deep rooted. Especially so for Imperial College which was the most important of them all, there was no way he would not inspect it.
Below the stairs, there were numerous scholars competing against one another in a fiery battle when suddenly they heard a loud boom. The back door of Hall of Pure Yang which was in front of the Hall of Supreme Learning exploded open and a figure flew backward and crashed into the battlefield!
Closely following behind were wooden swords stabbing towards the figure that was flying backward at an even faster speed.
The sword wind whistled and sounds of collisions kept coming through. Seventy-one sounds rang out continuously and as the swords nailed that figure and smashed him onto the stairs, making him sprawl out on his back.
Below Hall of Supreme Learning, there was absolute silence. The scholars that were competing were all in a daze as they stared blankly at the person on the steps.
There was also absolute silence in front of Hall of Supreme Learning. The hundreds of civil and military court councilors that were on the stairs were also shocked.
After some time, Emperor Yanfeng smiled and said neither too fast nor too slow, "Grand Chancellor, it seems like the competitions for the primary school scholars are much more lively than the college scholars'. Even the directorate was beaten away. Now I'm interested to see the primary school scholars' competitions."
Young patriarch smiled, "If Your Majesty wants to see it, then we'll call these scholars to come forward and have their competition here. Ling Yun, are you still not getting up? Don't you find it embarrassing enough?"
Daoist Ling Yun was embarrassed and ashamed. He quickly got up to his feet and apologized to Emperor Yanfeng.
There was still a wooden sword stabbed in his chest. This wooden sword was the seventy-second one. With seventy-two swords repeatedly stabbing his chest at the same position, the wooden swords had already stabbed into his muscles and nearly stabbed into his heart.
It was lucky he managed to unseal his other divine treasures when he was flying back from the strikes. Only with his magic power regained, he wasn't killed by Qin Mu.
However, he had lost face in front of the entire Imperial College and even in front of the emperor, the court councilors and all the way to foreign countries.
—Among the civil and military court councilors, there were a few that were envoys from foreign countries.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled, "Directorate, you are really capable, to actually get beaten like this by a primary school scholar. Who was the one that beat you? Call him up! I want to see who dares to beat a fourth ranking high official of my imperial court."
Daoist Ling Yun became even more ashamed and wanted more than anything to find a hole to tunnel into.
Young patriarch called another directorate over and let him accompany Daoist Ling Yun over. He then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Ling Yun must have underestimated the enemy and let the primary school scholar take the upper hand. However, this primary school scholar's ability is also remarkable. To be able to beat Ling Yun like this, even I am starting to get curious and want to see who has this kind of ability."
In front of Hall of Pure Yang, Qin Mu acted as if nothing had happened and turned his head back. He saw that the few scholars behind him still hadn't regained their senses. Only the girl called Si Yunxiang was staring at him with wide eyes and when she saw him turning back his head, this girl immediately retracted her gaze and lowered her head while rubbing the corners of her clothes.
"This shy appearance, she's definitely not Granny Si!" Qin Mu was full of confidence as he thought to himself.
Right at this moment, Daoist Ling Yun quickly walked over with another directorate. That boy immediately welcomed Daoist Ling Yun back by calling out, "Teacher…"
Piak.
That boy tumbled from a slap from Daoist Ling Yun and the other directorate beside him frowned, "Senior brother, why do you have to be so petty and vent your anger on a little kid?"
Daoist Ling Yun had a grim expression as he looked towards Qin Mu with his heart filled with anger that couldn't be quenched, "You, come with me!"
The other directorate looked at the other scholars and said, "The rest of you follow as well. The examination in Hall of Pure Yang will be temporarily stopped."
All the scholars regained their senses and immediately caught up.
Everyone came to the bottom of the stairs in front of Hall of Supreme Learning and their hearts couldn't help pumping violently. None of them knew that there were so many people here and they were all prestigious figures in the empire, even the emperor was among them!
Qin Mu looked around and exercised restraint in his eyes to look downwards. Wei Yong was also standing under the stairs but he didn't take any examination. When he saw Qin Mu, he wanted to greet him but he held it back as he tweaked his ears and scratched his cheeks in frustration.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled, "Who was the primary school scholar that had blown away my directorate? Let me have a look."
Qin Mu took a step forward and raised his head to look directly at the emperor, thinking to himself, "This is Emperor Yanfeng, the current emperor of Eternal Peace Empire?"
Emperor Yanfeng was different from how he imagined him to be. In his imagination, Emperor Yanfeng should be a wise and divine existence, having an awe-inspiring presence like a heavenly god; however, this Emperor Yanfeng looked amiable. He wore a yellow dragon robe on his body and had a red belt embedded with gold and jade. His face was slightly plump and the area between his brows was wide. He had a high nose bridge and had a mustache and beard.
The mustache grew above his upper lips and the bear grew below his lower lips which was much shorter than the mustache above; however, it wasn't too jarring. Someone must have often helped him trim his mustache and beard thus it was tidy and not messy, looking stylish.
Emperor Yanfeng looked at him curiously and smiled, "Pretty young, it's really rare for one to have such ability. Where are you from?"
Qin Mu bowed and wanted to say Lizhou Prefecture when he changed his mind. He replied honestly, "I'm from Great Ruins."
Just as he said it, a little general suddenly came out from the ranks and bowed, "Your Majesty, please give the order to capture this person! He's an abandoned person from Great Ruins!"
The moment he said it, the whole audiences were instantly in a commotion.
Looking towards the source of the sound, Qin Mu was slightly worried. He saw that little general was Qin Feiyue, Little General Qin. Qin Feiyue naturally wouldn't be unfamiliar with him. They had not only met once and had even chatted with each other in the inn in Border Dragon City.
Qin Feiyue knew some of his background.
At this moment, an old minister beside Emperor Yanfeng said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this little brother here is the Flower Alley Divine Physician that I had found."
"Flower Alley Divine Physician, so young?"
Emperor Yanfeng was startled for a moment and smiled, "Step down, Little General Qin. He had already said he was from Great Ruins so why should you be flustered?"
Qin Feiyue protested, "Your Majesty, this person has a dubious background and is related to Heavenly Devil Cult. Your Majesty, please perceive it!"
Emperor Yanfeng frowned and said, "Heavenly Devil Cult is also a cult under my rule, and they are also my people. You are now making me take down my own people, then how am I going to govern Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Qin Feiyue still wanted to argue, "But…"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression turned slightly grim as he waved his hand, "Step down. Among my court councilors, there are elites from every sect and every cult. Based on their origins, there is half of them that are from devil cults and devil sects. Little General Qin, you are going slightly overboard!"
Qin Feiyue could only step down.
Emperor Yanfeng took a look at Qin Mu and smiled, "Under the whole heaven, every spot is the emperor's ground. To the borders of the land, every individual is the emperor's minister. My lands are not only restricted to Eternal Peace, even people of Great Ruins are my people. You're a disciple of Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Qin Mu bowed and replied, "That's right."
Emperor Yanfeng laughed loudly as he looked at the civil and military court councilors at his left and right, "Heavenly Devil Cult has always been elusive and now even their cult's disciples are entered Imperial College to seek knowledge. Grand Chancellor, you have done a great deed!"
Young patriarch bowed, "This is Your Majesty's good fortune."
A cabinet minister beside him said, "Your Majesty, this person may be an abandoned person."
"Abandoned person?"
Emperor Yanfeng was unconcerned and replied leisurely, "For the people abandoned by gods, it doesn't mean that I would also abandon them. Gods can abandon all living things but I can't. When they come to my land, no matter what their origins are, they are my people. So there's no abandoned person!"
An old minister went forward and bowed, "But Your Majesty, recently there are sects creating havoc and I'm afraid that Heavenly Devil Cult is also getting restless. If this person is a spy from Heavenly Devil Cult…"
"These sects of the martial world always wanted to make a big fuss to scare me."
Emperor Yanfeng also had a slight headache and sneered, "On the surface, they are rebelling Imperial Preceptor but they are actually rebelling me! They want me to move my ass and let them sit on the Dragon Throne. What a wishful thinking! In the past, country depended on sects and the sects decided who should be the emperor. These sects rested themselves on the country and the common people to suck their blood, killing off any emperor that wasn't to their liking. The present is now different from the past. Sects can only be dependent on the country now!"
As he said it, it wasn't known which of his heartstring had been moved, as he stood up excitedly, "Imperial Preceptor and I are pushing for a transformation and it is exactly to change the situation that sects control the lifelines of the common people and country. I don't just want a change, I also want a revolution, to change the lives of these sects and to change my life! If these sects don't want to change, they will just have to wait for me to change their lives! The resources that sects control will all belong to the empire and they can forget about using coercion against me! Now only the sects need to change, even the imperial court has to change. If the imperial court doesn't change, sooner or later we'll be done for! You all say Imperial Preceptor is extreme but he's not as extreme as I am. Imperial Preceptor's actions are following my intentions! Rebelling Imperial Preceptor means to rebel me!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
The entire Imperial College was absolutely silent and no sound could be heard.
Emperor Yanfeng obviously made the comment out of his own personal feeling, taking the chance to intimidate his ministers. It was also to aggregate the hearts of a ruler and his ministers so that they could work as one.
After some time, Emperor Yanfeng revealed a smile and sat back down in his seat, "I’ve lost my composure. Directorate, bring the name register over."
Daoist Ling Yun immediately handed the name register over and Emperor Yanfeng picked up a vermillion brush and wrote a few words under Qin Mu’s name, "From today onwards, he’s a student of the Son of Heaven." Once he was done, he closed the register and handed it back to Daoist Ling Yun.
Emperor Yan Feng looked at the young patriarch and said, "Grand Chancellor, choosing scholars is originally your job. Now I have taken matters into my own hands and chose for you, what’s your opinion?"
Young patriarch smiled, "Your Majesty is a brilliant master that has great talent and bold vision. This is the good fortune of Great Ruins."
Emperor Yanfeng laughed out loud and shook his head repeatedly, "Boot-licking, you’re boot-licking me again. All right, let the scholars continue their competition."
The directorate of Imperial College received the order and let the numerous scholars continue their competitions. There were still some people that had yet completed their test among the primary school scholars so they also continued their test in front of Hall of Supreme Learning. Daoist Ling Yun was still the one testing them.
Even if Daoist Ling Yun wanted to go easy on the younger generations of those high officials and nobles, he was helpless. After all, all the participants here now were strong practitioners that had sharp eyes. If he dared to mess around, he would be seen through!
This examination lasted all the way to the evening before it ended. There were people elated and people dejected, especially so for college’s scholars. Their competitions were even harsher and crueler, thus the one that could enter Imperial College was one in a hundred!
Only five places were left for primary school scholars and the ones that came from prestigious houses were still more learned and excelled the disciples from poor families. Among these five scholars, only Si Yunxiang managed to pass the examination and became an imperial scholar of Imperial College.
The other four people were all from famous families.
It wasn’t that the scholars from poor family weren’t hard working enough, they were just limited by resources.
The martial arts, spells and sword skills taught by all the primary schools and colleges were the same, and no matter how proficient they were, it was impossible for them to break through this barrier. Other than cultivating what primary schools and colleges taught, with experts in their own families guiding them, the heirs of famous families also cultivated their own ultimate arts that were handed down in their families, by their ancestors and even by their sects. That’s why the proportion of scholars from poor families entering Imperial College wasn’t high.
This was all reflected in Qin Mu’s eyes and he thought to himself, "If this continues for a long time, the higher-ups in Eternal Peace Empire will always be grasped by the influence of famous families and sects. The disciples of the poor will never have a chance to get out of their predicament and will never occupy an important position in the imperial court. In this way, the empire will not last long. Emperor Yanfeng has the heart to change; however, I wonder if he could change this situation?"
In this kind of situation, the rulers would always be the rulers and the hierarchy would solidify. And so some influences would grow more powerful among the rulers and the bigger they grew, the more resources they would gain, finally becoming malignant tumors in the empire.
When the day came, the poor scholars revolted. The malignant tumors would take the chance to stir havoc and the collapse of the empire could happen in just a night.
When the examinations were over, the directorate arranged for their lodgings. Everyone that had become an imperial scholar had their own residence at Imperial College. This place was called Scholars Residence, the place where scholars stayed. Every scholar had a courtyard with two entrances and two exits and the imperial scholars normally lived in their own residence as there was everything they needed there. There were even servants helping them to clean their houses, washing their clothes and preparing meals for them. This way, the scholars wouldn’t be vexed by their daily trifles.
If they were people who had statuses, they could even bring their own servants or maids over. Qin Mu had nothing at all so he naturally didn’t have any trifles.
"I wonder if I can bring Hu Ling’er over too? When I’ve settled down and seen Patriarch, I’ll bring her over."
Qin Mu took a look around and discovered that the jade mountain which Imperial College was on was much bigger than it seemed. There were mountains on mountains and caves in caves. Other than Hall of Pure Yang, Hall of Azure Yang and Hall of Supreme Learning, there were also about a dozen palace halls of all kinds and there was also Floor of Heavenly Records.
Floor of Heavenly Records was the place where books were stored, having secretaries. As the name implied, secretaries meant to look after the books of secrets. The books stored in Floor of Heavenly Records were the ancient records that the empire had collected from the sects in this world. These records were looked after by the secretaries.
Qin Mu stopped and looked around. He also saw people walking to and fro in Floor of Heavenly Records which was bustling with activities. Most of them were imperial scholars and there were also the young generations of the Imperial Family.
"How does Young Cult Master feel after coming all the way here?"
An old voice came from his back and Qin Mu turned around to bow in greeting, "Patriarch."
The person that had come was the young patriarch. Even though he had an appearance of a youth, his voice was very ancient. He smiled, "No need for formalities."
Qin Mu composed himself and said, "Coming all the way here, I’ve seen Eternal Peace Empire’s circumstances and that gave me a very huge impact. My heart is in turmoil."
Young patriarch became interested and walked forward, "Oh, tell me about it."
Qin Mu followed his footsteps and talked as he walked, "When I came here, I observed along the way. I saw the entire Eternal Peace Empire having the omen of great fortune. Their paths and divine arts are for the everyday use of commoners and develops every day. They summon rain when there’s drought and chase the clouds when there’s flood, which is close to miracles. There are flying ships in the air, traveling boats on land and even the arts of pill refinement are used into the everyday life of commoners, creating miracles. Eternal Peace Empire may be in a turmoil now but it won’t last long and they will become incomparably strong after this!"
Young patriarch brought him to a lake on the mountain. Standing beside the lake and under the shade of the jade willows, he asked curiously, "In your point of view, which has a more promising future, a sect or a country? From what you said, you believe that a sect can never be a match for a country?"
Qin Mu nodded his head, "Primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College have confirmed that Eternal Peace Empire is the biggest sect in the world. The other sects are all just primary schools and colleges for this sect, merely providing scholars for Eternal Peace Empire. How could these sects fight against Eternal Peace Empire?"
Young patriarch sat down and on the shore were two sets of fishing rods. He gave Qin Mu one and took one for himself. He then threw a fish bait into the water and smiled, "However, now the whole country is in rebellion, many sects took this chance to revolt. A spark can cause a forest fire and with Imperial Preceptor getting severely injured, I see Eternal Peace Empire approaching a crisis and the empire may perish anytime!"
Qin Mu also threw the fishing line and bait into the water, laughing involuntarily, "Patriarch, you’re trying to mislead me right? Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is loosening the reins only to grasp them better. He wants to take this chance to capture all rebelling powers in the world in one fell swoop. This point didn’t elude me thus it naturally couldn’t hide from Patriarch."
The young patriarch had a calm expression as he looked at the surface of the lake. After a while, he said, "It’s not just loosening the reins to grasp them better. You missed out the trick of injuring himself to gain the enemies’ confidence. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was indeed severely damaged and suffered serious injuries. Or else he wouldn’t be able to trick all the sects in the world."
Qin Mu was shocked and cried out, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor injured himself?"
Young patriarch shook his head, "It was someone else who had injured him. It is said that three old monsters from my generation had attacked together and severely injured him. I had visited him after he had returned to the capital city and he was indeed heavily injured."
Qin Mu was stumped for words. He had always thought Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was using the loosening reins method to lure the rebelling forces out. Never did he expect Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was really injured.
"He beat them at their own game and used this to lure these people out."
Young patriarch continued neither too fast nor too slow, "If these sects think that they could get rid of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in this way and ruin Eternal Peace Empire, they are probably going to suffer losses. Young Cult Master, what’s your opinion on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor?"
Qin Mu replied in awe, "Hero among men, broad-minded and open, an incomparable talent."
Young patriarch revealed a smile, "When he came to me to ask the way then, I had also thought so. I had originally wanted to take him as my disciple but his vast talent already had the tendency to vaguely surpass me, therefore I had dropped this thought so as not to hold him back. Now Eternal Peace Empire is above all the sects, schools and cults in the world, their forces are matchless, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is also an incomparable talent. In that case, how can our sacred cult settle down?"
There was the intention to test him in his words.
Ever since the first sentence he had said after meeting Qin Mu, he had already started his test on Qin Mu.
Attending Imperial College’s examinations and becoming an imperial scholar of Imperial College was only the first test on Qin Mu, which tested his strength. And now he was testing his wisdom. If he had the wisdom to manage Heavenly Devil Cult and if he had the wisdom to become a cult master.
Qin Mu contemplated for a moment and said, "There are two paths for our sacred cult. The first path is to transform the cult into a country, to let our sacred cult found a country. If our sacred cult found a country, we must leave far away from Eternal Peace. As the fate of Eternal Peace Empire becomes increasingly prosperous, Imperial Preceptor will definitely move his troops outside to swallow up the neighboring territories after he quells the rebellion. In the empire, we’ll be unable to contend against Eternal Peace Empire and if we are too close, we’ll also be unable to contend against Eternal Peace Empire. If we leave far away from Eternal Peace, there’s no foundation for our sacred cult and I’m afraid it would be hard for us to pick up even after dozens of years."
Young patriarch nodded his head and said, "The first path is incomparably difficult. Our sacred cult is based on the common people. Leaving Eternal Peace means that our foundation would be ruined. This path is infeasible. What’s the second path?"
"The second path is to depend on."
Qin Mu continued, "The sacred cult dependent on Eternal Peace Empire."
Young patriarch’s expression changed slightly and he laughed coldly, "You being the cult master is to exterminate our sacred cult? How dare you, off with your head!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu was bewildered, "Patriarch didn't have this thought?"
The young patriarch fell silent for a moment and sighed, "Yes, I did. Put your head temporarily on your neck, and continue your words."
Qin Mu continued, "I see that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's path somewhat conforms with our sacred cult's teaching: the path of the saint which is for the everyday use of commoners. If our sacred cult depends on Eternal Peace, we won't decline like the other sects and could instead expand and grow stronger. This is the first point."
He paused for a while and continued, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College have a drawback and it is huge. It can't be seen in a short period of time but after two to three hundred years, the result will become apparent."
The young patriarch revealed a curious look and asked, "What's the drawback?"
Qin Mu asked, "May I dare to ask Patriarch, how many percents of the scholars in Imperial College are from poor families?"
The young patriarch revealed a smile as he obviously knew what he was implying. He replied, "Ten percent."
Qin Mu asked again, "Over these years, how many percent of the young officials in Eternal Peace Empire come from Imperial College?"
The young patriarch replied, "Seventy-two percent are from Imperial College. The other old ministers are from various big sects and there are also some that have climbed up step by step."
"From my speculation, two hundred years later, all the officials in the world would come from Imperial College and there will be no scholars from poor families in Imperial College!"
Qin Mu saw his float sinking downwards and didn't hurry to pull back his rod, instead, he waited for a while, "Two hundred years later, children from poor families would remain poor for their entire lives and children from rich families would remain rich for their entire lives. The people's resentment would accumulate over the days and months, which will surely explode. The rich and influential families would take this chance to revolt and overthrow the Imperial Family and that would be the time our sacred cult would rule the world. With our surging power, no one would be a match for us and no one could resist us."
He raised his rod and a huge fish was hooked. However, this fish was extremely strong and the fishing line snapped. The huge fished plopped back into the water and vanished without a trace.
The young patriarch laughed coldly, "You want to rebel and frame our sacred cult as unrighteous, off with your head!"
Qin kept quiet for a moment and said, "Patriarch, stop joking."
The young patriarch became speechless. He had also caught a fish but it was a small one. Lifting his rod up, he continued, "Alright, we'll take about proper matters. What happens after you turn our sacred cult into another Eternal Peace Empire after two hundred years? When a huge battle wipes clean Eternal Peace and destroys the powerful families, there will be powerful families two hundred years later which would overthrow the rule of our sacred cult. How would you solve it?"
Qin Mu was stumped and shook his head, "I haven't thought about what would happen after two hundred years. May Patriarch enlighten me."
The young patriarch broke a willow branch and speared the fish. He then stood up, "Even I can't see what would happen after two hundred years. Young Cult Master, since you can see two hundred years ahead at your age, you are already a qualified cult master. You've passed my test. My thinking is different from yours. What I'm thinking is the teachings of our sacred cult."
Qin Mu's heart jolted slightly as he looked towards this young elder.
The young patriarch said unhurriedly, "The path of the saint is none other than the everyday use for common people. Anyone who does otherwise is considered heresy! To act straightforwardly, to follow the course of nature, that's the meaning of path. When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rose abruptly, I had detected his great ambition. When he asked me about the path, I had told him this sentence in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. What he is doing now is the essence of this sentence."
Qin Mu's heart and mind wavered and he bowed in awe, "Patriarch is wise and is already a saint. You wish to make an imperceptible influence and turn Eternal Peace Empire in our sacred cult. If Eternal Peace Empire is able to achieve the path of the saint, Eternal Peace Empire would be Heavenly Saint Cult!"
The young patriarch shook his head, "Eternal Peace Empire and Imperial Preceptor can't achieve the path of the saint and neither could I. Just like you said, the power and resources would be in the hands of powerful families two hundred years later. The poor will become poorer and the rich will become richer. This isn't the path of the saint of our Heavenly Saint Cult. I wanted to influence Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Eternal Peace Empire; however, it looks like I had already failed. I'm old, this responsibility would be passed on to you. All I can help you is to manage the cult for you for another few more years."
He held the fish in his hand and carried the poles on his back. Qin Mu followed behind him and saw this elder finding a col to set up a pot in the paramount sacred place of everyone's heart in Eternal Peace Empire. Adding water and starting a fire, he removed the scales and organs of the fish before throwing it into the pot.
Looking at the water in the pot, young patriarch took out some seasonings and sprinkled them into the pot, "Another few months later, I'll retire from the position of Grand Chancellor. I'm old and I want to spend my last few years traveling. There are still many places in this world I have yet to explore and the sacred cult would be in your hands. After I retire, I will hold an ascension ceremony and personally see you become the cult master of the sacred cult."
Qin Mu was slightly troubled and asked, "I'm currently only at Five Elements Realm. For me to directly take over the sacred cult, would it be too early and hard to convince the masses?"
Young patriarch signaled him to sit down. Qin Mu sat down with legs crossed in front of the pot and smelt the fragrance of the fish soup.
Young patriarch replied, "The sacred cult is actually more dispersed. All three hundred and sixty hall masters are spread throughout the land and our followers are all over Eternal Peace. Even the elders and the heavenly kings are hard to gather together. You can be a cult master that washes his hands of his responsibility. If this really doesn't work out, ain't I still alive? When I'm still alive, no one would dare to touch you, not even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor."
Qin Mu's heart slightly wavered and tried to ask, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor should be trying to control our sacred cult, am I right?"
"Of course he does. However, you can make him be at ease."
Young patriarch tasted the fish soup and felt that the heat wasn't there yet so he added more firewood, "You need to know that you are still young and have a low cultivation. He won't put you in his eyes and will feel that he can control you. If he could achieve the path of the saint, there's nothing to lose by letting him control you and control the sacred cult. If he can't do it, you will just have to replace him."
It was as if he was saying an insignificant matter; however, this matter was a major event that involved an interregnum between two dynasties!
Qin Mu tasted the fish soup and felt that it was delicious and very refreshing, making him can't help exclaiming in admiration.
Suddenly he remembered a thing and immediately asked, "Patriarch, is there a technique missing in Great Education Heavenly Devil Scriptures? After studying it for these few days, I didn't find a technique which could unify all skills in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures."
Young patriarch stretched his hand and grabbed towards the air and got two bowls and a ladle from god knows where. Qin Mu took over the ladle and started to ladle out the soup.
Just now young patriarch grabbed towards the air, this kind of spell was recorded in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. It was called Five Ghosts Transport Spell, to be able to steal things from far away without anyone knowing."
"The Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture is only imparted to the cult master and is passed down from cult master to cult master."
The young patriarch drank a mouth of fish soup and heaved a sigh, "The content in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures can all be imparted out except for the Unity Technique that only the cult master could cultivate. When you become the sacred cult master, Li Tianxing would impart it to you."
Qin Mu stared blankly. Wasn't Cult Master Li Tianxing already dead?
From the young patriarch's tone, Li Tianxing seemed to still be alive.
Drinking the fish soup, he found it more and more delicious so he asked, "Patriarch, what fish is this?"
The young patriarch replied, "The qi of the nine dragons gathered here and formed this lake. These fish here absorb the dragon qi, therefore, they are called Nine Dragons Carp. This kind of fish has a body full of hard bones and not much meat, therefore they could only be used for simmering and the soup simmered from them are especially delicious."
Qin Mu looked pensive, "Patriarch means to let me become a Nine Dragons Carp with a body full of hard bones?"
The young patriarch gave him a stare, "Aren't you thinking too much? What's so bad about being a human that you want to become a fish? Do you want to get simmered in soup? I'm just craving for fish soup that's why I had brought you here."
Qin Mu was embarrassed. It seemed that the old man really was craving and just wanted to drink fish soup.
The two of them sat down and slowly drank the soup, enjoying it very much.
Qin Mu picked out a fish bone and drew a picture on the ground. He drew out the Six Fusion Realm's circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Body and asked, "Patriarch, I have seen this circulation diagram in Hall of Azure Yang. However, there isn't a preceding diagram, can I ask if Patriarch had seen the preceding diagram of this picture?"
The young patriarch looked at it carefully and was astonished, "What do you need this circulation diagram of this technique for? You recognize this technique?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and said, "This is the Six Fusion Realm's circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique."
The young patriarch had a weird expression, "Even I don't know this is Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, who told you so?"
"Village Chief did."
The young patriarch stared blankly for a moment and sighed ruefully, "This old fellow is still wiser than me. I can't recognize this technique and didn't know its name but he did. He still the smarter one. So this technique is called Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, that old fellow indeed has lots of experience and knowledge. I had seen this circulation diagram in an ancient ruin. Other than this picture, there also a few incomplete pictures. I saw the myriads of marvels in the circulation of the diagrams which were extraordinary, therefore I had memorized them down and carved them in Hall of Azure Yang. The techniques in Hall of Azure Yang are all incomplete diagrams and this is one of the incomplete ones."
He paused for a moment and asked, "You are cultivating this technique?"
Qin Mu nodded his head, "I had cultivated Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique since I was a child."
The young patriarch hesitated for a moment, "By rights, you should be cultivating the Unity Technique of our sacred cult, but there must be a reason why that old fellow in your village made you cultivate this Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. With his profound knowledge, he didn't teach you his technique and instead taught you Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. This means it's even better than his technique. Good techniques often have points in common. Why don't you cultivate both techniques? It might even contribute to your cultivation."
Qin Mu understood and replied, "I haven't found the preceding diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Without the technique of Five Elements Realm, I can't continue cultivating."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
The young patriarch also took out a bone and drew the Five Elements Realm's circulation diagram he had seen in the ruins; however, it was also incomplete. "I only saw this much. Because this diagram was simply too incomplete therefore I didn't carve it in Hall of Azure Yang."
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. He drew out the incomplete circulation diagram of Five Elements Realm he had seen in Doom Suppression Palace. Comparing it with the picture the young patriarch had drawn, the incomplete portions of these two diagrams were different. If they were overlapped together, some of the missing portions could be patched up!
Qin Mu then drew a new picture beside them. The missing portion in this new picture was only in the area of his left shoulder clavicle!
However, despite missing the cultivation technique for his left shoulder clavicle, now he could completely execute Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to cultivate!
The young patriarch carefully sized up the new picture he had drawn and pondered for some time. He used the fishbone to draw a few strokes on the left shoulder area and said, "I'll use my understanding to complete this circulation diagram for you; however, my patching might not be correct and will definitely be a little different from the original one. When you fight with others and circulate your vital qi, there would still be a slight flaw. If your opponent's ability is mediocre, they won't discover your flaw. If your opponent's eyesight is very good, I'm afraid your left shoulder will be your lethal weakness."
Qin Mu's heart was shaken and he immediately said, "Patriarch, how good must the opponent's eyesight be to be able to see this flaw?"
The young patriarch pondered for a moment and replied, "Celestial Being or Life and Death Realm."
Qin Mu felt relieved and smiled, "Why would I go provoke that kind of strong practitioners?"
"There are also some youths who have very good eyesight even though their realms aren't that high."
The young patriarch said indifferently, "For example, there are some youths like this in Imperial College. Don't think highly of yourself. Now isn't the era where you can shake the world with just one or two techniques that the old ancestors had passed down. If your path and divine arts doesn't improve and only relies on the two moves the ancestors had passed down, hehe, you will sooner or later be eliminated by the others. You know why I wanted to become the Grand Chancellor of Imperial College? I did it to read through all the teachings of this world and to witness a new era."
His gaze had a hint of sadness as he continued in a low voice, "It's a pity I won't be able to see it…"
Even though he took life and death lightly and wasn't sad about that his life was coming to an end, he felt sorrow about the fact that he couldn't witness the arrival of a new era because this new era was pushed into motion by him.
"It's okay if I couldn't see it."
The young patriarch raised his spirit and smiled, "But you can see it. Young Cult Master, never stop moving. You must broaden your horizons and broaden your mind!"
Qin Mu bid farewell to the young patriarch. This elder had given him a different impression than the rest of the elders in the village.
The impressions the villagers in Disabled Elderly Village gave were that they were a bunch of nice old guys. Even though they were also fiendish, one would discover they were all very kind after being in contact with them for a long time. They taught Qin Mu how to conduct himself and taught Qin Mu the methods to survive.
And the young patriarch didn't teach him these. What the young patriarch used was a method to guide him patiently and systematically to stand at a higher place to look at the world.
The height one stood determined the world one saw.
The chickens and sparrows flew low so they could only see stuff like chicken coops and grass huts, thus they could only catch worms and peck at the grains on the ground.
An eagle spread its wings and its gaze could see a thousand miles. The land within a thousand miles was its territory to catch its prey.
To become the sacred cult leader of Heavenly Devil Cult, he would need to have the boldness to see a thousand miles.
To Qin Mu, the most practical gain from this was still the Five Elements Realm's circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. With this diagram, he could continue to cultivate, otherwise, he would be stuck in Five Elements Realm.
He returned to Scholar's Residence and tried to execute Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to circulate his vital qi according to the circulation diagram he had sorted out. The circulation path of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique's Five Elements Realm was more complicated than before. It was another technique above the foundation of Daoyin Technique and Spirit Embryo Realm's technique.
Qin Mu browsed through all the techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and even though there were many mystical techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, there were not many that were comparable to the circulation path of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique's Five Elements Realm.
The circulation path of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique's Five Element Realm was like executing three layers of techniques at the same time. By executing the simplest Daoyin Technique, it would spur the circulation path of Spirit Embryo Realm, which would then spur the circulation path of Five Elements Realm. It was quite complicated.
This time, his vital qi burst forth vigorously and circulated according to the circulation diagram. Suddenly his consciousness split into five and surged into his Five Elements Divine Treasure along with his surging vital qi.
The five big stars in his Five Elements Divine Treasure suddenly lighted up radiantly!
However, this time the five elements didn't mutually obliterate each other. Instead, a starlight shot down from the gold element star and fused with one of his consciousnesses, transforming it into a golden god. The gold god had tiger claws, white fur, a snake hanging on the left ear, feet stepping on two dragons, and held a bronze battle axe.
Qin Mu carefully executed his vital qi to circulate, allowing the apparition of the gold god to continuously absorb the gold element starlight.
The starlight formed the apparition of gold god and this starlight was called star force, the power of the stars.
At the same time, a starlight also shot down from the wood element star and fused with his another consciousness, turning it into a wood god. The wood god had a human head, bird body, bird feet which were stepping on two dragons, and held a willow whip.
A starlight also shot down from the water element star and fused with his third consciousness, transforming into an apparition of a water god that had a human head with red hair, snake body, and held a trident.
The glow of the fire element star shot out and fused with his fourth consciousness, transforming into an apparition of a fire god that had a human face and beast body. The fire god was stepping on two dragons as well and held a fire bottle gourd.
The glow shot over from the earth element star fused with his last consciousness and turned into a human head and snake body apparition of earth god that had two doors behind. The doors even had writings on them but because it was an apparition, the writings were blurred and couldn't be seen clearly.
His vital qi fused with the apparitions of these five gods. His vital qi and star force were actually changing slowly into each other. This situation was puzzling.
"The vital qi converted into star force and the star force converted into vital qi. Is there any change with them converting into each other?"
Qin Mu was bewildered as he carefully experienced it but he couldn't find what was different. He only felt that when his vital qi had converted into star force, he could faintly feel an indescribable force stirring in the starry sky. He was unable to find out what kind of force it was.
And when the star force turned into vital qi, he discovered his cultivation had increased slightly.
"That's not a bad thing."
He let out a thorough sigh of relief. Even though the circulation diagram of Five Elements Realm still had a little flaw, it was good that he could still cultivate and won't have qi deviation happening easily.
"There's still some time before Imperial College starts their lessons, I should go back to Rain Listening Pavilion and fetch Hu Ling'er over. Furthermore, I also promised to continue seeing patients from Flower Alley."
Qin Mu walked out of his residence and saw a crowd of scholars walking over.
The area where he was staying was separated from the divine arts practitioners. It was the place where scholars of Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realm resided. All the scholars that were lower than Six Directions Realm stayed here. Now that Imperial College was opened again, many scholars from previous years had returned from outside. They had entered college earlier than Qin Mu and had dense cultivation but as long as they hadn't breakthrough Six Directions Realm, they would still stay here.
Every year Imperial College give ten places to primary school scholars and it was difficult for primary school scholars to breakthrough to Six Directions Realm within three to five years. Therefore the number of primary school scholars in Imperial College wasn't low.
These scholars passed by Qin Mu and a scholar sized up Qin Mu before asking, "This junior brother, I've heard an abandoned person from Great Ruins had come here. Do you know where he stays?"
Qin Mu was startled and asked, "Why is senior brother looking for him?"
The scholar replied, "Abandoned people are scums who can only be slaves. I never expect the emperor to let the abandoned person be a scholar of our Imperial College. This is an insult to us. We've heard news regarding this matter and are seething with fury, thus we planned to make him back out and leave Imperial College. If he stays here, how would we still have the face?"
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, "So I see. I have seen the abandoned person before and he lives nearby. Why don't let me lead you there?"
The ten something scholars couldn't help being delighted and all bowed with their hands in front, "Thanks for the trouble, junior brother!"
"Fellow senior brothers are polite."
Qin Mu continued, "I'm also from a famous family in power, yet I have to be classmate with the abandoned person. I'm so ashamed that I couldn't want more than anything to dig a hole to crawl into it. That's right, my surname is Qin."
"Surname Qin?"
The scholars were all astonished and one of the scholars greeted him respectfully, "So brother is from Qin Family. The Qin Family of the capital city is indeed an influential family. It's really an insult to be classmates with an abandoned person. Qin Family has lots of good generals and the whole family is loyal and righteous. I may have entered two years earlier than you but I don't dare to call myself as your senior brother. We'll refer to each other as brothers."
Another scholar laughed, "My father opens mine in Tiger Travelling Mountain and would also transport a few hundred abandoned people over that are bought from the borders. A few hundreds of them would die every year so we got no choice but to continue buying. Hehe, never would I expect to seek knowledge in the same school with an abandoned person. If my father knows it, he would definitely blow up and say I'm associating myself with a slave."
A female said, "I've heard about the matter this time as well. The emperor took the chance to beat senses into his ministers, that's why he had let the abandoned person into Imperial College. He also actually had the desire to swallow up Great Ruins. He admitted that abandoned people were also people of Eternal Peace. Isn't this admitting that Great Ruins is also the lands of Eternal Peace Empire? However, the emperor was inconsiderable and placed the abandoned person in Imperial College, neglecting the feelings of us scholars."
Qin Mu and these scholars had come to the end of Scholar's Residence as they chitchatted along the way. There was only one courtyard near the end which was secluded. Qin Mu smiled, "Fellow senior brothers, this is where the abandoned person resides. Please wait a moment."
He went up to knock on the door and after a while, the door of the courtyard opened and a circular face popped out from behind the door. Seeing Qin Mu, he was startled and smiled, "Brother Qin…"
Qin Mu pushed the door open and entered it along with everyone, squeezing the scholar with chubby physique in the middle of the courtyard.
Qin Mu closed the doors of the courtyard and secured the door bolts. His expression was like still water, "That's right. Fellow senior brothers, does Imperial College permit murder?"
The scholars were all startled and one of them broke out into laughter, "Brother Qin, we're only trying to teach the abandoned person a lesson and chase him out of Imperial College. Is there a need for murder? If we kill him, we'll all be chased out of Imperial College. Just giving him a beating is enough!"
Qin Mu was somewhat not happy and grumbled, "There are so many rules in the capital city and I can't kill people at will. If it was in our Great Ruins, no one would say anything even if I killed ten something people…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
The moment he said that, all the scholars in the courtyard felt something was not right. At this moment, rain started falling from the sky.
Accompanying the rain was a strange temperament. Deng, deng, deng. It was as if an incomparably majestic giant was using the heaven and earth as guzheng and the lines of rain as strings, strumming recklessly and regardless of the consequences!
However, this weird temperament had a kind of magical power that could steal one's soul. The instant they heard it, they felt their vital qi scattering and their consciousnesses loosening up. Their spirit embryos became slow and their five elements became messy. They couldn't help but dance along with this temperament.
As the temperament resonated and worked up, everyone in the courtyard knew it was bad and was about to break the spell of this devil voice when Qin Mu suddenly formed a mudra with one hand and gave a punch!
Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky!
With this punch out, a world-shaking rumble came from the middle of the courtyard and whacked their spirits and souls upside down. With their souls shaken and their will unstable, they instantly couldn't resist the devil voice and started dancing and laughing loudly in this courtyard.
Suddenly the temperament changed once again and they felt like they had sunk into the slaughtering grounds of the gods and devils with iron horses and golden spears coming right in their faces, drowning them. Such a realistic scenario made them attack back!
The retaliation was no small matter. Even those who still had ten percent of their consciousnesses had no choice but to defend against the attacks of the people beside them. As long as they raised their hands to deal with it, their consciousnesses would be invaded by the temperament and they would suddenly lose guard!
Boom!
Various moves burst forth in the courtyard and spells flew in all directions. In an instant, everyone's body was covered in blood and many of them were in pain. Pain helped them regain their consciousnesses. At this moment, Qin Mu moved like a phantom among them and anyone who was awake was flicked away by his finger!
Thunder Fingers Of The Pipa Player!
His fingers accompanied the temperament to flick, strum, pluck, bow, pick and strike to its extreme. The temperament that made them deranged was accompanied with sounds of thunder exploding, air vibrating. The sounds of heavy objects smashing came out continuously as well.
A moment later, only Wei Yong was left in the small courtyard dancing and singing.
Qin Mu stopped and the rain in the sky vanished along with the temperament. Only then did Wei Yong regain consciousness and looked around at once. When he saw that his courtyard was full of footprints and the flowers and grass in his courtyard were all destroyed, his expression changed hugely and he cried out, "Brother Qin, what happened?"
"I borrowed your precious land to teach a lesson to a few senior brothers with no eyes."
Qin Mu smiled, "Your place is secluded so no one would stop me when I beat them."
Wei Yong was stumped for words and immediately looked at the walls of his own courtyard, only to see the bodies of the scholars hanging on the wall. Their heads were stuck within the wall and they had no strength to move.
Wei Yong's face turned ashen, "Brother Qin, you're in trouble! These scholars entered Imperial College earlier than us and which one of those who could enter Imperial College is not from a powerful family? Now that they are beaten up by you, how can this be?"
Qin Mu was bewildered, "If I don't beat them, do I wait for them to beat me? I've already beaten them up, what can I do now?"
Wei Yong stamped his foot repeatedly and said, "You borrowed my courtyard to beat them up, but they can't do anything to me since I'm from the Wei Family. However, you are definitely going to be out of luck. Oh dear, oh dear, what are we going to do…"
Qin Mu walked out and smiled, "They were trying to teach me a lesson so they should have been prepared to receive a lesson."
Walking out of the courtyard, he saw heads on the other side of the wall. Looking at all of them, Qin Mu walked towards them.
"Abandoned person…"
A scholar woke up and said exhaustedly, "You dare to scheme us. When we recover, you're dead…"
Qin Mu's expression sank, "If you dare to mention abandoned person again, I'll beat you every time I see you!"
"Abandoned person!"
Qin Mu pulled this scholar out and brought him to the front of the residence. With his vital qi burst forth, he straightened out this scholar's body and use the blood on his head to write on the wall like a brush.
Qin Mu wrote down two sentences and another line of words on the crossbeam of the door before striking this scholar on the floor. This scholar was struck into the ground and only his head was left out. He was so angry that he fainted again.
The other scholars woke up one after another and pulled out their heads from the wall. They all appeared ashamed looked gloomy. When they had let their guards down and suffered Qin Mu's attack, he didn't attack their physical bodies but attacked their souls instead. That was the hardest to guard.
If the attack was aimed at their bodies, it was easier to guard against. Their cultivations were not inferior too much to Qin Mu's and they had more people. Even if Qin Mu sneaked an attack, he could at most down one or two people. However, skills that were aimed at the souls and spirits were different.
Qin Mu used the improved Thunder Fingers Of The Pipa Player to directly control their souls and consciousnesses. When they tried to break free, Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky made them lose control of their souls, instantly falling into Qin Mu's attack. Before they could even retaliate, they have all been knocked unconsciousness with their heads through the wall.
Wei Yong immediately said, "Various senior brothers, I'm from the Wei Family of the Duke's Manor. I'm unrelated to this!"
The ten something scholars looked at each other and one of them sighed, "We had fallen head first and got schemed by the new boy, losing all our faces. Brother from Wei Family, please do not tell people what had happened and save some face for us."
Wei Yong let out a sigh of relief and said, "Be at ease. I'm always tight-lipped and I won't tell anyone what happened here. Fellow senior brothers, what's your plan now?"
"Well naturally have to find our faces back."
Many scholars had no face to continue staying and swarmed out, "This was really embarrassing, we'll heal our injuries and restore our dignity tomorrow!"
"He could catch us off guard today but tomorrow he's going to get it!"
Wei Yong was speechless and muttered, "Brother Qin is becoming more and more powerful. Not taking him beating Daoist Ling Yun into account, he managed to create such a move that even I was controlled by his devil voice when I wasn't careful. However, now that these people have their guards up, he's going to suffer tomorrow. After all, these scholars had come to Imperial College a few years earlier than us and had studied and comprehended more than us. The Floor of Heavenly Records in Imperial College stores all the ultimates arts of various sects and cults…"
As the ten something scholars passed by Qin Mu's courtyard, they raised their heads by accident and saw two lines of bloody words written on the wall, "The unrivaled one that sweeps the capital, kicking away all eight hundred imperial scholars!"
Four words were written on the crossbeam of the door, "Unrivalled in five elements!"
And in front of the door was a guy still stuck in the ground.
Everyone's face turned black and they pulled this guy out of the ground and said, "We'll leave these words here and shame him tomorrow!"
Qin Mu bought some food to fill his stomach and continued to see the patients in Rain Listening Pavilion. He was already slightly famous in the capital city and even nobles had heard about the young divine physician in Flower Alley that specialized in dubious and hard cases in gynecology.
There were also men who had come because of his reputation and Qin Mu didn't reject anyone and cure everyone who came. However, there were also some cases that he couldn't cure. This illness was very weird and there was no reason yet the people gradually grew thinner day by day. The people that were carried overlooked so thin that only skins and bones left in their bodies.
There were five of them that had contracted this illness and got carried in by a few soldiers.
Qin Mu looked for a while and said, "This is shaman's poison. If you had brought them here earlier, I could still cure them, but now they are dead and I can't save them anymore."
The soldier in the lead exploded in fury and shouted, "You quack, they are clearly still breathing and alive yet you say they are dead, what logic is that?"
Qin Mu shook his head, "They have already died, only their bodies are still alive. They have suffered the shaman's poison from Barbarian Di Empire. Shaman's poison is different from ordinary poison. Ordinary poison affects the body and nervous system while shaman's poison affects their souls and spirits. Their souls had been poisoned and have been dead for five to six days. This person has died for over ten days."
The soldier's eyes became red as he said, "We have come from the borders and we are currently waging a war at the borders. They had been shone on the battlefield by a mirror from a barbarian with long horns. They then started to become skinnier. No matter how much they eat, they wouldn't gain weight. Even spirit pills and miraculous medicine couldn't help. The military physician had said he couldn't save them and if they stayed at the borders, they could only wait for death. Thus general had let us send our brothers back. Divine physician, you must save my brothers…"
Qin Mu shook his head, "Their souls are already dead, I can't save them. Go back."
The soldier bawled his eyes out and brought the rest of the soldiers to carry these five men away.
Qin Mu suddenly said, "This general, let me write a prescription for you. If anyone suffers this kind of poison again, you can use my prescription to save his life."
That soldier immediately stopped and Qin Mu raised his brush to write down a prescription for him, "This prescription is called Pure Yang Refining Bug Pill. It could restrain the attack of the soul bugs in the shaman's poison.
The soldier was surprised and delighted. He suddenly kneeled down on the ground and heavily kowtowed.
Qin Mu immediately helped him up, "What's the need for this?"
The soldier wiped his tears and turned to leave.
Qin Mu retracted his gaze and continued to sit down to treat the patients.
Shaman's poison was a kind of poison he had heard from Apothecary. It was a shaman's spell. Great shamans would usually use poison bugs to refine poison, absorbing the poison bugs' souls and poison into his own soul. When they killed enemies, they didn't need to directly poison them and only needed methods like attacking with innuendo to poison the opponents, which was very strange.
The shaman's poison and shaman's spell were also skills that were aimed at the souls, poisoning them. They were completely different from ordinary poison and couldn't be detoxed by ordinary antidotes as they were useless.
Shaman's poison was aimed at the soul, therefore, the method of poisoning couldn't be comprehended by logical means. For example, painting skills, cutting a paper man and writing the taboo name and birthdate on it and using a needle to stab it. When stabbing it with a needle, the shaman's poison in his own soul would be planted in the opponent's soul. Or perhaps they could prick a straw man or shoot arrows at the straw man, killing the opponent's soul in seven days. These were all shaman's poisons and shaman's spells, very bizarre.
Qin Mu treated another few people and suddenly a sedan chair came into Rain Listening Pavilion and an elder in official robes came down. He personally walked up to Qin Mu and cupped his hands in a greeting, "Little divine physician, help!"
Qin Mu was puzzled. Seeing the second-ranking high official robe that the elder was wearing, he should be a chancellor in the imperial courts, "Old mister's complexion looks good, why do you need my help?"
The elder said, "There's a patient in my family and is seriously ill. Countless physicians and imperial physicians had taken a look but there was no use. I've heard a divine physician have come to the city, therefore, I'm here to invite divine physician to help!"
Beside him, Fu Qingyun giggled, "Lord Yan hasn't been to Flower Alley for a long time.!"
That elder's expression turned slightly red and he coughed, "When did I come here before? Sister Fu, I don't even know you, don't joke around. Divine physician, can I invite you up the sedan and follow me to save a life. It's really to save a life!"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and entered the sedan. The elder also walked into the sedan and two strong men lifted the sedan chair up. They leaped up and traveled away on the clouds.
Qin Mu raised the curtain to look outside and saw the sedan floating towards the center of the capital city. Reaching the center of the capital city, there were lotus flowers formed by golden light in the sky and on it stood golden armored generals that were guarding the skies of Imperial City, Their strength was extremely terrifying.
These golden armored generals paid no attention to the sedan and allowed it to travel into Imperial City.
Qin Mu let down the curtain and faced the elder, "Lord Yan, the origin of the patient in your family seems extremely important."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Lord Yan brushed his mustache and smiled, "If it's not important, I wouldn't come here personally to invite you, the divine physician. Scholar Qin, the emperor didn't look into the fact that you were an abandoned person. Do you know who made that happen?"
Qin Mu was startled. When Emperor Yan Feng had given a fervent speech at Imperial College and became worked up, he had thought that Emperor Yan Feng was trying to take the chance to use his identity as an abandoned person of Great Ruins to knock the senses into his ministers. From the meaning of Lord Yan's words, it seemed like it was part of his efforts.
"I'd like to hear the details."
"At that time I told the emperor that you were the divine physician that could treat that person, therefore the emperor didn't look into why an abandoned person like you could avoid the Inspection Mirrors and enter Eternal Peace."
Lord Yan gave a slight smile, "If I hadn't said that, you thought you could become an imperial scholar? An imperial scholar is an eight ranking official position after all, how can it be anyhow granted to a person abandoned by gods that had sneaked into our Eternal Peace Empire? This is a crime of disrespecting gods!"
Qin Mu's gaze wavered and he sighed, "If I can't cure that person, my head…"
Lord Yan smiled, "Will be gone."
Qin Mu's face turned black.
When the sedan landed on the ground, the strong workers lifted the curtains and Lord Yan gave a smile as an indication. Qin Mu took in a long breath and stepped out of the sedan. Lord Yan also got down and led the way while warning in a low voice, "That person has an extremely big influence so you can't be impudent, do you understand?"
Qin Mu followed closely and smiled, "Of course I won't be impudent in regards to my life and Lord Yan's future."
Lord Yan gave a smile and said unhurriedly, "Good that you know. My grandson is also in Imperial College and he entered there two years earlier than you. If you can cure that person, I can let my grandson take care of you. My grandson is also talented and entered Imperial College at Five Elements Realm."
Qin Mu had a weird expression, "I wonder if his grandson is among the scholars I beat today…"
This was the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace and it looks like where the chambers of imperial concubines were located at. With gates to palaces one after another and the deep courtyard, Qin Mu could see some palace maids and white face men without a mustache.
"Are these the said eunuchs?" Qin Mu thought to himself.
Lord Yan led him to a huge palace with a deep courtyard and despite this place being
At this moment, there were twenty to thirty people in the palace hall and most of them were palace maids and court eunuchs. There were also a few imperial physicians waiting upon beside the jade bed and the jade bed had a veiled curtain separating it. A person laid inside and it was very likely a woman.
"Flower Alley's divine physician is here?"
An imperial physician swept his gaze across Qin Mu and sneered, "Lord Yan, you're getting muddleheaded. You actually dare to let someone who treats cathouse's girls come to treat Emperor Dowager, you're getting extremely daring."
Lord Yan said indifferently, "Imperial Physician Xiao had also said so then and then he died. That's right, Little Brother Qin, I've forgotten to tell you. Imperial Physician Xiao and these imperial physicians are all physicians of Imperial College's Hall of Supreme Healing. They will be the ones to teach you medical knowledge in the future."
Qin Mu bowed to these imperial physicians and they all sneered, kept their hands behind their backs without returning the greeting. Imperial Physician Qu sneered, "Roaming around to cheat at such a young age, your Pill Refinement Technique is probably still half-baked right?"
Qin Mu let out a radiant smile and was like a sunshine boy, "Teachers, Imperial Physician Xiao had also said that, then he died."
The faces of the few imperial physicians turned black.
Qin Mu went forward and came to the jade couch. As he sat on the jade chair, he greeted, "Empress Dowager."
A hand stretched over from the veiled curtain and leaned on the side of the couch. Qin Mu checked her pulse and turned around, "Does anyone here have a silver needle?"
An old imperial physician passed his silver needles to him and Qin Mu took out a silver needle, poking it on Empress Dowager's fingertips. Lord Yan coughed and said softly, "Mortal crime…"
"Lord Yan, we'll carry it together."
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and lifted this drop of blood in the air as he concentrated his gaze on it.
"Open!"
He gave a low shout and his Heaven's Eyes awakened as he looked towards the blood. At the same time, his five fingers which gripped tightly suddenly opened up and that drop of blood instantly expanded and turned into a huge bright red ball.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before shouting in a low voice again, "Open!"
Countless of formation markings revolved around his pupil and he formed the second heaven, Green Heaven's Eyes!
Qin Mu only felt that his vital qi was lacking and it was hard to maintain for long. He turned his head back and asked, "Lord Yan, can you lend me your vital qi cultivation?"
Lord Yan went forward and his vital qi surged through his body as he asked softly, "Little divine physician, are you confident…"
Qin Mu's body trembled violently. As Lord Yan's vital qi surged into his eyes, layers of his god eyes awakened and allowed him to see this blood clearly and everything that was hidden inside couldn't escape from his sight. Blind had completely imparted Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill to him, but due to Qin Mu's current cultivation, he was still unable to open all nine heavens and could only borrow Lord Yan's cultivation.
Two rays of divine lights about a foot long shot out from Qin Mu's eyes. Suddenly Qin Mu lifted the veiled curtain and the divine lights from his eyes increased sharply as he shone it on Empress Dowager who was on her bed.
That Emperor Dowager absolutely didn't expect him to be so daring to actually lift her veil curtain. She immediately looked at him and her gaze was like thunder from a clear sky, showing her power without anger.
Qin Mu locked his gaze with her and the divine lights from his eyes dispersed, "I've made out Empress Dowager's illness. Empress Dowager is poisoned."
Even though Emperor Dowager was lying on her bed and her beauty had aged, it could still be seen from her manner that she was the motherly model of the empire then, a figurine that's rarely seen. She shut her eyes and asked, "My body has been getting weaker day by day. Some of the imperial physicians of the Imperial Physician Bureau had said it was an illness and others had said I'm poisoned but there was no final conclusion. How are you sure I'm poisoned."
"The poison Empress is suffering from is called Thousand Opportunity Poison.
Qin Mu continued, "It is a refined unusual poison which ingredients are thousand of poisonous substances closely linked with one another. Once Thousand Opportunity Poison is refined, the toxicity will have will have constant permutation and there is practically no antidote to detoxify it. Any antidote would just create another change in the toxicity and cause the antidote to be useless. The more times you treat it, the toxicity will grow and the torture would be fiercer. Empress had been poisoned for a long time but luckily Empress has a dense cultivation and these imperial physicians had not treat Empress and had instead use spirit pills and miraculous medicines to extend Empress's life, otherwise, it would be inconceivable."
The minds of the few imperial physicians from the Imperial Physician Bureau trembled violently as they looked at each other in silence.
Empress Dowager panted and asked, "Imperial physicians, is there such a poison?"
Imperial Physician Yu bowed and said, "To answer Empress Dowager, there is such a poison. I've heard this poison was refined by Jade Face Poison King; however, no one has ever seen it, therefore…"
Empress Dowager sighed, "You can't cure it?"
The few imperial physicians all looked ashamed as they lowered their heads in silence.
Empress Dowager gasped for her breath and her gaze fell on Qin Mu, "How about you, little divine physician?"
"I have a solution."
Qin Mu smiled slightly, "However, I need to know what medicines Empress Dowager had consumed since you were poisoned and their prescriptions as soon as possible. Also, I need one thousand and twenty-three palace maids as well as brush, ink, and one thousand and twenty-three tablets."
Empress Dowager waved her hand weakly, "Go see to it."
Not long later, the brush, ink, and paper were prepped. All the palaces of the imperial concubines were busy summoning all the palace maids from each and every courtyard over. The Imperial Physician Bureau was also sorting out what medicine Empress Dowager had taken after getting ill.
Qin Mu raised his brush and wrote down the name of every poisonous substance and a number on each tablet. He got busy until midnight when he had finally finished writing. Meanwhile, the lights were brightly lit outside the palace hall and more than a thousand palace maids stood outside in silence.
Qin Mu ordered men to distribute out the tablets and every palace maid held one tablet with the name of a poisonous substance. The palace maids followed Qin Mu's instruction and formed themselves in a strange formation. This formation was very complicated and was formed by multiple patterns. The first pattern only had a palace maid raising her tablet as she stood straight. The second pattern had two palace maids, the third pattern had four palace maids, followed by a pattern formed by eight palace maids, and next was sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, hundred and twenty-eight, two hundred and fifty-six, and five hundred and twelve.
When the palace maids were arranged properly, Qin Mu looked at the prescriptions of the medicine Empress Dowager had consumed over these years. He started looking from the first medicine and when he was finished, he immediately called a few numbers and made these palace maids swap their locations once they heard the numbers.
The formation formed by a thousand people immediately changed. After that, Qin Mu looked at the second prescription and shouted numbers out again, making the palace maids that were called out swap their positions and changing the formation again.
Qin Mu looked at prescriptions after prescriptions and the formation changed and changed again, along with the positions of the palace maids.
The few imperial physicians revealed incomparably shocked expressions. A white-haired old imperial physician said in a trembling voice, "Never would I thought I could see this kind of method in my lifetime. I've no more regrets even if I die now!"
The other three imperial physicians nodded their heads and sighed, "We had originally looked down on him, never would we expect him to recognize Thousand Opportunity Poison and to use such a marvelous method to calculate which step the Thousand Opportunity Poison has changed into!"
The imperial physicians were deeply moved. Qin Mu making the thousand palace maids stand in positions while holding tablets was to form the structure of poisons that were mutually checked after Thousand Opportunity Poison was formed. He then changed the palace maids' positions according to the effect of the medicines Empress Dowager consumed on the structure of Thousand Opportunity Poison.
These about thousand palace maids had formed a huge and complicated abacus and the palace maids were the abacus beads which helped him calculate which step Thousand Opportunity Poison had now transformed to in Empress Dowager's body.
This kind of method was brilliant and these imperial physicians were admiring endlessly.
Qin Mu calculated all the way until daybreak and he finally finished calculating all the prescriptions. Meanwhile, the palace maids raising the tablets and stood all night were also exhausted. Qin Mu took a look at the final positions of these maids and the tablets on their hands, as well as the final formation formed by the thousand poisons. He calculated for some time and shut his eyes.
Some more time later, Qin Mu opened his eyes and raised his brush to write down his prescription.
The few imperial physicians came forward and lowered their heads as they looked at it. They all nodded their heads and flailed their limbs in excitement.
Lord Yan also moved closer to look but he didn't understand any of it. He then asked in a low voice, "Imperial physicians, how is this prescription?"
That Imperial Physician Qu looked at Qin Mu in adoration and exclaimed in admiration, "The prescription is beautiful and is glorious as a song! Little divine physician uses a substitute technique to use a poison to replace the great poison in the center on Thousand Opportunity Poison. Do you see that? That's the one! Once that is replaced, the toxicity of the other one thousand and twenty-two poison substances would subdue each other and their poisons would be dissolved by themselves! Magnificent, truly magnificent!"
The other Imperial Physician You exclaimed, "Imperial Physician Xiao didn't die for naught, for him to die in front of little divine physician, he had died at his appointed place!"
Lord Yan shook his head as he thought to himself, "Those that learned the art of healing are all lunatics, what so magnificent about this? The crucial point is it is effective, if it's not, my official position and his head would both be gone!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The few imperial physicians immediately grabbed herbs according to his prescription and not long later, the herbs were collected. The few imperial physicians stood there motionlessly and had faces of anticipation as they waited for Qin Mu to refine the medicine.
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and lifted the herbs up. He didn't use a pill cauldron and refined the herbs in the air instead. He exhibited all his refinement and extraction techniques and didn't use water to brew it. He directly extracted the medicinal energy out from the herbs and used his vital to cure and fuse them. His fingers moved up and down like a music score, making the old white-haired Imperial Physician Yu welled up with tears.
"This kind of refinement technique, it's enough to be able to see once in my lifetime!" Imperial Physician Yu sighed ruefully.
Qin Mu had no other thoughts in his mind and focused on refining medicine so he couldn't hear their words. If he heard it, the youth would definitely twitch his mouth. His refinement technique was only barely passable. In the eyes of Grandpa Apothecary in Disabled Elderly Village, he was only just through.
Not long later, the spirit medicine was refined and the few imperial physicians were intoxicated from the sight. Imperial Physician Qu said, "Little divine physician, just now you used this kind of hand technique to prod the water ripples to extract the medicinal energy by water, but why did it suddenly change to fire?"
Qin Mu placed the spirit pill he had refined in the jade goblet on the tray and said, "Those herbs require mutual aids of fire and water, therefore water should come before fire in order to fully extract all the medicinal energy."
Imperial Physician Yu's hand technique changed as he controlled his vital qi to cure the herbs and asked at once, "Little divine physician, is the imitation of my hand technique similar?"
Qin Mu took a look and commented, "Your vital qi circulation is slightly rough and the marvel of my refinement technique isn't in the technique but in the clever use of vital qi. Your vital qi will have to rotate around twelve times and only then would it be brought to the point of perfection."
Imperial Physician Yu suddenly saw the light and asked fervently, "I had only cared about the surface. And also when you were refining Five Fortune Seed, did you pay particular attention to the technique you used?"
The few imperial physicians surrounded Qin Mu and discussed enthusiastically. Lord Yan gave a huge frown and said in a low voice, "Everyone, you can discuss later. Empress Dowager is still waiting!"
The few imperial physicians came to a realization and Imperial Physician Qu hurriedly said, "Little divine physician, Empress Dowager is the priority."
Qin Mu ordered, "I still need one thousand and twenty-three Three Legged Blue Eyes Toads."
The eyes of Imperial Physician Qu and the rest lit up. With their hands on their bellies, they all laughed heartily in admiration, "A stroke of genius, a stroke of genius! I am completely convinced! Quick, quick, go buy the Three Legged Blue Eyes Toads!"
The palaces maids and eunuchs immediately went to the market to buy the blue eyes toads. After half a day, the blue eyes toads were all bought. They were all the size of a fist and had three legs.
Qin Mu made them place the blue eyes toads in the palace hall and let all the palace maids and eunuchs fall back. He then offered a spirit pill to Empress Dowager and said, "When the main poison of Thousand Opportunity Poison is replaced by the poison in the spirit pill, the other poisons will crumble and the toxicity will instantly become violent. These poisons had been in Empress Dowager's body and had combined with your vital qi thus they already had spirituality. Blue eyes toad are beings that consume poison and these toads will take the chance to eat the poison in Empress Dowager's body and Empress Dowager would be cured."
Empress Dowager waved her hand and said, "All of you fall back in case the toxicity hits you."
Qin Mu, few imperial physicians, and Lord Yan retreated out the palace hall. In the hall, Empress Dowager took the spirit medicine and at the beginning, she didn't feel anything odd but the next moment, the medicinal effect suddenly burst forth and a strange poison surged out from the spirit pill, replacing the main poison of Thousand Opportunity Poison in an instant.
Empress Dowager puked out a mouthful of jet black blood, spewing them all over the jade bed and veil.
Following that, Empress Dowager felt that the poisons breaking out in her limbs, bones and even skins. When the main poison was replaced, the one thousand and twenty-two poisons instantly erupted and clashed against each other, causing her to feel a gut-wrenching pain.
Just as these strange and great poisons erupted, the toxicity fused with her vital qi. Empress Dowager gasped for her breath while her face and skin had turned completely black as she was about to fester and die. Her vital qi was now taken over by all one thousand and twenty-two poisons and with her vital qi circulating throughout her entire body, the poisons were brought all over her body as well. This caused her to lose control of her vital qi and was immediately going to die from the poisoning outbreak.
Suddenly a rush of medicinal energy surged forth from the spirit pill she had consumed and this medicinal energy actually surged through her entire body in an instant, even deep into her divine treasures. The vigorous medicinal energy suddenly forced all her vital qi out of her body. Even the vital qi in her divine treasure was forced out!
A loud bang rumbled from inside the hall. Even though Empress Dowager was poisoned for dozens of years and her cultivation was not like before, her vital qi was still incomparably dense and the moment her vital qi left her body, they actually transformed into more than a thousand poisonous substances that flew around the jade couch continuously. There were all kinds of venomous scorpions, snakes, bugs, ants, beetles and other substances which were formed by her vital qi!
Croak, croak, croak.
The croaking of frogs came from inside of the palace hall and the Three Legged Blue Eyes Toads suddenly started to croak. As they opened their mouths, long tongues flicked out and caught the poisonous objects that were formed by vital qi and strange poisons, swallowing them into their bellies.
In an instant, the palace hall regained its brightness. There was still one blue eyes toad that had not eaten a poison yet so it leaped onto the jade couch and sucked in a breath of Empress Dowager, causing her to puke out blood uncontrollably, along with a venomous bug. This bug was the poison that Qin Mu had concealed in the spirit pill to replace the main poison.
After this blue eyes toad had eaten the venomous bug, it hopped off the jade couch. Empress Dowager felt her spirit refreshed and her body was very light. She immediately got up from the couch and she felt that the illness that had plagued her for several dozen years was completely gone, thus she felt extremely delighted.
"Men!"
The palace doors opened and a group of palace maids and eunuchs immediately came forward. When they saw the jade couch and veil curtain all covered in poisoned blood, they couldn't help feeling shocked. Furthermore, toads were hopping everywhere which was slightly frightening.
Qin Mu and the few imperial physicians also hurried over and Empress Dowager looked at Qin Mu with a smile, "Truly a divine physician. Bring these blue eyes toads to Clear Ripple Pond. They have done a good deed for me so let them live in Clear Ripple Pond.
The eunuchs and palace maids immediately did as they were told. Lord Yan was surprised and delighted and he immediately ran out, "I shall inform His Majesty of this great news!"
Empress Dowager walked towards the outside and smiled, "Divine physician, it's a little dirty here so let's talk outside."
Qin Mu replied "understood" and followed her out. The few imperial physicians immediately followed them as well. Empress Dowager looked at the sunshine outside and used her hands to cover her eyes while smiling, "I have not been out of this palace for a long time. Thousand Opportunity Poison is a poison Jade Face Poison King created?"
Imperial Physician Qu nodded his head and said, "It is said that Jade Face Poison King had disappeared about two hundred years ago. This person was ruthless and killed countless of experts with poisons and offended too many people; however, no one knew his true identity. It is said that his disciple Little Poison King had betrayed him and revealed his true identity. Incapable of having a foothold here anymore, he sliced his face off and left."
Empress Dowager nodded her head and said, "I've heard of this before. Come to say of it, I also met that Jade Face Poison King before and even had a few trysts with him. Back then even I was head of heels for him."
The few imperial physicians didn't dare to say a word.
Empress Dowager continued in a gentle voice, "Who would have thought that the world famous Playboy Yu was actually the notorious Jade Face Poison King? After his secret was revealed by his disciple, it had hurt the hearts of god knows how many young maidens. When the former emperor had died, I had taken a fancy to this Playboy Yu and met him a few times. When he was at the end of his rope, I told him I could protect him. There were also some other loathsome women that also wanted to protect him. Hmph, in the end, those wretches didn't win me and I didn't win them either because he had left… Thinking back now, destiny was really making a fool out of me, for the strange poison that had caused me to be bedridden for over dozens of years was my lover's."
The forehead of these imperial physicians was filled with droplets of sweat as they felt that their heads were going to roll for hearing this secret. They were all secretly regretting that they hadn't left with Lord Yan.
Qin Mu's heart wavered slightly. This Jade Face Poison King gave him a familiar feeling, "He couldn't be Grandpa Apothecary, right?"
"In that case does Empress Dowager know who poisoned you?" Qin Mu asked.
"It won't be Playboy Yu."
Empress Dowager smiled, "In that case, it would naturally be Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing. I've heard that Fu Yuanqing had sought refuge with Imperial Preceptor and his poisoning me was naturally Imperial Preceptor's intention. Imperial Preceptor had wanted me to die for a very long time. It must be because I couldn't stand by idly and watch some of his way of handling thus he wanted me dead to prevent me from blocking his path."
These few imperial physicians' faces turned ashen and they suddenly knelt on the floor, not daring to stand up.
Empress Dowager smiled, "Imperial Preceptor even dared to poison me, and if he isn't scared, why are all of you scared? Stand up and talk."
Imperial Physician Qu and the rest stood up while trembling and were all quiet out of fear, not daring to say a word.
Empress Dowager looked at Qin Mu and suddenly asked, "Your master is Playboy Yu, right? How is he?"
"The Playboy Yu she mentioned must be Grandpa Apothecary. How to solve Thousand Opportunity Poison was also taught to me by Grandpa Apothecary. For one to have such understanding of Thousand Opportunity Poison, it can only be the creator of Thousand Opportunity Poison."
Thinking of this, Qin Mu bowed, "To answer Empress Dowager, he is very well."
Empress Dowager let out a sigh of relief and asked softly, "Did he send you to save me? I am still in his heart…"
Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently and felt that she had overthought but it wasn't good to say it out.
Empress Dowager was also slightly tired since she had just recovered from her illness. She waved her hand and said, "All of you must be tired, go back early to rest."
Qin Mu said "understood" and the few imperial physicians felt like a boulder was lifted off their shoulders. They left with Qin Mu and didn't walk far when they heard shouts: "Get out of the way!". Imperial Physician Qu hurriedly pulled Qin Mu to the side of the path and they saw Emperor Yanfeng walking over in quick steps with his imperial bodyguards running behind. There were also palace maids carrying imperial canopy following behind quickly. Other than the emperor, there were also some men and women dressed luxuriously. They should be imperial consorts, princes, and princesses.
"The one that herds cows!"
A surprised and clear voice sounded from the crowd and it was slightly familiar. Qin Mu raised his head to have a look and there was a young girl in the crowd that looked bright and beautiful.
"Cowherd boy, it really is you!"
The young girl asked in delight, "Why have you come all the way here?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu was slightly stumped. This young girl looked slightly familiar but he couldn't recognize her in a sudden. That young girl was pushed forward by the crowd while she waved her hand, "Cowherd boy, where do you stay? I'll go find you!"
"Imperial College!"
Qin Mu waved towards her and suddenly a light flashed through his mind, "That's right, she's Ling Yuxiu! How come she looks different from last time?"
The Ling Yuxiu before was about the same height as him and now she was even taller than Qin Mu by a few inches. Furthermore, she had become such a big maiden now, looking very lovely and moving. When she had waved at him earlier in the crowd, he hardly recognized her.
"It's good that her face is still chubby and hasn't changed." Qin Mu said in gratification.
Imperial Physician Qu and the rest looked at him with a weird expression. Imperial Physician You, elder than others, was more kind-hearted and reminded him, "Little divine physician, if you say that to a girl especially a princess, your head will roll."
Qin Mu was bewildered, "Why? The words we praise girls pretty in Great Ruins are all words like sturdy, good at giving birth. Even though Princess Yuxiu isn't considered sturdy, it's good she's a little chubby. I think she will be good at giving birth."
These words can be used to praise girls?
The few imperial physicians understood tacitly and they all had an expression that this fellow was hopeless. He would sooner or later be beaten to death.
Imperial Physician Mu said, "Little divine physician, let us return to Imperial College. After a night of torment, it's really getting unbearable for our old bones."
After leaving the palace, Qin Mu split paths with the few imperial physicians. He returned to Flower Alley and ate breakfast at Rain Listening Pavilion. After bidding farewell to Fu Qingyun and the rest of the girls, he brought his luggage and Hu Ling'er back to Imperial College.
Imperial College, Scholar's Residence.
Qin Mu walked towards his own courtyard and Hu Ling'er popped her head out of his backpack and looked around curiously.
From far away, Qin Mu could see that a few rows of scholars sat in front of his courtyard. These scholars sat upright and they all had sword cases beside them. With their left hands on the sword cases, they all had a solemn expression.
The person in the lead sneered towards the courtyard, "Abandoned person, you should have woken up right? Could it be you're scared of us? If you are scared then come out and wipe away the words on the wall!"
Another scholar sneered, "All we have is patience. Is hiding in your house forever the best you can do? I would like to see how long you can hide!"
"Weren't you very cocky yesterday? You actually dared to leak out how you schemed us yesterday and let the whole Imperial College know, making us look bad. How come you are hiding inside now? Are you going to hide like a tortoise?"
"The reason we had left your words up there is to shame you, to make you embarrassed! We are going to make the entire Imperial College know that you are merely an abandoned person from the lands of barbarians. We are then the authentic ones!"
…
Qin Mu walked forward and passed by them while thinking in bewilderment, "When did I ever leak out what happened?"
All the scholars' gazes turned blank as they stared at him while he pushed open the door and walked in. They had originally thought that Qin Mu had hidden in the room and didn't dare to come out. Never did they expect Qin Mu had been out, making them waste half a day outside shouting for nothing.
Qin Mu came to the central room and placed his backpack down, "Ling'er, go tidy up the room and the blankets. I'll be out for a while."
Hu Ling replied yes and asked, "What's young master going out for?"
Qin Mu didn't turn his head and replied, "These people are too noisy. If I don't beat them up, it'll be hard for me to fall asleep."
Hu Ling'er could only control the wind to tidy up the room. At this moment, she suddenly heard a huge rumble and she immediately looked out of the window and saw a scholar flying up into the sky before falling back down head first.
"Next." Qin Mu's voice came from outside.
The rumblings of thunder were like thunders exploding in the clear sky. Hu Ling'er heard a whooshing sound which should be a human body breaking through the air but she couldn't see anyone flying in the sky and could only hear a heavy object crashing in the distance.
"Next." Qin Mu's voice sounded out again.
Sounds of water surging and huge waves smacking as the raging waves splitting the shore. Among the sounds of churning waters, another miserable scream sounded out and silence followed after. Only Qin Mu's voice could be heard, "Next."
Hu Ling'er quickly tidied up the room, folded the blankets and placed the bedsheets. She then took out the items in the backpack as she thought to herself, "If I tidy fast enough, I can still go out to have a look!"
The sounds of clashing traveled from outside which were earth shaking and the miserable shrieks also never stopped. When she had finished tidying up and ran outside excitedly, she instead saw Qin Mu walking back in from outside, looking a little tired.
"Young master, it had ended?" Hu Ling'er was slightly disappointed.
Qin Mu nodded his head and gave a yawn, "I'm sleepy and I'm going to sleep first. Don't run around."
Hu Ling'er nodded her head and popped her head out of the door. She couldn't help getting a fright when she saw scholars scattered everywhere on the road of Scholar's Residence. Some of them were sprawled out on the floor while some were hanging on the opposite walls. There were some hanging on tops of trees and some being embedded in wall far away. Some were thrown into the canal beside the road and others were planted into the ground with two legs sticking out which would twitch from time to time.
Hu Ling'er stuck her tongue out and ran over to search the scholars' bodies. She took down all the jade pendants, spirit pills, jade bracelets, hairpins and et cetera before delivering them back into the house.
"Ling'er, what are you doing?" A sleepy voice came from inside the house.
Hu Ling'er replied in righteousness and confidence, "Devil ape had said, win, snatch, rule."
Qin Mu's snores sounded out and he shouldn't have heard it. Hu Ling'er ran out again to carry in the scholars' sword cases and one of the scholars woke up and grabbed onto his own sword case weakly.
Hu Ling'er spat out a whirlwind which swept the sword case up to smash this scholar in the head. The scholar's head became completely covered in blood yet he still wouldn't faint. Hu Ling'er smashed a few more times and that scholar finally fainted. Hu Ling'er gave a sigh of relief and swept that sword case to send it back to the courtyard. That scholar secretly peeked and when he saw this fox walking away, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Ah, he's awake again!"
Hu Ling'er saw him peeking and cried out in surprised. The scholar then saw a tornado sweep up a rock that was as big as a small mountain to smash to him and he immediately fainted. This time he had really fainted from fear.
Hu Ling'er placed down the rock and started hopping around to loot everyone as she went further and further away. At his moment, a scholar in the distance woke up and saw this fox pillaging all the treasures on the scholars' bodies. He immediately struggled to crawl away but he was discovered by Ling'er who dragged him back into Scholar's Residence. That scholar howled miserably all the way and then fell silent. The fox had knocked him out.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's mansion.
Imperial Preceptor's mansion was grand and gorgeous but the place where he cultivated was very simple. It was only a huge hall that was empty and had no other stuff.
If one raised his head to have a look, he could see an extremely spectacular sight. No roof but the sky could be seen above the huge hall. The countless stars seemed to become extremely low and could be grabbed.
The was the marvel of formation spells.
Thirty thousand yards above the ground, there was a formation floating there which was formed by countless of transparent glass and a few of Imperial Preceptor's disciples were there managing the formation. This formation was formed thirty thousand yards above the ground and had a radius of sixty-six hectares. It was gathering starlight and through the transparency of the glass, the starlight directly shone through the roof of the huge hall.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was gathering the starlight to cultivate therefore his cultivation was extremely high.
At this moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a haggard aura as he was currently recuperating. There was a black clothed man beside him, who was currently concocting medicine.
Suddenly a red color flying bug flew over and came to the ear of the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man's face was full of warts that looked like the ones on toads. Warts covered his entire face and he looked frightening. He nodded his head repeatedly as if he understood the words of the red flying bug, which was very weird.
"Imperial Preceptor, my junior brother has arrived."
The black-clothed man was the Little Poison King that Empress Dowager had mentioned and his name was Fu Yuanqing. He continued, "He had antidoted the Thousand Opportunity Poison in Empress Dowager's body."
Eternal Peace Empire opened his eyes and let out a strong smell of blood from his mouth. He asked puzzledly, "How did you know that it's your junior brother who had antidoted the Thousand Opportunity Poison in Empress Dowager?"
"Thousand Opportunity Poison is my master's proudest work. The only ones who can antidote this poison is only me and him."
The warts on Fu Yuanqing's face twitched and he explained neither too fast nor too slow, "The little bug had told me that a youth had arrived therefore it's obviously not my master. That could only mean it's his new disciple. I had thought he was already dead and I never expected he would still be alive and even taught a little junior brother out. Imperial Preceptor, now that the poison in Empress Dowager's body is antidoted, do you want to poison her again by feeding her another strange poison?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head, "There's already no need."
Fu Yuanqing didn't understand.
"There's no personal grudge between Empress Dowager and me. She had only opposed to me pushing for a political reform for the sake of her son's empire. His Majesty became hesitant due to this, therefore, I had ordered you to poison her, not for the sake of killing her. It was just to make her unable to meddle with the politics of the imperial court. Without Empress Dowager's meddling, His Majesty could now put his heart and soul into pushing for a political reform. Now that my influence is already stable, there are half of the people in all levels of society supporting the political reform."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continued, "And the ones that oppose me are currently taking the chance to revolt. My plan has already succeeded and with the current general trend, even Empress Dowager can't stop me."
Fu Yuanqing smiled, "You talk about the general trend but I talk about gratitude and grudges. Your injuries are almost healed and it's useless for me to stay here so I'm going out to take a walk. Now my junior brother is here, shouldn't I visit him as his senior brother?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor warned, "You need to be careful. Empress Dowager won't do anything to me but she can still put you to death."
Fu Yuanqing hesitated for a moment and the warts on his face trembled randomly. He grumbled resentfully, "You are the one that ordered me to poison her so why will she kill me instead of you? How innocent am I?"
"Did you forget that you betrayed your master? Furthermore, Empress Dowager had a history with your master and with her intelligence, she will definitely know that the person that had cured the poison is your junior brother and you will definitely want to find him. She will definitely be waiting for you to take the bait and kill you, taking revenge for herself as well as for your master."
Fu Yuanqing's head started to ache and could only drop this thought.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
When Qin Mu had woke up, it was already in the evening. The youth was desiring to get some water from the courtyard to wash him. When he walked out of his room, he saw over ten sword cases in the courtyard. Other than sword cases, there was also a pile of items like jade pendants, hairpins, jewelry and et cetera.
Qin Mu was bewildered and heard a sound coming from outside the door, "Is it Sister Fox Immortal? I'm here to redeem the items of my house's young lady, have a look…"
Hu Ling'er's voice sounded out, "The money is not enough. The sword case, hairpin, bracelet of your young lady are all no ordinary items. This amount of Great Abundance Coins isn't enough."
"What's Ling'er doing?"
Qin Mu was bewildered. He was sleepy-eyed and had yet washed up so it wasn't good for him to go out now, thus he got some water to wash his face. Meanwhile, the voice outside carefully smiled apologetically, "My young lady had only given me this bag of money and there's simply no more, may Sister Fox Immortal please make things easy for me. This sword case is from Imperial College and the hairpin and bracelet are given by the elders in young lady's family…"
"Fine, wait here for a moment."
The door opened and Qin Mu saw Hu Ling'er running in like a wisp of smoke with a bag of coins behind her. This white fox used her spells to raise a whirlwind, sweeping up a sword case and a few pieces of jewelry as she rushed back in excitement and handed it over to the person outside.
The person was deeply grateful and said thanks then left.
Qin Mu washed his face and brushed his teeth with a wooden toothbrush. The little white fox running back in, she only noticed him now and was surprised, "Young master is awake? Young master, we have money now!" When she said that, she opened the door to the room and Qin Mu saw over twenty bags piled on the floor.
Hu Ling'er opened a bag of coins and Great Abundance Coins flew out to the ground.
Qin Mu was flabbergasted and didn't know what to say.
Hu Ling'er was proud of herself, "Young master had beaten those scholars so they were embarrassed to come to redeem their items by themselves. They could only send their servants over to redeem their stuff, thus we had made a big profit!"
Qin Mu washed his mouth and let out a murky breath while shaking his head, "Ling'er, this isn't kind. I had already given them two beatings. Now you had pillaged them and wanted their ransoms, it's slightly too much. Now that they had given the ransoms, how will I have the cheek to beat them again?"
Hu Ling'er stuck out her tongue and was slightly upset, "You had already beaten them once already? Young master didn't pillage them the previous time you beat them? Isn't that a huge loss? Young master knows our Great Ruins' rule more than anyone else! You had said before that snatching things with our own ability couldn't be called stealing."
Qin Mu shook his head, "You snatched their stuff and took their money. I'm afraid that my hands would get weak from collecting money. Fine, we have almost run out of money anyway, so this money could sustain us for a while more. You cannot snatch their stuff next time. We'll snatch again when we run out of money. In that way can the thin streams flow forever."
Hu Ling'er nodded her head repeatedly and said, "Young master is awake so I shall prepare some food."
"Why do you need to prepare food? Now that we have money, we can go eat any delicacies in the city. You can choose any dish soever you like."
They went out excitedly with the fox carrying the coin pouch. The numerous scholars staying in Scholar's Residence all closed their windows and doors when they saw Qin Mu and the fox walking by, not daring to face him.
Qin Mu was bewildered. These scholars had said that the entire Imperial College had known that he had beaten them but he definitely didn't leak out what happened. Who was the one that had leaked it out then?
Beside Scholar's Residence was Royalty Park and the people living inside were all princes, princesses as well as lords from aristocrat families. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had implemented a rule that children of royalties had no need to take the examination and could enter Imperial College at fifteen years old. However, the royalties had respectable identities, therefore, they couldn't stay together with ordinary scholars, thus another park was opened up.
Wei Yong was currently laughing with a few royalties, "You didn't know that our Scholar's Residence was bustling with activities. That Qin Mu has beaten up the scholars again and they are extremely miserable. Don't say I'm the one who said it out…"
A royalty asked puzzledly, "This person from Great Ruins is actually that strong?"
"He's still okay."
Wei Yong bragged, "His ability is about the same as mine, just that his moves are peculiar. I feel that those fellows from Scholar's Residence are too useless."
Another royalty laughed, "The fellows from Scholar's Residence are always conceited and contemptuous. They felt that they had fought their way in with their ability and always looked down us royalties. Now they had met their nemesis."
Qin Mu walked out of Scholar's Residence and a youth appeared in front of him. The youth was travel-worn and was carrying a huge luggage that was as tall as a human. The backpack was squarish and a few weapons were stabbed in it. Even though he was travel-worn, he looked very martial and had an air of slaughter on his body, giving off an invasive feeling.
The two of them met face to face and Qin Mu was invaded by his invasive feeling thus his body automatically gave a defensive pose. Under the pull of the qi activity, that youth also had no choice to stop in his steps.
Even though this youth had an air of slaughter, his actions were very formal. He bowed in a greeting, "Newly arrived junior brother?"
Qin Mu returned the greeting, "I've just entered. Senior brother has just returned from outside?"
"I've taken the chance to go to the frontlines of the army during my vacation."
That youth smiled, "I'm called Chen Wanyun, since junior brother has newly arrived, you can find me if you need anything."
Qin Mu reported his name and the two of them parted ways. Until the qi activity tangled up with them had vanished did they feel at ease and walked away with wide steps.
"This new junior brother is very strong…" Chen Wanyun looked back and gave another glance at Qin Mu as he thought to himself.
"Big brother is back!"
Scholar's Residence was in jubilation. Numerous scholars walked out from their own residences and welcomed Chen Wanyun. Chen Wanyun smiled, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have merely parted for a month, is there a need to miss me so much? Eh, why do all of you have injuries? Senior Sister Qu, even you are hurt? What's going on?"
The scholars of Scholar's Residence all looked ashamed.
That Senior Sister Qu was called Qu Ting who replied shamefully, "Big brother you have no idea, recently an abandoned person of Great Ruins came to the school and he has a very strong power. During the entrance examination, Daoist Ling Yun was injured by him using a wooden sword and got embarrassed in front of the emperor. The emperor allowed him to enter our Imperial College. We were angry about that decision so we wanted to force him to leave Imperial College. How can a slave be our classmate…"
Chen Wanyun said, "Daoist Ling Yun is very extraordinary. He is able to hurt Ling Yun; it means that his capability is astonishing! You went to provoke him, of course, you would be beaten. At the same realm, how could any of you be Ling Yun's opponent?"
Qu Ting argued, "What kind of identity do we have? In our Eternal Peace, abandoned people are slaves and slaves are the same as livestock. Having livestock as classmates, aren't we going to be livestock in the eyes of others? Imperial scholars are eighth ranking officials after all, is an abandoned person also worthy? How would we save Imperial College's face? Furthermore, junior brother, we got beaten by this abandoned person and it is not us beating him. We even got beaten twice!"
Chen Wanyun was flabbergasted and said, "All of you have gone to beat him so it's natural for him to beat you. You can't blame him. When you had lost, he didn't let you go but beat you again, that is his fault."
All the scholars were even more ashamed and didn't say a word.
Chen Wanyun saw their expressions and asked in suspicion, "He didn't give you a hassle. You went to pick on him again because you were indignant in losing and ended up being taught a lesson again by him. Am I right?"
Qu Ting immediately said, "Now it's no longer a personal grudge but the face of our Scholar's Residence! How can scholars of Eternal Peace lose to a barbarian from outside the sphere of civilization? This matter has already been spread throughout the whole mountain! It was this abandoned person who had spread the news out, making it hard for us to back down! He even robbed us and pillaged all our valuables, making us have no choice but to redeem them back, shaming us even further!"
Chen Wanyun's expression turned grim, "Where it is possible to let people off, one should spare them. Isn't what he has done a little too overboard? Don't worry, I'll handle this. Also, all of you are too useless, to be actually beaten so miserably by a newly arrived scholar, useless!"
All the scholars lowered their heads and Qu Ting muttered, "If he hadn't schemed us, we wouldn't have…"
Chen Wanyun sneered, "I had met a junior brother outside just now who is called Qin Mu. This person is very remarkable. There is still a murderous aura around my body after leaving the battlefield and he could already detect it before I even came in front of him. His qi activity was locked on to me and forced me to go into a defensive position, stopping to return greetings with him and reported our names to ease the enmity. This is the state which an imperial scholar should have!"
He continued with a deep voice, "I had once gone traveling with Teacher Ba Shan and met the sect master of Heavenly Flag Sect. Back then Teacher Ba Shan and Heavenly Flag Sect Master moved closer and closer to each other before finally stopping in their footsteps to greet each other and parting their ways. I always didn't understand why was there such a sight and at that moment where I met Junior Brother Qin Mu, only then did I understand what Teacher Ba Shan had experienced when he met Heavenly Flag Sect Master."
"In the martial world when you meet etiquette, it might not be as you expected and a fight is secretly concealed in it. If you don't go out for experience and only hide away here, you will never understand that feeling. When you are unable to see that kind of battles, you will definitely lose!"
All the scholars became more and more ashamed and Qu Ting muttered, "Junior Brother Chen, the abandoned person that had beaten us is called Qin Mu…"
"So it was him!"
Chen Wanyun was slightly stunned and looked pensive, "No wonder… all of you didn't lose wrongfully. Defeating you, what's the need for him to sneak attack?"
Suddenly a surprised cry sounded out, "Senior Sister Qinghong is back!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Chen Wanyun turned around to have a look and saw a young lady in green walking to Scholar's Residence.
The young lady's clothes were neat and her beautiful hair was coiled up by a muslin net with a golden sword hairpin inserted. She was also travel-worn as she had rushed back from another part of the country and should have just disembarked the ship. Behind her was a robust man that was extremely tall. His height was twice a human's height, and he was valorous with his body full of fierce muscles.
This robust man was carrying the young lady's backpack and as the young lady walked to Scholar's Residence, he was right on her heels.
Followed by the robust man, Yue Qinghong kept walking and paid no attention to the scholars that were coming to welcome her. Her gaze landed on Chen Wanyun directly as she walked up to him.
When there was still three yards between them, Yue Qinghong stopped and the robust man behind her also stopped.
"Big brother." Yue Qinghong greeted.
Chen Wanyun returned the greeting, "Junior Sister Yue, where did you come from for your training?"
Yue Qinghong smiled, "I've just returned from the battlefield of Wolf Store Country. I heard that big brother had gone to the battlefields for training?"
Chen Wanyun nodded, "That's right. I had gone to the battlefield of Barbarian Di Empire and fought a few barbarians. You have improved quite a bit."
Yue Qinghong smiled, "You too. I'm worried that I still can't beat you. Luckily I subdued a wolf slave at Wolf Store Country. Wolf slave, come out to meet big brother!"
The robust man behind her put down her luggage with a thud and suddenly stretched his hands out to grab at Chen Wanyun!
His aura was surprisingly fierce like fire and when he grabbed over with one hand, the air instantly turned dry and was even filled with sands dust. This gave people a feeling that a blazing sun hitting them in their faces!
On the exposed chest of the wolf slave, dragon wolf markings actually appeared and all the scholars were trembling with fear. This dragon wolf's markings were originally a mutation of one of the Four Great Spirit Bodies, which was called Dragon Wolf Spirit Body, the totem of Wolf Store Country.
Chen Wanyun didn't bat an eyelid and just raised his palm to face the huge hand of the wolf slave. Only a rumble was heard and Chen Wanyun's clothing fluttered. The wolf slave's huge body also swayed slightly and his gaze towards Chen Wanyun became different. With a husky voice, he said, "You're not weak."
"You too."
Chen Wanyun smiled, "Since Junior Sister Yue could subdue a wolf slave, it shows that your power has grown rapidly."
Suddenly an ethereal voice laughed, "Senior Sister Yue, big brother, you two are flattering each other again. When can both of you be modest and cool like me?"
Another youth came forward and he had no hair on his head. He looked like a monk in white Buddhist clothes but there were no marks on top of his head.
"Junior Brother Yun Que." Chen Wanyun greeted politely.
This young monk should be cultivating Buddhism but his temperament was obviously not that of a monk. He was very competitive and was very eager to fight, "I had gone to Li River, the place of the rebellion. After Li River Sword Sect was exterminated, the other sects there rebelled and caused trouble thus I had to follow the army to quell the rebellion. These few days I had quite a considerable amount of experiences and I would like to have some advice from Senior Brother Chen and Senior Sister Yue."
Yue Qinghong's gaze flickered, "From the time we entered college we had begun fighting and we had always been slightly weaker than big brother, therefore, you are the big brother of our Scholar's Residence. However, after the training, I'm afraid that there won't be any big brother in Scholar's Residence and there will only be a big sister!"
Chen Wanyun replied indifferently, "I killed barbarians at the border and my power had become fiercer ever since. My murderous intent is too heavy so I'm afraid of killing any of you when I attack. However, there's actually a ruthless person who just came to our Scholar's Residence. He is very fierce and tough. Most of the scholars in Scholar's Residence were beaten by him so if any of you can win him, I will surrender the position of big brother readily!"
Yue Qinghong's eyes lighted up, "No regrets?"
Chen Wanyun smiled, "When did I, Chen Wanyun, ever go back on the words I had said? This person is called Qin Mu and he wears embroidered clothes with a white fox at his side, therefore, he is pretty easy to recognize. I had met him as he was leaving the mountain and he should be back soon."
Yun Que immediately leaped away and laughed loudly, "Little monk shall go enlighten this Qin Mu. Senior Sister Yue, don't fight with me, let me enjoy being the big brother for a moment!"
Senior Sister Yue saw him off and sneered, "This baldy everyday acts like he's a high monk yet he's the most impatient. If even Senior Brother Chen finds the person thorny, he would definitely not be easy to deal with. Senior Sister Qu, all of you have been beaten by that Qin Mu?"
Senior Sister Qu and the rest looked embarrassed.
Yue Qinghong's gaze flickered and asked, "Can you tell me what kind of moves did this Qin Mu use?"
She had a meticulous mind and asked everyone about the moves Qin Mu used to beat them. After a moment, Yue Qinghong already had an idea and said, "This person used spells and palm skills but he didn't use sword skill. He shouldn't have much attainment in sword skill…"
Qu Ting immediately said, "Senior sister, during the examination, he had used a wooden sword to defeat Daoist Ling Yun from Hall of Pure Yang."
"Defeat Daoist Ling Yun?"
Yue Qinghong was startled and asked, "How many moves did he use?"
"One move!"
Yue Qinghong's heart trembled slightly and said, "It's not difficult to defeat Daoist Ling Yun on the same realm and I can also do it. But to defeat Daoist Ling Yun in one move, that's impossible for me. He had defeated all these junior brothers and sisters all in one move, with fists or spell. He could actually manage to be proficient in all three arts. Doesn't he have any weakness? No, he definitely has a weakness! Going to the battlefield of Wolf Store Country this time, I had seen weaknesses even on the seasoned seniors, much less a scholar who had just entered? I can take the chance to get to know the situation while Yun Que challenging him ."
Putting down the luggage, she immediately brought her wolf slave and left.
Qin Mu brought the little fox to a high-class restaurant in the capital city and ordered a table of delicacies. Eating heartily, Qin Mu who seldom showed his kindness ordered a jar of fine wine for Hu Ling'er and drank two cups himself. Both of their stomachs bulged from their eating.
Hu Ling'er was still in a daze as she controlled her wind to float back to Imperial College with Qin Mu. After this little fox was drunk, she showed her true self and just lied on the demon wind motionless with her front legs stretched straight out. Her eyes stared forward without blinking, though her stomach was a few rounds bigger.
Qin Mu only drank two small cups, therefore, he was not affected. On his way back, he looked at the cultural and historical attractions of the capital city. The Capital city was much flourishing than other places, making people reluctant to leave.
Both of them walked into the mountain gate and Qin Mu waved his hand in front of the little fox's face. He only saw Hu Ling'er eyes remained huge and round but there was a cat-like snoring sound coming from her throat. It turned out that she had fallen asleep from being drunk yet she was still controlling her demon wind to float forward.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She carried the white fox off her demon wind and hanged her around his neck. Hu Ling'er body slumped and curled around his neck. Her tail hanged down Qin Mu's chest and her body squirmed twice to find a comfortable spot to continue sleeping.
"Alcohol tolerance is so bad yet she still likes to drink."
Qin Mu shook his head and continued his way up the mountain. Hu Ling'er was in deep sleep and only felt that sprawling on Qin Mu's neck was very comfortable.
When he was near the broken cliff, Qin Mu suddenly slowed down. Hu Ling'er felt like there were needles growing out from Qin Mu's neck and was prickling her so she immediately turned around to change a position but the prickling sensation was still there.
The little fox changed a few more positions but she didn't feel comfortable. It was as if Qin Mu was turning into a huge porcupine. She squinted her sleepy eyes and stretched her sleepy paws out to touch Qin Mu's neck. She didn't find any long spike but the spiking sensation was really there.
"Could young master be showing his true form?"
The white fox was still bewildered while Qin Mu had stopped.
Only now did Hu Ling'er notice someone standing on the steep cliff in front of Qin Mu. The long white robe of the monk fluttered in the wind as he stood on the cliff, looking towards them.
"Qin Mu?" That monk in white asked."
Qin Mu nodded his head, "Yes. You are?"
The monk in white raised a palm in front of his body. With a warm smile, he looked like a Buddha and his ethereal voice sounded like the voice of Buddha, "You have been unruly and hard to tame so little monk is specially here to enlighten you and subdue your unruliness. Show your weapon!"
Qin Mu was puzzled and said, "Senior brother, you have yet said your name."
The monk in white had a face full of excitement and his appearance of Buddha had vanished without a trace. Leaping down from the cliff, he fell head first to attack Qin Mu while smiling, "When you're enlightened by me, you will naturally know my name!"
With his body in midair, a dragon roared and an elephant trumpet suddenly sounded out. Raising his head to take a look, Qin Mu saw Buddha's ray shining brilliantly as a huge Buddha which was coiled up by a huge dragon rode a white elephant and came crashing down!
This was a vision which was created by the vital qi of the monk in white. His vital qi was much denser than the other scholars and didn't yield much to Daoist Ling Yun's!
This kind of attack should be a fist skill with incantations mixed with it. Incantations were attacks targeted at the soul while the coiling dragon and riding elephant fist skill was an attack targeted at the physical body.
Two of the attacks gathered as one to formed the vision of a coiling dragon roaring and an elephant trumpeting while being ridden on. This attack which was nearly a divine art was enough to show the superiority of this monk in white.
Qin Mu's spirit rose greatly and he couldn't help feeling slightly excited.
He had finally met an expert!
From the time he came to the capital city, the scholars he had met were all like Qu Ting. Even directorate Daoist Ling Yun was disgraced by just one sword from him, making it hard for him to fight to his content.
The monk in white who didn't wish to say his name was obviously very strong, which aroused his battle spirit.
Ever since he stepped onto the lands of Eternal Peace Empire, he had tried to act civilized and he was very tired of it. In his bones, he was still a person abandoned by gods that belonged to the barbaric lands of Great Ruins. As an abandoned person that wasn't cared by gods, he was a fierce and tough being that dared to go down the rivers to kill flood dragons and up the mountains to capture strange beasts with a knife!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu laughed loudly and his body gave a tremble, sending Hu Ling'er away. Bending both his knees, he suddenly leaped up and raised his hands towards the sky as he faced that huge Buddha who was riding an elephant and had a dragon coiled around!
Thunderclap Eight Strikes Sixth Form, Thunder Circling Ten Thousand Buddhas!
Boom!
The sound of thunder occurred at the same time in mid-air as one figure rose into the sky while the other one descended rapidly.
A frenzied look appeared in Qin Mu's eyes as he raised his head to look at that figure falling down. Just as Yun Que landed on the ground, rumbles of thunders sounded in his ears and he saw Qin Mu's punches coming. Every punch burst forth with thunder rumbling which could grab the heart and soul of people.
Dong, dong, dong.
Qin Mu's footsteps were extremely heavy like a huge elephant stepping on the ground. With all the muscles in his body throbbing, he made use of the movements of all his muscles to push his strength to its maximum.
When their punches had collided, Yun Que's expression changed slightly and felt that the opponent's vital qi was boundless and completely crushed his vital qi.
He immediately changed his steps and fell back while frantically defending against Qin Mu's punches. He could only feel that all his tricks, his intricates and extremely wonderful moves couldn't be executed and he could only use his fists to block his opponent's fists.
There was absolutely no time and any possibility to execute his moves and spells.
"Lotus Throne Mudra, Lotus Flower Precious Body! Precious Flask Mudra!"
Yun Que gave a shout and a golden light shone brightly around him. With a mudra out, a lotus throne appeared below his feet and there were Sanskrit surrounding his body and circulating non-stop. These Sanskrit formed the shape of a precious vase and allow edYun Que to hide in the vase.
Qin Mu's gave another punch and the thunderclap exploded out. Any golden bell, lotus throne or precious flask were all shattered. Yun Que's fists were already badly battered and blood had splattered onto his clean white Buddhist robe. The bright red stains on it looked like plum blossoms.
However, the plum blossoms soon faded away. His white clothes should be a treasure as well which didn't stain or get dirty.
Yun Que's arms turned soft and he almost couldn't lift his arms. His moves became slower and he knew it was bad. Qin Mu then gave a punch to his face and smashed him into the jade wall of the cliff. He slid down and fainted.
"There are still experts in Imperial College."
Qin Mu felt happy both mentally and physically. It was just that he had yet stretched his bones and the monk in white was already knocked out by him, making him feel that it was a pity, "Any monk that appeared could take so many of my blows. Patriarch is right, the people in Imperial College are still brilliant. I can't discriminate the people of Eternal Peace Empire."
"Young master, you are already done?"
Hu Ling'er only had time to stabilize herself and before she could enjoy watching the show, it had already ended, thus she couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed. She immediately went forward to dig around Yun Que's body, trying to find valuable things.
After a moment, the little fox grumbled angrily, "Poor monk!"
"Ling'er, his clothes are not bad and should be worth quite some money." Qin Mu prompted her with good intentions.
Hu Ling'er stripped off the monk's robe. The clothes were indeed untainted by even a speck of dust and couldn't be tore, making the little fox very happy, "This monk will definitely bring lots of money to exchange for this clothes! That's right young master, what is his name?"
Qin Mu leaped up the jade cliff and continued walking to Scholar's Residence while shaking his head, "How would I know? I had asked him earlier but he didn't say. I think he was probably afraid to lose face after he had lost. That monk has a remarkable insight and knows himself well."
Not far away, Yue Qinghong suppressed the shock in her heart and brought her wolf slave over. Walking down the cliff to take a look, Yun Que had lost consciousness and was just lying at the feet of the cliff while wearing a bloody white short pants.
His white short pants were not as valuable as his Buddhist robe and were made from normal fabric.
"Yun Que is so useless, he actually didn't even force out his full strength. However, this Qin Mu is indeed very strong. Wolf slave, how strong are you compared to him?" Yue Qinghong asked.
The wolf slave's eyes burst with radiance as he rolled his tongue, "I have my magic knife skills, the slaughtering knife of the battlefield which can force out his full strength! However, I can only last ten moves, I'll definitely lose after ten moves."
Yue Qinghong's eyes lighted up and said, "You go."
The wolf slave bowed and obeyed. His hands grabbed towards his back and with two swinging sounds, the two curved knives that overlapped each other behind his back were out of their sheaths. This two pitch black knives had no impurity in them as if they were forged by the blackest metal.
Furthermore, these two curved and narrow knives were three yards long.
The wolf slave walked forward with quick steps, becoming faster and faster. He suddenly opened up his hands and his vital qi thread flew out. Using qi to manipulate his knives, he flew the two magic knives across the air silently and slashed towards Qin Mu!
When the two magic knives were about to cut down on Qin Mu's body, the light of the knives suddenly burst forth as a knife stuck close to the floor and sliced horizontally while the other knife sliced horizontally towards his waist!
Qin Mu seemed to have grown eyes on the back of his head. His body suddenly became extremely weird. He suddenly became like a flat fish, stepping on magic knife coming from the bottom with one foot and kicked the magic knife coming from the top with another leg. It was so hard to imagine how a human body could bend into such a position.
The top magic knife was kicked away and the bottom magic knife was stepped into mountain rock by Qin Mu.
The wolf slave was startled and saw Qin Mu rushing towards him like a phantom.
The wolf slave's vital qi trembled and the two magic knives whizzed back again. The black light circled up and down Qin Mu. The magic knife skills of Wolf Store Country were executed brilliantly by him but not one knife landed on Qin Mu's body as he dodged them with just a hair's breadth.
His knife skill was no normal knife skill and was the slaughtering technique of the battlefield. It had no flashy moves and had only one purpose which was to kill!
Even such sharp knife skill was also unable to touch the body of Qin Mu.
However, forced by the knife lights, Qin Mu was also unable to advance. Not only he couldn't advance, he had to fall back continuously.
Qin Mu's retreating looked like a slithering green dragon and the wolf slave's pupils suddenly contracted. This wasn't retreating, it was a coiling dragon!
Dragon could be big or small, they could stretch out or coiled up. When a dragon coiled up, it meant that it was ready to strike.
The wolf slave was originally a person with a status of Wolf Store Country. Because he was held captive by Yue Qinghong in the battlefield and according to the rules of Wolf Store Country, he became a wolf slave to Yue Qinghong, serving her. However, his ability wasn't much weaker than Yue Qinghong.
Furthermore, he had stayed on the battlefield for a long period of time and had experienced life and deaths fights, therefore, his battle experience was extremely rich.
The look of Qin Mu retreating gave him an extremely dangerous feeling. It was as if he was targeted by a huge fiendish strange beast!
His magic knives became even faster but Qin Mu had already stored up his momentum. Suddenly Qin Mu gave a punch which broke his limit and instantly the roars of dragons came out long and loud. The two magic knives lost control and whizzed towards the wolf slave!
Along with the magic knives was Qin Mu's vast and overbearing punch. His fist's intention turned into a huge malevolent dragon which pounced directly forward.
Wolf slave gave a loud shout and his vital qi burst forth. Instantly a power that was like the bitterness of a blood red sun in a barren desert burst forth and his shirt ripped open. Wolf dragon markings appeared on his whole body and he pushed both his palms forward and unleashed all the vital qi he had into both his palms!
Bang.
A huge tremor traveled out and wolf slave's body moved backward. With two magic knives stabbing into his ribs, he moved back thirty yards and collided with a mountain rock, only then did the momentum stopped.
"Ling'er, there's no need to loot him. Give him some money to heal himself."
Qin Mu summoned back Hu Ling'er who was preparing to plunder the spoils of war and shook his head, "He had used weapons so I had struck more heavily. His injuries were not light and he would spend quite some money to heal himself."
Hu Ling'er pouted her lips, "What a pity, those two knives aren't bad…"
Qin Mu shook his head and left, "It's still not as good as mine. However, his power isn't bad and his battle awareness is much stronger than that monk earlier."
Yue Qinghong waited for Qin Mu to leave far away before appearing and coming to wolf slave's side. Blood was dripping out from wolf slave's mouth and due to the two magic knives which had penetrated through both his ribcage, he was nailed to the mountain and couldn't move.
"Master, I had estimated wrongly."
The wolf slave gave an ashamed look, "I had used ten moves but he had only used three… be careful!"
Just as he said it, Yue Qinghong suddenly felt a warmth behind her back as a body closely stuck to her, causing her heart to trembled slightly.
There was a person keeping close to her back and was back to back with her. She was totally not aware when this person had come."
At this moment, Qin Mu's voice sounded in her ears. The two of them were very close, "Senior sister, he is your slave? Did you order your slave to attack me because you think I don't dare to kill anyone in Imperial College?"
Dense sweats erupted out on Yue Qinghong's forehead. Suddenly her footsteps rapidly touched the floor as she moved away quickly; however, Qin Mu's body was still stuck to her back and a voice sounded beside her ear again, "Doesn't senior sister owe me an explanation?"
Yue Qinghong's scalp turned numb and her body moved rapidly like a phantom with an extremely fast speed. She executed footwork that was like the traces of clouds and shadow of sparrows but no matter how she moved, Qin Mu still kept close to her back like a shadow following her!
Cloud Trace Sparrow Shadow was the best body technique divine art she had learned and even though she couldn't execute divine art, she could still walk among the clouds and fly low like a sparrow. However, even such a powerful body technique divine art, it was still impossible to shake off Qin Mu.
Suddenly Yue Qinghong felt the muscles of the big boy behind her squirmed as if there were snakes under his skin. She couldn't help feeling a chill down her spine and even her exquisite skin grew tiny goosebumps from the fear, "Sure skill technique of battle technique school!"
Qin Mu started to move his footsteps and Yue Qinghong suppressed the fear in her heart to move along with Qin Mu.
She knew that the sure kill technique of the battle technique school had to be executed at close range. If she continued to stick on Qin Mu's back and not let him turn, it would be difficult for Qin Mu to execute his sure kill technique.
Just now it was Qin Mu sticking close to her and now it was her sticking close to Qin Mu and following his footsteps, not daring to leave him for even an inch.
If she left him, her head and body would probably become separate parts!
To be close in by an expert of the battle technique school, it basically meant it was an order for execution!
The two of them moved quickly with their backs against each other and they looked like a dancing butterfly fluttering on the mountains of Imperial College. Many scholars on the mountains all stopped and looked at the two of them, exclaiming endlessly.
Qin Mu wore embroidered clothes while Yue Qinghong wore green clothes and they both looked like a piece of the butterfly's wings. Furthermore, they were sticking close together, therefore, it was easy for people to be lost in wild and fanciful thoughts.
A scholar sneered, "A cheating couple, giving off a rotting smell that makes people want to puke in the broad daylight!"
Suddenly a boom sounded out as Qin Mu leaned back onto the pillar of Hall of Azure Yang.
"Ling'er, let's go!"
Qin Mu called Hu Ling'er over, "Don't think about plundering her. If you want to plunder her, you'll have to pull her out from the pillar. She isn't bad as well, she's an expert to be able to keep up with me."
Hu Ling'er immediately caught up and looked backward reluctantly. She only saw Yue Qinghong smacking face filled into the pillar of Hall of Azure Yang by Qin Mu.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The scholars all around were in shock. The scholar who had said about the rotting smell was even astonished. Never would they have thought that the young man and woman who were dancing earlier had turned so ruthless in an instant. That young man in embroidered clothes had directly smashed that young woman into the brass pillar. The sight was so savage that a psychological trauma was left in everyone's heart!
Not long after, Chen Wanyun walked over and he gave a smack with his palm on the brass pillar. The pillar trembled violently and Yue Qinghong who was embedded in it fell out like she had got an electric shock. She then covered her face and left.
The young woman's face was all badly battered and she couldn't face the world.
She could have left the pillar by herself but because there scholars crowding around outside, she felt that she would lose face, therefore, she had remained in the pillar a while more and planned to leave when there were lesser people. Unexpectedly, more and more people came.
Chen Wan Yun came to the wolf slave who was nailed by the knives and pulled out both magic knives to free wolf slave. He then jumped off the jade cliff and took off his outer shirt to cover it on Monk Yun Que. Once he was done, he then woke him up.
Yun Que looked at his remaining white short pants and immediately knew after he was knocked out, he was plundered by that youth called Qin Mu. She couldn't help feeling embarrassed and ashamed.
The value of his white Buddhist robe was extraordinary and even more valuable than normal spirit weapons. Yun Que had to sell all the valuables he had to accumulate enough money to buy himself a Buddhist robe, yet it ended up getting stolen by Qin Mu.
Not long later, Chen Wanyun, Yun Que, Yue Qinghong and wolf slave were gathered back together. Chen Wanyun smiled, "Junior brother, junior sister, how's Qin Mu's ability?"
Yue Qinghong snorted coldly, "You didn't have the confidence to beat him, that's why you had let us be the vanguard to test out his ability? Big brother, aren't you a little too cunning?"
Chen Wanyun replied indifferently, "All's fair in war, this is what I've learned on the battlefield. I also learn that know yourself and know your enemy to emerge victorious in every battle, without knowing his weakness, I'll not make a move recklessly. Both your abilities are not weaker than mine and since you are unable to win him, it would be hard for me as well, therefore I can only find his weakness. If even I lose as well, then he would become the big brother of our Scholar's Residence and become the face of us."
Yun Que was more acceptive and asked, "Big brother, what did you observe?"
"His spells, cultivation, moves, battle awareness, techniques and thinking are all first class!"
Chen Wanyun continued, "He contested his palm strength with you. You cultivate Buddhism and have an extremely dense cultivation. The divine arts of Buddhism have an astonishing defense yet they crumbled under his palm strength. This means the strength of his cultivation is even higher than yours! Wolf slave's cultivation is also extremely dense and knife skills are the slaughtering technique in the battlefields; however, he couldn't do anything to him and instead lost in three moves. This means his battle awareness and moves are also top class! And to defeat Junior Sister Yue, he relied on his techniques and thinking.When Junior Sister Yue was checking on wolf slave's injuries, he quietly got close and made junior sister miss her chance, making you have no choice but to dance together with him closely and fell into his trap."
Yue Qinghong got reminded of the situation where she had to closely stick to Qin Mu and her face turned slightly red as she gave a cold snort.
Chen Wanyun continued, "He used his sword extremely fast to hurt Daoist Ling Yun, disgracing him in front of the palace hall. This means his sword skill is then the strongest. Furthermore, he had defeated over a dozen scholars in Scholar's Residence by using spells to control their consciousness, thus he's proficient in spells as well. There's almost no weakness that could be found on this person."
Yun Que and Yue Qinghong became the more astonished the more they heard. Even though Yue Qinghong had asked around the moves Qin Mu had used to defeat the scholars and wanted to achieve "know yourself and know your enemy", she still hadn't understood as much as Chen Wanyun did."
Chen Wanyun had been sitting in the position of big brother for the past few years, he definitely didn't have an undeserved reputation.
"How are we going to defeat such a perfect person with no weakness?" Yun Que mumbled.
Chen Wanyun said indifferently, "This concerns the face of our Scholar's Residence, the face of our Imperial College, the face of us Eternal Peace Empire's scholars, therefore he must lose no matter what! He is an abandoned person who walked out from Great Ruins. If he doesn't lose, hehe, doesn't it mean that our Eternal Peace Empire's scholars are inferior to an abandoned person?"
His spirit roused as he said slowly, "He has no weakness in all those aspects so I racked my brains and tried to search for a weakness of his technique… and I found it."
Yun Que and Yue Qinghong's hearts shook and they both looked at him.
Chen Wanyun smiled slightly, "I found the weakness in his technique. When he executed his technique while fighting you, there was a trace of weakness that was almost undetectable when he circulated his vital qi. That's where his weakness is. I still need to observe him for a period of time to know the exact location of his weakness."
Yue Qinghong also accepted wholeheartedly and sighed, "There's a reason why we had lost to you for the past few years. You are really a step higher compared to us."
Chen Wanyun smiled, "I wouldn't have improved this fast without you. The momentum of your catching up forced me to put in all my efforts to cultivate. When I discover the exact location of his weakness, I will make my move and defeat him openly in front of all the scholars of Imperial College to protect the reputation of us Eternal Peace Empire's scholars!"
As Qin Mu walked along Scholar's Residence, all the scholars looked terrified. It was evident that many people had already seen the scenario that Qin Mu smashed Yue Qinghong in the brass pillar and nailed the wolf slave to the mountain rock. He reckoned that some of them might even have heard the news that he knocked Yun Que out and threw him at the bottom of the cliff.
Two of the three biggest experts of Scholar's Residence had already been badly beaten by the abandoned person of Great Ruins. Other than Chen Wanyun, who else could be Qin Mu's opponent?
Qin Mu pushed open the door and walked into his house. After that, a little fox's head popped out and shouted, "Is there anyone who still wants these sword cases? If no one wants them, I'm going to sell them to the capital city."
"Wait a moment!"
A scholar immediately shouted, "Wait a moment, I want to buy back my sword case!"
"And me, don't sell it, I'll come to redeem it when I save enough money!"
"Little fox, my monthly allowance for this month has not yet arrived. Can you accommodate me and let me have my sword case back first?"
"In that case, you will have to write a certificate of indebtedness and take the certificate back when you have the money."
...
…
Hu Ling'er finished dealing with the sword cases and grabbed a few certificates of indebtedness back into the house, "Young master, can you check if these certificates of indebtedness are written correctly? I can't read."
Qin Mu seemed to be smiling yet not smiling at the same time, "You can't read and you dared to accept certificates of indebtedness? These certificates of indebtedness are correct, you'll just have to keep them well.
Hu Ling'er was very happy and hurriedly kept the certificates of indebtedness in a hole in the wall.
Qin Mu called her over and said, "There are still two days away from the start of school so I shall teach you Spirit Creation Technique."
Hu Ling'er immediately sat down properly and Qin Mu began to explain Spirit Creation Technique. Spirit Creation Technique was the last writing among the Seven Creation Writings. This technique could be both cultivated by humans and by demons. After studying Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures for these few days, Qin Mu discovered Spirit Creation Technique was more suitable for demons to cultivate.
Learning from Deaf, he had read a copious amount of books and literature. What Deaf had taught him was not only Ruism, there was also all kinds of ancient poems and was extremely hard to pronounce. However, because of this, it was much easier for Qin Mu to comprehend other scriptures.
Qin Mu tried his best to simplify his explanation and make it easier for the little fox to understand the scripture. Seven Creation Writings belonged to the top tier techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was a technique that could turn one into god or devil, and it was the supreme holy bible of Heavenly Devil Cult. Spirit Creation Technique was included in it, so the marvel of this technique was evident.
For the next two days, Qin Mu simplified the complicated technique and taught it to Hu Ling'er. In two days, Hu Ling'er was already able to master the basics of this technique and to try to refine her spirit embryo.
The original purpose of this creation technique was to change the spirit embryo. If one was a Black Tortoise Spirit Body, his spirit embryo would be a Black Tortoise Spirit Embryo, and by cultivating the Spirit Creation Technique, one could change their Black Tortoise Spirit Embryo into White Tiger Spirit Embryo or other spirit embryos, even the attribute of the vital qi would change accordingly as well. Thus this technique was thought as a top class technique in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Of course, every technique in Seven Creation Writings was incomparably magical and it was not only limited to Spirit Creation Technique.
The reason why Qin Mu had felt that Spirit Creation Technique was more suitable for demons was mainly because demons and strange beasts like Hu Ling'er and devil ape had no spirit embryos nor divine treasures.
Since they didn't have them, they could only create them by themselves.
Now that Hu Ling'er was cultivating Spirit Creation Technique, she could have her own spirit embryo and even change the form of her spirit embryo.
Two days later, Imperial College finally started.
Qin Mu and the other newly entered scholars follow the directorate to the warehouse to pick up their own sword cases, pills, attires, pill furnaces, jade, brushes, ink, and tablets. There was also a sack of money which was said to be the official's salary; however, Qin Mu heard from the scholars that it was the monthly allowance and could be collected once every month. Even though it wasn't much and only had a dozen coins, it was substantial to the commoners.
As long as one became a scholar of Imperial College, he would already be an eight ranking official, therefore, the imperial court had to pay him salary.
Qin Mu picked up his items and then came to the front of Hall of Supreme Learning. The young patriarch was giving a speech which was nothing more than to motivate scholars to cultivate and study hard.
Qin Mu placed items back into his room and followed the other new scholars to the Hall of Hidden Light for a lecture. There were also royalties that had come to seek knowledge. As Qin Mu looked around, he saw a familiar young lady who was winking at him. However, when she met other people's gazes, that young lady would become aloof.
"Seventh sister, what are you doing?" That young lady was Ling Yuxiu and a prince beside her frowned slightly and asked softly when he saw her looking towards Qin Mu from time to time.
Hall of Hidden Light. A man wearing long and black garment knelt with a horizontal sword in front of his knees. He was the directorate of Hall of Hidden Light. His gaze was as sharp as a sword and he gave all the scholars a look. When his gaze landed on Qin Mu, the corners of his eyes twitched. He gave a speech that was neither too slow nor too fast, "Hall of Hidden Light is the Hall of Sword Learning. What is Hidden Light? The saint had said: I have three swords, you can choose any one of them, however, they can't kill. The first one is called Hidden Light, hidden from sight, hidden from use. Even when you touch, you can feel nothing, passing through objects without objects noticing. This is the origin of Hidden Light. When one reaches this realm, he would become sword god."
Qin Mu was astonished and he muttered in his heart, "This directorate is the Sword Hall Master of our sacred cult…"
Sword Hall Master was in black and had a towering figure and looked very arrogant. When he was blown away by a stab from Qin Mu, he couldn't even execute his moves.
However, Qin Mu felt odd. This Imperial College was the sacred place of Eternal Peace Empire after all, how did they even recruit the hall master of Heavenly Devil Cult?
After Sword Hall Master talked about the origin of Hall of Hidden Light, he continued, "Sword, when is cultivated to the realm of Hidden Light, it has reached an excellent realm, the supreme realm, therefore it is known as Dao sword. And in the world today, only one or two people have reached this step and there's only one who is known as Hidden Light Sword God. I'm not nearly as good as him. All of you are scholars from all over the land. You should set the highest realm of sword skill as your goal and shouldn't even slack a day. Today I will teach you the foundation of sword skills, the most basic sword moves like stab, flick, smear, and wave."
The scholars in the hall were all incomparably astonished. Instead of teaching profound sword moves, The Hall of Hidden Light in Imperial College was going to teach the basic foundation of sword skills. Was there a need for them to come to Imperial College to learn the basic foundation of sword skills?
Sword Hall Master said solemnly, "Don't despise the foundation of sword skills. If your foundation isn't solid, all the fancy and marvelous sword moves you learn will be useless. Three years ago I met a little child who was only eleven to twelve years old. He had an incomparably solid foundation and when I contested with him in Spirit Embryo Realm, he defeated me with just a wooden sword. It was then I realized the importance of the foundation of sword skills."
A commotion broke out within the scholars in the hall and a scholar muttered, "To be able to defeat teacher with a wooden sword, is this child a sword god?"
Sword Hall Master shook his head, "Not yet, this child is only fifteen years old now. It's impossible for him to reach the realm of sword god."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu's face turned slightly red because he knew Sword Hall Master was talking about himself.
Sword Hall Master should have been pondering about a painful experience that's why he had put in a lot of hard work in the foundation of his sword skills. Now his skill was no longer as weak and probably had another great leap. It was impossible for him to beat him again in one sword.
Sword Hall Master taught all the scholars the foundation of sword form technique and Qin Mu nodded his head secretly. After comprehending for these few years, Sword Hall Master had already gotten the Samadhi of the foundation of sword skill. Even though there were still some flaws, it was a big improvement from before.
When the class ended, Qin Mu was about to leave Hall of Hidden Light when Sword Hall Master suddenly said, "Qin Mu, stay."
Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong and Yun Que were astonished. The three of them looked at each other then walked out of Hall of Hidden Light. Ling Yuxiu wanted to come forward to find Qin Mu but she could only drop it when she saw the situation and dragged away by the few royalties.
All the scholars of Hall of Hidden Light left and only Qin Mu and Sword Hall Master were left.
"Young Cult Master, how do you think my sword skill?" Sword Hall Master rose and asked solemnly.
Qin Mu said, "Your improvement is very big."
Sword Hall Master had a fervent gaze, "How is it compared to yours?"
Qin Mu thought about it and shook his head, "You're still lacking some maturity. Your foundation is not as stable as mine. Furthermore, even if your foundation was as solid as mine, you wouldn't be a match for me. In the same realm, my cultivation is way stronger than yours and my techniques are also much better. You're too focused on sword and neglect the rest, therefore you are not a match for me in the same realm. However, your improvement is already very big."
Sword Hall Master gave a disciple's greeting and asked with a solemn expression, "That's why I would like to ask Young Cult Master to give me one or two pointers. I've taught them just now and now I'm requesting Young Cult Master earnestly to teach me!"
Qin Mu was calm and sat down, "Alright. You are the hall master of my cult after all, there's no harm in giving you pointers. Sword skill is not only sword skill. The body technique, exercise method, fist skill, spirit embryo, will are equally important. The sword you just taught them had yet achieved uniting them as one."
Sword Hall Master asked, "How to unite them as one?"
Qin Mu imparted him the Stab Sword Form that Village Chief had taught him and Sword Hall Master suddenly saw the light and muttered to himself, "This is actually how to exert one's strength… wrong, wrong, so the sword I had been cultivating for a hundred years was all cultivated wrongly… Thank you, Young Cult Master for the pointers!"
Meanwhile, outside Hall of Hidden Light, Chen Wanyun and the rest had grim expressions. Yue Qinghong was in fury, "Directorate is actually biased and giving him special treatment, teaching him sword skill personally! His sword skill is already not weak and if there is a directorate deliberately training him, how would we have the chance to win him?"
Chen Wanyun said indifferently, "There's no need for all of you to worry. No matter what wonderful sword skill directorate imparts to him, he will definitely not be my opponent. I'll just have to grab the weakness in his technique and I'll beat him!"
"Be that as it may but you can't drop your guard." Yun Que reminded.
Chen Wanyun nodded his head, "Don't worry, when he's improving, I'm improving as well. These few days I'm suppressing my realm and feel like I'm about to touch the border of Six Directions Realm. With my Five Elements Realm's battle prowess at its peak, how can I not take him down? Receiving directorate's teaching will only waste his energy to cultivate the new sword skill and make him no time for cultivation! To beat him at Five Elements Realm is my wish, otherwise, I would have regrets even if I become a divine arts practitioner."
The three of them totally didn't expect that what they had guessed wasn't the situation in Hall of Hidden Light. Sword Hall Master was now like a student and Qin Mu was then the teacher, giving Sword Hall Master pointers on how to cultivating sword!
If the three of them saw this, their eyeballs would probably pop out!
Sword Hall Master memorized how to unite many as one in his heart and Qin Mu thought of something, "Even though my foundation is very solid, I have not many attainments in sword skills. I require hall master to give me pointers too. Hall master said just now that the saint had three swords and you only explained the first sword, Hidden Light and didn't mention the other two swords. What are the other two swords?"
Sword Hall Master replied, "First sword Hidden Light, second sword Carry Shadow and third sword Night Drill are actually the three realms of Dao sword. These are the words written by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in his 'Sword Theory' which was acclaimed by the emperor as Son of Heaven's Three Swords. You asked me to give you pointers but I don't dare to. The sword skills achievement of a student is decided by his teacher. I can teach them but I don't think I'm qualified to teach you."
Qin Mu understood what he meant. It would be the best to find a famous master when learning techniques. Monk Ming Xin of Great Thunderclap Monastery was an example. His master had not thoroughly understood Thunderclap Eight Strikes, therefore the Thunderclap Eight Strikes he had imparted to Ming Xin had a flaw.
The same logic applied here. If Sword Hall Master had not comprehended a move completely and taught it to Qin Mu, in that case, Qin Mu would inherit his flaw.
Therefore if one wants to learn profound ultimate arts, they must have a good teacher!
Qin Mu's expression wavered and he asked, "Where can I read Sword Theory?"
"Floor of Heavenly Records."
Sword Hall Master continued, "Young Cult Master, the book tablet is the pass to enter Floor of Heavenly Records. As long as you have the book tablet, you can enter Floor of Heavenly Records to read the collections."
Qin Mu's spirit was greatly aroused. He had not yet been to Floor of Heavenly Records. Over there were the collections from all the sects and clans in the entire empire, so how could he not go?
"Young Cult Master hasn't had your lunch, right?"
Sword Hall Master gave a rare smile and invited, "I'm also going to have lunch, why don't you come to my humble home? I just have some queries to ask Young Cult Master. We can talk as we eat."
Qin Mu hesitated, "There a little fox still in my house…"
"Just bring her along."
Qin Mu and he left Hall of Hidden Light together and returned to Scholar's Residence. Hu Ling'er was currently cultivating Spirit Creation Technique and when she heard to go eat, she immediately ran out in excitement, "Is there wine?"
"Yes." Sword Hall Master replied.
Hu Ling'er cheered and immediately drove her demon wind to follow. The two men and one fox came to the residence of Sword Hall Master. The place where Sword Hall Master stayed was very simple. It was also a courtyard with two entrances and two exits and he didn't even have a servant.
Qin Mu looked around and saw that there were no other people here. Sword Hall Master cooked the dishes by himself and was very fast. It was obvious that it wasn't his first time cooking at his own home.
"Sword Hall, don't you have a wife?" Qin Mu asked bewilderedly.
"Wife?"
The cooking speed of Sword Hall Master was very fast. By using his true fire to cook the food, how could his speed not be fast?
This middle-aged man soon served the dishes and scooped the rice, "Why do I want a wife? Troublesome."
Hu Ling'er tasted the dishes he had cooked and was astonished, "It's really delicious! Sword Hall, your culinary skills are so good and much better than many of the chefs in the capital city. Why don't you find a wife?"
"I had once. I had a good time with a woman of the cult when I was young, but that was when I was young and insensible."
Sword Hall Master reminiscenced the past and shook his head, "Then I discovered that sword could bring me more joy and the joy woman can bring me is inferior to my sword, therefore I thought, why the trouble? So we broke up. Young Cult Master, women are definitely trouble, so don't find a woman. They would want you to carefully spend time with them and make them happy, frequently acting coquettishly with you, scratching you. We have to focus on cultivating and cultivating sword can bring us more joy. Woman can't bring us joy, therefore, you must firmly not want woman."
Hu Ling'er was startled and argued, "Sword Hall, what you said is wrong. What's bad with woman?"
Sword Hall Master's vital qi hummed and it sounded like countless of sharp swords clashing. He said indifferently, "You absolutely don't understand the joy cultivating sword can bring me. There's no use explaining it to you.
Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently. Sword Hall's realm was too high and he still didn't understand this realm now.
The two men and one fox finished their lunch and Sword Hall Master asked Qin Mu some more questions before going into deep thoughts, not saying a word for quite a while. Qin Mu was about to bid farewell when Sword Hall Master woke up again and rose, "Young Cult Master, I won't bother to see you out."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he waved back at him.
"Sword Hall sure has a strange temper."
He shook his head, "No idea whom the girl he was in love with back then, I might be able to fix them back together. However, with Sword Hall having such strange temper, I reckon they would break up again after getting back together."
He returned to Scholar's Residence and saw numerous scholars walking down from the mountain. The scholars from Royalty's Park and Scholar's Residence were also all walking out and heading down the mountain.
Qin Mu was bewildered when he suddenly heard a voice, "Brother Qin, over here!"
Qin Mu looked over and only saw Wei Yong among the crowd thus he went forward. Hu Ling'er asked, "Fatty Wei, what's going on?"
Wei Yong smiled, "You have no idea? I've heard that a Daoist came to the bottom of the mountain and claimed to be from Dao Sect. He brought a disciple and sat at the bottom of the mountain, blocking the way.
Qin Mu was astonished and said, "They're blocking the gate!"
Wei Yong nodded and said, "They're indeed blocking the gate! Dao Sect is the biggest orthodox sect and the Daoist blocking the gate called himself Dan Yangzi and the youth beside Daozi. A directorate went up earlier to inquire and they said they were not here to find trouble but to interact. He said he had long heard that Imperial College was the number one scared ground in the world. It took in all the talents in the world. He, therefore, had brought Daozi of Dao Sect to come visit Imperial College and validate the skills and divine arts between Dao Sect and Imperial College."
Qin Mu's heart slightly shook and he let out a murky breath before saying slowly, "What a great strategy."
Wei Yong was puzzled.
"They are attacking the heart."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, "There are various sects taking the chance to rebel outside the capital city and raising flags to crusade against Imperial Preceptor, but the capital city is still considered peaceful. It's obvious the commoners are supportive. Imperial Preceptor is reforming the sects and founded primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College to take in all the talents in the world, gathering them all as the students of Son of Heaven, therefore all the scholars in the world are for the use of the emperor. I've heard people saying that Eternal Peace Empire is actually a sect disguised as an empire. If Daozi of Dao Sect blocked the gate and none of Imperial College's scholars couldn't defeat him, then what's the use of Imperial Preceptor's reform?"
Wei Yong stared blankly and muttered, "This is not just attacking the heart, this is killing the heart…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Kill the hearts of the people who were supportive!
Wei Yong felt a chill down his spine. Eternal Peace Empire reformed sects and nationalized all the ultimate arts of all schools and sects, founded primary schools, colleges all over the country and Imperial College in the capital city to suppress all the schools and sects in the martial world.
They had gathered so many resources. If they still couldn't have any good disciples from their teachings or their disciples were still inferior to the disciples of all the schools and sects, what would be the point of the Imperial Preceptor's reform?
This Daozi of Dao Sect must have an extremely strong ability and must definitely be a genius level figure, otherwise, he wouldn't be sent by Dao Sect to come and give them a slap in the face!
The face of Imperial College was Imperial Preceptor's face, the emperor's face. It was hard to say if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and the emperor's faces could still be maintained.
Wei Yong's heart trembled hugely and suddenly he laughed loudly, "Imperial College has gathered all the talents in the world so how will they be no match for an insignificant Daozi of Dao Sect?"
Qin Mu shook his head and thought back how most of these scholars had cultivated the same technique, therefore he didn't think highly of them.
Even though the scholars of Imperial College might have cultivated different techniques, it was hard for them to be specialized. They needed to have directorates that specialized in these techniques to teach and only then could the scholars learn the essence.
From the way he saw it, Dao Sect had come prepared this time and the imperial scholars could only be blocked on the mountain.
If the imperial scholars of Imperial College couldn't beat this Daozi of Dao Sect, the sects in the world have sufficient reason to oppose the Imperial Preceptor. When that time came, the emperor would lose his virtue and popularity and all the secs in the world would probably rebel one after another if he didn't execute Imperial Preceptor!
The battle between Daozi of Dao Sect and Imperial College's scholars would become the battle that concerned the general situation of the world and couldn't be held in contempt.
"Let's go and see the ability of this Daozi!" Wei Yong said excitedly.
Qin Mu and he went down the mountain. There were imperial scholars everywhere around the mountain gate below the jade cliff. The scholars in Imperial College were not a few. Scholar's Residence might only take in ten scholars each year but there were much more royalties from Royalty's Park and divine arts practitioners.
Qin Mu stood on top of the jade cliff and looked up and down, and then he saw two Daoists sitting in front of the mountain gate as expected. One of them was an elder and had a loud ancient look that didn't look like a people of the modern times and looked like he had come from the past. He wore a grey Daoist robe and had a simple bearing. He gave off a presence that was above worldly matter and sat there like everything in this world had no relation to him.
With this presence, he mustn't be an ordinary folk. This elder should be a figure with an extremely high position in the number one orthodox sect which was called Dao Sect.
And beside the elder was a youth with pretty features. This youth had a snow white horsetail whisk with a vermillion handle on the crook of his elbow. His clothes were green, and he sat there quietly, seeming not to be affected at all by the Imperial College's scholars surrounding him.
Qin Mu exclaimed to himself. This young and the old looked like Daoists who had cultivated their bodies and nurtured their characters, having the bearings that had transcended the mortal world.
The two Daoists sat in the middle of the road in front of the mountain gate. The mountain gate was very wide and they didn't take up much space.
However, if they didn't chase these two people away, it would be a great shame and humiliation.
Blocking the gate was uncommon in the martial world. People would only do it to their greatly hated enemy to let everyone in the world know that the gate of this sect was blocked by them and to give a slap on the sect's face, destroying the confidence of this sect and belittling their techniques to nothing.
Normally when this happened, it would not be settled without killing.
Now the young and the old of Dao Sect had blocked the gate. They were actually disgracing Eternal Peace Empire, giving a slap on the face of Imperial Preceptor and trying to destroy the reform of Imperial Preceptor that was rolling full steam ahead!
Not far away from Qin Mu, a prince in yellow robe said in a low voice, "Dao Sect was the biggest sect in the past which was on par with Heavenly Devil Cult. However, they have laid low these few years along with Heavenly Devil Cult and no news could be heard from Dao Sect. Now that Dao Sect has resurfaced again, what they are doing is no small matter. If Imperial College is unable to defeat these two people, Dao Sect would probably rebel after these two people go back. If Dao Sect rebelled, with their influence…"
Qin Mu looked towards the prince and thought to himself, "This person has extraordinary knowledge and experience."
That prince suddenly had a feeling in his heart and turned back to look at him. His eyes lighted up. He secretly left the other princes and squeezed his way to Qin Mu.
"The one that herds cows…"
The prince had some baby fat on his face as he gave a smile, asking softly, "Did you really come to the capital city to see me?"
Qin Mu sized 'him' up and saw that this prince looked familiar thus he cried out, "You are… chubby fatty seventh young master…"
Immediately after saying this, he instantly came to a realization. Wasn't that 'chubby fatty seventh young master' Ling Yuxiu who was cross-dressing?
The 'prince' heard what he said and flew into an uncontrollable fury. She took down a huge iron hammer and was going to smash Qin Mu!
Qin Mu immediately corrected himself and smiled, " Good sister, I almost didn't recognize you. Brother Wei, this is seventh princess Ling Yuxiu. Sister Yuxiu, this is Wei Yong from Duke's Manor."
It wasn't good for Ling Yuxiu to smash him to death in public so she placed her huge iron hammer back. Wei Yong was shocked and he muttered to himself, "Seventh princess? Where did Brother Qin bring the seventh princess over to fool around with? Could a lady of royalty be messed around with? Head will roll… I've heard this seventh princess has outstanding talent and knowledge and is also very ambitious. However, why is her weapon also such boorish and unruly…"
Qin Mu didn't know what he was thinking and sized up Ling Yuxiu. He found this girl becoming more and more beautiful. Even though she was dressed in male clothing, she had a flourishing heroic spirit and an extraordinary presence. Furthermore, even though she was wearing male clothing, she didn't cover up the fact that her chest was also bulging out like the other women and looked chubby too.
Back then in Great Ruins, her chest wasn't so chubby.
Qin Mu also smelled a familiar scent on her body which should be the fragrance of Nature Incense Silk, "Sister, I haven't seen you in a while and your appearance has changed. I almost didn't recognize you back in the palace."
Ling Yuxiu's gaze changed and she became slightly shy, "How have I changed?"
Qin Mu stretched his hand out and gestured around her head, saying honestly, "You're much taller than before and even taller than me now. You're prettier and much more muscular than before. The muscles on your face and chest…"
Ling Yuxiu went into a fury and kicked him down the cliff.
Qin Mu looked very innocent while he said resentfully in mid-air, "I didn't say that she was fat. Why did she get so angry?"
Hu Ling'er rejoiced in her misfortune and said, "That's right young master, this woman is being unreasonable, let's not bother with her!"
Thump.
Both of Qin Mu's feet landed on the ground steadily and looked back up. He wanted to jump up again but he was worried that Ling Yuxiu would kick him down.
Wei Yong who had been beside Qin Mu looked forward motionlessly.
Ling Yuxiu stared at him ruthlessly. A drop of cold sweat came out from Wei Yong's forehead before he leaped up and jumped down from the jade cliff.
Ling Yuxiu gave a humph and also jumped down the cliff.
Not far away, a prince frowned and the vital qi behind his head turned into a huge hand which grabbed down towards the cliff and caught her back. He talked to her gently, "Seventh sister, don't fool around. You need to take note of the face of the imperial household."
Ling Yuxiu could only behave herself and said, "Second brother, that person you just saw is the divine physician that has cured Grandma Empress Dowager. He is my acquaintance…"
The second prince had an indifferent expression and replied, "I know. I heard from Little General Qin before that you met him in Great Ruins and you were very close. Seventh sister, we are the children of the imperial household and we can't do whatever we want, so don't fool around. Now that the world is in chaos, a great calamity is right in front of us. If this calamity bursts forth, our empire would be in ruins and our imperial household would become stray dogs!"
Ling Yuxiu jumped in shock and asked, "Second brother, how do you see this Daozi's ability?"
"He has yet made a move so I do not know his information, but since Dao Sect dared to bring him to block the gate, in that case, his ability would definitely be nothing weak!"
The second prince looked at Qin Mu who was below the cliff and slightly frowned, "Seventh sister, that one called Qin Mu may be a divine physician of the generation but he is still an abandoned person after all. Don't be too close to him, otherwise, people would laugh at our imperial family for not knowing our position."
Ling Yuxiu frowned.
In front of the mountain gate, Devil Cult Patriarch who had the appearance of a youth walked down the mountain and stood in front of the young and the old of Dao Sect, bowing down his head in a greeting. The old Daoist immediately stood up with the little Daoist and returned a greeting.
The young patriarch smiled, "Dan Yangzi, what's your intention to bring Daozi of Dao Sect over?
The old Daoist smiled and replied, "Dao brother, why do you ask me as if you did not know? Our Dao Master of Dao Sect is already old like you and doesn't want to see all the sects in the world become Eternal Peace Empire's vassals so I've come forward. Daozi would only block the gate for three days and if anyone defeats Daozi within three days, our Dao Sect would not rebel. If no one defeats Daozi in three days, the world would have a new ruler."
The young patriarch sighed, "Dao Sect has always been detached from the world, and now even your Dao Sect gets antsy too?"
Dan Yangzi looked down at his heart and said, "Dao Master has seen the general situation of the world surging like the tide. The ones who go along with it will prosper while those that go against it would die. Our Dao Sect doesn't seek to expand our sect and only seeks for a clear conscience. Imperial Preceptor wants to wipe out all the sects in the world so let him be, but Dao Master would like to see if the primary schools, colleges and Imperial College that Imperial Preceptor had implemented to replace sects have that qualifications or not! Daozi is taught by our Dao Sect. The resources that Imperial College has occupied surpass those of Dao Sect. If the scholars taught by you are still inferior to our Daozi of Dao Sect, then there's no need for Imperial Preceptor's reform to exist and the world will have a new ruler."
"I understand."
The young patriarch turned to leave, and his voice traveled throughout the entire mountain, "Imperial College's scholars hear my command: it doesn't matter whether your cultivation is high or low, you can all come down the mountain to challenge him."
When he spoke this out, all the people on the mountain heard him.
"I'll do it!"
A divine arts practitioner walked out of the mountain gate and strode to Daozi of Dao Sect. The Daozi of Dao Sect rose and greeted, "Senior brother."
That divine arts practitioner was also an imperial scholar who had entered Imperial College a few years earlier. He bowed in return and asked, "What's Daozi's cultivation?"
That Daozi replied not too fast nor too slow, "Six Directions Realm."
That divine arts practitioner smiled, "I'm also of the Six Directions Realm. My surname is Qu and my name is Ping. Today I'm fighting you not because of a personal grudge but to uphold the name of Imperial College!"
That Daozi nodded his head and said, "My vernacular name is Lin Xuan. Senior brother please."
"Daozi Lin Xuan please!"
Radiance shot forth from Qu Ping's eyes as he suddenly moved. His body didn't rush forward but moved backward instead. As he floated backward, there was a sword pellet clutched between his two fingers. The sword pellet hummed and shot a brilliant sword qi that was as thick as a pillar. It could faintly be seen that this sword pillar was formed by countless of sword lights gathering together, revolving frantically around the center of the circle!
Qu Ping used sword pillar as his sword and cleaved downwards. Everywhere it passed, sword wind would whistle with its majestic grandeur!
Qin Mu looked at this situation and couldn't help being astonished, "Eternal Peace Empire's sword techniques have come to such a degree? Is this a profound sword skill in Imperial College?"
With his sharp eyes, he could see that this cleaving was no laughing matter. Qu Ping's cleaving might look simple but in actual fact, his vital qi control on his sword has reached an imaginable realm.
His cleaving might look simple but in actual fact, the countless of sword lights in that sword pillar all required vital qi to control them. Just this alone made Qin Mu feel he was far inferior!
This sword skill seemed to indistinctly exceed the basic techniques of sword movement like stab, flick, cleave, hack and had developed into another sword skill that was not included in the basic sword skills!
"Great Six Directions Sword Skill!"
Wei Yong cried out in astonishment, his eyes turning snow bright, "This is Imperial Preceptor's sword skill and is a divine art that only divine arts practitioners can cultivate!"
"Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword skill?"
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. It's no wonder he felt that this kind of sword skill had exceeded the boundaries of basic sword arts. He didn't expect that it was a sword skill that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had created!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
It was no small matter exceeding the boundaries of basic sword skills. It was nearly an impossible task.
Qin Mu knew very well the difficulties in it.
No matter how complicated, changeable or innovative they are, all the sword skills in the world could be broken down into the most basic movements of sword skills, which were none other than, Stab Sword Form, Flick Sword Form, Wave Sword Form, Cleave Sword Form, Hack Sword Form, Poke Sword Form, Jab Sword Form, Parry Sword Form, Curve Sword Form, Smear Sword Form, Sweep Sword Form, Raise Sword Form, Intercept Sword Form and Shave Sword Form.
No matter how astonishing the sword skills were, they were all the combinations of these sword forms.
However, it was different for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. He had added new basic sword techniques among these most basic sword techniques!
How terrifying was that!
Qin Mu didn't know how many basic sword techniques he had added but even if it was one, all the other sword skills would have to be rewritten and reconstructed, otherwise, they would just be full of loopholes in Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes!
"He could be called god…" Qin Mu suppressed the shock in his heart and muttered.
The Great Six Directions Sword Skill that Qu Ping executed was simply impressive and majestic. It had an extremely strong and ferocious power that was unimaginable powerful!
The few divine arts practitioners in the Six Directions Realm which Qin Mu had seen in Great Ruins were not as terrifying as this Qu Ping.
They were all scholars of Imperial College, but comparing with Five Elements Realm, Six Directions Realm was a huge leap. The increase was astonishing!
Even though the scholars of Five Elements Realm were also very strong, they stayed within what was considered reasonable. In Qin Mu's eyes, there were no scholars in the entire Imperial College that could be Qu Ping's match.
However, the divine arts practitioners of Imperial College, even if they had just been promoted to Six Directions Realm, were still unimaginably strong!
Six Directions Realm was simply a world flipping transformation.
Qin Mu's thought was interrupted when suddenly the horsetail whisk on the crook of Daozi Lin Xuan's elbow floated up. The hairs of the horsetail whisk suddenly expanded and the hairs gathered together to stab towards Qu Ping's Great Six Directions Sword!
Qi Ping's Great Six Directions Sword wasn't included in the basic sword techniques. Daozi Lin Xuan took his horsetail whisk as a sword. The moves of his sword skills were clear and they were all within the techniques of the basic sword techniques.
His sword skill was not as impressive and majestic as Great Six Directions Sword Skill, but in Qin Mu's eyes, he could see the points that were different from usual.
"Qu Ping will surely lose. Daozi Lin Xuan only needs one move to defeat him."
Learning sword from Village Chief, even though he only knew one move Sword Treading Mountains And Rivers and the others he knew were all the most basic sword techniques, his eyesight had already surpassed countless of sword skill professionals.
Daozi Lin Xuan's sword move might look simple like it was just stabbing towards Qu Ping's Great Six Directions Sword Skill, however, those hairs were like fine swords that were ever changing!
The changes in the move were simply too much!
Qin Mu opened his Green Heaven's Eyes and his heart trembled hugely. In the hundred of hairs in Daozi Lin Xuan's horsetail whisk, every hair had changed its move over ten times in an instant, which was to say his move had changed over a thousand times in that second!
It was impossible to block such a move which could change multiple times!
Meanwhile, there were not as many changes in Qu Ping's Great Six Directions Sword Skill. There might be much more sword lights in this sword pillar but they all used a twisting sword form, spinning around the center and moving forward layer by layer.
When they met the hairs that were used by Daozi Lin Xuan as swords, they will definitely be destroyed.
Furthermore, Qin Mu also noticed that Daozi Lin Xuan's fundamentals were so solid, almost close to his. This Daozi Lin Xuan's attainment on basic sword skills was the strongest among the divine arts practitioners Qin Mu had met so far. Even though Daozi Lin Xuan was still inferior to him, he wasn't too much inferior.
Even if it was Sword Hall Master who had been imparted by Qin Mu, he was also inferior to Daozi Lin Xuan.
The most crucial point was that even though Qu Ping's sword skills had the new basic sword techniques that Imperial Preceptor had founded, his fundamentals had not reached the uppermost realm and his foundation wasn't solid. No matter how intricate the sword skill was, the power would be unable to be completely unleashed without a solid foundation.
Ding ding ding ding—
Countless of collision sounds traveled out and everyone could only see the hairs clashing with the brilliant sword pillar. Next, they saw the sword pillar disintegrating in the sky and no longer existed. Only a few people could see the changes in their sword skills in that instant.
Qu Ping got stabbed in the chest by the horsetail whisk and smacked onto the mountain gate with a thump. The mountain gate moved back and forth and a layer of dust fell off.
Daozi Lin Xuan gently shook his horsetail whisk and the hairs grew shorter and shorter. With the horsetail whisk leaning back on the crook of his elbow, he sat back down with his eyes looking downwards calm and composed.
On the mountain gate, Qu Ping slid down and there were bloody holes in his chest which were penetrated by the hairs.That Daozi Lin Xuan didn't attack mercilessly as the hairs penetrating his body had avoided his vital organs and didn't endanger his life.
The few imperial physicians from the Imperial Physician Bureau immediately rushed over and fed Qu Ping some spirit pills. They then ripped his shirt and smeared ointment on his chest and his back, blocking the bloody holes.
"So strong!"
Before the mountain gate, the hearts of many scholars of Imperial College sank. The reputation of Qu Ping among the scholars of the divine arts realm wasn't low. On the contrary, he was someone who was ranked highly in the Divine Arts Residence.
Imperial College not only had an entrance examination, there was also a big examination for the scholars every year which was used to determine the rankings of the scholars to motivate scholars to seek improvement. Qu Ping was ranked within the first hundred ranking among the divine arts practitioners in Imperial College.
For people ranked within the first hundred ranking, there wasn't much of a difference in power among one another. Qu Ping was defeated in one move, and it meant that there was still a great difference between Qu Ping's ability and Daozi Lin Xuan's ability.
This was the most terrifying.
Suddenly the second prince's voice sounded in the ears of everyone who was there, "Those that couldn't see the changes of both their sword moves better not to go forward."
This sentence was a terrible blow to the imperial scholars. Many of them who were present couldn't see the changes in Qu Ping's and Daozi Lin Xuan's moves.
Especially so for Lin Xuan's sword skill. As the Daozi of Dao Sect, his sword skill was deeply hidden in the changes of the hairs of the horsetail whisk. If they couldn't even see the changes of his sword skills, they were just asking to be embarrassed if they went forward.
Beside Chen Wanyun, Yun Que asked softly, "Big brother, did you see the changes in that Daozi's sword skills?"
Yue Qinghong also immediately came forward, wanting to ask Chen Wanyun's opinion. Chen Wanyun hesitated for a moment and said, "I used my sky eyes to see the changes in his moves but I can't break it down…"
Yue Qinghong burst out laughing, "Big brother, if you go forward, that little Daoist would definitely seal his Six Directions Divine Treasure to fight you. His cultivation is mostly in his Six Directions Divine Treasure. Without his Six Directions Divine Treasure, he won't be able to execute such intricate sword techniques!"
Chen Wanyun hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "I need to wait a while more, to see if I can see any loophole. That Qin Mu is not far away. let us go over and ask for his opinion."
The three of them came to where Qin Mu was and Chen Wanyun asked, "Junior Brother Qin, do you think you can win this Daozi of Dao Sect."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and replied, "If we were to fight in front of the mountain gate and he sealed his Six Directions Divine Treasure, the chances of victory would be fifty-fifty."
"Braggart!"
Yue Qinghong sneered, "Big boaster! If you and he are fifty-fifty, aren't you saying you are much stronger than divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm?"
Hu Ling'er pointed at this woman with an expression of astonishment as she muttered, "Young master, this girl is the one who was back to back with you and got smashed into the brass pillar. I've seen her face before!"
Yue Qinghong's face turned red from shame. This fox was too horrible.
Chen Wanyun's gaze flickered and he asked, "What if it was not an open battle in front of the mountain gate? What will be junior brother's chances of victory?"
Qin Mu said calmly, "A hundred percent. I'll resort to unscrupulous means in life and death battles, therefore, he has no chance of victory. Actually, I'm very strong."
Chen Wanyun's heart suddenly leaped and he raised his eyebrows, secretly counting his chances of victory if he ever met Qin Mu in a life and death battle.
Yun Que smiled, "Junior Brother Qin, isn't your tone a little too haughty…"
"Young master, this monk is the one who got knocked out by you with one punch!"
Hu Ling'er pointed at Yun Que and cried out in surprise, "This is the bald head, I remember this bald head! Monk, your clothes still with young master, how much are you planning to spend to redeem it back?"
Yun Que's smile froze on his face and he replied resentfully, "Money is a mere worldly possession to a monk. I don't have any now. When I have the money I'll go to redeem…"
"After saying so much you're still a poor monk."
Hu Ling'er had little interest in him and said, "You need to be faster or else young master will take your clothes to pawn."
As she said that, another divine arts practitioner came out from the mountain gate. This person had an imposing appearance and looked impressive. He went forward to greet the two Daoists who were blocking the gate and said, "Might Inspiring Military Officer Kun Ziyu, may I invite Daozi to condescend to teach. I of the Seven Stars Realm so I'll seal my Seven Stars Divine Treasure."
Daozi rose and returned the greeting, "Senior Brother Kun please."
Chen Wanyun's eyes instantly lighted up and said, "Might Inspiring Military Officer Kun Ziyu! He's back from the borders!"
Wei Yong immediately asked, "Big brother, how's the ability of this Kun Ziyu?'
Chen Wanyun didn't reply and Yue Qinghong beside him said, "We imperial scholars are all eight ranking officials while Might Inspiring Military Officer is a sixth ranking official. The sixth ranking official of Senior Brother Kun was gotten from fighting at the borders. So you can imagine how strong he is! In the last divine arts practitioners' big examination, his was ranked in the first ten of Imperial College!"
Wei Yong felt deep veneration for him, "People being able to fight on the battlefield and obtain achievement to rise to sixth ranking are all remarkable!"
Qin Mu had not much understanding regarding this and inquired them about it. Chen Wanyun said, "Every year the imperial scholars will have to leave the mountain for training, accompanied by a directorate. Most of them go to the borders while there are some that go to Great Ruins or Heaven's Craft Bureau. If they render meritorious services, they would be promoted to the nobility. There are many scholars in Imperial College that are sixth ranking officials and some are even of the fifth ranking!"
Qin Mu sighed in admiration. Eternal Peace Empire was trying to groom their officials!
Once the imperial scholars graduated from Imperial College, they would be assigned directly to local official positions or even to the army.
Kun Ziyu had an astonishing power and even when he sealed his own Seven Stars Divine Treasures, his strength still surpassed Qu Ping. Comparing to Qu Ping, his abilities were more suitable for battle as he executed his spells while controlling his sword at the same time. His sword didn't rigidly adhere to the moves and could change accordingly to situations.
He and Daozi Lin Xuan actually fought all the way to the sky and clashed in mid-air. The sword lights in the sky flashed around like lightning with thunderclaps accompanying it. As the lightning struck towards Daozi Lin Xuan, Kun Ziyu moved in for close combat. His momentum was like sprinting thunder. It seemed that he had also cultivated an extremely strong battle technique as well!
This battle was brilliant and varied, dazzling the eyes of the crowd below and making them exclaimed in admiration.
Qin Mu frowned and asked Chen Wanyun, "Big brother, the technique of Dao Sect is not ordinary. What's the origin of it?"
Chen Wanyun shook his head only to hear a heavy voice from behind, "Dao Sect's classics, Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique, the orthodox profound technique that's equally famous to Heavenly Devil Cult's Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures! Kun Ziyu is probably going to lose."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu turned his head back and saw the prince standing beside Ling Yuxiu just now had somehow gotten behind him. He seemed to be Ling Yuxiu's second brother and his expression was like still water as he looked at the battle in mid-air.
Ling Yuxiu also followed him down the jade cliff and stood behind the second prince.
The instant Qin Mu turned his head back, Kun Ziyu fell off from the sky and crashed into the ground.
When he entered close combat with Daozi Lin Xuan, the moment their palm strength had clashed, his vital qi was crumbled by the opponent using Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique and his move was dispelled thus he fell from the sky.
The corners of Chen Wanyun's eyes twitched and his heart turned ice cold, "I'm probably not his opponent. His battle prowess is too strong. Even if he sealed his other divine treasures and remained at Five Elements Realm, it would be difficult for me to win him! No, the more he reveals, there will be more possibilities for me to see his weakness! I'll continue observing him for a period of time and I just might find his weakness!"
Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique.
This was Qin Mu's first time seeing a technique that was equally matched with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
The technique that this Daozi Lin Xuan had executed was extremely powerful. His cultivation wasn't as dense as Qin Mu's on the same realm but his vital qi's quality was extremely high and far surpassed his peers. It was because Qin Mu saw Daozi Lin Xuan's vital qi was so pure that it was hard to believe therefore he had asked.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was called the classics which could turn one into god or into devil. So for Dao Sect's Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique to be equally famous as Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, it showed how extraordinary it was!
Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Cult, one righteous and one devil. They were the two sacred grounds of the righteous path and the devil path.
If they included Great Thunderclap Monastery of Buddhism, there would be three biggest sacred grounds. Other than these three big factions, there were also some hidden sacred grounds without prominent reputations that would come out from time to time.
"Now that Daozi of Dao Sect has appeared, I wonder if Great Thunderclap Monastery would come and block the gate as well to ruthlessly smack imperial PreceIptor in the face?" Qin Mu thought to himself.
The second prince took in a deep breath and walked towards the mountain gate. Ling Yuxiu immediately asked, "Second brother, what are you going out for?"
"I'm also an imperial scholar and also a royalty, how can I not battle?"
Radiance shot out from second prince's eyes, "Our Ling Family had fought our way to become the emperor and didn't rely on the civil and military officials to offer it to us!"
His voice was powerful and resounding, making Qin Mu can't help exclaiming in admiration. This was then a prince. The Ling Family being able to become the emperor and turn into the Imperial Family that was set up high was indeed not by chance."
"Imperial Scholar Ling Yushu, invite Daozi to exchange teaching!"
The second prince walked to the front of Daozi Lin Xuan and bowed as a greeting. He raised his head and asked solemnly, "Does Daozi need to take a break to recover your vital qi?"
Daozi Lin Xuan nodded and said, "May I ask Senior Brother Ling to wait a moment?"
Qin Mu clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration, "If it was me I would also take a break."
That Daozi heard these words and looked towards the source of the voice from the mountain gate. His gaze landed on Qin Mu's face and when he saw Qin Mu's eyes, his heart shivered. Qin Mu gave a smile in return and Daozi Lin Xuan also gave a smile, nodding his head. He told the old Daoist beside him, "Senior Uncle Dan Yangzi, I saw a very powerful person. His eyes have two more layers of pupil than normal people and he seems to be able to see through my real situation…"
Dan Yangzi had an indifferent expression, "Heart like still water, to remain unmoved, don't mess up your own pace. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is called the number one man below gods, therefore, there would naturally be some powerful people in Imperial College."
Daozi Lin Xuan continued to adjust his condition and recover his cultivation. He executed his Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique and a tiny spirit embryo actually floated out from the heart of his brows, sitting in front of him. Under the spirit embryo was a mysterious altar.
This spirit embryo breathed in and out and five aureoles appeared in front and behind it, attracting over the intense star energy from the starry sky!
Five devils and gods faintly appeared under the aureoles and looked extremely terrifying. These were the visions formed by Five Elements Divine Treasure.
After the five aureoles had appeared, six circular wheels surrounded him and the visions of Six Directions Divine Treasure appeared.
Qin Mu squinted his eyes. Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique was indeed out of the ordinary. The technique of this Daozi Lin Xuan was different from others but it was much more authentic and impressive. The degree of complexity of this technique was no less than Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
"Dao Sect being the number one sect of the righteous path sure is outstanding!"
When Daozi Lin Xuan had finished recuperating, he stood up and bowed towards the second prince as a greeting.
Ling Yushu returned his greeting and when he stood up, his vital qi suddenly burst forth like the roars of dragons and tigers. In that instant, almost everyone in front of the mountain gate felt a dragon's might bursting forth from this prince's body.
Second Prince Ling Yushu moved and his body was like swimming dragon. His five fingers splayed out like five dragons and five exceptionally fierce dragon qi soared out and changed in mid-air, pouncing towards Daozi Lin Xuan!
Five Dragons Strangle!
Ling Yushu's five fingers dunked downwards and the five dragon qi shrouded Daozi Lin Xuan. The dragons' bodies coiled around Daozi Lin Xuan's body and the five dragons strangled him while opening their mouths to spew blazing true fire towards this youth!
His speed was extremely fast and at the instant where the five dragons pounced, his body had already reached Daozi Lin Xuan's side and he trembled his hand to gather qi as sword. With a dragon coiling around the sword, he thrust it into the five dragons trap!
Inside the five dragons trap, Daozi Lin Xuan was bathed all over by that blazing true fire but his body instead revealed a jade-like glow. The five dragon's true fire actually couldn't damage him!
The second prince thrust his sword into the five dragons trap and Daozi Lin Xuan raised his horsetail whisk to welcome it, wrapping itself around the dragon sword. The second prince stomped the ground and the ground trembled as huge dragons broke through the earth and pounced towards Daozi Lin Xuan from below.
Daozi Lin Xuan used one palm to break open the five dragons trap and rose into the sky. The strands of hair swept by like swords and sliced off the huge dragons' heads, avoiding the sword lights that were shooting down.
"Spell school!"
Qin Mu was astonished. The second prince's series of attacks were all the fighting method of the spell school but they were as fierce and overbearing as the battle technique school which was abnormally sharp.
To be able to execute spells in such a powerful and overbearing way, he really is an unusual one. It was still Qin Mu's first time seeing this kind of fighting method!
"Sister, your Imperial Family's technique is pretty powerful." Qin Mu told Ling Yuxiu.
Ling Yuxiu was very proud, "That's for sure. My second brother cultivates the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique which is not any weaker than Dao Sect's Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique! My second brother is someone who has an official position, the fifth-ranking General of Roaming Cavalry!"
The second prince rose into the air and two dragon qi formed into the shapes of dragons under his feet. Squirming their bodies, they sprinted in the air towards Daozi Lin Xuan. His skill was so exquisite that it made everyone gasped in amazement.
This wasn't surprising since Imperial College itself was built on the center where nine dragons' veins had gathered, resulting in the nine dragons' qi to be incomparably dense. Adding that the second prince was a person of the Imperial Family, he borrowed the dragon qi to cultivate in itself. Imperial College may be the sacred ground to others but to him, it was the sacred ground of sacred grounds. By absorbing the dragon qi, he could cultivate twice as fast!
His vital qi was vigorous and there didn't seem to have any depletion in vital qi after executing such an overbearing spell. This was what Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was good at.
Qin Mu looked for a moment and said, "Sister, your second brother is going to lose."
Ling Yuxiu's heart trembled slightly and suddenly the duel in mid-air had already ended. Second Prince Ling Yushu had received Daozi Lin Xuan's counterattack. Daozi Lin Xuan executed spells to fight against spells and the power of the spells from Dao Sect's divine arts was no weaker than Nine Dragons Monarch Technique!
At the same time, the horsetail whisk flew out from Daozi Lin Xuan's hand and the strands of hair suddenly expanded and turned into fine swords which revolved and sliced frantically at Ling Yushu. Ling Yushu used his dragon sword to defend but it was impossible for him to defend against so many fine swords. In the blink of an eye, he was wounded several times and had no other choice but to land on the ground to admit defeat.
Ling Yushu's defeat gave a huge shock to Imperial College. He was the second prince of the Imperial Family after all. His own ability was outstanding and with Imperial College and the Imperial Family meticulously grooming him, Ling Yushu was one of the very best in Imperial College!
Now that even he was defeated by Daozi Lin Xuan, there was nearly no one in Imperial College who could be a match for this Daozi!
Yue Qinghong looked at Qin Mu, "Hey fifty-fifty, our Imperial College is already getting blocked so why aren't you going up?"
Qin Mu was bewildered, "Why do I have to go up?"
Yue Qinghong snorted and tried to taunt him, "Didn't you say if you fight this Daozi, your chances of victory would be fifty-fifty?"
Qin Mu shook his head, "I had just become an imperial scholar and only listened to a lesson in Hall of Hidden Light. So what's the point if I win when I haven't even learned any martial arts from Imperial College? It wouldn't be considered as Imperial College's ability. Furthermore, I'm an abandoned person from Great Ruins. All of you have wanted to chase me away and now you want me to stand out for Imperial College? You're just chasing rainbows."
Yue Qinghong was so angry that she was speechless.
Monk Yun Que said, "But you're a student of our Imperial College! Now Imperial College is in trouble, how can you not help?"
Qin Mu laughed, "After so many years, could there not be a genius that could rival Daozi in Imperial College? Furthermore, Imperial Preceptor's disciples haven't appeared. For Imperial Preceptor to be the number one man under gods, his disciples must be extraordinary as well. With his disciples around, why should I take matters into my own hands?"
The heart of everyone trembled slightly and hope was renewed. Imperial Preceptor was known as the number one man under gods and each of his disciples was extremely outstanding. If the disciples of Imperial Preceptor came forward they just might defeat this Daozi of Dao Sect!
Ling Yuxiu frowned lightly and replied in a soft voice, "But Imperial Preceptor's disciples are all not Imperial College's scholars…"
While they were chatting, another few imperial scholars had gone forward but they all lost without an exception.
There were even people who planned to use the tactic of several people taking turns to fight Daozi Lin Xuan to exhaust his vital qi cultivation and not give him time to rest. However, this idea was too filthy and soon there were directorates coming to stop them.
After Daozi Lin Xuan won a dozen rounds, his expression turned solemn and said to Dan Yangzi who was beside him, "Senior uncle, Imperial College is very terrifying."
Dan Yangzi nodded his head gently and said softly, "These imperial scholars are all very strong. If all these scholars grew up, no sects could fight them."
Even though there was no one in Imperial College who could defeat Daozi Lin Xuan, every single one of the scholars was extremely powerful and all of them were considered first-class strong practitioners of their realms.
And the most terrifying thing was that these kinds of strong practitioners were everywhere in Imperial College!
For big sects like Dao Sect, they could groom one or two outstanding existence like Daozi and didn't have many strong practitioners like Qu Ping and Kun Ziyu. However, in Imperial College, there were all kinds of strong practitioners were everywhere. This was very terrifying!
Daozi Lin Xuan's gaze passed everyone and landed on Qin Mu. Qin Mu seemed to feel and looked towards him, smiled as a sign of acknowledgment. Lin Xuan gave a smile in return and was bewildered, "It's not that there aren't outstanding individuals in Imperial College but why isn't he coming out to challenge me?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Pinnacle of the jade mountain, Hall of Supreme Learning.
All of the hall's directorates, empire's chancellors and secretaries of Imperial College were present and every one of them had a grim expression. Time and time again there would be people hurrying in to report and with every news they heard, their expressions turned even uglier. Only the young patriarch who was sitting on the Saint's Seat had a tranquil and calm expression and was not the least concerned about the wins and losses.
At this moment, the news from outside came one another, "Reporting to Grand Chancellor, Daozi of Dao Sect has defeated the second prince!"
"Daozi has defeated the heir of Southern Peace King, Jiu Yin!"
"Daozi has defeated Western Peace King's Princess Duo Duo!"
"Ling Shiji of Heavenly Strategies Manor was also defeated!"
"Lin Qiuhe was injured by Daozi!"
...
After some time, there was finally no one coming to report but everyone's expression had turned extremely ugly. No one coming forward to report meant that there were no imperial scholars continuing to challenge Daozi Lin Xuan. The air of arrogance and acute spirit of these scholars of Imperial College had already been dispelled by this young Daozi and they could only watch as he blocked the gate.
An empire's chancellor frowned and asked, "For so many years, our Imperial College has educated countless experts and they are the backbone of this empire. Can't we even find a person who can be a match for Daozi?"
A directorate shook his head and replied, "There are three to five geniuses over these years and they're no inferior to Daozi of Dao Sect. However, these people are no longer scholars and have left Imperial College to assume official duties in the imperial court. Our Imperial College is different from these sects of the martial world. There's no such thing as leaving a sect in the martial world but once a scholar leaves our Imperial College, he is no longer a scholar."
Everyone let out a murky breath and Daoist Ling Yun sighed, "Are we just going to let this Daozi block the gate? Isn't this too cowardly?"
Everyone was silent.
Suddenly, Monk Fa Qing of Hall of Azure Yang said, "Quickly report this matter up to Imperial Preceptor and ask him to send his disciples here. They just might be able to defeat Daozi."
"Big monk, Imperial Preceptor's disciples aren't our imperial scholars. Even if they defeat Daozi of Dao Sect, will Dao Sect accept the outcome?"
Right at this moment, a ship floated outside and berthed at the pinnacle of the jade mountain.
A few young people walked down from the ship and came to the Hall of Supreme Learning without consulting anyone. The person in the lead bowed and said, "Teachers, we students are under the tutelage of Imperial Preceptor and Imperial Preceptor had heard about Daozi of Dao Sect coming forward to cause trouble, therefore, he ordered us to come forward."
All the chancellors, directorates and secretaries in the hall looked at one another. They then all looked at the young patriarch and a secretary said solemnly, "Grand Chancellor, Imperial Preceptor's disciples aren't scholars of our Imperial College. It's still up to Grand Chancellor's decision whether or not they could represent our Imperial College in battle."
Chancellor Ba Shan with a bearded face suddenly slammed the table in protest, "Ridiculous! So what if Imperial Preceptor's disciples defeat Daozi of Dao Sect? Imperial Preceptor's disciples were groomed using the old ways and taught personally by Imperial Preceptor. There's no difference between them and the disciples that are groomed by those Sects! If this matter was to be spread out and reached the ears of Dao Sect, Dao Sect is bound to rebel! When Dao Sect rebels, all the orthodox paths in the world would rebel as well! Who among us here is going to be responsible for this crime? Who is able to be responsible?"
That secretary retorted angrily, "You're the chancellor so you're justified, so what would you do?"
"What would I do?"
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed out loud and shouted sternly, "Whatever I do will be better than what you secretaries can do! All of you secretaries only bother to look after that tower of lousy books and say that you're researching skills and divine arts but what have you researched out after these few years? If you have the ability, then go and research a way to counter Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique so that our scholars wouldn't be so awkward and helpless when others are blocking the gate!"
In Hall of Supreme Learning, all the secretaries went into a fury and shouted back, "Didn't we hand in all the skills and divine arts we researched out to you guys? It's because you directorates and chancellors are useless and unable to groom the scholars for any good!"
"Well said! For example, what is Hall of Supreme Healing doing? Every day they're teaching scholars to refine pills and gather herbs, neglecting all the proper business. Frequently having scholars puke blood or having their faces turn black from being poisoned! They still have the face to collect their salary!"
All the imperial physicians of Hall of Supreme Healing were also directorates and when they heard what was said, they also flew into fury. Imperial Physician You was so angry that he was trembling while retorting back, "If it wasn't for us Hall of Supreme Healing to help the dying and heal the injured, more than half the scholars would have died just from poison or qi deviation. Secretaries are the useless ones, we requested for you to tidy up the remedies and prescriptions from all the various sects yet you still haven't handed it up after such a long time. Even Empress Dowager's illness was cured by a young fellow. Why don't all of you just die?"
"Old bastard, you should be the one to die first. Your Hall of Supreme Healing can't even cure Empress Dowager's illness which was cured by a young fellow. Why don't you just pluck an eyelash of yours and hang yourself?"
…
The Hall of Supreme Learning broke out into a commotion and the quarrel grew bigger and bigger, making the few Imperial Preceptor's disciples looked at each other in dismay.
A moment later, Chancellor Ba Shan suddenly laughed and said, "Alright, alright, stop quarreling. We can't make a decision but isn't there someone calling the shots here? Grand Chancellor, what do you think?"
Everyone looked at the young patriarch who was sitting on the Saint's Seat. The young patriarch rubbed his temple, clearly showing that he was having a headache from their quarrels. He said, "Imperial Preceptor's disciples aren't imperial scholars after all. If Imperial Preceptor's disciples are to fight and win Daozi of Dao Sect, Dao Sect will still grab the chance to rebel. In that case, they would have a good reason to rebel and make our empire sink into a passive state. Therefore, let invite Imperial Preceptor over."
Everyone was slightly stunned, not understanding the meaning of this. Even the few Imperial Preceptor's disciples revealed expressions of puzzlement.
"Those in Dao Sect are all pig-headed."
The young patriarch stood up and smiled, "They only acknowledge stubborn logic and if we are to cheat and trick them, we won't be able to do it. In that case, we'll use real swords and spears. It's been a while since Imperial Preceptor has given a lecture at our Imperial College right? In the past, he still came over frequently to impart his path, sword skills, and divine arts. There are some scholars who are still considered half his students. The few of you shall go back and invite Imperial Preceptor over to teach the imperial scholars."
The few Imperial Preceptor's disciples were stunned for a moment and bowed in acknowledgment. They then left the hall and boarded the ship to leave.
Chancellor Ba Shan looked pensive and smiled, "Grand Chancellor, what you mean is to let Imperial Preceptor come over to teach his sword skills and divine arts then let our Imperial College's students defeat Daozi of Dao Sect?"
The young patriarch nodded his head while smiling.
Chancellor Ba Shan raised three fingers and said, "Three days, there are only three days! Old man, for Imperial Preceptor to teach out a genius who can defeat Daozi of Dao Sect in three days? Do you even believe it could happen?"
"I believe."
The young patriarch smiled, "Ba Shan, don't underestimate what Imperial Preceptor can do. He is the number one man under gods after all and his ability far surpasses what you could imagine. Furthermore…"
He came to the front of Hall of Supreme Learning and looked at the mountain gate under the mountain, sneering to himself, "This rascal won't wake up early unless there's benefit! I had thought he would not be able to hold himself back to compete with Daozi of Dao Sect, never would I expect him to be so good at keeping his composure! That's as well. He had gotten a bargain by inviting Imperial Preceptor over this time!"
Imperial Preceptor Manor.
"Grand Chancellor invites me over to give a lecture?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor heard the words of these few disciples and was slightly stunned, "What's this old fox up to? It's just a matter of stamping a seal to take you in as scholars of Imperial College. Is there a need for me to go over?"
A disciple explained, "Grand Chancellor meant that Dao Sect only acknowledged stubborn logic and if they knew we were master's disciples, they would definitely not admit it and grab the chance to rebel."
Imperial Preceptor smiled, "Dao Sect is indeed pig-headed. I had met Dao Master before in my early years and he had indeed a bad temper and only acknowledged stubborn logic. Oh well, I'll go over. Invite Little Poison King over."
Fu Yuanqing came and Imperial Preceptor gave him a dagger, "You saw my wound before so now replicate it on my body, make it more realistic."
Fu Yuanqing jumped in shock. He wielded the dagger and carved his chest, making Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor all bloody. He then used the blood as coloring to make the wound even more realistic."
"Let the wound have some bad smell." The gaze of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor flickered and said.
Fu Yuanqing scattered some powder on his wound and make the wound bad smelling but not too heavy.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then said, "Now add some perfume."
Fu Yuanqing followed what he said and scattered some perfume on it to use the fragrance to cover the bad smell. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then changed his clothes and gave some thought before ordering a person to bring some rouge and powder over. He then ordered a servant girl to make him flush from being ill.
After everything was done, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled and asked, "Now can we hide from the eyes and ears of rebelling traitors?"
Fu Yuanqing smiled, "What you mean is that there are rebelling traitors in Imperial College? In that case, it's best for Imperial Preceptor to bring some experts, that way you would look less confident."
"Imperial College being so big so there would naturally be some rebelling traitors among them."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor understood what he meant and said, "However, this is the capital city, who dares to kill me here? As for Imperial College, there are much more experts there than the palace and there's no need to bring experts. Follow along, so that Empress Dowager won't take the chance to rush in and kill you."
Fu Yuanqing gave a sigh of relief. His originally wished that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would bring him along to prevent Empress Dowager from taking the chance to kill him.
Suddenly the bell rang in Imperial College and resounded throughout the whole mountain.
Most of the imperial scholars that were waiting in front of the mountain gate heard the bell ringing and all of them immediately went up the mountain. Qin Mu was puzzled and Ling Yuxiu explained to him, "This is the bell that summons all of the imperial scholars to gather. Once the bell is heard, all are to gather in front of Hall of Supreme Learning. Grand Chancellor most likely has something to say."
Wei Yong asked worriedly, "Could it be that since we can't defeat this Daozi of Dao Sect so Imperial College is going to be disbanded?"
Most of the scholars looked at him angrily and Wei Yong immediately pulled back his head.
When he came up to the mountain, he could see a vast crowd in front of Hall of Supreme Learning. No matter if it was the royalties or commoners, they were all gathered here.
After a moment later, everyone was already gathered and the young patriarch smiled, "Imperial Preceptor, please."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor appeared in front of Hall of Supreme Learning and smiled, "Grand Chancellor, in that case, I shall overstep my authority."
Fu Yuanqing followed behind him and looked around. He frowned and thought to himself, "Which is my little junior brother?"
When Qin Mu detoxified the Thousand Opportunity Poison on Empress Dowager, he saw Qin Mu's appearance by the eyes of the bug. However, there were too many people here and he couldn't find Qin Mu's location in a short time.
The young patriarch smiled, "You originally came here from time to time to be a directorate to teach the scholars. It just that you didn't come these recent years so you couldn't be considered overstepping your authority. Please."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to the front of the platform and took a look around, "It's difficult to decline Grand Chancellor's magnificent hospitality. I shall open the forum and talk about swords and I'll only talk for two days and not touch on the rest."
Chancellor Ba Shan muttered softly, "Wasn't it three days?"
The young patriarch took a glance at him and said, "Dao Sect is only going to block our Imperial College's gate for three days. Now half a day is already gone so if Imperial Preceptor is to talk for three days, it would be dreadfully late."
Chancellor Ba Shan sighed, "It's so hard for Imperial Preceptor to come and give a lecture and yet he couldn't talk for more than two days, what a pity… Imperial Preceptor giving a lecture personally is equivalent to Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery explaining the scriptures, Dao Master of Dao Sect imparting his skills and the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult propagating the doctrine. How hard is it to come by?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor slowly walked down from the platform and said leisurely, "What is a sword? Is the nature of a sword fixed by a fixed shape? I strongly disapprove. Some people said that there were myriad of moves in a sword and some people said that there were only fourteen moves: stab, flick, wave, cleave, hack, poke, jab, parry, curve, smear, sweep, raise, intercept and shave. This is a misconception as well!"
He walked down and most of the scholars below instantly felt a pressure on them. It was as if an extremely sharp sword was hanging above their heads and was about to split them in half. That kind of unrivaled momentum seemed to be wanting to tear apart their bodies, their spirit embryos, their consciousness and their souls!
"If the sword is fixed, that would no longer be a path. The path is boundless so how can it only have fourteen moves?"
He walked down step by step and the pressure grew larger and larger but his voice was tranquil. Suddenly his voice was like sharp sword thrusting into everyone's ears, "Sword, why can't it be sound? Why can't sword be light? Why can't it be color? Why can't it be vital qi? Why can't it be a gaze?"
His gaze swept across most of the scholar's faces and many scholars couldn't resist unsheathing their swords to block yet they blocked nothing at all, making them perspire in cold sweat.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled, "Thus, does a sword only still have fourteen moves?"
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Mu's forehead and only now did he realize how powerful Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was.
Village Chief taught him the most basic fourteen moves of sword techniques and Qin Mu changed these fundamental sword techniques into numbers. He could replicate any move as long as he saw it once. At that time, Qin Mu had thought that it was the pinnacle of the sword.
And now, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had obviously struck out a new path for himself on the traditional foundation of sword skills and had further developed the traditional sword skills.
His thinking was even broader and thus he had created other fundamental sword forms outside of the fourteen fundamental sword forms!
"An out of the ordinary accomplishment, it's no wonder he is the number one man under gods."
Qin Mu exclaimed endlessly in admiration in his heart. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's thinking was too ahead of his time. Or maybe it couldn't be said ahead of his time and instead, it was him who was pushing this generation forward, pushing the paths, skills and divine arts to move forward, pushing the people of this generation forward!
"Therefore I had created another few moves on the basis of the fourteen fundamental sword techniques. For the next two days, I will teach you these few basic sword techniques and I won't talk about other sword techniques at all."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stopped and the smile on his face vanished as his expression turned solemn, "But before we start, I want you to forget the shape of your sword. Sword can be light, can be sound, can be color and can be sight, therefore, sword doesn't need to have a fixed form. It can be long, it can be short, it can be hard, it can be soft and it can attack from any angle. If you can forget the shape of a sword, you can learn my sword skill. The first move of my sword skill, spiral."
His fingertip moved and instantly there were countless of fine vital qi that was like sword lights surging out. They turned into a sword pillar and stabbed forward, "This is spiral!"
This is one of the moves in Great Six Directions Sword Skill and looked like a stab but the sword pillar was actually formed by countless of sword lights swirling around each other. These sword lights constantly moved and constantly changed their positions!
Qin Mu had seen similar sword skill from Qu Ping; however, what Qu Ping executed was a hack.
Stab and hack all looked like basic sword moves but what formed the sword moves inside was actually Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's spiral sword form.
There was still a difference between Spiral Sword Form and Coil Sword Form of the fourteen basic sword form. Coil Sword Form was exerting strength on the sword's handle to coil the opponent's weapon while Spiral Sword Form gathered the strength to burst forth a world-shaking strike.
The greatest difference between the Spiral Sword Form that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had executed and Qu Ping's was that every sword in Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword pillar had a different transformation while there was no transformation in any sword when Qu Ping controlled his sword, therefore he was defeated by Daozi Lin Xuan with a horsetail whisk which was used as a sword.
If it was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he could have blocked Daozi Lin Xuan's horsetail whisk.
Not only that, from what Qin Mu could see, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword moved as a whole.
His sword pillar was formed by countless of sword lights and every sword light was an individual but when he stabbed, they all stabbed as a whole. If one wanted to break this sword move like his, they would have to overcome the power of the sword pillar when confronting it. Only then could they break every single sword light in the sword pillar.
The method Daozi Lin Xuan used to handle Qu Ping was totally useless against him!
"Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's foundation is as solid as mine and even much more solid than Daozi Lin Xuan!"
Qin Mu was astonished. How could there be such an existence?
He was literally like a heavenly god!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor meticulously explained the key to exerting the power of Spiral Sword Form and it was extremely detailed. It gave Qin Mu the feeling that it was as if Village Chief was teaching him sword techniques.
Spiral Sword Form was an extension of the fundamental sword techniques and Qin Mu's fourteen fundamental sword techniques were already extremely solid and after going through Village Chief's teachings, it wasn't hard for him to learn this Spiral Sword Form. A hint was all that was needed for him to comprehend and be clear, making him listen as if he was drunk and stupefied.
However, It was only him. The others were all pondering strenuously when they heard Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's explanation. There were some that didn't even bother to think and just memorized it carefully. There were also some that used vital qi to control the pen to quickly note down Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's words and planned to slowly comprehend them in the future.
Those that could understand and completely comprehend it right there was still a minority after all. Most of the people were at a loss.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor finished explaining Spiral Sword Form and said, "Scholars, now you can try to execute it once."
Most of the directorates, secretaries, and chancellors all stirred their spirits. They were also listening to the lecture just now and were entranced, however they had no choice but to raise their spirits now as their gazes landed on the bodies of the thousand over scholars.
The reason Imperial Preceptor wanted to let them try out was actually because he wanted to see if there were any individuals among these people that were worth noticing. Those that had a strong comprehension must definitely be picked out to challenge Daozi Lin Xuan two days later.
In front of Hall of Supreme Learning, the scholars started to try out clumsily and tried to transform their own vital qi into sword qi to execute Spiral Sword Form. There were some people who couldn't control the sword qi and their vital qi crumbled, shooting off in all directions and almost hurting the scholars beside them, raising a ruckus.
There were also people who gathered qi as sword pillar but when they controlled the sword qi to swirl around the center, they wouldn't turn no matter what and just continue on a straight path.
There were also many divine arts practitioners that had learned the Great Six Directions Sword Skill taught by Imperial College. Great Six Directions Sword Skill was originally created by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and since they had learned it before, their execution naturally looked alike.
There were also some people who had got Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's advice and their sword skills went up another level. Even though there weren't the Samadhi of Spiral Sword Form, but their power had been raised hugely.
There were also some people who were extremely intelligent and even though they hadn't learned Spiral Sword Form before, they were still able to comprehend part of the profundity in it after the teachings. They executed the sword pillar and even though the transformation of their sword skill was still rough, each time they executed it, it would become more and more agile.
Qin Mu was also trying to execute Spiral Sword Form but he immediately frowned as he stared blankly at his own 'vital qi thread'.
Other people's vital qi were as fine as hair so when they executed their sword pillar, it was formed by incomparably fine sword qi. Meanwhile, his vital qi thread was as thick as an arm and he was to use such thick 'vital qi' to execute Spiral Sword Form?
How thick would the sword pillar be?
The youth shook his head. Such a thick sword pillar would no longer be a sword pillar and should instead be called a sword mountain!
Stabbing with a mountain formed from sword qi?
"Even though my vital qi is dense, it's still not that dense. I can't execute that kind of sword mountain."
Beside Qin Mu, even the little fox was learning Spiral Sword Form which looked pretty authentic. Wei Yong, Yun Que and the rest were already trying to make the sword qi swirl, with Ling Yuxiu and Chen Wanyun progressing the fastest. Only he was staring into the air blankly.
After some time, Qin Mu tried to release an arm-thick 'vital qi thread' and thought to himself, "Since that couldn't work, in that case, can I use Spiral Sword Form to break down my vital qi thread?"
Once he thought of it, he immediately did it and tried out the method Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor taught him to break down his vital qi thread excitedly.
His vital qi was firm and extremely pure which was why it was hard to refine it into a thread. Especially after he had learned Secrets of Elixir Hearts, his vital qi became purer and purer.
No one in the village had taught him how to refine qi into thread because the one with the highest attainments in sword techniques was Village Chief. However, Village Chief only taught him one sword move and fourteen sword forms, disregarding everything else without exception and letting Qin Mu's 'vital qi thread' to grow sturdier.
A hint of inspiration flashed across Qin Mu's mind this time and felt that he would definitely succeed using Spiral Sword Form to refine qi into thread.
The Spiral Sword Form taught by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was indeed extraordinary fine and he got hold of the trick very quickly, revealing an expression of joy.
In front of Hall of Supreme Learning, the young patriarch's gaze landed on Qin Mu and couldn't help frowning slightly, "What is this rascal doing fiddling with a stick instead of learning the sword technique?"
Not far away, Chen Wanyun looked at Qin Mu's vital qi stick and gave a smiled, "He may be strong but his comprehension was so-so and far from mine!"
At this moment, Qin Mu suddenly turned wild with joy and laughed out loudly. With his voice like thunder, it resounded throughout the entire place, "It's done, it's finally done. The heavens aren't blind, I have finally refined vital qi thread!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
In front of Hall of Supreme Learning, thousands of scholars along with directorates, secretaries, and chancellor were all startled and looked towards the source of the laughter.
A scholar was at a loss and asked, "What had he refined?"
A scholar beside him was also slightly at a loss, "I think he said vital qi thread… I might have heard wrongly!"
Those directorates, secretaries, and chancellors had awkward expressions as they were between laughter and tears.
Chancellor Ba Shan burst into laughter and said, "Interesting little fellow. Vital qi thread is the basis of all sword skill. If he hadn't even refined vital qi thread, how did he become a scholar of our Imperial College? Which examiner did he bribe to get in?"
"Chancellor Ba Shan, you were not around Imperial College previously so you don't know him."
A directorate smiled and explained, "This rascal is called Qin Mu, an abandoned person from Great Ruins. He defeated Daoist Ling Yun and was chosen as an imperial scholar by the emperor himself. Who dares to not let him in after being chosen by the emperor?"
"An abandoned person of Great Ruins defeated Ling Yun and was chosen by the emperor?"
Chancellor Ba Shan looked at Daoist Ling Yun and sneered, "Ling Yun, did you go easy on him? Was the emperor bribed as well?"
Daoist Ling Yun was ashamed and angry at the same time. Back then he was smashed out from Hall of Pure Yang and two sword cases were emptied out from stabbing him, making him lose face in front of the emperor, civil and military ministers as well as these colleagues and scholars. Was this still called going easy?
Was there this kind of bribery and going easy?
Ain't the price a little too high?
However, Ba Shan was a chancellor after all and the person who was just lower than the Grand Chancellor, therefore he had to be cautious of offending him. He could only pull a long face and keep quiet so that he won't get himself in trouble. This Chancellor Ba Shan was the famous loudmouth in Imperial College, after all, not giving any face when blurting out. Most of the rumors and rubbish news in Imperial College were basically spread by him. That's why he was also secretly known as 'Loudmouth Ba'.
If he quarreled with him, even the chicken in the chicken coop would know about his embarrassing deed the next day.
Meanwhile, Fu Yuanqing who was in the distance was surprised, "That's my little junior brother from the same master! He looks pretty dim-witted. Master is so useless now, to actually find such a dumb goose that looks like a pushover!"
"Painstakingly cultivating seven to eight years, I've finally refined my vital qi thread!"
Qin Mu was unable to contain his joy and found it difficult to conceal the excitement in his heart as he looked at the vital qi thread in front of his face. Now he could finally not execute his incomparably thick 'vital qi thread' anymore, now his vital qi thread could also be very exquisite.
Between his fingers and palm, his vital qi thread flowed gently and was as thin as a hair which was very perfect.
If one observed carefully, they could see that this vital qi thread from Qin Mu was different from the rest.
This vital qi thread was actually formed by many incomparably fine sword qi and every sword was constantly transforming and swirling. However, when the vital qi thread moved, it was still incomparably agile, so agile that no one would notice that the vital qi thread actually had a structure.
"I wonder how far can my vital qi thread be executed to?"
Qin Mu looked around and wanted to try how far he can extend his vital qi thread out to. When his gaze suddenly swept Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he was slightly startled.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was looking at his hand and his gaze landed on the vital qi thread that was moving around his fingers and palm. He seemed to feel Qin Mu's gaze and raised his gaze slightly, causing both their gazes to meet.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a smile and said in a low voice, "Interesting…"
Qin Mu retracted his gaze and gave up on his idea. There were too many people here so he was unable to test it out.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waited for a while more and said, "Alright. Now I shall teach all of you the second kind of basic sword form, Swim Sword Form. Sword is unrestricted while flying in the air and the form of the sword is also unrestricted therefore a sword can swim, just like a dragon swimming, like a snake swimming, like a fish swimming, like a phoenix soaring in the air, like immortals stepping on air, so why should we rigidly adhere to the fundamental sword techniques of our predecessors?"
Qin Mu's spirit trembled. The second basic sword technique that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had founded was still like a breath of fresh air to everyone, broadening their horizons. It was as if a door was pushed open and they could see a world that was much more vast.
"I'm right to come to Imperial College. Patriarch has the foresight." He thought to himself.
In front of the mountain gate, Dan Yangzi raised his head and looked up to see layers and layers of palaces on the jade mountain, looking very deep. There were dense vegetations on the mountain that were dyed jade by the qi of the nine dragons. Meanwhile, the wind brought along Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's voice once in a while which consisted of a sentence or two and after he heard them, he only had a feeling of everything becoming clear.
"Senior Uncle Dan Yangzi."
Daozi Lin Xuan also faintly heard the voice coming from the mountain and hesitated a moment before asking, "Is the person giving a lecture on top of the mountain Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor? I only heard a sentence or two from him and benefited greatly from them. Contrary to expectation, I felt he…"
Dan Yangzi smiled and said, "It's okay to say."
Daozi Lin Xuan mustered his courage and said, "Even though I have not completely heard the words he said to teach the scholars, his sword skills have indeed reached an unimaginable realm. Even though the techniques that were imparted down from our Dao Sect have profound concrete details and include everything, his understanding has surpassed our Dao Sect. Disciple feels that maybe Imperial Preceptor is really thinking of pushing forward the development of the paths, skills and divine arts. In that case, why do we have to block the gate?"
Dan Yangzi smiled, "Daozi, other than listening to one's words, you also need to watch one's deeds, this is then the way of life. No one denies Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's talent. Back then when he met Dao Master, Dao Master also expected him to be the genius that appears once every five hundred years and become a saint in the future. This shows how high Dao Master had evaluated him. But what happens if he doesn't become a saint and turns to an evil instead?"
Daozi Lin Xuan was puzzled.
Dan Yangzi sneered, "With his power, he could completely push the paths, skills and divine arts into motion but he has the ambition of wild wolves and wants to subdue all the sects and not give them any way to survive. This is one of the points. The second point is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is actually using the teachings of Heavenly Devil Cult! Heavenly Devil Cult is equivalent to the fake path under the name of a fake saint which is really just cultivating the devil path. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is in cahoots with Heavenly Devil Cult and is the enemy of our orthodox path!"
Daozi Lin Xuan's heart trembled in fear and said, "Good and evil can't coexist together. With him associating with the devil path, the more talented he is, the more threatening he will be!"
Dan Yangzi nodded his head and said, "He opened primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College. This indeed has benefits but there are also disadvantages. Dao Master started to teach you when you were a kid, and now you're still learning from Dao Master. Could Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College, as well as those teachers and directorates have the same knowledge and abilities that Dao Master has? Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor opening primary schools, college and Imperial College may seem to give many people the chance to cultivate into experts but it also severs the paths for geniuses. This is the main reason why our Dao Sect is opposing him."
His expression turned grim as he continued, "The paths, skills and divine arts are pushed into motion by geniuses, a genius like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. Most of the people live their entire lives ordinarily and only know how to learn and use, having no initiative or drive to open up new horizons. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is creating a profound and long-lasting tragedy for severing the paths for geniuses! By popularizing this primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College, everyone would become expert for a moment and become very remarkable. However, everyone would be devoid of accomplishments, just like making mooncakes which are all from the same mold. Who can cultivate talent like Daozi? There's a reason for sects to exist and if he doesn't see this, our Dao Sect would pledge our lives being his enemy."
Daozi Lin Xuan understood and his heart was blazing with a desire to battle.
Dan Yangzi smiled, "You can view Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor as an enemy but you can't stand against his paths, skills and divine arts so as to avoid your scope becoming shallow.
This lecture of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went on for two full days without any breaks. There were many people who couldn't hold on any longer and became sleepy. There were some that just slept in front of Hall of Supreme Learning and there were some that went back to rest.
Qin Mu and some other scholars who had dense cultivation were still bursting with life and listening to his lecture attentively. It's just that he was of the Five Elements Realm and other people were divine arts practitioners of Six Directions and Seven Stars Realm.
The third basic sword form that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor talked about was called drill which was also extremely weird.
When a single sword was used, the sword tip would rapidly spin and was good for breaking through all defensive skills like diamond body. Meanwhile, when many swords were used, it was even more terrifying. Many swords would form a huge Drill Sword Form that could break through anything!
In two days, he only talked about these three sword forms and didn't teach anything else. He instead allowed the imperial scholars to ask more questions for him to answer. When he finished answering all the questions, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rose and smiled to the young patriarch, "I shall give these scholars half day to sleep, rest and ea. Then I will have to bother Grand Chancellor to handle the things afterward."
The young patriarch smiled, "With Imperial Preceptor's matchless talent, did you find any talents this time?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded his head, "There are only one or two who had got my sword technique. Grand Chancellor should be able to see who they are. That's right, are you really going to resign and leave?"
The young patriarch nodded his head, "I don't have long to live and there's no need for me to cling to power."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed with regret, "When have you been reluctant to give up your power? If you had wanted to be an official, I could even give up my position of the imperial preceptor to you! It's just that you aren't willing to do it. You are half my master and if you are to leave, I will be very sad. There will be less a person as my Dao friend."
The young patriarch smiled, "There's no banquet in the world that never ends. We enter the banquet when we're born and we leave the banquet when we're dead. It's time for you and me to part our ways."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked towards the sky and muttered, "Are there really immortals up in the sky? How wonderful would it be if you could become an immortal in the sky and look at this era that you and I had created…"
He shook his head and boarded the ship which slowly sailed away from Imperial College.
The mess cooks from cookhouse pushed their trolleys to the front of Hall of Supreme Learning and asked every scholar to sit on the ground and eat in front of the hall. The young patriarch then ordered all scholars to return to their residences to rest for half a day and wake when the bell rang.
Qin Mu and the rest returned to their residences and when he passed by Chen Wanyun's place, he saw that Chen Wanyun was still not asleep and was currently practicing diligently.
"It's worth learning from Senior Brother Chen…"
Qin Mu was greatly motivated and returned to his residence to put down the little fox who was already asleep. He then slowly moved his footsteps and executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His speed gradually became faster and faster as he sunk into a half-asleep state while cultivating.
Not long later, Chen Wanyun heard a whoosh and saw Qin Mu sprinting past the front of his door. He immediately chased after him only to see Qin Mu's eyes were half closed as he sprinted across the entire mountain frantically and couldn't help being stunned, "Sleepwalking?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu's current state really did look like sleepwalking. He was frantically sprinting while he was asleep yet he still could see his surroundings and avoid obstructions. What made Chen Wanyun bewildered was when Qin Mu was sprinting, he actually still continued to execute his fist skills and leg skills, raising wind from the vigorous blows!
From time to time, he pulled out his Pig Slaughtering Knife, hacking here and there.
"Junior Brother Qin has such a strong power and yet he still works harder than others, even when he's sleeping, he doesn't forget to train. Even though his comprehension may be slightly lacking, his diligence is worth my learning!"
Chen Wanyun was greatly motivated and returned to his residence to train diligently.
However, Qin Mu wasn't completely asleep. His state was different from sleepwalking and this was his unique method of cultivation. Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had different points in cultivation compared to normal people. When he sprinted while cultivating, his cultivating speed would become faster. Meanwhile, his brain was resting and his fist and leg moves were executed all by muscle memory.
Qin Mu had relied on this kind of cultivation method to allow himself to increase leaps and bounds. When he came to Eternal Peace Empire, he had to learn the social custom of Eternal Peace, and that's why he didn't continue to cultivate like this anymore.
After Qin Mu had sprinted for four hours, he woke up, feeling extremely refreshed.
At this moment, he heard a familiar voice laughing, "Have you rested enough?"
Qin Mu immediately turned and greeted, "Patriarch."
Currently, there were no other people on the mountain and even those chancellors, directorates and secretaries had all gone to rest. They had also listened to Imperial Preceptor's lecture for two days without a break and needed to adjust themselves.
The young patriarch smiled and said, "What thoughts do you have on Imperial Preceptor's lecture?"
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration, "Imperial Preceptor, an existence that's like a heavenly god. He thinks what ordinary people don't dare to think, and he does what ordinary people don't dare to do. He is indeed matchless."
The young patriarch walked down the mountain and asked, "How much have you learned regarding the sword skills that Imperial Preceptor taught?"
"I don't dare to say I have learned it completely, but to some extent for sure."
Qin Mu continued, "Learning sword from Village Chief, I thought I had already got all of the profundity of sword skills. Never would I have thought there are still somethings I have yet learned."
The young patriarch said, "The sentence that there's no end to learning is wrong and it should be there's no end to creating. One can't achieve only by learning, learning all one's life. It is creation that has no limit. You're still young now and need to absorb the stuff that others have created. When your knowledge has accumulated to a certain extent, you must try to create. If you always learn, you will always be a student but once you create a move, you will be master."
When they came to the front of the jade cliff, they only saw an old and a young Daoist sitting in front of the mountain gate of Imperial College.
The young patriarch seemed to smile and not smile, "I had invited Imperial Preceptor over to preach and give a lecture. Now that he already talked for two days and you have got such a huge benefit, aren't you not going?"
Qin Mu sighed, "As long as Patriarch gives the command, dare disciple disobey?"
The young patriarch sneered and kicked him down the cliff, "Rascal making it sounds nice! They have blocked the gate for so long and I don't see you budging. If you weren't given such benefits, would you be so willing? Aren't you still going?"
Qin Mu landed on the ground and rubbed his buttocks as he walked towards the mountain gate.
At this moment, there were no imperial scholars around the mountain gate and the scholars were still sleeping and resting. Only the two Daoists were left outside the mountain gate. Not far away there was also a strange beast that was guarding the mountain gate. The beast had a dragon head and a qilin's body. It was chained up and was taking a nap.
Daozi Lin Xuan saw Qin Mu walking over and his heart trembled slightly. He looked at Dan Yangzi and said, "Senior uncle…"
"Dan Yangzi raised his eyelids and gave a look at Qin Mu, "Go ahead. Imperial Preceptor lecturing the scholars was only to groom this person. You have no need to worry about losing."
Daozi Lin Xuan understood and stood up to welcome Qin Mu. Their qi activities crossed each other and they both stopped to bow as a greeting.
Qin Mu said, "Imperial Scholar Qin Mu meets Daozi Lin Xuan. I'm of Five Elements Realm."
Daozi Lin Xuan replied respectfully, "Daozi Lin Xuan meets Scholar Qin Mu. I'm of Six Directions Realm and I'll seal my Six Directions Divine Treasure."
He sealed his Six Directions Divine Treasure and Qin Mu said, "Does Daozi want to use weapons?"
He pulled out a bamboo cane from his back before taking down a Pig Slaughtering Knife. He then took down his iron hammer before taking down Junior Protector Sword. Just as Daozi Lin Xuan wanted to say sometime, Dan Yangzi suddenly said, "No need for weapons, just use skills, divine arts, and close combat prowess."
Daozi didn't understand and placed his horsetail whisk down, "Since Brother Qin has said so, I shan't use weapons."
Dan Yangzi secretly gave a sigh of relief and moved his gaze away from Junior Protector Sword. If they were to use weapons, Daozi would be at a huge disadvantage. The shape of this sword made his heart jumped in shock. The sword sheath had the mouth of a fish dragon and looked like a first ranking high official's sword.
If it was real, Daozi Lin Xuan's horsetail whisk would be broken the moment they touched and there would be no need to compete anymore.
Qin Mu gave a smile and two layers of pupil suddenly appeared in his eyes. After opening Heaven's Eyes and Green Heaven's Eyes one after another, the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank and the limestone tiles cracked and the shattered rocks on the ground floated up from the trembling.
"Haa!"
Qin Mu exhaled and shouted as he gave a punch out. The hundreds of shattered limestone that had just floated up became even finer by the punch of his. The biggest rock was also merely as big as a pea and the smaller ones were like sesame!
Countless of shattered rock followed his punch and flew towards Daozi Lin Xuan!
Aang—
The dragon roars resonated out and the force of his punch actually merged with the shattered rocks, turning into a sand dragon which soared towards Daozi Lin Xuan just like a real divine dragon!
At the same time, his footsteps moved like a phantom at an extremely fast speed. He quickly followed the punch force and reached Daozi Lin Xuan's side.
Daozi was astonished. One of his eyes suddenly turned white and the other one turned black as he raised his hand forward for a mudra. His jade-like palm looked like a jade stamp. The stamp was like a mountain and on the bottom side of the stamp, there were weird bird characters and worm languages which were incomparably queer. The mudra brought along a simple and ancient aura with it as it faced the true dragon.
Heaven Flipping Mudra!
The forces from the two of them burst forth and a dull and astonishing boom sounded out. It was like the sound of thunder getting muffled by the dense thunderclouds and couldn't travel out.
The dragon head qilin in front of the mountain gate heard this muffled boom and raised its head to look around puzzledly.
Qin Mu only felt that his Tempest Of The Nine Dragons seemed to have met a wall that stretched from the earth to heaven and his force couldn't penetrate this wall, making him elated, "This Daozi sure is extraordinary! He's much stronger than all those scholars I have seen before!"
Tempest Of The Nine Dragons might look overbearing and fierce on the outside but it was actually an extremely exquisite move which contained forty-five dragon forces in it. This force was hidden in the center of the palm and if people received this palm head-on, the forty-five dragon forces would pass through their bodies and cause incomparably terrifying damages to their organs.
This Heaven Flipping Mudra from Daozi Lin Xuan actually formed an impenetrable defense and blocked the forty-five kinds of dragon forces that were hidden in the center of his palm in the area between their two facing palms. This showed how powerful Daozi was!
And at this moment, those countless of rocks flew past Daozi Lin Xuan's body.
Daoist Lin Xuan felt a bone-chilling cold and his Yin Yang Dao Eyes could see that among the fine shattered rocks, there were actually incomparably fine vital qi threads connecting them.
These vital qi threads were incomparably fine and under his Yin Yang Dao Eyes, the vital qi threads were actually fine spiraling swords and these fine swords were sword qi formed by Qin Mu's vital qi. These vital qi which were originally hidden in the rock were trying to come out from these rocks now.
"Wheel Carving Mudra!"
The ten fingers of Daozi Lin Xuan moved. With a palm facing up and a palm facing down, a hum was heard as two wheels appeared above his head and two below his feet. These wheels were formed by vital qi and had peculiar structures. It seemed to be a formation, just that the top and bottom were opposite.
Just as the formation shrouded him, the fine shattered rocks suddenly turned into dust and permeated the sky. The sword qi hidden inside the countless rocks instantly merged together to form a vital qi green dragon. The countless of sword qi formed the body of the green dragon as it stirred vigorously!
Spiral Sword Form!
Between the two wheels that were spinning in the opposite directions from each other instantly appeared countless of fine swords which formed a sword screen, colliding with the stirring green dragon. The sword qi broke into pieces and splattered in all directions. These two youths were not only competing for their sword moves, they were clashing with their magic power as well.
If there were other scholars of Imperial College around, they would definitely be incomparably astonished. Now Qin Mu was executing the Spiral Sword Form which Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had taught him but Qin Mu didn't turn Spiral Sword Form into a sword pillar as how Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had taught. He had instead made countless of spiraling sword qi to turn into a green dragon!
Daozi Lin Xuan instantly felt pressure as Qin Mu's vital qi was suppressing his vital qi. His cultivation was incomparably dense but Qin Mu's cultivation was actually still above his. This was practically impossible.
Dao Sect's Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique was widely known for its vigorous magic power and just based on the magic power of the same realm, there were no techniques from all the sects in the world that could rival Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique. Even if it was Rulai's Mahayana Sutra which was also known for its magic power!
However, now he felt that Qin Mu's magic power was still above his!
Daozi Lin Xuan felt that his Wheel Carving Mudra would break anytime and immediately changed his moves. Even though he didn't have a horsetail whisk, when his hands opened up, there were countless of strands flying out. Those were vital qi threads, but under his control, they were like vital qi swords stabbing outwards from the insides of the wheels, trying to sever the green dragon.
Just as he made the move, Qin Mu who was outside the wheels had already reached in front of him. Stretching his hands out and grabbing the countless of dust, Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and the dust gathered in his hand to form a spear which stabbed into the turning wheels.
Daozi Lin Xuan used his other hand to defend with Heaven Flipping Mudra to stop this huge spear. However, explosive bangs rang continuously in his ears as Qin Mu used his hands as knives to follow up with Midnight Battle Across Stormy Cities, causing countless of knives to cut down on the wheels.
His Wheel Carving Mudra instantly crumbled and Daozi Lin Xuan immediately knew it was bad. The next moment, he received several slashes on his chest with blood flowing out as he flew backward.
He borrowed the power to fly out back and still remained calm. The strands of hairs tunneled into the green dragon and with the strands flying out in all directions, the green dragon was finally eliminated.
As the green dragon fell apart, it immediately turned into hundreds of fine vital qi swords which gathered back together in a blink of an eye and burrowed into the ground.
"This is bad!"
Daozi Lin Xuan pushed his palm downwards and with his palm pressing down, countless strands of threads pierced into the ground and lifted his body up into the air.
With the strands of threads as his legs, he sprinted in the air like he was flying. Below him, a green dragon tunneled out from the ground before tunneling back in again. It then tunneled out once again and went back into the ground. Every time the green dragon burst out from the ground, Qin Mu's feet would coincidentally land on the dragon's head as he quickly chased Daozi Lin Xuan who was in the air.
Qin Mu flicked his fingers one after another and the flick of his fingers resulted in sudden claps of thunder. Between the rumbling of the thunder, a temperament had instead begun abruptly, causing Daozi Lin Xuan's expression to change hugely, "Crap, he has stolen the initiative. I can only use the sect legacy sword skill of Dao Sect!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Dan Yangzi stood up and looked at the battle between Daozi Lin Xuan and Qin Mu. As for the half dragon half qilin strange beast, it had lost its interest in what was happening this side and went back to sleep.
"Daozi can't withstand it any longer, and he's going to use his full power." Dan Yangzi felt an astonishment in his heart.
Qin Mu's attacks were simply too fast and too overbearing. As long as he took the initiative, he would not let his opponent have a chance to have a breather. He would hit continuously until the opponent admitted defeat or died!
Daozi Lin Xuan couldn't get hold of any advantages with his vital qi and his moves were also being suppressed by Qin Mu. By sealing his Six Directions Divine Treasure, there were many moves and divine arts he couldn't execute and the only chance he had now was to use the sect legacy sword skills of Dao Sect.
Only the sect legacy sword skills could change the current situation and turn defeat into a victory!
It was just that now even Dan Yangzi also didn't know if Daozi Lin Xuan could execute this sect legacy sword skills in the realm of Five Elements Divine Treasure.
The sect legacy sword skills of Dao Sect had an extremely high requirement for vital qi and the consumption was huge as well. From Dan Yangzi's judgement, if Daozi Lin Xuan used that sect legacy sword skills, his vital qi would be completely depleted.
Just as he thought of this, the strands in Daozi Lin Xuan's hand suddenly started to transform. This was a marvelous transformation as half of the strands turned black and the other half turned white as they spread themselves out in the air. With the black and white gradually flowing around each other, it was like a taijitu appearing in the air.
The sect legacy sword skills of Dao Sect, the first form of the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword: A Dot Threading The Vast Movements, Yin And Yang Come And Go Within Two Modes!
Daozi Lin Xuan's arms trembled as the black and white diagram came pressuring down!
Dan Yangzi gave a sigh of relief and was rather gratified. Daozi Lin Xuan was the Daozi after all. With his dense cultivation, he was still able to execute the sect legacy sword skills at Five Elements Realm.
One needed to know that there were quite a lot of practitioners cultivating the sect legacy sword skills of Dao Sect but not many of them could completely cultivate it and nearly all that had succeeded couldn't execute it in Five Elements Realm. The consumption of these sword skills was too great and not to say those of Five Elements Realm, even divine arts practitioners would find it hard to execute it.
Furthermore, there was an extremely high requirement for the aptitude and comprehension for cultivating these sword skills. Among the requirements, the biggest one was algebra.
Just the Ten Computational Canons had already caused people huge headaches and other than the canons, there were also ancient and profound algebra records like The General Dayan Computation and Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns.
And Daozi Lin Xuan was the most outstanding talent among them who were proficient in algebra and his algebra already had extremely high attainments from a young age. With a foundation in algebra, it was much easier for him to learn Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword than everyone else.
Each writing of Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword was harder than the previous one and when it came to the fourteenth writing of Dao Sword, there was nearly no one who could succeed in cultivating it. Even the current Dao Master had also not succeeded in cultivating the fourteenth sword.
However, Dao Master had very great expectation for Daozi Lin Xuan and felt that he could be able to succeed in cultivating the fourteenth sword.
Dao Master had even lent Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor Dao Sect's Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword to browse and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor mentioned about Dao Sword and the Three Swords of Son of Heaven in his sword discourse, which could totally be said that he was influenced by Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword.
Therefore one could imagine how powerful this move from Daozi Lin Xuan was!
As the black and white diagram came down, Qin Mu was astonished and the sword skill that came suppressing down from above was already no mortal sword skill. With yin and yang two modes tangling with each other, the power that burst forth already made his heart palpitating with fear before it even reached him.
His fingers flicked and the move Thunder Fingers made every finger of his burst forth huge thunder booms which were incomparably penetrating. But even first class technique like Thunderclap Eight Strikes was useless when it touched that black and white diagram. The attack was like a mud cow entering the ocean, unable to raise any waves.
Whoosh—
Under his feet, the green dragon soared into the sky and suddenly broke apart and turned into countless of bustling sword lights which landed into his hand to transform into a long sword.
Qin Mu had a solemn expression as he faced the black and white taijitu which came pressuring down.
With the sword in his hand, it was like the most exquisite brush on a painter's hand, the heaviest step of a traveler, the vocals of a singer, the dance of a dancer. He executed the sword skill that Village Chief had taught him.
Sword Treading Mountains And Rivers.
Can the gods be cut down?
Say: can!
Under his sword, the sword light flashed. Light and dark, light and heavy, fast and slow were perfectly combined and in that instant, the fourteen basic sword moves transformed into vast rivers and mountains in his hands!
Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword from Dao Sect wasn't sword skill from the secular world, so was Sword Picture that Village Chief had imparted to him!
This was a sword skill to cut down god?
Could the gods be cut down?
People who used this sword must have no god, devil, and buddha in his heart and must have the heart to disrespect god, devil and buddha and the heart to cut down gods!
The corners of Dan Yangzi's eyes twitched and he quickly stood up. At the same time, the half dragon half qilin strange beast also woke up from its sleep and suddenly raised its head to look around!
In the sky, the two kinds of sword skill collided and the surroundings turned snow bright. That black and white taijitu crumbled under the gradually expanding rivers and mountains, causing Daozi Lin Xuan to suffer dozens of slashes in an instant, staining his body with blood!
Suddenly his eyes lit up, "There a weakness!"
Qin Mu noticed his gaze and was astonished. This youth's gaze had landed on his left shoulder and this place was coincidentally where the weakness of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was located!
"Qi ke duo!"
Qin Mu raised his hand to form a mudra, Devil God Mighty Force Mudra!
This mudra was used to defend this left shoulder while the sword light greatly expanded in his other hand as he stabbed at Daozi Lin Xuan!
Chii—
Daozi Lin Xuan stabbed through his palm and the tip of the sword hit his left shoulder; however, it was blocked by the brocade clothes on Qin Mu's body and didn't pierce into his flesh. But the sword glow had stabbed in, cause a sharp pain in Qin Mu's shoulder.
And the same time, Daozi Lin Xuan's body trembled greatly and swayed as dozens of bloody holes appeared on his body in an instant before collapsing on the ground!
Qin Mu dispersed the sharp sword which was formed by vital qi and bowed as a greeting, "Daozi, you let me win."
Daozi Lin Xuan struggled to get up but the bloody holes in his body were still bleeding endlessly. Dan Yangzi quickly went forward and was about to feed him medicine but Daozi Lin Xuan raised his hand to stop him and tidied his clothes. He returned the greeting, "Many thanks for the teachings." and then he consumed the medicine pills.
Dan Yangzi immediately applied ointment on him to prevent him from bleeding. After that, the young and the old Daoists rose and bowed to Qin Mu. Qin Mu bowed to return the greeting and saw both of them putting on their bamboo hats, turning to leave.
Qin Mu sent them off and his face suddenly changed as he grabbed onto his left shoulder, sucking in deep, cold breaths, "Oww! The pain is killing me! That Elder Dan Yangzi is so stingy, didn't even give me a portion of the ointment."
The pain from his left hand and shoulder had reached his soul as his bones were injured by that stab from Daozi Lin Xuan. Qin Mu took in quick, cold breaths and was about to go up the mountain when he stumbled and immediately raised his hand to grabbed onto the half dragon half qilin strange beast that was chained up for support.
He had consumed too much vital qi. Using Sword Treadings Mountains And Rivers consumed a lot of vital qi, making him very weak.
Qin Mu walked past the mountain gate multiple times but he had never noticed this strange beast and always thought it was a statue of dragon qilin or some sort. Never did he expect the strange beast to feel soft to touch and he jumped in shock.
That strange beast dragon qilin raised its eyes and swept a look at him. It then stuck out its tongue to lick his shoulder.
Qin Mu felt his shoulder gradually turning cooler and the pain slowly faded. He immediately lowered his head to look into the collar and saw the small sword wounds caused by the sword glow was shrinking. There were a dozen sword wounds and they were all healing now.
Qin Mu was astonished, "This is… dragon's saliva? Or is it qilin's saliva? No matter what it is, this is a good medicinal ingredient!"
He immediately raised his palm and the strange beast licked his palm too.
Qin Mu looked at the flesh on his palm which was slowly growing back and the flesh of the sword wound was like a sapling sprouting out which quickly made the wound recover. The injuries on the bones seemed to have also healed and his skin had also healed quickly.
"Senior brother, do you like to eat sour apricot?"
Qin Mu squatted down and took out a jade bottle and placed it under the strange beast's mouth with a smile, "It's the sour sour kind, so sour that your teeth would fall off. Don't you like it? Then how about yellow plums? Also the super sour kind, the kind when you think of you will drool… you also don't like it? Let me treat you lemons…"
The strange beast rolled its eyes at him and kept quiet, ignoring him. It sat there motionlessly and there was no saliva like dragon's saliva that was drooling out.
"Then what do you like to eat?" Qin Mu asked.
"There's a big green cow on the mountain and I've been eyeing it for a long time."
That dragon qilin strange beast suddenly opened his mouth to say while continuing to look forward motionlessly, "Can you get it over?"
Qin Mu pat his chest and smiled, "I'll definitely make friends with such a loyal brother like you. Don't worry, I'll get it over very soon!"
That dragon qilin was elated and the saliva at the corner of its mouth was about to fall out before it sucked it back in.
Qin Mu could only return to the mountain and thought to himself, "It seems that the only way to trick the dragon's saliva out of it is to bring it the big green cow. I seem to have seen this big green cow somewhere before, staying in a courtyard and eating grass… Hmm, I'll have to go ask Ling'er. She's more familiar with this mountain after running here and there."
He went up the mountain and at this timing, there were people waking up in Scholar's Residence and Royalty's Park one after another. They walked down the mountains in their groups and passed by Qin Mu. One of the princes said, "After Imperial Preceptor's guidance, I feel that my cultivation has greatly improved. I should be able to fight three hundred rounds with that Daozi!"
Second Prince Ling Yushu shook his head, "Sixth brother, don't underestimate the enemy. I fought with Daozi Lin Xuan and I feel that there are still some skills of him he hasn't used yet. However, Imperial Preceptor sure is extraordinary. The three sword forms he taught could actually merge with the other sword skills I have learned before, making the sword skills I have learned before even more perfect, in any case, I would still have the power to fight him. However, if I want to win him, it might be difficult."
Ling Yushu stopped and looked at Qin Mu who was walking by and frowned before retracting his gaze.
"What's wrong, second brother?" That sixth prince asked.
"Seventh sister is very close to him."
Ling Yushu shook his head and said, "Actually this person Qin Mu is good in everything, having great abilities and the reputation of a divine physician, saving Empress Dowager. However, he's still an abandoned person of Great Ruins after all and it's not good for seventh sister to be in contact with him. Let's not talk about this. let's go meet Daozi Lin Xuan again!"
When they came down the mountain, they only heard commotions coming from the front of them and immediately went forward. Someone shouted, "The two Daoists are gone!"
Ling Yushu couldn't help being stunned. He squeezed into the crowd and looked forward. Dan Yangzi and Daozi Lin Xuan had indeed vanished without a trace.
"Could they had sounded out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat?" someone muttered.
Ling Yushu frowned and gave a sarcastic laugh. Dan Yangzi and Daozi Lin Xuan were here to block the gate and humiliate them, how would they automatically admit defeat by backing out of an awkward situation? It was obvious someone had defeated Daozi Lin Xuan and they had left after admitting defeat!
"The one that defeated Daozi Lin Xuan is among us and had come down the mountain one step earlier than us!"
Ling Yushu's gaze flickered as he looked towards the crowd, "Who could it be? In the Divine Arts Residence, there are three to five strongest individuals. Sword Maniac Xiao Yin, Mad Demon Tian Feng, and Mountain Carrier Strong Man Yue Qiu all have strong abilities and higher aptitude than others. There are also a few in Royalty's Residence other than me. Seventh sister loves to play around and not hardworking, even though her comprehension is great, there's no improvement if she doesn't put in any effort. Then there's also Crown Prince Min Yue… As for Scholar's Residence, I've heard Chen Wanyun's abilities ain't bad as well. For sitting in the position of the big brother all along, he is also possible."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Dan Yangzi and Daozi Lin Xuan walked in a line and steadily moved out from the capital city. When they were thirty miles outside the capital city, they saw the torrential river as well as a young monk and an old monk traveling down on the water.
Dan Yangzi and Daozi Lin Xuan stopped and stood at the shore to bow to the two monks, "Senior brothers."
The two monks also quickly stopped on the river surface and put their palms together to return the greeting, "Senior brothers."
The old monk's white eyebrows were drooping lowly as he said, "Did senior brothers return from Imperial College? Did you stay for three full days?"
Dan Yangzi shook his head, "We didn't stay three full days."
The old monk's eyebrows twitched which was evident his inner heart was rather disturbed, "Imperial College actually has such capability to face Daozi? I'll be going over with Fozi and I wonder how would our circumstances be."
Dan Yangzi bowed to bid farewell and the old monk also bowed as they parted their ways.
Dan Yangzi and Daozi Lin Xuan's departure made the uppermost chancellors to the lowermost scholars of Imperial College let off a long sigh of relief. As for who had defeated Daozi Lin Xuan, no one could determine it.
Defeating Daozi Lin Xuan was supposed to be a good deed, but it was very weird that the expert didn't jump out to claim that it was him or her who had defeated Daozi Lin Xuan.
Everyone started guessing and some said that a prince must have secretly made his move and caused Daozi Lin Xuan to back out after being defeated. However, due to the fighting openly and maneuvering covertly among the princes, this prince must have been worried of showing off his abilities, therefore, he had concealed it so as to prevent other princes from assassinating him.
There were also some who said that it was Sword Maniac Xiao Yin who had made a move. Xiao Yin was a sword maniac who indulged himself in the path of sword and had nothing else in his mind, holding no importance for fame.
There were even some who said that it was those senior brothers who had graduated from Imperial College who had heard about this matter and rushed back to defeat Daozi Lin Xuan before rushing back to the frontlines. Many of the scholars who had graduated from Imperial College had already become generals in the frontlines, leading the soldiers into battle.
Some also guessed that it was Imperial Preceptor's disciples who had entered Imperial College on command to become imperial scholars and defeated Lin Xuan. They then quit school right after.
There were all kinds of explanations.
In Scholar's Residence, many scholars were unusually lively as they gathered in Chen Wanyun's courtyard, having a lively discussion with everyone talking at once, "Big brother, now the whole mountain is guessing who has defeat Daozi of Dao Sect, could it be you?"
Chen Wanyun gave a yawn and tried to hold back his sleepiness, "It's not me. Even though I had the heart to stand out for Imperial College, however, I had gone too fierce with my training and fell asleep in the courtyard unknowingly. If not for your commotion, I wouldn't have woken up. I also have no idea who has defeated Daozi Lin Xuan."
Everyone was skeptical and Qu Ting smiled, "Could it be that big brother plans to modest about your fame and reputation?"
Chen Wanyun was between laughter and tears as he said, "I haven't slept and took a break for two days straight to comprehend the three sword skills that Imperial Preceptor had taught us, thus I had overused my brain and damaged my vitality. With me unable to even unleash eighty percent of my power, how could it be me? If I was the one who had defeated Daozi Lin Xuan, would I have concealed it from all of you?"
Suddenly Monk Yun Que's spirit slightly stirred and asked, "It couldn't be that abandoned person right?"
Yue Qinghong's heart also slightly stirred. Even though she was embarrassed after getting smacked by Qin Mu into the copper pillar, she still extremely admired Qin Mu's abilities, "That abandoned person has consummate skills and no matter if they are battle techniques, spells, or sword skills, they are all not weak. Could it be him?"
Chen Wanyun hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "Truth to be told, I saw him training diligently and not sleeping, that's why I had motivated to train hard as well so as to defeat Daozi Lin Xuan. His training time wasn't shorter than mine so he must still be deep asleep right now and missed the chance to fight Daozi Lin Xuan."
A scholar said angrily, "This guy, making big brother go astray as well! When Imperial Preceptor was imparting his skills, he had made a commotion about refining vital qi thread. Since he had just refined vital qi thread, how could he have defeated Daozi of Dao Sect?"
All the scholars nodded their heads in agreement and laughed, "He had made a fool out of himself in front of Hall of Supreme Learning and it made us feel good. Even the injuries from being beaten up by him don't hurt that much!"
At this moment, a commotion came from below the mountain and someone could be heard shouting, "There an old monk that has come to the bottom of the mountain and he brought along a young monk with him. They have then sat down in front of the mountain gate!"
All the scholars looked at each other and Chen Wanyun's gaze flickered as he said solemnly, "The experts from Dao Sect have just left and the monks from Great Thunderclap Monastery have come! The younger one of these two monks must be the Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery! I couldn't fight Daozi Lin Xuan so I must definitely meet Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery! Junior brothers and sisters, I'll have to rest for half a day to preserve and nurture my spirit."
All the scholars bid farewell and left.
Chen Wanyun laid down with his clothes on and slept soon after.
When the next day came, Chen Wanyun woke up and felt refreshed. He cleaned up, filled his stomach and immediately went down the mountain. When he was down the mountain, only did he know that Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery had defeated many experts of Imperial College.
This Fozi had Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, diamond body and was proficient in the victorious strife techniques of Buddhism. When he executed his spells, his body would expand several times and gain extraordinary strength. There was Buddha's aura flowing around his body which would occasionally transform into a huge bell and occasionally turned into a pagoda used for suppression. Holding on to the gold alms bowl with one hand, he could suck people into the bowl and with the other hand, Mount Meru would come crashing down.
Chen Wanyun went forward to fight and had fought a dozen rounds, breaking his diamond body with Drill Sword Form, hurting the Fozi Fo Xin. However, Fo Xin still had strong abilities after all and defeated him.
Many scholars of Divine Arts Residence and Royalty's Park sat up and took notice of him. The scholars of Scholar's Residence were mostly Five Elements Realm and had a lower cultivation. For Chen Wanyun to actually clash with Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery a dozen times before losing, this accomplishment was considered a first-class experts in Divine Arts Residence and Royalty's Park, being able to get into top ten.
There were immediately princes and princesses of Royalty's Park going forward with intention to rope him in. Chen Wanyun neither accepted nor rejected so as not to offend them too much. He thought to himself, "It seems like my accomplishment is pretty good otherwise there wouldn't be people coming to rope me in. I wonder what would be the result if Junior Brother Qin exchange hands with this monk? How many moves can he withstand from Fozi?"
"I've seen the green bull that young master mentioned a few times."
In Imperial College, Hu Ling'er brought Qin Mu to the rear mountain and said, "There's a vegetable garden in the rear mountain. I was going for a walk and thinking of finding some spirit mushroom or immortal corolla. When I passed by that place, I saw a few spirit herbs in the vegetable garden and met this bull which shouted at me a few times. I saw it guarding those spirit herbs so I was in a very bad mood and wanted to eat it a long ago."
Qin Mu was astonished, "In the vegetable garden? Must be a wild bull, otherwise who would place it in a vegetable garden to eat the vegetables?"
"That's true. Young master, how come the dragon qilin in front of the gate wants to eat this bull?"
"I've no idea. I reckon that this bull might have offended the dragon qilin. Probably it pilfers vegetables from the vegetable garden so the dragon qilin isn't happy." Qin Mu guessed.
Hu Ling'er brought him to the rear mountain and there were lesser people at the rear mountain. Very little scholars came by here other than those couples coming on a date.
On the rear mountain, there were a few courtyards which were said to be the residences of directorates who liked the shade. Other than the directorate's courtyards, the only residence left belonged to the mountain guarding elder.
There were a few vegetable gardens opened up on the rear mountain. Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er followed the craggy pathway down the mountain and after walking for a while, they saw a red-tiled courtyard and the left area in front of the courtyard had been flattened, which was about a third of a hectare. It was fenced up and many vegetables were planted.
At this moment a green bull was standing in the vegetable garden and eating the vegetables inside while swatting the mosquito leisurely with its tail.
Qin Mu gave it a look and gave an uncontrollable shiver.
This bull was really a green bull and Qin Mu was also sure that there would only be one such bull even on the entire mountain. However, he might not be able to defeat this bull!
The green bull had a body full of sinewed flesh and was incomparably majestic. It stood up on two legs like a human and was leaning on a pillar. Its front hooves which had already become hard keratin palms grabbed a handful of lush green vegetables. He was eating the vegetables leisurely.
Qin Mu measured with his gaze and estimated that this green bull was two to three times his height and nearly had no extra meat on the bones. It was all muscles bulging and the jade color of its green cowskin could actually reflect light, gleaming brightly like a beautiful jade that was polished for over ten years.
What's most terrifying was when this green bull breathed in and out, its breath was like two white lights moving in and out. On top of that, with the dragon scales growing on its neck, Qin Mu dared to confirm that this green bull had been cultivating on the mountain for many years, breathing in the qi of the nine dragons. It caused the bull to be dragonised and grow dragon's scales.
"Who is peeking at me?"
Suddenly the green bull let out a human voice and stuffed a handful of tree peonies into its mouth. It sucked the white light at its nose back into its body, and its gaze was like lightning as it looked towards Qin Mu before walking over. As it walked over, the bulging muscles bounced vivaciously.
Qin Mu let out a mouthful of murky breath and told Hu Ling'er, "Isn't it just a bull? I had herded cows since young so how can't I handle it? Ling'er, fall back first. If I ask you to run later, you quickly run. Understood?"
Hu Ling'er nodded her head and fell back.
Qin Mu took in a deep breath and walked towards the green bull with a smile, "This Brother Bull…"
That green bull had an explosive temper and rushed forward to beat him without any explanation while sneering, "Rascal with a crooked smile, you're definitely not a good guy! Don't call me your bull brother!"
Hu Ling'er quickly retreated up the mountain and suddenly heard an astonishing rumble coming from the vegetable garden which was followed by endless tremors. After a while, Qin Mu frantically ran up like a wisp of smoke and shouted, "Ling'er, quickly run!"
Hu Ling'er immediately lifted her legs and ran, glancing back secretly. She only saw Qin Mu's eye sockets had swollen up and his nose was badly bruised. It was evident that within a short while, the cowherd boy of Disabled Elderly Village had been badly beaten by this green bull.
Hu Ling'er secretly clicked her tongue in wonder as she thought to herself, "Young master is always brilliant, beating this and that after coming to Imperial College. How come he is getting beaten by a bull now?"
Rumblings of hooves came from behind them and it was obvious that the bull was chasing them aggressively, not letting them off.
Qin Mu quickly picked Hu Ling'er up and placed her on his shoulders, running desperately up the mountain.
After a while, that green bull couldn't catch up them and turn back while cursing.
When the green bull had come back to the vegetable garden, Chancellor Ba Shan's sleepy voice sounded from the red-tiled courtyard, "Why is it so noisy outside?"
"Old master, there's someone bullying your bull bull!"
That green bull immediately bent over and smiled to the courtyard, "He even wanted to steal old master's vegetable and got chased off by me."
"Something like that actually happened?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Chancellor Ba Shan wore a grey colored mink fur overcoat and walked out with a wine gourd that was half a human height in his hand. Raising his head to gulp a few mouthfuls of wine, he gave a burp and threw the wine gourd to the green bull and asked, "Who dare to steal from my vegetable garden? Pretty big guts eh."
The green bull drank a few mouthfuls of wine from the gourd and gave a drunk hiccup, burping out the smell of herbs and wine, "No idea. It's a dim-witted looking foolish boy which brought a fox along."
Chancellor Ba Shan looked like he was thinking and said, "So it's that boy from Great Ruins. He even dares to provoke my little bull bull and steal my vegetable, how wild and unbridled. I've got it. You shall stay here to look after my vegetable garden in case the vegetables get stolen again."
Qin Mu returned to the front of the mountain and touched the bruises on his face. His expression was ever varying, "This bull, I can't fight it but I can instead drug it to knock it out. Grandpa Apothecary had said, if you can't win, use poison. I just need to tie up its hooves and it won't be able to retaliate… Patriarch, how come you're here?"
In front of Qin Mu was a straw hut with two to three rooms, which was very simple. This straw hut was beside a mountain and a river which made it very elegant and calm. He could see the young patriarch sitting in the courtyard washing his bowls, which meant that he should have just been done with his meal. Beside him was a white-haired elder who was used a loofah to scrub the pot.
Qin Mu had seen this elder before and he was the Elder of Discipline for Heavenly Devil Cult.
Even though the young patriarch might be the empire's grand chancellor of Imperial College and had a distinguished position, he had no servants or servant girls to serve him and only had Elder of Discipline at his side.
The young patriarch and Elder of Discipline saw him and Hu Ling'er but they didn't rise and continued with their chores. Elder of Discipline smiled, "Patriarch lives here. Young Cult Master has never come here before?"
Qin Mu shook his head and stood outside to bow before walking in.
Elder of Discipline greeted Qin Mu and Qin Mu hurriedly returned his greeting before walking over to the basin to help the young patriarch to wash the bowls with a smile, "Patriarch being the grand chancellor, why are you living poorly?"
The young patriarch grabbed a towel to wipe his hands and said, "I'm used to idling and can't stay in tall and majestic palaces. Elder of Discipline didn't live here before. I called him over, it's just that I'm getting old, implicating him to suffer with me."
Qin Mu looked at Elder of Discipline and he gave a smile, "I also want to have some peace for a few days as well, this place is just right."
The young patriarch smiled, "Young Cult Master, after you ascend, I'll still have to borrow Elder of Discipline for a few years and let him travel around with me. When I'm dead, it would be easier for him to collect my corpse. Our sacred cult leaves no corpse behind. Death is like an extinguished lamp and only ashes are left. When that time comes, Elder of Discipline would bring my ashes back."
Qin Mu fell silent and felt a sourness in his heart.
A hero past his prime.
Even being as strong as Village Chief, as strong as the young patriarch, couldn't prevent being born, growing old, getting sick and dying. All their hot bloodedness and strong heart would always be eroded by the passing time, turning them into corpses covered by the yellow soil.
The young patriarch looked at him and said, "An old monk and a young monk have come to the bottom of the mountain."
Qin Mu nodded his head and used his Vermillion Bird Vital Qi to dry up the water on his hands after he was done with washing. Elder of Discipline hanged the wok after he was done and brought over a tea set as he planned to brew some tea. Hu Ling'er ran over to help.
"I know. I've heard that the monk below came from Great Thunderclap Monastery. I went to take a look at them and I recognized the old monk. I had seen him in Great Ruins before and heard Grandpa Ma say that he was his senior brother, and his name was Jing Ming or something."
Qin Mu thought for awhile and didn't dare to confirm if it was this name, "As of the little monk, I haven't seen him before. I think he's the Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Hu Ling'er strenuously poured tea for them though she was a little short and not as high as the teapoy. Elder of Discipline immediately took over the teapot and placed it on the tea set. He then carried the little fox and placed her on the rattan chair at the side with a smile, "Let me do it."
The young patriarch continued to stare at him and said, "They are blocking the mountain gate of our Imperial College."
Qin Mu replied, "They have already blocked it half a day. I ran over to see the commotion and the abilities of this Fozi are indeed powerful. Rulai's Mahayana Sutras, Victorious Strife Skills, Diamond Unbreakable Body, Rulai's Stupa, Mahayana Nirvana Mudra, Eighteen Arhats Mudra. Patriarch, did I have some misunderstanding to our Imperial College?"
The young patriarch was bewildered, "What misunderstanding?"
"Are we actually very weak?"
Qin Mu was puzzled, "Why do we get beaten and why does our gate get blocked every day? Our gate has been blocked twice not long after I entered the school. if it was in my Great Ruins, we would have seized them and beat them up long ago."
The young patriarch replied angrily, "I'm not talking about this. What I meant is Fozi Fo Xin has arrived so why didn't you go to meet him but went to the rear mountain instead?"
Qin Mu smiled, "Who said I didn't go? I had gone over then came back from the mountain gate before going to the rear mountains. It was pretty bustling over at the mountain gate."
The young patriarch flew into a fury and Elder of Discipline immediately served up the tea. Patriarch drank the tea in the cup in one mouth and was ready to blow up after putting the cup down when Elder of Discipline hurriedly poured him another cup.
The young patriarch suppressed his anger and said, "The other scholars of Imperial College have already gone up to face the Fozi so why aren't you going?"
"Patriarch, I just beat the Daozi not long ago. Furthermore, I got injured."
Qin Mu lamented, "Daozi even stabbed a hole in my hand, you see… Eh, where's the scar? Anyway, I'm hurting, very serious internal injuries. Since I have fought a round, let Fozi fight whoever he likes. I'm going to heal my injuries. Look, my face is still swollen. If you didn't even stand out for your young cult master who got beaten by a bull, why should I stand out for Imperial College?"
Elder of Discipline gave a cough and reminded, "Patriarch, the tea has cooled."
"It doesn't cool this fast!"
The young patriarch slammed the table and sneered, "So what do you want? To invite Imperial Preceptor over again to impart his experience? I have already invited him once if I invite him again, where would I throw my old face to? Who else do you want me to invite? The emperor?"
Qin Mu's heart leaped slightly and tried to sound out, "Can the emperor come to Imperial College to give a lecture?"
The young patriarch raised his head to drink the tea and even ate the tea leaves to quench his anger, laughing sarcastically, "Drop your intentions, it's impossible for the emperor to come to Imperial College to give a lecture! It's fine to profess devotion only when in trouble once but to do it twice? I don't have such a big face!"
Qin Mu replied resentfully, "Patriarch, Daozi of Dao Sect and Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery have already come to block the gate so I'm thinking since two of the three biggest sects have arrived, should we Heavenly Saint Cult also show our face and block the gate of Imperial College as well? I as the young cult master, should go forward to block the gate of Imperial College, to strengthen our cult's might…"
The young patriarch slammed the table and suddenly rose up. The teapoy swayed from getting slammed while Elder of Discipline quickly blocked him and pacified, "Patriarch calm down, calm down! Young Cult Master is still a kid and there's no need to be angry at him! Calm down!"
The young patriarch laughed from extreme anger, "Rascal, do you think there's no one in Imperial College who can defeat Fozi other than you?"
Qin Mu smiled, "There should be, but that was in the past. Now, these people have all graduated from Imperial College and no longer students of Imperial College. If Patriarch wants the paths and skills to flourish, you will have to invite the people who have left Imperial College to become high officials back and ask them to teach. You will also need to invite the first ranking high officials of the imperial court over, asking them to teach their paths, skills and divine arts."
The young patriarch gave a sigh and shook his head, "The current first ranking officials are mostly existences like cult masters, sect leaders. Other than that the rest are masters of their own aristocratic families so how would they teach the secrets of their learning to all the people in the world? I understand what you mean but I'm about to retire and have no mood to revitalize Imperial College. This will have to be handled by the next grand chancellor. It's just that I have no idea whom the emperor and Imperial Preceptor would arrange to be this grand chancellor. Are you really not going to fight Fozi? Do you think you aren't a match for him?"
Qin Mu shook his head and was rather conceited, "I'm the Overlord Body, there's no difference between beating Daozi and Fozi to me."
"Overlord Body?"
The young patriarch was bewildered and slightly at a loss, "There's still something called Overlord Body in this world?"
Elder of Discipline shook his head, "I've not heard it before."
Qin Mu was overflowing with confidence and even the young patriarch was shocked seeing this kind of invincible conviction. With a tone that held disdain for the world, he said, "Village Chief had personally said I was the one and only Overlord Body and only I could cultivate Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique."
"So it was that old fellow. He is still the more knowledgeable one."
The young patriarch shoot him a glance and asked, "Are you really not going? Even if you don't go, I'll still have people who can force Fozi to retreat!"
Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently and sounded out, "Patriarch plans to disguise yourself as a youth to go forward?"
The young patriarch lifted his tea up and shouted, "Quickly drink your tea and scram!"
Qin Mu drank his tea and brought Hu Ling'er to leave. However, he gave some thought and moved back again to ask, "Patriarch, we can't keep getting our gate blocked by others, why not we go and block other people's gates?"
"Are you going to do it?"
"Is the emperor coming to give a lecture?"
"Scram!"
"Understood."
…
"This rascal, he won't even help out when there's no benefit."
The young patriarch shook his head while Elder of Discipline smiled, "Young Cult Master doesn't have much feelings to Imperial College, therefore, he wouldn't exert himself easily. Furthermore, ain't Patriarch feeling very happy as well?"
Patriarch laughed out loud and said, "This brat loves to amuse me. As expected of the one that was taught by those old fellows. The old man of Disabled Elderly Village is indeed extraordinary, I didn't even know there's such thing as an Overlord Body in this world and he could even recognize it. When I retire from being the grand chancellor, let's go and find him to have a chat. However, Young Cult Master is right, it isn't the way to keep getting blocked by others so we might as well block other people's gates. Don't they want to rebel? We'll smack their faces off first and make them have no face to rebel!"
Elder of Discipline reminded him, "Patriarch, you still have two months before you retire."
The young patriarch sighed and replied, "I can only let other people to handle this matter. The emperor is already looking for the next grand chancellor. Who do you think will take up the post?"
Elder of Discipline shook his head and said, "How would I know? However, I feel that the emperor would choose someone from the lower first ranking high officials. Even though the empire's grand chancellor is only a third-ranking official, this position is too important and needs to be administered by the emperor's trusted aide."
In the imperial palace, Emperor Yanfeng was reading through the memorials when a eunuch suddenly reported in a fine voice, "Your Majesty, Lord Gu has arrived."
"Let him in." Emperor Yanfeng didn't even lift his head.
"I, your servant Gu Linuan, pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Emperor Yanfeng raised his head and look at Gu Linuan who was bowing in the hall. Placing his brush down, he said, "Lord Gu, you had been missing dozens of years ago and was rescued by Little General Qin. Logically speaking, I should have assigned an official position to you. But it is not a minor guilt being missing for so many years and even losing the sword of the imperial court. You can not get away with it. Even if I want to select you for promotion, I will feel even more pressure. However, I have still decided to stand my ground against the opinion of the masses and put you in an important position."
Gu Linuan was surprised and delighted.
"The empire's Grand Chancellor of Imperial College is a position of utmost importance. Grand Chancellor will be retiring and I have asked him to leave office two months later so that I can look for talents. I have found you and I hope you won't disappoint me!"
"I will definitely offer my life in sacrifice and spare no effort in the performance of my duty till my dying day!"
Emperor Yanfeng raised his brush and continued to read through the memorials, "You don't need to offer your life in sacrifice. If you disappointed me, I would behead you. You may withdraw."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Two maces of mock strawberry, one tael six maces of sacred bamboo, four maces of oleander…"
Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er to the treasury and handed up the prescription to buy the medicinal ingredients he needed. He then informed Hu Ling'er, "This time I'm going to create a drug called Lost Fragrance, which is a kind of anesthetic. Grandpa Apothecary had once used it to knock out a flood dragon. That bull may be strong but this can definitely knock it out! However, creating this drug requires a special pill furnace and no negligence can be tolerated."
Hu Ling'er asked curiously, "Why is that so?"
"The fragrance that this drug gives off can even knock out a flood dragon, let alone the apothecary that's making it?"
Qin Mu smiled, "If the pill furnace isn't sealed up, the fragrance would travel out after the drug is done. I'm afraid to even great divine arts practitioners of Celestial Being Realm would fall head first if they happen to stand in the path where the fragrance is carried through. I don't have this kind of sealed pill furnace so I need to borrow one from Hall of Supreme Healing…"
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, "Little divine physician, where are you going?"
Qin Mu looked towards the source of the voice and smiled, "So it's Imperial Physician Qu. That's right, you're a directorate, I need to call your Teacher Qu."
Imperial Physician Qu immediately said, "Don't say it this way, I'm too ashamed! Little divine physician, I have a lecture this afternoon and will be talking about medicinal knowledge with the scholars. Since you're a divine physician, why don't you substitute me to give a lecture?"
Qin Mu broke out in laughter and said, "I'm only a student, how can I give a lecture? Furthermore, I still have something to do during the afternoon lesson and might not be able to attend. I plan to refine a furnace of drug which would be used in the afternoon."
Imperial Physician was slightly disappointed but his eyes suddenly lit up, "You are refining pills?"
Qin Mu smiled, "It can't be considered refining pills, it's just refining drugs."
Imperial Physician Qu's gaze twinkled, "Little divine physician, may I observe?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and nodded his head, "I plan to borrow the pill furnace in Hall of Supreme Healing and if you want to observe, we can go together."
Imperial Physician Qu was greatly delighted and smiled, "Little divine physician, you can go ahead to Hall of Supreme Healing first, and I'll be back fast!" After he had finished saying, he went off like the wind.
Qin Mu walked over to Hall of Supreme Healing and before he even reached the front of the hall, Imperial Physician Qu was already waiting for him in front of the hall. Other than him, there were also Imperial Physician You, Imperial Physician Yu and the rest of the Imperial Physician Bureau. They all wore an expression of excitement.
Qin Mu was bewildered. He had only wanted to refine an ordinary anesthetic, was there a need to muster all the imperial physicians?
"Little divine physician, quick!"
The few imperial physicians hurried him as they babbled on, "Do you need to activate the Underground Fire Great Furnace?"
"We can be your assistants!"
"What medicinal ingredients are you using? What is the order of the medicinal ingredients?"
"When should we be gentle and when should we be fierce? When you execute the hand techniques, how should the vital qi circulate?"
…
Qin Mu walked into Hall of Supreme Healing along with them and saw a huge great furnace directly. The number of pills that this pill furnace can refine might take one at least two to three years to eat them up. This should be a furnace of military use or to refine some world-shaking spirit pills.
Other than that, there were other pill furnaces of all sizes and there were rune formations under these pill furnaces which connected to the underground fire that was ten thousand yards beneath the grounds. When the underground fire was drawn out, it could be used to refine pills.
"Is there a sealed furnace?" Qin Mu inquired.
"Little divine physician, over here."
Imperial Physician You quickly led him to a stone furnace in Hall of Supreme Healing and smiled, "This furnace is the sealed furnace. Little divine physician can check if it's usable?"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up and saw that this stone furnace was directly carved out of jade and stone. The top and bottom were emptied out with eight divinatory trigrams and five elements situated on the inside. The furnace had no air vents and it could be made airtight by closing the top and bottom together and giving a turn. Even if the pill exploded in the furnace, it wouldn't be able to break open this pill furnace."
"Useable!"
Qin Mu lifted open the furnace and inspected it thoroughly before placing the herbs according to the order in the square boxes of the eight divinatory trigrams and five elements. The square boxes of these eight divinatory trigrams and five elements all had their own sequences and would open up when they reached a certain timing. This way, the medicinal ingredients in the square boxes would fall into the furnace and there would be no need to open up the pill furnace to throw the herbs in.
He placed the herbs and immediately gave a clap with his palms, drawing out the underground fire from the rune formation on the ground, calcining the stone furnace.
Hu Ling'er had no interest in refining drugs thus she started to look around. Meanwhile, the old and white-haired imperial physicians gathered around to observe with great interest, unable to take their eyes off. Imperial Physician Yu saw Qin Mu's hand technique and his eyes lit up while he exclaimed in admiration, "This hand technique had really reached perfection and is unimaginably good! Little divine physician, why does your hand technique require to dot thirteen marks consecutively?"
Qin Mu replied, "Purple Pellet Stone is a precious stone and the medicinal properties are concealed inside the precious stone. It's much harder to extract its medicinal properties out, therefore, I had to dot thirteen marks to be able to extract out its medicinal properties. My cultivation is slightly weaker and if teachers' cultivations are dense, there's no need to have thirteen marks, as long as you extract out the medicinal properties you can stop."
The few old imperial physicians nodded their heads and immediately noted down.
As Qin Mu refined the drug and conversed with them at the same time. It was just that the few old imperial physicians had a lot of questions thus he asked very little and was always explaining the medicinal properties and pill refinement techniques to these old imperial physicians.
"This is the Dragon And Tiger Mutual Helping Hand, am I right?"
The expression of Imperial Physician Qu suddenly changed and cried out, "A hand technique that was already long lost!"
The other three imperial physicians revealed an astonished expression and they stared intensely at Qin Mu's palms which were moving up and down, trying to memorize Qin Mu's hand technique.
The white-haired Imperial Physician Yu muttered, "The Dragon And Tiger Mutual Helping Hand has been lost for two hundred years, never would I expect to see this legendary pill refinement hand technique from little divine physician, am I dreaming?"
"If all of you want to learn it, I can teach you when I'm free, but recently I don't have the time."
Qin Mu had now reached the crucial part of refining the drug and he couldn't be distracted. Dragon And Tiger Mutual Helping Hand was only one of the few hundreds hand techniques Apothecary had taught him and it wasn't really special. He felt that it wasn't much imparting it out.
The most important point of pill refinement was to be proficient in medicinal knowledge. Hand techniques and everything else was just supplementary.
Be that as it may, hand techniques were, however, of utmost importance to these imperial physicians. Other than hand techniques, there were also prescriptions which were the long-sought treasures of countless of people studying medicine. If they got their hands on a solitary prescription, they would definitely view it as a precious treasure and not tell others easily.
This was different from what Apothecary had taught Qin Mu. Apothecary absolutely didn't believe in prescriptions and hand techniques. What he taught most to Qin Mu was medicinal knowledge.
He had yet thought before how powerful the things Apothecary had taught him were and always felt they were ordinary things, therefore the astonishment of these imperial physicians made him felt unfathomable.
At this moment, Qin Mu had already prepared to collect the drug and his hand techniques became faster and faster, dazzling everyone's eyes. In just a short moment, the few imperial physicians saw a dozen kinds of long-lost hand techniques that were even complicated than Dragon And Tiger Mutual Helping Hand.
As the many hand techniques flashed by, every hand technique brought around different forms of the underground fire's transformations. Before the few imperial physicians could even note them down, Qin Mu had already pulled back his hands and waited silently beside the stone furnace.
When the stone furnace had cooled down, Qin Mu's vital qi suddenly transformed into Black Tortoise Vital Qi and his palms became cooler and cooler. Pressing his palms onto the stone furnace, a layer of frost soon formed on the walls of the furnace.
A moment passed and Qin Mu made the few imperial physicians, as well as Hu Ling'er, fall back. He then held his breath and carefully opened up the stone furnace. At the bottom of the furnace, there was a thin layer of pink fog.
Qin Mu used one hand to execute Black Tortoise Vital Qi to cool down this fog while his other hand took out a small jade bottle. His vital qi transformed into a guiding method in the bottle and drew the fog at the bottom of the furnace into the jade bottle.
He immediately tightened the bottle cap and he still wasn't at ease. He then used Black Tortoise Vital Qi to transform into a lump of black ice which sealed the mouth of the bottle before giving out a sigh of relief.
"I have refined the drug I needed."
Qin Mu thanked the few imperial physicians and smiled, "Teachers, I still have matters to attend to so I won't disturb you, as for the lesson in the afternoon…"
Imperial Physician You smiled, "Just do what you have to do, from today onwards, there's no need for you to come for lessons if you are busy. If you have time, it will be enough if you can frequently come over to give us old men a few lessons and refine some pills."
Qin Mu bid farewell and left.
Just as he had left, the few old imperial physicians immediately came together. Imperial Physician You had smiles of exultation and asked, "Everyone, did you note down all the medicinal ingredients?"
Imperial Physician Yu tremblingly replied, "How could he hide it from us? I just need to sniff the smell and I knew which medicinal ingredients they were. How much maces and taels also can't be hidden from my nose!"
"How about the medicine formulation and the order of the eight divinatory trigrams and five elements?"
Imperial Physician Qu smiled, "Don't worry, I've noted them down!"
"How about the hand techniques?"
The few old men smiled together, "We have all memorized some and by putting them together, we can restore his hand techniques!"
Imperial Physician Qu hesitated for a moment and said, "However, when he was collecting the medicine, he asked us to stand far away so I didn't note down the method he used to collect the medicine. Furthermore, we have no idea what medicine he refined, and if we refine it without careful consideration…"
"Collecting the medicine is an easy feat and won't be too troublesome. As for what medicine is it, we'll know it when we take a sniff after refining it out! The medicine that little divine physician has refined out would definitely be extraordinary!"
The few old imperial physicians were in high spirits. Imperial Physician Yu immediately went to the treasury to grab the medicinal ingredients while the remaining old men washed the stone furnace, waiting for Imperial Physician Yu to return. When he had returned, they immediately placed the medicinal ingredients into the square boxes of the eight divinatory trigrams and five elements according to the sequence.
The few old imperial physicians supported one another and drew out the underground fire. Each one of them executed one or more kinds of hand techniques as they surrounded the stone furnace to refine the medicine.
Not long later, many scholars had come to Hall of Supreme Healing for the lecture. It was just that the few old imperial physicians had reached the crucial timing in refining the medicine so they had no time to bother about it. During these few days, Imperial College was first blocked by Daozi of Dao Sect and then by Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery, resulting in many people getting injured. This made the scholars of Imperial College realized the importance of Hall of Supreme Healing. Now that Hall of Supreme Healing was giving a lecture, they naturally had to come and attend.
All the scholars couldn't help exclaiming in admiration endlessly when they saw the unpredictable movements of these imperial physicians' hand techniques which were reaching perfection. Imperial Physician Yu and the rest surrounded the stone furnace and continuously moved their feet, weaving past each other. They were like a few old butterflies fluttering to and fro around the furnace fire and indeed had divine poise and sagelike features.
Suddenly the elders stopped and they pulled back their hands, adjusting their breath while waiting for the stone furnace to cool down.
Reaching this step, the few old imperial physicians were all slightly hesitant. Imperial Physician Qu placed his hand on the stone furnace and said, "It seems like this is the hand technique. His hand pressed on it like this…"
Imperial Physician smiled, "It's okay if we don't succeed. We'll just have to refine it once more. Let us open the furnace!"
Imperial Physician You went forward and lifted up the furnace lid. A fragrance instantly assailed his nose and he couldn't help smiling, "How fraa—aaa—grr—aaa—ant…"
Thud.
Imperial Physician You collapsed onto the ground with a queer smile still hanging on his face. The smile was like a flower which had half bloomed as he only in time to smile halfway.
Thud, thud, thud.
Imperial Physician Yu, Imperial Physician You also had smiles on their faces as they collapsed backward. Not far away, the scholars who were surrounding to observe all cried out in astonishment. Some of them wanted to go save people while some wanted to escape. Suddenly all the scholars felt as if their four limbs had vanished and they collapsed onto the floor one after another.
They not only felt their four limbs vanishing, even their eyes, nose, ears and even head had 'vanished without a trace'!
Even their spirit embryos had suddenly become paralyzed and couldn't move. Their vital qi had also become rigid!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"The people in Hall of Supreme Healing are poisoned!"
Some scholars passing by outside the hall and immediately noticed the situation inside Hall of Supreme Healing. One of them immediately rushed out and shouted loudly, "I'll go call the directorates, the rest of you go in and save them!"
The other two scholars immediately rushed into the hall and when they smelled the fragrance, they collapsed.
Not long later, Monk Fa Qing from Hall of Azure Yang brought a few monks over and barged into the hall, shouting, "Quickly save—"
Plop, plop.
The few monks collapsed one after another. Monk Fa Qing had a stronger cultivation after all so he managed to turn and leave. When he reached the entrance of the hall, he finally couldn't withstand it any longer and collapsed outside the entrance of the hall.
"Monk Fa Qing is also poisoned!"
A few scholars came forward hurriedly to save Monk Fa Qing when they suddenly smelled a fragrance and also collapsed one after another. When the scholars around saw the situation, they called for help while rushing over and before they could reach them, they all collapsed with a thud on the ground without any warning.
Meanwhile, Scholar's Residence, Divine Arts Residence, and Royalty's park had also received the news and hurried over. The directorates of the other halls also turned out to save people. In front of the mountain gate, some scholars who heard about this unforeseen had to put fighting Fozi aside and rushed up to save their fellow students.
Chancellor Ba Shan also received the news and immediately flew to the front of Hall of Supreme Healing only to see a few hundred scholars and directorates lying in front of Hall of Supreme Healing.
The fragrance of Lost Fragrance had already spread out from Hall of Supreme Healing and diffused outside the hall.
Daoist Ling Yun and the rest of the directorates were standing not far away and their expressions changed hugely. Suddenly Daoist Shou Feng from Hall of Array Element moved forward and caught the wind with both his sleeves, "This poison is extremely powerful, and it's best to disperse this poisonous gas to save people!"
Whoosh—
Two gales burst forth from his sleeves and blew toward Hall of Supreme Healing. Chancellor Ba Shan's expression changed hugely and shouted sternly, "Don't blow!"
Before Daoist Shou Feng could react over, the heavy fragrance was blown out of the huge hall and spread out. Chancellor Ba Shan shouted again, "Hold your breath!"
However, it was already too late. The fragrance of Lost Fragrance had dispersed in all directions and scholars collapsed on the ground one after another with stiff bodies. Meanwhile, since the directorates' cultivation was dense, they only felt their limbs turning numb. Their legs turned soft, their vital qi also turned lazy, and they were unable to move.
Chancellor Ba Shan had the foresight and his cultivation was extremely high. When he took a sniff of the fragrance, he immediately used his dense vital spirit to force the fragrance out of the body. Looking around, he saw waves after waves of scholars collapsing.
"Crap, is this the end of Imperial College?"
A chilling sorrow spread across his heart and this fragrance was probably going to spread throughout the entire Imperial College. Those who couldn't be paralyzed were only a mere ten to twenty people. These people had the cultivation of Celestial Being Realm and above so they were able to force the strange fragrance out of their bodies.
Imperial College was the number one sacred ground in the whole world now and people here were all going to be knocked out by this strange fragrance, even if it wasn't the end, it was not much different from it.
"What kind of poison did these old scoundrels from Hall of Supreme Healing refine out this time?"
He didn't know that Lost Fragrance wasn't a poison and was just a kind of anesthetic. After two to four hours, the medicinal energy of the anesthetic would subside and not harm anyone.
At this moment, a bottle gourd suddenly rose into the sky and with the mouth of the bottle gourd facing downwards, a terrifying suction came from it. Sucking downwards from the top of the mountain to the bottom, the fragrance spread out was sucked into the bottle gourd along with the air.
Strong gales were raised throughout the mountain and soon the strange fragrance had vanished. Chancellor Ba Shan gave a sigh of relief, "Luckily there's Grand Chancellor and it didn't engulf the entire mountain. However, these people are probably…"
Tears welled up in his tiger eyes as he looked at the countless numbers of 'corpses' in front of Hall of Supreme Healing. Suddenly a chuckle sounded beside his ears, "Ba Shan, why are you crying when they are not dead?"
Chancellor Ba Shan was stunned and hurriedly went forward to test the breath of the 'corpse', which was indeed strong.
The young patriarch came to his side and looked around with a frown, "This looks like the hand of Poison King. That's it, I know who did this. This little scoundrel, getting more and more out of control!"
Chancellor Ba Shan hesitated for a moment, "Grand Chancellor, I've heard it was a few imperial physicians who had an accident while refining a medicine…"
The young patriarch sneered, "The few imperial physicians from Hall of Supreme Healing aren't able to refine out such strong anesthetic. It must be that little brat who refined medicine in the hall and caused an accident, paralyzing himself and even the scholars in the whole institution…"
Just as he had said this, his eyes suddenly opened wide as he stared at a close place with fixed eyes.
Chancellor Ba Shan was puzzled and he followed his gaze, causing his eyes to open wide as well.
They only saw a young scholar winding around Hall of Supreme Learning as he came back from the rear mountain. Both of his hands were dragging an incomparably sturdy and huge green bull. That green bull was also paralyzed and its four hooves were tied up together. With its four legs facing the sky, it got dragged along by that youth.
Meanwhile, there was also a pure white little fox that had no impurities on its fur sitting on top of the bull's hooves.
The young scholar saw the ground that was riddled with 'corpses' and was slightly stunned. When he saw Chancellor Ba Shan and the young patriarch, his face hugely changed and immediately threw away the green bull, grabbing the fox to run away.
"My little bull bull!"
Chancellor Ba Shan immediately rushed over to catch the paralyzed green bull with a sympathetic expression. He then shouted angrily, "Rascal, you knocked out my mount. I swear that I'll not let you off!"
Before Qin Mu could run far away, he felt his collar tightened as he got grabbed by the young patriarch. The scenery before his eyes rapidly changed and the next moment he had appeared in front of Hall of Supreme Healing, standing in the middle of the ground filled with 'corpses'.
Qin Mu became well behaved and lowered his head to look at the white fox beside him. The white fox was also well behaved as she looked at her own furry front paws.
The young patriarch smiled from extremely anger as he pointed at the 'corpses' on the ground, speechless for quite a while.
"Stand at the corner of the wall!" The young patriarch shouted after holding himself back for quite some time.
Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er walked over to the corner of Hall of Supreme Healing, lowering their heads as they stood.
The young patriarch had a grim expression as he walked to and fro in front of the human and the fox with his hands behind his back. He suddenly shouted, "Who planted the poison?"
Qin Mu immediately replied, "That bull was paralyzed by me, as for the scholars and chancellors, I've no idea."
The young patriarch asked with a solemn face, "How to cure it?"
Qin Mu replied honestly, "There's no need to cure them. You just need to wait for a moment and they will recover."
The young patriarch snorted coldly and raised his finger to scold, "How many days have you been here since you entered Imperial College? And you have already turned the whole Imperial College upside down! Almost all the scholars of Scholar's Residence have been beaten by you and almost all the houses in Scholar's Residence have been torn down by you! Planting heads in walls and planting humans in the ground, do you think I didn't know? You had struck Directorate Ling Yun down to the dust in front the emperor and now you sedated the mount of Chancellor Ba Shan! Not mentioning how you paralyzed Hall of Supreme Healing, you had almost paralyzed all the people in this Imperial College! What's your next step going to be? To knock out everyone in the capital city?"
Qin Mu gave it some thought and scratched his head, "How big would the pill furnace have to be to be able to refine out so much Lost Fragrance… What I mean is, the Lost Fragrance that has knocked out all these scholars and chancellors was definitely not refined by me!"
The young patriarch was speechless from anger, "Then explain yourself, why did you paralyze Chancellor Ba Shan's mount?"
Chancellor Ba Shan walked over and asked curiously, "That's right, why did you paralyze my bull?"
Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently and said, "I was fooling around with it. I planned to… steal the vegetables from your vegetable garden. I have been eating too much oily food these few days, therefore, I would like to have a change of tastes."
Chancellor Ba Shan was suspicious and asked, "After you knocked out my bull, why didn't you go steal the vegetables and instead carried it and ran? Did you fancy the vegetables in my vegetable garden or my bull?"
"This…"
Qin Mu lowered his head to look at the little fox standing with him in the corner. The little fox also couldn't think of an excuse.
Ba Shan became angry, "No more excuse? How should I punish you? Grand Chancellor, he has just come up the mountain and he already dared to eat my bull and even planted poison, nearly harming all the scholars in Imperial College. This boy can't be allowed to stay…"
The young patriarch gave a cough and said softly, "Ba Shan, he is the disciple of Poison King…"
Chancellor Ba Shan jumped in shock, "Poison King? Which poison king?"
The young patriarch spoke softly, "Which poison king could it be? Of course, it's Jade Face Poison King. He's the Flower Alley Divine Physician that has cured Empress Dowager. He pretty good in curing illnesses to save people and his poison isn't much inferior to Fu Yuanqing from Imperial Preceptor's Manor."
Chancellor Ba Shan suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold and immediately moved far away from Qin Mu with a chuckle, "Since my bull is fine, I'll let the matter drop. Grand Chancellor, I'll leave this to you."
The young patriarch's head started to ache. Qin Mu was good in everything, yet he was also good in tormenting people.
Village Chief and the rest had groomed him very well and Patriarch was very pleased. It was fine he tormented Imperial College, but if by any chance he tormented Heavenly Devil Cult too when he went to Heavenly Devil Cult in the future, it would be extremely terrifying.
Suddenly the young patriarch gave a smile and looked kindly at him, "I still have two more months before I retire, please don't create any more trouble. Can you be contented with your lot for just these two months?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and argued, "I really didn't refine out the Lost Fragrance which has paralyzed Imperial College!"
The young patriarch beamed, "Who was the one who passed around the prescription?"
Qin Mu lowered his head.
The young patriarch called Chancellor Ba Shan over, "Ba Shan, come over."
Chancellor Ba Shan went forward and the young patriarch smiled, "Watch him attentively for these two months. When I retire two months later, you can relax."
"What Grand Chancellor means is to…" Chancellor Ba Shan moved forward and raised his hand to do a downwards cutting motion while giving off an enquiring expression.
The young patriarch said with a smile that was yet not a smile, "You think too much. He's a divine physician who has cured Empress Dowager's illness. Furthermore, with just an anesthetic, he could paralyze the whole mountain. If you kill him, I'll kill you."
"So it was him!"
Chancellor Ba Shan had scales fall from his eyes and said, "I've long heard about the divine physician that has come to the capital city. Never would I expect him to be this boy. It's not impossible for me to watch him, though I have a feral temper and I'm not used to staying on the mountain…"
The young patriarch smiled, "Just bring him wherever you go."
Chancellor Ba Shan understood.
The young patriarch let out a murky breath and said, "Don't just stand there, carry out the scholars who had been knocked out with the chancellor and let them breathe in fresh air."
Qin Mu and Chancellor Ba Shan immediately went into Hall of Supreme Healing and carried everyone out.
More than half of the scholars in Imperial College were knocked out and there were also quite a few directorates who had been knocked out as well. When the medicinal properties of Lost Fragrance had subsided, everyone regained consciousness one after another, though they still felt heavy in their heads and couldn't completely recover in a short while.
The few old imperial physicians from Hall of Supreme Healing apologized to everyone and were ashamed. However, their respect for Qin Mu had risen even further.
Only now did they know why Qin Mu had asked them to move back when he was collecting the drug. The medicinal energy of this Lost Fragrance was too powerful and Qin Mu was worried it might leak out, therefore he had asked them to move further away.
This resulted in them being unable to see the method Qin Mu had used to collect the drug, causing chaos.
It was lucky that it was only an anesthetic. If it was a poison that killed with a sniff, the more than half of the future elites of Eternal Peace Empire would probably have died just like that.
Right at this moment, someone suddenly cried out in astonishment, "Fozi Fo Xin and Monk Jing Ming have left!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The entire Imperial College broke out in a commotion and a directorate muttered, "Could it be the scholar who had defeated Daozi made a move again?"
Qin Mu's heart slightly shook. Old Monk Jing Ming brought Fo Xin forward and they had the same aim as Dan Yangzi from Dao Sect, to block the gate for three days, to cut down Imperial College's might and to kill the hearts of the Eternal Peace Empire's people who were supportive.
Yet now that three days wasn't up and Jing Ming had brought Fo Xin to leave, there was only one possibility left which meant Fozi Fo Xin was defeated!
"I was clearly paralyzing the green bull in the rear mountain and couldn't have run to the mountain gate to defeat Fozi Fo Xin…"
Qin Mu was at a loss. If it wasn't him who had defeated Fozi Fo Xin then who was it?
He remembered what Patriarch had said when he had met him at the straw hut. Back then there was a hidden meaning in Patriarch's words which meant that other than him, there were also others who had the abilities in Imperial College to defeat Fo Xin.
If Qin Mu wasn't going to do it, Patriarch would make that person do it.
Furthermore, this scholar that had defeated Fozi Fo Xin had actually maintained a low profile like Qin Mu. When Qin Mu had defeated Daozi Lin Xuan, he didn't mention it to any outsiders after that. This person actually took the chance when all the scholars and chancellors were paralyzed by Lost Fragrance to go down the mountain alone and defeat Fo Xin during this interval.
At that time, other than Fo Xin and Old Monk Jing Ming, there was only that dragon qilin in front of the mountain gate.
Even though dragon qilin could open his mouth to speak, he was a beast of few words and no information could be dug out from him so he could forget about drawing facts out of him. Unless he could get Chancellor Ba Shan's mount for him to eat, only then could he be able to ask him who was that person.
However, it would be difficult if he wanted to paralyze that green bull now.
"It's a good thing for Imperial College to have an expert that's on par with me."
Qin Mu gave a slight smile and didn't bother to find out who it was, bringing Hu Ling'er back to Scholar's Residence. Many people in Scholar's Residence had already known that the imperial physicians had gotten the prescription from him which ended up knocking out almost all the scholars in Imperial College thus they were all slightly fearful when they saw him.
Suddenly a timid voice sounded out softly, "Senior Brother Qin, is it you who have defeated that Fozi Fo Xin?"
Qin Mu looked towards the source of the voice and saw the person who spoke was Si Yunxiang, the gentle and quiet girl who had managed to enter Imperial College along with him. This girl was always shy and Qin Mu had even teased her a few times, making her face turned bright red and at a loss to know what to do.
Qin Mu shook his head, "Of course it isn't me. When that person defeated Fozi Fo Xin, I was caught by Grand Chancellor for a scolding. Sister Xiang, did you see that person who has defeated Fozi?"
Si Yunxiang shook her head, "I was paralyzed by a fragrance just now and didn't know what had happened. Now I'm still feeling slightly giddy. I saw senior brother looking energetic and wasn't poisoned so I had thought it was senior brother who had chased Fozi Fo Xin away."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and he smiled, "It really wasn't me. I would also like to know who was the one who had defeated Fozi."
Si Yunxiang saw someone looking over and immediately returned to her courtyard, closing her door.
Qin Mu took the chance to peek into her courtyard but before he could clearly see anything, the door had already closed and Qin Mu could only return to his own residence.
"There a huge problem with this Si Yunxiang."
He composed himself and said softly, "She didn't suffer from Lost Fragrance at all, the state of those who have suffered from Lost Fragrance wouldn't be like her. Lost Fragrance is a kind of anesthetic and those who suffered from this anesthetic would still feel out of sorts for the next four to six hours after waking up. She wasn't feeling out of sorts just now."
Hu Ling'er replied, "Young master, Si Yunxiang wasn't among the scholars that were paralyzed in front of Hall of Supreme Healing."
Qin Mu's heart slightly moved.
After the young patriarch's scolding, he had wanted him to stay back to help look after these scholars and directorates. Qin Mu and the little fox both stayed there to help out but the little fox began scampering around, planning to plunder the 'spoils of war'; however, she was stopped by him.
At that time, Hu Ling'er had seen all the faces of the people that were paralyzed. If she said Si Yunxiang wasn't among them, she really wasn't among them.
"She is indeed lying."
Qin Mu blinked his eyes and said, "There no reason for her to purposely run out from her residence to lie to me. In that case, she is actually trying to show off. She talking to me regarding Fozi's defeat means that she was trying to flaunt about this incident. The one who had defeated Fozi was her."
Qin Mu suddenly recalled, why was the young patriarch so sure that there was someone in Imperial College who could defeat Fozi?
Could he have known long ago that Si Yunxiang has this capability?
How did the young patriarch know Si Yunxiang, a girl who had only become an imperial scholar recently so well?
It was important to know that even Qin Mu, this young cult master had to be tested numerous times by the young patriarch before his power and capability was affirmed.
This meant that the young patriarch understood Si Yunxiang extremely well and even far more than he understood Qin Mu.
Meanwhile, this girl had the surname Si and on top of that, having the bad habit of liking to show off…
"Granny sure knows how to have fun!"
Qin Mu said resentfully, "I'll not expose her for now, let's see what she's planning to do."
He was about to close the door when Chancellor Ba Shan's voice sounded out, "Bull bull, carry my luggage over."
"Yes, old master."
Chancellor Ba Shan pushed open the door and walked into the residence. Behind him followed a sturdy bull which was carrying a huge luggage. This green bull had yet transformed completely. He was walking like a human yet he still had the shape of a bull. He was the green bull that Qin Mu had paralyzed.
"Which room am I staying in?" Chancellor Ba Shan asked Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was stunned. Chancellor Ba Shan made himself at home instead as he laughed, "In that case, I'll take the west room. Woah, that's a lot of money! Scholar Qin, you're quite rich! Bull bull, we have money now. Let's grab a bunch and go down the mountain to get some wine!"
"Is there wine to drink?"
Hu Ling'er cheered and hopped over. She jumped and squatted on the bull's head with a smile, "I'll go with you!"
The green bull brought her out and asked, "You also drink? Do you know how to play the drinking game?"
Chancellor Ba Shan placed his luggage down and tidied the room. After he was done with making the bed, he shot a glance at Qin Mu who was still outside and laughed, "Grand Chancellor asked me to stick to you like a shadow so I naturally have to stay with you to prevent you from causing trouble everywhere. Did you write the words on the door?"
Qin Mu nodded his head.
Chancellor Ba Shan gave a forceful slap and praised, "Well written! You got a good handwriting which is atmospheric. You're much better than those guys from Art Saint Pavilion. I still don't understand what's the use of our Imperial College's Art Saint Pavilion. How can those guys have the impudence to collect their salaries from the imperial court! Oh, by the way, do you snore?"
Qin Mu shook his head.
"I snore."
Chancellor Ba Shan continued, "There are many directorates in our Imperial College that snore, especially Abbess Yi Qiu that old nun, her snore is world-shaking. Keke, she can even vibrate a bull to death from three miles away. Luckily this old nun doesn't sleep often and only meditate while sitting. If she sleeps, all of you scholars can forget about sleeping…"
Qin Mu was getting slightly impatient. This Chancellor Ba Shan seemed to have many words to say and was even more talkative than Wei Yong.
Chancellor Ba Shan talked for over an hour and Qin Mu basically got to know a natural disposition, style of work and family properties of all the directorates of Imperial College's pavilions and halls of sword, fist, spell, three yang, supreme healing, art saint and et cetera. Especially those secretaries from Floor of Heavenly Records, Chancellor Ba Shan had disclosed all their secrets, like having an illegitimate child and the old nun having a tryst with her lover. This chancellor would say all kinds of trivial things out.
The green bull and Hu Ling'er returned from the city drunkenly. The bull and the fox had gotten themselves quite high, calling each other brother and sister. They were so close as if they had come from the same womb and this green bull had totally forgotten how Qin Mu had brought this fox to drug him.
Chancellor Ba Shan immediately grabbed the wine jar and drank a few mouthfuls. With his head turning dizzy, he said, "When I came back from outside a few days ago, I seemed to have seen my master. You didn't expect it right? I may be a chancellor but I didn't graduate from Imperial College. I'm from the battle techniques school and I have a master. I was invited over here by Imperial Preceptor to teach the scholars battle techniques. I had originally thought that he had died but I didn't expect him to be alive."
Chancellor Ba Shan drank a mouthful of wine and stared blankly, "His legs are missing but he could run very fast. I exerted all my power to chase him yet I wasn't able to catch up. After that, I met a blind man who gave me a beating and asked me why was I following him. He was very unreasonable. He even wanted to have a poetry match with me but I couldn't win him and master had disappeared…"
Qin Mu was stunned for a slight moment. A strong practitioner of the battle technique school without legs and a blind man who loved to have poetry matches?
"It seems like they are Grandpa Butcher and Grandpa Blind. When did they leave Great Ruins?"
Chancellor Ba Shan was dead drunk and began to spout nonsense. Qin Mu hesitated as it would definitely seem out of the blue if he inquired about it.
"Green bull, did you see the appearance of that blind man clearly?" Qin Mu asked the green bull beside him.
This green bull looked at Qin Mu somewhat sheepishly. It was evident that he still remembered how Qin Mu had paralyzed him.
Qin Mu smiled, "You're still bearing a grudge? You had given me a beating yet I only paralyzed you and didn't beat you, so what grudge are you bearing? Have you ever seen such a good person that as magnanimous as me?"
Chancellor Ba Shan gave a drunk burp and had a weird expression. This youth from Great Ruins seemed to have some misunderstanding to the term good person. He said, "Scholar Qin, not only did you paralyze him, you even wanted to eat him. It's natural for him to be wary."
"He still wanted to eat me?"
The green bull cried out in astonishment, "Old master, you didn't mention this to me! You only said he had paralyzed me and didn't say he wanted to eat me!"
Hu Ling'er stood on top of the bull's horns while hugging a wine jar and said in a clear and loud voice, "Brother Bull, haven't you heard before 'don't fight, won't make friends'?"
The green bull retorted angrily, "I've heard before 'don't fight, won't make friends' but I have never heard before 'don't eat, won't make friends'!"
Chancellor Ba Shan's expression became even weirder. It was also obvious that this fox demon from Great Ruins had a misunderstanding to the phrase, don't fight, won't make friends.
"Who was the one who had trained this youth. He really is a scoundrel."
Qin Mu didn't know what he was thinking about. Chancellor Ba Shan was drinking with the little fox and the green bull; however, he didn't like to drink so he was cultivating on one side.
Chancellor Ba Shan's pupils suddenly contracted and couldn't keep his eyes off the knife skills Qin Mu was executing.
When Qin Mu had finished executing Pig Slaughtering Knife Skills, Chancellor Ba Shan suddenly threw his wine gourd aside and pulled out his knives with open arms. Swing his knives in the courtyard, his voice carrying a great emotion, "The golden knife adorned in white jade, with rays piercing into the night through the window. Man of fifty years yet nothing made, carrying knife in eight wilderness all alone!"
Carrying Knife In Eight Wilderness All Alone, this was the sixth form of Pig Slaughtering Knife Skills!
His knives and Qin Mu's knives collided and a series of sparks burst forth.
As both their knife skills clashed, Chancellor Ba Shan laughed out loudly, "For over four to five decades, wind and rain cloud the sky to see nothing. As transient as a fleeting cloud, every cloud has a silver lining!"
Qin Mu executed Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining to clash with his knives and recited, "Stop thinking of wanting to boast, after the crisis comes the people's hope. Looking around the sky and sea, the whole journey taken would all be smoke!"
Both of them pulled back their knives with their backs facing each other, sheathing both the knives on their hands back on their backs.
"Junior brother!" Chancellor Ba Shan turned around to greet.
Qin Mu bowed, "Senior brother."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Both of them sat down and Chancellor Ba Shan asked about Butcher's body. Qin Mu told him, "Everything's fine. His lower body is missing; however, his cultivation is very high therefore his hands allow him to scamper around as though he was flying."
Chancellor Ba Shan was bewildered and asked, "Since you and I have the same master, why did you still learn the art of healing from Jade Face Poison King? Is Jade Face Poison King your master as well?"
Qin Mu nodded his head, although he didn't tell him he still had other masters aside from Apothecary and Butcher.
Chancellor Ba Shan stared into the air and suddenly said, "I know where the lower half of my master's body is! Back then when he raised his knives at the heavens, his body had fallen from the sky and the lower half of his body seemed to have been grabbed away by a disciple of a certain sect. Junior brother, since you learned the art of healing from Jade Face Poison King, your medical expertise should be brilliant. I will like to ask you, if I find the lower half of our master's body, can you reattach it?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and said, "If it was severed recently, I can. As long as I excite the activity in the body and use medicine that regenerates flesh and vitality, I can reattach the severed flesh, reconnect the severed tendons and reconstruct the broken bones. However, after such a long time, I'm afraid the lower half of his body is already long dead…"
Chancellor Ba Shan was disappointed but he raised his spirits again, "Even so I'll have to find the lower half of master's body back!"
Qin Mu nodded his head and said, "It's best for senior brother to scout out which sect snatched it so as to not find the wrong sect."
Chancellor Ba Shan rose up and left. He came back sometime later and said, "Master's body was picked up by someone over two hundred years ago. I'm not sure if his body is still at that sect. I have ordered my men to go investigate and when they find his body's whereabouts, we'll go get it back."
Qin Mu let out a sigh. If the lower half of Butcher's body could really be found, it would still be a good thing no matter if it could be reattached or not.
Butcher having only the upper half of his body didn't have much power left. If his lower body was snatched by someone, it should still be preserved.
His power was extremely strong after all.
As a strong practitioner of the battle technique school, it wasn't hard for him to cultivate to the condition where his corporeal body wouldn't spoil. Many senior monks who had achieved the Dao in Buddhism could manage to make their corporeal bodies not spoil. After they were dead, their bodies wouldn't rot or decompose and were placed in the temples as corporeal body Bodhisattvas for people to enshrine and worship.
However, it was hard to achieve corporeal body not dying.
Those corporeal body Bodhisattvas in the temple were actually already dead. Corporeal body not dying was a level higher than corporeal body not spoiling. Only when the blood didn't coagulate, the body didn't turn stiff, the heart continued to beat, and the nervous system remained functional, could it be considered corporeal body not dying.
"Senior Brother Ba Shan, do you know Grandpa Butcher's real name?" Qin Mu was reminded of something and asked.
Chancellor Ba Shan shook his head, "I don't know. I only know people referred to him as Heaven Knife. As for what his original birth name is, nobody has any idea. Master had said, he had an enemy that could use spells to inflict harm to others just by knowing their names, therefore he rarely revealed his name to others."
Qin Mu was stunned, "This seems a little like the methods of the grand shamans of Barbarian Di Empire. Could it be that Butcher had offended a grand shaman of Barbarian Di Empire in the past?
He quietened his heart down and continued to cultivate the three forms of sword skills that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had imparted onto him. Among the three forms of sword skills taught by Imperial Preceptor, he had already succeeded in cultivating Spiral Sword Form and it was difficult for him to have any further improvement, thus he began to cultivate the other two forms of sword skills.
Chancellor Ba Shan drank his wine watching on the side. He had wanted to give him some pointers on how to cultivate but he didn't say a word after observing for a moment.
He had also seen other scholars practicing Swim Sword Form. There were some that were clumsy and some that were nimble. But in Qin Mu's hands, there were times where the few hundreds to thousands of sword qi of Swim Sword Form were like swimming fishes, there were times where they were like startled swans and there were also times they were like swimming dragons. His sword qi didn't have a fixed form and was ever changing.
For one's fundamentals to be so solid and able to have so many changes, the person could only be Qin Mu in the entire Imperial College!
Just this one move, Qin Mu had practiced countless times, trying his best to unleash all his power in one move.
The power of his Swim Sword Form grew stronger and stronger, making Chancellor Ba Shan forget to drink his wine for quite a while.
Qin Mu practiced it thousands of times before switching to practice Drill Sword Form. He was similarly honing his fundamentals, trying his best to focus all his power in the sword to unleash its fullest potential.
His hidden capabilities were not only in the sword move. As usual, Cripple's body motion, Butcher's knife skills, Old Ma's fist skills, Blind's god eyes, Deaf's painting skills, Mute's hammer skills were all means for him to unleash his power.
After a long time, Qin Mu stopped and his body was covered in sweat. He took out his nature fragrance handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
Chancellor Ba Shan suddenly asked, "Junior brother, are you the one who has chased Daozi and Fozi away?"
Qin Mu adjusted his breath and didn't hide it from him, "Daozi lost the fight by half a move. As for Fozi, I didn't manage to fight him."
Chancellor Ba Shan let out a murky breath and muttered, "When I saw your sword skills just now, I guessed it was you. It's funny coming to think of it. Are you the one who shouted loudly that you had finally refined vital qi thread during Imperial Preceptor's lecture?"
Qin Mu's face turned slightly red.
Chancellor Ba Shan had a queer expression, "You only refined your qi into thread at that time? How had you managed to defeat Daoist Ling Yun before you refined your qi into thread?"
Qin Mu pondered over the question and replied, "I gave a stab and he was defeated."
Chancellor Ba Shan was speechless, "What do you mean you gave a stab and he was defeated?"
Qin Mu scratched his head, "Senior brother, how about this, you use Five Elements Realm to block my sword."
Chancellor Ba Shan sealed his other divine treasures and shouted with a raging desire for battle, "I'm ready!"
On the side, Hu Ling'er and the green bull were so drunk that their eyes were all blurry. They were making a racket wanting to become sworn brother and sister. The little fox shot a glance at Qin Mu and Chancellor Ba Shan and burst into laughter, "Brother Bull, it's going to be tragic for your old master."
The green bull uttered, "It wouldn't be tragic for my old master—"
Qin Mu swept up a firewood and used it as a sword, stabbing it out. Chancellor Ba Shan raised his hand to block and a loud boom rumbled out. The door of this residence which Qin Mu was staying in shattered into countless of pieces and even a big chunk of the wall collapsed!
Before the green bull could even finish what he was saying, he shut his mouth at once.
Qin Mu took back his sword and anxiously ran over. Chancellor Ba Shan got up from the debris with a face full of dust. He unsealed his other divine treasures and chuckled, "I thought Daoist Ling Yun had been bribed! No wonder, if it was me, I also couldn't have blocked it if I didn't have my guard up."
He wasn't injured. The firewood which Qin Mu used to stab his chest was exploded into splinters from the vibration of his vital qi, thus it wasn't able to hurt him.
Many scholars in Scholar's Residence hurriedly ran out and when they saw the door to Qin Mu's courtyard got torn down, they felt pleasure in their hearts, "That abandoned person with the surname Qin dared to write words that insult us Eternal Peace Empire's scholars on his door, now he has gotten the worst of it, am I not right? Chancellor Ba Shan had personally come to tear down his door. Let's see how completely he was humiliated!"
Chancellor Ba Shan swept his gaze over all the scholars and waved his hands, "Everyone disperse, disperse. There's nothing interesting to see, I was just swapping pointers with Scholar Qin."
"He has really given the one with the surname Qin a beating." Everyone understood clearly as they looked at Qin Mu while rejoicing at his misfortune.
What puzzled them was Qin Mu's body still looked fresh and on the contrary, there was a lot of dust on Chancellor Ba Shan's body. It didn't look like Qin Mu got beaten and on the contrary, Chancellor Ba Shan was the one who was in a sorry sight.
Chancellor Ba Shan looked at the door and the collapsed wall with a slight headache, "No wonder Grand Chancellor said you had almost torn down the entire Scholar's Residence. If you were to fight in Scholar's Residence, you wouldn't need much time to tear down the entire Scholar's Residence. You have extremely high abilities; however, it seems like there's something wrong with your technique. There's a weakness in your left shoulder."
He didn't purposely lower his voice and it was instantly heard by the scholars who had yet left, lighting all their eyes up.
"So his weakness is on his left shoulder!"
Chen Wanyun took in a deep breath. He had noticed that there were some astringent parts in Qin Mu's technique but he was always unable to find the location of Qin Mu's weakness. Now it was finally made aware by Chancellor Ba Shan.
"Now my position of the big brother can be saved." He thought to himself.
"Get the odd-job men over to fix this wall and door."
Chancellor Ba Shan saw Chen Wanyun and called him over. Chen Wanyun immediately bowed, "Teacher!"
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled at Qin Mu, "There are not many scholars that I admire in Imperial College. Chen Wanyun is one of them, who is diligently taught by me. Junior brother, how do you see him?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and praised, "No wonder Senior Brother Chen has such powerful abilities, so it turns out to be senior brother's teachings. Senior Brother Chen is the big brother of Scholar's Residence. No matter whether his cultivation or his abilities, they have both reached extremely high standards. When he gets to Divine Arts Residence, he will definitely shine."
"Senior brother, junior brother?" Chen Wanyun was slightly at a loss.
Chancellor Ba Shan chuckled, "Junior brother, why are you calling him senior brother? Call him disciple nephew. If you call him senior brother, isn't that going to mess up our seniority?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. Chancellor Ba Shan walked into the courtyard and continued, "I have long noticed that by purely relying on directorates to teach scholars, it's easy to have many experts, however, it was also equally easy to hold up talents. There are too many people that the directorates have to teach. For one same move, some people can learn by seeing it once while some have to learn tens and hundreds of times. However, the directorates have to treat all of them equally. Those that could learn it by seeing it once will have to learn it a hundred times with those dumb ones. When the dumb ones finally master it, only then can they move on to learn other divine arts. This way, their advancements in cultivation are held up."
Qin Mu and Chen Wanyun walked into the courtyard and Chancellor Ba Shan threw a wine gourd over, "I mentioned this to Grand Chancellor once and told him that Imperial College was suitable for teaching the talents one in a thousand people and not the talents that were one in a hundred thousand and one in a million, thus Grand Chancellor allowed me to try. As a result, I had found Chen Wanyun and personally taught him for a period of time. He had worked hard as expected and became the big brother of Scholar's Residence for these few years. This shows that grooming a single person surpassed the teachings of Imperial College. Chen Wanyun is the kind of talent that's one in a million."
"So I see."
Qin Mu frowned and said, "If that's the case, what's the difference between Imperial College and sects?"
Chancellor Ba Shan sighed, "Therefore, Grand Chancellor and Imperial Preceptor are brooding over this matter. Grand Chancellor is going to retire so Imperial Preceptor is actually the one that's most anxious about this matter. Imperial Preceptor knows that Imperial College has its own disadvantages so he had also taken a few disciples and taught them diligently. It's just that the number of talents that are held back by Imperial College shouldn't be a small number."
Qin Mu was stumped for words. What Imperial Preceptor had to face was whether or not to negate his reform. But negating the reform proposed by himself was definitely not an option for him.
Primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College had far surpassed the sects in the aspects of grooming talents. As long as they solved the difficult problem of grooming geniuses, they would surpass the sects in all aspects!
"How does the emperor teach the crown prince? When the crown prince was young, he had his junior protector, junior preceptor, junior tutor. When he grows up, he has his grand protector, grand preceptor, and grand tutor. These junior protector and grand protector are all existence of sect master and cult master level. Therefore, the crown prince who is groomed by this method has extremely strong abilities. I'm now trying to take on a few scholars and teach them techniques, skills and divine arts in line with their abilities."
Chancellor Ba Shan continued, "What the Grand Chancellor desire is when I find the knack of it, I can be able to spread it. Grand Chancellor told us to choose scholars that were erudite and multi-talented from the scholars and they were to be personally taught by the chancellors, separating them from the scholars who had an ordinary aptitude. Junior brother, you are the first imperial academician of our Imperial College, Academician Qin."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu was slightly shocked. Imperial academician was the solution to the problem of being difficult to teach in line with the students' abilities!
If Chancellor Ba Shan and the young patriarch could really solve it, they wouldn't need to rely on the power of Heavenly Devil Cult anymore when they faced the problem like Daozi and Fozi blocking the gate again,
This time they had relied on the power of Heavenly Devil Cult to repel Daozi of Dao Sect and Fozi of Great Thunderclap Monastery. Qin Mu was the young cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult while Si Yunxiang was most likely Granny Si, who was the saintess and cult mistress of the previous generation. It could be said that Imperial College had suffered a crushing defeat.
Chen Wanyun heard the conversation between them and felt very much awkward in his heart. Every time he mustered his courage to try to inquire about the doubts in his heart, he couldn't say it out.
Finally, he couldn't resist it any longer and asked, "Teacher Ba Shan, what's going on with you calling him junior brother?"
"Oh, you're talking about this?"
Chancellor Ba Shan replied with a casual air, "He and I are from the same master so he's my junior brother. You need to call him senior uncle."
"Senior uncle…"
Chen Wanyun was silent and asked after a while, "If my cultivation is stronger than him, do I still need to call him senior uncle?"
Chancellor Ba Shan burst into laughter, "What are you thinking? You aren't his match. His ability is a level higher than yours. Do you know what's the meaning of a level higher? It means he's a chopstick higher than you. A fine line higher means a strand of hair higher, now do you know how many dozen times is a level higher than a fine line higher? Furthermore, you won't be able to defeat him, but even if you're able to defeat him, you'll still have to call him senior uncle."
Chen Wanyun gave a groan and mumbled, "How would we know if we don't have a fight…"
"Don't fight, you'll lose."
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled, "His ability is on the level of Daozi and Fozi…"
Qin Mu tugged the corner of his shirt and Chancellor Ba Shan immediately shut his mouth.
He was the famous loudmouth in Imperial College and he could keep no secrets. Any incidents were all blurted out along with his fast speech. He revealed the position of the weakness in Qin Mu's technique just now and now he almost said out that it was Qin Mu who had defeated Daozi Lin Xuan.
Chancellor Ba Shan looked at Qin Mu and stood up, "Grand Chancellor wants me to stick to you like a shadow but he also has the wish for you to follow me as well. However, since you're my junior brother, you won't have to call me teacher. The lesson I'm giving is simple, to bring them out for an experience. However, I can't bring too many people out as it would be too eye-catching and it would be hard for me to take care all of them. When I went out the last time, I had only brought Chen Wanyun with me. Since that I have to bring you out this time, I can at most bring another scholar."
Chen Wanyun looked at him with an expectant look on his face.
Chancellor Ba Shan knew what he was thinking and stood up to walk outside. He shook his head and said, "I can't bring you this time. I need to choose a few scholars with good aptitude and foundation to bring along with me to learn and cultivate. This is to validate if the academician proposed by Grand Chancellor works or not. These few people would become the current choices for being imperial academicians. Junior brother, go to Floor of Heavenly Records to choose a few volumes of classics to bring on the journey. I'll teach you on the way."
He left the courtyard to probably look for scholars with outstanding aptitudes.
Qin Mu looked at Chen Wanyun and smiled, "Disciple Nephew Chen…"
Chen Wanyun's face sank slightly and stood up, "Until the day I lose to you, I won't call you senior uncle!" After he said this, he walked out of Qin Mu's courtyard.
Qin Mu didn't mind it. He took a look at the little fox and the green bull and told them, "Both of you help me pack my luggage. I'm going to Floor of Heavenly Records to choose a few divine arts."
These two fellows were so drunk that they were shouting at each other to become sworn siblings, so he didn't know if they had heard him or not.
Qin Mu grabbed his book tablet and walked out of the courtyard. Outside there were a few odd-job men who had come over and were planning to rebuild his courtyard and door.
When he walked out from his courtyard, he walked towards the outside of Scholar's Residence. At this moment, the doors to the courtyards suddenly opened and scholars started to walk out of their houses one after another. They all stood in the middle of the road and looked at him silently.
Qin Mu looked backward and saw the doors of the courtyards behind him had also opened. There were also scholars walking out from their own courtyards and stood in the middle of the road.
These scholars were mostly the people who had been beaten by him before. Some of them placed their sword cases beside their feet while some were already carrying them.
Other than them, there were also some people whom he had never fought with before. Among them was Qin Yu who had attended the examination with him and some of the younger generations from a few other reputable families. In the entire Scholar's Residence, only Wei Yong, Si Yunxiang and five to six other people who did not walk out.
"You still want to fight once more?"
Qin Mu broke into laughter and walked forward. A scholar behind him sneered, "Abandoned person, you don't dare to start from the back of the alley? Could it be that you're scared?"
Qin Mu stopped and turned back to look at that scholar. He seemed to be the only scholar who got beaten thrice by him while the other scholars were only beaten twice by him. Only this scholar who had a lot to say and kept calling him abandoned person was carried by him to use his face as a brush before planting him into the ground, which could be considered to be beating him three times.
It was hard for the scholar to hide his expression of excitement, "Abandoned person, your weakness has already been pointed out by Chancellor Ba Shan. This time we'll make you lose from the back of the alley to the front!"
Qin Mu turned around and asked him seriously, "This senior brother, what's your name? So I would know whom I have lost to after I'm defeated."
A smile gradually broke out on the scholar's face, "Well I'll tell you so you'll know. My surname is Yan and my first name is Qinghe."
Qin Mu said firmly, "I wish Senior Brother Yan be the first one to defeat me. Senior Brother Yan, please favor me with your instructions."
Yan Qinghe was greatly delighted and smiled, "You may be from a barbaric land but you still have a sense of propriety. That also good. I won't make you lose too miserably. Show your sword!"
Rumble!
Qin Mu raised his leg and took a stride forward. His strong body actually caused the air in front of him to compress into a wall formed from the air. In the next instant, the wall of air exploded into pieces. With a punch from Qin Mu bursting forth, his fist broke through the air and caused circular and white streams of air scattered in all directions.
"Why are you not showing your sword…"
Yan Qinghe had no time to bother to use qi to manipulate sword. He hurriedly raised both of his arms and blocked this punch with his forearms as he absolutely had no time to use qi to manipulate sword. If he still wanted to make his sword fly out of his sheath, he would probably have died from this punch before his sword had even come out from its sheath!
Whoosh—
The sound of a heavy object breaking through the air sounded out and the scholars that were behind Yan Qinghe looked pale and hurriedly dodged. They could only see Yan Qinghe's figure flying backward and reached the back of the alley in an instant.
At the back of the alley, Wei Yong was about to open his door when a shadow passed quickly by, followed by a loud crashing sound. A human smacked into the wall of the back alley with his limbs spreading out widely. His body was deeply embedded in the wall and the wall around his body had caved in, and the shattered rocks were fully covered with spider web lines.
Wei Yong jumped in shock and hurriedly popped his head out to take a look. He shot a glance at the situation in the alley of Scholar's Residence and beamed with joy, "Senior brothers, don't misunderstand, I didn't see anything and I won't say anything out!"
He was about to fall back into his room when a figure suddenly appeared behind him. Wei Yong turned around at once and saw Chancellor Ba Shan standing behind him.
"Don't say anything."
Chancellor Ba Shan said in a low voice, "Let him fight."
Wei Yong was bewildered and asked, "Chancellor, what are you planning to do?"
Chancellor Ba Shan shot him a glance and said, "I planned to pick out a few scholars that are worth teaching from Scholar's Residence and personally teach them divine arts, paths, and skills."
Wei Yong was still slightly puzzled. Chancellor Ba Shan was immensely proud of himself, "I deliberately blurted out the weakness on Scholar Qin's shoulder to instigate these scholars to make a move on Scholar Qin. Because once they know Scholar Qin's weakness, they would definitely make a move on Scholar Qin and he will defeat them. This way, I would know how strong these scholars are. If they can only take Qin's one or two moves, they are definitely not suitable. In any case, they must at least be able to take three to five moves from Scholar Qin, only then they deserve to be personally taught by me."
Wei Yong exclaimed in admiration, "What a brilliant idea! Chancellor sure is intelligent. That's right Chancellor, how do you think I…"
Chancellor Ba Shan sized him up and asked, "How many moves can you take from Scholar Qin?"
Wei Yong's head started to ache, "I also have to go and exchange a few blows with Scholar Qin?"
Chancellor Ba Shan gave a kind smile.
Wei Yong's scalp turned numb.
Bang.
A loud bang sounded from outside and a scholar was slapped onto the ground by Qin Mu, shattering dozens of bricks on the ground!
The few odd-job men who were fixing the door and wall for Qin Mu were also shocked. Their brows frowning. An odd-job man said calmly, "Young masters, please minimize your activities, save us from repairing your residences daily."
Qin Mu bowed, "Sorry to trouble all of you."
He lifted his foot and started to walk out of the alley. When he passed a scholar, the corners of the scholar's eyes twitched but he remained motionless.
He continued to walk forward and a scholar was about to raise his hand to unsheathe his sword when a loud rumble was heard. That scholar was directly smashed into the ground by him with one palm and only a head was left outside.
"Minimize the damage!" That old odd-job man couldn't resist shouting loudly.
Qin Mu immediately turned around and carefully bowed in apology before continuing to walk out.
There was another scholar who couldn't resist making a move and a few booms sounded out that were similar to the vibration of a bowstring. This scholar flew into the air and got hung on top of the wall, meanwhile the strong wind flicked out by Qin Mu's fingers punched a few holes in the wall.
The old odd-job man was about to blow up when Qin Mu immediately turned around to apologize.
Whoosh—
A scholar flew up into the air and flailed his limbs as he dropped down. He crashed through the roof headfirst and half of his body was stuck outside.
Rumble. Another vibration traveled out as another scholar got smashed into the wall by Qin Mu. The few odd-job men saw what happened and gave off helpless sighs. They had given up on asking them to minimize their movements.
"Let me do it!"
Qin Mu suddenly felt a fierce wind coming directly from his back and hurriedly turned around. He saw sword lights that were like swimming dragons coming head on and the dozens of dragons flew up and down around him.
"Swim Sword Form?"
Qin Mu was astonished. There were really not many scholars who could cultivate Swim Sword Form to such degree and to integrate the dragon's thought into the sword. He should be Qin Yu that had such profound attainments.
Qin Mu put his fingers together and he used his vital qi as a sword. With his fingers throbbing, he executed all the basic sword forms and sliced through the middle of all the swimming dragons that were sword lights. The glow of the swimming dragons dispersed and they turned into sharp swords which nailed into the walls with a hum.
Qin Yu's sword case was already emptied out and he revealed a panic expression. His body movement was like a dragon and was about to fall back when Qin Mu gave a few flicks of his fingers. Five explosions sounded out as the thunder fingers flicked Qin Yu away.
"Your ability isn't bad. I would like to see that young dragon's sword technique." Qin Mu praised and asked Qin Yu.
That few odd-job men who were repairing the wall cheered when they saw Qin Mu's sword skills, "Little brother, you have the bearing of a great master!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Grandmaster my ass!"
Yue Qinghong stepped on wolf slave's shoulder and sneered. Wolf slave took big strides as he rushed towards Qin Mu and grabbed his magic knives with his both hands, swinging them up and down. Meanwhile, Yue Qinghong's body trembled and dozens of swords came flying out from the sword case on her back, "Meeting face to face on a narrow path, the braver one will win. On this narrow path, the combination of wolf slave and I will be invincible! Junior Brother Qin, now that your weakness is exposed, it's best for you to go back to Great Ruins!"
With one up and one down, the two magic knives of wolf slave were like a black gale coming straight for him. Meanwhile, the thirty-one swords behind Yue Qinghong had their tips pointing towards Qin Mu. At the very front was one sword which was followed by two swords, then four, eight and sixteen, which formed a huge Drill Sword Form!
As all the swords starting spinning, they stabbed down at Qin Mu.
"Senior Sister Yue, you have cultivated your sword skills pretty well!"
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration and smiled, "However, I have already cultivated refining qi into thread so you aren't my match!"
"Refining qi into thread?"
Yue Qinghong went into a fury, "Are you trying to insult me?"
Qin Mu pointed at her and the vital qi threads on his fingertip burst forth. The hundreds of vital qi threads had the shape of sharp swords which had their heads and tails joined together. It was similar to Drill Sword Form but much thicker. The sword pillar was as thick as a water cauldron. With the front being the tip of a sword, it grew thicker and thicker in the back as it stabbed at wolf slave!
The magic knives on wolf slave's hands were like black lightning crossing each other, clashing with Qin Mu's Drill Sword Form. In an instant, sparks flew off in all directions inside the alley. Even though wolf slave had extraordinary strength, his arms were turning numb from the vibration, causing him to be unable to control his magic knives and split his shirt open.
Yue Qinghong was shocked and used Drill Sword Form to stab at Qin Mu's shoulder. She attached Qin Mu to save wolf slave, solving his predicament.
Qin Mu gave a soft laugh and his fingertip gently flicked upwards, turning it into Flick Sword Form. The Drill Sword Form which was stabbing towards wolf slave suddenly changed and the countless of sword lights transformed from Drill Sword Form into Spiral Sword Form. However, what he was executing was still Flick Sword Form.
These two sword moves had actually been merged perfectly together by him without any bit of obstruction.
His countless vital qi threads coiled around Yue Qinghong's Drill Sword Form and non-stop clanging could be heard. That Drill Sword Form which was constructed by the flying swords were instantly destroyed. In a split second, all thirty-one swords were pierced through by countless of vital qi threads, turning them into broken sieves that were filled with small holes.
Yue Qinghong gave a shout and wolf slave who was under her legs immediately threw away both of his knives, jumping up to kick Qin Mu. Qin Mu kicked back and a loud rumble sounded out as wolf slave's huge body flew backward. Meanwhile, Yue Qinghong who was on wolf slave's back took the chance to leap up and stabbed at Qin Mu's shoulder while using her finger as a sword.
Vital qi burst forth from her finger and turned into a sword qi which was about to stab into Qin Mu's shoulder. Suddenly a devil voice sounded out, "Sa mo ye!"
Yue Qinghong's mind was shaken and she lost control of her mind. Next, she heard music starting to play which made her disperse her sword qi and started to dance in front of Qin Mu while chuckling.
Yue Qinghong's cultivation was still strong after all which made her regain her consciousness soon afterward. She immediately strengthened her mind. She then moved back and felt a warmth on her back. She thought to herself, "Crap."
Boom.
Qin Mu had leaned on her back and suddenly exerted his force to lean backward, smashing her into the wall at the side.
Behind that wall was the residence of Monk Yun Que and when the wall suddenly collapsed, the aura around Monk Yun Que's body shone brilliantly, knocking Yue Qinghong who was in the wall away. He laughed loudly, "Senior Sister Yue, let me show you how to defeat him!"
Yue Qinghong who was flying through the air, warned angrily, "Monk, you're no good. You're only going up for a beating!"
"I'm no good?"
Monk Yun Que blew up and his moves were fierce and overbearing. They were like dragons and elephants sprinting and attacking Qin Mu, causing the shattered rocks beneath his feet flying in all directions as the limestone tiles got shattered into pieces by his berserk strength!
"Senior sister, don't you ever say that Monk is no good again. Monk is good!"
A dull and astonishing boom sounded out from the four palms of Qin Mu and Yun Que which had clashed. Yun Que laughed and said, "The one with the surname Qin, you didn't expect this right? I have already cultivated Imperial Preceptor's sword skills into the force of my palms. My Mighty Force Five Stage Mudra…"
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt a strength that could topple the mountains and overturn the seas crushing towards him. The strength was incomparably violent and crumbled his vital qi easily, defeating his Mighty Force Five Stage Mudra.
Monk Yun Que gave a dull groan and fell back. He then executed Dragon Elephant Subduing Devil Mudra and only heard a loud rumble. Yun Que's clothes split into pieces and fluttered upwards like white butterflies dancing in the sky.
His body was now bare and he had no clothing to cover his body, less for the white short pants which were tattered.
Monk Yun Que saw Qin Mu throwing another punch over and this punch actually broke through the air, giving off a world-shaking thunderclap. There were sparks that accompanied the punch, making it look like lightning. When the punch came rumbling over, balls of white fog burst forth around the fist and spread out in all directions.
"Crap…"
There was only this thought left in his mind as he took Qin Mu's punch head on. As he had expected, the white short pants on the lower half of his body split into pieces and turned into butterflies flying away. He was completely bare now.
Monk Yun Que flew backward from this matchless strength; however, this monk's cultivation was still dense so he could turn his body in midair to make himself face the wall.
Splat—
He smacked face first into the wall, exposing his butt outside.
"Luckily it wasn't my back facing the wall…" Yun Que comforted himself and fainted happily.
Qin Mu shook his clothes out and removed all the dust on his body. At this moment, a timid trembling voice was sounded behind him, "Brother Qin…"
Qin Mu looked back and saw Wei Yong walking over from the back of the alley while trembling. He carried a sword case and his legs were still shaking.
"Brother Wei, what's wrong?" Qin Mu was bewildered.
Wei Yong opened up his sword case and said with a sobbing voice, "You have been against the tide so I will have to enforce justice on behalf of heaven and exchange blows with you, to let you know the immensity of heaven and earth… This sentence is too ruthless, I don't dare to say it…"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Brother Wei, you want to exchange blows with me? It's normal for senior brother and junior brother to exchange blows, much less to say that we've been through life and death together? How about this, you and I will take care not to overdo it."
Only then did Wei Yong feel at ease. With his flying swords flying out from his case, he composed himself and said, "Brother Qin, just don't beat me as hard as you beat that monk."
His sword started to spiral and he executed the spiral sword technique which Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had taught. Ever since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had given the lecture, there were many scholars who were practicing the three basic sword forms during this period. It was evident that Wei Yong also had some understanding of it.
The scholars of Imperial College weren't dumb and they all could comprehend some marvel of it. Wei Yong may be slightly plump but his comprehension and aptitude not low and had a deep understanding of the three sword forms.
He had a solid foundation of profound learning inherited by the family and his own ability wasn't weak as well, not losing to Qin Yu. Qin Mu also wanted to see how his abilities were, therefore, he didn't attack mercilessly like he did Qin Yu and had instead used Spiral Sword Form to cross swords with him.
Both their sword skills winded around each other and they each had their own transformations as they executed the intricate sword techniques they had comprehended respectively. When the scholars not far away saw this, they couldn't care less about the injuries on their bodies as all their gazes landed on the sword skills of both of them.
Wei Yong's sword skills were already extremely remarkable. Coming from River Tomb's Wei Family, there was a great expert in Wei Family who was a current first ranking high official, Duke Wei.
Duke Wei was a cult master level existence and had outstanding military service. He had once exterminated a human country in one battle, exterminate Heaven Remnant Country in the northern borders. The entire Heaven Remnant Country was brought into the territory of Eternal Peace. That was why he was conferred as a duke.
Wei Yong didn't have a high position in Wei Family but he had been hard working ever since he was young. The family teachings of Wei Family were profound and his ability was considered outstanding among the younger generations of Wei Family.
Meanwhile, the same Spiral Sword Form, there were much more transformations in Qin Mu's sword skill. It wasn't only sword technique but also had the marvel of fist skill mixed into it.
When Qin Mu exchanged blows with him, it looked more like a senior brother guiding a junior brother, giving him pointers to comprehend the profundity of the sword skill. When Wei Yong had pretty much comprehended it, he would move on to the next move.
Not long later, they exchanged three moves and Wei Yong let out a sigh of relief. His confidence had grown tremendously and he smiled, "Brother Qin, you can use your full strength. I would like to see how big the difference is between us!"
Qin Mu gave a slight smile and suddenly changed his move. As his sword skill stabbed out, he used the move, Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky to attack Wei Yong and boomed him out of his mind, causing him to have to immediately stabilize his mind.
Qin Mu turned his hand over and used another Heavenly Devil Freedom Mudra which instantly caused Wei Yong to lose guard of his soul and get put down by Qin Mu with one sword.
Qin Mu dispersed his vital qi and helped him up with a smile, "Brother Wei, excuse me."
Wei Yong climbed up and looked around. He saw that half of the scholars in Scholar's Residence were defeated while the other half was afraid to go forward. He smiled, "Compared to the others, my circumstance is considered good. That's right, I've heard other people saying that your shoulder has a weakness. How come when they know your weakness, they still can't hurt you?"
"Knowing my weakness is one thing while being able to break it is another."
Qin Mu said, "If it was a fight on the same realm, there would be only two to three people in the entire Imperial College, including the directorates, who could find the chance to hit my weakness."
Wei Yong was speechless.
Qin Mu looked around and saw that Scholar's Residence was in a state of complete destruction once again. Those few odd-job men stared at him with resentment.
He immediately apologized to those few odd-job men and said, "Brother Wei, I still need to go to Floor of Heavenly Records. Fellow senior brothers and senior sisters, I can't continue to accompany all of you, farewell." After he said this, he walked out.
No one in Scholar's Residence dared to block him now.
Yue Qinghong stood up from the debris and looked at Qin Mu walking out of Scholar's Residence while sighing softly, "He's then the big brother of our Scholar's Residence…"
Crash.
A wall suddenly collapsed and dust permeated the air. Among the clouds of dust, Monk Yun Que immediately scrambled away with one hand covering the front of his body and the other hand covering his butt. He sprinted back into his courtyard and rushed into the central room before slamming the door shut.
Many scholars wanted to laugh but they didn't dare. After a moment, Monk Yun Que's voice sounded out, "Erm, the senior brothers outside, poor monk doesn't have any remaining clothes here. The only set was taken by the fox and she didn't want to return it to me. Does anyone have spare clothing to give one to poor monk? I'll shed tears of gratitude."
Wei Yong smiled, "Senior Brother Yun, please wait a moment. I have a few spare sets of clothing however they are slightly big."
Yun Que replied, "Not a problem, the clothes of a monk are also mere worldly possessions."
Chancellor Ba Shan walked out from Wei Yong's room and calculated to himself, "Chen Wanyun is considered one, Junior Brother Qin is one, in addition, Qin Yu of Qin Family and the little fatty are both not bad. Yue Qinghong and Yun Que are also experts in their own ways. In this way, there will be six people chosen for being imperial academicians. It shouldn't be hard for me to guide them in their cultivations. However, other than Scholar's Residence, there are also scholars of Five Elements Realm in Royalty's Park. I can't favor one and discriminate against the other, so I will have to choose a few scholars from Royalty's Park as well, so as to not let the emperor find trouble with me."
The ones he had chosen to teach were all scholars who had yet cultivated to Six Directions Realm. If they had cultivated to Six Directions Realm, they would be divine arts practitioners and their paths were basically set in place, that way he couldn't be able to teach them in line with their abilities anymore.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Chancellor Ba Shan walked out of Scholar's Residence and came to Royalty's Park beside.
There was quite a number of princes, princesses, and nobles with good and bad ones mingled together. Yet, they all had complicated factions.
Imperial princes and imperial princesses were the children of the emperor while the princes and princesses were the children of kings. Other than the princes and princesses fighting for the positions of the kings, there was also the strife for power between the imperial princes and imperial princesses, which really gave one a headache.
This was what Chancellor Ba Shan was most irritated about yet he had no choice. Otherwise, he would offend the imperial family, which would definitely cause trouble for him.
"Why not ask the second prince's opinion."
He made the decision and went to inquire from the second prince. Ling Yushu was surprised and delighted. Ba Shan was a directorate of Imperial College and his position in Imperial College was just second to Grand Chancellor. His ability was deep and unmeasurable which would not lose to any of the first-ranking high officials of the imperial court or any school master, cult master and sect master of any big sects. He was one of the top existence in the world today.
If I could get his teachings, it would naturally be a good thing!
"Second prince seems be mistaken."
Chancellor Ba Shan saw the glee on his face and instantly knew he had misunderstood, "I only teach scholars that are of Six Directions Realm and below. I don't know too much about Royalty's Park, so I would like the second prince to recommend two scholars."
Ling Yushu's expression turned sad.
The amount of resources the crown prince received was much more than the other imperial princes. As an imperial prince like him, because he wasn't the crown prince, the amount of grooming he received after he was born was way lesser than the crown prince.
Even though imperial princes and imperial princesses could enter Imperial College to cultivate without taking the examinations, the crown prince had no less than six cult master level teachers to impart their knowledge to him. Furthermore, the emperor would personally teach him from time to time. Even the directorates would go forth to teach him.
The crown prince was not only taught all kinds of top-notch ultimate arts, he was also taught the way of being an emperor so as to have the ability to control all the civil and military officers. He even had to befriend the chancellors of the imperial court to form his own little imperial court.
For the other imperial princes and imperial princesses, even if they wanted to aspire to the throne, they didn't have this kind of ability to compete.
Chancellor Ba Shan's ability was equivalent to the ability of a cult master level existence, so even though it couldn't be compared to what the crown prince was receiving, it was still much better to be able to receive his teachings.
It was just that Chancellor Ba Shan was only teaching scholars of Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Element Realm so there was naturally no place for him.
Ling Yushu suppressed the disappointment in his heart and smiled, "My seventh sister's comprehension and aptitude are all top-notch and even Imperial Preceptor said she had extraordinary aptitude when he met her. Her aptitude even surpasses mine although she's a little playful. With Chancellor Ba Shan's strictness, you can help me toughen her up and change her personality a bit."
Chancellor Ba Shan was astonished, "Seventh princess? She is really a little playful, which held back the advancement in her cultivation. Those directorates didn't make things difficult for her in regards to her status of the imperial princess but she will suffer a lot if she is with me."
Ling Yushu's gaze flickered and he thought to himself, "Seventh sister, you're too close with that abandoned person and I can't guarantee you won't do something that would dishonor the reputation of our imperial family. This time you'll be going out of the mountain, you'll be able to leave far away from that Qin Mu and when you see more young talents, you'll be able to forget that abandoned person… Brother is doing this for your own good so as not to let you go down the wrong path."
"Second prince, do you have anyone else in your mind?" Chancellor Ba Shan asked again.
Ling Yushu thought a while and said, "Ling Minyue, Prince Mingyue."
"The son of King Taishan, Ling Minyue?"
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled, "He shows great promise as well. I've heard you and Prince Minyue are on bad terms so why do you recommend him?"
Ling Yushu smiled, "I'm on bad terms with Minyue only because King Taishan supports my elder brother. However, Minyue's aptitude and comprehension are indeed top-notch among the others in Royalty's Park.
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded his head, "Second prince is virtuous. In that case, I'll let second prince inform them about this good news and let them come to Scholar's Residence to find me."
Ling Yushu was delighted. He knew that Chancellor Ba Shan had given him this chance to rope in Prince Minyue and immediately left.
Ling Yuxiu and Prince Minyue came to Scholar's Residence and other than them, there were also Qin Yu, Chen Wanyun, Yun Que, Wei Yong and some other scholars.
Chancellor Ba Shan said, "I have discussed with Grand Chancellor to test out imperial academicians on top of scholars and all of you will be chosen as provisional imperial academicians. From today onwards, all of you will only go Pavilion of Art Saint, Hall of Azure Yang, Floor of Military Secrets, Hall of Array Element, Pavilion of Heavenly Music to listen to lectures, learn painting, calligraphy, frame of mind, the art of war, the art of formations, and temperament. You'll learn others from me and I'll teach you in line with your abilities, which is different from the other scholars. After a few years, it would depend on your ability to see if you can become an imperial academician. That's right…"
He looked around and smiled, "All of you also have a big brother or perhaps you should call him senior uncle. He is the first imperial academician of our Imperial College and I have already discussed it with Grand Chancellor. I have reported it up to the emperor and the emperor's appointment would soon come down."
Everyone looked at each other in dismay. The first imperial academician? Who exactly was it?
Yue Qinghong and Monk Yun Que immediately looked at Chen Wanyun and saw that he had a mixed expression.
Chancellor Ba Shan said, "This time I will first bring seventh princess out for training for a few days, as for the other people, you'll have to wait until the next time. Imperial princess, you can go over to Floor of Heavenly Records to choose a few ancients scrolls on techniques and divine arts. The others will stay."
Everyone was surprised and elated.
Floor of Heavenly Records. The secretary checked his book tablet and told Qin Mu, "You can't spoil any book when going in to browse them. If the books inside are damaged, you'll be imprisoned. With your book tablet, you can only browse the books on the first level. Don't go up to the second level otherwise, the secretary on the second floor would seize and punish you."
Qin Mu said, "I'll follow Chancellor Ba Shan out for cultivation and learn through outside experience, therefore, I would like to borrow a few ancient scrolls out.
That secretary was astonished and replied, "So I see. Chancellor Ba Shan has privilege, therefore, his disciples can borrow five ancient scrolls out. You may go in to choose the ancient scrolls and record them over here with me."
Qin Mu walked into the floor and saw dozens of rooms on the floor. Each room was extremely vast and there was tablet pasted on the door of every room. The ancient scrolls in these rooms should be classified according to their prefectures. All the techniques, skills, and divine arts from the sects of this county would be kept in the room that represented it.
Qin Mu walked into the room which hung Lizhou's tablet. He only saw a dozen of bookshelves and ancient scrolls were placed on the bookshelves. There were also different names of the sects written on the tablets which were hung on the bookshelves. Other than sects, there were also names of aristocratic families.
There weren't many people in the room. There were only two to three scholars sitting on the floor and holding up their scrolls to read. There were also a few smaller doors at the side and Qin Mu walked forward. Two of the doors were locked from the inside and there was still one door unlocked.
He pushed open the door and was slightly stunned. Behind this door was a space with an area of seven ares. It was much bigger than the room they were in but there was nothing inside.
"Could it be a place for scholars to practice their techniques, skills, and divine arts?"
Qin Mu came to the front of a bookshelf and picked out a scroll while lowering his head to have a look. He was astonished, "There are actually so many sects in Lizhou Prefecture."
On the scroll was written Red Clouds Technique of Lizhou's Red Clouds Sect. There were also a few scrolls beside it which were Red Clouds Sword Skills, Red Clouds Four Formations, Secrets of Red Clouds Pills, et cetera.
Qin Mu roughly skimmed through it and there were indeed unique points in Red Clouds Sect's techniques. Once one cultivated this technique, their vital qi would turn into red clouds and whenever they made a move, the entire sky would be filled with red clouds. Meanwhile, they would be able to hide flying swords among the red clouds and the enemies would usually get hit as their visions were clouded by the red clouds.
"Even though Red Clouds Technique isn't bad, it still couldn't be considered miraculous.
He put down Red Clouds Technique and took a few looks at Red Clouds Sword Skills before putting it back. Red Clouds Sword Skill was a set of system with Red Clouds Technique. Only those who had cultivated Red Clouds Technique could cultivate Red Clouds Sword Skill. He then took a look at Red Clouds Four Formations and this formation skill also required one to cultivate Red Clouds Technique and Red Clouds Sword Skills to be able to cultivate Red Clouds Four Formations.
Secret of Red Clouds Pills was also roughly skimmed through by him and it was mainly about the art of pill refinement. There were still some prescriptions that were worth referencing, however, there were also some prescriptions that obviously had problems as their toxicities weren't completely resolved,
He put the scrolls of Red Clouds Sect back onto the bookshelf and took out another set of thick scrolls.
"The ancient scrolls of Yuyuan Empire's imperial family?"
Qin Mu was astonished and read it over and over again while thinking to himself, "Aren't the ancient scrolls of Lizhou's sects on these bookshelves? Where did this Yuyuan Empire pop out from? That's right, what's the relation between Yuyuan Empire and Yuyuan Chuyu? Could it be that Lizhou wasn't Eternal Peace Empire's territory before and belonged to an empire called Yuyuan?"
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly. Yuyuan Chuyu was the young magistrate of Lizhou and Yuyuan was her surname. She said she also had a brother called Yuyuan Chuyun who was an official in the capital city. Could they siblings be the past royalties of Yuyuan Empire?
Yuyuan Chuyu's official position wasn't low and having such a high status at such a young age, she should have powerful backing.
"Lizhou is situated in the south-central region of Eternal Peace Empire. So it seems that the amount of countries Eternal Peace Empire has annexed isn't small.
Qin Mu flipped through Yuyuan Empire's imperial studies, and even though the ancient scrolls of Yuyuan Empire's Royalty weren't complete, they were much better than Red Clouds Sect's. Yuyuan Empire's imperial study was called Chengdu Zaitian Mystery Technique which was almost an entire system. Its sword skill was called Sunset Sword Skill.
Qin Mu skimmed through it and decided to choose this set of ancient scrolls.
For sword skills, he had only cultivated the first form of Sword Picture which was Sword Treading Mountains And Rivers. However, the qi consumption of Sword Treading Mountains And Rivers was too huge and if he met enemies during normal times and used this sword skill, one move would deplete almost all of Qin Mu's vital qi. If there were more enemies, it would be bad for him.
Therefore he needed a first-class sword skill.
Sunset Sword Skill of Yuyuan Empire was a first-class sword skill which appealed to him.
"Just now that secretary said I could choose five ancient scrolls, I should probably go and find more."
Qin Mu roughly checked the other bookshelves and didn't find anything he fancied. None of the techniques of other sects was as good as Yuyuan Empire's Chengdu Zaitian Profound Technique.
He searched the rooms one by one and found some first-class techniques which made him secretly curious. If there were already so many ancient scrolls collected on the first level of Floor of Heavenly Records, how powerful would the ancient scrolls kept on the second level and third level be?
"Eh, something's not right. Some of the ancient scrolls the sects offered up had probably been cut out and they didn't offer their true ultimate arts."
The more Qin Mu browsed these ancient scrolls, the more doubts arose in his heart. Many of the ancient scrolls here had been cut out and some ultimate arts were not included. He took a rough look through them and could clearly felt this.
For example, Nine Songs Connecting River Sword Skill had nine moves in total but when he executed the ninth move, he felt his own vigor and the power of the sword skill reaching the peak which was then followed by nothing. An astonishing power was brewed out yet there was no tenth move to unleash this power.
This showed that Nine Songs Sword Sect did not offer the complete sword skill and had concealed something of their skills.
There were many similar cases. It was obvious that these powers were not willing to hand over their ultimate arts to Eternal Peace Empire and should have all retained some stuff to themselves.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Not long later, Qin Mu chose his second ancient scroll. This ancient scroll was called Soul Guide which was able to hook a dead person's soul out from the netherworld and could also allow the person casting the spell to enter the netherworld.
The reason he chose Soul Guide was mainly because the spells involved with this field in Floor of Heavenly Records were too few.
Qin Mu thought if he developed it furtherly, could he be able to hook back the soul of someone who had just died and revive him?
After that, he also chose Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command of Great Mountain Sect. The spells of Great Mountain Sect were also very unusual, to be able to use runes to borrow the power of ghost and gods. This made him feel that it was connected with the path of painting.
He only chose three ancient scrolls and there were no benefits in choosing more. There was already quite a number of techniques he had to cultivate and in addition to the fact that the techniques and skills in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were as many as the hair of the ox. He needed to spend a lot of time to comprehend them, therefore, he didn't need to choose too many.
Qin Mu brought the three ancient scrolls to meet that secretary and the secretary recorded down the ancient scrolls and his book tablet before allowing him to leave Floor of Heavenly Records.
Two days later, the imperial edict came down from the emperor to appoint Qin Mu as an imperial academician of Imperial College, conferring him as an official of upper sixth-ranking and also allowing him to access up to the third level of Floor of Heavenly Records without being controlled by Imperial College.
In front of the mountain gate of Imperial College, Chancellor Ba Shan was standing there to wait. After a while, Second Prince Ling Yushu hurried over, dragging the unwilling Ling Yuxiu.
"Seventh sister, following Chancellor Ba Shan to cultivate would definitely be much better than staying in Imperial College."
Ling Yushu smiled and said, "Chancellor Ba Shan, that's a cult master level existence who far surpasses all the other directorates. Even I'm envious of you and hope more than anything to be chancellor's disciple. So don't hesitate! You're my dear sister, we came out from the same womb so why would I harm you?"
Beside the mountain gate, a huge and sturdy green bull stood up like a human and was teasing the dragon qilin that was guarding the mountain gate. Sometimes he pulled on a strand of dragon beard and sometimes he touched the dragon qilin's tail.
"I say sister, when are you going out to play with brother?"
The green bull leaned in front of the mountain gate with a tree peony in his mouth as he chuckled, "Sister, what's the joy in guarding here every day? Let me bring you out, the world of sensual pleasure is bound to make you happy! Do you see this pretty flower of mine? I'll give it to you to eat…"
Dragon qilin held back his anger as he glanced at Chancellor Ba Shan and immediately suppressed his thoughts to become hostile and eat this green bull.
"Chancellor Ba Shan, when are you leaving?" Ling Yushu asked.
Chancellor Ba Shan raised his head and looked up the mountain, "We need to wait for one more person. He should be coming down."
Ling Yushu looked at his sister beside him and was somewhat proud of himself, "Luckily I was quick-witted otherwise seventh sister won't stop herself from fooling around with that abandoned person from Great Ruins if she stays on the mountain. Now that they're separated far away from each other, he won't have the chance anymore."
Ling Yuxiu was his full sister born from the same father and mother, therefore, he naturally looked after her in every possible way. In his eyes, all the other princes and princesses were competitors to him and only Ling Yuxiu was his dearest sister, therefore, he couldn't let the bad guys have any chance.
Just as Ling Yushu was thinking about it, he raised his head and saw a youth walking down the mountain while carrying loads of stuff. There were things like an axe, Pig Slaughtering Knife, bamboo cane and he also carried a huge backpack with a white fox squatting on top of it.
"This guy looks like he's running for his life. Is he planning to flee down the mountain?" Ling Yushu thought to himself.
Chancellor Ba Shan saw Qin Mu and finally let out a sigh and smiled, "Everyone's here!"
Ling Yushu couldn't help quivering and looked at Chancellor Ba Shan, stuttering, "The person teacher is waiting for is him?"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded his head and shattered the tiniest bit of delusion he had in his heart.
On the other hand, Ling Yuxiu was overjoyed and looked at her dazed brother proudly. Her brother's petty intention naturally couldn't be hidden from her.
Ling Yuxiu hesitated in his heart and wanted to ask Chancellor Ba Shan if she could withdraw but it wasn't good for him to say it out.
"Teacher Ba Shan, can I cultivate along with you?" Ling Yushu still didn't give up and immediately asked.
Chancellor Ba Shan shook his head, "Second prince, your cultivation is too high and you have already reached Seven Stars Realm. You're already old and your path is determined therefore I'm unable to teach you. Don't worry, seventh princess won't suffer with me, you can go back."
Ling Yushu didn't bear to go back and stood there to glare at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was bewildered. He didn't know how had he offended this prince.
Chancellor Ba Shan announced with a deep voice, "Since everyone's here, let us be off!"
Qin Mu immediately said, "Teacher, wait a moment!"
Chancellor Ba Shan halted and turned back to have a look. Qin Mu walked to the front of the dragon qilin and the incomparably sturdy green bull immediately backed off and looked at him cautiously.
Qin Mu didn't mind him and held his breath as he took out a jade bottle. He unscrewed the cap of the jade bottle and placed it under the dragon qilin's nose. This dragon qilin was instantly paralyzed on the ground by him.
The big green bull immediately jumped far away and looked at him in terror.
Qin Mu quickly screwed back the bottle cap and the little fox swept up a gale to disperse the strange fragrance that had leaked out, only then did Qin Mu gasp for breath. Hu Ling'er then took out another bottle from the backpack and handed it over to Qin Mu. Qin Mu opened up the bottle and a choking sour smell was let out. He then poured the liquid into the bottle into the dragon qilin's mouth.
That was the juice squeezed out from a lemon. The dragon qilin might be paralyzed and couldn't move but his tongue would still uncontrollably secrete out saliva when in contact with the sour taste of lemon.
Hu Ling'er hurriedly took out jade bottles from her backpack and Qin Mu took them and placed them under the corner of the dragon qilin's mouth to collect the saliva. After ten bottles, the saliva of this dragon qilin was finally depleted and no more saliva flew out.
Qin Mu stood up and smiled, "Teacher, Sister Yuxiu, we can be off now."
Chancellor Ba Shan glanced at the paralyzed dragon qilin and asked curiously, "What are you collecting dragon's saliva for?"
Qin Mu explained, "This is a miraculous medicine for curing external injuries. If you had knife or sword wounds, applying it to the wounds could help regenerate the flesh and shed the dead skin. There will inevitably be injuries from this outdoor experience so there's no harm in preparing more."
Chancellor Ba Shan's heart was slightly moved. Qin Mu probably did this not just for the possible injuries on the journey but also for reconnecting Butcher's lower half of his body and letting Butcher recover completely.
Qin Mu then said, "Teacher, can you lend me your green bull?"
The green bull was alarmed, "Don't you dare mess around! Ling'er and I have already become sworn brother and sister. If you dare to eat me, my elder sister will fight it out with you! Am I right, Sister Ling'er?"
Hu Ling'er was proud of herself, "He got too drunk and became my sworn younger brother."
Qin Mu smiled, "I'm only asking you to help me carry my luggage, look at you, so nervous. By the way, I checked it just now, that dragon qilin is a male."
The green bull seemed to get struck thirty times by the rolling thunder, turning numb and dazed on the spot. He suddenly cried out loudly and Hu Ling'er went up to comfort him, "It's okay, it's okay. Male and female are all the same, he didn't like you anyway. Furthermore, if he really liked you, it would then be bad for you."
Chancellor Ba Shan shook his head and brought them out of Imperial College, walking out of the capital city.
The green bull suddenly crawled on the ground and gave off a dull howl. The body under his bull skin suddenly gave off loud bangs as his bones rapidly grew. His muscles also bulged outwards and his fur grew frantically.
He was originally two to three human tall when he stood up. Now he revealed his true form, he was even much bigger than he originally was. His body was over ten times larger and his two hands became bull hooves. Smoke spewed out from his nostrils and wind was raised under his feet.
Chancellor Ba Shan made Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu board bull's back and placed their backpacks on the bull's back.
"Second prince, there's no need to send us off. Go back!"
Chancellor Ba Shan looked at Ling Yushu who had sent them all the way out of the capital city and smiled, "They'll be fine. You can go back!"
Ling Yushu had a bitter face as he waved towards Ling Yuxiu. Ling Yuxiu was currently talking to Qin Mu and he didn't know what joke Qin Mu that impetuous boy had said which made Ling Yuxiu chuckle and gave the youth a punch to his chest.
Ling Yushu felt that he got punched heavily in his chest and sulked.
The four feet of the green bull took strides forward and the wind was raised under his feet. He sprinted towards the distance and left Ling Yushu in the dust.
Hu Ling'er sat on the bull's curved horns and her pure white fur fluttered backward in the wind that was blowing in her face. That pair of bull's horns curved into two circles, allowing her to sit inside easily without getting blown away.
The little fox asked curiously, "Bull Two, you actually know how to control wind."
The green bull smiled, "What's so hard about controlling wind? I'm a species of dragon and controlling the tempest is my innate ability. You'll know when you look at my skin. Aren't my green skin and hair similar to the green dragon? My ancestor is the green dragon. It's not something you little demons could be compared to!"
He was very arrogant. His bloodline made him much different from the other strange beasts. If he met other strange beasts, he could just use his dragon's might to intimidate the opponent and turn them docile.
Hu Ling'er stroke his scalp and his cowskin was glossy and extremely thick. His skin had astonishing defense and the dragon's scales on his neck were also dazzling to the eyes. She exclaimed in admiration, "Bull Two, your skin must be worth a lot of money."
The green bull stumbled and immediately shut its mouth, thinking to himself, "My sworn sister is also a ruthless character. Her master wants to eat me, she wants to strip my skin to exchange it for money. Savage, their savageness has become second by nature! I, bull bull, is simple and honest, it's best for me to have lesser contact with these bad guys. It's just that I got intoxicated by her and made her my sworn elder sister, falling into her evil scheme…"
Ling Yuxiu turned her head around and asked Chancellor Ba Shan, "Teacher, where are we going for experience?"
"Beyond the Great Wall."
Chancellor Ba Shan was currently going through the ancient scrolls Qin Mu and she handed up and didn't even raise his head to reply, "Barbarian Di Empire."
Ling Yuxiu jumped in shock, "Barbarian Di Empire?"
She had long heard about the bitter situation on Barbarian Di's battlefield which had exceeded their imagination.
Qin Mu's heart slightly stirred and looked towards Chancellor Ba Shan, "Senior brother, you have found the lower half body of Grandpa Butcher?"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded his head, "The lower half body of master was snatched away by a small sect. This small sect was exterminated by the shaman cult of Barbarian Di Empire, Rolan's Golden Palace. Master's lower half body should have landed in the hands of Rolan's Golden Palace."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. No wonder Chancellor Ba Shan chose to go to Barbarian Di Empire.
He was still slightly bewildered. Why did Rolan's Golden Palace exterminate that small sect to snatch away Butcher's lower half body?
The green bull traveled all the way to the west and they came to the bank of Mud River. The green bull stepped on the water and sprinted upstream.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The ability of this bull could be compared to the demon king. He was even more stable stepping on the water than stepping on land. Furthermore, he was also good at controlling wind and thunder, thus his speed was extremely fast. Going at this speed, he could totally travel a thousand miles in a day.
Chancellor Ba Shan roughly skimmed through the ancient scrolls that Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu had chosen, having a headache as he grabbed the ancient scrolls which Qin Mu had chosen. The ancient scrolls which Ling Yuxiu had chosen were divine arts of sword skills, other than that they were spells. Other than Sunset Sword Skill which Qin Mu had handed up, which was considered normal, the other two writings got him stumped.
These two writings, one was called Soul Guide, the other one was called Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command.
Any divine arts of sword skills and spells had their fundamental techniques to adhere to. This was so called to comprehend by analogy, to draw inferences about other cases from one instance. With Chancellor Ba Shan's incomparably dense knowledge and experience, he was able to give them pointers.
Only these two ancient scrolls that Qin Mu had chosen were the unpopular ones among the unpopular ones. Normally, even if Chancellor Ba Shan entered Floor of Heavenly Records, even if he happened to see these unpopular spells, he would only take a look at them and put them aside, not bothering with reading them at all. It was really forcing him to explain it.
In the eyes of his realm, the power of the spells of Soul Guide and Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command wasn't strong enough and nothing in them could make one's eyes light up. He really didn't know what's Qin Mu's intention to pick out these two spells.
Chancellor Ba Shan sat on the bull's back and threw the two ancient scrolls to Qin Mu to let him study them himself. He then explained the scrolls which Ling Yuxiu had brought out from Floor of Heavenly Records.
Ling Yuxiu was a child of the imperial family, therefore, she could enter the second level in Floor of Heavenly Records. This time she brought out a profound Dao spell of Dao Sect called Azure Heaven Lightning Lure from the floor.
Just this name alone was more orthodox than Soul Lure and Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command.
It was the orthodox lightning spell of the Daoist School, thus it was naturally a fully justified reputation. Chancellor Ba Shan's explanation was also clear and logical, many parts that were hard to understand became clear to Ling Yuxiu under his advice.
Qin Mu was also captivated from listening. Suddenly, he thought that he could reference Azure Heaven Lightning Lure and Thunderclap Eight Strikes with each other and maybe he could gain an unimaginable power.
His train of thought started to spread out and he didn't hear what Chancellor Ba Shan was saying, sinking into his own calculations.
Ling Yuxiu consulted Chancellor Ba Shan on some parts that she didn't understand and immediately tried them out. A series of Dharma methods were executed and suddenly a bolt came out from the blue and struck the surface of the river, exploding out a few river fishes that were three yards long!
Ling Yuxiu was surprised and delighted. She was very satisfied.
Chancellor Ba Shan shook his head and said, "Princess, your foundation is still too lacking. You didn't practice your fundamentals properly. This power of Azure Heaven Lightning Lure is not just like this."
He sealed his divine treasures and only left his Spirit Embryo and Five Elements Divine Treasures open, placing him in the same realm as Ling Yuxiu. He then executed Azure Heaven Lightning Lure. Putting his index finger and middle finger together, it was as if his fingers were like a thread threading through formless needles in front of his face.
Lightning flashed and thunder instantly exploded on the river surface. Lightning struck everywhere he pointed and was extremely sharp. In an instant, over a few dozens bolts of lightning struck down!
The river surface churned white and everywhere were huge fishes that were blown away.
Ling Yuxiu was completely won over by Chancellor Ba Shan. It was also Chancellor Ba Shan's first time cultivating this Azure Heaven Lightning Lure but with one move, he already executed it extremely skillfully, making people exclaim in admiration.
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled, "The technique of your imperial family, Nine Dragons Monarch Technique is fierce and overbearing. If your foundation is solid enough, the Azure Heaven Lightning Lure that you execute will only be stronger than mine. Seventh princess, I won't be teaching you other techniques these few days. I'll help you strengthen your foundation."
Ling Yuxiu immediately agreed.
Chancellor Ba Shan himself was a cult master level existence who had vast knowledge and experience. In addition to that, he had also experienced the reform of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and stayed in the sacred ground of Imperial College to comprehend the techniques, skills, and divine arts of all big sects and cults. With such a deep knowledge and experience, he was already a top-notch expert in Eternal Peace Empire.
The green bull rushed towards the borders while Chancellor Ba Shan propagated his Dao and went through the ancient scrolls they had brought out from Floor of Heavenly Records. After two to three days, they were finally nearing Qingmen Pass.
Qingmen Pass was the common border between Eternal Peace Empire and Barbarian Di Empire. It was also the common border between Great Ruins and Barbarian Di Empire.
Over here, there were over thirty miles between Qingmen Pass and the border station of Barbarian Di Empire; however, in this middle of thirty miles of land, there was a forest that spanned over several miles. This forest had extended from Great Ruins and was part of Great Ruins' territory. Whenever the darkness invaded at night, it would separate both of these majestic passes.
Great Ruins became the natural barrier between Barbarian Di Empire and Eternal Peace Empire. The armies on both sides wanted to secretly assault each other yet they couldn't do so under the cover of the night. They could only attack each other in the day, therefore, the war was in a deadlock.
The officers and soldiers of both borders referred to this piece of Great Ruins as Duck's Tongue.
Qin Mu and the rest entered Qingmen Pass and Chancellor Ba Shan handed over the customs clearance card to the frontier defense. The soldier counted the number of people when he suddenly saw Qin Mu and was slightly stunned. He immediately ran into the city.
Everyone was puzzled and Chancellor Ba Shan asked in bewilderment, "Did you cause trouble here?"
The green bull was delighted in his misfortune, "Cause any trouble? Old master, have you forgotten, your junior brother is an abandoned person of Great Ruins. The soldiers of the border station have received an oracle to kill any abandoned people of Great Ruins who dare to enter Eternal Peace. I reckon your junior brother is going to be beheaded or be sold as a slave."
Chancellor Ba Shan frowned and a moment later, the clanking sounds of armor came from the city along with a deep and resounding voice, "Divine physician, where's Divine Physician Qin?"
A total of a hundred soldiers escorted an old white-haired general out from the border station and sized up the bunch of people, "Which one of you is Divine Physician Qin?"
Qin Mu smiled, "I'm right here. I don't deserve to be called divine physician. This general…"
Whoosh.
In front of him, these soldiers all knelt down and that old general also knelt down on one knee with his both hands cupped above his head, "The medicine which Divine Physician Qin gave to us has saved countless lives of our soldiers of the border station. I received orders to guard the border station here and couldn't have the chance to go to the capital city to thank Divine Physician Qin. Never would I expect Divine Physician Qin to come visit us personally. Please receive a bow from all of us soldiers!"
Qin Mu immediately raised his hands and said, "Get up general. Is my Pure Yang Refining Bug Pill effective?"
That General Bian stood up and his white hair swayed as he nodded, "Effective, now the shaman of Barbarian Di Empire can't harm the soldiers of our army with their spells anymore. There's no one in our whole Qingmen Pass who doesn't thank the benevolence of divine physician!"
"That's too weighty, it's only a very slight effort."
Qin Mu smiled, "General Bian, this here is Chancellor Ba Shan from our Imperial College, this here is the seventh princess."
Bian Zhenyun said, "I've heard of Chancellor Ba Shan's name, and now seeing him, he is indeed extraordinary. As for the seventh princess…"
His expression sank slightly and sneered, "What's the princess doing here in our remote and desolate place? If anything happens to her, who's going to be responsible?"
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled, "I'm the one who wanted to bring them out for an experience. May General Bian make things easy for us."
Bian Zhenyun's expression softened and said reluctantly, "for divine physician's sake, I'll make this easy for you. Chancellor is planning to bring them to our Qingmen Pass for experience?"
Chancellor Ba Shan shook his head, "It's Barbarian Di Empire."
Bian Zhenyun jumped in shock and cried out, "You are trying to enter Barbarian Di Empire? Are you trying to die? Now that the two countries are warring, you will definitely be killed if you barge over now! Furthermore, the princess is with you. If anything happens to her, the entire Imperial College would be executed!"
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled, "With me around, nothing will happen. I have my own eyes and ears in Barbarian Di Empire as well."
Bian Zhenyun sneered, "Why do I care so much? That's your Imperial College's matter, even if something happens your Imperial College would have to take responsibility. Divine Physician Qin, please enter."
Ling Yuxiu was worried. Chancellor Ba Shan had told them that it was a training beyond the Great Wall and she had originally thought they were going to the borders. Never did she expect that Chancellor Ba Shan was actually wanting to go to Barbarian Di Empire!
However, she was always daring and had even followed Qin Feiyue to Great Ruins. Now hearing that they were going to go to Barbarian Di Empire, she was slightly worried but her excitement was greater.
When the night came, there was a banquet held in General's Manor as Bain Zhenyun led his troops to invite Qin Mu to the banquet. Chancellor Ba Shan and the rest were also invited but they were just to accompany him.
In the next morning, Bian Zhenyun sent them off and offered Qin Mu a tray of gold ingots, "Barbarian Di Empire don't acknowledge Great Abundance Coin and only acknowledge gold ingots, divine physician, take them as your travel expenses."
Qin Mu gave his thanks.
Everyone got up on the back of the bull and the green bull walked out of the pass.
They passed through Duck's Tongue of Great Ruins and went beyond the Great Wall. They could see dust from all around and within the dust, there were a few weird beasts with bone spikes growing on their heads sprinting over. There were tall and study generals of a different tribe riding on the weird beasts and they shouted loudly, "Yisuo!"
Chancellor Ba Shan raised his feet and stood on top of the green bull's huge head. With both of his feet stepping on the bull's horns, he immediately pulled open his sable's fur overcoat.
The generals of the different tribe saw the tattoos on his chest and immediately shouted to halt the strange beasts under their hips. They then sat on the backs of the beasts to salute him before turning the beasts around and whooshing away.
Chancellor Ba Shan covered his chest and came down from the bull's head. Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were slightly puzzled and didn't know why these barbarians would salute him when they saw him.
When they came to the border station of Barbarian Di Empire, there was also a tall and huge city with tight security measures. Chancellor Ba Shan brought everyone to the bottom of the pass and the city gate opened up. Numerous barbarian soldiers lined up in two rows and welcomed them into the pass respectfully.
The two of them became even more puzzled.
At this time, a general guarding the border station of Barbarian Di Empire walked over and laughed out loud, "The matchless Martial Khan in the whole world, the king of our prairie, it has been a long time since I saw you. Ever since your distinguished self became an official of Eternal Peace Empire, the reputation of Martial Khan has already borne an unbearable stink!"
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed out loudly, "I myself wasn't a person of the prairie. I had merely defeated your warriors on the prairie and got honored as Martial Khan."
"Martial Khan?"
Qin Mu and the rest looked at one another and Hu Ling'er asked in bewilderment, "Chancellor, what's the tattoo on your chest? Why did they have to salute you instead when they saw you?"
Chancellor Ba Shan opened up his shirt and smiled, "Take a look."
Qin Mu looked over and saw a queer skull that was fully covered in bone spikes tattooed on his chest.
"This is the tattoo of Barbarian Di Empire's Khans. It has been blessed by the grand shaman of Barbarian Di Empire's sacred ground and not everyone has it."
Chancellor Ba Shan covered his chest and said, "I'm originally a Khan of Barbarian Di Empire. Back then I had followed teacher to travel around and we came to Barbarian Di Empire. We had heard that Barbarian Di Empire revered military skills, therefore, I had battle the strong practitioners on the prairie, winning all hundred battles without being defeated, thus I was honored as Martial Khan. Martial Khan means Martial Emperor in Eternal Peace Empire's terms."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Martial Emperor? Senior Brother Ba Shan actually had such a resounding reputation in Barbarian Di Empire!" Qin Mu was secretly speechless.
Ling Yuxiu immediately said, "Teacher, you're an expert of the battle techniques school?"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded his head and gave a smiled, "Back then I followed my teacher to cultivate knife skills. However, after teacher had gone missing, it had been a long time since my knife skills had any improvement. It was then Imperial Preceptor had pushed for a reform, therefore, I came to Eternal Peace to learn spells and sword skills, trying to take advice from him to break my bottleneck. However, as a matter of fact, my strongest skill is battle spell, not battle technique."
Ling Yuxiu's heart shook slightly. Along this journey, Chancellor Ba Shan had taught them paths, skills, and divine arts, explaining the ancient scrolls one by one to them. This made her think that Chancellor Ba Shan was most proficient in spells and sword skills. Never did she expect he was actually a disciple of battle techniques school. How unexpected!
What was even more unexpected was that Chancellor Ba Shan actually had the title of Martial Emperor in Barbarian Di Empire and was greatly respected.
This was something of the highest honor for a foreign tribe in Barbarian Di Empire!
That barbarian general led everyone into the pass and asked, "Why did Martial Emperor come back to our empire? Ever since you gave yourself up to Eternal Peace Empire, all the heroes in our prairie have despised you and have wanted to take back the title of Martial Emperor."
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled, "The scholars of our Imperial College want to walk down the path I had taken back then and meet the young heroes of the shaman cult."
That barbarian general trembled slightly and sneered as he looked at Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu, "Them? Seriously ?"
Ling Yuxiu was excited and shot a glance at Qin Mu, snickering, "We're going to meet the young heroes of the shaman cult."
Chancellor Ba Shan said, "Just them. Coming here this time, I plan to visit the sacred ground of the prairie, Rolan's Golden Palace, to block the gate of Rolan's Golden Palace by sitting there. Back then, I had blocked the gate of Rolan's Golden Palace, which was how I had gotten the title of Martial Emperor."
The muscles at corners of the barbarian general's eyes twitched furiously as he sneered, "Back then Heaven Khan was around. That was why you could succeed in blocking the gate. How's your ability compared to Heaven Khan now?"
"Even though I'm not as good as him, there isn't much difference between us now."
The expression of that barbarian general sank and shouted to a soldier, "Release the hawk-eagle wolf to inform Rolan's Golden Palace, Martial Khan is here to block the gate!"
That barbarian general immediately shouted and a moment later, a huge wolf with wings rose into the sky and flapped its wings into the deeper parts of the prairie.
That barbarian general looked at Chancellor Ba Shan and bowed, "Martial Khan, it's a bumpy road ahead, please!"
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed loudly and brought Qin Mu and the rest into the prairie.
Ling Yuxiu said, "Teacher Ba Shan, who is the Heaven Khan that barbarian mentioned?"
"My teacher, Heaven Knife."
Chancellor Ba Shan looked up to the sky and said calmly, "Back then he brought me to Rolan's Golden Palace to block the gate and was honored as Heaven Emperor beyond the Great Wall."
"Grandpa Butcher was actually so impressive in the past." Qin Mu was shocked.
Butcher had a short fuse and always looked angry. When he went to Grandma Temple to sell meat, he looked like a fierce looking fiend with the two kitchen knives in his hands and scared many of the young maidens in Great Ruins to tears.
He actually had the title of Heaven Khan in the past?
Heaven Khan meant Heaven Emperor and how awe-inspiring was the title of Heaven Emperor? How could it only be used to scare young maidens to tears?
Qin Mu simply couldn't imagine how domineering Butcher was in the past.
Hu Ling'er muttered, "Martial Emperor beyond the Great Wall, Heaven Emperor beyond the Great Wall, how impressive…"
The prairie was vast but sparsely populated. Sometimes they walked half a day and couldn't even see a village. They looked up at the cloudless sky. The greenness of the prairie merged together with the blue color of the sky. The beautiful scenery made them feel fresh.
Chancellor Ba Shan looked boorish, tall and extremely sturdy, slightly similar to the man on the prairie. If they passed a village, the herdsmen would come forward to propose a toast. They were all very warm-hearted."
"Eternal Peace Empire has three big sects. The number one sect of the righteous path, Dao Sect. The number one sect of Buddhism, Great Thunderclap Monastery. The number one cult of the devil path, Heavenly Devil Cult."
When night fell, they came to a village to settle down. Chancellor Ba Shan sat beside a bonfire and said, "However, on the prairie, the number one sacred ground is Rolan's Golden Palace, the biggest shaman cult. Grand Shaman of Rolan's Golden Palace has an extremely high position on the prairie and the Khans on the prairie were all conferred monarchical power by Grand Shaman of Rolan's Golden Palace. If the old Khan is dead and his son wants to succeed him, the son will have to go to Rolan's Golden Palace to request Grand Shaman to confer monarchical power to him."
Ling Yuxiu said, "Our Eternal Peace Empire was also like this in the past. My father mentioned before that Eternal Peace Empire was only ten percent of what it is now and was a vassal state of Longevity Sect. Back then my Ling Family wasn't the imperial family as well. It was then the sect master of Longevity Sect got tired of the emperor and deposed him, choosing my ancestor as the emperor and changing the dynasty directly. After that, my Ling Family made great efforts to build a strong empire and secretly expanded ourselves, finally getting rid of Longevity Sect. That's how we grew greater."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He didn't know that Eternal Peace Empire had such a past.
Chancellor Ba Shan drank his wine and put down his wine gourd, "There were over thirty small countries in the past on the current national land of Eternal Peace Empire. Every country had their emperor and was controlled by a sect. These sects were supported by these countries. The emperors had to present tribute every year to these sects. Now the sects have become vassals of the empire. It's natural for these sects to be unhappy therefore they would rebel when they have the chance. There are also quite a lot sects beyond the Great Wall but the biggest and stronger power is Rolan's Golden Palace. The Khans of all the countries acknowledge allegiance to the golden palace and there is completely no way for the other sects to contend against the golden palace."
Qin Mu said, "Senior brother, how's the power of Rolan's Golden Palace compared to the three big sects?"
Chancellor Ba Shan said calmly, "They're about the same."
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up. Blocking the gate of Rolan's Golden Palace was equivalent to blocking the mountain gate of Dao Sect and the mountain gate of Great Thunderclap Monastery, one could well imagine the difficulty!
"However, this time going to Rolan's Golden Palace isn't to block the gate but to steal something."
Chancellor Ba Shan chuckled, "Junior brother, princess, you two will block the gate while I go into the palace to steal something. When I get my hands on it, we'll leave immediately. Princess, I will increase the training on your fundamentals these few days. This is to allow you to unleash the power of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique to its maximum!"
Ling Yuxiu was slightly worried.
The next day, they continued on their journey but this time Chancellor Ba Shan made them travel on feet. As they walked, he made Ling Yuxiu execute the technique she had learned.
Chancellor Ba Shan had a sharp eye and he could know Ling Yuxiu's inadequacies just with one look. He then instructed Ling Yuxiu to correct herself and practiced it over and over again.
It was the first time for Ling Yuxiu to suffer so much. Even though she was astute and capable in the past, that was the result of the imperial family's education. Yet in regards to martial arts and divine arts, she wasn't as hardworking.
This time Chancellor Ba Shan brought her to polish up her fundamentals and made her train assiduously so that she was able to unleash the power of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique.
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was the best technique of the imperial family. After the improvements from the imperial court and occupying the location where the nine dragons gathered, the qi of the nine dragons lingering in the imperial city had a miraculous effect which allowed the children of the imperial family like Ling Yuxiu to cultivate this technique twice as fast.
Ling Yuxiu's vital qi cultivation wasn't low, it's only her fundamentals that were not solid.
Over ten days later, she was polished by Chancellor Ba Shan into a totally different person with her abilities improving rapidly.
"Nine Dragons Monarch Technique itself is a technique for the spell divine arts and the strongest point of spell divine arts lies in explosive strength, for example, flame divine art."
Chancellor Ba Shan stretched out his hand and pointed, shooting out a fireball which flew over three hundred miles. That fireball was only the size of a fist but it suddenly exploded and the blazing flames expanded a few thousand times and the prairie within a radius of dozens of yards was destroyed by the explosion. The ground was burnt black and there were even signs of rocks melting in the heart of the explosion.
"Nine Dragons Monarch Technique has an extremely deep attainment in the path of spells. Some people said that spells school and battle technique school are two extreme schools but actually there isn't much extremity between spells and battle techniques, instead, they could be interoperated."
Chancellor Ba Shan borrowed the big iron hammer from Ling Yuxiu and said, "Princess, look carefully. Junior brother, come and face me."
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and his Junior Protector Sword flew out of its sheath, stabbing towards Chancellor Ba Shan.
Chancellor Ba Shan swang the hammer which was the big hammer Qin Mu gave to Ling Yuxiu. At this moment, blazing flames actually sprouted out from the head of the hammer and collided with Junior Protector Sword.
Boom!
A violent explosion burst forth from the head of the hammer, blowing Junior Protector Sword away.
Flames raged around Chancellor Ba Shan and only the patch of grass which he was standing on was still green.
Ling Yuxiu was shocked and immediately saw the crucial points. Chancellor Ba Shan had hidden the flame divine art inside the big hammer and when Junior Protector Sword got into contact with it, the flame divine art burst forth and blew away Junior Protector Sword.
Qin Mu used his vital qi thread to sweep back his Junior Protector Sword. With the sword light flashing, he attacked Chancellor Ba Shan.
The distance between the two of them was slightly far and Chancellor Ba Shan swang the iron hammer up and down, with every blow perfectly blocking Junior Protector Sword. Rumbling explosions followed after every strike and the heat waves surged forth astonishingly.
Ling Yuxiu's heart was thumping wildly. Chancellor Ba Shan was showing her a way of battling that she had never thought of before, to perfectly merge battle techniques and spells together and becoming incomparably overbearing!
Qin Mu's Junior Protector Sword was blown away time and time again as he admired him endlessly. Chancellor Ba Shan first learned from Butcher the Heaven Knife before going into Eternal Peace Empire to learn spells. That finally brought him down a path of his own!
By executing spells and battle techniques in this way, Chancellor Ba Shan had also pointed out a path for Qin Mu!
The title of Martial Emperor was well deserved!
Merging two different kinds of cultivation methods into one, even Chancellor Ba Shan's abilities were inferior to Butcher, he could already be considered as a master of this generation!
Chancellor Ba Shan pulled back his hammer skills and returned the red-hot hammer to Ling Yuxiu and said, "I couldn't reach the extreme realm by cultivating knife like my teacher, therefore, I could only take an alternate path. Teacher's knife could split the heaven and earth. He can cut down the heavens, and destroy all divine arts with one knife but I can't do it. That's why I had taken the chance to enter Imperial College during Imperial Preceptor's reform to learn spells divine arts, trying to make a breakthrough. Princess Yuxiu, you have the foundation of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, it's the best for you to take my path."
Ling Yuxiu had completely accepted it willingly and consulted seriously. She had no more complaint even when Chancellor Ba Shan made her practice her fundamentals diligently.
Qin Mu also couldn't resist the temptation and consulted Chancellor Ba Shan. Chancellor Ba Shan naturally said everything that he knew and there was no end to his talking. Even Hu Ling'er and the green cow had got quite some benefits.
As they went deeper into the prairie, they practiced the fusion between battle technique and spells. Ling Yuxiu had already preliminary grasped the technique of fusing battle techniques and spells. Qin Mu and her fought fiercely and their entire bodies broke out in sweat.
When it was time to rest, Qin Mu took out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat and Ling Yuxiu smiled, "Imperial academician, let me help you wipe."After she said this, she snatched the handkerchief over and dabbed it on his forehead.
Qin Mu also saw sweats on her forehead, "You're also sweating. Let me help you wipe as well."
Ling Yuxiu handed the handkerchief over to him. Suddenly Chancellor Ba Shan's expression changed hugely and he raised his hands to push forward while shouting, "Heavenly Spirits Escarpment!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
With Chancellor Ba Shan's shout, a wall of light which was dozens of yards high and literally had no thickness appeared in front of them.
This escarpment gave off an orange glow and had a width of six hundred yards. There were strange markings covered all over it and in the center of every marking was a burning star. There were a total of thirty-six patterns on the entire escarpment and there were thirty-six flaming stars which looked like a star atlas.
Just as Chancellor Ba Shan executed Heavenly Spirits Escarpment, cries of slaughter suddenly came in front of them as a battlefield came shifting towards them.
Hundreds of divine arts practitioners came whizzing over as they sat on huge beasts that roared as they sped along and came face to face with this escarpment which popped out unexpectedly between the heaven and earth.
The faces of those barbarian divine art practitioners turned pale white and an old barbarian general with white hair shouted loudly, "Quick, crumble it!"
Countless divine arts surged towards the escarpment and rumbles sounded out continuously.
There were also flying swords which gave off ear-piercing screeches as they stabbed at the escarpment, however, the tips of the swords could often more than not, penetrate through this escarpment before being fixed in place in the boundless escarpment. The swords could neither go forward nor be collected back.
Hum, hum, hum. Heavenly Spirits Escarpment vibrated continuously from the attacks and there were hundreds of swords that were added to the wall. At the back, there were still divine arts bursting forth and smashing the escarpment.
Those few hundred barbarian divine arts practitioners collided onto the wall. This, plus the divine arts into the fray, made cracks begin to form continuously on this escarpment. Chancellor Ba Shan shouted as he pushed his hands forward again and a hum was heard. Another Heavenly Spirits Escarpment was created which merged with the escarpment in front which had started cracking.
The amount of pressure he was withstanding was unimaginable as he was constantly forced to retreat. Among these few hundred divine arts practitioners, there was no lack of strong practitioners of Seven Stars Realm, Celestial Being Realm and even Life and Death Realm. With all of them cooperating and putting the pressure on him, it was already extremely terrifying for Chancellor Ba Shan to be able to use Heavenly Spirits Escarpment to contend against them and not let them crush the escarpment.
"Sacrifice the knife pellets!" that old general shouted sternly.
Whoosh!
Balls of knife pellets flew into the sky and spun in front of the escarpment. Suddenly, countless of knife lights shot towards the escarpment and the crisp clanking sounds rang incessantly. In a split second, the escarpment was completely pierced by over tens of thousands of treasure knives.
Chancellor Ba Shan's expression changed hugely and he moved back ten steps from the pressure coming from the escarpment. His Heavenly Spirits Escarpment continued to shrink from being pressured by the terrifying power.
"Junior brother, princess, we're going to enter the barbarian's battlefield!"
Chancellor Ba Shan shouted, "Both of you be careful!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly and he suddenly heard the toot of a bugle horn from the depths of the prairie. Another army had managed to catch up in their chase.
That old barbarian general was helpless and shouted sternly, "Face the enemies!"
It was a huge army that had come chasing over and it was formed up of most divine arts practitioners and martial arts practitioners of the barbarian tribe. Martial arts practitioners were foot soldiers while divine arts practitioners were the cavalry that rode huge strange beasts. Other than that, there were also huge birds spreading their wings in the sky and some soldiers from Barbarian Di Empire were standing on the backs of the birds. However, they were all women that wore rainbowed colored feathers on their heads and threw spells and sharp swords downwards.
Qin Mu looked through the escarpment and saw a barbarian general that had a majestic appearance sitting on a white elephant. That white elephant was a chunk taller than the other strange beasts and was no inferior to this green bull that was under their feet.
That young barbarian general swept his gaze over here and revealed an astonished expression when he saw Heavenly Spirits Escarpment. He instantly regained his composure and shouted, "Wind!"
A troop immediately came forward and took down the huge bottle gourds on their backs. Slamming them down heavily, they opened the mouths of the bottle gourds that were in front of them and black air immediately rushed out from the huge bottle gourds. The black air turned into tornadoes which grew larger and larger as if it was a dragon with its head in the sky and its tail on the ground, wreaking havoc wherever they swept across.
Meanwhile, those officers who had released the wind immediately leaped into the sky and stepped on the wind direction to rush towards the old general's army, sweeping countless of divine arts practitioners into midair.
When the soldiers of this barbarian tribe got swept into the sky, those officers made their moves on them and slashed at them with their knives, slaughtering the barbarian soldiers one by one.
That general on the white elephant shouted deeply, "Rain!"
Another troop rushed forward and placed down the earthen jars they were carrying on their backs. When they opened the lids, clouds of mist flew out from the jar. These barbarian officers rose into the air by stepping on the mist and heavy rain came pouring down.
These officers cast spells in the clouds, turning the raindrops into rain swords and stabbed them downwards. The barbarian soldiers below had no time to dodge and their heads got pierced through by the raindrops, turning them into sieves!
That young general shouted again, "Thunder!"
The female barbarians on the backs of the huge birds started to beat their drums which gave off rumblings of thunder. The thunder pounded down from above and causing the barbarian soldiers who were defending against the wind and rain to space out from the vibrations. This caused their defenses to subconsciously slack off and more of them got swept into the wind and rain, dying on the spot.
With the wind, rain and thunder three troops casting their spells, there were not many barbarian soldiers that were left alive. Those that were left alive were all strong practitioners that could hardly be hurt by normal spells.
That old barbarian general knew he wasn't a match for them and couldn't escape thus he hurriedly kneeled on the floor and stated loudly, "General Torimu, I surrender, surrender! I beg General Torimu to let me survive!"
Upon seeing this, the other twenty plus strong practitioners of the barbarian tribe also knelt down even though they were unwilling to do so. Surviving was more important to them, "We're willing to surrender!"
A cold light flashed across the eyes of General Torimu as he sneered, "You, the Tiermu Tribe tried to start a rebellion and you still want to live? Khan has ordered not to accept any surrender!"
The expression of that old general changed hugely and was about to turn violent when that General Torimu stretched out his arm and pointed. A sword pillar that was as thick as a thumb stabbed through the air and even though the two of them were three hundred yards apart, that sword pillar arrived in a flash and absolutely didn't give that old general time to dodge it, penetrating through his skull directly.
That sword pillar nailed itself onto the wall of light formed by Heavenly Spirit Escarpment and penetrated a tiny hole in this divine art of Chancellor Ba Shan.
Chancellor Ba Shan raised his eyebrows and dispersed Heavenly Spirits Escarpment. They only saw the army of General Torimu slaughtering their way over as they slaughtered every single barbarian of the rebel army, leaving not even one alive.
Most of the barbarian officers cut off the heads and hung them around their waists while cheering endlessly.
There were still some that snatched the human heads and arguing who was the one that had killed them.
Qin Mu frowned. Even if it was in Great Ruins, there was no social custom of snatching human heads.
"Collect all their souls and offer them to the golden palace!"
That General Torimu rode his white elephant forward and greeted Chancellor Ba Shan, "Could that be Martial Khan?"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded his head.
The eyes of General Torimu twinkled and was eager to give it a try, "Martial Khan blocked eight hundred divine arts practitioners with the power of one man, your ability sure is extraordinary. However, you aren't as powerful as they have mentioned in the legends. It seems like your title of Martial Khan can't be maintained anymore."
Chancellor Ba Shan chuckled as he stood steadily on the bull.
Radiance shot out from General Torimu's eyes as he suddenly stood up on the back of the elephant. The sword glow in his hand expanded sharply and his sword qi broke through the air as it stabbed towards Chancellor Ba Shan, covering the entire sky with sword lights in a split second!
Chancellor Ba Shan stretched out his hand to pull out his knife and gave a slash. The sword lights suddenly vanished and only a knife was left slashing horizontally across the heaven and earth. A loud rumble sounded out and the knife light vanished, along with that General Torimu who was on the back of the elephant.
There were still other barbarian generals standing on the white elephant and they were all shocked. They could only hear a long "ah" coming from behind them and they hurriedly turned their heads back to see General Torimu flying further and further away.
"His ability is not bad. However, his discernment is lacking."
Chancellor Ba Shan sheathed his knife and after a moment, General Torimu returned. The armor on his body had been split into two halves and his gaze had new found respect when he looked toward Chancellor Ba Shan.
"Martial Khan, your fame for fighting prowess has been passed down in the prairie until today."
Torimu knelt down on one knee and placed his palm on his chest, "Is Martial Khan going to the golden palace? Grand Shaman has already given the order for us to treat Martial Khan generously."
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded his head, "I understand, stand up. Back then Grand Shaman had conferred me the title of Martial Khan. From the looks of it now, since he was the one who had conferred it, he naturally has to take it back personally. There should be more heroes appearing on your prairie otherwise why would Grand Shaman look forward to me going forth to Rolan's Golden Palace?"
Torimu stood up and said, "The heroes we have on our prairie are as many as the stars in the sky, therefore we naturally have people who could defeat Martial Khan."
Hu Ling'er giggled, "This general, I like how you shoot the bull."
"Shoot the bull? Who dares to shoot me?"
The green bull sneered and he suddenly saw that white elephant. He immediately moved closer to her and nudged the elephant's body while laughing mischievously, "White elephant, are you male or female?"
That white elephant swang her trunk at it. The green bull ended it with his nose bloodied.
"It's a female." Hu Ling'er prone beside the green cow's ear and whispered.
The green cow raised his spirits and chuckled at the white elephant, "Your skin is so white, I like you, do you eat tree peony? I have some here, they're so tender you can squeeze water out from them…"
Torimu led the army to escort them to Rolan's Golden Palace. Qin Mu sized up this army and was slightly curious.
The military strategy that this army had used to eliminate the rebel army was very unusual. It was very similar to Eternal Peace Empire's military strategy, therefore, he didn't know if it was Eternal Peace Empire who had learned the tactics of the barbarians or if it was the barbarians who had learned the tactics of Eternal Peace Empire.
After one battle, Torimu respected them deeply and offered food and drinks on their journey, being extremely deferential to them.
Chancellor Ba Shan didn't avoid him when he taught Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu the fusion of battle techniques and spells, however, when he taught them to the crucial parts, he would have to transmit his voice.
Six to seven days later, they had come to the deepest part of the prairie and they were not far from Rolan's Golden Palace. Torimu didn't escort them anymore and had instead led his army to return to their own tribe.
Chancellor Ba Shan frowned and let out a murky breath, "It seems like Grand Shaman is pretty meticulous about my arrival. This time he will definitely take back the title of Martial Khan. I'm afraid when I reach the golden palace, I'm the one who would be challenged. If that's the case, I would be too busy to steal back teacher's lower body."
Qin Mu became eager to try and said, "Senior brother, I had learned before the methods of stealing."
Chancellor Ba Shan shot a glance at him and shook his head, "Rolan's Golden Palace is the sacred grounds on the prairie which is equivalent to the sacred grounds like Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery. There are countless of mechanism and all sorts of seals inside. Your methods of stealing are completely useless. You can't' break or solve the seals and mechanism inside."
"The person who taught me to steal is very powerful."
Qin Mu said seriously, "He's Grandpa Cripple of our village, even though he had lost a leg, however…"
Chancellor Ba Shan shook his hand and raised his spirits, "His leg was even chopped off by other people, this only means he is inept. You don't have to think about how to steal back teacher's lower body, I'll settle this matter. Both of you just have to keep your minds on blocking the mountain gate of Rolan's Golden Palace! Leave the rest to me."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
He didn't give Qin Mu a chance to say his words and muttered, "I'm just afraid Grand Shaman this fellow will play a shell game on me and find people to fight me one after another, keeping me busy and unable to get away… This is getting slightly difficult."
Not long later, Rolan's Golden Palace finally appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
Qin Mu looked in the distance and saw a lake suddenly appearing in the boundless prairie. With bluish green ripples undulating, the lake was so vast that it was like an ocean in the prairie.
Qin Mu looked into the distance and could faintly see huge mountains extending forever into the distance. These mountains were wrapped in silver and piled up with snow.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the towering mountains, there was a golden mountain shining gloriously. Qin Mu opened his Heaven's Eyes to take a look and finally saw that it wasn't a golden mountain but a golden palace in its glorious splendor.
There were simply too many palace halls which completely covered the entire mountain, therefore from afar, it looked like a gold mountain.
There was no fix currency on the prairie and only gold was accepted therefore they had used the gold ingots that General Bian Zhenyun had given to them to pay for their meals throughout the entire journey.
To the commoners on the prairie, gold was very rare and had an extremely high value, and the palace here was constructed out of entirely gold, it showed how luxurious the golden palace was.
Chancellor Ba Shan came to the lake and Qin Mu looked around. There was a wooden boat berthed there and there was a man who grew horns on his head on the boat. He was dressed in black and stood at the bow of the boat while leaning on the bamboo pole used for rowing the boat.
On the shallow water regions of the lake, there are also wooden poles stabbed there and on every wooden pole, there was a decomposed head hanging on it.
"The shamans' soul collection skills are even more devilish than our Heavenly Saint Cult."
Qin Mu looked at that man and the face of this man was like a mountain goat, although it was a brown mountain goat which was different from the usual white mountain goat. Furthermore, there was not much hair on his face.
"Goat-faced shaman?" Qin Mu was slightly stunned.
When he was in the capital city, he had treated a few soldiers who had suffered from shaman poison and heard the soldier said that they had met a barbarian that grew horns on his head. That barbarian had used a mirror to reflect them, making them fall into a coma.
Qin Mu had originally thought that the shaman had worn a mask and now that he had seen the shaman on the wooden boat, only then did he know that there were actually barbarians that grew horns on their heads.
That goat-faced shaman glanced at them and gave off a sharp voice, "Martial Khan, Grand Shaman has waited for quite some time! Please board the boat!"
Chancellor Ba Shan boarded the boat and smiled, "The water of this lake is weak water and has no buoyancy. Even feathers sink when they land on the surface of the river. We have to rely on the boat of Rolan's Golden Palace to be able to cross. Let us get on the boat."
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu boarded the wooden ship along with the green bull and Hu Ling'er. The eyes of that shaman landed on Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu before sneering and pushing the boat over to the opposite shore.
Ling Yuxiu smiled, "If we can't step on the weak water over, can't we walk around it? We can also fly across it."
That barbarian shaman laughed sarcastically, "Fly over? You can try the air here and see if you can fly? The air here is dead."
"The air is dead?" Ling Yuxiu asked puzzledly.
The green cow beside her spoke in a low muffled voice, "The air here is indeed dead, you can't fly here."
He was good at controlling the tempest and he could feel that the air didn't flow at all. When a person breathes normally, air would circulate when they breathe in and out. If the air doesn't flow, the air under their nostrils would be emptied when they take in a breath, turning that space into a vacuum. When the air beside can't be resupplied to the area under the nostrils, one would naturally suffocate.
This Weak Water Lake was as such. The air above the lake was fixed in place by an ineffable power and wouldn't move at all. Only when the wooden boat slid forward, the people on the boat would move as well so they wouldn't feel any peculiarity when they breathed. If the boat stopped, they would breathe in all the air under their nostrils and when this went on for a period of time, they would definitely suffocate.
If they executed skills of flying, it would be pretty impossible for them to fly above the lake. Skills of flying required one to vibrate the air to form an updraft. However, vibrating the air here would only form a vacuum, making one unable to fly.
Hu Ling'er also gave it a try and discovered that the spells to call the wind and summon the rain were completely useless here.
That barbarian shaman chuckled, "It's not impossible to walk around it. However, Weak Water Lake is too wide and if you walk around it, it will take you two days. Furthermore, when you reach the snow mountains, hehe, there aren't many who can walk out of it."
Ling Yuxiu was speechless.
Qin Mu secretly opened his Heaven's Eyes and Green Heaven's Eyes to look up at the sky. He could faintly see some indiscernible fog like muslin shrouding the entire sky above the lake, making his heart stirred slightly, "I guess it should be this muslin which made the air unable to circulate?"
This thin muslin couldn't be touched yet it really existed. This should be the restriction which Chancellor Ba Shan had mentioned.
He inadvertently looked down into the water and his heart trembled slightly. At the bottom of this lake were sets of white bones which made Ling Yuxiu gasped when she looked down.
Chancellor Ba Shan said, "These are all the slaves used by the shaman cult to refine their spells."
Qin Mu felt a bone-chilling cold.
The goat-faced shaman rowed the boat rather quickly as he had a unique secret method to travel around the surface of the lake like the wind. Even the weak water couldn't sink this boat.
Not long later, the wooden boat berthed at the bottom of the snow mountain. That goat-faced shaman laughed mischievously, "Martial Khan, please!"
Chancellor Ba Shan gave a smile and walked toward the golden mountain.
Toot toot.
A long and deep sound sounded out from the bugle horn. The sound was so deep and resounding that it vibrated the eardrums in resonance. In the distance, an avalanche suddenly happened on all the mountains, adding an imposing grandeur to it.
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed out loudly and suppressed the rumbles given off by the bugle horn and avalanche. Qin Mu and the rest couldn't feel any abnormalities but the qi and blood of the people on the mountain flared up from his laughter and everyone had their blood rushed to the heads, making them feel as if their heads were going to explode yet they couldn't suppress it down.
At this moment, a deep voice traveled out from the top of the mountain, "The vigor of Martial Khan's cultivation now has far surpassed the vigor of yours in those days. Was there a need to show off your strength the moment you have arrived? Martial Khan, please come up the mountain and meet me!"
This voice sounded very clear among Chancellor Ba Shan's laughter. The voice was old yet was full of power, therefore, it was obvious he was also an exceptional expert.
"Grand Shaman's words, I naturally have no choice but to obey. However, the purpose of me coming today is to block your mountain gate and not to catch up on the past."
Chancellor Ba Shan and the old voice spoke to each other leisurely from a distant, "I'll go up the mountain right now!"
Qin Mu raised his head and saw a gold staircase laid all the way up to the mountain and after walking up for a brief moment, there was a golden gate erected there and the gate had no hinged barriers.
This gate which was formed from gold was over thirty yards in height and over sixty yards in width. It was embedded with precious jades and precious pearls and really luxurious.
Back then it was Butcher who had brought Chancellor Ba Shan here and blocked the gate for three months, defeating all the young talents of Rolan's Golden Palace and the experts who had rushed in from every part of the prairie after they had heard the news.
Thus Chancellor Ba Shan was honored as Martial Emperor by the prairie.
Back then Butcher had also experienced a hundred or so battles of all sizes and gave all the older generation of Rolan's Golden Palace a beating, receiving the fame of Heaven Khan, the Heaven Emperor.
Chancellor Ba Shan brought them to the front of the mountain gate and saw many shamans already waiting there. There were also strong practitioners of the prairie and they were not the disciples of Rolan's Golden Palace but they were also guarding there. They must be the famous existences of the prairie and had rushed over when they heard the news.
"Bull bull!" Chancellor Ba Shan gave a shout.
The green bull mooed deeply and his body suddenly swelled up. His muscles bulged and he grew taller and taller until he became a bull-head monster with a muscular human body. Taking great strides to the golden gate, he raised his shoulders upwards and uprooted that incomparably heavy mountain gate!
The barbarian shamans and strong practitioners at the side were all dumbfounded.
Chancellor Ba Shan said indifferently, "Bring the gate up the mountain!"
Qin Mu's heart slightly trembled as he knew Chancellor Ba Shan's intention. If they blocked the gate under the mountain, it would be difficult for them to enter the interior of Rolan's Golden Palace. By carrying the gate up and blocking it in front of the main hall of Rolan's Golden Palace, it would be much easier to steal the lower body of Butcher back.
However, by doing this, he had completely offended Rolan's Golden Palace. They would definitely fight to the last gasp.
If they entered deep into Rolan's Golden Palace, those strong practitioners just had to block the mountain path leading down and they would be trapped. In that case, they would be in a very bad situation.
Chancellor Ba Shan gave a cold grunt and walked forward, transmitting his voice to Qin Mu's ears, "After going up the mountain, it wouldn't be just you two blocking the mountain gate. They would probably make a move on me. Things are slightly different from what I have imagined…"
Qin Mu comforted him, "The person who taught me stealing is a cripple, he's really powerful."
"How did he get crippled?" Chancellor Ba Shan asked.
Qin Mu hesitated and said honestly, "It seems like he got one of his leg chopped off after getting caught stealing."
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed grimly, "When I heard that you said he was a cripple, I knew he got crippled after getting caught stealing. Have you stolen anything before?"
Qin Mu hesitated again and shook his head, "I haven't tried yet."
Chancellor Ba Shan completely lost his wishful thinking and his expression was mixed. Suddenly he stuffed a map to Qin Mu and said, "This is the geographic map of Rolan's Golden Palace, keep it with you first… however, I hope you won't have to use it. We'll have to take things step by step now. When we reach the golden palace, we'll have to adapt according to the situation. We just might be able to find the chance to steal back our master's lower body!"
The staircase of Rolan's Golden Palace was extremely long and stretched all the way up to the mountain peak. Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu followed Chancellor Ba Shan up the mountain and looked around. He could see numerous golden-bright and dazzling statues of gods. Each and every statue looked extremely weird. They were human and yet not human, devil and yet not devil, god and yet not god. They had the characteristics of human, devil and god all at the same time, having all kinds of variations in their appearances.
Walking on this kind of road, it made people feel even more stifling and even Hu Ling'er who liked to squabble the green bull had quieted down. Only the green bull incomparably heavy footsteps could be heard.
Qin Mu looked back and the eyes of the strong practitioners and the shamans were spewing fire as they followed them without a word.
In front, numerous golden-bright and dazzling palaces appeared and there were some strange and weirdly shaped humans standing under these palaces. Some of them had horns on their heads and some had wings on their backs. There were some that had heads of beasts and some that grew tails of snakes.
Yet, on the contrary, they weren't the demon race. The demon race had a demon air around, for example, Hu Ling'er had demon air and even though the demon air of the green bull was very faint, he still had it after all.
Meanwhile, these mutants had no demon air.
Hu Ling'er and the green bull were transforming in the direction of a human whereas the strong practitioners of Rolan's Golden Palace were transforming in the directions of a non-human.
That was a different cultivation mentality between Eternal Peace and beyond the Great Wall. Transforming to a non-human and becoming closer to devil and god meant shaman.
However, there were also some people looked like ordinary humans. These people should be able to control their bodies and transform freely using their divine arts.
There were also numerous cages in front of the hall which were stuffed with humans in ragged clothing. They should be the 'ingredients' that the shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace used for practicing their techniques.
Ling Yuxiu's expression changed slightly and got angry, "Those are the people of our Eternal Peace Empire!"
Qin Mu said nonchalantly, "Eternal Peace Empire has also captured the people of my Great Ruins and treated them as slaves."
Ling Yuxiu's body trembled and she kept silent.
"Young master, they not only use humans to practice their techniques, they also capture demons."
Hu Ling'er stuck her nose out and Qin Mu looked over in the direction to see some demons getting locked in a few cages.
Chancellor Ba Shan said, "The shaman cult has an unusual technique that could use souls to cultivate, to use them to change their bodies' structures. For example, by absorbing birds' souls, they could grow wings or even replace their heads with birds' heads. By absorbing the souls of goats, their bodies could transform to goats. Those who manage to cultivate divine arts are called great shamans while those that haven't are called shamans. Those who reach Celestial Being Realm are called shaman kings. Rolan's Golden Palace is the sacred grounds of the shaman cult and their technique is called Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures which is pretty extraordinary."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
When they came to the peak of the mountain, they could see the lavishness of this place. The buildings and palaces were all shining brilliant with golden light and the pillar of the main hall was so thick that it required two men to wrap their arms around it. There were even more golden statues of gods and numerous barbarians stood under the golden statues of gods.
Suddenly a golden statue moved and Qin Mu's heart leaped. Now then he knew that these were not golden statues of gods but great shamans!
The great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace actually refined their bodies like pure gold, radiating off golden light!
In front of the golden palace and under the towering gate, the great shamans were like gods shining brilliantly in golden light, solemn and dignified. In the lead was an elder that had golden hair and a golden body which was tall and sturdy. He wore golden clothes and held a scepter in his hand. With a feathered crown on his head, he asked with a resounding voice, "Martial Khan, you have been free and unfettered for so many years, why have you deliver yourself to our gate now?"
"Deliver to your gate is a good word. Green bull, put down the mountain gate!"
The green bull put down the mountain gate with a crash and Chancellor Ba Shan laughed loudly, "Grand Shaman, I've delivered the mountain gate. Most of these golden senior brothers seem to have been beaten by me before. When I blocked the gate for a hundred days back then, I injured and killed many people. I couldn't hold back when fighting the strong ones, therefore, I could only kill them while the weak ones had all survived in my hands. These weak ones are the ones present here."
The moment he said that, the entire mountain immediately broke into an uproar. All the strong practitioners of the older generation in Rolan's Golden Palace were unable to restrain their anger, saturating the air in an awful atmosphere.
Chancellor Ba Shan was sharp-tongued and instantly offended every single expert of Rolan's Golden Palace, provoking everyone's anger. Plus the fact that he had carried the mountain gate up the mountain, it would definitely be hard for them to leave the matter at that.
One of the great shamans had a solemn expression and sneered with his voice that was like metal striking stone, "Our injuries were long healed. Over these years, our golden palace has been honing our strength and we awfully wish to exchange blows with Martial Khan once more to erase our shame."
Chancellor Ba Shan gave a smile, "You'll have the chance. However, this time, I'm here to block the gate and not to beat you to death."
He brought Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu forward and came to the gate of the golden palace. He raised his head to sized up this mountain gate and recalled the past, sighing ruefully, "Back then I had followed teacher to the bottom of this mountain gate and beat many people to death…"
The eyes of the great shamans that were shining brilliantly like gods spewed fire as they stared at them. Chancellor Ba Shan looked back and winked at Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu, "And now, I'll leave this mountain gate to you two."
Ling Yuxiu was slightly worried and said softly, "Teacher, the rules here seem to be different from Eternal Peace."
Chancellor Ba Shan had a smile on his face and said with a soft voice, "Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery coming to Imperial College to block the gate is merely to compete against us and doesn't concern life and death. After fighting, everyone is still polite and amiable. As for this place, everyone fights to the death. You can leave the opponent alive but if you meet experts of the same level, you'll have to kill them because it would be hard for you to go easy on them. Back then I had met many experts who were on the same level as me and that's why many people had died."
Ling Yuxiu's scalp turned numb.
Qin Mu also composed himself and took in a long breath. Finally, it was the rules of Great Ruins.
Great Ruins had the same rules!
Grand Shaman walked over and came to the bottom of the golden mountain gate. His gaze landed on Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu while speaking neither too fast nor to slow, "We go with the previous rule for blocking the gate, fighting regardless of life and death. Other than that, I will also have to take back the title of Martial Khan, regardless of life and death!"
Chancellor Ba Shan's expression didn't change and said clearly, "Everyone, their cultivation is at Five Elements Realm."
"We understand the rules of blocking the gate."
Grand Shaman's expression remained impervious to emotions and knocked his scepter, "Listen up, disciples of the golden palace, compete with them on Five Elements Realm and fight regardless of life and death. Whoever dares to go pass Five Elements Realm, I'll take your life!"
His voice wasn't loud but it had spread throughout the entire mountain.
Once Grand Shaman had said it, he immediately looked at Chancellor Ba Shan and gave a smile, "Martial Khan, back then Heaven Khan had brought you forward to our golden palace to block our gate. Heaven Khan's remarkable abilities were boundless and naturally commanded respect. However, you're not Heaven Khan."
Chancellor Ba Shan's expression turned grim as he walked through the mountain gate, and his voice penetrated through Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu's mind, "Junior brother, princess, don't worry. As long as they don't kill me, they will still challenge you according to the rules. If I'm killed by them, then you two will be in danger."
The hearts of Ling Yuxiu and Qin Mu shivered.
Their safety depended on the life of Chancellor Ba Shan. If Chancellor Ba Shan was stripped of the title of Martial Khan and was gotten rid of and Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were killed, no one would leak any news. This way, there would be no harm to Rolan's Golden Palace's reputation and the outside world wouldn't know about this challenge.
The strong practitioner of the prairie were all under the rule of Rolan's Golden Palace and as long as Rolan's Golden Palace gave the order, they would definitely not say anything out.
If they let Chancellor Ba Shan leave Rolan's Golden Palace alive, this matter would definitely be spread out by Ba Shan this loud mouth, not only would the entire prairie know about it, even the whole world would know about it.
Chancellor Ba Shan definitely had this ability.
When that time came, Rolan's Golden Palace's reputation would be totally lost.
Therefore, before Chancellor Ba Shan dies, Rolan's Golden Palace would definitely not gang up on Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu, but settle this matter according to the rules.
"Old master, don't get beaten to death," the green bull said loudly.
Chancellor Ba Shan stumbled and turned his back in anger, "We'll be having beef after we go back!"
The green bull immediately shrank back his head.
"Two youths with daring guts. Do you know you're blocking the gate of a sacred ground?"
Suddenly a voice came behind Qin Mu. Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu stood up and looked down the mountain only to see numerous weird-looking shamans walking up to block the path that was leading up.
One of the shamans took a stride forward and his body gave off a faint golden glow. He grew horns on his head, wings on his back and a beak on his mouth. This kind of cultivation method which transformed one into a non-human was indeed rarely seen.
"Senior brother," Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu greeted.
Yet that shaman of the golden palace didn't return their greetings and said with a resounding voice, "Etiquette is something that belongs to your Eternal Peace Empire. Our Rolan's Golden Palace doesn't have that many rules. After killing both of you, I'll absorb your souls to cultivate my divine arts. People like you are much stronger than those slaves and your souls are also incomparably tenacious. It couldn't be better to use them to cultivate my divine arts!"
Qin Mu's gaze wavered and said, "Sister, let me go first, I'll test their techniques and divine arts."
Ling Yuxiu nodded her head. Even though her abilities had rapid improvement along the journey, there was still some gap between her and Qin Mu. Not knowing the ins and outs of a shaman could make them easily be at a disadvantage fighting them.
Qin Mu let out a murky breath and said solemnly, "Green bull, bring my backpack over!"
The green bull came forward and took down the backpack on his back. Qin Mu first placed the knife sheaths on his back, crisscrossing the two Pig Slaughtering Knives. He then put on his sword case behind the knife sheaths, hang his big iron hammer, stuck in a bamboo cane and wore Junior Protector Sword on his waist.
The green bull leaked murderous intent and asked, "I've heard you had herd cows in the past. If you can't even beat me, can you beat them?"
Qin Mu stretched his body and his body crackled while saying indifferently, "I'm an Overlord Body."
The green bull shouted, "My old master has never been defeated under this golden palace!"
Qin Mu had a nonchalant expression, "I'm a natural born Overlord Body. In the whole world, no one can win me in the same realm."
That bird wing shaman took out two golden pestles and his eyes sparkled as he laughed, "What bullshit is an Overlord Body, I've never heard it before."
Qin Mu moved his vital qi with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, causing his vital qi to circulate in an explosive speed, spreading throughout his entire body in a split second.
"I, Overlord Body!"
He raised his foot and a deep footprint was indented on the golden floor under his foot. Boom! His entire body rushed towards that bird wing shaman at such a fast speed that others could only see a series of afterimages.
"The matchless Overlord Body!"
The expression of the bird wing shaman changed hugely and he hurriedly flapped his wings. However, before he could even rise to the sky, he saw Qin Mu's fist smashing over. With the roars of a dragon, his pupils suddenly contracted as he saw a fierce looking dragon's head instead of a fist!
The next instant, he saw two dragon's heads, followed by three then four!
His wings flapped as he wanted to avoid them but it was already too late. In a hurry, he could only use the golden pestles to block his front.
The two golden pestles suddenly bent and the force of Qin Mu's punch actually smashed these two spirit weapons into a thin paper, as they were made of mud.
Whoosh.
That bird wing shaman rose into the sky and turned into a blood fog as he exploded with a bang. From the blood fog came roars of dragons and the blood fog turned into forty-five fierce looking dragons. It was as if it was these forty-five blood dragons and not Qin Mu's fist that had blown this bird wing shaman into pieces!
Meanwhile, on the golden stage in front of the mountain gate, Qin Mu suddenly calmed down from an incomparably intense movement. His violent vital qi had also suddenly quietened down and his face turned serene.
"Green bull, your old master need a hundred days to defeat Rolan's Golden Palace."
Qin Mu turned around and looked at the shamans below the golden stage with a cold gaze, "And I, only need a day."
He stood under the gate and his voice was like the rumbling of thunder, resounding throughout the entire Rolan's Golden Palace, "I just need one day and I can crush the spirit of all the disciples of Rolan's Golden Palace, crumble all their pride and step their dignity under my feet!"
"Presumptuous!"
A shaman erupted into anger and sprinted frantically towards Qin Mu. As he ran, his body underwent a complete transformation. His scalp and skin scattered in all directions and he grew an elephant's head. His body grew taller and more muscular, shredding the shirt on his body into pieces while his limbs grew as thick as an elephant's legs.
Golden glow emanated out from his elephant head and his human body as if he was like a god who had revived with sacrifice, possessing boundless strength!
His cultivation and ability were obviously much stronger than the bird wing shaman. That bird wing shaman's body had not turned golden yet while this shaman's body was like it was made of gold!
Boom!
A huge cauldron like fist smashed towards Qin Mu and his fist vibrated the air, caused thunderclaps to burst forth. The pure white air rings burst forth in all directions!
Behind Qin Mu, Hu Ling'er's snow white fur fluttered backward from the gust of wind, along with Ling Yuxiu's beautiful hair.
"Die!" that elephant head shaman bellowed.
Qin Mu leaped and avoided this incomparably overbearing punch from the side. Carrying his knives on both hands, he rushed to the front of the elephant head shaman with his knife lights lighting up.
Raising The Knife From Forbidden!
Qin Mu rosed into the sky and somersaulted backward. When he landed, he sheathed both his knives back. Meanwhile, that elephant head shaman's huge body split into halves and rolled down the mountain, staining the golden staircase red.
A shaman's eyes turned red with fury and suddenly pulled out a black banner to rush at Qin Mu, shouting sternly, "I'm going to refine your soul, die!"
Qin Mu used Heavenly Devil Nature Technique to seal his souls and spirits. Raising his hand and one finger, the sword case on his back opened up and a flying sword gave a piercing screech as it pierced through the heart of the shaman's brows.
Qin Mu's finger flicked up and the flying sword whooshed back, returning to his sword case with a trail of blood light.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Kill!"
A female shaman with a leopard's head and a leopard's tail raised a mirror, pointing it toward Qin Mu, causing malevolent souls to appear in that mirror.
Ding.
A flying sword suddenly appeared in front of the mirror which tried to pierce through it. However, the surface of the mirror was incomparably solid and actually managed to block this flying sword. But the next moment, the sword span and changed into Drill Sword Form to pierce through the bronze mirror. The sword light shattered the mirror and pierced through the female shaman.
"What's so scary about shaman poison?"
Qin Mu's clothes fluttered in the wind and he raised his hand to retrieve his sword. Another shaman grew fur, claws, and tail of a tiger and pounced forward. He raised a gale as he pounced forward, not giving Qin Mu a chance to draw his sword.
Qin Mu punched sideways and both of them moved irregularly, resulting in endless sounds of collisions. That shaman shook his head and grew out a tiger's head, giving out a thunderous roar continuously to bombard Qin Mu's souls and spirits.
Qin Mu used his fists as a mudra and punched out Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky. Spreading his five fingers outwards, he unleashed Heavenly Devil Freedom Mudra. His fist and palm changed repeatedly, alternating between the path of buddha and devil. The shaman's tiger roar only managed to sound three times before his souls and spirits got smashed into pieces, collapsing on the floor.
Another great shaman of Six Directions Realm suddenly pounced out and his cultivation was even stronger than the previous ones. He could use his divine arts freely and maintain the appearance and form of a normal human.
Even though he had sealed his Six Directions Divine Treasure, the moment he executed his technique, he immediately turned into a violent ape that wielded a golden club which was as thick as a pillar. With his boundless strength, he could sweep a thousand army troops while still being extremely agile.
Qin Mu stretched his hand to pull out his bamboo cane and used his bamboo cane to face the golden club. The two of them clashed like lightning and suddenly the golden club stopped. The shaman revealed an astonished expression when his chest got tapped by the cane.
However, he was still a great shaman of Six Directions Realm and not just a shaman. He immediately unsealed his Six Directions Divine Treasure and just as he had unsealed his divine treasure, his heart got pierced by the bamboo cane, causing his corpse to collapse on the floor.
Qin Mu pulled out the bamboo cane from his heart. Great shamans of Six Direction Realm were called divine arts practitioners in Eternal Peace. However, the only difference was how they had called them, there was actually not much difference between them.
If this divine arts practitioner didn't seal his Six Direction Divine Treasure, it would be hard for Qin Mu to kill him. However, as long as they were in the same realm as Qin Mu, he would have the ability to kill his opponent, no matter if they were of Six Directions Realm or Seven Stars Realm!
Dong.
A golden strong man suddenly jumped onto the golden stage and landed heavily. On his back was a knife sheath that was over one and a half human tall. He suddenly roared at Qin Mu and knife lights swooshed out from his knife sheath and causing a sky full of knife shadows to crash towards Qin Mu.
At the same time, the golden strong man wielded knives on both hands, slashing them towards Qin Mu. The two knives were sometimes forward and sometimes backward, just like two huge pythons that were coiling him and rolling towards Qin Mu.
Qin Mu held a Pig Slaughtering Knife in a normal grip and held the other Pig Slaughtering Knife in a reverse grip while the flying swords flew out from the sword case on his back and faced the knife lights that were slashing downwards.
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining!
Their bodies were one big and one small as the golden strong man was half a body taller than Qin Mu. As the two of them clashed together, there were two knife lights, one vertical and one horizontal. The horizontal one was the mountain that blocked the path forward while the vertical one was the knife that split the mountain. The blood red knife lights rose into the sky as if it was a giant swinging his knives and splitting a path out from the mountain cliff. That golden strong man's body was split into four pieces and was slain by this vertical and horizontal knife lights.
Qin Mu trembled his knife and shook off the blood on the knife. Holding both knives in a reverse grip, he sheathed them back. Suddenly he raised his hand and pointed, causing a flying sword to fly out of its sheath and penetrated through the heart of a shaman's brows who was trying to shoot him with a bow.
"Kill him and take revenge for our senior and junior brothers!"
There were still shamans who continuously poured forward and Qin Mu evaded them, twisting his body to give a back kick. He also used knife, sword, fists, and legs to slay every single one of the shaman who came to challenge him.
After a moment, there was no more sound in the surroundings. In front of the mountain gate of Rolan's Golden Palace, there were over forty bodies lying scattered on the golden staircase.
Qin Mu looked down the stage and below the stage were terrified faces and frightened eyes. When their gazes came into contact with his, they would avoid it and not dare to look at him.
These shamans were strong-willed, however, after Qin Mu had killed over forty people continuously, the spirit and will have unavoidably weakened. As long as it was weakened, it would continue on and grow into fear, the fear of being unable to defeat the opponent which would make them fear and respect Qin Mu!
What Qin Mu had seen along this road had made him harbored resent against Rolan's Golden Palace. When General Torimu had ordered the soldiers to collect the souls of the rebel army in order to offer them to Rolan's Golden Palace, he was still puzzled at that time. Now then he realized that Rolan's Golden Palace actually used souls to cultivate.
This time he had come to take back Butcher's lower body and not to block the gate. Since enmity between them had already been opened, he would just have to destroy the spirit and will of this sect, to crush their confidence in pieces and step on their techniques and skills. This was to let them know that their divine arts that used human souls to cultivate were worthless!
"Which of you have cultivated Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures?"
Qin Mu looked around with a cold expression and his lips slowly curled into a smile, "Come out, I would like to kill one."
Silence fell in front of the mountain gate.
Behind the mountain gate, the expression of the gold like great shamans gradually turned black in Rolan's Golden Palace. After a moment, a youth walked out and a middle-aged great shaman said in a deep voice, "Simuro, his weakness is at the second part of his left shoulder blade. This is the weakness of his technique which he couldn't cultivate."
That young great shaman replied solemnly, "I've already noticed it but I couldn't determine its exact location. Shaman King, much thanks for pointing it out."
Chancellor Ba Shan's face sank and sneered, "Shaman King, as a senior, isn't what you're doing a little despicable?"
"Martial Khan, please!"
That middle-aged great shaman acted blur and raised his hand, "Back then I was defeated under your hands and I pondered over the painful experience, resulting in my cultivation to improve rapidly these few years. I have always wanted to erase my past shame and the heavens must have taken pity on me to finally send you back."
Chancellor Ba Shan suddenly rose into the air and gave off a glow that was like a huge knife which was three hundred yards long and could split the sky. He moved far away and his voice came from a distance, "The cultivations of these people here are too low. I'm afraid they would die from the vibration from our clash, we shall fight on the snow mountains!"
That middle-aged great shaman looked at the grand shaman who stood up and said, "Go!"
Swoosh.
Rays of golden light broke through the sky and chased after that knife light which sprinted straight to the snow mountains.
Among the majestic mountains and boundless white snow, golden lights suddenly broke out and melted the snow. In the golden light, there were snow white knife lights flashing by and that was the place where the world-shaking battle was going on. However, when it traveled to Rolan's Golden Palace, only weak wave motions were left.
Under the mountain gate of the golden palace, Qin Mu turned around and looked at Simuro who was walking down from the sacred hall of the golden palace.
Chancellor Ba Shan had lured most of the experts in Rolan's Golden Palace away which probably made it easier for him to find the lower half of Butcher's body. However, there were still a few senior experts left in from of the sacred hall.
Simuro had a grave expression but his gaze revealed slight excitement. His body was also gold in color. When Qin Mu was exchanging blows with these shamans, he was observing from the side.
Other than trying to discover if Qin Mu had a weakness, the reason why he didn't go forward right away was to let these shamans fight Qin Mu one after another to exhaust Qin Mu's cultivation, giving him a greater chance of victory.
Now that he had already found Qin Mu's weakness and Qin Mu had defeated over forty people in a row, his chance had come.
Qin Mu's expression was like an old well that had no ripple as he sat there calmly as though he had not just experienced over forty fierce battles. Suddenly, both of their bodies moved at the same time. Vital qi burst forth under Qin Mu's feet, giving him an extremely fast speed which brought him straight to Simuro's face in an instant as he unleashed a punch.
Spring Thunder On The Lonely East Sea!
Simuro received a punch from him, however, the sounds of a huge bell burst forth from his body. Qin Mu immediately felt his fist force which was like the churning river surging into the sea hitting something like a bronze and iron wall, making not even the slightest force pass through.
It was as if Simuro's body was crafted out from the hardest metal and the kind that was very solid.
Simuro's body swayed and he suddenly turned into a human that grew a bird's head and wings. The pair of wings on his back were shining brilliantly in golden light and were formed by countless of gold swords. The gold swords hummed and sliced forward!
Qin Mu evaded and retreated while the flying swords flew out from the sword case on his back to face the sword feathers that were slashing over.
Suddenly he noticed that the two wings of Simuro were different from ordinary. Between every sword-shaped feathers, there was vital qi connecting them together which made his heart shudder and he knew that it was bad instantly.
Whoosh!
The sharp swords which formed Simuro's wings suddenly burst apart and flew out from the wings, stabbing towards Qin Mu in all directions.
On these golden swords, there were actually pitch-black eyeballs which rolled around, making them look strange and eerie. There was a spirit trapped within every single one of these swords which had become the spirit of the sword.
Qin Mu's gaze landed on those eyes and suddenly felt giddy. He knew it was bad and immediately closed his eyes while pulling out his knives.
Midnight Battle Across Stormy Cities!
His knife lights moved fast and nimbly as they surrounded his entire body to deflect the golden swords continuously. Midnight Battle Across Stormy Cities had the two words, midnight battle, which already meant that this move didn't require one to use their eyes to see the surroundings.
Simuro's swords were extremely peculiar and when one's gaze landed on his swords, they would have fallen into his trap, therefore, it was the correct decision to use this move.
"Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures sure is extraordinary, it's very demonic."
The knives in Qin Mu's hands clashed with the opponent's swords and he immediately felt that the power in the opponent's swords was inferior to his. The strong point of battle technique school lay in the weapons that one wielded which could unleash all of their strength.
Simuro's golden swords were forced back by Midnight Battle Across Stormy Cities and returned to his side, turning back into a pair of wings. With his wings swinging, he blocked down all of the sharp swords which Qin Mu had shot from his sword case.
Suddenly, both of Qin Mu's knives left his hands as he gave a punch which was like a huge sun in the sky, shining on the yang soul. Simuro got shone by his fist skill causing his mind to waver slightly, however, his moves weren't the least affected, although the eyes on his swords closed from the piercing sunlight and gave off miserable screams as they turned into green smoke.
Qin Mu executed Freedom Mudra with his other hand yet Simuro remained unmoved. Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures had used other people's souls as cultivation ingredients and refined his own souls to be incomparably stable.
His body was also incomparably tough that even Thunderclap Eight Strikes can't shake him up.
Qin Mu frowned slightly and suddenly pointed a finger out. Thirty-six swords flew out from the sword case and merged together to form Drill Sword Form as they stabbed towards Simuro!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Simuro's wings swung up and down in front of his body and the swords that formed his wings continuously changed their positions, trying to block Qin Mu's attacks. However, the next moment, Drill Sword Form had broken through the defense of his wings.
Simuro was startled and felt a pain in his chest. His golden body was actually unable to block Drill Sword Form. He immediately flapped his wings and rose into the sky while raising a gale.
Whoosh!
Just as the gale brewed, Qin Mu immediately stepped on the wind and moved. Simuro gave an alarmed expression. The speed of Qin Mu sprinting in the sky was actually even faster than him flapping his wings to fly!
Cripple's Heaven Pilfering Leg Skills had matchless speed in the world. If he didn't flap his wings to raise a gale, it would be hard for Qin Mu to catch up to him in the sky but with the gale together, the air was like a flat ground to Qin Mu!
"Go!"
Simuro shouted and the golden swords flew out from the wings on his back, stabbing towards Qin Mu and trying to prevent him from closing up on him. His wings were emptied out in an instant and only two golden fleshy wings were left.
His figure immediately crashed towards the ground. At this moment, the knife lights were like waterfall colliding with the golden swords that rapidly stabbing over. A piercing sound sounded out when a golden sword broke through Qin Mu's waterfall and stabbed on his left shoulder, which was precisely at the second part of his shoulder blade.
Meanwhile, Qin Mu's body had also come to the front of Simuro and passed by him, smearing a snow-bright knife light across Simuro's neck.
That knife light was very thin and it seemed like it had cut through Simuro's neck before coming out from the back. However, it also seemed like it didn't give him any injuries at all.
Simuro landed on the ground and the golden swords came clattering back, forming two wings on his back.
Those two golden wings spread open and shot off golden rays in every direction.
"Well done, Senior Brother Simuro!" A voice cried out in surprise and delight.
The morale of the other shamans was boosted and they all shouted, "Senior Brother Simuro, screw this slave of Eternal Peace!"
"The people of Eternal Peace are all two-legged goats, they're only worth to be used for cultivation and are unworthy to live in this world!"
…
Qin Mu landed on the ground and the flying swords flew back one by one into his sword case.
The youth pulled out the golden sword from his shoulder and threw it on the ground. The clothes on his body were still perfectly fine. When this sword had come stabbing over, it was blocked by this embroidered clothes, however, the sword had stabbed into his shoulder blade along with his clothes.
What was called impervious to swords and spears actually couldn't block swords and spears completely. Even though his clothes made from Six Wings Golden Natural Silk had managed to block the golden sword, he was still injured.
Under the golden stage, cheers erupted. Meanwhile, Simuro was still spreading his wings opened majestically as if he was enjoying the cheers of everyone.
Qin Mu walked forward and the cheers gradually softened. Qin Mu raised his hands and sheathed both his knives and came to Simuro's side. However, Simuro didn't move at all and continued to spread his golden wings without putting up any guard.
Qin Mu raised his hand and grabbed his hair, pulling it up gently. Plucking his head off his neck, he threw it down the stage.
The cheers below the golden stage grew softer and softer. Only the shamans that were far away that couldn't see this scene were still cheering, sounding several times piercing to the ears. When the head rolled down from the stage and to the shamans' feet, the cheers were gone.
Simuro who had cultivated the Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures also died. Right when victory was at hand, his head was severed by Qin Mu.
Ling Yuxiu hurried forward and wanted to bind up his wound. Qin Mu shook his hand and said, "It's fine. I said I have to crush their will so I must do it. You can be at ease."
Ling Yuxiu frowned slightly and felt that Qin Mu was slightly overconfident.
"Cowherd, your shoulder is injured, the weakness on your shoulder would only grow bigger. If another great shaman who cultivates Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures appears…"
Just as she had said so, another young great shaman suddenly walked out from the sacred hall of Rolan's Golden Palace. Giving a smile on his face, he said, "Junior Brother Simuro is still too inexperienced and not calm enough, that's why he has died. I, Danbaro of Six Directions Realm, will seal my Six Directions Divine Treasure."
Qin Mu's expression turned solemn and his body floated backward. His feet tapped rapidly and leaped onto the roof of the golden palace hall.
Danbaro laughed loudly and chased him like a shadow. He wielded a big hammer and the head of the hammer was a giant skull. The skull had a dark gold color and there were actually seven bone spikes growing out from the skull. On each of the bone spikes, there was a small skull that was the size of the fist.
In the eye sockets of these eight heads, there were actually eyes inside that made them very terrifying.
Even though the head of the hammer was huge, the handle was very short and could barely fit in his hand.
Danbarou gently swung his hammer and the seven smaller skulls immediately opened up their eyes. The eyeballs rolled around inside the sockets and they suddenly opened up their mouths to spew out black smoke from the mouths of skulls. Seven trails of smoke traveled back and forth, rushing like black dragons toward Qin Mu who was on top of the golden palace hall.
Sharp swords flew out from Qin Mu's sword case. With the flick of his swords, he severed the heads of the black dragons. However, he lost control of his flying sword in the next moment and they dropped to the floor with a clank.
The seven flying swords landed on top of the golden palace hall and clanked as they bounced, In the sword, there was black qi shuttling back and forth.
Qin Mu instantly felt his vital qi getting tainted and he was startled. Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures seemed to be as all-embracing as Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures as it had not only one kind of techniques. For example, what Simuro had cultivated was one type, taking the path of sword skill divine arts.
Meanwhile, Danbaro had cultivated another type, taking the path of spell divine arts. Even though both of them had cultivated Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures, the paths they took were different.
Qin Mu evaded and the golden tiles of the golden palace hall exploded as the black dragons tunneled in and out of the golden palace halls as they attacked him.
The two figures leaped up like a rabbit and soared down like a falcon, sprinting on top of the golden palace hall. Even the walls were like flat ground to them.
Suddenly Qin Mu's body sank and he fell into that golden palace hall. Danbaro sneered and swung his big hammer to break open the golden palace hall to rush in.
Bang!
A human figure rushed into the sky and waved his hand to stab backward with his flying swords. Meanwhile, Danbaro followed closely after him as he stepped on a trail of black smoke. The black smoke continuously surged forward as he slaughtered towards Qin Mu.
Qin Mu crashed through the golden palace hall with a bang and entered another palace hall to avoid Danbaro's attacks. Danbaro followed behind aggressively, making the shamans and great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace blew off steam and swept away their depressed moods.
The two of them sprinted of the golden palace halls and attacked each other mercilessly, moving further and further away from the mountain gate.
Danbaro's confidence grew stronger and stronger, causing his attacks to become more and more fierce. When Qin Mu had landed into a golden palace hall, he rushed into it straight away only to face magnificent mountains and rivers coming towards him.
Sword Treading Mountains And Rivers.
Danabro felt as if he was rapidly growing smaller as he landed into that piece of mountains and rivers, making him flustered.
In front of the mountain gate, everyone looked nervously at the golden palace hall which both of them had landed in. After a moment, a golden figure suddenly leaped out from the golden palace hall and stood on the roof while holding a bone hammer. In his other hand, he raised a head high up in the sky.
Everyone in Rolan's Golden Palace erupted into deafening cheers while Ling Yuxiu's face turned ghastly white, seemingly out of her wits. The green bull also stared blanky along with Hu Ling'er.
"The one that herds the cow is dead…" Ling Yuxiu's mind was completely blank.
In front of the sacred hall, those few shaman kings gave a rare smile and looked at one another before nodding their heads gently.
"Danbaro is not bad, ruthless and steady, he's a great talent that surpasses normal talent."
An old shaman king asked in astonishment, "Why isn't he going back to the sacred hall?"
'Danbaro' brought that head and jumped back into the golden palace, not returning to the mountain gate. Another shaman king smiled, "He's most likely injured. Danbaro has a careful nature and would definitely recuperate himself once he is injured so as not to leave any hidden danger. This is also why we have high hopes for him. Now it's only this young girl left who would soon die as well. I wonder how's the situation in the mountains?"
The few shaman kings had the desire to check out the situation of the battle but they were ordered to stay here to guard the sacred hall and not to leave.
In that golden hall, 'Danbaro' threw away that head and took out a scroll, opening it up gently to take a careful look.
"Rolan's Golden Palace's treasury is right beside this main hall. I have not come to the wrong place."
He closed the geographic map of Rolan's Golden Palace and stood up to leave. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his shoulder and hurriedly took out a jade bottle. Taking a look, he put it back into his sleeves, "Almost taken out Lost Fragrance…"
He took out another jade bottle and carefully pour some dragon's saliva out to smear it on the wound on his shoulder, which was quickly healed without causing any more pain.
'Danbaro' put back his jade bottle and thought for a while. He took Junior Protector Sword in his hand and walked out of this golden palace hall and came to another great hall in a few steps.
In front of that great hall, a tortoise back golden man was wielding an axe to guard the place. He had a frog's mouth and a golden tortoise shell on his back, looking courageous and strong. When he saw him walking over, he asked in astonishment, "Danbaro, what are you doing here?"
The golden color on his body was even denser than 'Danbaro' but it was still fainter than those shaman kings. His position and ability should be inferior to a shaman king.
"Disciple killed the hoodlum that came to block our gate and received a treasured sword. I don't dare to keep it for myself and decide to offer it up to the sacred cult."
'Danbaro' offered up Junior Protector Sword with both his hands and smiled, "I don't cultivate sword so even though this sword is good, it's useless to me, therefore I would like to use this treasure to swap for another treasure."
That tortoise back guard took over Junior Protector Sword and pulled it out with a shwang, squinting his eyes from the cold reflection as he cried out in astonishment, "Superb sword! There aren't many treasures in Rolan's Golden Palace which could be equivalent to this sword! You actually received such a remarkable treasure, Grand Shaman will definitely reward you!"
He pulled open the door to the hall and 'Danbaro' immediately asked, "Can disciple go in to choose a treasure?"
The tortoise back guard gave some thought and smiled, "It may not be a bad idea. You have done a great deed and offered up such a treasure, Grand Shaman will definitely reward you well. However, when you come in, you can only see the treasures kept in our Rolan's Golden Palace and can't take it away. When Grand Shaman rewards you and unseals the seal, only then can you take it."
'Danbaro' was elated and immediately followed him into this golden palace hall.
The tortoise back guard stood in the middle of the hall and carefully opened up a few restrictions. He then walked two steps forwards and removed some seals before walking another few steps forward. He took out a talisman treasure. This was a squarish paper treasure with fourteen sides and twenty-four corners which was formed by overlapping runes. When vital qi entered it, the talisman treasure would float up and gradually light up.
When that talisman treasure lighted up, it started to spin continuously and shone out the runes on each side into the air.
'Danbaro' instantly saw that in front of them, the transparent air gradually started to change and became numerous translucent squares. Inside each cube, there was a person who was as big as a fist, looking very fiendish. The people paced around inside the cubes agitatedly as if they wanted to jump out and eat humans.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Queer restrictions."
'Danbaro' looked at these fiendish tiny figurines and his heart leaped. Every single tiny figurine was refined using the souls of strong practitioners, therefore they were all extremely strong and only knew how to kill.
Meanwhile, these strange cubes formed an incomparably complicated lock. With runes shining on it, as long as the pattern of the runes were correct, could the lock be open, otherwise, they would let out these tiny figurines!
There were countless translucent figurines and every time the runes shone out by the talisman treasure hit a cube, the cube would move back automatically and disappear.
"The steps to unlocking the restrictions are so complicated. It's hard to do so without this talisman treasure!"
The talisman treasure continued to spin and the runes shone out by all fourteen sides were also ever-changing, causing the cubes in front of them to move back one by one.
The talisman treasure floated forward and the tortoise back guard walked forward. 'Danbaro' quickly followed up and walked through a very long passage. Suddenly, he saw a wide clearing in front of his eyes.
It was a completely different world inside the golden palace hall. From the outside, this golden palace hall wasn't that big but from the inside, it was minimally ten times larger. There were pillars lined up after one another which were followed by golden altars of all shapes and sizes. On each golden altar, there was a queer-shaped treasure placed on it.
The tortoise back guard brought Junior Protector Sword, smiling as he walked forward, "This kind of precious treasure must definitely be placed in the deepest and most prestigious location. My powers are not enough to seal it so we can only wait for Grand Shaman to come forward and seal it personally. Danbaro, you have done a great deed, even I'm envious of you!"
'Danbaro' smiled at once, "I had not only received a treasure from that person of Eternal Peace. I have also received a small jade bottle and it's most likely a sacred medicine inside. I took a sniff and it was heavenly as if I was going to turn into an immortal…"
He took out a small jade bottle from his sleeves and the eyes of the tortoise back guard lit up when he saw it. Snatching it over, he smiled, 'Danbaro, now that you have done a great deed, Grand Shaman will definitely reward you. Since I have brought you here in advance to choose your treasure, how can you not give presents to me? I shall take the sacred medicine in this jade bottle!"
'Danbaro' gave a pained expression.
The tortoise back guard saw his pained expression and smiled, "Stingy." After he had said it, he opened up the jade bottle and gave it a sniff.
"How fra-a-a-a-grant…"
A smile remained on the face of the tortoise back guard as he collapsed stiffly.
'Danbaro' held his breath and immediately snatched the jade bottle over and stuff the cork back, not daring to take in a single sniff. He gave some thought and took out another jade bottle and collected all the air in the surroundings into the jade bottle before opening up the mouth of the tortoise back guard. He placed the jade bottle without a stopper into his mouth and kept it there.
'This way he won't be able to wake up anytime soon. Phew."
'Danbaro' let out a murky breath and started to shed his skin. Another human came out from Danbaro's skin and it was Qin Mu.
"Now I could be considered to have used the methods of the devil path."
Qin Mu looked at the skin on the ground and shook his head. Granny Si could wear other people's skin and change constantly, however, he was still a little traumatized by it.
Qin Mu took back Junior Protector Sword. He flipped around the tortoise back guard's body to find that talisman treasure and stuffed it into his shirt. He then found some scattered items.
After flipping around and not finding anything useful, he could only leave it at that.
"Heaven's Eyes, awaken! Green Heaven's Eyes, awaken!"
Heaven's Eyes and Green Heaven's Eyes opened up in Qin Mu's pupils and the densely packed runes formed two layers of heavens in his pupils. He looked around and everything here became clear in his eyes.
Every golden altar here was covered in seal which was similar to the cube he had seen earlier. In every cube, there was a tiny figurine which looked fierce and these tiny figurines had their faces all warped and twisted. They grew messy hairs, razor-sharp teeth and claws and if Qin Mu didn't use his Heaven's Eyes, he wouldn't have been able to see it.
Qin Mu held up that talisman treasure and carefully sized up the runes on the fourteen sides of the cube and made some comparison before shaking his head. This talisman treasure wasn't the key to unlock these golden altars and most probably, could only open this palace hall.
He walked forward and looked at the golden altars one after another. He needed to act quickly as Ling Yuxiu should still be blocking the gate outside. Ling Yuxiu's ability was a level lower than him and despite learning the fusion of Chancellor Ba Shan's battle spells, she most probably couldn't hold on for a long period of time.
There were all kinds of treasures on the golden altars and many of them were treasures unique to Rolan's Golden Palace that were created strangely. There were some human skins that were used as canvases for painting and runes writing. There were some treasures that used skulls to make into alms bowl, human skins to make drums, as well as White Bone Banner, Thousand Venom Souls Devouring Banner, White Bone Shrine. These were all magical artifacts used by heterodox doctrines.
Other than that, there were also quite some good items that were shining brilliantly in a golden glow. These items seemed to be treasures created by the ones on the level of the shaman king.
Qin Mu also saw some treasures that were not from the shaman cult were also placed here. There were Thousand Streamers Pagoda, sariras, which were precious treasures of Buddhism. There were also a grape sized sword pellet, a guqin which got burned at one end, and a broken sword.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and couldn't move his feet away. There was a stone tablet erected on this golden altar and on the stone tablet was the incomplete diagram of a circulation technique. He knew it was the circulation diagram of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique with one look; however, it wasn't the circulation diagram of Six Directions Realm. In his hurry, he couldn't determine which realm it was.
"Go, go, I have to find the legs!"
Qin Mu hurried and sprinted to the deepest end of this treasury. After a moment, he had explored the entire treasury once and stopped before a golden altar. He had already seen this golden altar once, however, he had still chosen to return here.
There was a lower body of a person placed on this golden altar. It was the portion of the body that was below the waist, however, it was still standing steadily.
However, Qin Mu was sure that it wasn't the lower body of Butcher.
This lower body was shining brilliantly in a golden glow and even its blood seemed to be a golden liquid, as well as the golden bones.
This body gave off a terrifying aura which was even stronger than the shaman kings.
"The body of Grand Shaman?"
Qin Mu blinked his eyes and gestured around his waist before thinking back about Butcher's body. It seemed like Butcher's body could be completely placed on top of this lower body.
"Grand Shaman exterminated that sect that had snatched Grandpa Butcher's lower body and seized his lower body. Grand Shaman then severed the lower half of his body and placed it here while Grandpa Butcher's lower body which should be here had disappeared…"
The corner of Qin Mu's eyes twitched and he thought of a frightening possibility.
Grand Shaman had severed his lower body and attached Butcher's lower body to his body!
"With my medical expertise, I'm completely able to do this. Grand Shaman should be able to do this too!"
His scalp can't help turning numb. Severing one's own lower body to attach someone else's lower body, what's the intention of Grand Shaman?
"Maybe he thought that Grandpa Butcher's body was more powerful than his body of gold, which was something he could never attain in his entire lifetime, therefore he had swapped the lower half of his body. However, there could be another possibility, that is Grand Shaman had used Grandpa Butcher's lower body to refine it into a spirit weapon with two legs…"
Qin Mu had a queer expression. The possibility of the latter was very small but it's not impossible. He can't help revealing a distressed expression. The lower body on the golden altar also had seals and if he stretched his hand over, his hand would definitely be eaten clean by those tiny figurines in the cubes.
If Chancellor Ba Shan was here, he could just destroy these seals with his brute force but Qin Mu didn't have this kind of ability.
"Grandpa Cripple had taught me Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hands but I never used it before. Could I pass through this seals and grab that lower body?"
His heart became worried and he suddenly started sprinting in this treasury, executing Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs that Cripple had imparted to him. His speed was like a flickering shadow, so fast that even naked eyes can't catch it!
Qin Mu sprinted and executed Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hands, causing his hands to move faster and faster like lightning. Cripple's effort was all spent on his hands and legs. His legs running fast was to escape for his life after being discovered stealing. His hands were fast because he could steal stuff.
Qin Mu had always been cultivating Heaven Pilfering Leg Skill diligently however, he had practiced Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hands much lesser. Now that he was making a last-minute effort, he hoped he could comprehend more marvel of it.
When he executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs and Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hands at the same time, Qin Mu instantly noticed something wonderful and couldn't help crying out in surprise, stopping immediately.
By executing two different skills at the same time, he actually felt that these two kinds of skills were actually one. It was just that Cripple had taught him this skill by splitting them into two parts.
Originally, he had already felt extremely smooth and unhindered when he cultivated Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs whereas now that he had executed both of them now, the speed of his vital qi circulation had increased several times!
That the speed of vital qi circulation increased several times meant that the speed he moved his hands and legs could be increased by several times!
Qin Mu composed himself and looked forward. The interior of the golden palace hall's treasury was very spacious, having enough space for him to sprint. He suddenly exerted the strength in his legs and sprinted forward as if he was flying!
The air in the palace hall gave off a tearing whistle and suddenly a bang was heard. Qin Mu had mercilessly crashed into the wall of the palace hall which was three hundred yards away from his starting point. He then collapsed backward stiffly.
Around his body, a ring of white gas rose and dispersed.
After a moment, Qin Mu stood up and shook his head. He exerted his strength again and another bang was created as a ring of white gas dispersed around his body. However, this time, he didn't bang into the wall and had run up the wall and then up across the ceiling with a whoosh.
The tearing sound whooshed endlessly and Qin Mu stepped on the air in this treasury and whooshed over before whooshing back in a blink of an eye.
Suddenly during his frantic sprinting, he stretched his hand out and plucked. A golden altar became empty and on Qin Mu's hand, there was an alms bowl made from the top of a skull.
Clank.
The alms bowl landed on the ground and Qin Mu laughed out loudly. He let loose and sprinted as he stretched his hands only like a shooting light towards the golden altars beside his body. The golden altars got emptied out one by one and the treasures were strewn all over the floor.
After a moment, all the golden altars were swept clean by him and Qin Mu hugged a pair of legs as he passed by a golden altar.
His body suddenly halted and he placed the golden lower body down.
"No wonder Grandpa Cripple likes to steal stuff, so as it turns out, stealing is actually so refreshing!"
The youth of Disabled Elderly Village let out a murky breath and look at the treasures strewn all over on the floor, exclaiming in a refreshed tone, "Even if one leg was cut down, it's still worth it!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu suddenly came to the realization that his idea was very dangerous. That was how Cripple's leg was lost. Even though he always wore a smile on his face, he always sighed in secret and wanted to find back his leg yet didn't dare to.
If he sank into the maniac stealing behavior that Cripple had before he was crippled, he would probably end up like him very soon.
"This kind of taste may be refreshing but it's best to do lesser of it."
Qin Mu warned himself and look at all the treasures strewn on the floor. Other than the evil treasure created by Rolan's Golden Palace, he wanted to bring everything else away but the number of things he could bring was limited.
"This sword pellet must be something good for them to place it here."
Qin Mu picked up the sword pellet which was very heavy and reckoned there must be numerous treasure swords sealed inside.
His vital qi slowly entered the pellet and he heard a hum coming from the 'sword pellet' as a curved knife flew out and slowly spun half a cycle in front of him.
"It's not a sword pellet, it's a knife pellet!"
Qin Mu was astonished. He had once seen this kind of knife pellets from the rebel army of Barbarian Di Empire. The rebel army had used them to bombard Chancellor Ba Shan's Heavenly Spirits Escarpment which ended up in over tens of thousands of knives stuck on Heavenly Spirits Escarpment that couldn't be taken back. This was why Torimu was able to slay the rebel army with ease.
Qin Mu picked up a curved knife and he couldn't use it easily, therefore, he reckoned that a special technique was needed to activate it. However, the quality of this curved knife was much better than the rebel army's curved knives. The quality wasn't inferior to his Pig Slaughtering Knife.
He retracted his vital qi back and the curved blade returned into the knife pellet with a clink, vanishing with a trace.
There was an extremely large amount of curved knives in the knife pellet, thus it was definitely a huge killing weapon.
Qin Mu then picked up that broken sword. He couldn't feel any power in the broken sword which seemed powerless and light when he held it in his hand.
Qin Mu opened his Heaven's Eyes and Green Heaven's Eyes to size it up carefully, however, he didn't see anything from it. Then again, for Rolan's Golden Palace to place it in such an important treasury, there must be something extraordinary about it, thus he kept it as well.
The guqin had one end burnt which Qin Mu deduced to be the mark of a lightning strike after taking a look at it.
"Hmm, that's not right, there's a baleful and demonic air from this guqin!"
Qin Mu looked at it in detail and felt more and more strange. That was a baleful aura from the guqin as if there were dense blood and qi pulsing in it. Meanwhile, the demon aura was also incomparably dense.
This guqin didn't seem like a guqin but more like an incomparably terrifying great demon.
"Could it be a tree spirit that had cultivated into a demon and got turned into a guqin by someone? Good stuff, going to take it away as well."
Qin Mu carried the guqin on his back and picked up the bones of a hand. Just as he grabbed it, Qin Mu felt as if he was struck by thunder. His body trembled involuntarily and a loud and resounding voice exploded in his mind.
"God language!"
Qin Mu's expression hugely changed and immediately threw the bones of the hand away. That voice had spoken the god language and when he had held it in his hand, there seemed to be a god appearing in his head. When he plucked this bones of the hand from the golden altar just now, he had thrown it away straight after. Now then he knew what a right decision it was for him to throw away these bones of the hand.
"These bones are very strange, could it be the hand of a god?"
He composed his mind and pulled out Junior Protector Sword to flick these bones up. He then took a sack from the ground and placed the bones of the hand into it.
"Thousand Streamers Pagoda of Buddhism is also good stuff, though it's a little too big."
Qin Mu sized Thousand Streamers Pagoda up and down. Each streamer of Thousand Streamers Pagoda was very exquisite and only three inches long, however, with a thousand streamers stabbing elaborating into the shape of a pagoda, it was very huge. Reaching the height of several yards, it would definitely be eye-catching if he was to carry it out on his back.
He picked up those few sariras and stuffed them into the sack. He then found a few jade pearls and also threw them into the sack.
When Qin Mu also threw the knife pellet into the sack, only then did he feel something was amiss. The knife pellet was very heavy, however, when it went into the sack, he couldn't feel any weight of the knife pellet.
He picked up the sack and flipped it around several times to take a closer look. This sack was also one of the treasures sealed on the golden altar which he had no idea what material it was made from and what use it had. There was a strange beast embroidered on one side of the sack which was opening its mouth wide open. The mouth of the strange beast and precisely at the position of the sack's opening.
He opened his sack to look inside and saw a few items that were about the size of a sesame. They were the treasures which he had thrown in earlier.
Qin Mu was stunned, He poured out the hand bones of the god, sariras, knife pellets and the rest. When these items slid out of the sack, they were still of their original sizes and there was no change.
'Weird!"
Qin Mu opened up the sack's opening and put his head into the sack to take a look inside. He was shocked as he saw a space that had an area of six ares and a height of six to seven yards.
He pulled back his head and stretched his hand into the sack. With an arm inside, he still couldn't touch the bottom of the sack.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and placed the hand bones of the god, sariras, knife pellets and the rest back into the sack. He then placed the guqin into the sack, along with the Thousand Streamers Pagoda.
He then carried up that golden lower body and stuff it into the sack as well.
The youth then stood up and picked up everything that was on the floor and stuff them into the sack, abandoning those that were too big to be able to stuff into the sack.
A moment later, the sack started to bulge slightly and he could gradually feel some weight, however, it wasn't heavy.
Qin Mu lowered his head and picked up the items which he had thrown away once more. He picked out a few pill cauldrons and one of them was a sealed cauldron which was much bigger and valuable than the one in Imperial College.
All that was left in this treasury were magical artifacts that were made by the shaman cult using human bones. Qin Mu gave a sigh of relief and hung the sack at his waist, using his clothes to cover it.
"There's not much time left, I should go out to look for Sister Yuxiu and leave this place as soon as possible."
The youth's heart thumped wildly and he tried to compose himself. After some calculations, he didn't wear back the human skin and instead, took out his Pig Slaughtering Knives and styled his hair to make him look like a disciple of the shaman cult.
Qin Mu wore Danbaro's clothes and circulated the Heavenly God Creation Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. Minute changes started to happen to the color of his skins as it gave off a faint golden glow. With a look, he looked like a shaman of Rolan's Golden Palace who had small attainments.
Qin Mu flipped open the geographic map of Rolan's Golden Palace and kept it back.
His vital qi activated that talisman treasure, causing it to rise into the air. The runes lighted up one by one and shone toward the seals of the treasury's door.
"Twelve, nine, six, ten, seven, six, seven, one…"
Qin Mu chanted numbers and every chant would cause the talisman treasure to spin in the air, shining one of the fourteen sides to the seal.
When he had entered this treasury, that tortoise back guard had activated this talisman treasure to unseal the seals. The transformations of the talisman treasure were extremely complicated as it had fourteen sides and on each side, there were different runes. It was very difficult for him if he wanted to memorize all these runes.
However, memorizing the order of these runes was not complicated to Qin Mu.
He had memorized the fourteen sides of the talisman treasure as fourteen numbers. He then reversed the order of the numbers when the tortoise back guard had used to enter, solving the restrictions from inside.
In front of him, the cubes appeared and moved back one after another as Qin Mu walked out. He finally walked out of the treasury without a hitch.
Qin Mu gave a sigh of relief and took out Junior Protector Sword to smash the talisman treasure into pieces. He then walked towards the warehouse of Rolan's Golden Palace according to the directions given on the map.
Even though Rolan's Golden Palace was currently having their gate blocked, there was still a great shaman on duty in the warehouse. Qin Mu handed over a prescription and that great shaman read out, "Two maces of mock strawberry, one tael six maces of sacred bamboo, four maces of oleander… So many herbs, are you preparing to refine out a great medicine?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and smiled honestly, "I was injured just now so I'm preparing to supplement myself."
"You have fought that fellow blocking the gate? I have also heard about it, many people had died. Luckily that fellow has already been killed so it still isn't that humiliating. It was really humiliating back when Martial Khan had blocked the gate."
That great shaman prepared the herbs and Qin Mu handed Danbaro's coin pouch over to him, "Is there fresh figs formed by Crimson Pearl Grass? Give me four figs."
"This item is very expensive so how can we have fresh ones? Do you want dried ones?"
"Dried ones are fine too."
That great shaman brought over dried figs and Qin Mu took one to put into his mouth. That great shaman saw that he was simple and honest so he secretly took out a few more coins from his coin pouch and was secretly gleeful.
Qin Mu's expression changed and shouted, "You overcharged me!"
That great shaman's expression changed and retorted angrily, "I didn't do that! You're slandering me!"
Qin Mu pulled into his coin pouch and said, "I know how much money I have in my coin pouch, I would know if you have overcharged me. I'm going to report this to the shaman king!"
That great shaman immediately pulled back the coin pouch and when they were both tugging on it, a jade bottle accidentally fell into the warehouse and smashed into pieces.
"Don't report it to the shaman…"
Before the great shaman could finish saying his words, he suddenly collapsed. A fragrant scent spread out in the warehouse and the other few shamans in the warehouse who were coming over after they heard the commotion collapsed onto the floor before they could even get near.
Qin Mu threw the coin pouch into the warehouse which landed on the body of that great shaman. He then carefully looked into the sack hanging on his waist and picked out a cauldron. It was that sealed cauldron which he had found in the treasury.
"I have added ten times the amount to Lost Fragrance this time, I don't believe I can't paralyze the entire Rolan's Golden Palace!"
He placed the herbs into the cauldron and his vital qi burst forth to circle around this cauldron rapidly. His hand techniques were ever-changing and dazzling to the eyes. After a while, he had finished refining Lost Fragrance in the cauldron. However, the vital qi on Qin Mu's palm still continued to burst forth with blazing flames. He didn't use Black Tortoise Vital Qi to cool it down like he did previously and instead, burned more and more furiously.
After a moment, Qin Mu stopped and opened the cauldron's lid. Pink smoke started to surge out from the furnace and spread in all directions. If not for the Crimson Pearl Fig in his mouth which could negate the medicinal effects of Lost Fragrance, he would have felt his limbs vanishing.
He immediately held his breath and saw the smoke continuing to surge out from the cauldron. Qin Mu's vital qi transformed into Green Dragon Vital Qi and he executed the wind calling spells in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to disperse the smoke.
Soon, the gust had spread Lost Fragrance throughout the entire mountain.
He immediately rushed to a golden palace hall and carried his backpack. Securing his knives, iron hammer, he threw his sword case aside as he rushed to the direction of the mountain gate.
His vital qi transformed into Black Tortoise Vital Qi and formed a ball of water vapor which then turned into a ball of water.
Qin Mu placed the remaining three Crimson Pearl Figs into the balls of water and sprinted. With one hand holding up the three balls of water, his other hand moved like a phantom. With his fingers moving up and down in different hand techniques, he tapped on the balls of water to hasten the medicinal energy of the Crimson Pearl Figs.
That three figs absorbed the water and soon became plump, with their medicinal energy aroused by him.
Qin Mu left out a sigh of relief and suddenly, golden lights rose into the sky and hurriedly flew away. They should be the few shaman kings who were guarding in front of the sacred hall panicking and escaping Rolan's Golden Palace after they had seen the disciples on the entire mountain 'dying from being poisoned'.
"Dead, they're all dead!" A loud and resounding voice carried terror and panic as disappeared in the distance.
Qin Mu pushed his speed to the maximum and sprinted down the mountain. He saw the green bull, Hu Ling'er and Ling Yuxiu all lying on the ground. There were wounds all over Ling Yuxiu's body and she was stained with blood.
He immediately stuffed a Crimson Pearl Fig into each of their mouths and they slowly woke up. However, they still felt slightly numb, along with their souls and spirit embryos that were also slightly sore. They had no idea what had just happened.
"Lost Fragrance can scare the shaman kings away but it can't knock them out."
Qin Mu spoke quickly, "I'm afraid there are a few existences that are comparable to Chancellor Ba Shan in Rolan's Golden Palace who would rush here immediately after receiving the news. We need to leave immediately!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Ling Yuxiu stood up unsteadily and the green bull also swayed its heavy head. Qin Mu carried the little fox up and stuffed her into his backpack. With one hand pulling onto Ling Yuxiu and the other hand pulling onto the green bull, he rushed down the mountain.
Ling Yuxiu was still in a dazed state. She gave him a silly smile and said, "Cowherd, you're still alive…"
Qin Mu turned a deaf ear to her and rushed all the way down the mountain. He was so fast that Ling Yuxiu and the green bull couldn't catch up with his pace and started to float up.
When they came to the bottom of the mountain, Qin Mu looked towards the wooden boat and the goat-faced great shaman was also paralyzed with his head in the water and his butt sticking up to the sky. With half of his body left on the boat, he should have already drowned.
Qin Mu quickly got up on the boat and flipped the goat-faced great shaman's legs over, throwing him into the water. He pushed the bamboo pole but the boat didn't move at all.
Qin Mu pushed the bamboo pole a few times more but the boat remained motionless.
"There's no buoyancy in the weak waters!"
Qin Mu instantly came to a realization. He poured in vital qi into the bamboo pole and strange markings appeared on the bamboo pole. Now when he pushed the weak waters, he actually felt a resistance from the water.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and immediately pushed the bamboo pole to sail towards the other side of the shore. Even though this wooden boat was pushed forward like an arrow that had left the bow, he still found it too slow.
If the shaman kings and Grand Shaman of Rolan's Golden Palace returned to the mountain, they could probably detoxify Lost Fragrance immediately and know that these people were only paralyzed and not poisoned.
If they were to give chase now, Qin Mu and the rest would face an incomparably miserable end.
When they finally reached the other side of the shore, the green bull returned to his senses and immediately shouted, "Old master is still on the mountain!"
Qin Mu said, "Don't worry, if we can escape, he can as well. He is much stronger than us, if we go and look for him, we'll be his burden instead! Furthermore, when Grand Shaman and the shaman kings return to Rolan's Golden Palace to investigate, that would give Chancellor Ba Shan a chance to escape."
He jumped onto the shore and stretched out his hand, however, Ling Yuxiu and the green bull had already jumped over as well and didn't need him to support.
That Crimson Pearl Fig had allowed them to completely recover. Crimson Pearl Fig was indeed the antidote for Lost Fragrance. Lost Fragrance was originally what Apothecary used to paralyze a dragon. That dragon had an extremely strong ability which was comparable to a strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm yet it was paralyzed by Apothecary.
The only bane of this anesthetic was Crimson Pearl Fig.
"Green bull!"
Qin Mu gave a shout and the green bull understood his intention. He instantly pronated on the ground and revealed his true form, turning into a huge and majestic green bull that was riding on the wind and clouds.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu jumped on the back of the bull and said, "Green bull, run as fast as you can!"
The hooves of the green bull moved and his hooves didn't touch the ground as he sprinted on the wind and clouds. The two people on the back of the bull felt extreme pain as the strong wind bombarded them in their faces. On Qin Mu's back, Hu Ling'er had woken up and was almost blown away by the wind when she stuck her head out to have a look. She immediately grabbed the backpack and her body was already blown out from the backpack, the strong wind pulling her tail and body straight like a pencil.
The green bull's hooves raised up and down and every time his hooves were a foot away from the ground, wind would surge out from his hooves and pushed his huge body upwards, making his speed extremely fast.
Qin Mu turned his head back and his hair was all messed up. His hairstyle was like shaman and had no band to tie it up. Only then did he notice Hu Ling'er who was grabbing onto the backpack with her two paws. Her body was blown straight by the wind and he immediately grabbed her so she didn't get blown away by the wind.
Ling Yuxiu shouted, "Cowherd, let me carry her so you can tidy your hair!"
Qin Mu handed Hu Ling'er over to her and Ling Yuxiu carried Hu Ling'er in her arms. Hu Ling'er gave a humph when she felt her chest was soft and fragrant. Even though she wasn't happy, she was very comfortable and couldn't resist giving one or two nudges.She felt torn.
Qin Mu took out a headband and tied up his hair, taking a look back from time to time. He saw that the distance between them and Rolan's Golden Palace was growing greater and greater. He could still faintly see the golden lights flying from the snow mountain towards Rolan's Golden Palace at a steady pace.
Those golden lights may not look fast but they were actually extremely fast, reaching Rolan's Golden Palace in just a breath's time.
After a moment, the few golden lights flew out from Rolan's Golden Palace towards their directions.
Qin Mu's heart sank. Those few golden lights should be the shaman kings of Rolan's Golden Palace who had discovered their trials and was currently chasing over. Even though the green bull's speed was extremely fast, his cultivation couldn't be compared to the shaman kings.
However, at this moment, a bright light rose up and intercepted those few golden lights. The few rays of light collided in the sky and separated before colliding again.
From the distance where Qin Mu was at, the speed of the few rays wasn't fast but if one looked at them from a close distance, they would be so fast that no one could see them clearly.
Those few rays collided a few times with the white light and suddenly a ball of light exploded, following up with a trail of black smoke appearing in the sky which formed a skull. The skull spewed out few trails of black smoke from its mouth and each trail of black smoke turned into a skull. With this happening thrice in a row, the entire sky was filled with skulls.
The shapes of the skulls could be seen from so far, they must be incomparably gigantic if he saw them up close. They must be as astonishing as mountains.
Then, Qin Mu saw a knife cutting across the vast sky and a ray of golden light suddenly broke among the few golden lights.
The green bull ran faster and faster, soon Qin Mu couldn't see the battle clearly anymore.
When the green bull had sprinted by another few mountains, he totally couldn't see anything.
As the sun set in the west, the sky gradually darkened. The green bull ran for half a day and panted with exhaustion as his mouth started to foam. Seeing a pond on the prairie ahead, he immediately ran over and gulped down the water.
Not long later, half of the water in the pond had disappeared.
The green color backs of the fish could be seen at the shallow parts of the pond as a few foot long fish squirmed their bodies in the mud, trying to crawl to the places with more water.
Qin Mu saw him being unbearably tired and jumped down from the bull's back, "Green bull, stop running and rest for a while."
The green bull hasn't drunk to his content and at this moment, an elderly voice sounded out, "That bull, stop drinking! If you drink some more, you'll drink all of the water for our village!"
The green bull raised his head and an elderly herder passed by here and abandoned his flock of sheep in a hurry to rush over. He tried to swing his whip to chase the green bull away but when he saw the green bull being terrifyingly huge, he didn't dare to get close and swung his whip from afar, "Shoo, shoo."
Qin Mu patted on the bull's hoof as this green bull had revealed his true form which was incomparably tall and sturdy. Qin Mu was only as tall as his ankle so he could only pat the bull's hoof.
The green bull immediately stopped drinking while Ling Yuxiu hurriedly jumped down from the back of the bull. Hu Ling'er also squirmed out from her embrace and jumped on Qin Mu's backpack.
That elder dared not come forward and the green bull squirmed his body to shrink his body size. Standing up like a human, he was also two to three person's tall. Swinging his tail, he swatted a few gadflies to death.
Qin Mu greeted from afar and said, "Elder, we are passing by and the sky is about to turn dark therefore we had stopped for a rest. This journey has really been tiring and we're really thirsty so my bull has drunk slightly more, I do beg your pardon."
That elder went forward and raised his head to look at the green bull while letting out a sigh of exclamation. He was still slightly afraid, "Your bull sure is well fed, growing to be so sturdy. How come this bull is green in color?"
Qin Mu smiled, "He's a mixed dragon breed, therefore, it's green in colour."
That elder wanted to touch yet was afraid to touch. Mustering his courage, he came to the bull's side and gave it a touch. He felt that his skin was like satin while his muscles were like iron and exclaimed, "His muscles sure are sturdy. We also have a few cows in our village, can he be used for breeding?"
The green bull was unhappy and said, "Elder, I'm not a breeding cattle so I won't breed. My heart is already taken."
That elder jumped in shock and muttered, "Demon?"
Qin Mu immediately said, "He's not a demon."
Hu Ling'er stuck her head out, "I'm a demon."
That elder suddenly saw the light and smiled at Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu, "I know, you must have escaped from a rich family, am I right? Only rich family can afford to raise a strange beast and a fox immortal. The sky is turning dark, how about coming to our village to take a rest."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and looked at Ling Yuxiu. Ling Yuxiu said softly, "The green bull is exhausted and can't run anymore."
Qin Mu frowned, "If Rolan's Golden Palace was to catch up, I'm afraid we would implicate them.
Ling Yuxiu said softly, "The green bull has always traveled on the wind and clouds, not leaving any traces so it would be hard for them to find us. How about this, if their village is quite hidden, we can stay there for the night. If it's very eye-catching, we'll be on our way."
Qin Mu nodded his head and said, "Elder, in that case, we'll have to bother you for tonight. We will continue on our way the next morning."
The elder smiled, "It's not a problem if you want to stay for a few more days. There aren't many people in our village as well, they are all old folks who come closer to death with every passing day. Your body is pretty sturdy, help me herd the sheep."
Qin Mu went forward and his body technique was extremely fast. He soon chased the flock of sheep together and the elder's eyes lighted up, "Young lady, you have great eyesight, this young man is sturdy and capable."
Ling Yuxiu's face turned red, "Elder, it's not what you think it is."
That elder laughed loudly and brought them along to chase the flock of sheep. Walking around a col, they came to a small village in the forest. This village wasn't huge and there were only twenty buildings. However, most of them were empty as there were only over ten elderly people staying there. The forest was very secluded and the trees were tall and huge as no one was able to trim them, resulting in the trees covering the small village.
"Why are there so few people here?" Qin Mu put his heart at ease and asked puzzledly.
"The few khans fight every day, with you killing me and I killing you. You grab some able-bodied men, I grab some able-bodied men, as they grab and grab, the people get lesser."
That elder sighed and said, "Those capable ones in the village have all moved out and only us elderly are left. We can't move even if we want to. Where can we move to? It's lucky they did not touch us old bones when grabbing away the able-bodied men during these few years. Darling, there are visitors."
An old granny who was mending clothes stood up shakily and smiled, "There are visitors? I'll prepare some food!"
Qin Mu immediately said, "Let me do it. I have frequently prepared meals when I was back at the village."
That old granny couldn't win him and could only watch him cook up dishes along with the elder. Ling Yuxiu hurriedly went forward to invite the two old people to sit down.
"Where are they from?" The old granny beamed.
That elder blinked his eyes and stuck his two thumbs to do a kissing action, "Ran away from a rich family, a young couple eloping."
Ling Yuxiu's face turned red from embarrassment and protested softly, "It's not like that, we're innocent…"
"We've all been through that so we understand, the young lady is thin-skinned."
The old granny sized her up and revealed a few loose teeth as she smiled, "The young lady is good, sturdy body with big bosoms and buttocks. This young man has quite a blessing."
The elder smiled, "The young man is good as well, pretty sturdy too. He is also very honest and not overbearing. When he saw the old and frail me, he was also very polite."
The old granny continued, "You two should return home after eloping for a year or two. Give birth to a baby and bring the baby back, even if your family doesn't approve, they would have no choice."
Ling Yuxiu kept nodding her head and her heart was restless as she didn't know how to continue the conversation. She thought to herself, "If I was to give birth to a baby with cowherd, won't my father die from anger… Bah, bah, father won't die from anger but he will definitely behead him! Touchwood, touchwood!"
After a moment, the fragrance of the dishes floated out and Ling Yuxiu hurried forward to help serve the dishes. When they finished their meals, the sky had turned completely dark. There were only old folks in the entire village so they only lighted oil lamps before turning in for bed. Qin Mu help this two elderly wash their cutleries and that elder said, "There are many empty houses in the village, you can just choose one to live in."
Qin Mu gave his thanks and walked into an empty residence. Hu Ling'er helped to tidy up three rooms and calculated to herself, "Green bull will take one room, plump bosom vixen will take one room, me and young master will take one room. Three rooms, no problem."
Suddenly Qin Mu had a feeling and raised his head up to look at the sky. He saw two stars moving from the west in the sky and hurriedly said, "Everyone, get in!"
Ling Yuxiu, the green bull, and Hu Ling'er hurriedly entered the house and just as they entered, they heard a hum as two thick light pillars came landing down, lighting up the entire village as if it was in the day.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Those two rays were visions and the owner of these visions was flying in the sky and surveying the prairie. The two visions shone downwards, lighting up the prairie in a golden glow. The visions swept past this small village at the foot of the mountain before leaving in the distance.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and opened the door to look up to the sky. He saw the two stars shining pillars of light along their way, which covered a radius of two to three miles as they went further and further away.
"I wonder how is Senior Brother Ba Shan doing…"
He was indeed a little worried.
The people who had just passed by should be the strong practitioners of Rolan's Golden Palace on the level of the shaman kings. As they searched their way over, this shaman king didn't discover this village because the green bull did not leave any trails and there were no lamps lighted up in this hidden in the forest village. People here were all elderly people and they all went to bed very early.
However, for this shaman king to be able to come search for them, it meant that Chancellor Ba Shan couldn't stop him, which could most likely be either Chancellor Ba Shan was injured or he was being surrounded.
"Let's go to sleep!"
Qin Mu threw a small jade bottle to Ling Yuxiu and said, "Sister, dragon's saliva is surprisingly effective to the wounds on your body. You should smear some on your body first before turning in to bed. We'll leave immediately in the morning!"
Ling Yuxiu nodded her head and went into the room. After a moment, this girl opened the door and popped her head out. With her beautiful black hair hanging down in the front of her chest, she revealed half of her smooth shoulder with the rest of her body hidden behind the door. She said shyly, "Cowherd, there are some places which I can't see so it's inconvenient for me to smear…"
"I'll help you!"
Hu Ling'er rushed over excitedly and smiled, "I'll help you smear, there's no need to bother young master!"
It was a night without words.
The next day before daybreak, Qin Mu got up to do some stretching. The elderly in the village got up too and the sound of feeding chickens could be heard. There were also sounds of people chasing the sheep out of the sheep's pen, sounds of elderly greeting each other. For a moment, Qin Mu thought he had returned to Disabled Elderly Village in Great Ruins.
"Little couple, have you woken up? Breakfast is ready, you can come to my house to eat!" The old granny's voice came from outside.
Qin Mu acknowledged and proceeded to wake up Ling Yuxiu and the green bull before carrying Hu Ling'er out from the bed to walk out of this dilapidated house.
At this moment, a voice came from outside the village, "There's a village here, let us ask for directions."
"Ask for what directions? It's impossible for me to be lost!"
A voice which was brimming with anger sneered, "I've been there before and blocked the gate for a hundred days, how could I be lost?"
Qin Mu was stunned and gave an unbelievable look as he rushed to the village's entrance at once.
"There's no harm in asking. You said you remembered the way yet we ended up walking round and round the prairie for such a long time, I'm not like Cripple that wretch who can run so fast…"
Qin Mu came to the village's entrance with quick steps and saw a blind man walking over with a bamboo cane. Beside him was a half body old man with a stubbly beard, carrying two Pig Slaughtering Knives on his back, making him look fiendish.
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. He hurriedly ran over and tightly hugged the half body old man up without explanation. He then threw the half body old man aside and tightly hugged the dry and thin old man.
"Butcher, haven't I said we went the wrong way?"
That blind man immediately turned his head away to avoid Qin Mu. He struggled and looked at the stupefied Butcher who was thrown in one corner, "You brought me to the region beyond the Great Wall and look what happened? You brought me back to Great Ruins, we're back at our village! Mu'er, let go, I'm going to suffocate! Where's Village Chief? Is granny back as well? Apothecary, Apothecary, stop hiding, I saw you!"
After a moment, Blind and Butcher greeted the elderly people in the village. When the elderly in the village saw that they were even older than them and disabled, they all admired endlessly and secretly exclaimed they were old yet strong.
Ling Yuxiu came out from her room after she finished washing her hair and jumped in shock when she saw the two elders. She immediately ran back into her room with her heart thumping wildly, "They are those two elders that scared me and Little General Qin on Surging River that day!"
Qin Mu avoided all the elderly in the village and took out the sack on his waist. Pushing up the bottom of the sack, he reached in to rummage the items inside, pulling out two legs before tugging out the remaining half of the body and said, "Grandpa Butcher, is this golden lower body the one you've lost?"
"No. This isn't my body."
Butcher took a careful look at this golden lower body and used his knife to give a slice after a moment. Touching the golden blood that was flowing out, he said suspiciously, "This body seems to be Grand Shaman's. I had fought with this old brat once and I'm very familiar with his blood. This lower body is already more or less dead, making it useless."
Qin Mu also went forward to touch the golden blood which had already half solidified. However, there was still a fire property hidden within it and a drop of blood was even squirming on his fingertip, trying to enter his body.
Qin Mu immediately executed his vital qi and turned it into Vermillion Bird Vital Qi to burn it continuously. He spent quite a great effort before he could evaporate this drop of blood, "Since it's the lower body of Grand Shaman, in that case, Grandpa Butcher's lower body should be on Grand Shaman."
"That old brat actually admires me to that extent?"
Butcher rubbed his beard, pleased with himself, "In that case, are the sons he gave birth his sons or my sons?"
The beard stubble on his face was like iron spikes, giving off scratching sounds as his hand went over them.
The more he thought, the more he became pleased with himself and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Blind said neither too fast nor too slow, "If he really gave birth to a son, or even a bunch of sons, are you going to acknowledge them?"
Butcher was stumped and his face turned bitter straightaway. The pleased look he had earlier had totally vanished.
With one sentence from Blind, Butcher became dazed. Blind then asked Qin Mu, "Mu'er, why are you here?"
Qin Mu told them about the entire story and Blind cried out, "You actually went to block the gate of Rolan's Golden Palace? Pretty big guts. The reason I have accompanied Butcher out is also to go to Rolan's Golden Palace. We have found out that Butcher's lower body was snatched away by Rolan's Golden Palace. Butcher said even if we find it, he doesn't know if it could be reattached."
Qin Mu smiled, "If the lower body is dead, it's definitely impossible. But since Grandpa Butcher's lower body is on Grand Shaman's body, he definitely attached it to his body when it was still alive. As long as we find Grand Shaman and sever his lower body, I can help Grandpa Butcher reattach his body!"
Blind gave a smiled and said, "That's a small matter. Butcher this wretch can finally be complete. He didn't even have a bird in the past."
Butcher flew into a fury, "I can transform my vital qi into my body, what do you mean I have no bird? I can pee and shit just fine!"
The two of them started to quarrel again, giving Qin Mu a headache.
Qin Mu immediately said, "Senior Brother Ba Shan is still trapped in Rolan's Golden Palace and his situation is unknown. Grandpas…"
Butcher shook his head, "No need to care about that rascal, he lacks a door on his mouth and blurt out anything and everything without ever stopping. I had met him in Eternal Peace and he still hadn't died from saying the wrong things. I dislike his nagging and was afraid of being annoyed by him, therefore, I had left."
Even though he had said it that way, he had wanted to leave for Rolan's Golden Palace immediately. He was still worried about the safety of Chancellor Ba Shan after all.
Hu Ling'er and Ling Yuxiu had already finished packing up and Ling Yuxiu went to that old granny and elder's house to leave a few gold ingots. Even though they had only stayed for a night, they had received their hospitality. Furthermore, the elders in the village were all very old and have no young people in the village. Leaving some money for them would help them get through their later years.
Butcher looked at Ling Yuxiu, clearly forgetting this seventh princess as he smiled, "Rascal has good eyesight, this girl ain't half bad."
Ling Yuxiu mustered her courage and went forward to greet him and Blind, "The green bull had run out in the morning to graze, he's not yet back."
"Let us go and find him."
Everyone left the village and saw a huge green bull grazing on the grass of the prairie. As he grazed, his tears streamed down like rain while muttering, "Ever since I followed old master, I've always been eating vegetables and never grass. Old master even built dozens ares of vegetable field to plant flowers for me…"
Hu Ling'er scampered forward and said, "Bull Two, stop crying. Your old master's old master is here, there's hope for your old master!"
The face of the green bull twitched when he saw Blind and Butcher who was only left with his upper body, doubting their abilities.
Everyone got on the back of the bull and Qin Mu said, "Don't worry, green bull, they are very powerful. Let us go to Rolan's Golden Palace as soon as possible to save Senior Brother Ba Shan."
The green bull could only sprint back on the way he came from. Ling Yuxiu looked back and the small village which was hidden in the forest already couldn't be seen.
"Those few elders had said that the few khans beyond the Great Wall are currently fighting each other. This means that the people beyond the Great Wall also feel threatened by the rise of Eternal Peace Empire."
Ling Yuxiu composed herself and said, "They are also thinking of building a unified empire to gather all the strength to face Eternal Peace Empire. This khan of Barbarian Di Empire should be a great leader with a great ambition. If he was to unify the Great Wall, I'm afraid there would be trouble for our Eternal Peace Empire. Especially now that our Eternal Peace is frequently having civil unrest…"
Qin Mu nodded his head, "This must be the intention of Rolan's Golden Palace. Rolan's Golden Palace is the sacred ground after all. If they support the khan of Barbarian Di Empire, it's not hard for them to unify the Great Wall. I reckon Rolan's Golden Palace is also hesitant as they are scared of grooming another Eternal Peace Empire, making them lose control over the region beyond Great Wall. This is why Barbarian Di Empire has yet to unify the region beyond Great Wall until now."
Ling Yuxiu gave it some thoughts and it was indeed reasonable.
However, the three biggest sacred grounds in Eternal Peace Empire, Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, Heavenly Devil Cult did not support Eternal Peace Empire. Not only did they not support, there were still sects creating troubles for them.
If Barbarian Di Empire was to receive the full support from Rolan's Golden Palace, they would probably have the power to invade Eternal Peace Empire.
The green bull sprinted for almost half a day when Blind suddenly said, "Halt."
The green bull immediately halted. Blind pointed in the southwest direction and said, "Go over there. I can see people fighting over there."
The green bull was bewildered. Blind saw people fighting over there? How did he see them?
However, it was not good for him to question Blind, so he could only change his direction and sprinted southwest.
Ling Yuxiu was also slightly puzzled and she looked at Qin Mu. Qin Mu explained, "Grandpa Blind has the best eyesight in our village."
Blind was proud of himself. Ling Yuxiu looked at his 'eyes' and saw his eye sockets being completely empty and had nothing inside, making her thought to herself, "Why is Blind the one with the best eyesight? What the logic in this…"
Not long after the green bull had changed his direction, they suddenly saw a knife light cutting across a mountain, however, due to the long distance, they could only see weak rays. Only then did they admire Blind endlessly.
Ling Yuxiu was between bewildered, "He really is blind?"
Butcher also exclaimed, "Blind's eyesight is really good."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu knew the ability of Blind's god mind's eyes very well, therefore, he was long used to it. Even though Blind's eyes can't see, what he can 'see' was much more than the others.
He stood up and looked into the distance. There were still rays of golden light surrounding that mountain as they revolved around it.
The green bull sprinted with all his might and got closer and closer to that mountain. Not long later, the rays of light became thicker and thicker as they floated to and fro around the mountain like streamers surrounding the mountain.
When they got even closer, they could see numerous things in the golden lights. Those were the divine arts of the shaman kings and there were curved knives hidden within the golden lights. In some golden lights, there were golden humans and in others, there were golden dragons rolling inside.
The power of the shaman kings was astonishing and only shamans who had cultivated to Celestial Being Realm could be known as shaman kings. However, Rolan's Golden Palace was the sacred ground of the Great Wall after all. Those shaman kings that had given chase were mostly of Life and Death Realm and there was even a cult master level existence that was on Divine Bridge Realm.
The green bull sprinted forward and was only three miles away from that mountain. Qin Mu took another look and saw that there was a shaman king in each of the eight directions around the mountain.
The bird head human body shaman king on the east was holding onto a circular mirror. That mirror was strange and had twelve snow white bones growing out from the mirror. With the mirror in his hand, a ray of golden light shone from the mirror.
The leopard head human body shaman king on the west had a scepter in his hand. On the top of the scepter, there was something like a tail wrapping around the scepter which was currently moving. It was as long as the scepter. Meanwhile, on the tip of the scepter, there was a golden skull that was shooting out golden lights from its eyes.
On the south side, there was a three-headed golden man. He had three wolf's heads.
On the north side, the shaman king had a human head and two wings on his back. Golden swords continued to grow out from both of the wings and turned into sword currents which attacked towards the center of the mountain.
Meanwhile, the shaman kings on the southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest were also of all shapes and sizes. There were some that grew a beast head and eight arms, some that grew six legs, some that grew wings, some that grew more eyes and even had eyes on their palms.
Even though Qin Mu had seen Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures, he couldn't help exclaiming in admiration at the weirdness and power of this technique as he looked at such a scene.
At the middle of the mountain, knife light slashed vertically and horizontally to block the divine arts that were coming in all directions.
Huge rocks came falling down time to time from the top of the mountain. The rocks were as big as courtyard houses. In this situation, people couldn't recognize them clearly from far away. They could roughly see items like dust falling down and only when they came close could they only know how huge those clouds of dust were.
The mountain was already shaved into a bare pillar by the divine arts of Chancellor Ba Shan and the eight shaman kings. Only the top of the mountain where Chancellor Ba Shan was standing on still had some greenery left.
Butcher took a look and gave a sigh of relief before smiling, "Bigmouth still isn't dead. Let us return."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The green bull rushed forward with even more vigor.
Before they had yet to reach the bottom of the mountain, Butcher suddenly rose into the air and a knife light split the sky with an incomparable brightness. Qin Mu raised his head to take a look and felt that it turned darker after the light disappeared. It was as if the light was too bright and left a knife mark in their eyes, yet it also looked like it was too sharp and had sliced open the sky.
He couldn't determine which one it was.
"Heaven Khan!"
An astonished cry sounded out as a human head fell from the sky. There was also a headless shaman king still flapping his bird wings in the sky, shining his golden light everywhere. It was human head bird body shaman king on the north.
Among all of the shaman kings present, only he was the cult master level existence of Divine Bridge Realm yet he was assassinated by Butcher when he closed in on him and killed him with a knife.
Butcher was from the battle techniques school and one could well imagine what would happen if he closed in on someone.
Butcher landed steadily on the back of the green bull and ordered it, "Your old master is fine now, he'll just have to suffer a little more injuries and he will be able to slaughter his way out. Green bull, bring us to Rolan's Golden Palace."
The green bull hesitated and asked, "Aren't old old master going to rescue old master? Old master always talked about how good you were."
"Why should I rescue him? For him to annoy me?"
Butcher shook his head, "It was very peaceful for me when I stayed in the village for the past few years. When I think of getting nagged by this guy, my headache would act up. You should go as I ordered. If you continue to be long-winded, we'll have beef tonight. Do you know what's my job in the village?"
The green bull shuddered in fear and dared not to say a word. This bull was very clever and had long realized he was a butcher that slaughtered pigs and cows.
"Master!"
Chancellor Ba Shan's voice came from the mountaintop and it was obvious he was injured since his breath was inadequate. He cried out in surprise, "Master, it is you! I knew you didn't die. You had left me behind in Eternal Peace for so many years and ran away yourself to live a carefree life. How are you going to make up to me? I have a lot of things to tell you…"
"Quickly run," Butcher said.
The green bull immediately ran towards the direction of Rolan's Golden Palace. Chancellor Ba Shan was about to rush out of that mountain when he got suppressed by the other seven shaman kings, making him have no choice but to go back to the mountain.
The seven shaman kings now felt they were holding a wolf by the ears. The eight of them had worked together to suppress Chancellor Ba Shan and had decided to refine him to death. Never did they expect that Heaven Khan who was rumored to have died many years ago to resurface and killed the strongest shaman king among them with a knife.
They had originally thought that Heaven Khan would make a move on them and Chancellor Ba Shan's spirits were raised as he used his strongest attacks to delay them, making them unable to run, scaring them out of their wits.
And now, Heaven Khan had actually left Chancellor Ba Shan here and escaped on a bull.
Chancellor Ba Shan was also at a total loss. Suddenly, he came to the realization and started to curse the old man.
It took the green bull almost half a day to bring them back to the weak waters.
Butcher look at Blind and said, "Blind, you and Mu'er shall accompany me up the mountain. Now that my lower body is missing, I can't win that old fellow."
"Alright."
Blind jumped down from the back of the bull. Qin Mu made Ling Yuxiu, Hu Ling'er and the green bull stay and said, "We'll be right back."
Ling Yuxiu nodded her head, "Be careful."
Butcher came to the front of the weak waters lake and shook his head, "Ba Shan this brat still hasn't improved after all these years. He couldn't even move this lake away."
He took in a deep breath and the trio behind him couldn't help becoming dumbstruck. They saw the surroundings surging like a gathering storm towards this elder in front of them who only had the upper half of his body. Even the clouds in the sky were swept over by the surging gale!
The prairie had a high elevation and the clouds were much lower. Even so, they were also ten thousand feet above them and this elder was so overpowered that he actually managed to suck all the white clouds in the sky into his stomach in one breath!
"This is, this is… the legendary strongest practitioner of the battle techniques school!"
Ling Yuxiu's mind shuddered. Ever since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gathered all the strong practitioners of battle techniques school to discuss Dao, the strong practitioners of the battle techniques had either died or escaped, and there were also some who went into seclusion.
However, after that discourse, there were no more strong practitioners standing at the pinnacle of battle techniques.
The flesh body was what battle techniques school was strong in. There was a similar trait in all of the top battle techniques practitioners, which was one part of their bodies had already become a god!
He had no need to deliberately execute divine art as every motion they did was a divine art.
It was obvious that this elder who only had his upper body was such an existence.
Butcher took in a deep breath and completely sucked in all the clouds in the surroundings before giving out a blow.
Whoosh! The weak waters lake in front of them was suddenly lifted up and the waves grew higher and higher as though a sea had become vertical.
The vertical sea rapidly retreated and was literally blown into the snow mountains in an instant, filling up all the valleys in the snow mountains.
In front of them, the lake was dried and even the bones in the lake were blown away. Even though the bottom of the lake was still slightly wet, there was no mud as the mud was scraped off cleanly.
Qin Mu opened his heaven's eyes to have a look and he saw that the veil covering lake had also vanished without a trace left from Butcher's breath.
The top experts of the battle techniques school didn't know the spell divine arts to change the land but with such an incomparably strong body which could change the land and weather, why do they need spell divine arts?
"If one could have the body of the battle techniques school, the sword mastery of sword control school and the divine arts of spells school, won't they be invincible?"
Qin Mu blinked his eyes and followed after Butcher. What he cultivated was Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and this technique was good in everything. It was just that this technique had no divine arts, no body refinement techniques, and no sword skills.
It was also because he was cultivating Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, Butcher didn't impart his body refinement technique to him so as not to hold back his advancement in cultivation.
Actually, everyone in the village had his own unique technique but none of them had taught it to him.
Rolan's Golden Palace broke into a commotion when they saw Butcher blowing away the weak waters lake in front of Rolan's Golden Palace in a breath. How could such an unimaginably exceptional divine art not make the hearts of the shaman kings tremble?
In front of the sacred hall, Grand Shaman stood there with his scepter. Two rays of golden light shone out from his eyes and landed on the three people who were walking on the bottom of the lake, causing his eyes to twitch.
He was the cult leader of the golden palace. Because he envied Butcher's strong body, after he knew Butcher got cut down by raising his knife towards the heavens, he infiltrated Eternal Peace and exterminated that small sect which had snatched Butcher's lower body.
He knew very well that Butcher's body surpassed his body, therefore, he had cut off his own lower body without hesitation and attached Butcher's to his body.
And now, his nightmare had turned into a reality.
That Heaven Khan had not yet died. He had lived on and now he was coming for his lower body.
The corners of Grand Shaman's eyes twitched furiously and he turned to walk back into the sacred hall. In the hall, there were golden skeletons sitting on the shrines. There were human shaped bones and there were also beast shaped bones. There were a total of eighteen shrines and seventeen of them had golden skeletons in them. On the eighteenth shrine, there was a skin and bones elder with a messy appearance sitting on it as if he was dead.
"Grandmaster, Heaven Khan is here," Grand Shaman leaned on his scepter and knelt down on one knee while lowering his head.
That elder who was as thin as a match opened up his sharp eyes and his voice was like an owl, "Where's the Sacred Child of Reincarnation which I asked you to find?"
Golden sweats built up on Grand Shaman's golden forehead as he said tartly, "I haven't found him yet…"
That messy elder shouted with a sharp voice, "Without the Sacred Child of Reincarnation, won't my reincarnation for the past seventeen lifetimes be all for naught? I am only half a step from becoming god, half a step!"
Grand Shaman lowered his head deeply and didn't dare to say a word.
That messy elder said sternly, "With me around, Heaven Knife won't dare to make things difficult for you but I won't easily exhaust my life to help you. Return his lower body to him and immediately find the Sacred Child of Reincarnation for me!"
Grand Shaman was startled and suddenly, a flash passed his waist. It was too late for him to defend against.
Grand Shaman kept silent for a moment before opening his mouth again, "Junior Brother Gyatso, come in."
A shaman king heard him and immediately came into the sacred hall before bowing, "Grand Shaman, what's the matter?"
Grand Shaman picked up the scepter and poked through his head. He then severed his lower body and attached it to his own body. Without a ripple on his expression, he bowed and said, "Grandmaster, disciple ask to be excused."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
That messy elder closed his eyes, "If you can't find the Sacred Child of Reincarnation, you know the consequences."
Grand Shaman bowed and retreated out of the sacred hall with Butcher's lower body. When he walked out of the sacred hall, crunching sounds came from inside the hall as if there was something eating Shaman King Gyatso's body.
Grand Shaman's eyes twitched and a sharp pain came from his waist. He had roughly attached Shaman King Gyatso's body to his and used his magic power to connect them together. However, their flesh, as well as their bones, tendons, meridians channels, essence, qi, and blood were not connected to each other.
He would have to use secret medicine to fuse them together and turned Gyatso's body into his own body.
Ever since he attained Butcher's body, he had thought he could finally advance one more step in his lifetime. Never would he had expected Butcher to be still alive and come look him up. Furthermore, since Grandmaster's corporeal body had withered, he didn't dare to engage in a life and death struggle against Butcher, making him have no choice but to give up Butcher's lower body.
Even though Shaman King Gyatso wasn't weak, he still couldn't be compared to Grand Shaman's previous body. If he wanted to cultivate back to his previous realm, he didn't know how long he would have to spend.
Grand Shaman bore the pain and brought Butcher's lower body down the mountain. Qin Mu had already come up the mountain along with Butcher and Blind thus they met halfway up the mountain.
Grand Shaman placed down Butcher's lower body and greeted, "Heaven Khan."
Butcher looked at his lower body and then looked at Grand Shaman's waist and shook his head, "Why bother? I still have to thank you for nurturing my corporeal body for over two hundred years and not letting it die."
The corners of Grand Shaman's eyes twitched twice.
Qin Mu took out that golden lower body and said, "Grand Shaman, I'll return your body to you, there's no point in me keeping it."
The muscles of Grand Shaman's face twitched as he replied hoarsely, "I have no use for it."
"You can refine it into a treasure."
Qin Mu asked in goodwill, "I see that your body isn't attached properly. I'm proficient in the art of healing, if Grand Shaman can trust me, I can help you attach it properly."
"You want to take the chance to harm me?"
Grand Shaman sneered and brought his lower body to leave.
Qin Mu shook his head and sighed, "All doctors treat patients like their children. I had planned to use his body as warm up before helping Grandpa Butcher reattach his body…"
Butcher smiled, "I trust in your medical expertise. If we could go back to find Apothecary and let him do it personally, it would be even better. However, it would take too long to return to Great Ruins."
He suddenly shouted, "Old fellow, are you still alive?" His loud voice reverberated throughout the entire mountain.
An ancient and sharp voice came from Rolan's Golden Palace, "Don't worry, if Heaven Khan isn't dead yet, how would I be dead?"
"This old ghost is actually still alive."
Butcher laughed coldly, "I'll make you die sooner or later! Let's go!"
Qin Mu carried Butcher's lower body and the three of them went down the mountain.
Blind turned back to have a look at the mountain and seemed to be deep in his thoughts, "That person inside is very strong."
Butcher let out a sigh and smiled, "I reckon I'm not his opponent without my lower body. That's why you have to accompany me here to deal with him. This old fellow has reincarnated seventeen times and lived through eighteen lifetimes. His lifespan has probably hit ten thousand years yet he still doesn't die. I had fought him a few times and he's very powerful."
Qin Mu cried out, "Lived through eighteen lifetimes? A lifespan of ten thousand years? How is this possible?"
"How is it not possible? You should have seen gods and devils who have lived much longer than ten thousand years in Great Ruins, am I right? Actually, there are many scary things in this world. However, you are still young now and can't come into contact with these kinds of existences."
Butcher continued, "That old thing may not be a devil or god but he isn't far from them. He knows a lot about the past and many secrets. If he wasn't an enemy, I wouldn't have stood against him."
Blind nodded his head, "There are indeed some terrifying existences. For example my eyes…"
He shook his head and didn't say any more.
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. Blind's eyes were dug out by someone but Blind had never told people who exactly did it. What was the secret behind this?
When they left Rolan's Golden Palace and regrouped with Ling Yuxiu, they went to a barbarian city on the prairie. Qin Mu bought a few medicinal ingredients in the city and took out a huge cauldron from his sack, "Grandpa Butcher, I would have to boil your lower body first to remove the blood of Grand Shaman and the shaman poison within it."
He poured a huge jar of water into the cauldron and placed the medicinal ingredients into the water one by one. When the water started boiling and gave off medicinal fragrance, he then placed Butcher's body into the water.
Hu Ling'er was worried, "Would it be cooked?"
Blind beamed and said, "When you smell the fragrance of meat, it would be cooked."
Butcher retorted angrily, "My body can't even die after getting severed by a god so how would it be cooked from just a pot of boiling water?"
After boiling it for some time, Qin Mu observed the color of the medicinal water and opened up a medicine goblet to pinch out a few black and red toads that were dried up. They were all the same size of a fingernail and they got scattered into the cauldron.
The toads were already dried up but when they entered the water, they were revived and darted around in the boiling water, absorbing the shaman poison.
Not long later, the few toads died from poisoning.
Qin Mu changed another cauldron of water and followed the same steps again for nine times to refine the shaman poison out completely. He saw the blood in Butcher's lower body regaining its red color and his blood came circulated in his blood vessels automatically as though it was alive.
Qin Mu boiled another cauldron of water and changed over a dozen medicinal ingredients to excite the activity of his flesh and blood all the way until late at night.
Ling Yuxiu and the little fox had already fallen asleep. The green bull had also gone to sleep while Blind was sitting on the floor, snoozing as he leaned on his bamboo cane. Only Qin Mu and Butcher were still guarding beside the cauldron.
Qin Mu pulled out his Junior Protector Sword and passed it to Butcher, "Grandpa Butcher, I am unable to cut your body so you would have to do it yourself. You have to cut away the flesh membrane which has grown over your upper body."
"There's no need to use your sword, I will use my knife."
Butcher pulled out his Pig Slaughtering Knife and gritted his teeth as he gave a slice and sliced off the flesh membrane which had grown over his wounds. His cultivation was strong, therefore, he was able to use his vital qi immediately to seal his wounds and not let them bleed.
Qin Mu pulled out the lower body from the cauldron. The wound on the lower body was still fresh so he had no need to slice it. Qin Mu took out jade bottles and carefully smeared the dragon's saliva on the cross-sections of the upper and lower body.
The moment he smeared the dragon's saliva, he could see flesh sprouting out rapidly as though they were small red worms wiggling non-stop.
He didn't connect the two sections of the body immediately and had instead refined his vital qi into threads to pick out all the tendons and nerves to reconnect them first.
The vital qi threads on his palm increased in number as they connected every flesh, every membrane, the intestines, the spines and gradually fused the body together. However, the skin at the waist had yet to grow out.
Qin Mu finally applied some dragon's saliva on his wound and the skin also grew back naturally, closing up the wound.
He raised his spirits and carried Butcher up and placed him in the medicinal cauldron. He placed the last packet of medicinal ingredients into the cauldron and brought the water to a simmer.
In the cauldron, Butcher leaned his arms by the side and suddenly said, "Mu'er, Thanks for all the hard work."
Qin Mu shook his head and smiled, "I had learned the art of healing from Grandpa Apothecary for so many years and all my skills are taught by Grandpa Apothecary. It can't be considered hard."
"I hope you won't have a messy reputation like Apothecary did."
The water slowly came to a boil and Butcher let out a mouthful of white mist, "That's right. I kept seeing you take things out from that little cloth sack. Even this cauldron was taken out from the sack. There's something weird with your sack. Let me have a look."
Qin Mu handed over that sack and said, "I picked up this sack in Rolan's Golden Palace. I don't know how but there's an area of one acre in the sack, so I have used it to store items."
Butcher opened the sack and took a look inside before giving a weird expression, "Mu'er, it seems like you have picked up quite a lot of items from the treasury of Rolan's Golden Palace."
Qin Mu's face turned slightly red."
"You can learn from Cripple but you cannot be addicted."
Butcher sighed, "Actually we all have our own bad habits in the village. Cripple likes to steal, Apothecary frequently poisons people and flirts everywhere. As for me, I was too arrogant in the past and raised my knives against the heavens. Blind is supercilious and frivolous, Deaf is too proud, Mute has his own way of thinking and tells no one about it. Don't talk about Village Chief, acting like he's a profound mystery and granny is a troublemaker. I'm scared that you learned all our bad points."
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Don't worry, Grandpa Butcher. Ever since I was out from the village, I have yet created trouble. Patriarch is very pleased with me!"
"In that case, that's good. You can create trouble, but you will need to be able to settle it."
Butcher shook the sack and smiled, "I have seen this sack before and it's called Taotie Sack and it's made out of taotie's skin. There should be a pureblood taotie in Great Ruins and if our villagers take it on together, we might be able to defeat it. The skin used to make this taotie sack isn't from a pureblood taotie but its lineage could be considered extremely high. The taotie sack I saw in the past has only ten feet in diameter and not many things can be put inside. It should have been made out of the skin of a strange beast who has the taotie's bloodline.
"So I see."
Qin Mu was astonished and immediately asked, "I have seen some houses that don't look big from the outside yet have an enormous space inside, how did this happen?"
"That's simple. By grinding the bones of strange beasts that have the taotie's bloodline and mix it into the cement, mixing it into the paint is fine as well. In this way, the internal space would become bigger."
Butcher said, "Taotie is a divine beast, a kind of dragon. This divine beast only eat and don't shit therefore the space in its stomach is very wide. Its skin would be used to create taotie sack while its bones would be used to build the house. There are many ways to use it, however, there are too little pureblood ones."
Qin Mu stayed at his side and they both chit chat until Qin Mu felt asleep without knowing.
When he woke up, he realized that the fire under the cauldron had extinguished. He was about to rekindle the fire when Butcher's voice sounded out from the side, "Mu'er, there's no need for that. I feel that there are no major problems with my body now."
Qin Mu immediately looked back and saw Butcher had already dressed up. He wore a new pant which was the one Qin Mu had made earlier after buying some fabric while he was getting the medicinal ingredients.
This elder wore a loose chinese gown on his upper body and the messy beard stubbles were all cleanly shaved, making him look refresh.
Butcher looked at him up and down and nodded his head repeatedly, "You have already grown up. We helped you in the past and now you can already help us. That's good, that's good…"
Blind's voice came from outside, "The one that slaughters pigs, if you continue talking, you won't be able to leave. Your disciple has already caught up."
Butcher walked out and said, "There's a hand bone of a god in your taotie sack which I will be keeping for you. You can't bring this thing around with you, that god is still alive. If you take it with you, it will just bring you disaster."
Qin Mu was shocked, "The owner of the hand bone is still alive?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"I chopped it off back then from the heavens so of course he's still alive."
Butcher and Blind walked in a line and gradually went further away. Even though their footsteps were slow, their speed was very fast. Butcher's voice came from the distance, "This was the hand I exchanged my lower body for. However, the divine flesh on it seems to have been stripped off and turned into spirit pills for consumption, thus only the bones are left."
"Mu'er, remember to come back to the village to celebrate the new year!" Blind's voice also came from afar.
Qin Mu saw them off and gave a smile. He waved towards the shadow of their backs, "I will definitely be back for new year!"
Blind seemed to see him waving and raised his arms to wave back without even turning back his head.
"Grandpa Blind sure is powerful."
Qin Mu exclaimed, "To be able to see so clearly despite being so far."
Not long later, a massive voice came from far away and echoed through the skies of the prairie, "Junior Brother Qin, Brother Qin, Qin."
Qin Mu heard that it was Chancellor Ba Shan's voice and immediately shouted, "I'm over here!"
That voice still continued to shout, "Imperial Academician Qin, Academician Qin, Qin."
Qin Mu replied again, yet Chancellor Ba Shan's voice was still calling out from afar and he came to a realization, "Chancellor Ba Shan is probably still a few hundred miles away from here. His voice is able to reach here but my voice can't reach him."
Ling Yuxiu woke up and immediately said, "Cowherd, let me do it!" When she finished saying, she waved her hand and released a flame divine art, shooting a fireball into the sky which exploded with surging heat waves.
Qin Mu praised that she was clever in his heart and smiled, "It's useless, he is still a few hundred miles away from here so he can't see it."
Hu Ling'er and the green bull also woke up. The green bull looked around and couldn't find Butcher and Blind. He asked, "Where's old old master?"
"They've left."
Qin Mu still heard Chancellor Ba Shan shouting to him in all kinds of manner and sighed. Chancellor Ba Shan's vocals sure are huge and he really could talk. It was very hard to imagine how such a rough man could be able to be so talkative. Qin Mu said, "Let us go to the direction of the borders. If Chancellor Ba Shan can't find us, he will definitely head there."
The green bull showed his true form and Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er up the bull's back. Ling Yuxiu also jumped up. The green bull took a step and sprinted towards the borders. Qin Mu looked at the girl beside him and asked, "Have your injuries healed?"
Ling Yuxiu nodded her head, "Even the scar is gone. Look, I had a cut on my waist originally and it's now completely healed."
She pulled up her clothes and revealed her waist while turning to the side, "Right here."
Her skin was very exquisite and her waist was also very white. She probably hadn't tanned by the sun before. Qin Mu's skin was originally darker as he frequently swam naked in Surging River during summer, exposing himself to the hot sun. Sometimes he even got pursued relentlessly by the huge fish monsters that were on his tail.
Now that he had come to Imperial College, Qin Mu had no more chances to run around naked so his skin had gradually lightened up. However, when compared to Ling Yuxiu, Qin Mu was still slightly darker.
Qin Mu stretched out a finger and touched the location of her wound. He could still feel a bump on the wound.
Ling Yuxiu felt ticklish and giggled.
Qin Mu said, "Don't move. I'll help you dissolve the clotted blood, otherwise, there will always be a bump here."
Ling Yuxiu immediately stopped moving and held her shirt up. Qin Mu transformed his vital qi into Green Dragon Vital Qi and threads of vital qi came out from the tip of his finger, carefully piercing into her skin to dissolve the clotted blood.
Ling Yuxiu only felt numb and ticklish which made her giggle again, "You are making me ticklish. There's a ticklish spot there."
Qin Mu didn't raise his head and said, "Bear with it. It won't be ticklish in a moment and it would feel slightly painful."
After a moment, Ling Yuxiu felt a needle piercing pain and immediately looked down. She only saw Qin Mu using his Nature Fragrance Silk's handkerchief to wipe away the clotted blood that was flowing out. When the clotted blood had flowed out, there was no trace left on the skin.
Ling Yuxiu pulled down her shirt and blinked her eyes innocently, "Divine physician, there are still some wounds on my back, I don't know if they will leave scars…"
Hu Ling'er replied loud and clearly, "I smeared the wounds on your back and before I applied the medicine, I had already squeezed out the clotted blood for you. They won't leave any scars."
Ling Yuxiu looked at her and the little fox was smiling very sweetly... and very fake.
"Hmph, vixen!" Both of them thought at the same time.
Hu Ling'er blinked her eyes, "Sister Yuxiu, how old are you this year?"
Ling Yuxiu's gaze flickered and asked, "How old are you?"
"I'm twelve."
"I'm sixteen."
"You're one year older than young master!"
…
Ling Yuxiu had a feeling that a little fox had pounced on her and gave her two stabs in her aching heart. This fox may be a little thing but her moves were ruthless and unexpected, making her unable to defend herself.
She had long noticed that this little fox harbored evil designs. Making her way onto Qin Mu's bed every night and acting as if she didn't know anything, she hadn't a reserved manner and acted shamelessly cute.
And now, this little hussy had already started to go on the offense.
Ling Yuxiu may be unconstrained and looked like a big-hearted girl that was outspoken and straightforward unlike other girls, but she also had her own meticulous side. She smiled sweetly, "Sister Ling, the furs on your paws are really soft. Why didn't you try to turn them into human hands?"
Hu Ling'er yawned and squinted her eyes, "Young master likes it this way."
"Sister Ling, why haven't you shapeshifted?"
"Young master likes it this way."
"Look at your eyes which are different from ours."
"Young master likes it this way."
…
Ling Yuxiu had lost the battle. This little fox had an impenetrable defense which struck back after blocking. It was like Great Thunderclap Monastery's divine art, Flowers In The Mirror which could reflect other people's attacks back at them.
"Whom did this vixen learn from?" Ling Yuxiu wasn't her opponent and was slightly angry.
Hu Ling'er was proud of herself. In Rain Listening Pavilion, she had consulted the maidens of Rain Listening Pavilion regarding the techniques of this field.
Ling Yuxiu suddenly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was actually being jealous of a little fox, she had truly lost the awe of the imperial family. She had the figure and even though Qin Mu was slightly blind to say that she was slightly chubby, her appearance wasn't bad. No matter how incisive the little fox's moves were, she had not shapeshifted.
Victory was already firmly grasped in her hands and there was completely no need to be jealous of that vixen.
Before they had yet to reach the borders, Chancellor Ba Shan had finally caught up with them. When he saw Butcher had already left, this strong man couldn't help falling into a daze, crying loudly and cursing Heaven Knife at the same time.
Qin Mu consoled him for a moment and said, "It's not that he doesn't miss you, he just dislikes your nagging, therefore, he went first. Actually, Grandpa Butcher cares about you very much. When he heard you were in danger, he was the first one to rush over. Stop crying, stop crying, we're reaching the border station. How can Martial Khan be seen sobbing like a little girl?"
Chancellor Ba Shan wiped his tears and poured out his woes to him. He started telling Qin Mu about everything and anything: ever since he was a child, he had to stand still as punishment for wetting his bed; every single detail of his cultivation; helping Heaven Knife wash his undergarments; how Heaven Knife had brought him to steal duck soup from the neighboring village.
Qin Mu looked at Ling Yuxiu pleadingly and she shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
Imperial College.
The young patriarch packed his stuff silently into a small bundle and threw his ribbon attached to the official seal on the floor. Hanging up his official seal on the door of the Hall of Supreme Learning, he took a last glance at Imperial College and gave a smile.
Elder of Discipline walked over in quick steps and carried a bamboo basket that was not very big. In the bamboo basket were an umbrella and items like scrolls and books.
"Let's go, there's no need to alarm the others," the young patriarch smiled.
The two of them walked down the mountain without alarming anyone and when they reached the bottom of the mountain, that dragon qilin immediately stood up and wagged his tail.
"My life is coming to an end and I can't bring you along anymore."
The youth caressed the head of this dragon qilin and shook his head, "If you follow me, you'll just be waiting for me to die of old age. Little friend, you're free."
Kacha.
The chain on the dragon's qilin's neck opened up and this dragon qilin looked at him blankly. He shook his head and asked, "Old master, if I can't follow you, where can I go?"
"You were originally living freely so where can you not go?"
The young patriarch waved his hand and looked at the Imperial College which he had built up personally, having a hint of reluctance in his eyes. He suddenly turned around and left, "Spending my last years here yet I'm leaving here today. I do not wish to die of old age in Imperial College."
The old and the young headed out of the capital city and once they were out of the city, the young patriarch asked Elder of Discipline to stay back as he walked towards that person by himself.
"Dao friend."
Imperial Preceptor greeted, "Are you going to leave just like this? Are you not going to ask for your dismissal from the emperor?"
The young patriarch smiled, "When I assumed the position effortlessly, I had not come for the emperor so why do I have to leave for the emperor? I'm very happy that you had invited me here and have come to send me off now."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed ruefully, "Dao friend can already face death in the eyes. I wonder how many years do I have to cultivate to be able to reach the height of your frame of mind. Let me send you off."
Both of them walked forward side by side while Elder of Discipline followed not far behind. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "When I knew you were leaving, I felt a big piece missing from my heart. No one knows me better than you in this world. Without you, I have one less person I can talk to."
The young patriarch said, "You have great ambitions and your future is paved with difficulties. The path you are taking is filled with bumps and there's nothing I can teach you. You'll have to rely on yourself."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stopped, "Back then I wanted to acknowledge you as my teacher, why didn't you accept me?"
The young patriarch said calmly, "I knew you would be better than me and have higher attainments than me in the future so I don't deserve to be your teacher, therefore, I can't take you in as my disciple. The things you have thought of were things I had never thought before. They are things I would never have accomplished in my entire lifetime. I have also learned many things from you, therefore, I can't be your teacher."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a stride forward and followed him, "I'm still slightly perplexed and exhausted lately. Say, is the path we are taking an orthodox one?"
"In the eyes of the so-called orthodox path, the road we are going down on isn't the orthodox path."
The young patriarch stopped and looked at him in the eyes, "We established primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College to reform the sects and gathered the teachings of numerous sects to teach scholars, to treat commoners and disciples of sects as equals. In their eyes, we are straying from the orthodox path and are committing an unforgivable sin. However, in our eyes, this is the orthodox path! Don't care what the others say, what's right is right! Don't let the furious barkings of others turn it wrong."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body trembled slightly.
"The things you want to do are too big and the road ahead is filled with thistles and thorns. My life is coming to an end and I can't help you anymore, you'll have to rely on yourself."
The young patriarch smiled slightly, "Go back."
Eternal Peace clasped his hands together and bowed to the ground, "Thank you Dao friend for half of a lifetime of support!"
The young patriarch returned his greeting, "Since we are walking on the same path, we naturally have to support each other."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned around to leave, with his clothes fluttering in the wind, disappearing into the boundless sea of people in the capital city.
The young patriarch rose and called Elder of Discipline over, "Let's go. It's time for the young cult master to ascend to power."
At the borders of the Great Wall, Chancellor Ba Shan's expression turned grim as he brought Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu into the frontier stockade, feeling very displeased in his heart. When that barbarian general that was on duty saw them coming, his expression changed and he went forth, "Martial Khan, the sacred ground has ordered not to let you out of the borders when we see you!"
Chancellor Ba Shan had an icy gaze as he asked coldly, "Do you want to die?"
That barbarian general felt a shiver down his spine and looked around. Chancellor Ba Shan swept his gaze at all the generals around and asked coldly, "Do you all want to die?"
That barbarian forced himself to shout, "Open the gates!"
The gates opened and Chancellor Ba Shan rode the bull out of the borders.
Qin Mu looked back and can't help crying out in surprise when he saw a barbarian youth on top of the city gate tower practicing his punches which were so vigorous that wind was formed. That barbarian youth saw someone was peeping and immediately kept his stance to look down.
"This youth is very strong and has an extremely strong foundation," Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration.
That youth turned his gaze over and light shone from his eyes as he shouted, "Martial Khan! My name is Pangong Tso, the son of the prairie king. I will definitely defeat Martial Khan in the future and become the overlord of the prairie!"
Chancellor Ba Shan turned back and sized up that barbarian youth, praising him, "Great spirit, continue to train. You're a seedling with a good foundation. Show me your series of punches again!"
Pangong Tso executed another series of punches and Chancellor Ba Shan told Qin Mu, "This child has great control over his fist skills and his power was much fiercer than other people. The aptitude of his body was very extraordinary and he will definitely become a very capable person."
Qin Mu nodded his head. The same moves, the same cultivation, yet the punches of some people would be stronger than others. This was their gifted talent that others could never get but envy.
"I'm impressed. As long as he doesn't die, he would definitely become a well-known figure on the prairie."
As they walked toward Qingmen Pass, Pangong Tso's spirits rose after receiving Chancellor Ba Shan's praise and trained even harder. Not long later, a ray of golden light flashed across the sky and a shaman king landed. With a grim face, he summoned the general on duty over and asked, " You have let the Martial Khan out?"
That general on duty braced himself and said, "Martial Khan has immeasurable power so how would I dare to block him? If we block him with force, I'm afraid there would be a disastrous amount of casualties in our border station and it would be difficult for us to defend against Eternal Peace's army."
That shaman king gave a cold snort and was about to blow up when he suddenly saw Pangong Tso who was practicing his punches on the city gate tower. He was surprised and delighted as he pointed towards Pangong Tso to ask, "Whose child is that?"
"The young son of our Barbarian Di Empire's supreme khan, Prince Pangong Tso."
That shaman king gave a smile and reached out to grab him from afar. Pangong Tso's body flew over uncontrollably and landed in front of him.
"Great aptitude, this is the extraordinary constitution that Grand Shaman is looking for!"
That shaman king sized him up and gave a satisfied expression, "The Sacred Child of Reincarnation which Grand Shaman ordered us to find has finally been found by me! Pangong Tso, follow me!"
The general on duty was startled and wanted to stop him but that shaman king had already turned into a ray of golden light and brought Pangong Tso away.
When he brought Pangong Tso back to Rolan's Golden Palace, he sent this little prince to Grand Shaman. Grand Shaman also couldn't help being surprised and delighted. He immediately brought Pangong Tso to the sacred hall and bowed, "Grandmaster, the Sacred Child of Reincarnation is found. He has the same constitution as Grandmaster. He is a rare talent that could only be found once every few hundred years on the prairie. Grandmaster can reincarnate now."
A mournful laugh came from the shrine and suddenly a bony monster flew out. With his head below and legs above, he stuck himself to Pangong Tso head to head.
A world-shaking boom sounded out in Pangong Tso's mind and his soul was obliterated.
Essences continuously surged forth from that monster's body into Pangong Tso's body. At the same time, that grandmaster's soul was also shifting and planting itself into Pangong Tso's body, "Disciple, when I reincarnate, the one that should die doesn't die and the one that should live doesn't live. This alters fate and defies the natural order so the messenger of death will be coming to capture my soul. Set up the formation properly to block the messenger of death."
Grand Shaman immediately went forward and took out the shrines to place them around Pangong Tso. On the shrines were the skeletons from the past seventeen lifetimes which were left behind by the grandmaster and refined into magical artifacts.
Suddenly, the space trembled as a chill wind blew over from another space and time. The fire in this sacred hall immediately dimmed as a small boat slowly floated over from another space and time.
That was a dark world and the only source of light seemed to be from the green lamp hanging on the bow of the small boat. The green lamp was dim and there was an elder sitting under it and folding paper boats and paper humans.
The boat slowly floated towards the sacred hall.
Grand Shaman was extremely anxious and immediately poured all of his magic powers into the shrines. In the shrines, that seventeen golden skeletons seemed to have come to life and stood in a line between the entrance of the other world and their actual world.
The elder sitting on the boat was surrounded by boundless darkness and looking from his angle, other than his lamp which was lighted up in his world, the only other light was from the entrance to the other world and that entrance was currently blocked by seventeen skeletons.
He raised his hand and the paper humans and paper horses seemed to come alive as the paper humans rode on the paper horses which sprinted towards the entrance blocked by the golden skeletons. Meanwhile, the paper humans on the horsebacks were swinging their paper knives and paper swords. They opened their mouths and seemed to be shouting ferociously but no sound came out.
The seventeen skeletons moved together at once and engaged in a scuffle with the paper humans and paper horses which had come rushing over.
These seventeen golden skeletons formed a formation which had immense power and allowed the formation to unleash a might that rivaled the gods, however, the power from the other world was abnormally terrifying. When the paper knives and paper swords came slashing down, even the golden skeletons of the grandmaster couldn't defend against them. A knife could easily sever a bone and a sword could easily stab through their skulls.
Grand Shaman controlled the seventeen golden skeletons and held on desperately to hold off the attacks of the paper humans and paper horses. Meanwhile, the grandmaster sped up his reincarnation yet he saw the small boat from the other world getting closer and closer. The elder on the boat had already picked up the lantern and stood up.
Sweat broke out across Grand Shaman's forehead as he saw the small boat had already floated at the way over and was about to cross over from the other world to their actual world. Meanwhile, the elder holding the lamp had stretched his hand out as though he wanted to stretch his hand out from the other world to pull the reincarnating grandmaster to that world!
Suddenly, Grandmaster's body turned stiff and he dropped down from mid-air without a breath remaining while Pangong Tso opened up his sparkling black eyes.
Just as his eyes opened up, the connection between the two worlds crumbled. The paper humans and paper horses incinerated by themselves and turned into ashes in an instant. Meanwhile, the hand that had stretched out from the other world had gradually pulled back and vanished.
In the sacred hall, the fire suddenly brightened again and the dimness earlier had disappeared without a trace.
Pangong Tso let out a sigh of relief and smiled, "I've finally succeeded."
"Congratulations Grandmaster!" Grand Shaman bowed.
Pangong Tso waved his hand and Grand Shaman retreated. Closing the door to the hall, he let out a sigh, "If not for Grandmaster's old age and weak body, how would he let Heaven Knife slaughter his way up? Now that Grandmaster had reincarnated, he could finally live through another lifetime. This way, there would be no need to worry about Eternal Peace Empire and Heaven Knife wouldn't be a problem as well."
In Qingmen Pass, Qin Mu threw two jade bottles to Chancellor Ba Shan before going off to buy some spirit herbs to refine pills.
"Young master, Patriarch is looking for young master."
Qin Mu finished grabbing his herbs and that shop assistant of the medical store said, "Young master please leave the pass as soon as possible and head towards Harmony Prefecture."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and nodded his head.
He returned to the inn and refined out a cauldron of spirit pills to heal injuries for Chancellor Ba Shan. He called Hu Ling'er over and left the border without a word, heading towards Harmony Prefecture.
Ling Yuxiu was currently bathing and when she was done, Qin Mu had disappeared without a trace. She couldn't help being surprised and immediately went to ask Chancellor Ba Shan. Chancellor Ba Shan also didn't know when Qin Mu had left and told her after some thinking, "Princess, there's no need to worry. The fox isn't here as well so this means that junior brother wasn't kidnapped and has left with the fox."
Ling Yuxiu was slightly disappointed. Qin Mu did not tell her a thing and left quietly this time.
Was there a need to be so mysterious?
What could he not say?"
Chancellor Ba Shan consumed the spirit pills and rose, "Princess, let us return to Imperial College. Calculating the time we have been out, Grand Chancellor should be resigning soon. The new Grand Chancellor should be assuming position soon too. Let us return earlier. Grand Chancellor has always been looking after me, I must see him off at least."
Ling Yuxiu understood.
Meanwhile, at this moment, Qin Mu had brought Hu Ling'er forward and they got closer to Harmony Prefecture. On their journey, there were turmoil and chaos of war everywhere. There would be sects announcing the emperor had gone down the wrong path and mistakenly allowed the treacherous Imperial Preceptor to bring a great turmoil to the whole world. Therefore, the sects revolted and wanted to purge the wrong in the name of justice.
When he came to Luo City which was beside Harmony Prefecture, there were battles everywhere in Luo City. The people had no way to make a living and the armies were quelling the rebellions everywhere. However, it was like they were trying to stop water from boiling, having not much use.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had let this flames burned too furiously. Most of the officials that formed Eternal Peace Empire's council were experts from numerous sects and now that these sects had rebelled, these officials had rebelled together. The foundation of the empire had shaken and it was already very difficult to suppress the revolt.
"What method does Imperial Preceptor have to pacify the chaos in the world?"
Qin Mu was bewildered, "If it continues this way, I'm afraid all of the sects in this world will revolt. When that time comes, even if Eternal Peace Empire is able to pacify the rebellion, it would suffer a huge loss in power."
This was something Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would definitely not be willing to see.
If Eternal Peace Empire suffered a huge loss in power, how could he pacify the other countries around Eternal Peace Empire and how could he occupy Great Ruins to attain an achievement of a lifetime?
In the border of Luo City, Qin Mu was just a passerby and he met over ten groups of bandits attacking him. Some of the bandits were unsettled divine arts practitioners while some were the officials of Luo City who had turned into bandits to occupy the hills to act as lords.
He relied on his fast speed and executed Cripple's Heavenly Pilfering Leg Skill when he couldn't defeat them, therefore, he was pretty safe.
"If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is able to pacify this rebellion and subdue or eliminate all of the empire's opposing forces, Eternal Peace Empire would be fully united and that would be extremely terrifying!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu couldn't help exclaiming in admiration at what he saw on the way. There were already countless of divine arts practitioners in just Luo City and one could imagine just how many divine arts practitioners there were in the empire.
Now Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was unable to use these powers but once the rebel forces were eliminated or subdued, there won't be a decrease in Eternal Peace Empire's strength as a whole and there would be a great increase instead!
Finally, he came to Harmony Prefecture and it was different from Luo City. Harmony Prefecture looked to be in peace and prosperity while the citizens were living in peace and worked happily. Qin Mu passed by the fields and saw a few martial arts practitioners executing spells, turning the wind into wind blades to harvest the crops for the farmers.
Qin Mu stopped to take a look and saw those few martial arts practitioners cultivated spells from Heavenly Devil Cult. They controlled the wind to help a few families finish harvesting their crops and went to the families to settle the bill afterward.
One of the girls said, "Don't dry your rice crops today. There would be rain later in the evening."
Those few families gave their thanks repeatedly.
These few practitioners saw Qin Mu standing over at the side of the field and were feeling peculiar. That girl came forward and stopped not far away from Qin Mu before greeting, "Senior brother, what's the matter?"
Qin Mu smiled warmly and asked, "Are you from the Wind Hall?"
That girl was astonished and didn't dare to answer him. Qin Mu smiled, "I had seen the spell you had used earlier was Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground therefore I asked. Was Wind Hall Master the one that taught you this move?"
That girl hesitated for a moment and said, "It's Wind Hall Master Lei Zhengyin."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "Wind Hall Master didn't teach you this move completely?"
Other martial arts practitioners came forward and a youth shook their head, "Wind Hall Master only taught us a few moves once in a while. He would normally teach once and not anymore, therefore, we had not learned them completely."
Qin Mu circulated his vital qi and turned it into Green Dragon Vital Qi while smiling, "I just have the time, let me teach you. Take a look."
He executed his Green Dragon Vital Qi beside the field and exhibited Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground and they saw wind blades that were like curved knives slithering in the field like snakes. With a hundred wind blades close to the ground, they sprinted towards the legs of the enemies.
"This move isn't merely just to have blades sticking close to the ground. You can also do it this way."
Qin Mu suddenly tapped his feet on the ground and jumped up. The tips of his feet then landed on the rapidly whirling wind blade and rushed forward while being carried by the wind blade.
He stood on the wind blade and executed spells at the same time as he attacked. Hundred of wind blades whooshed forward and covered a radius of twenty yards as they sliced forward.
Even though Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground was an ordinary spell, its power wasn't small. On the contrary, with a move like this, the power of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures could be seen from the different ways of utilizing the move.
Qin Mu landed on the ground and dispersed the spells.
The few youths were surprised and delighted, "Wind Hall Master had never taught us this kind of move by stepping on the wind blade!"
They immediately consulted him and Qin Mu sat down beside the field to answer all their queries. He explained the marvel of the circulation of this spell and how to control the magic power finely.
"There are still some variations to this move and the wind blade doesn't necessarily need to stick close to the ground."
Qin Mu once again executed Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground and suddenly trembled his fingers. The wind blades turned vertical and attacked upwards, "The path of spells is actually interlinked with sword skills and battle techniques. Even though Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground is a spell, it can also transform into sword techniques or battle techniques."
He suddenly took out a knife pellet and gave it a gentle tremble. The curved knives flew out from the knife pellet and executed Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground as well. Even though the variation of the move couldn't be compared to spell, its power was increased several times.
Qin Mu wielded two curved knives and the knife lights suddenly expanded. His hands moved up and down and the knife lights traveled forward close to the ground. The move he had executed was actually Spring Wind Travelling Close To The Ground as well and the power was even stronger than the knife pellet by a few times!
Qin Mu retracted his knives and the curved knives came flying back into the knife pellet one after another.
Turning his head back, the few youths were stunned from the sight.
Qin Mu gave a smile and asked, "Have you understood?"
A girl muttered, "How can a spell turn into a knife skill, into a battle technique? Even Hall Master Lei can't execute it…"
Qin Mu guided patiently, "Who set the rule that spell must only be used as a spell? Why can't it be used as knife skill? And using it as a battle technique is also letting nature takes its course. When you cultivate spells, there's no need for you to keep to the old-fashioned ways and be constrained to other people's experience."
The few youths were deep in thoughts.
Qin Mu explained the essence of this skill for a few more times and when they had learned it completely, he asked, "Don't you go to school? I see you are still young so why aren't you seeking knowledge in primary school?"
A youth replied sadly, "Poor. Where do you have the money to attend school? We can only earn some money during the busy farming season. Sacred cult taught us spells, sword skills and battle techniques to let us earn a living and not starve to death."
"I see."
Qin Mu seemed to think of something when a familiar voice suddenly came over, "You taught well and they learned well."
Qin Mu immediately turned back and saw the person who was talking. He immediately greeted, "Patriarch. Elder of Discipline. When have you arrived?"
He didn't know when the young patriarch appeared in the distance and Elder of Discipline was following behind him. Elder of Discipline smiled, "We've been here for a while. We passed by here and saw you teaching them spells so we stood and listened at the side without interrupting."
The young patriarch praised, "Now I feel passing Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to you was an incomparably right choice. It's already considered remarkable for others who cultivate it to understand Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture. They could at most develop one or two uses from a spell yet you could think of so many different uses. Good, very good."
Qin Mu was bewildered, "Shouldn't spells be used this way?"
The young patriarch smiled, "They should be. It's just that the previous cult masters were too dumb and didn't think of these kinds of usages. Let us go."
Qin Mu acknowledged and brought Hu Ling'er to follow them to Harmony Prefecture City.
"Aiya, I've forgotten to ask who was he!" A girl suddenly cried out.
Those few youths looked at Qin Mu and the rest walking further and further away. A youth muttered, "Just now he called one young patriarch and the old man Elder of Discipline, so who could he be…"
"His knowledge is even higher than Hall Master Lei. He must be an important figure in our sacred cult!"
On the way, Qin Mu saw some more Heavenly Devil Cult's disciples using spells to dig canals and there are also some who were using spells to plow the ground, using spells to fly up the tree to pluck fruits.
However, these disciples were not proficient in their spells and most of them had not learned the spells completely.
This time Qin Mu didn't stop to impart the complete spells to these Heavenly Devil Cult's disciples. There were too many Heavenly Devil Cult's disciples spread throughout the whole world. It was completely impossible for him to teach them all by himself which would take him god knows how many years.
"There are more disciples of our sacred cult in Harmony Prefecture."
The young patriarch smiled and asked, "What opinion do you have looking at this situation."
"Patriarch assisted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to found Imperial College, colleges, and primary schools yet our sacred cult's disciples have no place to learn. Patriarch placed the world in your mind yet you forgot about out sacred cult."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "Patriarch should establish primary schools, colleges and Imperial College in our cult so that the disciples of our cult will not fall behind the times."
The young patriarch smiled, "This is what the sacred cult master has to do and not what the patriarch has to do. Young Cult Master, this will be your responsibility from now on."
Qin Mu stared blankly and asked, "Why didn't Cult Master Li do it forty years ago?"
"Cult Master Li lost himself to female charms and was attracted by Cult Mistress so how would his eyes still have the people of the world?"
Qin Mu was speechless. Granny Si was dragged into this again. Back then Li Tianxing was charmed head of heels for Granny Si and missed the reform which received worldwide attention.
As a comparison, it wasn't good for Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery to conform to his reform. Even though they were the sacred grounds of the righteous path and buddhism path, their method was that each master took in a few disciples and the master could only teach these few disciples.
Whereas it was different for Heavenly Devil Cult. Heavenly Devil Cult's method was hall master responsibilities system. Even though the hall masters were strong practitioners, they weren't in charge of taking in disciples and only impart their techniques and divine arts once in a while.
Heavenly Devil Cult could totally set up a few primary schools and colleges within the cult and as for Imperial College…
"For Imperial College, we can just send them to learn from Imperial College."
Qin Mu calculated, "Pick out outstanding disciples from our cult and let them attend Imperial College's examination and let Imperial College help us groom our disciples. In this way, Heavenly Saint Cul would prosper even if we don't want to."
The young patriarch took a look at him and sighed, "Why couldn't you be born forty years earlier."
He brought Qin Mu into the city and the citizens busied to and fro like threads weaving by each other. Qin Mu couldn't help being bewildered, "Could the headquarters of our Heavenly Saint Cult be situated in the city? Isn't this too eye-catching?"
The young patriarch took him to the city lord's manor and when they got there, they didn't even inform anyone and just entered the manor. In the manor, there were already many higher-ups of Heavenly Devil Cult gathered. There were the hall masters, cult protector elders, supervisors, guardians, and cult heavenly kings.
When people saw the young patriarch and Qin Mu, they all stood up to greet.
Qin Mu returned their greeting and the young patriarch gently nodded his head before asking, "Is everyone here?"
A cult protector elder said, "Cult Mistress and Saintess aren't here yet. Heavenly King Qian of the cult heavenly kings isn't here yet as well."
The young patriarch nodded his head, "In that case, let us wait a while more."
Not long after, a sweet and alluring voice sounded out, "Are Mu'er and Patriarch here?"
When Qin Mu heard this voice, he felt his blood rushing to his head. All the other hall masters, elders had their faces turned red with anticipation as if they had seen their perfect dream partner when they heard the voice.
The young patriarch's heart also turned slightly frisky and his expression changed. He shouted, "Si Youyou, be a little solemn!"
Granny Si's voice then came from outside, "How boring."
The young patriarch flew out of the door and rushed out. His voice sounded out, "Who let you reveal your true appearance? If you reveal your true appearance, you'll turn the whole ceremony into a great mess… Of course you will have to come in your ugly state… The child you raise is becoming the cult master, do you want him to be charmed by you… That's better. Go in."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief along with everyone in the city lord's manor. Cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of the few white-haired elders and cult heavenly kings as they composed themselves.
Outside the door, the young patriarch and Granny Si walked in. The old woman was still slightly unhappy and looked around. When she saw Qin Mu, she gave off a smile.
"Granny!"
Qin Mu immediately went forward and pulled onto Granny Si's hand. He snickered softly, "Granny, I know you were in Imperial College, you didn't even change your name…"
Granny Si was bewildered, "I haven't gone to Imperial College. I have only observed you from afar. Furthermore, there was Patriarch in Imperial College so I wasn't worried about your safety at all."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Granny is still going to act? You have already been seen through by me, you're Imperial College's Si…"
"Saintess has arrived!" A resounding voice suddenly sounded out.
Qin Mu was about to say Si Yuxiang's name when he suddenly saw Si Yunxiang walking in from the door. Granny Si's voice then sounded beside his ear, "Saintess is even the classmate of Cult Master, you two entered Imperial College at the same time."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. He looked at Si Yunxiang and then looked at Granny Si beside him again with a stupefied expression. He had always thought Granny Si was Si Yunxiang and now another Si Yunxiang had jumped out and she was the current saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult!
He felt his mind becoming messy. The current saintess also had the surname Si, therefore, he had the first impression and kept testing whether if she was Granny Si. He even purposely teased the saintess a few times to see if she would become shy!
Until last time when Si Yunxiang tested him, only did he confirm Si Yunxiang was Granny Si and now…
"The saintess of this generation is much safer than the previous generation, the previous generation saintess was simply a demoness."
A white-haired elder sighed, "Even though they are both from Si Family, the saintess of this generation won't bring harm to our sacred cult."
Granny Si stared at him with angry eyes.
That elder turned his head away and acted like he didn't see it.
Si Yunxiang went forward and came to Qin Mu's side. She was still slightly shy and greeted sincerely, "Young Cult Master, Saintess Si Yunxiang pays my respects to Young Cult Master."
Qin Mu immediately returned her greeting, "Junior sister is too courteous."
"The saintess of this generation is natural and unrestrained in her conduct."
An elder sighed ruefully, "Not like the one of the previous generation, plotting to kill the sacred cult master as a wife."
Granny Si flew into a rage and shouted, "Old woman I am still here, what do you old man want?"
That elder immediately shut up and didn't dare to argue with her.
"Saintess Si Yunxiang ain't someone who is easy to deal with."
Qin Mu's gaze wavered and looked at this girl who looked delicate and shy, thinking to himself, "She has a profound mind and the one who defeated Fozi should be her. She then came to flaunt to me to test my limits of decorum. She had long known I was the young cult master yet she showed off in front of me, what was that for?"
Granny Si smiled, "Si Yunxiang is from my Si Family and Patriarch taught her personally for a few years. Patriarch found her after he had already found you, and when he met her, he even sighed ruefully that if he had met her earlier, he wouldn't have chosen you."
Qin Mu looked at Si Yunxiang and Si Yunxiang also looked over coincidentally. Their gazes met and Qin Mu could see the unacceptance in her seemingly gentle eyes.
Qin Mu gave a smile.
Si Yunxiang should be groomed accordingly by the young patriarch under the cult master's rules. He then let her take Imperial College's examination with Qin Mu in the same year to compare the two of them.
Qin Mu never knew that he actually had a contest with this girl.
How could she help when Qin Mu was too stunning during the examination and had beat Daoist Ling Yun all the way to the emperor. No matter what Si Yunxiang tried to do, it would only be overshadowed by him and no way better than him.
Meanwhile, Patriarch's test was to test Qin Mu's ability in being a cult master. After testing, Patriarch had his mindset and the person he chose wasn't Si Yunxiang. Compared to her, Qin Mu was more suitable to be the sacred cult master.
However, Si Yunxiang didn't accept it, therefore, after she had defeated Fozi, she came to flaunt to Qin Mu.
The young patriarch looked around and asked, "Heavenly King Qian hasn't arrived yet?"
"Not yet."
The young patriarch frowned. Heavenly King Qian always had a temper that burned with anxiety. No matter what it was, he would always be the first to be involved in. Now that he was still not here, it meant that he was already unable to come.
What matter could be more important than the ascension of the cult master?
There could only be one reason why Heavenly King Qian couldn't attend the cult master's ascension.
"Young Cult Master, you must treat the family of Heavenly King Qian well," the young patriarch told him softly.
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly and was about to inquire when the young patriarch announced solemnly, "Three hundred and sixty halls, unfurl your flags and meet at Saint Arrival Mountain!"
Whoosh.
The huge flags unfurled and the entire manor was completely covered. When the huge flags were furled back, the city lord's manor in Harmony Prefecture City had vanished into thin air without a trace. The place where the city lord's manor had been was only left with a piece of white land.
When the huge flags that had shrouded them above their heads vanished, Qin Mu looked around and was greatly shocked. He could see that they had left the bustling Harmony Prefecture City and came to a place that didn't look like the mortal world.
There was a circular sky above his head and below his feet were mountain ranges standing tall on the illusory ground. One could not reach the sky going upwards and could not reach the ground going downwards.
The green mountain was fresh green yet no sun could be seen up in the sky and no land could be seen when he lowered his head. This mountain seemed not to be located in the mortal world.
"This is Saint Arrival Mountain?"
Qin Mu looked around and saw range upon range of mountains. Some palace halls were hidden deep in the forest which should be the palace halls constructed by the sacred cult. However, the young patriarch didn't bring him around those palace halls and had instead brought him to a cypress pine.
That cypress pine was verdant and lush and had been around for god knows how many years. There was a straw hut under the pine cypress and it was very clean. The hut didn't have any signs of degeneration from the passing time.
There was a large rock under the cypress pine and the young patriarch came to the bottom of the cypress pine. The three hundred and sixty hall masters, twelve cult protector elders, eight great supervisors, three great cult heavenly kings, left and right guardians sat down under the cypress pine.
The young patriarch signaled Qin Mu to go forward and said, "This mountain was originally in the mortal world. Back then when the founding master of our Heavenly Saint Cult came here, he saw a woodcutter chopping firewood. The tree he was chopping was this cypress pine. When the woodcutter chopped the firewood, he did it with a regular movement which seemed to contain boundless marvel within it. Meanwhile, when the cypress pine received a chop, another piece would grow out, returning it to its original state. When the founding master realized he met a saint, he consulted that woodcutter. That woodcutter then imparted his path to him under this cypress pine, and once he started, he continued on for dozens of years. The founding master received endless comprehension but he still wasn't satisfied and thus he asked the woodcutter, how to become a saint?"
Qin Mu listened carefully and the young patriarch paused for a moment before continuing, "Woodcutter said, if one wants to become a saint, one must first establish one's virtue, establish one's merit, and establish one's ideas in writing, which are the three immortal deeds. The founding master asked once again on how to attain the three immortal deeds. Woodcutter said, clear logic, clear understanding, clear teaching. The three clears became the teacher of all the people. Thus, the founding master was completely enlightened."
The young patriarch lifted his head and looked at this cypress pine which had gone through the transformation of time, "The founding master knew to become a saint, he had to first become the teacher of all people, therefore he tidied up the saint's teaching into writings and compiled them into a record which is now known as Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures."
"When the founding master wrote out Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, he had attained clear logic."
"He then traveled around the world and experienced a few hundred years of imparting the principles that the saint had imparted to him to others. The principles which the saint had imparted to him became his principles after he had imparted to others. From one's mouth to your ears, from your mouth to his ears, this is understanding. The founding master attained clear understanding."
"As for clear teachings, the founding master founded a cult to recall fondly on how the woodcutter had shown him the right path, therefore he had called it Heavenly Saint Cult and established the cult's doctrine. The path of the saint is none other than the everyday use for common people. Anyone who does otherwise is considered heresy! To act straightforwardly, to follow the course of nature, that's the meaning of path. That's the origin of our cult's doctrine."
Below them, even though all the hall masters, guardians, elders were the higher-ups, most of them were attending the cut master's ascension for the first time. Even the cult protector elders, cult heavenly kings didn't familiarize themselves with the history.
They had originally thought that some world-shaking ceremony would be held for the cult master's ascension and never expected the young patriarch to start talking about the history of the cult.
Regarding this legendary story of the founding master, they had seen records among the cult's ancient records but they were only the bits and pieces and not as detailed and moving as how the young patriarch had described.
"What clear teachings meant was to impart, to teach. The founding master founded the cult was to impart the saint's teachings to everyone in the world. He managed to become the teacher of all people, having clear logic, clear understanding and clear teaching. He established his virtue, established his words but he didn't establish his merits and thus had not become a saint."
The young patriarch continued, "In his later years, he thought and thought yet he didn't know where his merits lay. Even though the founding master had not become a saint, he had established his words for the saint and founded a cult personally, perfecting his virtue. By attaining the three clears and two immortal deeds, he had already far surpassed countless of ordinary people. Qin Mu, are you willing to inherit the founding master's virtue and words, logic, and understanding?"
Qin Mu bowed and cupped his fists while stretching forward, "Disciple is willing to."
The young patriarch gave a smile and said, "In that case, the cult will belong to you. You will have to undertake this responsibility."
Qin Mu replied solemnly, "Disciple will undertake this responsibility."
The young patriarch smiled gently and said, "Go and sit on the rock."
Qin Mu went forward to sit on the rock under the cypress pine.
The young patriarch looked down and his voice reverberated deeply, "This rock is Saint's Rock, the saint's seat. Back then, the woodcutter that had guided the founding master was a saint that came down from the heavens. He had no blood relations with the founding master, no benefits to gain, yet he had become a teacher and imparted skills to the founding master only because the founding master had sought to learn from him. The one who sits on Saint's Rock is the cult master, but he will also be the sacred teacher of our cult."
His gaze swept over every single one of the hall masters, cult protector elders, supervisors, heavenly kings, and guardians. He ordered solemnly, "All of you, do the disciple's rite and pay your respects to the sacred teacher."
The three hundred and sixty hall masters, twelve cult protector elders, eight great supervisors, three cult heavenly kings, left and right guardians all maintained the disciple's rites. Saintess Si Yunxiang hesitated for a moment and could only maintain the disciple's rite.
"Disciples pay our respects to sacred cult master!"
Everyone shouted in unison which reverberated throughout the entire Saint Arrival Mountain.
The young patriarch looked at Granny Si and said solemnly, "Li Tianxing, the new cult master has already ascended so why aren't you showing yourself? Aren't you going to impart the technique of our cult? Are you going to bring the sacred technique of our cult to your grave and completely bury it?"
Granny Si's body trembled and an ancient voice came out, "Disciple… follows teacher's decree."
She was clearly a woman yet she spoke like an old man with a rough voice which had an extremely overbearing awe. However, he didn't dare to be unbridled in front of the young patriarch.
Granny Si came to the front of Qin Mu. Qin Mu was about to stand up when Granny Si's palm touched his forehead. Golden lights traveled back and forth in the heart of Granny Si's brows and all kinds of sounds rang out along with the golden lights as they tunneled into the heart of Qin Mu's brows and into his mind.
"Cult Master Li…" someone whispered below.
At this moment, the one who was in control of Granny Si's body was the previous cult master, Li Tianxing. Even though he was assassinated by Granny Si, he had also planted himself into granny's Dao heart and turned into the devil in Granny Si's heart, waiting for the time to replace her to turn into the woman he loved most.
All kinds of disorderly voices sounded in Qin Mu's mind. There seemed to be lectures from the nine heavens above, devils whispering beside his ears, Buddhas chanting scriptures in his heart, sounding indescribably weird.
"The voice of the saint?"
His heart suddenly trembled as he thought of a possibility. The voice was the voice of that woodcutter. What Cult Master Li had imparted to him was the scriptures that the woodcutter had imparted to the founding master!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Capital city, Imperial Preceptor's Manor.
The official registrar immediately rushed over and reported, "Imperial Preceptor, there are unusual changes in Harmony Prefecture City. The higher ups of Heavenly Devil Cult have all gathered in Harmony Prefecture City and there are countless of bandits there. Suddenly the city lord's manor in Harmony Prefecture City vanished into thin air and left a plot of white land."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was reading the memorials the emperor sent to him and replied without even raising his head, "Got it."
The official registrar hesitated and said, "Imperial Preceptor, this is Heavenly Devil Cult, the number one sect of the devil path. Now such an event happened under our eyes, we can't let our guard down…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his head and asked, "Yun Yang, do you know who is the patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Official Registrar Yun Yang shook his head.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor told him calmly, "If you knew who he was, you wouldn't be so panicky. He's none other than the grand chancellor of our Imperial College."
Official Registrar Yun Yang's heart trembled violently and he cried out, "It's him? Imperial Preceptor, the patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult actually has worked as the grand chancellor of Imperial College for so many years, this is a rebellion! How many officials and generals has he taught over so many years? His power would probably have infiltrated the imperial courts and even into the army! Imperial Preceptor, this matter can't go uninvestigated, our army might already be filled with all his people!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was speechless and shook his head, "You're thinking too much. Heavenly Devil Patriarch teaches scholars so these scholars are people of Heavenly Devil Cult? If that's the case, are you going to catch and execute me as well?"
He stood up and took slow strides with his sharp gaze, "Back then when I was traveling around the world and learning all kinds of stuff, I saw each sect in the world do things each in its own way and only valued what was his own. This restricted the advancement of the divine arts, paths, and skills. Therefore, I decided to visit the big sects, hoping to break the barriers of them. The first person I met was Heavenly Devil Patriarch. He was the first person who threw away the sectarian bias and taught me wholeheartedly. He was also the one who pointed out a clear path for me."
His eyes gave off a highly esteemed expression as he continued, "After that, he personally recommended me and let me bring his letter to meet Dao Master of Dao Sect. It was also because of his letter, Dao Master saw me in a different light and showed interest in me, allowing me to browse the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword. It was also him who made me go forward to Great Thunderclap Monastery to meet Rulai and attain Rulai's teachings. Even though he had never revealed his identity, he still couldn't hide it from me nor did he try to."
Official Registrar Yu Yang couldn't be more stunned.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I had invited him out of the mountain to help me take charge of Imperial College so what was it for? It was not his ability nor his identity of the patriarch of Heavenly Devil Cult. It was because he had this broad-mindedness. It was the first time I had seen such a broad-minded person, someone who was so pure. Therefore he was the only one who could take charge of Imperial College! Now that he had left, he should be busy with the next cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult."
"The next cult master of the devil cult?"
Official Registrar Yun Yang composed himself and said, "It's already been over forty years since Heavenly Devil Cult has no cult master and they're actually choosing one now? Imperial Preceptor, this matter is of utmost importance, should we report it to the emperor?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Write a memorial and report this matter to the emperor. As for the background of Heavenly Devil Patriarch, there's no need for you to say anything."
Official Registrar acknowledged and reported once more, "There's news from Imperial College that the emperor has given the decree for Gu Linuan to succeed the position of the grand chancellor."
"Got it."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gestured with his hand and said, "My power is too strong and it's natural for the emperor to worry, else I would not be at ease. It's just that Gu Linuan's talent and virtue are not suitable to take up the position of Imperial College's Grand Chancellor. He is still okay being a junior protector of the crown prince but he is too unfit to perform a grand chancellor's task. However, I can't speak much about this matter."
Official Registrar pondered for a moment and said, "How should we deal with the new cult master that Heavenly Devil Cult has chosen?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferent, "Flourish if he goes along, die if he goes against. There's no need for you to bother yourself over this matter. I'll meet this new cult master personally."
Official Registrar Yun Yang moved out from the room.
Dao Sect, Dao Mountain.
Dan Yangzi went up the mountain in quick steps and came to Dao Saint Hall. A white-haired and white eyebrows elder was sitting there on the ground and gazing at a pool of bluish green water in front of him.
Dan Yangzi immediately said, "Dao Master, unusually changes have happened in the nest of Heavenly Devil Cult. The experts of Heavenly Devil Cult all gathered in Harmony Prefecture and unfurled their huge flags, vanishing entirely with the city lord's manor.
The white-haired and white eyebrows elder opened his eyes and said slowly, "It seems like Heavenly Devil Cult has a new cult master. Heavenly Devil Cult had fabricated the history and imparted the false path under the pretense of a fake saint to bring calamity to all people. Internal conflicts arose in their cult. The saintess killed the cult master in cold blood; this violated the general principles. And the cult master married his disciple; this violated the human relationship. The cult cultivated evil skills and there is quite a majority of them using human lives to cultivate, giving no regards to their backgrounds. They had no cult master for the past forty years and now a new one is chosen today, I'm afraid it ain't going to be the good fortune of the common people."
Dan Yangzi asked, "What should our Dao Sect do?"
"Find out the identity of this devil cult master and wait for an opportunity to get rid of him."
"I received your decree."
Dan Yangzi asked again, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sets the doctrine of Heavenly Devil Cult as a goal thus Eternal Peace Empire is practically a large scaled Heavenly Devil Cult, teaching irrespective of one's background. What should our Dao Sect do then?"
Dao Master had a deep gaze and quietly looked at the pool of bluish green water in front of him while saying neither too fast not too slow, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has a thriving ambition but his ability can't withstand his ambition. There were larger empires than Eternal Peace Empire in the history and even outstanding talents than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor yet they had all turned into dust, into Great Ruins. This world is much more complicated than he thinks. He would know when he runs into a stone wall and gets badly battered."
Dan Yangzi didn't dare to say anything else and bowed to retreat.
"Reporting to Rulai, Heavenly Devil Cult's followers have disappeared without a trace in Harmony Prefecture, along with the city lord's manor."
Great Thunderclap Monastery, an old monk came to the throne hall seeking for Rulai to report, "The magistrate of Harmony Prefecture belongs to Elder Yu Lin of Heavenly Devil Cult who is a terrifying figure. Harmony Prefecture has already become an iron fortress for Heavenly Devil Cult. There are also people who saw the girl who had defeated Fozi in Harmony Prefecture. We guess she should be from Heavenly Devil Cult."
Rulai opened his eyes and asked in astonishment, "Isn't that girl a scholar of Imperial College? How come she's from Heavenly Devil Cult?"
The old monk replied, "That girl is called Si Yunxiang and only entered Imperial College this year. There was absolutely no time for Imperial College to teach her anything so how could she have the ability to defeat Fozi? This girl comes from the Si Family, which is the same family as the previous cult mistress, Si Youyou. Si Family is also a prestigious family in Eternal Peace Empire."
Rulai asked, "In that case, is the new cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult from the Si Family?"
"It's not known. There's still no news of it."
Rulai nodded his head and said, "Imperial College made use of the saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult to defeat the holy son of our Great Thunderclap Monastery. We can't leave this matter at that. You can move down, continue to make each and every monastery scout out more information."
That old monk received his decree and said, "There's also one more thing, Ma Wangshen has come out from Great Ruins."After he said these words, he turned to walk down the mountain.
Old Rulai was stunned.
Saint Arrival Mountain, all kinds of mysterious voices sounded beside Qin Mu's ears, which were extraordinary marvelous. Suddenly his eyes blurred and he discovered he had become a passerby walking along the mountains where a woodcutting sound came from afar.
Walking towards the sound, he saw a woodcutter chopping firewood under a cypress pine.The axe of the woodcutter had a mysterious trace as it landed on the cypress pine time and time again, enthralling him and making him feel as if he could comprehend something from it.
He stared blankly at the woodcutter's axe. That axe would create a deep mark whenever it landed on the cypress pine but when the axe was lifted up once again, the wound of the cypress pine would return back to normal and no mark was left behind.
When the woodcutter chopped the tree, every axe gave him a different impression.
"Passer-by, after standing here to look for such a long time, what do you see?"
That woodcutter pulled back his axe and turned his head to look at him, "Your family has already turned into skeletons buried deep under the ground, your children have been much older than you, your grandchildren have already started their families and have their own children. Passerby, you have stood here and looked for a hundred years."
…
"May I request teacher to teach me."
…
Qin Mu saw this woodcutter sit on the rock under the cypress pine, and he started to impart his knowledge to him.
As he listened in intoxication, thousands of marvelous logics came flowing to him. Sitting beside the rock, he listened for dozens of years and the Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was imparted to him through this wonderful lecture.
That woodcutter stretched out his hand and touch the top of his head. Qin Mu opened his eyes and saw Granny Si moving back.
He was still in Saint Arrival Mountain, he was still in the present and did not go back to the past.
This was the teaching of the previous cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult, imbuing what the founding master had encountered back then, passing it down every generation, the fire never extinguishing.
Qin Mu sat on the rock in a daze. The saint touched my head, binding my hair to pass me longevity. The Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had no words nor pictures, and it could only be passed down from one cult master to another.
Numerous complicated pieces of information appeared in his mind which couldn't form a system yet.
This imbue even though had not raised his cultivation, it had brought too many things to him and he needed to sort them out to comprehend.
Now he knew why the founding master had said that this Unity Technique could only be passed down from cult master to cult master.
This was because there was no Unity Technique formed in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures!
Or one could say that the Unity Technique was not yet formed.
The Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was hidden in the lecture by the woodcutter on the rock, however, this required the previous cult masters to comprehend the lecture by themselves. How much they can comprehend and what the can comprehend would have to depend on the comprehension of the sacred cult masters themselves. They will choose their own directions, their own wisdom and their own fortunes.
It could be completely said that Unity Technique comprehended by each sacred cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult was different. Perhaps the concept would be somewhat similar but the Unity Technique of each sacred cult master was definitely different from the others!
Three hundred and sixty cult masters would have three hundred and sixty cultivation methods and ten thousand cult masters would have ten thousand cultivation methods!
Qin Mu's first thought was fraud.
What a fraud, the legendary Unity Technique actually couldn't be used just like that and he had to comprehend it.
His second thought was that this was then the true teaching, this was what it meant to be a sacred teacher.
What you comprehended was yous and what you learned was others. Passing down techniques in Heavenly Saint Cult had something that other sects, including Imperial College, couldn't match.
The young patriarch let out a sigh of relief and looked at Granny Si. Cult Master Li's voice came out from Granny Si's mouth, "Teacher, I'm no longer the sacred cult master. This is my chance to break the devil in my heart. May teacher not get in my way!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The young patriarch's gaze wavered and he shook his head, "You had turned yourself into a heart devil and planted yourself in her Dao heart. You should know that if she refined you, you will just be paving the way for her."
"No matter if she refines me or if I take over her, we'll both become one."
Cult Master Li's voice traveled out, "No matter if it's good or bad, it's my choice. When I decided to marry her, I had deeply known that she was the devil in my heart and I had no choice but to get rid of her. By getting rid of her, only then can I put my mind down to seek the path and make further progress. I request teacher to help me achieve it."
Qin Mu's heart leaped and he looked towards the young patriarch.
He had long known that there was a great devil in Granny Si's heart and this devil was extremely powerful, even the khakkhara staff of Great Thunderclap Monastery couldn't purify him.
Only now did he know that the heart devil was the previous cult master, Li Tianxing."
Granny Si killed Li Tianxing yet he turned into a heart devil and planted himself into Granny Si's Dao heart, fighting with her over one body.
In his heart, he naturally wanted to help Granny Si refine Li Tianxing, however, the young patriarch was obviously impartial and would not have the same thoughts.
No matter whether Granny Si refined Li Tianxing or Li Tianxing took over Granny Si's body, either was fine for the young patriarch, therefore, there was no need for him to interfere.
After a while, Granny Si got back to normal and looked cheerful as usual as if nothing had happened.
Qin Mu could see that most of the hall masters and elders in Heavenly Devil Cult didn't like Granny Si. It was probably because Granny Si had killed Li Tianxing and made the sacred cult have no cult master to lead them for the past forty years. With all of them scattered like sands, they had missed numerous opportunities, therefore, they kind of hated Granny Si.
The main reason Granny Si had come forth to attend the ceremony of the cult master's ascension was Qin Mu.
She was afraid that the people of the cult would bully him therefore even if she was to face their hatred, she still had to come and support him. Imparting the Unity Technique or not, she didn't care at all. All she cared was Qin Mu.
The young patriarch gave a sigh. Femme fatale referred to a woman like Granny Si. Just because she was too beautiful, even if she didn't commit evil, people would still commit evil for her.
It was hard for this world to contain such a beauty.
Li Tianxing was worldly, the young patriarch was also worldly and the others couldn't be exempted from being worldly as well.
If she wanted to survive in this worldly world, she could only be Granny Si and could never reveal her true appearance, not even her voice.
After the ascension ceremony, the young patriarch called Qin Mu over and walked side by side with him to introduce the scenery of Saint Arrival Mountain to him. This place was Terrace of Forgotten Love, that place was Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival, the other place was Floor under Heaven and another place was Fish Observation Pond.
He said a lot of stuff and briefed him about the history of Heavenly Devil Cult. Some pages of the history of Heavenly Devil Cult were very ancient and if he didn't say it out, there won't be anyone that would know it after he died.
"Patriarch, why do we Heavenly Saint Cult use the word ascension for taking over the new cult master's position?"
Qin Mu asked, "Isn't ascension just used for the emperor?"
The young patriarch looked at him and shook his head, "When our Heavenly Saint Cult was at its most glorious state, we had six empires under us and the emperors of the six empires were all followers of our Heavenly Saint Cult. The sacred cult master using the term ascension, which was also used for the emperors, was actually showing respect for the emperors. Things changed with the passage of time and now the empire is the biggest sect. It's hard for a sect to make all the people become disciples of the sect, but an empire can make all the people in its borders the people of this empire."
Qin Mu was deep in thought.
The young patriarch led him up the mountain and said, "Saint Arrival Mountain is the headquarters of our cult and it's still a difficult task for you to enter the headquarters. This time you were sent into it by the three hundred and sixty hall masters activating their teleportation flags but as the sacred cult master, how can you not have your own ability to enter the headquarters personally?"
Qin Mu followed him and saw the young patriarch leading him into a great hall. The shape of the great hall could only be considered normal and wasn't the slightest luxurious like Rolan's Golden Palace. It was only constructed out of green bricks and red tiles.
When they came to the inside of the hall, Qin Mu found that the decorations were also very simple. There was only a sculpture of the saint placed inside.
The young patriarch came to the saint's sculpture and offered a few incenses. Qin Mu also followed him and paid respect to the saint's sculpture. The young patriarch said, "Most of the elders, heavenly kings are proficient in the art of teleportation and can return to Saint Arrival Mountain. The art of teleportation is carved on the wall of this hall and you can take your time to comprehend it."
Qin Mu looked at the wall of the palace hall and saw there was a treasure refining method on it. It was the refining method of the teleportation flags as well as the divine arts and formation runes needed to create the teleportation flags.
The young patriarch said, "There are different technique carved on each and every one of our sacred cult's great halls. There's no restriction for our disciples to learn and cultivate. There's no need to treasure a shabby broom. It's up to their abilities to master them after we impart them the techniques. You need to have magnanimity and the broad-mindedness.
Qin Mu understood.
The young patriarch then said, "The things in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures could be imparted out and there's no need to keep it to yourself. How much they can comprehend is up to themselves. As for the matters of the cult, the small matters will be handled by the hall masters while the big matters will be handled by the elders. As for the bigger ones, the heavenly kings will handle them. There are also supervisors to supervise all the halls and Elder of Discipline to enforce the law, Elder of Techniques to impart techniques, therefore, there isn't much stuff that you have to do personally. What you have to do is to control the general direction of our Heavenly Saint Cult."
He looked at Qin Mu and asked, "So what's the first thing you are going to do now after being the sacred cult master?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "To set up primary schools in each and every hall, forming the three hundred and sixtieth hall, the school hall. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's reform established primary schools and college, which created a new profession in this world. Therefore our sacred cult will need to have one more hall. Since the sacred cult has three hundred and sixty halls, I would like to build three hundred and sixty primary schools to teach the cult disciples the path of cultivation."
The young patriarch nodded and said, "For this matter, you can call the left and right guardians and entrust this matter to them. They will discuss it with all of the hall masters to pick out talents to form the school hall. This is how you control the general direction and delegate power to your subordinates to handle the matter. If you have to do everything personally, you do not have such a huge amount of energy and it would hold back your advancement in cultivation."
Qin Mu gasped in admiration.
He suddenly had a queer thought, Heavenly Devil Cult didn't seem like a cult but more like an empire!
If Eternal Peace Empire was a sect disguised as an empire, in that case, Heavenly Devil Cult was an empire disguised as a sect!
Heavenly Devil Cult was too similar to an empire.
Three hundred and sixty halls of all professions and the disciples of every hall made their own livings. There was also supervisors supervising all of the halls while the cult protector elders and cult heavenly kings formed the army which defended them against their enemies. The left and right guardian were the continued tradition of Heavenly Devil Cult.
With millions of Heavenly Devil Cult's followers, they could completely match a small country.
Of course, the followers of Heavenly Devil Cult referred to themselves as Heavenly Saint Cult and not Heavenly Devil Cult.
"There's one more thing."
The young patriarch sincerely instructed him with a grave expression, "I know you like to tear things down and had made Chancellor Ba Shan watch over you, yet he ended up letting you tear down Scholar's Residence once more. You can tear down Scholar's Residence but you absolutely cannot tear down our Saint Arrival Mountain. Every hall on Saint Arrival Mountain is historical site and there are numerous wonderful techniques carved inside the halls."
Qin Mu's face turned slightly red as he muttered, "I don't tear things down frequently."
"I understand. After coming to Imperial College for not more than eight days, you had only torn things down twice or thrice before going beyond the Great Wall to tear things down."
The young patriarch walked out of the hall and Elder of Discipline was carrying their luggage while waiting outside. The young patriarch waved his hand to Qin Mu, "I'm leaving. Cult Master, there's no need to send me off. This farewell might just be the last, no matter how far you send me off, we will still have to part ways."
Qin Mu shook his head and insisted, "Even though it might be the last farewell, what I'm giving you is my token of appreciation."
The young patriarch nodded his head and walked down the mountain.
Qin Mu imitated step for step and followed beside them.
He had lesser interaction with the young patriarch and he wasn't like the other elders who had seen him grow up. Even though he had only spent a short time with the young patriarch, he saw something on him that was different from the villagers.
Qin Mu learned a lot.
In Disabled Elderly Village, he was always a child, a child that never grew up in the eyes of Village Chief and Granny Si.
Meanwhile, at Patriarch's side, he had learned to grow up.
He had now become an adult.
Although he escorted him a thousand miles, yet they must part in the end. There weren't a thousand miles from the top to the bottom of the mountain and they had finally walked to the end.
The young patriarch turned around and bowed, "Sacred cult master, no need to see me out."
Qin Mu stopped and couldn't suppress sorrow in his heart as he bowed, "Farewell, Patriarch!"
The young patriarch jumped up and leaped off the mountain. Elder of Discipline also followed him down and both of them disappeared into the vast sky.
Qin Mu remained bowing for quite some time. After some time, he finally straightened up and looked at the sky above. He knew he would never see this young old man again.
When Elder of Discipline came back, he would probably be bringing the ashes of this young patriarch.
Death was nothing to fear?
Entrusting your body to the mountain for all eternity.
Perhaps the young patriarch's final wish was to become something like this Saint Arrival Mountain.
He could be considered to have accomplished that doctrine of Heavenly Devil, carrying out it in his entire life.
Suddenly on top of Saint Arrival Mountain, the huge flags unfurled and the three hundred and sixty hall masters left one after another. Qin Mu called Hu Ling'er over and returned to that cypress pine. There were still a few cult protector elders staying there and they all greeted with smiles when they saw him walking over, "Sacred cult master."
Qin Mu returned the greetings. There was no one left here other than these old men and women. Granny Si had also left, probably to send the young patriarch off.
Qin Mu found the left and right guardians and brought up the matter regarding starting up the school hall. The left and right guardians were two middle-aged men with one in black and one in white. Looking at each other in the eyes, the left guardian asked, "What does Sacred Cult Master plan to let the school hall teach?"
Qin Mu said, "All the techniques and divine arts in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures can be taught. Also other than the school hall, we will also have to set up a Floor of Heavenly Records on Saint Arrival Mountain. This is to gather the studies of all the sects to store them in the floor, making it easy for the disciples to browse. The simplest method is to copy all the scrolls in Imperial College's Floor of Heavenly Records and send them to the Floor of Heavenly Record of our sacred cult."
The left and right guardians noted it down.
Qin Mu said again, "Are there any brothers of the cult who are officials in the imperial courts? Ask them to copy down the techniques of the imperial courts as well and send them to Floor of Heavenly Records."
"We've received the decree."
The left and right guardians asked for the detail and immediately rose. The men in white and black raised their white and black gowns over their upper bodies and they disappeared along with their gowns. They should have teleported out from Saint Arrival Mountain.
"Our sacred cult's teleportation method sure is powerful."
Qin Mu exclaimed endlessly and quickly brought Hu Ling'er to the great hall to learn the art of teleportation. Without learning the art of teleportation, it was absolutely impossible for him to leave here!
As the sacred cult master, he can't be so thick-skinned to pester others to bring him out right?
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Great Ruins, Disabled Elderly Village.
Village Chief was still sitting on the recliner along with Apothecary as usual, drinking their tea slowly. Suddenly Apothecary turned his body and asked, "Village Chief, haven't you sat here for quite some time? It seems like you have been paralyzed here for the past two days and didn't even move when the darkness invaded. You didn't return to your room to sleep? When I woke up this morning, I've already seen you lying here."
Village Chief squinted his eyes lazily and said, "Apothecary, your heart is in disorder. After Mu'er left, your heart fell into disorder."
Apothecary laughed grimly, "My heart is in disorder? It's clearly your heart that's in disorder! Look at me washing up and grooming myself every day, unlike you with your messy appearance. The only difference is that you have yet died on the recliner."
Village Chief said, "It was clearly you who had moved me to the village entrance yesterday morning and forget to bring me back in when night fell, isn't that because your heart in disorder? To suddenly forget something you did every day?"
Apothecary smiled from extreme anger, "If I had forgotten to bring you back in, can't you walk back by yourself? Don't you know how to fly back? What's the use of your exceptionally talented cultivation for?"
Village Chief fell silent for a moment before saying sadly, "You know that I have no legs, nor arms…"
Apothecary was almost driven mad, this damned old man actually didn't die from the curse and monsters in the darkness after being left out yesterday night and he actually still had the face to say he had no legs.
He was about to argue strongly for what was right when he suddenly raised his head. Village Chief also perked up and smiled energetically, "Friends from afar, isn't that a joy? Dao friend, you are relaxed."
An old and a young man came up from Surging River's downstream and came walking towards the village.
Village Chief looked at Apothecary and immediately said, "Where's your comb? Stop hiding it. I know you always have a comb on you, it's in your chest! Quickly take it out. I haven't washed up for two days, how can I meet the guests like this?"
Apothecary gave a sneer and remained unmoved.
Village Chief laughed, "I'm the one who was lazy to move for the past two days, it's my fault."
Apothecary passed the comb to him and Village Chief used his vital qi to control the comb, combing his hair and tidying himself up.
The young patriarch and Elder of Discipline walked over and stopped in to greet. Village Chief smiled, "Disabled person is unable to return your greeting, please forgive me. Please take a seat. Apothecary, watch the tea."
The young patriarch sat down and gave a smile as he looked at Elder of Discipline who was standing beside him, "I'm no longer the patriarch of the sacred cult, there's no need for so many rules, sit together."
Elder of Discipline also sat down and placed the bamboo basket on his back at one side.
Apothecary brought over the teaset and boiled a new pot of water. Putting in the tea leaves, he let it simmer for a moment before pouring tea for both people.
"Apothecary has the southern way of drinking tea," the young patriarch smiled.
Apothecary smiled, "I was born in the south, therefore, I'm used to the southern way of drinking. The northern tea is used to seeing the tea leaves bobbing up and down while the southern tea reflects the heart of people with its clear bottom, both have their own good points."
The young patriarch smiled, "No wonder the both of you oftenly sit here. Village Chief, I've come to impose for a few days, are you okay with that?"
Before Village Chief could say anything, Apothecary clapped his hands and smiled, "Great, simply great! After Mu'er left, this old man has almost bored me to death, sitting here like a paralyzed every day, not moving or talking."
Village Chief gave him a stare and said to the young patriarch, "Now that you're at your leisure, it's also pleasant to stay here for a few days to clear your mind."
The young patriarch said, "I admire Dao brother very much. For the sacred cult master to be groomed by all of you, he is really outstanding and extraordinary, therefore I came to consult. The sacred cult master was a natural born Overlord Body and cultivates Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, resulting in a body of extraordinary abilities. My knowledge is lacking and didn't know that such a thing called Overlord Body in this world, it just so happens that I can consult Dao brother during these few days…"
Overlord Body!"
Village Chief and Apothecary looked at each other in the eyes and suddenly burst out into laughter. The two old men weren't young anymore and they laughed with their mouths wide open and tears streaming down their faces, gasping for their breaths.
"Overlord Body… Puahahaha!"
Village Chief rolled off from the recliner from laughing while Apothecary dropped to the ground and smacked his fists on the ground, unable to get up.
The young patriarch and Elder of Discipline were befuddled by their laughter and Elder of Discipline grew apprehensive as he thought to himself, "How bored are these two people usually? There was clearly nothing to laugh about yet they are gasping for their breaths from laughing. Will Patriarch and I become crazy like them if we stay here for long?"
Village Chief paused for a moment and laid on the ground to catch his breath. Apothecary pointed at the young patriarch and laughed, "We even fooled the devil cult's patriarch! Hahahaha!
Village Chief broke out into a crazy laughter again while Apothecary smacked the ground again.
After some time, Village Chief floated back onto the recliner while his vital qi combed his messy hair. Apothecary walked slightly further and smacked the dust off his body before going to wash his face. He then took out another comb from his chest and tidied himself up before coming up to sit down properly to apologize, "Dao brothers, there are only the two of us left in the village and we are almost bored to death. Even the hen dragon has gone out to fool around with a male and gave birth to a coop of small hen dragons. It's rare for someone to tell us a joke, therefore, we lost our composure."
The young patriarch looked behind them and saw a hen dragon that was as tall as a human bringing a bunch of small hen dragons strolling around in the village. That hen dragon raised a gale as she flapped her wings.
"What's Overlord Body all about?"
The young patriarch consulted humbly, "May I request both of you to be generous in your teachings. My scope is indeed a little shallow…"
"Say no more."
Village Chief held back his laughter, "I'll tell you."
After a moment, the young patriarch and Elder of Discipline were flabbergasted when they knew the truth. It was like they got struck by the thunder from the heavens a hundred times before getting stampeded a hundred times by a herd of reckless bulls, unable to return to their senses for quite a long time.
The strongest Overlord Body was actually the body of an ordinary person and the strongest Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was actually Daoyin Technique that the most ordinary of the ordinary people used to strengthen their bodies!
Yet Qin Mu had actually managed to cultivate this technique and thought that he was the Overlord Body.
This was yet the crucial point, the most crucial point was that Qin Mu who had absolutely believed it had used an ordinary body and Daoyin Technique to beat up all the other talents and geniuses and made them pissed their pants in terror, which was remarkably alike a true Overlord Body!
Village Chief and Apothecary were very pleased with themselves as they looked at each other. Village Chief whispered, "Look at their expressions, exactly like what I have expected."
The young patriarch let out a murky breath and had a queer expression, "So I see, so I see… However, there are indeed some problems with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, it's very extraordinary."
"Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique may be the Daoyin Technique which could be commonly seen but it indeed has some issues. However, for people who can cultivate this technique to Mu'er's extent is rare among rare, I can absolutely say that there's only Mu'er."
Village Chief said with a resolute expression, "At least I have not seen any before. I suspect that this technique is a technique before Great Ruins, which should be not bad, and it was passed down and became the most ordinary Daoyin Technique. But I'm not sure about it. Who would have thought that this technique would be cultivated by someone one day."
The young patriarch's gaze flickered, "Or we can say that before Great Ruins turned into Great Ruins, ordinary people could also cultivate and this Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was the cultivation method of those ordinary people. However, because of a great unforeseen event, it resulted in ordinary people unable to cultivate. The Four Great Spirit Bodies appeared after that and become the mainstream now."
Apothecary's heart moved slightly and asked, "If ordinary people can't cultivate, how was Mu'er able to cultivate? We can't just say that it was through his hard work. There are definitely people who are more hardworking in this world than him. It also can't be justified that it was because he had used up a hundred more times of resources compared to other ordinary people. There might be people who are willing to spend a huge amount of resources to awaken a mortal body. In that case, there must be something he has different from other normal people."
Village Chief's heart leaped and said, "Maybe he was an ordinary people before the Great Ruins turned into Great Ruins."
The three of them looked at each other in the eyes and every one of them agreed to this idea. The young patriarch asked, "In that case, where did he, this ordinary person before the calamity, come from?"
Village Chief and Apothecary replied in unison, "Carefree Village!" When they had said it, they both looked at each other in the eyes with their hearts shaking.
Only Elder of Discipline's brain did not react as fast as theirs and was still puzzled, unable to take part in the conversation.
"I feel that my thoughts can't catch up to theirs…" Elder of Discipline had a feeling of being left out.
"Carefree Village?"
The young patriarch's heart moved slightly and asked, "May I ask where is this Carefree Village?"
Village Chief gave a smiled, "No idea. But if Dao friend is interested, we can go out of the village tonight to search for it."
"Out of the village?"
The young patriarch turned his head and looked at the vast Great Ruins. His heart suddenly felt a little tense and also had a little anticipation.
He had come to the correct place.
He thought to himself secretly.
It had been a while since he had felt such an excitement. The old scoundrels of Disabled Elderly Village had once again made him feel the adventure and impulse he had during his youth period.
Two old men and each had one foot in the grave, along with another old man, and an old and yet not old apothecary shall explore the depths of the mysterious Great Ruins, at night, made him excited just thinking of it.
Saint Arrival Mountain. Qin Mu instructed, "Ling'er, even though this mountain is the sacred ground of our Heavenly Saint Cult, it's also my first time here, therefore I have no idea which areas are dangerous. Don't run around and wait for me to succeed in cultivating this teleportation method on the wall then I'll bring you out."
Hu Ling'er acknowledged and turned around to run out of this palace hall.
Qin Mu sat down in front of the wall and carefully studied the teleportation method on the wall.
The teleportation method on this wall was a way to refine treasure and the runes, formations, divine arts within were all unable to be used on their own. They must be used to create the treasure and only then could it activate the teleportation effect.
This was the reason why most of the higher-ups had created teleportation flags and teleportation clothing.
When the teleportation flag was unfurled, everything that the teleportation flag covered could be teleported away, being able to bring along many people. Whereas when teleportation clothing covered one's body, one could be brought away.
Qin Mu carefully comprehended the marvel of the teleportation method. After one day, he finally comprehended the teleportation method on the wall, yet he started to calculate in his heart.
Heavenly Devil Cult's teleportation method relied on runes to activate the formation and the formation to activate the divine art. Because it was too complicated, it was very difficult for divine arts to execute out directly, therefore they had to refine it into a treasure to be used for teleportation.
If he could directly execute the divine art, he could also achieve the result of teleportation, which would definitely be more nimble than using teleportation flags or teleportation clothing.
Furthermore, after Qin Mu had comprehended for so long, he had discovered that the teleportation method actually required a more superior calculation technique. Only with higher cultivation in the method of calculation, could he master the teleportation divine art even faster.
" I need an even superior algebra record!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Teleportation divine art was actually a divine art constructed by algebra. The difference in direction, place, distance, and space needed one to calculate the order and rules of the runes.
Every established teleportation point required a huge amount of mathematical operation.
Two words mathematical operation, what was the operation?
Operation meant the sequence, evolution, change, rules of the rune formation. With evolution in the sequence of the rune formation to change the rules, only then could he have a calculation.
By refining the teleportation divine art into a treasure, it was to rely on the runes and formation changes imprinted on the treasure to push the calculation, which was thousands of times more complicated than using the beads of an abacus. It could be seen as a large-scaled abacus that was strangely constructed.
If he wanted to execute this divine art by himself, he would have to be able to adjust the calculation anytime and anywhere, finding out the marvel of teleportation through the complicated runes.
With only Ten Computation Canons, it was impossible for him to deduce such a complicated operation formula.
Therefore Qin Mu felt that he needed an even more superior algebra record and only then could he completely learn the teleportation divine art.
"Profound computation should be taught in Imperial College's Hall of Array Element. Hall of Array Element teaches formation skills, therefore, they definitely have to use the operation of algebra. Maybe Dao Sect also has such a computation and might be even superior…"
Qin Mu suddenly remembered Daozi Lin Xuan. When Daozi Lin Xuan executed A Dot Threading The Vast Movements, Yin And Yang Come And Go Within Two Modes, he had used an extremely complicated algebra operation method.
Yin And Yang Come And Go Within Two Modes required an extremely large amount of algebra operation and without a strong mathematical operation ability, it was very difficult for him to calculate the changes in the moves and calculate out the exact location of Qin Mu's weakness.
"Without a profound computation, it's impossible for me to learn the teleportation divine art now. Now I only know what is done but not why it is done. I should first refine out a treasure of teleportation."
Qin Mu put his heart down and focused on refining the treasure. No matter whether he refined a teleportation flag or a teleportation clothing, he would need cloth. Now he had only one set of brocaded clothes now, he could only make do with it.
Meanwhile, using his brocaded clothes made from Six Wings Golden Natural Silk to refine out a teleportation clothing, he would need to pull out some threads. After taking out a few threads of Golden Natural Silk, he used the Golden Natural Silk to sew the formation on the clothes and used his vital qi to mark the runes.
He had learned to tailor from Granny Si since young, therefore, he had some experience with embroidery. This wasn't difficult for him.
"Say, do you think the sacred cult master can rely on his own strength to leave Saint Arrival Mountain?"
The three cult heavenly kings had yet to leave Saint Arrival Mountain to prevent Qin Mu from being trapped here. The three elders looked at Hall of Floating Light and Heavenly King Lu stroke the mountain goat-like beard on his chin, "Refining a treasure of teleportation is that simple. The teleportation method of our sacred cult could be said a divine art that causes the most headache for everyone."
Heavenly King Yu nodded his head in deep agreement, "The art of teleportation needs a high requirement for algebra and it's difficult to learn it without being proficient in algebra. The sacred cult master is still quite young and shouldn't have much attainments in algebra."
"Let him comprehend it for a few days. Without knowing the difficulty, he won't know how to progress. Knowing the difficulty and progressing is then the heart that seeks knowledge."
Heavenly King Shi was the most earnest, "The sacred cult master experienced too little setbacks and came to the position of the sacred cult master easily. Without sharpening him on the grindstone, it would be hard for him to grow. This was also Patriarch's idea.
The other two cult heavenly kings nodded their heads repeatedly, "Do we need to create some setbacks to sharpen him?"
"There's no need. The comprehension this time is enough to let him know what's a setback. Patriarch's idea was to wait until he couldn't leave this place and we will then give him a teleportation flag.
Heavenly King Shi smiled and said, "Every action from Patriarch has its in-depth meaning. Both of you definitely know how hard it was to master the teleportation divine art, so what's the point of Patriarch making him stay here to learn the teleportation divine art?"
Heavenly King Lu and Heavenly King Yu's eyes lighted up and they clapped their hands in exclamation.
Even though the teleportation divine art was in Hall of Floating Light and didn't prohibit disciples to comprehend it, there were not many people who were able to learn the teleportation divine art. Every hall master in the sacred cult had a teleportation flag, but these flags weren't made by those hall masters personally and were actually spirit weapons made by the four cult heavenly kings.
There are not many people in the entire Heavenly Devil Cult who could master the art of teleportation and refine it into a treasure. Even the previous generation saintess, Si Youyou, also couldn't master it. She didn't have very high attainments in algebra.
Patriarch's idea was to let Qin Mu go to Hall of Floating Light to learn the art of teleportation and when Qin Mu discovered that the teleportation divine arts required an extremely high attainment in algebra, it would have already been over ten days.
Then after ten days or more, Qin Mu would realize he couldn't cultivate this divine art and could only refine the treasure of teleportation. After another ten or more days, Qin Mu would then discover that he couldn't even refine out the treasure.
If this happened, the naughty and mischievous temper of this young sacred cult master could be grinded, making him know the immensity of heaven and earth. He would then learn not to perpetrate outrages and have an exaggerated opinion of his own abilities.
When that time came, Qin Mu would calm his heart down and comprehend the Unity Technique of Heavenly Saint Cult. Then the three cult heavenly kings would appear and give this young cult master a teleportation flag, allowing the sacred cult master to leave Saint Arrival Mountain successful to everyone's delight and satisfaction.
This was the deep intention of why Patriarch had made Qin Mu remain on the mountain to comprehend the teleportation divine art.
Heavenly King Yu had a grave expression, "What exactly happened to Heavenly King Qian? Have any of you received any news?"
Heavenly King Shi and Heavenly King Yu shook their heads. Heavenly King Shi said, "Senior Brother Qian has most likely come to misfortune already. He is always the most enthusiastic yet he is still yet here, I reckon the enemies must have made a move on him to find out the location of our headquarters, to investigate who is the new cult master. With his temper, he will definitely not say it out…"
Heavenly King Lu's heart leaped, "Senior Brother Qian has such a high cultivation…"
"No matter how high his cultivation is, there's always someone higher than him."
Heavenly King Shi said solemnly, "The first ranking high officials of the imperial courts are all cult master level existences. Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery have no lack of such top practitioners. Other sects and families also have hidden experts that are fixing their gaze on our Heavenly Saint Cult. Many of them had thought our Heavenly Saint Cult had declined after forty years so who doesn't want to take this opportunity to take a bite out of us? The crucial point is, who's the enemy?"
Everyone fell silent.
After a moment, Heavenly King Yu said, "This time the cult master had ordered the left and right guardian to establish the three hundred and sixtieth hall, School Hall. This is a big matter. The capability of this cult master is a level higher than Cult Master Li. This kind of vision and boldness doesn't seem like what a kid just over ten years old should have. He seems to have more experience than an old man that had lived for over a few hundred years…"
"It's most likely Patriarch guiding him."
"It's possible… eh, the sacred cult master is out!"
The three heavenly kings looked towards Hall of Floating Light and saw Qin Mu walking out. Opening wide the brocaded gown which he wore on the outside, this young sacred cult master suddenly covered the brocaded gown over his body and vanished with a poof!
The heavenly kings were stunned and only heard a loud crash. Half of the Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival had collapsed!
"Not good!"
The three heavenly king's hearts leaped, and they immediately looked towards Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival. Under the debris of the half-collapsed Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival, a youth stood up and looked around. He felt no one had seen him and immediately raised his clothes over his body, disappearing once again.
"Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival is where the sixth generation cult master received the phoenix. For a phoenix to descend on our Saint Arrival Mountain, how glorious was that…"
Heavenly King Yu's calves and stomach trembled as he muttered, "Now it's half collapsed, how are we going to answer to our ancestors and our disciples?"
Heavenly King Shi also had a change in expression as he muttered to himself irresolutely, "There is only one Records of the Phoenix Resting on the Parasol Tree written by the sixth generation cult master. It's only a biography and not a technique. I had long memorized Records of the Phoenix Resting on the Parasol Tree by heart. Let's repair the Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival and find the Book Hall Master to imitate the handwriting of the sixth generation cult master and fill in the rest of the writing. I'll assure no one will be able to see a thing!"
"The sacred cult master seemed to have refined a teleportation clothing, although he's not familiar with controlling it."
Heavenly King Lu was astonished, "He actually managed to create a treasure of teleportation, how is that possible?"
At this moment, there was another loud boom and the three heavenly king immediately looked towards the source of the voice, their faces turning black.
The roof of Hall of Three Kings had collapsed. Their young cult master had yet controlled the teleportation clothing and had teleported above Hall of Three Kings, crashing through its roof and creating a huge hole.
Hall of Three Kings was a great hall constructed to commemorate three sacred cult masters. These three sacred cult masters had lived in the same generation, and at that time, the fights between sects were very bitter. Dao Sect had gathered all the righteous sects in the world, as their leader, to attack Heavenly Devil Cult. Back then, the old cult master died in a battle and handed the cult over to Heavenly King Qing of the four cult heavenly kings before he died. Heavenly King Qing then imparted Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to the saintess back then before leading everyone to battle, fighting to the death in Jade Ripple Pool.
After the saintess had inherited the cult master's position, she once again went out to battle and slaughtered Dao Sect until they couldn't withstand it anymore, having no choice but to retreat. When the saintess returned to Saint Arrival Mountain, she imparted the techniques before allowing her injuries to break out, dying in a seated posture.
Therefore, the next sacred cult master constructed Hall of Three Kings to commemorate them.
When Qin Mu had failed his teleportation earlier and destroyed Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival, it was still fine but now he had smashed Hall of Three Kings, that was a little overboard!
Suddenly another whoosh was heard as Qin Mu covered himself with his clothes and vanished. The three heavenly kings jumped in shock and immediately chased over, "Sacred Cult Master, Little Devil! You can't tear down anymore!"
The three heavenly king's cultivations were dense and had also cultivated the art of teleportation. Heavenly King Shi's treasure of teleportation was a flag which teleported him away with a unfurl of a flag. Heavenly King Lu had cultivated a mirror which would teleport him away when he pointed it at himself.
Heavenly King Yu had created a jade pendant which he wore on his waist. With a gently pat, the jade pendant's glow would burst forth and bring him away.
The three of them had dabbled into the art of teleportation for a long time and even though they were unable to cultivate teleportation divine art, it was much easier and nimble for them to control their treasures of teleportation than this newbie.
The three heavenly kings were proficient in their technique and could see where Qin Mu was about to teleport to, so they immediately headed there to intercept. Yet they were still an instant slower and pounced into empty air, falling into Fish Observation Pond together.
The few fish dragons in the pond were ferocious and when Qin Mu had just fallen into Fish Observation Pond, these fish dragons opened up their huge mouths yet in vain. Then the three heavenly kings teleported in just right as appetizers.
The bodies of the three heavenly kings vanished once again to make the few huge fish bite into the empty air, shooting out sparks from their razor-sharp teeth colliding with each other.
The few huge fish shook their heads and swam away resentfully.
The bodies of the three heavenly kings appeared in mid-air and they stretched their hands to grab Qin Mu who was raising his brocaded clothes. Just as the three hands grabbed tightly, Qin Mu was one step faster than them and they could only grab his afterimage.
"Before Patriarch left, he had warned us about the young cult master's strange hobby of tearing things down, if we couldn't catch him…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The three of them activated their treasures of teleportation once again and heard three thuds as everything turned black before their eyes. Their bodies were tightly restrained and they immediately realized something was wrong. They hurried to tremble their vital qi and shattered the thing that was surrounding them and realized that they had teleported themselves into the trunks of the trees while following Qin Mu.
"Where's the sacred cult master?" Heavenly King Shi asked.
Just as he said it, they found Qin Mu's head popping out from a huge tree which could only be hugged with two people. His body was stuck in the trunk of the tree and he couldn't get himself free.
That tree was a sago palm and its quality was even harder than metal.
Heavenly King Lu had a bad temper and shouted, "Cult Master, why aren't you running anymore?"
"Three heavenly kings, all of you are still here?"
Qin Mu replied shamefully, "My vital qi is depleted and I'm trapped in this sago palm, unable to lift my clothing. Three heavenly kings, please help me."
The three heavenly king didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Heavenly King Shi chopped down the sago palm and rescued Qin Mu out, "Cult Master, you are the sacred cult master of our sacred cult and have a high position after all. You can't fool around on this Saint Arrival Mountain. The constructions on Saint Arrival Mountain are all places of historic interest and have their own meanings."
Heavenly King Lu said, "Cult Master, you aren't a child…"
When he said so, he felt something wasn't right. Isn't this sacred cult master just a child?
Qin Mu was not yet fifteen years old and several times younger than them.
Heavenly King Lu muttered, "When I was Sacred Cult Master's age, I played all day in mud… No, I already helped with the rice harvest. However, Sacred Cult Master, the art of teleportation is very dangerous and if you aren't careful, you can teleport into a restricted area and when that happens, even gods can't save you! There are still quite some restricted areas on our Saint Arrival Mountain!"
Qin Mu felt a bone-chilling cold. If he was to teleport to a restricted area, he would have died miserably!
"Cult Master, the treasure of teleportation requires you to determine the position, and the crucial point is how to confirm the location of the transfer."
The three heavenly kings looked at one another in the eyes and suppressed the astonishment in their hearts, "Cult Master, you have refined the teleportation clothing and yet master how to determine the teleport location. This is very dangerous. For teleportation, you must first determine where you are and determine where you want to go. When you're about to reach the place, you must retract your vital qi back immediately or else you will crash into something. When you try it for the first time, don't teleport too far and try somewhere nearer. Teleporting nearer makes it more convenient for you to stop as and when you like."
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up, "Let me try again!"
Anxious expressions immediately spread throughout the three heavenly kings' faces.
Heavenly King Yu hurriedly said, "Cult Master, your vital qi is depleted and there's no need to for you be impatient. Furthermore, the reason why Patriarch left you here was not to let you study the teleportation divine art. He wanted to calm your heart down to comprehend Unity Technique. Saint Arrival Mountain is very serene and there are no noises from the outside world, if you leave here, you would probably take one to two years to completely comprehend Unity Technique."
Qin Mu's heart was enlightened.
There was indeed a meaning to why Patriarch had left him behind.
He had been thinking of refining a teleportation clothing for the past two days to leave this place and had yet thought of Patriarch's intention.
"I was too impatient to succeed."
Qin Mu expressed his thanks calmly, "Thank you, heavenly kings, for showing me the right path."
"We don't deserve it!"
The three heavenly kings immediately returned his greeting solemnly.
Heavenly King Shi said, "Cult Master has outstanding wisdom and will definitely have a great gain by staying here for a few more days.
Qin Mu calmed his heart down and walked towards the pine cypress. He sat on the rock and diligently comprehended the scriptures the woodcutter had passed on to him.
The tree heavenly kings let out sighs of relief and Heavenly King Shi muttered, "Patriarch left Cult Master on Saint Arrival Mountain wanting to grind his temperament. Cult Master's temper is indeed naughty and mischievous and Patriarch must not have expected Cult Master to cultivate the teleportation method to such an extent with such a fast speed, am I right?"
The other two heavenly kings had a weird expression. The young patriarch's idea may be good but who would have thought that straight after he had left, Qin Mu had realized that it was impossible for him to cultivate the teleportation divine art now and had to be proficient in algebra.
And what was more, Qin Mu realized immediately that he could refine a treasure of teleportation first.
It was only the second day and he had already come out with a teleportation clothing to teleport here and there, tormenting the three heavenly kings.
Heavenly King Lu shook his head, "How wise is Patriarch, how could he not think of it? He must have expected it, therefore, he had let the three of us guard this place."
After a moment, the three heavenly kings sighed in unison, "Patriarch definitely didn't expect so."
The three heavenly kings started to fret and grow apprehensive. This sacred cult master was utterly mischievous yet he was so intelligent. It was pretty impossible for them to chasten his temper.
With the speed of Qin Mu, he just needed to practice a few more times and he could master the technique. When that time came, how could they make him stay to chasten his mischievous temper?
After a moment, Heavenly King Yu smiled, "We seemed to be wasting our time on an insoluble problem."
The other two heavenly kings looked at him and gave him a look of inquiry. Heavenly King Yu smiled and said, "Sacred Cult Master is so clever, so let him play crazily if he likes to play crazily. Since he has a mischievous temper, let him be mischievous. He is the cult master after all. Let us not care about the rest and just care about cleaning up his mess. To clean up his mess nicely is what we should do."
Heavenly King Shi said, "That's the only thing we can do. Be that as it may, if the cult master continues to play around crazily, I feel it's still better for him to leave Saint Arrival Mountain earlier and let him return to torment Imperial College."
The three elders came to Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival and became masons to repair Pavilion of Phoenix Arrival. They then went to Hall of Three Kings to repair the roof.
Heavenly King Lu went for a long trip and brought Book Hall Master back after two days to get him to forge Records of the Phoenix Resting on the Parasol Tree on the walls of Hall of Phoenix Arrival.
After everything was settled, the three heavenly kings let out sighs of relief and looked at one another in the eyes, "The sacred cult master's perception through meditation this time could at least let us relax for half a year, am I right?"
"With the degree of the sacred cult master's monstrosity, hard."
Under the cypress pine, Qin Mu had been sitting on Saint's Rock for a few days. When he was thirsty or tired, the little fox would come running over and plucked a bunch of fruit from somewhere he didn't know. Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er would then eat the fruits together.
Qin Mu comprehended for over ten days and experienced the woodcutter's lecture for over ten times yet he always felt it was hard for him to comprehend Unity Technique, thus he gradually got impatient.
"Let's not eat fruits today. I've been eating fruits every day and my mouth feels bland."
Qin Mu stood up from Saint's Rock and asked Hu Ling'er, "We'll eat meat today. Ling'er, is there any things to eat in the mountains?"
Hu Ling'er cheered, "There are musk deer in the mountain! I saw a herd of musk deer and wanted to lay my paws on it but this is Saint Arrival Mountain so I didn't dare to meddle around."
Qin Mu was excited and said, "Let's hunt one."
Not long later, a human and a fox were roasting the meat of musk deer. Hu Ling'er took out some salt from her own little backpack and sprinkled it over the meat, making it fragrant and appetizing.
They were simply starved and they devoured the musk deer cleanly. Hu Ling'er laid on her back while rubbing her bulging tummy, full of satisfaction. Qin Mu was also stuffed and he stood up to walk a step or two, executing his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to speed up his digestion.
His footsteps grew faster and faster as he started to cultivate the way he had cultivated in Disabled Elderly Village unknowingly. Suddenly he executed Thunderclap Eight Strikes and every punch and palm exploded the air, causing thunder to resonate out.
With his fist as a hammer, he executed Mute's hammer skills to smash down on the air that was like a huge drum. He, on the other hand, was like a giant beating onto the drum, shaking the trees in the foresting from the dull booms.
Qin Mu's move changed again as he executed his leg skills before changing it into spear skills, sword skills, then knife skills.
The speed of his sprint grew even faster and he actually gathered his vital qi into a brush to paint in the air, abandoning all restraint to his heart's content.
Suddenly he executed Secrets of Moving Rain, and the rain was like swords and strings, mixing the sounds of strings among the sound of rain.
He then changed to Secrets of Rolling Thunder and Flames which rumbled with thunder and balls of flame exploding in all directions.
Another ball of flames gradually rose into the sky and turned redder and redder as though it was a setting sun. The flaming sword qi shot off in all directions as he executed Sunset Sword Skill.
His vital qi then changed and he turned into a sprinting White Tiger which split rocks with his claws.
He then executed the Seven Writings of Creation. Spirit Creation Technique to change his form, Heavenly God Creation Technique to change his technique, Heavenly Devil Creation Technique to change his appearance, Human King Creation Technique to change into dragon, Ghost Creation Technique to change his soul, Earth Aeon Creation Technique to change his spirit and Precelestial Creation Technique to change his neonate.
He then executed all kinds of spells, fist skills, sword skills, and knife skills in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Unknowingly, he had sunk into a marvelous state where the woodcutter's voice sounded on and off in his mind. Sometimes it was deep and low, sometimes it was loud and clear and sometimes it was muffled.
All kinds of mysteries flooded his mind again and again, filling up his mind before flowing out from his hand to become marvelous moves.
There was only delight in his heart as he unleashed to his heart's content. No matter what spell, divine art or sword skill, he just unleashed them all regardless of their order.
He only felt his heart becoming deranged. If the technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures didn't flow, therefore he changed it. If the circulation of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was rough, he would go with the flow and adjust the direction of the vital qi circulation.
To act straightforwardly, to follow the course of nature, that's the meaning of path. At this moment, he finally had understood this sentence deeply.
No matter what his predecessor had left behind, no matter what Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures or Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was, he would just let the vital qi circulate with the flow, executing all kinds of moves and divine arts. Circulating his boundless vital qi, however, he like, no matter if it was to the standard or not.
The more it was like this, the marvel of woodcutter's lecture on the rock allowed him to understand even more and comprehend even more marvels.
The three heavenly kings were also astonished and immediately came out to have a look, only to see sparks shining out in the forest of Saint Arrival Mountain from time to time. The rumbles of thunder sounded while the groud rolled over and over. As the air vibrated with the knife lights and sword shadows, the forest collapsed in pieces.
The three heavenly kings' expression changed hugely and Heavenly King Shi suddenly shouted, "This is bad, the sacred cult master is sprinting towards the sacred tree!"
The elders immediately rose into the air and landed in front of the cypress pine only to see Qin Mu unleashing all kinds of moves and divine arts to his heart's content as if he had gone crazy. His vital qi even showed apparitions of all kinds of gods and devils. No matter if it was the righteous path, devil path or buddhism path, he just executed all of it.
No matter if it was the divine arts unique to White Tiger Spirit Body, the defensive methods unique to Black Tortoise Spirit Body, the tempest of Green Dragon Spirit Body or the true fire of Vermillion Bird Spirit Body, they were all executed in his hand to his heart's content, making the three cult heavenly king flabbergasted.
"Unity Technique…"
Heavenly King Shi muttered, "He has comprehended it, he has comprehended it…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
There was only one requirement to the Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, which was to unite all the spells, divine arts, sword skills and battle techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures which included the Seven Writings of Creation.
When one managed to do this, they could then be considered unified.
When the previous cult masters received the teachings from the woodcutter on the rock, they would all have to comprehend their own Unity Technique and only when they succeeded then could they secure their position of cult master.
Otherwise for sects like Heavenly Devil Cult which didn't mind their cult master dying, changing the cult master would become a common thing.
Those that could become Heavenly Devil Cult Master were all brimming over with talent, therefore, every one of them could be considered talented figure. Even Cult Master Li, who was castigated for losing himself in female charms, was also an existence of great talent, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to plant a heart devil in Granny Si's Dao heart which even strong practitioners like Village Chief, Mute couldn't break.
However, what made the three cult heavenly kings astonished was that the speed of Qin Mu comprehending Unity Technique was a little too fast. It had just been over ten days and he had already touched the borders of Unity Technique, starting to harmonize his techniques and blend them together.
What they didn't know was that Qin Mu's so-called Overlord Body had no vital qi's attribute and could turn into vital qi of any attribute at the same time. In addition to that, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique also had no attributes and could also turn into any attribute.
Qin Mu used Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique as a foundation, adding and taking away stuff on top of the foundation, running through the cult doctrine and philosophy of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Cult and merging it with the marvel of the teachings on the rock, taking the first step to form his own Unity Technique.
To act straightforwardly, to follow the course of nature. This sentence was brought out brilliantly by him.
His Unity Technique may be using Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique as a foundation but Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had no branches or leaves, therefore, the technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures became its branches while the spells, divine arts, sword skills and battle techniques became its leaves.
With the jade tree adorned, the technique was achieved and everything would let nature take its course.
After a moment, Qin Mu 'slaughtered' his way over to the cypress pine and the three cult heavenly kings were extremely nervous, afraid that he might chop down this ancient tree which represented the sacred cult when they weren't paying attention.
They didn't expect that Qin Mu didn't keep going to slash the cypress pine when he slaughtered his way to the tree. Instead, he sat down on Saint's Rock in the lotus position and calmed down.
Vital qi curled around his body as his spirit embryo moved while his five stars shook. The five elements rose into the sky by themselves and landed on the five element stars.
His eyes looked at his nose while his nose looked at his heart. His breath was like white light while the golden light was contained in his eyes as he sat there.
Heavenly King Lu was about to say something when Heavenly King Shi immediately did a shhh action and walked away quietly on tiptoe. Heavenly King Lu and Heavenly King Yu also sneaked away with light footsteps and followed him to leave quietly.
"The sacred cult master of this generation sure is remarkable."
Heavenly King Shi walked further and turned his head back to look at Qin Mu while sighing ruefully, "Patriarch has a good judgment indeed, the future of our sacred cult would probably have to rely on him. Such talent and power of understanding are rare in this world."
"He still can't be compared to the saint of every five hundred years."
Heavenly King Yu sighed, "An existence like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor can only be met once every five hundred years…"
Heavenly King Lu looked at the mess throughout the entire mountain. Those were the trees that were knocked down when Qin Mu was sprinting with comprehending. Some of the collapsed trees were still crackling from being burned.
"'Rare in the world' naturally couldn't be compared to 'once every five hundred years', after all, there can only be one 'every five hundred years'. Our this sacred cult master is good in everything, though it's just that he's too troublesome."
This cult heavenly king sighed ruefully, "Our Saint Arrival Mountain had only been destroyed into this state when Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery invaded us, right?"
"Don't talk about it anymore, he's the cult master Patriarch chose after all. No matter how troublesome he is, we have to endure it. Let's go and put out the fire!"
Qin Mu sat on Saint's Rock for another half a day and was woken up by hunger. He called Hu Ling'er over to hunt a musk deer. They roasted the meat of the musk deer and had no more appetite after eating half of it.
"Young master got tired of it?"
The little fox picked her teeth in boredom and said, "I saw a few fish dragons in Fish Observation Pond which looked quite delicious and are pretty plump."
"I saw them too and they were indeed appetizing."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm afraid I can't defeat those fish. However, Grandpa Apothecary had said, if I can't win, I can poison."
Hu Ling'er cheered and halfway through her cheer, the little fox immediately shut her mouth as she saw the three cult heavenly kings standing behind them with black faces.
Qin Mu rose and smiled, "How long have the heavenly kings been here?"
"Just, just."
Heavenly King Shi wore a pleasant countenance, "Sacred Cult Master can continue to eat slowly without rushing. That's right, the few fish dragons in Fish Observation Pond were reared by the sixteenth generation cult master. Back then the sixteenth cult master gave lectures to the disciples by the pond and reared a few fish. By turning the fish into a dragon to give pieces of advice to the disciples, it led to becoming a deed that captured the imagination and had spread far and wide, thus these fish dragons had lived on. Sacred Cult Master can head over to the pond when you're free to do a headcount in case the fish slips away."
Qin Mu's face turned slightly red, these fish dragons couldn't be eaten?
"Cult Master, how does the musk deer taste?" Heavenly King Lu asked with a smile.
"Sit down and eat together," Qin Mu invited them.
The three cult heavenly kings were no modest as they took a seat each and split the musk deer's meat. Heavenly King Yu licked the grease on his fingers and smiled, "Not a bad taste! If I had not known these musk deer were raised by the saintess of the previous generation, I would have long eaten them!"
"They are raised by Granny Si…"
Qin Mu's face turned black. What else could be eaten on this Saint Arrival Mountain?
Heavenly King Lu seemed to blurt out accidentally, "The forest which Cult Master destroyed was planted during the founding master's era. The sago palm grows slowly and for them to be this thick, they have to grow for a few thousand years."
Qin Mu felt agitated sitting down. That forest was completely destroyed by him and there were only a few burned sago palms standing upright there.
"I have no idea who has plucked the Sacred Heart Flower from the flower bed in Hall of Sacred Heart," Heavenly King Yu beamed.
Qin Mu looked at Hu Ling'er who was looking down at a musk deer's bone. Her furry tail which would always sway around was unusually calm.
Heavenly King Shi said, "There's also the green lamp in Floor of Natural Charm which contains sesame oil, not sure who has drunk quite an amount if it."
Hu Ling'er sensed Qin Mu's gaze staring at her own fox's tail and secretly hid her tail under her buttocks.
Qin Mu coughed and said, "Ling'er, your fox's tail is revealed."
"Where?"
The little fox cried out, "I have clearly hidden it!"
Heavenly King Lu said neither too fast nor too slow, "There's an ancient medicinal tree in front of the Hall of Medicine King and a huge copper-colored nine leaves lingzhi mushroom grew on it. The ninth leaf has almost been completely chewed away. That lingzhi mushroom is cultivated by the ancient medicinal tree and has a strong medicinal energy in it. There are also many spores in it and the spores fly around in all directions. The spores would sprout from time to time and small lingzhi mushrooms would pop out.
On the little fox's head, a small lingzhi mushroom popped out and she immediately raised her paws, pretending she was scratching her head, secretly plucking it down and sending it into her mouth. She thought everything was hush-hush yet to her surprise, Qin Mu and the three cult heavenly kings were staring at her when she raised her eyes.
Heavenly King Shi said, "There are also a few cloud pearls that were embedded on the screen in Pavilion of Floating Clouds, they must have dropped off…"
Hu Ling'er became nervous and immediately hugged the little backpack on her back.
Qin Mu gave two coughs and stood up, "Three heavenly kings, it's been a while since I came to Saint Arrival Mountain. Suddenly I remembered I'm still the imperial academician of Imperial College and did not attend many lessons. I plan to leave Saint Arrival Mountain today and return to the capital city."
The three cult heavenly kings gave sighs of relief and Heavenly King Shi said, "By rights, we should keep Sacred Cult Master here to comprehend, but since Sacred Cult Master's studies are more important, we won't be keeping you."
Heavenly King Yu said courteously, "Sacred Cult Master, Saint Arrival Mountain is Cult Master's home so you must return home frequently, don't treat yourself as an outsider."
"Definitely, definitely."
Qin Mu replied courteously, "As the sacred cult master, I would naturally come back to have a look frequently."
"Do you need us to send Sacred Cult Master down the mountain?"
"No need, no need. Three heavenly kings, no need to see me out."
…
"Young master, you seemed to be despised by the cult heavenly kings," Hu Ling'er blinked her eyes innocently and said.
Qin Mu stared at her and the little fox secretly hid her fox's tail again. Qin Mu was speechless and shook his head, "Even though you created troubles everywhere, those were small troubles. The troubles I created aren't less as well and they were all bigger than yours so I don't have the face to lecture you. This is probably the first time in Heavenly Saint Cult's history that the sacred cult master is being despised by his subordinates. Oh well, since I have pretty much comprehended Unity Technique, let us leave the mountain."
Hu Ling'er hurriedly nodded her head.
Qin Mu tested a few more times and felt that he had mastered the technique of the teleportation clothing. Carrying Hu Ling'er in his chest, he said, "I'm still not confident of this teleportation. There are still some pills in my backpack and in case my vital qi is depleted, I can still replenish it."
Hu Ling'er clung tightly to his chest and didn't dare to relax. Qin Mu leaped down from Saint Arrival Mountain and the whooshing sound of wind brushed past his ears.
With the youth's brocaded clothes covering and putting away, he had soughingly vanished in mid-air.
The three cult heavenly kings immediately rushed to the bottom of the mountain and looked down yet they couldn't see any traces of Qin Mu.
"Asura's Blood Eyes, awaken!"
Heavenly King Yu stretched out his index finger and touched the heart of his brows. Red lights burst forth from his two eyes as he looked downwards to search. After a moment, he found traces of Qin Mu and let out a sigh of relief, "Sacred Cult Master is fine and has already reached the borders of Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area which revolves around our Saint Arrival Mountain. After he passes through this Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area, he would be safe."
Heavenly King Lu's heart suddenly trembled and he hurriedly asked, "Senior brothers, have you told the sacred cult master about Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area that's outside Saint Arrival Mountain?"
Heavenly King Yu and Heavenly King Shi looked at each other and both shook their heads. Heavenly King Shi mumbled, "Junior Brother Lu has not told Sacred Cult Master about it?"
Heavenly King Lu shook his head, "I thought you guys had said it… Crap!"
The expressions of the three cult heavenly kings changed hugely and they immediately leaped down. Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area was laid down by a cult master of the previous generation to protect the sacred ground. From the outside, there was no peculiarity but once inside, one would receive the bombardment of the Blue Skies Heaven's Thunder!
Don't mention Qin Mu, even if it was a strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm, they would still die or become crippled when they landed inside!
With Qin Mu's cultivation, he will definitely be turned into ashes in an instant!
The speed of the three cult heavenly kings was extremely fast and they came to Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area, barging into the restricted area to save them. Even with the dense cultivation of the three heavenly kings, they were still charred from the lightning strikes.
"That lightning region sure is dangerous."
Outside Heaven's Lightning Restrict Area, Qin Mu looked towards the sky and had a lingering fear in his heart, "Luckily I had used Green Heaven's Eyes to see this hidden lightning region and directly teleported out. Eh, there seem to be people in the lightning region…"
He had no time to take a closer look as his body was already falling down from mid-air. Below him were the green mountains and blue waters of Eternal Peace Empire which were covered by the clouds, looking very spectacular.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The three cult heavenly kings exhausted their strength to barge out of Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area only to see Qin Mu's figure flickering repeatedly and becoming smaller as he went further and further away from them.
The three of them let out sighs of relief.
"If I knew this mission was so hard, I would definitely not take it…"
Heavenly King Lu wiped the soot off his face and muttered, "The sacred cult master of this generation is too unexpectable."
The other two elders also had the same sentiments. Heavenly King Shi said, "Luckily it has finally ended. For Sacred Cult Master to reveal his outstanding talent at such a young age is the fortune of our sacred cult. Now that this has ended, we should go investigate the matter regarding Heavenly King Qian."
The hearts of Heavenly King Lu and Heavenly King Yu turned stern and they replied with resolute expressions, "That's precisely what we're going to do, to investigate the one that laid their hands on our sacred cult!"
Heavenly King Shi had a grave expression and said solemnly, "What I'm most worried about isn't this, it's whether the teleportation flag of our cult has been leaked out. A year of many troubles… Take a look below, it seems to be the borders of Mound Prefecture!"
"Mound Prefecture? Our cult's sacred ground has traveled to the top of Mound Prefecture?"
Heavenly King Yu's heart trembled slightly and he let out a murky breath, "Mound Prefecture has revolted and the emperor's relatives have rebelled with quite a decent sized power. Now that the sacred cult master has landed in Mound Prefecture, I'm afraid…"
Saint Arrival Mountain was hidden among Heaven's Lightning Restricted Area and levitated high above the sky. This sacred ground wasn't stationary and was always moving. There was a place called Viewing Abyss and one could see the scenery below Saint Arrival Mountain when they looked down Viewing Abyss, even the ants on the ground could be seen clearly.
However, it was pretty rush this time, therefore, they had no time to check Viewing Abyss and ended up letting Qin Mu out of the sacred ground when it was passing by Mound Prefecture.
"Hope the sacred cult master doesn't land in the battlefield," Heavenly King Lu muttered.
Qin Mu fell from the sky and Hu Ling'er executed demon wind for Qin Mu to travel on the wind. Not long later, he had finally touched the ground. His vital qi had been exhausted by half but at least he was considered safe and sound.
"It's been quite a long time since I've been to Imperial College. As the first imperial academician and an official conferred by the emperor, I had only listened to one lecture."
Looking around, he let Hu Ling'er take out the geographic map of Eternal Peace Empire from his backpack. Looking at the topography of the mountains, he tried to find similar topography from the geographic map.
"It's Mound Prefecture. However, there's still quite a distance from the city."
Right at this moment, he saw a ship floating by in the sky and Qin Mu's heart moved slightly. He immediately executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs and ran after that ship along the foothills.
That ship hung the flag of merchant thus it was a ship that was dual-used for merchants and guests. Now even with all the turmoil and chaos of war, there were still quite a number of merchant ships. There were still ships coming to and fro even in the areas of the armed rebellion.
Qin Mu ran faster and faster until his feet suddenly stepped on the air. As he stepped on the air, he sprinted crazily through the sky as though it was flat land, catching up to the ship with just a few breaths time and landing on the ship in a flash.
Swang swang swang!
The sounds of swords unsheathing traveled out as there were dozens of flying swords pointed at his neck just as he landed on the ship. The swords were everywhere in front and behind of his body.
"Everyone, don't panic, I'm just trying to take the ship," Qin Mu raised both of his hands and said carefully.
There were dozens of people on the deck of this ship and most of them looked like merchants. There were also divine arts practitioners hired by the merchants as well as a few officials. Those that had pointed the flying swords at his neck were those officials and divine arts practitioners.
"Youth, where do you plan to go?" the coxswain who was bare-armed and covered in tattoo sized Qin Mu up and asked with an astonished expression.
Qin Mu asked, "Is this the ship to the capital city?"
The coxswain nodded his head and said, "To the capital city, the ship fare is a hundred great abundance coins."
Qin Mu was astonished and cried out, "So expensive? From River Tomb to the capital city was only ten great abundance coins, how did it increase by ten times in a blink of an eye?"
"The circumstances aren't good now and there are wars every day. The journey isn't going to be smooth so the ship fare would have to increase as well. Hehe, ten times is already little, we are literally putting our necks on the line now, of course, you had to give more for our efforts."
Qin Mu agreed.
If he was to head to the capital city by himself and meet with turmoil and chaos on the journey, he would take over ten days to reach the capital city. If he executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs, he would require extremely dense cultivation and he would completely exhaust his cultivation after running for just a while, therefore, it was still more convenient to take a ship.
"The world is not in peace, I've heard that Qiu Dieyi of Forest Prefecture has also rebelled."
Qin Mu paid the ship fare and heard a few merchants discussing. An elderly mister said, "Qiu Dieyi is no small figure, before relying on the imperial court, she was a great impress empress of Passion Parting Palace who had a world-shaking cultivation. Passion Parting Palace had an enormous power and there were many disciples from the palace who had become generals in the borders army. Now that Passion Parting Palace's great imperial empress has rebelled, hehe, the world is going to be even chaotic."
"I've heard Passion Parting Palace was the number one big sect created by a woman, having power that surpassed many others and wasn't much inferior to the three great sacred grounds. Most of the female generals in imperial court have come from Passion Parting Palace."
"Three Wonders Castle has also revolted. Three Wonders Castle was well loved by the emperor back then and Consort Che was from Three Wonders Castle. I've heard she is the granddaughter of Che Zhengli, one of the three wonders! Now that Three Wonders Castle has rebelled, Consort Che had been banished to the cold palace."
"Why have so many sects rebelled?"
"Don't you know? Three months ago, Daozi of Dao Sect went to block Imperial College's gate and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went forward to give a lecture. After that, there were people who could see that Imperial Preceptor was injured. I've heard that Imperial Preceptor's wound has started to smell and he purposely used perfume to cover it up yet it still couldn't cover up the stink of the wound."
"When the news was spread out, many sects still couldn't believe it, then another story came out. Dragon Rider Sect Master had visited Imperial Preceptor's Manor late at night to fight with Imperial Preceptor and actually made it out alive! Dragon Rider Sect Master's ability can't be considered top notch but he had raised a dragon which was transformed from a snake, barely considering him an expert of the sect master level. For Imperial Preceptor to not take even him down, it shows how serious his injuries are."
"Shhh, stop talking about it. Those few officials are looking over."
…
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly as he thought back to the time where Imperial Preceptor was giving a lecture. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor did look a little frail but Qin Mu was proficient in the art of healing and by buying rouge and powder frequently with Granny Si, he could confirm that the flush on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's face wasn't from being sick and was from applying rouge.
As for using perfume to cover the rotting smell of the wound from what these merchants had said, Qin Mu had indeed smelled two different kinds of smell back then but he wasn't concerned at all.
Learning how to distinguish herbs from Apothecary since he was young, these two smells were from ordinary herbs and perfume.
Qin Mu frowned, "Imperial Preceptor's injuries had already healed yet he still borrowed the chance to let the people of the outside world know that he was still gravely injured when he had come to Imperial College for a lecture, making the people who were thinking rebelling but didn't dare to rebel. Isn't this scheme a little too terrifying."
It had been three months since Imperial Preceptor gave a lecture in Imperial College and in this three months, the situation had gotten even messier. There were sects revolting and officials rebelling everywhere, making Qin Mu feel that he wasn't understanding Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor more and more.
Imperial Preceptor had thrown the current political situation into such a disorder and had already become such a hard to fix extent. Even if he was able to quell the rebellion, the strength of Eternal Peace Empire would still be greatly damaged.
Furthermore, Eternal Peace Empire also had other enemies like Barbarian Di Empire of the western borders and Wolf Store Country of the northern borders, being in a mess both domestically and abroad.
"Could Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor think of seizing the throne?" he revealed an expression of doubt.
With the imperial family fighting with the rebels, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could take this chance to seize the throne and make himself the emperor when both sides suffered from their battles.
However, even though Qin Mu didn't know Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor well, he felt a person with such a breadth of mind wouldn't use such a method to seize the throne.
Suddenly the ship began to tremble violently and Qin Mu's heart leaped. He hurriedly leaned to the side of the ship to take a look and saw this ship sailing into a battlefield.
This battlefield was in the air and other than the warships, there were still flying cars, flying clouds, flying mounts and all kinds of weird flying treasures or mounts.
Luckily their ship was located at the borders of the battlefield and when the coxswain saw things were looking back, he immediately steered hard left and the ship almost tilted over. The ship barely avoided a warship and slid past the battlefield.
Qin Mu stabilized himself and prevented himself from falling over. Suddenly a cavalry controlled a golden wings birds and flew over. From afar, he could see swords flying out into the sky from the sword cases and swept towards the people on the ship.
The coxswain immediately shouted, "We are merchants passing by and not soldiers!"
The cavalry turned a deaf ear and the sharp swords shot towards the people on the deck. There were also a few swords slicing towards the sails, cutting away the ropes and instantly slowing the ship down hugely.
Everyone on the ship felt their scalps turning numb. This was a standard battle between armies and it was evident that one side was Eternal Peace Empire's army which was pacifying the rebellion while the other side was the rebel army. This wasn't simply just a sect creating havoc.
When a sect created havoc, other than large-scaled sects like the three sacred grounds, it was hard for the other sects to bring out the strength that could rival the empire's army.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's reform had not only reformed primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College, he had similarly reformed the military arms. In the army, the soldiers all had standardized spirit weapons and even if they weren't opponents of the sect's disciples, as long as their numbers were greater and could manipulate sword using qi, all of the soldiers could work hand in hand and release ten thousand swords simultaneously, creating an astonishing power!
Other than the army working together, there were also land and sky combination, spells combining with all kinds of fighting method. Ten soldiers of Five Elements Realm could easily kill a Six Directions divine arts practitioner by working together.
All the famous sects in the martial world had no power to fight back when they encountered the encirclement and annihilation of the imperial family. Using this kind of fighting method from the army, there were still quite a great numbers of sects being eliminated like this in the history of Eternal Peace Empire annexing other countries!
On the ship, Qin Mu stabilized his mind and was about to use his sword case when he suddenly remembered the flying swords in his sword case had all been destroyed in Rolan's Golden Palace, therefore, he had thrown his sword case away.
"Use Junior Protector Sword!"
Qin Mu avoided the flying swords that were stabbing over and his vital qi went into taotie sack and a crisp hum sounded out. With a gentle rotation with Wave Sword Form, the flying swords that came flying over were all sliced into halves by him. The bodies of the swords landed on the ship and only the handles were left.
With his proficient sword skills plus the sharpness of Junior Protector Sword, it could be said that there was no disadvantage for him.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and suddenly saw the cloth sack of those soldiers who were on the back of the golden wings birds opening up. Buzzing sounds instantly traveled over and countless of golden insects flew out from the cloth sack.
"It's the insect army!"
The other guests on the ship had a huge change in expression and cried out, "The insect army of Three Wonders Castle!"
The few soldiers stretched out their hands and countless of flying insects grouped up and rushed towards the ship like venomous dragons, biting and tunneling into everyone they saw. Not far from Qin Mu, there was a big-bellied merchant whose cultivation wasn't weak but he got infiltrated by the insects which tunneled into his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. In the next moment, the entire fat merchant deflated like a balloon and only a piece of human skin laid on the deck.
Under the human skin, countless of insects squirmed around and crawled out from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose before flapping their wings to fly away.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Everyone on the ship was overwhelmed. That coxswain was a divine arts practitioner with extraordinary abilities, but as he had to control the direction of the ship, he couldn't care for everyone.
Three Wonders Castle had three wonders, the first being bugs, the second being medicine and the third was beautiful women. Consort Che in the royal palace was an outstanding beauty from Three Wonders Castle. Three Wonders Castle was proficient in their medical expertise, having many famous physicians that were good at using venomous insects to treat illness.
Meanwhile, the first wonder among the three was insect.
The insect army of Three Wonders Castle was extremely terrifying. The people that were good at healing were also good at poisoning. The venomous insects of Three Wonders Castle were also a unique skill. After they were annexed by the imperial court, the emperor had ordered Three Wonders Castle to form an insect army and most of the soldiers in the army were experts in controlling insects.
Now that Three Wonders Castle had rebelled, it was evident that the insect army had already rebelled and this battle was between the imperial army and the insect army of Three Wonders Castle.
They had wandered carelessly into the battlefield and came under attack from Three Wonders Castle's insect army. Things were not going to end peacefully.
"It's impossible to guard against this kind of insects! Junior Protector Sword can't deal with so many insects!"
Qin Mu's scalp turned numb as countless of golden insects flew towards him. He immediately split his focus into two and brandished his Junior Protector Sword at one soldier while bursting forth his vital qi in his body. Countless of fine vital qi threads surged out from his hand to form something like a blazing red sun.
His vital qi threads were formed from incomparably fine vital qi swords which transformed into a setting sun in this instant, floating in the air with a buzz.
Yuyuan Imperial Studies, Sunset Sword Skill.
That fireball spun rapidly and countless of sword lights instantly burst forth from this setting sun. Each and every sword stabbed the bodies of the small golden insects and in an instant, insects corpses filled the ground around Qin Mu.
At the same time, his Junior Protector penetrated through the chest of a soldier in a flash before returned with a stab to finish off the soldier.
"Superb sword skill!"
That coxswain praised and let his assistant control the ship. He immediately made a move and took out a fire bottle gourd. After he opened the bottle gourd, a piece of fire cloud flew out from the bottle gourd and transformed into a nine-head fire phoenix which opened its nine mouths to spew out raging inferno that scorched countless of bugs to death.
That nine-head fire phoenix spread its wings and shrouded the ship while spewing out trails of flames. Before the soldiers of Three Wonders Castle could even get close, they were burned into charcoal.
"This coxswain has a very deep cultivation which is not inferior to Little General Qin Feiyue!"
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly. The coxswain was a middle-aged man with a burly body. However, this flame divine art that he had unleashed was indeed extraordinary. He was probably a divine arts practitioner of Seven Stars Realm.
Right at this moment, the terrifying golden insects swarmed over like waves. A woman wearing a military uniform stood among them. With a point of her finger, the swarm of insects surged forth towards the ship.
"The second wonder of Three Wonders Castle, the girls sure are pretty."
That coxswain gave a chuckle and the nine-head fire phoenix came back into the fire bottle gourd with a whoosh. The bottle gourd grew larger and larger, turning into a huge object that was about three to five humans tall. With the mouth of the bottle gourd facing downwards, a terrifying suction came from it and sucked in the swarm of insects which were surging over.
That coxswain held mudras with both of his hands and slapped dozens of mudras one after another on the fire bottle gourd. All kinds of elegant runes instantly appeared in the air around the huge fire bottle gourd one after another before vanishing gradually.
The swarm of insects was instantly turned into ashes in the bottle gourd.
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up. Cultivation was to study and this coxswain seemed to have quite an in-depth knowledge regarding runes and mudra.
That female general of Three Wonders Castle was shocked and the swarm of insects under her feet instantly stopped. Standing in the air, she blinked her beautiful eyes and said, "You are… Fire Bandit Fan Yunxiao? When have you turned good and become a coxswain?"
The expression on most of the merchants on ship changed and even those few officials changed their expression hugely. They all manipulated swords using qi to point them at the coxswain.
That coxswain spat twice, "What do you mean 'turned good'?"
The female general of Three Wonders Castle sneered, "I've heard you were a relinquished disciple of Dao Sect. Dao Sect disliked you having improper intentions and chased you out from Dao Sect, thus you became a bandit to plunder merchants everywhere. You have been wanted by the imperial court for quite a while. Now that you have become a coxswain, haven't you turned good?"
That Coxswain Fan Yunxiao laughed, "I only work as a bandit during times of peace to rob people of their valuables, how can I be a bandit in these times of unrest? During times of unrest, more money comes from being a coxswain than robbing people. General, please make life easy for me?"
The female general snorted coldly and looked around. The insect army of Three Wonders Castle was still fighting and it wasn't good for her to engage in a fight with this bandit now.
Even though Fan Yunxiao was a relinquished disciple of Dao Sect, he had extremely high abilities. Even the imperial court could not catch him in so many years, so she might not be his opponent. Her insect cloud swept backward at once and she floated away.
Fan Yunxiao let out a sigh of relief and ordered his assistant to drive the ship away.
The merchants on the ship looked at this burly man with eyes filled with terror. Fan Yunxiao immediately said, "Relax everyone, I've turned good and won't rob during times of unrest. The officials can also be at ease, I've turned good, this ship is even recorded in the capital city!"
An official sneered, "Could this ship of Coxswain Fan be the infamous Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship among the bandits?"
"Please excuse my humble ship. Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship has also changed its name to Cloud Chasing Passenger Ship. When the world is peaceful again, we'll then go back to rob."
Fan Yunxiao went to the merchant who had been eaten until only his skin was left and frowned, "You have boarded my ship and I should have protected you with everything I could, yet you still met with trouble, I can't take your ship fare." After he said this, he took out a coin pouch and handed it to the merchant's associate.
Everyone on the ship was trembling with fear and felt that they had just escaped from a pack of wolves only to enter the tiger's den. This Fen Yunxiao had created trouble for merchant ships for many years, plundering people everywhere. Now that they were on his ship, everything pointed to disaster.
"I've turned good!"
Fan Yunxiao bowed with his hands held in front, "I've really turned good! Don't worry, I'll definitely send you guys to the capital city."
Everyone still had a face of terror.
Fan Yunxiao was helpless and looked at Qin Mu while smiling, "Little brother's sword skill ain't half bad, you're from Yuyuan Family?"
Qin Mu shook his head and replied, "Imperial College's Qin Mu. Senior Brother Fan has great knowledge which I admire."
Fan Yunxiao's eyes lighted up and smiled, "This is the first time someone praised my knowledge. Your judgment ain't bad. What's funny is that everyone is so caught up in cultivating and don't study. What they don't know is, cultivation is studying. Dao Sect's ultimate arts were all derived from studying. Without knowledge, you can't even learn shit."
Qin Mu had the same sentiments. If one wanted to learn the teleportation divine art, an extremely high knowledge was also needed. Dao Sword of Dao Sect also required knowledge and just now Fan Yunxiao's mudra also contained transformation of runes which couldn't be achieved without profound knowledge.
"If you didn't go Imperial College and went Dao Sect instead, Dao Master that old man would definitely like you very much."
Fan Yunxiao recalled the past and said dimly, "I don't even know which eye of that old man saw me having improper intentions, I was clearly very well-behaved in Dao Sect."
Qin Mu gave a cough and asked, "Did Senior Brother Fan became a bandit after you got chased out?"
Fan Yunxiao clapped heavily and exclaimed, "The old man is still the wiser one! He had seen that I would become a bandit in the future, therefore, he had chased me out to let me become a bandit! However, I was still very well-behaved in Dao Sect, how did he see it…"
Qin Mu was speechless. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Senior Brother Fan, how's your algebra?"
Fan Yunxiao became disappointed and said, "I was originally very good at it but after being a bandit for all these years, I have returned them all to Dao Master. The Computational Canon of Mysterious Woman and Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery in Dao Sect are all very profound and not easy to learn. If one could learn all of them, they could learn Fourteen Writings of Dao Sect. I had originally cultivated it…"
Suddenly a head popped out under the hold of the ship and shouted, "Robber baron, our furnace seems to be faulty. Just now, the woman from Three Wonders Castle stuffed a few insects into our pill furnace when we were unprepared and they gnawed the pill furnace!"
"How many times have I told you, stop calling me robber baron, I've turned good!"
Fan Yunxiao scratched his head and looked around, "Everyone, who knows how to forge tools and repair the pill furnace?"
At this moment, a dull boom sounded from the hold of the ship. A few apothecaries climbed out from the hold of the ship and said with black faces, "The pill furnace has exploded!"
Fan Yunxiao's expression changed hugely and cursed, "Damned woman, sneaking such a ruthless attack. Let's abandon the ship, everyone, jump down together!"
Qin Mu came forward and said, "I know how to forge tools and also learned the path of medicine. Let me have a look first."
Fan Yunxiao was skeptical and followed him to the hold of the ship. The hold of the ship was already in flames and a few fierce-looking bandits were extinguishing the fire, minimizing the intensity of the fire. However, without the pill furnace providing medicinal energy to the ship, the speed had already started to slow down and the ship could fall off from the sky anytime.
Qin Mu went forward and looked at the shattered pill furnace. This kind of furnace was the standardized pill furnace and was different from ordinary pill furnace. There was a shipyard in Eternal Peace Empire where countless of ironworkers worked day and night to forge pill furnaces which could be used on the ship, providing motive power to the ship.
This kind of pill furnace burned spirit stones and dozens of herbs, transforming the medicinal energy contained in the spirit stones and herbs into surging energy which was transported to the bronze beasts located at the aft of the ship. The energy was then turned into raging flames which spewed out from the mouth of the bronze beasts, allowing the ship to rise.
The structure of the pill furnace was extremely complicated and was a unique treasure that the skilled blacksmith of Imperial College had created. Other than refining pills, there was also a complicated digestive system in the furnace which was similar to a human body, turning the medicinal energy into energy.
When these pill furnaces were spoilt normally, they could only find the blacksmith of the shipyard in Eternal Peace Empire to repair them or to change new ones.
"Can it be repaired?" Fan Yunxiao asked anxiously.
Qin Mu checked the structure of the pill furnace and had a rough understanding of it, "I had learned to smith in the past for a few years. I can forge a new one in an incense stick of time. How long can this ship last?"
"If we use our magic power to sustain it, we can still last for an incense stick of time."
Qin Mu immediately started to reforge the pill furnace. With Vermillion Bird Vital Qi in one hand and with Black Tortoise Vital Qi in the other, he swept up countless fragments of the pill furnace and smelted them into molten iron. Using Black Tortoise Vital Qi in the other hand, he quickly cooled the iron down and constructed the components of the pill furnace rapidly.
Everyone was dazzled by the sight and the ship suddenly jerked and began to descend. Fan Yunxiao couldn't care about looking at how Qin Mu forged the pill furnace and hurriedly rushed out of the hold to activate his fire bottle gourd, transforming it into a nine-headed phoenix to lift up the ship.
Even though he was a strong practitioner of Seven Stars Realm and had dense magic power, it was still extremely tough for him to carry the ship to fly.
As the time ticked by, Fan Yunxiao's face grew red as the pressure on him increased. It was harder and harder for him to persevere and everyone on the ship was extremely terrified. If Fan Yunxiao couldn't persevere on, this ship would probably fall from a height of ten thousand feet, breaking them into pieces.
Fan Yunxiao had already reached his limit and couldn't persevere any longer. Suddenly, the two bronze beasts at the aft of the ship spewed fire from their mouths and the flames grew exponentially. The ship trembled violently and its speed increased as it flew forward.
Fan Yunxiao let out a sigh of relief and took his nine-headed phoenix back. However, he saw the speed of the ship becoming faster and faster as everything went by in a blur. The speed of the ship was three to five times faster than before!
He was bewildered and when he saw Qin Mu walking out from the hold of the ship, he asked immediately, "Brother Qin, exactly what furnace have you forged?"
Qin Mu said, "I have never seen the blueprints of the pill furnace so I could only forge it according to my understanding. There might be some differences from the structure of the original pill furnace. I have only learned to smith for a few years…"
Before Fan Yunxiao could even speak, another loud boom suddenly sounded out as the ship broke through the air at a speed that was even faster than sound!
"Brother Qin Mu, whom did you learn the technique of smithing from?"
Fan Yunxiao was surprised and delighted, "From now on, who will be able to catch me when I go robbing?"
Qin Mu now realized why Dao Master of Dao Sect said he had improper intentions.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The little fox in Qin Mu's backpack couldn't resist popping her head out to say, "This Senior Brother Fan, didn't you ever think that you would run a few more trips ferrying passengers to earn more money since your ship is three to five times faster now? There is no need for you to rob."
Fan Yunxiao rolled his eyes at Hu Ling'er, "Why so troublesome? Now that my ship is fast enough, I would be able to rob fast enough. I could only rob once a day before, now I can rob three to five times a day. The money from robbing is so much more than ferrying passengers. During times of peace, there are more merchant ships, therefore, we need to rob during times of peace. Now that there's war, there are lesser merchant ships, therefore, we're ferrying passengers. Little fox demon, you don't have the brains for business."
Hu Ling'er was completely speechless.
The speed of the ship was too fast and the ship was already giving off creaking sounds. It was getting harder for the ship to bear the wind pressure caused from flying forward. Fan Yunxiao became nervous again and fortified the ship with a few bandits by using runes transformed by vital qi to mark the hull of the ship.
Qin Mu's heart was alarmed. Now he was also afraid that this ship would crumble into pieces any moment.
Luckily on the way there, the ship never broke down in mid-air.
On their way there, they encountered a few more battlefields but because the speed of Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship was too fast, before the two sides could even see what it was, the ship had already flown past, inevitably making them indescribably stunned.
Fan Yunxiao was also indescribably stunned. The pill furnace created by Qin Mu was simply too strong and according to this flying speed, the seven to eight days journey to the capital city now would just take them over a day.
However, even though the pill furnace Qin Mu created was good, it consumed much more spirit stones and herbs.
When they reached the capital city, it was already the morning of the next day. The ship slowed down its speed and the spirit stones on the ship were more or less depleted. The ship gradually descended and landed in the vehicles and mounts market in the capital city.
The official in the vehicles and mounts market went forward to check and his expression immediately changed hugely when he saw Fan Yunxiao. He was about to call for constables to arrest him when Fan Yunxiao immediately explained, "I've turned good, turned good! This is our ship's official record!"
That official took a look and it was really an official record from the imperial court. He said bewilderedly, "Crooks like you should be beheaded, how could they allow you turn good?"
Fan Yunxiao laughed dryly, "This is the grace of the imperial court, I'm moved to tears of gratitude."
Qin Mu disembarked the ship and was about to leave when Fan Yunxiao hurried over. Putting his arm over his shoulder, he chuckled, "Brother Qin, what future do you have in Imperial College? Why not follow me and we can do big business, no capital huge profit!"
Qin Mu shook his head, "Senior Brother Fan, I in Imperial College ain't like you in Dao Sect. You are corrupted at heart but Imperial College has a very good impression of me. I'm a good person with an extensive public reputation."
Hu Ling'er was full of confidence, "The term improper intention can never be placed together with young master."
Fan Yunxiao could only drop his thoughts and grumbled, "With your talent, it's wasted for you not to be a bandit. That's right, when I left Dao Sect, I stole a Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery and since you're interested in algebra, I'll give it to you."
Qin Mu rose up with spirit and immediately took over the Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery, "How can I take such a precious gift? Ling'er, take it quickly."
Hu Ling'er hid the Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery in the backpack.
Fan Yunxiao said, "Dao Sect doesn't prohibit disciples to learn Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery. This canon is used for opening up the disciples' wisdom and if they could learn the computational canons well, only then can they learn Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword. Back then I learned my computational canon not bad and learned the fifth writing of Dao Sword. Before I could start to learn the sixth writing, I was chased out to become a bandit."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "Which writing is the move, A Dot Threading The Vast Movements, Yin And Yang Come And Go Within Two Modes from?"
"Brother Qin knows this move?"
Fan Yunxiao was astonished, "This is the first writing of Dao Sword and the most simple move among the fourteen writings. Dao Sword becomes harder the further you cultivate it but the power also grows. When one succeeds in cultivating the fourteenth writing of Dao Sword, he would become invincible in this world, becoming a god. However, no one in Dao Sect has ever succeeded."
Qin Mu's heart jumped. The first writing of Dao Sword was already this powerful so how astonishing could the power of the fourteenth writing be?
When he fought with Daozi Ling Xuan, this was the move that was used by Daozi Ling Xuan. He defeated Dozi Ling Xuan. However, Daozi Ling Xuan also managed to calculate the location of his weakness and injured him.
He couldn't help becoming curious about the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword.
After bidding farewell to Fan Yunxiao, Qin Mu walked towards Imperial College and thought to himself, "Fan Yunxiao is an interesting person. I'm just not sure when such an interesting person would be detained to the market to be beheaded. Hmm, now that Patriarch has retired, I wonder who would be the next grand chancellor? Could it be Chancellor Ba Shan?"
Chancellor Ba Shan planned to change the disadvantage of Imperial College by establishing imperial academicians. In Qin Mu's heart, he was the first choice to be the next grand chancellor.
However, the other people might not be as open-minded as him.
It was extremely important for them to establish imperial academicians. It was the crucial point if Imperial College would be able to surpass sacred grounds like Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery. Only when Chancellor Ba Shan became the grand chancellor could he continue to push for this reform.
He came to the mountain gate of Imperial College and just as he passed the mountain gate, he suddenly moved back and sized up the dragon qilin who was guarding in front of the mountain gate.
That dragon qilin was still lying below the mountain gate and looking forward motionless; however, the chains on his neck had disappeared.
Qin Mu took a few more looks and the dragon qilin continued to look forward without blinking at all. He looked like he was carved from stone but veins started popping out from the neck of this dragon qilin.
"What are you looking at?" the dragon qilin turned his head and roared at him in anger.
Qin Mu asked curiously, "The chain on your neck is gone so why aren't you leaving? What are you staying here for?"
That dragon qilin replied weakly, "I've nowhere to go. Every day there are people feeding me here so why should I go? I'm pretty comfortable here."
Hu Ling'er smiled, "Big fella, are eating and drinking all you seek after?"
The dragon qilin gave her a glance and felt quite a disdain, "How does a fox demon know the ambition of a qilin? You also won't understand if I told you."
Hu Ling'er smiled to Qin Mu, "Young master, this dragon qilin has turned dumb squatting here every day. Let's not bother ourselves with him."
Qin Mu was about to walk up the mountain when the dragon qilin drooped his head down with a dazed look, "My old master has retired and escaped with an old man, abandoning me behind. I have nowhere else to go so I could only stay here to guard the gate. I still have to be bullied by a bull every day and now even a fox is scorning me, there's no way to live on…"
Qin Mu walked back two steps and came to the front of the dragon qilin and asked, "You're Patriarch's mount? We're from the same sect. I'm the cult master of the sacred cult."
The dragon qilin looked at him with vigilance and sneered, "I don't know any patriarch or any cult master. I still haven't settled my scores with you for paralyzing me."
Qin Mu smiled, "When I've come to fight Daozi of Dao Sect, didn't you see me walking over with Patriarch? You should have known my relationship with Patriarch. There's no need for you to be wary."
The dragon qilin snorted coldly, "Then you paralyzed me."
Qin Mu mumbled, "That's the result of your asking me to beat that bull. I even got beaten up by that bull instead. You absolutely didn't tell me that the bull was so strong. It's better to squash enmity rather than keeping it alive…"
The dragon qilin then snorted coldly again, "Then you took revenge by paralyzing me."
Qin Mu probed, "How about I get that bull over and you beat him up?"
The dragon qilin didn't trust him obviously and said, "You still want to paralyze me?"
Qin Mu was helpless and could only go up the mountain. This dragon qilin was a little thick headed and only remembered that he had paralyzed him.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked back, only to see that dragon qilin finally leaving his spot while following behind him step for step. When he saw him stop, that dragon qilin also stopped.
Qin Mu walked forward and that dragon qilin also walked forward. Qin Mu stopped in before the jade cliff and looked back.
That dragon qilin also stopped with him.
Qin Mu leaped up the jade cliff while fire clouds spawned under the dragon qilin's feet, carrying his large body up the cliff.
Qin Mu turned back and smiled, "What are you following me for? I had only paralyzed you once and took some dragon's saliva, is there a need for such a deep hatred?"
"You paralyzed me so you have to provide my meals," the dragon qilin said seriously.
Qin Mu was bewildered and asked, "Didn't you say earlier that people bring you food every day? You can just stay at the mountain gate."
The dragon qilin lowered his head, "It was also old master bringing meals for me in the past and after old master left, no one cares about me anymore. I have not eaten for over a month. The new grand chancellor thinks I am a rock and the other directorates also think I am a rock. I'm also ashamed to beg for food. I can't bring myself to do it. That bull even relied on Chancellor Ba Shan as his backing to bully me, saying that I cheated his feelings…"
Qin Mu saw his grieving appearance which moved his empathetic heart, "Alright, alright, don't feel so wrong. You can follow me from now on and I'll take care of your meals. I have the money! What do you eat?"
"I only drink the water of Jade Dragon Lake and eat one bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills every day."
Qin Mu clenched his fists tightly and Hu Ling'er also felt her liver trembling. Jade Dragon Lake was the lake formed from the gathering of the qi of the nine dragons. There was a lot of water in the lake and this dragon qilin could drink to his heart's content, but a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills was the killer.
"Young master, the little money we have is only enough to feed him for half a month."
Hu Ling'er whispered, "I think it's best not to shelter him or else that little property of ours would be emptied by him."
The dragon qilin heard it and immediately said, "I can starve myself a little and eat half a bucket every day. No? Then a liter? No lesser than one liter."
Qin Mu shook his hand and said, "I'm an apothecary myself and I can refine Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills myself to save some money. You won't lose out in your meals; however, I can't raise you for free."
The dragon qilin immediately cried out, "You paralyzed me! Furthermore, we are from the same sect, you're the cult master so you have the duty to raise me. I'm the mount of your patriarch!"
Qin Mu's head started to ache as he said, "You have to give me some of your dragon's saliva every day or else I won't be able to raise you."
"Dragon's saliva?" The dragon qilin turned wary.
Qin Mu explained, "Dragon's saliva means your saliva."
The dragon qilin had obviously thought of something wrong as he let out a sigh of relief, "That's good then. That's right, you had said earlier that you could bring the bull over to let me beat him up?"
Qin Mu warned, "Don't win an inch and want a foot, otherwise, I will only give you half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills every day."
The dragon qilin immediately shut up and followed behind him as if he was afraid to lose this meal master. Hu Ling'er kept looking back to size up this large creature and this fellow was even much higher than Qin Mu when he stood up. Qin Mu just barely reached the dragon's whiskers that were drooping down his chin. Adding the long qilin's tail of the dragon qilin to calculation, he was probably forty to fifty feet long.
This dragon qilin had strange decorative designs protruding out over his body which looked like natural runes, giving off an awe-inspiring presence.
"No wonder he can eat so much. He's much bigger than Bull Two, not sure how big he will be when he reveals his true form," Hu Ling'er was secretly astonished.
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin up the mountain and came to Jade Dragon Lake to let this dragon qilin drink water first. He thought to himself, "I still don't know how much a small bottle of dragon's saliva is worth; however, it's a spirit medicine for healing injuries so it shouldn't be cheap right? I hope it can fetch enough to cover the cost of the herbs, otherwise my whole fortune is going to be eaten up…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The dragon qilin drank the water and looked towards Qin Mu, "I'm still a little hungry…"
"I'll bring you to refine pills."
Qin Mu brought this dragon qilin to the warehouse, planning to buy some herbs to refine Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills. Meanwhile, there was a Daoist opposite Jade Dragon Lake who was looking over here. As he saw Qin Mu bring the dragon qilin away, he muttered, "This dragon lion in front of the mountain gate has come alive? Why did it come to Jade Dragon Palace for a drink? Who is that youth? Doesn't he know the water of Jade Dragon Palace is to be offered to the royal family? Oh well, as long as they don't wash in the lake, there's no need to bother with a few drinks."
Qin Mu passed by Royalty's Park and saw many scholars surrounding there as cheers sounded out.
Qin Mu gave a look from afar and even the scholars from Scholar's Residence were also running over. There were also some divine arts practitioners of Divine Arts Residence, crowding Royalty's Park so much that it was impenetrable.
Suddenly, a loud boom sounded out as a figure got blown into the air with his head crashing downwards. A voice cried out, "Another one is defeated!"
Qin Mu jumped in shock. The one who got his head stuck in the ground was a prince of Royalty's Park. A prince was a king's son, who was the one who dared to be so merciless?
"I'm here to experience it!"
A girl's voice came from the crowd while Qin Mu had already walked further away. He suddenly heard another loud boom and a girl in green flew backward and crashed into the walls of Hall of Hidden Light which was not far from him. Only a pair of slender legs were left outside.
"Seems to be a princess."
Qin Mu looked back at the crowd and thought to himself, "These moves are a little familiar, seem to be Chancellor Ba Shan's battle spells.
Chancellor Ba Shan founded the ultimate skills of battle spells and merged battle techniques moves with spell divine arts, resulting in a power that was greater than battle techniques or spells by themselves. This feat of founding had allowed Chancellor Ba Shan to be part of the circle of strong practitioners of the sect master level. In this current world, there was no one who could surpass his attainments in ultimate skills of battle spells.
The only weakness of battle spell ultimate skills was that it wasn't as flexible as battle techniques or spells by itself. This was why even though Chancellor Ba Shan had become a strong practitioner of the sect master level, he was unable to take another step forward.
"Could it be Sister Yuxiu? Why is she fighting with the princes and princesses?"
The dragon qilin was so hungry that his steps were shaky and his belly had shriveled up. Qin Mu suppressed his urge to go watch the battle and continued on to the warehouse to buy the herbs. After the apothecary of the warehouse had handed him the herbs, only then did he see the huge creature behind Qin Mu's back and was stunned.
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin back on the road they came from and analyzed the medicinal energy of the herbs on their way back, refining out a furnace of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills.
The dragon qilin hurriedly ate it and still wasn't full from a furnace of spirit pills. Looking at Qin Mu pleadingly, Qin Mu could only refine another furnace of pills to finally satisfy the huge creature's appetite.
The dragon qilin was enlivened and followed beside him with a smile, "From now on, you can find me for anything, I'm pretty good at fighting."
Qin Mu shook his head and walked towards Royalty's Park. Hu Ling'er sneered, "You don't even dare to fight a bull and still say you're good at fighting?"
The dragon qilin instantly became downcast.
Royalty's Park still had a vast crowd in front of it and there were even more people. He heard a scholar said, "Is there still no one in Royalty's Park that could defeat her? Ever since the seventh princess has come back from experiencing the outside world, she seems like a changed person. Her abilities have improved rapidly."
"Merging spells and battle techniques together, on top of that, the Nine Dragon Monarch Technique of the royal family, the seventh princess could basically sweep the entire Royalty's Park. I wonder if she can block the gate of Scholar's Residence and Divine Arts Residence?"
"I can't say for Divine Arts Residence but she probably can't do it for Scholar's Residence, after all, there's that devil in Scholar's Residence."
"That's true. It's been three months since we saw that devil. He must have died outside, eliminating a huge scourge in Scholar's Residence at last."
"With that devil's abilities, it doesn't mean he can defeat the seventh princess."
…
"Out of the way, everyone out of the way!"
Most of the scholars felt a disturbance coming from the back and looked behind. They couldn't help being stunned when they saw a huge creature that was half dragon half qilin nudging his body and pushing the scholars who were blocking the road to one side. There were some scholars that lost their footing when they got pushed by this dragon qilin, flying out from the crowd.
This huge creature pushed everyone away and squeezed his way towards the gate of Royalty's Park, clearing a path. All the scholars were stunned from the sight and subconsciously felt terrified.
Even the royalties in Royalty's Park who were more knowledgeable couldn't help staring at this awe-inspiring dragon qilin, unable to move their gazes away.
The dragon qilin swayed his body and shook his hair, turning his head to smile, "Young master, these visually impaired have already cleared a path for you. Young master, this way."
Qin Mu walked to the gate of Royalty's Park and reproached, "Too flamboyant, too flamboyant! You can't do this next time! Senior brothers, senior sisters, excuse me, excuse me."
Everyone had their expression frozen on their faces.
Qin Mu looked towards Royalty's Park and saw Ling Yuxiu sealing her Five Elements Divine Treasure as she fought with Prince Minyue. Prince Minyue was also another scholar that Chancellor Ba Shan had chosen and with just a few moves, Prince Minyue couldn't withstand that astonishing explosive power from Ling Yuxiu and got blown away.
Ling Yuxiu burst her Five Elements Divine Treasure open and nine dragons coiled around her body, looking really valiant and formidable-looking as she glowed with health and vigor.
Qin Mu exclaimed to himself. After Ling Yuxiu had experienced the journey to Rolan's Golden Palace, her cultivation increased by leaps and bounds. These three months made her hold an overwhelming advantage against the other scholars.
It was evident that she cultivated diligently after she had blocked the gate at Rolan's Golden Palace, cultivating Nine Dragons Monarch Technique even more in-depth and patching up her weakness of having an unstable foundation.
Chancellor Ba Shan's teaching in line with one's ability was different from what the directorates of Imperial College taught. He focused on Ling Yuxiu's weakness to groom her and finally allowed her to have a huge growth.
However, Qin Mu looked at Royalty's Park which was almost torn down by this imperial princess. No idea who had she learned from to be so violent.
"The one that herds cows!"
Ling Yuxiu saw Qin Mu and her eyes lit up. She waved towards the royalty of Royalty's Park and smiled, "I'll stop for today, we'll fight another day." After she was done, she walked towards Qin Mu.
Qin Mu praised, "Sister Yuxiu, I haven't seen you for these few months and you've gotten even more powerful."
Ling Yuxiu grumbled, "Where have you been these days? You made me very worried."
She immediately followed up, "Chancellor Ba Shan is also very worried about you! You don't know, the grand chancellor has resigned, the new grand chancellor isn't Chancellor Ba Shan and is that man sealed in ice which was rescued out from Surging River Dragon Palace by me and Little General Qin."
"Man sealed in ice?"
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly. Could it be Gu Linuan?
Ling Yuxiu saw that there was still a vast crowd gazing at them and she was still shy after all so she whispered, "There are many people here, let us go talk in my room."
Qin Mu nodded his head and followed her. As the two of them walked into Royalty's Park, a figure suddenly flashed and a handsome young man appeared in front of them with a solemn face, "Seventh sister, how can you anyhow let a man into a woman's room? Let's go to my room instead."
Ling Yuxiu's face turned red and said yes softly.
Ling Yushu said with a black face, "Scholar Qin, please."
Qin Mu was bewildered. He had no idea where he had offended this imperial prince before and he looked at him as though he wanted to gobble him up.
They came to Ling Yushu's residence in Royalty's Park and saw that this place had been decorated to look like a sunny south garden which looked very elegant. Even though the fake mountains weren't as high as mountains, they had running water wandering around. Even though the garden wasn't as huge as a forest, it was still a path to a serene and secluded place, being several times better than Scholar's Residence.
This place was like a small palace and there were even palace maids walking to and fro, waiting upon him politely.
These palace maids were also divine arts practitioners who were not only beautiful and also had strong abilities.
Ling Yushu led them to the pavilion where there was quite a beautiful scenery and vast landscape. There were palace maids carrying an incense burner over and placed it beside the pavilion before lighting up the incense, causing the fragrance to rise in spirals.
The sound of guqin sounded from not far away. This guqin's sound was very slow and had a lingering temperament that was like two old men slowly playing chess, playing a tune or two after a brief pause, easily calming people's hearts down.
"Second prince sure has quite a refined and elegant attitude of mind," Qin Mu exclaimed.
Ling Yushu's expression softened and said, "I still have to thank Academician Qin for taking care of my seventh sister during her trip to the Great Wall. Seventh sister has told me about the encounters in Rolan's Golden Palace and I know you have saved my sister many times. Yushu can't thank you enough in my heart."
Ling Yuxiu smiled, "Cowherd is very powerful. I thought he had died and I cried in front of the Rolan's Golden Palace's shaman."
The corner of Ling Yushu's eyes twitched. She cried? She didn't mention about this before.
"It's okay, it's just friendship of fellow schoolmates. This sister of mine also cried after a cat she had raised died," Ling Yushu thought to himself.
"We even met my cowherd's elders and the elders praised me being sensible and were pleased with me," Ling Yuxiu smiled.
The corner of Ling Yushu's eyes twitched again. She had already met the elders? Seventh sister didn't mention this either!
Ling Yuxiu said excitedly, "Second brother, Chancellor Ba Shan is indeed powerful. My abilities have improved hugely after he brought us out. You also saw it. If Chancellor Ba Shan can bring me and cowherd out more, even you can't defeat me!"
Ling Yushu shook his head, "I have enquired about it and Chancellor Ba Shan will bring other reserved scholars when he goes out the next time."
Ling Yuxiu was slightly disappointed.
Ling Yushu looked at Qin Mu and said, "Father had appointed Gu Linuan as the grand chancellor and I've heard you have some enmity with Gu Linuan. After Gu Linuan had become the grand chancellor, he also asked the directorates of Imperial College about you."
Ling Yuxiu smiled, "I know about their enmity. Gu Linuan's Junior Protector Sword was scammed by cowherd so he bears slight grudges."
Ling Yushu said, "It's best for Academician Qin to return Junior Protector Sword to Gu Linuan. This guy was born from the devil path and is a master of the devil path who is usually petty. Father has appointed him as the grand chancellor so I won't say much but his breadth of mind is far inferior to the previous grand chancellor so I can't assure he won't create trouble for you. I can be the mediator and let you meet up with him to resolve the enmity between you two. I guess he would let it go for my sake."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "The rule of our Great Ruins is that there is no need to return things that are scammed."
Ling Yushu seemed to give a smile that's yet not a smile, "But this place is not Great Ruins. He is the grand chancellor and it's very easy for him to take revenge on you."
Qin Mu gave it some thought and said, "I've heard that Gu Linuan said he was the junior protector of the crown prince. Junior protector of the crown prince means that he should be the teacher when the crown prince was young, am I right? Second prince, do you think Gu Linuan will give face to you?"
Ling Yushu's heart trembled slightly.
Qin Mu continued, "Second prince, if he's willing to resolve the grudges, it's not a problem for me to break the rules of Great Ruins by returning Junior Protector Sword to him. However, I feel that even if I return Junior Protector Sword to him, he still won't give you face nor will he resolve the grudges. Furthermore, second prince, ain't you worried about his giving you a hard time?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Ling Yushu had a flickering expression as Qin Mu was right about his worry.
Gu Linuan was the teacher of the crown prince when he was young. The crown prince was older than him and occupied the position of the crown prince. If one could say that there was a world difference between a royalty and a commoner and the difference was as vast as the sky and the earth, then one could also say the difference between a crown prince and an imperial prince was as vast as the sky and the earth as well.
Gu Linuan would definitely not give him face and on the contrary, he would deliberately create trouble for him.
He could confirm this for sure now.
"I won't interfere with the matter between you and Gu Linuan."
Ling Yushu came to a decision and said, "But you must be careful, the way Gu Linuan handles things is not like the previous grand chancellor. He doesn't have the breadth of mind for the long-term influence of a solid education."
Qin Mu nodded his head and said, "Don't worry. Gu Linuan will at most create trouble for me and not dare to go overboard."
Ling Yushu had a weird expression. Qin Mu seemed to be talking too big. Where did his confidence come from?
"Could he and seventh sister have already…"
A bad thought floated up in his mind. If he becomes the emperor's son-in-law, there was indeed no need for him to be afraid of Gu Linuan.
Ling Yushu was silent for a moment and said, "I plan to leave Imperial College and head to the borders to lead my troops. I'm the General of Roaming Cavalry and have an official position on me, furthermore, I've also reached the age to lead the army. However, I'm just worried about my seventh sister…"
Qin Mu assured him, "Don't worry second prince, there's me!"
The corners of Ling Yushu's eyes twitched as he thought to himself, "That's exactly why I'm worried."
Qin Mu chatted with the siblings for a moment before rising to bid farewell, "I just came back home from a trip and have yet placed my luggage down. I have to return to Scholar's Residence first."
Ling Yushu sent him out of Royalty's Park and kept silent for a moment before saying to Ling Yuxiu, "Academician Qin's frame of mind is not like a youth. He sees things very clearly and will definitely be a very capable person in the future. His words earlier struck the bottom of my heart."
Ling Yuxiu burst into laughter and said, "Who says he's an adult? He doesn't even know anything and even says I'm chubby. He doesn't even know how to say appealing words."
Ling Yushu shook his head and said, "I'm going to write a letter to father and leave Imperial College. I can't be a scholar anymore. Now that Gu Linuan has become the grand chancellor, he most likely won't give you a nice look. If you can't stay in Imperial College any longer, you can follow me to the borders."
Ling Yuxiu nodded her head, "Don't worry second brother. If I can't stay here any longer, I'll definitely go find you at the borders. However, I still want to cultivate along with Chancellor Ba Shan."
Ling Yushu looked at her and knew exactly what she was thinking but he couldn't say anything and could only shake his head.
Qin Mu returned to Scholar's Residence and the huge dragon qilin followed behind him. On their way back, most of the scholars in Scholar's Residence gazed at them with envy.
Yun Que came up with a smile and said, "Sister Fox, I have earned enough money. Can I redeem my clothes back?"
Hu Ling'er took over the coin pouch and gave it a press before nodding her head, "Wait for a moment. I'll go get it for you."
Yun Que was full of thanks.
Hu Ling'er returned to the house to get his clothes back while shouting out, "Those that owe me money quickly take your money out to redeem your certificate of indebtedness."
After a moment, a few scholars came over with resentful expressions to redeem their certificates of indebtedness. Hu Ling'er was very satisfied and said, "Next time you get beaten by young master, I can give you twenty percent discount."
A scholar shook his head, "Imperial academician is a sixth ranking official, who dares to challenge him?"
Hu Ling'er was stunned for a moment before turning her head to tell Qin Mu, "Young master, we lost our source of income. Our whole fortune is going to be eaten up, and we can't raise this big fella anymore!"
The dragon qilin pulled his head back and muttered, "A liter of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills each day is also fine, as long as there's something to eat…"
Qin Mu consoled, "Don't worry, I can raise you. That's right, do you have some saliva? Give me a bottle and let me see if I can exchange it for money."
Hu Ling'er fetched a jade bottle over and collected a bottle of dragon's saliva. Qin Mu kept the bottle safely and instructed them to stay home while he went to Hall of Supreme Healing. The few old imperial physicians were researching prescriptions in the hall and were all delighted when they saw him, "Little divine physician is finally back! What spirit pill do you plan to make today? If it's an anesthetic or poison, please warn us beforehand!"
Qin Mu greeted these imperial physicians and said, "I'm here to find imperial physicians to test a medicine." After he had said that, he took out a small jade bottle.
When the few imperial physicians saw this small jade bottle, their expression changed hugely. Imperial Physician Yu asked with a trembling voice, "I recognized this bottle. Is it another anesthetic?"
"Nope, it's a healing panacea."
When Qin Mu said that, Imperial Physician You took out a small knife and hesitated for a moment before giving a slice on Imperial Physician Ding's arm, causing the fresh blood to flow out.
Imperial Physician Ding went into a fury and was about to blow up when Qin Mu hurried forward. He opened the jade bottle and applied a little dragon's saliva on the wound, only to see the wound heal immediately and returning to its original state within a few breaths' time without even having a scar.
The few imperial physicians were astonished and they immediately gathered forward. Imperial Physician Yu asked, "To what extent of injuries can this healing panacea cure? Can it reattach broken limbs?"
Qin Mu nodded his head, "It can. There was a person who got severed from the waist and I had used this medicine to reattach his body, returning it to normal. However, this medicine only acts as a support, the tendons and nerves still need to be manually reattached, which puts one's technique to the test."
Imperial Physician Ding glanced to the side and saw Imperial Physician You raised his knife again and immediately shouted, "If you dare to chop me, I'll poison your whole family!"
Imperial Physician You couldn't do it and went out of the hall. After a moment, he brought a scholar in. All the imperial physicians immediately shook their heads and Imperial Physician Yu stomped his feet in anger, "Old You, are you mad? Even if you want to test medicine, you can't chop his limbs!"
That scholar broke out in cold sweat when he heard it and immediately ran away. Imperial Physician You wanted to catch him back and was immediately blocked by the other imperial physicians, "You can't, you absolutely can't. Scholars are eight-ranking officials, you're going to face a lawsuit if you chop their limbs off. Daoist Ling Yun has a crane that had fought with Chancellor Ba Shan's green cow a few days ago and got her leg broken by the green cow. You can fetch that crane over and sever her leg to reattach it!"
Imperial Physician You went out again and brought the crane back after a moment. Imperial Physician Qu clamped the crane's beak, making the crane indescribably terrified and unable to struggle. Imperial Physician You followed the injuries and severed the leg off.
The few imperial physicians cleaned up the shattered bones and waited for Qin Mu to treat it.
After a moment, Daoist Ling Yun barged in and was about to blow up when he saw Qin Mu reattaching the crane's broken bones before reattaching the muscles and nerves, clearing the bone marrow.
Daoist Ling Yun didn't dare to say a word and waited until Qin Mu had finished reattaching the leg, only then did the imperial physicians loosen their restraint.
That crane immediately stood up and moved her leg around in astonishment. She expressed her thanks to Qin Mu sincerely with a loud and clear voice which belonged to a little girl.
Qin Mu wrote down a prescription and handed it to Daoist Ling Yun, "Brew medicines on this prescription and boil some water to soak her injured leg, it can help stimulate the nerves and channels, removing any hidden damages.
Daoist Ling Yun saw his crane recovering and couldn't help being surprised and delighted. He immediately took the prescription and expressed his thanks profusely with a smile, "You beat me in front of the emperor, and I had still borne some grudges before. Now I am even grateful to you."
Qin Mu smiled, "Don't fight, won't make friends."
Daoist Ling Yun kept feeling this sentence was a little awkward and used in the wrong circumstances but he didn't brood on it. He immediately called his crane over and headed to the warehouse to grab the herbs.
Qin Mu smiled, "Imperial physicians, how much does this bottle of healing medicine worth? I'm recently tight on money."
The few imperial physicians were surprised and delighted, Imperial Physician Yu said, "Little divine physician wants to sell? It has quite a considerable value. This kind of healing medicine is even more precious than any natural treasures to the soldiers on the battlefield! I reckon it would be worth ten thousand great abundance coins!"
Qin Mu was astonished and said, "Even faster than Fan Yunxiao robbing people?"
"What?" The imperial physician didn't catch what he said.
"Nothing much."
Qin Mu smiled, "I can refine a bottle out every day and sell it of Hall of Supreme Healing for ten thousand gold, how is that?"
The imperial physicians' eyes lighted up and they looked at one another. Imperial Physician Yu said, "That would naturally be the best."
Qin Mu was satisfied and took his leave. The white heads of the few imperial physicians huddled together and Imperial Physician Qu said, "We're getting rich!"
All the imperial physicians nodded their heads, unable to contain their excitement, "Old Yu is still the wise one, this small bottle of healing medicine isn't worth just ten thousand gold! We can easily earn two times the price by selling it!"
Qin Mu walked out of Hall of Supreme Healing and returned to Scholars Residence when a voice suddenly came from behind him, "Little bald donkey, where's your khakkhara staff?"
Qin Mu stopped and turned around to look at the elder in purple behind him. With a smile on his face, he bowed, "Student meets Grand Chancellor Gu."
This elder in purple was Gu Linuan and the nine coat of arms was nowhere to be seen on his purple robes. It seemed like he had taken off his first ranking official robes and changed into third-ranking official robes.
Gu Linuan gave a wee smile and walked toward him while speaking leisurely, "When you scammed my Junior Protector Sword, did you expect the day would come that you would land in the grasp of my hand instead?"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "What is Grand Chancellor saying this for?"
Gu Linuan gave a haughty smile and stretched out his hand, "Hand it over!"
Qin Mu shook his head again, "I never return the things I scammed."
Gu Linuan gave off a fierce gaze and Qin Mu was not scared at all, "I'm now a sixth ranking official and the imperial academician that was appointed by the emperor himself. Empress Dowager's illness was cured by me. If you touch me, the emperor will execute your whole family."
Boom!
The devil qi around Gu Linuan went into a turmoil and formed a thousand feet devil god behind him with murderous-looking. That thousand feet devil god solidified the surrounding air and seemed to even warp the space as well, making this devil look warped like the blazing noon sun scorching the ground as it stared fiercely at him.
Qin Mu smiled and asked, "Does Grand Chancellor still have anything else?"
Gu Linuan said coldly, "If I want to kill you, I won't have to do it myself."
"You also won't dare to do it."
Before Qin Mu could say anything, a voice sounded behind Gu Linuan, "If you touch my junior brother, there's no need for the emperor to execute your whole family, I'll execute your whole family."
Gu Linuan's body froze and he felt as if there was an unbreakable knife at his neck. He chuckled and said, "Chancellor Ba Shan? You want to stand up for this little bald donkey?"
Chancellor Ba Shan stood behind him with his chest wide open and his two knives rattling non-stop behind his back. Without any expression, he said, "Old Gu, you have not appeared for two hundred years, your path, skills and divine arts are already behind times. Do you need me to give you some guidance?"
Gu Linuan suddenly laughed out loudly and his body vanished as he turned into devil qi. With his voice coming from afar, he mocked, "Give me guidance? Except it was Heaven Knife here!"
Qin Mu turned around and suddenly saw a knife qi breaking through the air to chase that devil qi.
"Chancellor Ba Shan always likes to fight and must be delighted to see a prey. I reckon he's going to fight with Gu Linuan. What a pity I can't catch up to them."
Qin Mu sighed and returned to Scholar's Residence. Just as he entered the door, he heard Hu Ling'er's voice sounding out, "Young master, we have a visitor."
Qin Mu entered the door and couldn't help being stunned when he saw a middle-aged man waiting in the courtyard with hands behind his back.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned around and his gaze landed on him, "The sacred cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult, who would have thought he is the first imperial academician of our Imperial College, how interesting."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu's mind trembled hugely as he walked into the courtyard, "Imperial Preceptor didn't come over just to talk about interesting stuff? Ling'er, watch the tea."
Hu Ling'er immediately said, "Young master, our house has no tea, you don't drink tea."
Qin Mu laughed and said, "Buy and prepare some tea in the future. Since we have no tea, watch the seats."
"There are only a few broken stools in Scholar's Residence, where do we have seats?" the little fox grumbled.
Qin Mu was slightly awkward.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waved his hand and smiled, "No need to trouble yourself, I'll just say a few words with Cult Master and I'll leave."
Qin Mu's gaze landed on his face. This appearance of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, the number one man under gods that awed the world, couldn't be said to be extremely handsome. He only looked ordinary but there was an indescribable flavor to his face. It was the type that the more you watched it, it grew more and more pleasing in your eyes.
His eyes stood out the most on his body. They were eyes that were filled with wisdom and seemed to carry a little sparkle in them, watching over everything in the world to make the wisest decision.
To this Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Qin Mu had a favorable impression and was filled with admiration to this pioneer who broke away from the old conventions.
For Eternal Peace Empire to be what it is today, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has a higher contribution than the emperor.
Taking charge of the reform to reform the army and the government, to break the view of sects, to break the barrier between the three big sects by establishing primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College, to set up an institution for scholars, this Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has made this generation become exceptionally wonderful.
Even though he admired him, Qin Mu still had criticism and resentment to this Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was not only gifted by heavens, he was also ruthless.
He sent a punitive expedition to Great Ruins and even though he beat a retreat in the face of difficulties, it didn't mean he won't do it the next time.
He suppressed all countries with armed force and annexed them. To uproot those that opposed him, he faked that he was severely injured to bait those sects who had already acknowledged their allegiance to rebel, causing the people to be in a terrible situation.
This was not a perfect person.
From the beginning to the end, Qin Mu couldn't see what this man was trying to achieve. His breadth of mind was vast and could clearly show tolerance for the whole world yet he had to extinguish other countries and invade Great Ruins so as to gain more land for Eternal Peace Empire.
He clearly had no lust for power but he didn't hesitate to raise a bloodbath just to eradicate those that opposed him.
To Qin Mu, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was like a contradiction. It was very difficult to guess what he was thinking.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also sizing him up and after a moment, he said with a gentle voice, "The sacred cult master or Heavenly Saint Cult is unexpectedly young. I was also shocked when I had received news that the sacred cult master was actually the imperial academician of our Imperial College. You didn't seem surprised when you saw me."
Qin Mu said, "Heavenly Saint Cult provides education for everyone, irrespective of background, therefore it's natural that Imperial Preceptor could place a few men among the higher-ups of Heavenly Saint Cult. I'm not surprised Imperial Preceptor could discover my identity so quickly."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded his head, "The sacred cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult should have this kind of wisdom. However, how did you not panic when you saw me? Aren't you afraid I'm here to kill you?"
"If Imperial Preceptor wants to kill me, there's no use even if I panic."
Qin Mu said, "If you don't kill me, Heavenly Saint Cult won't rebel. If you kill me, Heavenly Saint Cult will rebel. My life is not as valuable as Heavenly Saint Cult so Imperial Preceptor doesn't have the need to kill me. Therefore there's no need for me to panic."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled, "Don't be so sure. It's good to be smart but you might guess wrong if you're overconfident. However, you had indeed moved my heart. You said Heavenly Saint Cult won't rebel. Can you tell me the reason?"
Qin Mu said, "We have the same philosophy so there's no need to rebel."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I've heard the first thing you had done after you became the cult master is to establish the three hundred and sixty-first hall, to set up School Hall?"
Qin Mu nodded his head, "I'm imitating Imperial Preceptor to reform Heavenly Saint Cult."
"Heavenly Saint Cult was originally an empire draped with the name of a sect. If you imitate me and reform Heavenly Saint Cult, won't it become the empire within the empire in my Eternal Peace?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked, "If it was during times of peace, you guys would definitely not rebel but if the world is in chaos, why don't you guys take this chance to rise up and overtake as the orthodox?"
"The reason why Heavenly Saint Cult didn't rebel in this period of unrest is not that we don't want to overtake as the orthodox and is because the current Eternal Peace Empire is a large-scaled Heavenly Saint Cult."
Qin Mu smiled, "Why do we have to rebel ourselves?"
"In that case, when will you guys rebel?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor became interested and asked.
Qin Mu solemnly said, "When the time comes for Imperial Preceptor to betray the philosophy of Heavenly Saint Cult and no longer to carry out the path of the saint, that's the time Eternal Peace Empire would no longer be Heavenly Saint Cult and my Heavenly Saint Cult will definitely rebel."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave him a glance while exclaiming, "What great guts you have."
Qin Mu said, "This isn't great guts, I have to tell the truth because Imperial Preceptor will know if I lie."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor slowly walked to the well in the courtyard and said at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow, "You came from Great Ruins and have no foundation in Heavenly Saint Cult. I originally planned to control you and let you borrow my power to establish yourself in Heavenly Saint Cult. However, I no longer have this idea."
Qin Mu walked to his side and heard Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continuing, "People like you are dangerous. Those who have their own ideas are usually very dangerous and give people a headache since it's very difficult to convince them. Convincing a person is the most strenuous thing and it would be better off by simply killing them. To convince a cult, that's even more strenuous and it would be better off to eradicate them. No matter if it's Dao Sect or Great Thunderclap Monastery, they have their own philosophies and it's very hard to convince them. It's the same for Heavenly Saint Cult."
He kept silent for a moment and said, "Luckily the philosophy of Heavenly Saint Cult and the philosophy of Eternal Peace Empire don't conflict."
Qin Mu was curious, "Imperial Preceptor won't touch Heavenly Saint Cult for now, what about Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
"That would depend on what they do."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said seriously, "Let's see if they could achieve 'knowledge is action and action is knowledge'. If they could carry out their ideas and achieve 'knowledge is action and action is knowledge', I will do everything in my power to get rid of them. If they can't do it, it isn't hard for them to live on."
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly and asked, "What's Imperial Preceptor's philosophy then?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head, "I have no need to tell you. Don't look at what I say, look at what I do. My philosophy is in my actions, this is 'knowledge is action and action is knowledge'. Young sacred cult master, you still have a long road to go."
Qin Mu still couldn't see through this person.
Qin Mu, at the current stage, still could not debate over the philosophy with people like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyesight was too high and his knowledge was too vast and too shrewd. His understanding of the paths, skills and divine arts had reached such a level that people could only look up to him. Qin Mu was not yet at this level.
He couldn't think through Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's thought and didn't know if he would be a friend or foe.
However, as for now, Qin Mu had to plan for Heavenly Devil Cult's future as the sacred cult master.
"As for the internal strife in Eternal Peace Empire, our Heavenly Saint Cult would fully support Imperial Preceptor."
Qin Mu carefully thought of a way to express his words, "However, I need a promise from Imperial Preceptor. After quelling the rebellion, would Imperial Preceptor eradicate our cult and burn the bridges?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned to look at him and replied, "I won't."
Qin Mu gave an expression of inquiry.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said leisurely, "I need encouragement. Leaving Heavenly Devil Cult means I'm leaving a sword hanging over my head, spurring me and warning me that I can't make any mistake."
He gave a smile, "If I'm too strong, even I made a mistake, what people could do to me? I need a power which can kill me when I lose my Dao heart. Heavenly Saint Cult is very good. If I go against your philosophy, I'll be waiting for you to kill me."
Qin Mu was slightly frightened.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a step and left.
Qin Mu let out a murky breath and felt his hairs almost exploding out.
There was only one thought in his mind, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor isn't a human!"
Non-human.
As long as it's a human, it would have seven emotional states and six desires, it would have thoughts of selfishness. Yet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't have seven emotional states, six desires and totally no thoughts of selfishness. Without these things, he was a human no more.
Or perhaps, he could be called a saint.
Could Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor be a saint?
He composed himself and drove away the thoughts that plagued him. At this moment, the dragon qilin spoke with a low and muffled voice, "This person is very terrifying. He stood here and I could see him, however I couldn't feel him."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He did not use Green Heaven's Eyes to take a look at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and lost a chance.
He had once used Heaven's Eyes to look at Village Chief and he saw a magnificent and imposing god that had an intact body. If he looked at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, what would he see?
Outside Scholar's Residence, Qin Feiyue was bowing and waiting outside as Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked over and said, "Let's return."
Qin Feiyue didn't dare to say much and while they were walking, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor suddenly said, "Grand Chancellor has good judgment."
Qin Feiyue smiled, "Gu Linuan might be not bad but after being sealed in ice for two hundred years and not moving forward, I'm afraid he might be behind times."
"I meant the other grand chancellor."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned his head back and said, "The successor he has chosen is very good and showing great promise. However, he's very like me and it made me slightly uncomfortable seeing this person as I kept thinking of killing him."
Qin Feiyue didn't understand what he was saying.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked further and further away while muttering, "I hate looking in the mirror. The me in the mirror is never as perfect as the me in my ideals."
In Scholar's Residence, Qin Mu could finally be at ease. His Unity Technique was yet perfected and he had to calm his heart down to comprehend it attentively, perfecting it as much as he could.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave him a very big impact. A person who fights for his ideals always gives a charm that makes people admire from the bottom of their heart.
As for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor saying that leaving Heavenly Devil Cult meant leaving a sword hanging above his head, to achieve this step, it was very difficult. Even with the combined power of the entire Heavenly Devil Cult, they couldn't achieve this step.
"Since Imperial Preceptor is so heroic, we have to fulfill his wish."
Qin Mu executed his technique and slowly walked in the courtyard. He comprehended the Unity Technique he had created from the foundation of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique in detail and sorted them out. He also took out Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures from time to time to make some referencing.
After quite some time, Qin Mu let out a murky breath and his speed suddenly increased. He sprinted frantically throughout the whole mountain and executed the Unity Technique which he had comprehended out. His body flitted back and forth the mountain like flickering light and passing shadows.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Even though Qin Mu was sprinting at a flying speed, his brain was still continuing to think, becoming unprecedentedly active. Even though they didn't talk much, this meeting with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had made his brain sink into a stimulated state.
Meeting an unmatched talent would excite oneself, give pressure to oneself and raise oneself up.
Even though it was only a normal conversation to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, it had an extraordinary significance to Qin Mu. Just by standing in front of this legendary figure, he would require a huge amount of courage and while talking to him, he would need to set all his wisdom into motion.
By conversing with intelligent people, it would fill oneself with wisdom and if one kept company with ordinary people, they would become ordinary as well.
Qin Mu made use of this opportunity where he was conversing with Imperial Preceptor to let his wisdom be at his tip-top state, taking this chance to perfect Unity Technique.
Suddenly, his footsteps slowed down and his vital qi circulated through the new and improved Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. The current Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was the Unity Technique he had perfected, which had the good points of numerous techniques from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures integrated into it.
The original Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had no attributes and was solely used to execute other techniques and skills. Its power couldn't be compared to the techniques which came with their own divine arts.
For example, Thunderclap Eight Strikes requires Rulai's Mahayana Sutra to be able to unleash its full power. Secrets of Moving Rain requires Black Tortoise Water Control Technique to execute it. Secrets of Rolling Thunder and Flames requires Vermillion Bird Fire Control Technique to master it, only then could the power of the thunder and flames be completely unleashed.
Meanwhile, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was a technique and didn't come with spells or divine arts.
Comprehending Unity Technique this time, Qin Mu had used Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique as the foundation to comprehend the teaching of the woodcutter on the rock. He aroused all kinds of characteristics from Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to allow it to unleash the power of all kinds of skills!
Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had no attributes so it couldn't be used for body refinement. It also had no divine arts coming with it, therefore, it couldn't turn into powerful attacks.
However, comprehending Unity Technique this time, Qin Mu had finally solved this difficult problem.
And now, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had become even more all-embracing. By using the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique improved by him, the spells, sword skills, battle techniques executed were no weaker than using the coherent technique to execute them!
This was the so-called Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Every cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult had their own unique Unity Technique and the young patriarch's original intention was to let Qin Mu cultivate both Unity Technique and Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique at the same time after comprehending it. Even though it might be slower, he could attain the advantages of both techniques simultaneously.
But he never thought Qin Mu would directly make improvements on Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique instead of comprehending the technique that was built from the foundation of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Qin Mu didn't know if this was good or bad, or if it was the correct decision. Ever since he was young, he had cultivated Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and was most familiar with this technique, thus he had subconsciously changed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique into Unity Technique.
The most crucial point was that he had resolved the inadequateness of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique on body refinement, spells, and battle techniques.
He executed the improved Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and now, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had fused Nine Transformations Three Conditions Mystery Technique, the body refinement technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. This technique was a top-notch body refinement technique in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Qin Mu had all long been envious of the body refinement techniques of the battle techniques school. However, Old Ma, Butcher, and Cripple had not taught him techniques of this area, therefore, he could only find it from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
As he executed the technique, Qin Mu instantly felt the extraordinary points of the improved Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His vital qi was circulating rapidly and permeating into his skin, muscles, tendons, hairs, and bone marrow.
In the past, his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had a simpler path of circulation in his body and now his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique has reached into all parts of his body.
Other than refining his body, the new Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique also refines his soul, his qi, being extremely superior.
Qin Mu started to walk slower and slower as he gradually stopped. He experienced the inadequate points in his technique with detail and amended them.
The basic structure of his Unity Technique had already been determined and all that's lacking was the minor details.
He was very lacking in body refinement and soul refinement. Now he only felt like his body was a dried land that had not seen rain for half a year which was currently absorbing all the moisture and nutrients from the rainwater frantically.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures' Nine Transformations Three Conditions was the nine transformations of vital qi and corporeal body and the three conditions of bones in the body. The first condition was bones inseparably close, the second condition was body like iron and the third condition was like mountain.
Now he was only at the stage of the first transformation and first condition.
Unknowingly, half a day had passed by and Qin Mu slowly came to Floor of Heavenly Records. In front of Floor of Heavenly Records, a secretary passed by coincidentally and gave him a glance, his face immediately changed and he cried out, "Academician Qin, you'd better recuperate yourself otherwise you won't live for much longer!"
Qin Mu was bewildered and didn't understand what he meant. Suddenly a wind blew and he instantly felt giddy and collapsed.
"Crap!"
Qin Mu was astonished and immediately raised his hands. Looking at his emaciated arms, he touched his face and could only feel his thin skin that was clinging onto his cheekbones.
The clothes that were originally very fitting had now become slightly loose.
Only now then did he notice he had become terrifying skinny in four hours, like a person made from firewood. Not only that, his corporeal body was also exhausted!
Furthermore, as he executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, the speed of this kind of exhaustion increased exponentially!
When the energy in his corporeal body got exhausted completely, his death would be due.
He only focused on perfecting Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and cultivating the skills of body refinement and soul refinement. However, he didn't pay attention to his body and only knew now that he was burnout.
"The new Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique has quite a serious hidden danger. The cultivation speed is too fast and I've forgotten that body refinement uses the energy in my own body. When the energy in my body is exhausted, it would create an extremely heavy burden on my body!"
He was already at Five Elements Realm and had a dense cultivation; however, cultivating the new Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to refine his body and soul, the energy in his body couldn't even last four hours!
Qin Mu immediately stopped executing Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and let his mind clear up. His mind was working frantically and he troubled himself over how to make a medicine for his body as he sprinted towards Scholar's Residence.
Qin Mu rushed into his own room to grab money before sprinting towards Imperial College, leaving behind the little fox and the dragon qilin bewildered.
He bought the herbs from the warehouse and didn't have time to return to his residence thus he started refining the medicine on the way back. He executed his dazzling hand techniques and dazzled people's eyes as he refined the medicine. Before he even reached Scholar's Residence, he had succeeded in refining a furnace of pills.
When these spirit pills were just done, there was actually a faint Buddha voice as if there was a Buddha in each pill chanting their prayers.
The moment these spirit pills were done, Qin Mu opened his mouth to suck the pills in a series.
He catalyzed the medicinal energy as he rushed towards his courtyard and the moment he reached the door, he suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed into the courtyard.
Hu Ling'er cried out and immediately scrambled over. Qin Mu only felt at ease when he saw Hu Ling'er at his side before he fainted, "Help me catalyze the medicinal energy…"
Before he even finished his words, he fainted.
When Qon Mu woke up groggily, he felt that the medicinal energy of the spirit pills in his stomach had already been catalyzed and was circulating a warm flow towards four limbs and hundred bones like a scalding great furnace. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief and felt the lingering fear.
The united Overlord Body Three Elixir was good but also extremely dangerous. If he didn't take the chance when he was still conscious to refine spirit pills as a remedy, the consequences would be inconceivable and he would probably have died!
"If I can't supplement the energy exhausted by my body when I refine my body and soul with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, I would probably die."
Qin Mu opened his eyes and laid there silently. He calculated to himself, "If I want to fix this technique, it would be very difficult. It involves me to mobilize my entire body and if I fix it, it would probably take an extremely long amount of time. In that case, I'd better not cultivate it…"
Hu Ling'er stood at the side and looked at him anxiously. The dragon qilin squatted outside the window and wanted to push his head into the window to see if his meal master was still alive, however, his head was too big and the window could only allow one of his eyes in. He couldn't squeeze into the house at all.
Qin Mu sat up and found out that he was lying on the bed. It should be the little fox who had used her demon wind to send him to the bed. He smiled, "There's no need to worry, I'm already fine. When I completely catalyze these medicinal energies, my body will recover."
Hu Ling'er let out a sigh of relief and said, "Young master has scared me to death. In just a short time, you have become so starve and skinny. When you collapsed earlier, I was worried you couldn't get up anymore…"
Qin Mu catalyzed the medicinal energy at ease and the medicinal energy spread out and was absorbed by his body. He won't die for now but his body was still in a state of deficiency.
This was the inner deficiency caused by refining his body and soul. His body and soul may be stronger but there were no nutrients to replenish him. It was like a ship flying in the sky, if only a small furnace was provided as motive power for the ship, the ship would definitely fall from the sky and shatter into pieces.
That was what had just happened to him.
Refining his soul had exhausted his spirit and refining his body had exhausted the energy in his body. The spirit pills he had refined was to replenish his spirit and not allow his spirit to be completely exhausted. However, his body was still in a severe starving state.
Now that his spirit had completely recovered, his body was still terrifyingly skinny with his skin clinging onto his bone.
Qin Mu stood up and asked, "Ling'er, is there anything to eat? I'm very hungry now."
"Does young master want to eat the green bull?"
The huge eyeball of the dragon qilin outside the window rotated as he said in glee, "There's a wild bull in the back mountain, how about I catch and roast it for young master to eat?"
Once this dragon qilin was no longer hungry, he was full of evil tricks and always wanted to take revenge on the green bull.
Hu Ling'er smiled, "Please wait a moment, young master! Big Dragon, let us get some food for young master!" After she had said it, she ran out of the house like a wisp of smoke and brought the dragon qilin out of Scholar's Residence."
"Sister Ling'er, where are we going to find food?" the dragon qilin asked in bewilderment.
"Do you know how to swim?"
Hu Ling'er asked, "There are a few huge fish in Jade Dragon Lake which are several yards long. I've been eyeing them for quite a long time."
The dragon qilin replied in glee, "I've also eyed them for quite a long time but it wasn't good for me to make a move when old master didn't give the command. Don't worry, I'm also very good at swimming. I can stay underwater for several days and not come up to breathe."
Hu Ling'er was greatly delighted and came to Jade Dragon Lake with him. There was a Daoist opposite the lake and revealed a questioning expression when he saw them but before he could make an inquiry, he saw the dragon qilin diving into the lake.
The expression of the Daoist changed hugely and he immediately shouted, "That lion, you can't bathe in the lake! That fox, stop the lion!"
Hu Ling'er immediately said, "Big Dragon, faster, faster!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The dragon qilin dived into the lake and stirred up waves. On the lake, the Daoist immediately hurried over with a horsetail whisk in his hand. Shaking it towards the lake, the numerous threads scattered down like a giant fishing net, trying to catch that dragon qilin in the lake."
Rumble.
The surface of the lake trembled violently and the Daoist gave a grunt. Only the handle of his horsetail whisk was left and he knew he wasn't a match for this dragon qilin thus he immediately turned and ran while shouting, "Demon, you guys dare to bathe in the Jade Dragon Lake of the royal family and even dared to beat me, just you wait to be executed!"
Not long later, the scholars of Imperial College walked out from Hall of Pure Yang and towards Scholar's Residence. Today, it was Daoist Ling Yun teaching and what Hall of Pure Yang taught was the path of cultivating qi. Daoist Ling Yun was widely known for his profound cultivation, cultivating his qi into the level of pure yang.
Before the numerous scholars could even return to Scholar's Residence, they all stopped and looked back in astonishment, freezing on the spot.
They only saw a ridiculously huge red fish flying through the air. There were red scales on the body of the red fish and on its head were dragons horns. This was because after absorbing the qi of the nine dragons here for many years, the fish head had started to turn into a dragon. It was like a half fish half dragon that had a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth, looking extremely fierce.
However, now this huge fish was being restrained by a few vital qi and couldn't move at all. A demon wind was carrying this huge fish towards Scholar's Residence, causing all the scholars to be dumbfounded.
Behind this huge fish was an even larger dragon qilin that was running and shaking off the water on his body at the same time. There was also a white colored fox that was standing on the head on the dragon qilin, raising demon wind to carry the huge fish.
That dragon qilin rushed into Scholar's Residence and threw the huge fish into the courtyard of Academician Qin with a thump. The little fox then scampered into the courtyard and shut the doors.
A scholar muttered, "That fish, seems to be one of the fish kings in Jade Dragon Lake. It's called Red Dragon Carp and it's an imperial cuisine that the emperor treats the civil and military officials during the new year feast…"
A scholar beside was also in a daze as he muttered, "Last year, my old father was indebted to the emperor's benevolence and had a taste of the fish soup on the imperial dragon feast. He came back exclaiming endlessly and even kept telling me it was a worldly delicacy until now… However, that Red Dragon Carp was only a foot long. This one…"
Before the other scholars came around to their senses, they saw the door to Qin Mu's room opening up again. This white fox scampered out again and looked around before running to a mulberry tree. She then spat out a demon wind and chopped down the mulberry tree. She then controlled the demon wind to turn into curved blades to chop the mulberry tree into firewood before bringing them back into the courtyard.
The little fox took a few trips and even carried the trunk of the tree back into the courtyard. Billowing smoke then came surging out from Qin Mu's courtyard. It was obvious that the little fox and the dragon qilin was currently raising a fire to roast the fish.
The scholars looked at one another and Qu Ting muttered, "That's the Ambition Tree planted by Monk Qing Shan, the directorate of Hall of Azure Yang. It's a tree planted to motivate scholars to seek knowledge…"
Not long after, the delicious fragrance spread throughout Scholar's Residence.
Saliva started flowing out from all of the scholars' mouth. The fox and dragon qilin this abandoned person had brought over, killed the fish king in the drinking grounds of the royal family before chopping down the Ambition Tree that Monk Qing Shan planted to use it to raise fire for roasting the fish?
This act of recklessness, are they trying to rebel?
"Young master, how's the taste?"
The youth and the fox's conversation came over from Qin Mu's courtyard and they heard Qin Mu saying, "Still okay, it's just that it wasn't marinated thus the flavor wasn't soaked through. It's best to marinate a fish for a whole day so it would be crisp, fragrant and tender when you eat it. This fish is pretty huge, where did you get it from?"
"From the lake."
"So I see. I once fished with Grand Chancellor beside the lake and saw a few huge red fish; however, we only caught a Nine Dragon Carp which was quite small. However, the flavor of the soup was very delicious. It's pretty good of you to use mulberry wood to roast the fish, it gives off sweet and sour fruity taste of the mulberry."
…
All the scholars in Scholar's Residence had an expression of rejoice in his upcoming misfortune. Qu Ting snickered, "Academician Qin is dead meat!"
In the courtyard, Qin Mu prodded the thick wooden skewer to rotate the Red Dragon Carp and below was a vigorous flame which was the mulberry flames controlled by the dragon qilin, roasting the huge fish tender on the inside and crisp on the outside.
The dragon qilin controlled the fire to let the heat seep into the meat and bones of the huge fish. The mulberry wood gave off water vapor thus there was a smoky flavor. Hu Ling'er then controlled the wind to let some of the smoky flavors enter the meat of the fish.
They then stuffed numerous mulberry leaves, onions, and ginger into the stomach of the fish. In the stomach of the fish was tender fish oil which sizzled when it dripped onto the fire as they roasted the fish. The fish oil gave off a smoky smell when burned, raising their appetite hugely.
When the entire fish was cooked, Hu Ling'er immediately controlled her wind blades to slice off the meat from the fish belly. The meat here was the plumpest.
Her knife work was very good as each slice of fish was precise. At the same time, she also controlled the plate to let the slices of fish fall onto the plate. Each slice of fish was crystal clear and the slices looked like pieces of tender jade white fat from mutton.
Qin Mu suppressed the fire and lowered the intensity of the fire. The human, the fox, and the dragon qilin sat beside the bonfire and ate the roasted fish.
Qin Mu's heart slightly moved when he remembered a weird technique in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures which was called Spirit Returning Pill Great Supplement Technique. He immediately executed his vital qi to circulate this technique to speed up his digestion. Soon his stomach became empty thus his mouth continued with eating the roasted fish around the bonfire.
The name of this technique was weird and the technique itself was even weirder.
The main method of cultivation for Spirit Returning Pill Great Supplement Technique relied mainly on eating.
This technique could transform any food that reached the stomach into energy or even vital qi for the body. This helped to strength one's body and raise their cultivation, thus it was called Spirit Returning Pill Great Supplement Technique.
Now that Qin Mu's body was so skinny, he needed to replenish the energy he had exhausted in his body. Now that there was a ridiculously huge roasted fish in front of him, he could use this technique to supplement his body.
This fish was a unique breed after all. Living in Imperial College for so many years, it had absorbed the qi of the nine dragons, thus it was firstly delicious and secondly, its meat was nutritious. Now Qin Mu's body was exhausted, by executing this weird technique, the food in his stomach was immediately digested into nutrients which were absorbed by his whole body.
His shriveled muscles also gradually bulged and even though it was very slow, Qin Mu reckoned his muscles would grow back if he finished eating this ten yards long fish.
Hu Ling'er couldn't stuff herself any longer and the dragon qilin used to eat Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills thus he didn't like the fish meat very much and stopped after a few mouthfuls. Only Qin Mu continued to sit there eating to his heart's content.
Suddenly a knock came from outside and Hu Ling'er dragged her bulging tummy and ran to open the door. Wei Yong walked in with his nose twitching and smiled, "It's just the time for lunch and I smell a fragrance coming from Brother Qin's place, thus I've come to ask for food… Eh, the stone dragon lion at the mountain gate has come to life? Little fox, how did you get even fatter than me from eating?"
Hu Ling'er gave a snort.
Wei Yong then looked at Qin Mu who was sitting beside the bonfire and cried out in astonishment, "Little fox, did you borrow Qin Mu's male force to strengthen your feminine health by sleeping with him? Brother Qin? How did he become so skinny?"
Hu Ling'er was furious and anxious, "I haven't got a chance to do it. Don't speak nonsense!"
"If you didn't do it, who did?"
Wei Yong was bewildered, "I knew that there would definitely be a problem when Brother Qin asked where the cathouse was the moment he entered the capital city. Your body has become unable to tolerate as expected, am I right?"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry and invited him to sit down.
Wei Yong didn't hold back and tore off a huge chunk of fish meat. He tasted it and the meat was so slippery that it slid straight down his throat, nearly causing his tongue to slip into his stomach as well. He couldn't help being surprised and delighted as he exclaimed in admiration. He then spoke with a low and muffled voice, "The directorates are all not very pleased when you haven't attended their lessons for the past few months. They said stuff like imperial academician being ignorant and incompetent, that the emperor shouldn't have raised your ranks. That's right, what happened to you? How did you become so skinny?"
"I had made a mistake in my cultivation and almost lost my life."
Qin Mu said, "Lucky I discovered just in time and now I'm replenishing my energy back."
Wei Yong smiled, "You have pretty big guts as well, to actually cultivate recklessly. I'm also an imperial scholar now and have some position in Duke's Manor, what pills do you need? I can grab some from Duke's Manor to let you supplement your body."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "When I finish eating this fish, my body would be able to recover and there would be no need for me to consume spirit pills."
"Do you know? Chancellor Ba Shan and Grand Chancellor Gu had fought each other and got each other all bloodied outside the capital city. Even the emperor was alarmed."
Wei Yong had a burp and said, "My father went to mediate in the quarrel along with other first-ranking high officials and only then did they stop fighting. I went out to make some inquiries and heard that the emperor had called them both over to give them a harsh scolding. Only when I finished asking around, I came back to freeload a meal here. Before you came back, Chancellor Ba Shan had found me and said he wanted to bring me out for an experience, I reckon…"
"Brother Wei, don't talk while eating."
Not long after, Wei Yong this chubby youth had grown even bigger and he couldn't eat anymore. However, he still saw Qin Mu continuing to eat heartily and with each piece of fish going into his stomach, his stomach actually didn't bulge at all.
Wei Yong was amazed. When he saw Qin Mu's skinny body expending out as if he was filled with air, he gave a pinch and found there were all muscles in his body, making him even more astonished.
When this huge fish had been completely finished, only a huge fish bone that spanned up to ten yards long was left. Qin Mu's body had recovered to normal and seemed to be even stronger than before, making Wei Yong incessantly envious.
"Where did you buy such a delicious fish from?"
Wei Yong's mouth was still itching for more but he just couldn't eat anymore thus he asked, "I have never seen such a huge fish in the market of the capital city nor have I ever eaten such a delicious fish, I definitely have to buy a few more and give special attention to them!"
Qin Mu said indifferently, "Fished out from Jade Dragon Lake."
Wei Yong stared with his eyes wide open and asked immediately, "Which Jade Dragon Lake?"
"The one in our Imperial College."
Wei Yong gulped and asked with a trembling voice, "Our Imperial College's Jade Dragon Lake? This fish is one of the fish kings in Jade Dragon Lake?"
Qin Mu looked at Hu Ling'er and Hu Ling'er nodded her head, "I asked Big Dragon to catch a huge one, this one that he caught was the biggest."
Wei Yong's expression turned ashen and he saw the mulberry leaves and branches that were scattered throughout the entire courtyard. He then asked again with a trembling voice, "When I came back just now, I had seen the Ambition Tree in Scholar's Residence left with a stump, could it be…"
"That mulberry tree is called Ambition Tree?"
Hu Ling'er said in astonishment, "The tree even has a name?"
Wei Yong's face turned ghastly white and he walked shakily and muttered in a daze, "Chopping down Ambition Tree to use it to roast the fish king of Jade Dragon Palace. Even if I've multiple heads, it still wouldn't be enough for the emperor to chop off. I've never been here, never been here…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"A fox demon and a dragon head lion is creating havoc in Jade Dragon Lake? Not only did they bathe in the lake, they even beat you up?"
Gu Linuan had just returned from the palace and the Daoist who was guarding Jade Dragon Lake came forward to complain. Gu Linuan's heart couldn't help trembling violently as he cried out, "The fish king among the Red Dragon Carps was capture away by that dragon lion? Whose fox demon and dragon lion have such huge guts? I have assumed this position for just a month and such a thing happened, who is trying to make me wear tight shoes?"
Before he could digest this news, another person came to report, "Grand Chancellor, the fox raised by Academician Qin of Imperial College had chopped down Ambition Tree and used it to roast the fish. That fish seems to be the fish king of Jade Dragon Lake which got roasted and eaten! Imperial Academician Qin and Imperial Scholar Wei Yong are packing up the fish bones now, trying to get rid of the evidence."
Gu Linuan couldn't help being surprised and delighted, "This brat, I was worrying that I had no method to create difficulties for him. Now it can be said that he had delivered himself to my door. This matter is enough for him to be beheaded a hundred times. Now Ba Shan that idiot should be speechless?"
He went into high spirits and immediately stood up while saying, "Let's go, follow me to arrest them! We need both material evidence and witness testimony, just send them under escort to Temple of Justice to be interrogated by the official there, executing his whole family! We'll then send a memorial to the emperor, reporting to him about this matter!"
"What about the scholar called Wei Yong…"
"Arrest him as well and punish him together with Qin Mu!"
Gu Linuan smiled, "I was still saying who was making me wear tight shoes but now as I see it, this pair of shoes ain't tight but just right."
Gu Linuan and the rest barged into Scholar's Residence but they didn't find Qin Mu in his courtyard. There were only a fox and a dragon qilin who was snoring. Gu Linuan woke up this dragon qilin and asked, "Where the brat with the surname Qin?"
Dragon qilin raised his head and took a glance at them before replying slowly, "He was still here just now, people from the palace came to invite him over."
"Could it be that the emperor had already known about this matter, therefore, he had summoned him into the palace to behead him?"
Gu Linuan chuckled, "This brat still has my Junior Protector Sword, beheading him is also letting him off lightly. What are you guys spacing out for? Arrest the fox and the dragon qilin! I'll be entering the emperor's palace and personally see how this brat dies for myself." After he had finished saying that, he hurried away.
The few chancellors that came with him and the Daoist guarding Jade Dragon Lake immediately made use of a chain to chain up this dragon qilin. Hu Ling'er wanted to run away but she was also captured.
Gu Linuan rushed to the palace energetically and requested to meet the emperor. After a moment, a guard reported, "His Majesty is at Imperial Garden, may Lord Gu head over there."
Gu Linuan was astonished, "Beheading the Qin brat in Imperial Garden? His Majesty seems to be really angry."
When he came to Imperial Garden, he heard laughter coming over and Gu Linuan was bewildered. He walked over and saw Emperor Yanfeng help Empress Dowager by the arm while a few officials followed behind them. Qin Mu was behind Empress Dowager on the left, saying something which made Empress Dowager laugh.
Emperor Yanfeng saw him and waved his hand to summon him over. He then asked warmly, "Official, what are you here for?"
Gu Linuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Academician Qin let a dragon qilin jump in Jade Dragon Lake to catch the fish king before eating it. Jade Dragon Lake is the drinking ground of the royal family and Red Dragon Carp is an imperial cuisine of the royal family. For Academician Qin to be so impudent, this is a death crime. I don't dare to hide it, therefore, I'm here to report this to the emperor."
"Something like that actually happened?"
Emperor Yanfeng looked at Qin Mu and asked, "What does Official Qin have to say?"
"I'm a person outside the sphere of civilization and didn't know about the rules of the capital city, therefore I've been rude and impetuous."
Qin Mu said, "I didn't know that Jade Dragon Lake was the property of the royal family and didn't know that I couldn't eat the fish in the lake. I'm deeply guilty and may Your Highness deal with me."
"This is a death crime."
Emperor Yanfeng looked at him and said, "Even though I recognize your worth, the law is law. How do you want me to deal with you?"
Gu Linuan smiled, "Your Highness, according to the law, you will have to execute his whole family…"
Empress Dowager smiled, "Emperor, I also think the little divine physician should be beheaded."
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly stunned and smiled, "Why does mother say such a thing?"
Empress Dowager walked forward calmly and said leisurely, "Of course he should be beheaded. If you don't execute little divine physician, how would the world know that the emperor value a fish more than a human? If you don't execute Academician Qin, how would the world know the emperor value water more than a human? Only when you execute him, would the talents in the world know that the emperor would execute a reputable divine physician that has cured me just for a mouthful of water and a fish. Only then would they know the emperor is an incapable ruler."
Emperor Yanfeng laughed out loud and waved, "Lord Gu, you shouldn't bother me for such trifles. Retreat."
Gu Linuan was bewildered, "This…"
"Retreat, retreat."
Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and said, "You didn't guard the Jade Dragon Lake properly but I won't punish you for your crime. After all, you are new in Imperial College. What you have done today has already made my head ache. You actually fought with Chancellor Ba Shan and brought shame on me. If you had won, it's still fine, but you didn't. A grand chancellor can't beat a chancellor, I lost face all because of you. You better return to reflect on yourself."
"Acknowledged."
Gu Linuan felt grieved and was about to leave when Qin Mu said, "Lord Gu, my fox and that dragon qilin, please don't make things difficult for them."
Gu Linuan's heart leaped and heard Empress Dowager laughing, "I presume he won't even dare to. That's right emperor, you haven't rewarded little divine physician for curing me."
"Mother, he's already an imperial academician, a sixth ranking official. I can't raise him anymore. He is still young after all. We'll talk about it after a few years, in case the officials of the imperial court say I favor him."
"Little divine physician, tell me more about the interesting stuff when you were little…"
Gu Linuan walked further away and went out of the palace to return to Imperial College. He had a belly full of anger yet nowhere to vent. The Daoist that was guarding Jade Dragon Lake immediately went forward and asked, "Grand Chancellor, have the thief been executed?"
"It's all your fault for meddling. All you have to do is to look after the lake yet you created such a ruckus, making me humiliated!"
Gu Linuan stared at him and shouted, "Release that fox and dragon qilin!"
The Daoist guarding the lake felt extremely wrong. He didn't know what he had done wrong and why Gu Linuan got so angry at him, and could only release Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin, "Grand Chancellor, we had already sent men to capture Wei Yong but Wei Yong was following Chancellor Ba Shan and he didn't let us take him away. How do you think…"
"What's Wei Yong's background?"
"He's from Duke Wei's family…"
"Don't look for trouble when there's none!"
…
In the Imperial Garden, Empress Dowager chatted with Qin Mu for a while more. Qin Mu then checked her pulse and wrote down a few prescriptions and said, "Empress Dowager, you're recovering well, there's no hidden danger left behind."
"Good."
Empress Dowager smiled, "Thanks for the trouble, little divine physician."
Qin Mu stood up to make his leave. Emperor Yanfeng smiled, "Dear minister, hold your step, there's something I want to talk to you about."
Qin Mu stopped and Emperor Yanfeng walked to him while waving his hands to let the eunuch and palace maids fall back. He walked out of Imperial Garden while smiling. "My imperial academician, cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, abandoned person of Great Ruins, disciple of Jade Face Poison King, Minister Qin sure has a lot of identities."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and his footsteps subconsciously slowed down. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could know he was the new cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, Emperor Yanfeng naturally had his ways to know as well.
Emperor Yanfeng had already walked far away and he turned his head back to ask, "Dear minister, why are you not catching up?"
Qin Mu hurried to catch up and smiled, "Your Majesty has a flood of good fortune that fills the heavens."
Emperor Yanfeng laughed, "Heavenly Devil Cult as the number one sect of the devil path, the number one sacred ground, for their cult master to be the student of the Son of Heaven, I indeed have a flood of good fortune that fills the heavens. However, it can be a fortune or it can be a calamity. Dear Minister Qin, do you think it's a fortune or it's a calamity?"
Qin Mu smiled, "Your Majesty, if Dao Master of Dao Sect yields to Your Majesty, what position would Your Majesty confer on him?"
Emperor Yanfeng said solemnly, "Dao Master of Dao Sect, the head of the righteous path in this world, I will confer him as upper first-ranking, allowing him to be called king, inheriting the title generation after generation!"
Qin Mu then asked, "If Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery yields to Your Majesty, what position would Your Majesty confer on him?"
Emperor Yanfeng said, "Rulai is best in the Buddhist path and if he is willing to become an official of the imperial court, I will confer him as upper first ranking, allowing him to be called primogenitor!"
Qin Mu said, "The three sacred grounds of Eternal Peace, the emperor will confer the sect masters of Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery as upper first-ranking, calling king and becoming primogenitor. Heavenly Saint Cult is also a sacred ground and the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult had taken the initiative to yield yet Your Majesty only confer an unpresentable sixth-ranking and still ask if it is a fortune or calamity, aren't you making the faithful officials and loyalists bitterly disappointed?"
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly stunned and nodded his head, "What you said is reasonable. However, I can't promote you immediately, you're still too young after all. If I promote you directly, people would gossip and they would be able to guess your identity."
Qin Mu agreed.
Emperor Yanfeng remained silent for a moment, "I know there are some grudges between you and Gu Linuan and also know you took his Junior Protector Sword away. You're the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, you need to be more magnanimous and don't always make him wear tight shoes. He is placed in Imperial College by me and if you make him too embarrassed, it won't look good on me as well."
Qin Mu felt a little wronged, "Your Majesty, how would I dare to make him wear tight shoes?"
Emperor Yanfeng seemed to be smiling yet not smiling, "Didn't you just make him wear tight shoes today, putting him on the spot? You can be at ease, no one would dare to say they surpass Imperial Preceptor in being extremely daring. If I dare to use him, I will also dare to use you. There's no need for any suspicions in your heart. Alright, you can fall back."
Qin Mu walked out of the palace and felt refreshed. He let out a murky breath and completely relaxed.
Since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had known his identity, he would be slightly worried if Emperor Yanfeng didn't. Now that the emperor and Imperial Preceptor both knew his identity, he would instead be safe and wouldn't be worried that this two big shots would lay their hands on him.
Over ten days later, Qin Mu's west house was piled up with great abundance coins exchanged using the dragon's saliva. Before Chancellor Ba Shan brought Wei Yong and Prince Minyue out for experience, he went to his west house to carry away a few bags of coins. Qin Mu didn't mind at all since he was rich.
During these few days, he would refine Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills as well as another spirit pill that could replenish spirit whenever he was free. When he refined this kind of spirit pill, he would use the hand technique of Buddhism, therefore, the refined spirit pills would give off Buddha voice, which was why Qin Mu called these spirit pills as Spirit Buddha Pills.
He went to the warehouse to buy herbs these few days and almost bought all the dozens of herbs he needed. There was going to be a large-scale training in Imperial College recently and scholars were chosen to go to the front lines. Directorates of each hall were to bring scholars to the front lines to quell the rebellion.
Qin Mu was also picked by Gu Linuan who said he must definitely go to the front lines because Qin Mu was a sixth-ranking Imperial Academician and had almost the same treatment as the directorates, therefore Gu Linuan also gave Qin Mu a few scholars to let him lead.
These scholars were all scholars of the Five Elements Realm from Scholar's Residence who didn't have much battle prowess. Their cultivations were way inferior to the divine arts practitioners in Divine Arts Residence.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
In Qin Mu's team, other than him being an imperial academician, there was no directorate. Gu Linuan's reason was that since Qin Mu was an imperial academician and had a high official position, he should lead a team by himself.
The scholars that were assigned to Qin Mu may be selectively chosen, the top notch of Scholar's Residence, however, they were far inferior compared to the scholars selected from Royalty's Park and Divine Arts Residence.
With strongest practitioners lying everywhere in Imperial College, there was no lack of experts. Gu Linuan making Qin Mu lead a team for experience was obviously using public office to avenge his personal grudge.
The scholars going with Qin Mu to the front lines were all acquaintances. They were Chen Wanyun, Monk Yun Que, Yue Qinghong who brought wolf slave along, Si Yunxiang and finally, Qin Yu.
However, since Qin Yu was the younger generation of the capital city's Qin Family, he had a deep background and found Gu Linuan to give him a word, thus he was relocated from Qin Mu's team to another team which was led by a directorate, avoiding Qin Mu's sure death team.
Qin Mu finished refining a furnace of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and stretched his body. He had been refining pills these few days to ensure that the dragon qilin would have enough to eat when they reached the front lines, thus he had no time to meet those few scholars.
Monk Yun Que found Chen Wanyun and Yue Qinghong to discuss with them, "This time Grand Chancellor made Academician Qin bring us out for experience and to a place of turmoil, I reckon we won't make it back and will surely die. We don't even have a divine arts practitioner in our team!"
Chen Wanyun shook his head, "We have."
The few of them looked towards him. Chen Wanyun smiled faintly, "I have been suppressing my realm these few days so you guys can be at ease. I can breakthrough anytime and become a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm."
Yue Qinghong said, "I've heard that the sects that rebelled have already started gathering towards the south, wanting to completely rid Eternal Peace Empire's power in the south. Numerous sects that were active near the capital city had all vanished without a trace. For example, Dragon Rider Sect which had already moved to the south. Now the south of Surging River is completely the territory of the rebel army! With all the rebel sects gathered there, how many divine arts practitioners are there? With you being the only divine arts practitioners, there absolutely no usefulness."
Chen Wanyun frowned, "Academician Qin's experience in the martial world is too shallow. he's too young, so how many times has he traveled throughout the martial world? With him leading us, everything points to disaster. No matter how high my cultivation is, I would be helpless. Junior Sister Si, you haven't been talking. What's your opinion on this?"
Si Yunxiang smiled shyly and didn't say a word.
Everyone fell silent.
Monk Yun Que sighed, "It's better for us to choose one or two divine arts for escaping from Floor of Heavenly Records. It might just be of use."
The day finally came for departure. In front of Hall of Supreme Learning, a few hundred scholars gathered and the directorates inspected their own teams. Ships then flew in one after another and landed in front of Hall of Supreme Learning. The directorates then led their teams to board their own ships.
"Academician Qin, didn't you hire a ship?"
Gu Linuan walked over with a beam on his face, "This journey this time is pretty far and if you were to walk there, you would need to walk for ten days and more. You're an imperial academician, don't tell me you don't even bear to spend this little money?"
Qin Mu smiled with a calm composure, "Thank you, Grand Chancellor, for troubling yourself with our matter. I got nothing but money. Therefore, I have hired a fast ship with a high price which would reach very soon. The furnace of the ship is forged by me, it's very fast."
Chen Wanyun and the rest looked at one another in the eyes and thought, "He's indeed petty, even the furnace is made by himself. I reckon it's a small ship. However, he actually knows how to forge artifacts? He has never been to Hall of Divine Craft so where did he learn to forge from?"
There's Hall of Divine Craft in Imperial College and they taught how to forge artifacts and treasures. The directorates of Hall of Divine Craft were also holding official positions in the imperial court, the supervisors of the shipyards and the armaments manufacturers were positions the directorates of Hall of Divine Craft must assume.
Ever since Qin Mu entered Imperial College, he had not even been to Hall of Divine Craft once therefore it was impossible for him to learn any knowledge on forging.
Not long later, the ships started to fly up and left Imperial College on their own. Monk Yun Que and the rest became anxious as they waited and suddenly, they saw a dilapidated ship sailing over shakily in the sky and landed in front of Hall of Supreme Learning wobbly.
"Our ship is here!" Qin Mu smiled.
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que, Yue Qinghong all frowned hugely. This ship was already filled with holes and air was leaking out from everywhere. Furthermore, the mast of the ship was also broken and there wasn't even a sail.
A burly man with bare arms appeared on the ship and had a fierce look on his face. With one look, they knew he wasn't any good person. He was covered in tattoos and he waved towards Qin Mu while laughing, "Old Brother Qin, I'm late, I'm late!"
Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin forward with a smile, "It's fine even if you're one or two days late. What happened to your ship? It was still fine the last time I saw you. How did it become like this in just a few days?"
"Don't talk about it. I did another trip and met those bitches of Three Wonders Castle again. They released their insects to harm me but my speed was too fast, thus we crashed into the swarm of insects and almost turned my treasure ship into a sieve."
Fan Yunxiao chuckled as he looked at Chen Wanyun and the rest, "Scholars, when you become officials in the future, please take care of me. I have turned good recently."
Yun Que muttered, "With this ship being so dilapidated, will it fall apart when we fly into the air?"
Qin Mu also had the same suspicions. This Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship was simply too worn out and looked like it might fall apart anytime.
"It won't, it won't!"
Fan Yunxiao patted his chest forcefully and assured, "My brothers have already used runes to fortify the ship's body thus it's extremely durable. Old Brother Qin, can you help me forge an iron-shell ship when you're free? You can help me refine two more furnaces and use black iron to forge the body of the ship, wood is simply too brittle."
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and replied, "That would require quite a high price, just the black iron alone is a pretty large expense. Can you take out that much money? Furthermore, do you have the blueprints?"
Fan Yunxiao rubbed his hands forcefully and said, "After robbing everywhere for these few days… Pooh, pooh, after doing business everywhere, I've saved quite a sum of money. If I add all my property together, it should be enough to make an iron-shell ship. As for the blueprints, that wouldn't be easy to get… Everyone, please board the ship, we'll talk after we board the ship."
Everyone boarded the ship and Yue Qinghong looked around. The mates of the ship were all covered in tattoos and looked fierce. Some even had scars on their bodies and some were missing a nose or an eye. With malicious aura leaking out from their bodies, they obviously didn't look like good people.
This dilapidated ship gradually rose into the ship and slowly drove out of the capital city like an old bull pulling onto a dilapidated cart.
Everyone looked at this situation and were even more dejected. Chen Wanyun whispered, "The people on this ship aren't good guys. They're villainous people who rob people and they have extremely high abilities. Most of them are divine arts practitioners. Academician Qin has a shallow experience of the martial world and I reckon he must have fallen into the bandit's trap. We have to be careful on this journey so that we won't be rob…"
Just as he said that, the dilapidated ship suddenly increased its speed and gave off a mournful whoosh as it broke through the air.
Violent tremors came as the speed of the ship surpassed the speed of sound, crossing miles of distance in an instant. The few barrels of wine were flung away and exploded mid-air as they got smacked by the air.
Everyone immediately stabilized themselves and looked at their surroundings in aghast. They saw this dilapidated ship soon passing by all the ships which had already set sail a while ago, leaving these ships in the dust.
The speed of this ship was so unimaginable. With this speed, the could reach Surging River in just a day or two!
Qin Mu was long used to it. After all, he was the one who had forged the furnace, therefore, there was no need to be astonished.
"It's fine, it's fine, it won't fall apart."
Fan Yunxiao consoled everyone and said, "I originally thought it would fall apart as well but after ferrying passengers for a few trips, it has never fallen apart. It's likely not to fall apart this time."
Whoosh—
A piece deck board was lifted up by the gales and flew backward with a whoosh.
Fan Yunxiao was full of confidence, "Don't worry, it won't fall apart. Second brother, bring a deck up… Bring one more up, another one was blown away! Relax, relax, I'm experienced."
Suddenly, the ship passed a raining region. It was currently raining there as the ship passed through the downpour, turning Fan Yunxiao's body all colorful.
Hu Ling'er cried out in astonishment, "Old Xiao, your tattoos got washed off by the rain!"
The other bandits on Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship also had their tattoos blurred by the rain and there was even a mate who shouted, "Big brother, my scar got washed off by the rain!"
Fan Yunxiao was also slightly embarrassed and said, "When you disembark later, we can find painters to paint it back on again. However, we've all turned good, it seems there's no need for us to paint tattoos anymore. Second brother, take off your eyepatch, you see, you've scared those few scholars."
The second mate took off his eyepatch and revealed a perfectly fine eye.
Monk Yun Que muttered, "The appearance of these bandits doesn't look too reliable…"
However, Qin Mu was very close to the head of the bandits and took out a computational canon to consult Fan Yunxiao. Hu Ling'er found a handkerchief and wiped the dragon's head on Fan Yunxiao's back and the dragon's head instantly disappeared.
"Fox, stop fooling around," Fan Yunxiao waved his hand.
Hu Ling'er pouted her lips, "I thought they were real tattoos, so they were painted on."
Fan Yunxiao gave a dry laugh and muttered, "How painful is that? Our body, hair, and skin are given to us by our parents, how can we anyhow draw on them?"
Qin Mu said, "Senior Brother Fan, the shi, bai, qian, wan in Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery is not a problem, however, Yi, Zhao, Jing, Gai, Zi, Rang, Gou, Jian, Zheng, Zai, Ji. These numerals are really too huge, what are they used to calculate? Is there a need for such huge numerals?"
"I've also asked Dao Master before and Dao Master said they were used for immeasurable calculation."
Fan Yunxiao said, "Between Wan and Yi is the Wan system, Wan Wan becomes Yi. After Yi is the Yi system. Yi Yi becomes Zhao, Yi Zhao becomes Jing, Yi Jing becomes Gai. Other than that, there's also no end to division, what's used after a single number is Fen, Li, Hao, Si, Hu, Wei, Xian, Sha, Chen, Ai, Miao, Mo, Mo Hu, Qun Xun, Xu Yu, Shun Xi, Tan Zhi, Cha Na, Liu De, Kong Xu, Qing Jing. What they used are decimals. Fen is one tenth, Li is one hundredth, so on and so forth."
Qin Mu was astonished and asked, "Then what's Kong Xu and Qing Jing used to calculate?"
"To calculate the smallest particle in vital qi."
Fan Yunxiao continued, "The fourteenth writing of Dao Sword requires runes to be imprinted in the smallest particles of the vital qi. It was impossible to cultivate it without calculation."
Qin Mu was dumbstruck and felt his head aching as he looked at the Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery.
"If you forge all kinds of treasures, you also need to use these calculations and the slightest error could result in a world of difference."
Qin Mu acknowledged and exclaimed in admiration, "Dao Sect's attainment in algebra sure is extraordinary."
He consulted sincerely and Fan Yunxiao told him everything that he knew. Fan Yunxiao had already cultivated to the fifth writing of Dao Sect and had an extremely high attainment in algebra.
亿(Yi) - One Hundred Million, 兆(Zhao) - One Trillion, 京(Jing) - Ten Quadrillion, 垓(Gai) - One Hundred Quintillion, 秭(Zi) - One Septillion, 穰(Rang) - Ten Octillion, 沟(Gou) - One Hundred Nonillion, 涧(Jian) - One Undecillion, 正(Zheng) - Ten Duodecillion, 载(Zai) - One Hundred Tredecillion, 极(Ji) - One Quindecillion
分(Fen) - One Tenth, 厘(Li) - One Hundredth, 毫(Hao) - One Thousandth, 丝(Si) - Ten Thousandth, 忽(Hu) - Hundred Thousandth, 微(Wei) - One Millionth, 纤(Xian) - Ten Millionth, 沙(Sha) - Hundred Millionth, 尘(Chen) - One Billionth, 埃(Ai) - Ten Billionth, 渺(Miao) - Hundred Billionth, 莫(Mo) - One Trillionth, 模糊(Mo Hu) - Ten Trillionth, 逡巡(Qun Xun) - Hundred Trillionth, 须臾(Xu Yu) - One Quadrillionth, 瞬息(Shun Xi) - Ten Quadrillionth, 弹指(Tan Zhi) - Hundred Quadrillionth, 刹那(Cha Na) - One Quintillionth, 六德(Liu De) - Ten Quintillionth, 空虚(Kong Xu) - Hundred Quintillionth, 清静(Qing Jing) - One Sextillionth
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship flew for over a day and finally reached Surging River. The ship sailed up to the camp at the southern bank.
Lizhou Prefecture had set up a massive military force along the river. The army had linked over two hundred river camps and there were numerous soldiers and horses. When they reached here, a fierce battle had just ended and there were ships rampaging on the river surface. Some ships were already destroyed and thick smoke billowed out from the burning masts and deck.
Corpses floated on the river surface.
There were soldiers scattering fishing nets on the ship, fishing the corpses out. They then hooked the corpses with hooks and hung them at the aft of the ship, intending to bury them after dragging them to shore.
Qin Mu opened his Green Heaven's Eyes and looked towards the opposite shore of the river. There was a dilapidated city on the opposite shore and there were still sporadic fightings because there were still all kinds of rays bursting forth from divine arts.
However, they were only skirmishes. It should be the army of Eternal Peace Empire eradicating the enemies in the city.
Fan Yunxiao slowed down the ship and gradually descended down towards the camp. There was a soldier who flew up to the ship to enquire and when he knew they were the scholars of Imperial College, he immediately waved his flag and made the archers below lower their bow and arrow.
The ship gradually landed in the camp and Fan Yunxiao looked towards the sporadic fightings on the opposite shore with one black eye and one white eye. He then took a glance at Chen Wanyun, Yun Que and the rest before shaking his head, "Old Brother Qin, these scholars will only hold you back and not be of much help. With a battle of this scale, the few of you scholars are completely no help and it'll be difficult for you guys to survive. I'm leaving, when I find enough black iron and blueprint of the treasure ship, I'll come and find you again!" After he was done, he made the bandits on the boat activate the furnace and flew away.
Yun Que and the rest were demoralized and Chen Wanyun sneered, "This person's ability isn't bad, but there's a problem with his judgment."
A general walked over and asked, "Are you scholars from Imperial College?"
Qin Mu nodded his head and said "Is Lizhou Prefecture Young Magistrate at the frontlines? May I trouble you to inform her, just tell her River Dyke County Qin Mu request for a meeting."
That general was astonished and didn't dare to neglect his words as he hurried away.
Not long after, the clanking sounds of armor sounded out and everyone looked towards the source of the sounds. They saw a female general clad in armor walking over with a helmet under her underarm. She had a heroic look and her facial features were also extremely beautiful. Her face powder, eyebrow liner and red lips were unforgettable.
She should have just come back from the battlefield and there were still bloodstains on her body.
"So it's Little Brother Qin Mu."
Yuyuan Chuyu's gaze fell on Qin Mu and her eyes lighted up, "The little brother who walked out of River Dyke County a few months ago has made a name for himself. I've heard my elder brother mentioning about you and now you're considered to have stood above others. I'm also happy for you."
"Big sister, you flatter me."
Qin Mu blushed with shame and said, "I didn't tell big sister before that I was actually from Great Ruins."
Yuyuan Chuyu said, "When you had left, I was still thinking when there was a Qin Family in River Dyke County which could groom such an outstanding child. My elder brother sent a letter over and mentioned you later, and only then I knew you were from Great Ruins."
Yun Que, Yue Qinghong and the rest were secretly astonished. Lizhou Prefecture was the place of lodging for all imperial scholars that came out for experience. Never did they expect that Qin Mu was actually well acquainted with Lizhou Prefecture Young Magistrate!
Being the high official of such a place, she was already the commander of the borders. In addition to that, Yuyuan Chuyu had an extraordinary background. She was the princess of Yuyuan Empire back then and the other crown prince of Yuyuan Empire was Yuyuan Chuyu who had become the great general in the capital city.
Qin Mu was clearly the abandoned person of Great Ruins, how did he get affiliated with Yuyuan Chuyu?
"Big Sister Chuyu, what happened to Corpse Immortal Cult?" Qin Mu asked.
"Corpse Immortal Cult has already been eradicated by me but there are still some remnants that have escaped to the southern borders."
Yuyuan Chuyu brought them to the city walls and said, "The rebel army from everywhere have already gathered in the southern borders. There are also rebel sects from everywhere. All sorts of forces meet and mingle together here. The troops get stationed in all the cities along the river and are taking strict precaution. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg and the current situation doesn't look good."
"Tip of the iceberg?" everyone was stunned for a moment.
Yuyuan Chuyu smiled, "In the world today, do you know who is loyal and who is a traitor? For example me, I'm the princess of the vanquished Yuyuan Empire, how would you know that I would not rebel the next moment?"
Chen Wanyun and the rest broke out in cold sweat, afraid that this heroic looking female general would kill them in the next instant and announce that she would rebel.
Yuyuan Chuyu said indifferently, "Imperial court's relation to the old generations is too close. Imperial Preceptor wants to create a brand new generation on top of this foundation but all he could use were always the power of the old generation. His new generation could not break free from the influence of the old generation therefore who knows which sect or which official would rebel next?"
Monk Yun Que asked while shivering, "But Lord Magistrate won't rebel, am I right?"
Yuyuan Chuyu looked at him and gave a bone-chilling smile as she said softly, "You can make a guess. If you're right, you can not die."
Yun Que turned ashen-faced as he was scared witless.
Yuyuan Chuyu this commander had nurtured a great grandeur around her. Even though she was a woman, her cold expression could crush a person with terror.
Yuyuan Chuyu gave a gentle laugh and summoned a general over. After giving her instructions, the general immediately deployed an army with about a thousand men.
Yuyuan Chuyu walked down the city halls and strode onto the river surface. Behind her, a thousand soldiers also strode over and stepped on the river surface as they moved to the opposite shore.
Qin Mu caught up with her and stood on the river surface. Vital qi burst forth under his feet which held him up stably as he smiled, "Big sister, don't scare him."
Chen Wanyun and the rest also hurried over and executed their own vital qi to let themselves not sink into the water.
They could sprint on water but to walk calmly on water, it was slightly strenuous. Other than controlling the water, they also needed to have a dense cultivation.
Yuyuan Chuyu was slightly interested, "Little brother think I won't rebel against the imperial court?"
Qin Mu shook his head, "Because this rebellion is a set-up by Imperial Preceptor to purge the imperial court and the ordinary people. Big sister is a wise person and could see that very clearly. If big sister was dumb, you would have rebelled long ago and not wait until today."
Yuyuan Chuyu smiled, "You're right and also wrong. The reason why I didn't rebel is not that I was clever enough. There were quite a number of people who came forward and urge me to rebel. They were all full of confidence when they came over, thinking they would definitely make me rebel, however, they were all wrong. My Yuyuan Family doesn't value our royal position, we value our people of Yuyuan. When Yuyuan Empire was still around back then, Eternal Peace Empire had already become great and they could wage a war over anytime. My father knew if a war was to break out, the empire would definitely be ruined and the families would be torn apart. However, Imperial Preceptor came to Yuyuan and discussed the path with my father. Back then, all the civil and military officials were there and what they discussed was how to govern an empire and their people. My brother and I were also at the imperial court. Then, we lost."
Her expression remained calm as she said, "We suffered a crushing defeat, which we accepted wholeheartedly, of the debate on the path of governing an empire and the path of people's welfare. My father relinquished the title of the emperor and allowed my elder brother to succeed him but my elder brother didn't accept it and passed the title to me. I…"
She gave a smile. No now knew if she was mocking herself or if it was a genuine smile, "I had told Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, I'm inferior to you in governing an empire and I'm also inferior to you in looking after the people's welfare. In that case, I'll hand Yuyuan Empire to you. If your governance and people's welfare is not to my satisfaction, I will rebel against you in the future. Imperial Preceptor agreed and let me govern Yuyuan, which is also the current Lizhou."
"So that's how it is," everyone suddenly realized.
Hu Ling'er cried out astonishingly, "Sister, so you were actually a female emperor!"
Yuyuan Chuyu smiled and said, "Being a female emperor for a day, I can tell you, that's no fun. If you want to be an emperor, you can just find any place and proclaim yourself as the emperor. The only problem is how many people you can have jurisdiction over."
She looked at the billowing smoke and fire on the river surface and retracted her gaze. She then smiled as she looked at Chen Wanyun and the rest, "It's your fortune you guys are able to follow little brother. His abilities are very extraordinary."
Yue Qinghong and Yun Que looked at each other and didn't know how this female general saw Qin Mu's abilities as extraordinary.
Yuyuan Chuyu remembered the time when she had discovered the red corpse beetles scattered throughout the entire mountain at the north of Tiger Sun County. Other than the red corpse beetles, there was also a skeleton which had its flesh and blood melted away, leaving only the bones and the clothes. From the clothes, she could determine that it was an expert of Corpse Immortal Cult.
Even though she couldn't see who this expert of Corpse Immortal Cult was, from the method of controlling the corpse beetles and amount of corpse beetles, that expert's cultivation had probably already reached Seven Stars Realm.
Corpse Immortal Cult was proficient in corpses and poison thus their cultivation realm was not that high. But when one clashed with Corpse Immortal Cult, even people with a higher cultivation and battle prowess than them would find it very hard to defeat them.
Yet this expert of Corpse Immortal Cult had died from being poisoned and the one that poisoned him would have been this little brother beside her who looked honest and naive.
Back then, this little brother had even deceived her, making her write a travel permit for him and recommended him to go to the capital city.
In Yuyuan Chuyu's heart, for Chen Wanyun and the rest to be able to follow such a crafty fellow out for experience, they would be even safer than if they had followed the directorates, therefore she had said it was the fortune of Chen Wanyun and the rest.
When they reached the opposite shore, the buildings in this city on the opposite shore had already collapsed, killing god knows how many people.
Yuyuan Chuyu led the army into the city and said, "Just now I said this was just the tip of the iceberg. There is still another reason other than that. Look at this, taking down Deer County was a walk in the park. We easily invaded and took over this place so aren't the rebel army a little too weak?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, "Enticing the enemies to enter deeply?"
"This is not only enticing the enemies to enter, the old foxes haven't even made their moves."
Yuyuan Chuyu's gaze flickered, "The three old monsters that injured Imperial Preceptor still haven't appeared. The old monsters of the old generation might not just be the three of them. There are Passion Parting Palace Master Qiu Dieyi, the three castle lords of Three Wonders Castle, high officials that have rebelled, Dragon King of Dragon Rider Sect and as well as other strong practitioners of the cult master level and none of them have appeared yet. Other big and small cult masters, sect masters, are all very quiet. Furthermore…"
She said in a low voice, "Who knows if there are any gods that had survived from the old generation?"
Qin Mu gave a few cold shudders.
Chen Wanyun and the rest also felt their blood run cold.
Yuyuan Chuyu obviously knew many things about the old generation but she didn't delve into details, "You guys can be at ease, these old monsters wouldn't easily make their move on the younger generation like you. Their target is Imperial Preceptor and the first-ranking high officials of the imperial court. Deer County was seized by a sect not much bigger than Corpse Immortal Cult which is called Nine Spectres Sect. Now that the rebellion in Deer County has just been quelled, and there are still some remnants from Nine Spectres Sect escaping. I'll give you an easy task, eradicate all of the remnants."
Her gaze shone brightly as it landed on Qin Mu and the rest, "Nine Spectres Sect is proficient in dressing up as god and playing the devil. They say they could invite supernatural beings forward to assist them in battle, therefore, you guys have to make some preparations. When the other scholars are here, you guys will go forward to eradicate them."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Proficient in dressing up as god and playing the devil? Can invite supernatural beings forward to assist them in battle?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and he suddenly thought of Soul Guide and Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command. These two spells were spells that were related to souls and supernatural beings which were found by him on the first level of Floor of Heavenly Records.
Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command was from Great Mountain Sect and as for Soul Guide, it was from Nine Spectres Sect.
These two spells were placed in the first level of Floor of Heavenly Records because there were lesser people who would cultivate spells that deviated from the average. They were spells that belonged to the soul category yet they didn't have much offensive power.
Especially for Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command, this spell declared that it could dispatch ghost gods yet when Qin Mu tried it a few times, it was at the most similar to the Five Ghosts Transfer Technique, however, it was much complicated.
When Qin Mu found these two spells, he had once made Chancellor Ba Shan give him pointers however, Chancellor Ba Shan also despised these two unpopular spells and didn't study them before, therefore he had thrown them back to him and told him to comprehend them himself.
Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command might be similar to Five Ghosts Transfer Technique but the runes were obviously much more complicated and required one to refine a talisman treasure.
This talisman treasure was much more complicated than the one Qin Mu saw in Rolan's Golden Palace. It was a completely different sphere and had one thousand and twenty-four irregular surfaces. On each surface had a complicated rune.
Meanwhile, Rolan's Golden Palace's talisman treasure only had fourteen surfaces.
It was exactly because Qin Mu saw the runes in Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command being complicated, he had thought this divine art was very powerful. Never did he expect its effect was only equivalent to Five Ghosts Transfer Technique.
He felt that Great Mountain Sect might have somewhat concealed the technique; however, this sect had vanished from this world and no longer existed.
Meanwhile, Qin Mu had also cultivated Soul Guide from Nine Spectres Sect but he had not tried out if he could succeed in guiding the souls of the dead back from the netherworld.
The two spells had some runes that were similar and both of them should be spells related to the soul category.
Qin Mu bought some yellow joss paper, cinnabar and spent two days to create talisman treasure for Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command before spending another day to write down the runes needed for Soul Guide as well, comparing the both together.
Comparing them with each other, Qin Mu finally could confirm that both Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command had mistakes. There were some runes among them that were purposely written wrongly.
These sects were not willing to hand the spells of their own sects to the imperial court, therefore, they had purposely written a few runes wrongly, lowering the power of the spell drastically or even making it unusable.
The runes for Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command needed an extremely high amount of runes, so even when there were over a dozen mistakes, there were still over a thousand correct runes.
This was a huge treasure vault of knowledge.
With this knowledge, Qin Mu could fix the wrong runes in Soul Guide.
There were over six hundred types of rune arrangements the Soul Guide required and Qin Mu fixed the wrong runes that he had spotted. When he found that there was no mistake anymore, he immediately called a soldier over to asked, "Are there corpses in the city? I would like to test my spell."
That soldier asked, "Lord requires the corpses of Nine Spectres Sect to test your spell? The corpses of Nine Spectres Sect were all buried so if you need them, they'll have to be dug up."
Qin Mu's face changed slightly and hurriedly asked, "Where were they buried?"
That soldier replied, "We buried some in the disorderly burial mounds beside River Dyke County and the others were buried in Deer Mountain beside Deer County. We just buried the corpses that we fished out a few days ago at wherever that was close."
Qin Mu's mind pounded and he hurriedly said, "Where's the young magistrate? Quickly inform the young magistrate and let her order the whole army to be on guard before sending soldiers to the disorderly burial mounds and Deer Mountain to burn the corpses!"
The soldier didn't understand what he meant but he still ran out in a hurry while shouting, "Young magistrate had gone over to River Dyke County at the opposite shore to soothe the people. I'll head over right now to inform her!"
"Big Sister Chuyu is at River Dyke County? This is bad!"
Qin Mu summoned another soldier over and told him to inform the guards to be on alert before immediately finding Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong and the rest and told them quickly, "Nine Spectres Sect might be making a comeback, quickly be on alert!"
Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong and the rest were all beyond bewildered. Monk Yun Que asked, "The people of Nine Spectres Sect are almost all eradicated and only a few people are left escaping for their lives. Why do we have to guard against these few people?"
"They are faking their death!"
Just as Qin Mu said that, suddenly, a faint singing came from the river surface. This singing voice sounded ancient and obscure as if it was a god of the netherworld summoning the souls of the dead back. It gave people the feeling that a hazy and imposing god had opened the gate to the other world, sending the souls of the dead back from the netherworld!
Qin Mu's face changed hugely and his footsteps sprinted like he was flying as he broke through the air, landing on the north gate of the city tower. The north gate of the city was empty and there were only a few soldiers patrolling. Lizhou Prefecture's huge army had just experienced a huge battle, therefore, most of them were nursing themselves.
Qin Mu looked towards the river surface and only saw a Daoist with a straw hat standing on a ship's mast in the center of Surging River. He was currently casting spells and singing on the river and a huge rune gave off a green glow as if there were numerous green snakes wiggling in the sky.
Yun Que and the rest came running over and stood beside Qin Mu to look towards the river surface. Chen Wanyun asked, "What is happening…"
Before he could even finish his words, he fell into a daze when he saw black fog surging over from the river. The area which the black fog had shrouded became larger and larger, wider and wider. Among the darkness, a towering gate could be seen at the heart of the river, floating above the water!
In the blink of an eye, the sky turned dark. Qin Mu looked towards the opposite shore and could faintly see a few ships that were ferrying the scholars sailed over. He then saw the darkness shrouded the scholars' ships.
There was also a scholars' ship which had reached the sky above Surging River which was also shrouded by the darkness. Shouts of anger and cries of astonishment sounded out from the ship, making it obvious they had met something unexpected weird.
He turned his head towards Deer Mountain on the left of River Dyke County. River Dyke County suddenly burst open as small figures rushed into the mid-air, pouncing towards their location.
The few soldiers who were guarding the west city gate of Deer County couldn't react in time and were fixed in place by the yellow talismans used from the few figures that came flying over, slaughtering them on the spot!
Boom!
The west city gate blew wide open and the 'corpses' rushed into the county city, slaughtering the guards who had yet reorganized themselves!
These corpses were indeed corpses but the corpses still had the souls of the dead. The Daoist on the river cast a spell and used Soul Guide to summon the souls of all the dead people in Nine Spectres Sect, allow their souls to return to their body and commence a sudden attack on the guards of Deer County.
These corpses were all worn out. There were some that only had a piece of skin attaching their heads to their bodies while some had a huge hole opened up in their chests. Some were missing their limbs and they all looked terrifyingly sinister.
They were indeed dead but their souls were pulled back from the netherworld and returned to their bodies, thus their abilities were still the same as if they were alive.
Even Chen Wanyun was stunned at this sight as he stood on the city tower not knowing what to do.
Qin Mu looked towards River Dyke County on the opposite shore which was already shrouded by the black fog. Only the explosions of divine arts could be faintly heard.
"Abandon the city, we'll head to the east gate!" Qin Mu made his decision.
Chen Wanyun and the rest jolted back to their senses and Qin Mu sprinted along the city walls while shouting for the dragon qilin and Hu Ling'er to return. Turmoil had already broken out in Deer County City as everyone was caught unprepared and got killed by those 'corpses' that were revived by Nine Spectres Sect.
The army of Eternal Peace Empire was used to cultivate skills of combined assault. By cultivating the same spell or sword skill, ten or more soldiers would just need to group up and work together closely for them to be able to even kill opponents a realm higher than them.
These kind of battle techniques were extremely useful in a large-scale battle, which could be said that killing enemies was as easy as smashing rotten wood, resulting in an utter defeat for the sects which dared to resist.
However, this battle in Deer County City also exhibited the disadvantages of this battle technique.
Nine Spectres Sect revived 'corpses' to slaughter their way in the city, scattering these soldiers before they could organize themselves. Fighting on their own, the ability of these soldiers was much inferior to the disciples of the sects in the martial world, thus it was almost a one-sided massacre!
The sky turned darker and darker. After these disciples of Nine Spectres Sect were revived, the darkness was like daylight to them. They could see everything clearly and they were not afraid of death.
They were originally corpses thus they couldn't feel any pain and had no need to defend against the opponent's move. They could just pounce over and kill people directly.
Furthermore, Nine Spectres Sect as a sect, there was no lack of experts. Even the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm were also 'revived'.
This kind of reviving wasn't a real reviving and was just using spells to summon the souls of the dead back. These souls of the dead would still have to return to netherworld but in this period of time, it was enough for them to sweep away all the guards in Deer County.
"The guards of Deer County are finished."
Qin Mu's heart sunk and when he saw Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin rushing over, only then did he let out a sigh of relief. Everyone immediately jumped off the east city gate and ran away from the city in the darkness.
Behind, the east city gate suddenly collapsed as it got shattered into pieces by the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm.
Qin Mu turned his head to look back and saw a general of Celestial Being Realm being torn apart by a few strong practitioners of Nine Spectres Sect that got revived!
There were still a few Daoists that were executing the yellow joss papers and walking in the sky. This made Qin Mu's heart sink. These few Daoists were the remnants of Corpse Immortal Cult. With the alliance of Corpse Immortal Cult and Nine Spectres Sect, one of them would control corpses while the other would control souls. There probably wouldn't be much soldiers in the city left.
"Academician Qin, we should cross the river and return to River Dyke County!" Chen Wanyun said solemnly.
Qin Mu shook his head, "There are also quite a lot of corpses sunk in the river. We can't return."
Just as he said that, sounds of water traveled over from the riverside. Among the black colored fog, the revived 'corpses' walked ashore from the bottom of the river with water dripping off their bodies. When they saw them, they suddenly sprinted towards here.
"We can only head to southern borders and look for the chance to return to the north."
Qin Mu had no change in expression as he raised his hand to pat his waist. A sword light flew out from Taotie's sack and transformed into Wave Sword Form. With the sword light revolving, it severed the heads of the Nine Spectres Sect's disciples.
The few Nine Spectres Sect's disciples became headless zombies. They immediately bend over and picked up their heads, clasping them under their armpits and continued to rush over.
A head under the armpit of the corpse opened his mouth and shouted with a sharp voice, "Come quickly, there are some that have slipped through the net! Come quickly!"
Even though Yun Que, Yue Qinghong, and Chen Wanyun were quite knowledgeable and seen a lot, they had never seen such a sinister spell before. On the other hand, Si Yunxiang who was always shy and timid was calm and composed. She was not the slightest afraid.
Qin Mu spread his five fingers and gave a sudden squeeze. The sword light of Junior Protector Sword immediately turned into Spiral Sword Form. The sword spun and sliced the disciples of Nine Spectres Sect into pieces as he warned solemnly, "Move quickly, in case the experts of Nine Spectres Sect catches up."
The few of them quickly sprinted towards the darkness. Yun Que looked at the flames surrounding Deer County and felt slight fear and dismal in his heart, "To the southern borders? That's the nest of the enemies…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The black fog grew denser and denser. It was daytime yet it looked like the night. Qin Mu and the rest could still roughly determine the direction. When they raised their heads up to the sky, they could still see the sun but the sun wasn't harsh to their eyes. It was like a faint circular halo that was much dimmer than the moonlight.
Looking around their surrounding, they could only see the green mountain turning into a hazy black mountain.
Noisy voices came from behind as someone shouted, "There're a few that escaped. There are three males and three females, and also a huge lion… Don't go away, pick up my head! Come back quickly—"
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly and he looked towards Chen Wanyun.
Chen Wanyun understood his intention and his flying sword flew out of his sheath to dig a long hole in the ground for him to lie down. It was the first time he had met such a weird incident of the dead reviving, therefore, he was slightly at a loss but now he had already calmed down.
Qin Mu waved his sleeves and swept up the earth on both sides, burying Chen Wanyun under the earth.
The rest of them continued walking forward and they didn't move much further when they heard miserable shrieks coming from their back.
"Someone hid in the earth to ambush us!"
"My head is severed, does anyone see my head?"
"Shut up idiot! If your head is missing, how are you talking?"
"So I see. No wonder I couldn't find it for so long."
"Which senior brother saw my leg? Sorry to trouble you, much thanks."
…
Qin Mu made the dragon qilin stop and Chen Wanyun immediately caught up, "There shouldn't be any more pursuers. Let us go quickly.
Suddenly, singing voices faintly sounded out from the fog and these songs were even more peculiar than the song coming from the river surface. These songs had no cadence and sounded very monotonous.
Qin Mu made them stop for a moment while he sneaked over and saw the few singers that were singing.
They were a few 'corpses' singing and casting spells, executing Soul Guide in the dark forest. Their bodies were tattered and they looked very strange casting spells in the darkness.
"Dead people casting spells?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He suddenly thought of the divine art of Nine Spectres Sect and felt that they had the flavor of breaking through the boundary of life and death.
If this kind of divine art was researched to its limit, could it break the boundary between life and death and achieve eternal life?
The divine arts of Nine Spectres Sect were far from being called eternal life now. They were only guiding the souls of the dead back from the netherworld, to allow the souls to reside in their own bodies temporarily.
They had to continue to execute Soul Guide and if they stopped executing Soul Guide, their souls might probably be dragged back to the netherworld and they would really die.
"No wonder those corpses are also executing Soul Guide."
Qin Mu thought to himself, "They must execute Soul Guide continuously for them to be able to continue moving. These dead men are not weak in cultivation, therefore, it's still best to avoid them."
He left these dead people alone and sneaked back, "Let us change a direction."
They didn't move much further when they met another group of Nine Spectres Sect's disciples that were casting spells. Other than these Nine Spectres Sect's disciples that were already dead, he also saw a few disciples of Corpse Immortal Cult that were also controlling corpses to surround the soldiers that were escaping from the city. The flying zombies flew by walking on the yellow joss papers beneath their feet.
Qin Mu frowned and changed another direction, "Let us head to Deer Mountain. The corpses of Nine Spectres Sect were buried there and they slaughtered their way to the county city from there, therefore it must be empty over there!"
Everyone was extremely nervous as the people of Nine Spectres Sect and Corpse Immortal Cult were now everywhere in the black fog. Since Corpse Immortal Cult was eradicated by Yuyuan Chuyu, he reckoned the cult disciples' corpses were also buried nearby, allowing Nine Spectres Sect to revive them as well.
It was obvious that Nine Spectres Sect had come prepared, catching Yuyuan Chuyu off guard. If this situation went on, Lizhou would probably be in danger.
Qin Mu thought to himself, "There must definitely be a ruthless fellow behind the scenes in Nine Spectres Sect. For victory, he could even sacrifice the lives of so many disciples of Nine Spectres Sect unscrupulously!"
They came to Deer Mountain and there was indeed no one here. The black fog had also faded quite a bit.
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que and the rest gradually put their hearts down. As long as they crossed this mountain and left the area shrouded by the black fog, they would be temporarily safe.
Suddenly, a cadence chant sounded from the mountain. Everyone's heart turned anxious again and they looked towards Qin Mu.
Qin Mu frowned slightly and whispered, "Something's wrong with his chanting. This isn't Soul Guide and is another kind of spell."
Yue Qinghong and the rest couldn't hear the difference. They didn't know much about Soul Guide of Nine Spectres Sect while Qin Mu had studied this divine art before thus he could hear some disparity from the chants.
"You guys stay here, I'll go and have a look!"
Qin Mu instructed them and approached the chantings silently. When he came near to the chantings, Qin Mu's footsteps became even softer. On the mountain col in front of him, he could see a sacrificial altar and there were over ten male and female Daoists casting spells on the sacrificial altar.
That sacrificial altar was constructed by skeletons. The length and width were the same, each being thirteen yards long. Meanwhile, on the altar, skulls were used to create a flat surface. With a white banner erected at the four corners: north, south, east, west. Runes written in cinnabar mixed with blood were on the white banners.
A sculpture of an eight-armed devil god was erected on the center of the sacrificial altar. This sculpture squatted with one single leg while the other leg wrapped the previous one around the back of its calf. With the palms of the eight arms clasped together, the devil god had four faces and each face had three eyes.
These male and female Daoists each executed a talisman treasure and the talisman treasures floated in the air. The talisman had numerous surfaces and on each surface was a rune.
With these Daoists' chant, the runes on the talisman treasures lighted up continuously. The runes that lighted up shone precisely on the body of the devil god's sculpture. Whenever a place got shone on, a rune would light up on the devil god's sculpture.
The talisman treasure continuously spun and lighted up the runes on the sculpture one after another.
At this moment, more than half of the runes on this devil god's sculpture had been lighted up.
"Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly, "The spells of Great Mountain Sect! They are the disciples of Great Mountain Sect which was already exterminated!"
These dozen male and female Daoists were all divine arts practitioners and it looked like that they had already been executing Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command for quite some time. It was obvious that after Great Mountain Sect was exterminated, they had conspired to strike back, allying themselves with Nine Spectres Sect and Corpse Immortal Cult!
Qin Mu then took the time which Nine Spectres Sect rose up in revolt into consideration and found it was precisely the time when the scholars of Imperial College were just arriving at Lizhou and Deer County. This meant that there was someone who had clearly kept tabs on the movement of the scholars of Imperial College and even the time the imperial scholars would reach here.
The scholars of Imperial College coming out for experience were all elites chosen from their own realms. These scholars would become the future officials of Eternal Peace Empire, taking over the current batch of officials that had come from each and every sect.
The current officials mostly belonged to the older generation while the imperial scholars were the new generation.
If this batch of scholars was to be entirely eradicated, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would lose a pillar of strength in his new generation.
"This time the scholars coming out for experience was a decree by the emperor and those who knew this beforehand would only be the first-ranking high officials who held high authority other than Gu Linuan."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered. Among the first-ranking powerful ministers, there were definitely people who had betrayed.
He very much wanted to continue watching how these disciples of Great Mountain Sect summoned the devil god but if he waited until the devil god was summoned, their deaths would probably be due.
Qin Mu sneaked back silently and described what he had seen to Chen Wanyun and the rest, "Thirteen divine arts practitioners and their abilities aren't weak. If they bring out the devil god, none of us will be able to escape. We'll have to eliminate them before they bring out the devil god and destroy the sacrificial altar! Who dares to follow me to kill them?"
"Kill divine arts practitioners?"
Yun Que and Yue Qinghong were both astonished, "And thirteen of them?"
Qin Mu gave them a glance, "You guys don't dare?"
Yun Que muttered, "I felt a little afraid. They are divine arts practitioners and furthermore, there are thirteen of them."
Qin Mu replied solemnly, "If we don't kill them, when they bring out the devil god, not only will we die, the entire Lizhou would be destroyed!"
Chen Wanyun muttered to himself irresolutely and asked, "Is Great Mountain Sect a spell sect?"
Si Yunxiang tightened the sword case on her back and said, "I've heard my elders mentioned before that Great Mountain Sect was a sect that was proficient in cultivating spells related to souls. They aren't as proficient in sword skills or battle techniques. Back then when Imperial Preceptor exterminated Great Mountain Sect, he brought a team of divine arts practitioners that cultivated sword skill to attack Great Mountain, exterminating this sect! After Great Mountain Sect got exterminated, their disciples that were scattered outside might not learn the traditional spells and won't have many attainments in their battle techniques and sword skills."
Qin Mu said, "Imperial Preceptor used sword skills to kill them but we won't use sword skills, we'll use battle techniques. If we use sword skills, we won't win their spells. But in close combat, before they could even execute their spells, they would be slain by us! Wanyun, Yun Que, Qinghong, I've seen your battle techniques before and they aren't weak, do you have the guts to face them?"
Chen Wanyun replied solemnly, "You dare, I dare!'
Qin Mu looked at Si Yunxiang and Si Yunxiang lowered her head while saying, "Yunxiang will take imperial academician as my only guide."
Qin Mu then looked at Yue Qinghong and her eyes were sparkling as she found it hard to suppress her excitement, "I had never come to grips with such a situation before, how can I not participate? Wolf slave, get ready as well!"
Qin Mu's gaze fell on Monk Yun Que and he hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth, "If I don't enter hell, who would? I'm in!"
Qin Mu said, "I will be the first to rush out later and slaughter my way up to the sacrificial altar to pave the way for you guys. You guys will follow behind me and fight in close combat. We'll have to fight as quick as possible and cannot drag the battle out! The sacrificial is only thirteen by thirteen yards, with such cramp space, you guys will have to think what move you want to use and go through it several times in your mind!"
Yue Qinghong was so excited both her hands were trembling as she smiled, "Following you isn't so bad after all, the first battle is already so exciting, I already can't wait!"
Qin Mu stooped down and moved forward. Chen Wanyun and the rest followed him and came to the mountain col. They could see that the runes on the body of devil god's sculpture were almost all lit up. The thirteen female and male Daoists were still executing their talisman as they continued walking around the sacrificial altar. The chants came out continuously from their mouth as if it was an ancient sacrificial language.
Qin Mu's heart jumped and he suppressed his urge to immediately rush out and break the sacrificial ritual. He instructed softly, "Observe the terrain and after you guys are done, we'll make our move. Ling'er, bring the dragon qilin to the other side and make some sounds to attract their attention."
Hu Ling'er immediately brought the dragon qilin to take a detour around the sacrificial altar and went towards the right.
After a moment, Yue Qinghong said softly, "We are done observing!"
Qin Mu waved his hand and Hu Ling'er immediately jumped out from the underbrush while the dragon qilin roared behind her and gave chase as if he was hunting.
The thirteen Daoists on the sacrificial altar were astonished but when they saw the fox and the dragon qilin, a Daoist smiled, "So it was a huge lion catching its prey…"
Before he could even finish his words, he saw a knife light flashed by. Qin Mu had already arrived at the sacrificial altar with each hand wielding a knife, the human head rolled down as he raised his hand!
Battle technique, Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
On this sacrificial altar that not was very large, a vertical and a horizontal knife light shone. The horizontal knife light beheaded that Daoist while the vertical knife light sliced down from the head of another female Daoist.
That female Daoist was a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm and even though she had never cultivated battle techniques before, she had a golden chain hanging around her forehead and in the middle of this chain was a jewel. Light burst forth from this jewel and blocked this knife from Qin Mu.
Qin Mu dragged his knife and the female Daoist's forehead bled. Her vital qi immediately burst forth and the horsetail whisk in her other hand bloomed like a flower that had countless petals. The thousands of threads from the horsetail whisk stabbed towards Qin Mu.
Her attacks just unleashed and she saw countless of sword light overwhelming her.
Midnight Battle Across Stormy Cities.
Qin Mu's footsteps moved and he avoided the horsetail whisk that was stabbing towards him and went behind the female Daoist's corpse which had not collapsed to the ground yet. Behind that female Daoist's corpse, there was a Daoist behind her.
That Daoist had already returned to his senses and yellow joss papers flew out from the pouch on his waist. However, at this moment, Qin Mu threw away his knives and jabbed with his fingers putting together. The vital qi at his fingertips turned into incomparably sharp sword light and penetrated through the heart of that Daoist's brows.
Behind Qin Mu, a dragon and an elephant rose into the sky. The dragon coiled around Yun Que as he stepped on the elephant and slaughtered towards a female Daoist. A loud boom sounded out as he smashed the female Daoist onto the sculpture of the devil god.
That female Daoist spat out blood and her vital qi burst forth, reflecting him away. She was about to kill him when a sword light flashed by and smeared her throat, giving off a soft clink sound.
This female Daoist's vital qi was so dense that she actually used her vital qi to block this sword, however, in the next moment, Chen Wanyun appeared beside her and grabbed the sword's hilt. With all his strength, he actually pushed her onto the devil god's sculpture and pulled out his sword forcefully, bursting forth with blood light.
Wolf slave's body flashed and he leaped onto the head of the sculpture. With two of his devil knives appearing and disappearing unpredictably, he hacked downwards. Meanwhile, Yue Qinghong stood on the shoulders of wolf slave and sharp swords flew out from the sword case on her back, turning into Drill Sword Form as she stabbed towards a Daoist below!
That Daoist grabbed a white banner stabbed on the altar and held the banner in a reverse grip. The white banner trembled and the runes on the banner lighted up and swam out like weird red snakes to block the two devil knives. Meanwhile, Yue Qinghong's Drill Sword Form drilled through the banner and tunneled into the heart of his brows.
At the same time, Si Yunxiang flashed past like a phantom and gave repeated blows with a kind of strange mudra, vibrating another female Daoist to death, shattering all her bones.
Chen Wanyun's heart leaped when he saw this, "Junior Sister Si hid her abilities well, her cultivation is extremely powerful!"
He leaped towards another Daoist and the Daoist suddenly jumped down from the altar to run away. Behind him, the yellow joss paper flew towards the sacrificial altar.
Chen Wanyun immediately gave chase but the yellow joss papers exploded one after another, blowing him away ruthlessly.
At the other side, Yun Que moved to block that Daoist, executing Great Five Platform Mudra to block that Daoist's way.
That Daoist sneered and splayed out his five fingers. Thunder burst forth from the heart of his palm and shook Yun Que's soul.
That Daoist put his mind at rest and shouted sternly, "A bunch of younger generation that hasn't even cultivated to Six Fusion Realm actually…"
Just as he said that, he felt a chill from the back of his heart and he lowered his head to see a sword piercing through his chest. He had totally no idea when that person behind him had closed in on him.
Qin Mu pulled out his sword and the person croaked, "Great body technique!" When he finished saying that, he collapsed to the ground and stopped breathing.
Qin Mu returned his sword into the sheath and on the altar, Yue Qinghong, wolf slave, and Si Yunxiang were still killing the other Daoist. They circled the altar and saw corpses surrounding the devil god's sculpture.
Some Daoists were not collapsed on the floor and were nailed to the devil god's sculpture. Some of the Daoists were hung on the white banner and some were turned into a pile of mush. Some of their heads were smashed by an iron hammer and they all died differently.
The three of them were shaken and Si Yunxiang inspected the corpses with a grave expression. These corpses had all suffered Qin Mu's ruthless attack in an instant and died before they could even unleash their divine arts.
"They all basically died from just one move," she thought to herself secretly and raised her eyes to look at Qin Mu.
Thirteen divine arts practitioners, even though their battle techniques weren't strong, divine arts practitioners were divine arts practitioners after all. Even though everyone said that it was sure death if a strong practitioner of the spell school was to be closed in by strong practitioners of the battle technique school, those were only casual talk.
If there was a difference in realm, battle techniques might not be able to break through the opponent's defensive divine arts.
Even though they had caught the enemies unprepared, Qin Mu's battle prowess was way too strong, his speed was also way too fast.
Qin Mu trembled his Junior Protector Sword and shook off the blood on his sword. Returning the sword into his sheath, he said, "Clean the battlefield and immediately destroy the devil god's sculpture!"
Just as he had said that, a loud boom suddenly came from not far away. Blood light shone among the black fog, dyeing the pitch black fog blood red.
That blood light was over three hundred yards high and they could even see it clearly while standing at the mountain col.
A terrifying power came surging from another world and pounded at where the blood light had burst forth from.
Following that, rumblings of thunder sounded out as bolts of lightning struck around the surroundings of the blood light. That was the bolts of lightning compressed out from the space by the terrifying power. If the power was too strong, the vibrating force would compress the space and cause the space to become unstable.
When space became unstable, the lightning hidden in the space would burst forth.
Everyone's expression turned into a daze as they saw an incomparably huge body gradually standing up at where the blood light and bolts of lightning were gathering at. That was a devil god with horns on his head and have four arms and four legs. Even though it was only a sculpture, towering flames overflowed from his body as if a devil god had descended into this world!
This devil god that had descended was even taller than this Deer Mountain and with smoke billowing out from its body, there were flames and rays of lightning mixed with the smoke. Meanwhile, the blood light soared into the sky and hung above his head.
"There was another place where the Great Mountain Sect was summoning another devil…"
Qin Mu's limbs turned icy cold. On the other side, the divine arts practitioners of Great Mountain Sect had succeeded in casting their spell and summoned the devil god over.
The gaze of that imposing devil god was like bolts of lightning interweaving each other. Wherever the gaze swept by, all the trees and rocks would be completely reduced to ashes with a fizzle.
Qin Mu let out a murky breath and said in a low voice, "Strip!"
Everyone was slightly stunned and Monk Yun Que muttered, "I have to undress again…"
Si Yunxiang understood what he meant and immediately undressed the clothes from the corpse on the ground. The other people also immediately understood Qin Mu's meaning and hurriedly took off the clothes of Great Mountain Sect's divine arts practitioners.
Qin Mu also wore the clothes of the Great Mountain Sect's disciple while instructing with a low voice, "Pluck out those white banners and pick up the talisman treasures as backup."
Chen Wanyun and the rest went forward to pluck out the white banner and pick up the talisman treasure. When they were all ready, they saw the devil god blustering towards the river surface, tremoring the huge waves of Surging River into the sky.
Everyone's expression changed hugely and the dragon qilin had also rushed over. Qin Mu said quickly, "We need to move away from here immediately, this place is no longer for us, scholars of Five Elements Realm, to have a footing. Are there any items on you that could represent you as an imperial scholar? Hand them all to me."
Yun Que took out his pass and book tablet while muttering, "Are we really going to send ourselves to death going to the southern border?"
Qin Mu kept everyone's passes and book tablets into his taotie's sack and said, "We are going to take a detour from the southern border. After we make it through this battlefield, we'll just have to cross the river and will be safe once we reach the north of the river."
He let out a murky breath and was about to order them to move off when he took a glance at the devil god's sculpture which was yet completed. His heart wavered and he carried this sculpture up, tying it on the dragon qilin's back.
"Let's go, to the south."
Everyone was in a heavy mood as they followed him and headed toward the south along the foothills.
After about three to four miles, they had finally walked out of the area shrouded by the black fog. Walking another three to four miles ahead, Qin Mu turned his head back and saw the black fog was like an incomparably huge black wok which was covered on the surroundings of Surging River, detaining both sides of the shores.
In the middle of the black fog was an enormous gate which opened access between life and death, connecting to the gate in the netherworld.
"I wonder how many people would survive in Lizhou," Qin Mu thought to himself.
Not long after, Qin Mu suddenly stopped, "The army is here."
Yun Que was delighted, "Army? Our Eternal Peace's army?"
Qin Mu shook his head and pointed forward, "The rebel army."
Everyone looked forward and there were dozens of ships flying towards them. The gonfanons were brandished on the ships and around each and every ship were strange beasts that were flying in the sky. There were strange beasts of shapes and sizes, having a numerous number of species.
Meanwhile, below the army in the sky, there were rows of soldiers that were made up by martial arts practitioners and divine arts practitioners. Among the soldiers, there were huge beasts that were strapped full with huge circular rocks. These beast were dozens of yards tall and was like moving mountains. With every step they took, the ground trembled endlessly.
Qin Mu and the rest stood at one side and let this huge army that was heading towards the battlefield at Surging River to pass. A general standing on one of the ship shot his lightning-like gaze over and swept Qin Mu and the rest before enquiring the officer beside him, "Who are those people?"
The officer beside him gave Qin Mu and the rest a few glances and said, "They seem to be disciples of Great Mountain Sect. I'll head down to ask them."
This general leaped down from the ship and everytime his feet landed, there would be a golden lotus blooming under his feet. With a lotus blooming with each footstep, he walked over to Qin Mu and the rest step by step, making everyone felt fear and trepidation in the face of disaster.
This was a great expert of Seven Stars Realm which could step on the void. If he wanted to kill them, it was as easy as blowing away a speck of dust!
That officer saw the devil god's sculpture on the dragon qilin's back and asked coldly, "Disciples of Great Mountain Sect, running without a fight, how should you be punished?"
Qin Mu bowed and replied in a neither servile nor overbearing tone, "Our Great Mountain Sect has tried our best. We have already summoned out a devil god to assist in the battle, not only are we not guilty, we've done a meritorious deed instead."
That officer gave a cold snort, "However, you've escaped from the battle, this is a crime punishable by death, to be beheaded on the spot!"
Qin Mu had an expression of grief and indignation as he protested, "We suffered from the sneak attack of Lizhou and among my thirteen brothers and sisters, seven of them had died in battle, only the six of us are left! When we are putting our lives on the line, where are your people? Our Great Mountain Sect has already been exterminated and only we're left, do you really want all of us to die there? General, leave some seeds for our Great Mountain Sect!"
That general hesitated and raised his head to look up.
On the ship in the sky, that general said solemnly, "There are already very little people in Great Mountain Sect so there's no need to delve into this. They had already done a great deed by summoning one devil god out to assist in the battle. Let them execute their spells to affirm their identity before letting them go."
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que and the rest broke out in cold sweat. They had never cultivated before the spells of Great Mountain Sect.
Qin Mu executed a talisman treasure and the general's voice came sounding out, "Not a talisman treasure, spells."
Qin Mu's vital qi circulated and his vital qi turned into a rune which shone onto the body of the devil god's sculpture, lighting up a rune on the devil god sculpture.
That general bowed and said, "General Xiaoyi, this is indeed Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command of Great Mountain Sect."
General Xiaoyi on the ship waved his hand, "Let them go, move the army and attack Lizhou… Halt!"
General Xiaoyi's gaze landed on Qin Mu and the rest, a smile curled up on his lips, "Send them to Heaven Wave City and let them summon a devil god there as well."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Heaven Wave City?" Qin Mu and the rest had a slight change in expression. They felt they had just escaped from the wolf pack and into the tiger's den.
General Xiaoyi smiled, "Great Mountain Sect's Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command is indeed powerful. Heaven Wave City is also attacking the opposite shore therefore if there's a devil god assisting them, there would be much lesser casualties in Heaven Wave City. Lin Ding, you'll follow them.
That officer immediately acknowledged.
General Xiaoyi waved his hand and let the army be on their way. Qin Mu and the rest bowed and when the army had passed by, that Officer Lin Ding smiled, "Junior brothers, let us head for Heaven Wave City."
Qin Mu's expression remained unchanged and said, "Please, Officer Lin."
Lin Ding smiled, "Your Great Mountain Sect has done a meritorious deed and even though there are only a few of you left, you could still summon devil god forward to assist us in battle. You guys will definitely reestablish your sect and shine. Even though you are still quite young, I admire this kind of miraculous ability."
Qin Mu laughed out loud with a face full of glory, "We're indebted to officer's lucky words. That's right officer, I see you're not that old yet your cultivation is high, may I dare to ask what is officer's realm now?"
"Peak of Seven Stars Realm, however, it's always hard to advance to Celestial Being Realm."
Lin Ding sigh ruefully, "Celestial Being is hard and now that the world is in turmoil, we will have to enforce justice on behalf of heaven, to clean up the laws and discipline of the imperial court, to get rid of Imperial Preceptor that renegade. This is a chance and I might just be able to take this chance to have a breakthrough. You guys might be young but you must grasp this chance as well."
He saw everyone looking somewhat puzzled and said solemnly, "Since ancient times, heroes are born from the battlefield. The more chaotic the world becomes, the easier it is to improve. Why is that so? This is because when the strong practitioners clash, their philosophies collide and all kinds of divine arts, paths and skills would emerge, broadening one's horizons, raising their knowledge and experience. The pressure from strong practitioners, pressure from life and death, would push ourselves forward with acute determination, continuing to improve. For example, the Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command of your Great Mountain Sect, who would execute this kind of spell in times of peace? The more chaotic it gets, the more chances they would be able to be executed, only then would one improve."
Chen Wanyun and the rest felt that his words were very logical.
This time, Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command, this kind of neglected spells had really broadened their horizons. After Great Mountain Sect was exterminated, their remnant disciples could actually still summon a devil god to assist in battle. How astonishing was the battle prowess of that devil god!
A mere unremarkable spell could actually give forth to such an astonishing power, truly shaking them.
In addition to that, Soul Guide was also an unremarkable spell which didn't have much power. When they saw this kind of spell in Floor of Heavenly Records, they would usually throw them aside and not further study them.
In terms of the power of spells, there were thousands of spells in Floor of Heavenly Records that would surpass these two unremarkable spells.
However, it was a low-level spell like Soul Guide that had changed the situation of the entire war just like that, causing a border commander like Yuyuan Chuyu to suffer a huge setback, making it difficult to protect Lizhou.
Soul Guide and Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command absolutely had no power but by using these spells at the right situation, the power this kind of neglected spells could unleash would far surpass the power of a magnificent army with thousands of men and horses!
This Officer Lin Ding may be the opposing force but his experience surpassed them.
This also stressed them. Since Officer Lin Ding's experience and strength much higher than theirs, if he discovered any tiny hints, they would probably die miserably!
Furthermore, even if Officer Lin Ding couldn't find any flaw with them, they would still die if they couldn't summon the devil god when they reached Heaven Wave City.
Even if they summoned the devil god which would massacre the army of Eternal Peace, they would still have to die when they returned to the capital city.
No matter how they looked at it, it was a sure death ending.
"If we could attack him mercilessly all together, will we be able to get rid of this great expert?"
Qin Mu calculated secretly and felt his victory was uncertain. Unless he could make the dragon qilin make a move, however, with the dragon qilin's temperament of always resigning himself to adversity, it would probably be hard to make him put his life on the line.
"We can get rid of thirteen divine arts practitioners so why can't we deal with an expert of Seven Stars Realm?"
Qin Mu's gaze wavered. They walked several miles forward and they suddenly heard yells coming over. A band of bandits came slaughtering over and these bandits weren't weak at all. The head of the bandits was a divine arts practitioners while the others were martial arts practitioners.
Everyone was lusting to kill when Officer Lin Ding smiled, "Don't worry. They're merely some vermins, let them come."
Those bandits slaughtered over and Officer Lin Ding only raised a hand and unleashed a mudra. With the thunder in palm bursting forth, a loud boom sounded out with a flash of white light, exploding the bodies of the dozens of bandits. Even the divine arts practitioner also exploded on the spot and died.
"Thunder in palm of the battle technique school!"
Qin Mu's heart leaped and instantly felt a thorny problem in his hand. Against strong practitioners of battle technique school, sneak attack was completely useless. They were all martial arts practitioners of Five Elements Realm, therefore if they jumped on him, they would at most be scratching Officer Lin Ding's back and wouldn't be able to hurt him.
With anxiousness in their hearts, they could only follow Officer Lin Ding towards Heaven Wave City.
Qin Mu asked, "General Lin Ding, may I ask what's the background of General Xiaoyi?"
Officer Lin Ding revealed an expression of admiration and said, "General Xiaoyi is the crown prince of Justice Exist Country and after Justice Exist Country was annexed, the emperor was conferred as king with a different surname while General Xiaoyi was conferred as Prince Xiaoyi. Now that Imperial Preceptor is throwing the skills in this world into disorder, this is for the path of the devil. This is a chance for General Xiaoyi and he might just be able to rebuild his empire. Heaven Wave City is right ahead."
In front of them, there was an unbroken chain of mountain peak beside the shore of Surging River. The mountains forced Surging River to go around them and Heaven Wave City was building on the mountains that cut into Surging River. Below was sheer cliffs and precipitous rock faces which caused Surging River to become more urgent here. Whenever the towering waves slapped onto the cliffs, they would give off world-shaking bangs.
The waves which were shattered then rose high into the sky, as if there were countless of white jade pearls falling from the white clouds in the sky.
Waves slapping the clouds right up to heaven, this was how Heaven Wave City came about.
At this moment, there were soldiers of the rebel army everywhere in Heaven Wave City which were looking at the army of Eternal Peace Empire across the river, holding on to their weapons and waiting for the time to make their move.
Officer Lin Ding brought them to Heaven Wave City and said, "The person guarding this place is an existence of the cult master level, the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect! You must have heard him before, right? Even though the ability of the dragon king isn't that high, he had raised a flood dragon and this flood dragon is powerful. It can kill strong practitioners of Life and Death Realm without a problem. Eh, that's the son of the dragon king in front, Long Jiaonan."
The general keeping watch was a pretty and flirtatious male wearing a brightly colored gown. There was heavy makeup on his face and looked very provoking to the eyes. It was the young sect master of Dragon Rider Sect, Long Jiaonan.
Officer Lin Ding brought Qin Mu forward to make some inquiries. Long Jiaonan exchanged greeting with him and was slightly stunned when he suddenly saw Qin Mu, "This person looks familiar…"
Qin Mu felt alarmed in his heart and lowered his head to greet,
When he entered the capital city for the first time, he had taken the ship that was heading towards the capital city with Wei Yong from River Tomb. Long Jiaonan had controlled a huge snake to fly in mid-air and killed everyone on the ship, leaving only him and Wei Yong escaping for their lives.
In the hurry, Long Jiaonan may have seen his face before.
"These few are the disciples of Great Mountain Sect."
Officer Lin Ding introduced, "They summoned a devil god in Deer County thus General Xiaoyi had wanted them to cast their spells here in Heaven Wave City, to summon a devil god to assist us in the battle."
Long Jiaonan couldn't remember where he had met Qin Mu before but her eyes lit up and she chuckled, "Summoning the devil god? Well, this is interesting. What magical artifact do you guys need? I'll prepare them for you."
Qin Mu immediately said, "We only need a white bone sacrificial altar that's thirteen by thirteen yards wide. It would have to be constructed using bones and the platform of the altar would have to be laid out with skulls. The eyes sockets of the skulls must be facing upwards and cannot be sloppy."
"How troublesome."
Long Jiaonan smiled, "In times of chaos, corpses are plentiful. Wait a moment, I'll order people to prepare the sacrificial altar. If the bones aren't enough, we'll kill some people to make up for it. The lives of Heaven Wave City's people are worthless."
Qin Mu said, "We are executing a secret art so we can't be disturbed, therefore could General Long…"
Long Jiaonan gave him coquettish glances and Qin Mu felt goosebumps popping up. Long Jiaonan smiled, "I understand, you can be at ease. I'll station the soldiers outside of the sacrificial altar. However, if you can't summon the devil god and make a fool out of me, I'll be sure to violate you thoroughly."
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que and wolf slave felt their hairs standing on ends. On the other hand, Si Yunxiang and Yue Qinghong still felt normal.
Not long after, Long Jiaonan had already ordered his subordinates to build a white bone sacrificial altar in Heaven Wave City. This altar was situated in the city lord's manor. Long Jiaonan dismissed the soldiers and made them station outside so they couldn't observe Qin Mu and the rest casting their spells.
Qin Mu looked around and saw over a hundred soldiers stationed outside and it was pretty impossible for them to leave.
"What should we do?"
On the sacrificial altar, everyone looked at Qin Mu. Chen Wanyun said with a low voice, "We're now deep in the enemies' territory, Se...senior Uncle Qin, you'll make the call!"
He finally changed and called Qin Mu senior uncle. Even though Yun Que and Yue Qinghong were bewildered, they didn't probe.
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Of course we cast spells to summon the devil, inviting the devil god over."
Yun Que jumped in shock and cried out, "We have not learned the spells of Great Mountain Sect before, how do we summon the devil god?"
"I've learned before."
Qin Mu carried the devil god's sculpture over and placed it on the sacrificial altar. He then stabbed the white banner at the four corners and said, "I'll be the one summoning and dispatch this devil god over. Great Mountain Sect requires thirteen people to execute this spell but I feel I can do it alone as well, although it would be slightly troublesome."
Yun Que said with hesitation, "Our whole family would be hung if we summon a devil god to massacre Eternal Peace Empire's army…"
"Don't worry, there should definitely be some trick to summon the devil god, they won't let the devil god go on a rampage otherwise the people summoning the devil god would have died as well."
Qin Mu's gaze wavered and he spat out a murky breath, "If we summon the devil god over and make him attack Heaven Wave City, I think we can escape while chaos ensues… You guys guard the surroundings and be careful of any movements, I'll cast the spell."
Everyone immediately stood guard around the sacrificial altar. Qin Mu took out the talisman treasure and took a look at the runes on the one thousand and twenty-four surfaces, memorizing them by heart. He then looked at the runes on the devil god's sculpture, comparing them one by one before muttering to himself irresolutely and beginning to cast the spell.
His vital qi burst forth and his vital qi threads raised the thirteen talisman treasures up in mid-air, surrounding the devil god's sculpture. An obscure and ancient language sounded out from his nasal cavity and his oral cavity as his vital qi started to push the talisman treasures to transform, lighting up the runes on the talisman treasures one after another. The runes then shone onto the devil god's sculpture, lighting up the runes that were imprinted around the sculpture of the devil god.
Chen Wanyun and the rest were bewildered. The language coming out from Qin Mu's mouth was not the language they normally spoke. It was slightly similar to the language Great Mountain Sect gave off when they were summoning the devil but it seemed to be even more profound.
"It's the devil language," Si Yunxiang said in a low voice.
The runes of this devil god's sculpture lit up one by one. Controlling thirteen talisman treasures required one to memorize over a thousand runes and their arrangement. Even though Qin Mu had not yet master Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery, the memory had already improved by leaps and bounds thus he could control them calmly.
An hour later, more than half of the runes on this devil god's sculpture had already been lighted up by him. At the same time, when he was chanting devil language, he felt that he had gradually made a connection with a being from another dark world in the depths of space and time through this sculpture.
And at this moment, over ten Daoists brought another devil god's sculpture and hurried to Heaven Wave City. When Officer Lin Ding saw these Daoists, he immediately welcomed them with a smile, "You guys from Great Mountain Sect had come just right, your junior brothers and junior sisters are currently summoning the devil in the city, it's been quite some time."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
That Great Mountain Sect's Daoist in the lead was astonished, "Junior brother and junior sisters? This general might not know that the disciples of our Great Mountain Sect were split into two groups to Deer County so as to invite the gods over. Luckily, we have succeeded in inviting a devil god over; however, the other group of disciples has all been murdered. The devil god's sculpture and talisman treasures were robbed, as well as their clothes!"
Officer Lin Ding's expression changed hugely and he cried out, "If those that are summoning the devil now aren't the disciples of your Great Mountain Sect, then who could they be?"
That Daoist's eyes lighted up as he heard the faint chanting coming from the city lord's manor and said coldly, "I would also like to know who they are… This is bad, the person summoning the devil has already made a connection with the devil god in the devil realm! Let us hurry over!"
Lin Ding's eyes twitched irregularly as he hurriedly rushed towards the direction of the city lord's manor while shouting sternly, "Young sect master, quickly give the order to execute those demons in the city lord's manor!"
In the city lord's manor, Qin Mu felt his consciousness entering deep into another world through this devil god's sculpture and his consciousness traveled throughout this darkness before stopping suddenly.
In front of him was a boundless space and time of darkness. Next, a humongous eye which was filled with scarlet red flames opened up in the darkness. In front of this eye, he was minute like a speck of dust.
Hmmm.
On Qin Mu's left, another humongous eye opened up and after that, another eye opened up above this two eyes. The pupil of the third eye contracted and its gaze slowly moved before landing on his body.
"Weakling, you are summoning me, summoning the Dutian Devil King that rules the borderless territory of Dutian."
Those three eyes gradually rose into the sky and went further and further away from Qin Mu's consciousness; however, they were still incomparably huge. Only now did Qin Mu notice there was still light beside his body, and he was like a lamp in the darkness.
He looked at himself standing on the altar. The altar gave off a white glow and looked incomparably minute in the darkness, looking insignificant.
The altar and he on the altar seemed to have come to another world.
"You are summoning my strength!"
A voice resonated out from the center of the three eyes, far and high up. The voice bombarded his consciousness and trembling back and forth, "You are summoning me to your world, to massacre, to battle!"
Qin Mu said humbly, "Oh the great Dutian Devil King, I pray for your descend. I shall sacrifice to you thousands of powerful lives, all the divine arts practitioners of Heaven Wave City."
The three eyes suddenly burst into flames and an earth-shaking voice resonated out, "As you wish!"
The sacrificial altar below Qin Mu's feet suddenly lighted up and the rays spread out in all directions. In an instant, the entire Heaven Wave City appeared in the darkness.
Qin Mu looked around and his heart pounded. The entire Heaven Wave City was under his eyes and all the people in Heaven Wave City were in his eyes. Every action and what they were wearing were all in his eyes, down to the very last detail.
Following that, human figures started to disappear one after another from the city and only the divine arts practitioners were left in the city.
Those that had disappeared from the city were martial arts practitioners that had yet reached Six Directions Realm and the ordinary people. These people didn't really disappear from Heaven Wave City and instead, this Dutian Devil King was confirming his sacrifices!
Qin Mu hurriedly pointed to the dragon qilin beside the altar and said, "This dragon qilin isn't part of the sacrifices offered to the great Dutian Devil King."
"Shut up."
An eerie and sinister voice came out from the back of those three eyes. Qin Mu saw another three more huge eyes spinning over behind these three eyes, "You have no rights to command Dutian Devil King! I'll borrow your consciousness to descend onto this city!"
Qin Mu suddenly felt his body becoming stiff and was unable to move as an incomparably terrifying strength surged over from another world!
Rumble—
Violent tremors traveled from the surroundings of the sacrificial altars. Blood light soared into the sky, reaching several hundred yards and as Qin Mu bathed in the blood light, he could feel a terrifying strength descending onto this world through his consciousness and surging towards the body of the devil god's sculpture.
The runes on the surface of the devil god's sculpture were like weird eyes frantically absorbing the energy surging over from another world. The surface of the devil god's sculpture cracked continuously and the wood chips exploded out in all directions.
This devil god's sculpture became larger and larger as dense light leaked out from the cracked lines. Flesh could be faintly seen growing in the insides of the devil god's sculpture which was made from wood!
In a blink of an eye, the devil god's sculpture on the altar had grown dozens of yard tall and was still continuing to grow.
Qin Mu only felt his consciousness splitting apart. Not only had the energy of Dutian Devil King descended, Dutian Devil King's consciousness had also come bombarding over. That was a sinister, terrifying and irritable consciousness. This made Qin Mu's consciousness became insignificant in front of this terrifying consciousness as if he could be crushed any moment.
The nature of this devil king was extremely violent and he didn't care whether Qin Mu live or die. He just transferred his consciousness and strength from a space and time far away, pouring them into the devil god's sculpture.
The devil god's sculpture was still expanding and becoming bigger, thus all the wood had already shattered and turned into a body of flesh!
Kacha, kacha.
There were rolling thunders all around the altar as numerous bolts of lightning struck here and there, forcing Chen Wanyun and the rest to move back continuously. The dragon qilin and Hu Ling'er were moving back continuously as well. The violent aura of that devil god's sculpture forced the dragon qilin unable to have his footing.
Beneath the feet of the devil god's sculpture, Qin Mu's body was trembling as a wound opened up at the heart of his brows. Fizzling sparks shot out from the heart of his brows and shone on the devil god's sculpture.
Within the sparks was the consciousness of the Dutian Devil King. His consciousness was so strong that he nearly destroyed Qin Mu's consciousness.
Qin Mu's forehead was non-stop bleeding and there were even smells of fresh blood burning. He couldn't move at all. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and forcefully executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to protect his consciousness.
His train of thoughts had already stopped but luckily for him, the pressure on him lessened considerably when Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique started circulating. Suddenly, Qin Mu felt the circulation of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had added some stuff into his own body.
The sounds of slaughter shook the heaven as the spirit weapons bombarded over like clouds, causing him unable to ponder over it.
Sounds of tremors rang beside his ear as the devil god's sculpture placed down that raised leg, collapsing countless of buildings in the city lord's manor from the vibrations. Before the spirit weapons could even reach close, they were all blown up into pieces.
"Devil Withdraw Command!"
Several Daoists rushed in from outside and when the Daoist in lead saw this sight, his eyes couldn't help opening wide from anger. The dozen and more Daoists hurriedly patted the rune pouches on their waists, causing countless of yellow joss paper to fly out from the rune pouch.
Written on these yellow joss papers were weird runes that were different from Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command. The countless of yellow joss paper linked with each other and formed a huge yellow screen.
The countless of runes on the yellow joss papers could actually link one another from head to tail, forming an incomparably huge and complicated character.
The secret arts of Great Mountain Sect, Devil Withdraw Command!
About a dozen of Daoists of Great Mountain Sect chanted in chorus and pushed their vital qi to activate this complicated character on the yellow screen. Devil Withdraw Command lighted up and shone towards Dutian Devil King.
Just as Devil Withdraw Command shone onto the body of Dutian Devil King, the eyes of Dutian Devil King opened up one by one and a bolt of lightning shot out from his gaze, tearing Devil Withdraw Command into pieces. About a dozen of Daoists under Devil Withdraw Command was also shone by his gaze and they turned into ashes!
However, as Devil Withdraw Command shone onto Dutian Devil King's body, Qin Mu instantly felt the heart of his brows turning light suddenly and as if relieved of a heavy load. He regained control of his body and hurriedly retreated.
There were still some puzzles in his heart. This devil god that he had summoned seemed to be slightly different. He didn't listen to him at all. He was extremely cruel and didn't care whether he lived or died at all. This devil god that he had summoned out was probably no ordinary devil god!
"Let us retreat!"
Qin Mu rapidly came to the others and shouted, "Big Dragon, show your true form and bring us out of the city!"
The dragon qilin gave a roar and heat waves instantly swept out, blowing Yue Qinghong and Yun Que away. Chen Wanyun and the wolf slave lost their footing and moved back a few steps while Si Yunxiang's body just swayed and didn't move back at all.
The dragon qilin's body expanded and grew larger, with true fire blazing around his body. He instantly turned into a huge creature that was over four hundred feet long. His height was even taller than the city tower and as his body moved, the air around him exploded continuously from being compressed.
Qin Mu flew and came to Yue Qinghong and Yun Que's side in a flash to grab the both of them. With his fleeting footsteps, he came to the dragon qilin's side and jumped up on the dragon qilin's back.
Chen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang also jumped up and Qin Mu shouted, "Run! Run as fast as possible!"
Fire clouds grew under the feet of the dragon qilin and rose into the sky. At this moment, they heard Dutian Devil King's voice coming from their back, vibrating the air, "Run? Where to? Finally, someone has summoned me, I had not imparted out the spells of Dutian in vain. I'll construct a sacrificial altar here and build a passage to summon my true body, to summon the people of my Dutian! Hahaha, you will all be the skeletons on my sacrificial altar!"
His huge hand came grabbing over and the air in the surrounding was almost solidified, freezing the dragon qilin which was running in the air. The dragon qilin pushed his magic power and the flame clouds raged yet he was unable to move at all.
As this Dutian Devil King was about to grab hold of them, a dragon roar suddenly sounded out. A middle-aged man rode a flood dragon and pounced over viciously. With its body coiled around the Dutian Devil King, the flood dragon spew out lightning and fire at the face of Dutian Devil King.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man stood on the head of the flood dragon, stabbing the head of Dutian Devil King with the sword lights flashing in his hand.
Qin Mu and the rest were free from the constraints and the dragon qilin immediately rose into the sky, rushing out of the city. Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief, "The dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect is here!"
At this moment, a miserable cry sounded out. The cult master level flood dragon was actually pulled apart forcefully by the Dutian Devil King, whose punch made both the flood dragon and the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect spat blood and fell back.
"Raaah—"
The four faces of Dutian Devil King opened their mouths and shouted with all their might. The earth-shaking sound waves surged forth, causing countless of people to bleed from all their orifices.
The dragon qilin's body also swayed from the roars and suddenly all twelve eyes of Dutian Devil King lighted up brightly. With bolts of lightning interweaving each other, they swept over from all directions, slicing through countless of experts in Heaven Wave City that were pouncing over. The dragon qilin was also hit in his butt and snarled in pain, falling from the sky.
Luckily for him, his skin was thick thus he wasn't killed by Dutian Devil King's gaze.
The dragon qilin landed in the city and his body shrank as he stumbled. Qin Mu and the rest hurriedly came down from his back only to see Dutian Devil King sweeping all the experts in the city lord's manor while chuckling, "I was the one who had imparted Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command, you weaklings wouldn't have thought of it, am I right? I will use your corpses to construct a huge sacrificial altar to let my true body to descend! The people of my Dutian shall descend into this world!"
Yue Qinghong was dazed and muttered, "Academician, what kind of devil have you summoned…"
Qin Mu was also a little dumbstruck, "I don't know either… Let us leave quickly, Long Jiaonan is coming over!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
They quickly brought the dragon qilin to head out. The dragon qilin had suffered an injury thus his legs were inconvenient. Hu Ling'er jumped onto Qin Mu's back and immediately cast a spell to summon a tornado, sweeping this dragon qilin into the whirlwind and brought him along.
Meanwhile, behind them, Heaven Wave City which was constructed on the mountain range beside the river was collapsing. As the huge devil king fought numerous strong practitioners in the city, he actually had the free time to use the flesh and bones of the people he killed to build his sacrificial altar.
Bloody bones and skulls continuous flew through the air and landed under his feet, building a layer very quickly.
His true body was still located in that so-called Dutian and only his magic power and consciousness had descended, yet the strength of his abilities had already surpassed strong practitioners of the cult master level.
In the city, the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect was not the only expert of the cult master level. There were also other stronger practitioners of the Life and Death Realm as well as the Divine Bridge Realm. However, even when they attacked all together, they were helpless against Dutian Devil King and got injured one after another.
As for the army stationed in the city, the thousands of divine arts practitioners were all injured in Dutian Devil King's roars and countless of them were killed by the twelve gazes of Dutian Devil King.
The city was in a piece of chaos and countless soldiers were escaping for their lives in undisciplined crowds and some even jumped straight into the river, however, they were all smashed into pieces on the mountain cliff by the towering huge waves of Surging River.
The soldiers in the city were usually disciples from each and every sect and lacked the discipline they had in the military. When they met something terrifying like this, they just broke down instantly and had no morale at all. It was absolutely impossible for their armed forces to cooperate and trap Dutian Devil King using formations.
When Qin Mu followed Chancellor Ba Shan to the area beyond the Great Wall for experience, the combined strength of eight hundred strong practitioners of the prairie could wear down Chancellor Ba Shan's divine arts, Heavenly Spirits Escarpment, forcing him to retreat again and again.
Chancellor Ba Shan was a strong practitioner of the cult master level and was even forced to retreat. With thousands of divine arts practitioners and martial arts practitioners in Heaven Wave City, if they cooperated with each other, they would probably be able to contend with Dutian Devil King for a short period of time. However, each and every sect was like a sheet of loose sand, unable to be gathered together. Escaping for their lives were more important.
Qin Mu looked back and saw Long Jiaonan chasing desperately, however, it didn't look like he was chasing after them.
"Oh right, Long Jiaonan is also running for his life," Qin Mu came to a realization.
Boom—
Terrifying vibrations burst forth from the clash of the strong practitioners. Buildings crumbled and disintegrated in mid-air while Qin Mu and the rest were lifted into the air by the terrifying vibrations. Countless of people flail their limbs and flew off in all directions.
Boom, boom! When they were still in mid-air, another few terrifying vibrations came traveling over and Qin Mu vomited blood continuously. He hurriedly grabbed Hu Ling'er down from his backpack and embraced her tightly so that Hu Ling'er wouldn't be vibrated to death.
When the fourth vibration rushed over, Qin Mu grunted and executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His body and soul immediately became incomparably durable but he was still blown away.
Thud.
Qin Mu crashed into the ground and tumbled several times before coming to a stop. He crashed into a forest and the gale whooshed past the top of the forest, slicing countless crowns of the trees off.
That was the aftermath of the divine arts from the strong practitioners of Heaven Wave City.
Blood flowed out from the corner of Qin Mu's mouth and his eyes stared wide open as he felt a suffocation in his chest. After a moment, he suddenly gasped for huge breaths and he heard a pop sound coming from his chest; his chest should be damaged.
He panted heavily and took Hu Ling'er out from his chest. Hu Ling'er was also injured quite badly and had fainted. Qin Mu hurriedly took out a jade bottle from his taotie's sack. Pinching her mouth open, he poured a few drops of dragon's saliva into his mouth.
After a moment, Hu Ling'er gradually woke up and was in a daze. She then said with a sobbing tone, "I have lost big dragon!"
The dragon qilin had inconvenience in walking thus Hu Ling'er had summoned a tornado with her spells and let this dragon qilin sit on the tornado, allowing him to float in mid-air. The few vibrations that had traveled over earlier destroyed her spells and blew the dragon qilin far away as well.
Qin Mu consoled her, "It's okay, big dragon was merely hurt on the butt and he will heal himself, although I'm afraid he might not be able to reach the wound to lick it. Furthermore, I have also lost Chen Wanyun and the rest."
"Big dragon is very valuable."
Hu Ling'er sobbed, "Chen Wanyun and the rest are worthless…"
Qin Mu got up and circulated his vital qi, expelling the extravasated blood from his chest. He then picked her up and said, "Let's go find them."
Just as he said that, his body became stiff. Sounds of trees collapsing came from the depths of the forest and a huge snake gradually slithered out from the forest, pushing the trees down from both sides.
That huge snake was the one that destroyed the ship that Qin Mu and Wei Yong took when they were heading to the capital city.
The huge creature that Long Jiaonan raised!
"Keke, keke…"
Violent coughs came from the head of the snake. Qin Mu raised his head and saw a pretty man in disheveled clothes sitting on the flat head of the snake coughing and spitting blood.
Thousands of holes were on his flowery gown and even the rogue and powder on his face were smeared, looking battered and exhausted.
"You destroyed Heaven Wave City, destroyed my Dragon Rider Sect!'
Long Jiaonan stood up shakily from the head of the huge snake, seemingly crying yet not crying. Her gaze landed on Qin Mu's body and Qin Mu shivered with fear as he steadily moved back step by step.
Long Jiaonan was an expert and had faced off with the bow and arrow cavalry as well as the sword guards outside the capital city. Even they didn't manage to hold him back and let him escape unscathed.
"Who exactly are you?"
The huge flowery crown snake raised its head up and looked down at Qin Mu. Long Jiaonan screeched, "Did Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor send you?"
Qin Mu didn't say a word and moved back to the side of a huge tree, suddenly his body disappeared in a flash as he hid himself behind the tree.
Long Jiaonan shrieked and stretched his hand forward to grab. His vital qi transformed into a huge hand and crushed the huge tree into pieces!
However, there was no trace of Qin Mu behind the huge tree. Long Jiaonan turned frantic and raised his hands forwards. The ground trembled continuously as sharp rock spikes pierced out from the ground. In the radius of dozens of yards, there were these kinds of rock spikes everywhere, turning the area into a rock forest.
"Run? You can't run."
That huge snake slithered its body and crushed all the rock spikes as it moved forward. Meanwhile, Long Jiaonan, who was on the snake's head, seemed to be injured as his body squirmed on the head of the snake as if he was a human snake. After squirming for some time, his head suddenly split open and then his face. Another head popped out.
He continued squirming like a snake and not long after, he shed a human skin and Long Jiaonan stood naked. He fetched a set of new clothes and slowly wore it while looking around and chuckling, "I know you haven't left far away and are still lying low around here, I can feel your gaze. You're admiring my body…"
About three hundred yards away from him, Qin Mu was squatting in the crown of a huge tree and fixed his gaze on the body of Long Jiaonan who had gone through a transformation, "Dragon Rider Sect sure has peculiar techniques, to actually be able to shed his own skin and change into a new body. However, didn't they say Long Jiaonan was the son of Dragon Rider Sect's dragon king? How come he's a woman with a plump chest…"
In the instant he hid his body behind the tree, he immediately raised his clothes up and teleported away, avoiding Long Jiaonan's sure kill strike. However, his cultivation wasn't high thus he couldn't teleport far away. He could only teleport up to six hundred yards and couldn't leave this forest.
What made him the most astonished was this technique that Long Jiaonan cultivated. Long Jiaonan had injuries on his body yet after he had shed his skin, there was actually no injuries at all.
Furthermore, the Long Jiaonan that had crawled out was naked like a baby. Only now did Qin Mu realize that his body was different from his own and looked like a woman with an alluring body.
"He trained his chest much firmer than mine, I won't be able to train to this step."
Qin Mu exclaimed secretly, "Is he a male or a female? Or could it be, she's a female but the dragon king wished for a boy, therefore, he had given her the name Jiaonan which meant a delicate boy? The dragon king had most probably raised her as a boy, resulting in her such a queer appearance."
His gaze stayed on Long Jiaonan's body without blinking. If he blinked at this moment, the closing and opening of the eyes would reveal his position and it would be very easy for Long Jiaonan to get his location.
Long Jiaonan had such overbearing and powerful divine arts, therefore, he was absolutely not his or her opponent.
Furthermore, the teleportation clothing could only teleport him three to four times before his cultivation would be exhausted, making it difficult for him to escape Long Jiaonan's chase.
He also couldn't just keep staring at Long Jiaonan, for experts like Long Jiaonan, her senses were extremely sharp and could most probably follow his gaze to find his location.
Long Jiaonan was still slowly wearing her clothes with her back facing Qin Mu. Suddenly fine goosebumps appeared on the skin of her neck as she chuckled, "You're staring at my neck. Does my neck look nice?"
Qin Mu's pupils contracted as the area of goosebumps on Long Jiaonan's neck gradually shrank. She had already confirmed Qin Mu's exact location!
Qin Mu raised his clothes and an explosion sounded out beside his ear. His figure vanished in the divine art explosion.
Long Jiaonan's shirt was half buttoned and she quickly retracted her palm back. The huge snake carried her and slithered at its fastest speed yet they didn't find any traces of Qin Mu. She suddenly raised her head and saw a person sprint frantically in the sky as he stepped on the air.
"You can't run!"
The huge snakes under her feet spewed out a demon gas and rose into the air, chasing after Qin Mu.
In mid-air, the two of them saw the sight in Heaven Wave City and was dumbstruck. They saw the city constructed on the mountain had already been completely demolished, and in its place, there was a sacrificial altar formed from blood and bones!
Dutian Devil King stood on the sacrificial altar and was fighting two people. One of them was the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect who was with his flood dragon while the other people was a cult master level existence at the Divine Bridge Realm.
These two people were in great danger and could be killed by Dutian Devil King anytime. The devil language coming out from Dutian Devil King's mouth was much more profound than the devil language Qin Mu used to summon him!
Above Heaven Wave City, the sky was spiraling and warping. Suddenly, thunder rumbled and lightning struck as the sky got ripped open and faintly showed a space of darkness!
In that dark space, there seemed to be something moving and suddenly, a bogeyman with two heads and two eyes flew out from the vortex that was spinning crazily.
The bogeyman stopped in the air and gave two shouts towards the vortex
Buzz.
Numerous black spots spew out from the vortex and covered the entire sky in a piece of black as they rushed towards Heaven Wave City.
Those were the heavenly devils of Dutian!
Ten of thousands of heavenly devils were pouring in from Dutian and the heavenly devils were killing one another. Their corpses fell from the sky like rain and accumulated on the sacrificial altar, causing the sacrificial altar in Heaven Wave City to grow even larger.
Blood rain started to fall from the sky.
There were also some heavenly devils that had higher positions holding scepters as they descended from the sky. They landed on the sacrificial altar in Heaven Wave City and chanted an ancient and abstruse devil language as they surrounded the sacrificial altar. Countless magnificent runes instantly appeared in the sky above the sacrificial altar, which was incomparably bright.
"I might have created a disaster even greater than paralyzing the entire Imperial College…" Qin Mu thought to himself as the corner of his eyes twitched.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Long Jiaonian also hesitated for a moment and the vortex which was currently above Heaven Wave City had already become a passage to another world. The heavenly devils that swarmed out from the vortex were getting stronger and stronger and the heavenly devil horde flooded in from the sky.
"Leave, my people of our Dutian, leave the crumbling dark world of ours and head for the new world!"
Dutian Devil King stood on the sacrificial altar and opened his eight arms to welcome the heavenly devils that were descending down while shouting with a world-shaking voice, "Come, my people. This new world isn't desolate like Dutian, there are beautiful women, endless food and the people guarding this world are all weaklings, let us trample on them!"
Long Jiaonan saw her own father was already under the feet of this devil king. Even the flood dragon that her father had raised laid on the ground, unable to move.
Meanwhile, the other existence of the cult master level was already beheaded. His head was plucked off by Dutian Devil King who was raising it high up in of his hand.
"Is Dragon Rider Sect really going to be finished?" Sorrow swept through her heart.
The heavenly devil horde in the sky fell like rain and attacked the soldiers that were escaping in all directions. Qin Mu was also blasted out of the sky and fell to the ground with a few thumps. Six to seven heavenly devils crashed down around him and gradually stood up.
Qin Mu was no stranger to the heavenly devil horde. He had traveled through Great Ruins with Village Chief at night and met the heavenly devil horde when he was searching for Carefree Village, and he had also killed quite a number of them.
The body of these heavenly devil horde was strong and grew in all shapes and sizes, which was different from humans. Furthermore, they cultivate devil qi and was proficient in close combat and spells. Their divine arts are queer but not as intricate as human's.
When these heavenly devils just landed, Qin Mu flashed to the side of a heavenly devil and raised his knife and beheaded this heavenly devil. He then dodged the scorpion tail of another heavenly devil, the jet-black tail nearly hooking onto his neck.
Qin Mu stabbed his fingers forward and Junior Protector Sword pierced through the scorpion tail which the heavenly devil had yet retracted. With his other hand executing Heavenly Devil Freedom Mudra, he pulled the soul of a heavenly devil which was closing in on him out of his body, shattering the soul into pieces!
"You na la!"
A cow head heavenly devil pointed at him and shouted, "You na la, mai a bu lu ji nao di di nuo jia hong (Warrior, I want to challenge you)!"
"Come, bring it on!"
Qin Mu shouted and his vital qi burst forth as he executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. That cow head heavenly devil bellowed and rushed over with quick steps while dragging a huge and long knife that was ten yards long. The blade of the knife was in contact with the ground thus sparks flew as he dragged it over and slashed it down at Qin Mu with a sudden shout!
Right at this moment, a huge snake crashed down from the sky and crushed the cow head heavenly devil into broken pieces. Long Jiaonan controlled the huge snake to land on the ground and with the snake's tail sweeping horizontally like a huge iron pillar, she managed to overwhelm and crush dozens of heavenly devils that came for her.
Qin Mu instantly fleeted away and as Long Jiaonan was about slaughter towards him, countless heavenly devils descended from the sky. Even though her cultivation had surpassed Qin Mu by two to three realms, she was still caught up in a bitter struggle.
Qin Mu was also caught in an ambush. Hu Ling'er immediately summoned a tornado that revolved around them but there were still heavenly devils who could rush into the tornado and pounced at them.
More and more heavenly devils poured in from another world and looking from afar, they were like countless flies flying down from the sky, hiding the sky and covering the earth.
"Patriarch said I must be able to settle disaster created by myself, it seems that I can't settle it this time."
Cold sweats broke out on Qin Mu's forehead. Suddenly, bright lights suddenly came from the south and the lights were moving in the sky, lighting up the entire land.
The lights grew brighter and brighter as they moved from the south. Wherever the light passed by, countless of heavenly devils would fall from the sky without their heads. Qin Mu raised his head to take a look and was shook.
Those lights were sword groups.
Sword groups formed by countless swords!
It was impossible to count exactly how many swords there were.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the sword groups, there were thousands of sword pellets that were still whirling continuously. The sword pellets were like moons and as they spun, flying swords flew out continuously and killed all the heavenly devils in the sky with all kinds of sword forms.
The sword groups were simply too vast, The light given off by each sword was all very dazzling and there was probably a few million swords here. With all the light gathered together, it was truly a magnificent sight.
Even though the heavenly devils from Dutian hid the sky and covered the earth in a piece of black, the sky soon cleared up once again after the dazzling sword groups swept them, leaving just countless corpses falling from the sky.
In Heaven Wave City, Dutian Devil King's expression changed hugely and gave a bellow. He sped up the process to summon his true body over and the hundred of heavenly devil's voices around the altar became incomparably loud and clear, using the devil language and countless corpses to summon the true body of Dutian Devil King.
The air trembled violently as a huge foot stretched out from another world. There were devil flames burning around this feet which burned the sky scarlet red.
The sword groups in the sky suddenly changed their directions and whistled towards Heaven Wave City. The scale of the sword groups was almost as huge as Heaven Wave City.
In the city, Dutian Devil King roared in anger as he raised his eight arms. With a hum, a huge black barrier appeared in the sky above Heaven Wave City, covering the entire sky.
In an instant, countless ear-piercing noises sounded out, causing countless people to bleed from their ears. That was the sound when the flying swords collided with the black barrier of Dutian Devil King. The clanging noises practically burst forth all at the same time, therefore no one's ears could withstand the sound.
Qin Mu was also deafened and couldn't hear any sounds. Countless heavenly devils around him were also covering their ears and squatting on the floor in an unbearable pain.
In Martial Order County on the opposite shore, countless Eternal Peace's soldiers were guarding against the invasion of the heavenly devil horde, and everything was in complete confusion. The noises given off from the collision between the sword lights and the dark barrier had also caused an extreme pain to the countless soldiers here. However, since the distance was much further, it was still bearable for them.
Plopping sounds came from the river surface. It was from those heavenly devils flying to the opposite shore who were getting blown out from the sky, falling into the river.
In the city tower of Martial Order County, a white-haired old general gave off an expression of astonishment, "Imperial Preceptor, a great expert has gone to the opposite shore!"
"Duke Wei, this man is not only a great expert."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood in the front and gazed at the situation across the river, "His ability is not far from mine. He's even stronger than the three old monsters that ambushed me back then."
Duke Wei gave off a puzzled expression. He sized up the sword groups that were contending against Dutian Devil King and looked at the true body of Dutian Devil King in the sky which already had half of his leg in this world while asking puzzledly, "Who had summoned this devil king? Isn't this a little too much? Have these fellows of the southern borders really stoop so low just to obtain victory?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head, "With me around, Dutian Devil King will not be able to descend into this world. On the contrary, the one who summoned this devil god had done a great merit for our Eternal Peace. Isn't Heaven Wave City just destroyed like that? Our soldiers will not have to bleed. If it was me, I will also choose to do this for the lives of our soldiers."
Duke Wei sighed, "Imperial Preceptor, this is why they don't understand you and said you're following the devil path."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked out of the city tower and headed towards Heaven Wave City on the opposite shore with a smile, "The reason they said that was because I had affected their interests. My merits and demerits are not what the current people can evaluate, only the people of hundreds and thousands of years later can judge my merits and demerits! Furthermore, in my eyes, they're already dead."
In Heaven Wave City, Dutian Devil King gave a dull grunt. The flesh on his eight palms became messed-up. The attack of the countless swords was simply terrifying, he was unable to endure the strength coming from them.
If his true body came forward, he could naturally endure it but this body was merely transformed from wood. Qin Mu had summoned him with his devil voice but Qin Mu's strength was too weak, the energy he could transfer over through Qin Mu was too little and wasn't enough to contend with this strong practitioner that was controlling countless of flying swords.
At this moment, he saw a middle-aged man walking over from the other side of the river. Dutian Devil King felt a fear in his heart and was about to exert out a little strength when he suddenly saw a sword light flying straight to his face.
How breathtaking was this sword attack?
This sword attack contained an extremely profound principle in the sword path, unleashing the murderous desire of the transforming sword path to its fullest extent. It was like revealing an extremely fine painting in front of his eyes. To be able to see this painting, he could die without regrets.
So he died.
His head was severed by this sword light and the head that grew four faces and twelve eyes rolled from his neck.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor retracted his sword and walked up to Heaven Wave City. The heavenly devil horde in the city was still taking charge of the sacrificial altar. When they saw this middle-aged man, god knows how many heavenly devils immediately swarmed forward, pouncing at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
What followed next was the collapse of Dutian Devil King's huge corpse. That black barrier also shattered and disintegrated in the air.
The countless flying swords attacking the black barrier suddenly moved back and returned into the sword pellets. In the sky floated thousands of sword pellets, each of which was the size of a thumb, rotating around and around.
At this moment, a chest flew over from far away and the lid of the wooden chest opened up. The countless sword pellets flew back into the wooden chest with tinkling and thumping sounds.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at that wooden chest and seemed to be deep in his thoughts as he stood there motionlessly.
Without anyone to take care of the sacrificial altar, that hair raising summoning came to a stop and the growing vortex in the sky immediately stopped growing before gradually shrinking.
The true body of Dutian Devil King already had a leg in and was forced to pull back his leg. An extremely unwilling and angry roar faintly came from the depths of the sky.
Outside Heaven Wave City, Qin Mu was also raising his head to look at the wooden chest in mid-air and revealed a suspicious look, "This chest looks very familiar. It seems to be the one in the smithy in the village. That wooden chest was also filled with silver colored pellets. Granny Si even told me those weren't sword pellets and were ordinary silver pellets. She even said Grandpa Mute wouldn't be so rich…"
He saw every single one of the sword pellets enter the wooden chest. The wooden chest gradually fell down and he immediately sprinted to the place where the wooden chest was landing at.
That wooden chest descended down and vanished in a piece of forest. Qin Mu rushed over and saw an elder in cotton clothing who was carrying a furnace for forging on his back. On his hand was a wooden chest and hardships could be seen all across his face. Those were the wrinkles left behind by time.
When the elder in cotton clothing saw him run over, he gave a wide grin and there was no tongue in his mouth.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"Grandpa Mute!"
Qin Mu immediately hurried over and opened his arms to hug that elder in cotton clothing. He wanted to hug him up, but this elder was like the heaviest mountain in the world and he was unable to lift him up at all.
Qin Mu laughed in excitement and exerted all his strength but he was still unable to hug him up.
Mute gave two ahs and placed the chest down. Qin Mu was finally able to hug him up and spun two rounds before throwing this elder to the ground. Mute landed on his butt and stood up to pat the dust off his butt. He gave two signals which meant you were too naughty.
"Grandpa Mute, why have you left the village as well? How come you're here?"
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted as he asked rapidly, "You were so powerful just now. Are the sword pellets in the chest forged by you? Who else has come with you?"
"Ah ah, ah ah ah!"
As Mute made noises, he did hand signs as well. His eyebrows formed a bored shape and put his palms together beside his face to act like he was sleeping before suddenly stretching two fingers out to make a walking shape.
His hands signed rapidly and his expression also changed a few thousand times in a breath's time, dazzling Qin Mu's eyes, "Grandpa Mute, slow down, I can't follow you. Where's Grandpa Deaf? Why didn't he follow you?"
Mute revealed a pleased expression and signed for a while. He meant he had sneaked out of the village secretly and didn't tell anyone.
Qin Mu blinked his eyes and smiled, "You don't know, I met Grandpa Butcher and Grandpa Blind, and also Granny Si. They had already left the village."
Mute was astonished and gave two chuckles. He raised his wooden chest towards Qin Mu, signaling for him to help carry the chest. Qin Mu sneered and didn't stretch his hand out, "Grandpa Mute, don't try to fool me. This chest is very heavy. There are a few thousand sword pellets inside right? Your sword pellet is very heavy and your chest is even heavier. If I help you carry it, I will definitely dislocate my shoulders and fall to the ground! I was tricked the previous time and I won't be tricked again."
Mute grinned mischievously and gave Qin Mu a thumbs up.
In Disabled Elderly Village, other than Cripple who would tease Qin Mu the most, Mute was next.
Suddenly, Mute raised his eyebrows and looked behind Qin Mu. Qin Mu also hurriedly looked back and saw a middle-aged man walking over. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor quietly walked to the front of them and stopped over a dozen yards away from them.
"A person of the previous generation?" he asked gently.
Mute grinned and made a few hand signs. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frowned as he didn't understand.
Qin Mu explained to him, "Imperial Preceptor, Grandpa Mute meant he wasn't a person from the previous generation, he was still considered young."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frowned again. It kept him feel uncomfortable that he couldn't understand the Mute and had to rely on Qin Mu to translate it for him.
"Dao brother has an extraordinary ability but what you cultivate isn't sword skill."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed ruefully, "I had interacted with a few people of the previous generation and learned quite a bit. I thought I had seen all kinds of divine arts, paths and skills yet never would I expect to see a unique divine art like this. Can Dao brother let me experience your divine art?"
Qin Mu was astonished. He saw Mute attacking just now with countless sword pellets soaring into the sky and turning into endless flying swords, forcing even Dutian Devil King having no choice but to defend yet was still injured by his swords.
Qin Mu had thought Mute's skill was all on swords yet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said what Mute cultivated wasn't sword skill. Could Mute's ability be above the sword skill that he had exhibited?
In the village, what Mute had taught him was the path of forging. Qin Mu still carried around a huge hammer frequently and his hammer skills were taught by Mute.
"Could Grandpa Mute be cultivating hammer skills?"
Mute grinned and fastened the furnace on his back. He placed down the wooden chest in his hands. His appearance now was like a traveling blacksmith, taking a break at whichever village he arrived at to help forge ironware for the villagers.
His chest was like a chest used to store tools for forging and the items coming out from the chest shouldn't be sword pellets but something like a hammer, anvil, filter funnel, iron ladle, et cetera.
He opened the chest and gave a few more hand signs. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's expression turned stiff and looked at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu said, "Grandpa Mute says his skill is almost lost to the world. It's fine if Imperial Preceptor wants to take a look. He wants Imperial Preceptor to find a suitable successor for him."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor felt deep veneration and said, "Dao brother is actually willing to impart the consummate skills of your life to others. Your breadth of mind far surpasses those cult masters, sect masters of those reputable and big sects. If fate allows, I'll keep an eye out for Dao brother."
The wooden chest was opened and inside it were countless sword pellets. Each sword pellet was the size of a thumb.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a puzzled look and Mute smiled. He stretched out his palm and the sword pellets were suddenly not silver pellets anymore. They had instead liquified and turned into something that was like water yet was like light. It gave people the feeling that it was a water transformed from light.
This chest of sword pellets had turned into a chest of liquid light. The liquid light then slowly rose from the chest and crawled on Mute's body, spreading throughout his entire body like a silver armor.
Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor immediately saw all kinds of strange markings appearing on the armor's surface. Those were strange rune formations that were mainly in charge of the defense.
The liquid light then flowed down from Mute's body and turned into a huge bell in mid-air. It was dozens of yards tall and the wall of the bell was very thin as if it could be see-through.
The huge bell slowly spun and incomparably ancient characters appeared on the wall of the bell. There were also pictures of all kinds of strange beasts as well as the arrangement of the stars in the full scope of the heavens.
Swoosh—
The huge bell transformed into flowing light and a silver dragon appeared and circled around them. As the dragon moved, dragon markings covered its entire body.
Suddenly the silver dragon rose into mid-air and turned into a longsword which soared into the sky, executing profound sword moves. The sword light suddenly retracted and a huge shield came descending down from the sky.
Before the huge shield landed on the ground, it turned into a silver umbrella and slowly floated down while spinning.
The sword pellets in Mute's chest actually had countless changes. It could turn into any weapons and any treasures of any use.
The treasure in this chest of his could even transform into the form of divine arts!
It was also Qin Mu's first time to see Mute executing his true abilities and it was also his first time to see such a miraculous ability!
Mute didn't teach this ability to him and he had never seen Mute executing this kind of ability in the village as well.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was spellbound. Suddenly, the liquid light flowed over and transformed into a silver boat and Mute threw his chest onto the silver boat before jumping up onto it. He grinned at Qin Mu and waved his hand as the silver boat broke through the air at an extreme speed and vanished without a trace.
Qin Mu opened his mouth and wanted to call him back but after thinking, he didn't say a word.
After a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor let out a stale breath and exclaimed, "Superb ability, superb ability. There's still an ability I haven't ever seen before in this world! This Dao brother is remarkable. Imperial academician, you know him?"
Qin Mu said, "He's my elder."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was stunned and didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, "Could it be the experts of Heavenly Devil Sect? Other than Grand Chancellor, there's actually such an expert in Heavenly Devil Cult, simply remarkable, as expected of the number one sacred ground of the devil path."
Qin Mu shook his head, "Imperial Preceptor guessed wrongly. I was born in Great Ruins thus my home is in Great Ruins."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was astonished and looked at him deeply before saying meaningfully, "Imperial academician actually came from a powerful family with profound studies."
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment and nodded his head reluctantly.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then asked indifferently, "In that case, who was the one that had summoned this devil god?"
"I have no idea as well."
Qin Mu said with a straight face, "I've also just reached this place and came across such a huge chaos. I'm also so wronged, nearly died here."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded his head gently and said, "Gu Linuan asked you to lead a team of scholars out here for experience. From what I know, your destination should be Lizhou. This is Heaven Wave City and Martial Order County is on the opposite shore, which is seventy miles away from Lizhou. Why is imperial academician here?"
"About this…"
Qin Mu pulled out Hu Ling'er from his backpack and looked at this little white fox. Hu Ling'er raised her paws and nibbles on her claws. Her eyeballs rolled rapidly and her eyes suddenly lighted up, "We had floated down from Surging River! We encountered danger in Lizhou as the remnants of Great Mountain Sect summoned a devil god, therefore we had escaped out from the river. Young master, is this explanation okay?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said without a change in expression, "You can say whatever you like. In this chaos of Heaven Wave City, there are countless deaths of the rebel army stationed in Heaven Wave City. The person who summoned the devil god had done a great merit. I prepare to recommend him to the emperor and raise his official position. With this level of merit, the person could be raised to upper fourth-ranking at the minimum."
Qin Mu opened his mouth and Hu Ling'er immediately said, "It's our young master who did it. Our young master had summoned this devil god called Dutian or something!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor ignored her and continued, "There's merit but since there were also countless of deaths of the commoners in the city, this sin is also huge. Even though death is unavoidable in the battlefield, there are too much deaths in wiping out a city. If I want to show off this person's accomplishment, there will definitely be contrarians in the imperial court criticizing that this person killed countless people, forcing the emperor to punish him. When the rebellion is quelled, scores will definitely be settled at an opportune moment and this person might be purged. I can't say if his whole family would be executed but being stripped of the official position and exiled is definite."
Hu Ling'er immediately shut her mouth and felt everything she said was wrong.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a smile and said, "Therefore I prepare to keep this merit under wraps and not say who did it. Without merit, there's also no demerit. How does imperial academician think it that I handle it like this?"
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said, "Imperial Preceptor has handled it very well."
Behind them, the army of Eternal Peace Empire had slaughtered all the heavenly devil horde and a few generals came walking over.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned around and said indifferently, "Contrarians kill people by their mouths and not their hands. Even if you're able to escape for your life under the mouths of contrarians, it's still going to be a load of annoyance."
Qin Mu said, "Imperial Preceptor has experienced it for yourself?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded his head, "For my reform, I already killed countless contrarians but there would be another wave of them coming out every time you kill a wave of them. They are endless to kill. They have no ability and don't do anything yet they take huff at everything you do or say. The only thing they are good at is scolding you. Do you know what my end will be if my reform fails?"
Qin Mu shook his head.
"I will definitely be condemned by posterity for the next ten thousand years."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferent, "Even if I succeed in my reform, I would also be scolded by the contrarians for the next hundreds and thousands of years. I once had a Dao friend who could console my heart…"
His expression turned dim, "But he has left, I miss him very much."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Qin Mu was stunned and didn't know who this Dao friend was.
However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor disclosing his worry to him made his hair stood on end. He felt he could be gotten rid of any time, silencing him.
"You don't have to worry."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor seemed to be able to see what he was thinking and said leisurely, "I only felt some emotions in my heart and shared them with you. You're a good listener. If it was Duke Wei that blabbermouth, I wouldn't dare to say much, otherwise the entire imperial court will know about it the next day."
"Duke Wei? Wei Yong seems to be from Duke Wei's family."
Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently. Duke Wei, a first-ranking high official was also a blabbermouth? Wei Yong's talkativeness was already much of a headache, so he had actually learned it from his family.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Furthermore, even though you're a sixth-ranking imperial academician and have an official position, you are not part of the imperial court. It's very safe talking with you."
He gave a smile and said, "The most crucial point is that no one would believe what the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult says."
Qin Mu's face darkened. Even though Heaven Devil Cult had a good reputation with the commoners, in the eyes of the imperial court and martial world, they had a bad reputation.
Those few generals came closer to them and one of them bowed, "Imperial Preceptor, Heaven Wave City has already been quelled."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded his head and the few generals looked at Qin Mu, giving off puzzled expressions. Qin Mu smiled and nodded to them.
"This is the first imperial academician of our dynasty."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Imperial Academician Qin Mu."
These few generals saw Qin Mu appearing honest and magnificent. Even though he was young, he gave people a feeling of reliability. They couldn't help exclaiming, "Academician Qin is truly young yet matured, as expected of the first imperial academician, a person that's erudite."
Qin Mu greeted and smiled, "You have flattered me."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned around and looked towards the south, "This battle is only giving them an inkling of what we're capable of, the battle afterward is then the crucial one, keke…"
The few generals felt astonishment in their hearts and they immediately rushed forward, "Imperial Preceptor, your injury…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waved his hands and his face was slightly pale. He then recovered and said, "I might have suffered the recoil when killing that devil god just now, it's nothing serious. The rebel army is stationed in the south and I prepare to give them two choices. Pillar of State He."
A general with a square face bowed, "Yes, Imperial Preceptor!"
"Go to the south and tell the rebels there that I'm coming. I'm giving them two choices."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pointed to the southern borders with a cold expression, "The first choice, I will lead thousands of soldiers and cavalries over and trample all over them, eradicating their cults, eradicating their sects, eradicating their whole families. This is the rules of the imperial court. This is what will happen to the rebels."
Pillar of State General He Xiaopeng listened carefully and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continued, "The second choice is to follow the rules of the martial world, I'll bring the officials of the imperial court over to mark out an area and they would all go there to challenge us accordingly to the rules of the martial world. If they have the ability, they can kill us, or we will kill them. Two choices for them to choose."
Pillar of State He hesitated and said, "Imperial Preceptor, I'm afraid it's a little appropriate to go according to the rules of the martial world, right?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Before I entered the imperial court as an official, I was also someone from the martial world so why is it inappropriate? Isn't it the same for Pillar of State General? You have also entered the imperial court from the martial world, am I right?"
Pillar of State He affirmed and said, "I'll head to the southern border right now! However, now that Imperial Preceptor is recuperating, if they choose to go by the rules of the martial world, I'm afraid Imperial Preceptor will get stabbed in the back."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waved his hand and Pillar of State He left.
"Pillar of State Wei."
"Yes, Imperial Preceptor."
"Dispatch the soldiers and cavalries to cross the river, spreading into the shape of a fan. The east side will move all the way to the east sea, the west side will move all the way to Great Ruins. Pushing forward horizontally. We'll suppress lakes as we cross lakes, suppress rivers as we cross rivers, eradicate cities when we cross cities, push forward to the south."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said expressionlessly, "We need to let these rebels feel the pressure."
"Wei Wenju receives Imperial Preceptor's command!"
"Duke Wei."
"Yes, Imperial Preceptor."
"Duke is powerful in cultivation and proficient in leading troops, you'll lead the troops straight towards Daxiang of the southern borders. Grand General of Crowning the Army, Grand General of Cherishing Transformation, each of you will lead an army and head off from both sides of the duke to eradicate the left and right city of Daxiang. Pillar of State Shang, you will lead an army and slaughter towards Dayu."
After Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor dispatched his army and was finished with his instructions, Duke Wei smiled, "Imperial Preceptor, now that we have all gone to work, what about you?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a smile, "I slowly walk behind you guys and wait for the rebels to make their decision. Furthermore, I still have some injuries on me and need to recuperate."
"Your injury isn't healed yet?"
Duke Wei said in a loud voice, "Then you need to rest for a period of time, isn't the little divine physician beside you? Let him treat you. My wife even ran to Flower Alley of the capital city behind my back. I thought she liked women and went the brothels there for fun, and it ended up she was there to find the little divine physician for a cure. She scared the hell out of me and even made me a little excited. I thought she was into this kind of stuff…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed dryly and was a little awkward, "It's time for Duke to dispatch your troops. Daxiang is an important ground of the southern borders' army, it's a tough bone to chew."
Duke Wei nodded his head and turned around to leave. He then turned his head back and said to Qin Mu, "Little divine physician, give him a prescription to treat that rigid face of his. This long face can't even squeeze out a smile. Hehe, don't look around, I recognized you. When my wife went to your place for a cure, I had secretly followed her. I was afraid she was sleeping with other women and was even a little excited…"
Qin Mu's expression froze as he waved back at him.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor let out a murky breath and said, "Ignore him, the men of Wei Family are all like this. Their mouths are so big that they could swallow a few cows."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, it was obvious Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had also his own taste of suffering. Duke Wei must have talked a lot of nonsense in front of him.
"Imperial Preceptor, we'll part our ways here," Qin Mu smiled.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head, "Part our ways, what for? You are still going to follow me to the southern borders. Without you by my side, how are you going to cure me?"
Qin Mu said awkwardly, "Stop fooling around, Imperial Preceptor. You know better than me regarding the injuries on your body. Furthermore, I had brought scholars out for experience but now I have lost these few scholars so I would have to find them in case they die in this chaos."
"You must follow me."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's face clouded and said, "I'll help you find those scholars of yours. What are their names?"
Qin Mu really didn't want to follow him. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was obviously making all the armies put an immense pressure to the rebels of the southern borders, forcing the sects and families to have no choice but to come kill Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor under the pressure.
Imperial Preceptor seemed to give them two choices but there was actually only one choice.
If he followed Imperial Preceptor, he would definitely become a target as well.
He was only at Five Elements Realm, how could he be an opponent for this kind of leviathan?
However, now that Imperial Preceptor had given his words, he was unable to reject and could only say the names of Chen Wanyun and the rest.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his hand and a fire cloud soared into the sky. The fire cloud transformed in the sky and formed the names of Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que and Si Yunxiang. Another fire cloud then turned into an arrow that pointed towards Qin Mu's location.
Not long later, Chen Wanyun, Si Yunxiang and the rest hurried over. They all had injuries on their bodies. It was obvious that they had also experienced hard battles as well and escaped death. The dragon qilin was also beside them and carried over by the wolf slave.
"Scholars of Imperial College meet Imperial Preceptor!" Chen Wanyun and the rest jumped in shock when they saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and immediately greeted.
The few of them felt uneasy as Qin Mu had summoned Dutian Devil King and created a huge disaster which caused countless death. They had also taken part in it and were considered accomplices of the imperial academician. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wanted to punish them, they would definitely be executed as well.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a glance at everyone and when his gaze landed on the dragon qilin, he nodded his head and smiled.
The dragon qilin immediately struggled to get up and greeted him, "Imperial Preceptor."
"Big Dragon, why do you still have injuries?"
Hu Ling'er jumped onto the dragon qilin's body and asked bewilderedly as she looked at the wound on his butt, "You can't reach your own butt to lick it?"
The dragon qilin gave a dull snort and ignored her.
Qin Mu went forward and took out a few bottles of dragon's saliva, applying them on the wound of this big fella. The injury on the dragon qilin's body was quite serious as Dutian Devil King's gaze had sliced through the dragon scales on his body and even into the muscles of his butt. Luckily the dragon scales of this dragon qilin was extremely durable and managed to block the gaze of Dutian Devil King or he would definitely be sliced into two halves.
Qin Mu took out a few bottles of dragon's saliva to let Chen Wanyun and the rest to heal the wounds on their bodies.
"Yun Que, Wan Yun, a bottle is ten thousand great abundance coins."
Hu Ling'er reminded with a good intention, "If you don't have the money, you can write a certificate of indebtedness first."
Monk Yun Que's face turned ashen and muttered, "Poor monk is already penniless, I'm truly penniless. After academician coming to Imperial College, poor monk has already become penniless. If I owe so much money, I'm afraid I can only pay them off in the next life. Sister Fox, can you take pity on me…"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Ling'er, stop fooling around. I brought them out for experience so I have the responsibility to treat them when they're injured, let alone I have the reputation as a divine physician. Physicians treat patients like the parents so how can he charge them? After the experience, if they get injured again, you can charge them then. If you charge them now, you'll spoil my reputation."
Yue Qinghong had planned to ask for one more bottle of dragon's saliva as backup and she dropped her thoughts when she heard that. She thought to herself, "He's still thinking of charging money to treat illness. Deep inside him, he's indeed very petty…"
Si Yunxiang was also injured therefore she asked for a bottle of dragon's saliva from Qin Mu. She pulled Yue Qinghong and the two girls ran into the forest to undress themselves before helping each other to apply the medicine on their bodies, preventing scars from being left behind.
"Sister's figure is really good, I'm not as big." Si Yunxiang measured Yue Qinghong and exclaimed in admiration.
Yue Qinghong smiled, "You're still young, when you grow older, they'll become bigger as well. Moreover, it feels slightly uncomfortable when they become bigger, especially when you're running. I'm also not used to wearing a tube top. It would be the best if I could wrap them, however, I can't find a good tailor…"
Si Yunxiang thought for a moment, "I've heard the academician was also a tailor and the clothes he makes are quite nice looking, how about…"
Yue Qinghong jumped in shock and her black eyes stared wide up, "How can I do that? He's a male!"
Qin Mu gathered everyone together and said with a grave expression, "The mission of our training has changed. I will have to follow Imperial Preceptor to the southern borders and enter deep into the enemy's territory. Imperial Preceptor's injuries have yet healed and I have to stay beside him to treat him. If you want to go back, you can leave now."
Chen Wanyun and the rest thought of the crucial point and knew there would definitely be danger laying all over this journey, therefore, they were all slightly hesitant.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I can give you guys pointers for your cultivation on this journey. The previous time I was invited by your grand chancellor and my lecture didn't last two days. This time I'm giving face to the imperial academician."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
These people's eyes lighted up instantly and Yun Que chuckled, "Of course we must go deep into the southern borders and see if there are experts in the rebel army! We can't let these rebels look down on our Imperial College. Poor monk will enlighten them with Buddhism, converting them into Buddhists and do good!"
Qin Mu shook his head secretly. These fellows had still underestimated the danger of this journey.
This was a tough road to walk on and was a road that they might not finish walking even if they put their lives on the line.
"Our life and death is now up to fate, let us see if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, the number one man under gods, lives up to his name!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor dressed light and headed to the south. Qin Mu led the rest to follow him while asking Si Yunxiang about their encounters in this battle and couldn't help sighing ruefully again and again.
The fate of Si Yunxiang, Chen Wanyun and the rest were much better than Qin Mu. They were also blown away by Dutian Devil King but they didn't encounter abnormally strong practitioners like Long Jiaonan.
The dragon qilin landed not far away from them and since this dragon qilin was huge, they sprinted straight to where the dragon qilin was and when the heavenly devil horde descended, they surrounded the dragon qilin and started fighting.
Meanwhile, this dragon qilin had also fought against the heavenly devil horde that was surging over and he had an astonishing battle prowess. Si Yunxiang and the rest relied on his power to survive this calamity.
Qin Mu was astonished and looked at this dragon qilin. Hu Ling'er whispered beside his ears, "Young master, big fella has been eating and drinking ours yet he didn't do anything on the journey here. It's even getting better now, protecting others and not protecting us. I think other than squeezing the dragon's saliva out from big fella, we can also squeeze other things out from him."
"I also think so," Qin Mu nodded his head.
He turned his head to look at Heaven Wave City which was getting further and further away, "Now that Eternal Peace's army has entered the city, Long Jiaonan should die in the hands of the army, right? There's also the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect who should be dead as well. A pity the unique spells of Dragon Rider Sect are gone. Great Mountain Sect is probably wiped out entirely as well. It's also a pity I didn't manage to learn the spells such as Devil Withdraw Command…"
When Dutian Devil King was summoned out by him, the Daoists of Great Mountain Sect had rushed over and tried to use Devil Withdraw Command to chase Dutian Devil King back to Dutian. However, Dutian Devil King's ability was too powerful and wiped them out in one blow.
However, Devil Withdraw Command was an extremely intricate spell that was specially used to deal with devils that were summoned out. If it was executed by a stronger person, they could indeed chase Dutian Devil King back.
It's a pity that this spell was lost with the deaths of Great Mountain Sect's followers.
Heaven Wave City was in a mess and the soldiers were still repairing the city walls. They swept the debris of the collapsed buildings and transferred them out of the city.
On the river surface, thousands of ships and boats moved off and carried divisions of the army across the river. The army didn't stop at Heaven Wave City and continued heading to the south.
There were still soldiers in Heaven Wave City capturing the remnants of the rebel army and surrounding the heavenly devil horde from Dutian, discovering some commoners that had survived by luck in the process. There were soldiers taking the painting of bandits and walking through the commoners that had survived, comparing them one by one with the paintings.
"This girl is born pretty."
A soldier came to the side of a girl who was at a lost and exclaimed to himself. This girl was dressed in a dark green gown which hung until her feet and her hair was rolled up in a bun. She had beautiful features and the powder on her face was light. Her red lips were like two purple-red pearls and her long, shapely eyebrows were very fine. With one look, one would know she was a well-bred young lady from one of the big families in Heaven Wave City.
The soldier gave two looks before walking elsewhere. The girl's gaze was like spring water and a glistening red jade earring hung on her left ear. Suddenly, the earring moved and stretched its body.
That earring was a little red snake which hung through her ear piercing. It looked like it was made from red jade but it was actually a living thing.
If Qin Mu was here, he will definitely command the soldiers to take down this woman.
He had seen before the real face of Long Jiaonan. The whole body of Long Jiaonan had been seen by him when she was shedding her skin and there was no makeup on this woman who had just crawled out from her skin. Now that she had regained her female getup, she looked completely different from the pretty young master of Dragon Rider Sect!
The soldiers were currently moving the corpses in the city and throwing them onto the cart before pushing the cart to bury them outside the city. Long Jiaonan followed behind them while crying, "Sirs, is my father's corpse inside?"
"The few soldiers stopped and said, "Little maiden, there are too many corpses in the city, we don't know which one is your father. Do you see him on the cart?"
Long Jiaonan took a look and shook his head, "No."
A soldier said, "He's most likely in the burial mounds outside the city. General Yu ordered us to dig a few huge pits there to bury the corpses. All the corpses were moved there and they haven't been covered up. Does little maiden want to follow us there to have a look?"
Long Jiaonan gave her thanks and followed these soldiers to the burial mounds outside of the city. There was a huge pit dug up here which was dozens of yards deep and thousands of corpses were piled up here.
Long Jiaonan raised her head and saw dozens of such huge pits other than this huge pit in the burial mounds. Beside the pit, there were soldiers that were pushing the carts forward and dumping the corpses into the pit.
Long Jiaonan looked around and suddenly shouted, "Father, father! Daughter is here to find you, if you can hear me, please answer me!"
She shouted a few times and those soldiers didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "This woman has most likely gone crazy."
At this moment, a weak voice came from a huge pit, "I'm here, I'm currently shedding my skin but I was too heavily injured…"
The soldiers beside the huge pit were stupefied and an officer suddenly shouted, "There's something wrong! Everyone, on your guards!"
When Long Jiaonan heard this voice, she gave a hidden smile, "Xiao'hong."
The incomparably tiny red snake hanging on her left ear stretched its body and dropped down from her ear. When it landed on the ground, its size increased all of a sudden and turned into a huge snake in a blink of an eye. Poisonous gas spewed out as it opened its mouth and the soldiers around the burial mounds collapsed here and there.
The huge snake slithered like wind and swallowed the soldiers one by one. Meanwhile Long Jiaonan walked into the pit and threw the corpses aside. She finally dug out the dragon king who was buried among the corpses.
"Daughter thought father had died!" Long Jiaonan chuckled.
"Daughter?" Dragon Rider Sect's dragon king snorted coldly.
Long Jiaonan's expression changed slightly and lowered her head, "Son had thought father had died…"
The dragon king sat up, "I feign death by going into hibernation to bluff that devil god thus I was thrown into this burial mound as a corpse. Not sure how red dragon is doing."
He pinched his lips and gave off a low whistle. Not long later, a little monster, that seemed like a snake that was yet not a snake, a dragon that was yet not a dragon, crawled out from the forest.
The dragon king let out a sigh of relief and checked on the injuries of the red dragon, "Red dragon and I have to shed our skins and rest for a period of time. Good son, I'll leave this period of time to you. Let us go!"
Long Jiaonan summoned the huge snake over and the demon gas surged out from the huge snake as it rose into the sky, carrying two humans and one dragon as it whooshed away. Only now did the soldiers in Heaven Wave City reacted over but it was too late for them to give chase.
"Who was the one who has created such a trouble which caused such a huge defeat?"
The dragon king asked, "How many of us from Dragon Rider Sect have survived?"
"Only we're left."
Long Jiaonan snorted coldly, "I've heard the scholars of Imperial College refer to him as Academician Qin. He was the one that had summon the devil god and wiped out our Dragon Rider Sect. It's a shame that your son is incapable and let him escape."
"We father and son are still alive so Dragon Rider Sect isn't considered completely wiped out."
The dragon king said coldly, "As long as we know who he is, things would be easy. Such an enmity, we have to take revenge. We must tear him into a thousand pieces!
Qin Mu and the rest followed Imperial Preceptor to the south and not long after, the army has rushed forth from behind and passed by them as they headed forward.
They continued walking at a steady pace. Qin Mu grabbed the chance to ask Imperial Preceptor for advice, "Imperial Preceptor is a wise man and student has one thing that I can't solve, may I ask Imperial Preceptor for advice."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked in astonishment, "Who did you learn your flattery from? You're pretty adept at it."
Qin Mu was bewildered, "Is this considered flattery?"
Yue Qinghong, Yun Que, Chen Wanyun and the rest nodded their heads repeatedly. Even Si Yunxiang was nodding endlessly.
Qin Mu muttered, "My elder taught me this. My elder is a cripple who is always smiling. His words are pleasant but his actions are ruthless… Let's not talk about this. Imperial Preceptor, I would like to ask you, in Spirit Embryo Realm, the spirit embryo is very useful for the overall controlling of one's vital qi, but Five Elements Realm seems a little…"
He gave some thoughts before continuing, "A little weak. There seems to be great power in Five Elements Realm yet it's hard to unleash it. For example, there are five gods in Five Elements Realm and each god has its own strong points, however, how can we let the Five Element Divine Treasure unleash its power?"
This question caught the attention of Chen Wanyun and the rest. They had also thought about Qin Mu's question before but they had not come to a conclusion.
Five Element Realm was indeed a little weak compared to Spirit Embryo Realm. Their cultivation had grown, but that was it, it had no qualitative leap.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was astonished, "You guys haven't discovered the secret of Five Elements? Or should I say, Imperial College hasn't taught you guys?"
Qin Mu shook his head. Chen Wanyun and the rest also shook their heads.
"The directorates of this generation isn't capable."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed ruefully, "They don't even teach this now, the current directorates must be the lousiest directorates. Five Elements Divine Treasure is the Five Phases Divine Treasure. With five phases concealed inside, they correspond to the Five Elements Star Sovereigns in the sky. These five gods are gods of the sovereign king level and not any minor gods. When you guys execute your techniques, do you feel an abnormality: an unknown energy going into your body from the sky, resonating with the Five Elements Star Sovereigns?"
Everyone nodded repeatedly.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "This is the power of the Five Elements. Gold element corresponds to gold, fire element corresponds to fire, water element corresponds to water, wood element corresponds to wood, earth corresponds to earth. Activating these five kinds of energy could allow you to control the power of the five elements. Have the Five Elements Star Sovereigns returned to their own star palace?"
Everyone nodded their heads again.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed, "What Imperial College teaches is too shallow, too superficial. What do the directorates teach now? They don't even teach anything profound. Five Elements Star Sovereign entering the star palace means you have mastered the power of the five elements, which is also the power of the five phases. As long as the power of the five elements integrates into your vital qi, there would be five more kinds of attributes in your vital qi."
He raised his palm and a golden shield appeared in front of him, "Gold."
"Wood."
After the golden shield disappeared, the vegetation around grew frantically. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Water."
Huge waves then surged forward and lifted all of them up, allowing them to float in mid-air as they stepped on the waves.
"Fire."
Fire clouds rose into the sky and carried Qin Mu and the rest up, allowing them to move forward on the fire clouds.
"Earth."
The ground churned as countless mud and rocks floated into the sky to form a huge ball of earth.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor dispelled these five kinds of energy and everyone landed back on the ground gently. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "The power the five elements allows you to control is different from the power the spirit embryo allows you to control. It's different from the four kinds of vital qi which are Green Dragon, Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise and White Tiger. These four kinds of vital qi can't be simply classified as wood, fire, water, gold and instead, every kind of vital qi has five phases concealed inside… Why are you guys looking like you're listening to the heavenly book? You don't understand?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was bewildered and shook his head, "The scholars of your batch is too dumb, the lousiest batch I have ever taught."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Chen Wanyun and the rest got a big kick out of it and Si Yunxiang also couldn't accept it.
Qin Mu felt that it was not because they were too stupid but because Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was too clever.
For an incomparable talent that appeared once every five hundred years, he could understand any logic with just one explanation and one hint. He didn't even need others to guide him and he could naturally comprehend numerous reasons.
However, other people didn't have his heaven-defying comprehension.
There was a huge gap even between the talents. Even though Chen Wanyun and the rest were talents of one in ten thousands with outstanding aptitudes or outstanding comprehension, they were far inferior when compared to a monster that appears once every five hundred years whose aptitudes and comprehension were the first in the world.
Things that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor thought were simple actually needed them to calm down and comprehend.
The difference in talent between Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and them was literally heaven and earth!
"Take Green Dragon Vital Qi as an example, do you think Green Dragon Vital Qi is really the wood attribute?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor guided them patiently, "Have you seen a real green dragon? I have and the green dragon I saw could control the wind and lightning, fire and water, not just the wood attribute. Moreover, what's wood attribute? If you hug a plank and bite it twice, is that wood attribute? Don't assume Green Dragon Vital Qi has the wood attribute just because there's a green word in green dragon. If you assume that way, you really have a wooden-head."
Everyone was given another blow and even Qin Mu felt a sense of setback.
Even he who was 'learned' had thought Green Dragon Vital Qi was the wood attribute, but thinking about it now, there was no trace of wood attribute when Old Ma executed Green Dragon Vital Qi, instead, there was wind and lightning interweaving.
Looked like there was indeed somewhat deviation from what he knew. Without Imperial Preceptor pointing it out, he would probably continue having the misconception.
"There are actually many techniques for Five Elements Divine Treasure that you can learn from, some of them are specialized in opening the battle power of Five Elements Divine Treasure."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "The battle power of Five Elements Realm is very astonishing but it's also fine if you can't cultivate it. It won't affect you in breaking through other divine treasures. You will only be slightly weaker in the future. But this slight gap would gradually magnify as you grow and the more divine treasure you open, the larger the gap will become."
He drew two triangles in the sky. One had a smaller angle on the top and the other had a bigger angle on the top. He then drew six horizontal lines in the triangle and said, "Each of the seven lines in the picture represents the power of each realm. The second line is the Five Elements Realm. If you don't cultivate properly, the second line would be a little shorter than others, then the third line would be much shorter. When you reach the bottom of the triangle which is the Divine Bridge Realm. At that time, you will be shorter than the others by a whole chunk and the difference in power is literally halved. If the opponent wants to kill you, he just needs one or two moves."
His example was very direct and shook them.
Two people who clearly didn't have much difference in Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realm actually had such a huge gap between them when they cultivated to Divine Bridge Realm. There were not many people who actually thought about this point and only cared about raising their cultivation realm.
Si Yunxiang suddenly asked, "What's Imperial Preceptor's line? Compared to the other cult masters of Divine Bridge Realm, how big is your angle?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor drew a straight line in the sky and said indifferently, "I'm this. No matter how strong other people's cultivation is, their angle will always be smaller than mine."
He dared to say so because of his heaven-defying aptitudes and comprehension.
He practically had no shortcomings.
Other people were seven parallel lines while his was seven lines overlaying each other, which was much stronger than others.
"You can take reference from the techniques that are related to Five Elements Divine Treasure in Floor of Heavenly Record, such as Minutes of Suppressing Stars written by Elder Ru Xuanqin, Struggle of the Five Phases written by Monk Yuan Kong, and also Five Laws of Jupiter written by Duke Wei, Five Vitals of Military Discipline by General of Heavenly Strategies. After reading all of them, you will build a strong foundation for your Five Elements Realm."
These people he had mentioned were the first-ranking high officials of the current imperial court. Elder Xuanqin was a woman who held the appointment as the grand tutor of the crown prince. Monk Yuan Kong held the appointment as Grand Marshall and there was no need to mention about Duke Wei. General of Heavenly Strategies was the head of the reputable Qin Family.
These few people that were either born from aristocratic families or well known, were all cult master level existences that had reached the Divine Bridge Realm.
Everyone hurriedly memorized the names of the techniques down.
Chen Wanyun felt a little contradictory. He had planned to enter Six Directions Realm directly after this experience but after listening to Imperial Preceptor's words, he made up his mind to continue suppressing his realm. He would only break the Six Directions Wall after he returned to Imperial College and strengthened his foundation.
Qin Mu was stunned. He suddenly thought of some techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures which were specially used for cultivating Five Elements Divine Treasure.
There was a wide array of techniques in Great Education Heavenly Devil Scriptures and most of the techniques didn't look too intricate and couldn't be considered top-notch techniques. These techniques were usually imparted to the disciples.
Almost all the techniques and divine arts in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were imparted out and weren't kept away because of its value. However, they were some techniques that were difficult to understand and were easy to cultivate wrongly, therefore they carried the reputation as a devil cult.
Qin Mu originally didn't further study these techniques, but after Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's pointers, he instantly came to realize, wasn't the techniques that seemed standalone in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures the secret to cultivation?
These techniques that seemed scattered and not powerful didn't only consist of the method to cultivate Five Elements Realm. There were probably the techniques for Six Directions Realm, Seven Stars Realm and even Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge!
These techniques were learned by each hall master of Heavenly Devil Cult before imparting down to the followers and thus formed the three hundred and sixty halls!
Qin Mu had treated these techniques as weak and didn't incorporate them into Unity Technique. Now the unintentional words from Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had instead pointed out a clear path to him.
"Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique has technique but no skills. It has inadequacies. But it might just be a perfect combination if combining it with Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures."
Qin Mu was filled with excitement and immediately comprehended the cultivation methods of Five Elements Realm. These five methods were Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique, Jupiter Sovereign's Wood Marquis True Technique, Mercury Sovereign's Water Marquis True Technique, Mars Sovereign's Fire Marquis True Technique and Venus Sovereign's Gold Marquis True Technique.
Not long after, he started to try to merge these five true techniques into the Five Elements Realm's technique of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
Yue Qinghong and the rest were consulting sword skills from Imperial Preceptor and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor chatted as they walked, saying everything that he knew. However, before they could comprehend it, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had already moved to the next point, which vexed them.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's explanation wasn't considered fast. It was just hard for them to comprehend immediately and had to spend the time to slowly comprehend it. However, they didn't dare to clarify it as they were afraid they would be once again crowned as the lousiest class.
After Yue Qinghong had consulted him about sword skills, Monk Yun Que asked him about Buddhist skills. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also had attainments on Buddhist skills and had entered Great Thunderclap Monastery before to consult Old Rulai. His speech naturally was like a deluge of heavenly flowers.
After Yun Que had consulted him, Chen Wanyun asked him about the fusion of sword skills and battle techniques. After he cultivated with Chancellor Ba Shan for a period of time, Chancellor Ba Shan had imparted Seven Ways of the Hegemon to him and also gave him pointers on the cultivation of his sword skills, thus Chen Wanyun had walked down the path of cultivating both knife and sword.
Si Yunxiang also consulted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor some questions on cultivation and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor paid more attention to her, explaining in detail and slightly more than others.
When Si Yunxiang followed the young patriarch to cultivate, she had met him a few times and got his pointers in the past.
The wolf slave hesitated for a moment and puckered up his courage to consult knife skills from him.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a look at him and asked, "Warrior of Wolf Store Country?"
The wolf slave nodded his head in anxiousness.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was unconcerned and said, "Education is for everyone, irrespective of background, I don't care what race you are." After he had said that, he gave him pointers for his sword skills and didn't hide anything he knew, not stopping before he had said it through.
Not long after, everyone fell silent as they were comprehending his words without a sound.
Even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't say much, it was enough for them to comprehend for a while.
"Imperial Preceptor, have you studied demon cultivation before?" Hu Ling'er broke the silence as she asked him on dragon qilin's head.
Eternal Peace shook his head, "Never did."
Hu Ling'er's eyes lighted up and said with a crisp voice, "I can teach you!" She looked very serious.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also asked seriously, "May I ask for your guidance?"
Hu Ling'er told him about what she had learned through cultivation and told him about the knowledge she had learned from the collection of books from Surging River Dragon Palace. She even told him about Spirit Creation Technique which was mixed with her own comprehension.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor listened silently and when Hu Ling'er was finished, he suddenly asked, "The demon race has no divine treasure? Hearing about what you have learned through cultivation, there was no cultivation related to divine treasure."
Hu Ling'er shook her head and replied, "We don't, therefore we have to work hard to cultivate to a human form. Once we have a human form, we would be a demon king which is very powerful!"
"I've also seen a few demon kings before and they indeed have unusual abilities."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "The spirit techniques you mentioned earlier to change your form was very interesting. This technique seems to have countless changes."
He explained Spirit Creation Technique in detail and Hu Ling'er became more and more enthralled. When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was done, she then came back to her senses and cried out in astonishment, "I said just now that I wanted to teach you, how did it become your teaching me?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "We teach each other."
"En!" Hu Ling'er nodded her head heavily.
The dragon qilin under her butt snorted and rolled his eyes.
At this moment, lights actually appeared in the sky which flew towards them. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a look and his gaze landed on Qin Mu's body.
Those lights gathered and entered Qin Mu's body from the top of his head. More and more lights appeared and gradually turned into a slender flow of light that had a fire red color.
Hu Ling'er gave a touch and a tuft of fur on her paw was burned. She immediately pulled back her paw.
Not long after, Qin Mu's aura increased exponentially and flames poured out from his body, surrounding him like fire clouds.
Hu Ling'er was still astonished when she heard two popping sounds as two bull horns grew out from his head. His nostrils started to gradually rise and pushed outwards, spewing out two trails of white smoke which carried flames.
Hu Ling'er cried out in astonishment and heard two cracking sounds as the bones in Qin Mu's bone transformed bizarrely. His thighs became thicker and his body also grew taller. His muscles started bulging outwards and flame markings covered his entire body. A bull's eye popped out on his forehead right at the heart of his brows.
Hu Ling'er then saw a bull's tail drooping down behind Qin Mu's buttocks which had also become larger, looking like the large and firm buttocks of a bull. His tail whipped twice on the firm buttocks which she reckoned was very painful!
"Imperial Preceptor…"
Hu Ling'er was stunned for a moment before turning her head to tell Imperial Preceptor, "My young master has revealed his true form! His true form! He's not a fox demon, he's a bull demon!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
"This is not a demon but a kind of god transformation, to transform into the shape of gods." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was used to this sight and explained to Hu Ling'er.
He naturally could see that this wasn't Qin Mu revealing his true form and was a peculiar technique instead. It seemed to be the effect by merging a few techniques of Heavenly Devil Sect together.
"It seems to be Spirit Creation Technique merging with the Mars Technique of Five Elements Realm…"
He had little knowledge about Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures so he wasn't too sure.
Qin Mu's body shape-shifting was considered god transformation and some techniques could achieve that as well. It wasn't rare and it was one type of body divine arts.
The techniques of some sects specially relied on god transformation and devil transformation to upgrade their bodies.
However, Qin Mu's god transformation made Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor puzzled. It didn't seem like it was just a body divine art.
Body divine art was naturally used to upgrade one's body and relied on one's strong body to increase their battle ability.
Whereas Qin Mu's god transformation seemed to be god transformation.
In Imperial Preceptor's eyes, Qin Mu relied on his technique to turn himself into the appearance of Mars Sovereign. When his corporeal body changed, his vital qi also changed at the same time. Even the aura he was giving off has also changed!
Which also means he obtained the body and the divine arts under the state of god transformation.
Now this was very strange.
The transformation on Qin Mu's body had yet stop and fire clouds churned under his feet, gradually turning into two fire dragons. The fire dragons became longer and larger, lifting his body from the ground.
Qin Mu stepped on the fire dragons and his feet ripped apart his shoes as they turned into two flaming hooves.
The him now was like Mars Sovereign who was stepping on two fire dragons!
Qin Mu raised his hand and the surroundings instantly became incomparably dry as fireballs that were the size of goose's egg flew around in the sky.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave off an interested expression as he looked at these fireballs that were neither too big nor too small. Suddenly, sword lights which were formed by fine flames burst forth from each and every one of the fireballs. Each sword light was executing Sunset Sword Skill and there was also the power of fire attributes spells in the sword skill at the same time, therefore the power of each sword wasn't weak at all!
"Sunset Sword Skill of Yuyuan Empire, very orthodox, which also has the marvel of sword pellets. Combining the power of the spells, your strength could basically be compared to a divine arts practitioners."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed, "If you clash face to face with a divine arts practitioner of Six Directions Realm, you won't die. If you can unleash the body divine art of god transformation, you can rival divine arts practitioners of Six Direction Realm."
Qin Mu's sword skill retracted and returned to the fireballs. The fireballs collided with one another, forming a red sun that was as huge as a basin. He then opened his mouth to swallow that red sun into his mouth, spewing two trails of flames from his bull's nose.
He stopped executing Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and the two bull's horns on his head gradually shrank. His body also slowly returned to normal and the two fire dragons under his feet slowly dispersed.
Qin Mu touched his buttocks and gave off a puzzled expression. There was a searing pain on his buttocks as if someone had whipped his a few times.
"Could it be that I'm used to herding cows ever since I was young therefore I like to whip the buttocks of a cow?" the cowherd boy from Disabled Elderly Village thought suspiciously to himself.
There was a mighty mountain in front where the waterfall fell from the sky which seemed like an upside down milky way. The white color of the waterfall, the black color of the cliff, the greenery of the mountain peak, and the sun hanging over their heads formed an ink painting of the mountain and river.
The sound of the water was deafening and there was dense water vapor traveling over. Fine mist was everywhere in the air, which landed on everyone's body, making their clothes slightly damp after a while.
This place made people feel delighted and relaxed.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor brought them to the southern borders and didn't take any official path. They determined the direction and continued walking which had now brought them to the mountains.
The waterfall formed a deep pool which was clear and there was a buck with branching horn beside the pool, swaying its short tail and eating the turf grass. There were white spots with the shape of plum blossom on its body.
When it saw them walking over, the buck immediately raised its head and sized them up while taking two steps forward.
Everyone exclaimed handsome secretly. This buck was about the same size as the dragon qilin, looking very majestic.
That buck puffed from its nostrils and came to the side of the pool. There was an elder in woven rush raincoat beside the pool and he stabbed his fishing pole on the shore to fish.
There was a child beside this elder, who was older than a kid but younger than a teenager. He picked up stones in boredom and threw at where the elder's hook was. This child didn't just throw one or two pieces, instead, he kept throwing.
This waterfall was so huge and the current was so urgent, even if there was fish, they wouldn't eat the bait. Plus the fact that this child was throwing rocks continuous into consideration, this elder didn't need to think of catching anything today.
Yue Qinghong shook his head, "This child is his own, otherwise he would have smacked him to death. Who can endure this?"
Qin Mu revealed a puzzled expression and looked around. This wasn't a fishing spot and yet there was an elder fishing here. There was a child throwing rocks at the hook. No matter how he looked, this elder didn't seem to be here for fishing.
In such wilderness where footprints were rare, they could only be blocking the way if they weren't fishing!
In addition to this plum blossom buck that was no inferior to the dragon qilin, the identity of this elder was probably an existence on the same level as the young patriarch!
Chen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang also noticed something wrong and looked towards Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. Monk Yun Que didn't think so much and went up to inquire with a smile, "Elder, how could there be fish here? This must be your grandson, right? With your grandson throwing the rocks continuously, even if there's fish, they would have been spooked."
The elder raised his head and revealed a face full of wrinkles while smiling, "How come there no fish? Didn't the fish just arrive?"
Yun Que looked towards his hook and didn't see any fish. He only saw that brat still throwing rocks.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came forward and said cynically, "Even though this pool isn't big, the fish isn't small and would be hard to catch. I wonder if elder has the ability to?"
Wrinkles creased up on the elder's face as he smiled, "This world was originally a pool of clear water. A big fish came to stir up this water. This huge fish should have jumped through the dragon's gate to become a true dragon yet it not only stirred up the water but also wanted to eat the small fishes, clearing them all. Imperial Preceptor, you decide, should I fish up this big fish or not?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze flickered and said at a speed that neither fast nor slow, "Isn't it a little inappropriate for elder to compare sects to small fishes, am I right? Sects should be leeches, leeches that cling onto the bodies of fishes. Even though the water looks clear, the fishes in the water are all bitten by the leeches and in that case, we shouldn't fish and instead, we should drug and get rid of the leeches!"
The elder did not speak another word.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't speak as well.
When words get sour, saying anymore was useless. They had already said a few sentences and felt that they couldn't convince each other so it was useless if they continued talking.
Since their ideals were different and they can't convince each other, it would be better to eradicate the other side and be much more straightforward and refreshing to just destroy the other side's ideal.
That elder got up and pulled out his fishing rod and line. Placing the fishing rod vertically upwards beside a huge tree, he took down his straw hat and woven rush raincoat. He waved his hand to signal the brat beside him to move back, "Go to the mountainside."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said to Qin Mu and the rest, "Go past the mountain and wait for me there. Elder, have you passed down your abilities?"
That elder nodded, "I've passed them down. What about Imperial Preceptor?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently, "I have no need. I was too hot-headed in my early days and killed too many people, eradicating too many sects. This resulted in many unique skills of numerous sects being lost. This was something I often regret after setting up Floor of Heavenly Records, therefore from then on, I would always have the habit to ask this before I kill people."
Even though Qin Mu wanted to stay and witness this battle that was rarely seen, the blast from the collision of existences at the level of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would probably be even more violent than Dutian Devil King. If he observed the battle from such a close distance, he was sure to die.
"Let us cross the mountain!" Qin Mu said sternly.
He brought everyone up to this high mountain and looked down. The two people below the waterfall had been covered up by the mist and couldn't be seen clearly.
The brat throwing the rock was riding the huge buck and was not far away from them. He blinked his eyes innocently, "You guys are from Imperial College?"
Chen Wanyun nodded his head and asked, "How do I address brother?"
"Muran, Wang Muran!"
His age was similar to Qin Mu but he presented a different steadiness when compared to Qin Mu. This Wang Muran was extremely active and couldn't sit still. He would feel bored the moment he became silent. He couldn't stay still even when riding the huge buck, slapping the buck's butt to run over.
Qin Mu asked, "Which sect is Brother Wang from?"
"Little Jade Capital."
"Little Jade Capital?"
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que and the rest were slightly at a loss. They had not heard about this sect before. There were three big sacred grounds in Eternal Peace Empire and some large scale sects that were not inferior to the three big sacred grounds, however, Little Jade Capital wasn't among them.
Qin Mu was stunned. The two words, Jade Capital, weren't words anyone could use. Jade Capital referred to the capital city where the Celestial Emperor lived and this Celestial Emperor wasn't god and was an immortal, the celestial emperor of immortals.
Which sect was so daring to take the name, Little Jade Capital?
"There are very little people living in the sacred ground of our Little Jade Capital. They were all mainly old men and old women. There aren't many that are of the same age as me."
Wang Muran said, "This time there was someone who came to visit and found my master. He asked my master to pay a visit to Imperial Preceptor, saying that Imperial Preceptor was walking the path of the devil and wanted to eradicate all the sects in the world. My master was originally unwilling to do it but it was hard for him to turn down a friend's request, therefore he had brought me out to take a look around. The sects in this world have already been nearly eradicated by Imperial Preceptor, and his actions are indeed no different from the devil."
Hu Ling'er was bewildered, "Aren't we the righteous side? I feel Imperial Preceptor's actions are very righteous!"
Wang Muran shook his head, "You are all hawks and hounds of the imperial court, the claws, and teeth of Imperial Preceptor, having a very bad reputation."
Qin Mu was puzzled. He felt Imperial Preceptor's action was still okay and righteous. Furthermore, Imperial Preceptor also had an air of righteousness and everything he did seemed normal and righteous to Qin Mu.
How did it turn into the path of the devil in other people's eyes?
Furthermore, how did they, the imperial scholars, become the hawks and hounds of the imperial court, the claws, and teeth of Imperial Preceptor, having a bad reputation?
"Righteous and evil, it's maybe just a matter of how you see it." Qin Mu thought to himself.
Hu Ling'er asked, "Muran, if your master dies, what would you do?"
Wang Muran was brimming with confidence while shaking his head, "No one can kill my master, his abilities…"
At this moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked over and said to Wang Muran, "Go and retrieve your master's body. Before he died, he had told me he had passed down all his abilities to you. This is very good, cultivate well."
Wang Muran was stunned and he suddenly jumped off the buck's back to sprint towards the waterfall. A moment later, his wails traveled over.
"Litte Jade Capital is pretty remarkable. I've heard of this sect that has some connections with the heavens above."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Li City is right ahead, I'm injured so you will have to grab some herbs to treat me."
Qin Mu nodded his head, "Imperial Preceptor's injury is difficult to treat, the medicine I prescribe would definitely be very complicated."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Wang Muran carried the fishing elder's corpse and placed it on the back of the buck. He rode the buck and caught up with Qin Mu, Imperial Preceptor and the rest while shouting, "Imperial Preceptor, I'll take revenge for my master!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned his head back and looked very serious, "Your master's skill ain't bad. After you have mastered them, pass down the abilities to your own disciples and don't let his abilities die away."
Wang Muran gave a shout and clouds formed below the buck's feet as it sprinted into the sky, gradually disappearing.
"Someone invited this old softy from Little Jade Capital to test the waters, therefore he certainly deserves his death."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor retracted his gaze and said to Qin Mu and the rest, "Little Jade Capital is a mysterious place that stands aloof from worldly affairs. They have an extremely ancient background. Even I only heard rumors about Little Jade Capital before and it was my first time meeting an expert of Little Jade Capital. They indeed have some means but they are behind times. They do not come out frequently and couldn't witness the advancement in the techniques of other sects. It's easy to fall behind times by limiting themselves in a closed environment. Bear in mind, you can never be an expert if you only concentrate on cultivating without having regard for what is happening in the outside world."
Qin Mu and the rest nodded their heads in acknowledgment and felt respect in their hearts.
This fishing elder was actually invited by others to test the waters?
Are they using this elder's life to test how deep the water of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was?
"This struggle has already begun," Qin Mu's gaze wavered as he thought to himself.
Li City.
Eternal Peace Empire's army had already invaded this place and when they came, the battle had already ended.
The battle shouldn't be too intense. Qin Mu looked around and saw the city walls were still considered complete. The army of Eternal Peace had directly pushed forward and met the rebel army outside the city, eradicating them straight away.
"There are Hall of Array Element, Floor of Military Secrets in Imperial College where they taught formation skills and the art of war. With the sects facing the army of Eternal Peace directly, their end is evident," he thought secretly to himself.
Li City wasn't destroyed by the battles, therefore, the people here were still considered safe. Qin Mu came to the herb shop and grabbed a few herbs from each and every herb shop.
After visiting about a dozen herb shops, almost half a day had passed by and night fell. Qin Mu and the rest stayed at the yamen of Li City. The magistrate of Li City had been captured and sent under escort to the imperial court.
Not long after, a fragrant medicinal smell came out from the yamen and about an hour later, a maid carried a basin out and poured the basin of medicinal dregs on the stone pavement.
Another hour later, that maid carried out another basin of medicinal dregs and poured it on the pavement, letting people to trample on them.
That happened a third time and seven basins of medicinal dregs were poured in one night.
After daybreak, Qin Mu and the rest didn't start out to the south until half a day had passed.
In the herb shop of Li City, there was a middle-aged scholar in green clothing and white inner shirt standing behind the counter. He flipped through dozens of prescriptions and these prescriptions recorded the few herbs Qin Mu had grabbed from the dozen of herb shops.
"That's not right. These herbs are completely useless. These herbs aren't for healing injuries. This brat is shrewd…"
The middle-aged scholar raised his head and smiled, "As expected of the little divine physician that's well known in the capital city. You don't want me to know from the herbs how serious Imperial Preceptor's injury is. How sly. However, you're underestimating me, Spiritual Master Dao Quan."
"Spiritual Master, here are the medicinal dregs!"
A few young apothecaries came from outside and each of them carried a basin which was filled with medicinal dregs.
Spiritual Master Dao Quan checked them one by one. After a moment, he calculated to himself, "This little divine physician is indeed shrewd. He purposely mixed other medicinal dregs in so that I can't see how Imperial Preceptor was treated. However, to play this kind of tricks in front of me, you're still too inexperienced. Disciples, grab the herbs!"
He said the names of the herbs and the young apothecaries immediately fetched the spirit herbs over. Spiritual Master Dao Quan muttered to himself and organized them into categories. He changed the arrangement a few more times and ordered his disciples to start the furnace to refine the herbs when he felt that there was no mistake.
After a few hours, Spiritual Master Dao Quan looked at the medicine he had refined. The first medicine was a herbal soup which was incomparably intense. The second one was a medicinal ointment for applying externally to dispel poison. The third one was a spirit pill that was the size of the tip of a pinky finger. The pill was silver in color and filled with spikes. With just a gentle touch, one would be pricked by the gold qi coming out from the spirit pill.
The fourth medicine was a milky white gas that had settled down on the bottom of the furnace. The fifth medicine was a cup of dark red liquid which evaporated very fast. The sixth and seventh medicines were also spirit pills but their medicinal properties were different.
Spiritual Master Dao Quan checked the seven medicines and his expression changed slightly as he exclaimed in admiration, "This little divine physician is remarkable, truly remarkable. With his method of healing, all injuries of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would be completely healed over in the shortest time of twenty days, or no more than half a year!"
He brought seven medicines and instantly leaped into the air, turning into a trail of light in the sky.
This trail of light flew for half a day towards the southern borders and landed in Dali City of the southern borders after a thousand miles.
Dali City was the biggest city in the southern borders. This place was a country back then which advocated the Buddhist doctrine. There were at least three thousand and six hundred temples within the county, having the reputation of the Western Paradise in the south. It was later annexed by Eternal Peace.
Spiritual Master Dao Quan landed in the most glorious Luoguang Temple and walked quickly into the temple. There were about a dozen existences of the cult master level in the temple. They all rose up.
"Spiritual Master Dao Quan is here!"
The man who wore a bronze mask welcomed him and smiled, "Spiritual Master Dao Quan must have brought us good news this time!"
"You're right."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan took out seven kinds of medicines and placed them in a line, "This time Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had competed with Wanderer Zhen of Little Jade Capital. Even though he had killed Wanderer Zhen, he must have gotten injured as well. Having little divine physician beside him on this journey, I had thought the little divine physician would help treat him, therefore, the medicine used would reveal the state of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries. These seven medicines were the medicine little divine physician had refined last night. May everyone have a look?"
High Official Ma Lianshan asked in astonishment, "Spiritual Master Dao Quan normally doesn't give in to heaven nor earth and believes he is the number one in the art of healing, and even Little Poison King has to flatter you. How come you're calling a little brat divine physician today?"
Spiritual Master Dao Quan said solemnly, "In the past, I viewed highly of myself because no one could be compared to me in terms of medical knowledge. They were just quacks that knew some prescriptions, that's all. Even Little Poison King had merely inherited Jade Face Poison King's abilities and didn't have any contributions on his own. Furthermore, I despise his character, someone who would even betray his master makes me hold him in contempt. However, this little divine physician is indeed worthy of his title."
He pointed at the first medicine and said, "This is the herbal soup the little divine physician brewed using dozens of herbs. Just the poisonous herbs alone take up more than half of the soup. This herbal soup help in stimulating the soul and cure the injuries on the soul. Is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's soul injured?"
An old man panted, "He's indeed injured. I had used my Pure Yang Thirty Six Heavenly Spirits Star Fiends to injure his soul but he had also injured me."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan said, "This herbal soup is to treat the injury of his soul which exactly what he needed. The second medicine is an ointment. Does Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has an external injury which carries fire poison?"
Another old woman grinned, "Spiritual Master is very accurate, there is fire poison hidden in my technique. When we ambushed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then, I had managed to land a hit on the back of his heart."
"Little divine physician's ointment helps in getting rid of the fire poison."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan pointed at the third medicine, "There is gold qi hidden in this spirit pill which is extremely sharp. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor should have suffered from some venomous insect or wood poison. Who used wood poison or venomous insect when injuring Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor that day?"
Another elder chuckled, "When we three ambushed Imperial Preceptor then, I used venomous insects."
"Then that's it."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan continued, "The fourth medicine is for steaming technique. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has injuries in his seven great divine treasures thus it's hard for the medicinal properties to infiltrate, therefore this little divine physician turned the medicinal energy into gas, steaming Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in the steamer."
The cult masters in Luoguang Temple smiled, "Why didn't he get cooked by steaming?"
"Other than that, there are still some hidden dangers not ridden off, therefore, this little divine physician then used acupuncture and moxibustion. Those needles are hollow and the fifth medicine is hidden in the needles. This medicine evaporates very fast and will seep into his skin after entering his body."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan pointed to the sixth medicine and said, "This medicine is used to strengthen the body, to strengthen the effect of this treatment. The seventh medicine is a supplement which is used to nourish Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body. After this test, I can already confirm without a doubt that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has yet recovered."
He gave an exclaim of admiration and continued, "However, giving this little divine physician a month's time, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would be nursed back to his peak performance and all his injuries would be healed without any hidden danger left behind!"
The palace master of Passion Parting Palace frowned as she said softly, "Everyone, Imperial Preceptor's injuries seem to be more serious than we expected."
That man wearing the bronze mask smiled, "That's because he met Wanderer Zhen of Little Jade Capital. I had known Wanderer Zhen back in the days and had close connections with him. It's just that after he had gone to Little Jade Capital, we had lesser dealings with each other. Wanderer Zhen is also at the peak of Divine Bridge Realm and not much inferior compared to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan said, "Wanderer Zhen of Little Jade Capital has already died. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor killed him. I felt the pulses coming from the mountain when I was at Li City."
Passion Parting Palace Master's gaze landed on the man with the bronze mask, seemingly wanting to know whose face it was underneath the mask, "You made use of your friendship with Wanderer Zhen from the early days to send him to his death, aren't you too scheming? Ever since I met you, you have been always wearing a mask and don't dare to show your face. You betrayed your friend and hide your identity, this makes me very worried. If I'm betrayed by you, I'm afraid I won't even know who betrayed me."
"Palace Master Qiu, you can be at ease, there is definitely nothing going wrong with him."
Passion Parting Palace Master Qiu Dieyi looked towards the source of the sound and saw the person speaking was one of the three wonders of Three Wonders Castle, Big Castle Lord Che Zhengli, the father of Imperial Consort Che in the capital city.
After he had rebelled, Imperial Consort Che was implicated by him and now it wasn't known if she was dead or alive in the cold palace.
Passion Parting Palace Master said indifferently, "Really no problem? Just because you said so? Castle Lord Che, don't forget you're also a relative of the royal family."
Che Zhengli's expression changed slightly and was about to say something when an old woman laughed, "Palace master, there is no problem with this person's identity."
The old woman who spoke this was one of the three strong practitioners of the old generation that had ambushed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. Since that she had said no problem, Passion Parting Palace Master could only restrain herself.
"Since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is still suffering from his serious injuries, should we give him time to recuperate?"
The bronze mask man looked around and asked, "He ordered He Xiaopeng to come over and gave us two choices. It's time for us to make a decision. Which choice should we choose?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
The temple was in silence.
"Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came aggressively. He brought four out of eight Pillar of States and there are still Grand General who crowns the Army, Grand General of Cherishing Transformation, Duke Wei and even a few first-ranking high officials among them. If we face them directly, we definitely can't win."
High Official Ma Lianshan said, "Pardon my straightforwardness, sects will definitely win the battle of the martial world but Eternal Peace Empire is a level higher in fighting wars on the battlefield. In that case, why should we take our shortcoming to fight their strength? Why not take our strength to fight their shortcoming?"
Everyone nodded his head.
Passion Parting Palace Master suddenly said, "This reminds me of the battle two hundred years ago. Back then there were a lot of strong practitioners of the battle techniques school with a variety of cultivations. It was able to compete with the sword control school and the spell school. At that time, the battle technique school fought the sword control school and the spell school to the death every day and how brash were they then! But now, look at our battle technique school again, where are the experts? Where have they gone?"
Everyone fell silent.
The experts of the battle techniques school had mostly died in a debate, a debate with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
From then on, the battle technique school was ruined with a stumble. In the recent years, the battle technique school had already started to merge with other schools and there were rarely people who purely cultivated battle techniques.
In that debate, the battle technique school was crippled with just Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor alone.
Passion Parting Palace Master said indifferently, "What's the difference between the situation now and then? At that time the battle techniques school thought they were the number one in the world and would completely crush sword control school in this debate, therefore many strong practitioners of the battle techniques school went forth to the capital city to challenge Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. What happened next?"
She looked around, "If we go according to the rules of the martial world with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, won't we end up like them?"
The bronze mask man was silent for a moment before asking, "What brilliant idea does Palace Master Qiu have?"
Passion Parting Palace Master raised her hand and replied, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor thinks we are going to fight him according to the rules of the martial world, but we actually won't follow the rules of the martial world. We will first give him a location and when he reaches, we will all go forth and end this by killing him!"
Her palm sliced down as she said coldly, "Eternal Peace Empire was merely a small country and for them to be able to have what they have today, most of the effort lies on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. He is already a legend that is revered by the civil and military officials in the imperial court. If he wants to rebel, he just needs to raise an arm and the emperor would have to give up his throne! If the emperor doesn't give up his throne, he will be slain and his entire family would be exterminated! If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor dies, Eternal Peace Empire won't be hard to deal with when they have no leader, therefore we must resort to unscrupulous means. We can't go by the rules of the martial world."
"This… Palace Master Qiu is right."
All the sect masters in Luoguang Temple agreed. Only a few of them felt uncomfortable going against the rules of the martial world but they didn't oppose it.
Attacking Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor all together and the three elders ambushing Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor the previous time was two different matters. When the three elders ambushed Eternal peace Imperial Preceptor back then, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was situated in an army of ten thousand men, having countless strong practitioners beside him, thus the three elders didn't break any rule of the martial world.
Whereas this time, they were actually tearing apart the rules of the martial world and trampling on it.
"With this action, the rules will be broken, leaving behind a disaster that would go down in history."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan shook his head secretly, "They had brought the unruly fighting method of the imperial court to the martial world. I'm afraid we can't go back to the martial world in the past."
Sunlight City, Qin Mu followed a set pattern and 'treated' Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor again. When they reached Mountain City, he 'treated' him once more. All the troops advanced together and had already reached the front of Daxiang, invading city and taking over the territory, sweeping everything in front of them.
There were many bodies of water in the south but there was no moat like Surging River, therefore, it was hard for them to defend against Eternal Peace Empire's army.
Qin Mu helped Eternal Peace Empire greatly by summoning Dutian Devil King to destroy Heaven Wave City, a strategic location built on such moat. However, he couldn't take credit for it.
On the fifth day, Qin Mu and the rest came to Exceed City and Exceed City had also been taken over.
Just as they entered the city, they saw a beggar wearing ragged clothes that were covered in patches holding a broken bowl and supporting himself with a cane. When he came to them, Monk Yun Que felt in his pocket to see if he had any spare change. Hu Ling'er took out a great abundance coin and handed it over to Yun Que. Yun Que expressed his thanks and placed it in the bowl of the old beggar.
That old beggar shook his bowl and the coin inside rattled as he grinned, "You are all kind people, you will have many children and great prosperity. Imperial Preceptor, may I bother you to head over to Daxiang. In Daxiang City, the second choice, the heroes of this world will meet Imperial Preceptor there, we'll wait for your arrival!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave him a glance and said indifferently, "Why can't you guys wait a few more days? If you wait a few more days, my army will be able to descend on Dali and meet the so-called heroes of this world in Dali, throwing their bodies into the southern sea to feed the fishes, saving us the trouble to bury them, isn't it better?"
That old beggar laughed out loud and there were actually seven continuous sounds of gates opening from his body. His aura rose dramatically and his cultivation was incomparably dense. His spirit was like a god that looked disdainfully at all living things. It was a spirit that didn't seem like he was only surviving because of people giving alms and was like a god that was worshiped by all living things!
"Imperial Preceptor is heroic as usual, Daxiang City, I'll wait for your arrival!"
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a voice, "Hold it."
The old beggar squatted down and turned his head back to look at Qin Mu with a puzzled face.
Without a change in expression, Qin Mu said softly, "Ling'er, take back the money. He is much richer than us."
Hu Ling'er immediately went forward and took out that great abundance coin from the broken bowl. The old beggar immediately flew into fury, "You have the face to take back the alms you have given to a beggar? You're impotent! Impotent!"
"Smelly beggar, scolding us?"
Hu Ling'er turned her head back and asked, "Young master, what's impotent?"
Qin Mu said, "Impotent means you can't bear any child."
"He's really scolding us!"
Hu Ling'er flew into a fury and spat at the old beggar's face. That old beggar didn't avoid it and just chuckled, "Little fox, you're dead meat for provoking me!" After he had finished, he broke through the air in an instant."
Hu Ling'er spat, "How dare you scold and curse me after scamming my money, you're impotent!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "You need to be more careful, that's Sect Master Qi Dayou of Beggar Sect. Beggar Sect is usually petty and proficient in evil arts. If no alms were given, they would create a ruckus in front of shops or use evil arts to harm people. After spoiling people's business, they will even scold you behind your back and even steal other people's daughters and sons to sell. There is a Beggar Hall in Heavenly Devil Cult which fought them quite a few times. Beggar Hall only asked for food and did lesser evils, however, they were framed quite a lot by Beggar Sect."
Qin Mu blinked his eyes and smiled, "Imperial Preceptor, we're not much further from Daxiang and it's enough for us to send you here. We should be returning to Imperial College."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor replied expressionlessly, "No, you must follow me to Daxiang."
Qin Mu got a headache. When everyone had settled down, he went out by himself and came to a gambling den in Exceed City. He found the den owner and ordered, "Pass down my command, let the three hundred and sixty halls of our sacred cult come forth using their teleportation flags…"
"Hold it!"
Si Yunxiang's voice came from behind Qin Mu. Qin Mu turned back to look and saw Si Yunxiang walking over. Her shyness in the past had disappeared with a trace as she said coldly, "Sacred cult master, if you do so, you will drag our sacred cult into danger as well. If our sacred cult has any mishap, who will be responsible?"
Qin Mu turned his body around and said indifferently, "Saintess, I'm the cult master."
Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly, "Saintess Si Yunxiang pays my respect to cult master."
Her face turned cold, "If cult master lets our sacred cult help Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, no matter if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wins or loses, our sacred cult would lose all our reputation in the martial world. We will get ridiculed and viewed as an enemy by other sects. We will have no footing in this world!"
Qin Mu shook his head, "The sacred cult is already Heavenly Devil Cult so what reputation do we have? People will not give you a footing, we have to fight for it ourselves. This is a rare opportunity and if the sacred cult doesn't partake, we will really have no footing."
Si Yunxiang protested, "What if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor lay his hand on our Heavenly Saint Cult after he had dealt with all the sects in this world? Can you take responsibility for that?"
Qin Mu took a glance at her, "I'll take responsibility."
Si Yunxiang's expression changed again and she suddenly smiled lightly, "You're the cult master, so it's natural you make the decision, Si Yunxiang won't say anymore. However, if sacred cult master makes a wrong move and lets our sacred cult fall into danger, maybe cult master may be the second sacred cult master that got killed by the saintess."
Qin Mu frowned. The sacred cult master of Heavenly Devil was really a dangerous position which could be killed any moment because of a misconduct.
Si Yunxiang said shyly, "The previous cult master died from being lecherous and the current cult master got beaten to death alive by the saintess, the reputation of both of them doesn't seem nice."
Qin Mu shook his head and waved his hand, "Saintess, you may fall back. Pass down my command, all three hundred and sixty hall masters to come forth at once using teleportation flags! Also invite the two guardians as well!"
The gambling den owner bowed, "As cult master command!"
Qin Mu walked out of the gambling den and Si Yunxiang was standing outside it. When she saw him walking out, she snickered, "Beaten to death alive…"
Qin Mu stared at her and walked forward, "Are you following or not?"
Si Yunxiang caught up with him and rolled her eyes, "Does cult master want to place Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures in the cult first, in case it goes missing after cult master dies?"
Qin Mu stopped in his footsteps and turned around, speaking in a serious tone, "Sister, you aren't my opponent. If my judgment is wrong, your coming to kill me will only result in being killed by me. You…"
He used vital qi to draw a triangle in the sky, and then to draw a straight line in the middle, "This is you."
He then drew another straight line, "This is me! No matter how wide your angle is, your line won't be as long as mine!"
The sword case behind Si Yunxiang stirred and tinkling noises came from inside as she smiled sweetly, "How will we know if we never try?"
Qin Mu placed both his hands behind his back as he walked forward, "There's no need to try. On the same realm, no one is my opponent, not you, not even Imperial Preceptor."
He stopped in his footsteps and looked towards the sky with a hint of loneliness, "I'm the Overlord Body."
Qin Mu lowered his head and sighed, "The only Overlord Body in the world…"
Si Yunxiang was stunned and wanted to make a move yet she was shaken by his imposing manner.
It was an aura of loneliness from being invincible.
"Overlord Body? What kind of constitution is that? Is it stronger than the Four Great Spirit Bodies?"
She thought to herself, "Could Patriarch choose him as the cult master and not me because he is the Overlord Body?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Si Yunxiang composed herself and raised her eyes to look at Qin Mu who had walked far away, "I will not be weaker than the so-called Overlord Body. The women of our Si Family are natural born cult master killers! If the saintless of the previous generation could kill the previous cult master, I can do it too!"
They arrived at Flood County the next day and Flood County had already been taken over for two days. When a soldier saw Imperial Preceptor, he immediately reported, "Imperial Preceptor, there are many people carrying flags that had arrived in the city."
"People carrying flags?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and mumbled for a moment while looking at Qin Mu. He then said, "Ignore them. How many of them are there exactly?"
"About a dozen. They all wear bamboo hats to cover their faces and they have different weapons on them that are wrapped tightly with a cloth. They don't look like good guys."
"You may fall back."
On the third day, they came to Clear River County and there were also many people carrying flags that came to Clear River County. There were about fifty to sixty people, much more than yesterday.
On the fourth day in Hidden Fog City, a few hundred people carrying flags appeared in the city. Qin Mu didn't explain where these people came from and why they came here, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't ask about it.
On the fifth day, they walked out of the official's manor and prepared to head to Daxiang. Just as they walked out of the yamen and came onto the street, they saw a weird person, who was wearing a bamboo hat and carrying weapons wrapped with cloth, stand up from the gate of the yamen, following behind them.
Another two steps forwards, another person walked out from the alley beside them. The person was also wearing a bamboo hat which was pushed down. On his hand was a weapon wrapped with a cloth. Another burly man wearing a bamboo hat beside the street also stood up and carried a cloth sack to follow them.
Before they even walked out of Hidden Fog City, there were a few hundred weird people who were dressed similarly following them. There were males, females, young and old.
Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong and the rest turned back to have a look and felt uneasy. All these people had their bamboo hats pushed down and followed at a suitable distance behind. They didn't want to reveal their faces and they didn't know what they planned to do.
"Could it be those people carrying the flags? Where are their flags?" Yun Que muttered.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still remained indifferent, and he paid no attention to the few hundred people behind him.
When they reached Hidden Fog City, there was an arbor not far from the city gate. There were two elders selling tea under the arbor, one male, and one female. When they walked over, those two elders raised their heads and greeted, "Dear guests, how about a cup of tea?"
Monk Yun Que muttered, "Why should we drink the tea when we just took to the road?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I'm thirsty." Once he had said that, he sat down in the arbor and asked for a cup of tea.
Qin Mu also sat down. Those two elders also sat down respectively. Four people sat at four sides of the table, each having a cup of tea in front of him.
Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong and the rest also wanted to go forward but they noticed that they remained at the same spot no matter how much they moved forward. That arbor was very close to them yet after dozens of steps, they still remained where they were.
Everyone was astonished and sprinted towards the arbor in a hurry. Their speed was extremely fast yet they were always yards away from the arbor. This arbor that looked close to them seemed to be a thousand miles away!
After a moment, Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor finished their tea and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood up to bow. That old man and old woman also stood up to bow.
The two of them walked out of the arbor and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Let us go, to Daxiang."
Everyone had a bewildered expression but they still followed them. Yue Qinghong turned back to have a look and saw the few hundred weird people wearing bamboo hats didn't follow them. They had instead sat outside the arbor, each having a cup of tea in the hand and drinking it silently. It was a weird sight.
"What a bunch of weird people," Hu Ling'er said.
Si Yunxiang came to Qin Mu's side and asked in a low voice, "Is it done?"
Qin Mu nodded his head, "You will know then."
When they came to the outskirts of Daxiang City, there were barracks filled in the open space. Military camps were set up everywhere and Duke Wei, Grand General who crowns the Army, Grand General of Cherishing Transformation were both here. They didn't invade Daxiang immediately.
Daxiang was a strategic town of the southern borders where the rebel army from all over the world would gather, amassing thousands of soldiers and cavalries. There were also disciples from all sorts of sects rushing to this place in an endless stream, waiting for their moment to strike.
If a war broke out, this would definitely go down as an epic and grand war in history.
On the journey, Qin Mu saw golden armored strongmen pushing huge cloud carts and practicing attacking the city. These golden armored strongmen were experts that cultivated battle techniques and specially strengthened their corporeal bodies. Their bodies could swell up dozens to hundreds of times, turning them into giants. They were clad with armor formed from mysterious copper and mysterious gold, just the thickness of the armor alone was half a feet.
When these giants were practicing to attack the city, there were chains wrapped around their bodies and they had to carry shields as they push the cloud carts. Cloud carts were very complicated and other than the huge iron hammers smashing the city gate, there were also flying cart ladders which could stretch over dozens of yards upwards. The ladders would lean against the city wall, allowing soldiers to climb up the city walls.
Other than this, there were also soldiers executing formation diagrams, laying them out to allow the soldiers to stand on them, practicing their formation.
There were also cavalries riding huge birds that dived down under the command of the generals. Ten over thousands of sword lights shot down and with one swoop, over a hectare of land were filled with flying swords!
After the cavalries had flown past, the flying swords whooshed up from the ground and flew one after another into the sword cases on their back. The flying cavalries came and went like wind and like lightning, making people unable to guard.
There was not only a troop of cavalry, there were dozens of flying cavalries. The huge flying cavalries utilized the beehive tactics and pack of wolf tactics therefore if the land troops were to meet the flying cavalries, it was simply a devastating blow.
If they encountered strong enemies, the flying cavalries could execute the kite tactics to hang the enemies to death.
Other than the flying cavalries, there were also flying ships. This time, Duke Wei and Grand General who crowns the Army had mobilized several hundred ships and each ship could carry a thousand people, which means a huge army of a few hundred thousand was mobilized.
"Imperial Preceptor's reform has indeed turned Eternal Peace Empire's army into an invincible army. If our Heavenly Devil Cult was to receive such an attack, we will definitely be wiped out." Qin Mu thought to himself.
When they came to the camp, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a few words with Duke Wei, Grand General who crowns the Army, and Grand General of Cherishing Transformation before leading Qin Mu and the rest towards Daxiang City.
There were flags of all kinds of sects hanging on Daxiang City. There were even some flags of countries that were eradicated. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a look and shook his head, "If this old generation isn't completely destroyed, how will we become great? They could keep coming back from the ashes and make a comeback. Blood must flow in a revolution and millions of heads will roll."
Qin Mu asked, "Imperial Preceptor, is it ready?"
"It's ready."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his head and the city gate opened wide. Two rows of people walked over and lined up to the left and right of the city gate. The vital qi behind them turned into apparitions of god and devils.
"Strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm."
Qin Mu composed himself. The strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm could already show apparitions of gods and devils. These two groups of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm had already hit sixty to seventy people!
"The scene still isn't big enough."
Yue Qinghong sighed and smiled, "To test the scholars in this world, just the examination in Hall of Azure Yang of our Imperial College alone would mobilize ninety-nine strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm to test the scholars. For the rebels to only have such little strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm, it's not even enough for our Imperial College to kill."
The dozens of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm looked down towards their hearts and ignored her words.
When they walked into the city gate, they saw two rows of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm lined up on both sides of the long street. There was a person every ten steps all the way to the center of the city. The end almost couldn't be seen and there was probably over a thousand of them!
Yue Qinghong's heart trembled violently and didn't dare to say a word. Qin Mu was still quite composed. Heavenly Devil Cult also had a few hundred of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm, therefore, there was nothing for him to be surprised of.
"Not only the sects are involved in this revolt, even some countries that were already eradicated are involved."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continued indifferently, "Back then, to win the heart of people, I didn't kill every single one of the strong practitioners from these countries, which allowed them to rebel again. Other than the sects and countries, there are also some reputable families and the riots from these reputable families can't be underestimated."
Qin Mu made some calculations. Above Celestial Being Realm was Life and Death Realm, and above Life and Death Realm was Divine Bridge Realm. Since there were so many strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm, this meant the numbers of strong practitioners of Life and Death Realm weren't low and there will at least be a hundred of them. Meanwhile, there would probably be over a dozen strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm.
Over a dozen people of the cult master level plus the strong practitioners from the hidden sacred grounds like Little Jade Capital, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was now literally sending his head to them to chop off.
As for Qin Mu and the rest, they could just chop their heads off first and hang them around their waists.
The strong practitioners on both sides of the path were solemn and made no sound. Only the footsteps of Qin Mu and the rest could be heard. Other than the divine arts practitioners of the rebels that were in the city, there was already no one else here.
Not only that, there were actually no buildings in Daxiang City. All the buildings were razed to the ground and even the foundations of the buildings were removed. The city was bare and only tens of thousands of soldiers were inside. They were in their formations and they were all silent as well, not saying a word as they looked at them.
Walking under the gaze of tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners was extremely nerve-wracking. Even Chen Wanyun who was used to war was trembling, unable to control himself.
Qin Mu had seen god before and even peed on the sculpture of god so he was still undisturbed. He felt the pressure but he didn't lose his composure.
The center of the city had also been renovated. The city lord manor had vanished without a trace and replacing it was a high platform that had a few thousand steps. The platform was dozens of yards away from the ground and was even taller than the city tower, looking like a small mountain.
Qin Mu walked forward and his heart trembled slightly. The platform didn't look like a small mountain, it was a mountain.
Some moved the entire mountain and placed it on the original spot of the city lord manor before sculpting it into the shape it was now!
When they came to the bottom of the steps, they slowly walked up at a steady pace.
Finally, when they came to the top of the mountain, they discovered the mountain peak had already been flattened. Majestic apparitions of gods and devils stood towering yet all the masters of the sects were nowhere to be seen.
Qin Mu looked closely and saw these sect masters were either standing on the palm of the gods and devils apparition or they were sitting in the heart of the gods and devils' brows. None of them were touching the floor.
They were all high up in the sky, giving Qin Mu and the rest an immense pressure.
These existences of the cult master level were simply too strong.
There was a beautiful woman standing on the fingertips of a god's apparition, looking down at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor from above. She said with a soft voice, "The number one man under gods, the imperial preceptor of the current dynasty, you actually didn't bring any helpers?"
This apparition of god had the appearance of a Daoist. The apparition had a height of three hundred yards and the eyes were snow white as if they were made up of white colored light. A huge snake coiled around his body and a black turtle was under his feet. A breeze blew over and the pennant behind his back fluttered in the light breeze.
Si Yunxiang saw this sight and her heart leaped slightly, "The god that her vital qi had transformed into has been refined into a solid form, a realm which is near to god!"
Qin Mu wasn't too clear in this area and his heart wavered. He then asked, "Sister, if someone doesn't have his four limbs but when using the third eye to look at him, he is perfectly able and looks like an imposing and matchless god, giving off divine light that blinds people. How is this realm compared to this woman's realm?"
Si Yunxiang also didn't have much understanding of this and didn't reply. Suddenly, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned his head around and an uncontrollable aura burst forth, his desire for battle overflowed from his body, "You have seen such a person?"
Qin Mu was shocked by the sudden outburst of his battle desire and said, "It's my elder."
The corners of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes twitched, "Your elder again? You seem to have a lot of elders."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu blushed. "It's a little much, there's just nine of them."
"Nine of such elders?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was astonished. Were those nine people like Mute? If so, the origin of this Heavenly Devil Cult Master was a little terrifying!
"There are still nine people who are like me, my path won't be lonely."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a gratified smile. "I thought there was no one else other than me who had walked up to this step. Now, my heart suddenly feels calm…"
Qin Mu looked at him curiously and suddenly wondered if he would be beaten to death if he used Green Heaven's Eyes to look at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor now?
He really wanted to see if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was the same existence as Village Chief.
However, he couldn't see through Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. He couldn't see through this person's cultivation nor could he see through his nature. There were many contradicting points to this person.
If he used Green Heaven's Eyes to look at him, he might flare up.
"Imperial Preceptor, Palace Master is talking to you, why aren't you replying?"
Qin Mu looked towards the source of the voice and saw this person that had spoken walking down the platform. He wore a bronze mask which was very unique. It had exaggerated facial features which included long and wide ears, nose like an eagle's beak, a huge mouth, two pillar-like eyes, wide eyebrows, a hole on the forehead which seemed to be prepared for another eye.
Once Qin Mu saw the forehead under that mask, and there was indeed an eye there.
There was an eye between this person's brows!
"What is this technique?" He was slightly stunned.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked over to that bronze-masked man, and his gaze went past him, landing on Passion Parting Palace Master Qiu Dieyi. "Palace Master Qiu of Passion Parting Palace, your technique of Secrets of Hatred Parting Heavenly Sword is equivalent to a sword art handed down by a god."
His gaze landed on the next person. "Chariot Castle Lord Che Zhengli, Jade Castle Lord Yu Qingsheng, Black Castle Lord Li Fei. Castle Lord Che's technique is Heaven's Law Mysterious Devil Seal, the technique to seal the devil path of Dao Sect. Jade Castle Lord's technique is Five Insects Dragon Transformation Technique, which raises venomous insects into dragons. Castle Lord Li, you refine poison, but for what your technique is, I'm not clear."
Castle Lord Li chuckled. "There are still techniques that Imperial Preceptor doesn't know? My technique is called Poison Transforming Three Immortals Mystery Technique, which is good at transforming poison into power."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze landed on another person. "Spiritual Master Dao Quan always treats illnesses and saves people, so why have you joined the rebels too? Over ten years ago, due to the flood from Surging River, plague ran amuck and an epidemic spread throughout the south. Spiritual Master treated the people and gave free medicines, earning a good reputation in the whole world. I had wanted to invite you to be an official in Imperial College, but you declined, thus you were only conferred the title of spiritual master."
Spiritual Master Dao Quan said solemnly, "We can't work together when our paths are different. Imperial Preceptor, I had to decline your offer back then because I could see that you and I were people on different paths. You are too ruthless, wanting to eliminate all sects in the world, so I have no choice but to stop you."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor fell silent. "I eliminate all sects in the world to be able to treat more people. Have you seen how I've been doing?"
Spiritual Master Dao Quan said, "You are doing very well. Originally, there were few apothecaries in this world, but now they're like the hairs on a cow. Even flying ships are assigned with apothecaries and medicine children, making it hard for the plague to go on a rampage. However, over these years, all physicians Imperial College taught are quacks and none of them can be considered as divine physicians. You can't refute this point."
"Looks like your path is really different from mine."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at another row of people and said, "High Official Ma Lianshan, Lord Ma."
"I dare not," Ma Lianshan said solemnly. "Imperial Preceptor, my official position was recommended by you, but I also have my sect. I'm from Zhongnan Mountains, cultivating Nanming Five Li Sword Classics."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I had asked His Majesty to appoint you as an official because you are upright and impartial, furthermore you're good at leading troops as well. I had thought you would toss away the sectarian bias, but you became a rebel, inflicting pain on me. As an official, you did good and the people always had extremely good words about you."
Ma Lianshan shook his head. "How could I be the only good official that had rebel? Imperial Preceptor, you should reflect upon your mistakes."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said with a stupefied face, "The rotten branch must be chopped off at once. If the hearts of people wallow in the old and rot away, how can we reform? If we only start a revolution and don't reform the lives of people rotting away, it would be hard for the world to be at peace. Even though you're a good man, you're in my way."
He looked at other people and said, "Beggar Sect's Qi Dayou, Sect Master Qi, Hundred Poor Mystery Technique. Heavenly Stars Catcher Sect, Sect Master Luo Xinghe, Heavenly Stars Catchers Mystery Technique. Great Strength Monastery's Venerable Zhi Kong, Formation Existence Destruction Emptiness Four Incantations Mudra. Great Potalaka Monastery's Venerable Hong Fa, Buddhism Life Bodhi Technique. South Sea Vrtta Monastery's Venerable Hui Yin, Vajra Unbeatable Technique. There's also Sakyamuni Xuan Kong who was originally the ruler of Xuankong Country, ruler of Nanjing Country, Duan Yin, ruler of Xifan Country, Nunu Hu'er, as well as the three seniors of the old generation."
His gaze landed on the two old men and one old woman. "The three of you are from the old generation and are already ancient, about seven to eight hundred years old today, am I right? After living for over eight hundred years, you have reached the end of one's lifespan, may I know how many years the three of you have left?"
The short, skinny, and black elder smiled. "I'm Wanderer Shanye, people call me Wanderer Li. I still have sixteen years left. Actually, I can't be considered as a wanderer. Chuyun Country, the small country that Imperial Preceptor eradicated was the country I had founded."
"I'm True Lord Tian." The old woman grinned. "I love to breed insects which Imperial Preceptor should have seen before. Castle Lord Yu of Three Wonders Castle is my son."
The plump elder said, "I don't have such a huge background like them. I'm Teacher Poor, don't look down on me for being so fat since I got broke from eating. We cultivate the Poor Logic Technique, so the poorer we are, the more logical we are."
"Teacher Poor is joking around." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked solemnly, "When you see things from the angle of a poor person, you should work to seek knowledge, to attain it by investigating things. I know this logic. But you're a teacher, so why are you rebelling against me?"
Teacher Poor shook his head. "When you cultivate a good character when you are poor, the world will become like you when you rise to power. Imperial Preceptor, there's no benefit to the world when your power is too great. I rebel not for my own personal gain, but like them, I did it for Eternal Peace Empire. Based on your overwhelming power, we can still get rid of you now. But if it were a few years later, you would have already become the emperor."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor straightened up on the peak of the mountain and his indifferent voice spread out in all direction. "Who else is against me?"
Voices instantly sounded out one after another in Daxiang City. "I am!"
"Liao Yinzhi of Heavenly Immortal Sect dares to rebel against Imperial Preceptor!"
"Glorious Grand Master Qiu Zhiming dares to rebel against Imperial Preceptor!"
"Wuling Marquis Shan Mu dares to rebel against Imperial Preceptor!"
"Duhu Manor Adjutant Qing Mingyue dares to rebel against Imperial Preceptor!"
"Wuying Country Magistrate Chen Yao dares to rebel against Imperial Preceptor!"
…
Voices sounded out from Daxiang City, and all of them belonged to great experts of Life and Death Realm and Celestial Being Realm. When one finished speaking, another voice would take its place, without end. The declarations grew greater and greater in power, gripping people's hearts and firing them up.
The blood of the bronze-masked man was also racing when he said in a resounding voice, "Imperial Preceptor, do you see this? How unfavorable you are? With all the people in the world wanting to kill you, what face do you have to continue living?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was expressionless and said indifferently, "All the people in the world? A mere few hundred thousand people in this city are fit to be called all the people in the world? They're just an insignificant bunch who simply need to be eradicated. Only when all of you are dead can the world finally be at peace."
"In that case, the end will only come when one side is entirely wiped out." The bronze-masked man said, "Heavenly Prison Seal has already been laid down on this mountain, clearing an area of fifty hectares. There's no need to worry about injuring the soldiers outside by clashing here. This time… we won't be talking about the righteousness and justice of the martial world nor the rules of the martial world!"
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Si Yunxiang. "In that case, I can be at ease."
Monk Yun Que had an ashen expression as he stuttered, "W-what do you mean at ease? We are trapped in the seal and will be the first to die from the tremors. Do you still remember Heaven Wave City? This battle will definitely by several times more terrifying than the one in Heaven Wave City!"
Yue Qinghong and the rest were also pale-faced. Only a portion of Dutian Devil King's magic power had descended in the battle of Heaven Wave City, fighting against Dragon Rider Sect Master and another strong practitioner of the cult master level, yet the scale of the destruction had been unimaginable. Even the dragon qilin which was extremely strong couldn't withstand that kind of blow.
If a huge battle broke out here, the destruction would be several times greater!
However, the area of fifty hectares was all sealed, which meant that the pulses formed by the strong practitioners fighting here would rebound to and fro, stirring things up!
When that time came, even the dragon qilin would become minced meat!
At this moment, huge flags suddenly fluttered out of the city and extended forever into the distance, stretching over dozens of miles.
The bronze-masked man and the others who were standing high up sported great change in expression when they looked over. The huge flags that were dozens of yards long fluttered upwards and covered the enemy camp. Hidden beneath them were the cavalry and countless soldiers.
The bronze-masked man was about to shout for them to take caution when the huge flags suddenly rolled up and three hundred and sixty huge flags appeared in the city. Weird people that were wearing bamboo hats and carrying cloth sacks suddenly waved them, and the Eternal Peace Empire's army that numbered in tens of thousands suddenly appeared in Daxiang City!
It was only at this moment that the voice of the bronze-masked man rang out, "On guard—"
However, it was already too late.
When the three hundred and sixty weird people rolled up their huge flags, creatures with ferocious faces appeared. They were holding weapons, and their murderous intent flowed into the sky.
Under the flags, the golden-armored giants appeared together with cloud chariots. On the aft of the huge flying ships, bronze beasts had already started to spew blazing flames while huge birds flapped their wings and raised up gales.
By the time the huge flags completely rolled up and became small, the sounds of slaughter had already begun. Sharp swords came out from their sheaths, their ringing mingling with world-shaking roars.
This moment seemed to pass by extremely slow, so slow that the transformation of every person's expression could be seen: from ferocious to malevolent, from blank to terrified.
Flying swords burst forth with blood light as they sliced through human bodies, shedding blood in the air. There was also a peculiar beauty to the instant when a head was separated from the neck.
"Elephant Transformation!"
A bellow rang out and broke the moment when time seemed to have frozen. An officer in the infantry shouted out and thousands of foot soldiers bellowed. Their bodies swayed as they transformed into elephant-headed giants, rushing towards the rebel army and breaking them up.
The flying cavalry in the meantime had soared into the sky and now dived downwards, shooting countless flying swords like rain.
"Fire bottle gourds!"
On the flying ships, an order was given, and the soldiers there took out red bottle gourds that were half the height of a human. When they pulled out the corks, raging true fire instantly spewed down from the flying ships, burning the guards on the city walls, turning countless of people into flaming humans!
Boom!
A troop of golden-armored strong men pushed the cloud chariots and trampled countless soldiers on their way as they ruthlessly smashed the city walls, shattering them, and flaming humans fell down from above.
Outside the walls, Grand General who Crowns the Army and Grand General of Cherishing Transformation raised their spear and halberd high, pointing them towards Daxiang City. Behind them, the uncountable Eternal Peace Army roared and rushed forth both on the ground and in the sky like a flood.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The sight in the city was bone chilling. Before the insect army of Three Wonders Castle could be deployed, they were drowned by a sea of fire and sword, disintegrating into ashes.
The insect army of Three Wonders Castle was extremely powerful, but because it was caught by surprise, both the humans and insects were burned to death.
The female army of Passion Parting Palace was also extremely powerful, but they received a devastating blow in as well. Countless sharp swords came shooting down from the sky, piercing through their bodies. With thousands of holes, they died while still standing.
By the time their bodies collapsed, the sharp swords that had pierced through them had already returned back to the sword cases word by the cavalry on their back.
The entire rebel army and all the disciples from each and every sect didn't have the time to react before they were scattered by the infantry, forcing them to fight for themselves.
However, no matter how high their cultivation was, their heads were instantly severed when they got surrounded by the formations of Eternal Peace Empire's soldiers.
The battle power of a sect disciple surpassed that of a soldier by a lot, but their teamwork was lousy, so they were scattered with just one charge. Of course, there were people among the rebel army who were trained to work together, but they had been caught off guard. Once the army scattered, it was too late to do anything.
This was definitely a massacre, and it had been achieved by the surprise attack under the teleportation flags of Heavenly Devil Cult. For those who were faced with such a thing, there was only one end - a complete obliteration.
On the mountain, the bronze-masked man was trembling. "Two choices, two choices…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave them two choices: one was to be razed by Eternal Peace Empire's army. It would push them to the south sea and kill them to the last person, which was the rule of the empire.
The other choice was to follow the rule of the martial world - challenge Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and fight to the death!
They had always thought they would have to choose between these two choices and never expected to face both of them at the same time. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wanted to beat them to death as well as eradicate the rebel army.
"When did Heavenly Devil Cult start to rely on the imperial court?" Passion Parting Palace Master shouted out. "When has the supreme sacred ground of the devil path become the dogs of the imperial court?"
Secrets of Hatred Parting Heavenly Sword of Passion Parting Palace required the inner heart to be void of emotion, to have no love, hatred, passion, and enmity in order to reach the highest frame of mind in the sword skill. Only when the heart had no foreign objects in itself could it reflect others like a clear mirror, flawlessly.
However, when Passion Parting Palace Master Qiu Dieyi saw her disciples getting massacred, her frame of mind was disrupted.
This was no small matter. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor noticed it, and the vital qi on his fingertips transformed into a sword light. It expanded exponentially and reached her throat in an instant!
It wasn't only the heart of Passion Parting Palace Master in disorder, but the hearts of all others as well. When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had made a move on Passion Parting Palace Master, no one managed to intervene.
"We are going to die…" this thought appeared in the hearts of Chen Wanyun and the others.
This mountain was sealed off as part of the fifty hectares of Heavenly Prison Seal so the pulses wouldn't travel out and only rebound to and fro. The moment Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor clashed with them, they would be trampled into smithereens.
Before Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor made his move, a huge flag appeared in front of Qin Mu and his companions, covering their bodies. With a jolt, the flag vanished along with the people and the dragon qilin.
The next moment, Qin Mu and the rest appeared at the bottom of the mountain. Chen Wanyun, Yun Que, and Yue Qinghong looked at the weird person beside them who was wearing the bamboo hat. He was currently unfurling the huge flag again.
A few hundred weird people surrounded this mountain in a circle as their huge flags fluttered, covering the entire mountain. An ancient voice sounded out, "Go!"
Swoosh!
The several hundred flags fluttered, and when they floated by, the mountain beneath them disappeared along with those cult master level existences, including Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
Only a piece of white land remained where the mountain had been, and on the ground was the crushed city lord's manor!
Chen Wanyun, Yun Que, and the rest were bewildered when they saw those weird people raising their flags again, covering their group.
Before Chen Wanyun and the rest could come back to their senses, a huge flag enclosed upon them. They only felt the world whirling before they their feet were once again firmly planted on the ground. It was then that they saw that they had already left the battle in Daxiang City and come to a mountain peak nearby.
This mountain peak was extremely high up, and a gale was whooshing about, rustling their clothes. Beside them stood a few hundred weird people wearing bamboo hats.
Chen Wanyun and the rest suppressed the shock in their hearts and looked at one another. "They are strong practitioners of Heavenly Devil Cult, what are they going to do by kidnapping us…"
The incomparably mysterious Heavenly Devil Cult was the number one sacred ground of the devil path. This devil path sacred ground always conducted itself secretly, and the imperial court of Eternal Peace Empire had investigated it many times yet they had never discovered a lot of information that could be deemed useful.
For Heavenly Devil Cult to help Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor this time and even bring their little group out of the place where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was battling, it definitely had something planned.
Suddenly the weird people took down the bamboo hats from the top of their heads and gave the disciple's greeting, bowing towards them while saying in unison, "Subordinates pay respects to sacred cult master and saintess!"
Chen Wanyun and the others were at a loss and felt unease in their hearts when they looked at these strong practitioners of Heavenly Devil Cult bowing and performing the disciple's greeting. Monk Yun Que immediately closed his eyes and shouted, "I saw nothing! I didn't see your faces, don't silence me!"
At this moment, a familiar voice sounded out beside them, "Rise, no need for formalities."
"Thank you, sacred cult master."
The weird people stood up and Chen Wanyun and the rest looked at the person who had spoken with a face of astonishment.
The first abandoned person to enter Imperial College, the first imperial academician of Imperial College, Qin Mu, was the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult?
Qin Mu's face was gentle as he smiled at them.
"If academician is the devil cult master, who's the devil saintess?" Yue Qinghong asked with a trembling voice.
Si Yunxiang smiled shyly at her, and Yue Qinghong's hair stood up on end.
"The directorate of our Imperial College's Hall of Hidden Light, Directorate Jian Sansheng! Even Directorate Chen Yunting of Hall of Array Element!"
Chen Wanyun saw Sword Hall Master and Formation Hall Master, which made his heart sink as he muttered, "We're definitely going to die, we're dead…"
Monk Yun Que shouted angrily, "You're definitely going to die after seeing their true faces, but why did you have to say their names as well? I closed my eyes, but now that I've heard their names, I'm going to die too!"
Sword Hall Master took a glance at the four of them and asked, "Sacred cult master, now that they have seen our true faces, should we silence them to be safe?"
Monk Yun Que immediately opened his eyes and looked towards Qin Mu with a smile. "Academician… sacred cult master, we're classmates, and you even beat me before, have you forgotten about that? Sister Fox, remember how much money I've given you, can you put in a word for me?"
Hu Ling'er tilted her head and wagged her tail to show that she was helpless.
Qin Mu consoled, "Don't worry Scholar Yun, everyone be at ease too, there's is still me, I'm here."
He turned his head and told Sword Hall Master, "Sword Hall, they are all my classmates in Imperial College. You can ask them if they are willing to join our sacred cult, and if they aren't, you can bury them in this place of verdant hills and limpid water." Qin Mu then turned his head around to console his friends. "Don't worry, don't worry, I'll settle this."
Monk Yun Que was scared witless and his hair stood up on end. Luckily he was bald, or else even those on his head would have risen up.
Qin Mu turned back around and said, "Sword Hall, when you kill them later, don't do it in front of me. Wanyun, Qinghong, don't worry as well, we aren't ruthless villains like the others of the devil path, put your heart back into your tummy, you're going to be fine… Draw your sword faster and minimize their pain…"
"I've heard you!"
Monk Yun Que shouted, "Sword Hall, don't come over, I'm already part of the devil cult… Bah, part of the sacred cult!"
Yue Qinghong and Chen Wanyun looked at each other, and Yue Qinghong asked in a low voice, "Big brother, what should we do?"
Chen Wanyun hesitated for a moment before saying, "For Heavenly Devil Cult to help Imperial Preceptor this time, it means that Heavenly Devil Cult is part of Imperial Court, there's nothing to lose by joining Heavenly Devil Cult. And if we don't join…" The corners of his eyes twitched, but he didn't say anything else.
Yue Qinghong let out a sigh of relief. "There's nothing to lose in joining Heavenly Devil Cult. We'll join."
Since she had said so, the wolf slave naturally had nothing else to say.
Yue Qinghong blinked her eyes innocently toward Si Yunxiang. "Saintess, if we did not join the sacred cult, you guys would definitely have not laid your hands on us, right?"
Si Yunxiang gave a soft laugh. "Cult master has a kind heart, he was just joking with you guys."
Monk Yun Que let out a sigh of relief and muttered, "Little monk knew it was a joke! Academician, you were joking earlier, right? Academician?"
Qin Mu chuckled and didn't say anything. Yun Que turned ashen-faced.
Qin Mu came to the cliff and looked towards another mountain, which was several miles away from here. That place was where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and the dozen cult master level existences were fighting.
The Heavenly Prison Seal set up by the bronze-masked man and the rest had already been pierced through, holes appearing one after another. There was a terrifying storm coming out from those holes, creating violent gales that blew away pieces of the forest, sweeping countless trees into the sky and shredding them into pieces.
The battle on the mountain top was too terrifying. It was a life and death struggle between existences of cult master level. Despite them being so far away and a Heavenly Prison Seal between them, a terrifying sensation could still be felt.
Whoosh!
Another gale swept by, and only now did Chen Wanyun and the rest realize why the wind was so strong when they had landed on the mountain just now. The gales here were actually created by the battle that was several miles away.
The power of the wind grew stronger and stronger, bending the trees on the surrounding mountains. The gusts came one after another, the moment one passed, another had already arrived from another direction. The trees that had snapped back were once again bent, while others broke in half.
The mountain should have already been shattered. Qin Mu saw the ground on which those terrifying existences were clashing becoming lower and lower, until it was basically as flat as the plains.
Being so far away, Qin Mu could see the battle by using Green Heaven's Eyes, but not too clearly. This was because the speed of those people clashing against each other was too fast, which made it hard for Green Heaven's Eyes to capture traces of their movements, not to mention their moves.
Qin Mu could only use the trails left behind by their movements to determine how many people were still on the mountain.
"Another existence of the cult master level has fallen." Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly.
Yue Qinghong looked around and saw the strong practitioners of Heavenly Devil Cult were all standing on the mountain peak silently, observing the battle from afar. They had no intention to go forth and help out, which puzzled her. "Aren't you guys going to help?"
"Nope."
Qin Mu explained, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor can settle this alone. The sneak attack of the three old monsters from the old generation could injure Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who was in an army of ten thousand men. If it was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor doing the sneak attack, there would hardly be anyone that could be his match. How our Heavenly Devil Cult could help him was to create the chance for him to make his move. The instant the sect masters lost their spirit, it was the best moment for Imperial Preceptor to launch a sneak attack."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
No matter if it was the number one cult of the devil path helping Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor or if it was Heavenly Devil Cult using teleportation flags to transfer the Eternal Peace Army, they were able to shake the hearts of all the cult master level existences by massacring all the sects' disciples, swaying their minds and throwing them into disorder.
Even though their hearts weren't in disorder for too long, this was akin to death in front of an existence like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Even though people with cult master level of power were usually great experts of Divine Bridge Realm, there were those who were weak and those who were strong in Divine Bridge Realm. It was just like what Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had said. He was someone who had no weakness in every realm; no matter how wide another's angles were, their line would never be as long as his straight line.
His cultivation surpassed that of others and his abilities also surpassed those of others.
Under the circumstances of a sneak attack, there was basically no one who could be his match or even receive one move from him.
This was just like in Heaven Wave City when Dutian Devil King was fighting against Mute. Dutian Devil King had been slain with one attack, and that one attack had been a sneak attack.
Qin Mu reckoned that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could take advantage of the instant when those strong practitioners lost spirit to get rid of four of them. As for how many he could injure, that would depend on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's own ability.
However, no matter how brilliant this battle was in exhibiting the splendor of the strongest powers in this world, there weren't many who could read the situation there. With only the few hundred people present, probably only the left and right guardians could be able to grasp each and every movement of the people present on the battlefield.
Even if it were the hall masters of the three hundred and sixty halls, not many of them could see the moves clearly.
Qin Mu once again fixed his eyes on the battlefield, yet he was still unable to see the situation there. He could only see the afterimages created by the fast-moving bodies as well as the lights given off by the divine arts and sword skills.
Every once in a while, a trail of light would vanish, representing the death of a strong practitioner.
Now there were only eight figures left.
"Other than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, there are still seven people."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered. The seven people should be the ones that had the strongest abilities, but who were the seven that were still alive?
He could see the god-like rays from the figures moving, but he couldn't see who was who.
"If I cannot see the situation of the battle, aren't I losing out on a huge opportunity? I wonder if I can awaken my Cyan Heaven's Eyes."
Qin Mu mobilized his vital qi and more of it entered his eyes as he tried to construct the formation markings of Cyan Heaven's Eyes. There were already three layers of pupils in his eyes. The first layer was his own pupils, the second layer was the pupils formed by Heaven's Eyes, while the third layer was the pupils formed by Green Heaven's Eyes. If he could form Cyan Heaven's Eyes, they would become the fourth layer and allow him to see even more stuff.
Just as he was directing his vital qi into his eyes, he felt a trace of something else entering his eyes along with his vital qi.
Qin Mu was stunned and suddenly felt that everything on the battlefield had become incomparably clear!
He shook his head and looked at the battlefield again - it was still incomparably clear!
And he hadn't even formed the formation markings of Cyan Heaven's Eyes!
"There's someone else's eyes in my eyes!"
Qin Mu felt a bone-chilling cold go down his spine. He could now see every movement and action that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was making, every layer of divine arts and sword skills, and even the structure of them!
Every action and expression was in his eyes!
This wasn't what his eyes could see but what someone else's eyes could see. Or it could be said that it was someone else borrowing his eyes to observe the battle!
Who was the one borrowing his eyes to observe the battle?
He suddenly remembered that when he had summoned Dutian Devil King in Heaven Wave City, Dutian Devil King's consciousness and magic power had used his body as a medium to enter the devil god's sculpture, blowing open the heart of his brows. Sparks had flowed out from the heart of his brows, surging into the devil god's sculpture while he was executing Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
While circulating the technique, he felt something enter his body along with the vital qi circulation.
When the disciples of Great Mountain Sect arrived and executed Devil Withdraw Command, even if it was unable to chase Dutian Devil King back, Qin Mu had felt the summoning being cut off when Devil Withdraw Command shone on Dutian Devil King's body. The consciousness and magic power that had been surging out of his body had been cut off.
This meant that there was still a portion of Dutian Devil King's consciousness and magic power in Qin Mu's body!
"In that case, the one in staying in my body and borrowing my eyes to observe the battle is none other than Dutian Devil King!"
Qin Mu was slightly terrified. Where exactly was this consciousness of Dutian Devil King hiding in his body? Why didn't he feel any abnormalities when he was cultivating Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique all this while?
What was Dutian Devil King planning?
Granny Si had Devil Cult Master Li Tianxing in her body, so if he got Dutian Devil King in his body, that would be a great joke.
Qin Mu kept quiet. It was a good thing for him to let Dutian Devil King borrow his eyes to observe the battle. This allowed him to observe the situation in the battlefield as well as the divine arts that the experts unleashed. This could widen his horizons exponentially.
"What's still in me is just a portion of Dutian Devil King's consciousness and magic power. No matter how strong he is, he cannot be that strong. As long as I can find him, I'll definitely be able to get rid of him! I shouldn't alert him but pretend I know nothing."
He was finally able to see the battle clearly.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's swords weren't physical swords but ones formed by his vital qi, which was ever-changing, gathering and scattering at will.
Flaming lights raged about his body as though he was a god, and Qin Mu remembered seeing this kind of rays on Village Chief's body too.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor executed sword skills, even the most basic sword form looked incomparably complicated and marvelous.
There were not only basic sword forms in his sword skills but also calculations and transformations that were even more complicated.
"Dao Sword of Dao Sect?"
Qin Mu was stunned. He could see the shadow of Dao Sect's Dao Sword in Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword skill. That was an incomparably complicated calculation technique. If one took yin-yang symbol for example, anyone could draw a circle, but not everyone could calculate the proportion of the circle that the curved line cut apart.
This involved the first form of Dao Sect, the trick to Yin And Yang Come And Go Within Two Modes. To achieve the coming and going of yin and yang, using Canon of Supreme Mystery was of utmost importance.
Yin And Yang Come And Go Within Two Modes unleashed its greatest power when one calculated the endless numbers. If one wanted to reach an even higher level, they had to calculate to the Xu Kong and Qing Jing decimal.
"Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has extremely deep attainments in mathematics!" Qin Mu thought to himself. "If I had known, I would have consulted him regarding the Canon of Supreme Mystery when we were heading down south!"
The people clashing with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were the three elders, Teacher Poor, Wanderer Li, and True Lord Tian. They deserved to be called the top practitioners of the old generations. The rays given off from their bodies made them look like three ancient gods, and each of them had their own unique skills.
The huge brush in Teacher Poor's hand was like a brush yet its hairs were very long, making it look like a horsetail whisk; however, it had fewer transformations than a horsetail whisk.
Wanderer Li was a sword cultivator and cultivated sword skills. They were incomparably intricate, but still inferior to those of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. His sword skills were made up of the fourteen basic sword forms, so even though they were marvelous, they had already fallen behind in times.
The age had advanced yet he still remained on the same spot.
What True Lord Tian refined were venomous insects, turning them into all kinds of weird dragons. For example, there was a Heavenly Centipede Dragon that was three hundred yards long, a Heaven Silkworm that was refined into a Dragon Silkworm, a green snake that was refined into a Green Flood Dragon, and many other kinds of insects of peculiar shapes.
Even though these venomous creatures were powerful, they still fell out of the sky under Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword skills, getting killed one after another.
Qin Mu reckoned that True Lord Tian wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
Other than these three people, there were still four others. Among them was Qi Dayou of Beggar Sect whose Hundred Poor Mystery Technique was very unique. His body could materialize into physical form or incorporeal at will, allowing him to appear and disappear unpredictably. Hundred Poor Mystery Technique meant that he had nothing at all, and it was a very unique technique.
The other person who had preserved his life so far was Spiritual Master Dao Quan. His ability was the weakest among everyone, so it was hard to say if he had managed to stay alive himself or Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had spared him, maybe no seeing him as a threat.
The third person was Venerable Zhi Kong of Great Strength Monastery. The power of Formation Existence Destruction Emptiness Four Incantations Mudra was extraordinary, but under Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword, this senior monk that had achieved his Dao was covered in injuries and didn't have much strength left.
The fourth person was the bronze-masked man. His attacks were the most overbearing, and also the most puzzling to Qin Mu.
The man mainly used divine arts, and when they burst forth, there would be images of nine dragons. Those images looked like nine real dragons rushing forward with formidable power!
There was an incredible amount of transformations in these nine dragons. They contained all kinds of offensive and defensive divine arts, as well as those that controlled fire and water and those that evolved yin and yang. The firepower could be both fierce and also overbearing, yet it was also full of changes. No matter if it was offense, defense, or even refining, the bronze-masked man could do them at will.
Furthermore, he had cultivated until these nine dragons had close to a physical form.
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique.
This was the technique of the emperor's Ling Family. Only those with the emperor's bloodline could cultivate it. Ordinary princes and princesses weren't allowed to touch it at all.
It was evident that this bronze-masked man was a member of the royal family. Furthermore, from the realm of his cultivation, he should be one of the higher-ups of the higher-ups in the royal family.
Even though his attack was incomparably overbearing, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't kill him mercilessly. It was hard to say if he had some qualms about doing so.
"Who is this person?" Qin Mu was shocked.
Right at this moment, he felt something in his heart and looked towards the west to see a gigantic apparition of a majestic mountain hurrying over.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. This mountain was unbelievably big, but it was merely an apparition and not a physical mountain. It was formed by the aura of countless eccentric-looking monks.
Mount Meru.
That apparition of the mountain had many mountain tops of all sizes, and each mountain top was a monk sitting in the lotus position. There were also some who were standing and holding a jade vase, while a few others were sitting and holding their bellies with big smiles.
On the golden top of the highest peak, there was a huge buddha shining brilliantly as though he was made of pure gold. The ten thousand rays behind his head were incomparably outstanding!
"Great Thunderclap Monastery, Old Buddha Rulai!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. Great Thunderclap Monastery had come. Rulai personally led the guardians, venerables, bodhisattvas, arhats of Great Thunderclap Monastery in a rush here!
What did he want to do?
At this moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also felt something and suddenly attacked mercilessly, slaying Venerable Zhi Kong in one strike!
Right then, the strong practitioners of Heavenly Devil Cult also turned around and looked at the apparition of Mount Meru that was floating over.
"Bald donkeys!" Left Guardian sneered.
"Bald donkeys!" everyone shouted in unison.
Monk Yun Que saw everyone calling the newcomers bald donkeys and forced himself to call them bald donkeys as well. After all, he was part of Heavenly Devil Cult now, even if he was a monk.
The apparition of Mount Meru floated to the sky above them and the guardians, venerables, Bodhisattvas, and arhats on the mountain looked down together and said coldly in unison, "Evil creatures of the devil path!"
Qin Mu revealed a weird expression. "The relation between our Heavenly Saint Cult and Great Thunderclap Monastery seems to be a little strained…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Right Guardian put her hands on her hips and sneered at the sky. "Bald donkey, stay if you have the guts to! Old woman, I can scold you for three days and three nights straight in all kinds of ways!"
A bodhisattva sneered, "Xue Bi'e, all you have left is that mouth of yours!"
"Ignore them," said Old Rulai who was on Mount Meru. "If we continue squabbling with them, it may take us half a year. We have fought for a few hundred years and squabbled for a couple more, so there's no need to be impatient now. Let us take control of this battle first."
The monks on the mountain didn't stop and the apparition of Mount Meru floated over to the battlefield.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was still fighting with Teacher Poor and the rest, trying his best to get rid of all these strong practitioners before the apparition of Mount Meru reached them. At this moment, Old Rulai's voice traveled over unhurriedly, "Imperial Preceptor, Dao friends, can you guys do me a favor?"
Eternal peace Imperial Preceptor's sword qi dispersed, and he stopped chasing Teacher Poor and the bronze-masked man. With a smile, he said, "Rulai, please speak."
"Excellent, may Dao friends hold back," Old Rulai said solemnly.
Teacher Poor and the rest were ready to make their moves when they heard Rulai and hesitated for a moment.
True Lord Tian was coughing up blood endlessly since her heart and lungs had been injured by Imperial Preceptor's sword qi. With a sharp voice, she asked, "Old Rulai, are you going to join hands to get rid of this evil?"
Old Rulai shook his head.
Wanderer Li's expression changed slightly and he sneered, "Could it be that Great Thunderclap Monastery has also become the dogs of Eternal Peace Empire like Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Old Rulai shook his head again.
Teacher Poor said indifferently, "Old Dao friend, stop keeping us in suspense, just tell us directly."
Old Rulai chuckled. "I'm here to create good karma with everyone and settle this contentious issue. Everyone here is a cultivator, and if we continue fighting, how many heroes will be lost, how many inheritances will disappear? Why don't we turn hostility into friendship, be polite and amiable, putting an end to each other's karma?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze wavered, but he did not say anything.
Old Rulai looked at him and smiled. "Imperial Preceptor is a kind man and had come to my Great Thunderclap Monastery once. I spoke to Imperial Preceptor about Buddhism, about Mahayana, and formed good karma with him. May I know if Imperial Preceptor can return this good karma back to this old monk?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly, "Back then I was still young and traveled the world to seek knowledge. When I came to Great Thunderclap Monastery, Rulai didn't have sectarian bias and gave me pointers for my cultivation, therefore I can be considered half a disciple of Great Thunderclap Monastery and it's only right of me to return this good karma. However, how would I know if I'm not releasing the tiger back into the mountains? These people are the masterminds behind the rebels, would they give up just like this? If they rebel again, lives are going to be lost again. Rulai, you are benevolent and should know what I'm worried about."
Old Rulai smiled. "Old monk will make them convert to Great Thunderclap Monastery and not interfere with the matters of the mundane world anymore. What does Imperial Preceptor think of this?"
Imperial Preceptor didn't express any opinion.
Old Rulai smiled as he looked at Teacher Poor and the rest. "Everyone here was outstanding talents back in the day and had magnificent styles unmatched in our generation. After being powerful your entire life and living through an era in splendor, would you guys be willing to put down your arms and convert to Buddhism?"
True Lord Tian sneered, "Old Rulai, with us and your Great Thunderclap Monastery, won't it be easy to eliminate this evil? Do you think your Great Thunderclap Monastery will be safe if you give up on this chance now? After Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor eliminates us, he will definitely eliminate Buddha as well! Why aren't you showing your devil subduing methods and attack him mercilessly now?"
Old Rulai smiled in answer. "No matter how Imperial Preceptor treats my Buddhism, there will still be people that believe and worship Buddha. No matter if there are devils or gods in this world, while there's conviction, Buddhism won't disappear just because Imperial Preceptor eliminates us nor will it thrive if he supports us. If you are willing to let go of your grudges, follow me. If you aren't willing, this old monk can only say we're not fated. I'll take my leave."
Suddenly, figures hurriedly descended from the sky and landed behind Imperial Preceptor. There were a hundred generals of Eternal Peace Empire wearing bloodstained armor and radiating a desire to battle that surged into the sky.
Duke Wei exclaimed with his big mouth, "What happened? Rulai is here to join in the fun too? Trying to take advantage? Imperial Preceptor, let us clean up this old monk and the rest of the bald…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his hand to stop him from saying any more. He then whispered, "It's not good to let both sides suffer. It's a good thing for Old Rulai to come forth and mediate."
Duke Wei was bewildered, not understanding what he meant. "They're clearly here to take advantage, taking this chance to recruit the masterminds of the rebels into their Great Thunderclap Monastery, strengthening its power. These masterminds are all powerful people and letting them go is equivalent to letting the tigers back onto the mountain. There will be endless troubles afterward! Imperial Preceptor, think thrice!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled. "Since Old Rulai gave his word that they will not interfere with the matters of the mundane world after they convert to Buddhism, I believe him."
"You really believe him?" Duke Wei stared with his eyes wide open. "You can't trust a person with no hair on his head with an important task…"
When he was about to say more, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his hand and said indifferently, "Old Rulai is the head of Buddhism and it's a good deed to come and resolve our grudges, returning peace back to the world. Furthermore, I'm also injured."
On Mount Meru, the bodhisattvas and arhats heard what he said and turned their heads over.
Old Rulai chanted one of the many names of Buddha to warn all the bodhisattvas and arhats. He then smiled. "Since Imperial Preceptor is willing to resolve the grudges, how about you guys? Teacher Poor?"
Teacher Poor and the rest of them looked one another in the eyes and nodded silently.
If they didn't agree to convert to Buddhism, Old Rulai would not lift his finger to save them. After he left with all the strong practitioners of Great Thunderclap Monastery, they would definitely die under the hands of Imperial Preceptor.
For Old Rulai to bring all of the strong practitioners of Great Thunderclap Monastery, this meant that he was determined to win. If they agreed to convert to Great Thunderclap Monastery, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wouldn't dare to probe further.
Old Rulai smiled. "Since all senior brothers and sisters are willing to put down their grudges and convert to Buddhism, this world is an illusion and you're sure to achieve your Dao. Imperial Preceptor…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pointed at the bronze-masked man and said, "Rulai, he must stay."
The bronze-masked man felt a lingering fear in his heart, and Old Rulai frowned slightly. The bodhisattvas, arhats, and venerables on the apparition of Mount Meru chanted the many names of Buddha.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said with a smile, "He must stay."
Even though his voice was light, his tone said that this was unquestionable and non-negotiable.
Old Rulai sighed. "This kind man, you have no fate with Buddhism. Teacher Poor, fellow senior brothers and sisters, please come up the mountain."
Teacher Poor and the rest hesitated for a moment, looking at the bronze-masked man. They suddenly gritted their teeth and moved to Mount Meru. They said together in unison, "Old— we're sorry!"
"There's no need for further words, I understand."
The bronze-masked man laughed out loud. "Imperial Preceptor, how are you going to deal with me?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said expressionlessly, "I'll take you down and escort you to the capital city to meet the emperor."
"Escort me to the capital city to meet the emperor?" The bronze-masked man's tone was quite weird when he spoke, but he smiled nonetheless. "Then we'll have to see if Imperial Preceptor's sword is fast enough…"
He slowly raised his palm and suddenly smashed it against his bronze mask. It shattered into pieces, destroying the face beneath as well.
"Imperial Preceptor, the empire of Ling Family will be ruined under your hands sooner or later…"
His head split open, and he died right away, but his body stood there straight like a rod and never collapsed.
Duke Wei and the rest cried out and hurried forward while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood motionless. He hadn't intercepted the bronze-masked man when he was about to take his own life on purpose.
On the mountain far away, the corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched when he saw this.
For Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to say that sentence was to force the bronze-masked man to suicide. No matter whose face was under the mask, he had to be someone high in the royal family, someone with an important position. He was a person of utmost importance to the emperor.
If he was taken alive by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and escorted into the capital city to meet the emperor, not only would the emperor be embarrassed, even the hearts of ministers would deviate.
It would even become a problem for the emperor whether he should kill him or not.
When his true face was revealed, the emperor's prestige would receive a severe hit and people from all levels of society would discuss it in secret, guessing if it was the man himself who had the intention to start a rebellion or if it was the will of the emperor.
At that time, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's prestige would surpass that of the emperor and most of the ministers' heart would lean towards him as well. Even the emperor would start to guard against him. If an internal conflict between the emperor and Imperial Preceptor started, the empire would be in danger, and the Ling Family would be in danger as well.
As a higher up of the royal family, the bronze-masked man had to take his life. He couldn't let the Ling Family be on the defensive, throw its face away.
Because of this, he had to disfigure himself so that no one would know his true identity.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't stop him as he hoped that the man would take his life. He didn't want to escort him to the capital city to meet the emperor. If the man didn't disfigure himself, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would have helped him do so.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't want to smack the emperor's face or the Ling Family's face. This was the best conclusion.
If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor really escorted this bronze-masked man back to the capital, it would mean that he really wanted to rebel and take over the throne. From the looks of it now, the throne didn't matter to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. He only wanted to borrow Eternal Peace Empire to execute his aspiration, to achieve the three immortal deeds.
He wanted to become a saint.
From Mount Meru, Rulai paid his respects to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "Imperial Preceptor, now that everything is settled, this old monk will be taking his leave."
"Take care, Rulai," said Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor as he returned the formalities.
The apparition of Mount Meru floated away to the west. Teacher Poor, True Lord Tian, and the rest turned back their heads to see Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor giving the command to chop off the head of the bronze-masked man to bury it on the spot. The headless body was put into a coffin and prepared to be transported back to the capital.
Wanderer Li sighed. "Dao Brother Rulai, if not for you…"
Old Rulai shook his head. "There's no need to say anything more. Imperial Preceptor is already dissatisfied with my Great Thunderclap Monastery. Let's go back to the mountain. I reckon my sinful disciple has already taken the opportunity to return to take his arm back. If we return in time, we might still meet him."
The monks on the mountain were astonished.
The apparition of Mount Meru floated past the mountain Qin Mu and the rest were on and sneers came from below again. "Bald donkeys!"
The bodhisattvas, arhats, and venerables shouted one after another, "Evil creatures of the devil path!"
Old Rulai shook his head and halted Mount Meru. He looked down and put his palms together. "Senior brother."
Most of the hall masters and guardians were astonished. Sword Hall Master gently shook his head at Qin Mu, but Qin Mu waved his hand and bowed his head. "Senior brother."
Old Rulai revealed an astonished expression and nodded before leading everyone away.
"Cult master, why did you have to return that bald donkey's greeting?" Right Guardian Xue Bi'e grumbled. "Now that you exposed your true identity, you will be in the radar of that damned old badly, something will definitely happen!"
"As the sacred cult master, I can't not return the greeting after he greeted me as an equal." Qin Mu smiled. "We can't keep hiding the fact that I'm the sacred cult master. Besides, I can't throw the face of all of you nor the face of the sacred cult."
Everyone said in unison, "We rather not have this face!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
On Mount Meru's apparition, a bodhisattva put his palms together. "My Buddha, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said he was injured, why didn't we take the chance…"
"Is it real or fake?" Old Rulai asked amiably and gently.
The bodhisattva was stunned. "Disciple… disciple does not know."
Old Rulai smiled. "Those that believed so have already lost, and some of them even died. Teacher Poor, it's because you guys believed he was injured that it was such a defeat, wasn't it?"
The expressions of Teacher Poor and the rest were ashen, and Spiritual Master Dao Quan blamed himself deeply. From the medicinal dregs of Qin Mu, he deduced that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had been severely injured and everyone believed him, which was why they had chosen the second choice, the Martial way.
However, he couldn't be blamed for it all.
The surprise attack by the three old monsters of the old generation—Teacher Poor, Wanderer Li, and True Lord Tian—had to have severely injured Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. The three old monsters were the peak existences of today's world. No matter if it were their abilities or reputation, they were at the top in the martial world.
No one would doubt the abilities of these three seniors, so even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was known as the genius that comes once in every five hundred years and had a high reputation, he still couldn't be compared to any of the three. It was because of this that everyone believed that he was severely injured. The tiny details that came after only strengthened this notion.
For example, when he gave a lecture in Imperial College, he only did so for two days, and there was perfume to cover the stink of his wound.
There was also the event of the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect visiting Imperial Preceptor's manor at night and leaving unscathed. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hadn't been able to hold him back.
In the battle between Imperial Preceptor and Wanderer Zhen of Little Jade Capital, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries had relapsed, which was why he needed Qin Mu, this little divine physician to nurse his body day and night.
The deduction of Spiritual Master Dao Quan and all kinds of other things indicated that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries had relapsed. It was then deduced that even with Qin Mu's treatment, he would require at least a month to recover.
And all of this had begun when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was ambushed. From the very start, they were destined to be made use of in his scheme.
The two choices were also part of the scheme.
There had never been two choices, only one.
"It's not so easy to deal with a genius that appears once every five hundred years," Old Rulai said indifferently. "These five hundred years don't only mean his wisdom, aptitude, and comprehension are that profound, but his strategies and tactics are also something one may see only once in five hundred years. If such a genius can't become a saint, then he will become a lawless devil, and it won't be fortuitous to this world. Believe?
He smiled, then said, "Fool."
Everyone was bewildered. They didn't know why Old Rulai had said this kind of words, but they felt that his speech was concise and comprehensive, having a deep meaning.
Beggar Sect Master Qi Dayou said, "He had allied himself with Heavenly Devil Cult and is destined to be a lawless devil. What a pity we don't know who's the new cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult."
"We know." Old Rulai smiled. "It's none other than the young man that returned my greeting. Come to think of it, this old monk had a destiny with him and wanted to enlighten him to Great Thunderclap Monastery, but it's a pity that the destiny was suddenly broken and passed on to another wonderful being."
"It's him?"
Most of the monks, Teacher Poor, and the rest of people on Mount Meru were stunned for a moment. Old Rulai smiled. "It's him. Those old Dao friends are quite remarkable, to have taught such a little devil. What a pity Khakkhara staff couldn't retain its destiny. I was only a step late, only a step…"
...
"Imperial Preceptor, you're smarter than me, couldn't you see any problems with Mount Meru's arrival?" Duke Wei looked at the headless body entering the coffin and turned his head to talk to Imperial Preceptor who was beside him. "They were clearly here to take advantage of the situation and save Teacher Poor and the other old monsters, strengthening the power of their Great Thunderclap Monastery! If these people aren't rid of, they will be a problem in the future!"
"Teacher Poor and the rest have only ten to twenty years left, so they are of no concern, let Old Rulai save them," said Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "I understand Old Rulai's actions, it's as expected that he came to take advantage of the timing. I'm injured so I had no strength to stop him."
Duke Wei sized him up in suspicion, his expression quite weird. "Real or fake?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly, "It's real."
"Are you sure?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor scowled at him. "Of course it's real. You try fighting with those cult master level existences! And there were even three god-like existences among them! How can I be unscathed when it was a fight to the death with them?"
"I don't believe!" Duke Wei said resentfully. "I'd be a fool to do so! I won't believe a word you say! Those that believed you are all lying in coffins, unable to move an inch."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Actually I'm quite truthful sometimes."
"That's why you can trick others convincingly. I can't read you." Duke Wei looked down at the coffin and kept quiet for a moment. "You should know who is in the coffin."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "I can't say."
"I will know even if you don't say. When we go back to the capital, we will know once we see which old prince has suddenly died."
Duke Wei looked left and right before whispering. "There's a conflict in Ling Family, and this won't be an isolated incident. What if the old Empress Dowager is the same? I feel that you should take a step further and just be the emperor…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor glanced at him with murderousness in his gaze.
Duke Wei jumped in shock and hurriedly said, "You and I have been friends for over two hundred years, don't scare me! This isn't my idea, this is what the old brothers that are following you think. Your position has been raised to the max, so even if you do an enormous contribution, there will be no way for the emperor to raise your official position anymore. Now that you have done another huge contribution by quelling the rebellion, how do you want the emperor to reward you? To hand the throne over to you?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "The emperor and I are bosom buddies. The emperor knows me and knows I won't ask for credit. What I want is to achieve the aspiration of my lifetime."
"That's why the emperor is troubled. If he won't reward you, everyone in the world will be bitterly disappointed. If he wants to reward you, there's nothing he can reward you with. Do you want him to give you beautiful women? Do you want him to give you gold?"
Duke Wei said in a low voice, "The emperor knows you well, but what about the crown prince? When the crown prince succeeds the throne in the future, will he know you as well as his father? What would the crown prince use to reward you? Furthermore, those old brothers that have followed you all their life can also get promoted if you go a step further. Some can't wait to be promoted, and if they want to achieve that, they have to support you up to the throne. What do you think Empress Dowager is worried about? About you? She's worried about those people under you!"
"I seek my own path. There's no need for you to say anything else." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked forward while speaking calmly. "It's tiring to talk to you. You shall just quell the rebellion properly and clean up all the rebel remnants. I shall find the little divine physician to treat me."
"Treat you again?" Duke Wei was puzzled. "You're really hurt? You aren't lying to me again?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't give him a pleasant look and waved his hand as he walked away.
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin, Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the rest down the mountain. Meanwhile all the hall masters, as well as left and right guardians of Heavenly Devil Cult, activated their teleportation flags to leave.
Below the mountain, Qin Mu and the rest met Imperial Preceptor.
"I'm injured," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said.
"Pssh…" the dragon qilin tried to stifle its laughter.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a glance at this enormous creature, and the dragon qilin immediately shut its mouth. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's complexion was a little pale as he told Qin Mu, "I'm injured."
Qin Mu asked suspiciously, "Real or fake?"
"It's real." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's complexion grew even paler.
"You serious?"
"It's true!" Veins started to pop out on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's forehead.
"Alright then."
…
Only an empty city remained in place of Daxiang City which was razed to the ground. There was no medicine store here, so they could only return to Hidden Fog City. There was a lake around here which frequently saturated the air with fog. The city ended up appearing and disappearing in the fog which was how it got its name.
In a governmental office, Qin Mu checked on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries and discovered that there were more than a hundred places in which he was wounded. Most of them were internal injuries, and there were even venomous insects in his body. There were also injuries in his divine treasure, but he was lucky he had a dense cultivation which helped him suppress them.
The injuries were all different, and the ones that had invaded his divine treasures were especially hard to deal with, testing Qin Mu's medical skills. The injuries in the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, Five Elements Divine Treasure, Six Directions Divine Treasure, Seven Stars Divine Treasure, Celestial Being Divine Treasure, Life and Death Divine Treasure, and Divine Bridge Divine Treasure were all abnormally hard to deal with. The injuries on the soul were also a huge test. This was a rare opportunity for Qin Mu to learn about the secrets of the divine treasures in great depth.
The external injuries, on the other hand, weren't as severe.
If he wanted to nurse Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries, it was going to be a huge project. Qin Mu calculated for quite some time before setting his mind on a treatment method and ordering people to collect the herbs.
Most of the herbs in the medicine store were ordinary ones, with the precious ones being harder to find. Even though Hidden Fog City was large, there were still many herbs that were unavailable here and required them to seek them out in the capital.
Qin Mu first treated the injuries that could be treated with the herbs available. The other injuries would have to wait until they were back in the capital.
In the governmental office, Qin Mu ordered to find him an incomparably huge pot. The pot was then filled with water and herbs and a huge steamer was placed inside to let Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor lie inside naked. Hundreds of needles were pierced into his body, their points reaching his divine treasures. The silver needles were used as a bridge to draw the medicinal energy into the divine treasures.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor lay inside the steamer quietly when he suddenly said, "If the emperor rewards me with beautiful women and gold, should I want them?"
Qin Mu twirled the needle in the heart of his brows. That silver needle had a hollow center which could help guide the medicinal energy. "What else can the emperor reward you with?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was silent for a moment. "There's nothing else."
"Then you should take them." Qin Mu took another needle and jabbed it into the lungs. "Who else is in Imperial Preceptor's house?"
"Other than me, just a few old servants and bodyguards."
"How much money do you have?"
"The salary every month is enough for me."
"Do you have a wife or children?"
"With heaven's law in one's heart, what's the need for desire?"
"Imperial Preceptor should start a family… You should stop talking, after I place this needle, I will have to cover the steamer and raise the fire."
…
After half a month, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had regained much of his complexion. While treating him, they had passed by fifteen cities yet Qin Mu had not found all the spirit herbs he needed. However, the injuries were more or less cared for.
Qin Mu was proficient in using medicine, so when not having top quality spirit herbs, he used ordinary ones to replace them. However, some injuries really needed incomparably precious spirit herbs which left him helpless.
When they reached the capital, they saw white lanterns and white banners hanging on numerous streets. After asking around, they learned that North Garrison King Ling Yinfeng had passed away. The emperor was mourning, so the entire empire was griefing.
North Garrison King Ling Yinfeng was the younger brother of the former emperor and was ranked eight, so he was referred to as Eight Imperial Uncle. He was well respected and loved by the people, since when the former emperor was conquering the world, Eight Imperial Uncle had outstanding military service, conquering numerous countries. The injuries he received were very severe, and he had almost died a few times in battle, yet he had also saved the life of the former emperor quite a few times.
The successful ascension of Emperor Yanfeng to the throne was due to his support. He played a huge part in paving out the empire of the Ling Family.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When Qin Mu heard the news, he frowned slightly and took a look at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. The man revealed a mournful expression and said, "I'll be offering my condolences to North Garrison King's manor."
Qin Mu asked in a low voice, "Imperial Preceptor, why did North Garrison King rebel?"
"He's not rebelling against the emperor, he's rebelling against me for the empire of his Ling Family," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said in a soft voice. "My power is too great, making him feel uneasy. He thinks I will overturn the rule of Ling Family. You're right, it's time for me to start my family. Even with heaven's law in my heart, desires are still needed."
Qin Mu had a weird expression.
Someone like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor starting a family? It was more or less beyond people's belief, yet it was about to happen.
"I shall return to the manor first to change into robes of quiet colors. North Garrison King had contributed to the empire, and even though he didn't agree with my way of handling things, he was still a person deserving respect. I have to pay my respects to him."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then bade farewell to Qin Mu. "Now that we're at the capital, you won't have to trouble yourself with my injuries anymore."
Qin Mu nodded. Since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries from the previous ambush had been healed, this meant that he had a divine physician by his side, thus there was no need for Qin Mu to continue treating him.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor returned to his manor, he was vigilant. He didn't walk through the main door but jumped into the manor directly. Looking around at the surroundings, he saw that all the seals were still in their places.
Yet he didn't let his guard down and called out solemnly, "Old Fu? Yuanqing?"
There was no sound in reply; Imperial Preceptor's manor was unusually quiet.
He walked in, and when he reached the hall, he saw his servants and bodyguards tied up and piled together.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frowned, then saw Fu Yuanqing. Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing was stripped of all his clothes and trussed up on the ceiling of the hall. His tongue was sticking out, a golden rope tied around it. At the other end of the golden rope was a huge iron weight which was pretty heavy.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frown deepened, and the sword light on his fingertips flashed, slicing apart the ropes on his body. Fu Yuanqing crashed heavily to the ground, and only then did Imperial Preceptor discover that all the cultivation in the man's body had been sealed, and as well as his divine treasures. Because of this, he couldn't unleash any bit of cultivation.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor broke the seals on him and the other servants and bodyguards. With a solemn face, he asked, "What happened?"
"I have no idea." Fu Yuanqing shook his head in shame. "I didn't see anything before I got hung up there. And I didn't see anything even when my tongue was pulled out. A huge iron weight was then tied to it so I couldn't cry for help even if I wanted to!"
"Old master, is our manor haunted?" A few servants looked terrified. One of them said, "I also saw nothing before finding myself in the pile of others, unable to move!"
"Haunted?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "It's not a ghost. That person's speed was too fast, so fast that you guys could not see him. I know who this person is. He must have barged into my manor to take advantage of me not being around to take back his leg. If I'm not wrong, my treasury should also have been emptied out."
He brought everyone to the treasury only to see the seal on it still there, untouched.
Fu Yuanqing let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Imperial Preceptor, you have guessed wrong, the seal is still here. I reckon the thief couldn't break your seal so he didn't touch the items inside."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed. "A phantom has no form, he can pilfer the heavens and switch out the sun, so why would he need to break the seal? He can pass through the seal directly, without touching it in the slightest. The treasury is indeed emptied."
Everyone didn't believe him.
He then opened the seal and pushed the door open, revealing the treasury to be empty, cleaned out to the point it was spick and span.
On the room's opposite wall, a painting had been hanging before. It portrayed the back of Sword God drawn by Heavenly Painting Country's crown prince, but it was gone without a trace now.
In place of it were scribbles that were shocking to read.
"Imperial Preceptor, I took back my leg. Thanks for your treasures as well. Your servants were treated quite well by me, so there's no need to worry. Oh! I also slept on your bed, and after I woke up, I took a dump on it. I even made a pot of fragrant tea for you in your study room. Our grudges are thus cleared, but you don't need to thank me!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's expression darkened. He immediately went to his bedroom and lifted the blanket. When the stink permeated the air, he covered his nose and waved his hand. "Old Fu, throw it away, throw it away!"
Old Fu immediately bundled up the blanket along with the bedsheet, but the stink came from the bed as well.. Old Fu asked, "Old master, do you want to throw the bed away as well?"
"Throw it away!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waved his hand and went to the study room with quick steps. The entire study room had the smell of urine, and the yellowish liquid in the teapot was clearly not tea.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sleeves swept the teapot out the window along with the teacups, his face black. "Disgraceful! Never mind him taking his leg back, but to even eat, sleep, and poop in my manor to spoil my peace! Old Fu, prepare another tea set and bed."
Old Fu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Old master, there isn't much money left…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned. He then mumbled to himself, "The emperor's reward will take a few more days to come. My salary comes once every month, but it will only be given at the start of the month. This month's salary is gone?"
"This time old master had gone out, you took more than half of the salary with you. The rest of it was used to send some meager gifts to the kings, dukes, and ministers for their birthdays. Those that had given birth to a son also had to be sent a gift. A few days ago it was the Empress Dowager's birthday, and the gift I prepared was even disdained for being unpresentable."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's head started to ache. "North Garrison King has passed away, so some gifts are needed. Are we really broke? Is there anything we can pawn?"
"This…"
Old Fu hesitated for a moment, then decided not to say anything. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked around, but even though the house wasn't small, there wasn't a lot of furniture around. There wasn't anything that could be pawned."
He always felt that infatuation with fine details prevents one from making progress, so all the stuff he ate and used were simple things, nothing fancy. The things he collected were mostly weird: Cripple's leg, the painting of Heavenly Painting Country's crown prince. Yet even these things were stolen by that thief god.
"Can we ask for the salary in advance?"
Old Fu asked, "Old master, do you still want your face?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hesitated. "Could we borrow some?"
Old Fu shook his head. "We recently went to war and the few people that old master is well acquainted with have been deployed and are no longer at home. Who would lend me money when the head of their house is not around? Unless old master went personally..."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor muttered, "My painting skills aren't bad and could be sold for some cash."
"Is old master going to sign it?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "If I sign my name, the person buying the painting would be bribing me, I won't sign."
Old Fu shook his head. "In that case, old master's painting won't sell."
Those words pissed off Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "How do you know it won't sell? I've had the painting of Heavenly Painting Country's crown prince for a long time and copied it countless times. Even though I don't dare to say I'm comparable to Art Saint, but shouldn't that be good enough?"
"Old master, what kind of place is the capital? There are so many famous scholars around that they all look like carps crossing the river. How much do they earn by selling their paintings? More than half of those people are starving to the point they're skin and bones. Old master, how well do you think your skills fair when compared to theirs?"
Old Fu then said, "On the other hand, old master's disciples can lend money to old master."
"Borrow money from my disciples? I can't lower myself to that." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor suddenly thought of Qin Mu and smiled. "I know who has money that I can borrow. He's liberal with his money and would usually pay when buying herbs for me. Otherwise, with that salary of mine, it would have been long gone. He's also not in the imperial court so it's not embarrassing to borrow from him. I shall go and borrow money, you guys wait for me here."
When Qin Mu returned back to Scholar's Residence, he could smell a medicinal fragrance the moment he entered. It seemed to be coming from his courtyard, which bewildered him.
Although there were odd-job workers cleaning Scholar's Residence, every one of them would often go to the hall to sit for lessons, so their cultivations weren't weak. There were some odd-job workers who were even stronger than the scholars. In the history of Imperial College, there were quite a few odd-jobs workers that had cultivated extraordinary abilities which allowed them to leap into the position of scholars and be promoted to reputable officers.
With odd-job workers guarding Scholar's Residence, almost no one was able to sneak inside.
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin and Hu Ling'er into his courtyard and saw huge bags of herbs piled up in his courtyard. There was even stuff like a medicinal furnace, medicinal cauldron, et cetera.
The medicinal furnace and medicinal cauldron were extraordinary. The markings on them were extremely extraordinary, which made it clear that they were precious treasures. They weren't inferior to the treasures Qin Mu had taken from Rolan's Golden Palace!
Inside a medicinal cauldron, there was a leg, and there was an arm in the medicinal furnace.
When Qin Mu saw these two limbs, he was slightly stunned. He told Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin, "Stay guard outside the courtyard and don't let anyone enter."
Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin got up and walked out of the courtyard. Qin Mu turned his head back to see the dragon qilin squeezing through the creaking door frames and shook his head. "This fellow is getting fatter by the day, very soon he'll probably break my door and I'll have to get a new one again."
He pushed open the door to the main room and saw two men that were old and yet not that old sitting inside. Cripple had tidied himself. His hair was glossy black, while the beard under his chin was also tied up with a dazzling golden thread. The clothes he was wearing were also quite tastefully chosen.
Old Ma sat opposite him and wore green clothing that wasn't as gaudy as Cripple's. One of his sleeves drooped down emptily, and he looked travel-worn. He must have arrived not too long ago, so his sideburns were grizzled and his hair was messy.
When they saw Qin Mu walking in, Cripple revealed a simple smile while Old Ma's cold face brightened up.
"Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Cripple…" Qin Mu felt moved and his eyes grew red. "Are you two here to see me?"
"No," Old Ma replied.
Qin Mu's felt hurt and Cripple smiled, "You are living more comfortably than us, so why do we have to come and see you? You're just someone we picked up so why would we travel thousands of miles just to see you? Don't think too much."
Qin Mu retorted angrily, "You're clearly here to see me!"
Cripple shook his head. "I'm just here to have you reattach my leg. Can you help me see if my leg is still alive?"
"I won't."
Cripple flew into a fury. "You rascal, turning independent? We're certainly not here to see you!"
Old Ma gave a cough and said unhurriedly, "If you're not here to see him, why didn't you bring your leg to Apothecary instead? Stop teasing him, look at him, he's about to cry."
"I'm not crying," Qin Mu said, putting up an act.
"Alright, alright, stop crying, I'm here to see you. I just returned from Imperial Preceptor's manor, having stayed there for quite some time. I also took some items while I'm there as well. Do you see that leg in the cauldron?"
This elder was very proud of himself. "My leg! I took it back from Imperial Preceptor's manor and Imperial Preceptor couldn't do anything about it. He could only look at me helplessly as I took back my leg!"
Qin Mu kept quiet for a moment before letting out a warm smile. "Grandpa Cripple, Imperial Preceptor and I just came back, so what Imperial Preceptor was there in the Imperial Preceptor's manor?"
Cripple stared at him, and Qin Mu didn't give in, staring right back. The smiles on their faces were similarly warm and gave others a feeling that they could be trusted. Even if one was stabbed by them, they would still think they deserved to be trusted.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu and Cripple continued staring at each other.
Old Ma was warm-hearted despite looking cold. "We're all adults, so stop throwing a tantrum. We're here to see how you're getting by and if our limbs are still usable."
Cripple smiled. "Old Ma had run over here from Great Thunderclap Monastery, so you should know he's here to see you specifically. Great Thunderclap Monastery is thousands of miles away from here and only a thousand miles away from Disabled Elderly Village. As for me, I'm not here to see you. My leg was at Imperial Preceptor's manor, and you happened to be the closest."
Qin Mu's heart was warmed when Old Ma said, "Don't mind Cripple's harsh words, he's actually a good man. When you were young and always wet your bed, granny was annoyed by you as she had never raised a child before, so she wanted to send you away to be raised by the neighboring village. When you were sent over the first day, you were back on granny's bed on the next. Granny sent you over a few times more, yet you always came back mysteriously. It was Cripple, of course, who had stolen you back."
Cripple shook his head. "I did not. I hate kids the most. If I didn't have just one leg, I would have kicked his balls daily."
Qin Mu felt a stab of pain, and he said in disbelief, "Granny sent me away because I wet the bed when I was young? But granny dotes on me so much…"
"Quite a few times," Old Ma said. "Granny had never given birth nor had she raised a child before. You peed like a waterfall and cried at night, cried when you were hungry, cried when you were stuffed, and even cried when you couldn't sleep. Even the cow that was fenced up was driven crazy by you, so it would be weird if granny wouldn't have been annoyed. Us old geezers were so annoyed that Village Chief and Apothecary had agreed that it would be a good thing to send you away as the village would become more peaceful."
The pain in Qin Mu's heart worsened, and he said with a black face, "Grandpa Village Chief and Grandpa Apothecary also wanted to send me away? How did I not know about this?"
Cripple smiled. "You were not a year old, so how would you remember? It would've been fine if you had just peed on the bed, but you even shit on it. Mute had originally wanted to send you away to be raised by others and even included a milking cow to make the offer more tempting for others. Yet you stopped wetting your bed soon, so you weren't sent away…"
"Grandpa Mute also wanted to send me away?" Qin Mu was silent for a moment. "Luckily there's still Grandpa Blind and Grandpa Deaf who dote on me.
Old Ma said, "Blind indeed doted on you. But after he raised you high up in the air and you peed on his face, he did not say anything after granny wanted to send you away."
Cripple then continued the story. "When you were young, Deaf was the most annoyed by you. You often climbed onto his desk and covered everything in ink. You even peed into his ink stone…" He sighed. "Still, you were cute when you wet the bed. You became not so cute when you grew up and peed on the stone statues in the village."
Having received many psychological blows, Qin Mu said hoarsely, "Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Cripple, I'm now the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, so can we not mention wetting the bed? Let me take a look at your leg and arm."
Cripple smiled at Old Ma. "This incident of him being sent away after wetting the bed always cracks me up. I'm sure I'll laugh until I jump out of the coffin upon remembering it even after I've died."
Old Ma revealed a smile. "Me too."
Qin Mu walked into the courtyard with a black face and moved the medicinal cauldron and furnace in. He checked the arm and leg of the two people and took out Junior Protector Sword to slice an opening on Cripple's leg, taking out a few drops of blood to check hem in detail.
After a moment, he cut open Old Ma's arm and also took out a few drops of blood. After studying them for a moment, he said, "Even though the lifeforce in Grandpa Ma's arm has been depleted by half, it's been preserved well. It seems like someone used a Buddhist incantation to vibrate the properties of the blood in the arm, keeping the blood fresh. With some nourishment from spirit pills and miracle medicine, the life force can be recovered, so the arm could be reattached. After training it for a few years, it would return back to its original state."
Old Ma said, "My arm was placed in Thousand Buddha Pagoda where the physical body of previous Rulai rests. Monks chant incantations day and night to preserve the activity of the body."
Qin Mu jumped in shock and cried out, "There is really a thousand buddhas in Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
Old Ma shrugged. "I didn't count them, but there should be."
Qin Mu composed himself and checked on Cripple's leg. "Grandpa Cripple, this leg… The blood has already spoiled and the leg has died. It can't be reattached anymore."
Cripple's face turned pale white, and the smile on his face vanished as he cried out, "How is that possible? I'm known as the divine legs and these two legs were trained to the realm of god, so how could one just die? Furthermore, it was chopped off just recently, merely some twenty-thirty years ago. I don't believe my leg is inferior to Old Ma's divine fist, it's definitely still alive!"
Qin Mu revealed an honest smile. "My condolences, Grandpa Cripple. It's already dead and can't be reattached. Furthermore, I tasted your blood just now, and there was the taste of five spices and a smoky flavor to it. I reckon it was turned into a dried leg by Imperial Preceptor."
Cripple laughed from extreme anger. "Rascal, fooling me again. How could Imperial Preceptor be so poor to smoke my leg into dried meat?" The moment he said that, he became nervous. "Imperial Preceptor is indeed very poor, he wouldn't have turned it into dried meat, right?"
Qin Mu was pleased with himself.
Old Ma said, "Don't scare him, thieves are timid."
Qin Mu smiled. "Even though Grandpa Ma's arm and Grandpa Cripple's leg were less active than Grandpa Butcher's lower body, the lifeforce within them is still there. I'll first use medicine to activate your severed limbs, and after ten days to half a month, they will recover. When they are reattached, there should be no problems. Grandpa Butcher's lower body had been on Grand Shaman's body, so there were no hidden injuries left behind. Yours are not in such a good condition since there was no nourishment from a living body."
Old Ma and Cripple let out a sigh of relief. "As long as they can be reattached, it's good."
Cripple smiled. "I took a portion of spirit herbs from the palace's treasury, so you should see which spirit herbs can be used. If you lack any, I'll go and… uhm, borrow some more."
"No need, the warehouse of Imperial College should have the needed herbs."
Qin Mu came to the courtyard and was about to check the types of spirit herbs there when Hu Ling'er's voice reached him from outside. "Young master, Imperial Preceptor came to visit."
"Imperial Preceptor is here? Could it be that what Grandpa Cripple did have been traced all the way here?"
Qin Mu was astonished. He turned around to close the door to the main room. Tidying up his clothes, he opened the gate to see Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor standing outside. This middle-aged man who shook the world with his might was ill at ease. He stood quietly for quite some time before saying slowly, "Imperial Academician is well to do, could you lend me some money?"
Qin Mu was bewildered as he smiled. "Imperial Preceptor came this time to borrow money? The magnificent Imperial Preceptor actually lacks money?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor answered truthfully, "When I went out for battle, a thief came into my house and cleaned everything out. Now my pockets are empty, yet I still have to go to North Garrison King's manor to offer my condolences, I really don't have any money to spare…"
Qin Mu's heart was moved slightly. "Could Grandpa Cripple have cleaned out Imperial Preceptor's manor and not left him any money? Grandpa Cripple may have lost a leg, but he's still more nimble than me."
He smiled. "Imperial Preceptor, how much money do you need?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor calculated for a moment and said, "My salary is eight hundred great abundance coins a month, so I'll borrow the salary of a month to tide me over."
Qin Mu told Hu Ling'er, "Ling'er, fetch a thousand great abundance coins over and pass them to Imperial Preceptor."
Hu Ling'er gave a sound of acknowledgment and slipped into the room.
Qin Mu smiled. "Is there a need for Imperial Preceptor to be so poor?"
The man shook his head. "Too much external desires would affect one's cultivation and wisdom. With lesser desires, money is of no importance anymore."
Suddenly his gaze flickered and he smiled. "There are other people in your room. The person is an existence that's like a Rulai sitting there motionlessly… That's not right, there should be two people. The other blends with the heaven and earth, drifting without a resting place. It seems like he could escape at any moment, what a superior body technique which almost made me overlook him! Academician, why are you not inviting me in to take a seat?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "Imperial Preceptor, I'm not going to invite you in. My elders have come, and they are injured so it isn't convenient for them to meet people."
"Oh, so they're injured, that explains why there are so many spirit herbs in the courtyard. I'm also injured therefore it's indeed inconvenient to disturb them."
Hu Ling'er brought a huge coin pouch over, and Qin Mu took it from her, handing it to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor with a smile. "If Imperial Preceptor is tight on money, there's no need to return. Imperial Preceptor, a person of noble character can be poor, but there's no need to be poor. Being poor is not a requirement to be a noble person."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I have to return. The emperor's reward will come in a few days, and I'll be able to pay you back then. I just need this to tide me over the next few days."
He expressed his thanks and bade farewell.
Qin Mu waited until he walked farther away before telling Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin to guard outside again. He walked into the main room and asked, "Grandpa Cripple, you cleaned out Imperial Preceptor's manor?"
"What do you mean by cleaned out?" Cripple shook his head. "There was not much money in his manor to begin with, and he didn't even have any valuable furniture. The thing worth the most was probably Deaf's painting, which is priceless."
Qin Mu was puzzled. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was really that poor? He was an important minister that had power over all levels of society, so how could he have no capital?
There were some officials in Eternal Peace Empire that were compradors in mining, some set up refineries, casting factories, and had unspeakable wealth. As the imperial preceptor, how could he be so poor?
Cripple took out a scroll from god knows where and opened it up. "This painting of the Sword God's back should be of Village Chief, right? Deaf should have seen the Village Chief young, keke. This painting can't be seen else the eyes will become blind…"
He rolled back the painting of Sword God and threw it at Qin Mu. "I'll give it to you, use it to ward off evil. The painting of Village Chief painted by Blind makes it hard for ghosts to come near you. Don't open it. With your cultivation, you'll turn blind if you take a look and might even die! Even though the paintings of Deaf from back then had yet to reach the god realm, the person he had drawn was too powerful so you still can't see it."
Qin Mu was skeptical, but he placed the painting in his taotie sack.
Old Ma said, "Deaf had indeed seen Village Chief before, but it was reverence in him, more than anything. In the village, he was closest to Mute. Now that Mute left without saying a thing, I reckon Deaf will be unable to keep still and will definitely come out to find him."
Qin Mu was moved. Ever since he left the village, the people of Disabled Elderly Village had come out one after another. Even though these old folks said that they didn't miss him, they had all walked out of the village for him.
He concentrated on distinguishing the spirit herbs that Cripple had 'borrowed' from the palace, thinking to himself, "The herbs from the palace are indeed precious, but they're a little inferior to the herbs in Grandpa Apothecary's herb garden. These are all hard to get spirit herbs!"
With them, he already had the prescription to nourish Old Ma's arm and Cripple's divine leg. He just needed to pick some supplementary herbs from the warehouse in Imperial College.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu tidied up the herbs and matched them up. He nourished Old Ma's arm and Cripple's leg with medicine before buying some venomous insect powder of the south from the warehouse of the Imperial College.
This insect powder was made of incomparably tiny insects called Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects. If a single insect was placed in front of a person, it was impossible to see with a naked eye, only with the third eye.
After the insects were dried and turned into powder, they would revive when in contact with blood.
Qin Mu asked for some fresh blood from Old Ma and Cripple and used it to dissolve the insect powder. When Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects received the nourishment of fresh blood, they revived and made it seem as if the two goblets of fresh blood were alive.
Old Ma and Cripple looked at the goblets. Their eyesight was extraordinary and could naturally see the insects in the blood. There were tens of thousands of them densely packed in the goblet, and the sight of it was terrifying.
Cripple smiled. "Mu'er, you plan to use these insects to cure our limbs? What insects are these? Are they harmful or not?"
Among the people in the village, Butcher could only claim to be number two when ranked on fiendishness that could make little maidens cry. The number one was Apothecary who loved to raise flowers and little insects.
Apothecary's face was scary, but his insects were scarier. Cripple was used to stealing stuff and everyone's room had been visited by him. Even Qin Mu's sugar-coated hawthorns were scammed away by him a few times, but he had never touched Apothecary's room.
Qin Mu followed Apothecary to learn the art of healing, so he was quite knowledgeable about insects. Looking at the insects in the two goblets, Cripple couldn't help feeling his hair stand on end. He kept having the feeling that a wicked person was trying to harm him.
"Grandpa Cripple, don't worry. The use of Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects is one of the venomous insect techniques from Five Sprouts of the southern borders. There's no harm to the body."
Qin Mu injected the insect blood into the blood vessels of Old Ma's arm and Cripple's leg, and the Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects were now planted into the limbs. He then said, "The reason why these insects are called Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects is because there are some women from the sects of the southern borders who use them to freeze their beauty and preserve their youth. They even continue to look alive after they are dead."
"Looking alive after dying…" Cripple gave a shudder, still feeling that these Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects weren't anything good.
Qin Mu placed Cripple's leg and Old Ma's arm into the medicinal cauldron. There was already a cauldron of medicinal decoction there, and he said, "This kind of venomous insect can eat away the dead blood in the blood, the dead skin on the skin, the mucous membrane when muscles are damaged, broken bones, and dead bone marrow. That's why people who use Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects are able to preserve the appearance of their youth until they die of old age. Grandpa Apothecary said he had a few intimate friends of the fairer sex who raised this kind of venomous insect in their body. Even years later, they still looked sixteen to seventeen years old and were very tight. Grandpa Apothecary said he likes girls who are very tight…"
The youth revealed a thoughtful expression. "What does girls who are very tight mean?"
Cripple said, "You're still young, don't think about these nonsensical things. Can I use them?"
Qin Mu found a seed from the spirit herbs taken from the palace and lifted up a floor tile in the main room, revealing jade-like soil underneath, "Of course. However, there's a disadvantage to this kind of venomous insect. If they get hungry, they start eating the healthy flesh and blood, so people who have these venomous insects need to use fresh blood to raise them. As time goes by, there will be more and more Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects in their body, so the fresh blood they have to consume will grow in quantity."
He opened his taotie's sack and took out some water from Jade Dragon Palace to water it. "Grandpa Apothecary said that in the land of Five sprouts, it is a frequent occurrence that beautiful women seduce young and strong men. After a night of fun, only the skin of the men would be left, their owners having turned into dissolute ghosts. The essence and blood sucked away from their bodies would have been used by the women to feed their Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects."
Cripple shuddered.
After Qin Mu watered the soil, it bulged out and a soft shoot popped out, growing taller and taller at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The youth executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique as he continued walking around the tiny sapling in the main room. He then executed Earth Eon Creation Technique and struck the tiny sapling with mudras. The moment his palm and his five moving fingers touched the leaf of the sapling, they would immediately get deflected.
When the branches and leaves came into contact with his palm or fingers, there were actually ding and dong sounds which were like notes of a guqin. A melodious rhythm rang out in the main room.
Qin Mu stepped about, and with his Earth Eon Creation Technique, the small tree grew to the height of a human and began to sprout, revealing lush green leaves.
Next, flower buds grew out and bloomed into snow-white pear blossoms.
"The reputation of Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insect isn't good, so when I went to the warehouse of Imperial College to buy it earlier, the directorate even asked what I wanted to use it for. That directorate said that there are many females in the kings, dukes, and ministers' families that like these kinds of things. There are also some consorts in the palace that like them, so Hall of Supreme Healing had altered these venomous insects so that they couldn't reproduce."
Qin Mu's footsteps didn't stop, and neither did his hands. The mudra continued to change like Guanyin flicking her fingers. Each flick produced a thump sound of a stone landing into a calm lake.
The pear blossoms on the tree withered as green pears grew out. Those pears were small and exquisite, only the size of a thumb.
However, under the transformation of Qing Mu's mudra, the fruits slowly grew bigger.
"Imperial Physician You even created an Insect Elimination Pill so when the Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects start to harm the body, one can consume this pill to kill the Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects and remove them from their body."
Qin Mu transformed his creation technique, continuing to ripen the fruits, and the green pears on the tree became as big as a fist. "I had the directorate of the warehouse fetch an Insect Elimination Pill for me to have a look. The herbs used in it are only ordinary herbs yet they are sold for an exorbitant price. Even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's month's salary isn't enough to buy one of them. That directorate said that Imperial Physician You had relied on this pill to become a tycoon among the imperial physicians!"
Cripple's eyes lighted up. "Imperial Physician You? Tycoon?"
The pears on the tree turned yellow and gave off a fragrant fruity smell.
Qin Mu plucked a few and threw them to Old Ma and Cripple. The two old men took a bite and the sweetness of the pear spread throughout their mouth, making them exclaim in admiration.
"What kind of spell did little divine physician use to transform these pears?" Old Ma asked.
Qin Mu blushed and said, "Grandpa Ma, stop making fun of me. This is the Earth Eon Creation Technique that granny taught me."
"Earth Eon Creation Technique?"
Old Ma and Cripple looked at each other in dismay, and Cripple muttered, "I saw Granny Si execute this move to refine the sun before. At the time of noon, the five hearts faced upwards to gather the essence of the sun, causing the fire clouds in the sky to come surging over. The sight was so terrifying that it was obvious at first glance that it was a top-notch technique of the devil path. Granny Si used this technique to scorch many people to death, which is very unlike how you used it just now…"
Qin Mu was stunned. "Could I have cultivated it wrongly?"
Old Ma disagreed. "You didn't cultivate it wrongly. You had cultivated it purely, while I reckon Old Woman Si was the one that had strayed from the path. The sun nourishes all living things, so by right it should be used this way."
Qin Mu plucked a few more pears and sliced them into half before placing them in the medicine decoction. "I use Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects to get rid of the dead parts in the arm and leg, and after they are gotten rid of, I will use medicine to force the Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects out. The insects won't harm your limbs. This yellow pear is a herb to excite the medicinal energy of other herbs. It's also pretty delicious, but there are little medicinal properties in it."
His knowledge in the art of healing even surpassed that of Imperial Physician You. This physician had used Insect Elimination Pill to poison Vermillion Beauty Venomous Insects, so after they died, they would still remain within the body to be slowly discharged.
Qing Mu, however, had used medicine to force these venomous insects to swim out by themselves, not leaving a trace behind.
Furthermore, the medicinal decoction he had refined could help improve blood circulation, exciting the activity of Old Ma's arm and Cripple's arm, which would help with the recovery of its lifeforce When the limbs were nursed back to health, he could reattach them back.
Qin Mu plucked the other pears and filled up a basket full of them. He then pulled out the pear tree with its roots and moved it to the courtyard.
Qin Mu called Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin over, giving some pears to them as well. Hu Ling'er tasted a mouthful and exclaimed endlessly. The dragon qilin also ate quite a few of them. Even if these weren't Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, it still ate heartily.
"It's time for this fellow to lose some fat."
Qin Mu stared at this dragon qilin and thought to himself, "If he continues eating like this, I doubt he will be able to fly up while stepping on fire clouds."
Cripple couldn't sit still. After staying half a day at Qin Mu's place, he started grumbling about going out for a walk. Old Ma was worried he might meet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, so he went out with him.
The person that Cripple always obeyed was Old Ma. He was respectful and afraid of him, so he could not reject him. Even if the two had run out, Qin Mu wasn't worried about their safety.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also heavily injured, so if he met Cripple, Cripple might not be the one at a disadvantage.
Furthermore, Old Ma was the most steady person in the village. With Old Ma around, Cripple wouldn't fool around.
A few days passed by, and the imperial scholars that had gone to the frontlines returned. In Lizhou, Surging River, and Deer County, they had met with Great Mountain Sect summoning a devil, Nine Spectre Sect summoning souls, and Corpse Immortal Cult controlling corpses.
After they received the surprise attack of General Xiaoyi, thirty percent of the imperial scholars that had headed to the battle were killed. These thirty percent were the elites of the elites, so they could be said to have suffered a great loss.
The imperial scholars who had gone forth into the darkness had been completely wiped out. Luckily, the main forces of Eternal Peace Empire's army had managed to quell the rebellion in Surging River under the command of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. General Yuyuan Chuyun had also managed to gather the power of everyone to slay the devil god that was summoned forth and made his way to the gate of the netherworld.
Lizhou Prefecture Magistrate Yuyuan Chuyu had led her army across the river to stop General Xiaoyi and only when both sides of the army launched a bloody battle on the surface of the river that the power of General Xiaoyi's army finally came to a halt. The swords of Yuyuan Chuyu and Yuyuan Chuyun matched harmoniously as the sun set in Surging River. At that time, a sword sun was half sunk into the heart of the river and numerous sword lights burst forth from the setting sun in the heart of the river, slaying countless people from the rebel army. Flying ships fell from the sky and corpses rained down.
General Xiaoyi could only retreat.
Only when Yuyuan Chuyu and Yuyuan Chuyun's armies crossed the river was the chaos in Lizhou quelled.
They checked the imperial scholars after that, and only then did they realize that they had suffered a great loss. There were even some directorates who had died in battle to save the scholars by fighting the devil.
After that, numerous scholars had followed the directorates to quell the rebellion. Only when Imperial Preceptor returned to the court did the scholars' experience end and they returned to Imperial College. They were thus slightly later than Qin Mu.
There were many imperial scholars that had died, and Gu Linuan couldn't avoid the blame, so he requested his punishment from the emperor. The emperor forfeited his salary for half a year and demoted him to a fourth-ranking official. He was still in charge of Imperial College, but he wasn't spared from his duty.
Gu Linuan ordered people to tidy up the casualty list, hoping to see Qin Mu's name there, but was a pity it didn't appear.
After tidying up the casualty list, he immediately headed to the palace to meet the emperor. On his way, he met a eunuch that announced imperial decrees heading towards Imperial College, and Gu Linuan immediately said, "Eunuch, are you going to Imperial College to announce an imperial decree?"
That eunuch smiled. "Congratulations lord, the imperial academician gained merit in quelling this rebellion, which saved the scholars under you. His Majesty wants me to bring the imperial decree to him and raise his official position!"
Gu Linuan's expression froze, and he said angrily, "This is what he should do, why is there a need for a reward?"
"His Majesty said that some people can't even do what they should do properly, so he decided to use this as a warning to others."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"As a warning? Am I the one being warned?"
The corners of Gu Linuan's eyes twitched as he felt anxious in his heart. He took out a few great abundance coins and stuffed them into the eunuch's hand before bracing himself on his way to the palace. Just a few steps later, he met another imperial decree eunuch who was also rushing to Imperial College. "Congratulations, Lord Gu!"
Gu Linuan asked absentmindedly, "Eunuch, what joy is there?"
"Lord Gu might not know, but the imperial academician of your Imperial College gained merit in quelling the rebellion, so His Majesty send me to bestow a reward, promoting him."
Gu Linuan was shocked and cried out, "Another promotion? There was a eunuch just now who was going to promote him! Why is he getting promoted twice in a row?"
The imperial decree eunuch said, "His Majesty said that the first one was because others didn't do what they were supposed to do and imperial academician had done what he was supposed to do, therefore he wanted to promote him to upper sixth ranking. Whereas this time, imperial academician had contributed to the quelling of the rebellion and did a great merit at the southern border, so he's being promoted again to the lower fifth ranking."
Gu Linuan took out a few great abundance coins and stuffed them into the eunuch's hand secretly before muttering, "Oh, so it was his contribution. Imperial academician is the academician of our Imperial College, for him to be rewarded for his contribution, I'm also honored…"
"That's right!" The imperial decree eunuch was all beaming smiles as he hurried away.
Gu Linuan continued walking towards the palace with his thoughts wandering when he met another imperial decree eunuch. When the eunuch saw him, he was full of smiles. "Congratulations Lord Gu! Congratulations!"
Gu Linuan asked with a black face, "Eunuch, what joy is there?"
"His Majesty made me bring the decree to promote imperial academician!"
The old eunuch then continued, "Imperial Academician Qin Mu treated the injuries of Imperial Preceptor, therefore he is promoted to upper fifth ranking palace grandee, receiving the same treatment as the directorates! Getting promoted three times in a day, this is a great joy for your Imperial College!"
Gu Linuan nodded emotionlessly and took out a few great abundance coins to stuff them into that old eunuch's hand without anyone knowing. He gave a forced smile and said, "I'm honored as well…"
When the eunuch had walked away, Gu Linuan's face turned entirely black. With Qin Mu being promoted and he demoted, he would be on the same level as him in no time!
Gu Linuan even had to spend quite a sum of money due to the other being promoted three times in a row!
"If he continues to get promoted, I'll be the one who has to call him lord."
Gu Linuan composed himself and went to see the emperor to hand over the list of casualties. Emperor Yanfeng was currently reading his memorials, and upon Gu Linuan's entrance, he raised his head to take the list. After taking a look it, he said with pain in his heart, "These scholars were all my talents, the future pillars of the empire. Just because the news got leaked, they were harmed by the scums! I want to kill!"
Cold sweats broke out on Gu Linuan's forehead. He didn't dare say a word as he didn't know if the emperor would want to kill him as well if he interrupted.
Emperor Yanfeng stood up and walked to and fro. He suddenly slammed the table and asked bitterly, "I had only passed down the imperial decree about the location of the scholar's experience on the point of departure, so how did they get ambushed? Gu Linuan, Minister Gu! Tell me your opinion, who was the one that leaked the news?"
Gu Linuan muttered to himself irresolutely, "Looking at the situation of the battle in Lizhou, Lizhou Prefecture Magistrate had already invaded Deer County. When the directorates and scholars arrived at Lizhou, the rebels executed Soul Guide precisely. This means the rebels knew the exact time when the scholars would reach Lizhou, as if they had a premonition. They should have received the news of the scholars coming forward for an experience which was why they still had the power to summon the devil and many souls even after invading Deer County. This means it wasn't the directorates or the scholars who had leaked the news and…"
He braced himself to continue. "And it was me or the other first ranking high officials who had leaked the news. The traitor is right among us!"
Emperor Yanfeng sneered. "Seems like there are some people among us who want me to shift my butt, give the throne to them. Other than you and me, those that had come forth that day for discussion and knew about this matter were all first ranking high officials, the teachers of the crown prince, as well as Situ, Sikong, and Duke. Who do you think is the traitor among them?"
Huge beads of sweat rolled down Gu Linuan's forehead as he gritted his teeth and didn't say a word.
Emperor Yanfeng gave him a glance and snorted coldly. "You don't dare to say? Seems like you aren't loyal to me."
Cold sweat poured down Gu Linuan's forehead. "This minister has been frozen in Great Ruins for over two hundred years, so I'm not familiar with the ministers of the imperial court, therefore I don't dare to speak…"
"Just speak whatever is on your mind, I'll pardon you."
"I'm naturally slow-witted and very dumb, my Junior Protector Sword even got scammed away by the imperial academician which shows how dumb I am…"
Emperor Yanfeng smiled with extreme anger and pointed at his nose. "Stop beating around the bush! Imperial academician scammed your sword, but you could have lowered your head and apologize to him to ask for it back. If you are dumb, what need is there for you to be the grand chancellor? You can just pack your things up and scram! Tell me, who do you suspect?"
Gu Linuan gritted his teeth and raised his head. "A few of crown prince's teachers are suspicious!"
"What did you say?"
Emperor Yanfeng was unable to restrain his anger and his emperor's might burst forth, pressuring Gu Linuan to lower his head.
Suddenly, Emperor Yanfeng turned decrepit and waved his hand. "Minister Gu, you're very smart, very smart… Fall back."
Gu Linuan was covered in cold sweat as he slowly fell back.
"Come back," Emperor Yanfeng said.
Gu Linuan's hair stood on end, and he braced himself for the walk back. Emperor Yanfeng said slowly, "This time Imperial Preceptor did a huge contribution, and I have yet to reward him. What do you think I should reward him with?"
Gu Linuan lowered his head. "What can the emperor reward him with?"
Emperor Yanfeng shook his head. "Nothing else."
Gu Linuan thought for a while and said, "Then reward Imperial Preceptor with beautiful women and money."
"You have the same idea as me." Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "I'm just afraid he will reject them like he always does."
Gu Linuan hesitated before saying, "Many things happened this time, if Imperial Preceptor is really clever, he will definitely accept."
Emperor Yanfeng was stunned, then he smiled. "You're also a clever person, I'm not warning you and you have no need to be warned. Fall back. Also, don't keep messing with imperial academician. You can't mess with him, his power is beyond your imagination. Every time you give him trouble, I'm embarrassed for you. You're someone I placed in an important position despite everyone being against it, I don't want to keep cleaning up after your messes."
Gu Linuan felt ashamed as he fell back and thought to himself, "I can't mess with him? I can't mess with him? I, a big shot in the devil path, one of the few important figures of the devil path can't mess with a brat of Five Elements Realm? Have I lived the past few hundred years for naught…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went back to reading his memorials, then suddenly placed his vermillion brush down, falling into a daze. "I had sat down on this seat when I was middle-aged while some other sons had even died from the long wait. It looks like my crown prince doesn't want to be like me and wait on the seat of the crown prince for too long…"
In Imperial College, Qin Mu received three imperial decrees and his official position was raised to upper fifth ranking palace grandee. Palace grandee was a welfare position and held no real power. People in it were civil officials of the empire in a way, but they were still wanderers.
It was obvious that the emperor still had some doubts since Qin Mu was the Master of Heavenly Devil Cult. The emperor wouldn't give him real power so that all levels of society wouldn't be filled with villains from the devil cult.
Qin Mu threw the three imperial decrees into the west room, greatly startled.
He was still cultivating the other four transformations in Five Elements Realm.
When heading to the south to quell the rebellion, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had given them many pointers, so when Chen Wanyun, Si Yunxiang, and the rest returned from the southern border, they immediately headed to Floor of Heavenly Records to look for Five Element Realm's techniques.
Si Yunxiang even borrowed the imperial academician's book tablet from Qin Mu to enter the third floor of Floor of Heavenly Records to browse through the techniques.
Qin Mu took in and sent out the star force of Saturn, and his body gradually transformed. His legs fused into one and turned into the tail of a snake. With a human head and snake body, he was almost ten yards tall. At the same time, two tightly shut gates appeared behind him.
During the journey to the south, he had already managed to cultivate the god transformation of Mercury Sovereign, Mars Sovereign, Jupiter Sovereign, and Venus Sovereign. It was only the form of Saturn Sovereign that he found hard to cultivate. No matter how dense his vital qi was, he couldn't form the most perfect form of Saturn Sovereign.
When he executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique this time, the tightly shut gate behind him gradually became clearer. Yet the words on it were still blurry, and he was unable to make them out.
Saturn Sovereign was extremely special among the Five Elements Star Sovereigns. Saturn Earth Marquis Technique was the head of the five elements and was unexpectedly hard to cultivate, especially the gate behind Saturn Sovereign.
Qin Mu was able to transform into the form of Saturn Sovereign, but the gate behind him never fully materialized. The words on it were always blurry.
From the sky, an earth yellow light poured down continuously into his body. The star force of the earth element surged forth and stabilized the body of his god transformation. Gradually, Qin Mu discovered that the form of Saturn Sovereign still had more to its transformation. An apparition of a scroll appeared in his hands.
When he looked at the apparition of the scroll, the writing on it was still blurry. However, from the peculiar lines there, the writing on the scroll should be tadpole script. It looked like sun, moon, insect, and fish, which was different from the writing of the modern day.
Qin Mu had learned from Deaf, this great scholar, for close to ten years. Deaf had extremely deep knowledge regarding ancient texts, but he had never taught Qin Mu about this kind of tadpole script.
Qin Mu turned his head and looked at the writings on the apparition of the gate. Even though they were still blurry, he could see the similarity between the writing on the scroll and the gate.
"What kind of text is this?"
Qin Mu could faintly feel that something was weird. If every martial arts practitioner of Five Elements Realm had such a gate behind their back and a scroll in the hands of their Saturn Sovereign form, there would have definitely been someone who had studied the writings on the gate and scroll thoroughly and analyzed their profound meaning. So why hadn't Imperial Preceptor mentioned anything about it?
Could it be that other people's Saturn Sovereign form had no gate nor scroll?
While Qin Mu was thinking, a deep devilish voice rang out in his mind. "Stop letting your imagination run wild, these are Youdu's writings. How would a weakling like you recognize the writings of Youdu?"
Qin Mu's hair stood up on end, and he said in a panic, "Who? Who is talking in my body?"
"Acting?" The voice laughed. "How long are you still going to act in front of me? When I borrowed your eyes to look at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's battle, didn't you recognize me then, summoner of the ruler of Dutian?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Now Qin Mu really felt a bone-chilling cold.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a huge battle at Daxiang City, he stood at the mountain peak to observe the battle, but he was unable to see the moves of the strong practitioners. Dutian Devil King then borrowed his eyes to observe the battle which allowed him to see the moves of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Teacher Poor, and the rest clearly. He could even comprehend the marvel of their terrifying moves!
However, Qin Mu had thought he had concealed it pretty well and didn't alert this devil king.
Yet now it showed up that his little thoughts had been completely useless. Dutian Devil King had long detected the turbulence in his heart and guessed what he was thinking!
"Foolish devil summoner, it's completely useless to play those tricks that you think are clever in front of the great ruler of Dutian."
Dutian Devil King's voice rang in his mind, leaving his ears buzzing from the vibration. "It's best for a weakling like you to not play tricks in front of me. You can't imagine how strong I am! Serve me, worship me, that's your only way to survive."
Qin Mu composed himself and suddenly smiled. "Great leader of Dutian, I'm the only person left in this world that still understands Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command. I'm also the only one who can still execute this spell."
Dutian Devil King fell silent.
After a moment, his voice rang out again, "Interesting brat, you actually dared to haggle with me. Very well, very well…"
Qin Mu felt uneasy, uncertain if he would succeed in this haggle. If he didn't succeed and this devil fell out with him, he was most likely going to be in trouble.
If he succeeded and kept himself alive, he could ask Village Chief and the rest to slowly kill Dutian Devil King when he returned to the village.
From Dutian Devil King's actions, it was clearly still possible to kill him. After all, when Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had gone on a journey together, Dutian Devil King hadn't made a move and hid quietly in Qin Mu's body.
Only when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was fighting with the cult master level existences like Teacher Poor did Dutian Devil King dared to borrow Qin Mu's eyes to observe the situation of the battle. He did that to find out Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's true power and also to look for his weakness.
However Qin Mu was surrounded with experts of Heavenly Devil Cult back then, so he didn't make a sound. After that, when Qin Mu was treating Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Dutian Devil King had also been silent.
Once Qin Mu parted ways with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he had met Cripple and Old Ma in Imperial College, so Dutian Devil King also didn't come out.
Now that Old Ma and Cripple were no longer around and Qin Mu was alone, he had finally appeared.
If Imperial Preceptor, Old Ma, and Cripple couldn't threaten him, there would have been no need for him to be so careful.
In other words, he made a blunder.
This meant that he could be vanquished, unlike Li Tianxing in Granny Si's Dao heart which couldn't be killed at all. As long as one was strong enough, the devil could still be eliminated.
"Dutian is already finished, with only endless darkness left. That's why I need to find a new world for the people of my Dutian, a place where they can live and flourish."
Dutian Devil King's voice traveled over. "I took great pains to pass Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command to this world and now, you are the only one left who knows this spell. You should know I won't let you go so easily."
Qin Mu was now completely at ease and let out a sigh of relief. "So you want me to summon the devil again, to summon you over?"
Dutian Devil King explained patiently, "I had this idea in the past, but I see that there are powerful beings in this world as well, so I would only like to borrow your hand to send some people here. I don't want to raise a war between the strong practitioners of both worlds, it isn't good for you nor is it good for us. My Dutian is already finished, and I just don't want my race to be exterminated, I have no notion to take over this world."
"Believe? Ghost!" Qin Mu thought to himself.
However, he couldn't say it out loud. If he said it, it would be easy for Dutian Devil King to kill him.
With his consciousness leeching off Qin Mu's body, he has some magic power. This power of the devil was far superior to Qin Mu's own. If Dutian Devil King was to fall out with him, this consciousness and magic power would probably not find it a chore to get rid of him.
The devil king had a use for him, so he wouldn't lay his hands on him, but if he discovered that Qin Mu had no intention of summoning him, he would probably fall out with him.
"You don't need to summon me, just summon my subjects," Dutian Devil King said. "After that, I will leave you and you can live your life carefreely. You just need to help me with this little thing and I'll explain to you the words on the gate."
Qin Mu smiled. "My elder will most likely recognize the words on the gate, so there's no need to trouble the devil king…"
"Keke, recognize? Those are the words of Youdu, even if he recognizes them, will you be able to read them?" Dutian Devil King then added unhurriedly, "There's no use if you can't read the words of Youdu. The scroll also records the spells of Youdu, don't you want to know them?"
Qin Mu's gaze wavered. "What use is there to learn the words of Youdu when I can't even read the words on the scroll or the gate? Furthermore, it doesn't affect me much even if I don't learn them. Devil king, I have no need to make a deal with you."
"Hahaha!"
Dutian Devil King laughed. "It seems like you still haven't comprehend the true marvel of the realm you're in! As long as you learn the words of Youdu, you will be stronger than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor! Didn't Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor say that others were a triangle while he's a straight line? As long as you learn the words on the gate, your straight line will be even longer than his!"
His voice reverberated all around Qin Mu's mind, without any fixed position. It sometimes came from the left and sometimes from the right, while at other times it rang out from the front and sometimes from the back of the head, making Qin Mu unable to discern where it was coming from.
"A weakling like you probably doesn't know what Youdu is. Let me tell you!
"Youdu is the final destination after you mortals die. All souls will enter there, the land where the Great Earth Count resides, ruling over the world where all the living things go after they die!
"He's an incomparably ancient god, the primitive god who controls death. Even gods and buddhas become enslaved by him once they die."
"Youdu is not the hell the gods and buddhas had mentioned. Hell is used to scare you mortals, while Youdu is a hundred times crueler than hell!
"By mastering Youdu's words and Youdu's spells, you would strengthen your soul, and this is the stairs to becoming a god!"
Qin Mu was greatly moved and smiled. "There's no proof with just words, and what you said is too good to be true. Tell me a spell from Youdu and I'll believe you."
Dutian Devil King chuckled. "You should know."
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment and cried out, "Soul Guide? Soul Guide is a spell from Youdu?"
"Soul Guide isn't a complete spell from Youdu. Instead, it was a Youdu spell that was reconstructed by the mortals of your world using the language of mortals. It's far from the true power of a Youdu spell."
Dutian Devil King said, "The true Youdu spell uses the words of Youdu and those words are much more complicated than the runes of your world. Your runes are merely simplified words of Youdu."
Qin Mu's heart trembled as he looked at the apparition of the scroll. The words on this scroll were written using Youdu's language?
Soul Guide could allow the souls of the dead to return. But if one was proficient in Youdu's language and used it to execute the spell, how powerful would the spell become?
There was still one more point. Dutian Devil King said that the words of Youdu must be read to be able to master and execute them. This sentence was not a lie.
Back then on the surface of Surging River, the Daoist from Nine Spectres Sect had used Soul Guide and sung a cryptic folksong. This made the black fog pour forward, and a terrifying gate of darkness had appeared in the heart of the river.
Most of Dutian Devil King's words were lies, but there were still some truths in them.
"Devil king, I had once seen an elder beside the river at night guiding the dead. Someone told me that elder was a messenger of death. How is this messenger of death related to Youdu?" Qin Mu asked after recalling the incident.
Dutian Devil King answered, "Just a messenger god under Earth Count to maintain the order. Do you want to learn the language of Youdu or not?"
"Learn!" Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently and said, "Teach me quickly!"
Dutian Devil King chuckled. "After you summon the devils and bring forth my subjects, I'll teach you."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "If you don't keep your promise after I summon them, won't I be at a disadvantage? How about this, I shall create a wooden mechanism which you can enter. You can then summon your own devil and the others. You will be able to teach me Youdu's language and summon the subjects yourself. Wouldn't that be to everyone's delight and satisfaction?"
Dutian Devil King sneered. "It's a great suggestion. But after I leave your body, you will be able to call people to come and kill me the next moment. Do you think I'm that stupid? I'll remain in your body, and you shall hold the great sacrifice to summon the devils! After you summon them, I'll teach you the language of Youdu!"
Qin Mu sneered. "What happens if you don't teach me after I summon your subjects? If your subjects kill me in a flash, you'll be free. On the other hand, I'll drop dead and my soul will belong to Youdu! Don't forget, when I summoned you last time, you didn't even care if I died or not!"
Both of them became silent.
After a moment, Dutian Devil King smiled. "Little brat, clever like the devil, not that easy to fool, eh. How about this, I shall sign an oath of alliance with you. You will summon my subjects and I'll teach you the language of Youdu. Those who will go against the oath will have their souls taken away by the Earth Count! What do you think?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Alright! But don't try to fool me, I understand some devil language so don't try to play any tricks on the oath!"
Dutian Devil King smiled. "Filthy brat, clever as the devil. Alright, I'll be generous for once and not play any tricks."
Cryptic devil language rang out in Qin Mu's mind. The words he heard were hard to pronounce and difficult to understand. Qin Mu was only able to understand half of it and his heart thumped wildly. "Steady, steady, I can't let this devil king know that I'm half-baked…"
Not much later, Dutian Devil King read out the oath of alliance and the shape of half a gate gradually appeared in Qin Mu's mind. It seemed to be half of the Gate of Youdu.
"It's your turn," Dutian Devil King said.
Qin Mu composed himself and slowly worked on the meaning of the other half of the devil language that he hadn't understood at first. Yet Dutian Devil King grew impatient and urged him, "Quickly, or else the Gate of Youdu is going to vanish!"
Qin Mu sneered. "You are trying to trick me, I'm not agreeing to this oath."
Dutian Devil King smiled. "Little brat, you really understand some of the devil language."
Half of the Gate of Youdu dispersed and the devil language sounded out again. This time Qin Mu managed to understand most of it, but there were still some terms he was not sure of and had to work to figure out.
Dutian Devil King smiled. "Alright, alright, I see you have the ability." After this, the gate dispersed again, and he redid the oath using the devil language.
Qin Mu suddenly smiled. "Devil king, you're always trying to trick me. Why don't we use the language of the humans to conclude the oath, what do you think?"
Dutian Devil King kept quiet for a moment, then scolded him for being as clever as the devil. "Stinky brat, you only have a smattering of devil language and took this chance to learn something, didn't you?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
If one could understand forty to fifty percent of a language, the rest which they didn't understand would become like a ciphertext. According to the words said in front and behind, one could be able to guess the meaning of those coded words.
This was what Qin Mu had done.
He originally knew nothing about the devil language, but because of fate, he had heard the devil language at Goddess Pass in Great Ruins and memorized it. After that, he had met a devil god who was sealed in the wall in Doom Suppression Palace who taught him Great Freedom Mudra, so he learned a bit more of the devil language.
With this knowledge, he could deduce what was being said. It was like deciphering a ciphertext.
In the oath Dutian Devil King had made three times, there were numerous devil language words, and they were extremely pure. Qin Mu knew since a long time ago that the language of gods and devils contained a terrifying might. While listening to the three times Dutian Devil King made his oath, Qin Mu mastered the devil language to an astonishing degree.
If Dutian Devil King now made an oath with him in human language, he could use it to compare to what was said before and learn the words of the devil language he hadn't understood before!
It wasn't wrong of Dutian Devil King to say that he had taken the chance to learn.
Now it wasn't too hard for Qin Mu to converse with Dutian Devil King in devil language, but to be on the safe side, he felt that it was still better to use the human language. He could then completely understand the meaning of the sentences so that he wouldn't get tricked by Dutian Devil King.
Qin Mu's gaze flickered. "In that case, does devil king still want to make an oath?"
Dutian Devil King sneered, "Yes, naturally yes!"
He knew Qin Mu planned to take this chance to master the devil language completely, but he could do nothing about it. The only other option was to kill Qin Mu, but if he did that, he would disappear as well. He was just a consciousness and magic power.
"Spirits of the deceased come back, Earth Count's Nine Pacts, we submit ourselves to you!"
Dutian Devil King's voice sounded out and called Earth Count's taboo name to rouse the attention of this ruler of Youdu. This time he used the human language, so he had no way to play any tricks.
Qin Mu carefully noted the meaning of each and every word. He was very careful and studied them over and over again.
In time, he felt an indescribable energy surging forth from a deep space. This energy became stronger and stronger, forming half a gate in his mind.
Dutian Devil King completed the oath and looked at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu became even more confident in his devil language after comparing the oaths words in both languages. Only then did he speak the oath as well, and when he reached the part where it said we submit ourselves to you, he could feel a pair of eyes landing on his body. To be exact, they landed on his soul!
His soul shuddered as he felt a limitless power and the immensity of the one who controls the souls!
This was an existence who controlled all the souls and held boundless power. He had no interest in the corporeal body, just the soul.
If one violated the oath, he would descend and take away the soul of the violator!
Qin Mu continued to speak out the oath of alliance, and half a gate gradually appeared in front of his eyes. This gate matched the half of Dutian Devil King's, forming a complete gate.
Beyond it, there was endless darkness.
However, below the gate, Qin Mu 'saw' a yellow spring, although, it probably shouldn't be called that. It was a bright and dazzling stream that had nine bends and eighteen curves which grew thicker and thicker towards the bottom, looking like the river of heaven.
At the bottom of the endless yellow spring, he 'saw' an emotionless gaze.
This bright golden stream wasn't the yellow springs but horns.
These were the two horns on the head of Earth Count, the controller of souls!
Earth Count's Nine Pacts held of the meaning of the nine bends.
Nine pacts were nine bends.
His horns were the nine bends, the yellow spring.
Qin Mu and Dutian Devil King had made an oath, and it was formed on the nine bends of the horns of this majestic primitive god!
Why was violating the oath called breaking a pact? It should be related to Earth Count's Nine Pacts. The oath of alliance was formed on the nine bends of the yellow spring, so if one violated the oath, Earth Count would take away their soul.
When the oath of alliance was finished, the gate closed and the vision in front of Qin Mu's 'eyes' vanished.
"Hehe, hehehe…"
Dutian Devil King's laugh rang out, and Qin Mu was bewildered. "What's devil king laughing about?"
"Nothing much!"
Dutian Devil King laughed non-stop, but he still couldn't resist saying it out loud while chuckling, "Brat, even though you're as clever as a devil, you still fell into my trap! You made an oath with me and not my true body, I'm only a consciousness, and you made an oath with it! Now you better work for me sincerely! As for the words of Youdu, don't think that I'll tell you anything about them! This consciousness of mine can just be eliminated, I don't care!"
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open, unable to return to his senses for quite a while.
Dutian Devil laughed long and loud and was very pleased with himself as he admired Qin Mu's helpless figure.
After a moment, Qin Mu let out a breath and muttered, "No wonder Grandpa Cripple always told me to treat others with a smile and stab them in the back at the same time… Devil king, you're really a professional. Luckily, I'm not bad as well."
Dutian Devil King's heart tightened.
Qin Mu muttered to himself, "I've also a trick up my sleeve. I decided to kill your subjects wave after wave after summoning them. This won't be seen as breaking the pact."
Dutian Devil King was startled.
Both of them fell silent.
After a moment, Dutian Devil King said, "We're only harmful to each other like this. Since you don't believe me, there's no need to continue living in your body. I'll choose the second option. You will create a mechanism and I'll leave your body to leech onto the god statue. Don't worry, I'll teach you the language of Youdu after you finish building the god statue mechanism."
"Deal!"
Qin Mu was exhilarated. Old Ma frequently forged all kinds of furniture, and he had learned quite some handicraft from him. Including the path of painting and calligraphy he learned from Deaf and smelting he had learn from Mute, it wasn't that troublesome for him to create a god statue mechanism.
Qin Mu was about to start working on it when he felt a chill down his spine and cold sweat rolled down his forehead. "I almost got tricked by him! Before making the god statue mechanism for him, I have to summon the devils to complete the oath. Otherwise, if I only concentrate on creating the god statue mechanism and he teaches the language of Youdu to me without me summoning the devils, I'll be violating the oath and my soul will be taken away by Earth Count!"
Dutian Devil King exclaimed in admiration, "You're pretty good, if you came to my Dutian, you could survive there with your wits."
Qin Mu let out a breath. If he wasn't careful when dealing with an existence like Dutian Devil King, even his bone marrows might be devoured by him!
He went to the west room to get some money, preparing to buy some Winter Crystal Iron and wood to sculpt the god statue. However, he saw Hu Ling'er standing at the door, looking around. Qin Mu smiled. "Ling'er, why aren't you cultivating but standing around here?"
Hu Ling'er said with worry, "Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand great abundance coins, it's time for him to repay..."
Qin Mu shook his head and went to the warehouse to get some materials, moving them to the courtyard.
Sculpting a god statue wasn't hard for him. In just half a day, he had sculpted five different kinds of wooden statue under the guidance of Dutian Devil King. They were all sculptures of devil gods.
"These five fellows are those that don't accept my rule, it's a treat to me if you summon them over to kill them." Dutian Devil King smiled.
When Qin Mu finished sculpting the wooden statues, he cooked dishes and called Hu Ling'er who was still at the door to eat. She came over with a blank expression, and when she ate halfway, she suddenly muttered in a daze, "Young master, Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand coins."
Qin Mu took out a smelting furnace which he had stolen from Rolan's Golden Palace to smelt Winter Crystal Irons to forge the parts which were needed in making the god statue mechanism. While he worked busily until midnight, the scholars living around him couldn't sleep from the ruckus he was creating and complained to the directorates. A few directorates came forth personally and asked him politely to stop.
Qin Mu could only do as they told him and went to sleep.
On the second day, he opened the room's door and washed up yet he kept feeling that something was missing. After thinking for a while, he finally remembered that there was something missing under the blanket when he was sleeping yesterday."
"It seems like Ling'er didn't tunnel under my blanket to sleep last night…"
Qin Mu pushed open the gate to the courtyard and saw Hu Ling'er standing at the head of the dragon qilin who was outside. She was looking at the entrance to Scholar's Residence and her eyes were red, which showed that she hadn't slept the whole night.
"Young master, Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand great abundance coins," she said with disappointment.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He carried her up and tucked her away under the blanket before continuing to forge the god statue mechanism.
When it came to the third day, Hu Ling'er was still standing guard at the gate. The little fox only weakly came back at night for dinner, sitting there in a daze for a long while. "Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand great abundance coins."
When the fourth day came, Hu Ling'er didn't say anything and didn't go to the door to wait. She had an unhappy expression on her face.
Qin Mu asked with concern what was wrong, and she said, "I guess Imperial Preceptor really won't return the money."
Qin Mu finally finished creating the god statue mechanism. It had four heads and eight arms, and every joint in the body could move freely. All kinds of totem markings were imprinted on the body yet Qing Mu didn't let Dutian Devil King enter it immediately.
At this moment, knocking sounds came from outside, and Qin Mu took a glance at Hu Ling'er. He saw that the little fox was still in a daze and didn't go to open the door. He couldn't help shaking his head and went to open the door himself.
An elder stood in front of the door. His clothes were old, but they were very clean. He smiled. "Is this Young Master Qin Mu? I'm the butler of Imperial Preceptor's manor and my surname is Fu. I have come under the orders of Imperial Preceptor to return the money."
Qin Mu was astonished. "Elder Fu, the rewards from the emperor have come?"
Elder Fu said, "That's right, they arrived. The emperor rewarded Imperial Preceptor with a hundred palace maids and a million gold. Imperial Preceptor accepted these gifts, but the hundred palace maids are giving him a headache. He can't support all of them, but luckily there's some money now. However, after returning all the debts, I reckon only half of it will be left… Young Master Qin, here's the one thousand coins…"
Qin Mu wanted to call Hu Ling'er over when he saw a flash of white light streak across his eyes. Hu Ling'er rushed over as if she was flying and snatched the coin pouch from Elder Fu's hands with a sweet smile. "Seems like Imperial Preceptor is a person of credibility, thanks for the trouble, Elder Fu."
Elder Fu was astonished and didn't say anything. He then warned Qin Mu, "Young Master Qin is wealthy so you must be careful. Recently there's been a thief running amuck in the capital city. Many rich officials have been robbed. The worst was Imperial Physician You, he cried in bed for so many days. There were also a few high officials who were robbed and didn't dare to say anything because they had lost too many treasures. Only their servants are discussing it…"
As he was talking about it, two elders walked into Scholar's Residence while wearing brightly colored clothes and pieces of gold and silver jewelry, looking very extravagant. One of them was a cripple while the other looked like a middle-aged householder. They both seemed rich and imposing.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Elder Fu saw the situation and said, "You have visitors so I won't disturb you any longer. I still have to go return the money to the others families. Two of them had too much stolen, so if I don't return money to them, they will probably have to starve from today onwards."
Cripple and Old Ma walked over. The former's face was glowing radiantly, while the latter had an air about him that said wealth meant nothing to him.
Qin Mu invited both of them over and said, "Where did Grandpa Cripple and Grandpa Ma go these few days?"
Old Ma said, "Cripple tagged along with me to Lizhou, sending disaster relief."
Cripple smiled. "Over there at Lizhou, the rebellion caused chaos and destruction, resulting in starving people everywhere. Old Ma and I earned quite a bit of money, so we sent disaster relief there. Don't look at how we are wearing bright and neat clothes, these are all fake! This golden chain is wood that's gold-plated and even this jade pendant is also fake. The real ones had been pawned off by Old Ma in exchange for rice and noodles which were sent to Lizhou. The fellows from your Heavenly Devil Cult are also there, helping everyone, so we handed the money for the rations to them as well."
Qin Mu smiled. "In that case, Imperial Physician You actually did a good deed."
When he mentioned the devil summoning to the two elders, Cripple asked with interest, "That actually happened? You didn't throw my face and got scammed by that devil king, did you? You should let Old Ma handle this, Ma Wangshen has three eyes and he's the best at subduing devils."
The heart of Old Ma's brows suddenly split open and revealed a white flesh ball. It turned half a round towards the side and revealed an eye that shone bright buddha light onto the center of Qin Mu's brows!
Screeching cries came from there, and a voice shouted in misery, "If you refine me to death, you're going to die too!"
Qin Mu immediately said, "Old Ma, I made an oath of alliance with him, we have a Pact of Earth Count!"
"Pact of Earth Count?"
Cripple and Old Ma's hearts shook slightly. Old Ma immediately shut the third eye on his forehead and said with a solemn expression, "Mu'er, you are too gutsy! Do you know how treacherous is Pact of Earth Count, how can you sign this kind of oath with other people? Furthermore, the other person is not even a human but a devil god from another world!"
Cripple shook his head. "How reckless! You're playing around with your life! Why did you have to make a Pact of Earth Count with him? You just needed to tell us and we could have gotten rid of him!"
Qin Mu said, "I wanted to learn the language of Youdu."
"There was no need for a Pact of Earth Count for that. Should have handed him over to Butcher, who would have definitely treated him with sincerity until he spilled everything in three to five days." Cripple shook his head. "Butcher loves to play with gods and devils. He can make them desire death after barely three to five days. Let Butcher deal with him, if he doesn't die, I'll teach you!"
Qin Mu said with a blush on his face, "The Pact of Earth Count is already made and can't be changed anymore. I'm going to prepare to summon the devils now, and I'll have to trouble grandpas to help me."
Old Ma said, "Feel free to summon them, we'll just get rid of them."
Qin Mu went to the warehouse of Imperial College to buy some bones. He took out his talisman treasure and started to summon the devils.
Imperial College taught all kinds of techniques and spells, so no matter if it was the righteous path, devil path, or the buddha path, there were some spells that required human bones to cultivate, so there were always some in the warehouse.
The summoning went smoothly, and soon the runes on the devil god sculpture lighted up. This time, there was no terrifying sight like what had happened in Heaven Wave City. The lack of it made it obvious that the devil god he was summoning now wasn't as strong as Dutian Devil King.
In the sky above Imperial College, the astronomical phenomenon changed as majestic magic power broke through the sky and descended. It was like a black pillar crashing straight onto the Scholar's Residence!
At this moment, countless directorates and scholars in Imperial College were alarmed, and even the grand chancellor was no exception. The strong practitioners in the capital city also looked over with anxiousness.
Meanwhile, in Qin Mu's courtyard, the devil summoning was still on the way. Crackling sounds came from the wooden sculpture of the devil god, and it grew taller and bigger. Qing Mu heard a devilish voice growling, "This petty and lowly world, prepare to welcome the wrath of Kyahe Devil God from Dutian!"
At this moment, buddha's aura shone brightly in the sky above Imperial College. A huge buddha sat down in the sky and opened up his palm that was over a hectare large. The palm pressed down, making a crackling sound. Before the consciousness and magic power of this Kyahe Devil God could descend, he was shattered along with the expanding wood.
Most of the directorates and scholars in Imperial College were shocked again. When the strong practitioners and guards of the capital city saw this, they calmed down. "It's the Imperial College after all, there are always experts there. This level of cultivation in Buddhism is even rare in Great Thunderclap Monastery! For Imperial College to have such an expert, they can't be underestimated!"
Gu Linuan brought a few directorates of Imperial College and rushed to the place of incident. Qin Mu popped his head out from the courtyard and smiled. "Everyone came just at the right time, there a devil god had just jumped out, but he was beaten to death by my elder."
Gu Linuan's heart leaped, and he gave a smile that was not a smile. "Be careful, Lord Qin. Don't destroy our Scholar's Residence. Alright everyone, disperse. With Lord Qin's elder here, there will be no problems in Imperial College."
The directorates looked at one another in dismay. Gu Linuan always couldn't get along with Qin Mu, so why was he so easy going now?
"This situation was clearly Lord Qin summoning the devil, so why isn't Gu Linuan causing trouble for him?
Everyone was bewildered. "Summoning a devil in the capital city is a death crime! Why is Grand Chancellor letting it be?"
Gu Linuan left first, with cold sweat rolling down his forehead. "His elder is here, was it the blind man who had raised the river or the cripple that had stolen my sheath. Or could it be the half-bodied fiendish old man? No wonder His Majesty said I can't mess with him—I really can't mess with him! These fiendish people actually dare to walk out of Great Ruins. The capital is no longer peaceful, any devils and monsters can actually come here…"
Qin Mu closed the door, and the directorates were alarmed. They immediately called the other scholars out of their residences and said, "It's extremely dangerous here, don't stay in Scholar's Residence temporarily, otherwise you might not even know how you died. Scholars, go hide it out for two days and come back after it's peaceful again!"
All the scholars were in a daze after seeing the devil god and buddha that had just appeared out of thin air and knew that Scholar's Residence was not a safe place anymore, so they immediately left.
"Why are you not summoning the other devil gods?" Dutian Devil King's voice asked in Qin Mu's mind, questioning him.
Qin Mu shook his head. "I've already fulfilled my promise and summoned your subjects, now it's your turn to teach me the language of Youdu."
Dutian Devil King was stunned for a moment/ "There are still four sculptures…"
"Devil king, our oath is already half complete. Summoning one is summoning, same as summoning five is still summoning."Qin Mu then added, "If you don't fulfill your promise, Earth Count will take you to Youdu!"
Dutian Devil King was so angry that he broke out into a laugh. "What a crafty fellow, waiting for me to fall into the trap here. Very well, very well, luckily I also kept a trump card. I shall teach you the language of Youdu, but only one sentence. I didn't say I would teach you the entire language of Youdu when I made the oath."
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open.
Dutian Devil King was pleased with himself. "I shall only tell you the words on this door, while as for the words on your scroll, you can forget about learning them. If you want to learn the entire language of Youdu, you can go down to Youdu and ask them yourself!"
These few days, Qin Mu had transformed into the form of Saturn Sovereign and the words on the apparition of the gate had gradually become clearer. The words on the gate had been revealed and he could see them clearly, but the words of the scroll were still blurry.
He probed, "If I summon the other four sculpture over as well, will you teach me Youdu's writings on the scroll as well?"
"No!" Dutian Devil King was resolute.
Qin Mu let out a sigh and smiled. "In that case, teach me that sentence on the door."
Dutian Devil King gave off a strange sound which seemed to be given by the soul. The weird sounds seemed like they were produced by billions of warped souls, and when Qin Mu tried it out, he realized that the strange language was unable to be produced by a human, so he couldn't help being astonished.
Dutian Devil King chuckled. "Some languages are not something a lowly life like you can ever learn. You produce your sounds through your throat while the language of Youdu is not produced through the throat—"
When he spoke to here, Qin Mu suddenly gave off a sound that wasn't produced through the throat. That sound came from his soul and it sounded very similar to what Dutian Devil King had made!
Dutian Devil King was slightly stunned and became on guard. "This little devil is so clever, to actually realize that it was a sound produced by the soul upon learning that it wasn't it didn't use the throat. If he continues to grow, I might not be able to beat him… It's best to kill such a clever devil as soon as possible!"
Qin Mu tried to produce sounds from the soul, and after a while, he finally learned the sentence completely. "What's the meaning of this sentence?"
Dutian Devil King didn't reply and Qin Mu was about to ask again when the other said, "This sentence means Gate of Earth Origin."
Qin Mu was slightly startled. "Gate of Earth Origin? You're not lying to me?"
Dutian Devil King chuckled. "Lie to you, why would I lie to you? It really means Gate of Earth Origin, there's no mistake."
Qin Mu was skeptical. For Dutian Devil King to suddenly be so generous, there was definitely something wrong with the sentence.
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, and he smiled. "Dutian Devil King, you can leave my body now. I already used Winter Crystal Iron to make a god statue mechanism for you, so you can enter it. You can do whatever you want and summon any devil you want after that."
Dutian Devil King smiled. "You want to trick me into leaving so that the one-armed old monk can kill me? I'm not that stupid."
Qin Mu shook his head and said to Old Ma and Cripple, "Grandpas, I'll help you reattach your limbs now."
Old Ma said, "When you help us reattach our limbs, that devil god will likely take the chance to escape. Why don't we just refine him to death now?"
Qin Mu said solemnly, "I can't go back on my word. I had promised to make a god statue mechanism for him and let him enter so I can't eat my words."
Old Ma didn't say anything more. Qin Mu took the bed out for Old Ma to lie on. He then took out Old Ma's arm from the medicinal cauldron and helped him to reattach it.
He was busy reattaching when a spark flashed across the heart of his brows and landed on the eight-armed and four-faced god statue with a sizzle.
Cripple raised his eyebrows and beamed at him. "This nuisance of a devil king, I can let you run eight hundred miles first."
Dutian Devil King took control over the god statue, and discovering that he could move freely, he immediately sprinted away.
Just as he ran out of Qin Mu's courtyard, he heard a clack after taking over a dozen steps and the two joints on his legs locked closed.
Clacking came from the joints in his entire body, which sounded like locks being locked tight shut. The eight arms of Dutian Devil King were raised high in the air, and he had one leg raised up which couldn't be put down. His entire body was stiff and he was unable to move.
"You b*tch, you tricked me!" a flustered and exasperated voice came from the god statue as it scolded.
Hu Ling'er's head popped out from Qin Mu's courtyard and took a glance at the devil god statue which was frozen in place. "Didn't young master already tell you? He was going to be making a god statue mechanism for you. You see, haven't you been tricked by the mechanism instead? That's right, do you think young master is a male fox that has turned into a spirit? I think he's a little…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu reattached Old Ma's arm and Cripple's leg, placing the two elders in the medicinal cauldron. He had boiled a full decoction to cook to the two people while asking Hu Ling'er to maintain the fire beside the cauldron.
He walked out of the room and saw the sky turning dark outside. He went out of the courtyard and there was nobody around. They should have gone away to hide from the danger and only Dutian Devil King was still standing in the alley outside Scholar's Residence, unable to move.
Qin Mu went forward and opened up the god statue's stomach. Inside, there were hundreds of intricate gears, and he stretched his hands in to give the gears a few turns. Dutian Devil King immediately felt his legs able to move again and hurriedly began to run. After a few steps, he heard the clacking throughout his entire body, and his joints were all locked again.
"Big Dragon, pull him back into the courtyard," Qin Mu told the dragon qilin outside.
The dragon qilin wagged its tail and carried its bulging stomach forward to bite one of the legs of Dutian Devil King. It then dragged him across the floor and threw him into the corner of Qin Mu's courtyard with a clank.
"You b*tch, come and fight me if you have the guts!" Dutian Devil King scolded non-stop. "What hero are you for locking me in place?"
Qin Mu turned a deaf ear to his cries and continued to mix the spirit herbs. Lightning suddenly appeared on the body of the god statue when the devil king tried to fly out, but all kinds of runes lighted up. They were bright and contained lightning in the god statue.
Dutian Devil King spewed out vulgarities again. The god statue was imprinted with the sealing runes of Rolan's Golden Palace. Qin Mu had learned from the treasury there and had secretly placed them on the god statue while making it.
Qin Mu was worried that the devil king could still escape after entering the god statue, so he had added this kind of rune seal.
Qin Mu finished mixing the herbs and looked seriously at Dutian Devil King who was in the corner. "You shall teach me all you know about the language of Youdu, then I'll release you."
"I'd be dumb to believe you!" Dutian Devil King retorted angrily. "Forget about tricking me again!"
Qin Mu had an honest face as he said sincerely, "We can sign the Pact of Earth Count if that would put you at ease."
"At ease your ass!"
"Hey, hey, why is a devil king like you spewing vulgarities like this?"
"Vulgarities your ass! Forget about making me believe your words. If I believed you, I'd be the grandson of a tortoise!"
…
Cripple and Old Ma lay in the huge cauldron comfortably while the medicinal decoction bubbled and popped.
"Little fox, increase the fire."
Cripple narrowed his eyes and looked at his huge golden chain floating on the water. He then turned his head around and took a glance at the complaining Dutian Devil King before giving a laugh. "This brat Mu'er has really grown up. I thought that you and I would have to make a move to get rid of this nuisance of a devil king, but never would have I thought he would settle it by himself. Now I'm a little worried, not for him but for the people who are against him. Come to think of it, who did he learn to be so bad from, such craftiness."
Old Ma stared at Cripple.
The huge golden chain on his neck had also floated up on the water, the gold plating almost getting cooked off it.
Cripple was bewildered. "There are only good people in the village, so who did this brat learn to be crafty from? Could he have gotten bad after leaving the village?"
Old Ma continued to stare at him.
Cripple smiled. "What are you looking at me for? Is there something on my face? You're making my hair stand on end with your staring. Old Ma, were you a constable in the past? Every time you look over, I can feel my hair standing up."
Old Ma turned away and said indifferently, "I've been a constable for dozens of years and later held an appointment in the government office of justice. After I solved a huge case and became well known, Great Thunderclap Monastery found me and I stopped working as a constable."
"No wonder I always feel uneasy when you look at me. The monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery sure are busybodies, coming to find you even after you returned to your normal life."
The two people were cooked the whole night, and during the process, Qin Mu changed the medicine a few times. When the day finally broke, Old Ma and Cripple got out and washed up. Qin Mu had already prepared breakfast, and they sat down to eat together. Hu Ling'er ran to help Qin Mu wash the bowls while Cripple rose with a smile/ "Mu'er, Old Ma and I won't stay here any longer, we're leaving."
Qin Mu hurried dried his hands and said, "I'll see grandpas out."
Old Ma waved his hand. "There's no need. Cripple and I are at ease seeing how well you're getting by. We're both old and you can already protect yourself."
Cripple still propped himself on his cane and took a look at him with a smile. "Old Ma is getting sentimental again. Oh well, come and see us off. If you don't, he will be sad for the next two or three days."
Qin Mu followed them and sent them all the way down to the mountain. "Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Cripple, your arm and leg were just reattached so you won't be able to exert too much force with them. You have to nurse them for a year or two years, training them frequently so that no hidden dangers are left behind."
Old Ma nodded.
Cripple sighed. "I've gotten used to not having a leg in these twenty-thirty years. I'm actually not that comfortable with having the leg that was severed suddenly growing back."
Old Ma felt the same. "Having been disabled for over half my lifetime, I keep feeling I have no need for this hand that has returned."
Qin Mu sent them to the mountain gate, and Cripple smiled. "Go back, you don't have to send us any farther."
Old Ma waved his hand. "Remember to come home for New Years."
"I'll definitely return!" Qin Mu nodded seriously and saw them off.
Old Ma and Cripple walked out of the capital, and Cripple sighed ruefully. "The little baby that we picked up back then has really grown up, yet we had almost sent him away back then."
Old Ma agreed with a nod. "Almost. Luckily you stole him back."
"The little brat isn't that gullible after our teachings. I was always worried he would be at a disadvantage outside but now I can return to the village at ease—"
When Cripple said this, he suddenly stopped. Old Ma also stopped. The two elders looked toward Mud River in front of them. On the river surface, a middle-aged man was standing. Despite the water churning under his feet, he didn't move an inch.
Cripple raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile, "Imperial Preceptor, your injuries are healed?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. "My injuries are healed, how are the both of you?"
Old Ma exercised his shoulders and said in a solemn voice, "We can still fight a battle."
Cripple shook his leg and sighed. "Mu'er said not to exert too much strength, but if we were to fight, I could still use one leg. Imperial Preceptor, you sure keep your composure. You knew we were in the room that day and knew I was the one who stole your items, but you still chose to leave and held yourself back until now. It must not have been easy."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently, "My injuries were not healed back then, so I had no choice but to back off. Both of you are seniors and not evil people. Even when you were stealing, it was for disaster relief. I don't want to make a move on both of you so as long you hand the Emperor's Disk over, I'll leave you alone. We don't need to damage our good relationship."
"Emperor's Disk?"
Cripple and Old Ma looked at each other and smiled. "I've researched Emperor's Disk, that toy, for over twenty years to no avail, so it's no problem even if I give you; however, I've already gifted it to another."
"Gifted it away?"
Stars suddenly appeared above Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's head, forming a bright river of stars. It was evident that his inner heart was no longer calm. "Who did you give it to?"
"The palace grandee of your Eternal Peace Empire." Cripple chuckled and left with Old Ma.
"Palace grandee?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was stunned for a moment and look at the back of the two people. He didn't make a move but said softly, "The Emperor's Disk was given to him? He actually dared to take it? Is he planning to rebel? The Emperor's Disk is an artifact that was given to the founding emperor by a god, and it represents the imperial power. Furthermore, it is rumored to hide a secret… Should I ask for it from him?"
He stood on the heart of the river and muttered to himself for some time before shaking his head and turning to leave."Imperial power is not something that can be decided by an item, even if it's Emperor's Disk. Imperial power comes from the support of people and has no relation to the Emperor's Disk."
In Scholar's Residence, Qin Mu's poured away the medicine decoction and washed the medicinal cauldron and medicinal furnace. After scrubbing them a few times until there were no more stains, he placed them under the sun to dry.
Hu Ling'er was helping to clean up when she saw a jade hoop on the table and exclaimed in astonishment. "Young master, the two elders left something behind!"
Qin Mu moved over to take a look and saw some writings on the jade hoop which looked very familiar. "This is… Grandpa Cripple's Emperor's Disk. Grandpa Cripple must have left it here. When I went into the darkness with Village Chief, Grandpa Cripple had hung this Emperor's Disk on my neck, but I didn't have to use it. Why did Grandpa Cripple leave it here? He always picks up stuff along the way and never loses anything..."
He shook his head and tied the Emperor's Disk to his jade pendant while thinking to himself, "I'll return it to him after I return to the village." He then dragged Dutian Devil King out and opened the stomach of the god statue. He did some adjustments and changed the orbit of the gears before saying, "Devil king, you can move now."
Dutian Devil King sneered, "You're playing with me, I'm not moving. Little brat, wait for my true body to descend, I'll make your life a living hell then!"
Hu Ling'er stood up and cross her paws on her waist. "My young master has a hundred ways to make your life a living hell!'
Qin Mu said meaningfully, "Ling'er, that's too little, how could a hundred be enough?"
Dutian Devil King chuckled. "Little brat, feel free to show me what you got. If I got scared, I would disgrace my cultivation of over tens of thousands of years."
Qin Mu advised him, "What's the need for that? We are all from the devil path. Since I'm also of the devil path, you can just teach me the language of Youdu that you know and I'll let you off, isn't that good for both of us?"
"Bah!" Dutian Devil King spat.
Qin Mu sneered, "I shall send you to Hall of Azure Yang to let Monk Fa Qing chant scriptures at you every day. Monk Fa Qing loves to redeem a devil, so he will definitely be overjoyed.
Dutian Devil King sneered, "Hehe, I'm a devil that has become a god, redeeming me with just that? Let that Monk Fa Qing come and let's see if he will redeem me or I will turn him into a devil!"
Qin Mu hesitated. Dutian Devil King was really devilish, so if Monk Fa Qing came to redeem him, he might actually end up turned into a devil instead.
"Young master, why hasn't he turned us into devils?" Hu Ling'er was bewildered.
Dutian Devil King shouted out in exasperation, "You little fox devil, do you guys even need me to turn you into devils? You two were such from the very start! I admit defeat this time, just end me!"
Qin Mu shook his head and said softly, "I'm not that kind of person. Ling'er, let him follow you from now on, I'll teach you how to control this mechanism."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu taught Hu Ling'er how to control the mechanism. He had left a control station at the chest of Dutian Devil King, and by pushing a secret compartment gently, the control station would automatically pop out.
The god statue mechanism that was made of Winter Crystal Iron was extremely huge, a towering nine yards tall, and Qin Mu had spent a great deal of money for it. Just the Winter Crystal Iron alone had cost him ten thousand great abundance coins.
The parts of the god statue mechanism also numbered in thousands. There were eight to nine hundred of the gears alone, making the mechanism incredibly complicated.
Even if Dutian Devil King wasn't willing to move, they could control him using the control station. The god statue mechanism had eight arms and four faces, which looked very fierce, and it was extremely strong. Ordinary divine arts practitioners would find it hard to penetrate through the defense of Winter Crystal Iron.
At the heart of the god statue mechanism, there was a tiny pill furnace which was pretty similar to the one Qin Mu had forged for Fan Yunxiao. However, he had made the pill furnace on Fan Yunxiao's ruined ship for the first time, so he lacked experience. This time, the pill furnace was much smaller and more intricate than before.
When Hu Ling'er sat down in the control station, she could send medicinal stones into the tiny pill furnace and use her vital qi to control the fire there. Even without Dutian Devil King, she could use this god statue mechanism as a heavy-armored weapon.
If Dutian Devil King treated the god statue mechanism as his body to help out in battle, the power he would be able to unleash would be no small matter. Divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm would no longer be his match, and even divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm couldn't say they would be able to win against him for certain.
Qin Mu learned how to create this god statue mechanism from Mute, Deaf, and Old Ma. He had merely put together what the three of them had taught him, not creating anything new.
The only creating he did was to put all of it together.
However, this god statue mechanism was definitely at the level of smithing masters, mechanical masters, and rune masters. He had created a totally different type of battle method.
Hu Ling'er was full of excitement and ignored Dutian Devil King who was in the god statue mechanism's body. She immediately sat down into the small control station to control this god statue mechanism for a trial run.
Qin Mu immediately said, "Big Dragon, follow her, don't let her cause any trouble!"
The dragon qilin acknowledged his command and caught up to Hu Ling'er who was squealing and flailing the arms of the god statue. Qin Mu looked at the back figure of the dragon qilin and saw its tummy nearly touching the floor.
"It's time for this fellow to go on a diet."
Qin Mu shook his head. This dragon qilin hadn't been very robust in the past, yet even though he frequently starved, he looked majestic and no one dared to come close to him when he was guarding the mountain.
But ever since it had followed him, he never missed a Scarlet Fire Spirit Pill and drank the water of Jade Dragon River to his content. This resulted in him becoming fatter and fatter, growing in size by quite a lot.
If this continued, the dragon qilin would soon become a huge meatball with only its belly reaching the floor. It could forget about putting his claws on the floor anymore.
"In the past, Patriarch definitely didn't give him one bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills or else this fellow would have already become as fat as a ball. He's lying about his rations, I think it's better to just give him half a bucket."
Qin Mu held his breath with rapt attention and executed Overlord Body once again. He transformed into the form of Saturn Sovereign which had a human head but the body of a snake. The apparition of the scroll took form in his hand, and a gate gradually appeared behind him.
Qin Mu turned around, and his soul trembled, giving off strange sounds. It was the language of Youdu that Dutian Devil King had taught him. The devil king had called that Gate of Earth Origin, but even if he didn't know if it really meant Gate of Earth Origin, he had not learned the sentence incorrectly.
He spoke out the words on the gate, and the Gate of Earth Origin gradually opened up and revealed a space of endless darkness.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment. He walked around this gate and saw he was still in his own courtyard. The gate was thin beyond belief and seemed to have no thickness. From his current angle, he could only see a thin sheet of darkness erected vertically over there.
Yet when he stood in front of the gate, he could see endless darkness in front of himself.
"This is a gate that connects to the other world?"
Qin Mu was stunned. He stretched out his palm and carefully put it inside the door, but there was nothing abnormal.
"Is this the marvel of Five Elements Realm? Does other people's Five Elements Realm have this gate? Did anyone open and enter it before?"
He was a little hesitant. What would he meet after entering this gate? Would the legendary Youdu be in this darkness?
Could he still live to come back after going in?
Right at this moment, Qin Mu saw a light coming from the world of darkness. It was a human and a boat. On the bow of the boat hung a dim lamp, giving off a ghostly light. The little boat was floating over to him.
Under the light of the lamp on the bow of the boat, there was an elder folding paper humans and paper horses. With the flickering light, the scene looked extremely tranquil.
Qin Mu tried to pop his head into the gate only to see the elder taking down the lamp and shining it at him. When Qin Mu was shone upon by the light, he felt his soul being fixed in place and was unable to move.
The elder on the boat hung the lamp back on the bow of the boat. When the light was no longer on Qin Mu's body, he let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, his hair stood up on end as he lowered his head to take a look and saw himself standing on the boat, right beside the elder!
The little boat was turning around unhurriedly, and Qin Mu turned his head back to have a look. He could see light coming from a gate that was far away, and in front of it, he was standing and looking in!
His body in front of the gate seemed to be frozen, unable to move at all.
If he was still at the gate, then who was he here?
He looked around, but his surroundings were just darkness. The only light came from the lamp and that light formed the Gate of Earth Origin.
His heart turned icy cold. The elder who was folding paper humans and paper horses on the boat had shone this lamp on him and spirited away his soul onto the ship!
The him in front of the gate was already a body without a soul!
"Why did you take away my soul when I have yet to die?" Qin Mu asked the elder.
The elder ignored him and continued to focus on folding the paper humans and paper horses.
Qin Mu turned his head back and saw that the Gate of Earth Origin was getting farther and farther away. It greatly terrified him. Dutian Devil King had indeed hidden some things from him. This gate was probably not the Gate of Earth Origin; otherwise, this elder wouldn't have snatched his soul!
He jumped off the ship. He was still not too far from the gate and might be able to make it back to his body!
However, the moment he jumped out, he didn't fall into the water as he had expected. Surrounding the boat was darkness, boundless darkness.
He was like a drowning person, flailing his arms everywhere, but there was no place for him to exert force on. He could only see himself continuing to sink, falling into the deeper and blacker darkness.
He looked upwards, and the little boat in the darkness went farther and farther away from him. The light at the bow of the ship was also becoming smaller and dimmer. Gradually, the light was too tiny to be seen.
"Dutian Devil King, that bastard, he really tricked me…"
Qin Mu felt as if he had fallen into a nightmare of endless darkness. He had no way to break free, no way to struggle and save himself.
This was a darkness that made people lose all hope and sink into despair.
Meanwhile, the boat which could carry his soul had already sailed far away.
Suddenly, Qin Mu exerted all his strength to shout with his soul, shouting the language of Youdu that Dutian Devil King had taught him. The cryptic pitch was suave, craggy, and impossible to pronounce, but that was because it could only be shouted out by the soul!
When he finished saying this sentence, a similarly cryptic and ancient voice came from the boundless darkness. This voice was also saying the words of Youdu, but it sounded like chanting. The voice seemed like it was a forebear from the ancient times, offering lives and fresh blood as sacrifice to a dignified god that bore the weight of the world.
Qin Mu immediately felt his body floating upwards, and the speed at which he was moving became faster and faster, until he turned into a flash of light at the end.
The shooting light whistled and flew out of the darkness, rushing into Qin Mu's body that was standing at the gate.
The body trembled violently as Qin Mu gasped for breath. He was all covered in sweat as though he had just crawled out of the water.
Meanwhile, behind the gate, the boat floated over once more without any hurry. The elder on the boat looked at him, but he didn't shine his lamp at him this time.
Qin Mu stood in front of that gate, ready to disperse his Saturn Sovereign's form anytime to let the gate disappear when he asked, "Dao brother, what's the meaning of your sentence?"
That elder's gaze landed on his body and the little boat turned its direction to sail towards the darkness.
"Earth is the great origin. All things owe to it their birth, receiving obediently the influence of Heaven.
"Earth, in its largeness, supports and contains all things. Its excellent capacity matches the unlimited power. Its comprehension is wide, and its brightness is great. The various things in it obtain their full development.
"The mare is a creature of earthly kind. Its power of moving on the earth is without limit. It is mild and docile, advantageous and firm. Such is the course of the superior man. If he takes the initiative, he goes astray and misses his proper course. If he follows, he is docile and gets into his regular course"
"The sentence that you said was none other than Earth is the great origin. If you had said it earlier, I wouldn't have taken your soul."
That boat sailed farther and farther away before gradually disappearing. The elder's voice traveled over a great distance, growing faint. "This gate is Youdu's Gate of Heaven Influence, it's Earth Origin Heaven Influence. Ghosts can enter, but it's not a place you can enter…"
"Dutian Devil King had really wanted to harm me!" Qin Mu was furious, but then he burst out laughing. "Luckily my life was not lost, so I can just slowly deal with him. Eh, my soul seems to have changed a little."
He felt that his soul had become much stronger after the journey to Youdu. Qin Mu was stunned. When he executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, he felt an indescribable power coming from the Gate of Heaven Influence which was nourishing his soul!
He couldn't help being stunned. Even though Dutian Devil King had lied to him, not all his words were untruths.
Dutian Devil King had been right. Knowing the words on this gate and opening the gate could indeed allow his cultivation to have no shortcomings, so he could be even greater than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in this realm!
Saturn Sovereign's form of his Five Elements Realm was of utmost importance to him since it was crucial for his soul cultivation!
After quite some time, Qin Mu felt his soul become more and more stable. When he looked at the scroll in his hand, the words there became clearer, showing him weird letters that had the shapes of birds, beasts, fish, sun, and moon.
Even though he didn't recognize them, his gaze swept past them as though he knew what they meant. The marvel of the words on the scroll then automatically became part of his knowledge.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
There weren't many words on the scroll, and Qin Mu gave the writing a quick once-over. Instantly, various types of cultivation logic regarding the soul appeared in his mind.
Dutian Devil King had told him that there were spells of Youdu on the scroll, but it showed up that was just another lie to entice him.
"At least there is still one sentence out of ten I say that is true. Since in Dutian Devil King's speech, only one sentence among a hundred of them is true," Qin Mu thought to himself. "Out of all the things he said to me, only the language of Youdu was true, everything else was a lie!"
He analyzed the scroll in detail. If he comprehended the entire marvel of the writings there, he could indeed comprehend some spells regarding souls. However, the most important use of this scroll was to strengthen the soul, while the soul spell was only secondary.
Qin Mu memorized the writings on the scroll and closed it to meditate. He tried to figure out the marvel of the writings, trying to comprehend a kind of soul spell.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had spells related to soul and Barbarian Di Empire also had these kinds of spells. The Thunderclap Eight Strikes that Old Ma had taught him as well as the Great Freedom Mudra of the devil race were also spells that were targeted at souls.
Soul Guide of Nine Spectres Sect was an even more outstanding divine art.
If he could compare the runes of the words, he could increase his power!
Qin Mu thought for a long time before slowly walking into his courtyard. With every action and step, he incorporated the words of Youdu into the move Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky.
This was one of the moves of Thunderclap Eight Strikes, the greatest battle technique in Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. Its power was strong and fierce since it had been improved by the previous generations of Rulai to its extreme, to the point it couldn't be improved anymore.
Yet now, Qin Mu was improving this move. He had never cultivated Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, but ever since Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had fused with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and unified all skills, the power of Thunderclap Eight Strikes had become stronger and stronger, being no weaker than of those who cultivated Rulai's Mahayana Sutra.
He practiced move after move, one punch after another. With the fist as heart mudra and the heart mudra as the sun, every punch gave off the sound of rolling thunder and the intensity of the blazing sun. As the yang soul was refined, the power was gradually raised.
The move Sunshine Refining Yang Soul In The Sky had not much use against the corporeal body. Even if it looked powerful, it was only targeted at the soul.
Qin Mu practiced this move over and over again, and a trace of fire was gradually forced out from the fist mudra. This flame was different from ordinary flames, it was the karma fire that burns the soul.
Every punch of his brought along karma fire, and gradually, the karma fire became more and more intense, turning the surroundings of the fist into a blazing scarlet-red sun.
The more he punched, the more he used to it he got, which left him unable to resist howling endlessly. Suddenly, a huge sun exploded out in the sky, and flames surged forth in all directions, covering the entire courtyard in karma fire.
Qin Mu retracted his stance back and let out a shallow breath. Suddenly, his heart wavered and he opened his door to see Sword Hall Master walking over with quick steps.
Qin Mu invited him in and asked, "Sword Hall, what's the rush?"
"Heavenly King Lu is injured," Sword Hall said in a low voice, his expression solemn. "He's at my place now and wants to meet cult master. His condition… is very bad!"
Qin Mu's heart leaped out, and he hurried out of his courtyard with Sword Hall.
"Cult master, I'm embarrassed to meet you with these injuries since I can't greet you due to their severity," Heavenly King Lu said with embarrassment as he lay on the bed and struggled to get up yet was unable to.
Qin Mu shook his head and went forward to check on his injuries, frowning slightly. The man's clothes were tattered, and there were even bloodstains on his white hair and beard.
Heavenly King Lu's injuries were even worse than those of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. He must have been injured by fighting with a few strong practitioners of the cult master level!
His injuries were not only on the physical body, but even his divine treasures were injured. The damage to his soul was also extremely serious!
All of his seven great divine treasures had suffered devastating blows. His spirit embryo was petrified, three of his Five Element Gods were destroyed, only two pillars of his Six Directions Divine Treasure were left, while his Seven Stars Divine Treasure, Celestial Being Divine Treasure, Life and Death Realm were crushed in their entirety. The only flying bridge in his Divine Bridge Realm was also broken.
It would have been fine if it was only these injuries, but the crucial point was that he was already old and his body was no longer like it was in the past. It was difficult for his physical body to hold together his soul which was about to crumble.
Heavenly King Lu took in a deep breath and said, "Cult master, I've located Heavenly King Qian's whereabouts…"
"Stop talking first."
Qin Mu took out two bottles of dragon's saliva to heal the injuries on his body. He then let him drink another bottle and muttered to himself irresolutely while writing down the names of herbs, telling Sword Hall Master to grab them from the warehouse. As for whether those herbs could heal Heavenly King Lu, he had no certainty. The best result would be him surviving but becoming useless, while the worst result…
Sword Hall Master left in a hurry. The injuries on Heavenly King Lu's body got better, but those on his soul and divine treasures became even more serious as he panted. "Heavenly King Qian has already died. I followed his trail, but someone used his clothes to bring me on a wild goose chase that led into an ambush…"
Qin Mu frowned. "Who ambushed you?"
"They didn't reveal their faces, but I recognized their divine arts."
Heavenly King Lu's body contorted. This was due to the injuries bursting forth in his soul and causing him pain. Heavenly King Lu gritted his teeth and endured it. His white hair shook along with his body as he chuckled. "They did it for the art of teleportation of our sacred cult… Cult master, I can't assist you anymore, I'm ashamed for failing Patriarch's instructions—"
"Don't worry, you won't die or become disabled." The corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched as he said in a low voice, "Even if you die, I'll drag your soul back from Youdu!"
"One of the people that injured me was a first ranking high official of the imperial court!" Heavenly King Lu' regained his composure. "I recognized his technique, which was Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique. Among the first ranking high officials, Sun Nantuo, the grand preceptor of the crown prince, has refined this technique to its extreme. Sitting on his Thousand Banner Pagoda, his spirit treasure is unmovable."
Qin Mu made swift moves, his hands dotting on Heavenly King Lu's body. His ten fingers moved up and down, leaving afterimages. In an instant, he sealed Heavenly King Lu's soul in his body, preventing it from leaving.
He used Heavenly Devil Creation Technique which was used by the higher-ups in Heavenly Devil Cult to strip the skin and make clothing; however, in his hand, it was a life-saving method.
Heavenly King Lu's three souls and seven spirits were sealed, but it was still difficult for Qin Mu to stop the momentum of his soul dispersing.
"Cult master, even though you're a divine physician, you won't be able to save a person that's going to die."
Heavenly King Lu revealed a smile and got down from the bed with his trembling body. Once he sat down on the ground, a rosy color appeared on his face as he smiled. "There's no need for you to waste your energy. My soul is going to disperse soon and my divine bridge is broken anyway. I can't endure it anymore. I thought I could assist cult master to help our sacred cult prosper after Patriarch had left, but never would I have thought that I wouldn't be able to see that day."
Crumbling sounds came from his body. It was his Divine Bridge Divine Treasure starting to crumble when its support was lost.
The crumbling Divine Bridge Divine Treasure crushed the Life and Death Divine Treasure which crushed the Celestial Being Divine Treasure. The divine treasures crumbled one after another.
Sorrow filled Qin Mu's heart. Now even the herbs Sword Hall Master retrieved wouldn't be able to save him.
Blazing flames burst out of Heavenly King Lu's body. His soul was shredded, and this kind of shred was irreversible. His injuries were too serious, especially those on his soul. It was on the verge of dispersing.
If his soul dispersed, he wouldn't be able to enter Youdu. He couldn't even become a ghost then.
"The blazing sacred fire, incinerate my broken body…" Heavenly King Lu muttered in the blazing fire. "Life and death are impermanent, and partings are inevitable. I won't be able to see you become the sacred teacher. How I wish to return to Saint Arrival Mountain to see the sacred teacher tree… I can almost hear the woodcutter cutting into its wood…"
That elder shuddered in the fire, then revealed a smiled. "Cult master, I'm very cold…"
Qin Mu stretched his palm out, wanting to grab the elder's hand, but all he grabbed was ashes.
The blazing fire dissipated, and all it left behind were gray-white ashes.
The sound of Sword Hall Master's footsteps came from outside, and he rushed in while carrying big and small packages of herbs. Qin Mu turned around and said with a stupefied expression, "Sword Hall, there's no need for them anymore, Heavenly King Lu has already gone to heaven…"
The packages of herbs dropped to the ground from Sword Hall Master's hands. This nine feet burly man knelt down on the ground and bowed deeply. His shoulders trembled continuously, but no cries came out.
After some time, Qin Mu swept Heavenly King Lu's ashes up and placed them into a green jar, then stood in a daze in front of it.
He had been pushed into his current position out of nowhere, sold by Granny Si to Heavenly Devil Cult, and still muddle-headed became the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. He didn't have much sentiments with Heavenly Devil Cult, only with Granny Si and the young patriarch.
However, as he learned more and more about Heavenly Devil Cult, he gradually fell in love with the cult's doctrine and the interesting people in the cult. He admired their conduct and way of handling things.
He already treated himself as one of the members of Heavenly Devil Cult, trying his best to become a qualified sacred cult master.
Qing Mu hadn't spent much time with Heavenly Devil Lu. The other had treated him less like the sacred cult master and more like a mischievous disciple, cleaning up the mess he had left behind in Saint Arrival Mountain. The old man was like an elder who doted on the younger generation, having eyes full of admiration.
And now, he had died, become a pile of ashes in the green jar...
"Sword Hall…" A trace of sharpness appeared in Qin Mu's blank gaze, and he said slowly, "Order the disciples to gather all the resources and investigate. I want all the information available on Sun Nantuo, the grand preceptor of the crown prince. His entire life, his family, his sect, his disciples, everything about him!"
Sword Hall Master rose. "As cult master's commands!"
Qin Mu continued, "Bring Heavenly King Lu back as well, he wants to return to the side of the sacred teacher tree, you shall… bury him there."
Sword Hall Master brought the green jar away.
Qin Mu walked out of Sword Hall's residence and found Si Yunxiang who had returned from the Floor of Heavenly Record to take back his book tablet. He then headed to the Floor of Heavenly Record.
There, he came to the third level where there were not many classics. There were only a hundred scrolls in this place, and many white-haired secretaries were researching all kinds of techniques to push out old ideas and bring in new ones.
Qin Mu found Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique and studied it carefully. He didn't sleep or rest, but studied for two days straight. He then walked out of Floor of Heavenly Records, returning to his residence to sleep.
The next day, Sword Hall Master brought a thick dossier over.
Qin Mu read through it while paying attention to every detail, spending half a day to look through everything gathered on Sun Nantuo. He then closed his eyes.
Sword Hall Master had waited beside him quietly through it all, and after some time, Qin Mu opened his eyes and said, "Nantuo Monastery, Sun Nantuo, Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique… The impact would be too huge if we eliminated his whole family in the capital city, so we'll do it outside."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Sword Hall, inform the twelve cult protector elders and the eight supervisors of our sacred cult to wait beside Mud River outside the capital city."
Qin Mu closed up the dossier and handed what he learned from Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique to Sword Hall Master. "I had researched Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique to find its weakness and recorded it down here, let them have a look. All of the hall masters shall stay put for now and wait for my arrangements."
Sword Hall received his command and rose to leave.
Qin Mu called Hu Ling'er and the dragon qilin over and instructed them to stay in Imperial College for the next few days. He then went to the end of the alley in Scholar's Residence and found Wei Yong. "Brother Wei, is Duke Wei back?"
Wei Yong said, "He just returned a few days ago from quelling the rebellion."
"Can I trouble Brother Wei to go home and tell Duke Wei that there's going to be something fun to see at Nantuo Monastery."
Wei Yong was puzzled, but he still smiled. "Even though my old father likes to join in on the fun, he doesn't join just any fun. If the situation isn't large enough, he will definitely not go. After all, his chatter reaches the ears of everyone in the capital! What exactly is it?"
Qin Mu said, "Just tell him, you will know once you get there."
Bewildered, Wei Yong went down the mountain with him. They parted ways later, and Qin Mu came to Rain Listening Pavilion in Flower Alley.
Fu Qingyun welcomed him in a hurry and said, "Cult master…"
Qin Mu raised his hand and signaled for her not to say anymore. Suddenly, cracking sounds exploded from his body as his bones shifted their locations. He became taller and taller, turning into a tall yet lean man. He looked like a barbarian from beyond the Great Wall.
Fu Qingyun jumped in shock. "Creation technique? I wonder which writing is it from among the seven writings?"
A faint golden glow radiated off Qin Mu's body. He changed into a robe that was rougher made and took out the Thousand Banners Pagoda from his taotie sack. He lifted the Thousand Banners Pagoda, which was about three yards tall, and it spun continuously, giving off clanking sounds. A Buddha voice could be faintly heard coming out from inside it.
"Hall Master Fu, stay here and don't make a move. Wait for my instructions."
Qin Mu dragged out the Thousand Banners Pagoda after himself as he left Rain Listening Pavilion. He walked out of Flower Alley and headed towards Nantuo Side Palace.
This place was the Crown Prince's Grand Preceptor's manor. Nantuo Monastery was one of the sects which were only inferior to Great Thunderclap Monastery in the buddhism path. After Sun Nantuo acknowledged allegiance to the imperial court, Nantuo Monastery had become one of the big sects under the imperial court.
Sun Nantuo had deep attainment in buddhist skills and was an upright person. He hated evil with a passion and was known as an arhat. Once he became the grand preceptor of the crown prince and had Nantuo Monastery submit to the imperial court, the other monasteries on the path of buddhism also had to submit. Due to this, his contributions couldn't be denied.
After Sun Nantuo had changed the name of Crown Prince's Grand Preceptor's manor to Nantuo Side Palace, this place became the main preaching grounds of Nantuo Monastery. There were many young monks from Nantuo Monastery that came here listen to lectures. There were also some women from the kings, dukes, and ministers' families that had the hearts that worshiped buddhism. They would come to listen to lectures from time to time.
However, these women were usually painstakingly lonely and some of them came with impure intentions, hooking up with the young monks in the name of worshiping the buddha to relieve their loneliness. There were even aging women who would raise a few young monks, which resulted in those monks entering and leaving their chambers. This was something that was a common occurrence in the capital.
Some old monks even kept a few young women working hard round the clock to make music, causing quite a controversy.
Even though Sun Nantuo knew his subordinates were a little dirty, he was too busy with official work and duties and had no time to discipline them. In addition to that, the social customs in the capital were much more open and the women here were more daring. Even the Empress Dowager in the palace had a lover, so Sun Nantuo had no interest to get involved with his folk.
The emperor had bestowed marriage to Sun Nantuo repeatedly, which he had rejected three times in a row. However, he accepted it on the fourth, so he was considered half a monk and half a secular person; therefore, it wasn't good for him to condemn his disciples' common practice.
Nantuo Side Palace always had repulsive stuff happening, and Sun Nantuo always turned a blind eye to it.
However, he still hated evil with a passion and didn't bother to hide his displeasure towards the officials coming from the devil path, scolding them in the imperial court.
On this day, a commotion rose up outside of Nantuo Monastery. The monks there ran out one after another, and there were also quite a number of disciples that had ran out as well while shouting, "There's someone outside selling an important treasure of Buddhism! Thousand Banners Pagoda, a complementary treasure to our Nantuo Monastery's Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique. It's our legacy treasure that was lost a few hundred years ago!"
Everyone came out of the side palace and indeed saw the lost legacy treasure of Nantuo Monastery, Thousand Banners Pagoda. Many monks crowded the area, blocking off the whole street. There were also some women squeezed among them.
A pagoda towered among the crowd, and it was formed by a thousand banners. Each and every one of them was sculpted out from jade and split into seven levels. Each level had circular cylinders that were carved with scriptures. These cylinders could revolve, and when they turned, the scriptures on them would glow and give off buddha voice.
Inside each scripture banner, there were treasures like colored glaze, jade necklace, sarira, lamps, topaz, and agate.
Thousand of banners piled up together to form a tower. This was the legacy treasure of Nantuo Monastery, Pagoda of Thousand Banners, which was also known as Thousand Banners Pagoda!
This treasure had been long lost in some scuffle, and never did the monks had expected it to resurface once again. Each and every one of them in Nantuo Monastery was red with envy and didn't want anything more than to snatch the pagoda back.
However, this was the capital city, so they couldn't make their move recklessly.
The one selling this Thousand Banner Pagoda was a young man that had an appearance of someone from a different race. He was standing under the pagoda, activating it.
The Thousand Banners Pagoda was originally not tall, each banner only three inches in height. However, when it was activated by this young man, each banner became three yards long, causing the Thousand Banners Pagoda to reach an astonishing height of two hundred yards. As the thousand cylinders rotated, scriptures continuously glowed while a powerful buddha voice spoke, creating a magnificent sight.
The barbarian's voice was resounding. "My humble self has an important treasure handed down in my family and will give it to a fated person. I'm from the prairie beyond the Great Wall, a shaman of Rolan's Golden Palace. This treasure was handed down to me by my ancestor who had rescued an old monk and received it as a gift from him. Coming to Eternal Peace Empire this time, I would like to meet the heroes of this empire and find a fated person for this treasure."
"Senior Brother Yuan Jing, is this not the legacy treasure of our Nantuo Monastery?" one monk whispered to another one beside him, who had delicate features.
Even though Senior Brother Yuan Jing wasn't that old, he was still the direct disciple of Sun Nantuo and had a high position. Cultivating with Sun Nantuo for so many years, he was extremely familiar with the history of Nantuo Monastery and nodded. "This is indeed the legacy treasure of our Nantuo Monastery, Thousand Banners Pagoda! The scriptures carved on it are the Arhat Nantuo Scriptures with the blessing of the leaders of the past generations. It can't be faked."
Monk Yuan Jing's gaze wavered, and he suddenly shouted out loudly, "You barbarian, this is the treasure of our Nantuo Monastery, quickly return it to us!"
Qin Mu took a look at him and said, "Monk, this treasure was given to my family by a senior monk and since it was given to my family, it is mine. My treasure will only be given to a fated person."
Suddenly, another young monk laughed. "How can one be considered to be fated?"
Monk Yuan Jing looked towards him and was astonished. This monk also had delicate features and was the other disciple of Sun Nantuo, Monk Yuan Feng. The two of them had already had a dispute with each other by fighting over a woman and a few more times for other reasons in the dark. On the outside, they might look polite and amiable, but they had fallen out with each other long ago.
It was obvious that Monk Yuan Feng had planned to get this Thousand Banners Pagoda from the hands of this barbarian and do a great deed in front of Sun Nantuo, receiving Sun Nantuo's attention and becoming the teacher's pet, squeezing him aside.
Qin Mu placed down the Thousand Banners Pagoda and said solemnly, "My humble self is from beyond the Great Wall, and when I saw the magnificent state of the empire, admiration bloomed in my heart and I was certain that this place derives its glory from its illustrious heroes. This Thousand Banners Pagoda is not an ordinary object and my humble self is willing to use it to meet the heroes of this empire. If anyone that is on the same realm as me can defeat me, I'll be willing to hand him this treasure."
Wei Yong and Duke Wei had walked out of Duke's Manor and come to Nantuo Side Palace. Duke Wei took a look and shook his head with a smile. "What fun is there to see? Isn't it just a brat from Rolan's Golden Palace seeking trouble with Nantuo Monastery."
His voice was so loud that when he spoke, everyone in the next few streets could hear him clearly.
The few streets were where all the kings, dukes, and ministers lived. When they heard Duke Wei's words, they all left all their manors and looked over, creating quite a commotion in a matter of seconds.
The monks of Nantuo Monastery saw more and more people appearing, so it wasn't good for them to just snatch the treasure. A yellow-clothed monk smiled. "As long as we defeat you, we can take away the Thousand Banners Pagoda?"
Even though Duke Wei wasn't really excited, he still shouted out in a loud voice, "Baldy, he said on the same realm, you can't break the rules! Where's Sun Nantuo? His treasure has appeared, so which woman is he getting on now?"
Wei Yong was bewildered and looked around, thinking to himself, "How did Brother Qin know there would be interesting things to see here? Where is he?"
Qin Mu said, "As long as you win against my humble self, you can take away Thousand Banners Pagoda. Even though the world beyond the Great Wall isn't as flourishing as your empire, our words hold enormous weight."
The yellow monk was about to go forward when Monk Yuan Jing took a step before him and said with a smile, "I'll take the pagoda! Senior brother, this Little monk is Yuan Jing, Five Elements Realm, may I know who you are?"
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Rolan's Golden Palace, Pangong Tso, Five Elements Realm!"
Monk Yuan Jing's vigor burst forth as he executed Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique. Rays shone brightly from his body, and a huge apparition of a buddha appeared faintly behind him. The huge buddha had a thousand arms holding a thousand treasures. There were colored glaze cups, jade lanterns, a bow, an arrow, a metal truncheon, a pestle, and all kinds of other treasures.
The huge buddha suddenly merged with Monk Yuan Jing and disappeared. Rays of treasure light shone off Monk Yuan Jing's body, and his hand formed a treasure mudra. With a step forward, the mudra on his hand turned into colored glaze mudra. His hand shone with the gloss of a colored glaze, and he smacked towards Qin Mu.
This was the strong point of Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique. This buddhist skill was known as thousand treasures, since those who cultivated this technique to the Celestial Being Realm could form a thousand treasures buddha that had astonishing might.
Those that had not yet cultivated to Celestial Being Realm could transform the thousand treasures into a thousand mudras, and each mudra was different from the rest, having different power and use.
Even though Monk Yuan Jing was only in the Five Elements Realm, he had a dense cultivation and had learned over a hundred types of mudras from the thousand mudras of Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique. In addition to that, this technique allowed one to cultivate the Arhat's Body. With a body like diamond, the person's defense was so astonishing that no weapons would be able to penetrate it.
With this mudra, rays of light burst forth from Monk Yuan Jing. In a radius of ten yards around his palm, an area of colored glaze was formed. From the rays, buddha voice could be heard, which was extraordinary.
Qin Mu did not move from his spot. He suddenly raised his hand before lowering it, and with a loud boom, the colored glaze boundary, the spirit treasure buddha, and the colored glaze mudra were all scattered by his palm. A huge pit appeared in the ground, and Monk Yuan Jing had turned into a pile of mush inside it.
All the monks jumped in shock while Duke Wei twirled his mustache in suspicion. "Even though this barbarian's move is very brutish, his cultivation is irregularly strong… What is his name?"
Wei Yong immediately said, "I think it was Pangong Tso."
Duke Wei muttered to himself, "This doesn't look right, this technique doesn't look like part of Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Could this Pangong Tso have changed the Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures?"
Duke Wei was puzzled and muttered, "I've fought with experts from Rolan's Golden Palace before and their techniques required souls to cultivate. Even though their bodies were cultivated to a brilliant gold state, most of their techniques used souls as an offense method. Meanwhile, this young barbarian had instead walked the path of the corporeal body. His technique is also slightly different from Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures, it's a little too fierce…"
He was a first ranking high official after all, someone on the cult master level. He could immediately see Qin Mu's extraordinary points; however, even with his extraordinary knowledge, he could only see that Qin Mu's Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures was similar yet different. He couldn't see that Qin Mu was actually using Heavenly God Creation Technique.
Each and every one of the Seven Writings of Creation from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had their own unique points. Heavenly God Creation Technique was able to imitate other people's technique, and Granny Si had exhibited this technique once before, turning into the Border Dragon City Lord Fu Yundi, passing off a fake as genuine.
Qin Mu killed Monk Yuan Jing with a single palm, and all the other monks around felt indignant at the injustice. Another monk stood out and said loudly, "You took the legacy treasure of our Nantuo Monastery and killed a person of our Nantuo Monastery. Do you really think there's no one in our Nantuo Monastery to match you? I, Yuan Shan, will face you…"
Qin Mu stretched his hand out and grabbed, his move giving off a crackling sound of thunder. Before Monk Yuan Shan could finish saying his words, he fell flat on the ground. His body was still alive and there were no wounds on him. His heart was still beating as well.
A few of the monks immediately went forward and checked for his breathing. Monk Yuan Shan was still breathing, but his eyes were closed.
"There's no need to check, his soul has scattered," Qin Mu said. "His soul was taken away by my humble self and extinguished."
"Didn't you say it was a test of strength?" the bunch of monks shouted in fury. "Why did you land a killing blow time and again?"
Qin Mu said indifferently, "This is the rule beyond the Great Wall. As long as one makes a move, there is no life and death. I thought the people of Eternal Peace Empire were brave, it never crossed my mind that all of you had been pampered to the point where you were afraid of death. Seems like I was mistaken, I should put this Thousand Banners Pagoda back into our Rolan's Golden Palace. There's no one fated among all of you."
"Presumptuous!" a monk shouted out angrily and swung his monk staff forward. It had nine hoops with nine treasures hanging on them. With a swing, a clanking that could shake a person's soul rang out.
Qin Mu stood motionless and let the monk staff hit his head. Only when it reached him, did he grab the staff and pull it over forcefully. Both of the monk's hands turned bloody from getting scraped.
Pshhh.
Qin Mu threw the monk staff back, and it pierced the other's heart, nailing the monk to the floor.
Duke Wei shook his head, "Monks of Nantuo Monastery only know how to eat and drink. They have lived like princes over these years and the difference between them and him is too huge. None of them is his match on the same realm. The shaman spells of Rolan's Golden Palace are bizarre. It's possible for them to destroy the opponent's soul, but something isn't right here. I've never seen his moves before. Could the grand shaman have created some new divine art?"
Wei Yong still couldn't find Qin Mu and thought to himself, "He told me to come and look at something interesting yet where is he hiding at?"
A few more middle-aged monks walked out of Nantuo Monastery with grim expressions. One of them said solemnly, "Go to Supreme Court to report this and bring the authorities to arrest him! Another person shall go to Crown Prince Side Palace and invite the leader over!"
The eyes of the other monks lighted up, and they left in a hurry.
Supreme Court was responsible for investigating, so there was no need for Nantuo Side Palace to fight to the death with Qin Mu. They only needed the authorities to come forward and throw him into the prison. This way the Thousand Banners Pagoda would naturally return to Nantuo Monastery.
Since Qin Mu had killed people in the capital city, it was natural for Supreme Court to come forth and investigate the event. Furthermore, there were also people of Nantuo Monastery in Supreme Court, which made things easier.
A monk hurriedly ran into the Crown Prince Side Palace and shouted, "Leader, this is bad, someone has come to thrash our Nantuo Monastery!"
Sun Nantuo was like a huge buddha sitting cross-legged. When he heard what the monk said, he opened his eyes and looked towards the crown prince. The crown prince was a middle-aged man and didn't look much younger than Emperor Yan Feng. He twirled his mustache around his finger and said with a smile, "Could it be the devils of Heavenly Devil Cult coming to seek revenge?"
That monk shook his head. "It's not Heavenly Devil Cult, it's a disciple from Rolan's Golden Palace called Pangong Tso. He brought with him the legacy treasure of our Nantuo Monastery which was lost a few hundred years ago, the Thousand Banners Pagoda. He said he would give it to a fated person. As long as we could win against him while being on the same realm as he, he would give the Thousand Banners Pagoda over. Our senior and junior brothers went forth to challenge him and were killed without any explanation. By now, he has killed many of our senior and junior brothers!"
Sun Nantuo's expression turned grim. "You guys don't cultivate buddhist skills and are intoxicated by women and wine, it serves you right to have this defeat. However, Thousand Banners Pagoda is the legacy treasure of our Nantuo Sect which was lost a few hundred years ago beyond the Great Wall, so we have to welcome the return of this treasure."
The crown prince frowned slightly. "Grand Preceptor, Heavenly Devil Cult just lost two heavenly kings. With the attitude of the number one sacred ground of the devil cult, they would definitely not let things be. Now that a disciple of Rolan's Golden Palace has suddenly popped out, could it be a trap? I've heard that lying low for over forty years, Heavenly Devil Cult has brought forth a new cult master, but we still don't know his background…"
Sun Nantuo rose and said indifferently, "Your Highness, your news is a little outdated. The background of the new cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult has already been spread. I have received news from Great Thunderclap Monastery that this new cult master is the imperial academician of Imperial College. His surname is Qin and his name is Mu, and he's an abandoned person from Great Ruins. Not long ago, His Majesty raised his official position, making him a fifth ranking palace grandee."
"It's actually him!" The crown prince rose and said in astonishment, "Even though the new cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult is young, there are still strong practitioners and wise people in the cult so we can't let our guard down. Grand Preceptor, I didn't think you would still have contact with Great Thunderclap Monastery. Could you arrange for a meeting?"
"This is simple." Sun Nantuo walked said while walking outside, "Old Rulai also wants to meet Your Highness."
The crown prince went after him, smiling. "I'll follow you to take a look at that Pangong Tso, I shall see if he's from Rolan's Golden Palace or from Heavenly Devil Cult."
Not much later, the enquirers from Supreme Court hurried over. When they met Duke Wei, they immediately greeted him.
Duke Wei saw Sun Nantuo and the crown prince walking over from the corners of his eyes and said in his loud voice, "The emperor gave an order in the past that the imperial court will belong to the imperial court and the martial world will belong to the martial world. This is a grudge of the martial world so there's no need for Supreme Court to meddle. Otherwise, with all the fighting in the martial world daily, could Supreme Court handle all of it? We'll see when an official of the imperial court dies. Lord Sun, Your Highness, come join in the fun here!"
Sun Nantuo's expression sunk, while the crown prince smiled. "Grand Preceptor, it's best if we go over. If we don't, Duke Wei's loud mouth would blabber until the entire capital learned of it. Come to think of it, it's time to change that rule father had set back then."
The rule Duke Wei had mentioned was one hat the emperor had set with all the big sects back in the day. They had decided that the imperial court will belong to the imperial court, while the martial world will belong to the martial world, each not interfering with the other. Even though the monks of Nantuo Monastery were disciples of Crown Prince's Grand Preceptor Sun Nantuo, most of them didn't have an official position, so they could only be classified as people of the martial world.
Sun Nantuo and the crown prince came to the side of Duke Wei and the rest. While they were talking, Qin Mu killed a couple more monks and sparked the fury of Nantuo Side Palace. All of the monks were making a racket to gang up on him.
The few middle-aged monks saw more and more people in the surroundings, and since they were afraid of throwing the name of Nantuo Monastery, they immediately shouted at the monks to keep silent.
"Duke, Your Highness, Lord Sun!"
Duke Wei looked over and saw another old lord coming over with a smile. "So it's Lord Yan Zhigui. Lord Yan is currently quite a popular man, standing beside the emperor and Empress Dowager."
Lord Yan immediately said, "Duke Wei is joking. Lord Sun, what's the matter?"
"Nantuo Monastery is in trouble. From the looks of it, that person is seeking revenge."
Another few high officials of the imperial court walked over and one of them said, "Nantuo Monastery has been criticized over the recent years for walking in and out of the courtyards of the women in the kings, dukes and ministers' families. There were complaints from numerous ministers, but it wasn't good for them to disclose it as it would affect their reputation. This time, I reckon they are all enjoying the commotion around here. Look, none of them are willing to get involved in it. Eh, Lord Sun is also here."
They were all first and second ranking high officials in the imperial court and had purposely acted as if they had not seen Sun Nantuo, not giving him a good look.
Sun Nantuo remained unmoved as he looked at Qin Mu. Eternal Peace Crown Prince was also sizing Qin Mu up and trying to see the origin of his technique.
"Send a divine arts practitioner up with his Six Directions Divine Treasure sealed. He will then unseal his Six Directions Divine Treasure mid-fight and land a killing blow! We'll just kill him directly!"
A middle-aged monk said in a low voice, "Yuan Kong, you shall go. We've already lost our face, so it'd make no difference if we lost slightly more. No matter what, we have to win the Thousand Banners Pagoda back!"
Monk Yuan Kong acknowledged his words and sealed his Six Directions Divine Treasure at once as he went down to challenge Qin Mu. His cultivation surpassed Monk Yuan Jing's by leaps and bounds. Standing straight, his body was like a thousand arms buddha that had an unmovable body and flailing arms. It was a different approach, but equally marvelous compared to the Thousand-Armed Buddha of Thunderclap Eight Strikes.
Qin Mu went forward to attack and heard loud thunder. The two of them had punched forward at the same time, and gales burst forth violently around them, surging in all directions and rustling everyone's clothes.
Cracking sounds exploded from Monk Yuan Jing's body as he collapsed stiffly onto the ground. All of his bones were shattered; he was killed before he could even unseal his Six Directions Divine Treasure in time!
Most of the monks of Nantuo Monastery stared in anger and wanted to chop Qin Mu into pieces by their shouts. However, they were all blocked by the middle-aged monk.
Duke Wei clapped in admiration and shouted out loudly, "The Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures of Rolan's Golden Palace are so powerful! Another great monk is killed!"
Sun Nantuo frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "This is Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures?"
He had never met any of the experts of Rolan's Golden Palace before and never seen this kind of technique before. On the other hand, Duke Wei had gone to the west borders before and clashed with the shaman kings of Rolan's Golden Palace.
Eternal Peace Crown Prince pondered, "I've heard that the shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace use their souls to cultivate, transforming themselves into half humans and half demons, having all kinds of transformations…"
As he was saying this, another monk of Nantuo Monastery went forward and unsealed the Six Directions Divine Treasure straightaway, wanting to execute his divine arts. He took unfair advantage of Qin Mu by immediately closing in on him and placing a mudra on his chest.
That monk of Nantuo Monastery opened his Six Direction Divine Treasure and his vigor increased exponentially as his divine art burst forth!
He was even stronger than Yuan Kong and had cultivated over four hundred treasures from the thousand treasures in Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique. He had over four hundred mudras, and he used them one after another. Instantly, the buddha aura shone brightly with flowing colors. The monk looked like a buddha who was angered while subduing demons and devils and received shouts of praise from the crowd.
"Superb cultivation, Monk Yuan Yue!" a woman from some family exclaimed in admiration with a look of infatuation.
While she was saying that, Qin Mu's body jolted, and he changed into the god transformation that had a bull's head, a human's body, and bull's hooves. His whole body shone with a brilliant golden luster as he stepped on two dragons. A bull's eyes appeared in the heart of his brows and a trail of flame shot out, slicing through Monk Yuan Yue's neck.
Monk Yuan Yue could only feel himself flying backward. He looked over to see his body with an open neck spewing blood, no head in sight.
His head flew to the bosom of the woman who looked infatuated, turning her complexion deathly pale as she screamed in astonishment before fainting.
Piak, piak.
Qin Mu's tail swayed and smacked twice on his buttocks, instantly turning them red.
Eternal Peace Crown Prince's gaze flickered, and he said, "It should be the Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures of Rolan's Golden Palace. However, why did he have to smack his own buttocks? Is this some bizarre spell from Rolan's Golden Palace?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Duke Wei saw Qin Mu returning back to his normal form and was slightly bewildered. He looked towards the Imperial Preceptor's manor and thought to himself, "Imperial Preceptor, that cold fellow, seems to have cultivated a similar technique before. I remember seeing him exhibit such a form before… Weird, Imperial Preceptor, this old boy, actually didn't come out to see the commotion. Did he get drained dry by all those palace maids the emperor rewarded him with?"
"Pangong Tso is really a disciple of Rolan's Golden Palace?"
Sun Nantuo was a little hesitant. Rolan's Golden Palace was the number one sacred ground beyond the Great Wall and people in it called themselves shamans. They cultivated evil spells and used souls to cultivate, reconstructing their bodies into a form that was neither human nor demon.
What Qin Mu had executed just now was a god transformation.
Among those who reached the Five Elements Realm, there were few who managed to cultivate god transformations. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, this monster, still complained about Imperial College not teaching profound knowledge, but it wasn't because it didn't want to teach. It was because there were not many people among the directorates who could cultivate a god transformation of Five Elements Realm.
In addition to that, Qin Mu's god transformation was out of the ordinary to top it. Even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had been astonished that it seemed that both his corporeal body and his vital qi transformed into those of a god, and there were even signs of his spirit and soul transforming. There was also a change to his aura that was very extraordinary.
For example, a bull's eye had grown at the heart of Qin Mu's brows when he used the flame god form earlier. A trail of flame had shot out from that eye and severed Monk Yuan Yue's head. This was a divine art that was formed by his corporeal body, vital qi, soul, and spirit transforming into those that were at the level of a god.
Even if ordinary martial arts practitioners of Five Elements Realm managed to cultivate their god transformations, they would be very different from Qin Mu's god transformation. Those people also wouldn't be able to execute such moves like what Qin Mu did.
If even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't understand everything about this, then it was natural that Sun Nantuo, the crown prince, and the rest of the people around wouldn't be able to recognize it, either. They simply thought that it was the demon transformation of Rolan's Golden Palace and exclaimed in admiration at how powerful and bizarre Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures was.
"Lord Sun, a lot of your disciples were killed, won't you challenge him personally?" Duke Wei said while shaking his head. "You should challenge him personally and defeat this barbarian. Only then could the reputation of your Nantuo Monastery be saved! The disciples of your Nantuo Monastery are simply lacking. The guy just now had executed his divine art of the Six Directions Realm yet his head was still chopped off by an opponent of Five Elements Realm. This is simply embarrassing."
Sun Nantuo's gaze wavered, but he ignored the man. He knew that Duke Wei's mouth could swallow the entire sky, so if he replied to him, the other would definitely have a way to force him to challenge Qin Mu.
But it was something he couldn't do at any cost. He had no certainty that he would win when fighting with the strength of the same realm. Even though he had cultivated the thousand of mudras in Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique to perfection, it was highly unlikely for Spirit Treasure Unmovable Meditation Technique to defeat this barbarian.
If he then executed his Six Directions Realm, it would definitely not escape the eyes of Duke Wei, and if he started blabbering about it, that would be even more embarrassing.
There was also no doubt that Duke Wei would blabber about it.
Eternal Peace Crown Prince said in a low voice, "Grand Preceptor, I have a few good fighters with me, maybe they could help you defeat this barbarian…"
Sun Nantuo shook his head. "I'm thinking where the guardian of this barbarian is."
"Guardian?" Eternal Peace Crown Prince was slightly stunned.
Sun Nantuo looked around and said, "Your Highness might not know this, but everyone who blocks the gate needs a guardian by their side. This is to prevent them from getting assassinated. For example, when Dao Sect blocked the gate of Imperial College, Dan Yangzi was the guardian of Daozi. When Great Thunderclap Monastery blocked the gate of Imperial College, Old Monk Jing Ming was acting as the guardian of Fozi Fo Xin. For this barbarian to be so courageous, there definitely is a guardian from Rolan's Golden Palace nearby. This person would definitely be an expert of the cult master level! Only when we find him and defeat him can we regain the face of my Nantuo Monastery."
He knew that with how he hated evil with a passion he had offended numerous ministers daily. On top of that, with how the disciples of Nantuo Side Palace practiced corrupted habits, many of the people in the city were waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
If he wanted to quell this matter, the best choice was to find the troublemaker's guardian and kill him in a just and honorable manner. As for the youth's life and death, it wasn't his concern.
Suddenly, Sun Nantuo walked over to the young man, and the monks of Nantuo Monastery couldn't help being surprised and delighted. They all made way for him.
Qin Mu stood outside Nantuo Side Palace, the corpses around him having already been dragged away. From the beginning to the end, over ten monks had died at his hands, and the monks of Nantuo Monastery were staring at him in anger, yet they didn't dare to make a move.
Once they noticed Sun Nantuo coming forward personally, anticipation grew in their hearts.
Sun Nantuo raised his head and looked at the Thousand Banners Pagoda with a flickering gaze. "Who gave you such guts to take the legacy treasure of our Nantuo Monastery which Rolan's Golden Palace had stolen a few hundred years ago to block the gate of our Nantuo Monastery?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I have come forward this time to sell this treasure to a fated person and not to block the gate of your Nantuo Monastery. If other people want to get this Thousand Banners Pagoda, they can also come forth and challenge me. As long as they are fated, there's no harm in giving it to them. This great monk, if you have the ability, you can defeat me and take this Thousand Banners Pagoda away. If you don't have the ability, don't bother me doing my business."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince walked over with a smile. "You said you want to sell this treasure, if you're selling it, there would definitely be a price. May I know how much you are selling it for?"
Qin Mu took a glance at him and said, "Of course there is a price."
The expressions of the monks of Nantuo Monastery froze as their hearts filled with madness. If they had known they could buy it, why would they have fought to the death with this barbarian?
Eternal Peace Crown Prince's spirit was roused and he asked with a smile, "What's the price? Just state any, there's nothing in this world I can't buy."
Qin Mu's expression softened. "The price isn't too expensive. A hundred flying ships with apothecaries and medicine boys allocated within each one. In addition to that, I want two hundred cloud chariots. There's no need for gold-armored strong men, since there are plenty of strong men in our Great Wall.
Eternal Peace Crown Prince's expression sank. "You're playing with me?"
The flying ships and cloud chariots were military armaments, important weapons of Eternal Peace Empire. They had been invented by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and a bunch of other strong practitioners. Cloud chariots were important weapons to attack the city, so if the flying ships and cloud chariots were sold to the Great Wall, this would be treason. Even if he was a crown prince, the emperor would still take his head!
Qin Mu said indifferently, "If the crown prince can't afford this price, then don't bother me doing my business."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince's expression sank.
"I shall give this treasure to the fated one,"Qin Mu said solemnly. "Those who think they can defeat my humble self can come forth to try. My humble self will stay here for three days. If no one can win against my humble self in three days, my humble self will return to the Great Wall!"
"Three days?"
Sun Nantuo looked around and still couldn't find the guardian who was hiding in the shadows. He then thought to himself, "With three days' time, I'll definitely find out where he is hiding."
The monks of Nantuo Monastery didn't come forward to challenge, so Qin Mu sat down on the street quietly and waited.
The people watching the commotion gradually dispersed. Most of the kings, dukes, and ministers left their servants to watch the situation. Duke Wei brought Wei Yong to Imperial Preceptor's manor and knocked on the door. Elder Fu walked out with a smile and asked, "Duke, what's the matter?"
"Where's Imperial Preceptor?".
"Old master has brought madam out on a scenic tour."
Duke Wei jumped in shock and stuttered, "Ma-dam? What madam?"
"Duke Wei might not know, but after the emperor rewarded old master with a hundred palace maids, old master was very happy. The next day, he got along with one of the women and held a wedding on the very same day sharing their nuptial cups. After waking up, old master left with madam, so they are no longer in the capital city."
Duke Wei trembled violently, while a weird expression came onto his face. He stuttered out again, "Imperial Preceptor got married, he actually got married… This guy, I thought he didn't have any emotions… Never would have I thought he would get married… This scoundrel, he didn't even tell me!"
Elder Fu smiled. "Old master said to keep everything simple, so he didn't even inform the emperor."
Duke Wei let out a light breath. "Oh well, they are so poor I doubt they would even be able to hold a banquet. I will let my servant send a red packet and some gift boxes over. When did Imperial Preceptor say he will be back?"
Elder Fu shook his head.
Duke Wei let out a sigh and muttered to himself, "There's a problem with that barbarian, but since he's staying here for three days, there's no rush. I'll wait for Imperial Preceptor to be back."
The night fell and all kinds of flower lanterns were lighted up in all parts of the capital city. The night markets were opened up, and the street gradually became bustling with activity. Duke Wei let Wei Yong enquire around, and he came back to say, "Because it is nearing New Years, there's less than a month left, most of the merchants in the city are selling New Years goods."
"So I see. Let us father and son take a walk around."
Old and young men walked around the night market and saw many young ladies from influential families walking out of their chambers. They were well-dressed and carried a court fan. While they admired the flower lanterns, they would cover their faces upon seeing young men looking over. However, they would secretly size up those young men from behind their court fans.
Wei Yong was from the old Wei Family and didn't have much relation to Duke Wei. Only when he made a name for himself in Imperial College did he enter the other's eyes. As they walked around, Duke Wei gave him pointers for his cultivation.
While speaking to each other, they walked past Nantuo Side Palace, and Duke Wei was stunned when he didn't see Pangong Tso's figure outside.
He only saw many monks coming out from Nantuo Side Palace, and the one being surrounded was Sun Nantuo. Other than him, there were also other guardians and abbots of the side palace. A monk hurriedly said, "Leader, the barbarian secretly escaped under the cover of the night market! I've already sent a few senior and junior brothers after him!"
"Crafty, this barbarian actually pulled a feint and made us think he would stay here for three days, so we didn't expect him to slip away on the night of the very same day!"
"Those senior brothers that are following him will not let him escape!"
Sun Nantuo was expressionless. He told the monk to follow and hurried away while saying in a deep voice, "We'll make our move outside the city."
Duke Wei's eyes lighted up, and he went forward with Wei Yong while smiling. "Sun Nantuo, this guy, seems sanctimonious, so I would never have expected him to be such a sinister and cunning person. If he killed that barbarian in the capital, people would be sure to criticize him. But if he made his move outside and got rid of the corpse, no one would know about it. Let us follow them and see how these monks murder and arson!"
Wei Yong followed after him, and thus the young and old men went after the strong practitioners of Nantuo Monastery out of the capital. There were monks squeezing out from the crowd from time to time to report the traces of Pangong Tso to Sun Nantuo. Gradually, they walked out of the city.
There was also a night market outside the capital, and the lanterns there were brightly lit. The night market spanned for several miles, and there were people coming to and fro, making it extraordinarily bustling.
Duke Wei brought Wei Yong and lingered behind the monks of Nantuo Monastery. They unknowingly walked for several miles, and there was actually still a night market here. Not only was it still around, but there was also a village and a wide wooden gate which was over a dozen yards wide. A red wooden sign was hung on that wooden gate.
Duke Wei raised his head and looked at this red wooden sign. On it, there were four words - Teachings of Sacred Teacher.
The corners of Duke Wei's eyes twitched, and he hesitated for a moment. Sun Nantuo had already walked into this village, and the lanterns here were brightly lit. There were iron woks placed on the pillars, and inside them was concentrated kerosene that was crackling from the burning fire.
There were all kinds of stalls in the village, and there was even a butcher's shop that slaughtered pigs and goats. Sounds of hawking rang in the bustling village, so everything seemed like an ordinary night market.
"What's wrong, Duke?" Wei Yong was puzzled.
"Teachings of Sacred Teacher, I have seen this phrase before."
With a grim expression, Duke Wei said, "When the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, Li Tianxing, set out on a long journey and came to the side palace, he had hung this phrase outside his gate. Heavenly Devil Cult refers to their cult master as sacred teacher, which means that the sacred teacher is coming to teach them… The people in the night market are from Heavenly Devil Cult…"
Duke Wei hesitated for a moment and walked in. Suddenly, a male and female elders walked out with a smile. "Duke, hold your step."
Duke Wei was about to say something when an earth-shattering sound rang out. He hurriedly looked over and saw the peddlers, scholars, and beauties wandering around suddenly spring into action!
All of the monks of Nantuo Monastery were assassinated by the peddlers and passers-by beside them. Their heads flew into the air, and blood painted the sky crimson.
Once these people succeeded in their assassination, they retreated and moved back into the houses on both sides.
In a blink of an eye, all the monks beside Sun Nantuo were left headless!
Sun Nantuo shouted out, and the body of a thousand arms buddha appeared. It was over three hundred yards tall. With the buddha aura shining brightly, the statue held a thousand magical artifacts and looked awe-inspiring.
At this moment, twenty elders came from all directions and pounced on Sun Nantuo. With a loud bang, the thousand arms buddha was shattered into pieces.
Duke Wei was left dazed as the night market regained its bustling activity. There were people moving the corpses away, while others were drawing the river water to wash the ground.
'Teachings of Sacred Teacher!' Duke Wei remembered this phrase and shuddered. He immediately said, "Let's go and not see the true face of this devil cult master…"
Suddenly, Wei Yong waved toward the village with a smile. "Brother Qin, why are you here?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu turned his head around and was stunned when he saw Wei Yong. A smile bloomed on his face and he waved his hand. "So it's Brother Wei and Duke Wei. Why are you standing outside? Come in quickly."
Wei Yong immediately made eyes at him and said, "Come out quickly, I have something to tell you! Come over here, something huge has happened at Imperial College!"
He was worried about Qin Mu's safety, so he had to pull him out of the pit. He thought to himself, "Brother Qin must have come to take a walk, not knowing that this is the place where Heavenly Devil Cult is seeking its revenge, so he went in mistakenly. How dangerous is this? These fiends of Heavenly Devil Cult even dared to kill a first ranking high official like Sun Nantuo, who was a cult master level existence, in an instant. I'm afraid that even the bone marrow would be squeezed out from that small body of Brother Qin!"
Duke Wei looked at the two elders blocking his path of retreat and a vein popped out on his forehead while the corners of his eyes twitched. "Wei Yong, this scoundrel, he's even more of a troublemaker than me! I'm afraid I can't leave now even if I wanted to!"
Qin Mu raised his hand, and the old woman behind Duke Wei immediately went forward. Qin Mu tilted his head and said a thing or two to her.
That old woman returned with a grin. "Duke Wei, little brother from the Wei Family, please take a seat inside."
The corners of Duke Wei's eyes twitched, and he took a long look at Qin Mu before taking in a deep breath. "Let us go in."
As the two people went into the village, they could see that this place was only built recently. Everything was new, and there was even the fragrance of wood in the air.
Duke Wei and Wei Yong saw Qin Mu walking farther into the village and braced themselves to follow him. Duke Wei asked in a low voice, "Yong'er, how's your relationship with Little Brother Qin Mu?"
"We have been through life and death together!" He then added respectfully, "He was the one who saved me when the scholars' ship got attacked by Dragon Rider Sect!"
Duke Wei started to get a headache. "Then did you save him?"
Wei Yong shook his head.
"He saved you yet you didn't save him in turn, so what's this having been through life and death together!"
Duke Wei's heart was anxious. "I can only take thing step by step now. I can consider myself having been sabotaged by this little scoundrel. I don't know if my few meetings with Li Tianxing would be of any use…"
They came to the center of the village where there was a stage. It was only a foot above the ground and was constructed of wood.
The stage wasn't huge, about ten yards wide.
Most of the Heavenly Devil Cult's followers sat below the stage, and the old woman beside Duke Wei chuckled. "Duke, little brother from the Wei Family, just take a seat. Don't worry, we've just mopped the floor, it's very clean.
Wei Yong lowered his head to have a look and saw some dark red bloodstains. After noticing this, he couldn't stop himself from muttering under his breath, "I wonder if they cleaned up properly, or if there's still a human head or two lying around…"
Heavenly Devil Cult had eliminated Nantuo Side Palace as well as Sun Nantuo in an instant, which showed how absurd their strength was. Even Duke Wei who had experienced hundreds of battles didn't dare to be reckless and thought to himself, "Even though Heavenly Devil Cult has such a great fanfare here, the strong practitioners in the capital will definitely not be alarmed. Their actions were too quick back then, and I reckon they could kill us equally fast right now too…"
Under the stage, several hundred people sat in silence, waiting for the teachings of the sacred teacher.
Wei Yong looked around and saw Qin Mu. He immediately waved his hand at him excitedly. "Brother Qin, Brother Qin! Over here!"
Duke Wei wanted more than anything to press this little fatty down on the ground and stuff a few stinky socks into his mouth so that he would stop blabbering.
Luckily, the followers of Heavenly Devil Cult didn't seem to hear Wei Yong's blabber and remained sitting upright.
Qin Mu smiled at Wei Yong and walked up the stage.
Wei Yong jumped in shock and hurriedly said in a hoarse whisper, "Don't go up the stage, don't go up. That's where their sacred teacher gives his teachings…"
Duke Wei looked at him fiercely and scolded, "Rascal, keep your mouth shut!"
Wei Yong immediately shut up. Duke Wei said angrily, "Don't you see how tight-lipped I am? How did I have such a blabbermouth of a descendant like you? Haven't you realized it yet?"
Wei Yong was stunned. When Qin Mu walked up the stage and turned around, all the followers of Heavenly Devil Cult stood up and bowed. "Cult master sacred teacher!"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Everyone, dispense with the formalities, sit."
Everyone sat down.
Wei Yong's mouth was agape, and there was a stupefied look in his eyes. He didn't regain his sense for quite some time.
Duke Wei sighed and muttered, "I long knew that there was a problem with that Pangong Tso. His Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures was a little different. From the looks of it now, it was most likely the cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Devil Cult making his move personally. Heavenly Devil Cult actually chose a youth as their cult master, they really have guts…"
On the stage, Qin Mu also sat down and said, "Who here know spells regarding searching the soul?"
A woman stood up and bowed. "Sacred teacher, I have some attainments."
Qin Mu nodded. He suddenly executed Soul Guide and a sinister looking gate appeared behind his back. Black fog poured out of the gate, and even the light from the kerosene in the iron woks died down.
At this moment, everyone saw Sun Nantuo standing in the sinister darkness along with the rest of the monks.
Qin Mu said, "Hall Master, I want to know who are the accomplices of Sun Nantuo that had allied with him to harm our two heavenly kings."
"Understood."
The female hall master went forward and took out a shining mirror. She executed her secret art and shone the light towards Sun Nantuo.
This mirror ray shone on the monk's soul, penetrating it and landing on the air behind him. All kinds of pictures appeared, which were the memories of Sun Nantuo of when he was still alive. The pictures fleeted by rapidly and continued to go back in time. Soon, they reached the memory of when they had ambushed Heavenly King Lu.
"Crown Prince's Grand Tutor Yun Boshan, Crown Prince's Grand Protector Ting Yanju, Crown Prince's Junior Preceptor Cui Mingzhi, Crown Prince's Junior Tutor He Qianqiu, and…"
Right Guardian Xue Bi'e recorded down the people who had appeared in Sun Nantuo's memory. Her pupils contracted when her gaze landed on the last guy. "And Eternal Peace Empire's Crown Prince Ling Yuxia."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Note it down. We'll send them on their way when we find the chance."
Right Guardian noted down the name of Eternal Peace Crown Prince.
Duke Wei's heart trembled violently, and he opened his mouth, yet no sound came out.
Heavenly Devil Cult was too unbridled to even want to send the crown prince on his way. After all, that was the crown prince of Eternal Peace Empire!
However, it wasn't good for him to say anything. Eternal Peace Empire may be flourishing now, but it had only started doing so in the last two hundred years. Eternal Peace Empire only rose in power when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had risen.
Heavenly Devil Cult was instead a true behemoth that had existed from the ancient times. It had a long history and had been through the prosperity of countless countries as well as the change of dynasties. What happened was not only a deep hatred that was born from the death of their heavenly kings, but also a great humiliation, so this revenge had to be taken.
Now that Duke Wei was in a precarious situation himself, how could he speak for the crown prince?
That female hall master continued to look back into Sun Nantuo's memories and searched all the way until they had ambushed Heavenly King Qian. Other than the ones named, there was an additional person during the attack, Crown Prince's Junior Protector Master Ruo Piao.
Crown Prince's Junior Protector of this generation wasn't Gu Linuan. Because he had been missing for two hundred years, the position of Crown Prince's Junior Protector was given by the emperor to Master Ruo Piao.
He was from Buddhism, and his religious name was Ruo Piao.
Yun Boshan and Cui Mingzhi were both cult master level existences that came from Daoism. Ting Yanju and He Qianqiu were both from influential families that had followed Great Ancestor Emperor to conquer the world.
These five people including the already dead Sun Nantuo belonged to the crown prince's faction. They had all been teachers of the crown prince.
Among the sixteen first ranking high officials, there were six in the crown prince's faction.
"Note down Master Ruo Piao's name," Qin Mu said. "It's almost New Years now, so let's let them have a peaceful celebration and eat their last New Years Eve's family dinner. Sun Nantuo is already dead and Nantuo Side Palace has already been eliminated. Nantuo Monastery is still around, so guardians and elders, raze Nantuo Monastery without leaving any trace."
All of the guardians and elders acknowledged this command.
Duke Wei let out a sigh of relief. This young cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult was still thinking logically. If they went in now and killed six first ranking high officials of the imperial court in a short while, including the crown prince, the emperor would definitely investigate and find out that it was the doings of Heavenly Devil Cult.
Eternal Peace Imperial Court was the orthodox one after all. If they went against the imperial court, there would be no place left for Heavenly Devil Cult. In addition to that, Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery would definitely hit them when they were down. When that time came, Heavenly Devil Cult would be in danger.
Killing one every few days could minimize their risk to the lowest.
For example, to kill Sun Nantuo and eliminate Nantuo Monastery, Qin Mu had used the identity of Rolan's Golden Palace and brought Nantuo Monastery's legacy treasure to bait the monks out. He also forced Sun Nantuo into the open and lured him out of the capital city.
Even though Sun Nantuo was a cult master level existence, killing him and eliminating Nantuo Side Palace only took an instant. Furthermore, since they didn't make their move in the capital, there was no traces left, so it could be said that everything had been perfectly executed and covered up nicely.
Even if the emperor wanted to investigate, he wouldn't be able to find any clues. He would never know it was the doing of Heavenly Devil Cult.
After Sun Nantuo had died, the crown prince would definitely be alerted, and it would be hard to lay their hands on him. If they made a move, they would probably fall into an ambush, so it would be better for them to pass this period of time in waiting.
At this moment, Qin Mu looked at Wei Yong and Duke Wei, revealing a smile. Duke Wei felt a lingering fear in his heart and chuckled. "Cult master, I have a very loud voice."
"I know." Qin Mu smiled. "If duke shouted, everyone in the capital city would probably hear you quite clearly. Does duke think the method our sacred cult used to kill Sun Nantuo was clean and fast?"
Duke Wei's heart was hanging on a string. Qin Mu meant that he could eliminate them before they could even shout out a word!
Duke Wei took in a deep breath. "I once had quite a deep friendship with your Cult Master Li!"
Qin Mu tilted his head and looked at the Left and Right Guardians beside him. Xue Bi'e replied, "The previous cult master had met with him a few times. They didn't have a deep friendship."
Duke Wei's complexion turned black, and he looked around secretly, trying to see if there was a chance to escape.
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Duke, my cult just lost two heavenly kings so there are two seats empty. Since Duke belongs to an influential family but not to any sect, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from becoming our cult heavenly king, am I right?"
Duke Wei gave two coarse laughs, then looked around and saw the twenty strong practitioners who had worked together to kill Sun Nantuo standing up. The corners of his eyes twitched, and he said, "I'm Duke Wei and I have an official position, so where would I find the time to be your cult's heavenly king? Why don't you give me an easier task…"
Qin Mu smiled warmly down at him. "Don't worry, our sacred cult is quite idle. We will only trouble Duke Wei when we need to fight, it'll be just a title. Besides, not only are the cult heavenly kings idle, even I the cult master am also very idle. If something like this hadn't happened, there wouldn't have been the need for me to come out personally. If duke isn't willing to, we won't make things difficult for you. As long as duke makes an oath to not say what you saw today, you may leave. Everyone has too many misconceptions about our sacred cult. They even think that we are devils that don't even blink when slaughtering people. Don't you think so?" When he was done, he laughed out loud.
The followers of Heavenly Devil Cult also laughed with him, but they were all putting on fake smiles. They looked like they were ready to fall onto the two intruders and silence them.
"I'm willing!" Duke Wei immediately said.
Wei Yong hesitated for a moment and said, "Duke…"
"Shut up!"
Duke Wei turned his head around and scolded him, "You have landed me in hot soup! The reputation I built throughout my whole life is all tarnished now in the hands of you little brat. If you didn't shout out for Brother Qin, we could have left unscathed!"
Wei Yong pouted and said, "Old master, they said that they would let us leave, so why did you have to join their cult? Brother Qin is kind-hearted. He's not some kind of villainous person.
Duke Wei blinked a few times. "Do you really think he's not a villainous person? If he's not a villainous person, how did he become the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Qin Mu coughed. "Heavenly King Wei, we normally call ourselves Heavenly Saint Cult and not Heavenly Devil Cult. I'm also not a devil cult master, I'm a sacred cult master. Heavenly King Wei, keep this in mind."
Wei Yong said excitedly, "Old father, the title heavenly king stands out much more than duke! Brother Qin, assign me a role as well!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Duke Wei rolled his eyes at this little fatty. This brat didn't find it a trouble to enjoy the bustling scene. After pushing his own old father into the pit, he even wanted to jump in himself. He was helpless.
"Heavenly King Yu, Heavenly King Shi, may I trouble you to brief Heavenly King Wei about our sacred cult." Qin Mu looked around, then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, tear down this place and don't leave any traces behind."
Wei Yong and Duke Wei immediately rose and saw figures flashing by. In a short moment, the entire village was cleanly dismantled and all the planks and pillars were stacked neatly. Even the iron woks, kerosene, and stands were all put away.
A few hall masters unfurled their huge flags and gently covered the planks and pillars with them. When the huge flags were pulled back, the planks and pillars had all vanished without a trace.
Couple more hall masters covered up the corpses of the Nantuo Monastery's monks, and when the huge flags were pulled off, the bodies had disappeared as well.
Some other hall masters were shoveling a hectare or so of land and sending it into Mud River, to be washed away by the strong currents.
Many things were cleanly executed in a short while, and soon no one would be able to tell that a bustling night market had once existed here.
Qin Mu said, "Disperse."
The few hundred hall masters and guardians bowed to him. Some used huge flags and disappeared with a sweep, some covered themselves with their clothing and left, others blended into the darkness or drummed on their flower drum to leave. A few more pushed away their single wheel carts, and soon, this place was no longer the bustling place it was before. It had sunk into pitch black darkness, and only Qin Mu, Wei Yong, Duke, and the two heavenly kings were left.
There were lights farther away, they were the ones that belonged to the real night market outside the city gate.
Qin Mu rose to leave, leaving the four people behind.
Duke Wei has just joined the cult so Heavenly King Yu and Heavenly King Shi had to talk to him about the rules of Heavenly Devil Cult so as to prevent any blunders.
Qin Mu stopped the on way back to the city as he enjoyed the night market and the flower lanterns. There were scholars and beauties who enjoyed themselves in the brightly lit streets and forgot to go home. There were also literary people who were showing off their literary excellence, martial artists who showed off their skills, and maidens laughing from time to time.
"The capital city has indeed a myriad of things and is a place of glory for its illustrious people."
Qin Mu was deeply moved. Suddenly goose feathers came swirling down from the sky as the snow arrived. The sparkling snowflakes landed on the shoulders of the people who had forgotten to go home, and many of them raised their heads up to the sky. Quite a number of them exclaimed, "Beautiful snow!"
The snow was lighted up by the lamps in the city and became even more sparkly. There were quite a number of maidens standing under the roofs of the shops, stretching their hands out and letting the cool snowflakes land in their palms. The people on the street didn't decrease because of the snow; instead, more and more people came out.
"It's snowing and the end of the year is coming. I reckon Imperial College will let the scholars go home for New Years soon, I wonder if granny and the rest are back in the village?"
Billowing white steam was given off by numerous stalls on both sides of the street, spreading a nice fragrance around. Qin Mu sat down in front of one stall and said, "Boss, two bowls of minced meat noodles, add more chili oil."
"Okay!"
After a moment, two big bowls of minced meat noodles were served with a layer of spicy red chili oil covering the surface. A few pieces of pork floated about, which was seventy percent lean and thirty percent fat meat. There were also some garlic shoots and leaves, bringing out the fragrance of this dish.
Qin Mu took a bite and felt invigorated by the spiciness. He had only eaten once today and was feeling hungry; thus, he radiated with heat as he slurped up the bowls of noodles.
At this moment, someone laughed. "Old Brother Qin, I've finally found you. You had promised to build an iron shell ship for him, now you can't run! Boss, I want four bowls of minced meat noodles, make them spicier, he will pay!" When the person was done ordering, he sat down opposite of Qin Mu.
Qin Mu looked at that person and smiled. "Brother Fan Yunxiao, why have you come to the capital?"
The person was indeed Fire Bandit Fan Yunxiao. He had a knife scar across his left eye, but Qin Mu suspect it was pasted on.
"Don't bring it up, what wretched luck I've had." Fan Yunxiao sighed. "It's sad just talking about it. My ship crumbled to pieces and disassembled in midair, so everyone inside almost fell to their deaths. I had to exhaust all of my strength to catch them in midair; however, I couldn't send them to the capital city so I had to compensate them quite a sum of money.
"This morning, I went to find you, but you ended up not in Imperial College. I decided to take a walk around the capital and coincidentally saw you here. You must help me build an iron shell ship! Now that the world is peaceful again, I'm going back to my business!"
Qin Mu had a weird expression. With the world at peace, the business this bandit mentioned was his old business. He was planning to forgo turning good and return to being a bandit once again.
"Have you prepared enough black iron, black copper, and money?" Qin Mu asked. "And also the blueprints of the flying ship. Without a blueprint, it isn't easy to build one."
"It's is all prepared. I bribed the official registrar of the shipyard and got a set of blueprints for the flying ship."
The minced meat noodles were served and Fan Yunxiao took a big mouthful before exclaiming, "How spicy, how fragrant! I have also bought the black iron and black copper. They're in a shipyard beside Mud River, outside the city. I'm now bankrupt and can only rely on this iron shell ship to earn more money."
Qin Mu smiled. "Alright, I'll help you finish building the ship before Imperial College goes on a holiday. You can come to find me tomorrow." When he was done, he took out a great abundance coin and handed it to the noodle stall owner.
That man used a towel to wipe his hand before smiling over at Qing Mu. "Guest, I don't have the change for this, do you have any change? Six bowls of noodles only need thirty wen."
"There's no need for change," Qin Mu said and left.
Fan Yunxiao looked at his back figure and exclaimed, "How rich!"
Qin Mu was still confused about the value of a great abundance coin, so he didn't know how much it was worth. When he comes out for a meal, even the most expensive restaurant only cost over a dozen great abundance coins for a whole spread of delicacies using the best ingredients. As for an ordinary roadside stall like this, the owner would be deeply grateful for a great abundance coin.
The next day, Fan Yunxiao came to Imperial College. Qin Mu brought Hu Ling'er, the dragon qilin, and Dutian Devil King to the shipyard. There were quite a number of martial arts practitioners using true fire to smelt the black iron and true water to cool it down in this place, forging the pill furnace used for the flying ship. There were also those proficient in algebra that were measuring the sizes of the components and using vital qi to assemble them. There was also strong men forging and strong giants casting metal as well as carpenters using sword qi to shave wood. The shipyard was very lively.
Fan Yunxiao led them to a factory, and Qin Mu looked around. There were all kinds of wares over here. There was a great furnace used for smelting, irons, and diamonds for forging, scaffoldings, wingwall, wood sliding rails, and also quite a number of black iron and black copper piled up at one corner.
This factory was very huge and was big enough to store six to seven ships properly.
There was an official registrar waiting there, and he grumbled when he saw Fan Yunxiao, "Why are you here only now? I will only let you use this empty room for ten days. Once they're over, I'm closing the factory down."
Fan Yunxiao smiled and said, "Ten days are enough!" When he finished saying this, he stuffed a coin pouch into the other's hand.
The official registrar weighed the coin pouch and said, "I'll close one eye for the next ten days. Finish your ship quickly or else it'll be difficult for me when the supervisor comes."
He then left the factory. Fan Yunxiao looked at Qin Mu and asked, "Old Brother Qin, can you finish in ten days?"
Qin Mu took a look at the blueprint and marked several changes before saying, "There'd be some difficulty if I was to do it alone. I'll need some helpers. My helpers and I will be building your iron shell ship here for the next few days and you are not to enter the factory during that time. If you enter, you'll have to pay the price."
Fan Yunxiao didn't understand what he meant but nodded nonetheless. "Don't worry, I'm not that curious of a person."
Qin Mu nodded and chased him out of the factory. He then said to Hu Ling'er, "Help me call a few people over and let them enter this place using the teleportation flag."
Hu Ling'er acknowledged and left immediately.
After a while, Hu Ling'er returned and said, "Young master, Nature Craft Hall Master and Carpentry Hall Master said they would hurry over as soon as possible."
Just as she was saying that, two huge flags appeared out of thin air. Under each of them were a hundred followers of Heavenly Devil Cult. Nature Craft Hall Master and Carpentry Hall Master had led everyone and come right over.
Qin Mu handed the blueprint to the two hall masters and asked, "Can you do this in ten days?"
The two hall masters looked at the blueprint several times, and Carpentry Hall Master asked, "Cult master wants to build an iron shell ship? The firepower of the pill furnace must be fierce enough!"
Qin Mu smiled. "I have some attainments in forging and can make a pill furnace with a high firepower. However, the shipyard only allows us to stay here for ten days, so it'll be slightly rushed. We have to finish it in ten days. Are you guys confident in doing it?"
The hall masters of nature craft and carpentry looked each other in the eyes and asked, "How many ships does cult master want to make? With our two halls working together, we can build five flying ships in ten days. We can't do any more than that."
Qin Mu was startled and muttered to himself irresolutely, "There's not enough black iron and black copper to build five flying ships…"
"We have enough materials in our Carpentry Hall and Nature Craft Hall."
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up, and he smiled. "Then we'll build five!"
The two hall masters immediately left to take care of the materials.
Five days later, Fan Yunxiao came by a few times, but he never dared to enter the factory. It sounded like a few hundred people forging at the same time, and he wanted to go check in on the situation, but when he thought of Qin Mu's words, he didn't dare to do so.
Snow had been falling heavily for the last two-three days, so lots of it had accumulated on the ground. The Sky Supervising Department led a group of divine arts practitioners above to melt the snow clouds to disperse the heavy snow; however, the snow outside the capital city was still very heavy.
Fan Yunxiao's curiosity grew heavier, and his ears twitched ears as he scratched his cheek in anxiousness. Another two days passed, and Fan Yunxiao could resist no longer, thinking to himself, "There should be no harm in sneaking a look, right?"
He pushed open the gate to the factory and put his head in to have a look. Suddenly, an eight-armed and four-faced devil god appeared in front of his eyes and grabbed his neck. "Brat, how dare you peek!"
Fan Yunxiao immediately cried out, "Old Brother Qin, it's me, it's me!"
In the factory, over two hundred Heavenly Devil Cult's followers looked towards the source of the sound, their gazes landing on the troublemaker. They then turned their heads towards Qin Mu. "Cult master, this man…"
Fan Yunxiao jumped in shock when he saw everyone. When he saw the clothing of these people, his expression changed, and he cried out, "Heavenly Devil Cult… I saw nothing! I'm a blind man, where is this place, why am I here…"
Qin Mu was creating the pill furnaces when he heard the commotion. He then instructed the two hall masters, "Continue building, I'll handle this."
Fan Yunxiao didn't dare to retaliate after being grabbed by the eight-armed and four-faced devil-god who had a dragon qilin by its side. With a smile, he said, "Old Brother Qin, I had wandered in here without paying any attention, I didn't see anything…"
"Brother Fan, I told you not to come in and take a look. Now you have placed me in a very difficult situation." Qin Mu raised up two fingers and said with a smile, "Two choices. You are not new to the martial world, you should know what those two choices are."
"I'm in!" Fan Yunxiao immediately said. "From today onwards, I'm part of the sacred cult!"
Qin Mu laughed out loud and made Dutian Devil King place him down. "From today onwards, we're brothers!"
In Crown Prince Side Palace, a middle-aged man who looked like a scholar hurried over to Eternal Peace Crown Prince's side. "Your Highness, the grand preceptor has really died. There is not one monk that can be found in Nantuo Monastery, so I reckon they had met with a treacherous assault. Yesterday, Abundance Prefecture had also sent news that Nantuo Monastery was eliminated. The emperor was angered and sent people to investigate, but no trace of the perpetrators was found. The people only said that it was the doing of Rolan's Golden Palace, so the emperor has an inclination to send troops beyond the Great Wall after New Years…"
Eternal Peace Crown Prince had a grim look as he rose. "Can't find any trace of them? I'm afraid it's because father doesn't want to investigate, right? This was clearly the doing of Heavenly Devil Cult! Only Heavenly Devil Cult, the head of the devil, could execute such a secretive operation! They lost two of their heavenly kings, so they naturally wanted revenge! You shall head to Great Thunderclap Monastery and ask for an audience with Old Rulai, I want to know who exactly is the new cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult!"
With his hands behind his back, he added coldly, "Nantuo Monastery is also part of Buddhism path, so Old Rulai won't sit back and do nothing. Even though Grand Preceptor is dead, we can't lose our connections with Great Thunderclap Monastery. Old Rulai isn't satisfied with Imperial Preceptor, so he will definitely be glad to help. I will have to kill a person to warn all others, to make sure the sects in the martial world see clearly that I'm not a useless person. Those who dare to touch my men shall wait to be eliminated!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Your Highness, Heavenly Devil Cult is still one of the three biggest sects. Even though they haven't had a cult master for the past forty years, they are still not to be underestimated."
That middle-aged man continued, "Since they haven't been eradicated even after having no cult master for this many years and are still this powerful, this shows how united they are. If it was Great Thunderclap Monastery or Dao Sect, would they dare to have no Rulai or Dao Master for forty years? If you underestimate Heavenly Devil Cult, you will only be at a disadvantage."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince shook his head and said, "Don't worry, I won't underestimate Heavenly Devil Cult. For it to get rid of Grand Preceptor Sun Nantuo, the monks of Nantuo Side Palace, and Nantuo Monastery without any news reaching the outside world, they can't be seen as weak. How would I underestimate a cult like this?"
The middle-aged man gave a puzzled look, and Eternal Peace Crown Prince continued, "There's no need for me to make a move against Heavenly Devil Cult. Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, these two sacred grounds have a far longer grudge with them than Eternal Peace Empire. The two sacred grounds want more than anything to get rid of this chief of the devil path, they just hadn't had the chance. What if…
"What if the emperor of Eternal Peace Empire no longer stood against these sects? What if the emperor of Eternal Peace Empire no longer supported Imperial Preceptor's reform. What if the emperor of Eternal Peace Empire dismissed Imperial Preceptor? What if the emperor of Eternal Peace Empire made the struggle between sects and countries vanish like smoke in thin air? Do you think Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery would be willing to ally themselves with this emperor? Would Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery be willing to support this emperor?"
The body of the middle-aged man trembled slightly as he looked at his superior.
With a deep gaze, Eternal Peace Crown Prince said indifferently, "Even though my father has great skills and strategy, he is too trusting of Imperial Preceptor. With such trust in him, more than half of the imperial court belongs to him. The roots of our Ling Family are going to be lost. Father has let Imperial Preceptor's power grow, so if Imperial Preceptor decides to rebel, there will be nothing to do. If Imperial Preceptor continues to grow like this, the world is going to change, and the dynasty will be changing hands!"
With a stern gaze, he said solemnly, "The older generation of our Ling Family, the people with lofty ideals have all seen the first signs of this. This was the reason why eighth uncle supported me. Eighth uncle had exhorted father before, but father remained obstinate and chose to believe in Imperial Preceptor. Eighth uncle was helpless and hoped that I would change things."
He got worked up and said with sorrowful anger, "Eighth Uncle was a senior of Ling Family who had conquered the world along with the ancestor. Eighth uncle of our Eternal Peace Empire didn't mind bearing the name of traitor to the country and contacted the sects of the martial world as well as the officials everywhere. All of this was to pave the way for me, to pull Imperial Preceptor off his horse. What a pity that it was all for naught! He couldn't even have a complete corpse after death, his head having been severed by Imperial Preceptor, that wretch. There are even rumors in all levels of society saying that he wasn't loyal!"
Eternal Peace Crown Prince shed tears and slammed the table violently, both of his eyes red. "I can't watch as our Ling Family's country gets destroyed under father's hand, even if I have to become unfilial! I can't be both loyal and filial, so I will be loyal to the Ling Family! Some things have to be done, I can't not do it!"
He walked to and fro in excitement. "How laughable, my brother and sisters are still leading a befuddled existence and don't know about the impending doom that's about to fall on our Ling Family! Father has already been overridden by Imperial Preceptor, and if the Ling Family is chased off the throne, they will all be annihilated! I can't let this happen, I can't let Imperial Preceptor, this devil, take over our nest! I will have to become the emperor and stop all this from happening!"
In the shipyard, Nature Craft Hall and Carpentry Hall used ten days to build five ships. Everyone installed the fifteen pill furnaces that Qin Mu had forged and connected them to the bronze beasts.
Qin Mu did minor adjustments to the blueprints of the flying ships and changed some layout. Every ship needed to have three pill furnaces installed. There were three bronze beasts on the ship, with two at the aft of the ship and one at the bottom. The heads of the bronze beasts could turn in all directions.
Changing the materials of the flying ship from wood to black iron and black copper had resulted in its weight increasing exponentially. One pill furnace was definitely not enough to make it fly, so Qin Mu added two more. Besides that, another bronze beast that could spew fire was added to the bottom of the ship which could make it less shaky when taking off and landing.
There were three big and two small ships among the five iron shell ships. Even though they were small, they were complete in every detail. All of the guest rooms in the hold of the smaller ships also had everything that was needed.
Qin Mu made his men paint wood grains on the five ships so that they would look like five wooden flying ships. This was so they wouldn't be universally shocking.
Fan Yunxiao was abnormally excited and kept walking to and fro around the five ships. "Cult master, which ship is mine?"
Qin Mu pointed at the smaller ship and Fan Yunxiao's expression instantly turned ugly. "Can't I get a bigger ship?"
"Big ships are used for transporting soldiers and fighting in war, their speed ain't as great as that of the smaller one," Qin Mu explained. "If you want to continue being a fire bandit, it's best for you to choose the small one. If you want the big one, you can use it to ferry passengers. However, big ship consumes more medicinal stones and you might not earn enough from ship fares to buy them in times of peace."
Fan Yunxiao hesitated for a moment. "In that case, I shall choose the small ship. What are you going to use the other small ship?"
Even though it was a small ship, it wasn't really that small. It was thirty yards long, ten yards wide, fifteen yards tall, and able to ferry around twenty-thirty people.
Qin Mu had made the disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult change their clothing before driving the three big ships out. He then sent the smaller ship to Imperial College while saying, "It's almost New Years, this smaller ship will be my mode of transport. Incense Master Fan, you have already entered the Bandit Hall of our sacred cult. Bandit Hall is part of our sacred cult, so I won't say anything more, it's a way of living for our cult's disciples after all. You can plunder people's riches but you can't take their lives nor rape them."
"I was from Dao Sect and even though I was chased out by old Dao Master, we fire bandits never take people's lives nor do we ever rape them. Don't worry, there are three hundred and sixty trades and each trade has its own master. I will definitely do my best and not let down cult master's great hopes for me!"
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. He only waved his hand after quite some time while looking at Fan Yunxiao boarding the small ship with excitement. More than a dozen fire bandits were pushing the ship out of the factory using the wooden rails with all of their strength.
The snow outside had already stopped, but with the cold weather, there were few people in the shipyard.
Fan Yunxiao shouted, "Light up the furnace, we're taking off! This ship will be our new Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship! We're no longer turning good, fly the flag of our fire bandits! What's outside is the sky and countless riches!"
The iron shell ship slowly rose, its speed gradually increasing. When the ship suddenly broke through the air, Qing Mu could hear the fire bandits crying out, "So cold, so cold! Boss Fan, don't stand on the deck, come in to get warm!"
Qin Mu saw them off before returning. He then brought the dragon qilin, Hu Ling'er, and Dutian Devil King back to the capital.
Lots of snow had fallen a couple days ago, so even though it had stopped, the sky was still filled with gloomy dark clouds. No sunlight could be seen as cold wind raged on, freezing everything it found.
"It's been ten days since we saw the sun," Hu Ling'er said as she looked up at the sky.
She couldn't sit still in the factory and frequently ran outside.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. There has been no sun for the past ten days? It seemed like the snow was quite heavy, but why didn't the sun come out even after the snow had stopped?
He didn't think too much about it. Now that it was getting closer and closer to New Years, there was also some flavor of it in the capital as everything was decorated with lanterns and colored banners. Qin Mu walked into the city only to see flying ships going up into the sky. Besides the soldiers on the ships, there were also some ministers of the imperial court. He wondered why they were going up.
"It doesn't seem like they're going to war."
Qin Mu raised his head but only saw the dozen flying ships going higher and higher. They headed up above instead of any horizontal direction, and he was left bewildered.
He returned to Imperial College and saw many scholars discussing New Years. No one was talking about why the ministers had flown into the clouds. There were also some scholars discussing about the flying ship that had docked in front of Scholar's Residence.
"I wonder which rich son actually got a flying ship as a mode of transport."
The next day, the sky was still gloomy. Gu Linuan gathered all the scholars of Imperial College and announced, "The emperor has called a holiday for the New Years, so you can now all return home."
The entire mountain erupted in cheers.
Qin Mu raised his head and saw a couple more flying ships rising into the sky, towards a higher altitude.
Meanwhile Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship, Fan Yunxiao stood at the bow while trembling and picking the icicle hanging from his nose as he looked down. "Second brother, where are we now?"
A fire bandit looked down and distinguished the terrain before saying, "We have already reached Li River."
"Why is snowing over Li River as well?"
Fan Yunxiao was astonished. Pointing at the mountains blanketed in white, he said, "That's not right, Li River is situated at the southernmost border of the southern borders, Even when it's heavy winter, it would usually be bare. Why has the snow covered even this place this year?"
Most of the fire bandits came up from the hold of the ship and looked down, clicking their tongues in wonder.
Suddenly Fan Yunxiao's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked, "We're over thousands of miles away from the capital city, right? Yet have any of you seen the sun?"
The dozen of bandits looked at one another and all shook their heads.
Fan Yunxiao took a cold breath and looked at the gloomy cloud in the sky while muttering, "A cloud that covers a radius of a few thousand miles. Could this f*cker be an ordinary cloud? And this snow, even the southern border is under it… This coming year might not be a year of peace but instead might be a year of disaster with starving people everywhere… If people starve and have nothing to eat, they will start to rebel… I thought I could earn quite a sum of money during the couple years of peace. Second brother, increase the firepower of the pill furnaces to their maximum, let us continue heading south!"
Over two hours later, Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship had flown out of the southern border and into the sky above the southern sea. Suddenly, a bright light in front of them dazzled their eyes, and when they flew over there, they were met with the light of a blazing sun shining freely, illuminating the surface of the sea like it was a sapphire.
Fan Yunxiao turned his head back to have a look and sucked in a deep breath.
An incomparably ginormous gloomy cloud shrouded the entire territory of Eternal Peace Empire!
In Imperial College, Qin Mu packed up his luggage and prepared to return to Great Ruins when a directorate walked over while shouting in a loud voice, "Palace Grandee, the emperor has ordered that all officials with sixth ranking and above have to head to the imperial court for discussion! Anyone who does otherwise will be punished!"
Qin Mu placed his luggage down and said to Hu Ling'er, "You guys shall remain here for now, I'll go to the palace and take a look."
It was his first time attending the imperial court, and when he came to the imperial court hall, there was already a vast crowd there. Thousands of officials had squeezed in. Luckily, the emperor's audience hall was huge enough to accommodate these many people.
Emperor Yanfeng sat on the throne in the audience hall and had a worried look on his face. He would ask time and time again, "Is Imperial Preceptor here?"
When he heard that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had yet to come, the worried look on Emperor Yanfeng's face grew even heavier.
After some time, Emperor Yanfeng cleared his throat and said in a resounding voice, "No need to wait for Imperial Preceptor anymore. My dear ministers, it's been over ten days since you have last seen the sun, is that right? I too have not seen the sun for over ten days and not only me, the entire Eternal Peace Empire had not seen the sun for over ten days. I received memorials from officials all over the world that snow is falling everywhere. From the northern desert to the southern sky, from Sunrise Island in the east to Secret Waters Pass in the west, lots of snow fell, six to seven days worth of it!"
The emperor stood up from the dragon throne and pointed upwards with his trembling finger, "A cloud has covered the entire territory of our Eternal Peace Empire!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When he said it, the hall begun to buzz with discussions. It was almost impossible for something like the single cloud covering the entire Eternal Peace Empire to happen, yet it did!
Eternal Peace Empire had a broad territory spanning ninety thousand miles from east to west and eighty thousand miles from north to south. Now that the entire territory was under snow and even for six-seven continuous days, it was something that should have been impossible!
Divine arts practitioners had the ability to summon wind and rain, but they could only make the rain descend and the wind blow in a small area. They could never control the kind of spell that could cover the entire Eternal Peace Empire.
However, this was no natural disaster. It rarely snowed in the south of Gold River, while it was even more impossible to have rainy or cold weather at the south of Surging River. On top of that, when it came to Li River, all four seasons were like summer, so there was no possibility of snow there.
If that wasn't enough, the snow had descended on the whole empire at the same time!
Emperor Yanfeng gave a cough and quieted all the ministers. "Minister of Agriculture, there are probably quite a number of ministers who don't understand how scary this snow is, you can explain it to them."
An old minister stepped out of the ranks. He was the Minister of Agriculture of Eternal Peace Imperial Court and managed the agriculture of the entire empire. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, ministers, this snow disaster doesn't affect the next years harvest for the villages to the north since they are used to enduring through winter and had made preparations. The crucial point is the south. After this huge snow, the villages of the south will probably be frozen clean. When the next year comes, the south would most likely have no harvest at all."
The Minister of Revenue immediately asked, "Minister of Agriculture, by the south you mean?"
"Everything south of Gold River."
All of the ministers took in a cold breath, and even Qin Mu was shocked.
He also had a geographic map of Eternal Peace Empire. Gold River originated in the Great Ruins and stretched all the way to the east for tens of thousands of miles before entering the ocean.
The land south of Gold River was two-thirds of Eternal Peace Empire's land!
This meant that two-thirds of the empire's land would have no harvest!
"This… Your Majesty, I think we should channel the rations and fodder from all places to the south, preparing to send relief!" Grand Servant stepped out of the ranks and bowed. "The south just went through a war, so there are many counties that still need require relief. I'm afraid that the rations there have already been depleted, so may Your Majesty channel rations from the north to save those people from the disaster!"
Minister of Agriculture sighed. "As of now, we can't channel anything. Lords might not know but the war had depleted rations and most of them are gone everywhere. If we channel the rations to the south now, they will only be eaten by the starving people. Once these rations are finished, we won't even have the grains to plant anymore, and there will be nothing to eat when autumn comes. Lord Grand Servant, if the starving people have nothing to eat, they will start eating humans."
"Are we supposed to just let the people of the south starve?"
Minister of Agriculture said, "Provisions would have to be transported to the south, but we must provide them in limited quantity. We need to give them just enough to survive. There are actually some granaries in the south, but they all belong to influential families and landlords. If we want to touch their provisions, I'm afraid they would instigate the disaster victims to rebel. Your Majesty…"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression sunk, and he said, "I will think of something regarding the provisions of the influential families and landlords. Continue."
"Yes. Other than the south, there's another huge disaster looming over us," said Minister of Agriculture. "The north is usually cold during winter, but it's even colder this year. Walking through a few counties in the north, I discovered farmers chopping down trees to burn them for warmth. This resulted in many forests being cleared out, turning the area bare. For the north, which can endure the cold to resort to chopping trees for warmth, you can imagine the current situation in the south. If the trees in the south are completely cleared out, mountain torrents, landslides, and floods will definitely become endless.
"A natural disaster can result in a manmade disaster, and a manmade disaster can result in many more natural disasters. However, if we don't let the victims chop down trees for warmth, I'm afraid that countless people will be frozen to death. When that time comes, I'm afraid most of the families will die…"
Emperor Yanfeng let out a deep breath, and the ministers of the imperial court also became quiet. It was so silent that even the noise of breathing became jarring. If they didn't chop down the trees to burn, the farmers would be frozen to death. Yet if they chopped down the trees, there would be more disasters.
A snow disaster had made a huge empire like Eternal Peace Empire sink into circumstances in which they had to make a difficult choice.
Minister of Agriculture continued, "The crucial point is that we don't know how long this cloud will last. If the gloomy cloud disperses in a few days, we can minimize the damage to the lowest. But if it doesn't, the empire will be in danger!"
"I… understand." Emperor Yanfeng leaned back, looking powerless. "Now, my dear ministers, do you understand how dangerous the situation is, right? Lately, some renegades rebelled, but I was still unworried and didn't pay any attention to it. I knew nothing would come out from what they were doing, and they would be eradicated by Imperial Preceptor and my dear ministers. However, this snow disaster and this cloud is going to break our Eternal Peace's fate! Dear ministers, do you have a way to solve this?"
All of the civil and military ministers fell silent. Even with their remarkable abilities, they couldn't blow away the cloud or melt the snow.
Emperor Yanfeng looked at his ministers and felt angry and anxious in his heart. Snow, a single cloud, were they going to tear this empire apart, destroy their hundred years of effort?
A civil official said, "I think this is because Imperial Preceptor's reform has angered the Heaven…"
Emperor Yanfeng burst into anger. "Drag him out and execute him!"
That civil official immediately knelt down and cried out with all his might, "Your Majesty, Heaven has its heavenly law, and Imperial Preceptor's reform is going to change the heavenly law, so Heaven is angered. People will suffer from the anger of Heaven, unable to do anything about it, Your Majesty!"
"Men!" Emperor Yanfeng was infuriated. "A disaster is upon our empire and you're still eager to delude people with lies. If he's not executed now, will I have to do it myself?"
The guards inside the emperor's audience hall dragged that civil official away. The cries of the man gradually moved farther away.
Emperor Yanfeng paced around anxiously, suppressing his anger. "I want ministers that are able to work and are not useless puppets that only know how to slander! This reform is what I want and not what Imperial Preceptor wants! If Heaven is angered, then it should be angry at me and make me suffer! Imperial Preceptor is a capable minister. Not to say five hundred years, it is even rare to find someone like him within one to two thousand years! You all shall think of a solution for me. If you can't think of anything, there's no need for any of you to go home and no need for you to celebrate New Years!"
"Your Majesty, why not store the cloud away?" a voice asked from the audience hall. "Since you can't chase it away, why not just store it away?"
All of the ministers looked over at the speaker, and Emperor Yanfeng's gaze also moved on him. "So it's Palace Grandee. What great idea does Palace Grandee have, why not share it with all of us."
Qin Mu said, "I have seen treasures like the fire bottle gourds in the army which the soldiers use to store their true fire. When it comes time to battle, they would release the fire stored inside. When Hall of Supreme Healing slipped up in refining medicine and paralyzed the entire Imperial College, the former grand chancellor had used a bottle gourd to store away the anesthesia to save Imperial College. I was thinking if we could use treasures like the bottle gourd to also store away this dark cloud?"
Emperor Yanfeng looked at General of Heavenly Strategies and asked, "General Qin, do you think this can work?"
General of Heavenly Strategies had the surname Qin and name Jian. He was the head of the generals and also the sect master of the influential Qin Family in the capital city. He stepped out of his ranks and said, "Your Majesty, what Palace Grandee suggested is plausible. However, there aren't this many fire bottle gourds in the army. The ones we use are wisteria bottle gourds which are handed to the Vermillion Bird Troops all around the world. There is a total of one million such bottles in the entire empire, and this amount would only be enough to store away one province worth of dark cloud. With so many provinces in the empire, it isn't possible to rely solely on the fire bottle gourds from the army."
Qin Mu then spoke up. "Even though there aren't many bottle gourds in the army, the empire has many officials that cultivate spells and influential families with powerful people. There are numerous strong practitioners in the imperial court as well, and with a decree from Your Majesty, you could order all them to create treasures to store away the dark cloud in the sky. With so many people, the county magistrates, young magistrates, and magistrates who are also strong practitioners could take responsibility for the area under their jurisdiction. With the strong practitioners of the army going to help out in each and every area, we could expect to mostly get rid of the dark cloud."
Emperor Yanfeng pondered it for a moment. "There would be some difficulty in mobilizing the divine arts practitioners of the entire empire to get rid of the cloud. There are some wandering divine arts practitioners in the martial world who don't listen to the orders of the imperial court…"
"Therefore we will need Your Majesty to do it yourself, showing an example to the whole world," said Qin Mu. "If Your Majesty leaves the capital and goes to each province to store away the dark cloud, the people will naturally follow suit."
Most of the civil and military officials looked at one another. If the emperor left the capital to store away the dark cloud, the remnants of the sects would probably take advantage of this to assassinate him, since their rebellion had just been quelled.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went to Great Ruins for battle and got ambushed, which resulted in him returning in failure. If the emperor was to leave the capital, he would definitely have to suffer all kinds of assassination attempts.
Just as everyone was about to say something, Emperor Yanfeng's eyes lighted up and he smiled. "Right. Minister Qin, do you have any other ideas to handle this snow disaster?"
"The snow disaster is already here, and I'm helpless to do anything."
Qin Mu said, "I've heard of a sentence once: The path of a saint is not different than the one of a common person. With so many divine arts practitioners in the world, if the sun came out and melted the snow, you could have these divine arts practitioners personally go down to help clear up the frozen villages. They could help plant the grains again, and there might even be harvest next year. If there's no wind, we can invite the divine arts practitioners to send wind. If weeds grow, invite divine arts practitioners to remove the weeds. If there is insect damage, invite divine arts practitioners to remove the insects. If there is frost damage, invite divine arts practitioners to use fire to get rid of the frost."
"Your Majesty, these are words of the devil!" A civil official stepped out of from the ranks while trembling with anger. "Your Majesty, what Palace Grandee said are words of the devil, this would damage the country and hurt the people. He should be executed on the spot!"
Emperor Yanfeng smile. "His sentences were very correct, so why are they words of the devil? Those aren't words that would damage the country and hurt the people, but instead, they are good words that would heal the country and save the people. Your position is revoked, go home and reflect on yourself. Minister Qin, what other good strategies do you have?"
Qin Mu pondered and said, "Your Majesty can also make Minister of Sky Supervision watch the weather of all area. During flood years, we can store the rainwater into spirit treasures like the bottle gourds. During years of hurricane, we can store the winds inside spirit treasures. We can store tornadoes, hails, lightning—all of them for our own usage. If we meet with years of drought, we can release the rain, and if we fight with other countries, we can release the hails, snow, lightning, and tornadoes. This way, we could deal with our own weather and attack the enemy countries. The snow disaster just now came close to destroying such a glorious empire like Eternal Peace, so if this kind of meteorological divine art was used on an enemy country, which one would be able to withstand it?"
"You Majesty, controlling the meteorology is defying the heavenly laws, these are words of the devil!" Another civil official stepped out of the ranks and kowtowed repeatedly until his head bled. "These are words of a true devil and will really destroy our empire! Your Majesty, please quickly kill this demon of the devil path!"
"You're removed from your position."Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and smiled. "If you don't have any ideas, don't spout rubbish and slander Palace Grandee. What's the point of me giving you a high salary every month? This snow cloud is the one destroying our empire! Men, drag him out. Palace Grandee, talk is easy, action is hard. You shall follow me for the disaster relief."
Qin Mu hesitated and said with embarrassment, "I still have to go home for New Years… I can recommend some people who could help Your Majesty."
Emperor Yanfeng laughed out loud and felt that the dark cloud which had shrouded his heart had dispersed. He waved his hand. "Approved. That's fine, I'm in need of people now and if the people you recommend are really useful, I won't leave you wanting."
Duke Wei's heart trembled slightly. "Heavenly Devil Cult is going to enter the imperial court… Come to say of it, I'm now the heavenly king of Heavenly Devil Cult and have long entered the imperial court. This young cult master really knows how to curry favor. With Imperial Preceptor not in the imperial court these days, he took the chance to plant his men. If Imperial Preceptor were to stay away for a few years, I'm afraid even the emperor would become part of Heavenly Devil Cult! Where exactly did Imperial Preceptor go? He went on such a long tour with his wife and doesn't even bother to come back when such a huge thing has happened…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"This cloud is big enough yet not big enough. This cloud and snow in Eternal Peace Empire are more like a warning."
In the west, on majestic Mount Meru, the golden-topped Great Thunderclap Monastery stood tall. It was situated atop the layer of clouds, and Old Rulai looked towards the territory of Eternal Peace Empire. He could see the sun shining with a golden brilliance, which made the sea-sized cloud abnormally bright.
"Once, in the long history of Great Thunderclap Monastery, we have witnessed such a meteorological attack."
Below Old Rulai's seat, the numerous bodhisattvas, venerables, arhats stood in great numbers and listened to his words.
"That meteorological attack was even larger than this one. It came with heavy snow and a similar dark cloud. The people had no way to make a living, which resulted in natural disasters year after year, and only god knows how many people died. Venerable Ku, go and fetch the Emptiness Era Mourning Emperor Scriptures from the Depository of Buddhist Texts and flip it to the one thousand and three hundred and sixty-seventh page."
A monk with a worried frown stood up and went away. After a moment, this Venerable Ku carried over a thick scripture and flipped to the page which Old Rulai had mentioned. "Emptiness Era, Mourning Emperor Year 6420, changes in the meteorological phenomenon, snow fell for thirty days, cloud covered eighty thousand miles, no sun could be seen. Starving people were everywhere, bandits rose in all places, and Mourning Emperor ordered the gods and dragon kings to get rid of them. Mourning Emperor Year 6430, meteors descended from the sky, meteor shower was like a flood, volcanoes erupted in tens of thousands, the earth trembled, and a thousand of fissures opened up, drying up the rivers. The ocean was emptied. The next year, the sun disappeared, there was no light from the two heavenly bodies…"
Behind Old Rulai, the hearts of Teacher Poor and the rest trembled heavily as they cried out, "Rulai, this is…"
"Great Ruins."
Old Rulai turned his head back and looked towards the vast uncivilized territory behind Mount Meru. "This ancient scroll records the last moments of the divine kingdom of Great Ruins. The heavy snow and the dark cloud were merely the first warnings. However, the warning now is much earlier than I expected. Earlier, and lighter. It seems like Eternal Peace Empire's doings have caught the eyes of the ones above."
Teacher Poor, True Lord Tian, and the rest were blown back, and they muttered, "Great Ruins…"
"If the emperor wants to quell this disaster, the only way is to stop the reform immediately and surrender himself, begging forgiveness from Heaven and his people."
Old Rulai looked away with a deep gaze. "Otherwise, this snow disaster will only be the start; there would be even more terrifying meteorological phenomenon following after. And they will no longer be just snow and a dark cloud. They'll consist of meteor showers, volcano eruptions, dried up rivers and oceans, the vanishing of the sun and the moon. This is the wrath of Heaven, the anger of Heaven that the people have to bear. This is too much…"
"Rulai, Eternal Peace Crown Prince has sent a person to seek an audience with you."
Old Rulai was slightly stunned, then he smiled."This Highness has still come to find me. Invite him forward."
"At your command."
Old Rulai smiled at the monks surrounding him and said, "His Highness is quite extraordinary, and he might even be the saviour of the world. The emperor might be obstinately clinging to his course, but the crown prince is not the same. His envoy should be worth meeting."
Dao Sect's Kunlun Jade Void Mountain was called Jade Void Paradise and was like a world unto itself. The four seasons on the mountain were like spring and seemed like a sacred ground for immortals. It was no inferior to Mount Meru.
"The cloud covering Eternal Peace is a serious yet not overly dangerous warning. It is much more trivial compared to the destruction of Great Ruins," Old Dao Master said to the Daoists of Dao Sect with a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow. "Our Dao Sect was against Eternal Peace Empire's reform not for our own personal gain, but for the Dao. That reform ruined too many rules and too many principles, so it was destined to fail. It's a pity Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's knowledge was too shallow, and he didn't understand the great terror that would descend."
His gaze was deep, but he had an air of calmness as he said slowly, "Back then, when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was still young, he had come to Dao Sect to meet me. I could see that he was out of the ordinary and had high expectations for him, so I had allowed him to browse through the legacy scriptures of our Dao Sect, hoping he would have success in the future. As for sectarian bias, that was thrown to the back of my head. For such a talent, I naturally had to discard sectarian bias and groom him to the best of my ability. When he had become the imperial preceptor, my expectations turned into disappointment. Why? It's because Dao models itself after nature."
Most of the experts of Dao Sect sat and listened quietly.
"Dao models itself after nature, so we Daoists can summon the wind and the rain, but we can't change the wind and the rain nor can we change the nature and the great Dao. I actually had no prejudice against Heavenly Devil Cult; on the contrary, I still admire some of its doings. However, our paths are different. Why so?"
Dao Master shook his head. "Dao originates from nature yet Heavenly Devil Cult wants to use the Dao to change the nature. This is the biggest difference between our Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Cult. This is also the reason why Heavenly Devil Cult is being referred to as the devil."
Most of the Daoists of Dao Sect were slightly shaken. Dan Yangzi said, "I've observed the disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult using spells to move the clouds and spread the rain. During periods of drought, they would make rain fall and collect money from the farmers. There were some people using drilling spells to create wells, solving the problem of having no drinking water. There were also people who would use true fire to smelt ores and retrieve the metal to forge farming equipment for sale. There were even some devil cult's disciples that collected money from farmers to hunt down demon beasts. Heavenly Devil Cult is indeed going against the nature which Dao originates from, changing the nature."
Dao Master said, "Using the path, skills, and divine arts for the common people is to change the nature, to destroy it. Changing the nature and destroying the nature is changing the great Dao and destroying the great Dao. Heavenly Devil Cult's teachings are wrong, so they can only move into the devil path. Another of their teachings is to act straightforwardly, to follow the course of nature. This means to let one's desire run wild and do as you please. If this isn't what a devil does, then what is a devil?"
He sighed and said, "Imperial Preceptor is too deeply influenced by Heavenly Devil Cult which is why he has used Heavenly Devil Cult's ideology to run a country. The disasters that Great Ruins experienced will also come to Eternal Peace Empire. This is the punishment of Heaven, the calamity sent by Heaven. Be that as it may, the people are innocent."
Dao Master softened his tone then. "You all shall go down the mountain. The punishment from Heaven that the emperor and Imperial Preceptor have invoked shall not be bore by the people. Go and help the commoners that are in trouble and save as many people as you can. When you save the people during your travel, you can also find youths with good foundation and continue adding more descendants to our Dao Sect."
"At your command."
The experts of Dao Sect all went down the mountain.
Dao Master looked up at the cloud above Eternal Peace Empire and sighed. "This shouldn't be bore by the people… If Imperial Preceptor and the emperor still obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way, my Dao Sect will have no choice but to enter the secular world."
Qin Mu contacted Left and Right Guardians and passed down his decree, "You shall assist the emperor in sending disaster relief and storing away the dark cloud in the sky. You can send our disciples to the south to help get rid of the frozen crops and replant them. Many people will die in this snow disaster, so just do your best and save as many people as possible. Also, make sure that our disciples remain careful, since there will definitely be riots with such a disaster around. The world will certainly not remain at peace."
"At your command."
Left Guardian Ning Daochi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sacred cult master, what identity shall we assume to assist the emperor? If the emperor confers a title on us, shall we accept it?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment. "Assist the emperor with your own identities and with the power of the sacred cult. If the emperor confers a title on you, just accept it. If the emperor can tolerate Imperial Preceptor, he can tolerate us too. We are part of Eternal Peace Empire, so there's no need for paranoia."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Even if the world is in chaos, the divine art practitioners who are used to being high at the top will definitely not be willing to become like our Heavenly Devil Cult and serve the ordinary people, helping them in their need. Imperial Preceptor had once said that he killed a batch of contrarians, but he still couldn't kill all of them. After killing one batch, there would be another batch. I had thought Imperial Preceptor was joking, but it seems like it's true."
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the dark cloud in the sky and said with a smile that wasn't really a smile, "This snow and the dark cloud have created a disaster that can destroy the country, yet they are still thinking about what is devil-like and what is not. Not once did they think about helping the people. They're probably too used to being high at the top and think that helping the commoners is an insult to them, so it's the devil path."
He shook his head. "These kind of people aren't few in number, and there are probably extremists among them who would take this chance to rebel or even target our Heavenly Saint Cult. You two must be careful!"
"Cult master, don't worry. Our cult does not have an undeserved reputation for standing tall until now, not crumbling under the so-called orthodox path!"
The two guardians bowed and left.
Qin Mu composed himself and raised his head to look at that dark cloud above Eternal Peace Empire before shaking his head and returning back to Imperial College. Hu Ling'er, dragon qilin, and Dutian Devil King were already waiting on the ship.
Qin Mu said, "We should buy some New Year's goods on the way back to the village. I'm afraid there might no longer be anything in Border Dragon City. With Eternal Peace Empire in such a precarious situation, I reckon there will be much fewer merchants over there."
Dutian Devil King raised his head and sized up the sky while chuckling. "Your world is going to be in trouble, this heavy snow and dark cloud has shrouded the entire territory of your Eternal Peace Empire, right?"
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly, and he asked politely, "Lord Devil King, what wise opinion do you have?"
"Kneel down and lick my toes, then I will tell you!" Dutian Devil King said, acting high and mighty.
Qin Mu threw a glance at Hu Ling'er, and she opened the compartment in the chest area of the eight-armed god statue. She sat down inside and controlled Dutian Devil King to kneel down and stretch his tongue out to lick Qin Mu's shoes.
Dutian Devil King immediately cried out, "Devil can be killed but cannot be humiliated! Stop, stop… I'll say it, I'll say it."
Qin Mu raised his hand.
Hu Ling'er relaxed her control, and Dutian Devil King immediately jumped up. He spat twice and no longer dared to be impudent.
These few days, Hu Ling'er had been oddly clever and messed with Dutian Devil King until he became submissive. He felt that a wise devil knew better than to fight when the odds were against him, so he could only cooperate with the demon fox.
Dutian Devil King raised his hand to wipe his mouth and sneered, "This is the method of a god, and not any normal god. If my true body descended, I could also execute this kind of action and use a meteorological phenomenon to attack, eliminating the entire human race. I could wipe out your race and turn this world into the new Dutian. However, the god that used this meteorological attack seems to be a little gentler, so they didn't land a ruthless blow. I reckon this snow and cloud are merely a gentle warning."
"Warning?"
Qin Mu was stunned. Just a gentle warning?
This gentle warning would probably kill millions of commoners since they wouldn't be able to make it through winter!
He got lost in thought, and his mind ventured to Great Ruins. Because of the decree of a god and a devil, the people of Great Ruins were abandoned and gained the despise of everyone else.
"If the gods and devils don't die, there will be no end to trouble!" Qin Mu said coldly.
"Wife, if the gods and devils don't die, there will be no end to trouble." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood on the clouds high up in the sky while looking at that incomparably vast cloud above Eternal Peace Empire and sighed ruefully.
The woman beside him could only be said to be of average beauty. She wasn't incredibly pretty, but she was not ugly either. She had a pleasant look and was one of the palace maids rewarded to Imperial Preceptor. Among the many of them, she was the only one that became his wife.
The thoughts of this woman were very incisive as she asked, "Husband didn't go back this time, is it because you feel that the emperor can solve this natural disaster?"
"Even if the emperor can't solve it, there will be people who will solve it for him, there's no need for me to return." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled. "Let us go to the Little Jade Capital in the sky."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Little Jade Capital in the sky?
Imperial Preceptor's wife looked up at the sky. It was a very beautiful name.
Jade Capital, a capital city made out of jade, the city where immortals lived. It had no smell of smoke or fire as well as no atmosphere of the mortal world.
"Once, Wanderer Zhen walked out of this mysterious Little Jade Capital to stop me, but it was a pity he failed."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze still held some unanswered questions. "Before he died, he told me that I must go to Little Jade Capital and that there would be things there that might change my thoughts. And now, I'm here."
In front of them, a beautiful paradise that seemed to have come from a fairytale appeared faintly in the mist.
Qin Mu's treasure ship stopped at Fen Prefecture. He brought Hu Ling'er out and bought some New Years goods, filling up the entire ship. Fen Prefecture was still considered peaceful. The magistrate there was gathering divine arts practitioners to create all kinds of spirit weapons before boarding a flying ship to store away the cloud in the sky.
There was already sunlight shining in some areas, and the snow was starting to melt; however, everything looked even colder.
Fen Prefecture produced a lot of strong alcohol, so the people would normally drink it to fight against the cold. Even though it was very chilly, there were many villagers who would go up the mountain to chop down trees to keep themselves warm with the firewood.
In addition, there was an inflation in prices and the goods were much more expensive than they were in the past. Qin Mu was wealthy, so he didn't feel any difference, but Hu Ling'er did a few calculations and told him, "Young master, the prices have multiplied."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and said, "This is sooner than I thought. Stabilizing the prices of goods is the job of Minister of Revenue; it's not our problem. As long as the dark cloud disperses and the imperial court sends disaster relief, there shouldn't be much trouble in the north. I'm just afraid that there will be people creating trouble on purpose."
They didn't buy enough New Years goods in Fen Prefecture, so the treasure ship stopped again at Lie Prefecture. The goods here had also inflated by several times, and there were quite a lot of merchants who started hoarding quite some stocks, waiting for the prices to inflate even more before selling them and making a huge profit.
The magistrate of Lie Prefecture had already started to deal with these merchants, using severe punishments in these troubled times. Most of the merchants who had purposely hoarded their stocks were dragged away to be executed.
After two-three days, Qin Mu's treasure ship reached Jing Prefecture, which wasn't far from Great Ruins. It was around ten thousand miles away and behind quite a lot of the dark cloud, which was like a piece of white paper which had many holes cut out from it. Sunshine shone down through these holes.
This place was much farther, so it had more ground and fewer people. This was why chaos was starting to ensue as mountain bandits started to appear to rob big families. Many poor people could be seen frozen to death on the road as they lay next to an extinguished fire pit.
There were also some escapees pulling their families along in this world of ice and snow. They huddled tightly to one another as they stepped on the frozen river and headed to the south in hopes of finding warmth.
People didn't say anything when someone would fall back from time to time. These people would squat down to gather the tiniest bit of warmth, but once they squatted down, they would never get up again.
The places where the river water accumulated had turned into a large ice mountain which gave off creaking sounds from time to time. Huge chunks of ice would then slide off the body, which looked very terrifying.
Qin Mu saw that there were young people who were proficient in spells among the escapees that were taking care of the migrators. He stopped his ship on the frozen surface and made some inquiries. These young people were the disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult.
"Tell them to stop looking for a warmer climate, everywhere is frozen," Qin Mu said.
"They won't listen."
One of the disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult took off the face mask that was defending his face from the cold and revealed his dark red face. He then told their young cult master under the loud whistling of the cold wind, "Once these people stop, they will have no more hope. If they continue walking, there will still be hope in their hearts that they can find a warm place."
Qin Mu was stunned. He took out some New Years goods that could keep people warm and handed them over to the disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult. This was to have them hand it out to the people in trouble. "With the whole empire in ice and snow, the demons and monsters will also come out to look for food, you guys must be extra careful."
He didn't stay long in Jing Prefecture. His treasure ship rose into the sky and headed to Great Ruins.
The winter in Eternal Peace Empire was outrageously cold, and with the passage of time, it became colder and colder. Soon, numerous icicles hung on the treasure ship, and its speed decreased by a large margin, while the medicinal stones depletion grew greater and greater. Every few thousand miles, Qin Mu would have to stop the ship and knock off the icicles, only then could the speed of the ship increase once again.
Hu Ling'er stood beside the pill furnace and sent medicinal stones into it from time to time. Qin Mu maintained the direction of the treasure ship which was flying very low. He turned his vital qi into Vermillion Bird Vital Qi to surround his body with blazing fire so as to prevent himself from freezing up.
The farther west he went, the more desolate it was. The more desolated it was, the more escapees there were, and the more people were frozen to death on the roads.
Furthermore, desolated places had less divine arts practitioners, so there were more places without sun. These places were still covered by a thick dark cloud which made the weather even colder.
The power of this snow disaster was much greater than Qin Mu had expected. The number of people dying also surpassed his estimations, and the cold was only becoming stronger.
Suddenly, flames burst out from the sky as a huge snake slithered out from the clouds and spewed flames everywhere to force back the cold air.
Demonic aura poured out from the huge snake as it slithered out from the clouds.
Qin Mu's heart leaped, and he immediately pushed the treasure ship to rise, driving into the clouds.
That huge snake looked around with a flirtatious looking man standing on its head. This man then said in doubt, "I had clearly seen that brat's ship just now, so why has it disappeared? Sister Qiu, release the insects!"
Countless insects flew out, revealing a woman standing on a cloud of insects. With a stretch of her finger, the insects could be seen flying off in all directions and tunneling into the cloud.
Qin Mu's treasure ship shuttled through the cloud when it suddenly came face to face with a golden insect. When that insect saw the ship, it was also shocked and immediately halted.
Qin Mu stabbed out with his finger, and his vital qi turned into sword qi and gave off a clink when he stabbed the body of the insect.
However, this insect actually didn't die but turned larger instead, becoming almost three yards long, squeaking as it pounced at him!
Qin Mu's vital qi sunk into taotie's sack, and Junior Protector Sword flew out with a whizz, slicing the huge insect into two. At this moment, a chuckle reached him. "So the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult is here!"
Qin Mu looked towards the source of the voice and saw the clouds behind him turning red. He immediately knew it was bad and shouted out, "Ling'er, turn up all three pill furnaces to the maximum!"
Boom!
Huge flames burst forth and swept through the cloud, striking the bow of the treasure ship. Qin Mu immediately grabbed the helm of the ship so that he wouldn't be thrown off.
The treasure ship swayed and almost fell off the sky from this divine art. The bronze beasts below the ship spewed fire at their maximum power which increased the flying speed by a lot. In a few breaths' time, they flew out of the cloud and broke into fresh air.
"So cold!"
Icy wind bombarded Qing Mu in the face, and he shivered from the cold. The Vermilion Bird Vital Qi around his body was cooled, and icicles soon covered his face and hands.
A huge bang rang out as the treasure ship surpassed the speed of sound.
Hu Ling'er turned off the pill furnaces at the bottom of the ship, and the flames spewing out from the bronze beasts' mouths became shorter. She said, "Young master, we don't have many medicinal stones left!"
Qin Mu looked back and saw flames pouring out from the clouds. A huge snake flew out, having followed the brilliant gold swarm of insects which were rushing over here. However, their speed was much slower than that of the treasure ship.
Even though the treasure ship's speed was slowed, they could still forget about catching up to it.
Qin Mu calmed down and used his vital qi to wrap the ship before entering the hold. "How many medicinal stones do we have left?"
Hu Ling'er was still busy pouring the medicinal stones into the pill furnace and could only pout at him.
Qin Mu looked over and frowned slightly. He saw that almost all of the baskets were empty, besides one and a half. The medicinal stones used for Eternal Peace Empire's flying ships were all specially prepared and wrapped in kraft paper. They just needed to throw in packets after packets in, and they would be able to maintain the flight of the flying ship.
They had bought over a dozen basket of medicinal stones which should have been enough for them to fly to Great Ruins. However because they kept stopping on the journey to melt the icicles, their stock has been depleted.
Hu Ling'er said, "The weather is too cold. If we push the power of the pill furnace to its maximum, I reckon we won't be able to make it to Great Ruins."
At this moment, violent tremors came from the treasure ship, and Qin Mu immediately walked out of the hold. Just as he popped his head out, he immediately closed the door of the hold. Clink, clink, clink. A series of concentrated attacks rang out as over a dozen flying swords stabbed into the hold of the ship.
Qin Mu pushed open the hold of the ship and saw a sword pellet in the sky whirling about. The deck and hold of the ship were filled with flying swords which were trembling as they tried to pull themselves out to return to the sword pellet.
Hack Sword Form!
Qin Mu raised his hand and cut down. Junior Protector Sword hacked down, splitting the sword pellet. It exploded, and a hundred broken flying swords fell from the sky.
"Superb sword!" a voice said, and Qin Mu looked towards its source only to see a scholar running towards them through the sky ten thousand feet above them. His speed could make anyone's eyes go wide-open.
"Heavenly Devil Cult's Cult Master Qin, your identity is revealed and you have a bumpy road ahead of you!"
That young scholar leaped forward as though he was flying and divine arts would explode behind him from time to time, pushing his ahead again and again. His voice came over steadily as he smiled. "There are many Dao friends waiting for you in front!"
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, and he stretched his hand out. Junior Protector Sword swept over with a cold light towards the young scholar. This person had loose sleeves which he used to welcome Junior Protector Sword; however, when his sleeves got pierced by the sword light, he couldn't help being astonished. He immediately flicked his fingers, and another divine art burst forth from his fingertips, turning into numerous sparrows that carried flames and collided with Junior Protector Sword.
Qin Mu's sword finger whirled and turned into Spiral Sword Form, shredding all of the sparrows and turning Junior Protector Sword bright red from the heat. However, the sword continued to spin and move around that young scholar, until he was left bare, with no clothing left.
"Superb sword skill!"
The young scholar immediately stopped and distanced himself from the treasure ship. Qin Mu felt that the range in which he could control his vital qi thread had reached its maximum, so he took out the sword sheath and gave it a shake in the wind. The sword sheath turned into a fish dragon and Junior Protector Sword came flying back like a shooting star, getting swallowed by the fish dragon.
"Amitabha!"
A name of buddha came from the sky, and Qin Mu hurriedly raised his head to take a look, coming face to face with the dazzling sunlight. Among the blazing sunlight, he could faintly see a huge buddha shining with a brilliant golden color. It was descending from the sky straight towards the treasure ship!
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and Junior Protector Sword flew out once again, transforming into Drill Sword Form to stab at the huge buddha descending from the sky!
"Vajra Unbeatable!"
A shout came from midair, and Qin Mu instantly felt the movement of Drill Sword Form becoming incomparably sluggish. Immense pressure came down on him and traveled through his body and onto the treasure ship. The bones in Qin Mu's body creaked from trying to withstand the pressure, and the treasure ship also gave off a creaking sound as well as sank down.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"This monk is an expert!"
Qin Mu grunted and his body trembled as he turned into the form of Mars Sovereign who had a bull's head and stood on two dragons. Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique circulated according to Mars Fire Marquis True Technique, and his vital qi increased exponentially to counter the pressure from above.
The third bull's eye in the heart of his brows opened up and shot a beam of fire upwards. A grunt came from above as the huge sun behind the head of the huge buddha was pierced by the beam and shattered. The huge buddha disappeared and turned into a young monk.
The pressure on Qin Mu lessened by a lot, and the blazing fire around his body quickly flowed throughout the entire ship to melt away the icicles on it.
The speed of the treasure ship increased exponentially as it entered the cloud layer and continued forward. In midair, the tall and sturdy monk held a nine-ringed monk staff while standing on one leg. Blood dripped from the other leg as he looked around.
He had executed Vajra Unbeatable Technique earlier to take Qin Mu's Drill Sword Form head on and the leg which had blocked the young man's sword move was mangled. Vajra Unbeatable Technique was not able to block Drill Sword Form completely.
Qin Mu had then turned into the form of Mars Sovereign which managed to destroy the buddha in which he had transformed by using Vajra Unbeatable Technique, forcing him to have no choice but to retreat.
"Over there!"
The eyes of the tall and sturdy monk lighted up, and he exerted his strength to sprint on the clouds. Every time he took a step forward, a white lotus would appear underneath his feet. They would then have a footing, which allowed him to burst forward with more power.
Among the sea of the cloud, the treasure ship was faintly discernible. Qin Mu looked back and saw the monk chasing after quickly, his speed not slow in any way.
These people who had ambushed him were all experts. There was no need to talk about Long Jiaonan and the woman with the surname Qiu, for they were both divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm. That scholar earlier and this young monk were no ordinary people as well.
The scholar had his sword pellet destroyed by Qin Mu, yet with no spirit weapon, he could still receive the attack of Junior Protector Sword barehanded. Even though his clothes were torn into pieces, he was not injured at all.
Junior Protector Sword was the sword of a first ranking official of the imperial court. Even though Qin Mu couldn't unleash its full power, the sword was still incomparably sharp. For that scholar to be able to protect his body, he was certainly very strong.
This tall and sturdy monk was also ridiculously strong. One could see how solidly he had trained his body when he could take Qin Mu's Drill Sword Form head on and only suffer a hit to one foot.
If Qin Mu hadn't realized that the sun behind his head was the crucial point of Vajra Unbeatable Technique, the treasure ship would have probably been crashed into the ground under the pressure!
Even though these two people were not experts of Seven Stars Realm, they were at the peak of Six Directions Realm.
The monk's leg might have been injured, but his speed was still very fast. He seemed to be slowly catching up to the treasure ship.
"Ling'er, increase the speed!"
Hu Ling'er heard Qin Mu's order, and the speed of the treasure ship gradually increased, distancing them from the monk. When that monk saw the treasure ship going farther and farther away, he stopped chasing and exclaimed in admiration, "What a fast ship!"
Qin Mu saw the situation and his heart sank. That monk and scholar had both stopped chasing him which meant that they were sure that he would definitely be unable to escape their ambush.
This told him one thing - there were more experts ahead of him!
The treasure ship sailed forward for a moment before slowing down again. There weren't many medicinal stones left, so if the pill furnace continued burning at full power, the medicinal stones would be wasted and the ship wouldn't last till Great Ruins.
"As long as we fly out of the area covered by the cloud, we will be in the territory of Great Ruins. At that time, we won't be far from the village, it will be just a little over a thousand miles away."
Qin Mu dispersed the form of Mars Sovereign and came to the bow of the ship to take a look. He still couldn't see an end to this sea of the cloud.
The speed of the treasure ship now was still very fast, but the cold air bombarding him in the face was still bearable. At this moment, he saw a strange sight above the incomparably bright sea of the cloud. About a dozen miles away from him, colorful lights whirled continuously, shining in all directions.
As the treasure ship got closer, Qin Mu saw that the source of these lights were pillars of ice. They were like huge ice swords, and when the sunlight shone on them, colorful lights would be refracted, making them look dazzling in the sea of the cloud.
Every one of the ice swords was extremely thick and could only be hug by over a dozen people.
If these were used as swords, the only ones who could use them would be the incomparably huge giants.
The ice swords seemed to be growing from the sea of the cloud, but the weird thing was, they spun upright, refracting all kinds of lights from the sunlight. It was thus evident that these swords hadn't formed naturally.
Qin Mu's expression changed slightly, and he steered hard to the right. The flying ship that was constructed out of metal tilted so much that the deck was almost vertical to the sea of the cloud. The ship slid at an astonishing arc and sailed past the pillars of ice.
"Ling'er, pill furnaces to full power!" Qin Mu shouted out, and Hu Ling'er's grumbles came from the hold of the ship. "Young master, you keep wanting me to turn on full power, but if we continue like this, we really won't make it back to Great Ruins. There really aren't that many medicinal stones left…"
Qin Mu ignored her grumbles and turned the steering wheel back to let the treasure ship regain its balance. To his left, the huge ice swords suddenly moved. It looked like a giant with multiple arms had suddenly pulled them all out. The huge ice sword sliced through the air and gave out loud whistles as they slashed towards the ship!
The speed of the treasure ship suddenly increased, and Qin Mu controlled it to avoid the ice swords that were slashing down. He looked back in a hurry and saw a woman in a blue dress standing among the huge ice swords. She was very beautiful but had an icy cold look as she walked among the ice swords.
Her vital qi was water blue. She had used her vital qi to transform into over a dozen arms which continuously did stabbing movements. The huge ice swords would then follow and do the corresponding moves!
"Luckily, she can't catch up to me…"
Just as Qin Mu thought this, the speed of that woman in a blue dress suddenly increased as she sprinted over through the cloud.
As she sprinted over frantically, her arms continued flailing about, and Qin Mu was stunned for a second. Suddenly, a huge boom came from the bottom of the ship, and it trembled violently as it tumbled in the sky, almost throwing him off!
Qin Mu grabbed onto the helm of the ship for dear life, and when the treasure ship finally stopped, he saw the ice swords forming around as they popped out from the cloud's surface. The treasure ship had collided with one of the ice swords earlier. Even though that ice sword had been shattered into pieces, the treasure ship was also badly damaged.
"The ability of this woman is extremely high and is even greater than that of the monk earlier. Her speed is also extremely fast!"
Qin Mu controlled the treasure ship to avoid the ice swords, but with more of them growing from the sea of the cloud, avoiding them became a challenge.
Qin Mu shouted angrily, "Where's Dutian Devil King?"
"What are you calling me for?" From the hold of the ship, Dutian Devil King walked out lazily with a look of 'even if you kill me, I'm not going to help you'.
Qin Mu saw him looking like this and vented his anger on him. "Do you want to kneel down and lick my toes again? If you don't, you better come and help!"
"You think I'm scared of you?" Dutian Devil King sneered, but he still walked over. "I'm the ruler of Dutian, after all; if you want me to save you, you better say please."
Veins popped out on Qin Mu's forehead. "Please!"
Dutian Devil was pleased and smiled. "There will also come the day when you will lower your head to me…"
He saw that Qin Mu was about to blow up and immediately hid his smile. Devil language resonated from his mouth, growing more and more urgent. This eight-armed and four-faced devil king raised his arms high up in the air, and a black mirror appeared in the sky above the flying ship.
A thick pillar of black light came shining down from the black mirror and onto the sea of the cloud. It looked like a basin of water had ink poured into it. The black fog swept in all directions, and in the blink of an eye, black smoke covered a radius of over a dozen miles. It even covered the woman in a blue dress.
In the black smoke, the woman grunted and felt her heart become disorderly. All kinds of impure thoughts poured out of her heart, and even a crystal clear Dao heart could not withstand it and become corrupted.
Her Secrets of Hatred Parting Heavenly Sword separated passion and hatred from her emotions while suppressing all kinds of impure thoughts in her heart. Only then could her Dao heart become one with the sword heart, transparent and pure. Now her sword heart was contaminated by ink, and the devil in her heart acted up, filling her heart with all kinds of desires.
"What a pity. If I had enough time, I could train this ice mountain like woman to lick my toes in just half a day's time." Dutian Devil King sighed.
Buddha voice came from the devil fog as that tall and sturdy monk arrived. He used his nine-ringed monk staff without any explanation. Light burst forth from the staff and shone in all directions, splitting the devil fog apart and driving it away.
When the monk drove the devil fog away, he suddenly found a hot figure falling into his arms, and his buddhist heart almost fell into a mess. The person who had dropped into his arms was none other than the ice cold woman of Passion Parting Palace. At this moment, her clothes were half unbuttoned and she was close to stripping herself naked.
The monk immediately pushed her away and shouted, "Senior Sister Yu, you have fallen into the spell of the devil path, are you not going to wake up?"
That woman in the blue dress, Yu E, was loudly shouted at with his buddha voice and the devil in her heart was dispersed. She instantly came back to her senses, and her face became beet red. She immediately covered herself up and said, "I'm embarrassed, I fell under the spells of the devil path and let them escape."
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu is naturally proficient in spells of the devil path, to bewitch people's hearts and spoil their cultivation!" The young monk trembled his monk staff, and the golden rings swayed, helping her suppress her heart devil. "However, with this little monk here, he can't overdo it!"
Yu E shook her head. "His ship is too fast, it won't be easy to catch up to him if he escapes."
"There's no need to worry, Senior Sister Yu. He can't run away." Behind them, the young scholar caught up and said, "Poor Logic Sect's Teacher Poor's disciple, Scholar Lan Yu greets Senior Brother Ban Chi and Senior Sister Yu. It's not just us who are hunting this Heavenly Devil Cult Master. Almost all the people with the same standing as us have made their move. They have laid down an inescapable net, so he won't be able to run away."
Monk Ban Chi was about to say something when he saw a swarm of insects surging over. Among them was a huge red snake controlling demon gas and slithering over. Its speed was extremely fast, so it would reach them in no time.
"It's Senior Sister Qiu Yue from Three Wonder Castle and Dragon Rider Sect's Young Master Long Jiaonan." Scholar Lan Yu took a look and said, "Long Jiaonan's temper is queer and nasty. He likes men and chased me around for half a day when he saw that I was handsome. Let us not meet with him."
At this moment, countless sword lights crisscrossed in the cloud far away, looking extremely dazzling. Monk Ban Chi's eyes lighted up, and he said, "I wonder which sword sect's expert has intercepted Heavenly Devil Cult Master, let us hurry over!"
Everyone immediately agreed, ready move out, when they saw a person jump on the cloud like an ape as he chased after the treasure ship.
"Duke Ape Sword Sect's expert, young swordsman Yuan Shan!" Lan Yu recognized that person and immediately shouted out, "Senior Brother Yuan Shan, it's impossible for Heavenly Devil Cult Master to escape, so why don't we encircle and annihilate him together!"
Yuan Shan stopped in his footsteps and waited for them to catch up. "There's a treasure sword in the hands of Heavenly Devil Cult Master, so my sword pellet was destroyed by him. His ship is also weird, it's not made out of wood but metal. I stabbed it with thousands of swords yet I was still unable to destroy it."
"It's made out of black iron," Yu E said. "When it collided with Hatred Parting Ice Sword, it didn't shatter, but Hatred Parting Ice Sword shattered instead."
"An iron shell ship that's flying in the sky?"
Everyone looked at each other in dismay. How was such a heavy ship flying?
Lan Yu took a look behind, and his expression changed slightly. "Long Jiaonan is here, let us leave quickly!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu shook Yuan Shan off his trail and immediately checked his surroundings. Thousands of holes had been opened up in his treasure ship by the flying swords, and it was leaking air in all places.
Yuan Shan from Duke Ape Sword Sect was nimble, and both his movements and attacks were all very agile. His sword skill was also abnormally sharp, but luckily, the body of the ship was made of black iron, so it was pretty sturdy and managed to withstand the attack of this sword skill expert.
However, since the air started to leak through the hold of the ship, it slowed down.
Furthermore, the bow of the ship had collided with a huge ice sword which created a huge opening. When flying forward at full force, the wind poured into the body of the ship which slowed it down a lot.
"If I could stop, I could fix this in half a day, but these fellows won't give me half a day. Luckily we are not far from Great Ruins now."
Just as Qin Mu thought this, Hu Ling'er's voice came from below, "Young master, the head of the bronze beast below the ship has been severed, is it important?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and said, "It's not important, the landing will just be a little bumpy."
The little fox popped her head out from the hold of the ship and asked with shiny eyes, "How bumpy?"
Qin Mu asked her puzzlement, "What are you asking this for?"
"We are out of medicinal stones," she said loud and clear. "Young master didn't notice? Our ship is gradually descending, so we'll soon fall from the sky."
Even though the treasure ship was still flying forward, Qin Mu now noticed it beginning to descend into the sea of the cloud.
He immediately decided, "Ling'er, wake up that pig, it's time for him to contribute!"
Dutian Devil King went into a fury. "Rascal, who are you calling a pig? I've clearly contributed!"
Hu Ling'er rolled her eyes at him. "We aren't talking about you, yet look at you admitting you're a pig. Young master was talking about Fatty Dragon. Fatty Dragon, wake up, stop sleeping. The ship is falling and young master said it's going to be a little bumpy!"
The dragon qilin slowly got up and crawled out of the hold slowly. His belly was dragging against the floor, and he grumbled, "You were still calling me Big Dragon the past few days…"
"Can he even fly?"
Qin Mu was a little worried. He quickly checked all the New Years goods in the hold of the ship and stored them inside his taotie sack. He then grabbed Dutian Devil King, thinking to stuff him in as well.
However the mouth of the taotie sack wasn't big enough, so he could only fit in a leg.
Qin Mu was thinking of dismantling the body of this devil god, but Dutian Devil King said angrily, "What are you doing? Don't dismantle me, my consciousness now resides in this body and if you dismantle it, my consciousness will be dismantled as well… Don't you know how to use this sack? Use your vital qi to light up the mouth of the taotie…"
Qin Mu's eyes brightened up, and his vital qi poured out and lighted up the taotie markings on the sack. Suddenly, the opening of the taotie sack became larger and turned into the huge mouth of a taotie. The mouth had a radius of twenty yards and could swallow Dutian Devil King whole.
"This is indeed easier to use."
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. He tied the sack to his waist and jumped on the dragon qilin's back with Hu Ling'er before shouting, "Abandon ship, let's go!"
Fire clouds grew under the feet of the dragon qilin, and he rose from the ship, which sunk into the cloud and started to fall.
The dragon qilin said simple-mindedly, "Cult master, Sister Ling'er, have you guys grow fatter, it's much harder to fly than before."
"The one that's fat is you!" the little fox said angrily. "Look at how fat you are becoming! The elders in young master's family are very fierce, if you continue to be so fat, you will be slaughtered for the New Years!"
As she was saying that, the treasure ship crashed into a mountain and shattered into pieces. The three pill furnaces exploded and three loud explosions rang out. The shattered black iron and black copper shot off in random directions, and the violent impact destroyed part of the forest. A huge mushroom-shaped black smoke billowed out above the sky of the forest.
Hu Ling'er jumped in shock and looked towards Qin Mu. "Young master, you said it would be slightly bumpy when descending?"
"Yes."Qin Mu nodded and shouted out, "Fatty Dragon, if you don't run faster, you'll be eaten for New Years!"
The dragon qilin gave a cold shudder and immediately began sprinting with all his might. The fire clouds under his feet grew in size and became even more intense, increasing his speed exponentially. However, after running for a dozen miles, he began panting without end.
At this moment, dozens of mirrors appeared around the dragon qilin.
These mirrors had risen from the peak of the mountain below them. Each mirror had eight corners which whizzed around them. The mirrors became larger in the wind and had a radius of three yards. Currently, they were three hundred yards away from them.
The dragon qilin saw that the situation was bad and immediately descend. However, there was also a mirror coming from below which blocked his path.
The dragon qilin was about to run upwards when a mirror also came from above.
A sword light flew out from the mountain and hit one of the mirrors with a clink. The mirror then reflected the sword light onto another mirror.
With the mirrors shining the light from one to another, more sword lights came from the peak of the mountain below and got reflected. The sword lights grew in number, and in an instant, they became a net which was extremely concentrated.
But from the peak of the mountain, there were even more sword lights flying over.
"What a weird formation skill!"
Qin Mu's hair stood up on end. This was a kind of sword formation which used mirrors. They reflected the sword light, concentrating so that there was nearly no sword light wasted!
"However, it is also easy to destroy this sword formation. I just need to destroy these mirrors."
Qin Mu raised his hand, and Junior Protector Sword slashed towards a bright mirror. However, countless sword lights hit Junior Protector Sword and blew it away!
The sword tumbled and fell into the forest below.
"His cultivation is much higher than me, I reckon he is a divine arts practitioners at Six Directions Realm or Seven Stars Realm."
Qin Mu's heart sank. He took out the sword sheath, ready to take back Junior Protector Sword. The area in which the dragon qilin could move became smaller and smaller. He suddenly swayed his head and opened his mouth to roar. His roar was like ten thousand heavenly thunders exploding at the same time, shattering the mirrors in the sky all at once!
Without the mirrors to rely on, the incomparably dense sword net instantly vanished.
An astonished voice came from the mountain below. "What a powerful brute, to have such a strong ability!"
When the dragon qilin heard the word brute, he couldn't help becoming furious and spewed a ball of flames towards the peak of the mountain below. A sword light flew off to the side from there. It was a human and a sword as one that had avoided the dragon qilin's attack.
The peak of the mountain exploded and the clouds of fire that surged forth in all directions separated the human and sword, throwing them into the forest.
However, that person was still not dead, for he rose into the sky again. A mirror hung horizontally in front of him, and once a light shone out from within it, a pillar-like sword light shot out.
The dragon qilin ran away, leaving the sword light behind himself.
However, that sword light was faster than the dragon qilin and managed to catch up to him. The dragon qilin shook his body, growing larger in size as he revealed his true form. He turned into a behemoth that was over a hundred and twenty yards long, and with a sweep of his incomparably huge tail, the sword light was shattered into pieces.
The swordsman was stunned for a moment, then cried out, "What a huge brute!"
The dragon qilin turned his head back. He spewed a beam of blazing fires out. That swordsman knew that it was anything but good and immediately rose into the cloud above to dodge this attack. However, he soon saw the brilliant beam slicing apart the cloud with its intense heat.
A miserable shriek came from the sky, but they didn't know if the swordsman was still alive or not. Sunlight then came scattering down from the hole in the thick cloud.
"Fatty Dragon is so awesome!" Hu Ling'er praised.
Qin Mu looked at the cloud which was sliced apart and had a worried expression.
Among those that had chased after them just now, the ones with the highest cultivation were Long Jiaonan and the woman with the ice cold expression from Passion Parting Palace. They were both of Seven Stars Realm. The next came the monk, the scholar, and the rest whose power was between Six Directions Realm and Seven Stars Realm.
These people were just the vanguard and their task was to test, to test if there were any experts around Qin Mu.
He was the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult after all, so there would definitely be guardians or other strong existences around him.
Now, the dragon qilin had been found out by them.
The power of this blow from the dragon qilin was not something that Long Jiaonan and the rest could handle. This meant that the stronger existences would now have to make a move.
Qin Mu continued to flee for life, not stopping to fight Long Jiaonan and the rest because he wanted the hidden experts not to be able to guess if there were any experts accompanying him. If they couldn't guess, they could only keep letting Long Jiaonan and the rest test him, giving him the chance to enter Great Ruins.
That would be the safest for him.
Now that the dragon qilin had made a move, this chance was lost.
The experts of Heavenly Devil Cult were ordered by him to send disaster relief, so there was no guardian accompanying him.
"The distance from here to Great Ruins is already less than a thousand miles, let's run!" Qin Mu let out a deep breath and said in a low voice, "The closer we are to Great Ruins, the safer it'll be."
The dragon qilin had an enormous stature, and his speed greatly increased from before. Even though he still had a huge tummy and panted heavily, he ran like flickering light and passing shadows.
In no time, this behemoth had run over a hundred miles under the cloud without meeting anyone. Suddenly, Qin Mu said, "Stop and land at the mountain below."
The dragon qilin stopped and shrunk his body, landing among the mountains below. He came to a snow-covered valley, where snow was three yards deep. The mountain range around was all pure white and looked very desolate. There were no buildings in sight.
Blazing flames surrounded Qin Mu's body and melted the snow in the valley, letting him see the skeletons that covered the bottom.
This place was probably an ancient battlefield where a bloodbath had once occurred. He had used his Green Heaven's Eyes to take a look around and saw the overflowing grudge from this place which was why he chose to stop here.
"Let's meet these existences that are chasing me, the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, right here and see how much stronger they are!"
Qin Mu hardened his heart, and his vital qi burst forth. Countless bones piled up one onto another and soon formed four white bone-altars.
He took out the four devil god sculptures which he had hid inside taotie sack and placed them on the four altars. He then took out the talisman treasure of Great Mountain Sect and started to cast his spell.
Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command of Great Mountain Sect!
These four sculptures were sculptures of Dutian's devil gods. Dutian Devil King had made him carve out five devil god sculptures to scheme against those devil gods that weren't willing to follow his orders. However, Qin Mu had only summoned one of them, so he still had four of the devil god sculptures.
"Rascal, if you summoned my true body, I could help you kill all of them!" Dutian Devil King's said in a fierce voice from the taotie sack.
Qin Mu ignored him, and cryptic devil language rang out. The talisman treasure swirled as more and more runes on the first devil god sculpture lighted up. Qin Mu gradually built a connection with a devil god from the other world, and with himself as the bridge, he contacted the other in Dutian.
"You're truly from the devil path, hiding here to summon devils," an ancient voice stated. "You guys frequently say that you aren't a devil cult, so tell me, how is what you are doing now different from what a devil would do?"
An old Daoist walked over with a horsetail whisk in his hand and a sword on his back.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu wasn't affected by his words and continued to summon his devil. Suddenly, blood light burst forth and shone on this valley that was covered by snow like it was dyed with blood.
That blood light overflowed into the sky and the crackling sparks turned into coiling lightning which burst forth in all directions. The lightning struck the walls around the valley and melted the heavy snow. Even the rocks were melted and turned into lava which flowed down the walls.
The lightning that coiled around the blood light formed a net which crackled as it moved. A terrifying devil energy came bombarding from the other world and struck the sculpture which was on the altar.
The wooden sculpture instantly ruptured and swelled, becoming taller and taller while its aura grew more and more terrifying!
Dutian Devil King's angry and anxious voice came from the taotie sack on Qin Mu's waist, "Rascal, you had held back when summoning Kyahe Devil God, didn't you? Your summoning of the Disaster Devil God this time is much more powerful!"
He wronged Qin Mu this time.
Even though Qin Mu had known much of the devil language when he was summoning Kyahe Devil God in Imperial College, he had not mastered it completely. After the days that had passed by, he had digested the devil language he had learned when he had made the Pact of Earth Count with Dutian Devil King. As he mastered more of the devil language, the devil god he summoned would naturally be stronger. He hadn't been holding back the previous time.
The old Daoist saw this terrifying sight and lost his earlier composure. His expression changed slightly, and he sent out the horsetail whisk. "Go!"
The horsetail whisk became longer in the wind, and each and every hair turned into a fine sword that was dozens of yards long in an instant. The hairs spread out in midair and looked like a swirling white umbrella from afar; however, it was countless times larger.
The danger posed by the horsetail whisk was extremely high. Each hair had become a fine sword, and the finer they were, the harder to defend against they were!
The speed of the horsetail whisk was extremely fast, and it sliced apart countless bolts of lightning. The old man instantly appeared in the sky above the valley and struck at the terrifying devil energy that was coming from the other world!
Qin Mu felt the devil summoning getting intercepted and shouted out. The dragon qilin rose into the air and gave an angry roar. His roar rushed towards the horsetail whisk and messed up its hairs. The devil energy which had gotten intercepted flowed through once again and continued to pour over.
When the old Daoist saw the dragon qilin, he was delighted and sneered, "Hairy brute, if you help a villain do evil, a calamity will befall you, even if you do it unaware. I see you are handsome, so if you are willing to submit to me and be my mount for a hundred years, I'll allow you to wash away your sins. Otherwise, it'll be hard for you to keep your cultivation from turning into ashes!"
The dragon qilin blew up. He snarled,"Brute?" Flames accumulated in his open mouth and turned into a beam that shot towards the old Daoist!
That old Daoist's body trembled, and his vital qi burst forth to form a tortoise-backed god behind him that was thirty yards tall. The horsetail whisk in his hand was a huge snow white snake and his other hand stretched out to block the beam that the dragon qilin had spewed out.
The beam was sent to the side by the huge hand, and the overflowing flames scorched the walls of the valley red.
"Celestial Being?" Qin Mu's heart sank.
The four hooves of the dragon qilin moved up and down, and fire clouds grew under his hooves as he sprinted towards the old Daoist. Suddenly, the horsetail whisk in the air swept downwards, and the hair coiled around the four hooves of the dragon qilin, tying them down tightly.
The old Daoist was very delighted and smiled. "Little brute, aren't you going to submit? Do you want to be killed?"
At this moment, Qin Mu patted his taotie sack, and the mouth of it grew bigger. An eight-armed and four-faced devil god mechanism leaped out, and on his eight arms were eight treasures. There was a guqin, a bead, a bow, an arrow, a sarira, a broken sword, a Devil Subduing Pestle, and a Thousand Banners Pagoda. These were the treasure which Qin Mu had stolen from Rolan's Golden Palace.
When Qin Mu had placed Dutian Devil King who was worried about not having a suitable weapon into the taotie sack, the latter swiftly grabbed the treasures to hold onto. Now that he was released, he naturally understood what Qin Mu wanted of him - to assist him in this fight.
Dutian Devil King was perfectly clear of what he should do next. If he stayed beside Qin Mu, Qin Mu might still leave him alive. However, if the kid was killed, he would definitely die too if he landed in the hands of the old Daoist.
For the migration plan of the people in Dutian, he had to fight this old Daoist as if his life depended on it.
The treasures Qin Mu had stolen from Rolan's Golden Palace were all treasures on the level of sect legacy treasures and had strong power. As the biggest sacred ground beyond the Great Wall, the treasures that could be kept by Rolan's Golden Palace were naturally no small matter. However, Qin Mu had no time to cultivate with these treasures.
Once Dutian Devil King took hold of them, his murderous nature surfaced, and his four faces all looked fierce as he thought to himself, "If I catch this brat off guard and kill him, I'll be free! However, if I think about it, this body of steel is filled with traps created by the brat. If I killed him and the traps got activated, I would be trapped inside this devil god sculpture and be unable to move… Let me get rid of this little old Daoist first!"
The sound of guqin rang out, and waves of devil voice burst forth. The soul of the old Daoist got bombarded, and he felt his soul stirring as the heart devil in his Dao heart rose up. He immediately gave a shout and did a cleansing mudra to suppress them.
The tortoise-backed god apparition raised its hand, and the white snake horsetail whisk rose. Huge waves suddenly overflowed into the sky and crashed down against Dutian Devil King.
The four faces of Dutian Devil King shouted ferociously, and the power of the eight treasures in his hands burst forth, smacking the huge waves that were crashing down on him. An earth-shattering bang rang out, and Dutian Devil King flew backward, crashing hard into a cliff.
The white snake horsetail whisk opened its mouth wide and smashed against his body, nailing him on the mountain.
"Little Daoist, you have no idea how terrifying the ruler of Dutian is, you have angered me!"
The cliff exploded, and Dutian Devil King flew out from the shattered mountain. He shook the Thousand Banners Pagoda, and the thousand banners fluttered, turning into a three thousand yards pagoda which pressed down on the old Daoist.
The old man sneered, and the god behind him said a mudra, smacking both Dutian Devil King and the Thousand Banners Pagoda off the sky and onto the floor motionless.
Right at this moment, the intense blood light and the devil energy in the air suddenly vanished. On the white bone-altar, the bear-headed devil god sculpture turned into a three hundred yards tall devil god which gave off a world-shaking bellow. "Weaklings of this lowly world, prepare to welcome the wrath of Great Devil God Xiongpi… Eh, Old Man Dutian!"
Devil God Xiongpi looked at Dutian Devil King who was under his feet and couldn't help laughing out loud. "Old Man Dutian, for the supreme ruler of Dutian to actually be suppressed to such a state! Our Dutian has become what it is today because of a ruler as useless as you! Such a trash like you should just give up the position of the devil king!"
Dutian Devil King was ashamed and angry. He was about to get up when Great Devil God Xiongpi looked at him from above and stepped down on him with a chuckle. "You also have this day, tyrant. Devil summoner, what do you plan on sacrificing to me for summoning me out?"
"Him!"
Qin Mu pointed at that old Daoist and Great Devil God Xiongpi sent a punch towards the old Daoist. The tortoise-backed god apparition behind him raised its hand to block, and a dull boom rang out. Qin Mu was left muddle-headed by the aftermath while the old Daoist got blown backward and smashed into the cliff on the opposite side.
Great Devil Xiongpi leaped and punched the body of the old Daoist with a malicious smile. "Delicious weakling, eh?"
A sword light showed up behind him and stabbed his heart from the back. The sword went deep enough to come out on the other side, its tip visible on the devil's chest. It had been the old Daoist who had used a hidden treasure sword to succeed in hitting him.
"Not bad. However, this body isn't what you think it is!"
Great Devil God Xiongpi smiled maliciously and raised his fist to smash the cliff. "This body is merely a devil god sculpture, so even if you behead me, you won't be able to do anything to me!"
"Is that so?"
A voice suddenly came from behind, and Great Devil God Xiongpi immediately turned his head back. A sword light circled around his neck three times, and his huge head instantly fell from his neck.
"Daoist Ku Ye, this stupid disciple has arrived late."
The sword light flew up and landed on top of a cliff where stood a scholar whose green clothes fluttered in the air. His gaze landed on the headless body of Great Devil God Xiongpi before moving over to Qin Mu's body, whom he greeted respectfully. "Poor Logic Sect's Subordinate of Teacher Poor Lu Wenshu pays respect to Heavenly Devil Cult Master! Heavenly Devil Cult's Master is a senior, so it isn't overboard for a junior to make a move on the senior, is that right?"
Great Devil God Xiongpi's head flew up and landed back on his neck as he smiled. "Another everyman has appeared."
Qin Mu shook his head with a calm expression. "Teacher Poor is of the same generation as me, so him only sending you and not making a move himself is already underestimating me."
Lu Wenshu said leisurely, "It's not that teacher doesn't want to personally meet Heavenly Devil Cult's Master, he just has something else to attend to save all the people in the world."
"To assassinate the emperor?" Qin Mu asked. "Imperial Preceptor gave Old Rulai the face to let him save Teacher Poor and the rest. Old Rulai also gave his word that Teacher Poor will become a monk and never dabble in the worldly affairs anymore. Why has he gone back on his words?"
Lu Wenshu's expression became stiff, then he suddenly laughed. "For the lives of the people in the world, why can't he go back on his words?"
Qin Mu turned his head back to have a look and saw a Daoist nun coming from the other mountain. She was wearing a white Daoist robe, and a plum blossom was embroidered in front of her chest.
"Wanderer Qing Yu of Spirit Bloom Palace greets Heavenly Devil Cult Master," she said.
Qin Mu smiled. "Why does a wanderer have to greet?"
That Daoist nun said solemnly, "Even though you're an enemy, etiquette musn't be lost. Little cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, you might resent us for bullying the weak, but you are the cult master of the number one sacred ground of the devil path, after all. Your seniority is higher than ours, so this cannot be really considered as bullying the weak."
Qin Mu gave a slight smile and said, "Not a problem, not a problem. Who else wants to kill me?"
"I'm here to kill you."
A magic cloud floated over and an arhat landed on top of a mountain. Prayer beads hung on both his hands, and each one bead was as big as a human head. He put his palms together and said, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master has an extremely high position so little monk is here to enlighten you and subdue the devil. May Heavenly Devil Cult Master give your guidance."
"The cult master of the number one sacred ground in the devil path shouldn't fear an additional person such as me, right?" Another person came to the peak of another mountain wearing tattered clothes which were filled with holes. However, he was high spirited and laughed loudly with heroism reaching the clouds.
"I'm a subordinate of Beggar Sect's Master Qi Dayou. Lotus Hall Master Luo Sanpo greets Heavenly Devil Cult Master. I'm here to claim the cult master's life. That's right, cult master seems to have a little fox demon that has offended Sect Master Qi, and Sect Master Qi said that she must be killed."
Hu Ling'er immediately hid behind Qin Mu, only her head popping out secretly. "Your Sect Master Qi is really petty, he's impotent!"
Luo Sanpo pointed at her and smiled. "That's the little fox! Everyone, for me to be able to encircle and annihilate Heavenly Devil Cult Master with all those in the righteous path of the martial world is truly a lucky chance and also a joyous event! Let us call this convention of ours the Assembly to Slaughter Devils and Defend Dao!"
"Assembly to Slaughter Devils and Defend Dao? Great name!"
In the mountain, Daoist Ku Ye crawled up and spat out a mouthful of blood. He then sat down on the cliff to regain his breath. "If we can manage to annihilate Heavenly Devil Cult Master and return peace to the world, our investment will be worth it. Everyone, for the righteous path!"
On the peak of the mountains around him, emotions surged forth to the bosoms of all the great experts of Celestial Being Realm, and they shouted heroically in unison, "For the righteous path of this world!"
"Kill!"
The five great experts were full of vigor, and their vital qi burst forth. The apparitions of gods appeared behind them, and each of them unleashed their strongest move as they unleashed their attacks towards the valley!
Right at this moment, Great Devil God Xiongpi roared angrily, and all the energy in his body exploded!
"Boundless Heavenly Devil!"
Qin Mu immediately brought Hu Ling'er to hide behind the dragon qilin as a terrifying quake shook the valley and loosened mountain rocks, resulting in them falling from the sky and shattering into powder. Even with the dragon qilin blocking most of the sight, Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er still felt an unimaginable pressure on them. Their bones creaked from it.
All the great experts of Celestial Being Realm vomited blood and fell backward. It was unknown whether they were still alive or not.
Qin Mu popped his head out from the back of the dragon qilin and saw Great Devil God Xiongpi standing alone majestically. Hu Ling'er was surprised and delighted. "Xiongpi is so powerful!"
Suddenly, Great Devil God Xiongpi's body started to crumble and break, inch by inch. They could hear the great devil god muttering, "The energy is depleted. It's a pity I can't harvest these sacrifices, but luckily I managed to see how pathetic Dutian Devil King is… Devil summoner, I'm off!" When he was done, his body exploded with a bang as his consciousness returned to the other world.
Hu Ling'er was stunned when they heard the coughing of Luo Sanpo and the rest coming from the valley. The experts hadn't been killed by Great Devil God Xiongpi.
"Young master…" Hu Ling'er turned her head and looked at Qin Mu.
"It's fine."
Qin Mu rose and patted off the dust on his body. He pulled up Dutian Devil King who was crushed onto the ground and threw him onto the dragon qilin's back. The youth was in high spirits as he put the three other altars into his sack and shouted, "Fatty Dragon, run!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Fire clouds grew under the dragon qilin's feet as he rose into the sky and ran out of the valley. Wanderer Qing Yu sat down and raised his hand to smack forward. Lightning surged forth instantly, and countless bolts of lightning coiled in the air like a green dragon which rushed towards the dragon qilin.
Wanderer Qing Yu suddenly vomited blood, and his palm trembled. The thunder in palm missed its target and blew a huge hole in the mountain in front of the dragon qilin.
Qin Mu was shocked. The power from the divine arts of these existences of the Celestial Being Realm was astonishing despite them being injured. If his group got hit, they would definitely die miserably.
Lu Wenshi, Arhat Pu Shan, and the rest stood up shakily, forced to vomit blood. They couldn't help feeling a lingering fear as they had all underestimated the Great Devil God Xiongpi that Qin Mu had summoned, which resulted in all of them being severely injured in one blow. If Daoist Ku Ye had not interfered with Qin Mu's summoning once, the Great Devil God Xiongpi would actually have been even stronger. If that happens. At that time, all of them would not have been enough to kill it!
"Shall we give chase?" Lu Wenshu asked in a low voice.
At this moment, Daoist Ku Ye sat in the lotus position. With his breath shallow, he smiled miserably. "This Old Daoist will not be able to subdue devils with fellow Dao friends. My life-force has been broken by that devil, this mortal flesh is no longer useful…"
Everyone was sorrowful.
Daoist Ku Ye chanted softly, "Life is but a withered leaf, falling gently on the Yellow Springs at its end. Fellow Dao friends, you must execute that Heavenly Devil Cult Master. I want to see him on the road to the underworld. I shall go first…" When he was done, he departed this life.
Lu Wenshi cried out loudly, "Take care, Dao friend! We will definitely send this devil to meet you!"
Arhat Pu Shan sighed deeply, with evident disappointment and frustration. Placing his palms together, he said respectfully, "This life is but a mortal flesh, which you should shed to meet Rulai. Godspeed, Dao friend."
"Godspeed!" Wanderer Qing Yu said while shedding tears.
Luo Sanpo said, "That dragon qilin's footsteps are very fast. We need to catch up soon; otherwise, it will be bad if he will summon a second devil god!"
Lu Wenshu murderous spirit was awakened. "He won't have the chance! There are even stronger existences waiting on the road ahead!"
Even though he had said so, everyone suppressed their injuries and consumed spirit pills to heal them somewhat as they rushed in Qin Mu's direction.
Qin Mu took out a white bone altar and placed it on the dragon qilin's back as he tried to summon the second devil god. However, since the dragon qilin was sprinting, the journey was slightly bumpy, and it was easy for the talisman treasure to shine on the wrong rune on the devil god sculpture. If a rune was wrong, everything he did would be wasted, so he could only give up.
Qin Mu checked, but there were no injuries on his body. Hu Ling'er was also not injured. The dragon qilin had thick skin and flesh as well as dragon scales to protect him, so he hadn't gotten hurt, either. Only Dutian Devil King was a little deformed from the beating.
Qin Mu used Vermillion Bird Vital Qi to scorch the body red hot before adjusting the deformed limbs. Dutian Devil King was so ashamed that he kept silent. Being despised by Great Devil God Xiongpi and getting stepped on by him was a great humiliation.
Qin Mu distinguished the terrain and took out Eternal Peace's geographical map for comparison. He let out a sigh of relief and said, "This place is already close to Great Ruins. With dragon qilin's leg power, I reckon we can make it to the border in another half a day. However, it'll be impossible to go past Secret Waters Pass."
After getting chased, the route had already deviated away from Secret Waters Pass. He was also very far from Eternal Border Pass.
"What I can do now is to take the passage which my cult has used for smuggling."
Qin Mu thought for a moment. There was a God Broken Mountain Range between Great Ruins and Eternal Peace. Mysterious Pearl Crossbows were lying all over that mountain range, and anyone who tried to cross its borders would be shot down.
Mysterious Pearl Crossbows operated automatically and were rumored to have been created under the decree of a god. Anyone who crossed God Broken Mountain Range—no matter if they went through the mountain or over it—they would be shot to death.
Heavenly Devil Cult had once run smuggling operations and had a passageway through God Broken Mountain Range which passed by Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon, allowing one to go to and fro from Great Ruins and Eternal Peace. There were two Mysterious Pearl Crossbows there that had been destroyed by Heavenly Devil Cult; however, the inn owner of Border Dragon City had said that the passage had been abandoned for many years.
Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon was the only way Qin Mu could enter Great Ruins.
"The pursuers shouldn't know about this passage."
Qin Mu roused his spirit and suddenly burst out laughing. "It's so hard to just go home for New Years, it's almost like there's a whole army charging at me!"
He had learned martial arts from the people in the village and also inherited their positive attitude. Even though he had met countless ambushed on the way, he still maintained a positive attitude. Affected by his emotions, the dragon qilin and Hu Ling'er were also more relaxed.
The sky turned dimmer in time, and the surroundings became even more desolate. After traveling for quite a long time, not a village could be seen.
"Barging into Great Ruins at night is definitely a sure death path. I have to wait for morning to come."
They got closer and closer to Great Ruins. From their current position, they could already see the black figure of God Broken Mountain Range, which was like a high wall stretching from the earth to the heaven in front of them.
The God Broken Mountain Range which stretched for god only knows how many thousands of miles was incomparably difficult to cross even without Mysterious Pearl Crossbows.
Qin Mu was thinking of finding a place to settle when the light of a lamp caught his attention below. It was a village which had lighted up their lamps when night fell.
"Young master, be careful of a trap."
Dutian Devil King sneered. "We can't see a village in a radius of a thousand miles, yet one popped out here of all places. Naturally, it's a trap."
Qin Mu said, "Fatty Dragon, continue walking, ignore it."
The dragon qilin stepped on the fire clouds and continued to head towards God Broken Mountain Range. After a dozen miles, another light came from a village near the border. The lamplight there was dim, and there were only a dozen houses.
The arrangement of the houses and the position of the light given by the oil lamp was exactly the same as that small village's earlier!
Qin Mu's pupil contracted slightly, and he said solemnly, "Continue walking."
The dragon qilin continued forward and saw that village after walking another dozen miles. The houses, lights, and all the arrangements were exactly the same, without any changes!
The dragon qilin felt something was wrong and ran forward with all its might. After traveling hundreds of miles, they met over a dozen such villages, and all their arrangements were the exact same!
The God Broken Mountain Range also seemed as far as before. After sprinting a few hundred miles forward, they should have already reached the bottom of the mountains by now, but the distance between them never seemed to change!
"This person is not ordinary, he can fold the space." Dutian Devil King was completely disheartened. "Rascal, you can't escape."
"We'll enter the village!" Qin Mu said ruthlessly.
The dragon qilin and Hu Ling'er jumped in fright. Truly angry, Qing Mu growled, "I shall kill whoever dares to block my way home for New Years! Enter the village!"
The dragon qilin descended, and his body shrank, returning back to normal. Qin Mu jumped off the dragon qilin's back while Hu Ling'er hung around his neck like a scarf made from fox skin. Dutian Devil King followed behind him and looked around with his four faces cautiously.
Qin Mu walked towards the village entrance and saw that this village was very normal. There were flagpoles at the entrance, and under them were the stone stumps for horses. The village was very serene, with a dog barking at them, looking very fierce with its snarling teeth.
The fox on Qin Mu's neck secretly opened her eyes and scared the dog. The wooden door opened up and an elder walked out while raising an oil lamp. The dog came to the back of the elder and grew courageous again, starting to bark once more.
Qin Mu had a gentle expression and greeted the other, "I was passing by when I saw your treasured land. The sky is turning dark and there's no place for me to rest around here, so Heaven took pity on me by letting me meet elder. Could elder accommodate us by giving us a place to rest?"
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master is too courteous."
That elder had long and narrow facial features with his white eyebrows drooping lowly. "The village is very small, but we have many empty guest rooms. If cult master doesn't despise it, he can find a house to rest in.
The fox fur on Qin Mu's neck exploded as it trembled uncontrollably.
Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin were astonished. This white-eyebrowed elder didn't even bother to cover anything and referred to Qin Mu as Heavenly Devil Cult Master. It was obvious he had no intention to hide and disdained covering up the truth.
Their act of going in circles on the spot was probably the doing of this elder!
Qin Mu said his thanks and asked, "Elder, how many people are in this village?"
The white-eyebrowed elder said, "Currently there's only a human and a dog; however, I have hung lamps in each and every one of the rooms. In a bit, the villagers will hurry over, and when that time comes, there will probably be a grand celebration which will be quite noisy. Heavenly Devil Cult Master please don't turn your back away. All of us are just coolies, people who sell our lives for labor and don't know any etiquette. May Heavenly Devil Cult Master pardon us."
"Not a problem, not a problem." Qin Mu bid farewell to the white-eyebrowed elder and came to the center of the village. He chose the biggest courtyard and said, "Elder, please return. We will stay here."
The white-eyebrowed elder beamed at him. "Have a good night, Heavenly Devil Cult Master."
"Thanks for your blessing."
Qin Mu pushed opened the door, and the smile on his face immediately vanished. He said quickly, "Don't speak and enter the main room to sleep. No one shall open their eyes!"
The dragon qilin and Hu Ling'er didn't understand what he meant. Dutian Devil King said, "This old thing has ill intentions…"
Qin Mu made a convenient pluck, and Dutian Devil King became motionless. Qin Mu opened the door to the main room and threw the machine on the floor and shut all of its twelve eyes.
The dragon qilin squeezed in while breaking the wooden door, both of whom collapsed to the ground.
The dragon qilin wanted to say something, but Qin Mu did a shush action and signaled for him to close his eyes. Hu Ling'er got down from Qin Mu's neck and climbed onto the dragon qilin's back to shut her eyes.
Qin Mu opened up his taotie sack and took out a scroll. He closed his eyes and nailed a painting on the wall so it faced the entrance.
"Grandpa Cripple said that this painting is of Village Chief in his early years and it can drive away evil. Let's see if Grandpa Cripple lied to me or not."
He lay down and turned his body to the entrance, his eyes staring wide open.
All of the surroundings were silent.
After a while, the sound of footsteps came from outside, and he heard a somewhat familiar voice which seemed to belong to Lu Wenshu. "Senior Qing Shan lighted the lamps in the night to summon us over, so could it be that you have found Heavenly Devil Cult Master?"
A woman said, "We are ashamed to say that we weren't able to kill him even after all the chasing and Daoist Ku Ye even suffered under his treacherous hands, dying by a devil god he had summoned." This seemed to be the voice of Wanderer Qing Yu.
The white-eyebrowed elder spoke next., "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is sleeping in the village."
"Senior Qing Shan is still the best! Let me go and kill him right now!"
"There's no hurry, let us wait for our other fellow practitioners before taking his life and celebrating this great victory!"
…
A moment passed, and there was another dozen footsteps. When everyone heard that Heavenly Devil Cult Master was in the village, they couldn't resist cheering and laughing as the weight lifted off their shoulders.
There were sounds of people drinking outside, with the lamps brightly lit all around them. It was obvious that these strong practitioners were celebrating.
"Even though Heavenly Devil Cult Master's abilities aren't strong, he has many tricks up his sleeves and is truly difficult to deal with. I'm ashamed to say it, but we were injured and almost killed by the devil god he had summoned."
"Getting rid of this devil today will be considered as returning justice to the world. Come, cheers!"
"Senior Brother Feng Qiwu is here? Come, come, let us celebrate ridding the world of this devil!"
…
The lights outside were very bright, and the shadow of the window frames in Qin Mu's house flickered non-stop. The weather was very cold, and Qin Mu could see Hu Ling'er shivering, so he stretched his hand to place it on her little tummy.
Hu Ling'er turned her head back, and Qin Mu hurriedly stretched out two fingers to cover her eyelids.
Outside, many experts who had intercepted Qin Mu were rushed in one after another from all places, and the laughter grew louder as they exchanged cups of wine and celebrated. After some time, they heard the white-eyebrowed elder say with a laugh, "Everyone, the night is late, it's time to send Heavenly Devil Cult Master on his way."
Hu Ling'er trembled as she heard the door to the courtyard creaking open. However, she didn't dare to open her eyes.
Lu Wenshu walked into the courtyard first, smiling. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is actually asleep, deep asleep…"
Suddenly, his head slid off his neck without any warning, and his corpse collapsed to the ground. A great expert of Celestial Being Realm had died just like this.
"There's an expert in the courtyard! Brother Lu was killed!"
Commotion broke out outside the courtyard, and a boom was heard as the strong practitioners broke through the wall of the courtyard and barged in. Flames blazed around their bodies, and behind them were the apparitions of gods with aura overflowing into the sky.
Just as they landed on the ground, their heads suddenly slid off their necks. Even though they all had great abilities, they still died inexplicably.
It was as if there was a formless god swinging his formless sword in this courtyard, severing the heads of whoever dared to barge in!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In the main room, Hu Ling'er was sprawled on the dragon qilin's back. From that position, she sneakily opened her eyes to see the heads rolling off.
It was a queer sight. There was clearly no enemy, but when the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm stepped into the courtyard, they would immediately die an unnatural death!
The others reacted as if they had met a great enemy. A Celestial Being Realm practitioner gave a shout, and his sword qi covered his entire body like frost as he entered the courtyard. With a wary gaze, he swept his eyes everywhere.
His sword skill was intricate, and there were countless sword lights swimming around his body like incomparably fine fishes.
The method he had taken was a passive one to defend one's self. With thousands of fine sword fishes which contained his incomparably dense cultivation swimming around him, he could have them immediately counterattack when met with hostility and deliver a killing blow!
He had no choice but to do this since the enemy came and went without leaving any traces or shadow, so he couldn't see where the enemy was exactly and how he had made his move. With so many strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm having lost their lives here, it was just too strange.
He didn't meet any danger right away, but he didn't dare to let his guard down as he slowly walked towards the main room that Qin Mu and the rest were sleeping in. There, he saw a painting hanging in the room.
Qin Mu had lighted up a candle in front of this painting, lighting it up.
On the painting was the back of a middle-aged man with a sword strapped to it. The middle-aged man's face was slightly tilted as if he was using the corner of his eye to glance at the painter.
That corner of the eye revealed an astonishingly murderous intent.
This lithe glance was captured by the painter who turned it into a painting.
Even though there was only the middle-aged man in the picture, it gave people the feeling that there was an endless amount of information which wasn't drawn, and it lay hidden in the blank spaces around.
This was the conclusion of a terrifying military campaign. Countless corpses of strong practitioners lay at the feet of this middle-aged man, floating in a sea of blood overflowing to the sky. The white bones were dyed red by blood and reflected an abnormal color. Countless lost souls that had died under the sword were captured by the messengers of deaths and dragged to the depths of gloom.
In there, a devil god with two long horns that had nine bends was currently holding a banquet to celebrate the souls of all the strong practitioners becoming his guests and food.
This was the information hidden in the blank spaces of this painting!
In the courtyard, the expert of Celestial Being Realm was stunned when he saw this painting and the person in it. He saw his own head sliding from his neck and felt everything becoming incredibly slow as he fell into a darkness that had no light. He felt himself sinking downwards endlessly, never reaching the bottom of that darkness.
Thump.
His head landed on the ground and tumbled two rounds. His eyes were still staring wide-open.
Suddenly, a huge hand stretched over and grabbed his head.
There were still nine people outside the courtyard who stood there with terror on their faces. Only the white-eyebrowed elder, Daoist Qing Shan, was still composed. He was the one who had grabbed the head of the Celestial Being Realm expert.
He was also the only great expert of Life and Death Realm among all of them.
Daoist Qing Shan looked into the eyes of the expert and let out a deep breath. "Superb sword."
The other eight people immediately looked over and asked in trembling voices, "What did Senior Qing Shan discover?"
"Look at his eyes."
The eight people gathered over and saw that there was a sword light in both the left and the right eye of this expert. The sword seemed to have gone straight towards his face, and in the next instant, the life of this expert had ended!
Daoist Qing Shan lifted the head and looked towards the main room in which Qin Mu and the rest were sleeping. "The sword is from there. What exactly is there?"
He slowly moved his body and found a good angle. Like this, he saw the flickering light of a candle and a corner of a painting. "It's a painting. I can see the corner of the shirt of the person in the painting…"
"Senior Qing Shan, is there a need for such trouble? Won't it be fine just to destroy this entire house and the people inside?"
A strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm suddenly made a move, and his sword pellet rose into the air. A pillar-like sword light came out and stabbed towards the house where Qin Mu and the rest were in with a whoosh!
That sword pillar was incomparably thick, and everything it passed by was shredded to pieces!
This was Spiral Sword Form which Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had founded!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was not a selfish person. The sword forms he founded were mostly passed down, and there were many sword sects in the martial world that cultivated his sword mastery. The person who had made his move just then was one of the professionals!
His understanding of Spiral Sword Form was above that of many others.
This move sword was impressive, and if it swept into the main room, it would definitely grind everything there to powder, removing it from existence. No matter if it was Qin Mu, Dutian Devil King, or the dragon qilin, all of them would be shredded into pieces!
"Don't point your murderous intent at that painting!"
Daoist Qing Shan's expression changed suddenly, and he wanted to stop the other, but it was already too late.
The sword pillar seemed to have met a formless barrier, for it stopped in the air before disintegrating inch by inch. It then exploded with a bang.
A red mark appeared at the heart of the strong practitioner's brows, and a drop of fresh blood dripped out before he collapsed on the ground.
"Be careful, on your guard!" Daoist Qing Shan shouted sternly.
His aura burst forth, and six booms rang out from his body. Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death—his six great divine treasures had opened all at once!
Around him, the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm couldn't maintain their footings and were forced to move back continuously by his overflowing aura.
Whoosh!
Behind Daoist Qing Shan, an apparition of a god that had a dragon's head and a human body appeared. It looked like the god had descended with half of his body still in the void while the other half was stepping into reality.
Daoist Qing Shan grabbed onto a mirror and stared anxiously at Qin Mu and the rest who were still sleeping in the main room before shouting in a hoarse voice. "Aren't you guys going to be on guard? Are you courting disaster?"
At this moment, Qin Mu, who was pretending to be asleep in the main room, narrowed his eyes and saw a human figure floating down from the wall behind him. He could see the shadow of a middle-aged man's back which was elongated by the candle's light.
This middle-aged man that had walked down from the painting was tall and slim and had a treasure sword on his back. He was very quiet and seemed like a spirit with no corporeal body as he floated towards the courtyard.
The figure raised its head to look at the sky and pulled out the sword on its back. The man waved his sword around and sang in a low voice as the sword lights moved while the fishes and dragons danced.
"Sword of Founding Emperor sea of blood, mountains and rivers exist, vast and obscure heart, looking around left and right, no more people donning the clothes of homeland…"
Qin Mu didn't dare to move at all, feeling that there were sharp sword qi and sword lights everywhere in this world that was moving to and fro beside him, swimming in time and space.
He shut his eyes but there were still sword lights flashing in front of his eyes, tearing apart the darkness.
He heard sword qi which was very rapid and fleeting breaking through the air.
He opened his eyes, and there were sword lights crisscrossing everywhere in front of him. Angry shouts came from outside of the courtyard, and a terrifying aftermath suddenly bombarded him. In the dusky night, the other houses of the village flew into the sky, disintegrating and shattering into pieces.
Qin Mu's heart thumped wildly. "Grandpa Deaf had bestowed a soul, he had bestowed a soul to Village Chief in the painting…"
Suddenly, all of the sound and light vanished, along with the low singing voice.
Qin Mu's eyes were half-opened, and he could faintly see a figure walking towards him as if it wanted to return to the painting behind him. Suddenly, that figure fell apart and turned into a pool of ink on the ground.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then immediately opened his eyes. He took a careful look backward and saw a piece of white paper hanging on the wall.
The light from the lamp flickered, while the surroundings were completely silent.
Qin Mu let out a deep breath, and Hu Ling'er opened her eyes and asked in a low voice, "Young master…"
"It's safe now, let's sleep." He then added, "We still need to cross the mountains tomorrow and walk for quite a long time."
Hu Ling buried her head down, and Qin Mu also lay down. Looking at the white paper behind the candle's light, he felt tranquility in his heart.
The next day, Qin Mu woke up and came to the courtyard. The little village from yesterday had turned into a piece of empty land, with no sign of any of the other houses. Only half of their own courtyard remained, with over half of the walls already collapsed. The east room was mostly gone, while the west room's ceiling was missing.
Qin Mu washed up and started making breakfast with his wok. Hu Ling'er adjusted Dutian Devil King's mechanism and ran out with him. While she was out, she cried out non stop in astonishment.
The dragon qilin woke up groggily and took a look outside. He gave a yawn and licked his claws, using them to wash his face before asking curiously, "Where are we now? Where did the village from yesterday go… Cult master, is it time for breakfast? Can you scatter some cumin on my Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills today? I would like a change of taste…"
Qin Mu grabbed some cumin and took out half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, on which he scattered the cumin.
The dragon qilin lowered his head to look at his food before raising his head up in doubt. "It's only half a bucket."
Qin Mu said angrily, "You are so fat that you can't even run now, half a bucket is more than enough!"
The dragon qilin said, "My body is still growing. If you dock my food, I won't be able to grow…"
"Your body is still growing?" Qin Mu blew up and tried to pinch the flesh on the dragon qilin's belly and discovered that he couldn't do it at all. "Your body isn't growing, so it's your fat that's growing. Try pinching yourself and see if you can pinch a fold out!"
The dragon qilin also stretched out his claws to pinch and discovered that he couldn't pinch it as well. "My constitution is one that can grow fats even if I drink cool water…"
Hu Ling'er ran over and said angrily, "Fatty Dragon, you shall drink cool water from today onwards then!"
The dragon qilin immediately protected the Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills in front of him and smiled apologetically. "Aren't I just scared I will starve and want to eat slightly more. Alright, half a bucket it is, no less or else I'm really going to become skin and bones."
Dutian Devil King walked over when he saw that Qin Mu had finished eating and was taking down the painting which was now simple white paper. "This painting was painted by your elder?"
Qin Mu nodded.
Dutian Devil King was silent for a moment, then asked, "The person in the painting is also your elder?"
Qin Mu placed the scroll painting into his taotie sack with a nod.
Dutian Devil King said, "I'm not afraid of them. However, it's by no means a good way to keep me trapped in this devil god sculpture, so why don't you undo the seal so my consciousness can leave your world and return to Dutian to never step onto this land, how about it?"
Qin Mu didn't express his opinion and instead said, "Ling'er, eat faster so we can continue on our journey."
Dutian Devil King's head started to ache.
After Hu Ling'er was full, Qin Mu came forward to help wash the bowls and utensils, then put the cleanly washed bowls and utensils back into taotie sack. He looked at the rations inside and said, "There's enough for us to last till Great Ruins. Lord Devil King, let's go."
Dutian Devil King went after, saying, "I'm not afraid of them. If my true body descended, I would be afraid of nobody…"
God Broken Mountain Range stretched over tens of thousands of miles, and when Qin Mu and the rest reached the bottom its bottom, they could only see the incomparably precipitous mountain range that was hard to cross for even the nimble apes and flying birds.
Qin Mu took out the geographical map of Eternal Peace and carefully searched for something before smiling. "Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon isn't far from here. Let's go!"
Just as he was saying that, a line parted from the dark cloud in the sky, and a huge red snake popped its head out, spewing great flames. The heat scattered the cloud layer in all directions, and a brilliant swarm of golden insects flew out in all directions. Some of them went in the direction of the group of four.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Other people beat the young and comes the old, mine's better, beats the old and comes the young."
Qin Mu sighed ruefully in his heart. It was really good to be Heavenly Devil Cult Master.
Since Long Jiaonan and the woman from Three Wonders Castle had come here, it meant that the other young experts were around too. If Qin Mu was caught by these people, it would be troublesome.
Hu Ling'er controlled the demon wind and swept away the insects that were flying over, sending them far away. "Young master, aren't these people going home for New Years?"
"They probably treat killing me as New Years celebration." Qin Mu shook his head and said, "Other than killing me, they still want to kill the emperor. They definitely can't kill me, but I wonder if they can kill the emperor. After all, the emperor is a much bigger target than me."
Hu Ling'er had handled the situation very well by blowing the insects away. Long Jiaonan and the rest wouldn't be able to find this place and locate Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon.
This place wasn't far from where they were, and Qin Mu started walking towards it. The terrain here was not precipitous like in the other areas; however, there was something different around here. The surroundings were bleak, with no greenery at all.
The entire mountain was littered with withered trees, which were black like the ground. This made people associate it with being bad.
"What if they kill the emperor?" Hu Ling'er asked.
Qin Mu took the first step into Lonely Mountain Ridge, and Hu Ling'er immediately followed up by jumping onto the dragon qilin's back. She then skipped onto its head to look around.
"If they killed the emperor and had the crown prince ascend, Imperial Preceptor's reform will be overturned,"Qin Mu answered. "Imperial Preceptor will then get rid of the crown prince and change to an obedient emperor. But even if Imperial Preceptor doesn't do that, I will do it. I will also invite Imperial Preceptor to become the fourth cult heavenly king since I have reserved this seat for him for quite a long time. However, they will not be able to kill the emperor and Imperial Preceptor will not be willing to be the fourth heavenly king."
Withered trees littered the ground, and there were no branches or leaves. The little white fox was pretty nervous as she felt these withered stems were like razor sharp claws and the warped trunks were like scary faces. All of them terrified her.
"There's blood of a god and a devil here, which tainted this place." Dutian Devil King swatted a few insects flying to him before grabbing a clump of soil and rubbing it. "Strange, this blood is very strange. I can't tell if it belonged to a god or a devil. There are parts of both of them in it. A blood which contained both the blood of a god and the blood of a devil, interesting…"
Qin Mu asked with curiosity, "Lord Devil King, could the blood of a god and a devil have been scattered here at the same time?"
He had seen the blood of a devil god, which was very powerful. He had entered the darkness of Great Ruins with Village Chief back then, and Village Chief had managed to injure a devil god in the darkness. One drop of blood from that devil god dripped onto the soil, and the greenery in a radius of three hundred yards had all withered, becoming much like the situation in Lonely Mountain Ridge.
That was just one drop of devil blood.
Here, however, the entire Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon had been tainted, which showed that there was definitely quite a large amount of god and devil's blood spilled here.
"It's not that." Dutian Devil King shook his head and said, "It's the same type of blood. It's just that this kind of blood contains both god and devil attributes at the same time. Your knowledge is still shallow and can't see the difference between the two options. The blood of a god indicates life, while the blood of a devil indicates death. The blood that was spilled on Lonely Mountain Ridge had both the attributes at the same time, with the god attribute hidden under the soil while the devil attribute was above, killing everything that comes out from the ground. These trees are dead, but their roots are not. On the contrary, they are abnormally healthy and strong. Some might even become spirits by relying on the lifeforce of the god's blood.
Hu Ling'er immediately asked, "Will roots become demons?"
"They will," said Dutian Devil King. "They should become a strange organism which grows many tentacles."
Even though Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon had the name of a canyon, its terrain was quite high. Yet when compared to the mountain ranges beside it, it was much lower.
This black canyon was winding upwards, and the mountain road wasn't easy to walk on. Heavenly Devil Cult must have gone through a lot of trouble to smuggle goods through here.
Once in a while, there would be a black stone tablet on the road which was about a dozen yards high. They contained rune markings, and Qin Mu took a while to identify them. "It's Demon Suppression Runes from our sacred cult. Ling'er, don't touch them, you will be sucked in if you activate them."
Hu Ling'er jumped in shock.
"There are quite a lot of Demon Suppression Stones in Lonely Mountain Ridge, so it seems like Heavenly Saint Cult had spent quite a lot of effort in paving this passage. This also means that there are many demons here which are very terrifying."
Qin Mu counted the number of Demon Suppression Black Stone Tablets he had met on the way, and there were as many as forty-six of them. This was not even half of the journey, so if the stone tablets could only suppress one demon each, that would make forty-six demons this far
However, Demon Suppression Black Stone Tablets were a dozen yards high, so it was impossible that they were only suppressing one demon each. Based on their size, the number of demons suppressed here should be pretty impressive.
They came to the center of the valley and saw a lake there. Snow was everywhere in the mountains, along with cold weather yet there was actually a lake here, which would make people click their tongues in wonder.
There was also an old dried-up tree beside the lake which covered a very wide area. Densely packed stone tablets, which numbered to several hundred pieces, surrounded the tree and the lake entirely!
Qin Mu and the rest jumped in shock. For so many Demon Suppression Black Stone Tablets to be here, could there be a few hundred demons being suppressed here?
Even though Qing Mu was the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, he didn't know much about this passage in Lonely Mountain Ridge. He didn't know what Heavenly Devil Cult had met here back then.
"Could it be a demon country?" Qin Mu muttered. "However, why are there so many stone tablets around this ancient tree? It doesn't seem like many demons are being suppressed, but instead this tree and the lake.
Just as he said this, he suddenly heard a call for help from the lake. The dragon qilin was tall so his gaze went past the black stone tablet when he raised his head. Taking a glance, he said slowly, "There's a woman bathing there."
'Help, help!" she cried out again.
Hu Ling'er immediately jumped onto the dragon qiling's head and looked towards the lake before saying angrily, "Fatty Dragon, is that bathing? She's obviously drowning!"
"It's bathing," the dragon qilin said slowly. "She's not wearing clothes, so she's naturally bathing. Have you seen anyone drown while being naked?"
"Naked?"
Dutian Devil King was surprised and delighted and hurriedly climbed to the head of the dragon qilin to look towards the lake. There was indeed a naked woman drowning in the lake, and he could see her seductive figure struggling in the water. With all the curves, Dutian Devil King got an eyeful and exclaimed in admiration, "This demoness is beautiful! Rascal, come have a look!"
Qin Mu smiled. "There are still pursuers behind, let's go." After he said it, he took a sneaky glance through the gap between the black stone tablets.
"Young master is an upright gentleman!" Hu Ling'er was full of confidence and praise.
"The officials outside, help me!" the woman in the lake cried out miserably. "Quickly push down the stone tablets and save me, I'll then devote my life to you!"
Qin Mu and the rest took a detour around the lake, and Hu Ling'er said loudly, "Demoness, my young master will not be tricked by you. You should know that my young master is the sacred cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult!"
Suddenly, the woman became silent, and a sinister voice sounded out, "Sacred cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult?"
Whoosh!
The water in the lake that was surrounded by the black stone tablets overflowed into the sky as countless pitch black roots came rushing up like tentacles. At the end of each one was a naked woman in her prime of youth. They all looked at Qin Mu, and countless ear-piercing shrieks rang out in the air.
"Heavenly Saint Cult! Heavenly Saint Cult is the one who suppressed me here! They used these black stone tablets to suppress my body, to suppress my legs and my hands—"
Boom, boom!
In Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon, the black stone tablets trembled as a huge body struggled under them, trying to break the seals!
Qin Mu jumped in shock. He had seen so many black stone tablets there were in Lonely Mountain Ridge Canyon and thought they were suppressing countless demons, maybe even a whole country. Never did he think that all these stone tablets were suppressing a single huge demon!
The black tablets trembled continuously, and the soil beside them loosened as if they were going to be uprooted. The runes suddenly lighted up, and the stone tablets suddenly became like huge mountains that were incomparably heavy. They pressed down on the demon of Lonely Mountain Ridge, making it unable to move.
"I want revenge!" In the sky above the lake, the faces of the countless women warped and cried out mournfully, "I want to kill every single person in your Heavenly Saint Cult!"
The black stone tablets around the lake lighted up, and the light from the runes shone on the ancient tree. The tentacles above the lake seemed to be dragged down by a weird force, and the women shrieked miserably. They tried to grab around, but they couldn't get hold onto anything and were gradually dragged into the lake.
"This lake should be the damaged land that received the blood of a god and a devil. That blood was then absorbed by this ancient tree." Dutian Devil King asked in bewilderment, "Why does your homeland have so much strange stuff?"
Qin Mu smiled. "My homeland has much stranger things than this. Let us hurry and walk out of Lonely Mountain Ridge before nightfall so we can find a safe place."
"What a pity." Dutian Devil King smacked his lips and said, "That little demoness was quite pretty, much prettier than the women in my Dutian."
At this moment, Long Jiaonan and Qiu Yue met up with Scholar Lan Yu, Monk Ban Chi, and Yuan Shan while looking for traces of Qin Mu. Suddenly, they felt a tremble coming from Lonely Mountain Ridge, and they all looked towards there.
Scholar Lan Yu cried out, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master went to God Broken Mountain Range? Isn't he afraid of getting shot by the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows?"
Qiu Yue waved her hand, and countless insects flew in the direction of Lonely Mountain Ridge. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is cunning, so if he went through God Broken Mountain Range, there probably is a way to survive there! My insects will find a path, and we shall follow behind!"
Everyone hurried towards Lonely Mountain Ridge while the swarm of insects poured forward. While flapping their wings, they came to the lakeside where they could see demon clouds permeating the air and hear neverending cries of "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, I will kill you, I will definitely kill you and eliminate Heavenly Saint Cult!"
Everyone looked at each other, and Monk Ban Chi coughed, then said loudly, "Demoness, what grudge do you have with Heavenly Devil Cult Master?"
A woman in the prime of her youth revealed her naked body on the surface of the lake while crying pitifully, "Heavenly Saint Cult has been suppressing me here for a few hundred years. The grudge between him and me is as deep as the ocean, and we cannot live under the same sky. If you can save me, I am willing to devote my life to you…"
Monk Ban Chi smiled. "I'm a monk so I don't need you to devote your life to me. You just have to convert to Buddhism and assist me in killing Heavenly Devil Cult Master, then this little monk will break the seal here and release you."
"I'm willing to convert to Buddhism!" the woman cried out in surprise and delight.
Scholar Lan Yu, Yuan Shan, Yu'e, and the rest frowned as they wanted to advise against it, but Monk Ban Chi had already pulled out a black stone tablet and thrown it on the ground. "Fellow Dao friends, this is a demon that Heavenly Devil Cult has suppressed, and since Heavenly Devil Cult belongs to the devil path, the demon they suppressed must be a good demon. Everyone, help me push down all these Demon Suppression Stones to save this friend!"
Everyone could only go forward and push down the stone tablets together.
Boom!
The mountains trembled, and the roots rose up once again. Below the tree, a huge black ball swelled up continuously, becoming bigger and bigger. The black roots squirmed like flood dragons and huge snakes, revealing countless white bones among themselves!
Monk Ban Chi saw these white bones buried under and felt a bone-chilling cold go down his spine.
He suddenly had a thought that this demon which Heavenly Devil Cult had suppressed might not be a friend of the same path. On the contrary, it could be an existence that was even more wicked than Heavenly Devil Cult!
"Quickly run!" Long Jiaonan screeched.
Everyone hurriedly sprinted away in the direction of Great Ruins.
"I'm free, I'm finally free!"
Countless mournful cries could be heard behind them as black stone tablets trembled before collapsing onto the ground. Thick tentacles tunneled out from the ground, waving non-stop. At the end of each root was a beautiful smiling woman. "Heavenly Saint Cult said I had eaten too many humans, so they suppressed me here. Thank you, thank you, little monk. I can finally eat humans again..."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Monk Ban Chi's scalp turned numb. They saw the terrain trembling violently while they were running and countless rocks flying in all directions. Among the rocks, pitch black tentacles tunneled out, which were the roots of the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon.
Heavenly Devil Cult had used Demon Suppression Black Stone Tablets to suppress her roots while the many black stone tablets around the lake and the ancient tree were to suppress her head.
Now that the black stone tablets that were suppressing the head were pushed down by Monk Ban Chi and the rest, the root demon could once again use her strength, which could be said to be terrifying, causing the mountain ranges to tremble non stop.
She used her strength, and the black stone tablets there were suppressing her roots flew up one after another, shattering under her terrifying power!
"How does an ordinary root demon have such strength?" Monk Ban Chi cried out. "Was this tree demon purposefully placed here by Heavenly Devil Cult to harm people?"
Suddenly, thick roots swept towards them, and at the front of each one hung a beautiful woman. "Trying to leave? You guys saved me, and I haven't repaid you guys yet. Why don't all of you stay and become one with me!"
Qiu Yue waved her sleeves, and countless insects flew out towards the roots. These insects grew larger in the wind and became three yards long by the time they pounced to gnaw on the roots. However, the razor sharp teeth of these insects shattered into pieces, unable to bite through.
Qiu Yue jumped in shock when she saw small roots, which then pierced the venomous insects, growing out from the navels of those women hanging on the roots. In an instant, only the shells of the venomous insects were left, while the flesh inside had vanished.
"The venomous insects I raise can even bite through spirit weapons, yet these roots are tougher than that!" Qiu Yue cried out.
A root came from behind them, and Yuan Shan leaped up while holding a sword pellet over his head. He gave a stab and pierced through one woman before spinning his sword to sever her head.
The woman's head fell onto the ground and immediately withered, turning into a black charcoal that was shaped like a head. Meanwhile, the headless woman on the root grew out another head.
Yuan Shan was astonished and wanted to slice the root apart when another one stabbed him like lightning.
He hurriedly executed his sword pellet, wanting to sever the root that was at his back, but his body suddenly shriveled. His flesh vanished in an instant, so only his skin was left.
The other people had originally wanted to save him, but when they saw what had happened, they immediately rushed out of the canyon. Behind them, there were countless black-colored tentacles waving about and stabbing into the two mountains on their sides, pulling the true body out from the ground.
That true body was a behemoth that was like a ball of thread with countless roots hanging down. The movement of this behemoth was too great, which activated the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows that were on both sides of the mountain. The Mysterious Pearl Crossbows detected the lifeforce of this demon and shot at it automatically. Two incomparably thick arrow lights flew through the sky and hit the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon which was like a big black ball.
The demon cried out miserably as if there were countless voices overlapping each other, causing an avalanche around the mountains.
Long Jiaonan and the rest were almost caught by the tentacles when luckily the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows inflicted pain to the demon, which made it retract its tentacles, allowing them to escape.
"These Mysterious Pearl Crossbows can even kill Celestial Beings, so they can definitely kill this demon!"
Everyone let out a sigh of relief, then suddenly saw the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon waving her tentacles to sweep at the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows up the mountains. With a loud bang, one of them was shattered into pieces, and a huge bronze arm rolled off from the top of a mountain.
Next, the Mysterious Pearl Crossbow on the other mountain was also shattered.
The faces of Long Jiaonan and the rest turned ashen. They immediately jumped onto the back of the red snake Long Jiaonan had raised and slithered forward frantically. When they finally escaped Lonely Mountain Ridge, they took a look back. Countless roots that were like black pythons were climbing towards them, and a dull rolling sound could be heard coming from the canyon.
It was obvious that the terrifying root demon was too heavy and was unable to fly. It could only rely on her roots to climb the cliff, pushing herself forward.
This demon was too huge, so when she was moving, her body crashed repeatedly into the two mountains beside her, shaking them.
"Heavenly Devil Cult is truly sinful, to raise such a huge demon to harm people!" It was hard to say if Monk Ban Chi was trembling from fury or fear when he said angrily, "How many people have they killed to be able to raise a demon to this level! I hate how my abilities are too weak to subdue it!'
Everyone knew it was because he felt guilty for releasing this demon that he pushed all the blame to Heavenly Devil Cult. They didn't call him out on it though and said to one after another, "It's lucky that this demon has been lured by us to Great Ruins and didn't go to kill the people of Eternal Peace."
"The people in Great Ruins are all abandoned people and villains that have nowhere else to go. This demon creating havoc in Great Ruins could also be considered subduing devils and protecting the Dao."
Monk Ban Chi's expression softened, and he said, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master must have purposefully made a din to lure us into the valley so he could borrow the power of this demon to harm us. But Heaven helps the worthy, so we have managed to escape with our lives, and he must be disappointed, right?
Just as he said that, the body of the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon squeezed out of the canyon and rolled down the slope, her tentacles flailing non-stop.
Everyone immediately rose into the air and Scholar Lan Yu said solemnly, "This demon can't fly so everyone can be at ease…"
At this moment, a bird cry sounded out, and sharp wind bombarded the youth's face. A huge golden-winged bird flew towards him like lightning, and its two claws grasped onto his shoulders, lifting him away.
Scholar Lan Yu felt pain on his shoulders. His left and right shoulder blades were pierced by the bird's claws. At that moment, he was about to execute a divine art to save himself, but the huge golden-winged bird lowered its head to peck at him. His skull was shattered into pieces as the bird carried his headless body into the depths of a forest.
The group had arrived at Great Ruins, which was a savage land without law.
The strange beasts here didn't care if one was a disciple from a reputable sect or not. In the eyes of these creatures, there was only food and not food.
Qiu Yue said in a panic, "Don't fly in the sky, go toward the ground!"
Everyone immediately landed on the ground and behind them, the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon came chasing over. As they ran for their lives, they passed by a lake, and a huge fish suddenly jumped. It bit onto a young expert, killing them instantly before dragging them into the water.
The Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon came rolling over, and countless roots pierced the lake. The weird fish inside immediately jumped out of the water and followed behind Qiu Yue and the rest. That fish actually ran like it was flying and soon surpassed everyone, stunning them.
After sprinting for over ten miles to avoid the slaughter of the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon behind them, the group saw rows of trees that were uprooted.
"Devil king, Great Ruins are very dangerous, so if you have nothing to do, don't fly in the sky."
Far away, Qin Mu was sitting on the dragon qilin's back and seemed very relaxed. "We have our own unique rules in Great Ruins. You can fly in the sky if you want, but you must fly low and not be too flamboyant. If you think you are capable enough, you can fly slightly higher, but if the territorial strange beasts are not happy, they will come over and eat you."
Dutian Devil King sneered. "Isn't this just the strong preying on the weak? I understand this rule, my Dutian functions under the same rule."
"And also, don't go out when it's dark." Qin Mu had a grim expression. "Unless you have the ability of a god or a devil, don't ever go into the darkness. It will be just a road to death."
Dutian Devil King chuckled. "What's so scary about the dark? My Dutian is already broken to the point where everything is complete darkness. There's light only in some place, and it's where life can still thrive. In the darkness, I'm like a fish in the water. I'll show you how to frolic around at night."
Hu Ling'er rolled her eyes. In the eyes of the little fox, Dutian Devil King was already dead.
Qin Mu continued, "There's no law in our Great Ruins, so no matter who we meet, we must be polite. If we aren't polite and offended someone, it'll be easy for us to be gotten rid of. The more lawless a place is, the more polite people there are. Also, there are some terrifying gods and devils in Great Ruins. Some of them are sealed, some of them are suppressed, and some of them live luxuriously, so don't run around for nothing."
Dutian Devil King jumped in shock. "There are still gods and devils in this world?"
"Quite a number of them. I've met a few before," Qin Mu said. "As long as you grasp the rules of Great Ruins, it's actually a much safer place than Eternal Peace Empire. You can ask Ling'er if you don't believe me."
Dutian Devil King took a look at Hu Ling'er, and she nodded repeatedly with deep sentiments. "Eternal Peace is indeed much more dangerous than Great Ruins. The reason young master came out was to go to Eternal Peace Empire for experience. There's no experience for us in Great Ruins, so you can see how dangerous Eternal Peace Empire is."
Suddenly, an earth shattering boom came from behind them, and Qin Mu turned his head back to have a look. There, he saw countless tentacles flailing in the sky. A black behemoth with a mountain like body was currently rushing over to him.
On those tentacles hung naked women who were smiling weirdly.
"Why is the demoness of Lonely Mountain Ridge released? Who was so dumb?"
Qin Mu turned a cold shudder to the women hanging from the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon, who had already seen him and were rushing over excitedly. Countless strange beasts were also running over in their direction.
"This demon is really courting death, it's really easy to die by rushing headlong in Great Ruins." Qin Mu shook his head. "Even Village Chief wouldn't dare to be so reckless."
Just as he was saying that, the ground suddenly trembled violently, and a huge palm which was covered in golden fur stretched out from underground. Flames blazed around the palm which slammed down forcefully against Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon.
The root demon flew away like a black ball which got smacked, disappearing into the distance.
The strange beasts that were escaping for their lives stopped and turned back to have a look. All of them then returned back to their own territories.
Dutian Devil King was stunned by the sight, unable to say a word.
Qin Mu consoled him, "It's fine, it's fine. Great Ruins are like this. There are often weird things hidden around, but everything will be fine if you enter a temple to offer incense and pay respect to the gods. I reckon that demoness had accidentally come into contact with some ruins and provoked the god there."
Dutian Devil King's body was stiff, and he only let out a shaky breath after some time. "It's too dangerous over here, I want to return to Dutian…"
The devil king suddenly became agitated and broken pieces of components spewed out from his four mouths on his four faces. "How is your goddamn world a secular world? There are demons and ghosts everywhere! I won't invade your world anymore, okay? Let me go, I want to go home!"
Hu Ling'er persuaded him, "Our Great Ruins are really safe, much safer than Eternal Peace Empire. You will definitely be fine if you follow young master."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and his wife had come to Little Jade Capital in the sky a dozen or so days ago. This city in the sky was like a paradise, with sceneries that were rarely seen in the mortal world.
"Has Imperial Preceptor gotten accustomed to here?" a white-robed elder asked with a smile after coming over.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly, "Litte Jade Capital lives up to its name. The sceneries here are extraordinary, which made me enjoy myself so much that I forgot to go home. Even though this place is good, it's far from the human world. My ambition isn't here, and I will still have to leave. May Hermit Qing You please forgive me."
That old Hermit Qing You smiled. "There's no need for Imperial Preceptor to be in a hurry. This hermit has invited Imperial Preceptor as a guest yet I haven't told you about the origins of Little Jade Capital."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said with curiosity, "I'd like to hear the details."
Hermit Qing You led the way as he brought Imperial Preceptor and his wife up a rainbow bridge. This structure was sculpted out from seven-colored jade which stretched across the sky, so standing on the bridge was like standing on a rainbow. When at the center of the bridge, the scenery they could see from up there was different from what they could see from below. They could see that the mountains of Little Jade Capital were arranged into a natural formation in the sky, while the palaces on the mountains were where the immortals lived.
"Little Jade Capital City's origins are even more ancient than Imperial Preceptor must have imagined." Hermit Qing You smiled. "The history here can be traced all the way back to the Founding Emperor Period."
"Founding Emperor?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had indeed not heard of Founding Emperor before and asked curiously, "Which country had the Founding Emperor period? Eternal Peace Empire never had an emperor that was called Founding Emperor."
"Founding Emperor isn't from Eternal Peace, he was from a land which was called Founding Emperor Empire," Hermit Qing You said. "Imperial Preceptor should know that the Founding Emperor Empire is the current Great Ruins."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body trembled slightly as he let out a shaky breath. "Great Ruins."
Hermit Qing You led them across the bridge and towards a mountain of immortals floating in the sky. "Founding Emperor Era is what the Daoism calls it, while Buddhism refers to it as Emptiness Era. Formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness, so Emptiness Era is the fourth one. Now that Eternal Peace is rising, we Little Jade Capital refer to the current time as Eternal Peace Era. During Founding Emperor Era, Great Ruins were prosperous. We Little Jade Capital refer to the huge calamity that wiped out that place as Founding Emperor Calamity. Before Founding Emperor Calamity, there was also three calamities."
The gaze of Imperial Preceptor's wife flickered. "Elder said that the current time is referred to as Eternal Peace Era, so if Eternal Peace Empire is wiped out, are you going to refer to it as Eternal Peace Calamity?"
"Madam is wise." Hermit Qing You smiled and pointed far away. There was a jade mountain floating in the sky, and a few Daoists were currently building a palace there. "That palace over there is to store the history of Eternal Peace Era. When Eternal Peace Empire is wiped out, we can tidy up the coming and goings of Eternal Peace Calamity, leaving them as references for our future generations."
Imperial Preceptor's wife couldn't resist asking, "Elder, what kind of place is Little Jade Capital? Is it good or evil? What intentions do you have for us husband and wife? We have been here for quite a few days, and the elder had let us tour around as much as we wished. Shouldn't it be time for you to say the true intention of Little Jade Capital?"
"We Little Jade Capital have no intentions. We just want to observe Imperial Preceptor, to observe the reform, and record the things that we think will be useful for our future generations." Hermit Qing You smiled. "We call ourselves immortals and not gods because we don't want to interfere with how the world works."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Immortals and gods, how are they different?"
"Immortals are human, gods aren't."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pondered it for a moment, then said, "What you mean is that humans can't become gods, only immortals?"
Hermit Qing You smiled. "Imperial Preceptor, having cultivated to Divine Bridge Realm, what do you see when you stand on the divine bridge?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn't say a word. Divine Bridge Realm was the seventh realm after breaking the wall of Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, which was also the highest realm.
"Divine Bridge Divine Treasure is a bridge which leads to the god realm. However, it is broken within everyone, so no one is able to reach the other shore. It isn't different for Imperial Preceptor, am I right?"
Hermit Qing You continued, "It's no different for the immortals of Little Jade Capital. We had seen countless divine treasures, and all the divine bridges were broken. Being unable to reach the other shore means that we can't become gods. Actually, based on our cultivation, we could be on par with the gods yet the realm is broken."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. "I had discovered this many years ago and was distressed over this once. I had searched many ancient books yet I couldn't find a way to solve it. Does Little Jade Capital have records of the broken bridge being reconnected?"
"We have." Hermit Qing You led them to the palace up the jade mountain and said, "However, even Little Jade Capital isn't capable of doing it. Because we couldn't become gods, we decided to become immortals. This is why we, the old and useless, have chosen to stay in Little Jade Capital. Even though we call ourselves immortals, once our allocated lifespans are up, our souls will return to the yellow springs. We aren't able to escape death. We are just seeking peace. Imperial Preceptor, madam, over here."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and his wife followed him and walked into the palace. It was a place, but even though it had the faint air of the home of immortals, it was very cold and cheerless, with not a figure to be seen.
Little Jade Capital was a cold and cheerless place like this.
Hermit Qing You brought them through the long hallway and walked to the circular door, leading them into the depths of the palace. "During Founding Emperor Period, there was indeed a bunch of people who had connected their broken bridges. They had built a glorious divine dynasty which by now has turned into dust and no longer exists. The location of this divine dynasty is the Great Ruins of today."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly excited. "There have been people who connected the bridge? In that case, did they become gods?"
Hermit Qing You nodded and smiled slightly. "However, there are very few of these people now, and they are known as the people abandoned by gods."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was stunned. "Those abandoned people in Great Ruins?"
"No. Almost no one has a complete Divine Bridge Divine Treasure among the abandoned people of Great Ruins. The immortals of our Little Jade Capital had gone to check before."
Hermit Qing You pushed open a door and brought them inside. "Eternal Peace Empire had received a prophecy before, am I right? They were told to restrict the abandoned people of Great Ruins from walking out of Great Ruins. Actually, what the oracle wanted you to guard against was not those abandoned people of Great Ruins, but the abandoned people from Carefree Village that are staying in Great Ruins. Their divine bridges are complete, and what the gods are guarding against are them."
Rows of bookshelves were in front of them, and they were with thick ancient books that contained the history of Founding Emperor Era which the immortals of Little Jade Capital had recorded down.
"Imperial Preceptor just needs to read all these ancient books once, and you will know what had happened during Founding Emperor Era and Founding Emperor Calamity." Hermit Qing You bowed, paying his respects since he planned to retreat from this library. "If Imperial Preceptor wants to continue walking down this path he has set, I'm afraid Founding Emperor Era's history will become Eternal Peace Empire's history as well. Whatever Founding Emperor Era faced, Eternal Peace Era will face as well."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor returned the bow and asked, "Wanderer Zhen from your Little Jade Capital died under my hands, so why is Dao brother still letting me come here?"
"Our Little Jade Capital does not interfere with worldly affairs and only records them. Once Wanderer Zhen left the mountain, he was no longer an immortal of Little Jade Capital. His life and death were no longer related to us."
Hermit Qing You said while walking out, "Both of you husband and wife are immortals of our Little Jade Capital while you are here, but when you leave, you will no longer be related to us. A saint appears every five hundred years, and we Little Jade Capital are interested in observing the saint of this current dynasty, to see if he can do what the saints of the past could not."
"Weird rules." The eyes of Imperial Preceptor's wife shifted and landed on the ancient scrolls. "Husband, there are some problems with Little Jade Capital's origin, I think they're the descendants of Founding Emperor Empire."
"That is possible." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sat down and picked up a book. "They have no ill intentions, so there's no need to guess their goals. I want to see the history of Founding Emperor since the current times is a reflection of the past."
In the Great Ruins, a certain devil was speaking.
"I just wanted to find a lowly world for my people to settle in, to find a place for them to live and reproduce. I don't want to wage a war on your world." Dutian Devil King had a blank gaze as he muttered, "Our Dutian is at its death door, so if we fight with you guys, we are really going to go extinct. I have to take responsibility for my race. Let me return, I have to find another lowly world, let me return…"
Hu Ling'er looked at Qin Mu and asked in a low voice, "Young master, should we let him return? He looks pretty pitiful."
"How do I know if he really plans to return or if it's a lie?" Qin Mu shook his head. "He is just a consciousness, while his true body is still in Dutian. He can continue to search for another world with that, so there's no need for this consciousness to return to Dutian. If he doesn't return and instead hides somewhere to summon his true body, won't I be guilty? You can't believe a word this fellow says. If you believe him, you'll lose instantly. Border Dragon City is right in front of us, and it's only a thousand miles away from Disabled Elderly Village."
Border Dragon City was already in their sight, so Qin Mu was finally at ease. He had finally reached his own territory."
"Young master!"
"Young master has returned?"
"Young master, how is Eternal Peace Empire compared to our Great Ruins?"
…
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin into Border Dragon City, and many store owners on the way waved towards him. He smiled and returned their greetings. "Eternal Peace Empire is much more chaotic than our Great Ruins. Rebellions happen every day, and wars are waged constantly; it's not a good place."
"That's right, there were many immigrants who had escaped to Great Ruins. They all said they were running from war and disasters. It's good young master is back; home is the safest after all."
Qin Mu came to the city lord's manor and asked, "Has the city lord returned?"
"City lord had come back a few days ago before leaving once more. Does young master want to stay? Little one will go and prepare a banquet to hold a welcoming reception."
"There's no need," Qin Mu said. "New Year is coming, I have to return to the village first."
Border Dragon City was his and Granny Si's property since some time ago due to most of the people here being people of Heavenly Devil Cult. The only difference from outside was that the followers of Heavenly Devil Cult outside referred to Qin Mu as cult master sacred teacher while followers in Border Dragon City referred to him as young master.
The owner of this city was Granny Si, after all, and Qin Mu was the child she had raised, so it was natural he was called young master.
Qin Mu continued on the journey home. The distance of a thousand miles was very short, and with the foot power of the dragon qilin, they could reach Disabled Elderly Village in half a day.
The dragon qilin stepped on the river surface and moved upstream. The sunlight of the winter sun provided warmth as it shone down, and it was not chilly like in Eternal Peace Empire. Qin Mu remembered how he had broken the ice tide with Xian Qing'er last year. Right then, he saw Xian Qing'er smoking fish with the villagers. By rubbing salt on the huge fish hanging under the tree by the river and using moist firewood to smoke them, the smoky flavor would seep into the meat.
The people of this village had caught many huge fish that were taller than a human, and they hung on the tree. The flesh of these fish was bright and shiny. The villagers rarely went out to hunt during New Years, so they could only rely on these catches to survive through this winter.
Qin Mu stopped the dragon qilin, and the little girl with three braids blinked her bright and beautiful eyes at him. "The one that herds cows, you're returning home in glory? Is outside fun?"
Qin Mu smiled. "It's okay, I'm getting chased by people everywhere I go. Didn't the monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery come to find you?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Pui pui, go and touch wood. The monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery have not found their way here yet." Xian Qing'er was curious, though. "What bad things have you done, why are people chasing after you so much?"
"I guess it's because I'm too outstanding?" Qin Mu raised his head and pondered it. He felt that what he said was definitely correct. "I'm too outstanding so people are jealous of me and chase everywhere I go."
He waved his hands to bid goodbye, and Xian Qing'er immediately said, "I'll go play with you when I'm free, don't let your elders kill me!"
"Okay!"
When the sun started to set in the west, Qin Mu finally reached Disabled Elderly Village. Just as he had entered it, he saw over a dozen hen dragons that were taller than a human surrounding him with unpleasant looks.
At their head was that old hen which became agitated when she saw Qin Mu and pointed her wings at him while clucking non-stop to the other hen dragons. It was as if she was telling the them that this brat was an egg thief.
"I merely went outside for half a year and now there are so many hen dragons in the village."
Qin Mu seemed to have met his greatest foes and shouted out, "Times have changed, I'm now the cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Saint Cult, even if you hens outnumber me, I'm not afraid at all!"
"Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
The flock of hen dragons swarmed forward and drowned him out. The feathers of these hen dragons were like swords, and they spewed fire like dragons. With sharp claws which could split stone and metal, they were incomparably fierce.
Hu Ling'er saw this situation and immediately said, "Young master, I shall go home first to have a look!" When she had said it, she disappeared like a wisp of smoke.
After a moment, Qin Mu forced back the flock of hens while panting heavily. His face was covered in blood, and his hair was all messed up with chicken feathers stuck in it. In front of him, the head of the hen dragons brought the flock to walk away with their heads held high as they patrolled the village.
Dutian Devil King laughed as he rejoiced in Qin Mu's misfortune. "Rascal, you can't even beat a flock of hens!"
Qin Mu pulled out the chicken feathers from his hair. "And you're someone who lost to a fellow who can't even defeat a flock of hens. Granny, Village Chief, I'm back! Why didn't any of you come to save me when you saw me getting bullied by a flock of hens! Eh, why is no one here?"
Qin Mu walked around the village, surprised.
Village Chief and Apothecary's rooms were empty, and the other people of the village had not return either. Qin Mu could only find a few slips of paper which he opened up. The first slip wrote that Village Chief, Apothecary, and Devil Cult Patriarch were going to search for Carefree Village. If anyone came back, they should first help Apothecary feed his insects.
The second slip was in Butcher's handwriting which said that Village Chief and the rest had yet to return so he was worried about their safety, so Blind and he was going to search for them.
The third slip was left behind by Mute, and it said that Blind and Butcher had not returned as well, so he was going to find them.
The fourth slip was left behind by Cripple and Old Ma, saying that Village Chief and the rest might have met with danger. They could move fast so they had gone out to find them.
The fifth slip was left behind by Granny Si which said that the old geezers were always causing trouble. She had left to find them and told Qin Mu to not wander off.
"Granny and the rest are really worrisome."
Qin Mu shook his head and placed his luggage down. He went to pluck a few leaves from the herb garden outside the village, then opened the pots in front of Apothecary's door and placed the leaves inside them. In the pots, the starving insects immediately snatched the food.
Qin Mu then walked into Apothecary's room and found a few spirit pills which he shattered and scattered into other pots. He then washed his hands to cook dinner.
"These broken pots…"
Dutian Devil King saw the broken pots which kept the little insects and was greatly shocked. His gaze then landed on the water cauldron in front of the smithy and was shocked again. "This huge water cauldron… that rake, that pot, and all the other treasures strewn everywhere…"
"Lord Devil King, stop wandering around, you have more arms so come and help me cook a few dishes," Qin Mu summoned him over.
When the last of the sun rays disappeared, darkness came pouring over from the west and surged towards the east like a huge flood, swallowing all the mountain ranges on its way and drowning out Great Ruins!
Qin Mu was long used to this sight and didn't pay any attention to it as he served the dishes with an apron around his waist. However, Dutian Devil King was seeing such a terrifying sight for the first time, so he was dumbfounded and couldn't say a word.
Just before the darkness was about to drown Disabled Elderly Village, a lean elder walked in with a book basket on his back. The darkness swept over right at that moment and whooshed towards the east around Disabled Elderly Village.
"Grandpa Deaf!"
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. He immediately put down his bowl and chopsticks to welcome him. Deaf's clothing was old and tattered, which made it evident that he had not lived well outside. He placed down his book basket and asked, "Is there food? I've been starving for a few days."
"Food is just ready!"
Qin Mu immediately washed another set of bowl and chopsticks. Deaf sat down and gorged himself, taking a breath after eating four to five bowls of food continuously. Qin Mu poured another bowl of soup for him and asked in bewilderment, "Grandpa Deaf, where have you been these days?"
The corners of Deaf's eyes twitched, and he grumbled, "Eternal Peace. I went to find Mute, but I couldn't do it, and I used up all my travel expenses so I could only sell my paintings." The elder's voice was pained when he spoke. "The people of today have sadly degenerated! Degenerated! I actually didn't manage to sell even one painting. When I was extremely starving, I met Old Woman Si who spared me some cash, even if she mocked me for a long time. That's right, don't speak about this to Apothecary, that guy always laughs at me for not earning as fast as he can by selling medicine."
Dutian Devil King stared wide-eyed. This old geezer was a top-notch expert, so could he be the painting expert who had painted that sword god? This kind of great expert had actually come close to starving to death? Couldn't he have gotten money by force if he didn't have any?
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Grandpa Deaf, now that the world is not peaceful, who would buy paintings for pleasure? If you lack money next time, you can sell them to Imperial Preceptor's manor, since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor will definitely be willing to spend a huge sum to buy them."
Deaf shook his head. "I eliminated several thousands of Eternal Peace Empire's soldiers, so if I went to his house to sell my paintings, he would definitely take me down. I can't win against him."
Qin Mu beamed. "You can find me in Imperial College, all I have is money. I can buy all of the paintings you have painted. Are there any left in Grandpa Deaf's book basket? You can sell them to me, I'll pay you now."
"I've burned them all," Deaf said nonchalantly. "Where are the others? Have they not returned?"
"Burned?"
Qin Mu felt pained. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was here, he would definitely puke three liters of blood up.
He took out the slips of paper Apothecary and the rest had left behind, and Deaf read through them before saying, "Their handwritings are really ugly. I'll have a good night sleep tonight and go find them tomorrow. Who is he?"
Only now did he notice Dutian Devil King, and the other said proudly, "I'm the master of Dutian, the ruler of Dutian. There's no need for you to pay respect to me."
"He's really ugly," Deaf got up and returned to his room to sleep.
"I'm the Lord Devil King of Dutian!" Dutian Devil King retorted angrily.
Qin Mu said with good intentions, "Devil king, Grandpa Deaf can't hear."
"Bullshit, he was able to hear you just now!"
Qin Mu explained, "Sometimes he can hear, sometimes he can't."
Dutian Devil King was speechless from anger. Qin Mu cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks before getting ready for bed. "Devil king, don't wander about at night. The darkness is very dangerous."
Dutian Devil King said yes repeatedly and thought to himself, "Since the rascal doesn't dare to enter the darkness, now is the best time for me to leave. I just need to enter the darkness and I'll be able to shake him off. Then I'll be able to host the sacrificial ceremony to summon my true body."
Not long later, Qin Mu fell asleep, and the snoring could be heard from his room.
Dutian Devil King tiptoed toward the outside. The stone statues in the four corners of the village were giving off a faint glow, so the surroundings weren't too dim. However, the places which the light from the stone statue couldn't shine on were pitch black and nothing could be seen in them.
Dutian Devil King carefully came to the village entrance and hesitated for a moment. He stretched out a finger into the darkness and heard nibbling sounds. Pulling his palm back, he couldn't help being stunned. His finger had already vanished, having been eaten by something in the darkness.
Dutian Devil King sized up his wound, and his heart trembled slightly. He probed, "Gang nuo di da hei (Who is in the darkness)?"
Silent came from the darkness. After a while, a sinister sounding voice answered, "A pu gao ni hen (Who are you yourself)?"
Dutian Devil King's spirit jolted, and he was about to say something when a voice sounded spoke behind him. "What are you doing? Why are you speaking the devil language?"
Dutian Devil King saw Deaf who had appeared behind him at some point in time, and his heart tightened. "The ears of this deaf are so sensitive! Wait, isn't he a deaf person?"
Deaf yawned and raised his brush to write a 'fix' word on his body before going back to sleep.
Dutian Devil King couldn't move at all. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't make a sound, either.
The next morning, Qin Mu woke up early to prepare breakfast. The dragon qilin brought a face basin and placed it in front of Qin Mu before sitting down to wait for his food.
Deaf ate to his fill. "Mu'er, I shall go out to search for Village Chief and the rest to come back for New Years, while you and your big dog shall stay here to look after the village."
Qin Mu gave a sound of acknowledgment. The dragon qilin ate the Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills while speaking in a low and muffled voice, "I'm not a big dog, I'm an auspicious beast that's half dragon and half qilin."
Deaf didn't hear him and walked out of the village. He raised his brush and painted a dragon in the sky, then rode into the sky.
Dutian Devil King was still standing by the entrance, unable to move.
Qin Mu put away the bowls and chopsticks while thinking to himself, "I wonder how devil ape that big fella is doing these days. I should bring some presents to him."
He saw Dutian Devil King and gave a smile before saying softly, "Gang nuo di da hei?"
Dutian Devil King's heart was slightly shaken. "This brat also knew?"
Qin Mu made the dragon qilin guard the village while he headed towards Doom Suppression Palace. Before he could walk far, he heard one of the many names of Buddha. "Amitabha! Heavenly Devil Cult Master, fancy meeting you here by sheer luck when one has searched far and wide for you. Never would I have thought this little monk will meet cult master here."
A monk in ragged clothes appeared in front of him. They were both astonished to have met each other.
Qin Mu immediately recognized this monk as the one that had attacked his treasure ship in Eternal Peace Empire. He had used Junior Protector Sword to injured his leg, but he could still sprint like flying.
"How do I address you, monk?" Qin Mu smiled and looked around. When he didn't discover Long Jiaonan and the rest, he let out a sigh of relief.
This monk had clearly been chased by Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon and met with all kinds of unfortunate events in Great Ruins, one of which was getting separated from Long Jiaonan and the rest. With him having escaped in a panic, they had met up here by coincidence.
"Little monk's name in religion is Ban Chi."
Monk Ban Chi raised his head at the sky, and two trails of tears rolled down his cheeks as he sighed ruefully. "My Buddha of compassion, the virtuous achievements of little monk can finally come to their successful conclusion. Heavenly Devil Cult Master, you have done too much evil, so let this little monk send you on your way."
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Monk, you said I have done too much evil. Please name one evil I have done to let me accept my death wholeheartedly."
Monk Ban Chi had an awe-inspiring murderous intent as he rushed over with his buddha rays shining brilliantly. "You are the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, and that's the greatest evil you've done! If there's a life to come for you, reincarnate to become a good person!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Vajra Unbeatable!"
Buddha rays shone brilliantly from Monk Ban Chi, and his muscles swelled, becoming twelve yards tall. The nine rings monk staff also became bigger like a huge sun behind the head of a huge buddha.
This was Vajra Unbeatable Technique of Buddhism, a kind of technique whose forte was the divine arts of the corporeal body.
There are many kinds of techniques in Buddhism. The forte of some of them is the frame of mind, so they cultivate spells and divine arts; while others are known for their wisdom and cultivating knife and sword skills; there are also those of the battle techniques school, whose forte are divine arts of the corporeal body.
Even though Vajra Unbeatable Technique took the path of the battle techniques, it was different from others. Some spells were mixed into this technique. However, unlike Chancellor Ba Shan's fusion of battle techniques and spells, the spells of Vajra Unbeatable Technique were hidden in the monk staff or prayer beads. Through the daily cultivation with their monk staff and prayer beads, the monks would chant the buddhist scriptures non-stop, refining their evil thoughts into the prayer beads and the divine arts in the buddhist scriptures into the monk staff.
When it came to battle, they could release the evil thoughts in their prayer beads, transforming into a fiendish battle stance, while the spells in the monk staff were methods to catch an enemy off guard with a surprise attack!
Qin Mu had experienced the strong points of Vajra Unbeatable Technique before. This technique would turn one's body incomparably durable after executing the body of Vajrayaksa, to the extent that the person could take on the blow of Junior Protector Sword.
Furthermore, the monk's strength would become so outrageous that he could push Qin Mu's treasure ship down.
Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and his body trembled. A ray of golden light shot down from the sky and poured into him, transforming his corporeal body into a golden god. Tiger claws, fur, and head grew out from his body while he stepped on twin dragons and held a bronze battle-ax formed from golden qi, which was like a huge hatchet.
A golden snake hung on Qin Mu's left ear and hissed while taking in and sending out golden qi.
What he had executed was Venus Sovereign Gold Marquis Technique, a god transforming into the form of Venus Sovereign to control all the gold qi in existence.
There were many secrets hidden in Five Elements Realm, and Qin Mu originally had an extremely high achievements in it. With the guidance of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, cultivating the god transformation of the Five Great Star Sovereigns had allowed him to surpass the other strong practitioners of Five Elements Realm by leaps and bounds.
"Truly, the spell of devils!"
Monk Ban Chi saw his body transforming and sneered. The nine rings of his monk staff danced in the breeze and swelled up before smashing down suddenly like a huge hammer with nine golden rings!
As Qin Mu's bronze battle-ax clashed with the nine-ringed monk staff, a terrifying power exploded from the both of them. Qin Mu moved back repeatedly from the vibrations, and the twin dragons under his feet flew out to climb onto Monk Ban Chi's body, tangling with his legs. At the same time, the golden rings of the nine-ringed monk staff flew out one after another and hit Qin Mu's head, causing sparks to fly out in all directions. Qin Mu ended up tumbling back a distance away.
Monk Ban Chi was of the Six Directions Realm, after all, and he was a divine arts practitioner with a lot of tricks up his sleeves. With a trample, both of the golden dragons were shattered into pieces. Once he grabbed his monk staff and leaped back up in the air, the nine golden rings whooshed back onto his monk staff while he was in mid air.
Boom!
Monk Ban Chi smashed his monk staff downwards onto Qin Mu. His feet were on the ground, but he couldn't stop himself from sliding backwards, plowing a deep pit in the ground. The bronze battle-ax in his hand was also smashed into pieces.
Monk Ban Chi rushed over at an extremely fast speed and was in front of him in a few steps. His monk staff swept forward, and another loud boom rang out as he smashed Qin Mu repeatedly until the other couldn't get a stable footing and flew backwards.
The monk staff hummed while the nine golden rings clanked as they smashed onto Qin Mu's chest, throwing him hundreds of yards away and destroyed a part of the forest.
"Mount Meru Mudra, tut!"
Monk Ban Chi rose into the sky and started to chant an incantation as he smacked Qin Mu down with a palm. The ground trembled, and the trees collapsed, revealing a handprint that was the size of three ares, deeply imprinted into the ground. In the meantime, an apparition of Mount Meru materialized above this handprint, with countless symbols of buddhist texts swirling it.
"Amitabha, the demon of the devil path has finally been executed, due to a virtuous achievement of this little monk."
Monk Ban Chi landed on the ground holding the monk staff with one hand while the other was in front of his chest. Standing outside of the handprint, he paid his respects. "Little monk isn't a person that's fond of killing and exhibiting such a swift means today was merely to rid the evil from this world. There was no other choice. Little monk shall recite a paragraph from the Scriptures of Rebirth in the Pure Land, sending the damned soul of the cult master to paradise, to not do evil anymore…"
Just as he was about to chant the scripture, he felt his hair standing up on end and immediately leaped away. The ground split open, and gold qi spikes rose up from the ground, frantically stabbing into the air!
The monk staff of Monk Ban Chi smashed down, and the nine rings swept in all directions, crumbling the gold qi spikes. He then saw the apparition of Mount Meru crumbling as gold qi gathered to form countless sword lights. They then gathered into one which was dozens of yards long and stabbed into the chest of Monk Ban Chi with a ding.
The monk felt pain when his chest was stabbed by that sword light. He suddenly shouted loudly, and buddha voice came from the prayer beads on his neck. Buddhist runes poured out from the vibrations, and the scriptures were like hoops that covered that sword light, layer after layer. As the scriptures continued swirling, they finally stopped the sword.
At this moment, light suddenly flashed in front of Monk Ban Chi, and a huge wave rushed into the sky in front of him. Before it, Qin Mu transformed into a red-haired snake body of Water Marquis Mercury Sovereign, who was holding a trident in his hand.
The trident stabbed towards Monk Ban Chi, and huge waves rushed up, transforming into a huge mudra which came pressing down on the opponent.
Monk Ban Chi shouted loudly, and his buddha rays shone brilliantly. He raised his hand to block, but found that a boundless strength was overwhelming him, smacking him away ruthlessly.
The trident reached his chest and transformed into a three-headed dragon which surged forward while pressing onto his body. He heard a loud bang as it and the torrent slammed him against the ground, creating a huge pit around him.
The wave dispersed, and Monk Ban Chi immediately stood up. In his face was a bull-headed human-bodied monster who rushed at him while stepping on two fire dragons. The heart of this monster's brows opened up, revealing its bull eye, and a beam came rushing over at a speed of lightning. Monk Ban Chi raised his hand to defend his neck and felt a searing pain on his palm. Two of his fingers had been severed.
Panic started to arise in his heart. He grasped the nine-ringed monk staff with a hand and used it like a hammer. The head of the staff swelled up, becoming larger and larger. The staff then was like a mountaintop smashing forward, while his other hand made a mudra which smashed forward.
Qin Mu transformed into Mars Sovereign's form and gave a angry bellow. His strength was boundless, and a fire bottle gourd appeared behind his back. When he took this fire bottle gourd into his embrace, blazing true fire spewed out from inside it, and the flames scorched the nine-ringed monk staff red hot. Molten gold leaked out from it continuously.
Monk Ban Chi was astonished. Nine-ringed monk staff was the spirit weapon he had painstakingly refined and one which had the blessing of Buddha. Yet it couldn't defend against the true fire from this bottle gourd, and if it was melted, he would lose a major weapon.
However, now was not the time to think it through; he could only risk his spirit weapon getting destroyed and brace himself to smash Qin Mu to death!
Bang!
The fire bottle gourd exploded from the attacks, and the two fire dragons under Qin Mu's feet also shattered into pieces. Monk Ban Chi immediately followed up with Mount Meru Mudra, and Qin Mu's body suddenly trembled. A ray of green light shot down from the sky, and he transformed into the form of Wood Marquis Jupiter Sovereign, which had a human head, bird's body, and bird feet. With two wings on his back and two green dragons under his feet, he flapped his wings and rose into the sky to avoid Mount Meru Mudra. Once he came into the sky above Monk Ban Chi, the willow whip in his hand came smacking down against Monk Ban Chi.
The moment the monk raised his hand to defend against the whip, he felt that something was wrong. This whip was actually incomparably soft and coiled around his arm like a green snake. The willow whip then suddenly grew and coiled around his whole body.
In the blink of an eye, the willow whip had become thick as a water barrel, turning into a willow tree which coiled around its target tightly.
At the same time, the two green dragons under Qin Mu's feet were shrinking as they transformed into two trails of green qi which entered Monk Ban Chi's nostrils.
"Arriving in this world empty-handed, leaving this world empty-handed! Six senses, be sealed!"
Monk Ban Chi sealed his senses so that the two trails of green qi couldn't enter his body and were then purified by his buddha rays. The prayer beads on his neck exploded one after another, and evil thoughts poured out from them, returning to his body.
The evil in Monk Ban Chi erupted, and he gave a bellow. His corporeal body swelled up once again and shattered that willow tree in pieces as he gave an angry roar, "When Grandpa Buddha gets angry, even the Heavens have to give way! Demon, die!"
Just as he shouted that out, Qin Mu transformed again, turning into a human-headed snake-bodied form while the Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him. With two Pig Slaughtering Knives in his hands, he rushed straight at his enemy.
Explosive sounds rang out endlessly. The buddha rays and sparks burst out continuously from the surroundings of Monk Ban Chi, and there was not a single scratch on him that was caused by the Pig Slaughtering Knives.
"Grandpa Buddha had the body of vajra, nothing can break through it!"
Monk Ban Chi had a malicious expression as the monk staff in his hand smashed down frantically. Qin Mu's knives collided with it, and a huge bang rang out, which pushed the birds and beasts in the forest around them into fleeing.
Suddenly, the knives in Qin Mu's hands cracked and exploded, unable to withstand the immense power of the two's fight. At the same time, the monk staff in Monk Ban Chi's hands also exploded.
"Die!"
Monk Ban Chi screamed continuously, and his fists which were as heavy as mountains came raining down. Qin Mu roared in anger, and his muscles bulged as electricity surrounded his body. He executed Thunderclap Eight Strikes, and the green dragon coiled around his body as he clashed directly with Monk Ban Chi.
The two small giants exchanged heavy blows in the forest when suddenly Junior Protector Sword flew out and stabbed into the huge sun behind Monk Ban Chi's head at a lightning speed.
Monk Ban Chi was astonished and immediately raised his hand to defend. At this moment, Qin Mu punched like sunshine refining the yang soul in the sky. Monk Ban Chi's soul wavered for a moment, and he didn't manage to block that sword light, allowing Junior Protector Sword to pierce through the huge sun behind his head.
His Vajra Unbeatable Technique was instantly broken, and his body started to shrink. Qin Mu sent another punch his way, and the bones in Monk Ban Chi's body trembled violently as he grunted and retreated.
Qin Mu's punches rained down like howling wind and torrential rain, causing pain to Monk Ban Chi. He became more and more frightened, then turned around to run. With a few ups and downs, he had already escaped to the sky.
Qin Mu paused for a moment as he looked at the sky. The speed of the escapee was extremely fast; he run six-seven miles in just a few breaths' time. Only then did he stop so a lotus could bloom under his feet to lift up his body as he thought to himself, "This devil is powerful since he has too many tricks up his sleeves, but his speed isn't that fast so he can't catch up to me. I can still reorganize myself…"
Just as he thought this, a loud boom rang out, and he immediately turned back to have a look. At that moment, he couldn't help being stunned when he saw Qin Mu breaking through the air like he was flying. His speed was such that the monk could not even see him clearly!
Boom!
Qin Mu's fist bashed into Monk Ban Chi's face, and it caved in its entirety. The power of Tempest of the Nine Dragons poured into his head and exploded with a bang.
In the sky, blood light was accompanied by forty-five green dragons that bore fangs and brandished claws. Among their snarls, a headless corpse fell from the sky.
"Dumb monk, I could let you run ten miles first."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Ow, so painful!"
Qin Mu descended and searing pain filled all his limbs, making him suck in cold air.
The monk's Vajra Unbeatable Technique had made his body incomparably durable, to the point that even spirit weapons couldn't injure him. All kinds of divine arts were also useless against him, making this fight abnormally exhausting for Qin Mu.
The power of Monk Ban Chi's attacks was also astonishing, so Qin Mu's flesh had burst open. This was especially so because of that the nine-ringed monk staff which had almost shattered his head. Luckily, the monk's attacks were pretty straightforward, so he had still died under Qin Mu's hands.
"Divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm are pretty strong, I can't underestimate them."
Qin Mu touched the bump on his head and sucked in cold air. He executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to circulate his blood and qi so as to not let his blood clot up.
Two of his ribs were broken, and the flesh on his back was a bloody mess. These injuries were probably from when Monk Ban Chi had smashed his Mount Meru Mudra on him.
Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had an extremely good effect on healing injuries, but it was still incomparable to spirit pills and miracle medicine. Luckily, the current injuries were not fatal.
"Let me return to the village first to heal up before finding devil ape."
Qin Mu reattached the ribs that had broken off and threw the monk's corpse away. There was no rule to bury corpses in Great Ruins since the blood from the corpse would attract wild beasts which would devour it. At most, only the bones would be left.
While if the luck wasn't in the dead person's favor, even the bones might not be left.
Qin Mu returned to the village and plucked a few spirit herbs from the herb garden outside the village. He refined two furnaces of spirit pills, one of which was used to heal external injuries, while the other internal injuries. He then asked for some dragon's saliva from the dragon qilin to harmonize the medicine.
The dragon qilin noticed his beaten up state and gave a bewildered look; however, he didn't probe into it.
The dragon qilin squatted motionlessly at the village entrance in a guarding pose like he had done at Imperial College. But Qin Mu felt that he might be guarding only in name. Instead, he was actually lazing off, unable to be bothered to even move.
Dutian Devil King remained motionless as well. The dragon qilin was too lazy to move, while he was fixed in place by Deaf.
Qin Mu recuperated at ease. When night fell, Deaf still didn't return. The rest of the people in the village also remained away.
The next day came, and Village Chief and the rest still didn't return, either. Qin Mu's lungs were still aching, so he couldn't breathe in heavily, but the injuries on his ribs and back had already healed.
"If a person wants his injured lungs to heal faster, it is best for that person to steam themselves, allowing the medicinal gas to enter the lungs. However, there is no one to help me maintain the fire…"
The youth executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and slowly walked. He breathed in and out slowly, to let the injured lungs heal slightly faster. Suddenly, he thought of a question, "After New Years, will I be fifteen or sixteen years old?"
His age was always a debate among the people in the village. Village Chief and Granny had argued a few times over this but come to no clear solution.
Granny Si had picked Qin Mu in the swaddling clothes during spring, and he had been two to three months old at the time. She believed he was born before New Years while Village Chief believed that he was born after New Years.
If he was born before, he would be sixteen years old. If it was after, he would still be fifteen years old.
During each and every New Years, the two would fight over this matter, and he reckoned they were going to fight this time as well.
As he was thinking about it, Qin Mu heard a buzzing and raised his head to have a look. He saw a few golden-colored insects flying over from the forest outside the village.
He blinked, and the golden insects buzzed away, disappearing into the forest.
More insects came out later on and circled around the village before disappearing back into the forest.
"That woman from Three Wonders Castle has arrived!"
Qin Mu's gaze flickered. The woman from Three Wonders Castle was much stronger than Monk Ban Chi and could control swarms of insects. They were venomous and had been refined by her until they were like steel, able to bite cleanly through spirit weapons.
The woman could control thousands of them. With such an amount, Qin Mu would definitely be unable to fight against all of them if they were to pour over at him all at once. He would be cleanly eaten in an instant!
"Rather than letting her slaughter her way into the village, why don't I settle it outside!"
Qin Mu looked around and came to Apothecary's herb shop. He carefully brought out a broken pot with a couple scorpions inside waving their pincers at each other. The barbs on their tails swept forward as they fought over the spirit pills Qin Mu had fed them earlier.
He carried the broken pot out of the village, and the dragon qilin took a glance at him before asking in a low voice, "Cult master, what are you going to do?"
"Fight!" Qin Mu said ruthlessly.
"Fight again…" the dragon qilin said with disinterest. "Don't come back with injuries everywhere this time."
Qin Mu carried the pot to the riverside while a couple insects kept following him, hiding among the bushes and leaves.
Qin Mu stopped and waited for a moment. He saw the number of insects growing around him as they lay down on the river's surface. It was like a layer of gold was covering it.
The insects lured the huge fish of Surging River over, and a couple of them leaped out from the water, wanting to eat the shining prey. However, when the huge fish leaped into the air and opened their huge mouths maliciously, the insects started chirping weirdly and became three yards long. They then pounced onto the bodies of the huge fish and started gnawing at them. Soon, only the bones were left, which fell back into the water.
The corners of Qin Mu's eyelids twitched. The fish monsters of Surging River were very powerful, their strength comparable to that of martial arts practitioners of Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realm. However, in front of the venomous insects raised by the woman from Three Wonders Castle, they were unable to withstand a single blow.
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master."
A voice came from downstream, and Qin Mu looked towards the source of it. He saw the woman from Three Wonders Castle stepping on the golden-colored insect swarm flying over from downstream of Surging River.
She couldn't fly, but the insects could. They surrounded her in uncountable numbers, and there was also a golden-colored female insect that was much bigger in size than the other venomous insects. The woman was standing on the back of this female insect.
Qin Mu smiled sweetly and asked, "How may I address big sister?"
Qiu Yue was several hundred yards away from Qin Mu when she stopped her insect swarm to ask curiously, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master has such an important position and should be the one holding supremacy under the heavens. Why are you so polite to your enemies, calling me big sister?"
Three Wonders Castle had three wonders: insects, poison, and beautiful women.
This woman had a heart-wrenching beauty. One look at her would make people ignore the scalp-numbing venomous insects. Instead, their hearts would throb violently from being struck by her beauty.
Qin Mu shook his head. "Once I'm in Great Ruins, I'm no longer the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and am now the child of my elders in the village. This big sister, if you are willing to let go of your grudges, I can invite you into the village for New Years. The celebrations in our Great Ruins are actually pretty bustling with noise and excitement."
Qiu Yue said, "After killing you, I could return home for New Years…"
Her complexion then darkened, and sorrow entered her eyes. "I've forgotten, my home no longer exists, it was destroyed by you and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor… My home is at Three Wonders Castle, my grandmaster is True Lord Tian, my teacher is Tian Youfei. In the battle of Daxiang City, Heavenly Devil Cult transported Eternal Peace Army into the city and killed countless senior brothers and sisters of mine. My teacher covered my escape only to die under the hands of Grand General who crowns the Army…"
She seemed to be laughing and yet not laughing, crying and yet not crying. With a cold gaze, she said in a soft voice, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, you were already the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult then, weren't you? To be able to mobilize so many experts of Heavenly Devil Cult, there is none one else capable of this. You were the one who mobilized the experts of Heavenly Devil Cult to destroy the great cause of our volunteer army, to destroy our Three Wonders Castle!"
With an awe-inspiring gaze, she added, "I had gone back to Three Wonders Castle secretly, but it had already been destroyed. My family members were treated as rebels and executed in public! Heavenly Devil Cult Master, do you think I should kill you?"
Qin Mu sighed. "You should. However, you shouldn't have rebelled in the first place. When you rebelled, you should have known that if the rebellion failed, this would be the only outcome for your family."
Qiu Yue took a step forward and said sternly, "Righteousness must be upheld by the people even in the threat of being executed. Justice may be won only by using the lives of people! Otherwise, where would the righteousness be, where would the justice be? Even though I'm from the devil path, I'm willing to be this kind of person! Heavenly Devil Cult Master, no need to say anymore. Please make your move, I'll send you on your way!"
Qin Mu felt a deep veneration and said resolutely, "People who walk different paths cannot work together, young lady, please."
Qiu Yue shouted sternly, and her sleeves fluttered. Venomous insects swarmed towards Qin Mu from all directions, and they were too varied and numerous to count. Some would expand in the wind: the bigger ones would grow to three-six yards in size while the smaller ones would become as big as a wash basin. There were others that didn't expand but shrunk down instead.
These kind of venomous insects were the most dangerous as the smaller they were, the harder it was to guard against them. They could tunnel into a human's body when they were not prepared and gnaw on their five viscera and six bowels. There were even some venomous insects that could swallow the soul and absorb the opponent's vital qi cultivation.
Qin Mu opened up the pot, and his vital qi poured inside it. The couple scorpions jumped out and suddenly expanded, becoming over sixty yards long. The black shell on their bodies was covered with exceptionally beautiful and strange rune markings which lit up continuously. Terrifying aura swept through the air, and the insect swarm which was surging over suddenly dropped out of the sky like rain!
Qiu Yue was astonished and immediately turned to escape. Suddenly, the tail of a huge scorpion swept out and extended endlessly like a chain, hooking the woman and killing her in one strike.
Qin Mu sighed. He saw these scorpions fighting over Qiu Yue's corpse, which resulted in the waves churching in the river. When the waves overflowed into the sky, he activated the pot and the scorpions shrunk down. They returned inside and continued to fight there.
Qiu Yue's corpse had already been torn to pieces by them and sunk into the river, where it got washed away by the current.
Qin Mu carried the pot back into Disabled Elderly Village, and the dragon qilin sized him up at the village entrance. He saw that that youth wasn't too happy, so he didn't say anything.
Qin Mu placed the pot down and pulled Dutian Devil King over. He punched, kicked, and even summoned wind and lightning over to strike the god statue several times before letting him off.
Dutian Devil King lay on the ground motionlessly, having lost dozens of parts. He felt extremely grieved and grumbled, "When have I provoked you?"
After beating Dutian Devil King, Qin Mu felt much better. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting from outside, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is here! Everyone, come quickly!"
Qin Mu's face darkened. He went to Granny Si's room and took the mirror which she used to dress and groom herself. When he walked out of the village, he saw a couple divine arts practitioners rushing over.
He raised this copper mirror, and his vital qi poured inside it. The light from the mirror shined on the divine arts practitioners, and their souls flew away, having been scattered. Their corpses then fell from the sky.
The youth returned to the village and placed the mirror back onto Granny Si's dressing table, thinking to himself, "Will there be an end to this? Won't they let me have a proper New Years?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu's injuries had healed, so he brought the presents he had prepared for the devil ape out of the village, walking towards the valley of Doom Suppression Palace. Just as he left, he saw a strange beast which was dragging a corpse. When it saw him coming, that strange beast immediately hissed and the fur on its neck stood up.
The river water babbled as a couple strange beasts jumped out from the water and rushed for the other corpses. These strange beasts with the head of a fish and the body of a human stopped immediately when they saw Qin Mu and fell on the ground, afraid to move forward.
Qin Mu paid no attention to them. During his two days of recuperation, divine arts practitioners from Eternal Peace had found their way over one after another. However, before they could enter the village, they were all gotten rid of by items that were lying around the village.
There were plenty of items there that were extremely terrifying. Other than the insects in the pots, there was also the rake that gathered up the grass, the curtain in the smithy, the water cauldron, the sword pellets under Granny Si's bed, Butcher's whetstone, the trough used to feed the hens, and also the wash basin that was taken by the dragon qilin to use as the rice bowl.
There were quite a lot of people who were chasing after Qin Mu's life as well. Other than Long Jiaonan and that batch of strong practitioners, there were experts from other sects. Many of them had found their way here during Qin Mu's two days of recuperation.
It was not hard to find Disabled Elderly Village, since if they followed the river, it was only a thousand miles away from Border Dragon City, which was not far from Eternal Peace's border pass. That's why if they wanted to find him, they could easily do so.
Qin Mu reckoned there were about forty to fifty people who had found this place during the past two days. Of course, they were all dead people by now.
"Long Jiaonan haven't found her way here. Could she have gotten lost or was she killed on the way? Or…"
When Qin Mu was in the village, he always felt a gaze staring at him from outside the village. It was like a huge venomous snake was hidden in the dark corners, ready to pounce anytime.
"She's nearby?"
Walking out of the village this time was also to lure Long Jiaonan out.
This woman had a deep hatred with him. The demise of Dragon Rider Sect was singlehandedly caused by Qin Mu. If it was not for him summoning Dutian Devil King in Heaven Wave City, Dragon Rider Sect wouldn't have perished so easily.
Qin Mu came to Doom Suppression Palace and saw a lot of wild beasts there. However, the devil ape and the dragon elephant were not among them.
He looked around and couldn't find any trace. The wild beasts in the valley sadly didn't know how to cultivate or speak, so he couldn't ask them where the devil ape had went.
Qin Mu could only return back to Disabled Elderly Village. Two more days passed, and he finally couldn't sit still any longer. It was very close to New Year now, with only two-three days remaining, yet Granny Si, Village Chief, and the rest had still not come back!
"The elders of the village are truly worrisome!"
He went to Doom Suppression Palace once more and still couldn't find the devil ape, which made him even more impatient.
"Fatty dragon, get up!" Qin Mu packed up his stuff and fed the insects and hen dragons once more. He then wiped off the fix word on Dutian Devil King's body and called the dragon qilin. "Let's find them in the depths of Great Ruins!"
Dutian Devil King stretched his body and sneered, "If a half-god existence like Deaf couldn't come back after going into Great Ruins, what's the use of you going?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "Even though my strength isn't high, I have a helper. Devil king, you are from the Heavenly Devil Tribe, am I right?"
Dutian Devil King said proudly, "So you want to borrow my strength. If you treat me nicely, it's not impossible for me to help you. However, you beat me up for no reason and made me upset. Please me, only then will I help you."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "How can I please Lord Devil King?"
Dutian Devil King became excited and was about to say what he normally said, but he felt that something was wrong. If he said it, the one kneeling down and licking the toes would be him.
Qin Mu said resolutely, "If you put in all your effort to help me find them, I'll release you. How's this condition?"
Dutian Devil King's eyes lighted up. "You promise?"
"I promise!"
Qin Mu finished packing up and walked out of Disabled Elderly Village, making the dragon qilin head upstream. Everyone had went to find the whereabouts of Carefree Village, and Village Chief had brought him upstream last time to the depths of Great Ruins, to the origin of Surging River where they had met numerous strange happenings.
However, what they had found then wasn't Carefree Village but the Moon Ship of Fengdu.
Moon Ship had guided the jade pendant on Qin Mu's neck, because of which the pendant had floated up, luring Qin Mu to that place.
He felt that if Village Chief and the others wanted to find Carefree Village, they would definitely start their search there. They also might have left some trails behind.
The dragon qilin's speed wasn't slow, but compared to the speed of Village Chief, he was much slower. When Village Chief had brought Qin Mu, he was like a god giving off brilliant rays in the darkness, moving at an extremely fast speed.
Qin Mu could only enter Great Ruins during the day. When night fell, he could only find other villages or ruins to avoid the darkness.
Great Ruins during the day and Great Ruins at night were two completely different worlds. Village Chief had guessed that Great Ruins during the day was the real world, while at night, some dark world overlapped with it.
If Village Chief and the rest had entered that world of the darkness and were brought away by it, Qin Mu would not be able to find them. He could only hope that Village Chief and the rest had found Carefree Village.
Not long after he left Disabled Elderly Village, a girl wearing a long dark green dress came to its outskirts. A red-colored earring that hung from her ear had stretched itself to look so, but it was actually a little red snake.
"Treasures are all around this village, I wonder if I can steal some of them," Long Jiaonan said in a low voice. "Xiao'hong, call some helpers."
The little red snake hanging from her ear hissed, and huge red-crowned snakes slithered out from the forest. It slithered into the village, but just as it entered, a black spider sprawling on the spirit herb suddenly leaped up from the herb garden and landed on the huge snake's head to bite it.
That huge snake instantly died, and its flesh and blood decomposed into mush which got sucked clean by that spider. Only the snake's skin was left.
The spider became bigger and bigger. After sucking dry the huge snake, it spewed balls of true fire to burn itself out to return to its previous size and jumped back into the herb garden to hide.
The corner of Long Jiaonan's eyes twitched, and she immediately turned around to leave. The den of snakes behind her scattered off in all directions. "This village, not even Celestial Beings could enter it!"
The dragon qilin followed the river upstream for six thousand miles. Qin Mu raised his head to take a look at that time. The sky was already getting dark, so he immediately surveyed his surroundings to look for a place he could settle.
"On the geological map of Great Ruins, there should be a place called Monster Management Palace, maybe it's a place where I can seek shelter."
Qin Mu recalled the geological map of Great Ruins and found his bearings. Suddenly, his eyes lighted up, and he ordered the dragon qilin to go ashore. Not long later, they found the ruins of a palace, with some strange beasts already hiding there.
Qin Mu entered the ruins of Monster Management Palace and saw many skeletons of huge beasts all around. They were very quiet, not moving even when he entered.
Qin Mu raised his head to size them up. The skeleton of the huge beasts in Monster Management Palace was simply too humongous. They were dozens of times bigger than the dragon qilin's transformation. If they were still alive, they would be three thousand yards tall and be like moving mountains!
Not long later, a couple Daoists came to the ruins, who were probably experts who had come into Great Ruins for experience. When they saw Qin Mu, they revealed astonishment, but they remained silent, setting their own fire to cook their meals.
Qin Mu cooked up a few dishes and ate dinner before lying down beside the dragon qilin to sleep.
The couple Daoists looked at one another but remained silent. They wrote words on the ground, and as they did that, the ground suddenly trembled. Bellows came from outside, and obscure and hard to understand voices spoke from the darkness, sounding like devil gods whispering to each other.
Qin Mu sat up and saw the skeletons of the huge beasts suddenly shine brilliantly with divine light. The tremors of the ground grew more and more violent, and he saw the huge beasts suddenly raising their legs from the ground. These skeletons seemed to have come alive, for they walked out of the ruins.
World shaking roars came from outside, and there was divine light shining over through the darkness once in awhile. Through these divine lights, those inside could see that the huge beasts had actually grown flesh and transformed into beast gods that were fighting with the devil monsters in the darkness.
The Daoists were bewildered, and Dutian Devil King was also shocked.
Qin Mu wasn't surprised by these strange sights and lay back down again. He then said in a low voice, "Dutian, stop looking, I've seen weirder things."
Dutian Devil King said quietly, "Those Daoists are slightly weird."
Qin Mu was unconcerned. "I know. One of them is Long Jiaonan."
After a moment, he began snoring, and Dutian Devil King could only restrain himself from making a move.
The battle outside the ruins lasted the whole night. When dawn came, the ground trembled as the indomitable divine beasts returned back to the ruins. Once they sprawled onto the ground, their flesh vanished. They turned into the skeletons that lay half buried in the soil, which was exactly how Qin Mu had seen them when he entered.
The darkness retreated back like the flood, and sunlight shone down from the sky. The other strange beasts moved out from the ruins and dispersed in all directions.
Qin Mu made fire again to cook breakfast while the other Daoists did the same as well. All of them did not say a word and ate their own breakfast.
The dragon qilin took out the wash basin from Disabled Elderly Village which he had somehow hidden for this long and placed it in front of Qin Mu to wait for his food.
Qin Mu poured half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and took out another wash basin, pouring half of it with Jade Dragon Lake's water.
The dragon qilin ate to his fulfillment, and they set off. The Daoists looked at one another, then extinguished the fire and followed closely behind Qin Mu.
He stopped at that moment and turned around with a smile. "Is there anything I can help senior brothers with?"
One of the Daoist retorted, "Great Ruins are so huge, is this your home? We'll go our way and you will go yours, no one is interfering with you!"
Qin Mu smiled and continued forward.
They had set off earlier today so they reached the end of Surging River before sunset. Qin Mu saw a dilapidated village nearby, and his eyes lighted up. He made the dragon qilin head over.
The Daoists followed him in and saw that this village was in ruins. Spiderwebs were everywhere, and even the stone statues had been worn out by time.
What was weird was that all the other ruins had strange beasts seeking shelter from the darkness, but there wasn't even one here.
The Daoists were bewildered. Long Jiaonan, who was a beautiful female Daoist now, said in low voice, "There's something weird about this place…"
As she was saying it, darkness descended, and the temperature turned abnormally cold. A lonely boat floated over leisurely from another world with a lamp hanging at its bow. Under the lamp was an elder who was folding paper humans, paper horses, and paper boats.
That elder came to the village and disembarked. Everyone shuddered as they felt their souls freeze over.
The elder placed down a paper boat which floated away. One of the Daoists instantly noticed he had somehow landed onto that paper boat which sailed weightlessly towards the darkness.
Astonished, he immediately looked over to see another him still sitting in the village.
That was his shell.
"Dao brother."
Qin Mu executed Saturn Sovereign Earth Marquis Technique and transformed into a human-headed and snake-bodied form. The Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind his back as he greeted the elder. After saying a phrase in Youdu's language, he took out the portraits of Village Chief, Apothecary, and the rest to ask, "May I ask Dao brother if you have seen them before?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The elder took a look and nodded. "I've met them before. They came to me to ask for directions."
Fear arose in the heart of the Daoists in the village. This elder was standing right in front of them, but they couldn't see his face.
Even though they were so close to him, the facial features of this elder were extremely blurry. They used all kinds of third eye, but they still couldn't see him clearly. It seemed like he wasn't a living person.
Dutian Devil King also kept quiet out of fear and didn't dare to make a sound.
This elder was Youdu's messenger of death, a god that was his subordinate. Nearly every world had such people, but the jobs that they were responsible for were different from one another. Some of them were responsible for guiding the wandering souls in the world of the living, some of them were responsible for extraditing the dead, and some were responsible for capturing the great divine arts practitioners that had escaped death.
The orders of Youdu and the world of the living were handled by them.
Dutian World had once experienced a war at a world destruction level that had nearly destroyed it entirely. At that time, skeletons of the dead filled the open ground and there were corpses everywhere.
The sun in Dutian World was extinguished, and nearly everything was plunged into darkness. However, among the endless darkness, countless specks of light came out, and under each of them was a similar elder coming forward to extradite the wandering souls.
Back then, Dutian Devil King had luckily survived the great war and become the ruler of Dutian. He had been considered young then and was hot-blooded. When he saw these messengers of death coming to extradite the souls of his Dutian people, he immediately went forward to fight, but he ended up severely injured and almost had his soul taken away.
Because of this, when Dutian Devil King saw this messenger of death, he was still slightly afraid and didn't dare to say a word.
Qin Mu asked respectfully, "May I ask where they had gone?"
The elder raised his hand and pointed towards the darkness. "Carefree Village. But they will never find that place and just get trapped. There's a messenger of death ready to take their souls."
The babbling of water came from the riverside as the drenched men and women popped their heads out from inside it. They slowly walked towards the village with ashen faces, not saying a word.
Paper boats flew out from the village, and these men and women boarded them. The paper boats then sailed into the darkness unhurriedly.
The other Daoists in the village were greatly shaken and immediately moved far away from the strange elder. At this moment, they noticed that two of their comrades were not moving from their spots.
On two of the paper boats that had sailed into the darkness, there were two figures that vaguely resembled the motionless people.
The remaining three Daoists felt their hair stand on end. Long Jiaonan, who had donned a Daoist's outfit, was also shaking. She wanted to turn and run, but she didn't dare to escape because outside of the village was darkness.
"Lower your head, don't look at that elder!" An elderly Daoist came to realization and said immediately, "He is the messenger of death! If your gaze crosses with his, your soul will be taken away!"
Long Jiaonan and another young Daoist immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look at the elder anymore.
Qin Mu's tone became even more sincere. "May I ask Dao brother for guidance on the location of Carefree Village?"
That elder continued to point to the darkness, not saying anything more.
Qin Mu frowned. The direction in which this elder had pointed out was the living realm of the dead. There was another netherworld there, which was where Fengdu was located.
That time Village Chief and he had barged into the living realm of the dead, they had nearly not been able to come back alive!
"That place is not Carefree Village. May I ask Dao brother where is the real Carefree Village?"
The elder shook his head and still pointed towards the darkness.
Qin Mu asked again, but the elder was no longer talking.
Qin Mu frowned, since he had no ability to travel through the darkness. Other than Village Chief, he reckoned it would be somewhat difficult for everyone else in the village as well unless they were able to carry the stone statues.
He quietened down. There were no other sounds in the village, only the snores of the dragon qilin who had fallen asleep.
After some time, there were no more corpses walking out from the water, and the little boat that the elder was sitting on disappeared into the darkness.
Everything in the village returned back to normal, and it wasn't as cold as before. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. By then, only three Daoists were left in the village, while Qin Mu's side still had both Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin.
The worn out stone statues gave off ghostly light that forced back the darkness in the surroundings. Qin Mu had a strange feeling, and he looked towards the female Daoist with a smile before asking the other two, "Daoist priests look very unfamiliar, where are you from?"
Between the two, one was much older than the other. "Since Heavenly Devil Cult Master asked, I won't dare to hide from you. Us master and disciple are from Heavenly Star Catcher Sect. This hermit is Daoist Chi Yun and this is my disciple Shao Yun. The other two have also been this hermit's disciples, but luck was not with them and they had their souls taken away by the messenger of death."
Qin Mu felt a deep veneration and said, "So you're experts from Heavenly Stars Catcher Sect. Its Master is called Sect Master Luo Xinghe, am I right?"
"Sect Master Luo is my teacher who has already passed away," Daoist Chi Yun said sadly. "That day when Heavenly Devil Cult transported the mountain of Daxiang City, my teacher died in the hands of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor."
"I see." Qin Mu nodded.
The cold wind in the darkness outside the village whooshed and howled. The few people in the village quietened down once again and didn't say a word. The two Daoists took down the sword cases on their backs and cleaned them carefully. Long Jiaonan smiled and gently stroked the earring hanging from her ear.
Qin Mu stretched his hand into taotie sack, but he didn't pull anything out as a smile remained on his face.
Sparkling and translucent snowflakes floated down from the sky and landed around everyone.
This night wasn't too peaceful, and the snow actually started falling as well.
Dutian Devil King saw that there was something wrong with the atmosphere and secretly kicked the dragon qilin. The fat dragon woke up and looked around before going back to sleep when he saw nothing abnormal.
Dutian Devil King was furious. "What's the point of raising a lazy bum like him?"
The snow grew heavier and heavier, and soon everyone was covered in a layer of white.
At this moment, one of the many names of Buddha sounded out, and everyone was astonished. This name of Buddha had come from the darkness. Qin Mu pulled out his hand from the taotie sack, Long Jiaonan lowered her hand that was stroking the earring, and the two Daoists placed their sword cases down.
Light came from the darkness, and a chubby-faced big-eared monk came walking in. Looking around, he placed his palms together. "Benefactors, sorry to disturb."
Qin Mu didn't dare to neglect him and immediately rose. "We are also guests, so it's not considered disturbing us."
Behind this senior monk walked a robust man who was covered in black hair. He had bulging muscles all over his body and was five yards tall. He had a thick devil qi around him and was like a human-shaped violent ape. With a monk staff in his hand, he cried out in astonishment, "Young'un!"
Qin Mu was also indescribably astonished. He looked at the monk staff and recognized it as the khakkhara staff that he had given to the devil ape. He cried out, "Big fella! What are you doing here? You changed your form?"
The demon-like ape was surprised and delighted. He came forward to acknowledge Qin Mu before pointing to the big and fat monk, "Baldy, little!"
Devil ape then pointed at himself and said in a low, muffled voice, "Great, baldy, teach. Baldy, little, little!"
Qin Mu was confused and probed, "What you mean is that this great monk is from Little Thunderclap Monastery? He found you and taught you abilities. He then left and came back to bring you back to Little Thunderclap Monastery?"
The devil ape nodded repeatedly.
Everyone in the village was confused. Dutian Devil King muttered, "How did you even comprehend the meaning of what he was saying…"
Qin Mu was astonished. To be able to bring the devil ape to travel in the darkness meant that this chubby-faced big-eared monk was an existence on the same level as Old Rulai and Village Chief!
A god-like existence.
Fear arose in Long Jiaonan, Daoist Chi Yun, and Daoist Shao Yun's hearts. They secretly moved back as far as they could, to the point where they would enter the darkness if they went an inch farther.
The three of them grumbled inwardly. The messenger of death earlier and now the Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery were all people Qin Mu knew. Just a word from him could make them lose their lives!
What they didn't know was that Qin Mu was also extremely nervous. Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery was a demon cultivator, a great demon that had defected from Great Thunderclap Monastery. He was a Great Demon King!
His comprehension of Buddhism was extreme. He had once used a copper buddha to suppress the Centipede Xian Qing'er. That buddha had then ended up getting pushed over by Qin Mu who had made use of the ice tide to save Xian Qing'er!
The chubby-faced, big-eared Little Rulai looked really like a buddha. He was like a living buddha that had a dignified appearance. With a glance at Qin Mu, he said, "So it's little benefactor. Does little benefactor still remember spoiling my merit?"
The eyes of Long Jiaonan and Daoist Chi Yun lighted up as hope was reignited in their hearts.
Qin Mu said, "I remember."
Devil ape stood in front of Qin Mu and declared loudly, "Baldy, brother!"
Little Rulai looked at him and shook his head. "Don't worry, my enemy is coming, so I won't make a move now. My enemy is here, so stay, I'll go meet him."
Just as his words were spoken, a laugh came from the darkness. "Little Rulai, you're pretty interesting to make a battle appointment late at night."
In the snowy night, an elder wearing a bamboo hat walked into the dilapidated village covered in snow. Qin Mu was stunned and cried out, "Daoist Ling Jing!"
The elder raised his bamboo hat, and his gaze fell on the youth. He revealed a smile. "So it's the old sword god's disciple who borrowed Fengdu coins from me. Do you have the money to return now?"
Qin Mu was embarrassed and replied honestly, "Those Fengdu Coins were all spent."
Long Jiaonan, Daoist Chi Yun, and Daoist Shao Yun's complexion froze again. Another top notch practitioner that was able to travel through the darkness arrived, but he was also someone who Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu was familiar with!
How many god-like existences did this Heavenly Devil Cult Master know exactly?
"It's not late to pay me back in the future."
Daoist Ling Jing took off his bamboo hat and placed it beside a wall. Looking at Little Rulai, he said without hurry, "Heavy snow and dark sky, what a great time for murder. Little Rulai, let us go farther away to fight."
"Alright."
The two top notch practitioners went into the darkness, and the village was silent once again. Qin Mu looked at Long Jiaonan and her two companions who were also looking at him. The few of them remained motionless.
The devil ape saw this situation and was bewildered. Terrifying pulses came from far away, and the snow in the sky turned into fine rain pattering down. The divine arts of Daoist Ling Jing and Little Rulai melted the heavy snow in the dark night, turning snow into rain.
Snowflakes fell from the sky at times, but at others, they were turned into fine rain. It was hard to say for how long this lasted when suddenly the crows of roosters came from the darkness. The darkness rapidly surged back towards the west. and at this moment, Qin Mu, Long Jiaonan, Dutian Devil King. and the rest sprung into action. They instantly delivered killing blows at one another at nearly the same time!
The dragon qilin roared angrily and shook himself, revealing his true form. With blazing fire around his body, he raised his front claws to press down on the head of the red snake pouncing over, smashing it into the ground. Qin Mu rushed toward Daoist Chi Yun's side in an instant, while Daoist Chi Yun's countless swords were blocked by Dutian Devil King who was standing behind Qin Mu's back.
The devil ape leaped up from behind Dutian Devil King and smashed his khakkhara staff onto Daoist Chi Yun's head.
Chii!
A sword light pierced Daoist Chi Yun's chest, and with a flick of Qin Mu's finger, that sword light went slicing horizontally through the neck of Daoist Shao Yuan who was still in a daze as well.
Long Jiaonan grabbed the tail of the huge snake, and it shrunk in size. The woman rose into the sky and disappeared in a flash.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Thud, thud.
The corpses of Daoist Chi Yun and Daoist Shao Yuan collapsed onto the ground. Qin Mu put away his sword and raised his head to have a look. Long Jiaonan had already gone far away, the speed of the red snake really fast. It wouldn't be easy to catch up to her.
"Tonight, the messenger of death will have wandering souls to take away, it's just a pity that we didn't manage to send Long Jiaonan on her way as well. This woman is indeed very intelligent. She had also managed to escape in the battle in Heaven Wave City."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. Now that Long Jiaonan was left by herself, it would be difficult for her to achieve anything. If she dared to come after him again, she would certainly die.
The main reason why this battle had gone so smoothly was mainly due to everyone's coordination. After all, Daoist Chi Yun's cultivation and strength weren't low, and he wasn't any weaker than Long Jiaonan.
Since Daoist Chi Yun carried a sword case, it meant that he was most proficient in sword battles. With Dutian Devil King blocking his swords with his eight arms, Qin Mu could rush to Daoist Chi Yun's side without any worry.
The devil ape's power lay in his incredible strength. With the Khakkhara staff and Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, the devil ape's strength was enough to stun Daoist Chi Yun, so Qin Mu could take his life in a single attack.
Long Jiaonan's battle prowess lay mainly in the huge red snake which was almost a flood dragon from all the refinement. The dragon qilin, however, was a perfect match for the red snake. Once he pressed down the red snake with his strength, Long Jiaonan was no longer able to save Daoist Chi Yun.
Because of this, the old man was doomed.
However, now that Long Jiaonan had escaped, Qin Mu wasn't able to chase her because he would definitely die if he went after her. His companions—Dutian Devil King, the dragon qilin, and the devil ape—sadly were not fast enough to catch up to her, so they could only let her escape.
"Big fella, did Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery give you trouble?" Qin Mu asked.
The devil ape shook his head and pointed at himself. "My, name, Kong."
Qin Mu waited for a moment. The devil ape was probably talking about his name in religion, but what religious name was only one word? Was it really Kong? And if not, then what was Kong?
The devil ape thought that he had already understood and didn't say a word more. This devil ape treated his words like gold and would never say an extra one.
"It's good for you to follow Little Rulai to cultivate. Little Rulai knows Rulai's Mahayana Sutra and is a strange beast that achieved the Dao, so he's the most qualified to guide you on your cultivation."
Qin Mu waved his hand and said, "My elders are lost so I have to go find them and can't stay here any longer. Come home when you're free, Ling'er misses you too!"
The two of them bade farewell.
Qin Mu followed the direction pointed out by the messenger of death, and this time he no longer felt Long Jiaonan's gaze on him. The girl must have believed that she couldn't kill him and thus retreated.
"I wonder how the battle between Little Rulai and Daoist Ling Jing went..."
Even though Qin Mu kept thinking of that fight, finding Village Chief and the rest was more important. He sat down on the forehead of the dragon qilin who began running forward, while Dutian Devil King chose to stand on the back, his four faces looking in four directions to take note of any movement in the surroundings.
The deeper they went into Great Ruins, the stronger the strange beasts became. The abilities of some of them were no inferior to those of the dragon qilin or the huge red snake. Luckily, most of these strange beasts had their own territories.
Having lived in Great Ruins since he was young, Qin Mu was quite the expert in differentiating between the territories of strange beasts, so they could easily avoid them on their journey and stayed relatively safe.
"If we continue on, we'll reach Eastern Heavenly Gates."
Qin Mu recalled the geographical map of Great Ruins and the place in it called Eastern Heavenly Gates. Besides it, there were three more places that had the name Heavenly Gates, and they were obviously Northern, Western, and Southern Heavenly Gates.
At that moment, the dragon qilin suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. "There's a scent of blood."
"This fellow is a huge dog and not a dragon qilin!" Dutian Devil King thought to himself.
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. "Blood scent? Go and take a look."
The dragon qilin followed the blood scent, and after a moment, Qin Mu saw an old Daoist in the distance leaning against a tree while panting heavily.
"Daoist Ling Jing!"
Astonished, Qin Mu immediately called the dragon qilin to a stop. "He has placed a restriction around him, so don't step into it."
Daoist Ling Jing raised his head weakly and took a glance at him. As he took a breath, he suddenly coughed violently and vomited out a mouthful of blood. "The eyes of Sword God's disciple are extraordinary. I'm injured so I placed a restriction around myself to avoid getting engaged by the strange beasts."
Qin Mu said, "Daoist, I'm proficient in the art of healing. Do you need my help?"
Daoist Ling Jing raised his hand and lifted the restriction. He wanted to get up but was unable to move, so he said while gasping for breath, "Come over."
Qin Mu had the dragon qilin walk to the tree. He then jumped down from the head to examine Daoist Ling Jing's injuries. This elder was heavily injured, and these wounds were probably caused by Little Rulai.
The crucial point was that Daoist Ling Jing was pretty old and his body was not like what it used to be. This resulted in the injuries becoming even more severe, making it difficult for him to heal naturally.
Qin Mu mumbled to himself as he took out the dragon's saliva to treat external injuries. He then took out a few Spirit Buddha Pills to repair the damage to Daoist Ling Jing's spirit. After that, he rummaged through his taotie sack and took out some herbs he had bought in Imperial College for emergency usage. Even though there weren't many herbs, they were enough to create spirit pills for Daoist Ling Jing's injuries.
Qin Mu made the spirit pills on the spot, with his hand techniques fast and perfect. Soon, a furnace of spirit pills was finished, and he let Daoist Ling Jing consume them.
The complexion of Daoist Ling Jing turned for the better, and he said in astonishment, "The disciple of Sword God actually has such high attainments in the art of healing. Little Dao friend, won't you be my disciple? I have a lot of enemies and with you by my side, you could assure my safety. Don't worry, even though the Old Sword God is powerful, what I can teach you won't be any worse than him."
Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm the cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Devil Cult so I can't become your disciple."
"So it's the devil cult master." Daoist Ling Jing struggled to get up, then bowed in greeting with a respectful face. "I thought I was above you in seniority, never expecting us to be senior brothers of the same seniority, Ling Jing pays respects to devil cult master."
Qin Mu immediately returned his greeting. "Senior Brother Ling Jing is too polite. Your injuries are not a problem now, but if you want to get rid of them from their roots, you will have to nurse yourself to health."
Daoist Ling Jing smiled. "Seems like it was the right choice to give you those two Fengdu coins. The Old Sword God still owes me two Fengdu coins, but I reckon that guy won't return them to me. He's pretty stingy, having even chopped off one of my fingers back then." He opened up his right hand and said, "See."
The ring finger on his right hand was gone, and it was clearly a sword wound.
"If it was not for this broken finger, how would Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery have been able to injure me this heavily? However, his injuries are pretty severe as well. Hehe, without a divine physician at his side, I reckon he will have to roll back to Little Thunderclap Monastery and suffer for two to three years before fully recovering."
Daoist Ling Jing let out a pent-up breath. "That fellow is younger than me and has a good foundation. He was the disciple of the previous Rulai and is the junior brother of the current Rulai. When the previous Rulai passed on the position to his senior brother, the Little Rulai was indignant and felt that the reason why the previous Rulai had not passed on the position to him was because he was from the demon race, so he had slaughtered his way out of Great Thunderclap Monastery and founded Little Thunderclap Monastery. That's right, why are you wandering in the depths of Great Ruins alone?"
Qin Mu mixed a few herbs together and brewed a medicinal decoction. "The elders of my village have lost their way, so I've come out to look for them."
"Elders of your village?" Daoist Ling Jing was bewildered.
"It's none other than Old Sword God and the other elders. Among them are Jade Face Poison King, Thief God, Ma Wangshen, and also my Heavenly Devil Cult Patriarch. Has senior brother met them?"
Daoist Ling Jing was startled. Suddenly, he began laughing until tears almost rolled down his cheeks. The injuries that had just fused split open once more and made this elder suck in a cold breath from the pain. "Old Sword God and Heavenly Devil Cult Patriarch have lost their way? These two old goofballs, they actually lost their way!"
He laughed until he couldn't breathe, and Qin Mu immediately said, "Stop laughing, your wounds have opened up again. Has senior brother seen them?"
"I haven't." Daoist Ling Jing shook his head.
Qin Mu then took out the portraits of Old Ma, Granny Si, and the rest to ask, "In that case, what about them?"
Daoist Ling Jing took a look at the paintings and pondered. "I saw this blacksmith carrying a chest. His speed was very fast and his ability was no weaker than mine. When I met him, we even competed with our leg power. He didn't say a word and had a weird temper. It's rare to meet this kind of strong practitioner, but I had never heard of such an expert before."
Qin Mu's spirit was aroused. "That's Grandpa Mute from my village! Does senior brother know where he went?"
Daoist Ling Jing replied, "He went into a restricted area. It's very treacherous there, so it's one of the most dangerous grounds in Great Ruins. I chased him all the way to that dangerous land but did not go in. He's a mute? No wonder he gave me the cold shoulder when I was talking to him."
"Grandpa Mute went to a restricted area in Great Ruins?" Qin Mu became nervous again, and he thought for a moment before asking, "Has senior brother heard of Carefree Village before?"
"Carefree Village?" Daoist Ling Jing shook his head. "I've not heard of it before."
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment. Daoist Ling Jing frequently wandered around Great Ruins and knew numerous secrets that no one else knew. If even he didn't know where Carefree Village was, Qin Mu had little hope to find Carefree Village by himself.
He pondered over it before suddenly asking, "Senior brother, can I ask you for a favor? I would like to go to the living realm of the dead once more."
Daoist Ling Jing smiled. "This is simple. When the night comes, I'll bring you there."
Qin Mu calmed himself down and healed the other's injuries, so when the night arrived, Daoist Ling Jing had pretty much recovered. He immediately brought them into the darkness of Great Ruins and said, "Living realm of the dead is the territory of the King of Hell. This world is very mysterious and the two worlds only overlap at night. If you want to enter the living realm of the dead, you need to have Fengdu coins. I've signed a contract with the King of Hell to not go to Youdu after I die but straight to Fengdu."
Looking around, he took out a token and shone it towards the darkness. "The origin of Fengdu is very weird. It doesn't have a fixed location but floats here and there in Great Ruins, creating a very mysterious world by itself. I have a token of Fengdu, so as long as I activate it, an envoy of Fengdu will come and fetch me."
Just as he was saying that, a light came shining over from the middle of two large mountains. Daoist Ling Jing immediately brought Qin Mu over there. That light was sometimes bright and sometimes dim, guiding them on their way.
Without noticing it, they passed by a couple large mountains and got closer to that light only to see it was but a ball of a will-o'-the-wisp which suddenly vanished.
The jade pendant on Qin Mu's chest gave off a ghostly light then and slowly floated upwards to lead the way.
Daoist Ling Jing brought Qin Mu and the rest forward until they passed through what felt like a formless barrier. The sight in front of them suddenly changed and the vastly mysterious living realm of the dead appeared in front of them. There, they could only see a small boat sailing unhurriedly through the sea of fog among the countless white bone mountains.
Daoist Ling Jing brought Qin Mu and the rest to the boat, and the skeleton inside brought them into the dense fog. After some time, they reached the docks.
The stone tablet of the living realm of the dead was right in front of them.
Daoist Ling Jing asked curiously, "Devil cult master, what are you coming here for? Your cultivation is too weak, so even if you sell your soul, Fengdu won't want it."
Qin Mu walked forward, passing by an empty village. After crossing the huge mountain in front of them, he saw the incomparably large Moon Ship that lay in front of Fengdu. It was like a three-legged toad that was carrying an enormous ship.
Once he said it, he said solemnly, "I'm here to borrow a ship!"
"Borrow a ship?"
Daoist Ling Jing was stunned for a moment, while Qin Mu sprinted over rapidly. He broke through in no time and landed on the Moon Ship in a few steps.
On his chest, the jade pendant which he wore since he was young floated up even higher, and the light coming from it became even brighter.
Dutian Devil King looked around, incredibly shaken as he muttered, "Is this a god artifact?"
"Visitor from Carefree Village…"
On the Moon Ship which was in a mess, the ruined star in the sky turned into fireballs which descended non-stop, making the situation quite dangerous. A strange, trembling voice rang out. "You're from Carefree Village! What are you here for? I'm not a betrayer, I only escaped! Their deaths are not my fault, hehe, they're not my fault. I'm just a coward…"
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice and came to the center of the Moon Ship. In the middle of several huge pillars, a face of several acres that was stuck to the ground looked at the jade pendant floating in front of his chest in terror.
"Not my fault, I didn't betray my tribesmen—" that face shrieked.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then let out a shaky breath and stretched out his palm to touch one of the pillars. Daoist Ling Jing frowned. "I've been here before and there was nothing here except for this lunatic. I've checked these pillars before as well, but there were no abnormalities."
"Don't touch!" that face shouted in despair.
When Qin Mu's palm touched the huge pillar, an incomparably terrifying energy suddenly came pouring into his body. Cracking sounds rang out all around him as his body grew taller and bigger. The divine energy that came pouring in caused his body to undergo a dramatic transformation!
He felt his tailbone growing frantically, turning into a third leg that grew out from his back and landed steadily on the ground. Bones and flesh also rapidly grew under his armpits, turning into arms.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Qin Mu stretched out his arms and grasped the other pillars. Everything in his surroundings seemed to shrink rapidly, but that was just a misconception. He was actually the one becoming larger.
Due to the divine energy of Moon Ship reconstructing his body, deafening explosions came from his body. This noise originated from all the divine treasures opening within him. In the blink of an eye, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, and Life and Death Divine Treasures had all opened up. The Divine Bridge Divine Treasure had even opened up and reached straight to the opposite shore!
Qin Mu couldn't resist howling, and as he did so, the incomparably enormous Moon Ship gradually stood up. Then, the broken moon floated into the distance.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Daoist Ling Jing's expression changed drastically, and he moved back continuously. Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin were also forced to move back by Qin Mu's aura. Even when they were thousands of yards away from him, they still couldn't get a stable footing.
Meanwhile, under Qin Mu's feet, the face of the Moon Guardian had sunk into the Moon Ship by the pressure from the feet. Originally, he had still been hanging by a thread, but when he got stepped onto, he fused completely with the Moon Ship, becoming part of it and dying.
The old Moon Guardian died.
Daoist Ling Jing was shaken. The death of the old Moon Guardian didn't concern him since this person was a lunatic, but the growth of Qin Mu's body attracted all of his attention. The youth had actually broken through the shackles of the living realm of the dead.
When entering the living realm of the dead, even existence like Daoist Ling Jing would have their blood and flesh stripped off, leaving him a walking skeleton.
When Qin Mu had entered here with him, he was also left with only his bones. It was the same for the dragon qilin, while Dutian Devil King sported no changes only because he had no flesh or bones.
And then, not only had Qin Mu's flesh returned, his body had also become larger and larger, as if he was a heavenly god with divine light surrounding him. He replaced the last Moon Guardian of the Moon Herders to become the new Moon Guardian.
The power which he controlled now was too strong, so it broke through the limitations of the living realm of the dead, which resulted in them being able to do nothing!
This was something that was nearly impossible.
Daoist Ling Jing had come to this Moon Ship many times and examined everything here numerous times. He had touched the pillars countless times, but he had never undergone such an astonishing transformation like Qin Mu.
He had thought that only the Moon Herders had this ability and not even all of them. Just the ones who had a special constitution.
The human body is like a large smelting furnace. An ordinary Moon Herder should not be able to contain the terrifying energy from the Moon Ship, so only those with a special constitution could receive such a large amount of energy.
The Moon Herders should have been wiped out, with this elder on the ship being the last of them. However, he had now also sunk into the Moon Ship and lost his life.
For Qin Mu to be able to control the Moon Ship and its energy, could he be a Moon Herder, and one with a special constitution among his kind?
However, Qin Mu was not a Moon Herder.
Grasping the huge pillars was considered an abnormally dangerous act to other people, even if they were Moon Herders. However, it was very safe for him to do it. It was as if his body could naturally withstand this energy and automatically reconstruct his body and soul to handle it.
"What powerful energy!"
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. The energy in his body had reached an unimaginable realm, which gave him a sensation that his previous power was like a water droplet in front of the ocean. It was simply insignificant!
Now, with just a raise of a hand, he felt like he could change the landscape, to change and even control the rules of the world!
Rings of moonlight covered Qin Mu's surroundings. Those rings seemed to flow down from the top of his head like flowing water, going down to the bottom of his feet before disappearing into the Moon Ship.
His feet had already started to sink inside, fusing with the ship.
This was Moon Ship's counterattack.
Qin Mu had once seen this kind of counterattack on the body of the Sun Guardian of the Sun Ship.
Sun Guardian was Sun Herder Yan Jingjing. Since the sun of the Sun Ship had been extinguished, she had to bear the counterattack of the Sun Ship by burning her life to control and receive its immense energy. The longer she controlled the Sun Ship, the faster her life was drained away.
The broken moon above the Moon Ship was also extinguished and had no light emanating from it. For Qin Mu to control the ship and borrow its energy, the price was his own life!
He had to move quickly and borrow the power and speed of the Moon Ship to delve deeper into the darkness to find Carefree Village, Village Chief, and the other villagers. Otherwise, the price would become too huge for him to bear if he wanted to break free!
"Senior Brother Ling Jing, thank you for your help." Qin Mu looked down at him from above and said in a booming voice, "But now, I have to find Village Chief and the rest while the darkness is still here, farewell!"
Daoist Ling Jing suppressed the shock in his heart and flew off the Moon Ship to float in mid-air.
This Daoist was now a skeleton and the Daoist robe on his body had also become tattered. Raising his head, he said, "Cult master, please!"
Boom!
The enormous Moon Ship took a stride. Below the body of the ship was the shape of a three-legged toad formed by the majestic mountains. With a step, they could cover ten miles.
With a few steps, the Moon Ship walked out of the gate of Fengdu with its chains dragging the broken black moon still in mid-air out of the living realm of the dead.
Meanwhile, in Fengdu, the strong practitioners all flew out to see the traces of the Moon Ship leaving into the distance.
These strong practitioners of Fengdu didn't give chase. When Moon Ship had entered Fengdu back in the day, Yama of Fengdu had not received the Moon Guardian; he only let the Moon Ship stay at the wasteland outside the city.
Now that the Moon Ship was leaving, Yama of Fengdu didn't bother to pay attention to it.
A bird-headed and human-bodied mutant came flapping over and called out to Daoist Ling Jing. "Daoist Ling Jing, Yama requests the pleasure of seeing you."
Daoist Ling Jing immediately followed him into Fengdu and walked into the Hall of Yamaraja.
At this moment, tens of thousands of yards of light shone from Qin Mu's body, which made him look like a heavenly god that was crafted from a moon. He controlled the enormous ship to walk out of the living realm of the dead, cross the sea of fog, and enter the Great Ruins which were shrouded in darkness.
He could feel the boundless energy in his body, and every single one of the divine treasure in his body was opened. No matter if it was Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death or Divine Bridge—they were all filled with terrifying energy, and there was still even more energy pouring in.
On the inside of the Moon Ship were incomparably complicated formations, and when his palm had gotten into contact with the huge pillar, the formations had been activated. Boundless energy poured into him to reconstruct his body, his soul, his spirit embryo, and allow his realm to surpass divine bridge, reaching an unimaginable realm.
The realm of heavenly gods.
It was hard to imagine what kind of realm this energy would reach if this was a complete ship!
"Carefree Village, Village Chief, I'm coming!"
As the huge Moon Ship moved forward through the darkness, the scenery around it flashed past like flickering lights and passing shadows. The jade pendant on Qin Mu's neck had also become huge and floated up in the night to point towards a faraway place in the darkness.
Suddenly, this jade pendant came off from his neck and flew into the distance.
Qin Mu controlled the Moon Ship to increase its speed to not lose the jade pendant which was flying swiftly through the darkness. As the ship moved faster, it compressed the space, which caused thunder and lightning to occur at the same time, tearing apart the darkness continuously.
Above the Moon Ship, there were huge rocks crashing down continuously from the broken moon. As they streaked across the sky, they left trails of fire as they descended into the darkness of Great Ruins.
Wherever the Moon Ship walked, meteors fell in its wake. This caused the surroundings of Moon Ship to be filled with fire and smoke, stinging the eyes.
On the deck of the Moon Ship, there were too many palaces to count. This was where the Moon Herders had lived, but after a great battle, they had all been wiped out. The last Moon Herder was the Moon Guardian, but even he was consumed by the Moon Ship when Qin Mu became the new Moon Guardian.
Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin hid in a palace that had yet to collapse so as to avoid Qin Mu's world-shaking aura. The dragon qilin soon shut his eyes from all the shaking and fell asleep. Dutian Devil King was not sleepy, so he looked out from the window of the palace.
He could see the majestic Qin Mu standing at the center of the pillars like a tall mountain. His power had materialized into the rings of moonlight that were falling down his body, and they were extremely terrifying.
"This world is not as lowly as I thought. These god artifacts require an extremely profound path, skills, and divine arts. It's not something that an ordinary civilization could create."
Dutian Devil King's gaze wavered, and he found himself at a loss. "Am I really going to invade such a world? What worries me are actually not the heights which the civilization of this world had reached, but the thing that had destroyed something like it…"
Countless monsters in the darkness of Great Ruins were alarmed and surged over. Even though these monster were massive in size, they weren't that great when compared to the Moon Ship. They were like ants and were slow as well.
The Moon Ship crushed all of them, and among the constant booms, crunching sounds could also be faintly heard. It was hard to say how many mysterious organisms had been flattened into pancakes and turned into a pile of mush in the darkness.
There were countless devils pouncing towards the Moon Ship as well, and devil voices could be heard. These devils were trying their best to board this land ship, but they were immediately killed by the lightning created by the movement of the Moon Ship, and their corpses dropped down like rain.
"Candra nava (Sanskrit, Moon Ship)!"
In the darkness, a terrifying aura surged forth as a black figure became bigger and bigger. With feathers like clouds, it flew over from the darkness and leaped into the thunder layer formed by the Moon Ship, bringing devil clouds to invade it.
From the devil clouds, the enormous devil popped out its heads, and all nine of them spewed devil flames towards Qin Mu who was at the center of the pillars.
The blazing flames lighted up the night sky, and the body of the enormous devil rolling back into the clouds could be seen. It seemed like a bird, but a flood dragon as well. It was as if the devil was a monster that was a fusion between the two different species.
"Garuda!" Dutian Devil King cried out in astonishment.
Moonlight lingered around Qin Mu's body, blocking the devil flames. Suddenly, a crescent opened up in the heart of his brows and slowly turned into a full moon like a door opening.
Soon, a full moon appeared in the heart of his brows. This wasn't a real full moon but an eye that was giving off a light that was similar to moonlight.
Pew!
A snow-white light flashed across the horizon and sliced apart the darkness. It cut through the devil flames that filled the sky, and the heads of the devil started to fall from mid-air. There were exactly nine heads, no more and no less, while behind them were necks that were squirming like dragons and spurting blood.
The full moon on Qin Mu's forehead slowly closed and turned into a crescent again, which disappeared as well.
Dutian Devil King shut his mouth and didn't say a word. "After this brat let me go, I'll definitely not invade this twisted world!"
The Moon Ship continued traveling forward while devils continued to surge towards it. Suddenly, shrieks came from the darkness, and the countless devils suddenly retreated, disappearing into the darkness.
Qin Mu's jade pendant which was floating in front of the ship looked incomparably small as though it was a speck of dust. Suddenly, it clanked as though it had collided with a formless barrier.
As if it was water of the lake stretching vertically from the heaven to the earth, ripples started to gently undulate on the barrier. They spread out with the jade pendant at the center, growing larger and larger. Meanwhile, at the center of the ripple, another world was gradually showing the tip of its grandeur.
This was Carefree Village.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu stood on the majestic Moon Ship with his hands stretched out to hold the pillars. He was like a giant getting punished as he looked at the world that had appeared in front of him.
Behind him, the broken moon floated in the sky while meteors fell down from time to time. As they crashed around the Moon Ship, the incomparably black darkness was lighted up.
Behind the light, the devils were in a disorder. They were bustling with activity and making a commotion.
In front of the ship, however, was a pure land that had never been invaded by the darkness. It was cut off from the rest of the world, tranquil, mysterious, and filled with the unknown.
It was hard to imagine that there was such a serene place in Great Ruins.
In front of Qin Mu were a vast forest and an endless mountain range. However, at a place farther away, the ground was suddenly cut off as if it was emptied out by someone. With the sea and clouds separating them, there was a city that stood tall and upright in mid-air. It was like the place where immortals lived.
The sky was filled with golden clouds and light, while below palaces towered into the cloudy heaven. Floating high up in the clouds was an unbroken chain of mountain peaks which revealed their bright golden peaks.
In the depths of the clouds, majestic god statues stood like an emperor protecting his territories.
A huge machinery floated three thousand yards away from the sky, operating quietly. Countless formations were imprinted into the mysterious iron and gold structure, forming an incomparably complicated large-scale machine. Energy produced by it materialized into trails of flowing light which connected the city and the sky.
However…
Everything was already destroyed.
Qin Mu was stunned. In front of him was a ruined Carefree Village. The one dazzling sky city was now a ruin. The palaces that towered into the clouds were riddled with holes and the unbroken chain of peaks that was floating in the sky had been smashed and shattered. Broken rocks of all shapes and sizes floated in the sea of clouds while majestic god statues stood slanted, missing limbs here and there.
In the middle of the sun in the sky was a huge black dot which had already swallow more than half of the sun. Only the golden halo around it remained, looking like a golden hoop.
The city above the clouds had been destroyed, and the great machinery that stood upright in the sky was broken as well. Its shattered components floated quietly around.
Only a couple huge pieces of machinery remained operating, maintaining the barrier of Carefree Village.
Not far from the Moon Ship, there was a horizontally inscribed board stabbed diagonally into the forest. On that toppled overly large inscribed stele, two words were written. They said 'xiao Pal"
The horizontally inscribed board was broken.
A pang of sorrow suddenly surged through Qin Mu, and it grew frantically until it filled his whole heart.
There was no Carefree Village in this world anymore.
There was no place to be carefree anymore.
This giant who was standing on the Moon Ship and holding the pillars seemed to be bearing the punishment of heaven as he lowered his head.
He knelt down, and tears dripped droplet by droplet onto the solid floor.
The home that he longed for had already been destroyed, and nothing remained of it anymore.
He had looked for such a long time, fantasized about his home in his dreams, his family, neighbors, and friends, but all of them had suddenly been shattered with the appearance of this world in front of him. It was like a drawing done on the sand, vanishing with the gust of a wind.
There was no longer any home, any mother waiting for her son, any stern father… All of the things he had fantasized about were no longer there…
He awoke from his dream. He was still the orphan adopted by the numerous old, weak, sick, and elderly people.
His hometown was gone.
Dutian Devil King raised his head and looked out the window to see the giant kneeling among the pillars. The giant that was shrouded in the hazy moonlight had his face facing downwards so only the shaking of his shoulders could be seen.
At this moment, Dutian Devil King could well imagine the youth's pain.
When his Dutian World was annihilated, he had felt the same sorrow. He was inconsolable and couldn't suppress his emotions. While he was bawling, he blamed the world, and with his overflowing anger, he had fought with the messengers of death from Youdu, trying to save the lives of his clansmen!
He was struck down countless times, and his body was broken along with his soul. Then, he had finally submitted, submitted himself to fate.
In Qin Mu, he saw himself the past, the him when he was young, the him that was about to be struck down and submit to fate.
When life is weak and one's direction is lost, becoming a lunatic is simple.
When playing in the mud, it's hard to know the luminosity of a pearl. How many trials and how many hardships, how much obliteration would one be willing to suffer to temporarily return back to fear?
Where is home?
Where is my home?
Qin Mu gradually raised his head up with a cold gaze. His eyes were like the bright luster given off by the moon. When he closed his eyes, that light vanished, but when he reopened them, they were like two bright moons.
As he stood on the Moon Ship, his emotions rose and fell as myriads of thoughts went through his mind. He was unable to calm down for a long time.
"I didn't come here to find Carefree Village, but to search for Village Chief, granny, and the rest. They are my kin and Disabled Elderly Village is my hometown, it's the Carefree Village of my heart!"
Qin Mu composed himself and looked around. Suddenly, he saw a couple of stone statues placed at the border of the barrier.
Even existences of the god realm would find it hard to travel through the darkness of Great Ruins unless they were carrying god statues. However, god statues were extremely dense and even existences of cult master level would find it hard to carry them. They would be unable to travel far with them.
The stone statues at the edge should have been transported here using great magical power to force the darkness back.
After entering Carefree Village, these stone statues were no longer useful and was thus left behind.
Qin Mu's heart stirred. Village Chief could have brought Apothecary to walk in the darkness and deal with all kinds of strange peculiarities, while Mute should have a method of his own to deal with the darkness.
As for Old Ma, Cripple, Butcher, and Blind, they would have needed the stone statues to be able to move in the darkness. Old Ma, Cripple, and Butcher's body had already recovered, so they could walk a longer distance while carrying a god statue.
No one knew the extent of Deaf's abilities, but not even ghosts and gods dared doubt the greatness of his painting skills. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was his hardcore admirer who took honor in collecting his paintings.
While what concerned granny, the previous Cult Master Li Tianxing was hidden in her body so she should be able to carry the god statue as well.
These statues here should have been left behind by the villagers.
"In that case, they must have found their way here. Could it be that they entered this place and got trapped, which is why they couldn't return to the village for New Years?"
Qin Mu opened his eyes and looked around. Vigorous energy poured into his eyes, and he executed the Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill that Blind had taught him to its maximum. "I'm here. Village Chief, granny, I'm going to bring you guys back for New Years!"
He didn't step into Carefree Village straightaway but first checked it out from outside.
Village Chief and the rest were extremely strong, so if they had really entered Carefree Village, it wouldn't look as serene as it was now. There must be no lack of danger inside, because of which they got trapped.
Even the Moon Ship couldn't guarantee Qin Mu's safety.
His gaze landed on the forest in front of Carefree Village and saw the traces that Village Chief and the rest had left. The divine arts of great practitioners like Village Chief and Mute would cause astonishing damage to the surroundings.
However, this wasn't the case by the forest. Although there were traces of a battle there, the damage wasn't extensive.
Qin Mu's gaze followed the traces and saw a few ruins in the forest. The path that Village Chief and the rest had taken went along them.
The reason why the path was along these ruins was that this was the only path, the only safe way to enter Carefree Village!
Other than this path, every other place was restricted!
Qin Mu looked with Nine Heavens Divine Eyes and saw faint rays of light which were extremely treacherous in the forest. However, he couldn't see what the restrictions were.
These restrictions were extremely dangerous, so the path along the ruins was much safer in comparison.
Qin Mu continued to stare fixedly forward. At this moment, he saw a few strands of fine light bursting forth from a ruin which was about three hundred miles away from him, but not far from the end of the forest.
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth, and he plucked down the jade pendant from the barrier. Activating Moon Ship, he took a stride forward and entered the barrier.
Hnnn.
A gentle tremor came over him, and he felt like he had crossed into another world. The darkness which shrouded Great Ruins instantly vanished behind him, and when he turned his head to look behind, he could see nothing.
At this moment, he suddenly heard weird laughter. Countless devils that had been hugging the body of Moon Ship leaped off the ship and surged into the forest like a flood.
A devil god that had two heads and five tails rose into the air. She also had eight long legs which had palms instead of feet which she used to scurry through the air while shouting sternly, "Vadhah (Sanskrit, Kill)!"
Dutian Devil King jumped in shock. He totally didn't expect that there were would be so many devil secretly hiding on the ship in the cover of darkness.
The devil god turned her head back and chuckled at Qin Mu who was on the ship. "Fancy finding by sheer luck what one has been searched for far and wide! We had wanted to enter Carefree Village for quite a long time, so we must thank you for leading us here!"
This devil god was none other than that one Qin Mu and Village Chief had met in the living realm of the dead. It was also this devil god who had lured Qin Mu out into the darkness after he had met the Sun Ship in Border Dragon City to kidnap him.
It was evident that this devil god had long ago hidden herself on the Moon Ship to wait for a chance.
She seemed to have known that Qin Mu would definitely return to the living realm of the dead one day and borrow the Moon Ship to return to Carefree Village.
And now, she had finally succeeded.
"My children, take over the last of the pure land! From today onwards, this world shall be ours!" that devil god cried out and brought the omnipresent devils to surge towards the other end of the forest.
Qin Mu was expressionless as he gazed at these heavenly devils.
Suddenly, a cryptic pulse came from the forest and the flesh and bones of the tens of thousands heavenly devils that had surged forward melted away. Only their skin was left, but when the gust of wind blew past, even it turned into ashes and scattered away.
The devil god who had rushed into the sky above the forest instantly rushed out. "Sa Parami!"
A huge whirlpool appeared and sucked her in.
Qin Mu had seen this method before. When fighting against the Village Chief, that devil god had created the space leading to the other shore and pulled Village Chief into it, trying to trap him there. Never had she then expect to fall inside it as well.
Now she had executed this method not to trap anyone, but to avoid the danger in the forest by hiding in the other shore!
Right then, a ball of fire rose from the forest, and a beam shot out from it into the depths of the space.
In the sky, a trail of fresh blood flowed out, and the corpse of that devil god appeared fell down. Once it crashed into the forest, the corpse turned into ashes.
On the Moon Ship, Dutian Devil King was quiet out of fear, his blood running cold. "This goddamn world, can it not be so treacherous?"
The pure white moonlight in Qin Mu's eyes drifted like mist, and a booming voice sounded out as he muttered to himself, "Your deaths have affirmed my guess. This restricted area is not to defend against any invasion of enemies, but to prevent people of Carefree Village from walking out! It was left behind by the existence that destroyed Great Ruins."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Dutian Devil King heard what Qin Mu said and was slightly stunned, then instantly understood what he was saying.
This restricted area in the forest was not to defend against the invasion of enemies, but to prevent people of Carefree Village from walking out!
If it was to defend against outside enemies, then only people who barged in would be attacked by the restricted area.
Whereas here, no matter if people were trying to go in or to come out, they would all receive ruthless obliteration!
The ruins to the side should be the path that the people of Carefree Village had opened up by force to escape Carefree Village and not a path that had formed naturally.
'To understand the situation from the slightest clue… ordinary people would have never noticed this. The ones who taught this brat are definitely absolute villains that are incomparably cunning.'
Dutian Devil King shuddered uncontrollably. It was obvious that the heavenly devils that had clung to the ship hadn't escaped Qin Mu's detection. The reason he didn't reveal his knowledge was to have them test the path!
Such a ruthless and sinister youth would definitely have absolute villains for his teachers!
Dutian Devil King sized up the restricted area and thought to himself, 'With just the Moon Ship, we can't enter this place. Moon Ship is too huge, and if we barged in, we would definitely trigger the restricted area. If it was so simple for the restricted area to obliterate that female devil god, destroying the Moon Ship shouldn't be too troublesome either…'
Just as he thought this, the Moon Ship suddenly trembled and gradually squatted down. A huge tremor shook the enormous three-legged ship as it lay down on the floor and stopped moving.
Dutian Devil King immediately felt the heavenly god aura around Qin Mu gave disappear, and he let out a sigh of relief. If Qin Mu had driven the Moon Ship into the restricted area, even he would have been destroyed.
Even though Qin Mu had seen the destruction of Carefree Village, he still possessed his rationality, which astonished Dutian Devil King.
He then kicked the dragon qilin awake.
The dragon qilin shook his head and followed behind him while asking in a low and muffled voice, "Iron lump, where are we?"
Dutian Devil King became furious. "You slept all the way and still have the face to ask me?"
The dragon qilin smiled. "You also don't know where we are? Apparently, you have also slept all the way."
At the center of the huge pillars, Qin Mu's body returned back to normal, and he pulled back his legs that had sunk into the ship.
The body of the ship had fused with his legs, but since Qin Mu's body had grown extremely gigantic earlier, he had left huge footprints after he had shrunk in size. This allowed him to pull out his legs.
Qin Mu stood up, and his mind immediately trembled. He was incomparably weak at that moment, and the divine treasures that had been opened up by the huge amount of energy from the Moon Ship closed one after another. Only Spirit Embryo and Five Elements Divine Treasures did not leave him.
The ship's energy was too great for the current him, so if he wanted to control it, he had to exhaust his life force as a price.
'Yan Jingjing has always lived on the Sun Ship, so she had exhausted way more life force than me. It's been really hard on her…'
Qin Mu took in two deep breaths and consumed some spirit pills to supplement his body. He rose then and said, "Devil King, Fatty Dragon, let's enter this restricted area."
Dutian Devil King let out a shaky breath and said, "You're planning to use my knowledge and vision to avoid the dangers and find the villains of your village?"
Qin Mu nodded. "You are the devil king of Dutian World, the king of devil gods. Your knowledge and vision are much greater than mine, so only you can bring me in."
Dutian Devil King laughed out loud and said proudly, "That's right, only I can bring you in and out safely, you can lick my feet…"
Qin Mu's expression changed slightly, and Dutian Devil King immediately changed his words as he laughed. "I'm joking, look at you. I can bring you in and out, but you must release me as you promised. You agreed to it!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Don't worry, I will definitely not eat my words. I can sign the Pact of Earth Count with you!"
Dutian Devil King shook his head. "No need for that. If we sign the Pact of Earth Count, I won't believe you anymore. You will definitely dig a hole for me to jump into."
Qin Mu laughed coarsely and thought to himself, 'Dutian Devil King really knows me well. With just a verbal promise, I find it embarrassing to trick him… Grandpa Cripple is right, I'm still too kind.'
He jumped onto the dragon qilin's back and Dutian Devil King also got on. Fire clouds grew under the dragon qilin's feet, and they slowly descended onto the ground. Soon, they reached the edge of the restricted area.
Dutian Devil King was extremely nervous and spat out a few gears from his mouth. "Even though there's a safe path here, this safe path was established from inside. If we follow it to walk out, there won't be much danger, but if we use it to walk in, we'll face quite some danger. You must keep close to me and not take the wrong path. If you trigger the restricted area, we'll all die!"
Qin Mu immediately moved forward and opened up the god statue's chest to adjust the gears there. Adding a few more spare parts, he reminded, "Devil King, don't try to play any tricks or you will be trapped as well."
Dutian Devil King replied in a bad mood, "Don't worry, I understand. Stick close!"
Qin Mu followed after him, and the four faces and twelve eyes of Dutian Devil King looked around. His four mouths muttered as he saw through the dangers in the restricted area and did his calculations.
Qin Mu even saw Dutian Devil King using his devil qi to execute methods of space calculation. Countless numbers and runes moved in the air as he did incomparably complicated calculations.
"Devil King, your attainments in algebra are extremely high," Qin Mu said in astonishment.
Dutian Devil King replied in a bad mood, "You don't say. If you don't learn your algebra properly, you will only know the form of most of the divine arts but not their essence."
"Can you teach me?" Qin Mu asked with excitement. "I have a Canon of Supreme Mystery which I still have yet to study thoroughly. Canon of Supreme Mystery uses the divinatory symbols of the eight divinatory trigrams to represent one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. It's an octal number system which is quite thorny."
Dutian Devil King said in astonishment, "Octal number system? You will have to use the eight trigrams to calculate, which are Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Water, Mountain, Wind, Flame, and Lake. If you used numbers to replace them, it would be quite troublesome to calculate, but if you used the eight trigrams as an abacus to operate the transformation, that would be much easier… We'll talk later, don't talk to me now. If I calculate wrongly, we are all finished!"
Dutian Devil King's attainments in algebra weren't extremely high, but simply too profound to understand for normal people. A sentence he had said without thinking gave Qin Mu the feeling of having been enlightened.
He had been studying the Canon of Supreme Mystery these days, but he didn't achieve much. It was too profound and calculating it was incomparably troublesome.
However, if he used the eight trigrams as an abacus, it would become an exquisite tool for calculation. All the problems that he had faced could easily be solved!
'There's not only the octal number system from the eight divinatory trigrams. There is also yin and yang binary, four phases quaternary system!'
Qin Mu managed to deduce many things from one answer. There were many mathematical physics in Canon of Supreme Mystery, but there were no tools of calculation listed there. After getting advice from Dutian Devil King, he finally had a chance to actually comprehend the Canon of Supreme Mystery completely!
'If I wanted to do that, I would need to have a formation for calculation, the eight trigrams of taiji!'
Qin Mu took out the Canon of Supreme Mystery and browsed through it. His vital qi transformed into the four phases of yin and yang before forming the runes of the eight divinatory trigrams which floated in front of him.
With a pull of his hand, the eight trigrams of taiji split into forty-nine copies. The yin and yang revolved, the four phases operated, and the eight divinatory trigrams transformed.
"So that's how the Dayan calculation in Canon of Supreme Mystery works…" Qin Mu looked at the transformation diagram and muttered as numbers formed in his mind.
"Don't be distracted!" the back-face of Dutian Devil King scolded him.
Qin Mu immediately dispersed the eight trigrams. With Dutian Devil King leading the way, he considered himself safe. Dutian Devil King was the ruler of Dutian World, after all, so his knowledge and vision far surpassed that of Qin Mu. Even though he didn't have the ability to break the restrictions in this restricted area, avoiding them were not difficult for him.
In addition, the restrictions along the path had already been broken by people from the inside. Village Chief and the rest had also broken the restrictions by force, so the journey was relatively safe.
In no time, they came to the first ruins and Qin Mu stopped. This place was a village with only four households. The pots, bowls, and stoves were all still here, but no one lived here anymore.
Qin Mu saw eleven graves, but there was no tombstone erected. The yellow dirt grave was big, but he saw no clue who was buried inside.
"This place is safe!" Dutian Devil King said.
Qin Mu walked into the village and looked around. Suddenly, his heart trembled when he saw a cradle in one of the households. There was also a wooden horse and a few infant's clothing on the bed which looked very delicate.
On the chest of one of the pieces of clothing was a word 'Qin' sewed on.
Qin Mu took out the jade pendant which also had the word 'Qin' on it.
The youth closed his eyes for a long time. There were no tears in his eyes when he opened them, as they were long dried up.
'Is this my home?'
He walked past the kitchen stove and looked at the pots hanging above it, the bowls covered on the table. He wanted to find more items, to obtain more information, but there were no more clues.
He came to the door and suddenly froze. He stood there silently.
There was a 'xi' word pasted on the door. Even though there was no wind and rain here, the passage of time had faded the handwriting.
This 'xi' word meant that the owners of this house had married. They had married right in this restricted area.
The small wooden horse in this courtyard must have been prepared for the unborn child by the owner of this house. The delicate clothing should have been tailored for that child as well.
"It's time to go," Dutian Devil King hurried him. "Once this is done, I'll be returning. I don't want to stay another day in your goddamn world!"
Qin Mu sorted out his emotions and continued to head deeper into the restricted area with him. Four hours later, they came to another ruin.
This was a small town with about a hundred households. Outside the ruin, there were rows and rows of graves.
Qin Mu walked around and saw that there was a school in the town, so there should have been youths learning knowledge here...
Once upon a time, this should have been a bustling place where people came and went. Even there was the incomparably treacherous restricted area just outside, this place should have been brimming with life.
Yet in the next village, only four households were left...
They continued to venture forward, and the third ruin was a city. Huge pieces of shattered spirit weapons were scattered all over the ground here. If these were sold in Eternal Peace Empire, one would definitely become the richest person in the world, but here they just lay all around.
"Let's continue!" Qin Mu said solemnly.
"We're so dead!" Granny Si's angry voice came from the distance. "You old geezers, you even got this old woman fall for it and die alongside you!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
At the end of the forest, Blind's expression became solemn. He propped himself on his cane to rest while Butcher swung his knives. Around them was a layered space that kept changing in a peculiar way. This space was layered, and every time it changed, the scenery would transform as well. Sometimes it was a vast forest, and sometimes it was a blistering hot desert. Sometimes it was waves overflowing to the sky, and sometimes it was stars from space flying into their faces.
Every time it changed, a different restricted law would burst forth. When the power of the divine restrictions hidden in the space activated, Butcher would need to clash with them.
Butcher shouted angrily, "Blind, Granny, my waist is about to break. Have you two finished resting?"
Blind sighed. "I'm old and my bones aren't like before, let me rest a while more."
"I ain't much younger than you!" Butcher said angrily. "Furthermore, my lower body was just reattached and it's not as strong! If I have to continue fighting, my upper and lower bodies will separate for you to see!"
Blind said slowly, "Granny is still young, let her take over."
An old voice came from Granny Si's mouth and sneered, "Even though I'm very strong, my wife's body can't withstand it anymore. Wife, let me take over your body…"
"Scram!" Granny Si said angrily.
Butcher and Blind's expression turned weird. Granny Si's 'illness' was becoming more and more severe. After she had found them and they met danger again and again, Li Tianxing frequently jumped out and took control of her body.
'The devil seed is becoming stronger and stronger. Old Woman Si will be replaced by Li Tianxing sooner rather than later.'
The changing of the space around them was like a god throwing a dice. Each side of the dice represented a divine restriction, and they were in that dice. On which side the dice landed on, the divine restriction on it would activate. However, this wasn't a six-sided dice, but one which had a hundred and eight sides.
Now they landed on the side of the stars, and the land under their feet disappeared as their surroundings transformed into a boundless starry sky. There was nothing above them and no land below them.
The flashing stars were not real stars but mirrors. Suddenly, the lights from them gathered together and shone at the trio with a hum.
Butcher shouted out and slashed at the terrifying divine light with Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining. The divine light split into half and brushed past their bodies, destroying everything that was not immediately behind Butcher.
Granny Si immediately shouted, "Deaf, Deaf, come here quickly!"
On the other side of the starry sky, Deaf drew with a brush and contended with the stars. Blind said, "Deaf can't hear your voice…"
Before he could finish saying that, Deaf tried to fly over. A starlight unexpectedly hit him, and he was blown away, disappearing somewhere.
"Butcher, rest for awhile, it's my turn!" Li Tianxing's voice said from Granny Si's mouth.
Butcher immediately moved back, and Granny Si went forward. The body circulated Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and carefully looked at the changes of the space surrounding them.
It was not only the three of them who were trapped in the layered space. Deaf, Old Ma, and Cripple were also trapped, but they were in different sides of the dice, which made it difficult for them to regroup.
When Granny Si came and saw Blind and the rest trapped inside, she had tried to unravel this restriction. But to her surprise, she had fallen in as well. Later, Deaf found his way here and also tried to solve this restriction but got swept in instead.
"This space restriction has one hundred and eight divine restrictions, but the central administration that operates these formations is not within this one hundred and eight sides."
Blind stood up, and his god mind's eyes were as penetrating as a mirror as he looked in all directions. "Our bodies are in the dice of a god. Old Ma and Cripple are on another side, but they still land in the same side sometimes. Deaf will also enter this plane once in awhile, which means that the space restriction had operated for too long and there is already slight deviation in its mathematical calculation."
He did some mental calculations, and his eyebrows suddenly rose. "The god that laid down this space restriction had only calculated to the Shun Xi decimal fraction; he didn't calculate to the smallest decimal! After this divine restriction operates for a period of time, it will crumble by itself!"
By then, the space restriction had changed into the volcano whose divine flames were like dragons. With thunder and lightning booming out, Granny Si tried her best to contend against them as Li Tianxing's spoke with her mouth, "How much longer until this restriction crumbles by itself?"
Blind calculated for a moment and said, "Twenty-four thousand years."
"Shut up, Blind!" Butcher shouted out, wanting nothing more than to hack him into half with a knife.
At this moment, a voice came from outside, "Brat, your elders are trapped inside, there are six of them."
In the space restriction, everyone was astonished and looked outside, but they couldn't see anything.
Blind was extremely nervous as he commanded sternly, "Mu'er, don't come in! You don't have the power to withstand the divine restrictions!"
Qin Mu's voice came from outside, "Devil King, do you have a way to save them?"
"This space restrictions use a Secret Technique of Space Matrix to layer one hundred and nine spaces, separating them into one hundred and eight sections. It might look like there is one hundred and eight of them, but there's actually one hundred and nine."
That voice then continued, "However, the god that laid down this Secret Technique of Space Matrix should have taken the easy way out and not calculated all the way to the smallest possible decimal which was why some flaws were left. This secret technique will automatically crumble after operating for twenty-four thousand years, but if one managed to find the one hundred ninth space, it shouldn't be hard to solve this. Give me a moment to calculate…"
In the space restriction, Granny Si, Butcher, and the rest looked at one another. 'The person beside Qin Mu sure is remarkable, to be able to see the marvel of this restriction with a look. He's much more reliable than Blind.'
After a while, that voice spoke again, "Do you have some treasure you don't use? Something that's quite solid so I can throw it into the one hundred ninth space. If a solid thing entered that place, it would be something like an extra object appearing in operating gears, automatically jamming them. This formation would then be naturally solved."
Qin Mu's then said, "I picked this up in Rolan's Golden Palace, is it useful?"
"Eh, this treasure isn't bad. For you to pick up this kind of treasure, you sure are lucky. No wonder I couldn't trick you, your luck is heaven-defying so it's not me that's incapable."
…
Just as he was saying that, Granny Si and the rest saw a luminous pearl flying in front of them. That pearl grew bigger and bigger until there seemed to be mountains and rivers within. It was as if there was a complete world in the pearl with majestic mountain ranges and never-ending waterfalls.
The luminous pearl streaked across the horizon, having become an enormous object. The circular sky had mountains and rivers which disappeared the next instant.
"Be careful, when the restriction is unraveled, it will be a little rough," the voice outside warned.
Just as he finished, violent tremors suddenly came from the depths of the space. The layers of space crumbled one after another, while the land, water, fire, and wind poured forth frantically, sweeping across everything. The power of the divine restrictions in each layer of space cracked, and terrifying energy spewed out in all directions!
The people who were in the restriction immediately roused their vital qi to execute their strongest defensive methods to fight against this violent energy. Luckily for them, this energy wasn't directed at them but was simply spewing out in all directions, so they could still handle it!
If it was directed at them, they would have definitely been shattered into pieces!
Qin Mu stood in front of a part of the forest which had suddenly turned into ashes. The surging shockwave had swept in all directions and turned all trees into fine powder.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Four figures appeared out of nothing and crashed heavily against the ground, creating pits beneath them.
Qin Mu shook his head. "So old yet can't spare people from worrying…"
"Cripple, move away!" Deaf's voice came from above as this elder fell upside down from the sky. Below him, Cripple gave a grunt as Deaf crashed onto him.
In mid-air, the aura of Buddha shone brightly as a huge buddha descended. A golden spring poured out from the ground and a lotus bloomed inside it. The huge buddha placed his legs down and stepped onto the lotus.
The lotus and golden spring vanished, and the great buddha dispersed, turning into an elder in green. He was none other than Old Ma and despite his clothes being slightly tattered, he was in a much better state than the rest.
Everyone got up and looked at one another; they had actually survived and come out of that space. Even though they had all suffered heavy injuries, none of them were fatal.
Everyone raised their heads to see Qin Mu standing in the distance. The youth of Disabled Elderly Village kept shaking his head in disdain at them becoming even more unreliable as they got older.
In front of Qin Mu stood a proud iron lump. With his eight arms on his waist, he was like a lantern and had a look that expected them to worship him.
Behind Qin Mu was a dragon qilin that was as fat as a pig. He looked like he still hadn't fully woke up from sleep and was sluggish, having no interest in anything.
"Mu'er, why are you here?" Granny Si was astonished and came forward to size Qin Mu up. After examining him, she grumbled, "How dare you barge into such a dangerous place! You're too gutsy, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Granny, stay farther away from him." Blind went up, slightly nervous as he looked at Qin Mu. "Granny Si is somewhat unable to handle the devil seed in her Dao heart. She's sometimes male and sometimes female, and we don't know when she'll be taken over by Li Tianxing. Be careful of her laying her hands on you!"
An old voice came from Granny Si's mouth which was filled with a devilish nature. "Don't worry, he is the current cult master of our sacred cult. As the previous cult master, I naturally won't lay my hands on him."
Suddenly, Granny Si's voice became female again. "Li Tianxing, go back!"
Cripple went forward and sized up Dutian Devil King who had his eight arms on his waist. "Mu'er, your iron lump sure is useful. What's his name again?"
Old Ma said, "Dutian Devil King."
Butcher came forward to have a look and asked suspiciously, "Where did you get him? The last I saw you, you didn't have this iron fellow. He's still pretty useful."
"So ugly," Deaf said.
Dutian Devil King became furious and wanted to blow up, but Qin Mu swiftly interrupted, "This is Dutian Devil King, the supreme ruler of Dutian World which I have invited to save all of you. He has extremely high attainments in divine restrictions so he can definitely bring us to safety."
Dutian Devil King instantly became happy. 'This brat still knows what to say, even though his intentions are a little bad, his methods a little cruel, his heart a little too cautious…'
"Where's Village Chief?" Qin Mu asked. "As well as Grandpa Apothecary and Grandpa Mute, did they reach this place?"
Blind shook his head. "My eyesight is good and I saw traces of Apothecary and Village Chief, but I didn't see Mute."
The other people nodded silently.
Granny Si said, "Apothecary and Village Chief should have faced no problems since they are together, there's also Patriarch and Elder of Discipline with them. However, we haven't seen Mute and this fellow never says a word. Whatever he plans to do, he won't share it with us. If he's alone, I reckon he'd find it hard to hold on. Mu'er, this place is so dangerous yet you still had to find your way here, you've had it hard."
Qin Mu instantly got angry. "All of you wandered off instead of coming back home for New Years! If you got lost, what could I do but come and find you! Devil King, you shall lead the way. And you all, stop wandering off!"
"En en." The bunch of elderly nodded in a flurry.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Dutian Devil King raised his head up high as he brought the old, weak, sick, and disabled elders of Disabled Elderly Village forward.
'There are many able-bodied people in the village so why is it called Disabled Elderly Village?' he thought to himself.
Disabled Elderly Village today no longer fit its name. It even had young people like Granny Si and Qin Mu in the village, so the word elderly itself owed some discussion.
Old Ma, Butcher, and Cripple were already able-bodied, while Granny Si might still be disabled in her heart, her body was fine.
The only ones who were still missing parts of their body were Blind, Apothecary, Village Chief, Mute, and Deaf.
However, Dutian Devil King didn't know that to the people of Disabled Elderly Village, the disability of the body was not a disability. Their true disabilities lay in their hearts.
Village Chief was exhausted from not being able to fulfill his responsibility, which left him disheartened. Even if he was able-bodied, he still wouldn't walk out of Great Ruins.
Apothecary had sliced his face off due to the pressure caused by the debts of relationships. Even if he regained the looks of his golden age, he still wouldn't dare to go out and face people.
The reason why Blind was down was not because he had turned blind. And even though Old Ma had regained both his hands, he still couldn't pull himself together after the death of his wife and child. He was still unable to forgive himself.
Granny Si's heart devil, Cripple's past, Deaf's homeland, Mute's mysterious past, and the reason Butcher raised his knives at Heaven were all shackles that restrained them.
The disability in their heart was their true disability. They had sunk into a sorrowful past and were unable to break free of it. This was the reason behind Disabled Elderly Village.
If it was not because the child they had raised ran out, the people of Disabled Elderly Village would have stayed quietly in the village and awaited their deaths, digging a pit to bury themselves.
Qin Mu's arrival had gradually livened their hearts, but even he couldn't make them walk out of the past that had left them disabled.
The true disability is when both the body and the heart are disabled.
Because of this, these people could only rely on themselves to walk out.
Dutian Devil King was truly the devil king of another world. He knew so much that even Blind was endlessly impressed by his knowledge and concrete details. Dutian Devil King had completely convinced him with his attainments in algebra.
They came to the border of the forest, which was near the end. There were only two more miles or so, but Dutian Devil King had to spend half a day just to cross these two miles.
"It's New Year's Eve," Granny Si suddenly said.
Old Ma shook his head. "It's not considered New Years until all the people of the village are present."
Butcher's voice was loud like a bell. "We must find Village Chief, Mute, and Apothecary, see their bodies. Even if they're dead, we'll drag them back for New Years!"
There was no more path in front of them, just the crumbling Carefree Village.
There was no more land here at the end of the forest but a clean cross-section. Standing at the edge of the cliff, Qin Mu looked down and saw another forest.
He couldn't help being stunned.
'Another forest?'
He said in astonishment, "This forest grows on the cliff so how are the trees perpendicular to the ground?"
Dutian Devil King jumped off the cliff and gave a thump as he stood steadily on the side. His body was perpendicular to Qin Mu's as he walked to and fro."The seal here is much more complicated than what I thought. It's formed by a cube which seals Carefree Village within it, controlling the electromagnetic force of this place. You guys will know when you walk over here to take a look."
Qin Mu stretched out his leg carefully and suddenly felt an attraction force below his feet. Placing his feet down and lifting up the other leg, he realized that he was standing on the cliffside without any discomfort.
Not only that, from where he stood, it seemed like was standing at the edge of the cliff while Granny Si, Old Ma, and the rest were standing on the cliffside. Only he and Dutian Devil King were standing on flat ground.
He looked around and was slightly shook. He saw that the opposite side also had a forest that was perpendicular to the ground.
Other than that, the sky in the other directions also had forests.
This kind of situation was like pieces of land wrapping around Carefree Village to form an enormous hollow ball.
However, looking from the geography, it didn't seem like a simple hollow ball. It seemed to be pieced together by thousands of cubes of different heights while at the center of it was Carefree Village.
Every cube was a thousand miles of forest that was folded up, and every side of the cube was the obverse side.
This kind of divine art was beyond what he could imagine. Even an existence like Imperial Preceptor wouldn't have been able to imagine that such a divine art could exist in this world, right?
"The electromagnetic force here has changed." Blind also walked over and felt the force of attraction. "This great divine art is no small matter to cover the entire Carefree Village, I'm afraid the only exit is the place from which we came."
"Countless seals just to prevent the people of Carefree Village from walking out." Granny Si also walked over and raised her head to look at the debris of Carefree Village floating silently. They were still quite a distance away from it, and she said, "Village Chief and Patriarch possess remarkable abilities, so they should have gone in there, right?"
Dutian Devil King raised his head and walked back onto the path they had come from before shaking his head. "There are many restrictions in the sky, and it would be hard to avoid them if one was to fly over. I would need to calculate for some thirty-fifty years to find the safest path. If my true body was here, I could do it faster, but it would still take me one or two years. The god that left behind this seal is too strong, not something that you guys can handle. If anyone tried to fly into Carefree Village, they are most likely dead…"
He muttered, "The entire Great Ruins is a cursed land, with a peculiar rule that shrouds it. It's really hard to live in a world like this, so Cult Master Qin, even if you invite me into this world, I won't come back again. This world is too twisted!"
Blind muttered, "Village Chief is definitely alive. That old fellow doesn't take anything seriously, but once he does take something seriously, he will definitely be able to do it… Wait a minute, don't you guys think that the shape of Carefree Village looks like a ship?"
Everyone raised their head to look. Carefree Village was extremely huge, but even though it was in ruins, they could still see the glorious and magnificence sight it was in the olden days. There was also a sun that was about to sink into the darkness hanging farther away.
However, if they pieced these shattered peaks, huge pieces of machinery, and the destroyed city together, its shape did indeed look like a huge and grand ship that was inconceivable!
In comparison, the Sun and the Moon Ships were nothing.
"Carefree Village is a ship?"
Qin Mu felt it was too much for his brain to handle. Even though the sun in the sky was a man-made one, it was extremely huge. If the city and mountains were combined, it would become even larger and surpass the size of the Sun and the Moon Ship by a thousand times.
Could there be such a huge ship in this world?
"Great observation, Blind!" Cripple's eyes lighted up, and his breaths became rapid as he pointed towards the sun that was half-consumed by darkness. "This sun should be the source of energy for this ship! It's a huge pill furnace, an unimaginably huge pill furnace…"
Granny Si rolled her eyes at him. "You can't carry it home."
Dutian Devil King was also slightly shaken and said under his breath, "Such a huge pill furnace, what was this ship used for? Why is it sealed here? Could it be… Ha haha, I must be thinking too much."
He laughed coarsely and didn't speak another word.
Old Ma said, "Ships are used for ferrying passengers. They bring people to their destination, so this ship must have its own destination as well."
Deaf who had been silent suddenly said, "Isn't it Carefree Village? Carefree Village is carefree, so why does it need a destination? With a destination, it won't be Carefree Village anymore. If it's not Carefree Village, what's its destination?"
Everyone looked at one another in the eyes and said in unison, "The true Carefree Village!"
Qin Mu stared blankly. The guess of these elders from his village left him even more at a loss. True Carefree Village, wasn't this place Carefree Village?
However, what Old Ma and the rest said made sense. Since such a huge ship was constructed, it definitely had its destination, and the destination of this ship might really be the true Carefree Village.
Yet this ship was discovered by the enemy which had destroyed and sealed it. The people who were lucky enough to survive tried to escape from the seal but ended up suffering disastrous casualties. They had then spent countless years to pave a way out.
The devils in the darkness were also searching for Carefree Village and even thought that this was Carefree Village. However, this was only a ship that was headed to Carefree Village.
'If Carefree Village is not here, where's the true Carefree Village?' Qin Mu was at a loss. 'Where exactly is my hometown? Did any of my clansmen survive?'
His mind was in a mess, and at this moment, a silver light flashed across the sky. A silver boat flew out from the city, and on that silver boat stood Mute who was holding onto a wooden chest. On the boat were also two white-haired elders, a faceless man, and a youth.
Mute controlled the silver boat, flying nimbly in the air to avoid the divine restrictions in the sky.
Dutian Devil King was dumbfounded. The path that the silver boat was taking now was the safest path that he had to take dozens of years to calculate!
This silver boat ferrying the people traveled back and forth among the divine restrictions. It was like a clever fish going in all directions to avoid all kinds of danger.
After some time, the silver boat descended from the sky and landed in front of the group. Apothecary carried out Village Chief and walked down the boat while the young patriarch shook his head. "Why do you have to carry him? He can clearly fly by himself."
Apothecary was stunned and placed Village Chief upright on the ground with a smile. "I'm already used to it."
Qin Mu and the rest immediately came forward, and Mute opened up the wooden chest. The silver boat melted and turned into silver pellets which went tinkling into the wooden chest.
Mute closed the lid with skill and picked up the chest. When he saw everyone walking over, he revealed a grin and waved his hand. "Ah, ah!"
Everyone went forward and surrounded the newcomers, full of all kinds of questions for everyone, especially Mute.
How did he know about the safe path that even the extremely knowledgeable Dutian Devil King required dozens of years to calculate?
What exactly did they see when they went into the city in the sky?
What that place Carefree Village or not? Were there any survivors?
Everyone was about to say something when Village Chief floated over and smiled at Qin Mu. "Mu'er, let me tell you a piece of good news. We have finally found your surname. Apothecary, hand the things to him."
Apothecary poured out many things from his pouch. There was a waist tag, bronze mirrors, a horizontally inscribed board, an imprint, a jade pendant, and some clothes. On all of these items, there was one word - Qin.
"Your surname is Qin." Apothecary smiled. "There are many such items in that city and Village Chief asked me to gather a few. Look at the handwriting on them, doesn't it look like the handwriting on your jade pendant?"
Qin Mu's mind was blown. He looked back at the small village he had passed by on the way here.
A flicker of hope reignited in his heart.
Village Chief seemed to know what he was thinking and said, "That place may or may not be where you were born, and that family may or may not be your parents. There is still a chance that your parents are alive."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
They went back on the path they had come from and when Qin Mu saw that empty village again, he walked into the room that had pasted the 'Xi' word and picked up that baby clothes that had the 'Qin' word sewed on it.
The more he cared, the more flustered he became. When he had come here the first time, he was deeply affected and couldn't keep calm for a long time, therefore he couldn't see any of the tiny clues.
The 'Qin' word on these items that Apothecary had brought out was nearly the same as the one of that baby clothing. They looked like they came from the same template but if one examined carefully, there was still some difference.
Qin Mu had learned calligraphy from Deaf before and if he could calm his heart down to look at it with an ordinary state of mind, he could also see that the 'Qin' word on the baby clothing was different from the 'Qin' word on his jade pendant.
However, his emotions were out of control then which had influenced his judgment.
Now that he had examined carefully, the 'Qin' word on this baby clothing should have been traced out before sewing thread by thread onto the clothing. The 'Qin' word was indeed different from the one on his jade pendant.
The other people in the village surrounded Village Chief and Patriarch to ask them about their encounters and what they had seen on that ship. Village Chief shook his head, "It was too dangerous inside and we didn't delve deeper. We only circled around the outskirts and had almost died. Luckily, Mute was here, therefore, we could safely retreat."
Everyone immediately asked Mute how he knew about that safe path and managed to bring Village Chief, Patriarch, and the rest in and out?
Qin Mu walked out of the courtyard and he had the same suspicions as well.
Even Dutian Devil King said he would take one to two years time to find a safe path into that ruined ship if his true body descended so why did Mute managed to barge in so easily?
Everyone kept asking him for a long time and Mute didn't say anything. He only revealed an honest smile and gave two ahs when he got anxious from the pressing questions.
Everyone immediately looked at Deaf. Deaf and Mute were the closest buddies and Deaf knew Mute's intention the best. Deaf was always the one translating when everyone didn't understand what Mute meant.
However, Deaf was at a loss this time. It was obvious he didn't know what Mute was saying as well.
"This mute don't want to say anything!"
Granny Si said angrily, "You'll stifle to death sooner or later!"
Everyone rest in this small village while that dragon qilin stuck close to the young patriarch. Now, this dragon qilin was full of energy and rubbing himself around Patriarch.
Patriarch struck a posture wanting to beat him which managed to chase him further away. However, he would come back in the next moment and raised his dragon tail as he rubbed against the young patriarch's clothes which were now filled with holes made by him.
"You're getting too fat!"
The young patriarch said bitterly, "I had already said I'm going to die of old age, I'm abandoning you, stop rubbing yourself on me… Don't think of jumping into my arms, I can't carry you now! Shoo shoo, go away!"
On the other hand, Blind was annoying Dutian Devil King about some questions regarding algebra. Dutian Devil King was slightly fearful of the people in the village, therefore, he also tried his best to answer his questions. However, he only answered Blind's questions and didn't offer to impart more profound algebra to him.
Apothecary hurried from person to person to check on their injuries and treating them.
Qin Mu walked into that house. Even though this might not be the house of his parents, this place made him feel at peace.
Mute also walked in and looked around. His rough hands caressed that small wooden horse and picked up that piece of clothing. This thick and solid man had a very gentle gaze.
Qin Mu looked towards him and Mute turned his head to give him a grin.
"该走了!"
"It's time to go!"
Granny Si hurried, "Go back to the village to celebrate New Year's Day! Patriarch, that plump pig that you had raised can finally be slaughtered to eat! Butcher is skillful at that and can still whip up a few good dishes, just enough for two tables!"
"You dare!"
The young patriarch was nervous and shouted, "Don't think about touching him, ever since you were young you were already sneaking crafty glances at my dragon qilin, always wanting to eat him… Go away, stop rubbing against me, I'm not going to pat you… Elder of Discipline, drag him away!"
Elder of Discipline chased the dragon qilin over to Qin Mu. The young patriarch looked over and saw the dragon qilin moving its buttocks to walk to Qin Mu. He was so fat that his buttocks were as round as a ball. He was as fleshy as rhinoceros and every time he took a step, his round buttocks would jiggle uncontrollably.
"This fellow must have been cadging meals from the cult master and his meals aren't bad as well. When I met him back then, he was small like a cat and rubbed himself against my leg to cheat food out from me. He ended up becoming fatter and fatter from me feeding him and glued himself to me…"
The young patriarch sighed. The dragon qilin then was so small and he could even embrace him and caress his head.
"What a huge ship!"
Everyone came to the front of Moon Ship and couldn't help being astonished. Cripple planned to steal this ship away and got scolded by Granny Si, "Damned Cripple, even if you can steal it, where are you going to park it? I'll break your leg if you place it in the village!"
Cripple could only drop his thoughts. He asked Qin Mu how he had managed to drive this ship here and after hearing Qin Mu's encounter of driving the ship. Cripple's thought sprung into action again, "Attaining the mighty strength of heavenly god after becoming the Moon Guardian?"
He quickly ran to touch the giant pillar on the ship but when he found that there was no transformation, he could only return.
There were too many unsolved mysteries in Great Ruins and Moon Ship was just one of them.
When they walked out of that formless barrier, the sun was already hanging high up in the sky. It was noon but the weather was still very cold as snow had fallen some time ago and the land had a brilliant snow white cover. The mountain ranges were also dyed in white and they gave off crunching sounds as they walked in the snow.
There were a few bears hiding in the hollow tree in the ruins and the mother bear was embracing the baby bears while sleeping soundly. When that mother bear saw Qin Mu and the rest suddenly appearing, she opened her eyes in astonishment but was so lazy that she didn't move. She only nudged her body before going back into hibernation.'
Qin Mu looked back and saw the barrier vanishing. That unimaginable huge ship that was sealed inside, Moon Ship, as well as the incomparably complicated cube seal had all vanished.
What replaced it was a vast forest.
Only when the night fell would this mysterious seal appear once again.
"Let's go, let's return to the village for New Year." Village Chief said calmly.
Everyone began to return and this place was very far from Disabled Elderly Village. The journey would still take one to two days but it was a good thing that everyone was safe.
The second evening, they had finally returned back to Disabled Elderly Village. Qin Mu, Granny Si, and Old Ma started to get busy decorating the village and preparing New Year's Day dinner.
Qin Mu brought red paper over for Deaf to write the auspicious words and Spring Festival couplets. He then called Qin Mu over to let him paste them on everyone's door.
"Paste it on the chicken coop also. As well as that ancient tree in front of the village, paste one there to invite prosperity in." Granny Si instructed.
Everyone worked hard for quite some time and finally, everyone in the village could sit down to eat and drink fine wine together in cheers and laughter. The young patriarch and Elder of Discipline also sat down and joined them in the hearty New Year's Day Dinner that had come late.
Early next morning, the young patriarch and Elder of Discipline bade farewell, "There are still countless mysterious in Great Ruins and it would be pleasant to search and take a look at them before I die. Fellow Dao friends, there's no need to send me off." When he was done, the young and the old left towards the distance while stepping through the thick snow.
Dutian Devil King looked at Qin Mu and said, "Devil cult master, it's time to keep your promise."
Qin Mu said with a firm look, "Devil king, don't worry. I'll keep my promise and release you."
Blind and Cripple came forward and Dutian Devil King became extremely nervous before shouting, "Devil cult master, are you thinking of letting them capture me again after releasing me? How dare you!"
Qin Mu was a little embarrassed and shook his head at Cripple and Blind.
Cripple muttered, "This fellow is a good helper and if I can make him stay, I can steal even more stuff…"
Qin Mu said warmly, "Devil king, don't worry. I shall remove these sealing runes on your body and you'll be able to regain your freedom."
He undid the sealing runes on Dutian Devil King's body one by one and only then did Dutian Devil King became at ease, "Little Buddy Qin, Dutian and here are two different worlds, after we part today, we may never meet each other again. After all, the life of you mortal are short and your lifespan is merely a flick of a finger to us, over in an instant. Maybe when I think of you again, you have already died thousands of years earlier. This is actually quite sad now I mention about it…"
Qin Mu smiled, "Devil king, I can also contact you frequently, I still know Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command from Great Mountain Sect."
Dutian Devil King laughed loudly, "Your world is too dangerous and even if you summon me over, I won't come. After I go back, I'll be looking for a new world, a new world for my people to survive."
Qin Mu undid the last of the seal and said, "Devil king, you can return now."
Dutian Devil King gave a try and discovered that there was really no seal before becoming fully at ease, "Let us never meet again!" Once he said that, his consciousness tunneled into the void and vanished.
Qin Mu raised his head and smiled, "Who can tell what will happen in the future."
Dutian Devil King's consciousness returned to Dutian World and went back into his original body. That majestic Dutian Devil King immediately knew what this consciousness had encountered and was greatly shaken. Letting out a murky breath, he thought to himself, "A dangerous world that is being monitored by gods, it's indeed not a dwelling place for my Dutian's citizens. Looks like it's time to find a new world…"
"Mu'er, come over." Village Chief called out.
Qin Mu hurried over and Village Chief hesitated for a moment, "I pondered for quite some time but there is still something I have to tell you. Other than the numerous 'Qin' word I have found on that ship, I had also found something else. Apothecary, bring that thing over."
Apothecary hesitated, "Is it suitable to give it to him now?"
Village Chief shook his head, "I don't have much long to live and if I don't give it to him, when should I give it to him?"
Apothecary took out a mirror and handed it over to Qin Mu.
Qin Mu took over the mirror and didn't find anything unusual about it. Village Chief said, "Inside this mirror is a geographical map which leads to Carefree Village, we have found this on that ship. You can stop examining it, this mirror has been sealed by me. Only when you can break my seal, you can see the route in this mirror. That place is too dangerous and I don't want to let you go there now."
Qin Mu was silent. Suddenly, he knelt down and kowtowed to Village Chief.
Village Chief immediately said, "Get up. There's one more thing. Suddenly I feel that there are quite a number of weights on your shoulder, the young cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, the orphan of Carefree Village, maybe it won't be much if you take on my responsibility as well. Today, I shall take you in as my disciple and hand over my responsibility to you. From today onwards, you will be the next generation's…"
"Human Emperor!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'The next generation's human emperor?'
Qin Mu was bewildered. This title was slightly weird. There was obviously an emperor in this world as well as cult and sect masters of all the various big sects. Everything was being managed and governed, so what would the human emperor do?
There seemed to be no free space in this world that the human emperor could rule.
"Human emperor is not high above, and he doesn't have any power, only responsibility," Village Chief explained. "Human emperor is not a position from which you will rule over all living things nor will it let you give you supremacy to recklessly wage wars to kill those that don't submit to you. Human emperor is a state of mind, a kind of righteousness and justice. Every human emperor has a treasured seal which was has been handed down since the first generation human emperor. I've thrown in under the bed, so go and fetch it."
Qin Mu went to Village Chief's room, and there was indeed a black lump under the bed. Once he took it out, he saw that it was a palm-sized black iron seal and with bird-worm seal script carved onto it.
Qin Mu passed the black iron seal to Village Chief, who said, "This is the Human Emperor's Seal, the supreme sacred artifact of our bloodline."
Qin Mu looked at the seal and mumbled, "Village Chief, does our bloodline have any other sacred artifacts?"
Angered, Village Chief smashed the Human Emperor's Seal onto Qin Mu's head, causing a big swelling on his forehead. This iron lump was then placed into Qin Mu's hands.
Village Chief said, "The Human Emperor's Seal has been passed to you, so you are now the next generation's human emperor."
'So simple?' Qin Mu was stunned.
Apothecary was also shocked. Village Chief had always said that his responsibility was too huge, his burden was too heavy, and the title of human emperor was too powerful and shocking. Because of that, he always thought that a grand ceremony would have to be held for Qin Mu to inherit the position of human emperor.
Never did he expect Village Chief to just throw a black lump at Qin Mu and be done.
"There are not many who know about the title of human emperor anymore. We are not a sect nor are we emperors of a country; it's just an inheritance. It's passed down from generation to generation, so there will only be one in each generation, and usually the smartest person with the best comprehension will be found to inherit the title. The smartest one in this generation is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, but I don't think he would be interested. He has also already gone down his own path, so it would be hard for him to accept my inheritance and responsibility."
Village Chief sighed. "I'm also too lazy to go out, so after thinking for quite some you, I decided that you barely make the cut."
Qin Mu consoled, "Village Chief, don't force yourself, I think you can still find someone better."
Apothecary had a weird expression while Village Chief almost died from holding back. The brat was obviously finding it troublesome, and since there were no benefits, he really wasn't willing.
"Your guts have grown quite a lot since you went out; how dare you be sarcastic!" Village Chief sneered. "Are you going to be the human emperor or not?"
Qin Mu begrudgingly said, "Sure, sure, just give me all the dirty work. There's already plenty of it I have to do, so an extra human emperor won't make a difference."
Village Chief was speechless from anger. He wished he could grow out an arm just to knock the youth on the head as he scolded, "Countless people begged me to teach them my sword techniques, but I didn't teach them. They begged me to leave behind my inheritance to them, but I didn't give it to them. How dare you reject it like that?"
Qin Mu lowered his head and kicked away a pebble as he said resentfully, "I'm not rejecting, it's just that this title doesn't have any use. Village Chief, why don't you just teach me your sword skills and pass this title of human emperor to someone else?"
Village Chief smiled with anger and looked at Apothecary. "You say, is he rejecting it or not? Is it that embarrassing to be the human emperor? You're getting more and more ballsy!"
Apothecary coughed and said, "You two shall slowly talk this out, I will go take a look at my worms so that they don't freeze to death."
Village Chief was filled with anger, but then he suddenly came to the realization and broke out laughing. "Other people begged me to teach them, but I didn't, and now you're making me change my way to beg you to learn, is that right? You're becoming more and more mischievous. Honestly, you're really not fit to be the human emperor. I'm just really too lazy to go out, else I would definitely find an even more outstanding youth than you."
Qin Mu muttered softly with a pout, "I have an Overlord Body, who can be better than me?"
Village Chief almost choked to death. Qin Mu immediately went forward to massage the old man's back, and Village Chief regained his breath. So when Qin Mu was about to say something, the old man said, "Stop talking and let me relax, it's too much for my brain to handle…"
The corners of the old man's eyes twitched. As the initiator of the lie, he had finally received his comeuppance.
After some time, he managed to recompose himself. It had been just a white lie which everyone took for a truth, for which he felt secretly proud since everyone believed in it. Yet now he had chosen Qin Mu as his successor, so could he have also come to believe that the youth had an Overlord Body?
'Too many lies make me have no choice but to believe them even when I clearly know they're not the truth. Oh well, oh well.'
Village Chief relaxed and smiled. "We, as the human emperors, only have one responsibility"—light burst forth from his eyes as though countless sword lights were coming, dazzling Qin Mu's eyes—"to cut down gods, devils, and Heaven itself!
"What belongs to the gods is managed by gods, what belongs to the devils is managed by devils, what belongs to the humans is managed by humans! If gods or devils dabble with this, we'll cut off their hands!
"If gods or devils stick their necks out, we'll cut off their heads! This is the most basic responsibility of the human emperor.
"When you get stronger, you will have even more responsibilities. To cut down gods, to cut down devils, to cut down Heaven! Slay your way up to Heaven… Ey, come back!"
Qin Mu threw the Human Emperor's Seal back into Village Chief's hand and turned around to walk away.
Village Chief blew up, and his vital qi transformed into a huge hand to grab him back by his collar. With a pleasant countenance, he said, "You are the human emperor of this generation so how can you not know the aim of our bloodline? I haven't finish— Still trying to run? Apothecary, Apothecary, help me grab him!"
Apothecary didn't come, but Qin Mu still couldn't break free and was forced to give up.
Village Chief continued, "There aren't many rules for our bloodline bearers, and the aims are only these. I will impart my sword skills to you, but how much you will be able to comprehend will be up to you. That's right, we also have the Hall of Human Emperors, so you can drop by when you are free to witness the meritorious exploits of the past human emperors. Also, even if my sword skills are not bad, but if a god or devil saw you using them, they will definitely make a move to kill you— Stop running, you can't escape my grasp! I didn't run back then and succeeded this inheritance without thinking it through."
"Granny, save me!" Qin Mu called out for help.
Granny Si was full of smiles as she told Blind beside her, "Village Chief that old fellow is finally willing to teach Mu'er his legacy. Look, Mu'er is so happy that's he going to cry."
Blind turned his head and said in suspicion, "I heard him calling for help."
"He's elated." Granny Si beamed. "Village Chief's legacy has made countless people envious. He was the number one man in the world back then, the famous Sword God, so Mu'er is naturally speaking incoherently from being overjoyed."
Qin Mu simply couldn't break free, so he had to accept his fate and throw the Human Emperor's Seal into his taotie sack.
Village Chief was very pleased. "You have already learned the first move of Sword Picture, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, now show me if you improved any after this while."
Qin Mu acknowledged this and executed Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
His execution was different from what Village Chief had taught him since he had incorporated Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's Spiral Sword Form, Drill Sword Form, and Swim Sword Form into it and added numerous variations.
After executing the move, Qin Mu retracted his sword qi back and looked at Village Chief nervously.
Village Chief was astonished and seemed to be thinking as he said, "This is the basic sword form Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor taught you?"
Qin Mu nodded. "Village Chief, I changed the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers that you taught me, disrespecting you. Do you want to fire me and find another human emperor?"
"Not bad, not bad," Village Chief praised. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is not bad, to be able to be original and create new moves on top of the fourteen basic sword forms. He is indeed more suitable to be the human emperor… However, you aren't bad as well, to not stick by the rules and even dare to execute the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers you changed in front of me, very well, very well. Your vital qi thread has also changed, did you use Spiral Sword Form to refine your qi into a thread?"
Qin Mu nodded.
Village Chief said, "I shall use my Five Elements Realm's cultivation while you will use your new Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, and we will exchange a blow."
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up and he smiled. "Village Chief, if I defeat you with my move, can I not be the human emperor?"
Village Chief revealed a smile and refined his qi into a sword while saying leisurely, "Alright. If you can defeat me, I'll bring the Human Emperor's Seal to the grave."
Qin Mu took a deep breath, and his body suddenly changed. He transformed into the form of Venus Sovereign that had the head of a white tiger and stood on two dragons. His vital qi transformed into gold qi, and he gathered his qi into a sword whose sword lights instantly exploded forth!
Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
Under his sword, the mountains and rivers appeared like a painting being unscrolled to cover the entire village, sending Village Chief inside it!
Not only had he incorporated Imperial Preceptor's basic sword form, he had also incorporated the path of painting that Deaf had taught him. With thousands of mountains and rivers bombarding the opponent's face, it was as if the attack was a real world.
This kind of profound sword skill could no longer be described as a sword skill. It was a path, the path of a sword.
His Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers unleashed its full power, and at that moment, Village Chief's sword light flickered. It was Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers as well, so it was like two worlds colliding with each other. No sword light could be seen as a terrifying power burst forth!
Chi, chi, chi, chi!
Dozens of blood lights appeared around Qin Mu's body as he got injured in numerous places and flew backward. When he crashed into the wall of Butcher's shop, sword lights appeared and carved a pattern of mountains and rivers around him.
These were the traces left behind by Village Chief's sword lights.
"Once more!" Qin Mu shouted out and sealed the wounds on his body as he rushed towards Village Chief to execute Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers again. The next moment, a human figure flew out and crashed into Old Ma's house.
There was another pattern of mountains and rivers around the youth.
Qin Mu was stunned as he slid down from the wall. Applying the dragon's saliva on himself, he pondered hard and continued improving his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. After some time, he rushed towards Village Chief once again, "Once more!"
Boom.
The wall of the smithy gained the imprint of a human and around it was the pattern of mountains and rivers. This pattern was poles apart from the pattern on the other walls.
Every time Village Chief made a move, the patterns of the mountains and rivers were different.
Mute popped his head out of from the smithy and took a look at Qin Mu before laughing silently.
Qin Mu's face turned black as he applied the medicine before continuing to rack his brains. Getting rid of all the weakness in his move, he improved the sword skill.
"Once more!"
A human figure flew through majestic mountains and rivers before crashing into Deaf's wall.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu smashed into walls time again and again, and pictures of mountains and rivers appeared in almost every wall in Disabled Elderly Village. Only Granny Si's house was not imprinted.
Qin Mu wanted to rush over once more when he realized that his vital qi was depleted. He couldn't help but feel stunned by this.
Defeated.
Overlord Body was defeated. It had suffered a crushing defeat. Not only was his sword techniques not on par with those of Village Chief, even the density of his vital qi could not be compared to that of Village Chief. It looked like he could only take over the title of human emperor.
Village Chief said gently, "You can wait for your vital qi to recover before coming again."
Qin Mu composed himself, "Okay!"
Village Chief's expression darkened as he saw the cowherd boy sprinting away to cultivate his weird Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
"You cheated," Apothecary said as he came over once he saw Qin Mu's figure disappearing into the distance.
Village Chief was stunned. "Did I?"
Apothecary sneered. "Your sword skills exhaust an extreme amount of vital qi, and with the density of your cultivation, you can execute them twice in Five Elements Realm, three times at most. How many time have you executed them just now? About seven times, right?"
Village Chief couldn't keep a straight face and muttered, "The density of my vital qi is not as you imagine. If I control it and use the lowest amount possible, I can execute my skills four times… However, Mu'er's vital qi is indeed dense. I thought my and his vital qi reserves in Five Elements Realm wouldn't be too different but to my surprise…"
Apothecary laughed. "To your surprise, he's a huge cauldron and you're only a barrel."
Village Chief sighed and shook his head. "His qi is several times denser than mine in Spirit Embryo Realm, but it's not possible for it to be so much denser than mine in Five Elements Realm. I had no shortcomings in my Five Elements Realm, but he… also has no shortcomings. You noticed it too, but didn't say it out."
Apothecary smiled. "He already lost to you with the same sword skill, so why do I need to say anything? However, earlier you said that the title of human emperor only has responsibilities and burdens but no benefits, isn't that false?"
Village Chief said lazily, "What benefits does it have? How come I don't know them?"
Apothecary's eyes flickered over. "I heard some legends about human emperors and their seal. Human Emperor's Seal is related to many ancient inheritances and some of them can be traced all the way back to tens of thousands of years ago. Some sacred grounds were founded by human emperors, and I've heard that the Human Emperor's Seal is even more useful than the emperor's jade seal."
Village Chief said indifferently, "That's a legend from god knows how many years ago, and the Human Emperor's Seal is merely a black iron lump. Who would listen to a black iron lump?"
Apothecary smiled. "Legend says that once the Human Emperor's Seal is used, one can command all the heroes of this world."
Village Chief yawned and said lazily, "Human Emperor's Seal is with Mu'er. You can let him take it out and show it off, see which sect will be willing to hear his command. It'll be lucky if he won't be beaten to death."
Apothecary said resentfully, "You clearly knew it was this dangerous, so why did you pass the Human Emperor's Seal to him?"
Village Chief was no longer lazy and a sword light flashed across his eyes as he said solemnly, "This is a responsibility and also a burden. When this burden was placed on my shoulders, I couldn't carry it so my limbs were severed. However, someone must carry this burden, I can't it take into the grave with me! Some things must be done even if it's clearly known that they're dangerous!"
Village Chief let out a shaky breath and said, "If something is done, there's a possibility of failure and even death, but there's also a slither of hope. If nothing is done, there won't even be a slither of hope. What the past human emperors did is much more than what you can imagine. Mu'er is pretty good."
Apothecary said in sorrow, "I only feel pained for Mu'er to be pulled into your old path. How can he win against you?"
"He can't win." Village Chief's tone had a hint of pride when he said, "He will never win against me using Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. This skill may be formed by the fourteen basic sword forms, but after me polishing it, there's already no flaw in it. When he wanted to incorporate the three basic sword forms of Imperial Preceptor into my sword skill, he had to make some changes. Even though his ideas were good, his horizons aren't as broad as mine. A single change will create a flaw, and the more he changes, the more flaws will appear."
Apothecary was dumbfounded. He let out a shaky breath and looked at Qin Mu who was currently sprinting and felt pity.
"However, he can borrow my hand to polish his sword skill." Village Chief smiled. "The more he changes the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, the more he will understand the sword. The more he understands, the more likely he will be to step away from sword techniques, step away from sword skills and come closer to the path. If his understanding of the sword reaches the level of the path, it will no longer matter if there are fourteen or seventeen basic sword forms.
"Learning sword skills and using sword skills is only the realm of technique; it's learning and using something. If one wants to go higher, they will have to innovate, which is where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is on right now. To go one step further, one would have to abandon skill and technique, which is the realm of path.
Village Chief said, "Mu'er is currently between technique and skill. For him to use my hand to polish his sword skill is much better than for him to improve by me teaching him sword skills."
After some time, Qin Mu's cultivation recovered to its peak, but he didn't find Village Chief straightaway. Instead, he sat down and comprehended quietly. He tried to perfect his own Sword Treading Mountains and River so that there was no flaw.
What he wanted to do was to incorporate Imperial Preceptor's three basic sword forms into Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers and not leave any flaw.
He definitely couldn't defeat Village Chief using Village Chief's skills, but if he improved on them, there was a chance he might win.
He comprehended diligently, and all the sword moves in his mind were messed up before they were reorganized again. He then simulated an image of clashing with Village Chief's sword skill in his mind.
However, every clash ended in a defeat.
Various battles were simulated in his mind, but no matter how he improved, he couldn't change his defeat.
Sometime later, Qin Mu roused his spirit and stood up. In the storm in his mind, he had finally managed to defeat Village Chief with his new sword skill, so he rushed over with excitement. "Village Chief, once more!"
Village Chief beamed. "Okay."
Qin Mu rushed over and executed his improved sword skill. He then flew high up into the air and left a trail of blood in mid-air before crashing into the chicken coop.
A dozen hen dragons clucked and rushed over fiercely. Qin Mu immediately rose into the air, and the hen dragons also flapped their wings to fly. Their feathers were like swords and they spewed fire at him.
Mountains and rivers suddenly appeared in mid-air and flooded the dozen hen dragons. After one move, they fell bare from the sky, and their feathers fluttered everywhere.
Qin Mu landed on the ground, stunned.
The hen dragons clucked and ran back into the chicken coop, closing the wooden door and not daring to show their faces again.
"Cluck cluck!" the old hen clucked in a stern tone.
Qin Mu waved his hand and a few traces were left on the wooden door by his sword qi.
The chicken coop was in a flurry.
Qin Mu was stunned and looked at his hand. When had he become so powerful?
"Mu'er is so suave, he can finally defeat chickens!" Cripple praised.
Qin Mu's face turned slightly red, but he continued to concentrate on comprehending what he felt. Suddenly, Mute threw a sword pellet over and signaled, "Aba! Aba! Ah ah!"
Qin Mu thanked Mute. What Mute meant was that he had just created a sword pellet and he should try it out.
He gripped the sword pellet tightly, and his vital qi rushed into it. Countless sword lights instantly flew out, and they were the rays of swords which seemed to have no substance. They could warp according to his will and be as natural as his vital qi!
Qin Mu grasped the sword pellet and gave a punch forward. The sword rays in the sword pellet instantly transformed into a huge dragon which rushed out and roared through the small village!
Qin Mu jumped in shock, and Village Chief also jumped in shock before giving an angry stare to Mute.
Qin Mu retracted his fist, and his mind moved slightly. He could feel as if the sword pellet that he was gripping tightly was melting. He took a firmer grip of it, and the sword rays transformed into a huge smithing hammer. When he smashed down with a powerful force, he created a huge pit in the ground.
He leaped up, and knife lights appeared. Sun on East Sea Thousand Layers Wave had knife lights which were like a wave with a thousand layers and a sun rising into the sky.
The knife skill was then retracted as the sword rays transformed into a huge brush which swept into the sky to draw a painting of a flood dragon, which soared into the sky and transformed into a long spear that was twelve yards long. Qin Mu grabbed onto the spear in mid-air and stabbed forward.
The corners of Village Chief's eyes twitched furiously as he stared at Mute with an unpleasant gaze.
Mute immediately retreated into his smithy and didn't dare to show his face.
The spear vanished, replaced by countless sword lights which formed vast mountains and rivers.
Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
Qin Mu landed on the ground with surprise and delight. This sword pellet that Mute had forged was to his liking. He must have extracted the gold qi from the mysterious iron and mysterious gold, choosing qi and forgo the form.
Even though this sword pellet was a sword pellet, it had a myriad of changes. His fist skills, spells, and sword skills could all be unleashed, and there was no obstruction at all.
Mute's forging skills were already close to the path!
Qin Mu kept the sword pellet, but he didn't use it to challenge Village Chief. Mute popped his head out and gave two signals, drawing a line across his head. What he meant was that this sword pellet could definitely get rid of Village Chief who was using the Five Elements Realm.
Village Chief blew up and the wrinkles on his face twitched. If Qin Mu was to really use the sword pellet, the power of his sword skill would increase exponentially, and he might really be able to defeat him.
Qin Mu shook his head. "Grandpa Mute, Village Chief is not using a weapon so I can't use one as well; otherwise he won't accept that he lost."
Mute rolled his eyes and gave him a 'you are hopeless' look.
Qin Mu continued to concentrate on comprehending and improving his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. However, the result of each clash was the same.
Every time he failed, he would have new comprehension which allowed him to perfect his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers more and more. However, he still failed after each improvement.
Finally, after one more failure, Qin Mu discovered that he could no longer improve his move.
With his current knowledge and experience, he could no longer upgrade his skill.
He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to realization. He executed one of the moves of Sunset Sword Skills, Sun Sets on Surging River, and his sword skill was like the surging river water that had a red sun half-set in the heart of the river. From the red sun, countless sword lights would burst forth.
He had only practiced this move once or twice, but the power he had unleashed was incomparably astonishing. It was like he had spent a hundred years polishing this skill.
Qin Mu was then convinced, and he knelt down in front of Village Chief to carry out the rites of taking him as his master.
Village Chief smiled. "Get up, there ain't so many rules. I shall teach you the other moves of Sword Picture in no time, and with your current attainment, it won't be hard for you to learn them… Mute, you rogue, you still have the face to come out and congratulate?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Everyone from Disabled Elderly Village came out to congratulate Village Chief for finally having a successor and Qin Mu for succeeding Village Chief's legacy, becoming the current human emperor. However, Village Chief wasn't pleased with Mute and Qin Mu wasn't really happy with being a human emperor.
After the commotion, Qin Mu continued to learn sword skills from Village Chief.
Sword Picture was a set of sword skills founded by Village Chief and not the sword skills of Hall of Human Emperors. The first form, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, was the most complicated sword skill that Qin Mu had seen so far. It was even more complicated than the first form of Dao Sword, Yin Yang Come and Go Within Two Modes.
However, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers was the simplest sword skill in the set of Sword Picture. The second form, Sword of the Founding Emperor was several times more complicated than Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, and it was extremely difficult to master.
When Qin Mu had first learned Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, he had spent over a dozen days to do so.
After experiencing Eternal Peace Empire, his horizons had broadened. He had also received teachings from Woodcutter's Rock and comprehended Unity Technique, which had then fused with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Because of all this, his aptitude and comprehension had improved quite a bit as well.
However, learning Sword of the Founding Emperor still took him over twenty days.
Only then did he understand Village Chief's intentions. If they hadn't competed with Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, he would have needed a much longer time to learn Sword of the Founding Emperor. He might have even taken a year and half to master this move.
Village Chief had squeezed his wisdom out so Qin Mu could learn Sword of the Founding Emperor in just over twenty days. Since he was already at half step to sword skill from sword technique, he could learn it, even if it was strenuous.
However, the third form, Calamity of the Founding Emperor reached the extremes of technique and transformation which a sword skill could reach, so it was not something Qin Mu could master. He could memorize move, but if he wanted to execute it, he would have to comprehend the marvel of it first. But at that time, no matter how much he concentrated on comprehending, he couldn't understand the marvel of Calamity of the Founding Emperor completely.
He was limited by the width of his horizons and knowledge. With narrow horizons and lack of knowledge, his foundation wasn't good enough, so even if Village Chief taught him, he wouldn't be able to learn or use the skill.
Qin Mu could only drop his thoughts about mastering it and concentrate on Sword of the Founding Emperor.
Sword of the Founding Emperor, Sea Of Blood—Qing Mu had heard the young Village Chief chanting these phrases after walking out of Deaf's painting in a small and empty village in Eternal Peace Empire. At that time, he had sensed a strange emotion hidden within the sword skill.
Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers that Village Chief had taught him had an implicit charm and mood to it. It was the feeling of heroes gathering to slay gods and devils, while Sword of the Founding Emperor had the mood of commemorating martyrs.
The two moods were different, not matching one another at all. Because of this, even though Qin Mu had learned the two sword forms, he still couldn't understand the different feelings behind them.
The vital qi needed for Sword of the Founding Emperor was astonishing since one move had depleted almost half of his cultivation. If a person wanted to execute this move, it was impossible to do so without dense vital qi.
"Village Chief, how many moves are there in Sword Picture?" Qin Mu asked.
Village Chief said calmly, "Only eight moves."
Qin Mu was astonished. "Eight moves? So few?"
"One move in each realm." Village Chief narrowed his eyes. "That's why there are only eight moves."
Qin Mu counted with his fingers—Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, Divine Bridge. No matter how he counted, there were only seven realms, so why were there eight moves?
'A step above Divine Bridge Realm is the level of gods! Could Village Chief's eighth move be the move of a god?' His heart thumped violently.
Other than comprehending sword skills these days, he competed with Village Chief and borrowed the pressure Village Chief exerted on him to improve himself.
He was trying to incorporate Imperial Preceptor's three basic sword forms into Sword of the Founding Emperor. With an existence like Village Chief guiding him, he naturally improved by leaps and bounds.
Village Chief's sword skills were close to the path and to him, so it didn't matter if there were fourteen or seventeen forms. However, to Qin Mu, adding Imperial Preceptor's three sword forms could increase the power of his move by quite a lot.
As the days passed, his attainments in sword skills increased rapidly.
Qin Mu seemed to have returned to the past. Training his fists with Old Ma daily, competing in knife skills with Butcher, stealing from each other with Cripple, learning to forge with Mute, cultivating his god's eyes with Blind, refining medicine with Apothecary, painting with Deaf, and tailoring with granny.
Even though he went to bed exhausted every day, it was very fulfilling.
After returning to Disabled Elderly Village from his journey away, the things that Old Ma, Butcher, and the rest taught him were much more profound. In the past, they had only taught him entry level techniques, but now that Qin Mu's horizons had broadened, they could teach him more profound abilities. Because of this, all the elders in Disabled Elderly Village were very gratified.
"Granny's heart devil is acting up again!" A commotion rose in the village, and Cripple called out in a loud voice, "Blind, come quickly! Granny Si has recovered her true appearance so I can't lay my hands on her. You can't see so you shall deal with this little demoness!"
At the time, Qin Mu was competing knife skills with Butcher. when he looked over after hearing the commotion, he saw a woman walking out from Granny Si's room. Upon seeing her, his heart throbbed uncontrollably a few times. He felt as if he had been ruthlessly struck by invisible arrows.
Granny Si had revealed her true appearance and even dressed herself up meticulously. The clothes on her body were no longer the old drabs she usually wore, but were tailored from exquisite silk. They fit her perfectly, showing off her good figure.
Her make up was also applied meticulously. With her bright eyes and white teeth, her face was lightly powdered and her astonishing beauty was on full display.
She wore a bracelet on her left wrist that was made of green jade and pearl earrings that were shaped like tears hanging from her ears. When she walked out, the winter suddenly seemed to turn into spring and summer. Even though the weather was still freezing, everyone in the village felt the warmth of summer blossoming.
She walked out like a goddess descending from paradise into the mortal world, stunning everyone in the village.
Apothecary felt inferior and covered his face in shame to walk away. Deaf dropped his brush onto the table and hurriedly took out a bronze mirror to tidy himself. Mute ran to the water cauldron in a hurry to wash his face while Old Ma chanted the names of Buddha to suppress his heart devil. Butcher used his Pig Slaughtering Knife to shave his favorite full beard while Cripple just shut his eyes and shouted for Blind to come over.
Village Chief was also a little flustered and turned his head around to shout, "Blind, Blind!"
Blind walked over towards Granny Si with his bamboo cane and asked calmly, "Are you Cult Master Li or Granny Si?"
Cripple said angrily, "Of course she's Cult Master Li, that pervert! Granny Si can't suppress him anymore! You can't see her true appearance so you shall be the one to suppress Cult Master Li!"
A rough and old voice came from Granny Si's mouth which smiled flirtatiously. "My wife is no longer a match for me, and now she's the one being suppressed. Look at me, aren't I beautiful?"
She smiled very sweetly, obsessed with her own beauty. When she spoke next, her voice was still rough, but her tone was very gentle, and her breath smelled like irises and orchids. "When I married my wife, I realized that I was no fit for such a beauty like her. And it wasn't only me like that, none of the stinky men in this world were fit to be with her! However, I still decided to marry her, and I knew that she was willing to marry me since I was her master. She couldn't resist it.
"I knew she was preparing to kill me the night we would consummate our marriage, but I was willing to let her kill me. That was because…"
She raised her wrist and examined her flawless white skin that was even whiter and more exquisite than fine white tallow jade. Even the flawless bracelet was serving merely as a prop, unfit to be on this wrist.
Cult Master Li covered the mouth and giggled. "That was because I was too envious of her. I didn't want to marry her, I wanted to become her. After she killed me and I became her, wouldn't I gain the best of both worlds?"
Blind walked over with his cane. Even though the woman before him was extremely beautiful, it didn't have any influence on Blind. He said unhurriedly, "Cult Master Li, you're too much. Have you forgotten that you once were a man?"
"What is there to miss about being a stinky man?" Cult Master Li's body was charming when it rolled its eyes at him. "Damn it, Blind. Both your eyes and heart are blind, you don't know the benefits of being a woman at all. Don't block my way, you can't block me alone. I'm leaving, I shall live another lifetime as a woman!"
Qin Mu shut his eyes tightly to not look at the beauty, but he could resist opening his eyes almost right away. "Cult Master Li, you're getting a little sick in the mind! As a fellow cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Saint Cult, I despise you as a human!"
Blind propped himself on his bamboo cane while smiling. "Well said, Mu'er."
Cult Master Li shot a glance at Qin Mu, and Qin Mu instantly felt his mind turning blank. There were no more thoughts in his mind other than that the woman was really beautiful.
"Talk some more and I'll kill you to become sacred cult master once again." Cult Master Li laughed while pinching the orchid-shaped fingers.
Qin Mu's heart thumped violently. He felt that if such a beautiful woman wanted his life, he would be willing to give it to her.
"No, no! She's Granny Si… Eww, eww, it's Cult Master Li, a damned old man! Eww, eww, it's not okay even if it was Granny Si, she's the granny that raised me!"
Cold sweat rolled down Qin Mu's forehead as a heart devil was almost planted in his heart. He hurriedly shut his eyes.
Cult Master Li walked towards the outskirts of the village, and the devil qi around the body grew heavier and heavier, the devil nature growing stronger and stronger. On the road in front of the woman stood a blind man with a bamboo cane.
The two people made their moves almost at the same time. Among the sparks and flames, the outcome was decided in an instant.
Energy surged forth in all directions, and numerous treasures that were lying all around the village were activated by the terrifying shockwave from the clash of the two people. A brilliant light shone as terrifying throbs bursts of it scattered all the clouds in the sky!
Cult Master Li grabbed his chest and collapsed. "Blind, my wife's cultivation is too weak, or else I wouldn't be inferior to you, I'd certainly be stronger than you…"
Blind propped himself on his bamboo cane and said indifferently, "We had never exchanged blows before so how do you know you'd be stronger than me?"
Qin Mu rushed into Granny Si's room and fetched a human skin and old clothes to cover Cult Master Li. The old man turned back into an old woman and screamed, "I don't want to be like this! I'm the most beautiful woman in the world, I don't want to be so ugly! I want to wear the most beautiful clothes and be the most beautiful woman!"
Old Ma hurried over and chanted the names of Buddha to suppress the devil nature, suppressing Cult Master Li entirely. After some time, Granny Si regained her consciousness and thanked Old Ma.
Apothecary immediately came forward to check on her injuries. After treating her, he said, "Blind, you're too harsh. Mu'er, you are faster than me in refining pills so you shall refine the spirit pills."
Qin Mu acknowledged and refined spirit pills right away.
Blind sighed. "I had no choice but to be harsh. Granny Si's cultivation is improving too fast; she's almost at Life and Death Realm. Cult Master Li's primordial spirit must have fused well with her. Furthermore, Cult Master Li's Unity Technique is simply too strong."
Granny Si got up and consumed the spirit pills that Qin Mu had brought over. "I'm fine, much better now."
Village Chief floated over and shook his head. "Granny, it's lucky that you were in the village. If you were outside and Cult Master Li took over your body, I'm afraid you would have wrecked the country and ruined the people. His devil nature is extremely strong, so it's quite normal that he would bring great turmoil to this world. Even the emperor wouldn't be able to hold himself back, and the entire Eternal Peace Empire would be ruined at the hands of Cult Master Li."
Old Ma said, "Your heart devil is becoming stronger and stronger, so dragging things out isn't an option any longer. My buddhist skills aren't as profound as those of Old Rulai, so maybe he could help you suppress Cult Master Li. Why don't you take a trip to Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
Butcher touched his face and discovered blood all over his hands. He had shaved his beard too fast and cut his face with his Pig Slaughtering Knife. However, at the time he had been too infatuated with Granny Si's beauty, so he hadn't felt anything. Only when Granny Si put on her old woman's skin once again did he come to realize what had happened and said in a hurry, "There's no time to lose, it's best if granny sets off now! The longer you delay, the more danger we'll be in!"
Village Chief coughed lightly, then said, "We will be going to Great Thunderclap Monastery to ask Old Rulai to suppress granny's devil nature and not to eradicate that place, so there's no need for too many people.
"Old Ma knows the way there so he must go, and Blind can ignore granny's appearance so he needs to go as well. Mu'er is clever and has cultivated Heavenly Devil Creation Technique, so he can also help out, and he's proficient in the art of healing as well. You three shall accompany granny to Great Thunderclap Monastery." His expression was grim when he said solemnly, "Remember, never let Cult Master Li run away, or else the world will be in utter chaos!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu, Old Ma, and Blind nodded in agreement. Even though Granny Si was beautiful, she wouldn't use her beauty as a weapon. On the contrary, she knew her beauty was too deadly and took the initiative to cover up, dressing up ugly when meeting people.
However, Cult Master Li was different.
The heart of Heavenly Devil Cult's previous cult master was twisted. He loved Granny Si too much and was envious of her beauty which was why he wanted to become her. Furthermore, he had a different comprehension of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures than Qin Mu. Even though Qin Mu had also received the same book, the same teachings from Woodcutter's Rock, and comprehended the same Unity Technique, he was influenced by everyone in the village since he was young. Even though his actions might be slightly recalcitrant, he still stood upright.
Qin Mu's Unity Technique had Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique as a foundation, which was very orthodox. Many spells and divine arts that many people viewed as from the devil path were executed righteously by him.
Cult Master Li's Unity Technique was, however, pretty evil and had the impression of the devil path.
Cult Master Li would also not let 'herself' suffer from grievances by dressing ugly to meet people. On the contrary, 'she' would flaunt her beauty and cause devastation to all living beings.
The old cult master didn't care at all about the so-called overturning a city with a smile and overturning a country with another.
Qin Mu went to back into Granny Si's room and fetched all the beast skins that she had collected. He put them in his taotie sack, preparing for emergencies.
Old Ma and Blind also packed their luggage. Blind's luggage was simple, a bamboo cane and a copper eight-divinatory symbol hanging from a fortune-telling banner. Old Ma, on the other hand, brought the memorial tablets of his wife and children. After kissing them, he placed them safely in his bundle.
He wore a green buddhist robe and looked like a traveling monk that had gone through great hardships.
Granny Si's Dao heart was still slightly unstable at times, acting up frequently. Old Ma could help her suppress Cult Master Li while Blind was there in case the suppression wasn't enough. He will then injure Cult Master Li, and Qin Mu would be in charge of treating the old woman.
They walked out of the village, and Granny Si laughed at herself. "I still need you guys to protect me, and even Mu'er has to help. However, with me being the previous saintess of the devil cult and Old Rulai being the Buddha, will he lend a helping hand?"
Old Ma didn't show any emotions on his face. "Old Rulai will help you. Cult Master Li is the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and is of the same seniority as Old Rulai. Old Rulai will gain merit from subduing devils, and subduing a great devil such as Cult Master Li can aid him in his cultivation. Furthermore, Buddhas giving up their lives to rear devils is a common event."
Qin Mu said worriedly, "I'm afraid that when they subdue Cult Master Li, they will subdue granny as well."
"Old Rulai won't do so." Old Ma shook his head. "He has his own principles, and they are his path, his practices. Upon reaching a cultivation like his, he doesn't even have to keep his practices in mind; his actions will never step over his practice, that is what practice is."
Qin Mu couldn't help being curious. Old Ma had such a deep grudge against Old Rulai, but from his words, he still held great respect for Old Rulai.
This was not merely because Old Rulai was once Old Ma's master. There had to be something about that old monk that made people respect him.
"What I'm doubting is Old Rulai's ability." Blind raised his head. "Does Old Rulai have the ability to suppress Cult Master Li? This old devil was once an existence on par with him."
No one said anything after this.
Among the three sacred grounds of the martial world, there was Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Heavenly Devil Cult. As the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, Cult Master Li was a top figure in the martial world and on par with Old Rulai.
If Old Rulai wanted to refine him, it would be quite difficult.
"Great Thunderclap Monastery lies at the borders of Great Ruins and Eternal Peace Empire," Old Ma said. "Legend says that God Broken Mountain Range was the mountain range sliced apart by a god, creating a natural chasm between Great Ruins and Eternal Peace.
"Great Thunderclap Monastery has a similar legend, but it has something extra. When the god slashed and his attack came near Mount Meru, there were monks sitting on the mountain. They filled the entire mountain and pledged to die and live with Mount Meru. The god saw their sincerity and took a detour around Mount Meru. All other mountain ranges were sliced apart, with only Mount Meru saved from damage."
Blind smiled. "I feel that there was someone above Mount Meru, or else the god wouldn't have cared one whit about the lives of the monks on the mountain."
Mount Meru lay at the border of Great Ruins and Eternal Peace Empire. One side was to the empire, and the other to Great Ruins. The sacred mountain was quite a distance away from Eternal Border and Secret Waters. It was, however, not very far from Qingmen Pass of the northern borders. It was only a journey of four to five thousand miles.
The distance from Disabled Elderly Village to Mount Meru was thirty thousand miles. Qin Mu was much slower than Granny Si, Old Ma, and Blind, so they had to take six to seven days to reach there.
The nights at Great Ruins were extremely dangerous, so they could only hurry throughout the day, because of which they took a bit longer than they would have done elsewhere.
If they flew through the air, they could reach the place in two days, but Qin Mu's cultivation wasn't high enough for that. They would have to stop to rest and recover his vital qi after every hundred miles if he ran at full strength, so it was better to travel on land instead.
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin as a mode of transport. The dragon qilin could barely match the speed of Old Ma and the rest, so they didn't have to slow down because of him.
When first evening came, they reached an ancient temple which was desolate and uninhabited. There were some strange beasts inside, but they ignored them, continuing to lie lazily beside a statue of the heavenly king.
"Mu'er, come and pay your respect." Blind took out a few sticks of incense and waved for Qin Mu to come over.
The two people, one young and one old, immediately to the front of the heavenly king's statue and stabbed a couple sticks of incense in the broken censer before taking three steps back. They then prayed in one voice. "This little one is from Disabled Elderly Village which is located near the river. I have come across your temple and would like to rest my legs here for the time being. If I have alarmed the owner of this land, I am deeply sorry. Since he was young, this little one had weak kidneys and a frail body. My primordial yang has long since dispersed…"
"Ugh!" Granny Si groaned. In anger, she then added, "Blind, you have taught Mu'er bad!"
Blind laughed. "Granny Si, you might not be afraid of being plucked, but we are. If you don't believe, you can ask Mu'er if the prayers I taught him worked."
Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. "They work. When Xian Qing'er heard my prayers, she didn't pluck me."
Granny Si didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She called Mu'er over. "Come and help me cook." After Qin Mu walked over, she said secretly, "Blind is full of bad ideas, don't always learn from him."
When night descended, the surroundings of the heavenly king's temple were very silent. There was no sound around, besides the dragon qilin's snores.
Old Ma sat upright like a buddha, while Blind leaned on his bamboo cane as he sat against a wall, his head lowered in sleep. Unlike them, Qin Mu had used dried grass to prepare two beds, and Granny Si slept beside him.
In the dead of the night, the beating of gongs and drums suddenly resounded from outside. Everyone in the temple immediately became alert, and Qin Mu sat up to look around, but only saw darkness. The candles in the temple were still giving off a dim light, but the beatings of gongs and drums were very clear, coming closer and closer.
Blind and Old Ma immediately came to Qin Mu and Granny Si's side, and Old Ma motioned them to stay quiet.
The beating of gongs and drums grew closer and closer until they came to the front of the temple. A few deep voices then called out.
"Silence!"
"Challenge!"
A couple of god statues came walking into the temple while wearing worn out armor. Even though the stone statues were dilapidated, they were like living gods, and Qin Mu even smelled the stench of rot from them.
These stone statues were majestic, and the hundred white skeletons behind them were soldiers holding onto broken weapons, lining up in a perfect manner. A few of the soldiers held gongs and drums in their bony hands, while a few others were carrying banners with words 'silence' and 'challenge'.
The stone statues walked into the temple while the white skeletons remained outside.
Qin Mu stared wide-eyed at such an absurd scene in front of him. The dragon qilin had also woken up and was yawning.
A human voice actually came from a god statue which said to the heavenly king's god statue in the temple, "Reporting to Sea Suppression Heavenly King, East Sea Dragon King Ao Zhen is using the natural disaster to rebel. His Majesty sent me orders from Carefree Village to come forth and assist Sea Suppression Heavenly King to slay the rebel!"
The dragon qilin was lying under the feet of the heavenly king's god statue, but he was still in a daze and didn't know what was happening.
At that moment, the tall and sturdy heavenly king's god statue moved. The eight flags behind it fluttered, and the stone statue trembled before standing up. With an abnormal awe-inspiring authority, it shouted out, "For twenty thousand years has this disaster plagued us, and this fellow still dares to rebel! Bring me my sword!"
The resounding sound of a sword coming out of its sheath came from the back of the heavenly king's temple. A Green Dragon Crescent Blade that was thirty yards long broke out from the dirt behind the temple and came whooshing over. The heavenly king's god statue grabbed onto the blade with his hand, and the sword hummed.
"Where's my steed?" that heavenly king's god statue shouted.
The dragon qilin finally came to his senses when he suddenly felt himself sinking down as the heavenly king's god statue sat down on him. The dragon's body rose uncontrollably and flew out of the temple.
The dragon qilin was indescribably appalled when it heard the booming voice of the heavenly king's god statue coming from his back. "You guys shall stay to guard this place, I'll return after I've slain him!"
After the orders were said, the dragon qilin turned into a trail of flames against his will and disappeared into the darkness while carrying the heavenly king's god statue.
Instead of saying he was carrying that god statue, it could be said that the heavenly king's god statue was bringing him along as he absolutely couldn't carry the heavenly king's god statue.
In the temple, Qin Mu, Granny Si, Blind, and Old Ma were dumbfounded, unable to speak a word for quite a while.
Later, they looked at one another in dismay. It was hard to say how much time had passed, but they reckoned that dawn was already coming. At that moment, a dragon's roar rang in the air. There was a huge crash, and a dragon's head fell down from the pitch black night sky, tumbling two rounds in the courtyard of the heavenly king's temple.
Qin Mu immediately looked over, but this dragon's head was sculpted from stone and not a real dragon's head.
The roars of dragons rang endlessly as the heavenly king's god statue flew back while riding on the dragon qilin. He jumped off and sat down on the lotus platform in the temple. After placing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade by his side, he said, "You guys can report back to His Majesty that by good luck this general was able to accomplish the mission and severed the head of the rebel."
Once the stone statues received their orders, they turned around to enter the darkness, bringing with them the army of white skeletons. As they disappeared into the darkness, the beating the gongs and drums also gradually faded away.
Some time later, the crowing of roosters could be heard, and the darkness retreated into the distance. The sun rose into the sky and shone into the heavenly king's temple.
Qin Mu shook his head. This night had been like an extremely weird dream.
He looked at the dragon qilin who was still in a daze and asked immediately, "Fatty Dragon, how are you?"
"I had a dream!" the muddle-headed dragon qilin said. "I dreamed that I carried a god king that gave off glorious flames. We slaughtered our way into a battlefield over a roaring sea as countless divine dragons attacked me. However, they were all slain by the blade of that god king on my back. I carried him into the sea, and we slaughtered our way through a bunch of dragon gods and severed the head of one of the dragon kings, then left after taking his head. This dream was so real…"
Qin Mu looked at Blind and Old Ma before asking softly, "Grandpa Blind, do you think what happened yesterday night was real?"
Blind and Old Ma shook their heads.
"Who can be sure about the incidents in Great Ruins? Let us hurry on our way, heading to Great Thunderclap Monastery is more important."
Qin Mu stared at the heavenly king's god statue in a daze, feeling something abnormal about everything here. He went forward and stretched his hand out to touch the stone statue, but it was ice cold and not made of flesh and blood.
"His Majesty sent his orders from Carefree Village, his orders from Carefree Village…" Qin Mu had a complicated expression as he muttered to himself, "Where exactly is Carefree Village…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu looked at that Green Dragon Crescent Blade in the hands of the heaven king's god statue and noticed that this blade was real and not made of stone.
When they had just come into the temple, Qin Mu had surveyed his surroundings. He clearly remembered that there was no blade in the hands of the heavenly king's god statue, let alone such a huge one as Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
What was even more astonishing, the blade actually had some blood stains.
When Qin Mu stretched his hand out to check if it was really fresh blood, Blind's cane lifted his wrist up, moving it to the side. With a bright smile on his face, Blind said, "Mu'er, don't be so curious, you'll die."
Qin Mu was frightened and suddenly remembered what he and Village Chief had encountered when walking in the darkness. A droplet of devil blood had caused all the plants within a radius of hundred yards to wither instantly.
If it was real blood on the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, then the weird things that had happened last night would have also been real. This would mean that the heavenly king's god statue had really slain East Sea Dragon King, and it would be his blood on the blade.
Blind seemed to know Qing Mu's thoughts and said softly, "Divine blades are psychic, don't provoke them recklessly."
Qin Mu smiled. "I'm not Grandpa Cripple and won't commit such an outrageous act like stealing the divine blade of the heavenly king. I only want to take the blood on the blade. This is the blood of the dragon king of divine dragons, so it can probably be used to refine medicine."
Blind praised, "Mu'er is still the thrifty one in the household, knowing how to accumulate wealth."
Qin Mu took out a jade bottle and carefully took that drop of dragon king's blood on the Green Dragon Crescent Blade into his bottle, then screwed it tightly shut.
In the courtyard of the heavenly king's temple, a huge dragon's head made out of stone had created a huge pit in the ground. On the shattered pieces, there were some bloodstains which shone bright red.
Qin Mu fetched a box and transformed his vital qi tread into sword qi. He then carefully controlled it to scrape the blood stains into the box.
When he came to the neck of the dragon's head, he saw that it had been cleanly cut off. It looked like it had been separated from its body by an incredibly sharp knife. From the cross-section, Qin Mu could imagine how overbearing and quick that sharp knife had been!
Even though the dragon's head was from a stone statue, he could still feel the abundant and matchless desire within the knife, its realm.
'If I sat here and observed this section of the dragon's head, I could comprehend an extremely overbearing knife skill that wouldn't be inferior to Grandpa Butcher's Pig Slaughtering Knife Skill. However, there's no time, we should be hurrying.'
Qin Mu felt that it was a pity. If he could comprehend the god realm contained in this knife skill, knife desire, and knife realm, just the aura alone could scare a bunch of people to death.
Old Ma hurried him, "Mu'er, it's time to go!"
Qin Mu caught up with the others and called the dragon qilin over to get on him. The dragon qilin had been used like a steed by the heavenly king the whole night, so its body was weak and aching all over. The moment Qin Mu jumped onto him, he squealed like a pig being slaughtered.
Qin Mu immediately jumped off, and the dragon qilin said, "I must have been possessed, having been ridden by a stone statue the entire night. Elder Blind, you know fortune telling, so can you do exorcism as well?"
Blind shook his head. "I'm not a professional in this field, I only do fortune telling and exorcisms once in a while. I can't exorcise you, but you don't have to worry, you'll be better after resting for a night."
The dragon qilin was only half-convinced.
After walking a few thousand miles north, the terrain became lower. Qin Mu turned his head back and saw that they had walked down from a few mountain ranges, which left him bewildered.
Granny Si said, "This place is like a basin, so it looks like there are huge mountains all around it. But in truth, out there are the plains from which we entered. This basic is actually quite large."
Everyone looked around, checking out the majestic mountains, thick forests, ravines, and chasms all over the basin. The geography here was quite different from the places in Great Ruins.
This basin was extremely vast, and when Qin Mu and the rest had walked past a foothill, they could see some red corals branching out. They were very mesmerizing, like rubies.
Granny Si plucked a red coral, planning to make it into a hairpin when a strange beast suddenly jumped out at them. It looked like a huge lobster, but its body was three yards long and had eight legs as well as pincers that it kept swinging at everyone.
"Lunch is settled!" Blind was elated.
During lunch, Qin Mu roasted the strange beast, and its fragrance assaulted their nostrils. Grease flowed out from golden yellow tomalley which heightened everyone's appetite. Old Ma had fasted for a long time, so this time he also ate to his heart's content, leaving only the lobster's shell on the ground.
Qin Mu was bewildered. "Why was this type of strange beast here? There is no water around here."
As he was saying that, the mooing of cows came from the distance, and the forest shook. A couple fish monsters had smelled the fragrance and walked out of the forest. They had fish-like upper bodies that were twenty yards long, while their lower half had six sturdy legs. This group of strange beasts then mooed like cows.
Qin Mu looked over in the direction of the noise and saw the fish monsters sprinting as if they were flying. Their legs seemed to have evolved from their fins and had huge scales which were incomparably hard. When they walked, the thousands of scales were like mirrors which reflected the sunlight that was shining on them.
"There's no need for unnecessary killing once we filled our stomachs." Old Ma released his aura and scared the fish monsters away.
His aura was astonishing. It not only scared away the cow-like fish monsters, but also the 'birds' in the forest. When Qin Mu raised his head, he saw a swarm of fish that had grown wings flying into the distance.
He opened his Green Heaven's Eyes to have a look and saw black figures moving around on the mountain peaks far away. A couple huge octopi with eight tentacles shrunk their huge heads and retreated into their own territory, not daring to provoke them.
One of the octopus was startled enough to spew out a puff of black smoke which shrouded an area of seven hectares, turning the air there pitch black.
The four people then continued on their way and met a few fishmen who had fish heads and human bodies and were holding onto pitchforks for hunting.
"What a strange place," Blind muttered.
Qin Mu had lived in Great Ruins ever since he was young. He had seen such strange living beings since he was young, so he thought that fish and prawns should be like this, running around everywhere. At first, he had been surprised a bit, but he didn't put it to heart.
However, Blind and Granny Si hadn't always lived around here, so they knew what fish and prawns were like outside, so they found it strange.
Granny Si looked around and muttered, "This place should have been a huge sea that had magical creations. Once the sea disappeared, the living beings in it could only move onto the dry land and change their habits and abilities. However, aren't these changes a little too much…"
Blind also felt that it was outrageous, but the dragon qilin was the first to speak. He suddenly said, "I seemed to have come here before…"
Qin Mu was bewildered, but he still smiled. "You and Patriarch came here before?"
Dragon qilin shook his head. "No. What I meant was that the god had ridden me here last night."
In time, they saw a village full of the abandoned people of Great Ruins. They all looked as if they didn't know what to do next.
Qin Mu went forward to inquire about it, and an elder said, "Countless dragon king temples in the radius of hundreds of miles were destroyed last night. Many of the dragon kings that were worshiped in the temples actually had their heads cut off! We usually go to the dragon kings' temples to give our offerings and pray for good weather, but now that they've been destroyed, everyone is at a loss…"
Qin Mu was greatly shocked and immediately asked for more details.
"Yesterday, the storm was heavy and everyone in the village was rudely awoken. When we went outside, we saw that it was pitch black, and there was water above everyone's houses. That water just floated above, however, not landing down."
Qin Mu was stunned. Water floating above the roofs?
"The sound of waves was very loud, and there was light coming from the water above. Many people even saw dragons! It was like a huge sea was hanging in the sky, with slaughter happening within it. I saw bolts of lightning streaking through all the time, only stopping when dawn came.
"After daybreak, the water in the sky vanished. Only the trees looked like they had been rained on the whole night; the tree crowns filled with water. We then discovered that quite a number of temples had been destroyed, and the people that live in the temples said that they saw the stone statues of the divine dragons flying out."
Qin Mu stared with wide eyes. Stone statues of divine dragons flying out?
"A monk that lives in Divine Dragon Valley says that he saw a heavenly king carrying a blade and riding a plump monster. He barged in and slew the divine dragon king in Divine Dragon Valley, leaving with the head…"
After Qin Mu finished scouting out the information, he came back to tell Blind, Old Ma, and Granny Si. All of them looked at one another in dismay.
This incident was really too weird.
What happened yesterday night seemed real yet resembled fantasy—stone statues handing down decrees in the darkness, heavenly king's god statue wielding a blade to kill dragons kings, and the dragon qilin being a steed for the entire night. The abandoned people of Great Ruins even talked about a sea hanging in the sky and the heads of the dragon kings and dragon god being severed.
If one linked these incidents together, then what happened last night had to be real.
"That stone statue that handed out the decree last night said His Majesty had sent his decree from Carefree Village, the main problem lies here," an ancient voice said from Granny Si's mouth. "I think…"
"Amitabha!"
Old Ma transformed into a huge buddha to suppress Granny Si's heart. On the other side, Blind made a move to bind Granny Si in place. The two of them were nervous, but in the end they suppressed the devil nature of Granny Si.
Qin Mu also wiped away his cold sweat and hurried them, "Let's go, let's go. We should reach Great Thunderclap Monastery as soon as possible to prevent Cult Master Li from coming out to create havoc!"
As they hurried forward, they soon saw Divine Dragon Valley. There were countless sculptures of divine dragons that were surrounding a huge lake, and in the center of it was a sculpture of a dragon king.
Many of the divine dragon statues had collapsed, and all them seemed to have been severed by a single strike, from which they tumbled down to the ground. The divine dragon king's sculpture in the center of the lake also stood with a severed neck, but its head was nowhere to be seen.
"My god…" Granny Si gradually woke up and moaned when she saw this sight. "This part of Great Ruins is so mysterious. Are these stone statues just god statues or have they transformed living gods? I really don't understand…"
"Amitabha!"
Buddha rays shone brightly around Old Ma, and a white robe monk flew out from the heart of his brows and entered the heart of Granny Si's brows in a flash, suppressing her.
With a grim face, Old Ma said, "No time to delay, I won't be able to suppress him for much longer! Cult Master Li's primordial spirit is fusing at an incredible speed with Granny Si, and her cultivation has already broken through to Life and Death Realm! If we delay any longer, I'm afraid it won't be long before they will fuse completely and Cult Master Li will be able to finally take over the nest and become the owner of this body!"
Blind asked solemnly, "How long can you suppress him for?"
Old Ma shook his head. "I can still suppress him for now, but I might injure granny's mind if I exert too much force."
Blind said resolutely, "Hurry!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu, Old Ma, and the rest increased their speed, but Old Ma had to suppress Granny Si's heart, so it was becoming increasingly more tiring for him, which in turn slowed them down.
Cult Master Li was growing rapidly, and Granny Si's cultivation was becoming stronger and stronger. However, Old Ma didn't dare to exert his full force in fear of harming Granny Si's mind. Because of this, their journey had quite a lot of unstable variables.
Granny Si was waking up less and less, while Cult Master Li was waking up more and more. Qin Mu was burning with anxiety, but he was helpless.
This basin had originally been a sea and was probably the East Sea which the heavenly king's god statue had mentioned. The terrain here was incomparably complicated, with the ravines and chasms being thousands of yards deep and the mountain ranges being as sharp as blades.
The East Sea had lost its seawater and turned into normal land. Qin Mu felt that there was something strange about this when he listened to the villagers about the sea in the sky last night, but the seawater had disappeared when day came.
Yet where had it went?
The farther they went, the stranger and stronger the living beings became. There were even glowing jellyfish flying in the sky which hid in the temples when night descended. At that time, they were like colorful lanterns.
On their way, the group even met living flood dragons. Some of them lived in deep mountain streams while others lived in volcanoes, ruling over their territories.
As long as they weren't provoked, these flood dragons rarely left their caves. A couple times Qin Mu saw them flying out to catch humans to eat, but whenever they passed by their group, the flood dragons could see that they were very strong and didn't dare to be impudent and just flew past them.
After walking out of this basin, Mount Meru was only two days away.
During them, Qin Mu and the rest didn't dare to relax even when they were sleeping, always ready to suppress Cult Master Li, which was really tiring for them. Only the dragon qilin had enough sleep and was well fed, so his skin, scales, and fur were all bright and glossy.
Qin Mu and the rest simply jumped on the dragon qilin's back and let this behemoth carry them to Mount Meru.
Gradually, more and more villages they passed believed in buddhism. Every household worshiped a statue of buddha, while some even placed a buddha statue among the stone statues in the village, worshiping god and buddha together.
Qin Mu enquired about this and found out that some monks had come forth to preach and cured the sickness of the villagers, so they had won their hearts.
"Buddhism seems to have followers in Great Ruins as well." Blind smiled. "By saving the abandoned people of Great Ruins, Great Thunderclap Monastery do treat all living things equally, but isn't it really an opportune shortcut, borrowing the reputation of the stone statues to accumulate merit."
The closer they got to Great Thunderclap Monastery, the more buddhist temples were around. Some of these temples had flourishing incense burning in front of them and worshiped buddha statues of different forms. However, when it came to night time, the people and strange beasts of Great Ruins wouldn't hide in these buddhist temples but would come to places that had stone statues and god statues.
Qin Mu thought to himself, 'Old Rulai has put in much effort, but it's hard to compete against the gods of Great Ruins. Buddhism can cure sickness, but it can't save lives from the darkness.'
The mountains nearby gradually grew larger, and there were monasteries of all sizes standing on it in numbers. Qin Mu passed by a few of them and decided to stay in one since the sky was getting dark.
There was a lot of incense burning in front of that monastery, and a couple hundred monks in it didn't seem afraid of the night. They still continued to chant their buddhist scriptures.
'Could these monks have great divine arts that are able to defend against the darkness?' Qin Mu thought with astonishment.
To his surprise, most of the buddha statues gave off a faint divine light which blocked the darkness away. Qin Mu went to the front of one of them, and his face turned black.
The monks in this monastery had actually plastered a layer of pottery clay on the stone statues of Great Ruins and baked the clay into the appearance of buddha. They then pasted golden leaves on the outside and disguised the god statues as golden buddhas. When night fell and the stone statues shielded the place from the darkness, it would look like the buddha statues were exhibiting their buddha might to protect all living things.
When Qin Mu used his third eye, he saw that the gods who were protecting Great Ruins were giving off divine rays of ten thousand fathoms, not any buddha statue.
There were also some fierce and abnormal strange beasts that never left the temples even in the morning. The monks were used to this sight and the strange beasts were not tied up, but were free to roam around the monastery.
What was the most astonishing was that the carnivorous strange beasts in the monastery were well-behaved and seemed to have become vegetarian which was different from their fierce nature. They also prayed to Buddha. Some people of Great Ruins who sought shelter here said it was the power of Buddhism.
However, Qin Mu saw monks secretly feeding the strange beasts large chunks of meat which had the smell of anesthetic.
Qin Mu was astonished, and a frown came onto his face.
"Mu'er, don't bother too much," Blind said softly. "Great Thunderclap Monastery is close, so if we smash this monastery, Great Thunderclap Monastery will receive news about it and give us trouble. They might not save Granny Si then."
"Hypocrites!" Granny Si sneered. "This is the hypocrisy of Buddhism. There clearly have no great divine art of their own, so they took one from other people and call it their own, bragging that it's the power of Buddhism. Blind, Old Ma, you guys are hypocrites as well. You require Old Rulai's help, so you don't dare to expose the act of these bald donkeys!"
Qin Mu said, "Whether they have great divine arts or not, won't Cult Master Li know when we reach Great Thunderclap Monastery and meet Old Rulai?"
Granny Si chuckled. "Cult Master Qin, you are worthy to be the sacred cult master of our sacred cult. You are the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult yet you have to beg Old Rulai of the enemy sect to help you. You're a disgrace to the reputation of our Heavenly Saint Cult! The awe-inspiring authority of our Heavenly Saint Cult is going to be spoiled by you! When I recover completely and return to the sacred cult once more, I'll reorganize it and show you what the sacred cult master should be doing!"
Qin Mu remained unmoved and asked, "What should the sacred cult master do?"
"Tear down the facade of these bald donkeys, smashing their buddha statues and revealing the god statues behind them!" Granny Si stated.
"Remove the anesthetics from the strange beasts and let them eat humans, so their true nature can be revealed and they will massacre all the bald donkeys here, cleaning out the entire monastery! Let the foolish people see all the bullshit! Buddhism looks impressive but it's worthless! Hehe, the so-called righteous path is actually dogshit, so bring that dog shit into the light, don't let them wrap their clay idols with a layer of gold! These are the teachings of our Heavenly Saint Cult, to have a pure understanding of nature!"
Qin Mu felt that the words were very logical, but the actions were too extreme. He also wanted to undo the anesthetics in the strange beasts' bodies, but after thinking that they would eat humans after regaining their senses, he could only drop the thought.
Finally, Great Thunderclap Monastery was in sight, and they could see a majestic mountain standing tall in the center of God Broken Mountain Range. The other mountain ranges were all sliced apart by a mighty force that had formed sheer cliffs and precipitous rock faces that were hard to cross even for birds. All the mountains were blanketed by snow, but this one. It alone stood surrounded by others, protected in their center.
It was weird to say it, but it looked like the mountain peaks formed stairs. Three thousand mountain peaks formed a circle which was the lowest layer of stairs. The second layer had nine hundred and ninety-nine mountain peaks and was followed by ninety-nine mountain peaks and nine mountain peaks. One layer was higher than the other layer, and they all surrounded the main peak in the middle.
Monasteries of all sizes stood in number among the mountain peaks, and they were all worshiping majestic buddha statues. Some mountain peaks were sculpted into a huge buddha, some monasteries were built on the buddha's palm while others in the heart.
"Really luxurious in style," Blind praised. "Old Ma, why do you buddhists like to wear gold and silver? Such glorious splendor, such luxury, wouldn't it be better used for disaster relief? To monks, the four elements are vanity, but the pockets can never be empty."
Old Ma said indifferently, "Who would worship and give offerings if we weren't luxurious?"
Granny Si sneered, "Hypocrite…"
Qin Mu shouted, "Shut up! Old Rulai will refine you to death later!"
"Rascal, you even dare to scold me!" Granny Si became furious.
Qin Mu was flustered and muttered, "Oh, it's granny. Granny, don't take it to heart, I thought it was Cult Master Li who had run out again."
Granny Si sneered, "Old Ma, I'm not saying you're one, but these bald donkeys are clearly hypocrites. Take a look around, see which monastery isn't grand and luxurious, indulging in a life of pleasure? Which buddha statue isn't wearing silver or gold? Among all the monasteries, only those of bald donkeys are this luxurious! These monks don't do anything productive, don't pay taxes, and complain when their benefits are being touched. In the meantime, they nurture their monk weapons, rebel, and want to control the general situation in this world."
"Shut up, demon!" someone shouted from mid-air, and Qin Mu raised his head to see a monk with buddha rays above them. He looked dignified, but it was obvious that he was furious after hearing Granny Si's words.
That monk then saw Old Ma. There was astonishment on his face for a moment, then he ran away while shouting, "This is bad, this is bad! Ma Wangshen is coming back up the mountain!"
In the monasteries on the mountain peaks, all the monks went into an uproar and flew up to form a formation in mid-air as if they were facing a great enemy.
Ma Wangshen said indifferently, "When I came back to retrieve my arm before, I created a small commotion. Let us go up the mountain."
Fire clouds grew under the dragon qilin's soles as he sprinted towards the main peak in the center.
That place was above the sea of clouds, so sunlight could shine on it, basking it in brilliant gold which was why it was called the golden peak. If they wanted to fly up to it, it would take some time even for the dragon qilin.
On their journey, they passed by thousands of temples and monasteries and most of them were filled with senior monks that had attainments in their cultivation and possessed remarkable abilities. None of them dared to come forward to stop them, but they weren't resigned to just let them barge into the golden peak of Mount Meru without any opposition.
More and more monks flew out while riding all kinds of strange beasts and surrounded the golden peak in a formation. There were layers and layers of monks densely packed together to subdue demons and devils..
Qin Mu couldn't help admiring Old Ma. 'The last time Grandpa Ma came here, he must have fought his way up and barged straight into the main peak.'
Old Ma made the dragon qilin stop in front of the tens of thousands of monks forming an impenetrable defense to protect the golden peak. He said, "I'm here to see Old Rulai, I have a request to make."
His voice vibrated, and various visions instantly filled the mountains—golden springs erupted from the ground; a lotus descended from the sky; the apparitions of eight races of demi-gods and semi-devils appeared high above as well as those of gods of the twenty heavens. The events repeated themselves with magnificent rays shining in all directions as they recited the many names of Buddha in unison.
This mastery of incantation dominated countless monks.
At this moment, an old voice laughed from the golden peak. "Ma Wangshen's cultivation has improved since back in the day. I'm guessing you must have cultivated to the twentieth heaven of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, Brahma realm. Another step further and you'll be a rulai. Monks, you may retreat and let him come up. I've been waiting a long time for him."
"Twenty heavens?" Qin Mu was slightly stunned and looked towards Old Ma.
The impenetrable defense formed by the monks in front of them dispersed, and Old Ma let the dragon qilin go up the mountain while saying, "They are twenty realms in Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. Once a person cultivates all twenty realms of heavens, they will become a rulai. When I left Great Thunderclap Monastery back then, I had already cultivated to the nineteenth realm, Sakra realm. At that time, I was already a first-class practitioner in the world."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"If one cultivates all twenty realms, they will become rulai?"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. Great Thunderclap Monastery was no doubt the greatest sacred grounds of Buddhism. Rulai's Mahayana Sutra also deserved to be a sect's legacy ultimate art which was on par with Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword.
The three biggest sacred grounds were indeed not for show.
Now that Eternal Peace Empire was having a snow disaster, the four seasons here were like summer. Many immigrants from Eternal Peace Empire had escaped to this place and stayed in the monasteries, many of them converting to Buddhism.
Qin Mu looked at the monasteries on the mountain peaks and said softly, "What Great Thunderclap Monastery is doing seems to be taking advantage of people when they're down."
Blind shook his head. "Mu'er, no matter what their intentions are, you have to look at what they are doing. Great Thunderclap Monastery has saved the lives of these people and that is a good deed. No matter if they are using this act to promote the teachings of Buddhism, what they are doing is good. If you only magnify Great Thunderclap Monastery's intentions and don't look at what else is being achieved, you won't be any different from Cult Master Li."
Qin Mu was astonished and nodded in acknowledgment.
One's life was nothing more than a cultivation path, and it was easy to be led astray by an extreme way of thinking. Anyone who didn't have a mature reflection and unmovable thoughts would easily be led astray by their own heart.
Being with Cult Master Li these few days, Qin Mu had been influenced by him without even noticing it.
The previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult had a devil nature and his mentality was of the extreme kind. However, he was a grandmaster and his words were very logical, so any incautiousness would end up with a person subconsciously absorbing his philosophy and way of thinking.
The dragon qilin came to the golden peak, and the fire clouds under his feet grew smaller as he descended onto the ground. The golden peak stemmed out from the clouds which were the same color as the white jade laid down on the ground.
This place was like a paradise.
Qin Mu looked around and exclaimed in admiration. Rolan's Golden Palace was luxurious and had the feeling of a nouveau riche. Great Thunderclap Monastery was also luxurious, but they were much more solemn and everywhere was the dignity and culture of Buddhism.
On the golden peak, pagodas stood in numbers, and one of them was especially grand. Monks with long eyebrows sat there as well as on the eaves of the pagoda, reciting scriptures continuously with their reverberating buddha voice.
'Could this be the Thousand Buddhas Pagoda?' Qin Mu thought to himself.
A female bodhisattva in white who was carrying a white vase came forward and bowed. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Ma Wangshen, Madam Si, and this old Dao friend, Rulai is already waiting for you, please follow me."
Qin Mu said, "Thanks for the trouble, big sister."
"Big sister?" The female bodhisattva laughed. "Cult Master Qin is joking. Please."
Qin Mu and the rest followed after her. On the golden peak, the buddha rays around the eminent monks shone brilliantly as they sat on the clouds. The golden rays behind them formed circular shapes that were very dazzling.
Old Rulai as the leader of all the monks sat on the highest point. His corporeal body was vast and beside him were left and right venerables. Sitting below were various bodhisattva, arhats, vajras, guardians, and some of Old Rulai's disciples who had extremely strong cultivations. There were even some monks with attainments in Dao that seemed to belong to a different race; they didn't look human.
Qin Mu and the rest came closer, and Qin Mu greeted, "Senior brother."
Old Rulai hurriedly got up and returned his greeting. "Senior brother."
The moment he got up, the other guardians, venerables, bodhisattvas, arhats and vajras all got up and said in unison, "Senior brother!"
After everyone was done with their greetings, Old Rulai raised his hand to invite Qin Mu to sit beside him. The seat was a praying mat and if he sat down there, he would be much lower than all the monks that were floating in the sky.
"Mu'er, just sit," Old Ma said.
When Qin Mu sat down, he felt a gentle force coming over which lifted him and the praying mat onto the back of the dragon qilin, which was quite impressive.
Old Rulai looked at Old Ma and smiled. "Disciple, are you finally willing to let go of the mortal world and return to the mountain?"
"Return to the mountain? There's a Mount Meru in my heart, but there's no Buddha there anymore."
Old Rulai smiled. "When Mount Meru in your heart no more, you'll become rulai. Excellent, take out the wife and children from your heart and I'll pass away in a few days time. This Great Thunderclap Monastery will be yours to lead."
Old Ma shook his head. "If I was to lead this place, I'd kill all the damned baldies on the mountain."
The expressions of all the guardians and arhats changed drastically, and they became instantly furious.
Old Rulai said, "You still obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way. I came back slightly faster last time you were back on the mountain, but I was still a step late. You should know that the two of us still have the relationship of master and disciple. You had cut off your arm and sent it over, but I believed that you would let go of the affairs of the mortal world and return to Great Thunderclap Monastery, so I had ordered the monks to place your arm in Thousand Buddhas Pagoda. That was because I wished for you to find your way back one day. You should understand my intentions."
Old Ma said solemnly, "I know. But my wife and children died at the hands of Great Thunderclap Monastery, and this blood feud will have to be paid in blood."
"Foolish disciple!" Old Rulai shouted out in his face. "Wife and children are just an illusion, just mortal flesh! If you have Buddha nature, you should know that the evil fruits of marriage all come to nothing."
Furious, Old Ma shouted back, "Nothing my ass! I had already chopped off my arm, what are you still dissatisfied about? Why did you have to kill my wife and children? What about my wife and children being pink skeletons, demons that restraint me, so what if I like pink skeletons? Calling you master was giving you face because we need your help. Talk some more and I'll overthrow you, bathe this golden peak in blood, and massacre all the bald donkeys on your mountain!"
The faces of all the monks on the mountain changed and none of them could sit still anymore.
Qin Mu had totally not expected for Old Ma to suddenly blow up like that. Old Ma was usually the calm and dependable one in the village, the person that Cripple respected the most. Because of this, Qin Mu had never expected that when Old Ma blew up, no one would be able to stop him.
On the golden peak, dark clouds gathered. It was breezy earlier with magical clouds and golden lights which were very auspicious; however, murderous intent now filled the air.
Qin Mu coughed loudly, then laughed. "Minor details obscure the main point, it's just minor details. Senior Brother Rulai, I have yet to introduce you to everyone: this is my Grandpa Ma, who people usually call Old Ma, and his seniority is twice higher than mine; this is Granny Si whose seniority is twice higher than mine as well; and the same goes for Grandpa Blind. Fellow Dao brothers, there's no need for formalities."
Old Rulai chuckled and the dark clouds in the sky disappeared. "Cult Master Qin, there's destiny between us. You received the khakkhara staff which was the staff that had accompanied me through the martial world. Since it landed in your hands, you and I had the destiny of becoming master and disciple. Old monk had decided to head to Great Ruins for a fated meeting with the old Dao friends of Disabled Elderly Village to take you under our Great Thunderclap Monastery, so I didn't expect for our destiny to be broken just like that. When we met again, you had already become the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. It just wasn't the time and destiny; fate makes fools out of all of us."
Qin Mu smiled slightly and said, "Rulai is joking. Little brother has come forth this time to request Rulai to subdue a devil. In Granny Si's body is a great expert which is the previous cult master of my sacred cult, Li Tianxing. He has transformed into a devil seedling and planted himself in Granny Si's Dao heart, thus little brother is here to request Rulai to subdue this devil, ridding the world of a public hazard."
A venerable said softly, "Revered One of the World, this Granny Si is the previous saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult, Si Youyou. On the night she married Li Tianxing, she murdered him; she's not a good person as well. She's a devil among the devils."
All of the guardians and arhats said, "These are the family matters of the devil cult, how could we interfere?"
Old Rulai raised his hand and smiled. "All living things are equal: buddhas are part of all living things, and devils are also part of all living things. Since Cult Master Qin has a request, old monk naturally should help."
The gaze of the other venerable flickered as he said in a soft voice, "When we give scriptures to people, we would accept some monetary offering. To help subdue the devil this time, could we…"
Old Rulai waved his hand to shut him up. "Cult mistress, can we see your true appearance?"
Qin Mu hesitated, then shook his head. "Rulai, I don't think it's necessary, right?"
Blind knocked his bamboo cane against the ground and said, "Old Rulai, there's no need to see granny's true appearance. It won't be good if the cultivation of your monks got spoiled."
"Disputes regarding affections are ephemeral, and incomparably beautiful women are merely pink skeletons. Dao friend, you underestimate the cultivation of the monks of my Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Old Rulai smiled. "It would be hard to lend a hand and enlighten Cult Master Li without seeing the true appearance of the cult mistress. For Cult Master Li, love stemmed from beauty, giving birth to the demon of temptation. Old Monk merely wants to take a look at this object of his love."
Granny Si giggled. "Blind, Old Ma, why don't you undo my seal? Cult Master Qin, take off this ugly skin off my body, I want to see these hypocritical monks, take a look at their determination!"
Blind frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Old Ma, what's your opinion?"
Old Ma hesitated for a moment, then looked at the monks that filled the mountain. "Old Rulai's buddhism far surpasses mine and should have this ability. Mu'er, what do you think?"
Qin Mu pondered and said, "We'll just have to try even though it might not work. Grandpas, be on alert, we can't let Cult Master Li run away."
Granny Si chuckled. "I've fought with this old bald donkey for countless years so why would I run when there's such an interesting show here? I wouldn't run even if you chased me away!"
Old Ma sighed and took back the spirit buddha's primordial spirit from the heart of granny's brows as he nodded to Blind.
Blind stretched out his hand, and a silver-colored vital qi that was like a dragon flew out from Granny Si's body, returning to Blind.
Qin Mu went forward and gave a gentle cut. Granny Si's skin split open and a remarkably beautiful woman took a step out. Her hair was like a waterfall as she slowly raised her head up. Looking around with her bright eyes, she swept her gaze past the face of each and every monk.
The golden peak fell completely silent.
Even the buddha voice that was chanting the buddhist scriptures paused at that instant. All the eminent monks that had achieved Dao felt their throats go parched and their hearts throbbed violently while the prayer beads revolved quickly in their hands.
Suddenly, the buddha rays behind the head of one bodhisattva dispersed, and he dropped from the sky and fell into the valley below the clouds.
After some time, the loud thump of a heavy object landing on the ground could be heard.
Thump, thump.
More heavy objects hit the ground, which was some of the arhats and vajras.
The expression of Old Rulai changed slightly, and he looked around in a hurry. All the monks had their eyes fixed on the body of that remarkably beautiful woman as the prayer beads in their hands revolved faster and faster.
"Tut!"
Old Rulai was about to shout out when he heard another voice. An arhat shouted out angrily and rushed towards Granny Si. "This is a demoness that can bewitch all living things, a heavenly devil. From the first look at her, a devil spawned in my heart so I definitely have to kill her!"
"I shall kill this devil for the world!" Another vajra swung his devil subduing pestle, showing his three heads and six arms as he rushed towards Granny Si.
Suddenly, an old monk pushed his way to the front to block the arhat and vajra. He tore his buddhist robe off and pulled apart his prayer beads. He then laughed in a crazy manner. "I'm used to arson and murder, never having cultivated the righteous fruit. I feel I've wasted the first half of my life eating vegetarian and reciting scriptures! After seeing such a beautiful woman, I'm certain I've wasted the first half of my life! But now, I'll be returning to the normal life!"
A few more arhats rushed forward, and chaos broke out on the golden peak.
The yellow robe of Old Rulai trembled, and the buddha voice of Thousand Buddhas Pagoda suddenly resonated, reciting thousands of buddha scriptures at the same time to pull the monks fighting on the golden peak back to their senses. Everyone then sat down, deeply ashamed of themselves.
"Having to eat vegetarian and recite scriptures? What's the use of cultivating the righteous fruit? Isn't it better to enjoy without delay? I'm returning back to the normal life!" Suddenly, an old monk leaped off the golden peak and disappeared into the distance.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Silence filled the golden peak, so only the noise of the prayer beads revolving could be heard. Many buddha rays behind the monks' heads had dispersed when they had fallen from the sky.
Old Rulai looked around himself and saw the expressions of all the bodhisattvas, venerables, and arhats. Cult Master Li had used the beauty of Si Youyou to appear in front of all the monks, messing up their wisdom and damaging their buddha's heart, spawning impure thoughts.
Even Rulai had executed his dharma just then and activated the corporeal bodies of numerous Rulai in Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, he could only suppress the monks for a moment.
When the buddha rays behind their heads dispersed and they fell from the sky, it signaled that their buddha's heart had been destroyed. Buddhism paid attention to the religious practice of the heart. Once their buddha's heart was destroyed and their fruit of karma was tainted, their state of mind would crumble. The ones dropping down were no longer monks but were now ordinary people.
When they dropped from the sky, they would drop from the place high above the mortal world into the mortal world. Some of them would change their minds, repent, and be saved, but some would just leave Great Thunderclap Monastery and enter the mortal world to struggle and break free. However, with a secular heart, it would be hard for them to do so.
Si Youyou's beauty had made many of the higher-ups of Great Thunderclap Monastery fall, which was a great loss.
However, the monastery couldn't blame Qin Mu and the rest. After all, they had already warned them and it was Old Rulai who insisted on wanting to see the true appearance of Granny Si to test everyone's buddha's heart.
There were, of course, some buddha's hearts that were stable and unmoved. These eminent monks were of different races, so even though Granny Si was beautiful, they couldn't see it. Since they weren't human, they only saw her as mortal flesh.
"Your cultivation is not strong enough, to be so attached to the appearance of the skin and not see the tathata." Old Rulai looked around himself and guided the monks, "You saw her beauty and felt unable to restrain yourself, yet you don't know that the beauty you see is what you feel is beautiful and not true beauty. For example, Senior Brother Hai Kong, do you think she's beautiful?"
The person he mentioned was an eminent monk of a different race that had achieved Dao. He said, "She and I are of different races and I can't see her beauty."
Old Rulai smiled. "When a different race can't see the beauty, then it isn't true beauty, just skin. Beauty is in great truth, great thinking, and great wisdom. Cult Master Li, this skin that you're infatuated with isn't true beauty to every living being, it only lies in the human word. This clearly shows how narrow-minded you are."
All the monks seemed to be enlightened, and Qin Mu also felt that his words were very logical. As expected of Old Rulai, a person who had demonstrated great thinking. He might just be able to subdue Li Tianxing, this heart devil.
Why Li Tianxing wanted to become Granny Si was because Granny Si was extremely beautiful and messed up his Dao heart. This brought out his evil intentions and made him want to become Granny Si.
The old woman chuckled. "Old Rulai, there are ten thousand paths in this world, but all my Heavenly Saint Cult occupies is the human word. Your buddhism speaks of ten thousand paths, but can you take possession of all of them? Say no more, what ability do you have to subdue me?"
Old Rulai smiled and took out a bronze mirror which passed to a venerable beside him. "Pass it to him."
The venerable took the mirror and walked down the high platform to come to Granny Si. When he saw her appearance, his heart throbbed violently, and he immediately shut his eyes so he couldn't see.
Granny Si took the mirror into her hands and looked fondly at her reflection while giggling. "Truly, a remarkably beautiful woman, I still pity her."
Most of the monks saw her seductive appearance and found it hard to restrain themselves.
Old Rulai smiled. "Flip over the mirror."
Granny Si did as told and saw a white skeleton there; it was her appearance after she died.
"What does Cult Master Li think?" Old Rulai smiled. "Even if you're a remarkably beautiful woman, you'll be merely bones after your life ends. Do you think a skeleton is pretty?"
Granny Si threw the bronze mirror onto the floor and crushed it under her feet while saying nonchalantly, "This is merely a trick to fool the ordinary people, saying things like pink skeletons or whatever. Rulai, I know logic, but I don't want to be like you, living in splendor in your afterlife, it's enough if I live my current life to its fullest extent. Seeking for the afterlife is merely a cowardly behavior. Your little trick won't be able to subdue me. If you think a mirror is able to enlighten me, why don't I take a stroll around your Great Thunderclap Monastery to see if you will enlighten me first or if I'll enlighten all the young and old monks in your sect. Why don't you make a bet with me?"
Old Rulai frowned slightly and said, "You have no wisdom."
Blind also saw that things were turning bad and said, "Dao brother, what wisdom, it's all nonsense, why don't we make a move on him directly and subdue him!
Old Rulai muttered to himself for a moment, then said, "Cult Master Li is the devil cult master, so I shall bring him into Thousand Buddhas Pagoda to subdue him. Monks, your determination is still shallow and your cultivations aren't there yet, all of you shall remain outside Thousand Buddhas Pagoda to aid."
All of the monks acknowledged this and walked down the high platform to gather around Thousand Buddhas Pagoda. There were some monks that hurried out from inside, not daring to remain there.
Old Rulai smiled. "Cult Master Qin, you're also the devil cult master and have a deep devil nature. Since the ancient times, buddhas and devils were always on separate sides, but since cult master is a guest who had come forth to seek help, I won't subdue you. However, during the time I'll be subduing Cult Master Li, I hope cult master will stay in Great Thunderclap Monastery to listen to the dharma and resolve the evil tendencies in cult master's heart so you can make fewer sins in the future."
Old Ma and Blind's hearts were like a clear mirror—Old Rulai was trying to make them stay in Great Thunderclap Monastery. If he could enlighten them, it would naturally be the best, but if he couldn't, he just wouldn't let them leave.
Qin Mu was elated and smiled. "Senior brother is wise! In that case, we'll have to trouble you. I hope senior brother can subdue Cult Master Li, this devil, as soon as possible. It'll be a huge merit!"
Old Rulai smiled and instructed, "Let these few benefactors stay in the monastery."
A venerable hesitated. "Revered One of the World, there are many places in the monastery that are the sacred grounds of our sect. If they barge into…"
"Let them be, there's nothing Great Thunderclap Monastery has to hide," said Old Rulai. "Imperial Preceptor came forward and I showed him Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, so could the evil Heavenly Devil Cult Master be worse than Imperial Preceptor? Cult Master Qin is also one of all living things; there are no outsiders in Great Thunderclap Monastery."
That venerable acknowledged this and came over to lead everyone.
Qin Mu smiled. "This senior brother, does the monastery have vegetarian food? I've been eating too much greasy stuff during New Years and would like to eat something light."
The venerable took a look at him and revolved his prayer beads, suppressing the thoughts to subdue the devil. "If cult master stays in Great Thunderclap Monastery, we can provide you with a lifetime of vegetarians food."
Qin Mu laughed out loud and said to Blind, "They aren't afraid of us eating them poor."
Blind snorted coldly and asked, "Old Ma, do you think Rulai can subdue Li Tianxing?"
Old Ma hesitated. "If one Rulai isn't enough, there are a thousand of them in Thousand Buddhas Pagoda. They are all clear-natured existences that had seen the tathata, so it's highly possible. However, they have all passed on and Cult Master Li is extremely extraordinary… What I'm afraid now is that Old Rulai will purposely not subdue Cult Master Li, but will trap Granny Si in the pagoda. If she gets trapped there, we'll also be trapped here."
The venerable brought them to the guest rooms and said, "Benefactors, feel free to stay here. The bookshelves have all the buddhist scriptures, so feel free to browse through them."
Qin Mu looked over and saw many scriptures as promised. Old Ma shook his head at him. "The buddhist scriptures here only have text and no divine arts, just browse through them."
The venerable said, "Divine arts are no match for karma. Does Ma Wangshen not know?"
Old Ma said indifferently, "Without divine arts, how can one ward off karma? You're Rulai's disciple? This means you're my junior brother. Your realm is too low, fall back, don't try to act clever in front of me."
The venerable was ashamed and embarrassed, so he turned to leave.
Blind sat down calmly. "I and Old Ma are already old, so it's fine if we stay here. But Mu'er, you're the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. If you get trapped here forever, won't you die of old age in this place? I'll find a chance to send you down the mountain."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "We will wait until Granny Si is well. Grandpa Blind, Grandpa Ma, since it's rare to come to Great Thunderclap Monastery, let us take a walk around."
Old Ma revealed a smile. "Didn't you want to see the Hundred Dragons Portraits for a long time? I shall bring you to the place where the reliefs are."
Qin Mu was elated.
The three of them walked out of the guest room to see an old monk sitting outside the door and reciting scriptures to the dragon qilin. The fat monster had already fallen deep asleep and was snoring loudly.
"They even want to enlighten Fatty Dragon?" Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Monk, this fatass needs to eat half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills every day, can you feed him after you enlighten him?"
That old monk stopped his recital and gave him a glance. "I can."
Qin Mu was speechless. "How rich. Continue."
Old Ma then led the way, down a layer of clouds until they reached the middle of the mountain. Pointing forward, he said, "That's the Hundred Dragons Portraits."
Qin Mu looked over and saw numerous huge pillars. On each one, there was a relief of a heavenly dragon. Under the pillars, there were hundreds of monks that were observing the sculptures to comprehend their own path, skills, and divine arts from them.
There was quite a number of monks that were trying out their divine arts, transforming their vital qi into forms of dragons that filled the sky. There were also buddha rays shining brilliantly, which looked very extraordinary.
Some monks were even exchanging blows, testing what they had just comprehended.
A few old monks saw them coming over and immediately greeted Old Ma. "Senior brother is here."
Old Ma returned their greetings, not neglecting them.
An old monk said with delight, "Back then senior brother was in the limelight, and us here still remember senior brother's dashing appearance at that time."
Qin Mu walked up in front of a dragon pillar to examine it in detail, exclaiming endlessly in admiration to himself. There were a hundred forms of this heavenly dragon, and the stone carvings on this pillar had fully captured the posture of the majestic being.
Old Ma was proficient in carving and the sculptures he did with wood were vivid, so he should have imitated the carvings here before.
Hundred Dragons Portraits were indeed crucial to cultivating Thunderclap Eight Strikes, but what was even more important was still Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. Without it, it was hard to cultivate Thunderclap Eight Strikes to its maximum.
However, Qin Mu had already comprehended Unity Technique and his attainments in Thunderclap Eight Strikes weren't any weaker than if he had been cultivating Rulai's Mahayana Sutra.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a voice aimed at him. "The one that herds cows!"
Qin Mu turned his head back and saw a monk in white looking at him in astonishment. This monk looked slightly familiar, and Qin Mu suddenly realized who he was. "So it's Little Monk Ming Xin! We've met before in Great Ruins' Grandma Temple!"
The little monk was a student of Old Monk Jing Ming who had brought him to find Old Ma and used the khakkhara staff as a bet. Ming Xin was defeated by Qin Mu and thus the khakkhara staff had landed into Qin Mu's hands, though he then gave it away to the devil ape.
Monk Ming Xin walked over with quick steps. He had grown quite a bit and was now slightly taller than Qin Mu.
Puberty had only started for Qin Mu in the last half a year, so he'd had a spurt in growth, but it wasn't enough yet.
Monk Ming Xin took a look at him and was eager to give a second try at a battle with him. "We haven't met for a few years and I wonder if your skills improved?"
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. "They have. Since I defeated you, times changed and I improved by leaps and bounds."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When Qin Mu saw a familiar person, he couldn't help feeling affable. Since he was young, he had always mingled around with Blind and Cripple. From the moment he could remember things, he was always learning all kinds of knowledge from the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village. It could be said that he didn't have any playmates during his childhood days, which made them dull and dry.
Even though he had only fought one match with Mong Ming Xin, they were of the same age, so it was natural to feel affable upon meeting him again.
Monk Ming Xin recited one of the many names of Buddha to suppress his own angry thoughts and smiled. "You defeated me back then but you might not defeat me today. After losing to you, I had pondered about the painful experience and fixed my weakness. Why don't do have another battle?"
"You changed the sutra?" Qin Mu asked in astonishment.
Pleased, Monk Ming said, "I was defeated when you struck my throat the previous time, so I will definitely not let you have your way this time!"
Qin Mu cried out, "Monk Ming Xin, how old are you, how could you change Rulai's Mahayana Sutra as you like? With your current horizons and knowledge, the more you change it, the more mistakes and flaws would take shape! Rather than carelessly changing it, wouldn't it have been better to ask Rulai and let Rulai teach you… Uhm, I also carelessly changed my technique and to the point it's beyond recognition, so I can't really say anything to you."
Qin Mu blushed with shame. He had also changed his technique, and Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had been changed more than once. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was even fused with his it, solving the flaw on the left shoulder.
Him saying something to Monk Ming Xin about carelessly changing his technique was like the pot calling the kettle black. Maybe the other had indeed erased the flaw on his throat.
Monk Ming Xin began to stir and said, "In that case, could you condescend to teach?"
Qin Mu was about to say something when an old monk said, "Disciple, don't be impudent, this is Cult Master Qin of Heavenly Devil Cult!"
Monk Ming Xin jumped in shock and cried out, "When have you become the old devil of Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Qin Mu sighed. "This is hard to explain. I didn't want to do it, but got pushed onto the seat of the cult master without the choice to refuse."
He looked toward the old monk and recognized him as Old Monk Jing Ming. This old monk was Ming Xin's master, and his personality was very much like his name, very shrewd. He had pointed out that Qin Mu was the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult not to notify Ming Xin, but to tell all the monks that were present.
With the shout in his loud voice, all the monks that were studying Hundred Dragons Portraits looked towards Qin Mu and recited the many names of Buddha under their breath. It was evident that they all couldn't restrain themselves and suppress their thoughts of wanting to subdue the devil.
Monk Ming Xin immediately said, "In that case, you should quickly withdraw and not be the devil cult master anymore, since you're going to die! There are many eminent monks who hate evil with a passion and are used to killing devils. Every time they go out, they subdue a few devils to accumulate merit, and you will be killed! I shan't compete with you, you should quickly flee down the mountain."
Qin Mu shook his head. "Thank for your kind intentions, but I'm now a guest. Old Rulai is my senior brother and he said I should be allowed to say in the monastery. In this case, would they still subdue the devil?"
Ming Xin hesitated for a moment, then said, "This, I can't say for sure. They will most likely debate with you, advising you to turn over a new leaf. If they can't talk you into it, they will most like beat you to death."
Qin Mu was speechless. He indeed saw a few monks walking over to him.
"Amitabha!" A monk placed his palms together and raised a difficult question first, "Devil, do you dare to debate with me?"
Qin Mu asked, "Have you been completely indifferent to worldly temptations?"
That monk was slightly shaken. "Not yet."
"Then what's the debate for?" Qin Mu broke out into laughter. "You haven't even achieved your Dao. A half-baked, fake monk like you has only the ability to flaunt misunderstandings from gossip. Fall back."
That monk was tongue-tied and another monk beside him immediately said, "Devil, I shall talk to you about truth, compassion, and beauty—"
Qin Mu asked, "Are you Rulai?"
That monk's complexion turned beet red, and he replied, "I'm still not Rulai…"
"Then you haven't achieved the word 'truth'." Qin Mu smiled. "Rulai is the true state of things, receiving and achieving the word 'truth'. If you aren't the truth yourself, how can you want to talk about truth, compassion, and beauty? Fall back, don't embarrass yourself, we will talk when you achieved that height. Don't take what you can't do and force it on me. If you want people to do as you say, you have to set an example."
The monk was left speechless, and another one stretched out his hand out. Golden springs poured out from the earth, and a lotus bloomed. "Buddhism has anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, the highest perfect awakening, the supreme perfect wisdom…"
Qin Mu asked, "Have you achieved supreme perfect wisdom?"
"Fall back."
Another monk laughed loudly. "Devil cult master is an eloquent and fluent speaker. Since you won't respond if I talk to you about scriptures, I shall talk to you about the secular world."
Excited, Qin Mu came over to that monk and said, "Great Monk, don't speak first. Let me ask you, if everyone converted to Buddhism, didn't reproduce, didn't marry, had no children, wouldn't the human race be extinct a hundred years later? What grudge do the humans have with you? Why do you want to eradicate the human race?"
The monk was stunned for a time, then said, "What I want to talk to you about is that your Heavenly Devil Cult does too much evil and the magic in your cult is evil and sinister. It uses live people to cultivate—"
Qin Mu didn't give him time to say more. "What's that compared to eradicating the human race?"
The monk stared at him with wide eyes, barely holding back his anger. "This is different from what I want to debate with you!"
"In that case, let us talk about this. When I met a hall master of Heavenly Saint Cult who used infants to cultivate, he was slain. Just now, I saw a monastery raising strange beasts at the foot of Mount Meru by mixing anesthetics with bloody meat to lie to the people. Where did the meat come from, did they take the lives of living creatures? I dealt with the scum in my cult, it's your turn now. Go eradicate that monastery and kill all those monks."
The monk was furious. "This is different from what I'm debating with you! I'm going to talk about the teachings with you! Our Great Thunderclap Monastery has tens of thousands of buddhist scriptures, each and every one of them is passed down from generation to generation, teaching people to be compassionate!"
Qin Mu said in astonishment, "If your own Buddhism hides dirt to conceal corruption instead of cleaning it up and the monks in the monasteries aren't compassionate, how can you teach people to be compassionate? The foolish like to lecture others, but they can't do it. Oh well, did you say teachings, I'll talk to you about teachings. The path of the saint is none other than the one that can be used by common people. Can your dharma be used by common people every day? If they can't use it, what's the point of just having it recorded in a book? If it's useless, won't it be better to just burn it?"
"You devil!" The monk was really furious now and wanted to pounce over. "Preposterous arguments and harmful teachings, burning scriptures and eradicating buddha, your devil nature is indeed very serious. I'll fight it out with you!"
"Hold it." Qin Mu raised his hand and smiled. "You want to kill me, but let me ask you, do the buddhist scriptures allow you to take the life of a living creature?"
The monk stopped in his tracks and suppressed his anger. "Buddhist scriptures advise people to be compassionate, to not take the life of a living creature. However, against devils, even Buddha will be angered and subdue them!"
Qin Mu asked, "Grass, is it life?"
"Naturally," the monk said angrily.
"Seedlings grow from grass and many of them turn into grains, which means that grains are also lives, so why do you eat them? You have been eating vegetarian and praying to Buddha, thinking about compassion, thinking about beauty, thinking about truth, but you don't even know how many lives were lost in a mouthful of your food!" Qin Mu said. "The older you get, the more lives you have eaten. What face do you have to talk about buddha's heart, to talk about compassion?"
He took out a flower seed from his taotie sack and held it in his hand. When he executed Earth Aeon Creation Technique, a soft shoot sprouted from the flower seedling and grew. Its roots broke out from their shell, and a spirit grass rose up in his hand. The plant was delicate, and a flower bud soon sprouted. It trembled gently, and a tender and lovely flower bloomed.
"Is it beautiful?" Qin Mu asked.
The monk was slightly infatuated and nodded in agreement. "Beautiful."
Qin Mu brought the flower to the monk and said, "This flower is the grains you eat, they are its fruits. They are a beautiful life, yet how many of them have you eaten? When are you going to pay them back? If they had spirit and cultivated into a demon, would they cry about how you ate millions and millions of their race? Do you ever think about the damned souls of countless flowers and grasses surrounding you, waiting for you to pay with your life day and night?"
The monk held the beautiful flower in both of his hands as his expression became more and more defeated. He felt the beauty of the tender flower becoming sinister and terrifying, demanding his life. Suddenly, the monk sat down in a lotus position with tears rolling down his face. "I've eaten countless people from your race and my grave sins are hard to resolve! I'm willing to turn into a pile of ashes to nourish you!"
When he was finished with his words, the fire of karma lit up around his body and burned him cleanly in an instant. But even though the fire burned him completely, it didn't harm the beautiful flower in the slightest. It landed softly onto the ashes, still tender and lovely.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Cultivating Buddhism still comes to naught at the end, only good enough to be used as fertilizer."
Qin Mu bent over and gathered the ashes together to plant the flower seedling. "Monk, you have been useless all your life, but you are finally useful after you died. This flower will grow well, and it will bear many seedlings which will grow into even more flowers. You will be gratified if you know this in the netherworld.
"Even though the flower isn't the common people, but by using your ashes as fertilizer, you have indeed achieved that goal of the everyday use of common people. Excellent, you and I are of the same path."
He stood up and looked around. Even though he was a youth, he had the air of a cult master about him as he said unhurriedly, "Which great monk still wants to debate with me?"
The surroundings were silent.
Qin Mu looked at the serious and solemn monks, but the other side immediately avoided his eyes, not daring to meet them.
Old Ma and Blind had been standing far away, chatting with some old monks. When they saw what happened, Blind smiled. "If Mu'er remains in Great Thunderclap Monastery and the monks don't immediately make a move to slay him… With just a few days' time, half of the monks in Great Thunderclap Monastery will return to the normal life, a small half will be possessed by the devil, while those who won't will all be fake monks. He's really even more powerful than Granny Si."
Suddenly, a monk shouted sternly, "He's the devil! He's a heavenly devil! Bewitching everyone with his demonic words!"
Another monk shouted out right after, "He used demonic words to kill Senior Brother Xin Kong! We can't let this devil live, kill him to get rid of the devil!"
In an instant, everyone was furious and shouted out their wish to subdue Qin Mu and kill the devil.
At that moment, the youth started laughing with merriment, his voice growing louder and louder. The commotion around him gradually vanished, but his laughter still continued on.
Once laughing subsided, Qin Mu said coldly, "You guys wanted to debate, so I debated with you. When you wanted to pull in the sect's teachings, I agreed to talk about the teachings. When you couldn't win against me, you guys talked about taking the life of a living creature. Fine with me, let's talk about taking the life of a living creature. When you couldn't succeed even in that, you guys actually want to kill me? What's the use of you cultivating Buddhism? Fall back, return to your normal life."
Some monks were at a loss and their hearts became empty. After a moment, some actually sighed and really turned away and went to pack their luggage to leave the mountain.
The rest of the monks didn't fall back but stood with unpleasant expressions.
Qin Mu shook his head and smiled. "So it still comes to fighting in the end? If that's how it is, why flaunt your inadequate knowledge first!" With a roused spirit, he looked around, and his eyes flashed like lightning. "Who's coming to die?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The monks wanted to go forth when Monk Ming Xin said, "Hold it, fellow senior brothers, let me subdue this devil and kill this monster!"
Before the monks could even say anything, Monk Ming Xin had already rushed forward and winked at Qin Mu while saying in a low voice, "When you fight with me, do a few blows before admitting defeat. Once you admit defeat, they will be too embarrassed to kill you. Also, don't use devil techniques, or they will be infuriated again."
'The heart of this little monk isn't bad, he's much better than Old Monk Jing Ming.'
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and he smiled. "You and I shall exchange some pointers."
Monk Ming Xin immediately made a move, and it was Thunderclap Eight Strikes, Spring Thunder on the Lonely East Sea. As he moved, thunder rang through the area as though an overflowing river was surging into the sea as the spring thunder suddenly exploded.
When this move was executed, it had the illusions of a divine art. The vital qi that was both in front and behind Monk Ming Xin could be faintly seen transforming into majestic mountains with the river water surging down from them. It looked like it had come from the sky and smashed into the sea.
When the moves of Thunderclap Eight Strikes were executed to this extent, they were almost no different from a divine art. Rulai's Mahayana Sutra of Great Thunderclap Monastery was indeed worthy of its reputation!
Qin Mu also executed Thunderclap Eight Strikes which were just as impressive and majestic. Mountains and rivers, a vast sea and spring thunder, as well as world-shaking booms, exploded as the muscles on these two people flexed. The tendons were like fine dragons snaking here and there under the skin, pushing the circulation of strength to its maximum, cheering up the monks.
"Ming Xin, beat this devil to death!" a dried up, thin old monk shouted out. "This devil actually cultivates our Great Thunderclap Monastery's technique; it's a blasphemy against Buddha, so beat him to death!"
Qin Mu's move changed and transformed into Thousand Armed Buddha, and in that instant, his palm transformed into afterimages which made it seem as though he had a thousand arms. Each movement of a palm caused the sound of thunder as if a huge buddha was waving his thousand arms to subdue devils. All the monks had a change in expression when they saw this.
Qin Mu, this devil from Heavenly Devil Cult, had already comprehended every single essence of Thunderclap Eight Strikes. Just based on this Thousand Armed Buddha, his attainments surpassed eighty to ninety percent of the monks in the monastery.
The voices of the monks grew softer as they muttered in their hearts, 'Seems like Ming Xin's attainment in this move is inferior to his, he probably can't win…'
Ming Xin also executed Thousand Armed Buddha to fight back, and he immediately knew that his attainments were lacking. His body trembled as he executed Winning Skill and expanded exponentially. Countless buddhist scriptures surrounded his body like a huge bell which rang non-stop.
The two thousand-armed buddhas clashed, and the superior one was determined at that instant. Qin Mu's palm hit the huge bell which was the buddhist scriptures, and rings of buddha rays burst forth from the wall of the bell.
At this moment, where did Qin Mu look like a devil? He was clearly an eminent monk that had achieved his Dao. A young buddha that had green dragons surrounding him as he looked extremely dignified.
The next instant, Monk Ming Xin saw Qin Mu's palm breaking through the huge bell and changing into a fist mudra that hit him in the heart, astonishing him.
Qin Mu's fist had gone precisely through the flaw in his Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. With his fist as a mudra, he exploited that flaw and went straight for the body. This strike had hit him straight in his lethal point!
However, Qin Mu's fist didn't have much power. He retracted it after giving a gentle punch.
The hearts of the monks calmed down. 'This devil's cultivation isn't high, only his moves are exquisite.'
Monk Ming Xin composed himself and immediately countered, only to see Qin Mu slithering around him like a dragon. With his thousand arms moving about, countless flaws appeared on the buddhist scripture bell in an instant. The lethal points in the heart of his brows, his ears, his eyes, the back of his heart, his sea of qi, his jade occiput were all marked once by Qin Mu. In the blink of an eye, he had received hundreds of fatal attacks!
These attacks were all aimed at the flaws of Monk Ming Xin's Rulai's Mahayana Scripture. He was stunned for a moment, then felt like he was a cauldron that was leaking water everywhere. There were fatal flaws everywhere, and cold sweat uncontrollably rolled down his forehead.
To remove the flaw, he had acted according to his initiative and changed Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. He thought he had erased the weak spot on his throat, but instead, he had affected the rest of his body, creating more flaws in his technique.
'The cultivation of this devil is indeed not high!" All the monks were put at ease now. 'If he can't break through Ming Xin's Golden Bell Body Protection, no matter how intricate his moves are, there will be no power behind his attacks.'
Qin Mu stopped, and Monk Ming Xin came to a realization. He swiftly expressed his thanks, "Thank you senior brother for your guidance! Only now do I know that Rulai's Mahayana Sutra can't be carelessly changed."
Qin Mu shook his head. "It's not that you cannot change, you just lack an opponent who can allow you to express your talent and potential to its fullest extent. If you had a person that had profound knowledge and wide horizons, he could push you to improve, to continuously change your technique. In that case, you would achieve perfection."
Monk Ming Xin immediately looked at him, and Qin Mu shook his head again. "I can't, I don't have the ability. You can go find Rulai, let him impart to you Rulai's Mahayana Sutra directly. I as your opponent will limit your improvement."
Monk Ming Xin acknowledged this, but said,"Rulai is all about destiny, I don't know if I have this destiny… Crap!" His expression changed, and he stamped his feet. "This is bad! If you had lost to me, they wouldn't be able to steel themselves to beat you to death, but now that you defeated me, they will certainly kill you! What should we do?"
"Ming Xin, fall back. "A middle-aged monk came forward with a slightly grim expression as he scolded, "Junior Brother Ming Xin, aren't you too kindhearted! This is subduing the devil, yet you held back and did not take his life, are you going to leave this devil alive to bring chaos to the world? This is a grave sin!"
Monk Ming Xin opened his mouth, wanting to say something when that monk swept his sleeves at him. "Are you not going to fall back and reflect on yourself?"
Monk Ming Xin could only fall back feeling grieved. 'When had I held back? I clearly executed my full strength!'
The middle-aged monk looked at Qin Mu and said, "Cult Master Qin, you're the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, while I'm merely a monk with no reputation in the Heavenly Dragon Cloister of Great Thunderclap Monastery. This isn't considered the big bullying the small, right?"
Qin Mu smiled. "It's not. I'm the big that's bullying the small."
The middle-aged monk chanted one of the many names of buddha and said, "Cult Master Qin, I shall let you understand the vastness of Buddhism. Look at this dragon pillar beside you, the dragon form on this dragon pillar is one of the Hundred Dragons Portraits of our Great Thunderclap Monastery. This little monk will use it to send devil cult master to paradise."
Qin Mu examined the dragon pillar beside him, paying attention to the dragon portrait of a ferocious heavenly dragon. With its sharp claws clasping down, it looked like it was subduing devils.
The middle-aged monk suddenly moved and came speeding over with heavy footsteps as he shouted, "I hope cult master can be reborn into a good family in your next life and not be a devil again!"
Boom!
He smashed a mudra downwards, and thunder boomed. What he executed was Tempest of the Nine Dragons from Thunderclap Eight Strikes. His vital qi had transformed into a green dragon whose form was none other than the heavenly dragon on the dragon pillar beside Qin Mu!
The green dragon surged forward with bursts of thunder, just like a dragon king descending onto the world!
Qin Mu retracted his gaze from the dragon pillar, and his vital qi suddenly burst forth. It was similar to Tempest of the Nine Dragons, and when the two dragon forms clashed, the roaring of dragons continued endlessly. Ninety green dragons appeared around the two people, and they were the dragon force formed by the fist skills. Each person had forty-five dragons.
The ninety dragons clashed as the dragon-shaped vital qi threaded around the dragon pillars to fight.
"Great cultivation, Senior Brother Tan Xin!" all the monks cheered.
When their voices faded away, the middle-aged monk couldn't resist letting out a grunt. He could feel Qin Mu's magic power overwhelming him as the unpredictable transformations of the dragon forces in his fist left him confused. Qin Mu had also used the dragon form on the pillar, but there were a hundred changes in that form, so even though Qin Mu had used one kind, the countless changes within it made his opponent unable to guard against all of them.
'He has received the true teachings of our Heavenly Dragon Cloister…'
The eyes of the middle-aged monk revealed despair when the forty-five dragon forces formed by his vital qi instantly disintegrated. The forty-five dragon forces from Qin Mu merged into one and rushed at his chest with a whoosh!
Qin Mu had received the true teachings of the Hundred Dragons Portraits in Heavenly Dragon Cloister after reaching this place and seeing the reliefs for the first time. This was something that was simply impossible!
The middle-aged monk instantly understood that things were bad and executed the other dragon forms of Hundred Dragons Portraits in hopes of solving the transformations of the dragon force in Qin Mu's fist.
His cultivation was higher than Monk Ming Xin's, and he had awakened his Six Directions Divine Treasure, which meant he had an extraordinary ability. His vital qi could materialize to form divine arts.
Heavenly Dragon Cloister was one of the cloisters in Great Thunderclap Monastery. The monks cultivating here were mostly in Five Elements or Six Directions Realm. There were some stronger practitioners of Seven Stars Realm, like Monk Xin Kong who had incinerated himself earlier.
Of course, the abbot of Heavenly Dragon Cloister was very powerful, but at this moment he, Old Monk Jing Ming, was accompanying Old Ma and Blind with the other old monks and was unable to excuse himself.
The middle-aged monk was considered one of the more outstanding experts in Heavenly Dragon Cloister, but his vital qi cultivation couldn't be compared to that of Qin Mu. The transformations in his dragon force were also way inferior.
'Crap, I can't solve them…'
Monk Tan Xin's expression changed, and his chest exploded with a bang. Forty-five dragon forces burst from his body, and forty-nine ferocious dragon's heads opened their jaws wide to roar angrily at everyone.
The blood light scattered all around, and a lot of fresh blood flew in all directions, landing on the faces and clothes of the monks.
Qin Mu shook his head. "If you don't have any murderous intentions, I will hold back and not harm your life. But if you insist on killing me, I won't hold back."
The monks were all in a daze.
Suddenly, a monk pointed at Qin Mu and said in anger, "He used techniques of the devil path to kill Senior Brother Tan Xin! What he used were the techniques of the devil path!"
Qin Mu's gaze landed on him, and he said slowly, "Thunderclap Eight Strikes is a devil skill? I'm in Five Elements Realm and he is in Six Directions Realm, and I used the same move as him to kill him, yet you guys don't want to admit that his skill was inferior so you say it's the devil path? Rulai, your disciples have shamed you."
"Deluding people with lies, I'll kill you!" a voice shouted out angrily, and a yellow-robed monk came rushing over with boundless vital qi surging about him. He had the cultivation of Six Directions Realm, and his technique was incomparably overbearing, his power like rolling thunder.
Qin Mu didn't bother to look at him and raised his hand to send Junior Protector Sword out. Sword lights burst forth as the sun set in Surging River. The yellow-robed monk was instantly filled with thousands of holes and his corpse landed on the ground. With an ice-cold expression, Qin Mu said, "This is Sunset Sword Skill of Yuyuan Empire."
A monk pounced behind him, wanting to land a fatal blow, but a gate suddenly opened behind Qin Mu's body. It was Gate of Heaven Influence.
The monk rushed into the gate and saw the light of a lamp shining in the distance. The soul of that monk was instantly sucked into Youdu and left with the boat.
Qin Mu closed the Gate of Heaven Influence behind him and said coldly, "This isn't a technique of the devil path as well, this is Youdu's Gate of Heaven Influence."
"Kill this devil!" Another monk came rushing over, and Qin Mu punched in his direction. "Sa mo ye!"
The soul of that monk was dragged out of his body and disintegrated in the air. Qin Mu then said angrily, "This is a technique of the devil path! Do you understand? I'm absolutely not an expert in techniques of the devil path!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Kill the Heavenly Devil Cult Master and take revenge for our senior brothers!"
Everyone's emotions were stirred up at the same time, and they came swarming over at Qin Mu like bees. He frowned slightly, and his body trembled. Thousand Armed Buddha burst forth, and the buddha rays shone brilliantly with incomparably resounding buddha voice lingering around Heavenly Dragons Cloister.
Qin Mu was like an unmovable buddha withstanding attacks from all directions. With exploding bangs that rang out continuously, the monks flew off in all directions. They smashed into the dragon pillars, and some of them split into three-five pieces on the spot.
Qin Mu shook his body, and the thousand arms that were both in front and behind him vanished. The buddha rays also vanished.
He swept his gaze over the monks that were lying everywhere and brushed his sleeves. "This is the Thunderclap Eight Strikes of your Great Thunderclap Monastery, is this technique of the devil path too? Technique is only righteous when used righteously, when used for evil, even Thunderclap Eight Strikes or Rulai's Mahayana Sutra will become of the devil!"
Old Ma coughed and looked towards the flabbergasted Old Monk Jing Ming beside him. "Senior brother, your Heavenly Dragon Cloister is getting a little messy. I think we should go take a stroll through Heart Meditation Cloister."
Old Monk Jing Ming looked at Qin Mu resentfully. Most of the monks that Qin Mu had beaten and killed were his disciples. However, since Old Ma and Blind was beside him, he didn't dare to make a move recklessly.
He was especially worried about the blind man beside him. Even though that man's eye sockets were empty, he could feel a murderous intent that circled his throat whenever he wanted to make a move.
If he really dared to make a move, he was certain that the bamboo cane of this blind man would pierce his throat the next instant.
His Rulai's Mahayana Sutra had a flaw which left a weak spot at his throat, and no matter how he changed it, it didn't get fixed.
The other old monks of Heavenly Dragon Cloister also didn't dare to make a move. While standing beside Old Ma and Blind, they felt like there were two Mount Merus pressing down on them. If they made a move, their bodies would be smashed into pieces!
Cold sweat broke out on Monk Jing Ming's forehead, and he said, "Junior brother, your disciple killed my monks of Heavenly Dragon Cloister and even destroyed some Hundred Dragons Portraits…"
Old Ma remained silent.
Blind said calmly as he propped himself on his bamboo cane, "Senior Brother Jing Ming, Heavenly Dragon Cloister being destroyed is your own fault. If you didn't point out that Mu'er was the devil cult master, this wouldn't have happened. Don't blow things up, once it happens, the mess won't be so easy to clean up."
A droplet of cold sweat rolled down Monk Jing Ming's forehead as he coughed. His voice was like a loud bell when he said, "Cult Master Qin is a guest from afar, do not be impudent, fall back."
Once he had said that, the monks over by the reliefs seemed relieved and immediately helped their companions that were laying on the ground.
Old Ma said, "Mu'er, come back."
Blind beamed at the youth. "You fought, destroyed, and also lectured. We are guests, so it's not good to be too impudent. Old Ma said we should take a stroll around Heart Meditation Cloister. Won't you come along?"
Qin Mu acknowledged their words and bowed to Monk Ming Xin. "Little monk, if you can't stay in Great Thunderclap Monastery any longer, come find me in Heavenly Saint Cult."
Monk Ming Xin was bewildered. "How can I not stay here any longer? My master treats me very well, and these senior and junior brother take good care of me as well. I won't turn bad. You too, don't be the devil cult master anymore. Won't it be better to abandon evil and turn good? Buddhism says that the sea of bitterness has no bounds, repent and the shore will be at hand…"
Qin Mu shook his head and said firmly, "You are a true monk. Sometimes, true monks are not tolerated in the monastery of fake monks. When the monastery can't tolerate you anymore, you will have to go find your tathata, your perfect awakening.
"Read less buddhist scriptures, most of those that write them have never been Rulai, and if they can't become buddha, how can they guide you down that path? Destroy the buddha and Great Thunderclap Monastery in your heart, and you will become your own buddha, the world will become your Great Thunderclap Monastery, and all living things will become your Dao friends, your senior brothers." He stretched his finger out and touched Monk Ming Xin on his heart with a smile. "Here, lies a real buddha."
He then touched Monk Ming Xin at the heart of his brows. "Here lies a fake buddha. Don't let your belief become your devil, your restraints, and the obstruction to your perception. What you should do is lift your head to face the world and have a clear conscience.
"Place a scale in your heart and let it become your principle when weighing good and bad, right and wrong, righteous and evil, buddha and devil. Walk outside more to see what people do and not what the buddhist scriptures say. It's impossible to become buddha by only staying in the monastery and thinking about good and evil."
Monk Ming Xin's mind was blown, and he seemed to be deep in thought.
Qin Mu turned around to walk to Old Ma. On his way, he greeted Monk Jing Ming. "Sorry great masters for disturbing your peace."
Monk Jing Ming returned his greeting and said, "Devil cult master is courteous. Their cultivations aren't there, and cult master's devil nature is too great. You're good at bewitching people's hearts and ruthless in your attacks, a natural old devil."
Qin Mu shook his head. "The cultivation of my mind is still shallow. If people want to kill me, I can only retaliate. The state of mind of you great masters is profound. If people wanted to kill you, would you retaliate?" When he finished saying this, his gaze turned unfriendly and Junior Protector Sword came whooshing out of its sheath.
The gaze of Old Monk Jing Ming and the rest landed on the shining sword blade, and they shook their heads slowly.
Qin Mu returned the treasured sword back into its sheath and let out a pent up breath before smiling. "I thought that you eminent monks that have achieved Dao had achieved the state of not being afraid of life and death, not afraid of honor and disgrace. But you are still the same as me, an ordinary human that has a devil nature. Farewell. Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Blind, what kind of place is Heart Meditation Cloister?"
Old Ma brought them away while saying, "Heart Meditation Cloister is where Great Thunderclap Monastery's monks cultivate their hearts. The cultivation in that place is different from here. For cultivation, monks will first cultivate their hearts. There are many monks there who cultivate unspoken meditation."
Blind let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "It's good that they don't cultivate speaking, this saves the effort of talking about the acts of monks in reality while they talk about buddhist teachings. After all, when you want to talk to them about tidying up their sect, they will talk to you about buddhist teachings. If you talk to them about logic, they will talk to you about buddhist teachings. But if you talk to them about buddhist teachings, they will come over to beat you. These buddhist believers can't even do what they preach."
Old Ma hesitated and stopped. "In that case, let's not go to Heart Mediation Cloister."
Qin Mu was bewildered and cried out, "Are the monks in Heart Meditation Cloister like this as well?"
Old Ma shook his head. "There still some who don't cultivate unspoken meditation in Heart Meditation Cloister. It's good that you tagged along since if I was the only one here, they would definitely come to nag at me. But you are the devil cult master, so they will want to nag at you more, and if they can't convince you, what happened in Heavenly Dragon Cloister will be re-enacted."
Blind shook his head, "In that case, let's not go. Great Thunderclap Monastery is full of fake monks, with few that can do what they preach. As long as you say that they do something wrong, they will quarrel with you. The hardest thing to do is to convince a person. They can't break the obstruction in their awareness and always like to complicate the simplest logic, leaving you befuddled. If you followed their topic, you would have certainly lost."
Old Ma said, "The best logic is still in truth, in the end, it comes down to what is done. In this world, there truly are not many real monks. Most of them are fake, those that open their mouths and quote classics like spewing out a deluge of heavenly flowers; they only know how to speak and not do. It's already fortunate if there is one true monk among a hundred. Rulai is old and has neglected the teachings. Lately, he seems to be lacking the strength even if he has the mind to do it."
Old Ma originally didn't like to talk much, but since he was revisiting his old haunts, his words subconsciously grew in number.
Monk Jing Ming looked at them walking farther away, then glanced at his own companions in dismay.
"Evil nature, this Heavenly Devil Cult Master truly has an evil nature."
An old monk sighed. "Rulai wants him to stay in the monastery, but I'm afraid this isn't the luck of our Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Another abbot said, "I can't understand why Rulai wants him to stay. He's the devil cult master, which devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult is easily swayed?"
Old Monk Jing Ming said, "You guys don't have to guess blindly. Rulai's intention is to use buddhist teachings to influence him, to let him know the vastness of buddhism, abandoning evil to become good, converting him to buddhism. Rulai had thought to take him as a disciple yet Heavenly Devil Cult's Patriarch reached out first and snatched him away."
The old monks were all bewildered. They knew that he and Old Rulai had a deep master and disciple bond, so many things were not hidden from him. Because of this, they trusted his words and asked, "There was such an incident?"
"That khakkhara staff is a keepsake, yet he gave it away to a monkey. Rulai felt that the destiny was broken, so he didn't go find him. But actually, there's a second reason as to why Rulai made him stay. Heavenly Devil Cult is starting to prosper because they have this Cult Master Qin. He also has a close relationship with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. As to the snow disaster, Heavenly Devil Cult Master was farsighted and ordered the entire devil cult to support the emperor in sending disaster relief. Now, with the emperor and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor as the arms of Heavenly Devil Cult, it will definitely prosper."
The old monks' expressions changed, and they stamped their feet. "What must we do?"
Old Monk Jing Ming said, "If this Cult Master Qin got trapped in Great Thunderclap Monastery, the momentum of Heavenly Devil Cult will be broken. With the devil weakened and buddha rising, our Great Thunderclap Monastery will be fortuitous. Even if Heavenly Devil Cult will try to find another devil cult master, they probably won't find another one as outstanding as him. As for the third intention…"
There seemed to be buddha rays flickering on and off in his eyes as he said faintly, "Is because of the next rulai. Old Rulai didn't have the boldness of Heavenly Devil Cult Patriarch to choose a little brat as the cult master, but he still admires Ma Wangshen and feels that he's the most suitable to inherit his cassock and alms bowl. What a pity…"
The other old monks looked at one another and said in unison, "What a pity."
Little Monk Ming Xin came walking over muddle-headed and said to Old Monk Jing Ming, "Master, I…"
Old Monk Jing Ming saw that he was in a daze and straightened him out. "Good child, you have been bewitched by the words of Heavenly Devil Cult Master. A devil is best at bewitching the hearts of people, and it's even worse if he's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master."
"But I feel that what he said made sense…"
Old Monk Jing Ming laughed loudly. "Good child, there are many buddhist scriptures in our monastery that judge devils, go and see what your seniors say. You will then straighten out your thinking without me to needing to enlighten you."
Monk Ming Xin was still ill at ease.
Old Monk Jing Ming frowned. He could see that the impact Qin Mu's words had brought to this little monk was too strong, so it was best to give him tasks that didn't require much thinking. "Go and help your senior brothers up, then lift the dragon pillars up. Even though they are broken, they can still be fixed."
Monk Ming Xin acknowledged his words and went to help his senior brothers of Heavenly Dragon Cloister and treat the injured. However, those monks didn't give him a pleasant look and drove him away by brushing their sleeves.
Monk Ming Xin was stunned. He went to lift up the collapsed dragon pillar, but a couple monks walked over and pushed him to the side.
When he squeezed forward again, he was pushed down to the ground. He looked at everyone in a daze before getting up quietly to go to the Depository of Buddhist Texts to read buddhist scriptures; however, he couldn't absorb any logic that he read.
Old Monk Jing Ming was tidying up Heavenly Dragon Cloister when he suddenly saw Monk Ming Xin carrying a little bundle down the mountain. His heart moved slightly, and he called out "Ming Xin, have you brought your buddhist scriptures?"
Monk Ming Xin stopped and said, "Master, I brought a Heart Sutra."
Monk Jing Ming nodded. "Go down the mountain and return back soon. The sea of bitterness has no bounds, repent and Mount Meru will be at hand, where Great Thunderclap Monastery is."
Monk Ming Xin knelt down and gave two kowtows to him before turning to leave.
Behind him, the bell of Great Thunderclap Monastery rang as the sun was high up in the middle of the sky. Its light cast a long shadow of the little monk down the mountain.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When Monk Ming Xin came to Eternal Peace Empire, he could still see clouds in the sky. The influence of the snow disaster had yet to fade, and soldiers continued to send disaster relief everywhere. The victims were still escaping for their lives while many bandits were plundering houses. Starving people were fleeing all over the place, unable to find any way to get by.
"There's a white and tender monk here!" The starving people were delighted when they saw Monk Ming Xin. "We can eat him without washing!"
He immediately ran away. The starving people, who've been lacking food for quite a long time, could only give up since they couldn't catch up to him. One of them said, "I told you not to make a noise. When he was close, we could have just pounced on him and taken a bite; this way, that white and tender monk wouldn't have been able to run away."
Monk Ming Xin's heart was alarmed, and he trembled in fear. After starving for two-three days, he still couldn't find anything to fill his stomach, yet, he had been chased over a dozen times by other starving people.
Great Thunderclap Monastery was serene, but the outside world was vicious, with famine everywhere. Such things were not written about in the buddhist scriptures, since only when one was full and warm could they think about buddhist scriptures.
The Heart Sutra that he had brought along was also useless; it couldn't solve his problem of having no food.
His current whereabouts were slightly farther away from civilization, so it was too far for the imperial court to help. There were many victims of the disaster and starving people, as well as many corpses of those who had died strewn across the roadside.
There were also wild wolves and dogs which had become demons by eating human corpses. They formed packs and went around hunting those that were still alive.
Dogs were normally tame, but when a disaster came, they did not scoff at human flesh. They reproduced fast, and were even fiercer than wolves!
"This is hell…" Monk Ming Xin shed tears when he saw demons and corpses everywhere.
"Monk, do you have a child?" A thin victim with a pale face grabbed onto his clothes while holding in her embrace a child. Her face was pale and bony, starved. "Give your child to me, I'll give mine to you, you can eat my child and I'll eat yours…"
Monk Ming Xin screamed and broke free to escape.
"Rulai!" Monk Ming Xin ran countless miles until he could no longer run. He then knelt down onto the floor and shouted sorrowfully, "Are you not seeing this human world in Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
He walked forward muddleheaded, stumbling with every other step. When he saw a monastery in front of him, he went inside and saw a couple of humans hanging from the roof. They were stripped of their skin from head to toe, and there were some monks that were squatting in the corner, holding a metal basin with meat. When they saw him, they immediately said in astonishment, "Abbot, abbot, there's a monk that's been left on his own!"
The old abbot came out in a hurry. "Where are you from, monk? There aren't a lot of rations left here and even the land has been gnawed a few times by the starving people. Yuan Ding, give him a bowl of food and let him leave. My buddha of compassion."
A basin of human flesh was placed in front of Monk Ming Xin, stunning him. And he felt the buddha in his mind crumble and collapse.
He jumped up and frantically smashed the buddha statue nearby, pushing it down and smashing it into smithereens. The other monks came over in a hurry to stop him and said angrily, "This monk is crazy, he's been possessed by the devil! To blaspheme against buddha, to deceive and destroy the ancestors!"
Monk Ming Xin let them beat him and didn't retaliate. Soon, he turned into a bloody mess. At that moment, a group of officers with men arrived and slew the monks in the monastery.
"The monks were eating human flesh, they are really becoming lawless… General, there's still a monk here who doesn't look human anymore from all the beatings. Eh, there's still breathing!"
The soldiers brought Mong Ming Xin for the general to take a look. "He won't die. Monk, I see you have the ability, why didn't you retaliate when they beat you?"
Monk Mong Xin said with a stupefied expression, "I have flaws all over me…"
The general smiled. "It's good to have flaws, who doesn't have them? Only experts know that they have flaws. You have some ability, so follow me to protect the land. These immigrants even gnaw on the land to dig out the grains that were just planted. Come people, burn this monastery down!"
The soldiers came forward to set fire and soon the monastery started burning.
Monk Ming Xin nodded, but then he remembered something. He immediately ran toward the fire. "My scripture!"
The general order his men to hold him back. "What scripture do you have? How thick is it?"
"Only two pages."
"Such a cold weather yet such a thin scripture, can't even be used for a fire." The general raised a single finger, and sorrow could be seen in his eyes. "We just need to have one season of harvest, and all the people in the world will have things to eat and no longer starve. This world will become human world once more and not hell. Therefore, protecting the land is of utmost importance; we can't let the immigrants ruin it! When the world is peaceful once more, you can go and read your buddhist scriptures. When that time comes, I'll give you bucketloads of them myself so you can read whichever you want!"
Monk Ming Xin was stunned. Only read scriptures in times of peace?
Then how could they save those that were suffering? How could they enlighten all living things?
If they could not be used during times of chaos, able only to save people from suffering during times of peace, what use did they have?"
'Cult Master Qin is right, those that write buddhist scriptures are not really rulais.'
When Monk Ming Xin left with the officers and their men, his plain cotton clothing and grass shoes that were once white were covered in bloodstains. 'From today onwards, I'll be my own rulai, I'll write my own buddhist scriptures!'
In Great Thunderclap Monastery, the bell's ring was long and drawn out, and Qin Mu looked toward the west. There he saw Great Ruins, which had been through a grave disaster. He then looked toward the east, and there lay Eternal Peace Empire, which was experiencing a snow disaster.
Great Thunderclap Monastery was right in the middle of both of them, not receiving any disaster or calamity. It was indeed a good place. The monks on the mountain had no worries and only needed to concentrate on studying buddhism, without being mindful of the disasters outside.
"Great Thunderclap Monastery has over four thousand cloisters, Heavenly Dragon Cloister and Heart Meditation Cloister being the more high-end cloisters. Every cloister is responsible for different things and what they comprehend is different. If there are any outstanding disciples, they will be taught by the old monks so they won't need to move around from cloister to cloister," Old Ma explained.
"For example, let's take that Monk Ming Xin. He was specially taught by Monk Jing Ming, so he had a teacher to guide him and was more outstanding among the other monks. Those with the highest comprehension and buddha nature, meanwhile, are taught personally by Rulai."
Qin Mu looked down and saw the mountains peaks were like petals of a lotus, surrounding the main golden peak which was in the center. There were tens of thousands of temples and monasteries with incense burning in front of them.
"Great Thunderclap Monastery does have its good points. It has quite a similarity with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor on the teaching of disciples," Qin Mu said while nodding.
Old Ma brought them around the mountain to visit the wonders there. At this moment, he led them toward an awe-inspiring pagoda. "Heavens Cloister's first heaven is Yamaraja Cloister, the second heaven is Sagara Nagaraja Cloister which represents a state of mind in Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. If you went to the topmost realm, there would be Sakra Cloister and Brahma Cloister there. If you would to count from that top, Brahma Cloister would be the first heaven."
Qin Mu raised his head and was shaken. This pagoda was way too majestic. It was a magnificent sight with an air about it of truly standing above mountains and rivers
They walked into the pagoda and came to the first cloister, Yamaraja Cloister, where they saw a few young monks were cultivating Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. An old monk immediately came forward and said, "Ma Wangshen."
"We just want to walk around here."
The old monk had a troubled expression when he said, "This is where we cultivate Rulai's Mahayana Sutra…"
Suddenly, another voice spoke up. "Senior brother, our buddha said that there's nothing to hide in Great Thunderclap Monastery; we can let them go anywhere."
The old monk looked over and immediately said, "Fozi."
A young monk walked in and greeted Old Ma, "Senior brother." He then also greeted Qin Mu, "Cult Master Qin."
Qin Mu returned the greeting and smiled. "So it's Fozi Fo Xin. I saw you outside Imperial College once, but we've never met me before."
This monk had a clean round head and gave off a feeling of something precious. His eyes were bright like jewels and his earlobes were like droplets of water. A red mark was drawn at the heart of his brows, which was very extraordinary. He was none other than Fozi Fo Xin.
Fozi Fo Xin had once followed Old Monk Jing Ming to block the gate of Imperial College, and Qin Mu had went to take a look. Because the young patriarch didn't give him any benefits and Qin Mu still had to paralyze the green bull, they didn't exchange blows.
When Imperial Physician You and the rest had paralyzed Imperial College, Si Yunxiang had sneaked out to fight and forced Fozi Fo Xin to retreat after being defeated.
Fozi Fo Xin sized up Qin Mu and saw that even though this Heavenly Devil Cult Master looked like a gentleman that was polite, cultured, and refined, he had a very invasive gaze. He could feel a wild and unruly bearing bursting forth from his gaze, stabbing into the inner hearts of others. This made his heart leap up uncontrollably. 'The devil nature of this person is quite serious!'
Fo Xin said to the old monk, "Rulai said that's there's no problem even if we show Cult Master Qin Rulai's Mahayana Suta. Without buddha nature, there's absolutely no way to cultivate Rulai's Mahayana Sutra of our Great Thunderclap Monastery. What's more, Senior Brother Ma also used Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, so if he wanted to teach Cult Master Qin, he would have done so a long time ago. Two benefactors and Senior Brother Ma, please study to your heart's content."
The old monk calmed down and started explaining to the little monks the marvel of the first heaven, Yamaraja Heaven. He no longer had any qualms about Qin Mu and the rest being here.
After a moment, Qin Mu comprehended something and used what he just heard about Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. He felt cold and warmth in his body as if he had descended into hell and become yamaraja.
Fo Xin saw precious rays suddenly coming out from the youth's body, and his heart jumped slightly. 'Those are buddha rays! He had comprehended the first heaven of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra just by standing here? Could he have a buddha nature? Isn't he a devil?'
Old Ma also saw the buddha rays that had suddenly burst forth from his body and said, "Mu'er, you have already achieved the first heaven of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, so there's no need to listen here anymore. Let us head to the next level."
Qin Mu followed Old Ma and Blind to Sagara Nagaraja Cloister, and Fozi Fo Xin hurried after them. There was also an old monk here talking about all kinds of marvels of Sagara Nagaraja Heaven.
Not long later, Fozi Fo Xin saw the buddha rays on Qin Mu's body becoming stronger.
He was greatly shaken. It was impossible for people with devil nature to cultivate Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. Qin Mu was the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, a devil among devils, but he could actually cultivate to the second heaven of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra just by standing and listening for a while. Wasn't that just too shocking?
One has to know that the reason Fo Xin was called Fozi was because he had a pure and limpid heart of a newborn. Back when he had first come to this place, he had also managed to cultivate Rulai's Mahayana Sutra to the fourth heaven in a short time, shaking Great Thunderclap Monastery. He was then honored with the name of Fozi.
From what he heard, it had been the same for Ma Wangshen as well. Fo Xin had heard about his legend, and it was rumored that Ma Wangshen had managed to cultivate to the fifth heaven in one shot. Due to this, Old Rulai had had extremely high expectations for him, grooming him to become his replacement.
'The devil of Heavenly Devil Cult can't have as great a buddha nature as me!' Fo Xin thought to himself.
When they came to the third heaven, Qin Mu comprehended the mental state of Candra from Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, cultivating Candra Heaven. Buddha rays appeared behind his head, and they were as splendid as moonlight. Yet there were not many monks who had cultivated to this heaven in the whole Candra Cloister!
When in the fourth heaven, Qin Mu comprehended the mental state of Surya, and buddha rays shone from the back of his head like a blazing sun. He was like an eminent monk who had achieved his Dao!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Fo Xin drew in a shaky breath. He had also broken through four heavens one after another, cultivating to the mental state of Surya. When he reached Marici Cloister, he couldn't cultivate it right away, yet even so, it was enough for him to be called Fozi.
Didn't this mean that Qin Mu also had the buddha heart and was no inferior to him?
If Qin Mu continue forward and broke through the mental state of Marici Heaven, wouldn't it meant that this devil's buddha heart was even stronger than Fo Xin's own?
How could a devil have a greater buddha nature than someone who cultivates buddhism?
After coming to Marici Cloister, Qin Mu listened to the scripture, and not long later, flames of light came from his body.
Fo Xin's mind was blown, and he became muddleheaded. Qin Mu, this devil, actually managed to cultivate to the fifth heaven in one go, which was the same aptitude as Ma Wangshen's, the same kind of buddha heart!
How was that possible?
He was a devil! He was clearly a devil, so it should have been impossible for him to cultivate Rulai's Mahayana Sutra!
Fozi Fo Xin composed himself. He was the monk with the highest aptitude and comprehension in the last hundred years and had the best buddha heart, so he had never expected to be surpassed by a devil.
Everyone came to Hariti Cloister, and Qin Mu was finally got stuck. He didn't manage to cultivate the sixth heaven of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra.
Fo Xin was dazed. Qin Mu had cultivated five heavens in one go, which was already the aptitude for becoming rulai!
'If he converted to buddhism, master would most likely choose him as the next rulai…' Fo Xin started to worry about his personal gains and losses. "I can't let him become Rulai's disciple, the next rulai can only be me!"
Once this thought was born, it could not be stopped.
"Fozi, I've heard that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came here once. How many heavens did he cultivate?" Qin Mu suddenly asked.
Fozi Fo Xin composed himself and said, "Imperial Preceptor's coming here is something that happened a hundred or two years ago. I've heard from seniors in the monastery that Rulai had followed him then, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had comprehended seven heavens in a short while."
Qin Mu jumped in shock and shook his head. "As expected of the genius that appears once every five hundred years, I can't compete with him."
Old Ma was also astonished. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor actually managed to comprehend seven heavens in one go? Remarkable, if he entered buddhism, he would have become rulai, if he entered a Dao Sect, he would have become a Dao master, and if he had entered your Heavenly Saint Cult, he would have become the sacred cult master! Such a talent, there is no one who can compare with that!"
Blind also exclaimed in admiration, "Cripple was not treated unjustly by having his leg chopped off by him."
Old Ma and Blind brought them through all levels of the twenty heavens pagoda, and two-three days passed without them noticing it. Qin Mu had listened to all twenty heavens of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra once and had exclaimed in admiration at the exquisiteness of it all. They were no inferior to Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
He had no intention of cultivating Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, but he could use other people's knowledge to improve himself. Rulai's Mahayana Sutra was worthy for him to use as a reference.
Fo Xin looked at Qin Mu, and his gaze flickered. "Cult Master Qin's aptitude isn't bad as well. Cult Master, since our Great Thunderclap Monastery has shown our Rulai's Mahayana Sutra to you, I wonder if little monk can browse your Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures?"
Qin Mu took out a ball of thread from his taotie sack and said generously, "What harm is there? Anyone in our cult can learn Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, so there's no problem even if it was taught to outsiders."
He pulled onto the head of the thread, giving it a gentle pull. Instantly, countless words swarmed out and rolled into the sky.
Qin Mu didn't hide anything and just showed the entire Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures in front of Fo Xin.
When Fo Xin saw the first sentence of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, his expression changed. He felt the ideals before him clashing with buddhism's ideals. As he looked over and saw the Seven Writings of Creation, he couldn't help frowning. "This is truly the technique of a devil cult, there's no compassion in it at all. All it's teaching is evil skills! Cult Master, put it away, this little monk can't look at this!"
Qin Mu was bewildered, but did as asked and retrieved Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, which were still a ball of thread.
At this moment, a monk suddenly hurried over and spoke in a low voice to Fo Xin. The message astonished its recipient, and he saluted the group while remaining calm and collected. "Three benefactors, it's already late, so may the three of you return back to your rooms to rest."
Blind yawned and said, "We're guests so we shall comply with whatever's convenient for the host. Mu'er, Old Ma, let's return to our rooms to rest."
The three of them walked out of the pagoda, and Blind suddenly said, "Just now, the monk told Fo Xin that the crown prince of Eternal Peace Empire came to request an audience with Old Rulai."
Qin Mu was stunned. Eternal Peace Empire's Crown Prince?
What was he doing by coming to Great Thunderclap Monastery at this time?
What scheme was he playing by requesting an audience with Old Rulai?
Blind's ears twitched, and he said, "Fo Xin had the monk lead Eternal Peace Crown Prince to Hall of Great Strength while he went to Thousand Buddhas Pagoda himself to inform Rulai… He entered Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, but I can't see or hear what's happening inside it. Rulai has come out and told the monks around to do their best to chant the incantations, suppressing Li Tianxing."
Old Ma's expression changed slightly, and he said in a hurry, "How could the buddhist skills of those monks suppress Li Tianxing? Rulai is careless, the thousand buddhas in the pagoda are dead, so even if their energy can be excited by the incantations of the monks, it won't be enough to suppress Li Tianxing! Quick, to Thousand Buddhas Pagoda so that Li Tianxing won't escape!"
The three of them immediately hurried towards the golden peak, but Qin Mu was much slower than the others. When he passed by his room, he saw the dragon qilin still lying asleep, and the old monk beside him still reciting scriptures for him.
"Fatty Dragon!" Qin Mu hurriedly shouted out, and the dragon qilin woke up and ran over, leaving the old monk behind.
That old monk shouted out angrily, "Brute, no wisdom at all!"
Qin Mu jumped onto the dragon qilin's back and said, "Head to the golden peak at your fastest speed!"
"But Cult Master, you haven't given me anything to eat these days."
"Head to the golden peak as fast as you can, and I'll give you two buckets!" Qin My immediately told him.
The dragon qilin was instantly motivated and dashed toward the golden peak in a frantic rush.
Inside the Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, there were corporeal bodies of the previous Rulais, while outside there were monks sitting on the roof as well as by the windows and door. They chanted buddhist incantations to excite the corporeal bodies of old Rulais.
Through those corporeal bodies, the incantations transformed into texts with forms which were like huge dragons that flew to and fro, surging into the heart of Granny Si's brows to suppress and refine her heart devil, Li Tianxing.
These last couple days, Old Rulai had personally led all the monks in using the buddha nature hidden in the corporeal bodies to suppress and refine Li Tianxing. The effects could already be seen by how Granny Si was waking up more and more frequently due to Li Tianxing's primordial spirit having been weakened by a lot.
This was why Old Rulai had been at ease to leave, handing the task over to the monks. After all, there were so many corporeal bodies of the previous Rulais to keep watch.
Yet at this moment, Granny Si's pupils became incomparably dark, and she chuckled. A voice that was brimming with seductiveness came from the pagoda, and it was like a lover whispering sweet nothings beside one's ears. That voice tunneled into the monks' ears, into their hearts, and instantly, all the monks' buddha hearts were thrown into chaos as devils were born within them.
"Hold on!" an old monk shouted out sternly. "Don't listen to her voice!"
Just as he said these words, a beautiful face popped out from the pagoda and smiled sweetly at him. A devil was born in that old monk's buddha heart, and the wheel of buddha rays behind his head dimmed. He then fell from the pagoda.
"This is bad!"
Another old monk chanted out the many names of buddha before raising his two fingers to stab his eyes, planning not to see Granny Si's appearance. With resolution, he dug out both of his eyes, but then gentle laughter reached his ears, tunneling into his buddha's heart and making it itch.
That old monk gritted his teeth and stabbed his ears, piercing his eardrums so he couldn't hear her voice.
The old monk's head was covered in blood as he loudly chanted buddhist scriptures, exciting the corporeal bodies of the previous Rulais that were in the pagoda. Since he couldn't see and hear, he wasn't aware of the monks falling off from the pagoda and crashing loudly against the floor.
Suddenly, he felt a soft and slender lily-white hand that had the perfect temperature caressing his face and his bald head.
The body of the old monk trembled, and the buddha rays behind his head suddenly dispersed. He fell from Thousand Buddhas Pagoda as well.
Qin Mu pushed the dragon qilin to rush to the golden peak only to see all the monks falling off and crashing into the ground. Old Ma and Blind broke through to chase after Granny Si who had already escaped the suppression of Thousand Buddhas Pagoda.
The speed of the three of them was extremely fast, and they disappeared in a flash. Even the dragon qilin could only watch the dush behind them, having no way to catch up.
Qin Mu was stunned. "You guys…"
The golden peak was in a mess, and Old Ma and Blind had both rushed away, leaving him to sit by himself on the back of the dragon qilin.
The youth was stunned for a moment, then said resentfully, "I wonder if Great Thunderclap Monastery will be willing to let me, this Heavenly Devil Cult Master, go. It's not a good feeling to be in the enemy's camp without any elder to support you…"
Just as Old Rulai sat down in the Hall of Great Strength, thinking to chat with Eternal Peace Crown Prince, a monk came rushing in to report, "Revered One of the World, Li Tianxing has escaped!"
Stunned, Old Rulai shook his head. "I've underestimated him. I thought that as an upright devil cult master, he would find it disdainful to learn the art of charm; never would have I expected that he would still have tricks up his sleeves. Since I can't suppress and refine him, let Heavenly Devil Cult Master leave the mountain."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince was astonished. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is in Great Thunderclap Monastery? Is he the palace grandee of my imperial court?"
Old Rulai nodded in agreement. "It's him."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince was delighted. "Buddha, this person is Heavenly Devil Cult Master, one who did much evil, so he can't be let off. Why don't we just rid this world of that evil on this mountain?"
Old Rulai shook his head. "He had a favor to ask from me by coming up the mountain, so I had him stay. However, since I couldn't do what he requested, I will have to allow him to leave the mountain. Our Great Thunderclap Monastery cannot act like a devil."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince still wanted to say more, but Fozi Fo Xin got up and said, "Revered One of the World, I shall send Cult Master Qin down the mountain."
Old Rulai nodded and looked towards Eternal Peace Crown Prince. "Crown Prince, this old monk knows your intentions for coming and also knows what you are planning. It's because this concerns all living things under this world that this old monk had come over in a hurry and let Li Tianxing take advantage of this. You should have met Teacher Poor and the rest, right?"
Eternal Peace Crown Prince nodded. "They can't handle my father, so we earnestly request Buddha to lend a hand."
Old Rulai smiled. "His Majesty's Nine Dragons Monarch Technique has already been cultivated to its maximum, so there are indeed not many people who can handle His Majesty, but this old monk is one."
At this moment, Fozi Fo Xin came to find Qin Mu. "Cult Master Qin, Revered One of the World ordered me to send you down the mountain."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Thanks for the trouble, Fozi."
Qin Mu expressed his thanks. Since Fozi Fo Xin followed him, he didn't ride the dragon qilin but had jumped off to walk with him. This was courtesy.
"The sky is already dark; we should have let cult master remain here for another night."
The two people walked down the mountain without hurry. Even though their footsteps weren't fast, they were still ten times faster than ordinary people.
Fo Xin said, "Even though Cult Master Qin only spent a little time in Great Thunderclap Monastery, you have created quite a mess. There are some monks that have lost their lives while others returned to their normal lives, but even so, Rulai still lets cult master leave the mountain."
Qin Mu smiled. "Rulai has a wide breadth of mind which I admire very much, as expected of the number one awakened of buddhism. Rulai had abandoned sectarian bias and was willing to save Granny Si, for which I'm very grateful to him."
Fo Xin smiled back at him. "Cult master, I would like to take another look at Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture, is that possible?"
Qin Mu took out Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and opened them up, revealing countless passages of text. Fozi Fo Xin browsed through them as he walked and shook his head. "Truly harmful skills. Every divine art and every technique teaches how to take the lives of others, and even the methods of cultivation are very evil."
Qin Mu was astonished. "Fozi, why do you say that?"
"Look at this Heavenly Devil Creation Technique, which strips skins to make them into clothes. The souls, spirits, qi, and blood all have to be sealed in order to make clothes that can be constantly changing. Isn't this an evil skill?"
Qin Mu smiled. "Heavenly Devil Creation Technique mainly cultivates the inner body, using this technique to seal your own soul, spirit, qi, and blood can prevent outside magic from invading you. It isn't to strip skin and make clothes. If one wanted to transform, they could do it by matching Heavenly God Creation Technique with Spirit Creation Technique."
Fo Xin shook his head. "Cult master, you are the one who has comprehended wrongly. Who hasn't heard about the evils of Heavenly Devil Technique? You are still young, so how much could you have read? It's thus normal that you have comprehended wrongly. Take a look at this Precelestial Creation Technique. This is clearly a devil technique that can only be cultivated by plucking the precelestial qi of a newborn child! Those who cultivate this technique will never age but how many newborn babies must be harmed for that!"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he corrected him the monk. "The so-called precelestial qi isn't referring to infants, but to the state of infants. Before an infant is born, they are in precelestial state, the beginning of yin and yang, preserving their origin. A placenta connects precelestial to the mother, so there's no need to breathe, thus their souls are pure and flawless. Fozi, you have understood wrongly, there's no need to eat the placenta or the infant to cultivate this technique. Instead, you have to treat yourself like an infant."
Fo Xin shook his head. "Cult master, you are still going to deny it? Isn't this Earth Aeon Creation Technique a devil technique used for gathering devil flames from the sun and earth to refine all living things? The more people are refined to death, the more damned souls there will be, and the greater power the skill will have. In the end, the devil flames will turn into hell, all for the aeon of earth!"
Qin Mu smiled. "This technique has the word creation, so it's used to cultivate spirit, to strengthen one's primordial spirit."
"Using other people's souls to strengthen one's primordial spirit, how's that not a devil technique?" Fo Xin asked.
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "This technique can be combined with Precelestial Creation Technique, preserving the origin of one's heart and spirit, turning oneself into an infant state and connecting oneself to the earth. By plucking the qi of mother earth, one can strengthen their primordial spirit as well as create all living things. Fozi, I have been cultivating Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures these few days and my spirit embryo is abnormally strong, the effects of these two techniques are not small. You can also cultivate them."
Fo Xin smiled. "I won't cultivate, I just want to criticize."
Qin Mu took a deep look at him. Fo Xin looked magnanimous and didn't seem to be lying, so Qin Mu smiled at him.
"In that case, Fozi may continue."
Fo Xin continued to browse as they walked away from Great Thunderclap Monastery. "Your Heavenly Devil Cult is worthy of the devil word; the devil nature in its teachings is too heavy. These techniques, skills, and divine arts are both shocking and frightful. This technique that's called Sending Funeral Technique. If one wants to cultivate it, are they going to exterminate an entire family?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "This technique is actually the technique of our Heavenly Saint Cult's Funeral Hall, and what they cultivate are paper humans and paper horses. They help people arrange funerals, drive away ghost, and bring good fortune to their descendants. Fozi, if you're going to look at the scriptures with prejudice, there's no need for you to browse anymore. I'm afraid your buddha's heart will be spoiled."
Fo Xin laughed. "Cult Master Qin, my Great Thunderclap Monastery has already shown you Rulai's Mahayana Sutra and you don't want me to read Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures?"
Qin Mu smiled slightly. "Alright then, as you wish."
The two of them continued down the mountain, and the more Fo Xin read, the more he shook his head. When they reached the bottom of the mountain, it was already the dead of the night. Bu this time, he had managed to read more than half of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Qin Mu looked around. In front of him was Eternal Peace Empire. If he had gone down the other side of the mountain, they would have faced Great Ruins, but since it was shrouded by darkness at this time, it couldn't be stepped into.
The New Years was already over, and it was the second month of the year. In the sky, the stars were sparse, but the moon was shining brightly. It was a crescent that gave off a serene light that was brighter than usual.
This was near Great Thunderclap Monastery, so the dark clouds above had been long removed by the eminent monks. Because of that, the sky was especially clear.
There were some villages nearby that believed in buddhism and worshiped buddha. However, the land around here belonged to Great Thunderclap Monastery, so all the people around were farmers. They didn't have to pay rent to the imperial court, but send offerings to Great Thunderclap Monastery for using the land to produce crops.
Qin Mu wanted to return to Eternal Peace. The first reason for that was to continue cultivating, while the second was to manage Heavenly Saint Cult. Li Tianxing had also run in the direction of Eternal Peace Empire when he had broken free from Thousand Buddhas Pagoda.
Fo Xin was still reading Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures when the two of them came to the mountain gate. The monk guarding the gate was sitting with a lantern while an elaphure strange beast was sleeping next to him.
There were also some retainers nearby, who got up the moment they saw them. Fozi Fo Xin went up to inquire about their origin, and one of them answered, "We are the retainers of the crown prince. Since we're all ordinary people, we can't enter the monastery and have to stay outside to wait."
"I'm sending the devil cult master down the mountain so I don't have the time to entertain everyone. I beg your pardon."
Fo Xin called the elaphure over and led this strange beast over. "Cult Master Qin, I'll need another hour to finish reading. If Cult Master doesn't mind, I would like to continue to send you off. The elaphure of my Great Thunderclap Monastery listens to dharma all year round and has a profound cultivation, so it can definitely match up to your dragon qilin."
Qin Mu revealed a smile. "It's best this way."
The elaphure and the dragon qilin moved at the same pace while buddha rays appeared behind Fo Xin's head to shine onto Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures for him to continue studying it.
"Devil cult master?" The eyes of the retainers of the crown prince lighted up, and they asked, "Which devil cult master?"
The monk who was guarding the mountain gate said, "Which one could it be? That is Cult Master Qin of Heavenly Devil Cult. He came with a tumultuous momentum and bewitched many of the monks in the monastery to return to normal lives. During these couple of days, there were monks continuously leaving the mountain to return to normal lives, some of them being my senior uncles."
The retainers looked at one another and smiled. "We can find our merit here! Heavenly Devil Cult killed Sun Nantuo and eradicated Nantuo Monastery, and we actually managed to meet him here of all places! Go, let's go and get our merit!"
"Good men, don't do evil and kill people, don't harm Fozi!" the gate monk said in a panic.
The retainers of the crown prince smiled. "Don't worry!"
Qin Mu sat on the back of the dragon qilin and kept looking up at the moon in the sky, bobbing up and down as the dragon qilin moved. Now was the eighth day of the second month, and the crescent was very curved.
Soon, Fo Xin let out a breath of relief and returned Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to Qin Mu. "Little monk has finally finished reading, those scriptures are truly a devil classic. Why does Cult Master Qin keeps looking at the moon in the sky?"
"There's no moon in Great Ruins." Qin Mu retracted his gaze and gently touched Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. They turned into a ball of thread, and he smiled. "Thus, every time I see the moon, I find it very beautiful and captivating. Furthermore, I want to see the boundary of Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Fo Xin was slightly stunned and asked curiously, "The boundary of Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
Qin Mu nodded. When he saw the moon being blocked by the dark clouds in the sky, he leaped off the back of the dragon qilin. Half of the place where he had landed was lit up by the moon while the other half was in the darkness left by the dark clouds.
"The boundary of Great Thunderclap Monastery should be around here. Please take a look, Fozi. The eminent monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery removed all the dark clouds in their territory, so the dark clouds here belong to Eternal Peace Empire and have nothing to do with Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Fo Xin also jumped down from the elaphure and raised his head to look at the sky before looking at the ground. He said in astonishment, "I never knew Great Thunderclap Monastery had a boundary. In this case, there should be a boundary stone nearby."
Qin Mu interest was spiked and he smiled. "Why don't we find it?"
Fo Xin seemed to also have the temperament of a youth, and the two young men started to search around. After some time, they found a broken cliff which was a mountain peak. Only half of the thirty yards tall mountain peak was left, and on it, a few words were written. They said 'Great Thunderclap Monastery Boundary'.
Fo Xin clapped his hands together and laughed. "There's really such a boundary stone! Even though I'm a monk of Great Thunderclap Monastery, I've never heard seniors mentioning this before. Cult Master Qin, I've heard that Heavenly Devil Cult doesn't cultivate the heart and doesn't have much requirements regarding the frame of mind. The techniques of your Heavenly Devil Cult are fast to cultivate but because you guys cultivate techniques and not the heart, you're easily possessed by the devil."
While standing under this boundary stone, Qin Mu raised his head to examine the handwriting. "There's such a saying."
Fo Xin's gaze flickered, and he said, "Buddhism techniques cultivate the heart, so if we added the fast cultivation of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, wouldn't it be perfect?"
Qin Mu was still examining the words on the boundary stone, so he said absent-mindedly, "This I do not know."
Fo Xin looked at his back at Qin Mu's back, while he looked at the boundary stone in front. Neither of them spoke another word.
Suddenly, buddha rays shone brilliantly and a thick devil qi emanated. Under the boundary stone, the world was split by the buddha and devil, one righteous and one evil clashed with a bang!
Qin Mu turned around, and the buddha rays behind his head shone brightly. He was like a huge yellow-robed buddha whose every raise of the arms and every lift of the feet would result in thunder. What he executed was Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. Meanwhile, Fo Xin emanated the sinister devil qi as devil flames blazed around his body. What he executed was Earth Aeon Creation Technique!
The two of them suddenly clashed under the boundary stone without saying a word. Qin Mu's vital qi created clouds above his head. Within them, five heavens with ten thousand buddhas could be seen faintly. In the meantime, the devil qi around Fo Xin raged, and the devil flames burned more and more furiously.
The two of them leaped up like rabbits and soared down like falcons under the boundary stone of Great Thunderclap Monastery. But suddenly, a loud bang rang out as Fo Xin grunted and moved a step back. Qin Mu took a step forward and struck with palm after palm, his every hit as heavy as the boundary stone of Great Thunderclap Monastery!
Fo Xin moved back continuously, fresh blood flowing from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
Boom!
Qin Mu smashed another palm down, and he was like a huge buddha striking with colorless karma fire. Fo Xin raised his hand to receive the blow, and the sound of bone cracking could be heard. He then moved back and felt his back leaning against the boundary stone, making his heart sink.
Boom!
Qin Mu struck again, and Fo Xin gave another grunt as he crumbled and sat down under the boundary stone. He raised his hand and said, "Enough, I admit defeat…"
Qin Mu raised his fist and smashed down with fist after fist. After a moment, he stood up, while Fo Xin was left a bloody mess.
"Your devil nature is severe. I'm going to leave you alive to see how you'll ruin Great Thunderclap Monastery in the future." Qin Mu pulled back his fists, his fingertips dripping with blood. Looking at Fo Xin who was beyond recognition, he said softly, "You misinterpret every technique you see in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and you're more like the devil than the devil. If I leave you alive, Great Thunderclap Monastery will definitely be destroyed in your hands."
Fo Xin still had breath and wanted to say something, but a sword light struck him at that moment. It pierced through the heart of his brows, and the flying sword penetrated his skull, nailing him to the boundary stone.
As he died, he could hear a voice shouting in delight. "The devil cult master is finally dead! The devil nature of this wretch is so heavy!"
"Fozi is still too kindhearted and didn't land the fatal blow."
Someone else laughed. "In the end, we are still the ones who got to finish him! Sever his head and collect the reward from the crown prince!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu stared with wide eyes, beyond startled. He had a grotesque and variegated feeling and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just then, that sword light had avoided him and went straight for the heart of Fo Xin's brows, penetrating his skull. Even if he wanted to stop it, he couldn't make it in time.
The aim of this sudden sword light was to slay him, the Heavenly Devil Cult Master. However, when he clashed with Fo Xin, he had used Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, so his buddha rays shot to the heavens, while Fo Xin had used Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, which gave him a severe devil nature.
The owner of the flying sword was over a mile away from them, so with the hazy moonlight, he had simply sent the sword flying based on the rays he saw from afar, taking Fo Xin's life.
The retainers of the crown prince naturally had extremely high abilities and cultivated orthodox sword techniques. On top of that, Fo Xin had been already heavily injured by Qin Mu, and so he lost his life carelessly just like that.
Beside the boundary stone, the dragon qilin was staring at the elaphure. Before the two strange beasts could even start to fight, the battle had already ended.
The elaphure let out a sigh of relief when he saw Qin Mu not killing Fo Xin, yet to its surprise, a sword light came from nowhere. It was so sudden that the elaphure had no time to react.
The figures began flying over, and Qin Mu didn't think twice before moving back onto the dragon qilin. When the elaphure saw Fo Xin's death, its mind was left in a huge mess, and the creature was overwhelmed by the dragon qilin's aura.
Qin Mu jumped onto the back of his mount, and the dragon qilin immediately fled from the scene as fire clouds grew under his feet.
"That head is mine!" one of the crown prince's retainers shouted out. "No one shall take my credit!"
He came to the boundary stone and pulled out his flying sword from the heart of Fo Xin's brows. When he got ready to cut Fo Xin's head off, he was slightly stunned. "How come he doesn't have hair?"
As the other retainers rushed after, they were bewildered when they saw 'Fozi' riding on the dragon qilin to escape while the elaphure that guarded Great Thunderclap Monastery stood motionless.
Qin Mu turned his head back, and the Heavenly Devil Cult Master smiled towards these retainers of the crown prince under the moonlight, making their hearts fall into the abyss.
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master…"
The retainers of the crown prince felt their whole bodies turn cold as they thought what to do next. Since the one riding the dragon qilin was Heavenly Devil Cult Master, there was only one person that could be lying there under the boundary stone.
They turned their suddenly stiff necks and saw the retainer with the sword standing helplessly. He stretched his hand out to try and block the sword hole in the heart of Fo Xin's brows, but there was no use. He stood up, thinking to drag the body away, but then saw the rest of his companions when he turned his head around.
This retainer was out of his wits and turned around to look at the corpse of Fozi under the boundary stone before looking back at the other retainers. He then looked at the corpse again, repeating the movement of his head for the third time.
"What do I do?" He sounded like he was sobbing. "We all came here together, so you guys can forget about leaving me alone. If you sabotage me, you guys won't escape death as well! Killing Fozi is a grave crime, and the crown prince will execute all of you as well!"
The other retainers also had no idea how to proceed, but then, one of them said with a parched throat, "We might as well go all the way: burn the corpse and eliminate all evidence, pushing the blame onto Heavenly Devil Cult Master! There's already more than enough shit on Heavenly Devil Cult Master, so one more thing won't make a difference!"
Someone in the crowd reminded, "But that elaphure saw what happened…"
They all turned to look at the elaphure.
"Kill this deer and no one will know!"
They sprung into action, and countless flying swords flew out from their sheaths, coming down from the sky like sword rain which came for the elaphure. The body of the elaphure trembled as the animal revealed its true body, which was dozens of times larger. The elaphure braved the sword rain and charged at the group, ignoring the flying swords. They could prick its skin, but not injure its organs.
A huge bang could be heard when the huge deer horns stabbed two people and smashed them into the boundary stone. Two new blood stains appeared on the boundary stone.
The other two people immediately flew away, but this elaphure was not an unusual strange beast. It had the face of a horse, the hooves of a cow, the tail of a donkey, and the horns of a deer. Listening to the dharma of Great Thunderclap Monastery for close to two hundred years, it had cultivated remarkable abilities and was incomparably strong.
The elaphure shook its head, and the deer horns flew out. One of them pierced through the chest of one man, nailing him to the ground. In the meantime, the elaphure caught up to the other person and stomped him to death.
That strange beast then shook its head, and the deer horns flew back to its head. After looking back at the corpse of Fozi under the boundary stone, the elaphure turned and sprinted back to Great Thunderclap Monastery.
Even though flying swords covered the creature's body, they created only external injuries; there was no decrease in the running speed.
Not long later, the sky had brightened, and a few elderly monks came to the place of the boundary stone under the lead of the elaphure. Those old monks examined the situation with grim expressions.
"Fozi actually died just like this..."
A yellow-robed old monk frowned and said, "The sword wound was indeed left behind by the retainers of the crown prince, not the sword skill of Heavenly Devil Cult. It also a match with the weapons of those retainers. It's just that Rulai is now discussing with crown prince the great plans regarding the future of the world, to change the dynasty and correct the reform of Emperor Yanfeng, returning everything to its origin. This is a plan of extreme importance. If it was spoiled by this…
"It's saddening to see Fozi pass away, but it's only mortal flesh that's gone. He can finally be free from the struggles in this sea of suffering."
Another old monk said, "We can't let the death of Fozi spoil the plans of extreme importance. Rulai doesn't need to know about this incident, it's enough that we the arhats of the Hall of Arhats knows about this."
"However, Fozi is dead, and the retainers of the crown prince are also dead, we can't hide this from them."
"We will tell Rulai and the crown prince that it was Heavenly Devil Cult Master who did this. Out of goodwill, Fozi sent Heavenly Devil Cult Master out of the monastery, but Heavenly Devil Cult Master launched a sneak attack on him at the boundary stone, killing Fozi. The retainers of the crown prince had gone to stop him, but they were all ruthlessly killed by him as well."
The expressions of yellow-robed old monks changed, and an arhat shouted out, "A monk cannot lie!"
The old monk's long eyebrows fluttered as he said with an emotional sigh, "There's no need for you guys to say anything, I'll do it. After saying it, I'll return to a normal life and leave the monastery! In comparison to the future of Great Thunderclap Monastery, what's the harm in giving up my clean reputation?"
"Excellent, excellent! Senior brother is righteous." All the monks put their palms together and paid their respects to him.
…
When the monks from Hall of Arhats returned to Great Thunderclap Monastery, Old Rulai had already finished the discussion with Eternal Peace Crown Prince. He got up to send him off and said, "Your Highness should immediately return to the capital city, if the emperor dies and the world is without a ruler, I'm afraid the other princes will assume the throne if Your Highness is not in the capital city."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince said sternly, "Buddha is absolutely right."
That long-eyebrowed monk came forward at that moment and said, "Revered One of the World, Heavenly Devil Cult Master has done much evil. Fozi had gone to send him out, but his life was taken. The retainers of the crown prince had gone forward to save Fozi, but their lives were also lost, so their souls went to paradise."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince was furious. "That devil actually dared to do something like this? I didn't find trouble with him, so he came to kill my people instead! Buddha, this devil even dares to kill Fozi, he's truly impudent, we can't just let him off like this!"
Old Rulai took a look at the arhats from the Hall of Arhats. They looked down, not speaking a word.
"Your Highness does not need to trouble himself with this matter, return to the capital city as soon as possible. Great Thunderclap Monastery will settle the incident regarding Heavenly Devil Cult Master." Old Rulai had a warm expression as he looked towards the long-eyebrowed monk. "Chang Mei, how long have you been in the Hall of Arhats?"
"Revered One of the World, it's already been two hundred and nine years."
Old Rulai said in an amiable manner, "You shall settle the incident regarding Heavenly Devil Cult Master, for that, I shall allow you to return to your normal life."
Monk Chang Mei was greatly shaken. He raised his head to look at Old Rulai, but Old Rulai had already turned around to speak to Eternal Peace Crown Prince. "Your Highness, return to the capital city; there must be no delay."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince agreed and hurried down the mountain while thinking to himself, 'This buddha sure is a profound mystery.'
Monk Chang Mei tidied up and also left the mountain thinking to himself, 'Old Rulai had that I lied so he chased me out of Great Thunderclap Monastery without me bringing it up, as expected of the wise and awakened one. This is a realm I can never reach in my life, so I should just make use of this body to do more things for Great Thunderclap Monastery!"
After going down the mountain and walking a short distance, he suddenly heard a voice coming from the sky. "Monk Chang Mei, why don't you come with me?"
Monk Chang Mei raised his head and saw a luxurious flying ship which had stopped in the sky. The crown prince stood on the bow of that ship, inviting him over.
His heart moved slightly, and he immediately rose into the sky and landed on the ship with a greeting. "Your Highness, I'm no longer a monk, the surname of my normal family is Su, my name is just a…" He thought for a while before breaking into laughter. "I haven't used my secular name for over two hundred years. It's been so long that I've already forgotten it, please excuse me, Your Highness."
"Even if you returned to your ordinary life, you're still half a monk and half an ordinary person, I'll just call you Su Changmei," said Eternal Peace Crown Prince.
Su Changmei expressed his thanks and said, "I will go with this name. What did Your Highness call me for?"
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince said, "This devil from the devil cult has too many tricks up his sleeves and even Sun Nantuo died from his schemes without any traces to be found! When Imperial College was having holidays and he planned to return to Great Ruins alone, I ordered people to spread the news and lured experts from all over to give chase, but he was still able to escape alive. I've also received news that the strong practitioners that chased after him, Lu Wenshu from Poor Logic Sect, Wanderer Qing Yu, Arhat Pu Shan, Daoist Ku Ye, and even Daoist Qing Shan had been killed! Heavenly Devil Cult's power is no weaker than that of Great Thunderclap Monastery! I'm afraid that if you chase after him, you will only be harmed by him."
Su Changmei's heart trembled. Lu Wenshu, Wanderer Qing Yu—these people were all famous existences, especially Daoist Qing Shan. He was a righteous practitioner of Life and Death Realm. His abilities were no weaker than those of Su Changmei himself!
Even Daoist Qing Shan had been killed?
Eternal Peace Crown Prince then added, "I was waiting for you here to remind you to take your time in making a decision. You are not out to kill just anybody, it's the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, the number one sacred ground of the devil path. Why don't you follow me back to the capital city and plan slowly?"
Su Changmei nodded in agreement. "Your Highness, revenge must be taken for Fozi."
Eternal Peace Crown Prince smiled. "I don't only want to take the head of Heavenly Devil Cult Master, but for whole Heavenly Devil Cult to be uprooted and completely eradicated. This is what your Great Thunderclap Monastery would agree with without prior consultation, I'm sure. Don't worry, even though you're no longer an arhat of Great Thunderclap Monastery, after I ascend to the throne, I'll allow you to found your own sect and be your own abbot, to become buddha!"
...
In Kunlun Jade Void Mountain's Dao Sect, a Dao child ran over in a hurry to Dao Master and said, "Dao Master, Rulai has come to visit!"
The other asked quickly, "How many people?"
"One person."
Old Dao Master let out a sigh of relief. "Then he has not come to fight. Quickly, invite… Nevermind, I shall invite him personally!"
After a while, Old Rulai and Old Dao Master sat down, and he dismissed his followers. Old Rulai also didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I have met Eternal Peace Crown Prince."
Old Dao Master's heart trembled slightly, and he said, "The crown prince is not as good as His Majesty; he's not a wise ruler."
"His Majesty knows how to rule the country too well, which is why there's this natural disaster. Dao brother, look at this snow disaster that caused the people to struggle for their lives. Do you want an even greater disaster to descend? Dao Sect should know about the records from Mourning Emperor Emptiness Era, right?"
Old Dao Master mumbled and said, "Your buddhism refers to it as Mourning Emperor, Emptiness Era, Emptiness Calamity, whereas my Dao Sect refers to it as Founding Emperor, Founding Emperor Era, Founding Emperor Calamity. I've also seen the records of Founding Emperor Era and the prospering divine kingdom that had been wiped out. Countless living beings had suffered from that calamity and were turned to ashes. I'm quite worried about this matter."
After a moment, he continued, "A small country with a small population that discards conventional wisdom, which is held holy and sacred—this is the lesson my Dao Sect learned from that Founding Emperor Calamity. With a small country and few people that don't believe in any experienced and wise saints, everyone could live well and happy, without any worries. Wouldn't that be excellent? It was fine in the past, with small countries with small populations listening to the orders of their sect."
"We need a new emperor. A dead emperor is better than all living things being dead," said Old Rulai
Dao Master gave him a glance and asked, "What benefits did the crown prince promise you?"
Old Rulai shook his head and said, "I didn't ask for any benefits from him."
Dao Master smiled. "I believe you." Since they were done, he rose and said, "That Dao sword of mine hasn't been used for awhile. I wonder if it has turned blunt, if it'll be able to slay a true dragon."
Old Rulai rose to express his thanks. "Much thanks to senior brother for assisting!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
As Qin Mu traveled forward, he saw desolation caused by the disaster. There were starving people everywhere, small and large tragedies sprung up everywhere, and plague ran amuck. When compared to the peaceful territory of Great Thunderclap Monastery, these places were simply hell.
Luckily, there were numerous college and primary school scholars sending medical help to suppress the plague, or else the disaster would have become even more severe.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had constructed many primary schools and colleges to replace private schools, and they revealed their worth at this moment. Even though the power of each and every one of these scholars was weak, they were astonishing together. They were equivalent to numerous small sects.
Qin Mu saw officers with their men wiping out demons and monsters that were taking advantage to create even more chaos. The county magistrate was even guarding the land personally and advising the immigrants to return home since the rations the emperor sent for disaster relief would be transported soon.
There were even some disciples of Dao Sect and buddhism helping disaster victims, but they were more casual. Compared with the power of the empire, their reach was limited, and they would only help wherever they went. Some people took this chance to impart their teachings and give birth to numerous evil cults, but they were all half-baked.
'This level of natural disaster can't wipe out such an empire,' Qin Mu thought to himself. The new crops were already planted, so as long as they waited until the harvest season, the people would be appeased.
The timing of this disaster in Eternal Peace Empire was extremely strange, though. It happened precisely after the entire empire was thrown into chaos and most of the rations had been exhausted by the wars. With this snow disaster added into the fray, it was enough to shake the foundation of the empire.
'I wonder if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has returned to the court, if the emperor is still sending disaster relief. Also, where did this natural disaster come from? This is not something that sacred grounds like Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery can create, but that requires a god's power.'
He raised his head to look up at the sky in suspicion. Why had this happened?
Why did Heaven want a disaster to descend on Eternal Peace?
For the orthodox teachings of gods in the human world?
Before Eternal Peace, it was a world that was ruled by sects which formed countries of all sizes. Some of these sects had ancient inheritances and legends which said that they had been created by gods. In that case, was it because the orthodox teachings of gods in the human world were being wiped out by Eternal Peace Empire which angered the gods into sending such a natural disaster?
Or was there a more profound reason behind this?
Qin Mu found some disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult and made a few inquiries. Heavenly Devil Cult was currently following the authorities to send disaster relief and most of the disciples in the cult had been mobilized, covering all of the lands. The hall masters of every hall had also donated money out of their pockets and were all beyond broke.
The problem was that some merchants were still hoarding to profit and some influential families were not selling.
"The emperor was angered and killed a bunch of them, then found some officials that took bribes and bent the law, coveting the money for disaster relief, and so he killed another bunch of them. There were also some people that took this chance to sell official positions, and the emperor killed one more bunch."
A Heavenly Devil Cult Disciple who had followed the emperor to send disaster relief had seen quite a number of things. When he spoke, his face was wide with a smile full of exultation. "The emperor even faces assassins, most of whom were existences of the cult master level. However, there were civil and military officials in the entourage, and the emperor personally went into battle as well. He was extremely powerful! It's a pity cult master was not there"
Qin Mu asked, "Who are the strong practitioners that had tried to assassinate the emperor?"
"I've heard it was Teacher Poor, True Lord Tian, and those guys. There were also some strong practitioners from beyond the Great Wall."
Qin Mu's expression changed slightly. "Alliance with the cult master level strong practitioners from beyond the Great Wall? Is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor back?"
"I haven't seen him."
Qin Mu mumbled for a moment, then asked, "Where is the emperor now?"
"He's at Bazhou Prefecture that's five thousand miles away from here." That Heavenly Devil Cult Disciple soon added, "The emperor had gone to the south and cleared the influential families that had refused to sell their rations before going to the north and is now at Bazhou. That place is still considered stable."
Qin Mu composed himself and asked, "What about the capital city? Which of the first ranking high officials are left behind?"
"The crown prince was left behind to supervise the empire and the officials related to him."
Qin Mu's expression became grim. The capital city was supposed to be supervised by the crown prince yet he had run to Great Thunderclap Monastery. Teacher Poor, True Lord Tian, and their friends who had almost died in the hands of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had been saved by Old Rulai who had promised they would convert to buddhism and not meddle with the affairs of the secular world. Yet Teacher Poor and the rest had run out again.
When he added the crown prince paying a visit to Old Rulai to that knowledge, things seemed to be getting serious.
"They say that the imperial court is the largest sacred ground in the world. I wonder if it really clashed with Great Thunderclap Monastery, who would come out on top?" Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely before shifting his thoughts away. "Can we contact the hall masters?"
"Now that every hall is helping disaster victims, it's quite hard to contact them. If we wanted to gather all the halls, it would probably take a month or two."
Qin Mu shook his head and left without saying anything. Sitting on the back of the dragon qilin, he hurried towards Bazhou.
Bazhou was about five thousand miles away, and the journey was long. Even if the dragon qilin didn't rest, he would only be able to reach there the next day. But rest was necessary, so he reckoned that he would only reach Bazhou on the night of the next day.
"If only my treasure ship was still around, it would be so much easier. What a pity it's ruined."
Qin Mu ordered the dragon qilin to rush forward at full speed and promised him a bucket of food every day. The dragon qilin's spirit was roused and he sprinted towards Bazhou while stepping on his fire clouds.
Night fell in no time, and Qin Mu raised his head to look at the aspects of the celestial bodies to determine the direction before ordering the dragon qilin to continue on his way. When the sun had risen, the dragon qilin couldn't maintain his speed anymore and started foaming from exhaustion. He couldn't run anymore and his speed became slower and slower.
Qin Mu made him stop and looked around to determine his location. Taking out the geographic map of Eternal Peace, he noticed he was only a thousand miles away from Bazhou.
He let out a sigh of relief and fed the dragon qilin. He headed forward at a steady pace, allowing the dragon qilin to rest his feet.
He didn't walk far before he saw a house in the desolate mountains. The place should be a recently built one since everything seemed new. Qin Mu walked over, wanting to knock on the door when it opened and a woman came face to face with him. Both of them were stunned.
"Mu'er?"
The woman with matchless beauty was stunned in place when she saw him. Looking around, she asked bewilderment, "How did you find this place? I spend quite an effort to shake off Blind and Old Ma, yet was actually found by you."
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. "Granny, why are you here?" He suddenly became alert. "Are you granny or Li Tianxing?"
Granny Si moved aside to let him into the house. "The old devil is temporarily suppressed by me. Even though Old Rulai didn't manage to get rid of him, he was still able to injure his vitality greatly, so we are currently evenly matched and thus we made an agreement. He will only come out at night while I'll come out during the day."
Qin Mu asked suspiciously, "If you are really granny, why did you have to avoid Grandpa Ma and Grandpa Blind? Why do you have to hide here?"
Granny Si rolled her eyes at him. "Rascal, suspecting even granny now? If I was the old devil, why would I have to lie if I wanted to harm you?"
Qin Mu thought about it and felt that it was really the case. Compared to Granny Si, he was pathetically weak. If she was Li Tianxing, she wouldn't need to waste her energy to lie to him. He then walked into the house.
If she was Li Tianxing, she could have charmed him with just a gaze with her seductiveness. He was even more of a woman than a woman.
This house was very simple as it was just constructed. There was little furniture, and looking around, Qin Mu found that the tables were all crooked or slanted. This put him at ease.
Granny Si didn't have deft hands like Grandpa Ma. She could make pieces of clothing but her carpentry was pitiful, so these tables and chairs were definitely made by her.
Qin Mu sat down on one chair to rest and felt uncomfortable as the chair was higher on one side and lower on the other. Because of that, he was absolutely certain that the chair had been made by Granny Si. He asked curiously, "Why does granny not want to return to Great Ruins?"
Granny Si shook her head and walked out of the house. After a moment, a few pieces of wood floated into the house as she planned to make a bed.
Qin Mu didn't care much about resting and immediately went up to help. Granny Si was the saintess of the cult, and even if she had lived in Disabled Elderly Village for over forty years, she had not learned Old Ma's craft at all. On the other hand, Qin Mu was an expert in crafting all kinds of furniture.
Granny Si couldn't help, so she went to fetch water from the riverside and came back to polish the bronze mirror. She said, "I can't go back now, what would be the point? In Great Ruins, there's the darkness blocking the way. If the old devil came out to create a ruckus again, how long could the old bones of Village Chief and the rest last? Wouldn't it be better to just stay here and wear down the old devil's temperament?"
Qin Mu quickly finished making the bed and moved it into the house. He saw the mirror was all bumpy from Granny Si's polishing and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He immediately took the mirror into his hand and transformed his vital qi into White Tiger Vital Qi. After some calculation, his vital qi thread polished it finely and leveled the bronze mirror. He then went to make a dressing table.
Granny Si saw the dragon qilin sprawled out on the ground in deep sleep and Qin Mu's bloodshot eyes that were filled with exhaustion. She said, "You have hurried all night? Go to sleep first."
"You won't leave?"
"I won't."
Qin Mu relaxed and went to sleep on the bed. Even though there was no bedding, he was used to sleeping outdoors and fell asleep quickly.
It was unknown how long had passed when Qin Mu woke up in a daze and saw Granny Si spacing out in front of the bronze mirror on the dressing table. She held scissors, which were pointed at her face, in her hands.
"Granny!" Qin Mu shouted out in a panic.
Granny Si turned around and placed the scissors down. With a smile, she said gently, "Rulai said there's only one way to destroy the heart devil, and it's to remove his infatuation with this face. Mu'er, I don't want to harm you anyone, especially you…"
Qin Mu saw her raising the scissors again, and his tears flowed out uncontrollably. "Granny, it's not your fault… I've never blamed you…"
"I can't do it!" Stunned, Granny Si placed down her scissors with a smile. "Mu'er, help me do it."
Qin Mu got up from the bed and took the scissors from her hand and placed them gently back into her little basket.
"It's not your fault, no one can blame you. You've already hidden for over forty years, never using your appearance to meet anyone."
He squatted down and raised his head to look at the face that was so beautiful that there could be no other like it. This was the true appearance of the closest kin that had raised him up. Qin Mu revealed a smile. "If it was me, I could at most persevere for a day or two, I couldn't last forty years. It's not your fault for growing to be like this. Which beautiful woman would be willing to cover their own face forever and use an old face to meet people?" He stood up and said, "Granny, I will get rid of Li Tianxing. But for now, you stay here. I'll go to Bazhou, something might be happening there."
Granny Si nodded gently.
Qin Mu walked out of the room, then turned back with a smile. "Granny, you should eat and drink when you should, don't torture yourself."
"Rascal, lecturing me again!" she retorted angrily.
Qin Mu laughed and kicked the dragon qilin awake. "Still sleeping? Get up and hurry on!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Many people don't realize what the reform was for, why they had to reform their lives. They say, wasn't it well in the past, everyone was living comfortably, was joyous and harmonious, while your reforms, aren't they just to satisfy your ambition of an emperor? By offending the blue bloods and the sects, aren't you doing it to expand the territory of Eternal Peace? All the natural calamities and man-made disasters over the years have been your fault, we've had to suffer all of them because of that reform. But this is a fallacy!"
In Bazhou Prefecture, Emperor Yanfeng led a group of civil and military officials through a street while looking at workers manning the porridge stall to feed the people lining up for food. Emperor Yanfeng went over and came to the front of a porridge stall. The worker was about to kneel down when Emperor Yanfeng held him back and said, "There are few rules in such cold weather and frozen land. How much is one serving?"
"Your Majesty, an adult gets a bowl of porridge, two steamed buns, and a ladle of dried vegetables."
Emperor Yanfeng nodded and dismissed him. He picked up the ladle and distributed food to the disaster victims, while behind him stood the civil and military officials of the imperial court. He then continued, "We had all lived well in the past, we were never common people! Minister of Agriculture, tell them, before Imperial Preceptor's reform, how many people could be fed with six ares of fertile land."
Minister of Agriculture immediately said, "Before the reform, six ares of fertile land could produce three hundred and thirty pounds of crops. However, at that time, all the land belonged to influential families, monasteries, and Daoist temples, so there was no land in the hands of farmers.
"A farmer's family had seven-eight people and they took care of five hectares of land, which had grain, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. After slogging for a year and harvesting for two seasons, there was no surplus grain, and they could barely fill their stomachs. They could have one to two meals of meat every month and would starve if they met with natural calamities or man-made disasters. Back then, many elderly would automatically go up the mountain or jump into rivers during years of disaster so that they wouldn't be a burden to their families. Meanwhile, the influential families, monasteries, and Daoist temples were hoarding great amounts of grain and gold."
Emperor Yanfeng said, "Five hectares of land to only feed a family of seven to eight. After painstakingly planting a year's worth of grain, where did it go? Tell them, how many people can be fed by six ares of land after the reform?"
Minister of Agriculture continued, "Your Majesty had order Imperial Preceptor to manage the reform and reclaim all the land. Influential families, monasteries. and Daoist temples can no longer manage any land.
"An adult male can manage five hectares of land, one hectare of which would be fertile land. In the recent years, there was a growth in population, so the rules had been changed. An adult male can now manage two and a half hectares of land and half a hectare of fertile land.
"Imperial Preceptor had also made martial arts practitioners and divine arts practitioners to help with agriculture. To provide a stable crop, rain was provided during drought and water drainage during floods, thus there was no starvation for one hundred and sixty years. Nowadays, six ares of land can produce eight hundred and twenty pounds of crops. Four hundred and forty pounds are used for the land tax, but farmers no longer find it too expensive to eat meat."
"Three hundred and thirty pounds, eight hundred and twenty pounds." Emperor Yanfeng picked two steamed buns and placed them in the bowl of a starving person before giving him a ladle of dried vegetables while sighing ruefully. "What is buddha? This is buddha, a living buddha, a breathing buddha, the buddha of all common people! It's not by taking on the title of Rulai or Dao Master and giving talks on chicken soup for the soul would one become buddha or Dao Master! Minister of Agriculture, let me ask you again, since Imperial Preceptor's reform was good and the rations have also increased, why are there still starvation whenever a natural disaster breaks out?"
Minister of Agriculture had a troubled expression and hesitated. "This…"
"Say it!"
"Yes. Other than the increase in population, there are still things like the eating of meat and wars. Feeding livestock requires grain, as well as feeding strange beasts in the army, training soldiers, fighting wars. All of it requires grain. But the most important reason is still the circulation of cultivated land. There are some pieces of land that were bought back by the influential families, sects, and temples, who then once again became landowners."
"Grain has once again returned into their hands. The reason why the sects were able to rebel the previous time was because they had the money and the rations, that's why they were so daring. Still, this issue of starvation shouldn't have been so severe. It was all because after fighting the war, the empire's treasury had been emptied and the influential families, sects, and temples refused to give out rations. The effect caused by the previous rebellion of the sects is huge…"
Emperor Yanfeng turned his head back and took a glance at the officials. "Influential families, sects, monasteries, and Daoist temples were always seated high above, eating exotic delicacies daily, talking about wind, flowers, snow, and the moon, chatting about paths, skills, and divine arts, discussing immortality and longevity. There are farmers feeding them, but who of them is willing to lend a hand to those farmers? If the farmers refuse to comply, they will send disasters and calamities on them straight away! Is this snow disaster strange? No, it isn't. When sects ruled their own countries, these kind of snow disasters weren't rare, either! However, it wasn't gods sending those calamities nor was it Heaven. It was the sects sending those calamities and disasters to make the common people comply and not dare to rebel!"
"Imperial Preceptor's reform made sects have to work for farmers, for merchants, this is what made them displeased, and they didn't want to do it. In the meantime, Imperial Preceptor created more reforms and founded primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College. He used them to pass down the abilities of sects to the people of the world, to let them be able to protect themselves, and the sects were even more displeased. They wanted to rebel, to kill people! Little did they think that their ancestors from eight generations back were all farmers, none of them an exception!"
"Look and listen clearly. I have executed them this time, and if you guys act like them the next time, I will execute you guys as well! The officials I want aren't from those sects that are high above or any experts or buddhas. The officials I want are those that are able to handle matters in a down-to-earth manner! Scholars must be able to work for farmers, artisans, and merchants! There are actually some scholarly officials who think they are a level higher than others. Damn it—scribe, allow me to say a profanity—damn it, they only know how to grumble and view themselves highly! I wish for more than anything to execute them!"
The civil and military officials lowered their heads and didn't dare to say a word.
Two scribes looked at each other, both of their expressions troubled. The older scribe then said softly, "Your Majesty, Son of Heaven needs to watch his language."
"I don't say profanities frequently, wasn't I really angered which was why I had scolded people? Pardon me, scribe."
While he had been speaking, the person in queue for food was a high monk who was holding onto a golden alms bowl with a smile. "That was a very good speech, Your Majesty. However now that the natural disaster has come, the righteous path is to stop the disaster and save the common people from suffering."
Emperor Yanfeng took a look at this high monk and gave him a bowl of porridge, two steamed buns, and a ladle of dried vegetables before saying, "Not only was my speech good, what I do is even better. High monk, eat slowly, don't bother the people of the secular world."
That high monk agreed and carried his golden alms bowl away.
"Rulai!" The people behind Emperor Yanfeng were stunned when they saw that high monk.
After he left, an old Daoist came from the back. His clothes were disheveled, and his hair was slightly messy. While carrying a bowl, he smiled, "Has Your Majesty eaten?"
Emperor Yanfeng had a grim expression as he scooped porridge for him and shook his head. "Not yet."
"Your Majesty should eat more, it's easier to be move if you're full."
Emperor Yanfeng nodded and grabbed two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge. He said to the civil and military officials, "Come and eat some too, we have trouble."
The civil and military officials looked at the monk and Daoist like they had met formidable foes, but the two people only squatted down at the corner of a wall. They drank the porridge and ate the buns and dried vegetables, enduring hardship gladly.
The officials went forward and took a serving each before squatting down beside another wall. Emperor Yanfeng soon did the same and ate silently.
After eating, he came to the front of pressure well to wash his bowls, and the officials all lined up behind him. Rulai and Dao Master also came forward to wash their bowls while saying, "It's been awhile since we ate meals of the human world, they have a different kind of flavor to them now."
"I and these ministers have been eating them for months." Emperor Yanfeng said seriously. "Dao brothers should eat them more and not let yourselves stay too high above."
"Staying high above is to keep ourselves from the secular world." Old Dao Master smiled. "You are the emperor of the human world so you naturally rule over the secular people. Whereas we who cultivate Dao and buddhism have to be far away from the secular world. If we got tainted, it would be hard to break free."
Emperor Yanfeng smiled and asked, "Dao Master, can you become a real god?"
Dao Master shook his head.
Emperor Yanfeng asked Rulai, "Rulai, can you become a true buddha?"
Rulai shook his head. "The divine bridge is broken, who can become a true god or buddha?"
"Then what bullshit are you spouting? Staying far from the secular world and saying you are very powerful is— Scribes, I have spouted profanities again, don't record them. I know. You guys can fall back, you're not needed here," Emperor Yanfeng said as he walked out of the city accompanied by the civil and military officials.
He stopped then and turned back with a smile. "Even though it's according to the rules of the imperial court and not the rules of the martial world, there's no need for so many people. Those of Divine Bridge Realm stay, others may fall back."
Most of the civil and military officials stopped in their tracks; only seven people followed Emperor Yanfeng. They were Grand Marshall Monk Yuan Kong, Situ Xiu Leqing, Sikong Wei Pingbo, General of Heavenly Strategies Qin Baoyue, King of Mount Tai Ling Xuhua, Grand General of White Horse Quan Dingwu, and High Official Su Yunzhi. Including the emperor, there were eight people.
Rulai and Dao Master paid no attention and continued to walk forward.
Emperor Yanfeng led everyone forward, walking past the outskirts of the city. When they came to the fields outside the city, he stopped to look at the crops and asked an old farmer, "Will there be harvest?"
"Will!" that old farmer said in a loud voice.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled and turned back to look at the ministers behind him. "There's going to be harvest!"
Dao Master said, "Your Majesty, there might be harvest this year, but there might not be the next year. Old Dao has brought a scroll which records the story of Great Ruins; it's called the Founding Emperor Calamity Classics. Your Majesty can slowly take a look while we walk. If Your Majesty still insists on the reform after finishing the scroll, this world is going to change."
Rulai sighed. "Dao Master is merciful."
Dao Master shook his head. "He doesn't know the danger of this. If he knew, he would be like us." When he was done, he passed the Founding Emperor Calamity Classics into the hands of Emperor Yanfeng.
"Your Majesty, be careful of tricks!" High Official Su Yunzhi warned.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled. "No harm."
He took the Founding Emperor Calamity Classics from Dao Master's hands and read them in detail.
They continued to head forward at a leisurely pace. Emperor Yanfeng flipped page after page and read through the Founding Emperor Calamity Classics. Dao Master and Rulai never hurried him, quietly walking nearby.
After covering over a hundred miles, Emperor Yanfeng had finished reading the Founding Emperor Calamity Classics and composed himself. He raised his head to look at the sky but did not say anything.
Old Dao Master asked, "Your Majesty has the well-being of all living things in mind, so you should know what to do, right?"
Emperor Yanfeng was in a daze for a time. Then, he suddenly said, "When I was young, Eternal Peace Empire didn't have such a large territory and the emperor wasn't so respected. At that time, all the sects and influential families were still riding roughshod over people. I had once followed an envoy out of the country to visit a place called Yuanqi Country, which is now Yuan Prefecture. There was a lightning disaster there, and the sky was covered in dark clouds which shrouded Yuanqi Country. The lightning crackled and struck non stop, killing livestock and common people alike.
"The emperor of Yuanqi Country brought his civil and military officials to kneel and beg for forgiveness from the lightning disaster. The common people of that country were also kneeling on the ground, begging Heaven to grant them a pardon. In that lightning disaster, the emperor was electrocuted to death. Only after the event did I learn the Heaven in their words wasn't the heavenly gods but Hidden Lightning Sect.
"That year, the harvest hadn't been good, so the goods offered to Hidden Lightning Sect were lacking, and Hidden Thunder Sect sent a calamity on them. What had caused the disaster was the cult's legacy spirit treasure, Nine Heavens Lightning Luring Cover. The emperor had put all the blame on himself, which was why Hidden Lightning Sect had electrocuted him and changed the emperor. At that time, I was already thinking…"
He looked at Dao Master and Rulai and said slowly, enunciating every word, "I had to overthrow you guys! Now, I have done it, but what Imperial Preceptor and I have done is still not enough, so there is this snow disaster. It was sent by a god? Then I shall overthrow that god!"
Dao Master couldn't resist asking, "Your Majesty isn't going to put the well-being of all living things in mind? Do you want to turn Eternal Peace into the likes of Great Ruins? When you and Imperial Preceptor carried out your reform and took down the many sects to conquer such a huge territory, this Old Dao didn't stop you, did I? However, if you continue with your reform, Heaven will be angered and all living things will be in danger!"
Old Rulai said, "Think thrice, Your Majesty."
"You have your own beliefs, and I have mine."
Old Rulai sighed and said to Dao Master, "Old Dao friend, let's just change the emperor."
Dao Master fetched his Dao sword and nodded. "Oh well, I said what I could. What can I do if Your Majesty remains stubborn? We'll just have to change the emperor."
Emperor Yanfeng looked around and saw old Daoists, old monks, Teacher Poor, and the rest walking in from all directions, surrounding them in the middle. Their numbers were much greater than his own.
The expression of General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest changed drastically.
Emperor Yanfeng was stunned, then broke into laughter. "Rulai, Dao Master, I thought you would go by the rules of the martial world. Never would I have thought you guys would go by the rules of the imperial court."
Rulai shook his head. "We have no choice, so we seek forgiveness from Your Majesty. Dao Master, Dao friends, let us send His Majesty on his way."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The land a hundred miles west of Bazhou City was filled with murderous intent, and even the air there seemed to have solidified. The vital qi around the old Daoists and old monks raged and formed into gods whose aura could swallow mountains and rivers.
Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery had long legacies which were even greater than that of Heavenly Devil Cult. To these two sacred grounds, Heavenly Devil Cult was still considered a young cult.
From the gods that were formed by the vital of old Daoists and old monks there, they could see the gods that had appeared in the course of history. There was one with three heads and four arms, another with a tortoise's shell and a horsetail whisk, another was a hoopoe with a leopard's tail, one was a Vajrayaksa and many others.
As for Teacher Poor, True Lord Tian, and the rest, they were a different sight. Even though their legacies weren't as ancient as those of Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery, they were still incomparably powerful. Some of the gods that appeared behind them were wise saints, some were women holding onto golden insects, and some were poor gods that wore clothes filled with holes.
The qi appearance of the first ranking high officials of the imperial court was different from them, however. Behind General of Heavenly Strategies Qin Baoyue wasn't a god, but a pair of golden truncheons. They shone with a brilliant light, and on their bodies were eight blades that spun continuously. This man had frequently participated in wars and didn't cultivate to become a god or buddha, so he treated his weapons as a god who took charge in battle.
The god behind Grand Marshall Monk Yuan Kong wasn't a buddha, either, but an ascetic monk who was wrapped in chains and holding a buddhist's monk knife. He had a battle posture and looked very much like the man himself.
Behind King of Mount Tai Ling Xuhua were nine dragons coiling around Mount Tai with Mount Tai as the altar to worship them. He was in charge of the offering of sacrifices to the ancestors.
Sikong Wei Pingbo was in charge of the water conservancy in Eternal Peace Empire, so his vital qi didn't form a god behind him, but a long river dam that was constructed from earth, wood, and water. His god was water conservancy.
Situ Xiu Leqing was a female official who was in charge of the empire's treasury; she was responsible for all the finances in the world. The god that her vital qi formed was no god, either, but a string of great abundance coins that slithered around like a huge python. Her god was money.
High Official Su Yunzhi was also a female official. She could open her own bureau so her rank was on par with the three councilors. She was a free civil official, but she had reached the highest official position. She was in charge of all primary schools and colleges so what had transformed from her vital qi also wasn't a god, but a book and a ruler.
Behind Grand General of White Horse Quan Dingwu was a steed that was blazing with flames, and on that horse was a god bathed in the flames of war. He had eight arms which held a knife, shield, spear, pike, sword, and halberd. He had four faces which looked in four sides and eight directions while flames spewed out his eyes like beams. All the four faces were the general's own face.
From this, one could see that cult master level strong practitioners of the imperial court were different from those of the sects. Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery worshiped gods and buddha, so the gods behind them were all gods and buddhas. On the other hand, the strong practitioners of the imperial court treated whatever they managed. Each of them had different duties and each had their own specialty.
Even Monk Yuan Kong who was from buddhism treated himself as an ascetic monk that was cultivating in battle and didn't show the bearing of a great buddha.
A long-eared monk's expression changed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Imperial Preceptor's reform has caused all these evil and unorthodox paths that don't worship the gods! They would rather worship all this rubbish than gods and buddhas!"
Grand General of White Horse pointed at this long-eared monk and sneered, "Use what you learn, act with your knowledge. Long-eared monk, your skills acquired through religious practices are shallow; it'll be hard for you to escape death."
"How can cultivating your entire life be any worse than achieving enlightenment to become a god or buddha?" Emperor Yanfeng said leisurely. "These are all people's own abilities, so relying on gods and buddhas is the unorthodox path. By doing their jobs properly and cultivating them into the realm of gods and buddha will they become gods and buddhas!"
The old Daoists of Dao Sect frowned, and Old Dao Master shook his head. "Cultivating their jobs to the realm of god? In that case, won't they still have to work for mortals even after becoming gods? This is once again the teachings of Heavenly Devil Cult! None other than the everyday use of common people. Emperor, you've been influenced by Imperial Preceptor and Heavenly Devil Cult."
Emperor Yanfeng smiled. "If I went to Heavenly Devil Cult, I just might be able to become the cult master."
"Since it's the devil path, there's no need for further words."
The old Daoists adjusted the treasure swords on their backs, and it was hard to say who had shouted out the first "Die!".
Once this word was out, murderous air overflowed into the heavens, and the trembling cold wind became incomparably bone piercing. Yet at that moment, an old man walked over while pulling onto a cow cart that went gulu gulu.
Everyone pulled their murderous air back and stood quietly, looking down without saying a word.
The old man was astonished when he saw the entire sky filled with gods and buddhas. The cow shivered in fear, unable to even pull the cart anymore on its shaky legs. The old man was so angry that he whipped that cow a few times until it exerted its force to slowly pull the cart out of this place where they shouldn't be.
When the old man and the cow cart disappeared into the distance, the battle was about to erupt!
Yet when the strong practitioners of the divine bridge realm were about to make a move, they suddenly heard another gulu gulu sound of the turning wheel. Another cow cart came driving over, and everyone saw another old man walking over while pulling onto that cow cart. When he saw everyone, he trembled in fear and used a lot of effort to move the cow cart away.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief and was about to make a move when the gulu gulu of the wheel turning was heard again. An old Daoist said angrily, "In such cold weather and frozen land after a natural disaster, where did so many cow carts come from?"
Everyone was astonished. That was indeed the case. Now that there were calamities everywhere, all the livestock had been eaten, so how did three cow carts just pass by them one after another. Furthermore, why here of all places?
An elderly couple sat on the next cow cart. One of them was a white-haired old woman while the other was an old yet not that old man. Everyone waited quietly for the cow cart to pass.
However, that cow cart stopped nearby. That cow seemed to be fearless, and the old man and old woman jumped down without much care. As if they were about to perform a conjuring trick, they opened up the cloth on the cart and gave a gentle shake before pulling it off. Instantly, dozens of weirdly-shaped people appeared on the cow cart, filling it up until they were almost spilling out.
"Heavenly Devil Cult's Left and Right Guardians, twelve cult protector elders, and also two heavenly kings." Dao Master looked down with a helpless expression. "We only saw two people and a cow coming on a cow cart, so I never expected to see sixteen people springing out. What a great trick, Heavenly Devil Cult."
Left Guardian Kong Lingxian raised his head and chuckled. "We like to perform conjuring tricks as we traveled through the martial world to make a living by getting tips from officials. We're sorry to have embarrassed ourselves in front of the lords."
Right Guardian Xue Bi'e beamed at everyone. "Old Bald Donkey, Old Daoist, the cult master ordered us to follow the emperor when he went home for New Year, so now that the emperor is in trouble, the old brothers and I can't ignore it. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to take the punishment once cult master comes back."
The twelve cult protector elders and two heavenly kings of Heavenly Devil Cult jumped down from the cow cart. Heavenly King Shi and Heavenly King Yu stretched their bodies and paid their respects to everyone with a smile. "Everyone here are all high figures, so we, the little old men, pay our respect. Cult master handed us a living and breathing emperor, so if you guys killed him and we had to return a dead emperor to him, we could only use our lives to appease his anger."
Beggar Sect Master Qi Dayou shouted out loudly, "Evil and unorthodox path! The imperial court associates with the filthy Heavenly Devil Cult, so fellow friends of Great Thunderclap Monastery, feel free to subdue the devils!"
"Die!"
A shout burst forth, and thunder rumbled in the sky once the battle erupted. In an instant, violent gusts of air surged forth in all directions, flattening portions of a forest nearby.
This battle far surpassed the one to pacify the rebellion by Imperial Preceptor. Even though there were many cult master level existence in that battle, they were all a level inferior when compared to the cult master level strong practitioners of the three big sacred grounds. With the imperial court being equivalent to one big sacred ground as well, one could well imagine the power of the strongest practitioners from the four big sacred grounds clashing at the same time!
However, the whole nest of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect had come out to fight this time, whereas there were only half of the strong practitioners from the imperial court and Heavenly Devil Cult. Since Dao Master and Rulai were present as well, the situation of the opposing side wasn't optimistic.
Once a battle starts, people will fall.
The long-eared monk found Quan Dingwu straightaway, and the two strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm opened up all of their divine treasures, cracking the heaven and rending fissures in the earth. The long-eared monk was the head of Great Thunderclap Monastery's Hall of Arhats and was proficient in buddhism and Victorious Fighting Skill.
Meanwhile, Quan Dingwu was the Grand General of White Horse, riding horses and killing people all his life, eradicating countries and sects as he went through fire and water. When Imperial College was just founded, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had gathered all the experts in the world to study the path, skills, and divine arts. One of them was Quan Dingwu, and he could be said to be one of the top strong practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire.
When the Victorious Fighting Skill met with the skill of slaughter, a sea of blood overflowed into the sky, and flames of war blazed furiously atop it. This vision seemed like a real existence, and it had been formed by the murderous air of Quan Dingwu.
A huge buddha stood over the sea of blood, and in front of it was the long-eared monk. Compared to the huge buddha, he seemed to be much smaller. Through the sea of blood and flames, a person rushed towards him, and it was Quan Dingwu. The horse behind him stepped on the flames of battle and the person behind the horse was like a monstrous god of slaughter, looking terrifying and incomparably fierce!
"Evil and orthodox path, death cannot wipe out the crimes of those who don't cultivate true buddhism!"
Golden color appeared around the body of the long-eared monk as he interlocked his arms. Chanting the incantations of buddhism, he executed two kinds of mudra at the same time. They were incomparably intricate and struck towards the lethal points on Quan Dingwu!
To the monk's surprise, Quan Dingwu did not dodge but allow the skills to hit him. The arms formed by vital qi, which were under Quan Dingwu's armpits, flailed as he wielded the knife, shield, spear, pike, sword, and halberd to strike. The knife severed the arms of the long-eared monk, the shield bashed open his skull, the spear pierced through his chest and lifted him up, the pike penetrated his heart, the sword light sliced his throat, and the halberd hung his body high up!
Behind them, the god of slaughter clashed against the huge buddha while the sea of blood and flames swirled around them like a whirlpool.
"You didn't dodge…" the long-eared monk said astringently as he hung on the long halberd.
A huge shield smashed down and shattered him into pieces.
"Killing people on the battlefield only requires one or two moves, so what's the point of dodging? The battlefield requires a skill for slaughter. If I matched your fighting style, wouldn't I be taking my weak side to match your expert one?"
Quan Dingwu spat out a huge mouthful of blood. The two mudras from the long-eared monk had almost shattered his five viscera and six bowels. His ribs and shoulder blades were crushed, causing him to suck in cold air from the pain.
Suddenly, a golden bright palm came smashing down, and a loud boom rang out. Another monk had come rushing over, his hands carrying emptiness as he squashed him with an eighteen heavens pagoda. This building was filled with gods and buddhas that crushed all of Quan Dingwu's bones.
"Monk Yuan Kong, you are also a buddhist, why did you have to take the devil path and become part of the hawks and hounds of the imperial court?" Nun Hong Yin from Great Thunderclap Monastery's Hall of Great Teachings blocked Grand Marshall Monk Yuan Kong and tried to persuade him. "It's time for you to come to your senses and stop making mistakes! If you continue to make them, you will forever be unable to achieve the spiritual state!"
Monk Yuan Kong's eyes burst open, and he shouted out, "What's this spiritual state? With a buddha in heart, one will never achieve the spiritual state. His Majesty has ordered me to manage the laws of the army, so I chained myself down with iron laws. When I break these chains, I'll be able to achieve the spiritual state!"
Nun Hong Yin was furious and swung her horsetail whisk over. "You've been tainted by the devil, let me get rid of it for you!"
The huge battle erupted, and the old Daoists of Dao Sect sent out their swords. In an instant, the sky was full of sword lights. They came from the sword skills of Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword and were incomparably powerful as well as extraordinary sharp. There was no question that it was the number one sword technique in Dao Sect!
"Get into the formation, get rid of the devil!" an old Daoist shouted out.
"Lay a formation and refine the Daoists to death!" Xue Bi'e shouted out sternly, and the two heavenly kings, as well as the twelve cult protector elders, formed a huge formation to welcome the old Daoists. All the people here were all old acquaintances and had fought each other countless times before, so they knew each other's methods well.
On the other side, General of Heavenly Strategies, High Official, Sikong, Situ, King of Mount Tai were all blocked by the strong practitioners of Great Thunderclap Monastery. The monks relied on having more people to encircle and annihilate them, avoiding only Emperor Yanfeng.
Emperor Yanfeng looked over and saw Teacher Poor, Qi Dayou, and True Lord Tian walking over. Meanwhile, Rulai and Dao Master were carrying over an alms bowl and a sword.
Rulai said with a warm expression, "Teacher, fellow Dao friends, go and assist the others. Leave this to this old monk and the old Daoist."
Teacher Poor and the rest acknowledged it and immediately joined the battle nearby.
Rulai looked at Emperor Yanfeng and said, "Your Majesty, excuse me."
Emperor Yanfeng's body trembled, and his dragon qi cut across the vast sky with a grandeur. Roars of the dragon came from the sky, and a real dragon could be faintly seen in the clouds. It stretched out its head and claws, then the huge dragon's head lowered to look at Rulai.
Dao Master walked over and swung his Dao sword. Sword light covered the sky and forced the dragon back. The old man then praised, "Your Majesty is about to turn the fake into real, becoming a true god. What a pity the divine bridge is broken and there's no hope. This Old Dao is useless and could only cultivate half of the fourteenth move in the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword. Today, I shall use this incomplete writing to experience the powerful and benevolent rule of Your Majesty."
Rulai's golden alms bowl flew up and covered the sky. A piece of golden light spewed out, and in it were both gods and buddhas of the twenty heavens. The topmost level was Brahma, and it had a majestic atmosphere. Rulai smiled. "I shall use the highest realm of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra to experience the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of Your Majesty."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Rulai and Dao Master were outstanding talents of the previous generation and could have cultivated to the level of god and buddha. If the divine bridge wasn't broken, both of them would have already risen heavenwards and left this world.
Emperor Yanfen might be the least experienced one among them, but he occupied the nine dragon veins and cultivated in the Imperial City, which allowed him to enjoy an exceptional advantage. He could cultivate twice as fast, and he was exceptionally talented in cultivation, which made him one of the top strong practitioners in this world!
Eternal Peace Empire was acclaimed to be the biggest sacred ground in this world, and he and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were the sect and cult masters of this biggest sacred ground!
Even so, he was still slightly inferior to Rulai and Dao Master. Those two had joined hands to deal with him not because they felt that their abilities were inferior to him, but that they would find it difficult to keep him from escaping if they fought him one on one.
However, if they made an alliance, Emperor Yanfeng's escape was an impossibility.
Crackle, crackle.
Bolts of lightning came striking down from the clear sky, surrounding Emperor Yanfeng's body with sparks. Incomparably bright and clear lights surrounded the real dragons dancing in the sky, and the nine dragons roared in unison and clawed towards Dao Master and Rulai!
Rulai chuckled, and the golden alms bowl flipped upwards as it shone with a brilliant golden color. The heavens were sent out, which made the gods and buddhas clash with the dragons.
"Old Dao friend, I'll hand the job of killing the emperor to you," Rulai said with a smile.
Old Dao Master controlled his sword, and the sword light moved at a wonderful rhythm, taking control of all the operations of the human world. He chanted softly, "Dao nourishes the earth of all heavens, giving birth to all laws, and the whole world will return to one! Your Majesty, this incomplete move…"
Before he could finish saying that, two trails of light flashed by and suddenly stopped. Old Dao Master hurriedly controlled the sword to stop the attack and concentrated on what was happening. At that moment, he saw an elder in a green buddhist robe and a blind man with a bamboo cane standing in mid-air.
"Rulai, fighting, eh?" Blind asked with a beaming smile.
Rulai also retrieved the golden light that was being spewed out by the golden alms bowls and smiled. "Ma Wangshen, Dao Friend Blind, why are you two here?"
Old Ma said coldly, "Searching!"
Blind knocked his bamboo cane down, and the sky trembled. The strong practitioners that were engaged in a vicious battle were all astonished and hurriedly stopped. Blind beamed at them and asked, "The gales rise and the cloud rise with them, and everyone seems to be busy fighting. Everyone, now that I've greeted you, I'm sorry to disturb, but may I ask if you saw a woman?"
Quan Dingwu who was in the state of being bashed to death finally had a chance to breathe. "Blind man, who are you looking for?"
"A woman, especially beautiful, one look at her and you won't forget her, the kind that will eat away your heart." Blind sighed. "This woman is very powerful and an old devil lives inside her heart wishing to commit evil. He fell in love with her appearance and plans to take her body to become a woman. This is what is called with a beauty like jade, a golden house is made. We originally went to Great Thunderclap Monastery to let Old Rulai subdue this old devil…"
He babbled for quite some time, yet no one was able to tell what he was trying to say. Old Ma then said, "Blind, the important point."
Blind scratched his head and said, "This woman is the previous cult mistress of Heavenly Devil Cult, the previous saintess. Rulai wanted to kill the emperor so he let her escape."
Rulai chuckled. "This old monk was unable to attend to two things at the same time, so I was unable to help her, no matter how much I would have liked to."
Blind scolded him angrily, "Say earlier if you can't do it. Isn't it great, now we can't find her at all! Did any of you Dao friends see the previous cult mistress of Heavenly Devil Cult? She's especially beautiful and can charm you to your bones with just a word. Did anyone see her?"
Everyone shook their heads.
A hope lit up in Xue Bi'e's heart, and she said loudly, "We are from Heavenly Saint Cult, I hope you two can assist us!"
Rulai was astonished, and Old Dao Master asked, "What's their background?"
"My main disciple and Spear God," Rulai said.
Old Dao Master said in astonishment, "So it's the three-eyed Divine Constable Ma and the God's Eyes from back then. You've already become this old?"
Old Ma shook his head and said, "Your matter isn't as important as us finding our person, we won't bother."
"You guys killing the emperor and protecting the emperor is really not as urgent as us finding our person." Blind sighed ruefully. "If the emperor is dead, you'll just need to change to a new one. However, if that demoness runs out, hehe, the whole world will be doomed. Emperor, have you seen this cult mistress before?"
Emperor Yanfeng had a grim expression, and he slowly shook his head. "I've never seen her before. May I ask the two seniors to assist?"
Blind was slightly disappointed. "No interest. It's good that you haven't seen her. If you had seen her, you could only jolly wait for your empire to be destroyed. Old Ma, let's go, she couldn't have gotten far!"
Old Ma nodded, and the two of them whooshed away, vanishing without a trace.
Everyone was startled. "They are really weird senior experts."
The sounds of slaughter rang out in the air again.
Rulai released the light from the golden alms bowl, and the twenty heavens soared into the sky. Dao Master released his sword light, and the power of the fourteenth writing burst forth. The sword light expounded the relations between the earth and the heaven. It was like heaven and like earth, transforming into all laws, into the alignment of stars. This sword had the aspect of all the relations between the earth and the heaven as one!
Emperor Yanfeng executed Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, and the propitious vapors of the nine dragons surrounded his body as he stepped onto multicolored sunlight. Each of his blows contained power beyond imagination which could rend mountains and split seas, reversing heaven and earth. He was proficient in a great number of divine arts and could even execute Dao Sword of Dao Sect and Victorious Fighting Skill of Great Thunderclap Monastery. Any divine art could somehow become miraculous in his hands and achieve unimaginable power.
Even the Secrets of Hatred Parting Heavenly Sword, a sword skill which only women could cultivate was able to be executed by him, at an even greater power.
When touched by him, even the most ordinary moves would gain immense power!
Spells, sword skills, and even divine arts of the corporeal body could all be executed by him, and the power of every strike would be like moving the mountains and draining the seas!
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique had already been cultivated to the level of god by him!
Dao Master's eyes lighted up, and his sword skill moved and attacked Emperor Yanfeng like a storm. He praised, "Everyone said Imperial Preceptor was a genius in path and skills, but the world has failed to notice Emperor Yanfeng. Your Majesty, you're already a grandmaster and you could establish your own sect and create your own sacred ground. What a pity!"
Chi, chi, chi!
Dao Sword had the rhythm of heaven and earth which broke through Emperor Yanfeng's layers of defense and injured him again and again.
Rulai saw an opening, and his golden alms bowl flipped to make the twenty heavens pressure him. The twenty small worlds in the alms bowls pressed down onto Emperor Yanfeng's body one after another.
Emperor Yanfeng grunted. As he held out against the immense pressure of the twenty heavens, his movements became very slow. However, the power of his path, skills and divine arts had instead become more and more powerful as he contended against Dao Sword.
The incomplete sword skill from Dao Master had a myriad of transformations, and it had no traces as he derived the limits of algebra operations. He thoroughly performed the path of producing one, one producing two, two producing three, and three producing all things and achieving the essence of the three that produced all things.
However, Dao Master's wisdom was cut short here, so he hadn't completely succeeded in cultivating the final move, which was why his skill was incomplete. Yet even though it was an incomplete sword skill, it could destroy all paths, skills, and divine arts!
Rulai suspended the golden alms bowl in the air and chanted in his buddha voice, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has yet to appear, but changes are inevitable, let's finish this as fast as possible." When he finished saying this, his body trembled and transformed into a tall buddhist idol. His palm smacked forward lightly, and his five fingers shook, which resulted in five mountains pressing down.
At this moment, Qin Mu was sitting on the back of the dragon qilin three hundred miles away. The dragon qilin was still sprinting through the air while stepping on his fire clouds.
"Faster, try to go faster!" Qin Mu felt terrifying pulses from ahead and hurried his mount, "If you can run faster, I'll give you three buckets of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills!"
The dragon qilin panted heavily as he said, "Cult master, I'm already trying my best."
Qin Mu gritted his teeth and said, "Your speed is a whole chunk slower than that of the green bull! He could easily run twice as fast as you and travel ten thousand mile in a sprint! Fatty Dragon, if you exert more strength, I'll bring you to beat up the green bull! While if you remain this slow, I'll bring the green bull to beat you!"
The dragon qilin gritted his teeth and suddenly exerted all his strength to sprint forward. The fire clouds under his fire exploded, and his speed was raised tremendously, almost throwing Qin Mu off. After running thirty to fifty miles like this, the dragon qilin's speed slowed down again, and he started foaming at his mouth. "Cult master, I can't take it anymore!"
Qin Mu was helpless and said fiercely, "Still dare to be a glutton, I'll put you on the dinner table on next New Year!"
Just as he was saying that, trails of green and grey light whooshed past, leaving him stunned. That two lights then turned back.
"Mu'er, why are you here?" The two lights stopped, revealing themselves as Old Ma and Blind. Blind said, "If my eyesight wasn't good, I just might have passed by you. When did you leave Great Thunderclap Monastery? Did the monks give you any trouble?"
Qin Mu immediately said, "I left right after you guys. Grandpa Blind, Grandpa Ma, things are bad, Rulai and the rest are killing the emperor!"
Old Ma said, "We have seen it. Small matter, the emperors have always kept changing."
Blind grumbled, "Mu'er, you can't ignore the more important matter. Li Tianxing is the biggest trouble, if this wretch takes over granny's body, that would be a real problem. Who's going to be able to stop her?"
"I found granny, so there's no need for grandpas to worry. Granny just doesn't want to return to Great Ruins as she's afraid of implicating you guys." Qin Mu blinked then and asked, "Can grandpas save the emperor?"
Old Ma looked at Blind, and Blind shook his head. "Hard. The emperor might already be dead. Once Rulai and Dao Master ally themselves together, even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would probably be helpless. That's right, your Heavenly Devil Cult is also there, and I reckon they will die miserably."
Qin Mu gritted his teeth. "The emperor can't die yet, there's no need to bother about the experts of my cult though, they can teleport away anytime. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is not there?"
"Never saw him." Old Ma said, "Rulai is old, Dao Master is also old, and they both can't fight for a long period of time; otherwise, much of their lives would be exhausted."
Blind beamed, "We are younger than them." Old Ma nodded, and Blind smiled. "In that case, let us snatch the emperor back. Mu'er, wait here, we will go snatch the emperor's corpse back for you."
Qin Mu was stunned. "Corpse?"
Old Ma left into the distance, so his voice came from far away. "Since Dao Master had made a move with Rulai, he's definitely dead."
In the battlefield, Rulai and Dao Master attacked together as they tried to end this battle as fast as possible. Emperor Yanfeng suffered heavy blows repeatedly while withstanding the attacks of the two god-like existences. His qi and blood were still extremely vigorous whereas the qi and blood of Rulai and Dao Master were fluctuating up and down. However, the cultivations of these two people were simply too strong. In terms of cultivation, both of them far surpassed him, and in terms of battle power, both of them were also a level higher than him. What's more, these two god-like existences had joined hands to attack him.
Even though his qi and blood were vigorous, he was getting burned out and was merely a dying ember.
Dao Master and Rulai were well aware that the next move could end his life when a bamboo cane came striking over. Old Dao Master hurriedly swung his sword to defend, and Rulai felt a murderous intent coming from his back. The golden alms bowl immediately shone backward, and a ding and dong could be heard as the bamboo cane struck the sword and the sword stabbed into the golden alms bowl.
Blind stumbled backward and praised, "Superb abilities, and your cultivations are higher than mine. Just a little weaker than that of Village Chief, that old fellow." Once he had finished saying this, he turned and left.
Rulai and Dao Master hurriedly turned back and saw that Emperor Yanfeng had vanished without a trace.
"No need to chase. Emperor Yanfeng's qi and blood have withered and all his divine treasures are shattered." Rulai sighed, "Good, even if he's saved, he will be a useless person."
A body was suddenly thrown towards Qin Mu and crashed onto the dragon qilin's back. "Mu'er, the corpse you wanted is here!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu examined Emperor Yanfeng and saw that he was like a tattered sack filled with grain. Grain would pour out of a tattered sack just as blood poured out from the emperor. His situation was grim.
His qi and blood were failing rapidly. With his qi and blood lost, booming sounds came from the divine treasures, which sounded like the sky and earth crumbling. His divine treasures were already crumbling, so if he wasn't treated in time, he wouldn't last two hours before dying.
"So it's Palace Grandee." Emperor Yanfeng opened his eyes with difficulty and asked weakly, "Am I still savable?"
Qin Mu examined his injuries in detail, and his ten fingers moved quickly as he used Heavenly Devil Creation Technique to seal his souls and spirits, preventing them from leaving his body. Emperor Yanfeng instantly couldn't speak or move his eyeballs.
Qin Mu fetched some dragon's saliva and applied it on his wounds. When he raised his head, he saw that Blind and Old Ma had already left.
"Are they luring those pursuers away?"
Qin Mu wasn't certain, so he just said to the dragon qilin, "Return to granny's house."
The dragon qilin turned around. Qin Mu in the meantime sat on its back and fed Emperor Yanfeng the dragon's saliva before massaging his body to squeeze out the extravasated blood. Doing some mental calculations, he took out a few spirit pills.
Back when he had comprehended Unity Technique, the qi and blood in his body had been exhausted due to a huge flaw which caused his vitality to deteriorate. At that time, he had refined two kinds of spirit pills to save his life. One kind was Spirit Buddha Pill to replenish his vitality and the other kind was Blood Thriving Pellet to replenish his qi and blood. In the end, he also used Spirit Returning Pill Great Supplement Technique to eat a Red Dragon Carp King to fully replenish the emptiness in his body.
The spirit pills in his hand were Blood Thriving Pellets.
Qin Mu hesitated. Emperor Yanfeng was still savable, even if his qi and blood were failing, but if he consumed Blood Thriving Pellets so his qi and blood became vigorous, the crumbling divine treasures might just topple!
Emperor Yanfeng was exceptionally talented, so if the energy in his divine treasures was to suddenly explode, there would be nowhere to release the torrential energy. The emperor would just suddenly explode, and even Qin Mu and the dragon qilin would be blown into pieces by the out of control energy.
Yet if he didn't replenish the qi and blood for the emperor, his condition would be very dangerous.
'I have to guide the energy from his divine treasures out before replenishing his qi and blood.'
Qin Mu pondered for a moment. The best way to use the silver needles was to guide the violent energy out. However, once the silver needles were stabbed into his divine treasures, they would probably melt and wouldn't be able to guide the dissipated energy in time.
The next method was sealing, to seal the energy of Emperor Yanfeng's divine treasures in his body. However, Qin Mu didn't have such strong magic power to be able to seal Emperor Yanfeng's cultivation.
The next method was to use 'spirit pills' or poison to dissolve his power, dissolving it. However, these kinds of spirit pills were usually refined with highly toxic herbs. If he wasn't careful, Emperor Yanfeng's body might just dissolve as well!
Qin Mu decided to use the second method. He didn't have the ability to seal Emperor Yanfeng's cultivation but Granny Si should have.
"However, even if I save him, he will only be a useless person."
Qin Mu felt sorrow. Emperor Yanfeng was just at the time of his best years and his body was very good. He could have lived some two-three hundred years more, but after this torment, he would become like an ordinary human, with only the lifespan of only a few dozen years left.
A powerful ruler of a generation becoming an ordinary human, even Emperor Yanfeng wouldn't be able to handle this blow. Qin Mu didn't know how dejected he would be when he woke up.
'The second method may be the best method. By sealing the energy in his body, he might just be able to fix his divine treasures…'
Qin Mu shook his head. This possibility was very slim.
The dragon qilin returned to Granny Si's house in the forest. Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth, and he lifted Emperor Yanfeng with his vital qi without any bump.
Granny Si came out when she heard the commotion and was astonished. "Mu'er, what have you done… Emperor? You plan to skin the emperor and become the emperor yourself? Rascal, you're growing up more and more!"
Granny Si was over the moon before becoming worried. "However, the three thousand beauties in the emperor's chambers of imperial concubines are all little vixens, be careful about getting charmed to death."
Qin Mu said helplessly, "I'm not skinning him to become the emperor. Granny, help me seal the energy inside his divine treasure so he won't explode. I'm going to buy some herbs, don't turn the emperor into clothing!"
Granny Si had a worried expression. "You have to come home before the sky turns dark; otherwise, Li Tianxing that slut will definitely be happy to put on the emperor's skin and become the emperor!"
Emperor Yanfeng had awakened then and heard their conversation. He thought to himself, 'Who is this granny of Palace Grandee? Such a vicious person. And also, isn't Li Tianxing dead? How come he's also here…'
His injuries were too severe, though, so he fell back asleep.
Qin Mu ran out the door quickly and determined his location before running toward the closest city.
It was Quiet City, and it wasn't big. Because of the disaster, many herbs were unavailable. Qin Mu went through a few herb shops to gather enough herbs to replenish some qi and blood, then immediately sprinted back.
When he returned, the sky had yet to turn dark. He let out a sigh of relief and examined his patient. He saw that Granny Si had already sealed the energy in the divine treasures of Emperor Yanfeng and hidden them in his corporeal body. Emperor Yanfeng was still alive, even if his body was starting to disintegrate. His souls and spirits were fine, though.
"Once you undo Heavenly Devil Creation Technique, his corporeal body won't be able to bind his souls and spirits, he's bound to die!" Granny Si said.
"He won't die!" Qin Mu said solemnly. "I can make his souls and spirits remain in the human world. As long as his body still has breath, I can save him!"
Granny Si shook her head. "I shall go and prepare dinner. You have to be careful after that since the old devil will be out."
Qin Mu shivered and immediately fed Emperor Yanfeng some Blood Thriving Pellet and Spirit Buddha Pills before using vital qi to help him dissolve the medicinal energy. He then stabbed Emperor Yanfeng's body with silver needles to guide the medicinal energy before refining some more spirit pills.
Granny Si finished making dinner and called Qin Mu over to eat.
When the both of them were done with dinner, Granny Si turned and went into the room while Qin Mu continued to take care of Emperor Yanfeng. After some time, a soft voice came from outside as Granny Si laughed. "Mu'er, how's His Majesty doing?"
Qin Mu's soul shivered from that voice, and he said without moving from his place, "Cult Master Li, you're also the cult master of our sacred cult, what's this for?"
The voice immediately became old, and he chuckled, "I'm already dead, so I'm no longer part of Heavenly Saint Cult. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures have also been passed down to you, so why do you have to get involved with what I want to do? Give the emperor to me, I'm going to use him to hand the throne over to me. I want to be a female emperor!"
Qin Mu didn't answer.
Suddenly, the door was slammed wide open as Granny Si barged in with a sneer. "If you don't give me the emperor, I'll come and take him myself!"
She concentrated her gaze on what was happening and was left stunned. She saw that Qin Mu had planted the emperor in the soil, and he was standing straight like a pine tree.
Qin Mu was walking around Emperor Yanfeng while executing various techniques as he struck palm after palm towards the standing body.
"Earth Aeon Creation Technique? Spirit Creation Technique? Hmm, there's also Ghost Creation Technique!"
Granny Si looked at it once and saw that Qin Mu's hand techniques had myriad transformations. Each move and each form was incomparably clear as he executed the writings of creation in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to treat the injuries of Emperor Yanfeng.
This was done because there was no other choice, seeing how they didn't have enough spirit pills and miraculous medicine. Thus, Qin Mu could only use creation techniques to turn back the creations and seize the profound theory to treat Emperor Yanfeng.
"Cult Master Qin, your Earth Aeon Creation Technique is wrong!"
Li Tianxing's rough voice came from Granny Si's mouth as he sneered, "It's not executed this way! A proper devil technique got executed messily by you, making it seem like a righteous technique. You're really throwing the face of our Heavenly Saint Cult!"
After some time, he couldn't resist saying, "Spirit Creation Technique is also wrong, how can it be used to save people? For you to use it to change the composition of his corporeal body… Absolutely disgraceful, who uses Ghost Creation Technique like you do? Using a perfectly all right technique to stabilize his souls and spirits… Hmm, wait a minute! Interesting, very interesting…"
He became more and more engrossed as he looked. Qin Mu's creation techniques had gone a different direction from his own, and these techniques that were clearly devilish had instead become grand and impressive. They had been clearly created to harm people, but he was using them to save people.
Qin Mu used Earth Aeon Creation Technique to gather the qi of mother earth, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, to nourish Emperor Yanfeng's primordial spirit. He used Spirit Creation Technique to refine the hidden injuries in his body and used Ghost Creation Technique to stabilize Emperor Yanfeng's souls and spirits.
As the previous cult master, Li Tianxing had also cultivated these techniques, but he had taken the road of the devil path which involved plundering the creation of heaven and earth and the creation of other people. Granny Si's techniques of the devil path had also been taught by him.
His eyesight was extremely shrewd and ruthless. He could see the road Qin Mu had taken was totally contrary to his. He seized from the outside while Qin Mu took from the inside. If one cultivated using Qin mu's method, the speed might be slower, but their souls, spirits, primordial spirit, and physique would become incomparably stable. Both the body and the mind would be strong!
The most wonderful point was the word creation in Seven Writings of Creation. This would make his souls, spirits, primordial spirit, physique, and divine treasures have quality upgrades. For example - aptitude. One's aptitude is determined at birth and is hard to change; however, cultivating Qin Mu's would allow one to use creations techniques to change their own aptitude, to improve it for better and better.
Li Tianxing was a great expert, otherwise, he wouldn't have become the sacred cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. When he saw the same techniques going down a different path, he couldn't help becoming engrossed in it.
Every transformation in Qin Mu's moves had a huge attraction to him, and even though he wanted very much to kill Emperor Yanfeng and bring his skin to become the emperor, he still wanted to see more transformations from the creation techniques.
Without him noticing, the crows of roosters sounded out, and rays of sunlight scattered in through the window. Li Tianxing sighed. "You escaped death for a night; however, I'll definitely kill you guys tomorrow night…"
The body trembled, and Granny Si woke up. She immediately asked, "Mu'er, did the old devil harm you?"
Qin Mu also let out a sigh of relief, his body covered in stinky sweat. He shook his head and said, "He was only engrossed in looking at my creation techniques and got muddled along the way. Granny, I need to rest for a while, I shall use other techniques of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to muddle him the upcoming night."
When night came, Emperor Yanfeng's injuries were much better, and he woke up with a clear mind. Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said, "Your Majesty, I'll undo the Heavenly Devil Creation Technique on your body and see if your body is able to hold onto your soul."
Just as he undid Heavenly Devil Creation Technique, Emperor Yanfeng's body suddenly became hollow and collapsed to the ground. Two souls and two spirits from his three souls and seven spirits had flown out and got ready to leave for Youdu.
Qin Mu immediately executed Soul Guide to guide them back into his body before frowning.
Emperor Yanfeng's body was still too weak to hold onto his souls and spirits.
Suddenly, a delicate laughter came from outside. "Cult master, I'm here again! If you have no new tricks, I'll kill the emperor!"
Emperor Yanfeng said weakly, "What demoness talks so charmingly…"
Qin Mu immediately sealed the man's five senses. His own body then trembled as he revealed the form of Saturn Sovereign and the Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind his back.
Granny Si barged into the room this time and gave a cry of astonishment. "Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique? What's that on the gate? Why is there a book in your hand? Your Earth Marquis True Technique is different from mine."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Granny Si was attracted to the Gate of Heaven Influence and the scroll. As a matter of fact, Qin Mu also didn't understand the words on it; he could only read the words on the gate.
He only knew one phrase in Youdu's language, and that was Gate of Heaven Influence. For this phrase, he had been almost killed by Dutian Devil King.
"You want to learn? I can teach you," Qin Mu said calmly.
Li Tianxing's voice came from Granny Si's mouth as he sneered, "Do I need you to teach? You're the cult master sacred teacher and I'm also the cult master sacred teacher. Furthermore, I'm your senior, so where will I put my face if you teach me?"
Qin Mu smiled. "But you don't know the true Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique."
Li Tianxing was pissed and rolled granny's eyes flirtatiously at him. "I'm the cult master sacred teacher, what's there I don't know?"
Qin Mu ignored him and stabilized his mind. That look was too powerful and had almost captivated him. He executed Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill and layers of heavens opened in his eyes. When he looked at the emperor, he only saw his ruined divine treasures that were like ruined heaven and earth.
Qin Mu gave a muffled shout, and the heart of his brows suddenly split open, revealing a third eye. This eye didn't seem like a corporeal eye of the human world, but that it had come from a world of gloom. It emanated a dark and sinister air that caused the light of the candle to instantly become dim.
When this eye opened, the room seemed to enter another world which didn't look like the human world!
Qin Mu used this eye to look at his patient and instantly saw Emperor Yanfeng's souls, spirits, primordial spirits. He then found where the main problem lay.
One cultivates primordial spirit on Celestial Being Realm. When their vital qi fuses with the souls and spirits, they would become the primordial spirit, which was also the god that stood tall behind the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm. That was the primordial spirit, vital qi, and spirit.
Emperor Yanfeng's primordial spirit stood on the divine bridge, looking like it wanted to cross to the god realm. Since his secret realms were crumbling, his primordial spirit, as well as his souls and spirits, were severely injured. With his souls and spirits in a mess and his primordial spirit unprotected, his three souls and seven spirits were no longer whole. There was also a terrifying energy still bombarding his corporeal body, causing his soul to waver.
Thus, even if Qin Mu managed to save his body, the emperor's souls and spirits wouldn't be able to remain in his body.
Li Tianxing's imposing manner suddenly turned gloomy as he said resentfully, "Though I've never learned this eye before… Is this really the Earth Marquis True Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures?"
Qin Mu closed his eyes and dispersed the form of Saturn Sovereign. He frowned as he walked to and fro while pondering. Li Tianxing held back his anger and quietly waited.
Qin Mu suddenly clapped and smiled. "What can I see if I only stay here? Why don't I enter the emperor's body to examine it in detail! Cult Master Li, follow me!"
Li Tianxing was shocked and asked suspiciously, "How can you enter his body?"
"Simple. There's a technique in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures called Phantom Illusion Technique which hides a person in the shadow, concealing the form of the corporeal body. There's also a technique called Heavenly Mustard Seed Technique which can shrink and expand the corporeal body. By executing both techniques together, we can shrink our body before transforming into a phantom to enter Emperor Yanfeng's body and examine his primordial spirit and divine treasures."
Qin Mu took a glance at the woman nearby and said, "You don't know?"
Li Tianxing laughed from anger and said, "How would I not know?"
Qin Move moved a step back and grabbed onto the woman's hand, pulling her towards Emperor Yanfeng. The two of them then executed both Phantom Illusion Technique and Heavenly Mustard Seed Technique almost at the same time, and while they were sprinting towards Emperor Yanfeng, their bodies became smaller and smaller before turning into two black shadows on the floor which tunneled into the heart of Emperor Yanfeng's brows.
Even though Emperor Yanfeng were frozen and his five senses were sealed by Qin Mu, he could still feel two black shadows moving around his body.
Qin Mu and Li Tianxing paused when they came to his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. The two of them stood at the edge of it and looked ahead.
Emperor Yanfeng's Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure had already been destroyed. His spirit embryo and spirit platform had crumbled, and the sky was filled with thousands of holes. An extremely disturbing crack was in one part of the sky, revealing a snow white skull that was on the outside.
There was fresh blood pouring into the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure like a huge waterfall.
Other than that, Qin Mu also saw a sword light flying to and fro in the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, destroying this divine treasure without any restraint.
"Dao Master's Dao Sword!"
Li Tianxing was astonished, "That old Daoist is really remarkable, he had struck his sword will inside!"
"Can you take away this sword will?" Qin Mu asked.
Li Tianxing chuckled. "Why should I help you?"
Qin Mu smiled. "You have seen so many true teachings of my Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, so there should be reciprocation. Even if you don't help me, I can ask Granny Si to help me tomorrow."
Li Tianxing snorted and flew forward with his ten fingers suddenly spread wide open. Instantly, threads of vital qi connected with each other and intersected to form a spatial sealing cage. The opposite angles of the cage connected with each other to form another spatial sealing cage within this cage. In the second one, a new one was soon formed, so on and so forth. It was literally endless.
Li Tianxing threw this clean-cut ball out, and it collided with the sword will, which instantly vanished as it got sucked inside.
Li Tianxing stretched his hand out to grab that cube back, then threw it up and down as he looked at Qin Mu with a pleased expression.
"Multiple sides spatial sealing technique," Qin Mu exclaimed. "It's indeed ingenious."
"You may recognize it but you might not be able to use it." Li Tianxing laughed.
Qin Mu gave a smile and executed spatial sealing technique without any extra trouble. "My cultivation is too weak, so I can't seal Dao Master's sword will. However, I've also dipped my hands into algebra so I know how to set up spatial seals, only my cultivation is inferior to yours. You and I are both cult master sacred teachers, that's why what I know won't be any less than what you know. It will only be more."
Li Tianxing snorted, but since the sound was so feminine, people would only find it cute instead of being disgusted by it.
Qin Mu breathed heavily in his heart and transformed into a fine shadow to leave the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure and enter the Five Elements Divine Treasure.
In that place, there were five huge buddhas sitting in the shattered sky which replaced the stars of the five elements. Li Tianxing flicked his fingers, and five trails of devil qi transformed into five lotus flowers which flew out and landed under the bodies of the five huge buddhas. In an instant, they became weak and their bodies withered away as blazing devil flames ignited. The five huge buddhas instantly turned into ashes. Li Tianxing sneered, "Do you know this as well?"
Qin Mu said, "This is Red Lotus Devil Heart Mantra. This is my first time executing this mantra but it won't be any inferior to yours!"
His vital qi transformed as he executed Red Lotus Devil Heart Mantra. With a flick of a finger, a red lotus flew out.
Li Tianxing stared at it, and it was indeed Red Lotus Devil Heart Mantra. However, it was superior to his. The devil flames red lotus that was formed by the devil qi he had flicked out earlier wasn't as pure as that of Qin Mu's red lotus karma fire. Yet because of the limitation of his cultivation, the power of Red Lotus Devil Heart Mantra Qin Mu had executed was much weaker.
The two of them then went to Six Directions Divine Treasure and saw that it had also been crushed. Air was leaking out from everywhere, which made this place fresh and cool. There was still half a heaven hidden here with the buddhas and gods attacking it, shattering the six directions.
Li Tianxing couldn't resist saying, "This emperor is hopeless, each layer of his divine treasures is worse than the previous. Even if you save him, he will be a useless person. Is there a need for you to put in so much effort?"
On this journey, she had already recognized what Qin Mu, this cult master sacred teacher, was doing. Her opinion of him improved by a lot, and she felt that it wasn't worth it for him to put in so much effort in saving Emperor Yanfeng which would become a useless person.
Qin Mu shook his head. "I have to save him for Heavenly Saint Cult."
Li Tianxing didn't ask any more questions and made her move to take away the remnants of Rulai's divine art in the Six Directions Divine Treasure. "Even though I'm no longer the sacred cult master, I wore that mantle once. I'm willing to do things that are beneficial to the sacred cult," she said in a low voice.
Astonished, Qin Mu nodded silently.
The two of them then came to Seven Stars Divine Treasures and look to where the sun and the moon should be hanging in the sky. The two had already been destroyed, and there were two divine swords hanging in their place. Those swords would tremble from time to time, and sword qi that filled the sky would instantly come down in all directions!
Qin Mu was bewildered, and in a low voice, he said, "Seven Stars Divine Treasure, from its name there should be seven stars…"
"Seven Stars Divine Treasure has a sun and a moon, the twin stars. With the addition to the five elements of Five Elements Divine Treasure, it makes it seven stars," Li Tianxing pointed out to him. "Look down and you can see the Five Elements Divine Treasure.
Qin Mu looked down and his heart trembled slightly. Below their feet was Five Elements Divine Treasure, and the five elements together with the sun and moon here formed the seven stars. However, Emperor Yanfeng's Five Elements Divine Treasure had already been destroyed, and there were shocking cracks below their feet. The sky would crumble from time to time, looking very unstable.
"These two divine treasures are connected together, so once you cultivate to Seven Stars Divine Treasure, you can see Five Elements and Seven Stars together as one. If you cultivate to Celestial Being Realm, you can see Six Directions outside Spirit Embryo. Five Elements are distributed in the sky, while the sun and moon of Seven Stars hang at the topmost part. These are the poles of heaven and earth."
Li Tianxing explained, giving him pointers, "When it comes to Life and Death Realm, darkness would appear from the land below your feet, which is the passage to Youdu. When you reach Divine Bridge, there will be a divine bridge all the way to heaven! At that time, you will not be far from becoming a god."
She revealed a smile, but it was a cruel one. "However, at that time you will realize that the bridge leading to heaven is broken! Hehe, broken! Your whole life of cultivation, determination, and long-lasting ideals will all be useless once you reach the end of your lifespan. Everything is empty, everything is empty!"
"Cult Master Li, calm down," Qin Mu said.
Li Tianxing rolled her eyes at him in a feminine manner and couldn't resist asking, "Aren't you disappointed?"
Qin Mu was bewildered. "What's there to be disappointed about if you live your life to the fullest?"
Li Tianxing was stunned but then nodded. "That's why I shall live my life to the fullest, to become the most beautiful woman in the world!"
Qin Mu's scalp turned numb. He didn't know if it was the excitement from Granny Si or if it was him cultivating Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures that had made him dumb.
They walked into Emperor Yanfeng's Celestial Being Divine Treasure, and Qin Mu finally saw how Spirit Embryo, Six Directions, Five Elements, and Seven Stars formed the poles of heaven and earth which Li Tianxing had mentioned.
Reaching Life and Death Realm, he saw the darkness of Youdu beneath his feet.
Finally, they came to the last place, Divine Bridge Divine Treasure.
A divine bridge stretched across the sky and crossed Life and Death, Sun and Moon, Five Elements, Six Directions. It seemed like there was an incomparably bright and glorious heaven at the other end of the divine bridge where gods were waiting for them to move forward.
Emperor Yanfeng's divine bridge, however, had already cracked in numerous places, and there were pieces crashing down from time to time, smashing straight through layers of divine treasures and into Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!
Li Tianxing looked around. "The emperor is really hopeless. He's useless, so give his skin to me, I shall be the emperor and Eternal Peace will belong to our Heavenly Saint Cult!"
Qin Mu shook his head. "You aren't cut out to be the emperor, you are only suitable to bring disaster to all living things."
Li Tianxing was angry and stared at him furiously. "I will become the female emperor, and I'll grant you a consort!"
Qin Mu rolled his eyes, showing him his white eyeballs.
Li Tianxing was stunned for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.
"Powerful demoness!" Qin Mu immediately sealed his five senses to prevent himself from getting affected.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
They swept away all the remnants of the divine arts left behind by Dao Master and Rulai, which gave Qin Mu an idea of how to continue treating Emperor Yanfeng. He calculated for a bit, then said, "Without the remnants of the divine arts, his souls and spirits can finally be stabilized. Even though the Emperor's divine treasures are crumbling, with enough spirit medicine, I can use Phantom Illusion Technique and Heavenly Mustard Seed Technique to enter his divine treasures. If I refine the pills and medicines here, I might just be able to repair the injuries to his divine treasure. Though…"
He had never treated such injuries before, so he didn't have any confidence in being successful with his treatment.
If there were only cracks in the divine treasures, he could still treat them, but Emperor Yanfeng's divine treasures were destroyed. Apothecary had taught him lots of medicinal knowledge, but there were no methods to treat these kinds of injuries among them.
However, there were some herbs that were able to cure injuries to divine treasures, and Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures also had some techniques that could strengthen divine treasures. Qin Mu felt that if he could apply both of them together, there would be a chance.
When the two of them left Emperor Yanfeng's divine treasures, the sky soon brightened. Granny Si woke up while Li Tianxing fell into slumber.
Qin Mu undid the Heavenly Devil Creation Technique and said, "Your Majesty, I'm going out to buy some herbs so I might be gone for three to five days. During this period of time, don't go out of the room. There will be someone who will bring you your meals and place them at your door. When night comes, no matter what sound you hear, you can't leave the room. If someone asks you to just take a look, you can't that look."
Emperor Yanfeng said weakly, "Minister Qin, to what kind of place have you brought me? It's so mysterious?"
Qin Mu had a grave expression. "Your Majesty, this is where my granny and Li Tianxing is staying. You just need to know that the one looking for you at night will definitely be Li Tianxing. If you look out, you will die. However, that won't be all, the entire Eternal Peace Empire will fall with you as well! If you walk out of this door, you'll surely die!"
Emperor Yanfeng heard his serious tone and smiled. "Don't worry, I understand. I'm not that curious of a person."
Qin Mu closed the door and wielded his brush soaked with ink. His body trembled as he transformed into the human-headed and snake-bodied Saturn Sovereign and circulated his magic power. When he raised his brush, he drew a gate on the door and wrote Gate of Heaven Influence in the language of Youdu.
His body then returned back to normal, and he wrote a sentence on the ground which said, "This is the gate that's created from Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. If you can read it, you can go in, if you can't, you shall stay outside."
Qin Mu put away his brush and ink before telling Granny Si, "Granny, don't touch this door at all cost. When you send meals to the emperor, send them in with a bamboo pole. Never walk through this door."
Granny Si examined the words on the door and blinked. "This door?"
Qin Mu also blinked, not saying anything.
Granny Si understood. "I will definitely not go in."
Qin Mu walked out of the courtyard and jumped onto the dragon qilin's back. Turning his head back to the room Emperor Yanfeng was in, he thought to himself, 'It's fine if Li Tianxing understands the language of Youdu, but if he doesn't recognize it and tries to barge in, his soul will be pulled into Youdu and belong to Earth Count! Granny will also be free then.'
Emperor Yanfeng felt much better, and he could already move around with difficulty. However, he strictly kept to Qin Mu's words and never left the room. When it was lunch, Granny Si would use a bamboo pole to send a basket into the room. Emperor Yanfeng would squat down and open the door slightly, taking the basket in. When he was done eating, he would place the basket back at the door, never going out at all.
Ever since he had become the emperor, it was the first time he was feeling so sullen.
After dinner, he suddenly heard melodious giggling from the other side of the door. The sound seemed to penetrate into the depths of his brains, and it was indescribably pleasant to hear. Emperor Yanfeng was entranced and felt that none of the three thousand beauties in his palace had such a voice that could send a man's heart racing.
"Since Cult Master Qin isn't around, then I shall play around with the emperor. If I'm happy, I might just skin him to make clothing and go to the capital city to become the female emperor."
Emperor Yanfeng was fearful of the words, yet he found the voice pleasant, messing up his heart. He wanted to open the door to take a look at the appearance of this woman, but then he remembered Qin Mu's words and thought to himself, 'This is Cult Master Li Tianxing using the devil voice to lure me out! That old devil is actually mimicking the voice of a woman, truly shameless.'
He blocked his ears, but that charming voice seemed to have already latched onto his brain, making it hard for him to forget it.
"Humph, that rascal actually dared to test me! Truly not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth… Although, I really don't recognize these words. We have both cultivated Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique. and I don't believe I'm inferior to him!"
…
The woman outside the door tried to solve the marvel of the words on the door and practiced Earth Marquis True Technique over and over again yet saw no success. Without noticing it, she had used up quite a lot of time, and Emperor Yanfeng had also finally fallen asleep after being anxious for a whole night.
When the next day came, it was the same as the previous day. And when night came, that woman came back to solve the meaning of the words on the door while Emperor Yanfeng almost grew a devil in his heart from her voice alone. He kept hearing a sweet and charming voice calling him to open the door to take a look.
When the third night came, that woman grumbled angrily, "I can cultivate it into understanding nor can I solve it! Why should I give up? If I can just barge in and kill the emperor to strip his skin, why do I still have to solve some puzzle?"
Emperor Yanfeng became alarmed, but then the woman said, "No, no… When Cult Master Qin used this technique, a third eye appeared and the room suddenly turned dim while the light turned green. It didn't look like the human world… There's something strange about this door, it might lead to another world if I go through it. The brat is very crafty, he must be thinking of scheming something…"
Emperor Yanfeng was astonished. 'This woman is clever… No, it should Cult Master Li who is a wily old fox! However, isn't Cult Master Li an old man? Why does he have to imitate a female voice which is so charming?'
He couldn't resist wanting to peek and thought to himself. 'Just a glance won't harm me, right?'
Just as he was about to peek through the slit in the window, a dragon roar came from outside. Qin Mu walked in with great strides and made him drop the thought of peeking.
"Cult Master Li didn't go through the door? Could you not know the words on the gate? Do you admit you have cultivated Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures wrongly?"
"What's your problem?"
"The meaning of the words on the door is Gate of Heaven Influence. I'll teach you."
When he finished saying, that he taught this Youdu phrase to Li Tianxing and said, "Cult Master Li, now you that have learned it, you can go through the door."
Cult Master Li chuckled. "I have learned this Youdu phrase and understood the meaning of the words on the door, but does that mean I will be safe after going through? Cult Master Qin, I'm also the cult master sacred teacher, and a crafty person, you can't trick me."
Qin Mu shook his head and walked up. He walked through the door and scraped the words on the door off with his vital qi before telling Emperor Yanfeng, "Your Majesty, I have gone to a few cities to buy herbs, but since all kinds of disasters had befallen people, there were few herbs in the medicine shops. I could only buy a few herbs and I don't know how effective they will be."
"Minister Qin, just do what you can," said Emperor Yanfeng. "Did Minister Qin hear any news after going out this time?"
"Your Majesty has died." Qin Mu looked at him and said neither too fast nor too slow, "News from the capital city say that Your Majesty overworked yourself by handling political affairs and died in the process. The crown prince is currently preparing for your funeral and the entire empire is grieving."
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly shook, then said with a smile that's was not a smile, "I have already died? Truly my good son, good son… What about General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest? Are they still alive?"
While preparing the herbs to refine spirit pills, Qin Mu said, "In that battle outside Bazhou City, the people of my Heavenly Saint Cult only focused on saving the emperor, so they had teleported away after you left. General of Heavenly Strategies, High Official, Situ, Sikong, and the rest were all captured. Dao Master and Rulai did not do anything to them, just handed them over to the crown prince. They are the heads of influential families that have great power in the capital city, so Your Majesty doesn't t need to worry about their safety. The crown prince still requires the support of those influential families."
"My good son…" Emperor Yanfeng sighed.
The power that General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest wielded was great; they held over half of the capital's power, along with its military and many other levels of society. If the crown prince wanted to ascend to the throne, he required their support.
"The empire can't go on without a ruler, so the crown prince's ascension should be set on the first half of the third month. Sixth of the third month is an auspicious date so the crown prince should be ascending to the throne then. With the support of Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery, him becoming the emperor is firmly set in place. Whoever dares to object will be eradicated with their whole family."
"Where's Imperial Preceptor? I wouldn't have fallen into such plight if he was around."
"Imperial Preceptor has gone out on a honeymoon and there's still no news of him. When I went out this time, I also met quite a number of scouts searching for traces of Your Majesty. I heard that the crown prince ordered to find your body even if you're dead."
Qin Mu executed Phantom Illusion Technique and tunneled into the emperor's divine treasures. In Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, he used the medicinal energy of the spirit pills, but even though it dissolved, the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure wasn't repaired. The effects of the medicine were minimal.
Qin Mu frowned and changed a few kinds of spirit pills, but all of their effects were similarly minimal.
He then transformed into a black shadow and flew out of the heart of Emperor Yanfeng's brows. He revealed his true form as he landed on the ground and paced to and fro. Suddenly, he said, "Your Majesty, your injuries are hard to treat. I can treat the ones on your body and even your soul, but I can't deal with those on your divine treasures. However, my Grandpa Apothecary should be able to treat you, is Your Majesty willing to follow me to Great Ruins?"
Hope was renewed in Emperor Yanfeng's heart. "This apothecary is?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before saying honestly, "Jade Face Poison King."
Emperor Yanfeng's complexion turned black, and he said angrily, "Jade Face Poison King?"
He was the emperor and Empress Dowager was his mother. However, Jade Face Poison King had an unclear relationship with her, and before Apothecary's true identity was revealed, he was known as Jade Face Playboy that had lovers all around the world. Even reputable nuns had unclear relationships with him.
Emperor Yanfeng naturally knew about this, but it wasn't convenient for him to say anything. He had once ordered people to assassinate Jade Face Poison King, to get rid of Empress Dowager's gigolo. Part of the reason why Grandpa Apothecary was forced to hide in Great Ruins was due to his efforts.
He was absolutely unwilling to meet Jade Face Poison King.
"Minister Qin, I'm not going to Great Ruins. My unfilial son is ascending to the throne and spoiling the reform I had worked on for the past two hundred years, I can't let this foundation be destroyed in a day," Emperor Yanfeng said solemnly. "We shall go to the capital city!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly, and he took a glance at him. "Your Majesty is sure you want to go to the capital city?"
Emperor Yanfeng nodded. "The capital city is where the dragon veins gather and my Ling Family's Nine Dragons Monarch Technique can cultivate twice as fast there. I just might be able to borrow the qi of the nine dragons to reconstruct my divine treasures. The blood and sweat of Imperial Preceptor and I can't be allowed to go to waste! As long as I return to the capital city, I can depose my unfilial son!"
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment, then smiled. "Pardon me." He took out a Pig Slaughtering Knife and stripped the emperor of his crown and yellow robe.
Emperor Yanfeng's face changed drastically. "Minister Qin, what are you doing?"
Qin Mu pressed down on his head, and the Pig Slaughtering Knife went scraping. After some time, Emperor Yanfeng's head was bald, without a strand of hair remaining.
Qin Mu then took a few sticks of incense and lighted them up before pressing them down onto Emperor Yanfeng's scalp. He was in pain as his scalp sizzled from being burnt, forming scabs.
Qin Mu sized him up and smiled. "Excellent. Now, you still need a set of buddhist robes and grass shoes, as well as prayer beads. Your beard also needs to be shaved." After he had said that, he pushed the emperor down and cleanly shaved his beard off.
Emperor Yanfeng was furious, but he couldn't retaliate. After a moment, he was fresh and cool. He was dressed up into a yellow robe of an eminent monk, and the emperor that naturally exuded dignity and power was gone.
Qin Mu then fetched a brush and adjusted the color of the ink before painting on Emperor Yanfeng's face. The man wanted to retaliate, but his movements were immediately sealed. He could only stand there stoically and let Qin Mu do whatever he wanted.
Once Qin Mu was done painting, he fetched a mirror and placed it in front of him with a smile. "Does Your Majesty still recognize yourself?"
Emperor Yanfeng looked at the person in the mirror and saw a middle-aged monk. There was a scar that stretches all the way from his left eyes to his nose bridge, passing by his right cheek and all the way to the bottom of his left ear. He gave people the feel of a fiendishly ill monk that ate vegetarian food and prayed to buddha during his free time while committing murder and arson when he wasn't feeling well.
Qin Mu took off his knife sheaths and placed them on Emperor Yanfeng's back. Emperor Yanfeng grunted and collapsed to the ground. He couldn't move and cried out, "Bones, my bones are cracking! Take them away quickly, I can't… breathe…"
"Oh, I've forgotten Your Majesty's cultivation is crippled and your body isn't like before."
Qin Mu immediately took the two Pig Slaughtering Knives off and took a plank from outside. He carved two wooden knives and painted them with metallic paint, making a clear distinction between black and white. He then made two knife sheaths and the two wooden Pig Slaughtering Knives on Emperor Yanfeng's back.
Qin Mu sized him up and smiled. "Your Majesty can now leave with me."
Emperor Yanfeng pulled out the two wooden knives and said angrily, "Minister Qin, how dare you make a fool out of me, I want to execute you! Stretch your head out!"
Qin Mu stretched his head out with a smile. "Your Majesty, please."
Emperor Yanfeng ruthlessly chopped at his neck twice and started panting in exhaustion. Qin Mu then passed his own Pig Slaughter Knife over and said, "Your Majesty can use a real knife."
Emperor Yanfeng's hands grabbed onto the handle of the knife, but he couldn't raise it up no matter what. He threw the knife on the ground in anger and said angrily, "I'll note it down for now. Let us go!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu bade farewell to Granny Si and brought the emperor to walk while the dragon qilin followed behind. Qin Mu taught Emperor Yanfeng Spirit Creation Technique from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures before imparting his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to him. "Cultivate these two techniques together as you walk. It'll strengthen your body at the minimum, while it can also be beneficial to your injuries."
Emperor Yanfeng was skeptical and tried to cultivate his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and Spirit Creation Technique. His complexion turned for the better and he smiled. "This technique is good, to actually be able to cultivate while walking. I feel that my strength has recovered."
"Cultivate it first then. When you achieve small attainment, the injuries on your body will heal and your physique will become stronger. I will then teach your Ghost Creation Technique to cultivate your soul, so it could stabilize. We can then use medicine to treat the soul and attack one problem from two angles at the same time. By that time, the injuries on your soul will completely recover."
Qin Mu was suddenly lost in thought. 'Now that I taught the techniques of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to the emperor, should he join our Heavenly Saint Cult? If so, what position should I give him?'
He took a glance at Emperor Yanfeng while harboring evil designs. 'I'm still lacking a heavenly king. If I could make the emperor join us and become the heavenly king of Heavenly Saint Cult, the entire Eternal Peace Empire would become our Heavenly Saint Cult's…'
Emperor Yanfeng trained hard, and his body became stronger. He managed to cultivate some vital qi, but without divine treasures, there was simply a limit to his cultivation.
Qin Mu also cultivated at a leisurely pace. When he executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, five beams of light shone down from the sky. Those were the five elements in his body connecting with the stars of the five elements, drawing the star power to raise his cultivation.
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly stunned. 'He's still on Five Elements Realm?'
He always thought that Qin Mu was already a divine arts practitioner of Six Directions Realm; after all, Qin Mu's abilities were already on par with people of that level. His cultivation was also no inferior to divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm, so he didn't think that Qin Mu would still be on Five Elements Realm.
'Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures of Heavenly Devil Cult are truly extraordinary,' Emperor Yanfeng exclaimed in admiration to himself, but he didn't know that Qin Mu's vital qi had mainly come from Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. The exact same technique Emperor Yanfeng was currently cultivating.
Qin Mu's cultivation had indeed reached the peak of Five Elements Realm and wasn't far from Six Directions Realm. He was just waiting for the Five Elements Star Sovereigns to stabilize first before trying to break through.
The two of them walked for four days and spent their nights in the open. When they reached the next city, Qin Mu brought Emperor Yanfeng inside and bought some herbs. It was the first time Emperor Yanfeng had suffered so much in his life, both of his feet were filled with blisters and abrasions.
In the inn, Qin Mu placed him in a wooden tub to soak in medicinal water for a night. The emperor fell asleep in the wooden tub. When he woke up the next morning, he discovered that the blisters on his feet had all vanished and his body had become much lighter. He clicked his tongue in wonder.
The two of them continued on their way and came to the boundary of Pray Prefecture. There, they could see many divine arts practitioners chasing after the villagers, whipping and scolding them.
"This land belongs to our Pray Mountain Sect!"
Those divine art practitioners were most likely disciples of Pray Mountain Sect and what they cultivated was lightning skills. They could control a formation to strike everywhere with lightning, so they herded the villagers into one spot.
"The emperor has ordered to reinstate the system of our ancestors, so the land of sects will belong to sects! From now on, there's no need to provide for the empire, only give offerings to Pray Mountain Sect!"
A villager was unwilling to accept this and was struck to death by a bolt of lightning just as he started to argue.
Qin Mu stopped and observed, frowning slightly. Emperor Yanfeng had a black face and said coldly, "To go against the tide!"
They passed by other prefectures and saw the power of sects returning like ashes taking flame once more. They were seizing territories and plundering the rich. As they split the territories, more chaos was added to the already chaotic lands.
The snow disaster had already caused major damage. Thus, the addition of sects making a comeback and seizing territories, catching commoners to be their farming slaves was adding oil to the fire.
The authorities everywhere that had been sending disaster relief had also stopped. The numbers of people who were starving and freezing to death escalated to the point that they could not be counted.
Emperor Yanfeng was solemn and worked even harder to cultivate, trying to repair his divine treasures and regain his cultivation.
When they came to Harmony Prefecture, Qin Mu came to the city lord's manor and the magistrate of Harmony Prefecture came to welcome him. He took a glance at Emperor Yanfeng but didn't recognize him. His gaze landed on Qin Mu and said, "Cult master…"
"Talk inside." Qin Mu walked into the manor, allowing the dragon qilin find a place to rest. When he heard the emperor's stomach rumble in hunger, he said "Clean Clothes Hall Master, give this bald… give this senior brother a bowl of rice to eat."
The magistrate of Harmony Prefecture was the Clean Clothes Hall Master of Heavenly Saint Cult and was called Duanmu Jing. He waved his hand so a servant would bring the emperor to eat. With a smile, he asked, "Why is cult master bringing along an eminent monk?"
Qin Mu didn't explain and instead asked, "What's the situation in the capital?"
"Not too good," said Duanmu Jing. "Most of the Daoists and monks from Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery have gone to the capital. Dao Master and Rulai passed down their decree to confer the crown prince as Peaceful Emperor, who would ascend to the throne on the sixth of the third month. At the moment, there are still scouts of the crown prince wandering about, executing anyone who looks like the emperor."
Qin Mu nodded quietly. This was close to what he had expected.
Duanmu Jing continued, "Also, now that the crown prince is ruling the empire, he has gained a lot of power. Most of the influential families have been taken under the wing by Buddhists and Daoists. Some of the influential families in the capital have already changed sides while monks and Daoists stayed in others and refuse to leave. These influential families don't dare to fall out with them so they can only let them stay. The current capital city can be said to belong to the people of all trades, with crooks mixed in with the honest folk. It could be said to no longer be under the rule of the emperor.
"The crown prince had also issued a decree to reinstate the system set by the ancestors, returning the lands that once belonged to the sects back to them. The other territories will belong to Eternal Peace. Also…"
Duanmu Jing hesitated, then said, "An envoy came from Wolf Store Country to talk about the war at the borders and make peace with the crown prince. He ceded sixteen prefectures to Wolf Store Country. An envoy also came from Barbarian Di Empire, and they are discussing ceding lands as compensation…"
"It's really easy to squander the family fortune." Qin Mu smiled. "This crown prince is too stupid and cowardly to be an emperor."
Duanmu Jing was somewhat puzzled. Qin Mu showed no signs of being angry. On the contrary, he acted like there was nothing wrong. He didn't know that, however, that Qin Mu had never treated himself as a citizen of Eternal Peace Empire. From the start until now, he was always a person abandoned by the gods of Great Ruins, so there was no need for him to be angry.
'Ascension on the sixth of the third month, truly an auspicious date that's suitable for murder.' Qin Mu asked, "Have you found any news regarding Imperial Preceptor?"
"We have found him."
Qin Mu's spirit was aroused, and he fetched a few slips of paper. "Hall Master, prepare the herbs written on these slips of paper and store them in Venerate Prefecture City."
Duanmu Jing acknowledged the command.
Qin Mu called Emperor Yanfeng and the dragon qilin over. "Let us leave the city."
Emperor Yanfeng said in a panic, "I still haven't eaten to my fill."
Qin Mu smiled. "I'll bring you to see Imperial Preceptor and get some food on the way."
Emperor Yanfeng immediately placed the steamed bun down, and his expression became solemn. He followed silently behind the youth. After a moment, he said, "I would like to ask him where exactly he had gone these days!"
Qin Mu immediately brought him on the back of the dragon qilin, then leaped up to stand on the head of the dragon qilin himself.
The dragon qilin stepped on the fire clouds and sprinted through the sky. Cold wind welcomed Emperor Yanfeng in the face, making him sneeze continuously. Blazing flames suddenly ignited around Qin Mu's body, and Emperor Yanfeng felt much better.
The dragon qilin sprinted for two days before Qin Mu signaled this strange beast to descend. They were in the mountains that were piping hot. There were multicolored lights shining in the valley, but the steam evaporated as they traveled up.
"God's ray!" Emperor Yanfeng has a grim expression as he sniffed the air and said, "Blood scent. There's blood of a god in the valley!"
Qin Mu brought him into a village and, there was indeed a blood lake there. Beside it was a small wooden house, behind which was a small river. The river water was slightly warm from being boiled by the god's blood, and a woman wearing snow-white sable fur stood beside the river. Her stomach was slightly bulging.
Beside her feet was a middle-aged man who was holding a wooden club and smacking clothes on a stone board. Beside him was a bamboo basket with washed clothes.
Qin Mu jumped down from the back of the dragon qilin, and Emperor Yanfeng followed after him. However, his legs weren't steady, and he went sprawling on the floor.
The couple heard the sound and turned around to have a look. Qin Mu had a smile on his face as he went forward.
"Couldn't you have helped me up!" Emperor Yanfeng got to his feet and hurried forward.
The middle-aged man placed his wooden club down and wiped his damp hands on his shirt. He stood up beside the woman and smiled at Qin Mu and the emperor who was walking over with a pale face.
"Imperial Preceptor!"
Emperor Yanfeng's footsteps became faster and faster and just as he was about to criticize Imperial Preceptor, he suddenly noticed blood stains on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's chest. His complexion wasn't good as well. The emperor was greatly shaken and shed tears. "My imperial preceptor, how did you land in such a state?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor welcomed the emperor and noticed that he had lost all his cultivation. He was equally sorrowful in his heart. "How is it any different from Your Majesty?"
The woman immediately said, "You are also injured, don't throw your mental state in disorder."
Qin Mu was stunned. The two strongest practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire were actually both severely injured!
"Heavenly Saint Cult Master pays his respects to Imperial Preceptor's wife," Qin Mu greeted the woman.
Imperial Preceptor's wife saw the emperor's bald head and was bewildered. She immediately said, "Don't just stand there, come into the house to have a seat."
"After I left Little Jade Capital, I wanted to investigate the origin of the natural disaster and met a god who was holding a bottle gourd in his hand," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently in the small wooden house. "The natural disaster was released from his bottle gourd. He got injured in our fight, but my injuries are more severe. With my wife being pregnant, we decided to stay here for a period of time."
He had said it so simply, but one could imagine how fierce that battle must have been!
Emperor Yanfeng checked the injuries on his body and looked at Qin Mu with enquiry.
Qin Mu examined the man and shook his head. "The injuries left behind by a god contain the will of a god inside, so I can't cure the root of the injuries. If you want to cure the root, I will have to return to the village and request Grandpa Apothecary's help."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "I knew you couldn't cure the root of the problem, so I didn't go and find you. My injuries now are too severe, so I can't return to the capital city; otherwise, I would surely die. I can't let others know I'm injured. But I never expected Your Majesty to…"
The two middle-aged men looked each other in the eyes and suddenly laughed out loud in unison. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor laughed until he started coughing endlessly.
Emperor Yanfeng looked outside and asked, "The blood lake outside?"
"Left behind by that god, he was very strong and suffered some superficial wounds."
The injuries on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's chest opened up again and Qin Mu applied some dragon's saliva on him. But just as the wound was healed, it was once again torn apart by the remnant of the divine art the god had hidden in the wound.
This kind of injury could no longer be cured by medicinal stones. Even if it were spirit pills that could allow a person to come back to life, they still wouldn't be able to remove the remnant of the god's divine art.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and took out a sword pellet that Mute had gifted him. He executed it gently, and sword lights appeared. Qin Mu pushed them forward, stabbing them around Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's wound.
Imperial Preceptor's wife gave a low gasp while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng didn't move at all.
Qin Mu stretched his index finger out, and dense vital qi swirled like a cloud at the tip of his finger. When he gently tapped the sword pellet, a woosh sounded, and a sword light shot out from the sword pellet, piercing through the house and into the blood lake.
Boom!
The blood lake trembled violently and exploded with a world-shaking bang. After three booms, the sword light from the sword pellet was shattered by the tremors and became smaller.
"Divine physician's miraculous hands are truly ingenious." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed with admiration. "To actually use the power of the god's blood to counter the remnant of the god's divine art."
Qin Mu applied the dragon's saliva once more, and the wound no longer bled. He said, "I can't guide the other divine arts in your body out. Your Majesty, Imperial Preceptor, there are two paths now: the first will be me bringing you guys to Great Ruins to treat your injuries, while the second is to head to the capital. You guys can choose what you want to do."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at Emperor Yanfeng, and they seemed to know each other thoughts as they said in unison, "The capital!"
Qin Mu pulled out his Pig Slaughtering Knife and pressed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's head on the table. Imperial Preceptor's wife cried out in astonishment, "Cult Master Qin, what are you doing?"
Emperor Yanfeng rubbed his bald head and said, "Madam, you will know when you look at me."
Qin Mu's hands were nimble, and he shaved Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor bald in a blink of an eye. He then took a few sticks of incense to burn a few scabs on his head. He then took out a yellow buddhist robe from his taotie sack with the ease of a routine. With a smile, he said, "I had made an extra set which for Imperial Preceptor. Please wait a minute, let me draw a green birthmark on half of Imperial Preceptor's face…"
After he was done with Imperial Preceptor, he turned to Imperial Preceptor's wife. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor immediately said, "Cult master, my wife is pregnant. In such a freezing weather, if she has no hair…"
"In that case, she shall be a Daoist nun." Qin Mu took out a Daoist robe and handed it over to the woman. He then suddenly blinked and smiled at them all. "That's right, do the three of you want to enter my cult? My Heavenly Saint Cult feeds well, and if you have no skills, we can teach you handicrafts to make a living, I assure you guys won't starve to death with us."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The emperor and Imperial Preceptor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This devil cult master was really daring and had no reserve being the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. He actually wanted to pull the emperor and Imperial Preceptor into his Heavenly Devil Cult!
"If your injuries aren't healed, you won't be able to seize back the throne, and learning handicraft from our Heavenly Saint Cult, you could at least feed your family," Qin Mu persuaded. "Furthermore, if you enter the cult now, I can give you guys very high positions like the heavenly king or elder, while if you want to join after you are completely crippled and unsavable, I can at most make you incense masters and only a vice at that. Madam, help me persuade them."
Imperial Preceptor's wife smiled but didn't say anything.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently, "If I join, I want to be the cult master."
Emperor Yanfeng nodded. "Me too."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "If you're the cult master, I'll assist you."
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. "Emperor wants to be the cult master?"
Emperor Yanfeng was flabbergasted. He totally didn't expect Qin Mu to actually have the plan to give up the seat of Heavenly Devil Cult Master. If the emperor became the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, wouldn't Eternal Peace Empire be part of his Heavenly Devil Cult?
This was truly a hot potato that he couldn't pick up!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also got a headache and looked secretly toward Emperor Yanfeng, signaling him to not take.
Imperial Preceptor's wife laughed and said, "Cult Master Qin, they aren't willing, but I am. I wonder what kind of position cult master could give me?"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed secretly at the cleverness of this woman. She had broken the silence to prevent Imperial Preceptor and the emperor from becoming awkward.
"If madam joins the cult, I can give you a sinecure." Qin Mu smiled. "Does madam know embroidery? How about the incense master of Embroidery Hall?"
"Alright." The young married woman then smiled and pulled Imperial Preceptor to one side and said in a low voice, "Husband, why do you have to reject Cult Master Qin? What are the odds of winning by going back to the capital city this time with His Majesty?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was silent for a moment, then said, "Everyone in the world supports the reform and seventy to eighty percent of the civil and military officials in the imperial court are the men of His Majesty and I. When we return to the capital city, we can definitely execute the rebels and seize back the throne."
Imperial Preceptor's wife smiled. "Do you really think so? Won't Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect stop you? If it's you, you might be able to defend yourself against Rulai and Dao Master, but will his His Majesty be able to defend himself against them?"
Qin Mu nodded lightly and smiled. "There are Daoists and monks staying in the houses of all the kings, dukes, and ministers; they are all chanting dharma or reciting Daoist scriptures."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was silent, and his wife pushed Qin Mu away to continue in a low voice, "The other two big sacred grounds are watching your people and those that are closed to you are either under house arrest or locked in prison. Now, you can only borrow power from Cult Master Qin. And to borrow someone's power, you need to make them feel at ease."
Qin Mu moved over again and was about to say something when Imperial Preceptor's wife pushed him away.
Imperial Preceptor pondered it for a bit, then walked over to Qin Mu. "Heavenly Saint Cult lacks a heavenly king?"
Qin Mu nodded. "The fourth heavenly king."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then said, "Let me be this fourth heavenly king; however, His Majesty can never have any connections with Heavenly Saint Cult. Your Majesty, I shall join his Heavenly Saint Cult."
Emperor Yanfeng was stunned, but after quite a while, he said slowly, "Sorry to put Imperial Preceptor at such an inconvenience."
Qin Mu revealed a smile and said to Emperor Yanfeng, "Your Majesty seems to have a misunderstanding regarding our Heavenly Saint Cult. We aren't a cult, and our philosophy is the everyday use of common people and what we carry out is the path of the saint. This reform of Your Majesty and Imperial Preceptor has similar ideals …"
Imperial Preceptor's wife smiled. "Cult master, we should be on our way. There's no need to impart cult's teachings to His Majesty since it's impossible for him to join our Heavenly Saint Cult."
Imperial Preceptor's wife went to sit on the back of the dragon qilin while Qin Mu, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and the emperor walked below. The two people executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that Qin Mu had taught them to recover some vital qi.
These two people were like ascetic monks. Their footsteps weren't fast and they walked with great effort, so they reached Venerate Prefecture only after close to three days.
Heavenly Devil Cult in Venerate Prefecture had already prepared the herbs, and Qin Mu could finally treat the injuries in Emperor Yanfeng's soul. Imperial Preceptor's external injuries were all healed while the remnants of the divine arts left behind by the god in his body were not something Qin Mu could guide out.
The remnants of the god's divine arts were extremely powerful. But if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could refine them, it would no longer be too troublesome for Qin Mu to cure him. The crucial point was that Imperial Preceptor couldn't mobilize his magic power. The remnants were hidden in his body and divine treasures, so he had to use his own magic power to suppress them. If he wasn't careful, he might just trigger the power of those divine arts.
'Neither the emperor not Imperial Preceptor can fight.' Qin Mu sighed ruefully to himself.
The two strongest practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire had both become sickly people that required his care and protection.
As for himself, he was continuously cultivating without a break. As long as he was walking, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was subconsciously executed and the five beams of star power from the stars would come pouring down.
While they were on their way, Qin Mu also trained his sword skills diligently, practicing the two forms of sword skills Village Chief had taught him again and again, trying to perfect them.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor saw these two moves from Sword Picture, he gave a soft cry of astonishment and couldn't resist taking a few more looks. "Cult Master, which elder taught you this?"
"My village's Village Chief, the eldest one."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pondered over it for a moment, then said, "You are trying to incorporate the three basic sword forms that I founded into these two sword skills? They are already perfect, so adding my basic sword forms would disrupt the balance. The power is increased, but many flaws have appeared. Why did you do this?"
Qin Mu executed Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood and suddenly had a feeling of sorrow. 'Sword of Founding Emperor, sea of blood, mountains and rivers exist in a vast and obscure heart, but when looking around left and right, there are no more people donning the clothes of homeland.' This was a lonely reminiscence of one's homeland, the long-gone martyrs. It had the mood of sorrow and heroism.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor picked up a branch and said, "There are still numerous flaws in your moves, so why don't I feed you some moves."
Qin Mu's eyes lit up and he smiled. "Please guide me."
"I dare not."
Qin Mu also fetched a branch, and the two of them used tree branches as swords. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor attacked while Qin Mu used Sword Picture to defend. However, after just a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had broken through a flaw and destroyed Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
Qin Mu pondered for a long time. The flaw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had pointed out was different from what Village Chief had pointed out. Both of them were grandmasters in sword skills, but the path each of them took was different. Village Chief's sword skills had a passionate and intense feeling while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's moves were calm. It was like he was opening a door, pushing forward the reform to open up new horizons.
Their philosophies were different so their sword skills were naturally different as well.
Getting pointers from them allowed Qin Mu to receive different benefits.
Village Chief's pointers had pushed Qin Mu into exhausting his knowledge, to the point his foundation wasn't enough to continue improving this two moves. However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's pointers opened up a new path for him, making him able to continue improving his sword skills.
They cultivated as they walked, and Qin Mu's comprehension of his sword increased more and more. He felt like his sword skills were about to cross to another level, but no matter what he did, there was always a veil preventing him from crossing over.
"No need to practice anymore. No matter how much you practice, there won't be any improvements anymore," said Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "If you want to break through, you will need your own enlightenment."
Qin Mu was puzzled, but Emperor Yanfeng who was beside him understood what Imperial Preceptor was saying and sighed ruefully. "Another step further and you'll be a little grandmaster. Minister Qin, to reach such a level at such a young age. When I reached that step back then, I was already fifty-seven years old. I cultivated Nine Dragons Monarch Technique to draw the qi of the nine dragons, which resulted in boundless vital qi. Only when I felt the movement of the dragon qi under the earth and the general situation of the world that was bustling with unpredictable activity did I break through in one go. You're some forty years faster than me."
Qin Mu smiled. "Your Majesty, what's the expertise of your Nine Dragons Monarch Technique?"
"My expertise is transformation," Emperor Yanfeng said solemnly. "If you want to learn, I can teach you. Before me, Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was a technique that was only proficient in spells, but after it landed in my hands, any spells, sword techniques, corporeal body divine arts could be executed. Why? Because dragons signify transformation! They can be big and small, visible and invisible. They can soar into the sky and also dive into the deep sea, hide in the abyss and lay in the fields. They can move clouds and bring rain, they can burn the sky with a raging inferno and they can control a tempest. Do you want to learn it?"
He thought that Qin Mu would reject because he was the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, a reputable figure. That's why he was caught off guard when Qin Mu said without a thought, "Yes!"
Emperor Yanfeng was stunned and suddenly laughed out loud. "Oh well. Who says Nine Dragons Monarch Technique is the technique of our Ling Family and can't be imparted outside? I'll teach you."
Imperial Preceptor's wife looked at Emperor Yanfeng in astonishment while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a calm expression. "His Majesty is such a person, heroic and candid. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to use me. I've already seen the original copy of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique more than ten times."
Emperor Yanfeng taught Qin Mu Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, how to circulate his qi, as well as how to operate the qi of the nine dragons.
This technique was different from Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and it turned one majestic and imposing if they executed it. At the same time, it was full of changes and one's every movement contained the mighty force of heaven and earth.
"Nine Heavens Divine Dragon Shroud is a spell that can transform into nine true dragons which can hide in clouds to attack the enemy. Look!"
Emperor Yanfeng aroused his vital qi and a palm-sized cloud came out three inches from the top of his head. A few dragon qi that were fine like earthworms bore fangs and brandished claws fiercely.
When Emperor Yanfeng's vital qi was depleted, the cloud and dragon qi poofed out, vanishing. Emperor Yanfeng mumbled while panting, "I have no more magic power, but you should have seen what I mean."
Qin Mu nodded and executed his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, fusing Nine Dragons Monarch Technique with Overlord Body Vital Qi. Dragons suddenly appeared faintly in mid-air and nine dragons stretched their claws out to shatter the mountain rocks in a radius of dozens of yards around them.
Emperor Yanfeng was stunned, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also beyond astonished. They saw nine dragons circling in the sky. They then suddenly transformed into fire dragons, and as the blazing fire revolved in the sky, the fire dragon tornado appeared around them and lifted their bodies up.
The fire dragons then transformed and controlled water, lifting them up while using it. Lightning then burst forth and crackled as it struck everywhere.
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at each other and saw astonishment in the other's eyes.
This Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was just mastered by Qin Mu, and he already seemed like he had cultivated it for ten or twenty years. He just picked the technique and was already much better than most of the princes in Imperial College's Royalty's Park.
Qin Mu dispersed Nine Heavens Divine Dragon Shroud, and Emperor Yanfeng taught him everything he had learned and comprehended. He sighed at the end. "If your surname was Ling, how wonderful would that be…"
There were only two-three days left to the capital, and it was also three days till the crown prince's ascension on the sixth of the third month. At that moment, a huge bird flapped its wings and landed on the ground with a tumble, transforming into a woman in green who bowed in front of the group. "Sacred teacher, everything is prepared."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "You can go ahead first."
"As you command." The woman turned back and ran two steps before shaking her body to grow two wings on her back and soaring into the sky.
"Since Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect can kill an emperor, my Heavenly Devil Cult can do so as well; otherwise, how can we be the number one sacred ground of the devil path?" Qin Mu said in a soft voice.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frowned. "What's your plan?"
"Enter the capital, kill the emperor."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
As they got closer and closer to the capital city, the scouts on the way also gradually increased in number. Even though there was a natural disaster outside, the places closer to the capital were still celebrating peace with songs and dance. Numerous trees were tied with red silk and there were many envoys from numerous countries hurrying to the capital.
The ascension of a new emperor was naturally no small matter. It was especially so when the new emperor had shown himself to be different from the previous ruler before he even ascended the throne. He was kind to foreign countries and was willing to form alliances with them.
During the previous dynasty, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor liked to mobilize his army to swallow surrounding countries. He would press the other big countries against the ground to beat them and seize their territories. Either that or he would force the other side to submit to him and offer tribute; he was truly rampant.
Before Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had mobilized his army to enter Great Ruins, that was when Eternal Peace Empire had been at its strongest. It could battle against five big countries at the same time, but after Imperial Preceptor got injured by assassins, the momentum of Eternal Peace Empire expansion started to slow down.
The new emperor, however, was cultured and refined, very polite and treated all sects of Eternal Peace kindly. He was also courteous to the envoys of the foreign countries. Not only did he return the lands that the fiendish Imperial Preceptor had conquered back to their respective owners, but even promised to pay reparations and was willing to repair the relations with those countries.
The rule of foreign countries having to submit to Eternal Peace was also abolished by the new emperor, so they were all very happy and praised him endlessly. They said that the new emperor Ling Yuxia was a wise ruler that was rare to see in the past one thousand and five hundred years.
Other than that, the new emperor that had yet to ascend the throne invited members of various sects to attend the ascension ceremony. There were rumors saying that the new emperor planned to write down a decree of his crimes and would take on the wrath of Heaven for the past years of reform. He would seek forgiveness from Heaven and pray it would punish him and let off the people of Eternal Peace Empire.
"This move is the most ruthless." Qin Mu was exclaiming endlessly in admiration. He told Imperial Preceptor and the emperor, "You guys tried to painstakingly reform for two hundred years in order to change the profane notions, to push paths, skills, and divine arts to develop. You guys brought upon yourselves countless black names and spent endless blood and sweat. In your days, many people bled for the cause and finally formed Eternal Peace Empire to what it is today. Yet the new emperor pleading guilty will just wipe away all those two hundred years of your hard work, those two hundred years of soldiers sacrificing their lives again and again. This move is ruthless, truly ruthless!"
Emperor Yanfeng gave a dull grunt and a tearing pain seared his chest. He wanted to cry, but there were no tears as he said astringently, "Yuxia, my good son, consider this a knife stabbed in my heart…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor remained expressionless when he said, "After entering the capital, I can contact our old troops. Most of the ministers of the imperial court will also support Your Majesty. With the Dragon Guards Forbidden Army hidden in the nine dragon veins, we can attack the capital city anytime! The only problem is that Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect had left so many monks and Daoists in the houses of kings, dukes, and ministers to supervise them under the cover of begging. Cult Master Qin, I will have to use the power of Heavenly Devil Cult to send us into the city to meet them."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "There's no need for so much trouble."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned.
"The forces of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect are too spread apart. They want to control the entire situation, but this leaves flaws everywhere."
Qin Mu stopped. They were currently in Marquis Town, just a few hundred miles away from the capital and in front of a fried pancake stall. Qin Mu went to buy breakfast while he said, "It's like this fried pancake, once it's too spread out, it will collapse at the first blow. The bigger their pancake is, the thinner it will get. When the crown prince ascends to the throne, there won't be enough power to guard him. The monks and Daoists that were left in the houses of kings, dukes, and ministers will then be controlled by those kings, dukes and minister instead. Those people won't be able to go to the Imperial City to provide support."
The fried pancake was done, and the stall owner used oil paper to roll it up. Qin Mu took it from him and gave it to Imperial Preceptor's wife first.
She took a bite and looked around with bright eyes. She asked in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid that walls have ears? There were quite a lot of scouts of the crown prince on the way here!"
"I'm not." Qin Mu smiled lightly.
Suddenly, the passers-by, merchants, vegetable sellers and buyers, butchers, and hawkers in the market all quietened down and turned their heads over in unison. Their gazes all landed on the group.
"Cult master!" those people said in unison.
Qin Mu waved his hand and smiled. "Continue doing what you were doing, don't disturb us."
Imperial Preceptor's wife jumped in shock and Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "Strict enforcement of rules and prohibitions leads to the rise of a king. Cult Master Qin, you have scared me, your Heavenly Saint Cult has scared me."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Strict enforcement of rules and prohibitions, to move as one, this is the scene of the rise of a king, an emperor. Your Majesty should really worry. However, ever since Heavenly Saint Cult was founded twenty thousand years ago, there had never been a cult master who referred to themselves as an emperor. Your Majesty can be at ease."
Emperor Yanfeng said angrily, "You are all part of Heavenly Saint Cult, even you husband and wife are also part of Heavenly Saint Cult, a heavenly king and an incense master. Only I'm the outsider here; don't try to mislead me!"
Qin Mu immediately asked, "Does Your Majesty want to join our cult?"
…
"How do we enter the capital?"
When they came close to the city, Emperor Yanfeng looked at the city gates and saw that they were heavily guarded. There were thorough inspections, so it was going to be as difficult as to climb up to the sky for them to get in. Today was the ascension of the crown prince, the day he would become the new emperor. Today, the new emperor would seek punishment from Heaven at the Temple of Heaven. All the envoys, cult masters, sect masters, heads of influential families, as well as civil and military officials would have to go forward to attend the ceremony, so there was a tight security.
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "No problem, let's just go in directly."
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly stunned. Qin Mu brought them to the city gates, and the soldiers there treated them like air and let them walk into the city.
"They are also part of Heavenly Saint Cult?" Imperial Preceptor's wife was slightly stunned and said to Qin Mu in a low voice, "The emperor is around, so don't be too flamboyant; otherwise, you will cause His Majesty to be suspicious and jealous. The emperor wants to create a country that's above the sects and not a sect that's above the countries, be cautious Cult Master."
Qin Mu looked at Emperor Yanfeng, and he was indeed looking worried. This was very normal. If all the imperial guards guarding the city gates of the capital were people of Heavenly Devil Cult, how could he be at ease?
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Now that we have entered the city, what should we do?"
Qin Mu took out two medicinal pills and handed them to Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor respectively. He said, "We'll go to Imperial City and the Temple of Heaven to see the ascension of the crown prince."
In the Imperial City's throne room, a greeting could be heard.
"Long live Your Majesty!
Eternal Peace Crown Prince Ling Yuxia sat on the Dragon Throne while donning the dragon robe. On one side of him stood a monk while on his other side, there was a Daoist. Below him were the civil and military officials that were paying their respects to the new emperor, which created a powerful and dynamic scene. There was an extremely huge number of civil and military officials, so the entire imperial hall was filled with officials kneeling down. There were also others who were kneeling outside the hall, and some even at the steps.
In the hall, envoys from dozens of countries carried military banners from their countries to attend the ceremony. Near them, there were sect masters and cult masters from dozens of sects.
The ceremonial rites for the ascension of a new emperor were rather complicated, so when the ceremony ended, it was already close to the afternoon.
The sun of spring wasn't warm as Ling Yuxia walked in the front and led the civil and military officials out of the hall. The ceremonial weapon carriers followed him closely, and most of the people in the ceremonial weaponry were monks and Daoists who chanted buddhist and Daoist scriptures with resonating voices. Behind them was the crown prince's concubine leading a crowd of palace maids with the envoys following behind them. All the heads of the influential families and sects also followed them to Temple of Heaven, the scale of the crowd becoming greater and greater.
Behind Ling Yuxia were his Grand Protector, Grand Preceptor, and the rest of the first ranking high officials. They were the retainers of the imperial family, the arms of the crown prince, and had extremely high positions. Now that the emperor had 'died', Ling Yuxia naturally became the one to assume the throne. Since he knew that his foundation in the imperial court was still not stable, he had invited numerous monks and Daoists from Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect, making them officials while demoting those that weren't willing to heed his words.
Almost half of the civil and military officials of the imperial court were monks and Daoists, so the sight was rather peculiar as they chanted scriptures while heading to Temple of Heaven.
As for Duke Wei, King of Mount Tai, Pillars of State, General of Heavenly Strategies, and the rest, Ling Yuxia had permitted them to retire because of their 'old age'. They would be staying in the capital city for the moment and return to their hometowns after the ceremony.
In the imperial court, almost half of the officials had to return home due to old age even though some of them were still very young. It was quite a strange incident.
Ling Yuxia didn't feel certain about these officials that were told to retire, so he didn't dare to let them out of the capital in fear of them rebelling. Because of that, they were all held captive in their respective manors, with monks and Daoists guarding them. Meanwhile, King of Mount Tai, General of Heavenly Strategies. and the rest were locked up in the prison.
They reached Temple of Heaven and the officials flooded out. The monks and Daoists stood on the left and right sides of the steps respectively, while Ling Yuxia dragged his dragon robe and climbed up the steps by himself, acting reverent and respectful. Meanwhile, his concubine and those alongside her knelt down at the bottom of the stairs.
The stairs were very long, with nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps. When Ling Yuxia reached the top of the Temple of Heaven and wanted to kneel down respectfully, a solemn voice suddenly rang out. "Buddha Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery has passed down his decree, may Your Majesty receive the decree."
A monk walked out with a solemn expression, and the buddha rays behind him formed a wheel. In his hand was Rulai's decree.
Ling Yuxia immediately knelt down to receive the decree and said respectfully, "This guilty subject will receive the decree of Revered One of the World."
Below, the ministers of the old dynasty frowned and lowered their heads without a word. The other officials that were monks chanted loudly in unison with their buddha voices, and buddha aura soared with ten thousand fathoms, resulting in a magnificent sight.
There was a deluge of heavenly flowers in mid-air, and and the apparitions of gods and buddha appeared. With the brilliant and varied visions, it seemed like gods and buddhas were blessing this ceremony.
The monk read out Rulai's decree and said mainly that Emperor Yanfeng was a tyrant, because of which the people had to suffer Heaven's wrath. Rulai encouraged the new emperor to be cautious and conscientious, to scrupulously abide by his duty, so the gods and buddhas would bless him with prosperity and longevity, and so on.
The crown prince received the decree.
A Daoist came out then, and in his hands was a decree from Dao Master. "Dao Master of Dao Sect has passed down his decree, may Your Majesty receive the decree."
Ling Yuxia knelt down once again. "This guilty subject will receive the decree of Dao Master."
The Daoists among the civil and military officials were not to be outdone. They played around with their vital qi and created auspicious visions of dragons and phoenixes dancing in the sky.
Dao Master's decree also contained nothing more than encouragement for the new emperor to treat his citizens sincerely, to look after the office, and to not to mess around with things like reforms and so on.
The crown prince received the decree and rose. After tidying his robe, he was about to kneel down and seek forgiveness from Heaven, but at that moment, a loud and clear voice came from afar. "The cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Devil Cult passes down his decree personally, may Your Majesty receive the decree!"
When this sentence was heard by everyone, a commotion broke out under the Temple of Heaven as the people all looked towards the source of the voice.
With a couple of steps, Ling Yuxia came to the stairs of the Temple of Heaven and looked down. From his position high above, he saw a youth bringing along two monks and a Daoist nun towards the Temple of Heaven. The footsteps of the two monks seemed to be weak and unstable, while the Daoist nun seemed to be pregnant and so inconvenienced by her body.
Qin Mu smiled and walked towards Temple of Heaven while saying leisurely, "Great Thunderclap Monastery is a sacred ground, Dao Sect is a sacred ground, my Heavenly Devil Cult is also a sacred ground. Ling Yuxia, Rulai and Dao Master didn't come yet you still knelt down for their decree. Now that I have come personally, aren't you going to kneel to welcome me?"
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master!"
Suddenly, a sect master from an influential family sprung forward, wishing to land a killing blow on Qin Mu. At this moment, a huge flag appeared of out of thin air beside Qin Mu and rolled up to block an attack from that sect master. When that huge flag was unfolded, a formidable man carrying a sword case showed up. A sword light then flew out and severed the head of the rash sect master.
The man that was carrying the sword case swept up his huge flag and disappeared along with the head of his victim. Among the people attending the ceremony, a headless corpse swayed and collapsed to the ground.
Qin Mu acted as if nothing had happened and continued to walk forward. When there were guards who wanted to make a move, huge flags appeared at the very instant they moved, and hall masters, elders, supervisors, and heavenly kings of Heavenly Devil Cult appeared. As the huge flags fluttered in the air, they materialized and vanished all around the place. When they were finally gone, dozens of headless corpses were on the ground.
Qin Mu brought Imperial Preceptor and the emperor forward. Around them, flags kept materializing and vanishing from time to time. Those who tried to attack him were all assassinated in a violent manner.
A trail of corpses was left behind on the path Qin Mu took, and all the bodies were missing heads.
Qin Mu walked to the front of the Temple of Heaven and was about to walk up when the crown prince's concubine that was kneeling below suddenly made a move. The moment she did that, she became a corpse on the ground.
The hair of the envoys, sect masters, cult masters, and heads of the influential families stood up on ends, and they dared not make another move. Heavenly Devil Cul was the number one sacred cult of the devil path. The crowd had long heard of their reputation, but only now saw it for themselves.
"Wife, don't look," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor told his wife.
Qin Mu began walking up the steps of the Temple of Heaven, and an eminent monk suddenly shouted out, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, we have been waiting quite some time for you! Fellow Dao friends, encircle and annihilate Heavenly Devil Cult Master to subdue the devil!"
The monks ripped off their official robes while Daoists took out their sword pellets. In an instant, murderous aura rushed toward the sky in the Temple of Heaven.
Qin Mu continued to walk forward.
Woosh, woosh, woosh.
Over three hundred huge flags appeared, and three hundred and sixty hall master materialized together. The twelve cult protector elders, two great cult heavenly kings, and the eight great supervisors also showed up.
Sounds of slaughter rang out in the Temple of Heaven. The eight great supervisors didn't make their moves, but instead circled around Qin Mu.
Murderous spirit filled the heaven over the Temple of Heaven as cult master level existences, great experts of Life and Death Realm, and Celestial Being Realm waged, causing heaven to fall and earth to crack. The loud booms nearly crumbled all the palaces that surrounded the Temple of Heaven.
Imperial City was in a state of chaos, and the guards hurried over. The capital city was also alarmed, and influential families that were lying low exploded with world-shaking powers. The monks and Daoists that wanted to provide support to Imperial City were all trapped and killed on the spot by those influential families.
In the prison where General of Heavenly Strategies Qin Jian, High Official Su Yunzhi, and others were sitting, the gates suddenly opened. A prison head smiled and said, "His Majesty is back, he's at the Temple of Heaven."
General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest were surprised and delighted. They immediately rushed out of prison and toward Temple of Heaven.
"Where's Heavenly King Wei?" Heavenly King Yu shouted out loudly.
"Heavenly King Wei is right here!"
A thunderous voice spread through the entire capital, and Duke Wei leaped from Duke's Manor and crashed onto the Temple of Heaven. He was completely suited up and had a fierce expression. "Who wants to die?"
Qin Mu walked leisurely toward the top of the Temple of Heaven. The grand preceptor of the crown prince and the rest rushed forward to kill him but were stopped by Qin Jian and the rest who had rushed out of prison. No one could interrupt Qin Mu's footsteps.
On the top of the Temple of Heaven, Ling Yuxia revealed a look of panic and looked toward the monk and Daoist on his left and right. These two people immediately pounced forward, but before their feet could even touch the floor, they were slaughtered by the eight great supervisors, their blood spattering the ground.
"Civil and military officials, I'm the emperor!" Ling Yuxia shouted out sternly. "Do you plan on rebelling with these devil path practitioners and ignore my orders?"
"Emperor?" Emperor Yanfeng snorted and consumed the medicinal pill that Qin Mu had given him. His hair immediately grew out, and he wiped away the knife scar on his face. In a solemn voice, he said, "Take a look at who I am?"
Ling Yuxia's complexion changed drastically. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also consumed the medicinal pill, and his hair also grew back. Wiping away the green birthmark on his face, he turned around.
The civil and military officials had planned to make a move when they heard the new emperor's order, but when they saw Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, they all knelt down and worshiped them.
Ling Yuxia rushed towards Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in a crazed state while shouting "I'm the Son of Heaven!"
The eight great supervisors moved and gave a blow each to Ling Yuxia. The man vomited blood, and his body suddenly transformed into a dragon, soaring into the sky to escape. The eight great supervisors lifted their clothes up and vanished. The next instant, Ling Yuxia was detained by the eight of them and knelt down at the center of the Temple of Heaven.
Emperor Yanfeng looked at the civil and military officials and shouted, "Why aren't you guys quelling the rebellion? Why aren't you guys killing all these Daoists and monks that have rebelled? Are you waiting for me to make a move myself?"
The civil and military officials immediately sprung into action and slaughtered the monks and Daoists of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect. Even the imperial guards that were rushing over also landed killing blows on them.
When Qin Mu came to the top of the Temple of Heaven, Ling Yuxia was kneeling on the floor from the pressure, unable to break free.
Qin Mu stooped down and leaned into his ear to say in a low voice, "Your Highness, I didn't do this to help the emperor. This is all for Heavenly King Qian and Heavenly King Lu of my sacred cult."
Ling Yuxia was stunned and raised his head to look up, his eyes filled with disbelief. "You…"
Qin Mu pulled out Junior Protector Sword and beheaded him with a single strike!
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to the top of the Temple of Heaven the moment the sword sliced down and Ling Yuxia's head went flying high up into the sky.
Emperor Yanfeng's heart trembled violently when he looked at the back of the youth before him. The sight of that youth shaking off the blood on the sword and returning it to its sheath struck fear into his heart.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Imperial Preceptor's wife had also come to the Temple of Heaven. As she watched Qin Mu return the sword to its sheath and Emperor Yanfeng focus on his back, worry crossed his young woman's brow.
The bloody battle was soon pacified. Those monks and Daoists of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect that could escape had escaped while the rest had been killed. The majority of them had died here, and their blood dyed the Temple of Heaven red.
Blood trickled down from the nine hundred and ninety-ninth step all the way to the first step, then flowed to the feet of all the envoys, cult masters, and sect masters.
Temple of Heaven, this place in which tributes were offered to Heaven, had been dyed the red of blood.
It was impossible to say who was the first to suddenly kneel down and shout out, "Long live, Your Majesty!"
Whoosh!
At the bottom of the Temple of Heaven, no matter if they were officials, envoys, sect masters or cult masters, they all knelt down on one knee and shouted in unison, "Long live, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Yanfeng turned around while standing at the top of the stairs. He spread his arms and faced the worship of these subjects. After a moment, he raised his hands weakly and said, "Rise."
Imperial Preceptor's wife looked at Emperor Yanfeng. Behind him, Qin Mu and the eight great supervisors were also standing on top of the Temple of Heaven and didn't kneel down.
"Husband, it might not be a good thing for Cult Master Qin to show off his ability," she whispered to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
He took a glance at Qin Mu and shook his head. "To him, Eternal Peace Empire is just a place to learn through experience, so killing the crown prince is also merely an experience. He doesn't have much to worry about, and the emperor does need his support in many places."
Imperial Preceptor's wife was astonished. "Experience?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. "Experience."
The crown prince colluded with Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery to plan a rebellion, conspiring to murder the emperor and seize the throne. The consequences of these actions were no small matter.
Yet in the records of the scribes, there would only be an ordinary sentence which said, "On the eighteenth of the second month, Crown Prince Yuxia conspired to rebel. Sixth of the third month, executed."
It was this simple. The details regarding this were not for outsiders to know. That's why most of the stories would only appear in history as popular legends. However, most of them were distorted truths so they couldn't be trusted.
After the rebellion came a bloody purge. The officials of the crown princes had their properties seized and families executed. The Daoists and monks from Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery were detained in custody and sent to the execution grounds.
Executions were carried out in the food market all the way from the seventh of the third month to the first of the fourth month. Only then did the executions end.
Some incidents also happened in the meantime; for example, the crown prince's head was not found.
It had vanished without a trace, and no matter how everyone searched the surroundings of the Temple of Heaven, the head couldn't be found. In the end, Emperor Yanfeng never ordered anyone to dig into it.
The emperor instead passed down his decree to rid Crown Prince Ling Yuxia's name from the Imperial Family's genealogical record. The crown prince's birth mother, the previous empress who was already deceased, was also demoted to an imperial concubine.
Emperor Yanfeng then replaced the officials and selected a few younger imperial scholars from Imperial College to promote. He also selected capable people from each and every army to replenish the empty official positions.
A few days later, the emperor summoned Second Prince Ling Yushu back from the borders to talk about his duties. After a few more days, the emperor felt his body slightly ill and conferred Ling Yushu as the crown prince, to supervise the empire and manage all the politics.
Emperor Yanfeng summoned Crown Prince Ling Yushi and asked him."Yushi, now that you're managing the politics, what's the first thing you have to do?"
He didn't view highly this second son of his. Ling Yushu wasn't considered outstanding among his children. Among all of them, he wasn't the one with the greatest resolution and his aptitude wasn't the most outstanding, either. For those two things, he had admired Ling Yuxia very much. That child had had the resolution, courage, and aptitude; however, he was too bold and too resolute.
Meanwhile, his other elder sons had died too early while waiting for him to step away.
Ling Yushu pondered for a moment. He had just returned from the battlefield and the few months of experience had given him a pressing heroic spirit and some decisiveness.
Because he was not in the capital city when Ling Yuxia had colluded with Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect to rebel, he had escaped unscathed.
Ling Yushi said solemnly, "Son will abolish big brother's…"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression sunk. "You're the eldest son now, I don't have a son like him."
Ling Yushu paused for a while, then said, "Son will abolish the treaties he had signed with the foreign countries and take back the land we have given away. I'll then purge those sects that had tried to swallow the lands during the chaos. Seeing how Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery have suffered such a defeat and lost a great number of experts, I will take back more than half of the lands that belong to Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Emperor Yanfeng's expression softened, and he asked, "Then?"
"I will help father send disaster relief, but before that, I will first write down a decree of my crimes…"
Emperor Yanfeng suddenly burst in anger and shouted out, "Say it once more!"
Ling Yushu bowed and said solemnly, "I will first write down a decree of my crimes and pray for Heaven to not send any more disasters to appease the hearts of the citizens."
Emperor Yanfeng's face was still grim when he said coldly, "Who taught you that?"
Ling Yushu was slightly stunned. "I…"
"I asked, who taught you that!" Emperor Yanfeng rose, unable to restrain his anger. As he walked to and fro, he shouted loudly, "You are my son, I know you inside out, and you are unable to say such things! These words aren't what the second prince would be considering, but something that could only be understood by standing at the position of the emperor. Say, who taught you that?"
Cold sweat broke out on Ling Yushu's forehead, and he suddenly gritted his teeth to say honestly, "When I returned to the capital, I went to visit Imperial Preceptor and coincidentally met Palace Grandee treating Imperial Preceptor's injuries. This son discussed with them about how father would enquire me about politics to test me, thus I asked them for ideas…"
Emperor Yanfeng's anger subsided, and he asked calmly, "Who was the one who suggests writing a decree of your crimes?"
"Both Imperial Preceptor and Palace Grandee said it. They said this calamity was the act of heavenly gods so why don't we go according to their will and plan slowly. If we go against them directly, we will only be defeated. For me to write a decree on my crimes is better than father writing it himself. If father writes a decree, it will mean you that deny the reform, but this son is the crown prince, so I can feign civility."
Emperor Yanfeng's expression softened and he sat down. "I know your abilities and wisdom, your courage and insight, so I know you wouldn't have thought about such things yet, that's why there was definitely someone who had taught you that, and that's why I acted angry. Even if I'm asking you about politics, there's no need to follow what they taught you, you have to say your own understanding as well."
Ling Yushu acknowledged.
Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "I'm not worried about Imperial Preceptor, but Palace Grandee. I'm afraid that when a day comes when Imperial Preceptor and I are no longer around, you won't be able to outdo him. Now that my cultivation is lost and my divine treasures are destroyed, it's hard for me to train my cultivation back, so I made you supervise this empire, manage all the politics. You should be cautious and conscientious. If I can't regain my cultivation back, my lifespan will at most be some fifty years. When that time comes, you will be the emperor. Broaden your horizons and also broaden your breadth of mind, think more by yourself."
And at this moment, on Saint Arrival Mountain of Heavenly Devil Cult, Qin Mu led all the hall masters, elders, and the rest of the cult to the graves of Heavenly King Qian and Heavenly King Lu. The latter had only left behind a pile of ashes while the former's body hadn't been found, so were buried in the grave were the clothes they had worn when they were alive.
Qin Mu went forward and placed Crown Prince Ling Yuxia's head in front of the graves, and everyone offered incense and paid their respects.
"Two heavenly kings, if your spirits can hear me, you can rest in peace now," Heavenly King Yu prayed. "Now that Heaven is sending disasters on us, troubled times and calamities are inevitable. Two heavenly king senior brothers, do protect our sacred cult."
After everyone paid their respects, they dispersed.
Heavenly King Yu came to Qin Mu's side and hesitated before asking, "Cult Master is still returning to Eternal Peace?"
Qin Mu nodded.
Heavenly King Yu was puzzled. "This time our sacred cult took Imperial Preceptor and killed the fake emperor as well as numerous strong practitioners of Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery, so I'm afraid that the emperor will be guarding against us. Isn't Cult Master worried about going back?"
Qin Mu looked at the gravestones of the two heavenly kings and said with a peaceful expression, "Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery are still around, so the most important thing for the emperor is to get rid of these two big sacred grounds. Without getting rid of them first, he won't lay a hand on our Heavenly Saint Cult. Only once he cleans up those will we need to be careful. As for now, there's no need to worry."
Heavenly King Yu thought over it and realized that it was indeed logical.
Qin Mu walked towards the sacred tree and gently touched its grain. Lifting his head up to look at the crown, he said, "The path of the saint is none other than the everyday use of common people. Heavenly King Yu, do you really think we can change the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?"
Heavenly King Yu walked forward and said, "I'm naturally dumb and the question Cult Master asked is too profound, I'm afraid I'm unable to answer it. However, I know that there were no roads in the past, but as more people started walking, a road was formed. People then disliked having to walk in the mud when it started raining, and so they covered the roads with slabs of stone. The roads then became much easier to walk on. After that, people found walking slow, so they created wheels and vehicles, that's how horse carriages started to sprint through the roads. I think there was never a road for horse carriages, but after humans created it, there became a new addition to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."
Qin Mu was stunned.
Heavenly King Yu continued, "After that, people found horse carriages slow and created ships that could fly in the sky. They didn't have copper and gold, so they extracted them out from ores. Some letters were too far to be delivered, so they created flying mail. I think, as more and more things get created by the humans, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth gradually increases as well."
Qin Mu was slightly in a daze. He saw that the sacred tree only had one trunk, but it branched out, and those branches had even more branches. While faced with that sight, he couldn't help revealing a smile.
"In the past, when winter came to the north, it was hard for them to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, but now that there are flying ships, the fruits and vegetables from the south can be transported to the north in a matter of days. In the past, there were inhospitable natural environments where demons roamed, now we can cast spells to change the terrain, transforming barren hills and wild rivers into verdant hills and limpid water. In the past, the lands were infertile and not many crops could be produced, but now we can transform infertile land into fertile land," Heavenly King Yu said.
"In the past, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning were meteorological phenomenon, but now people can control these things. Cult Master, have we changed the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?"
Qin Mu nodded and smiled, "I think we have."
"Cult Master, I'm naturally dumb…"
"You aren't dumb at all!" Qin Mu broke him off and smiled. "Heavenly King Yu, you're a capable person, there's no need to always be so humble. What did you want to ask just now?"
"Cult Master said earlier that the emperor might make a move on our Heavenly Saint Cult after he eradicates the two big sacred grounds. I wonder if Cult Master has any countermeasures? Maybe Cult Master can also be an emperor…"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I won't. As long as what the emperor is doing is similar to our goals, it doesn't matter if I'm the emperor or not. Furthermore, Imperial Preceptor is now the fourth heavenly king of our sacred cult. If he doesn't meet with an accident, how would the emperor make a move on us? In addition, I'm afraid it won't be that easy to eradicate Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery. Don't think too much, I've come to Eternal Peace just for experience and cultivation."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu left Saint Arrival Mountain and returned to Imperial College. Gu Linuan immediately ran over and held a banquet to welcome him back.
Qin Mu stared with eyes wide open, torn between laughter and tears. He smiled and asked, "Lord Gu, is there a need for this?"
Gu Linuan smiled and said, "As fellow practitioners of the devil path, we naturally have to support one another. Cult Master Qin, is Junior Protector Sword still to your liking?"
"It is. I'm not returning it," Qin Mu explained. "The rules of our Great Ruins…"
"I know!" Gu Linuan laughed loudly. "I stayed in Great Ruins for two hundred years and I know its rules—things that got scammed with one's abilities are never returned! You see? Aren't you regarding me as an outsider again? Hahahaha! I've stayed in Great Ruins for two hundred years so Great Ruins can be considered to be partly my homeland, we're half fellow countryman! Now that Cult Master Qin has returned from our homeland, how can I not treat you to a meal to relieve the feeling of homesickness?"
Qin Mu was flabbergasted and sighed. "Lord Gu's realm is too high, this little brother admires you."
"I dare not, I dare not! Cult Master Qin is the talented youth, born a hero."
After they flattered each other, Gu Linuan sighed ruefully. "When I first saw you in Great Ruins, I instantly knew you weren't any mediocre talent, but bound to achieve meteoric success in your career, yet never would have I expect this day to come so fast. Cult Master Qin… Sigh, ain't I regarding you as an outsider by calling you Cult Master Qin? Cult Master, due to unforeseen circumstances, there are quite a lot of empty positions among the first and second ranking officials in the imperial court, could cult master help to pull some strings?"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said, "Lord Gu, I'm just a fifth ranking little official…"
"If Cult Master doesn't regard me as an outsider, you can call me Linuan."
Qin Mu composed himself and said, "I'm merely a fifth ranking palace grandee without any real power in hand, where do I have the rights to ask questions regarding the promotions of first and second ranking officials? Truth be told, the sword that killed the crown prince was this Junior Protector Sword that I scammed from Lord Gu. The emperor is actually bearing a grudge in his heart and has some worries towards my Heavenly Saint Cult. If I tried to put in a word to raise the rank of Lord Gu, I would actually be harming you."
Gu Linuan's smiled. "That's indeed the case, Cult Master is wise. Let me propose a toast to you."
He was an understanding man, and the motive behind his invitation to the banquet wasn't to make Qin Mu put in a word to the emperor for him to rise in ranks. It was to make friends with Qin Mu and resolve their earlier grudges.
No matter if Qin Mu was or wasn't the emperor's favorite person now, he had to make friends with him.
The devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult was an existence on the same level as Rulai and Dao Master. Building a good relationship with Qin Mu was equivalent to building a good relationship with Rulai or Dao Master, and if that could be done with just a banquet, it was naturally a profitable bargain.
After the banquet, Gu Linuan personally sent Qin Mu back to Scholar's Residence. On their way back, Qin Mu was bewildered when he noticed some foreigners at Imperial College.
"After the rebellion, the new crown prince abolished the treaty the renegade had signed and took back the lands. Some of the foreign countries were terrified, so they sent over peaceful envoys to learn the culture of Eternal Peace."
Gu Linuan could see his suspicions and said, "The crown prince permitted it. He permitted foreigners to seek knowledge in Eternal Peace while some descendants of aristocrats would be learning in Imperial College."
Qin Mu nodded, then suddenly saw a familiar face and was slightly stunned. He smiled towards a youth and called out, "Pangong Tso!"
That youth who was from the barbarian race in the prairie turned back to look at Qin Mu, with puzzlement in his eyes. There were numerous retainers from his foreign country following behind him, and two of them were great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace.
Pangong Tso asked the person beside him in a low voice, and a great shaman immediately said something to him in a low voice. Pangong Tso suddenly understood and returned a greeting to Qin Mu indifferently. "So it's Heavenly Devil Cult Master. What's the matter, Cult Master?"
Qin Mu was stunned again and just shook his head. "Nothing."
Pangong Tso and the rest walked away.
Qin Mu frowned slightly, and Gu Linuan caught it. He asked, "Cult Master, you recognize this Pangong Tso?"
"He's the youngest son of Barbarian Di Empire's Khan. I once saw him practicing his punches at the border and his fist skills have a unique bearing, which should stem from a unique constitution."
Qin Mu looked at the back of Pangong Tso and pondered over it. "He once challenged Chancellor Ba Shan and said he will definitely defeat Chancellor Ba Shan in the future, giving me a deep impression of him. Why does it seem like he just met me for the first time…"
Gu Linuan smiled and said, "With the nature of a youth, he must have forgotten."
Qin Mu returned to Scholar's Residence, where the dragon qilin lay outside the house. When he came into the room, he felt that it was lonely and somehow wrong
"If only Ling'er was here." He sighed to himself.
If Hu Ling'er was here, she would definitely tidy up the room so this place wouldn't so messy. The entire room would also be arranged comfortably.
Suddenly, the low and muffled voice of the dragon qilin came from outside. "Young lady, who are you looking for?"
"Is your Cult Master Qin around?" a pleasant voice asked.
"He is."
"I'm going in."
"Okay."
Qin Mu immediately walked out of the room and saw Ling Yuxiu pushing the door. This young lady was charming as she smiled with her red lips and white teeth. She wore a gown with a red overlap and collar. When she walked into the courtyard, an air brimming with youthfulness bombarded Qin Mu and made his heart race slightly.
"The one who herds cows!" The girl's eyes were shining brightly as she walked over with a smile. "The big dog at your door is quite easy to talk to!"
"I'm going to put him on the table for the next New Year's dinner, he can't even guard a door properly!" Qin Mu said ruthlessly.
The dragon qilin's voice came from outside, "Cult Master, I heard everything."
"I wanted you to hear it! You only know how to eat besides sleeping!"
Qin Mu examined this princess in detail and saw that she was becoming more and more beautiful, even if her face still had the childish nature of an infant. However, she was still taller than Qin Mu and was a big young lady. Her spring gown couldn't hide her alluring figure, the two melons that were about to burst out, making it hard for him to move his gaze away from her body.
Qin Mu had also started to grow taller recently, and he was doing it as frantically as the weeds in a desolate land once spring came.
The last time they've met, this princess was still a wild lass who wore male clothing was very free and at ease.
Ling Yuxiu came to the front of the yellow pear tree in the courtyard and only saw small buds. However, the blossoms needed to open up first and the stamens to pop their heads from the tender petals.
Ling Yuxiu stretched her slender jade hands to fiddle with the flowers and smiled. "You're pretty interesting, to plant a pear tree on a jade mountain. When the pear blossoms, I must definitely come to admire…"
"Don't move!" Qin Mu's eyes lighted up, and he said, "Stay in this posture. Give me a second!"
He quickly took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to paint. Ling Yuxiu was a little impatient and said, "Are you done yet? My arm is already aching."
"Right away."
Qin Mu was about to finish the painting, but he stopped at the last stroke, taking out his seal to stamp on the painting before placing down the last stroke with a smile. "It's done."
Ling Yuxiu came over and looked at his painting. She saw that she looked slightly shy in the painting, and it was evident that Qin Mu had managed to capture the bashfulness that had poured out from her heart.
"Such likeness," Ling Yuxiu exclaimed in admiration. "Why did you have to stamp your seal first before drawing the last stroke?"
"My painting skill is too good. If I finish the last stroke first, you will walk down from the painting and run away. This stamp is also called a seal. Take a look at the picture on the seal, it isn't my surname but a kind of sealing rune instead," Qin Mu explained.
Ling Yuxiu went up to take a look at the seal and the two of them huddled together. Qin Mu's gaze shifted toward the face of the girl and saw the soft redness on her fair cheek as well as her bright and clear eyes. While she looked at the seal seriously, her fair neck was very moving and her serious attitude made his heart race.
"It's really sealing runes!" Ling Yuxiu was astonished and said curiously, "If this seal is wiped away, can I really walk out of the painting?"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "What I use is Bestowing Soul Skill and Bestowing the Divine Soul with a Dot Using Mutual Sensitivity. However, I only succeeded once and I don't know if it would have worked this time. Still, it's best to seal the painting in case you run away."
Ling Yuxiu looked at him shyly and immediately rolled up the painting. "This painting in mine, don't steal it from me! That's right, I've almost forgotten about the task at hand. Father has summoned you into the palace, he said it's for diagnosing his injuries. I met the eunuch sending the decree and took his job."
Qin Mu tidied up his clothes and said, "Are you coming along with me?"
"Alright! We haven't met for quite a while and I have things I want to tell you."
The young man and young woman walked out of the room, and the dragon qilin raised his head. "Cult Master, I'll guard the door and definitely not let anyone in."
"Got it," Qin Mu said. "Perform well and I won't put you on the table for New Year. And also, train more, remember all the muscles on the green bull's body. How can you defeat him like this?"
The two people walked out of Scholar's Residence and saw many scholars greeting them with smiles on the way. However, most of them looked terrified, so it was evident that they had heard that Qin Mu was the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, a fellow of savage nature. He had chopped off Ling Yuxia's head in front of the emperor and was truly fiendish.
Outside Scholar's Residence, Chancellor Ba Shan walked over with long strides and behind him were two scholars. One of them was Wei Yong and the other was Yue Qinghong. These two people had great improvements in their cultivation, so it was obvious that they had received quite a lot of benefits from cultivating with Chancellor Ba Shan.
Behind them came a big green bull that was incomparably robust. He walked on the road with two legs and lumps of muscle covered his entire body. Fire spewed out from his nostrils, and he looked extremely fiendish with a peony in his mouth.
Chancellor Ba Shan stopped and smiled. "Cult Master Qin, are you two eloping?"
"We're not," Ling Yuxiu said angrily. "Don't speak nonsense, Teacher Ba Shan, father has summoned him to the palace!"
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed loudly and said to Qin Mu, "I met that Pangong Tso brat of Barbarian Di Empire just now, and he has become very strange. Even though he recognizes me, he's no longer that Pangong Tso."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "I also have this feeling. Pangong Tso didn't recognize me, and he seemed like a different person."
"His abilities are very strong; no weaker than yours," Chancellor Ba Shan said.
Qin Mu's blinked and asked in doubt, "No weaker than mine? I'm very strong."
Chancellor Ba Shan gave him a look. "His Six Directions Divine Treasure is about to break through, and I can also feel a kind of terrifying power hiding in his body. You might not be able to beat him! Could this barbarian brat have had a miraculous encounter? Yet it doesn't seem like a miraculous encounter, but more like spirit possession… Go and meet the emperor first, I'll come and find you later."
Qin Mu came to the palace with Ling Yuxiu to see that both the emperor and Imperial Preceptor were there. Beside them was also an ugly man whose face was covered in warts, and he was diagnosing their injuries.
Qin Mu walked in, and Emperor Yanfeng raised his head to reveal a smile. "Palace Grandee is here."
The man whose face was covered in warts looked at Qin Mu and his mouth broke into a grin. He was like a huge toad that had transformed into a spirit, and his smile looked like a crying face. "Junior Brother, is Teacher, that old man, still doing well?"
Qin Mu stopped in his footsteps and stretched his hand out to block Ling Yuxiu's way. "Little Poison King?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Junior brother seems to be pretty wary of me!" Little Poison King smiled. "Even though we are senior and junior brothers, we have never met before, we should have been closer."
Qin Mu lowered his arms. He had heard rumors about this Little Poison King and heard Empress Dowager mention him before. The reason why Grandpa Apothecary had sliced off his face and went to hide in Great Ruins was also because of this person.
Little Poison King was Apothecary's proudest disciple yet he had betrayed Apothecary and leaked the news that Jade Face Playboy was none other than Poison King.
Jade Face Playboy and Poison King had been two people in the martial world. One of them was a free and romantic man that was exceptionally handsome. He was tall, attractive, heroic, and treated everyone politely like the spring wind, leaving lovers everywhere. He didn't need to womanize for women would come to him by themselves. Everyone adored and admired him, so even though men were usually envious of him, they couldn't bring themselves to hate him.
Poison King, however, was ferocious-looking and his methods were ruthless, his infamy spreading far and wide. He had once killed countless experts and even eradicated a sect of the righteous path, poisoning everyone in it. Not one person was left alive in it.
Even Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery had many monks and Daoists dead from his poison.
Poison King's cultivation wasn't high, but his abilities were extremely formidable. No matter if it was poison or venomous insects, his attainments had reached the peak. Numerous ambushes to catch him had been set up by both the righteous and devil path and even a few cult master level existences were mobilized, but none of them had managed to take him down. All of them instead died of poison.
Poison King wore a green mask with tusks, so no one knew his true appearance. It wasn't until his disciple Little Poison King leaked the truth that the people learned that Poison King was the dissolute Jade Face Playboy.
Once his identity was revealed, things became complicated. Some people wanted to kill him, while some women fought among themselves for him and even a powerful woman like Empress Dowager joined in the fight. This gave Apothecary no choice but to slice off his face and abandon all feelings. He then went to hide in Great Ruins,, not daring to step out of them for the next half of his lifetime.
However, Little Poison King's days weren't good as well. Empress Dowager and the rest of the women vented out their anger on his head and chased after his life everywhere. Little Poison King had also almost been forced into hiding in Great Ruins, but he was lucky since Imperial Preceptor took him in.
In regards to Apothecary's encounters, Qin Mu had only heard rumors and didn't know what had happened exactly. However, he knew Little Poison King had inherited Apothecary's teaching, and his attainments with poison were already catching up to those of Apothecary.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled and said, "Cult master, I have invited you and Little Poison King because both of you are disciples of Jade Face Poison King. One is proficient in using poison while the other is proficient in medical treatments. With both of you working together, you just might be able to cure Imperial Preceptor and me."
Qin Mu revealed a smile. "At Your Majesty's command. I would also like to see senior brother's trade."
Little Poison King checked the emperor's injuries and examined the effects of Qin Mu's treatments. The warts on his face became more and more terrifying as he smiled. "Your trade is not bad, solving Thousand Opportunities Poison in one night."
On the other hand, Qin Mu was examining Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. After returning to the capital city, it was Little Poison King who ha been treating Imperial Preceptor's injuries. He said indifferently, "You ain't bad as well, the way you used Thousand Opportunities Poison was marvelous."
A wart near the arm of Little Poison King suddenly burst open with a pop and some transparent little spiders came climbing out. These little spiders spewed out webs which hit the heart of Emperor Yanfeng's brows. They then climbed into the heart of Emperor Yanfeng's brows through the spider silks and tunneled into his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure.
"I didn't want to poison her to death. With my skills, it isn't troublesome to poison a cult master," Little Poison King said leisurely. "No matter which cult master of which cult, poisoning them is no trouble for me."
Qin Mu didn't raise his eyebrows. Instead, two more heavens appeared in his eyes as he used Green Heaven's Eyes to examine Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries. "Even if you had poisoned her body to death, I could have still kept her soul and saved her after detoxing the poison. Furthermore, cult master ain't somebody you can poison at will. For a cult master, there's no need to even meet you to kill you. Especially for devil cults, they have a thousand ways to have a person die in an unfathomable way yet still as it should be by rights. When senior brother finds himself dead in a smelly sewer one day, he will understand."
"Is that so?" Little Poison King had a sinister expression and his smile was even uglier than a crying face.
"That's right," Qin Mu smiled like a flower.
The two of them looked each other in the eyes. Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's hearts were palpitating from fear. The moment the two people had met each other, they started fighting with words and their murderous intent was flourishing more and more.
Ling Yuxiu blinked, her gaze moving between the two people. She felt that the situation was going out of control, so she smiled and said, "Little Poison King, Cult Master Qin, the treatment is more important."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gave a cough and Emperor Yanfeng gave a cough as well before saying, "Yuxiu, fall back first."
Ling Yuxiu understood and walked out of the hall.
The warts on Little Poison King's face burst open and insects that looked like fish flew out to tunnel into the other divine treasures of Emperor Yanfeng. After examining the injuries there, he said, "You are really not bad, getting rid of the hidden damages in His Majesty's divine treasures. The injuries on his corporeal body and soul are completely healed, but it's a pity your medical expertise is still lacking and can't treat the divine treasures."
Qin Mu looked at the remnants of the god's divine art in Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body and saw that Little Poison King had used poisonous substances which he transformed into technique dissolving spirit silks to coil around those remnants. He was trying to wear them down since the poison silks had the effect of dissolving techniques, divine arts, and even vital qi. However, the effects were minimal when against the divine arts of gods.
"Your poison technique has reached perfection, the realm of having both material form and internal spirit. Theses technique dissolving spirit silks were used marvelously, but they still can go up another level." Qin Mu smiled.
The gazes of the two people met once again.
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's scalps turned numb. If these two people were to battle, they would probably use poison and medicine on their bodies!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Both of you are divine physicians and come from the same teacher, do you have any solutions?"
Little Poison King immediately said, "I am already quite confident in treating His Majesty's injuries. Since His Majesty's divine treasures are destroyed, I can fetch the divine treasures of a living human to transfer them over."
Emperor Yanfeng frowned. "How certain are you?"
"This…" Little Poison King hesitated and took a glance at Qin Mu. "I'm proficient in using poison so I can't really say how certain I am."
Qin Mu said, "Imperial Preceptor's injuries can't be solved with just technique dissolving spirit silks, for the problem still lies in the remnants of the divine arts left behind by the god being too strong. What I think is we should do is find a few dozen strong practitioners of the cult master level to suppress those remnants, which would allow Imperial Preceptor to utilize his own cultivation to refine them."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head and said, "There are indeed a few dozen strong practitioners of cult master level within the borders of Eternal Peace Empire, but it'd be hard to gather everyone to help me. Two divine physicians, since one of you use poison and one of you use medicine, you guys just might be able to complement each other."
Qin Mu took a look at Little Poison King and Little Poison King also looked at him.
"My master Jade Face Poison King is matchless in his poison and medicine, he can use medicine to boost poison and poison to boost medicine," said Little Poison King. "How many times can you boost my poison?"
Qin Mu replied coldly, "We'll have to see how intense senior brother's toxicity is. I can use medicine to greatly supplement His Majesty's vital qi and raise his life force, allowing His Majesty's life force and vital qi to cure the injuries in his divine treasures. How intense is your poison, can it raise the vital qi and life force of my medicine by thirty to fifty times?"
"As intense as you want!" Little Poison King sneered. "I'm afraid your tonic can't handle my toxins! To refine the remnants of the divine arts in Imperial Preceptor, I need the toxicity of technique dissolving spirit silks to be raised by thirty to fifty times. With such high toxicity, even gods can be poisoned to death and dissolve into skeletons. Do you have the ability?"
Qin Mu gritted his teeth. "I can try!"
Venomous insects climbed out from Emperor Yanfeng's body and tunneled back into the warts on Little Poison King's hands and face.
"If you can't refine such a tonic, I'll poison you to death." He chuckled.
Qin Mu's expression was indifferent. "If you use the wrong toxin, I will ensure your life so I can bring you back to Great Ruins."
Little Poison King's expression changed drastically, and he let out a cold snort. With a raise of his brush, he wrote down a list of toxic herbs.
Qin Mu also wrote down a prescription.
"Your Majesty, send people to grab the herbs!" Both of them threw down their brushes and sat down silently.
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at each other in dismay. These two had a big temper and didn't look like they planned to treat their injuries. On the contrary, they looked like they were going to take their lives.
Emperor Yanfeng coughed and summoned the imperial physicians waiting outside the hall. "Grab the herbs quickly."
The imperial physicians immediately took the prescriptions and hurried on their way.
"Your tonic is quite intense." Little Poison King smiled in a sinister manner.
Qin Mu ignored him, and after some time, the imperial physicians finally brought over all the toxic and healing herbs that they required. Qin Mu immediately made his move and extracted the medicinal energy. He executed his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and transformed into the cow-headed human-boded Mars Sovereign and the tiger-headed human-bodied Venus Sovereign from time to time. He also transformed into Mercury Sovereign, Jupiter Sovereign, and Saturn Sovereign, transforming his form and vital qi to extract out all kinds of medicinal energies.
Meanwhile, Little Poison King used the toxic herbs to raise his insects. He let them eat the poisonous substances before refining the little creatures into poisonous pills, which he used to feed other venomous insects. Repeating this several times, he finally raised a huge pitch black spider with red eyes. Poisonous gas actually congealed around it and didn't show any sign of dispersing.
On Qin Mu's side, he took a few seeds and started planting flowers in the hall. He planted the seeds in the spirit pills that he had refined and used Earth Aeon Creation Technique so the flowers would absorb the medicinal energies of the spirit pills. Not long later, the flowers bloomed and bore fruits.
He then plucked the spirit fruits that he required and refined them again. After repeating this for a few more times, the herbs that had piled up into a mountain were refined into seven spirit pills and one red pellet.
Qin Mu picked up them all up and looked at Little Poison King.
Little Poison King had by then refined the huge spider to death and created a string of spirit silks that practically couldn't be seen and a small bottle of poisonous liquid.
The two of them looked each other in the eyes, and Qin Mu threw the red pellet to Little Poison King while Little Poison King threw the poisonous liquid to him.
Qin Mu squeezed out a smile and said gently, "Your Majesty, it's time for your medicine."
Emperor Yanfeng's heart began to pound and his body twitched as he looked at the seven spirit pills and the bottle of poisonous liquid Qin Mu was holding. "Minister, the toxicity…"
"It is very great." Qin Mu took a glance at Little Poison King. "If Your Majesty dies, I will take revenge for Your Majesty!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at the red pellet and spider silks in front of him with hesitation. Little Poison King said, "Don't worry Imperial Preceptor, you're fine, you're fine."
Qin Mu's figure transformed into a shadow and tunneled into Emperor Yanfeng's divine treasures. He placed the seven spirit pills into the seven realms. He poured a few droplets of poisonous liquid onto each of the spirit pills before withdrawing.
Little Poison King smacked the spirit silks into Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body and gave a pull with his hand to pull out a thread of spider silk from his patient's mouth. He wrapped the spider silk around the red pellet before stuffing it into Imperial Preceptor's mouth.
A world-shaking bang came from Emperor Yanfeng's body, and all the hair on his body suddenly began to grow frantically. His bones also did the same, and in an instant, they increased by a huge chunk, to the point that his pants could no longer cover him. His head had also grown larger. The beard grew outwards like weeds and the hair on his head stretched outwards in all directions.
His leg and chest hair had become incomparably thick, ripping even the dragon robe.
Not long after that, Emperor Yanfeng became a giant that was over thirty yards tall and laid on the ground, unable to move. Half of the hall was covered in hair and the emperor was drowned out in this dense thicket.
"Your poison is a little intense, eh, senior brother." The corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched.
On the other side, transparent spider silks suddenly started pouring out from Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Even the pores of his skin had quite a number of spider silks pouring out, coiling around him. He soon looked like a huge dumpling that was wrapped sturdily.
Little Poison King said looked over at him with a grave expression. "Isn't your tonic a little too nourishing?"
The two of them looked at each other before raising their brushes to write down prescriptions again. When they wanted to call the emperor to order people to grab the herbs, only then did they remember that the emperor was still drowned out by the hair.
The two of them could only give a cough and summon the imperial physicians outside the hall by themselves.
The imperial physicians that were waiting for orders trembled in fear when they saw the thick hair that was spreading from inside the hall and crawling down the steps.
Not long after that, the imperial physicians came back with the herbs and Qin Mu started refining once again. Little Poison King also hurried to raise his insects.
Qin Mu pulled out his two Pig Slaughtering Knives and chopped off countless hairs to find the emperor. It required quite some effort to send the medicine into him. On the other side, the warts on Little Poison King's face burst open and venomous insects brought the medicine that was refined into the cocoon, sending it into Imperial Preceptor's body.
"Crap!" The two of them observed the situation, and their complexions turned green. "It seems the poisons and the medicine are a little imbalanced…"
Even though the hair no longer grew on the emperor's sides, poison had started to pour from his orifices, while Imperial Preceptor's hairs started to grow.
The two of doctors picked up their brushes in a hurry and started to write prescriptions again.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu and the Little Poison King had changed the prescriptions seven to eight times, and they were getting slightly flustered. It was the first time they were working together, after all, so there would always be some places that weren't as they wanted, some places where they couldn't complement each other perfectly.
Furthermore, both of them wanted to outdo each other, so the tonic that Qin Mu gave Little Poison King wasn't just thirty to fifty times stronger but sixty times stronger instead. The bottle of poisonous liquid that Little Poison King had given Qin Mu also had a higher toxicity.
The two of them pitted their abilities against each other and the ones suffering were the emperor and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who got tortured endlessly. What's more, they couldn't even move, struggle, or call for help.
The emperor's body started shrinking, returning to its ordinary size before long; however, he didn't stop there and soon reached the size of a newborn baby.
'I should really have planted executioners in this hall to execute these two scoundrels of divine physicians…' thought the emperor who was drowning in his own hair.
On the other side, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body was still swelling. And not only that, for he could feel something growing on his buttocks. It seemed like a furry tail.
His armpits felt itchy, and he felt a few more bones growing around his armpits. When they cracked and grew outwards, it seemed like he was growing two wings.
It would have been still fine if he had grown two huge wings, but the crux was that the wings stopped growing after reach a foot's length.
The bodies of the two patients were sometimes cold and sometimes warm. Sometimes they felt they had descended into hell and rolled on mountains of knives, while at other times they felt as if they were becoming immortals and felt incomparably comfortable. However, being comfortable was the most dangerous as that was their souls dissolving.
Sometimes, pain came flooding over from all parts of their body and was a hundred to thousand times more painful than extreme heartache. Sometimes, they felt as if there were tens of thousands of needles stabbing their bodies, and at other times, they felt as if they had been soaked in an unbearably acidic vinegar vat.
In the hall, Qin Mu sat on the hair that filled the ground, holding the brush in one hand and resting his chin on the other as he fell into a daze.
Not far away, Little Poison King's brows were tensed and he paced around anxiously. He kept on thinking about how he could continue the treatment.
Both of them were stumped with a difficult problem. Qin Mu had raised his brush several times but could never write anything down. Little Poison King had also raised his brush several times and placed it down again.
Ling Yuxiu at that moment popped her head into and saw the two troubled guys, so she asked softly, "The one that herds cows, how is it going?"
Before Qin Mu could answer, Little Poison King chuckled. "You are the sixth princess, right?"
Ling Yuxiu thought for a moment and said, "Now that my elder brother is the eldest prince, I'm indeed number six."
"Eldest prince is also the current Crown Prince Yushu." Little Poison King then added in a harsh tone, "Congratulations sixth princess, due to the quack's treatment, your brother will soon ascend the throne to be the emperor."
Ling Yuxiu jumped in shock and looked at Qin Mu anxiously. Almost sobbing, she stuttered, "T-the one that herds cows, are you going to cure father to death?"
"Don't be afraid, sister, he won't die."Qin Mu consoled her. He then sneered, "Before I cure the emperor to death, Imperial Preceptor will be treated to death by that idiot. Without the support of Imperial Preceptor, your brother will be overthrown in a matter of days even if he becomes the emperor!"
Ling Yuxiu was about to cry. "You guys are just scaring me, right?"
Little Poison King mocked, "Even if Imperial Preceptor would die in my hands, it would be because he was nourished to death by your tonic!"
Qin Mu then turned to ridicule him back. "The emperor may be treated to death by me, but he would have died under your poison, so you can forget about walking out of the palace alive!"
The two of them stared at each other, and anger blazed in their eyes as they wanted more than anything to poison each other to death.
Ling Yuxiu was furious and shouted out, "Both of you, if father and Imperial Preceptor die from your treatments, both of you can forget about leaving the palace alive! Where're the executioners? Executioners!"
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor both let out a sigh of relief as they thought to themselves, 'Yuxiu (Sixth princess) is still the sensible one; otherwise, if those two scoundrels continued to fight like this, we would end up dead or about to die.'
The imperial bodyguards of the palace swarmed over and came to stand guard outside the hall.
Ling Yuxiu looked at them with murder in her eyes as she put her hands on her waist to scold the two of them, "The executioners are right outside, so both of you have to listen to me! Since one of you can't suppress the other's tonic and the other can't handle their poison, then both of you shall swap! That ugly one, you shall treat father, the one that herds cows, you shall treat Imperial Preceptor!"
Qin Mu rose to look at Little Poison King and said solemnly, "Swap patients!"
Little Poison King's eyes lighted up, and he said, "If you treat Imperial Preceptor and I treat the emperor, a miracle might just happen!"
The two of them immediately swapped patients and examined their situations.
After it, they sighed in relief and looked each other in the eyes.
Moments before, Qin Mu had begun planning to take the dragon qilin and hide in Great Ruins, while Little Poison King had also planned to escape and lie low. As for the experts outside, it would be a stretch for them to hold these two divine doctors back; it was just a matter of a dosage of poison.
However, after they swapped patients, they discovered they could clean up the mess the other had made, and this way, they wouldn't have to worry about escaping after causing the deaths of the emperor and Imperial Preceptor.
Qin Mu and Little Poison King raised their brushes to write down the prescriptions for the imperial physicians to grab the herbs.
The both of them diagnosed and treated their patients with great care, changing their prescriptions repeatedly. After close to three days, the hair on the emperor's body dropped off and the cocoon on Imperial Preceptor's body gradually vanished.
The injuries on Imperial Preceptor's body gradually lessened and the remnants of the god's divine arts weakened. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also able to mobilize some cultivation.
Even though the emperor's divine treasures were still in ruins, Little Poison King had used countless venomous spiders to carry over vital qi and life force to rebuild them. With the powerful life force from Qin Mu's medicine used for restoration, there should be no more big problems.
Their injuries healing was just a matter of time.
Ling Yuxiu summoned a few eunuchs to clean up the palace. These eunuchs filled up several carts of hair, and while another was filled up with tails, wings, extra arms, and legs that had dropped off from Imperial Preceptor.
"There really aren't any more big problems."
Qin Mu looked at Little Poison King, and Little Poison King also looked over at him at that moment. They sneered at each other. Ling Yuxiu seemed to have met her greatest foes and immediately said nervously, "No more fighting!"
Qin Mu wrote down a prescription and made the imperial physicians grab the herbs. He stretched his body and smiled. "I won't fight with him. I'm tired after diagnosing and treating the emperor and Imperial Preceptor for the past few days, I'm going back to rest."
Little Poison King also said in a sinister manner, "I'm also tired so I have to return to sleep. You can leave the rest of the stuff to the quacks at the door."
Ling Yuxiu looked at Little Poison King, then turned to Qin Mu and said, "The one that herds cows, let me send you back to Imperial College."
Qin Mu hesitated, then shook his head. "No need, you also haven't rested for the past two days."
"I must!" the girl said firmly.
Qin Mu saw that she was insistent on sending him and could only nod in agreement. The two of them then waited a moment for the imperial physicians to come back with the herbs. Little Poison King sniffed the air for the smell of herbs, but since they had used numerous herbs these days, the smell in the hall was thick, and it was hard for him to differentiate.
Qin Mu took the herbs and Ling Yuxiu hurriedly went after him. Little Poison King also followed behind. When they passed by the Jade Band River in the palace, he suddenly jumped into the water with a plop and never came out after that.
Ling Yuxiu looked down with a cry of astonishment. "He escaped by the river. The one that herds cows, could he be afraid of you?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "He isn't afraid of me, he's afraid of Empress Dowager."
Just as he was saying that, Jade Band River suddenly rose into the sky, and the water floated in the sky like a huge silver-colored python. Two palace maids raised lanterns and walked over to shine into the river. Countless sword lights in the flames of the lanterns shot off and went into Jade Band River.
"Empress Dowager, that person is not in the river." The two palace maids with lanterns saluted a tall building at the side.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu immediately looked towards there and saw Empress Dowager standing on the balcony. She had lifted one of her hands before, and that moment, she gently placed it down.
The water of Jade Band River instantly whooshed downward and filled the canal.
Qin Mu saluted the balcony and Empress Dowager smiled. "Little divine physician, is the emperor cured?"
Qin Mu said, "He still needs to recuperate and will recover to his peak in a few years."
Empress Dowager nodded and said, "Yuxiu, bring these two palace maids with you to send little divine physician off for me."
Ling Yuxiu smiled. "I was just planning to return to Imperial College with him."
Empress Dowager walked into the building, and the two palace maids carrying the lanterns followed behind Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu.
Walking out of the palace, Qin Mu suddenly stopped and told the two palace maids, "Go back, I won't need you for the journey ahead."
The two palace maids were a pair of twins and they were alike in looks. They were both bright and quick-witted as they shook their heads in unison. "Empress Dowager has instructed us to send divine physician back to Imperial College."
Qin Mu frowned slightly and said to Ling Yuxiu, "Sister, go back with them."
Ling Yuxiu shook her head. "With me by your side, Little Poison King won't dare to lay his hands on you."
Qin Mu sighed. "To us apothecaries, there's no one we don't dare to poison to death. I originally just needed to protect myself, but now I will have to protect you as well, so I'm afraid it might be a bit strenuous."
That two palace maids giggled. "What little divine physician said is truly interesting. You are still on Five Elements Realm while Little Poison King and us sisters are on Seven Stars Realm. Furthermore, Empress Dowager has granted us a treasure to deal with Little Poison King. With us sisters around, if Little Poison King dares to come, he will definitely be taken down by us!"
Qin Mu shook his head and didn't persuade them to leave. "Apothecaries can kill people regardless of their realm. You two are too naive. Even for me, poisoning strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm isn't a problem, so what do you think it's like for Little Poison King? It's fine even if you want to follow me, but be more alert, I'm afraid I can't look after both of you."
The two palace maids giggled non-stop.
There were many people on the street. and the two palace maids carried a lantern in front and at the back. Carrying a lantern in the morning was very eye-catching, but since they were dressed in the outfits of the palace, no one came forward to inquire about it.
Imperial College was far from the palace, but after walking six to seven miles, they still hadn't seen anything. Qin Mu refined medicine on the way and finally finished refining the few packets of herbs he had been carrying. He then stretched his hand into his taotie sack, so only his arm and shoulder could be seen jerking gently. The hand technique that he executed and the medicine that was being refined in the taotie sack could not be seen.
The two palace maids were very alert, and any flies or spiders on the way were all slaughtered by the two women with sword lights. None of the insects could get close to them.
As they continued, a chilly wind blew over, and the two women immediately roused their vital qi. The light of the lanterns suddenly became brighter, and the lights formed two circular barriers to cover them, not allowing the wind to blow in.
One of the palace maids laughed. "Does Little Poison King only have these kinds of methods…" Just as she said that, her delicate face suddenly turned black and she collapsed. Her sister behind also collapsed with a thud, no longer able to move.
Ling Yuxiu was startled and looked around in a hurry before asking, "Why are we fine…"
Thud.
She collapsed with her face facing upwards.
After the three women collapsed, a few pitch-black tentacles covered in spikes crawled out from the ground. The lower legs of the women had been pricked by the tentacles, poisoning them.
Qin Mu flicked his finger, and those tentacles flailed and dissolved with a sizzle, turning into small puddles. The ground trembled, and it seemed like there was a huge creature which moving under the ground.
Qin Mu took out three spirit pills to suppress the toxicity of the poison so the trio would regain their consciousness.
Suddenly, a grunt came from afar. "You gave tonic to my baby?"
Boom!
The ground trembled and split open, causing the houses to collapse. From beneath, a weird insect that was about thirty yards tall and hundreds of yards long tunneled out. Its entire body was covered with tentacles, and it was the insect king that Little Poison King was raising!
Just as Little Poison King returned this insect king to his side, the insect king's body started swelling from Qin Mu's tonic. He wasn't able to suppress it even if he wanted.
At that moment, Little Poison King was pathetically sprawled on the back of the insect king.
"What are you waiting for?" Qin Mu asked the two palace maids beside him.
They were still groggy, but they poured their vital qi into the lanterns when they heard him. The lantern light shone towards the insect king like swords and pierced through the creature, turning it into a broken sieve!
Little Poison King suffered numerous sword wounds and vanished into a puff of smoke.
The two palace maids immediately shone down on the ground, and with the light from the lanterns, the ground actually became transparent. Their light could actually shine dozens of yards below the ground.
However, the poison in the two women hadn't yet detoxified; it had only been suppressed by Qin Mu. They quickly felt the toxicity in their bodies about to break out again, so they didn't dare to activate their magic powers.
Qin Mu said, "No need to chase him. He already suffered a defeat, and if you force him to the end of his rope, he could poison everyone in the capital city. Instead, I better cure the poison both of you received; otherwise, it will be too late."
Qin Mu extracted a tiny drop of fresh blood from the three of them and saw that their blood was already black. Even though they were all poisoned by the same venomous king, the amount of venom in their bodies was different, so he had to help them separately.
On the way, Qin Mu worked to identify the poison and cure them. By the time they reached Scholar's Residence, even though the poison within the three women had been detoxified, there were still some remnants left, which made them light-headed. Before they could even reach Qin Mu's room, they all collapsed onto the floor.
Qin Mu frowned and dragged them all into his residence. He threw Ling Yuxiu and the two palace maids onto the bed before going back to close the door.
At the door, the dragon qilin said, "Cult Master, don't worry, I will definitely not let anyone come in! I understand very well in my heart…"
"You have done well," Qin Mu praised him.
He was simply too exhausted for the past few days, so when he returned to his room, he laid down among the three women and fell asleep. As he slept, he suddenly felt a slight itch at his nose and guessed it was the hair from one of the girls. With a passing flip, he pushed one of them out of the bed.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In a daze, Qin Mu felt someone climbing up his body. He had quite a temper while asleep, and thus, he gave two kicks and kicked that person off the bed.
That person was also in a daze and climbed back onto the bed while pulling on the blanket, snuggling up to his chest. However, she was kicked down by Qin Mu once again. In the end, the three girls huddled up together to sleep, leaving Qin Mu alone on the other side.
The last few days of hard work had resulted in Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu falling into a deep sleep. When Qin Mu woke up the next morning, Ling Yuxiu had snuggled herself under his arm. To get up, he carefully shifted his arm, afraid of waking her up.
Actually, Ling Yuxiu had already woken up, but she was a thin-skinned girl. She was afraid things would be awkward when she woke up, so she pretended to sleep. When he had gotten up, she secretly opened her eyes and saw him grabbing his shoes and tip-toeing out of the room.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief after walking out of the room. The twin sisters had woken up earlier and were talking in the courtyard. One of them said, "Young Master Qin likes to punch around in his sleep. He gave me a good beating, just look at my swollen eye."
"Not only that! I got kicked on the chest and pushed off the bed. Did he take advantage of you?"
"Not even once. However, how are we supposed to report that the princess and young master were sleeping together and even we were on the same bed, sharing a blanket?"
The two girls stayed silent for a moment, then said in unison, "We won't. Young master and princess won't speak of it, so it's best not to say anything!"
In regards to the face of the imperial family, saying too much would result in being executed. The girls naturally knew that, and that's why they had made the decision to keep their silence.
Qin Mu put on his shoes and walked out with a cough.
The two palace maids immediately greeted him. "Young Master is awake? Us sisters were rude and impetuous yesterday. Luckily, with Young Master's care, we didn't lose our lives to Little Poison King."
Qin Mu returned the greeting and said, "Luckily the two big sisters were there and injured Little Poison King, preventing him from being impudent."
The two palace maids looked at each other and laughed in unison. "Young Master, don't call us big sisters. We serve Empress Dowager and don't even have a surname, only a name. I'm called Jianqi, and she's called Qinqi."
The two palace maids couldn't help laughing when they saw him sizing up the both of them to differentiate who was Jianqi and who was Qinqi. With this laugh, Qin Mu noticed it that Jianqi had a small canine tooth on her left while Qinqi had a small canine tooth on her right.
"Young Master, we haven't returned for the whole night, so we have to come back to the palace earlier to report on the completion of our mission," Qinqi said.
Qin Mu nodded and said, "After a night's sleep, the remaining poison in your bodies should have been detoxified, so there shouldn't be any problems. Still, I have some detoxing pellets with me, so you two can take them."
The two palace maids gave their thanks and received the detoxing pellets. They were about to leave when Ling Yuxiu's voice came from the room. "Wait for me! I shall go back with the two of you!"
The two women stopped and looked back to see Ling Yuxiu running over at them in a panic, her clothes disheveled, her white undercoat askew. Her beautiful hair was also messy, and she was rushing with her outer clothing clasped under her arm and dragging her shoes out with her feet. When she dropped them behind, she immediately lifted her feet up to get the shoes up, but her jet black hair completely scattered, flowing down her shoulders like a waterfall.
She wanted to take control of her hair, but then the outer clothing she was clasping fell down. She cut a very sorry figure.
Qin Mu looked at her and saw a plump chest that was about to run out from her clothing. The youth's heart then wavered, and he didn't know whether to warn her or go forward to help her stuff them back in.
Jianqi and Qinqi looked at each other and walked forward to escort the princess back into the room to help her dress and groom herself.
Ling Yuxiu's cheeks turned red from embarrassment, and she collected her courage to ask them softly, "Will I get pregnant?"
The two palace maids stared with their eyes wide open and asked in astonishment, "Why did princess say that?"
"I've heard from people in the palace saying that when a male and female sleep together, the female will get pregnant," Ling Yuxiu said seriously. "We slept together for almost a whole day and night, so I might just be pregnant."
Jianqi burst out laughing. "Princess, you're mistaken, it's not like that. Aiya, I can't explain it to you clearly, but the young master is a divine physician so he definitely has ways to prevent pregnancy."
Ling Yuxiu opened her eyes wide. "That's possible?"
"Isn't that so. I've heard some rich madams who don't want to give birth look for apothecaries to prescribe them medicine so they won't get pregnant."
…
Qin Mu sent the three women off and noticed that the pear blossoms on the yellow pear tree had blossomed, filling the entire tree with their blooms.
"Spring is finally here." He thought to himself, 'When the grains of the first season mature, this year of disaster will finally be over.'
He washed up, and since there was only the dragon qilin accompanying him, he didn't have the intention to cook and just went down the mountain to eat. When he walked out of his courtyard, he saw Chancellor Ba Shan walking over in a shirt. With a loud voice, he said, "I saw the princess and two palace maids carrying lanterns down the mountain, could they have come from your room?"
"Senior brother don't say nonsense when you have no evidence," Qin Mu said with a normal face and heartbeat. "Did senior brother come to find me regarding Pangong Tso? Have you had breakfast?"
Chancellor Ba Shan was a loud mouth no inferior to Duke Wei. If the incident regarding Ling Yuxiu and the two palace maids sleeping in Qin Mu's room for a night were found out by him, the entire capital would know about it.
To Qin Mu, it started with emotion and stopped with politeness. He hadn't done anything out of line, but this was no small matter to the secular people. If news of him sleeping with the princess spread, the emperor would execute him, so it was best to hide it.
"I just ate below. Knowing that you had just come back from the palace and must be hungry after being exhausted for such a long time, I brought some food for you."
Chancellor Ba Shan took out a couple oil paper packets, and Qin Mu took them from him with thanks. When he opened the paper packets, he saw a tray of steamed stuffed buns, some kind of strange beast's meat which was cooked with clear water, a red sauce made with fermented flour mixed with finely chopped spring onions, and salted vegetables.
Qin Mu invited him into the house to sit down and eat.
Chancellor Ba Shan looked at him gorging himself and sighed ruefully. "The emperor is really stingy, not preparing anything good for you to eat when you were there to treat him. That's right, Pangong Tso's Six Directions Divine Treasure is already halfway through his Wall Break."
"So fast?"
Qin Mu raised his head and revealed an expression of astonishment.
One would become a divine arts practitioner by cultivating to Six Directions Realm. During one's cultivation, any one of the realms required fine grinding, so someone like Qin Mu breaking the walls of Five Elements Divine Treasure in two years time was already considered very fast.
He had cultivated diligently in Five Element Realm for close to one year and had only reached the boundary of Six Directions Realm; he still didn't know when he would be able to succeed in breaking the wall.
When he met Pangong Tso the last time, the other had been still a young boy in Spirit Embryo Realm, and now, after only half a year, Pangong Tso's realm had already surpassed that of Qin Mu. The other had become a divine arts practitioner of Six Directions Realm!
This was no ordinary cultivation speed and could be called the speed of a god!
"There's something strange about that brat." Chancellor Ba Shan pinched a salted vegetable and stuffed it into his mouth. "The Hall of Six Directions in Imperial College is the place which teaches how to break the wall of Six Directions Divine Treasure and all scholars on Five Elements Realm who have cultivated perfectly would go there to listen to the lectures.
"Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Qin Yu, Yun Que, Fatty Wei, and other nobles have gone there, and this Pangong Tso is also there as well. Nun Hong Fa of Hall of Six Directions said that his advancements are extremely fast, and he didn't need her guidance at all. He had reached the perfection in Five Elements Realm just three days ago and now he was already halfway through breaking the wall. In two more days, he would be a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm. That's right, in which step of your cultivation are you in now?"
"I'm basically perfect in Five Elements Realm." Qin Mu ate a large mouthful of meat, then said, "It's just that I have no understanding regarding Six Directions Realm."
Chancellor Ba Shan's gaze flickered. "In that case, you should drop by Hall of Six Directions. Nun Hong Fa teaches this specially. I would like to see if you or Pangong Tso is stronger."
Qin Mu didn't even raise his head, "I feel like there's no need for this. I, Overlord Body…"
"Yes, yes, I know, you're the Overlord Body, the one above all, haughty brat." Chancellor Ba Shan smiled. "I had Chen Wanyun test him, and Wanyun only managed to make two moves before he was defeated."
Qin Mu finally raised his head and said in astonishment, "Two moves? Senior brother, are you sure he only used two moves to defeat Chen Wanyun?"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded.
Qin Mu had a grave expression. Chen Wanyun's aptitude was indeed extraordinary, and he was one of the more outstanding ones among the young generation. His aptitude and comprehension were merely a level lower than that of Fozi and Daozi, and he had extremely high abilities. When Fozi Foxin had blocked the gate of Imperial College back then, Chen Wanyun had gone forth to challenge him was defeated only after over a dozen moves. This clearly showed his abilities.
His accumulation was very strong and solid. After receiving Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's guidance, he practically had no shortcomings.
After coming back from the southern borders, Qin Mu had seen him less and less. He heard that he spent most of his time in Floor of Heavenly Records, most likely cultivating the state of god transformation of Five Elements Realm.
Even if Chen Wanyun who had succeeded in cultivating the state of god transformations was not on par with Fozi Foxin, he was not far from him.
Qin Mu reckoned that Defeating Chen Wanyun with just two moves would be hard to achieve unless he used a powerful move like Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers right at the start!
"Interesting." After Qin Mu finished eating, he wiped his mouth and smiled. "Martial Khan, what are you planning by pushing me time and again to go to Hall of Six Directions and meet that Pangong Tso?"
Chancellor Ba Shan said leisurely, "I'm trying to get you to investigate him. I suspect he has been possessed by a spirit. Furthermore, the Overlord Body shouldn't be scared, right?"
"Spirit possession?" Qin Mu was slightly stunned and recalled Butcher mentioning an old monster in the golden palace who had reincarnated eighteen times and lived through nineteen lifetimes when they were heading to Rolan's Golden Palace. He cried out, "What you mean is…"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded and said, "I suspect Pangong Tso is no longer Pangong Tso and has been replaced by an incomparably terrifying old monster, one that has lived for ten thousand years. He's the old foe of Teacher Heaven Knife, the one because of which teacher abandoned his name, not daring to use it anymore."
Qin Mu nodded. Chancellor Ba Shan had told him about this before. Butcher didn't tell anyone about his name before and not even Chancellor Ba Shan knew his name because of that strong practitioner of Rolan's Golden Palace that had reincarnated eighteen times!
That was a terrifying entity that could cast spells and harm people once he knew their names.
"Chen Wanyun couldn't dig out any information from him, so I would like you to go meet him at Hall of Six Directions." Chancellor Ba Shan's gaze flickered when he said, "Teacher Heaven Knife's greatest foe is that person, and if Pangong Tso was really possessed by him, killing Pangong Tso would mean getting rid of a foe for Teacher. However, he is still the son of Barbarian Di Empire's Khan, so without a definite certainty, I won't make a move. This is why only you can test him."
His appearance was boorish, but his thoughts were sharp.
Qin Mu rose and said, "I'm also trying to break the wall to enter Six Directions Realm, so I'll go to Hall of Six Directions…" He then blushed with shame. "Senior brother, which hall is Hall of Six Directions?"
Chancellor Ba Shan almost puked blood. "You've been in Imperial College for almost a whole year yet you still don't know which hall is Hall of Six Directions?"
Qin Mu said with embarrassment, "Even though I've come to Imperial College so long ago, I've only attended one lesson."
"I'll bring you there!"
Chancellor Ba Shan brought him out of Scholar's Residence and they walked away side by side. Something suddenly came to Qin Mu's mind and he asked, "Senior brother, have you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult before?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Chancellor Ba Shan threw him at the front of Hall of Six Directions and turned to leave immediately, afraid that Qin Mu would continue nagging him to join Heavenly Saint Cult.
Qin Mu then said resentfully, "I'll make you join sooner or later."
The directorate of Hall of Six Directions was Nun Hong Fa. She was a person of virtue and prestige, and also a person from buddhism, teaching students ever since Imperial College was founded here.
Qin Mu walked into Hall of Six Directions, but it was still early, so no scholars had come to attend the lecture yet. However, the old nun was already here, cleaning the hall's spick and span.
When the bell rang, the scholars walked inside, and Nun Hong Fa started the lecture unhurriedly. "Six directions, what are six directions? Heaven, earth, and the four cardinal directions, that's the six directions. Six Directions Divine Treasure is in our body, and if we want to break the wall, we have to confirm the location of the Six Directions Wall first. How can we confirm? We need to calculate. I've made you guys revise the calculations of the six directions yesterday, so have you guys revised it yet?"
Qin Mu blinked and looked at the other people in the hall. He saw that there were quite a number of scholars attending the lecture here, around thirty people in total. Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Si Yunxiang, and the rest were all among them.
Then he saw Pangong Tso.
This youth wasn't listening to the lecture, but had closed his eyes, trying to break his wall.
Nun Hong Fa's speech slowed down. "A person standing on flat ground can easily identify north, south, east, west, up, and down, but how do you determine the north, south, east, and west of the heaven and earth in your body? We can use your Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure to determine up and down, the top of the spirit embryo's head is the heaven and what the feet are stepping on is the earth. With the up and down confirmed, we still need to determine north, south, east, and west, which requires the positions of the five element stars of Five Elements Divine Treasure.
"You have all learned Ten Computational Canons which are used to locate the five element stars and use them to calculate the north, south, east, and west of the heaven and earth in your hearts. For that, you will need Six Directions Algorithm. Now, let's flip to page seventeen of Six Directions Computational Canon, South Compass Point Algorithm.
…
Qin Mu looked around and suddenly someone poked him in the back. He turned and saw it was Si Yunxiang. The saintess of Heavenly Saint Cult bit her lip and whispered, "I saw Cult Master dragging three girls into your room yesterday night."
"When did I do that?" Qin Mu firmly denied.
Si Yunxiang said softly, "One of them was the seventh princess."
Qin Mu's face flushed. "Saintess, don't taint my reputation. Lend me your Six Directions Computational Canon to have a look. It's my first time here so I don't have the book."
"The classroom is a sacred ground, so how can whisperings be condoned?" Nun Hong Fa slammed the table and shouted out, "Both of you go out, stand at the corner of the wall!"
Si Yunxiang grabbed her Six Direction Computational Canon and walked out with Qin Mu. The two of them leaned against the wall, and Si Yunxiang passed the computational canon to him while snickering, "Cult Master is lusty, be careful of landing in the same predicament as Cult Master Li."
Qin Mu flipped open the computational canon and saw many methods of calculation. These were methods of calculations that were developed with Ten Computational Canons, using the foundation of the five element stars to calculate the precise location of north, south, east, and west.
What Nun Hong Fa was lecturing was the South Compass Point Algorithm on page seventeen which could help in determining the south. As long as the south was determined, north, east and west could also be located. A straight line would then be drawn from up to down and one would be able to determine the most precise location of Six Directions Wall in the human body.
Everyone was unique and thus the location of everyone's Five Elements Divine Treasure was different. However, it just had to be the way to determine Six Directions Divine Treasure. This was why the location of everyone's Six Directions Divine Treasure was slightly different, so the calculations have to be precise and could hold no mistakes.
Not long after, Qin Mu finished browsing through Six Directions Computational Canon. He learned that what Six Direction Computational Canon used was five phases quinary system and six directions senary system. It required to change the quinary system used to calculate the five element stars into the senary system before calculating.
Qin Mu was stunned and suddenly thought of Dutian Devil King's advice.
Dutian Devil King had once said the octal system could be calculated using the eight trigrams, and because of this, Qin Mu had been enlightened and comprehended the other tools of calculation in Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery. The eight trigrams of taiji included yin and yang binary system, four symbols quaternary system, and eight trigrams octal system.
However, if he added five phases quinary system and six directions senary system, these tools of calculation would be even more complicated.
'Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said the four great spirit bodies are not the five phases. Instead, each type of spirit body includes the five phases. This means that the four great spirit bodies—Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise—are the four symbols in the eight trigrams of taiji!'
Everything suddenly became clear to Qin Mu. There were four symbols, and each and every one of them had five phases. Thus, the different arrangements of the five phases formed a symbol!
This also meant that the calculation of five phases quinary system could be used to calculate the transformation of the four symbols. In this way, he would have the tool of calculation from five to four.
And for six directions, the four symbols could be used to determine north, south, east, and west, and with the yin and yang, he would have the tool to calculate six directions.
'This means that I can very quickly calculate the location of my Six Direction Divine Treasure!'
Qin Mu returned Six Directions Computational Canon to Si Yunxiang and stretched out his hand. Placing his right palm on his left palm, he pulled them open upwards and downwards and his vital qi instantly formed a bizarre taiji diagram which included yin and yang, four symbols, and the five phases included in the four symbols.
Qin Mu pulled open his hands once again in excitement and layers of the taiji five phases diagram broke up, operating respectively in a regular and thorough process.
Si Yunxiang looked at the diagram that was changing continuously and immediately asked, "How did you calculate that? It's slightly different from what Nun Hong Fa is teaching! Let me copy it!"
Qin Mu calculated rapidly and divided his mind into two to tell her about what he had comprehended.
Si Yunxiang's eyes became brighter and brighter. She was also more talented than others and quickly comprehended the marvel of it. She exclaimed in admiration, "This method is good. The method in Six Directions Computational Canon is too complicated and requires one to two months to be able to calculate the result, making it prone to mistakes. There will be no mistake using your method and we can calculate it in just two to four hours!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Taiji, four symbols, five elements, six directions, and eight trigrams have originally been calculation tools used for operations."
Now that he looked at Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery, he felt all kinds of hard to understand problems were easy to solve, and he felt happy. However, if he wanted to succeed in cultivating the teleportation divine art, just Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery alone was not enough.
Nun Hong Fa was still giving her lecture in the hall. As time went by, Qin Mu finally determined the location of his Six Directions Divine Treasure, which was somewhere near his dantian, connecting the heaven to the earth.
That location was sometimes also called lower dantian, the place where the six directions meet, while the people of Dao Sect referred to it as the yellow court. The middle dantian was at the heart and was called the crimson palace. The upper dantian was located at the heart of the brows, and Dao Sect referred to it as spirit platform while buddhism referred to it as square inch mountain.
Qin Mu determined where his crimson palace was located, and instantly gathered all his vital qi to rush towards his Six Direction Wall!
His cultivation was originally incomparably dense and surpassed that of his peers. Gathering all his vital qi this time, he pounded against the Six Directions Wall, and it was instantly covered in cracks.
Booming sounds of huge waves came from his body as Qin Mu gathered his vital and pounded against it the second time. The sound of was even more resonating this time, and it seemed like angry waves were splitting the shore. They rose to the clouds, and the sound was becoming louder and more intense each time. The poundings from Qin Mu's vital qi became fiercer and fiercer each time!
Whoosh.
His Six Directions Wall suddenly broke, and a huge gap appeared.
Qin Mu continued to gather his vital qi to pound at the broken wall, widening the gap.
In the Hall of Six Directions, Nun Hong Fa and the rest of the scholars also heard the sound of vital qi colliding from Qin Mu's body and revealed an astonished expression.
"Imperial academician!" Nun Hong Fa immediately ran out in a panic and said, "If you didn't calculate the exact location of the Six Direction Wall and break it rashly, you will die!"
Just as she said it, a loud rumble suddenly came from Qin Mu's body as though the heaven and earth had been opened up. Qin Mu's cultivation then rose rapidly.
Six Directions Wall broken!
Six Directions Divine Treasure awakened!
Right at that moment, another rumble came from Hall of Six Directions, and it was Pangong Tso who had successfully awakened his Six Directions Divine Treasure. It was just that the attention of all the scholars and Nun Hong Fa in Hall of Six Directions had been attracted by Qin Mu so no one noticed him.
The air around Pangong Tso became denser and denser. His gaze flickered as he rose from the mat to look out the hall.
Nun Hong Fa was stunned and immediately said, "Imperial Academician, try to close all your divine treasures and burst them all open in one go!"
Qin Mu took in a deep breath and closed his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, Five Elements Divine Treasure, and Six Directions Divine Treasure. He then gave a low shout and rumbles came from his spirit platform, crimson palace, and imperial court. There was a total of three rumbles as his three great divine treasures opened up and his aura increased exponentially!
"You really awakened your Six Directions Divine Treasure!"
Nun Hong Fa sighed in astonishment and looked at Si Yunxiang who was at the side. This girl was also trying to break her Six Directions Wall. It was evident that she had also found the exact location of her Six Directions Wall.
The nun had chased these two whispering young man and woman out the hall and had never expected the two of them to find the location of their Six Directions Wall in a short while. One of them even managed to succeed in breaking the wall on his first try and became a divine arts practitioner of Six Directions Realm!
Nun Hong Fa put her palms together. "Cult Ma— Imperial Academician, you seem to have a secret method to calculate the location of Six Directions Wall which is much faster than this poor nun's Six Directions Computational Canan, I wonder if you can hand it down."
Qin Mu smiled. "Nun is too polite. My abilities are meager and I don't dare to show off in front of everyone. However, I'm willing to share what I have comprehended with you and fellow scholars."
Nun Hong Fa was delighted and immediately invited him into the hall. She said to all the scholars, "Today I've invited the imperial academician to give you guys a lecture. Imperial Academician, please!"
Qin Mu looked at Pangong Tso who was sitting at the back of the hall and smiled. "Prince Pangong Tso from the Great Wall has also broken his Six Directions Wall and become a divine art practitioner. I wonder if you are interested to share what you have learned?"
Everyone looked back at Pangong Tso, who shook his head. "I'm a barbarian from the Great Wall so I don't dare to show off. Cult Master Qin, please."
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes and told his operation technique to everyone in the hall. Nun Hong Fa was surprised and delighted, and she grasped the chance to ask questions continuously. She marveled at his technique, making everyone in the hall intoxicated by the lecture.
After some time, Qin Mu finally finished talking about his operation technique and the scholars in the hall tested it, trying to master it. However, since some people have high wisdom and some people have low comprehension, not everyone was able to master it.
"Imperial Academician, with this kind of operation technique from you, this poor nun will be able to recompile Six Directions Computational Canon." Nun Hong Fa smiled. "I wonder if Academician is willing to sign his name as a co-author?"
Qin Mu said unflinchingly, "This is a good deed that could benefit people for a thousand years to come. If I could sign my name on it, I would naturally happy to. However, my name on it has to be Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu."
Nun Hong Fa's face blackened, and she thought to herself, 'He's the Heavenly Saint Cult Master, so if my name was seen alongside his, wouldn't I be seen as someone from the devil path as well? Excellent excellent, this poor nun is affected by reputation again. To be lined up with Heavenly Devil Cult, this poor nun is then the honored one.'
Qin Mu looked at Pangong Tso and smiled. "Little Prince, you and I broke through and became divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm at almost the same time. This is the so-called at the right time at the right place. It's such a rare thing for us to be on the similar realm, so why don't we exchange some blows."
Pangong Tso shook his head. "Cult Master Qin is joking, I'm here to seek knowledge."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Seek knowledge? I happen to have a set of knife skills here that are created and taught by Heaven Knife, do you want to learn this set of knife skills?"
Pangong Tso's raised his eyebrows and his gaze landed on Qin Mu. Instantly, the miserable shrieks and howls of countless ghosts rang out beside Qin Mu's ears!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Powerful!" Qin Mu's circulated Heavenly Devil Creation Technique to seal his souls and spirits, astonished.
Rolan's Golden Palace's techniques were extremely unusual. They used souls for cultivating techniques, and it didn't matter if it were the souls of demons, monsters, gods, or beasts—they could all be used for cultivation.
Pangong Tso's gaze was not an ordinary gaze, for in his eyes, there was a divine art that was targeted at souls. With his gaze alone, the divine art would have an impact on the opponent's soul. If the opponent wasn't on guard, they would get stared to death by him!
Heavenly Devil Creation Technique was just the right technique to counter that divine art targeted at the soul. Of course, this was because the power of the divine art in Pangong Tso's eyes wasn't so powerful that Heavenly Devil Creation Technique couldn't defend against it.
If the divine art in his eyes wasn't targeted at the soul, but at the corporeal body or Dao heart, Heavenly Devil Creation Technique wouldn't be able to defend against it.
"Knife skills of Heaven Knife?" Pangong Tso's raised eyebrows smoothed out, and he asked, "There are such skills in Floor of Heavenly Records?"
"Floor of Heavenly Records don't have them, but I have," Qin Mu smiled as he raised his hand to grab the handle of his Pig Slaughtering Knife.
Just as his palm gripped onto the knife's handle, the pages of the books in Hall of Six Directions fluttered as if there was an invisible giant who had raised a gale by giving a slash!
The skin of Pangong Tso's face creased from being blown at, and a few strands of hair broke off silently.
The hearts of Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the rest trembled slightly, and they thought to themselves, 'Cult Master Qin's abilities have improved quite a bit. He had already cultivated a knife will from his knife! He had merely gone home for New Year, so how come his knife skills had improved so much during that time?'
They had all followed Qin Mu to the southern border to gain experience by pacifying the rebellion and had been through life and death with him. They knew Qin Mu's abilities, so even though his knife skills had been powerful back then, they were far from how powerful they were at this moment.
Cultivating a knife will from knife skills meant that his knife skills had a qualitative leap, and this wasn't something that could be done in just a few days of cultivating diligently!
What they didn't know was how difficult it had been for Qin Mu to return home for New Year. It could be said to have been a narrow escape, being ambushed from ten sides. He was surrounded, chased, blocked, and intercepted all the time, fighting bloody battles for days on end before reaching Disabled Elderly Village after numerous trials and tribulations.
Yet when he reached his home, he didn't have a peaceful New Year, either. After the celebration, he had to fight with the elders daily. Butcher, Old Ma, Cripple, Blind, and the rest fed him blows and talked about all kinds of comprehensions. There was also Village Chief, this strong practitioner, training him.
Going home this time for New Year was a huge challenge for Qin Mu, which was equivalent to him cultivating for two to three years diligently.
Not only did his knife skills had a qualitative leap, his sword skills, body techniques, buddhist skills, hand techniques, eye power, and Dao heart had all had qualitative leaps!
Pangong Tso's brows twitched as the heart of his brows was being pressured by Qin Mu's knife will. It seemed like Qin Mu would unsheathe his knife anytime and the heart of his brows would be slashed at that moment!
He was about to react when Nun Hong Fa suddenly came to stand between the two of them, and Qin Mu's knife will was intercepted by the nun.
"This is Hall of Six Directions, a place to cultivate six directions and awaken your divine treasure. It's not a place for you guys to fight."
Nun Hong Fa's gaze swept past the both of them, and she said indifferently, "There are rules in Imperial College, and if you cultivate in my Hall of Six Directions, you're my disciples and have to abide by the rules of my Hall of Six Directions. Both of you have just broken the wall of your Six Directions Divine Treasure and had just become divine arts practitioners. Your foundations are yet to be stable so what's the point of being so hot-blooded?"
Pangong Tso revealed a smiled. "Nun is right. Cult Master Qin, I'll experience your Heaven Knife another day." Once he said that, he walked towards the exit of the hall.
Qin Mu walked beside him and smiled. "Why another day? Isn't it the end of the lesson? I think it's pretty good now. Once we are out of Hall of Six Directions, nun won't be able to control us."
Outside the hall, the great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace came up from the left and right to follow behind Pangong Tso. One of the great shamans said softly, "What's the rush, Cult Master Qin? If your hands are feeling itchy and want to fight, we as retainers would be glad to entertain you anytime."
In Hall of Six Direction, Wei Yong, Chen Wanyun, and Qin Yu frowned. "Cult Master Qin seems slightly aggressive. Pangong Tso is an envoy from the foreign country who had come here to seek knowledge. Even though he was an enemy in the past, we have to abide by the etiquette and can't be rude."
Monk Yun Que nodded. "He's indeed slightly aggressive. Cult Master Qin should have a grudge against him, right?"
Qin Mu took a glance at the two great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace and said leisurely, "I had been to Rolan's Golden Palace, and a cauldron of one drug paralyzed nearly all the great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace, scaring the shaman kings into fleeing in defeat. You two must have been paralyzed by me, right?"
The look on the two great shamans' faces turned dark, but they didn't speak a word.
"Or maybe, the both of you were beaten up by me?" Qin Mu pondered over it, but he didn't have any recollections of the two of them so he shook his head. "It must be because the number of people I killed in Rolan's Golden Palace was too high so I don't remember the both of you. On the golden road of Rolan's Golden Palace, the corpses rolled down one after another, dying the golden road crimson.
"My two knives had chopped their way from the outer courtyard disciples all the way to inner courtyard disciples before cutting down the disciple of Grand Shaman. In that time, how many shamans and great shamans had been killed? A hundred? Even if it's not a hundred, there must have been at least eighty. I killed so many that the hearts of the shaman and great shamans in Rolan's Golden Palace turned cold and no one dared to move."
The faces of the two great shamans turned darker and darker while their palms trembled slightly. Golden light gradually emanated from the body of one of them, and his head transformed into a bird's head as he screeched, "That's because I was not in Rolan's Golden Palace! I was out for experience! If I had been in Rolan's Golden Palace, ten of you would have been killed by me!"
Behind them, the scholars in Hall of Six Directions had just come out and were all greatly shaken. Most of them were slightly dumbstruck when they heard Qin Mu mentioning the incident.
Even though they were classmates with Qin Mu, they didn't know that he had actually gone to Rolan's Golden Palace to block their gates and even killed so many experts there!
"I got it!" Wei Yong suddenly cried out. "I know who defeated Daozi and Fozi!"
Qin Yu, Chen Wanyun, and the rest were extremely astonished and cried out, "What you mean is that when Daozi and Fozi were blocking the gates, it was Cult Master Qin who forced them back?"
Monk Yun Que said, "No wonder, truly no wonder! I was still thinking about who was the expert who had defeat Fozi and Daozi without leaving his name. So it was actually Cult Master Qin!"
Si Yunxiang knitted her brows and was slightly displeased in her heart as she muttered to herself, "I was clearly the one who defeated Fozi…"
Chen Wanyun said solemnly, "I heard news saying Fozi is dead and was killed by our Cult Master Qin."
Yue Qinghong said in a low voice, "Not long ago, the crown prince conspired to murder the emperor and attempted to ascend the throne, and I heard it was Cult Master Qin who led the strong practitioners of Heavenly Saint— Heavenly Devil Cult to slaughter their way to the Temple of Heaven. Cult Master Qin had chopped off the head of the crown prince personally!"
Everyone exchanged rumors they had heard and became more astonished the more they talked about him. This Classmate Qin beside them had actually done so many universally shocking things.
Nun Hong Fa gave them a stare and said, "Don't talk about this blindly! And also, stay further away from Cult Master Qin, he's the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult after all. Especially you, Si Yunxiang, you're too close to him. If he pulled you into Heavenly Devil Cult, your whole life would be ruined!"
Si Yunxiang replied helplessly, "I got it, I'll definitely sever all my ties with him."
Nun Hong Fa shouted loudly, "Cult Master Qin, this is Imperial College and not your Heavenly Devil Cult. There are rules and Eternal Peace Empire have the laws of Eternal Peace Empire, exercise a little restraint!"
…
"Then I plundered the treasury of Rolan's Golden Palace." Qin Mu walked forward unhurriedly, his expression apathetic. He ignored Nun Hong Fa's words and continued, "Your Rolan's Golden Palace had hoarded treasures for so long. There were all kinds of precious materials and items, all kinds of spirit treasures and strange weapons that were taken away by me. However, I had not touched even a single one of the treasures of your golden palace, but had thrown them on the ground. A thief never leaves empty-handed, but we also know what's worth to steal and what is not. I still understand this logic.
Pangong Tso's expression remained unmoved, but the two great shamans from Rolan's Golden Palace could no longer hold themselves back.
Suddenly, the bird-headed great shaman let out a sharp cry which seemed like needles stabbing into the human brain and soul.
During his cry, golden wings unfolded from his back with a whoosh. With a tremble, countless brilliant golden feathers shot out and converged into currents in the air, turning into golden light that came stabbing at Qin Mu from all directions.
At the same time, this great shaman raised his legs which had already transformed into golden-colored talons which were incomparably sharp. With the talons that could split rocks, he rushed for Qin Mu's head!
"Grand Shaman Ruda Scripture's transformation is indeed interesting, you're the disciple of Grand Shaman and have already succeeded in cultivating divine arts."
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up, and the two Pig Slaughtering Knives from his back leaped out. The noise of collision came clanking out like torrential rain, and in that instant, knife lights burst forth and broke through the golden sword lights!
The knife lights seemed like they were twelve yards long. With one vertical and one horizontal light, Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining severed one of the talons.
The next moment, Qin Mu closed in, holding his knife in a reverse grip.
Raising the Knife from Forbidden.
When he raised the huge knife, the shaman's chest was split open to his belly.
Before the corpse of that great shaman even collapsed to the ground, the head of another great shaman trembled and transformed into that of an elephant. His fists were like small mountains when he punched forward.
Qin Mu let go of his knives and turned around. His vital qi burst forth, and the band that tied up his hair exploded in pieces. His pitch black hair was raised perfectly straight by his vital qi that was soaring into the air.
Boom!
Their fists collided, and all the muscles on Qin Mu's body throbbed. There were even some muscles swiveling and coiling like pythons under his skin.
The vital qi in Qin Mu's body appeared to be coiling green dragons, but since he had executed both Nine Dragons Monarch Technique and Rulai's Mahayana Sutra at the same time, it was also like a huge buddha sitting upright. With dragons coiling around the buddha's body, a loud rumble sounded out as he unleashed another punch.
The great shaman was like a golden elephant god with incomparable strength, able to split the heaven and earth apart with a punch and a kick due to the immense strength in his fists and legs.
Bang, bang, bang.
The fists of the two people collided thrice, and Qin Mu pulled back his hands, dispersing his shocking aura. All the throbbing muscles in his body calmed back down. On the other hand, the elephant-headed great shaman snarled ferociously. He gave another punch at his opponent's face, and his boundless strength raised a gale.
However, before this punch could even land on Qin Mu's body, an explosion suddenly came from the great shaman's body, and all his bones broke into pieces. His muscles disintegrated, and his vital qi scattered, which resulted in him collapsing onto the ground like a pile of mush. Air only came out from his mouth but did not go in.
Qin Mu's three punches had resulted in a power that reached all parts of the great shaman's body, shattering all his bones, muscles, and vital qi!
The scholars from Hall of Six Directions were all flabbergasted, and they stood still in a daze. Even Nun Hong Fa felt her body turning cold. Qin Mu was basically a lawless ruffian, beating two of the foreign country's envoys to death with just three punches and two knives, and it was even done in Imperial College!
Qin Mu ignored them and turned to look at Pangong Tso with a smile on his face. He didn't look like a vicious ruffian that would kill people without reason in the least when he said, "Who will be the one to drag these corpses away and clean the floor? Little Prince, my abilities should not be bad, right? Do you have the urge to make a move?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Murder! Murder!" A steward hurriedly ran in to report to Grand Chancellor Gu Linuan while shouting, "This is bad! Imperial Academician Qin Mu has committed murder again!"
Gu Linuan was drinking tea and seemed unconcerned. He asked with a smile, "What's there to be shocked about? He's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, so is there a need for you to be so panicky just because he committed murder? It would be weird if he didn't commit murder. Who did he kill now?"
The steward didn't even bother to gasp for air as he said, "He killed two envoys from Barbarian Di Empire!"
Piak!
The teacup in Gu Linuan's hand shattered into pieces and his complexion changed drastically. He cried out, "The envoys from Barbarian Di Empire? Two of them at that? That's not right, I had already treated him to a meal, so why is he still causing trouble for me?"
He immediately stood up, thinking to rush out of the hall, but then he stopped in his track and paced to and fro while muttering to himself, "He is the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, the head of the number one sacred ground of the devil path. If I ask him for an explanation, I'll just be cutting my life short. It's still better to report this incident to His Highness."
Chancellor Ba Shan stood not far away and observed Pangong Tso and Qin Mu. When he saw what was happening, his head started to ache and he felt it becoming heavy. 'Junior brother, I've only wanted you to test Pangong Tso, so why did you have to kill the envoys of Barbarian Di Empire?'
The envoys had been sent by the Khan of Barbarian Di Empire, with Pangong Tso as the leader. There were over ten of them, and Qin Mu had just killed two of them in Imperial College.
This incident would definitely not be settled peacefully!
Khan Ruandi of Barbarian Di Empire was considered a hero of the prairie, a person with great talent and bold vision. He had annexed the countries of the other Khans and formed a huge empire in the prairie to contend against Eternal Peace Empire.
He even learned the culture of Eternal Peace Empire and drew the good aspects of Eternal Peace Empire to develop Barbarian Di Empire. He reformed the internal affairs of his country and even created an imperial court that was similar to that of Eternal Peace Empire. He also built schools everywhere.
Looking at the situation at hand, he had not yet united the entire prairie, which was why he couldn't contend against Eternal Peace Empire at full force. However, when he united the entire prairie, he would direct all of his power to deal with Eternal Peace.
Since Eternal Peace Empire had been through two disasters, the power of the empire had been severely weakened, so the main motive behind Khan Ruandi dispatching an envoy was to see how weak Eternal Peace Empire had gotten, besides having his people study there and learn.
He was like a male eagle above the prairie, ready to invade the east anytime. As long as he had the chance, he would lead the iron calvary of the prairie to plunder and whip the central plains.
However, it was evident that Qin Mu didn't care about these, for he killed the two envoys without any worries.
This action could very well incite a war between the two empires!
Since the effects of the disasters had yet to fade and Eternal Peace Empire was still in a weak state, if Khan Ruandi took advantage of this chance to send his army forward, the empire would probably be in great danger!
Chancellor Ba Shan was slightly regretful that he had gotten Qin Mu to test out Pangong Tso. It was then evident to him that this junior brother who came from Great Ruins was lawless and daring. After killing the envoys, he could just pat his buttocks and return back to Great Ruins, leaving behind a terrible mess.
'Now that the crown prince is supervising the empire, let's see how Crown Prince Yushu will handle this.'
Chancellor Ba Shan couldn't help feeling a headache for Ling Yushu. Ever since this young man had become the crown prince, he had quite a smooth journey in supervising the empire. He even wrote a decree of his crimes to seek forgiveness from Heaven at the Temple of Heaven. No matter if it was reclaiming the lands or continuing with the disaster relief, he had done very well and received the support of many people.
However, this would be his first difficult problem in supervising the empire.
Pangong Tso's gaze landed on Qin Mu's body, but there was little emotion in his gaze. No matter what Qin Mu did or how he agitate him, his mind didn't waver.
Pangong Tso said indifferently, "The cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult naturally wouldn't have bad abilities. Maybe there's some misunderstanding between us. If Cult Master doesn't mind, I can host a banquet at Jade Fragrance Floor to apologize to Cult Master. What does Cult Master Qin think about this?"
"Great." Qin Mu was very free and easy, smiling. "Your two retainers were really daring, actually coming to make a move on me. You as the owner should indeed host a banquet to apologize."
The corners of Pangong Tso's eyes twitched as he turned to leave.
Qin Mu's gaze, filled with murderous intent, landed on his back. However, Pangong Tso walked steadily and didn't seem to notice anything or feel uncomfortable. Only his footsteps were slightly messed up, so it seemed like he was walking with a hobble.
'This fellow…' Qin Mu took in a deep breath and deeply felt that Pangong Tso was a thorny and terrifying problem.
He had challenged him time and time again and even slapped his face right in front of everyone by insulting and killing his retainers. However, this person still remained emotionless. Even when Qin Mu's murderous intent was directed at him, he was still able to walk away steadily and only had a slight hobble. He was truly a terrifying person.
Qin Mu didn't dare to say it to others, but if it were strong practitioners like Daozi or Fozi, they wouldn't have dared to take a step. With his gaze filled with murderous intent pointed at their backs, Fozi and Daozi wouldn't dare to even make a single step as moving would reveal their flaw.
If those that had higher cultivation and attainments that Daozi and Fozi were targeted by Qin Mu like this, they would either hobble or move back slowly while looking at him.
As to why they would hobble, it would be a way of moving the body to avoid any possible attacks. They couldn't walk in a straight line, and would have to move their bodies up and down.
This was why the posture of Pangong Tso walking away looked slightly strange like he was hobbling. In fact, he had not revealed any single flaw and didn't give Qin Mu any chance to attack!
The most terrifying point was that Pangong Tso's hobbling hadn't too severe which meant that his attainments and cultivation were extremely high!
Chancellor Ba Shan walked over in quick steps, coming to Qin Mu's side. He saw that Qin Mu still looking at Pangong Tso's back, which had left some time ago.
"Senior Brother Ba Shan, you gave me another thorny problem." Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and looked at Chancellor Ba Shan before saying solemnly, "This Pangong Tso is one of the strongest existences among the ones I've met of the same generation! He's even stronger than Daozi Lin Xuan! If he's not that old monster that has reincarnated eighteen times, this person must be an Overlord Body as me!"
Chancellor Ba Shan had an unpleasant look. "That's why you killed two envoys?"
Qin Mu was stunned and mumbled, "You didn't say I can't kill anyone. What's more, didn't we already kill numerous great shamans from Rolan's Golden Palace? Killing only two this time is considered their steal."
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed from anger. "How is that the same? When I brought you and the princess to block gate the previous time, I used my identity as Martial Khan which is unrelated to Eternal Peace Empire. This time, since they are envoys, they represent Barbarian Di Empire! Killing two envoys from Barbarian Di Empire means you're slapping the face of Barbarian Di Empire, how can they take it lying down?"
Qin Mu said honestly, "You also didn't say… I've already killed them and I can't revive them now."
Chancellor Ba Shan had a splitting headache and let out a shaky breath as well. "Now you wait for the crown prince to summon you… The crown prince has most likely heard about this matter by now will definitely have a worse headache than me. You are the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and an official who has done meritorious service. Even the position of the crown prince was fought for him by you so he can't scold or beat you… and also!"
His expression turned grave as he said solemnly, "If Pangong Tso is that old monster, you must be careful tonight. If that old monster knows your name, he can cast a spell to kill you! After you meet the crown prince, I'll go to your room tonight!"
Qin Mu nodded. He indeed couldn't lower his guard against an existence that even Butcher had to hide his name from!
As Chancellor Ba Shan had expected, Crown Prince Ling Yushu found Qin Mu after noon. What was different from what Chancellor Ba Shan had expected was that Ling Yushu had not summoned Qin Mu, but instead came to Imperial College and met Qin Mu personally.
"For Your Highness to visit personally, I'm in reverence," Qin Mu greeted.
Ling Yushu took a glance at him and sighed. "I don't see any signs of reverence from you; on the contrary, you look quite composed. Cult Master Qin, this incident today is really giving me a headache. I thought for the whole afternoon yet I still can't think of an explanation for it. You are always the one that's full of ideas, teach me how to give an explanation."
Qin Mu smiled. "That's simple. Your Highness can write a letter to Khan Ruandi and say that the two envoys of Barbarian Di Empire didn't listen to civilized teachings and their wild natures were hard to tame. They even dared to make a move to kill people in a supreme sacred ground like Imperial College, trying to harm the life of the palace grandee. This palace grandee is also Cult Master Qin of the number one sacred ground of the devil path in Eternal Peace Empire. Cult Master Qin was angered so he had killed those two envoys. Your Highness can also say Cult Master Qin's raging temper is hard to quell, so Khan Ruandi must offer gifts as apology otherwise there would be unthinkable consequences!"
Ling Yushu was dumbfounded.
After a moment, he let out a shaky breath and sighed. "Alright, I'll write it this way. If Khan Ruandi is angered and launch his army on us, you shall go to the front line for me and rush forward with your head."
Qin Mu's face blackened.
Ling Yushu smiled. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master also knows how to be scared? Alright, let's not talk about this, Cult Master, I feel there's no point in you staying in this Imperial College all the time. There are close to five hundred foreign envoys in Imperial College, and if you get excited and kill a few more of them one day, how will I be able to supervise the empire? I would have my hands full just trying to clean up your messes by writing letters to the emperors of the other countries every day."
Qin Mu said resentfully, "I don't kill frequently. Isn't there a reason for this incident?"
Ling Yushi smiled and said, "You're a divine arts practitioner now and your abilities are high. Father appointed you as the palace grandee and gave you an honorary title without actual power. How about this? Let me give you an actual position. Father and Imperial Preceptor have already woken up, and after a few days, I won't be required to handle the politics and will definitely have to go out to send disaster relief. You can follow me. Going out on this journey, I will need to bring some officials from Ministry of Works and some scholars from Imperial College."
He was truly not at ease with leaving Qin Mu here as he reckoned he would make trouble out of nothing again, so why shouldn't he bring him around.
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment and realized that there was indeed nothing for him to do if he stayed at Imperial College. He couldn't fight or kill, and there were too many restrictions to his liking, so why should he not follow this crown prince for a walk.
They were walking side by side when Ling Yushu suddenly asked, "I've heard my sister slept at your place last night?"
Qin Mu quivered and said in a firm face, "Your Highness, there's definitely nothing of the sort that has happened. Don't listen to the slanders of others and spoil the clean reputation of the princess and me!"
Ling Yushu's gaze fell on his face and saw his sincere expression. The crown prince then breathed a sigh of relief. "I believe you. Alright, I'll help you settle this incident of killing the envoys and write a letter to Khan Ruandi with a thick skin. You should get ready now, you'll leave the capital with me in a few days' time."
Qin Mu saw him off and Chancellor Ba Shan walked over while saying secretively, "I overheard the crown prince saying that Sixth Princess Ling Yuxiu slept over at your place the last night? Come to think of it, I had indeed seen the sixth princess and two palace maids carrying lanterns down the mountain this morning, did you two—"
Qin Mu's head started to ache, and he said firmly, "Nothing of the sort! Senior Brother, it's because of this big mouth of yours that Grandpa Butcher always runs when he sees you, not daring to reunite with you. You should exercise some restraint and not speak on hearsay!"
Chancellor Ba Shan muttered, "I was just curious, don't worry, I'm the most tight-lipped. I'm not like Duke Wei that impoverished man who shouts everywhere with that voice of his… If Pangong Tso is the old monster, you will be in danger tonight. Let us share a room tonight so we can look after each other. Try to be clever when sleeping tonight, don't be too deep asleep."
That night Chancellor Ba Shan's snores were like thunder as he slept on a mat laid down on the ground. Qin Mu's bed trembled from the sound, and his body was too numb from the shakes for him to fall asleep.
Nothing strange happened for the longest time, until an hour or two after midnight. A chill wind suddenly came blowing over and blew open the two window lattices.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu immediately sat up and looked out the window. Chancellor Ba Shan's snores were deafening and he didn't wake up even when the chill wind blew into the room.
Strange chanting came from outside, but the voice was not clear. Qin Mu couldn't tell whether it was light or heavy, slow or fast. Despite that, he immediately used Heavenly Devil Creation Technique to seal his souls and spirits before arousing his vital qi. Junior Protector Sword which was hanging at the head of his bed came out of its sheath, and the silver sword light lit up the room.
There was a white figure floating to and fro outside the window, and Junior Protector Sword hummed and trembled. Sword lights shot out in a flash, and a few human heads outside the window fell to the ground.
Harming people with shaman spells might sound bizarre, but those spells were nothing more than attacks targeted at the soul or the corporeal body.
Even though Qin Mu wasn't too old, he knew the reason behind the bizarre occurrences. Spells that were targeted at the corporeal body required one to use secret techniques to enter the room and kill the person.
Meanwhile, there were much more unimaginable methods that were targeted at the souls, for example, shaman poison. It could be used to poison the enemy's souls, and it was colorless, odorless, formless, and traceless, making it extremely hard for people to guard against it.
Another example would be worshiping the soul using a straw doll. One would write the other person's date of birth and eight characters of a horoscope on a doll and worship it for ten days, worshiping away a soul or spirit each day. The seven spirits would leave in seven days and the three souls would come after.
There was also Victory Loathing Technique, harming the soul to harm the body. By using needles or sharp blades to harm the soul, the shaman could make use of the connections between the soul and the corporeal body to harm the corporeal body by harming the soul. For example, by pricking the limbs of the soul, the enemy's corporeal body would also be pricked. If the heart of the brows was pricked, the mind would be messed up, and such.
Being able to kill people by knowing their name was indeed slightly hard to imagine, but it shouldn't be much different from these two methods.
Qin Mu sealing his souls and spirits while hanging Junior Protector Sword at the head of his bed was to guard against these two methods.
Suddenly, a weird laughter sounded, and Qin Mu looked over in a hurry. He saw numerous small humans climbing in through the window and jumping onto the ground. They wielded knives, axes, military forks. and rode small horses in a formation, looking like a huge army with several hundred men.
This small human army swarmed forward and stood on Chancellor Ba Shan's chest yet Chancellor Ba Shan didn't wake up, continuing to snore like thunder.
The small human in the lead wielded a long spear and rode a steed on Chancellor Ba Shan's nose. He pointed his spear at Qin Mu who had already sat up, and his eyes were filled with the glow of excitement. With an incomprehensible shout, the other small humans went toward Qin Mu like a flood!
The small humans were abnormally excited and kept shouting incomprehensibly as they waved their weapons with a fierce demeanor. Yet even though there were several hundred of them, Qin Mu felt that he could flatten all of them with two or three steps.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This was the reason why Butcher didn't dare to use his real name?
Qin Mu pulled out his sword, but just as the sword lights were about to burst forth to sweep away all these small humans, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.
This voice came in with the chill wind, and the words were dragged out, as if the person was quite far away. Qin Mu didn't say a word, but that voice was closing in on him rapidly.
When other people called your name, even if you did not reply, there would be an uncontrollable reaction in your heart, and that voice had used this reaction to sense his location!
So just as the sword lights in Qin Mu's hand were about to slaughter the small army, he suddenly felt a chill invading the heart of his brows. His hand that was about to pull out the sword and his soul froze in place.
When his soul was frozen, his body did the same, and the sword lights naturally extinguished.
The small humans danced around in joy and climbed onto his body, tunneling into him through his mouth, ears, and nose.
The next moment, Qin Mu 'saw' these small human carrying 'him' away in a sprint. What they were carrying wasn't his corporeal body. They had tunneled inside him to carry away his soul!
These small humans had actually run into his body and tied up his soul tightly, then brought it out above their heads. Qin Mu didn't know what they were saying as they squealed to one another before running away with him.
Qin Mu felt that he was unable to move while the sceneries in front of his eyes flickered before turning pitch black. All the lights in the surroundings vanished and only the darkness remained.
He could see bubbles of light coming into existence under his body, and then noticed that he was lying on a sacrificial altar.
The small humans had placed him down and were looking up at the sky. The one in the lead squeaked at the darkness and the sacrificial altar slowly rose up. Looking around, Qing Mu could see huge faces that were like the faces of puppets blocking his four sides. The faces of these wooden puppets were humongous and revealed an expression that was a smile yet not a smile, a cry yet not a cry.
After that, the sacrificial altar trembled and rose up once again. A huge palm lifted it up along with the four wooden puppets, and Qin Mu immediately saw a blazing flame of light in the darkness. It was a huge eye which was much larger than the faces of the wooden puppets.
Then, more and more huge eyes lighted up the darkness as they floated in the sky, looking extremely strange.
'Victory Loathing Spell?'
When Qin Mu saw this sight, his heart trembled slightly. Pangong Tso must have used Victory Loathing Spell to make use of the small humans to invade him, trapping the souls and spirits that were sealed in his body on such a sacrificial altar!
This method was very strange. When he heard the voice, it found its way over even if he didn't answer. That voice then transformed into a sacrificial altar in his body, and even though his souls and spirits had been sealed in his body, it wasn't enough!
However, his souls and spirits should still be in his body, and as long as they were in his body, he had the chance to make a comeback.
'No matter what shaman spell you used, you will need to rely on your own magic power. In my body, your magic power will never surpass mine, you can forget about killing me!'
Qin Mu flipped his body up and shouted, "Sword come!"
Suddenly, a sword pellet came flying over through the darkness and floated in front of him. This sword pellet was the one Mute had given him when he had gone back to the village for New Year. Qin Mu had once used this sword pellet to guide out the remnant of the god's divine art out of Imperial Preceptor's body which resulted in the sword pellet being obliterated quite a bit and becoming smaller.
Sword lights burst from the sword pellet and swept through the small humans in all directions, causing them to suffer a crushing defeat.
The small humans had their chests and bellies split by Qin Mu, but they were not yet dead. Their broken limbs crawled here and there to reassemble themselves before continuing to attack Qin Mu. Meanwhile, the faces of the wooden puppets around the sacrificial altar revealed a strange smile as they raised their arms stiffly to smash towards him who was in the center of the sacrificial altar, causing sparks to fly in all directions.
Qin Mu executed the sword pellet to contend against the strange wooden puppets and felt they possessed unusual strength. He was almost unable to withstand their blows.
Some of the small humans were smashed by the wooden puppets and turned into a paper-like state, but in the next instant, they swelled back up as if they had been pumped with air and continued swinging their swords at Qin Mu.
At this moment, the weird eyes in the darkness blazed furiously and beams of fire came shooting over in all directions.
Qin Mu gritted his teeth to withstand the attacks, his soul on the verge of dispersing from all the attacks. The small humans, wooden puppets, and weird eyes seemed to be able to revive and come at him endlessly. There was no end to killing them, and they just kept attacking him, not knowing fatigue.
Just as Qin Mu was about to fall into despair from exhaustion, he became furious. 'Is Senior Brother Ba Shan still sleeping?'
At this moment, the crows of the roosters rang out in the air, and he could faintly hear the night watchman banging the gong to signal the fifth of the five night watch periods.
Then, Qin Mu heard Chancellor Ba Shan's yawn from seemingly far away. "I waited the whole night, yet Pangong Tso never came to visit personally, truly disappointing. That brat is really careful and didn't cast any spells personally to kill Junior Brother Qin, but had another great shaman make his move."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. 'Senior Brother Ba Shan knew I was trapped?'
"A pity only a great shaman of Seven Stars Realm took the bait."
Qin Mu heard Chancellor Ba Shan pulling out his knife, and the tyrant knife was unsheathed.
"The golden knife adorned in white jade, with rays piercing into the night through the window. Man of fifty years yet nothing made, carrying knife in eight wilderness all alone!"
Along with the song, a blinding light split apart the darkness and came down from the sky, slashing onto the sacrificial altar ruthlessly. The heaven and earth instantly rumbled before starting to crumble and disintegrate!
This knife seemed to have split the world in two places that gradually opened up towards the left and right. These were Qin Mu's eyes which were gradually opening, but what was strange was that he felt the eyelids of his eyes open towards the left and the right.
"This is the Victory Loathing Spell of Rolan's Golden Palace which I just undid for you. This kind of Victory Loathing Spell turns your eyeballs half upside down, so you are looking to your left and right.
Chancellor Ba Shan appeared to Qin Mu to be standing on the wall. "Mobilize the muscles in your eyes and slowly adjust your eyeballs back to normal."
Qin Mu followed his instructions. After some time, his eyeballs finally returned to normal and he immediately said, "Senior Brother, I got trapped!"
Chancellor Ba Shan nodded and pointed forward. "This is what trapped you."
Qin Mu lowered his head and was slightly stunned. He saw that the sacrificial altar that had trapped him wasn't the real thing but a silverplate which had four wooden puppets that were the size of a palm around it. The small humans that had lifted him up were soybeans, and the horses under them were bean sprouts.
Meanwhile, the eyes floating in the sky had been the eyes of huge spiders and not weird eyes that had been arranged in a line. Under the plate was a weasel.
The spider and the weasel were both killed with a knife and died an unnatural death.
"I thought it would be Pangong Tso making a move and not some great shaman of Seven Stars Realm." Chancellor Ba Shan shook his head. "I reckon Pangong Tso didn't make a move but sent a great shaman of Seven Stars Realm instead because he was worried I would be by your side. He's really careful."
Qin Mu looked out the window and saw that the heads he had severed using the sword lights were just straw men that were covered in white cloth.
He asked, "Senior Brother, what happened to the great shaman of Seven Stars Realm?"
"He's dead," Chancellor Ba Shan answered. "He cast his spell in his dream to harm you with Victory Loathing Technique and my knife broke his spell. My knife then entered his dream through his spell and cut him down in his sleep. In other words, he passed away very peacefully."
Qin Mu was skeptical and asked, "Knife skills can be cultivated to such a level?"
Chancellor Ba Shan smiled. "Teacher Heaven Knife's knife skills can be called a legend. He can cut open the void, but I can't."
When morning came, everyone in Imperial College was discussing how another envoy in Barbarian Di Empire had died. It was said he died suddenly on the fifth of the five night watch periods with blood flowing out of all his orifices. He had died extremely miserably and even screamed three times before falling over.
Qin Mu criticized in his heart, 'Didn't Senior Brother Ba Shan say he had passed away peacefully?"
When afternoon came, a shaman came forth and bowed. "Prince invites Cult Master Qin to a banquet."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'Pangong Tso ordered a great shaman to cast a spell to take my life yesterday and then dares to invite me to a banquet today?' Qin Mu was slightly stunned. 'Does he think as an equivalent sacred ground, Rolan's Golden Palace can pressure Heavenly Devil Cult? Or does he have other plans?'
Chancellor Ba Shan walked over and asked, "Do you need me to follow you?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "No need for that. If Pangong Tso dared to kill me in the open, he wouldn't have used shaman spells to kill me yesterday. I will meet him alone."
Jade Fragrance Floor was the largest restaurant in the whole capital, using the layout of gardens. With a hall and a courtyard, there were rock gardens, flowing waters, fountains, and even beautiful women dancing and singing. Each courtyard was separated from the others and was very elegant and calm. The people coming here to eat and drink weren't here for the food but to have a place to chat.
Before the disaster, the business here had been flourishing and even high officials and noble people had to book in advance. However, after the natural disaster broke out, the emperor had sent disaster relief personally and the high officials and noble people in the capital city also had to donate, so the business of Jade Fragrance Floor became slack.
It was expected that after the effects of the natural disaster faded, the business of this restaurant would definitely flourish again.
In Green Bamboo Garden of Jade Fragrance Floor, Pangong Tso welcomed Qin Mu and said, "Cult Master Qin, my retainers have offended you and now that they are dead, let us bury the hatchet with their deaths. May Cult Master be magnanimous enough to forgive us."
Qin Mu walked into Green Bamboo Garden and looked around. "Prince is courteous."
This courtyard was called Green Bamboo Garden and entering through a door with the shape of a full moon, there were thin bamboos as shade covering both sides of the path. He could hear the babbling of running water and after two turns, he saw clear water flowing down from a rock garden filled with oddly-shaped rocks. Even though it was a small stream, it had the feeling of a waterfall crashing down onto the rocks at a great speed.
This flowing water from the waterfall flowed into a jade vase held in the hand of a bodhisattva statue. That jade vase was tilted forward, letting the water flow out and land into the pond in the south after circulating one round in the vase.
Qin Mu took a look and saw some sandy mounds in the southern pond. They were islands scattered about like stars in the sky, which was very interesting. Bodhisattva of Compassion of the South Sea was writing on the pond, and the words were vast and deep like the sea.
The bodhisattva was sculpted with the rock garden and some small spells must have been used to let the water flow continuously. Even though the pond wasn't big, everything was done to the smallest detail. Looking at it up close, there was a feeling of standing in the sky above the south sea and overlooking everything below.
"Cult Master Qin, please."
Pangong Tso raised his hand and invited Qin Mu to walk through the corridor. They came to a private room beside the pond. Its windows were already open, so he could see the scenery of the garden by sitting near the window.
There were two great shamans in yellow standing at the left and right side of the door without any expressions.
Pangong Tso waved his hand and said, "Both of you can fall back, tell them to serve the dishes and wine."
The two great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace walked out of the room, and after a moment, a waitress came to serve the dishes and wine. A few more maidens with alluring figures then came to the courtyard wearing outfits of different tribes. They played the blowing horn and yangqin while beating instruments like the damaru, giving off a different kind of flavor to the music.
"It wasn't my idea to send someone to kill you yesterday night." Pangong Tso looked deeply into Qin Mu's eyes. "I don't need to borrow the hands of others to kill people. What happened yesterday was merely my retainer seeing you kill too many disciples of Rolan's Golden Palace and becoming indignant, which was why he entered his dream to cast spells to harm you."
Qin Mu couldn't help feeling astonished when he heard him bringing this up. He had originally expected Pangong Tso to avoid this topic, so he was surprised when the other decided to clear things up right after they were seated.
"I see." Qin Mu smiled. "Luckily I'm fine and he's already dead. I believe that Little Prince has nothing to do with this matter."
Pangong Tso shook his head. "You know nothing. I knew I he was going to kill you, but I didn't stop him. Does Cult Master Qin want to know the reason why?"
Qin Mu was slightly astonished and said modestly, "Little Prince is truly surprising, I'd like to hear the details."
Pangong Tso poured wine for him and said, "The reason why I didn't stop him was because I knew you would definitely let Chancellor Ba Shan stay in your room to guard against me casting spells in the night to kill you. He couldn't kill you, but he could delay you."
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows and picked up his wine cup. The two of them toasted each other and drank the wine.
Pangong Tso then continued, "You and I broke the wall at the same time and entered Six Directions Realm. I didn't agree to your challenge at that time because I could see your battle power was indeed extraordinary, and I wasn't a hundred percent confident that I could defeat you. However, everything has changed after this one day. One day's time, I just needed one day's time."
He revealed a smile. "The victory and defeat in a battle between experts can be decided with just one day's time. You had to meet the crown prince in the afternoon so you had no time to strengthen your Six Directions Realm, to discover the marvel of Six Directions Realm. At night, you had to guard against the shaman spells from that retainer of mine and didn't have the time research Six Directions Realm. On the other hand, I had a whole day's time to strengthen my six directions and raise my cultivation. Just one day's time is enough to turn your odds of victory to zero."
Qin Mu was once again astonished and examined the other's face. He saw that it still had a soft and immature air to it, but his gaze was deep, having a kind of depth that a youth shouldn't have. He exclaimed in admiration, "The little prince of the prairie is truly extraordinary, no wonder even Heaven Knife is afraid of you. You are only fourteen years old now, right?"
Pangong Tso poured wine for him once again and said, "Thirteen years old. The people of the prairie brave the wind and sun, so our bodies are more rugged, making us look older. Thirteen years old is my age in this lifetime. If Cult Master is asking about the age of my soul, I'm already eleven thousand years old."
Qin Mu laughed loudly. "Little Prince is making me more and more astonished, I didn't expect you to say this out so easily."
"I have no need to hide it from you," Pangong Tso said. "Cult Master Qin is also extremely admirable. You are the disciple of Heaven Knife, right? To have this kind of cultivation at such a young age makes me exclaim endlessly in admiration. If it was on the day when we had broken into Six Directions Realm, I would have only been eighty percent confidence in defeating you in a match."
"Oh?" Qin Mu smiled and didn't say a word as he fiddled around with his wine cup.
Pangong Tso said firmly, "Counting this lifetime, I have already lived through nineteen lifetimes. In my long life, I met countless heroes with none to compare with at that time and saw numerous lives and deaths, sorrows and happiness. Sometimes, I feel like I'm a reef standing upright in the passage of time while countless peerless talents flow by hurriedly like rushing waves, and even exceptional emperors of various eras are merely passing waves that I've paid no attention to.
"Even Heaven Knife who had raised his knives at Heaven was merely a passing traveler hurrying by. I remember that in my sixth lifetime, I had felt that my path, skills, and divine arts were no longer able to go another step further, so I had entered the central plains to become a member of Dao Sect, to learn Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique and Dao Sword. At that time, Dao Master of Dao Sect held high expectation for me and allowed me to become Daozi. He even expected me to become Dao Master and lead Dao Sect."
The corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched. This old monster had entered Dao Sect once and even became Daozi?
Dao Sect's ultimate arts, Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique and Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword were both learned by him?
"Dao Sword was very hard to comprehend. In that lifetime, I learned up to the thirteenth sword, but I could never comprehend the fourteenth sword from the beginning to the end." Pangong Tso sighed ruefully. "Dao Sword was simply too difficult, so even if I had the power of Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique, it was too difficult to comprehend it completely. It required one to have a terrifying comprehension of algebra.
"Until I died of old age, I still didn't manage to learn the fourteenth sword. When I started my seventh lifetime, I entered Dao Sect again, but I still didn't manage to learn the fourteenth sword. I only succeeded in cultivating half of that sword move. When it came to the eighth lifetime, I entered Great Thunderclap Monastery."
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently, and he looked into the other's eyes deeply. "You felt that Dao Sword could no longer allow you to break through sp you went to Great Thunderclap Monastery to learn Rulai's Mahayana Sutra?"
"Wrong," Pangong Tso said solemnly. "I went there to comprehend buddhism. Great Thunderclap Monastery's dharma has an extremely high comprehension on one's nature and Rulai's Mahayana Sutra gathered mahayana buddhists that cultivated their nature, so I naturally had to learn it. I began from a small monk, reading through all the buddhist scriptures of Great Thunderclap Monastery, comprehending all of them before learning Rulai's Mahayana Sutra."
Qin Mu asked, "The Rulai of that generation should have also held high expectations for you, right?"
"He said my comprehension was the best in the world in that era and my attainments in buddhism even surpassed his. I was said to have unhindered eloquence.
"I cultivated all twenty heavens of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, but I still left Great Thunderclap Monastery in the end. The buddhism of Great Thunderclap Monastery couldn't allow me to break through the final realm. In my next lifetime, I reincarnated into a woman and went to Passion Parting Palace. Another lifetime passed by, and I went to Little Jade Capital. I stayed there for a few lifetimes, only then did I managed to finish learn all of the ultimate arts there. It's indeed the sacred ground that's above the three big sacred grounds."
He sighed ruefully as he seemed to reminisce about the days in Little Jade Capital. He paused for a moment. "Then I went to Heavenly Saint Cult."
The light in Qin Mu's eyes flickered, and he asked, "Heavenly Saint Cult? You learned Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures? What did you comprehend?"
Pangong Tso revealed a smile and said, "Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures are very strong, but compared to Rulai's Mahayana Sutra and Dao Sword, they are slightly inferior. When I planned to leave, I heard about the Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures which could only be passed down from cult master to cult master. I wanted to receive it very much, so I remained in Heavenly Saint Cult. It's a pity that the Heavenly Devil Cult Master of that generation was very strong and his disciple was very strong as well. This disciple was acclaimed as the saint that appears once every five hundred years. I lost to him and missed the opportunity to become the cult master."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief, and Pangong Tso continued, "That's why I betrayed Heavenly Devil Cult and brought the experts of Dao Sect and gathered the righteous practitioners of the righteous path to attack Heavenly Saint Cult, killing this saint that appears once every five hundred years."
The wine in Qin Mu's wine cup trembled and one drop landed on the table.
"That saint was indeed rare to find and he fought Dao Master to death while managing to injure me severely after I had launched a sneak attack on him. However, he was still exhausted to death by us using countless practitioners of the righteous path."
Pangong Tso said leisurely, "Before he died, he passed on the position of the cult master and Unity Technique to Heavenly King Qing of that time. Even though I was severely injured, how could I let everything go to waste after thinking I could conquer Heavenly Saint Cult with one more step? Therefore, I continued to lead everyone to attack yet that Cult Master Qing imparted Unity Technique to the saintess before leading the cult followers to fight to the death with me. I had no choice but to retreat back to the prairie with my injuries."
He sighed ruefully. "After that, I heard that Cult Master Qing died in Jade Ripple Pool. The saintess succeeded as the cult master and slaughtered so many practitioners of Dao Sect and the righteous paths that they were left terrified. In the end, she exhausted her powers and died after passing down the position. How does Heavenly Saint Cult refer to these three cult masters?"
Qin Mu said with an apathetic face, "Three Kings."
"Three Kings?" Pangong Tso thought about it, then praised, "They are indeed worthy to be called Three Kings. Now you should know the relationship between me and Heavenly Saint Cult, right? You should also know where my eighty percent confidence had come from, right? However, that was a day ago, facing you now, I'm a hundred percent confident in my victory. You don't even have a ten percent chance of winning."
Qin Mu rose and stretched his body. "Let's go, I feel like killing people now."
Pangong Tso rose and the two of them walked out side by side.
Pangong Tso turned back to instruct the two great shamans, "Leave the dishes here, then warm them up, I'll be back soon."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso walked out side by side and left Jade Fragrance Floor, walking out of the city while following the street.
The capital city in the early spring was still pretty chilly, and even in the noon, the sun wasn't very high up. It was located in the southern part of the sky and wasn't dazzling in the least.
The capital city was still pretty bustling in the spring while people coming and going. Some young masters and young ladies of wealthy families would form companionship to walk around and their clothes were mainly sable fur coats. Wearing these fluffy coats, it would serve as a contrast to make their fair skin stands out more.
Using during this season, numerous wealthy families would already have boarded flying ships to head to the south to get through the winter, only coming back when spring was turning into summer. However, it was different this year, the natural disaster had caused the south to be as cold as the north and perhaps even colder, therefore most of the people still chose to remain in the north. After all, there were all kinds of natural and man-made disasters out there so it would be better to stay safe in the capital city.
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso walked very slowly as both of them were adjusting their state. Pangong Tso was no doubt a capable person that had reincarnated nineteen lifetimes and lived twenty lifetimes. He soon adjusted his essence, qi, and spirit to their peak while Qin Mu was still slowly adjusting.
Murderous intent started to pour out of Pangong Tso and was targeted at Qin Mu as he slowly quickened his footsteps.
His murderous intent was directed at Qin Mu to make him react, having no choice but to change his walking posture so as to not reveal a mistake.
In Imperial College, Qin Mu had aimed him in this way as well to force him to hobble as he walked, borrowing the bending of his body to not reveal any mistake in his action so that Qin Mu couldn't take advantage of him.
Now, he was giving him a taste of his own medicine, using his peak performance and aura to pressure Qin Mu, forcing Qin Mu to follow his tempo, to change along with the change of his aura.
As long as Qin Mu had no choice but to follow his tempo, he would be able to hold the right to be active, causing Qin Mu to fall into a passive state, becoming weary from dealing with him. To avoid revealing a mistake, Qin Mu would continuously change his trajectory and change his aura. The longer the road he took, the more changes there would be. In the end, the number of changes will surpass the horizons and knowledge of this youth, making him unable to change his trajectory anymore!
When they reached the outskirts of the city, killing Qin Mu would just become a matter of one or two moves!
"Old fox!"
Qin Mu had a grave expression. This was a very terrifying existence!
Pangong Tso was such a terrifying person. No matter if he was stronger than his opponent, he would immediately grab the upper hand if it was right in front of him, magnifying his superiority as much as he could!
After ten thousands years of polishing, he was already rarely moved by external matters. Every word and every action moved according to the experience he had accumulated over the past ten thousand years and his experience was like runes and reasons, deeply imprinted in his moves and actions.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Blind had both said before, to apply knowledge and action as one. Old Ma had also said to abide by the rules. With the accumulation of ten thousand years, Pangong Tso had managed to achieve this step.
As for applying knowledge and action as one, Qin Mu had his own understanding.
Not taking action according to your knowledge, that's insincerity.
Not succeeding after taking action, that's incapability.
Taking action because of knowledge, that's the heart of utter sincerity. Succeeding in your action, that's carrying out to the end. At this point, it would already be difficult for one to be influenced by other people and incidents.
And the prerequisite of applying knowledge and action as one was pursuing knowledge to the end. To study the underlying principle of a matter and turn it into one's own knowledge.
For example, cooking. To perfect the craft of cooking so there's nothing to be picky in regards to the color, fragrance, and taste. For example, construction. To construct buildings and pavilions to be sturdy, beautiful and useful, being able to look magnificent and not crumble under storms or earthquakes. For example, shipbuilding. To fully understand the principle of building a ship, using sturdy materials and not sinking when facing wind and waves.
This was pursuing knowledge to the end. To study one thing or one matter to its extreme, understanding all the principles behind it.
When one managed to pursue knowledge to the end could one apply knowledge and action as one.
Pangong Tso was such a person. Reincarnating over and over again, he had studying all kinds of techniques to their extremes and all the knowledge he had learned had become his foundation, becoming a part of his words and actions.
Every action and word from him held deep significance and even from the start where Qin Mu had met him, Qin Mu was already brought into his tempo.
From Qin Mu's provocation outside Hall of Six Directions and all the way to chatting with Pangong Tso in Jade Fragrance Floor was all a web weaved by him. A huge web that was methodically weaved to trap Qin Mu within.
Now, as they walked out of the city, it was this spider pulling back its web while spitting silk on Qin Mu's body, coiling around Qin Mu and binding him. This made the space which Qin Mu could move around in becoming smaller and smaller. When they were out of the city, it would be the time for the huge spider to spit its venom to poison its prey!
Qin Mu had never seen such a terrifying opponent before!
No matter if it was Daozi or Fozi, or even those great experts of Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm that had chased after his life, they were all much inferior compared to Pangong Tso!
Now, Qin Mu was already forced to hobble as he walked, leaning unsteadily from side to side. Meanwhile, Pangong Tso was walking more and more steadily.
He was forcing Qin Mu to show all his changes so as to not show his mistake. When Qin Mu exhausted all his changes, it would be the death of Qin Mu!
'To be able to clash with such a terrifying existence is a huge opportunity!'
Qin Mu's footsteps suddenly stopped and in that instant where he had stopped, hundreds of mistakes appeared on his body. It could be said that there were mistakes all over his body!
Pangong Tso was slightly stunned and also stopped in his footsteps.
In this instant, he had the urge to make a move. With mistakes all over Qin Mu's body, these were all fatal mistakes that could take Qin Mu's life with one strike in Pangong Tso's eyes. However, he hesitated for an instant.
Qin Mu was the Heavenly Devil Cult Master and Heavenly Devil Cult Master has an extremely huge power, the number one sect in the secular world. If he was to kill Qin Mu here, it was difficult for him to escape the revenge of Heavenly Devil Cult.
In this instant where he hesitated, all of the mistakes on Qin Mu's body vanished and his aura suddenly burst forth, releasing his murderous intent which overwhelmed Pangong Tso as he raised his leg to walk forward.
Pangong Tso's expression sank and had no choice to catch up with him, sinking into a passive state.
Qin Mu made used of his hesitation to free himself from the disadvantageous situation. This was indeed out of his expectation. Even though it was evident that this youth's experience was inferior to him, he had a kind of acute spirit that was long obliterated in him.
After reincarnating so many times, that acute determination to improve in his first lifetime had slowly been obliterated under the endless passage of time through lifetime after lifetime. Now, he had once again seen this kind of essence, qi, and spirit from Qin Mu.
Now, it was his turn to be suppressed by Qin Mu and forced to walk forward in accordance to Qin Mu's tempo. The body techniques and auras of these two people changed continuously and each change was very fine. However, as they walked more and more, the swaying of Pangong Tso's body became wider and wider, making him look like a drunk man that was leaning from side to side, catching the attention of many people.
The situation now seemed like Qin Mu was using an invisible rope to lead a thirteen to fourteen years old drunk child to walk on the street.
The battle of experts was just like this. Especially when the difference between the both of them was not huge, any carelessness would result in a reversal of situation!
Qin Mu made use of his mental state in not daring to make a move on him in the city to reverse the situation.
Even though the two people had yet to exchange blows, they have already started to clash using their wisdom!
Even if the situation was reversed, Qin Mu still didn't let his guard down. It was as Pangong Tso had said, Qin Mu had no time to strengthen his Six Directions Realm. Even though he had entered Six Directions Realm at the same time as Pangong Tso, Pangong Tso was different from him. Pangong Tso had the experience of twenty lifetimes and had broken through Six Directions Realm twenty times. In just a day, Pangong Tso had enough time to strengthen this realm and mobilize the power that could be mobilized in this realm.
On the other hand, Qin Mu had to spend time to familiarize and figure his way around in order to control the power in this realm.
The most crucial point was that he had no time now to cultivate his Six Direction Realm!
He already had the circulation diagram of Six Direction Realm and Seven Stars Realm. One of obtained from the first hall in Imperial College while the circulation diagram of Seven Stars Realm was inscribed on a stone tablet in Rolan's Golden Palace.
However, for him to comprehend Unity Technique, he needed to fuse Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and it was impossible for Pangong Tso to give him time to fuse his techniques.
Qin Mu's mind delved into his Six Directions Divine Treasure and in this divine treasure, he saw his spirit embryo. He then saw the five element stars and shrine in the sky, sensing his Five Elements Star Sovereigns.
From this angle of the spirit embryo, he could see the four sides of heaven and earth.
It was evident after entering Six Directions Realm, it was required for him to combine these three great divine treasures as one. His technique had to pass through all three great divine treasures to form one whole body.
In his Six Directions Divine Treasure, there were four sides of heaven and earth, strengthening his magic power to be able to execute divine arts. This was a qualitative leap but since he didn't have the circulation diagram of Six Directions Realm for Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, it would be his greatest shortcoming.
Finally, the two of them walked out of the capital city and came to the outskirts of the city. The extent of Pangong Tso's movement as he was walking became more and more exaggerated as he staggered along. However, the changes in his body motions and techniques were still endless as he maintained a perfect state that didn't have any mistake!
Qin Mu couldn't help admiring him. As they walked from the center of the city to the outskirts of the city, just the body techniques alone had gone through dozens of changes from Pangong Tso, each and every kind of body technique was extremely intricate and cultivated to their extremes.
He moved forward using the form of a dragon and really looked like a true dragon moving on the land. When he moved like a tiger, he gave off a feeling like he was a fierce tiger. When he executed the body technique of a phoenix, he was flying low like a phoenix. When he executed the body technique of a swimming fish, he was like a fish swimming against the current.
It was hard to imagine how a person could cultivate so many body techniques to the extreme!
Two of them moved further and further and their murderous intents grew thicker and thicker. From Qin Mu's taotie sack, a sword pellet flew out along with Junior Protector Sword, hanging on his waist.
Meanwhile, the two Pig Slaughtering Knives on Qin Mu's back dropped off and the two knives stabbed into the ground one after another, showing only the knives' handles. The two knives were over thirty yards apart. His bamboo cane stabbed onto the ground while his iron hammer landed on the ground. From his sleeves, his brush, ink, papers, and inkstone also slid out and got thrown onto the ground as he was walking.
As he was walking, his body trembled and heavy chunks of iron fell off from the front and the back of his chest. The iron boots on his feet suddenly exploded and the iron weights strapped on his legs also fell off.
His body became light and his bones crackled and rattled. His aura had actually once again risen like the tide!
Pangong Tso still continued moving along with his tempo. Qin Mu raising his aura had brought him an even larger pressure but he was still able to endure and didn't reveal any slight mistake.
The grasses on the grassland far away had already grown out and there were numerous couples stepping on the greenery as they formed companionships to go on a spring outing. Some children were flying kites and running happily on the grassland. Some young men were showing off their body techniques as they rose into the sky with a few steps, stepping on the kites in the air, arousing the girls below to exclaim in admiration.
The exclaims of admiration gradually lessened as the people started to look at the two strange youths which were Qin Mu and Pangong Tso.
The flock of birds in the forest flapped upwards and moved far away to avoid them. The murderous intents from these two youths had astonished them.
As Qin Mu and Pangong Tso walked to the side of Mud River and suddenly there were countless of huge fishes jumping out of the water, flopping on the surface of the river to escape towards the heart of the river, making the river extraordinary bustling.
The instant these fishes and birds jumped and flew up, a child suddenly closed his eyes and opened his mouth wide to bawl loudly. Amidst the cries, Qin Mu and Pangong Tso who were beside the river unleashed their moves at practically the same time!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
All kinds of runes from buddhist scriptures appeared around Qin Mu's body and revolved like a huge bell covering him. The five heavens from Rulai's Mahayana Sutra took shape as buddha voice surrounded him.
At the same time, he activated Nine Dragon Monarch Technique, and the dragon qi came swarming from the nine huge dragon veins surrounding the capital city, raising his aura once again!
Nine Dragon Monarch Technique was the supreme art of the imperial family and had been taught to him by Emperor Yanfeng personally. Under Qin Mu's execution, the dragon qi pouring out from the nine dragon veins materialized and even entered the river water, causing dragons to fly out of the river while surging towards Qin Mu!
He took the first strike. At this point, no matter if Pangong Tso revealed any mistake or not, he would be crushed by Qin Mu's abnormally dense vital qi that could suppress all kinds of intricate moves. Pangong Tso would be overwhelmed by an incomparable strength!
The best method to deal with Pangong Tso was to use magic power to overwhelm him and not compete with him in moves!
Boom!
The river water exploded and flooded into the sky, transforming into the form of a huge buddha that was over thirty yards tall which and stood like a water mountain on the river. Water dragons coiled around this huge buddha, and its five fingers were like five mountains rushing down at Pangong Tso!
The nine dragons let out angry roars as Nine Dragons Monarch Technique fused with Tempest of the Nine Dragons from Thunderclap Eight Strikes. This strike showed the vastness of buddhism's divine arts and the invincibility of the imperial family!
The nine dragons pounced on their target.
Bang, bang, bang!
The speed of the streams surpassed the speed of sound, and they exploded with thunderous bangs, facing nothing they couldn't destroy!
What's divine art?
This is divine art!
Qin Mu's strongest point was his magic power which surpassed that of his peers by several times. Even the old monsters like Village Chief were much inferior to him on the same realm.
This kind of magic power was something Pangong Tso had no hope of matching. That's why Qin Mu wanted to use his absolute strength to overwhelm Pangong Tso, turning all of his eleven thousand years of cultivation useless!
At the instant Qin Mu's attack was about to burst forth, Pangong Tso's counter also arrived. What he used was a sword pellet that was the size of a thumb, and resplendent sword lights burst forth from within it!
The second writing from the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword, Binding of Five Qi and Three Aeons, Rising on the Spot, Cloud Chariots Crossing!
He used the ultimate art of Dao Sect straightaway, using the purest Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique to execute the second sword of Dao Sword. The sword lights contained wood, fire, earth, gold, and water, which are the five qi, heaven aeon, earth aeon, water aeon as well as the three aeon. Heaven aeon was akin to the sun and called supreme yang, water aeon was akin to the moon which was called supreme yin, while earth aoen was the neutralization.
Once he executed this sword skill, the sword lights constructed the ideal world of Dao Sect, one with a sword sun, sword moon, sword earth, and the invigoration of the five qi!
The sword skills of Dao Sect required extremely high attainments in algebra and used it as their foundation. They believed that all the great Dao in the heaven and earth could be answered using algebra.
This was their path of one produces two, two produce three, and three produce all things. In their eyes, numerals construct everything in the world. Even if it were life forms or something else, it was all the same. Everything was ultimately just wonderful numerals.
This was why Dao Sect had created a circular wuji diagram, the taiji diagram that separates yin and yang, and also the four symbols diagram, eight trigrams, sixty-four hexagrams, to calculate the great Dao and all things of the heaven and earth.
And when these became sword skills, they would form pictures and be in operation continuously, evolving all living things in the world and achieving magnificent power!
Dao Sect's Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword contained an ideal world in each writing. They were beautiful pictures developed from algebra, interpreting the marvel of heaven and earth.
This was the biggest difference between Dao Sect and Buddhism. Dao Sect was the school of maths and Buddhism was the school of mind.
The disciples of Dao Sect often joked about it among themselves. Your math isn't good? What are you cultivating for then? It's better to go home earlier to carry your baby.
The divine arts of the two people collided. One was a sword skill divine art while the other was a corporeal body divine art and a spell divine art. When they collided, it was a terrifying sight. The surface of the river trembled, and water floated up into the sky. More than that, the ground trembled as well, resulting in a minor shake.
The impact of the aftermath caused fine jets of water to pierce through the willows beside the river, while the sword qi stabbed into the rocks, creating numerous holes in the reefs by the shore!
The world-shaking strike from Qin Mu rushed into the ideal world of Dao Sect formed by Pangong Tso's sword lights, and the overwhelming power got broken down by the mathematics contained in the sword lights!
In Pangong Tso's sword skill, something as boring as algebra could be enchanting and resplendent.
Among the enchanting sword lights, the nine water dragons and water buddha rapidly crumbled, unable to withstand a single blow from the second move of Dao Sword!
Countless sword lights flew and struck the buddha rays which had transformed into a huge bell around Qin Mu. Ripples appeared on the surface of the bell, and in the next instant, the huge bell was destroyed!
Qin Mu had no change in expression as his sword pellet landed into his hand. In an instant, the sword lights from inside the pellet burst forth. Qin Mu didn't use Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, but went straight to the second move of Sword Picture!
Whoosh!
One side of Mud River turned scarlet, and blood-red sword lights poured forward like a huge sea. Among them, there seemed to be an emperor god rising up, pointing his sword at his enemies while looking disdainfully at everything out of the corner of his eye.
Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood!
Dao Sword and Sword Picture collided, and Pangong Tso gave a grunt. The five qi and three aeons were instantly destroyed as matchless sword lights came bombarding his face with exceptional killing intent.
His body rose into the sky and soared like a brave dragon, executing marvelous body technique. It changed continuously like swimming fish, flying sparrows, and nine phoenixes, but he still couldn't avoid all of the sword lights.
Chi, chi, chi.
Crimson lights emanated from his body as he leaped around, landing on the surface of the river and exploding the water in all directions!
Whoosh!
Qin Mu leaped up, and the sword lights in his hand vanished. The sword pellet transformed into a huge knife and sliced apart the river surface!
Pangong Tso swung his sword pellet to receive this blow only to hear a series of bangs. He tumbled six to seven times on the river surface like a skipping stone that a child had thrown before stopping his momentum.
On the other side, Qin Mu sprinted over while stepping on the river surface, and every time his feet landed on the river's surface, there was a huge explosion, splattering water in all directions. Before Pangong Tso could even land on his feet, Qin Mu had already sprinted several hundred yards forward.
The huge knife suddenly pulled back and covered his fist like flowing water. Qin Mu gave a punch. Boom! The river surface trembled as water dragons glowing with a green light roared in anger and drowned out Pangong Tso who was dozens of yards away.
The river surface became incomparably bustling in a split second. Forty-five dragons flew out from the punch and merged with the river water as they rushed towards Pangong Tso, resulting in endless loud bangs.
Qin Mu leaped into the sky while stretching his ten fingers out. With his palms facing the sky, he pulled downwards and bolts of lightning lighted up the river surface. Those bolts of lightning gathered together as they struck in the center of the forty-five dragons!
As Qin Mu was coming down, the sword pellet in his hand changed into countless sword lights, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
The sword lights transformed into vast mountains and rivers that descended from the sky. They crashed into the water, breaking the surface and splitting the river in a radius of a dozen yards. The water that had risen was then separated into droplets that formed mountains in the river!
Underneath, blood sprayed out as a figure escaped toward the bottom of the river.
Qin Mu raised his hand, and his Junior Protector Sword that was on his waist flew out with a hum. His index finger revolved, and Junior Protector Sword spun frantically. Sword qi surrounded it as it used Drill Sword Form, breaking apart the water to shoot straight to the bottom of the river, chasing the trail of blood.
Qin Mu's shirt fluttered as he gently floated down from the sky and stepped on the river's surface which was billowing with waves. The sound of waves crashing against themselves came from behind him, and it was something from when he was sprinting over. The waves were raised into mid-air and only landed down now, flying up and dispersing like fine jade.
On the river's surface, Qin Mu changed his footsteps, and the river's surface around his feet instantly changed. The water whirled around him as if there were transparent flood dragons surrounding him, forming a huge circle.
Xiuuu!
Junior Protector Sword flew out from the river surface, continuing to spin the air. However, it was gradually slowing down. When it came in front of Qin Mu, it had already stopped spinning.
The sword sheath on Qin Mu's waist flew out, transforming into a fish dragon and swallowed the sword with its huge mouth before returning to his waist as a sword sheath.
Qin Mu's expression remained calm as usual while he stood quietly. The sword pellet flew out from his hand and hovered in front of him, looking like a slightly larger water droplet.
In his surroundings, streams of water were slowly rising into the sky as though the rain was falling in the other direction. The river water that rose into the sky turned into water vapor, forming clouds that covered a radius of dozens of yards.
Flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder came from the clouds. As the lightning flashed from time to time, scales and claws could be faintly seen.
"Pangong Tso, you have disappointed me." Qin Mu's calm voice traveled over the river's surface as he spoke indifferently. "Does the cultivation of your nineteen lifetimes only amounts to this? Why don't you dare to come out? I'm waiting to kill you so I can go back to continue my meal; after all, the dishes are going to turn cold soon."
There was no movement on the river's surface.
Qin Mu frowned and turned around to walk back to the shore.
As he walked back through the same route he had taken earlier, astonished faces were all around him as the people turned their heads to look at him. Tourists followed him with their gazes as he walked away.
Qin Mu ignored them and picked up the brush, ink, papers, and inkstone he had thrown out before noticing the iron hammer. He stretched his hand to grab the handle of the hammer and suddenly raised it to give a powerful slam on the ground. With a loud boom, the air in front of him was compressed to become a wall which soon crumbled to pieces.
With this smash on the ground, the earth sunk and split open. Tremors came from underground as a figure moved away rapidly!
Qin Mu leaped forward as if he was flying and came to the bamboo cane at the next instant. With a smack of his palm, the bamboo cane shot down into the ground and blood spurted out from the small hole it had made.
Qin Mu leaped a few more times and came to the front of the two Pig Slaughtering Knives. With his head below and legs above, his hands grabbed onto the handles of the knives. As he spun with them, countless knife lights sliced into the earth.
His body moved forward, and he spun while the knife lights continued slashing into the earth like rain and waterfall.
Suddenly, Qin Mu opened up his legs and slammed the ground with the backs of his knives. He flipped in the air before landing steadily on his feet. Sheathing his knives behind him, he turned around and walked into the capital city.
Soon after that, he came to Jade Fragrance Floor and walked into Green Bamboo Garden, coming to the private room after taking two turns around the statue of Bodhisattva of Compassion.
The two great shamans were still in the private room and revealed astonishment when they saw him.
"Are the dishes still warm?" Qin Mu asked.
One of the great shamans looked at him in a daze while the other nodded immediately.
"What about the wine?"
"The wine has turned slightly cold."
Qin Mu waved his hand and said, "Go warm it up and serve it to me. You, stay behind to pour it for me."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
After a moment, the great shaman that went to warm the wine came back. The other great shaman swirled the wine, and when it was clear, he poured a bowl and placed it respectfully in front of Qin Mu.
"Is it poisoned?" Qin Mu asked with a pleasant expression.
The two great shamans from Rolan's Golden Palace immediately said, "We don't dare!"
Qin Mu laughed out loud. "I'm a divine physician who has learned from Jade Face Poison King. If you guys try to play poison in front of me, that would be quite a joke."
The two great shamans laughed with him.
Qin Mu's expression sunk and pointed at the great shaman who had warmed the wine. "Drink it."
The expression of that great shaman changed drastically, and he started trembling. Qin Mu's face turned even darker, and he repeated coldly, "Drink it!"
The corners of the great shaman's eyes twitched as he picked up the wine bowl with trembling hands to drink two mouthfuls. He smiled. "No poison…"
As he said this, his body trembled and shriveled up like a deflated balloon. He became thinner and thinner until only his skin was left. Covering the skin was his clothes and there seemed to be things wiggling in them. A bunch of insects chewed through his skin and flooded out, crawling in all directions. They then incinerated and turned into ashes.
The face of the other great shaman turned ashen.
Without a change in expression, Qin Mu rapped the table. "Serve me another bowl."
The great shaman serving the wine had a tearful expression as he said, "There's poison in the wine…"
"Can't poison me," Qin Mu said indifferently. "Continue serving the wine. Where are the dancers? Call them, songs and dances liven up the mood."
The great shaman immediately poured a bowl of wine and summoned the dancers, continuing with the dance and music.
Qin Mu ate the dishes and drank the wine as he enjoyed the songs and dances, clapping when he was entertained. This banquet lasted for quite a long time and. The sun was hanging late in the west when he waved his hand and made the singers and dancers fall back.
The wine was highly toxic and contained a kind of shamanic poison. It had venomous insects that specialized in eating souls and corporeal bodies. However, Qin Mu was still fine after drinking nearly the entire jar of wine.
"Such a disappointment."
Qin Mu rose, leaving the table in a mess. All the food and wine had been eaten and drunk by him, and it was more than even a dozen lords would have been able to eat. However, he didn't seem full as all the wine and food had been dissolved by Spirit Returning Pill Great Supplement Technique.
"You've lived through so many lifetimes, eleven thousand years. What a pity that you never took your own path, always liking the path of others, jumping from one to another. After jumping here and there, you obliterated your own acute spirit."
Qin Mu shook his head. "I waited so long for you yet you still don't dare to show up. What a joke. I thought you would be my opponent, but I didn't count that the older you get, the more cowardly you get. After I took the upper hand, you didn't dare to pick another fight with me again."
The great shaman from Rolan's Golden Palace was unable to make heads or tails of what he was saying, not knowing who he was talking to.
"What's the need for dreams when one doesn't dare to struggle?" Qin Mu walked outside and chuckled. "It's better for you to just go home. That's right, since it's your treat, foot the bill before leaving."
He walked out of Jade Fragrance Floor and left.
In Green Bamboo Garden, the great shaman was befuddled and waved his hand to dismiss the singers and dancers. After a moment, Pangong Tso walked out from the shadows with a gloomy face while stained in blood.
"The sword skills of Human Emperor…" he said in a low voice. "Those were actually the sword skills of Human Emperor! Even though it could have been a deception, I don't think I saw it wrong. What that junior used were the sword skills of that Human Emperor which were fused with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword skills, as well as Rulai's Mahayana Sutra combined with Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of Ling Family. He had combined all these techniques…"
Qin Mu had fused so many techniques and divine arts together—and they were all top notch techniques and divine arts—so Pangong Tso's Dao Sword had been countered when they exchanged moves, messing up his mind and plans.
Therefore, he no longer dared to fight head-on with Qin Mu.
He didn't know how many moves of the human emperor's sword skills he had learned.
The human emperor of the previous generation was an extremely strong practitioner, so he didn't dare to take the risk.
In the previous generation, many incidents happened and there were many figures that were close to gods walking around in the world. He was one of them. Heaven Knife was also one of them. Other than them, they were numerous other glorious figures, but none of them were as dazzling.
Human Emperor was the most dazzling star in the previous generation.
Other than him, Pangong Tso had seen another human emperor, one of the generation prior to that man's. It was some eight hundred years back.
The human emperors had appeared in his long life again and again, and every one of them was abnormally dazzling, overshadowing his radiance. Various human emperors could be traced even all the way back to his first lifetime and even before that. There were human emperors walking in the world since a very long time ago!
He was once curious about this incomparably ancient inheritance. The techniques and divine arts of every human emperor were different, and every one of them was absolutely astonishing. There were even quite a number of saints that appeared once every five hundred years that ended up as human emperors!
He had wanted to get in touch with this inheritance, but since he died a few times under the hands of human emperors, he vanquished this thought.
And right then, he saw the inheritance of the previous generation's human emperor in Qin Mu's skills. The previous generation's human emperor had vanished for a long time and rumors said that he's been dead for three to four hundred years.
Pangong Tso had seen the sword of this human emperor before and knew that he was one of the strongest people in the previous generation. He was the strongest sword. After seeing it once, the sword light would be forever imprinted in one's heart, making them unable to forget it.
If not for that, Pangong Tso would have never panicked and messed up, getting heavily injured by Qin Mu and losing the upper hands and escaping into the river He had then went into the ground, but the youth's Green Heaven's Eyes discovered him, and he used his bamboo cane, iron hammer, and Pig Slaughtering Knives to land fatal blows on him, adding injuries on top of injuries. Because of that, there was no way for him to turn back.
His attainments in escaping arts had been cultivated to their extreme. The escaping skills of Little Jade Capital were definitely the first rate escaping arts in this world.
His soul was extremely strong and close to the level of god, so Qin Mu wouldn't be able to kill him. In addition, the cultivation of his previous lifetime was still in his body. Even though this body was very weak and couldn't withstand such terrifying strength, it wasn't everything. If Qin Mu forced him to his limits, the explosion of his power would be enough to kill the youth!
After he escaped, Qin Mu knew he couldn't make him stay and so didn't chase after him. Instead, he went back to Jade Fragrance Floor and forced him to not dare to reveal himself, delaying him curing his injuries.
"If that ancient organization learned that the human emperor is not yet dead and still has a successor, things will definitely get bustling," Pangong Tso muttered in a low voice.
The great shaman that had served Qin Mu wine immediately went forward and smiled. "Prince, how are your injuries? Cult Master Qin had not paid just now…"
"I don't need anyone to know I lost, even though I've lost many times…"
The great shaman was slightly stunned and suddenly felt his soul becoming stiff as if something had chained it up. He couldn't help revealing fear.
The next moment, his flesh and bones melted and his soul disintegrated, leaving a pile of clothes on the ground.
Pangong Tso walked out and footed the bill while thinking to himself, 'Luckily I met that organization quite a few times and know how to contact them… I'm afraid that I won't be able to stay in the capital city anymore. This Cult Master Qin will definitely inform Chancellor Ba Shan when he goes back and not let me have a place to fit in. However, if I want to hide, Chancellor Ba Shan won't be able to find me.'
He walked out of Jade Fragrance Floor and into the shadows, never appearing again.
Qin Mu returned to Imperial College and found Chancellor Ba Shan. "Pangong Tso is indeed the old monster of Rolan's Golden Palace. I injured him, so I'm afraid he won't appear again."
Chancellor Ba Shan was startled and cried out, "He left? If he cast a spell on you in secret, how bad would that be? Teacher Heaven Knife didn't manage to kill him and had no choice but to hide his name. What about you then? The brat's cultivation is still in Six Directions Realm, but soon enough, he will break through into Seven Stars Realm, then Life and Death Realm. With only ten or so years, I'm afraid he'll return back to Divine Bridge Realm! At that time, you'll be dead meat!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Why doesn't Senior Brother stay by my side? That way, he won't dare to make a move."
Chancellor Ba Shan frowned and said, "He knows my name and will be able to kill me ten years later as well. It won't do, I can only solve the problem temporarily by staying at your side. I need to find and kill him to prevent further troubles!" When he was done, he summoned the green bull to leave in a hurry.
Qin Mu returned to Scholar's Residence. While looking at his room, a sense of dread washed over him.
'If Chancellor Ba Shan doesn't find Pangong Tso, won't that brat stare at me every night? How will I be able to sleep like that? It simply won't do, I have to find that guy! This matter should be better if it was handled by the disciples of Heavenly Saint Cult. Unless he went back to Rolan's Golden Palace to hide, he won't be able to escape my eyes and ears!'
Just as he thought this, a steward from Scholar's Residence walked over and said, "Academician Qin is already a divine arts practitioner, you should be moving to Divine Arts Residence."
There were other stewards helping Chen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang to move as well while saying "You have also succeeded in breaking the wall so must also leave Scholar's Residence to move to Divine Arts Residence."
Chen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang saw Qin Mu and came over in a hurry to thank him. They said, "If not for Cult Master's Six Directions Computational Canon, we wouldn't have been able to enter Six Directions Realm so fast."
"It was just a little thing," Qin Mu said humbly.
Chen Wanyun had a weird expression, and Si Yunxiang suffered a setback. To Qin Mu, it was a little thing, but to them, it was a huge help. Like this, did she still have hope to get rid of this cult master to become the female cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult?
"Scholar's Residence, I'm leaving!"
Chen Wanyun waved to the scholars that had come to send him off and smiled. "Whoever is willing to be the big brother can go fight for the role themselves!"
Yue Qinghong and Monk Yun Que had no interest in that as they looked at each other before smiling. "You guys can go to Divine Arts Residence first; we'll be there in two days. This position of the big brother should be handed to the other junior brothers and sisters!
Qin Mu and the rest walked towards Divine Arts Residence while the dragon qilin followed behind them. This lazy dragon was determined to follow Qin Mu everywhere he went, never letting go of this meal master.
"That's right." Qin Mu recalled something and smiled. "The crown prince will be leaving the capital city in a few days' time and he wants me to follow him to send disaster relief. If you guys are free, you can follow me to gain some experience. Wanyun, you have already become a divine arts practitioner and your abilities aren't weak anymore, so you'll be able to become the incense master of our sacred cult with another few more years of experience."
Chen Wanyun felt his scalp crawling and became unwilling to follow him out. He said, "Every time we go out with Cult Master, danger always springs up all around and we are always escaping for our lives. I think I'd rather not go. I just cultivated to Six Directions Realm so I still have to strengthen this realm…"
Si Yunxiang's eyes glowed brightly. "I'll go!"
Just as Qin Mu wanted to say something, another steward from Divine Arts Residence came over and said, "Scholar Chen Wanyun, the crown prince has appointed you to follow him out of the capital city. Other than you, there are a dozen more scholars from Divine Arts Residence that will be coming as well."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Chen Wanyun's face immediately turned bitter. Going out with Qin Mu to gain experience was definitely a chore.
The last time they had gone to the southern borders for experience with Qin Mu, they had encountered Nine Spectres Sect, Corpse Immortal Cult, and Great Mountain Sect summoning the dead to massacre a city. Then they encountered Dutian Devil King wrecking everything in Heaven Wave City before going to Daxiang City to join the battle to quell the rebellion. Chen Wayung had never been through so many near-death encounters in his entire life!
After returning to the capital city, he had spent quite a long time to recover from the ordeals. When he went to Qingmen Pass for experience, he fought fiercely with soldiers from Barbarian Di Empire, but that was still soldiers fighting soldiers and general fighting generals. In no way was it similar to gaining experience with Qin Mu.
When out with him, sects would wage wars against each other and even summon devil gods. Upon reaching Daxiang City, there were even strong practitioners of cult master level everywhere, with hundreds of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm as well!
When Chen Wanyun recalled the incidents he experienced with Qin Mu, he couldn't help shivering.
He had also heard about the encounters Qin Mu had faced after that, how he was chased by countless experts when he went home to Great Ruins for New Year. He then stirred trouble in Great Thunderclap Monastery and even got involved with Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery trying to murder the emperor, saving both the emperor and Imperial Preceptor before coming back to the capital to kill Crown Prince Ling Yuxia!
If it was Chen Wanyun who was forced to experience all these incidents, he would have most likely already died a hundred times.
He was determined to never go out with Qin Mu again, but the crown prince actually ordered him to come. It was the same as receiving a death penalty and waiting to be executed.
He didn't know if this sacred cult master was a jinx, causing disasters everywhere he went.
Qin Mu saw that his expression wasn't too good and consoled him, "This journey won't be dangerous. Crown Prince Ling Yushu is from our Imperial College so we're old friends, and we have a good relationship as well. He is leaving the capital city to bring disaster relief and is bringing many experts from the Ministry of Works. This journey isn't to quell any rebellion, but to check on all the factories and clear the snow mountains from the snow disaster. Or maybe it's to build bridges and dams. It's something along those lines, so there won't be any danger."
Chen Wanyun had a bitter face as he said, "I sure hope so."
Si Yunxiang was slightly disappointed on the other hand. "No danger…"
The three people followed the stewards to their respective rooms in Divine Arts Residence. The stewards had arranged for them to live close to one another as their three houses were all lined up.
Qin Mu said to Chen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang, "I won't know for how long we will be away, so you guys should find some divine arts to cultivate."
Chen Wanyun's gaze flickered, and he suggested, "Yue Qinghong and Yun Que will be breaking their walls in the two days and will become divine arts practitioners. Cult Master, we should enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together, so we should bring them along to enjoy the blessings together."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "You're right. Before the crown prince leaves, we'll bring everyone who manages to cultivate divine arts."
Chen Wanyun's spirit was roused, and he left with excitement as he thought to himself, 'If we're going to die, it's only natural that everyone should join in on the fun!"
Si Yunxiang blinked innocently and stretched a fair white palm in front of Qin Mu. He took out his book tablet and placed it in her hand. Si Yunxiang gave an elated cheer and immediately left.
The book tablet of Divine Arts Residence could only allow one to go to the second level of Floor of Heavenly Records, while Qin Mu's book tablet could access the third level, so she borrowed his book tablet every time she wanted to go to Floor of Heavenly Records.
There was also Hall of Heavenly Works which was similar to Heavenly Devil Cult's Craftsman Hall and Heavenly Works Hall. The latter one mostly researched how to manufacture mechanisms, refine spirit weapons, construct ships and bridges, pave roads, and manufacture vehicles. All of these were the works of the scholars from Hall of Heavenly Works.
Imperial College was founded by Imperial Preceptor and Heavenly Devil Patriarch together, so many halls and teachings were copied from the halls of Heavenly Devil Cult. This was one of the reasons why Great Thunderclap Monastery, Dao Sect, and the rest of the righteous sects didn't really like Eternal Peace Empire.
When the scholars of Hall of Heavenly Works graduated, they usually went to Ministry of Works to assume a position. This time, Crown Prince Ling Yushu brought mostly scholars from Heavenly Palace Courtyard, while the others were all officials from the Ministry of Works.
Most of the officials from there came from Hall of Heavenly Works so were considered classmates of Qin Mu and the rest.
The government minister of the Ministry of Works had the greatest authority, while the next in line was the assistant minister. This position was assumed by Heavenly Devil Cult's Heavenly Works Hall Master.
The Ministry of Works was then split into four departments: Department of Works managed the city and civil engineering, Department of Land managed the distribution and measurement of land, Department of Harvest managed the vegetables, fruits, and grains, while Department of Water managed the hydraulic engineering.
Most of the ministers in these four departments were the hall masters and incense masters of Heavenly Devil Cult. Many of the officials were their disciples, while the other half were scholars that had graduated from Imperial College.
Heavenly Devil Cult and Imperial College occupied nearly all of the official positions in the Ministry of Works.
One needs to put what one studies into practice, so the people from Heavenly Works, Craftsman, Vegetable, Rain, Farmer Halls were all talents that the Ministry of Works needed. Because of that, they were all able to enter the imperial court.
When Qin Mu saw the officials which Ling Yushu had brought, he couldn't help revealing a weird expression. Most of them were from his Heavenly Devil Cult.
Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que, Wei Yong, and Si Yunxiang hurried over. Chen Wanyun's face was badly bruised by them, but he had a very pleased expression.
When Si Yunxiang saw the officials Ling Yushu had brought over, she also couldn't help revealing an astonished expression. She secretly asked Qin Mu, "Cult Master, is the crown prince part of us as well?"
Qin Mu's heart was slightly moved, and he asked Ling Yushu, "Your Highness, have you heard about Heavenly Saint Cult?"
Ling Yushu didn't reply to him and instead said, "Everyone's here, so let us be on our way. The order father has given me this time is to inspect the geography of all the prefectures in our empire, check the irrigation works, city defense, measure the soil, and check on the vegetables and fruits after the natural disaster. Once we reach a place, I'll be asking the officials questions while the rest of you will check on the hydrology, city defense, soil and rations, verifying their words."
All of the officials acknowledged his orders.
Ling Yushu continued, "No matter which prefecture we go to, if the hydrology or city defense needs adjustments, if the officials are taking over the land by force, or there are insufficient ration, all of these must be reported as they really are."
The government minister of the Ministry of Works said, "Your Highness, the world is huge and there are so many prefectures, I'm afraid that it will take us two-three years to inspect everything!"
Ling Yushu smiled. "That's why I found a quick ship. It should be arriving soon. This ship is the fastest ship in our empire and it's called Cloud Chasing Ship. It's said to have superlative craftsmanship and you guys can take a look at its pill furnaces when we board the ship; they are very wonderful. Furthermore, it's still an iron shell ship!"
Many of the officials from the Ministry of Works had weird expressions as they coughed one after another. Some of them even looked at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu also had a weird expression. The ship that the crown prince was describing seemed to be Fan Yunxiao's Cloud Chasing Pirate Ship. Back then, Qin Mu had constructed five of such treasure ships, and three of the huge ships belonged to Heavenly Devil Cult. Regarding the two smaller ships, one belonged to Qin Mu while the other one was given to Fan Yunxiao.
The ones that constructed the treasure ships were most of the officials from the Ministry of Works that were present here!
'Maybe the emperor of the next dynasty might just be a heavenly king or guardian of our Heavenly Saint Cult,' Qin Mu thought to himself leisurely. 'Crown Prince Yushu is really fated with our Heavenly Saint Cult.'
Heavenly Works Hall Master said secretly to Qin Mu, "Cult Master, Incense Master Fan found me a few days ago, asking to change to a bigger ship, which left me bewildered. But now it seems that Incense Master Fan had been doing business with the crown prince."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Ling Yushu waited for a moment and a flying ship with wooden grains slowly flew over. The ship gradually descended and stopped in front of the mountain gate of Imperial College.
Fan Yunxiao and the rest of the bandits were dressed prim and proper as they stood on the bow of the ship respectfully. "Your Highness, Cult Master Sacred Teacher."
Ling Yushu immediately turned around to look at Qin Mu. "Cult Master Qin, this ship is the property of your Heavenly Saint Cult? How expensive, how black-hearted!"
Qin Mu consoled him, "Your Highness might not know that they were bandits in the past and so are a little ruthless and lacking in conscience."
Ling Yushu was startled.
When everyone boarded the ship, an imperial scholar came running over at this moment and boarded the ship while saying, "I'm late." It was a charming young man.
Ling Yushu immediately hurried forward and asked in a low voice, "Sister, why are you here?"
That charming young man was none other than Ling Yuxiu dressed as a male. She smiled and said, "You didn't allow me to come, but I asked permission from father and he gave me permission to come! The one that herds cows!"
She threw Ling Yushu to one side and ran to Qin Mu's side. Her eyes curved up. "Do you recognize me?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "Fatt… Sister Yuxiu!"
Ling Yuxiu's expression changed from anger into delight, and she punched him in the chest with a smile. "If you dare to say it, I'll kick you off the ship."
Ling Yushu saw her punching Qin Mu in the chest and was aware that even though the punch seemed heavy, it was actually very light. He couldn't help grunting. This sister of his was starting to listen less and less to him.
Si Yunxiang came to Qin Mu's side and looked at Ling Yuxiu. She gave her a smile and didn't say anything, lowering her head to play with the dragon qilin.
Ling Yuxiu looked at her back, and her gaze flickered. She said in a low voice, "The one that herds cows, let me go change my outfit."
Ling Yushu immediately hurried over and said, "Sister, male outfit is good, the male outfit is very good, you look especially good in it!"
"Really?"
Ling Yushu nodded heavily.
The flying ship rose into the sky and drove three hundred miles to Auspicious Prefecture. This place was located down the river, two thousand miles east of the east sea. Ministry of Works had once constructed a huge bridge that crossed the river, stretching across the twenty miles of Mud River.
Hundreds of people looked down from the ship and saw that the center portion of the huge bridge was missing. There were numerous parts of the bridge floor and bridge pier missing which should be due to the severe winter from the snow disaster freezing the river surface. This would have caused an ice mountain to form on the river and slid down, crashing into the huge bridge.
With the torrential river water, the current was very swift, so fixing the bridge wouldn't be easy.
The treasure ship descended in Auspicious Prefecture City, and the magistrate o immediately came forward to welcome Ling Yushu.
Ling Yushu said, "Magistrate, dispatch your divine arts practitioners to follow the assistant minister of Ministry of Works to fix the bridge."
The magistrate immediately mobilized the divine arts practitioners in Auspicious Prefecture. Several hundred of them followed Heavenly Works Hall Master to the river surface. Qin Mu and the rest also came over.
Just as they were thinking about how they were going to repair the bridge over such a rapid current, they saw Heavenly Works Hall Master give a shout to the divine arts practitioners behind him. His magic power poured out and the water of Mud River instantly rose upward, forming an arc in mid-air. The river continued flowing five to six miles in the air before landing back into the river.
In the area of five to six miles, there was no river water nor any damp patches on the river bed. The water in the mud had been drained out by the hundreds of divine arts practitioners.
"Everyone, smelt the stones to connect the bridge!"
Heavenly Works Hall Master gave an order and numerous divine arts practitioners with Vermillion Bird Spirit Body came forth. Great furnaces were propped up on the river bed and stones were thrown into the great furnace while fire birds flew around as the divine arts practitioners executed their divine arts to smelt the stone in the furnaces into lava. Then, another group of officials from Ministry of Works came forth to control the shape of the lava with their magic power, cooling the lava down into stone pillars.
After a moment, stone pillars were erected upright from the river bed. Other officials from Ministry of Works came flying from a mountain at the side, transporting stones that were already sliced, laying them down orderly.
Two hours later, the huge bridge was reconnected.
Qin Mu's heart trembled, and he exclaimed to himself, 'This is a miracle, a superlative craftsmanship!'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Once the huge bridge was connected, the numerous officials from Ministry of Works flew up and surveyed the surroundings of the dam. Qin Mu saw many people holding stakes and stabbing them into the dam, one stake every three hundred yards.
Beside each stake stood a person and someone erected a huge bell on the heart of the river. With a resounding clang of a bell, the stakes trembled and the people beside them leaned in to listen to their trembling.
"What are they doing?" Qin Mu couldn't help being bewildered.
Ling Yuxiu walked to his side and said, "This you wouldn't know, but Mud River frequently flooded its surroundings back in the day, thus Imperial Preceptor ordered the assistant minister of Ministry of Works to govern it. A lot of financial resources went into it, so father was very angry and asked why the assistant minister had spent so much money and on what he had spent it.
"He was told that a copper wall was erected on both sides of Mud River. The copper walls were two inches thick and two feet tall. They were laid out along with the dam and stretched for ten thousand miles. The copper walls were covered with rune markings, so to check for any hidden cracks or thinning of the walls, they could just ring the bell. The sound would activate the rune markings to resonate together, and the sound waves could be used to judge if there are any hidden cracks or loss in thickness."
Qin Mu looked toward Heavenly Works Hall Master who was busy and praised, "What a great idea."
Si Yunxiang also came over and said, "Emperor almost executed him because he spent too much money."
Ling Yuxiu took a glance at her and said, "The assistant minister had spent too much money. In the recent years, he has manufactured a flying ship, decorated pleasure boats that sail in the sea, ships that runs on land, flywheel carriages, smelting factories for the ore mountains, arms workshops, and manufacturing plants in various regions. Various cities even had a revamp which included the sewers under the city, the paving of roads, the cloud chariots used to invade cities, the stronghold at the borders, and even machine manufacturing.
"I wasn't born then, but I heard from second brother that the amount of money spent by the assistant minister had made father and all the princes, concubines, and Empress Dowager tighten up their waistbands until they turned green from starvation. The empire's treasury was emptied out in a short while and the officials' salaries were owed them for a few months."
Si Yunxiang smiled. "What happened next?"
Ling Yuxiu sighed. "After that, the smelting factories were popularized, and all kinds of flying ships and decorated pleasure boats were sold to merchants. The manufacturing plants continuously produced goods and before two years were gone, the empire's treasury was filled to the brim. A few more treasuries had to be constructed to hold the money, thus father was glad he didn't kill the assistant minister.
"Ministry of Works is the best at spending money, while the next best spenders would be the officials of the Water Department. They constructed irrigation works and transportation in various regions like water-drawing chariots, flood-discharging lakes, all kinds of dams and bridges, and opening canals. They spend money like flowing water, but they also improve the quality of life for the common people."
Si Yunxiang blinked and said, "It seems like it's always the assistant minister and the officials that are spending the money, so what's the government minister for? Seems like all the work is being done under the orders of the Assistant Minister Shan Youxin, while the government minister seems to not be doing anything."
Ling Yuxiu also blinked. "The government minister supervises their spending."
Si Yunxiang gave a shallow laugh. "The government minister should be placed to supervise them yet the emperor isn't reassured, am I right? After all, the assistant minister and these officials are all people of Heavenly Saint Cult. The emperor knows they are hall masters and incense masters of Heavenly Saint Cult so he isn't certain about them."
Ling Yuxiu's gaze landed on her body. "Junior Sister Yunxiang seems to be very considerate of Heavenly Saint Cult."
Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly. "This little sister is untalented, I'm just the saintess of Heavenly Saint Cult so I naturally have to be considerate of them. Cult Master Qin is the cult master sacred teacher, so he is also concerned about this area. As the saintess, the questions I ask princess are also the questions cult master is concerned about."
The two girls stared at each other with wide eyes.
Qin Mu ignored them and looked into the distance. He saw the officials of Department of Water and Department of Land checking the land and irrigation works. In the meantime, the Department of Harvest was checking on the fruits and vegetables, thus he walked forward.
"Cult Master, before the yellow autumn crop can be collected, they will be attacked by pest insects."
The official of the Department of Harvest was the incense master of Farmer Hall. He dug around the soil for inspection and picked up a couple insect eggs while speaking to Qin Mu. "Even though the winter was very cold, these eggs weren't frozen to death. In some three to five days when the weather becomes warm, these eggs will hatch. Since most of the vegetations were chopped down and burnt by the victims of the disaster during winter, the insects will start to eat crops, since they'll have nothing else to eat. It's best to be on guard early to prevent insect damage. Once they hatch, they should be killed immediately."
Qin Mu asked, "Incense Master, how can insect damage be prevented?"
"Have the experts of sword skills stationed at these cultivated lands, or experts of spells with needle spells. Otherwise, we could also let experts of venomous insects come forth to release their insects to eat the pest ones."
The official from the Department of Harvest stood up and patted his hands, dirt plentiful on both his body and hands. "The disciples of Sword Hall, Spell Hall, and Venomous Insect Hall can all come out to gain experience."
Qin Mu nodded and invited Fan Yunxiao over. "Brother Fan, pass down my orders for a dozen disciples from Sword Hall, Spell Hall, and Venomous Insect Hall each to come here."
Fan Yunxiao called a bandit over and told him to send the order.
The Department of Water was rectifying the irrigation works, cleaning out the sludge that had accumulated in the aqueduct. They also replanned the waterway to make it more convenient to water the cultivated land.
On the other side, the official from the Department of Land was measuring the land. He took out heaven measuring rulers, and with his vital qi, the rulers opened up from their overlapped state and became longer and longer. On the rulers, the marked scale of the measurement appeared, and an imperial scholar recorded the numbers, clacking on an unusual abacus formed by his vital qi.
Meanwhile, the assistant minister brought everyone from the Department of Works to fly into the sky and survey the situation of the roads in various parts of Auspicious Prefecture from the sky. They recorded down which parts of the roads were destroyed before going forth to repair them.
'Shan Youxin is a capable man!' Qin Mu exclaimed to himself. The officials from the Ministry of Works of Eternal Peace Empire had a methodically arranged way of handling things and what they were doing indeed benefited both the country and the people.
In the city lord's manor, the magistrate of Auspicious Prefecture reported the situation, and Ling Yushu listened for the entire night. He then summoned the official registrar to check the various records and was so busy that he didn't even sleep for a moment.
When it came to the second day, Ling Yushu and the magistrate of Auspicious Prefecture were both slightly exhausted. Just as the crown prince walked out of the city lord's manor, the government minister and assistant minister came over. Assistant Minister Shan Youxin handed him a few scrolls. "Your Highness, the problems regarding the irrigation works, transportation, as well as vegetables and fruits have already been handled. Only the problems under the Department of Land requires Your Highness to handle them."
Ling Yushu was astonished and cried out, "So fast?"
Shan Youxin said, "After Your Highness finishes reading, you can get ready to kill people."
Ling Yushu had a grave expression. "Are the acquiring of lands that severe?"
Shan Youxin nodded.
Ling Yushu called the magistrate of Auspicious Prefecture over and placed the scrolls in his hand with a solemn look. "Don't go to sleep yet. I won't sleep, and you shall read these with me! We will read them as we capture and kill the people. Those who should be captured will be captured, and those who should be killed will be killed! In these unusual times, we will have to hand out severe punishments!"
The magistrate of Auspicious Prefecture had an ashen face.
Qin Mu summoned Chen Wanyun and the rest. "Your task is here. You guys shall follow the officials to capture the people later."
Chen Wanyun muttered, "Cult Master, didn't you say it would not be dangerous? To be able to acquire lands in the times of chaos, these people will all be tyrants of these regions. The strengths of the influential families are no joking matter!"
Qin Mu smiled. "You guys are experts from Imperial College, elites of the empire, so how could you be scared of the tyrants in these regions?"
Wei Yong, Yue Qinghong, and the rest couldn't wait to make their moves.
Not long later, the crown prince and the magistrate passed down their orders to capture the people, so Wei Yong and the rest immediately followed the officials and left. They only came back in the afternoon, all covered in blood. It was evident that they had gone through several fierce battles.
Ling Yushu spent two days to settle the problems in Auspicious Prefecture, then continued to head east. On the journey, they managed the problems around Mud River as well. One day, they came to River Prefecture. This place overlooked the sea to the east and was far from the capital. Their waterways were developed, and they had a huge port. The merchant ships here were not only connected to all the ports in the world, they were even trading with foreign countries and had relations with the countries overseas.
Everyone was already familiar with the routine and went to do their own inspections without any instructions from the assistant minister. After settling the tasks in River Prefecture, Ling Yushu could see that everyone was exhausted and said, "It has been hard on everyone, so why don't we take a few days break in River Prefecture before setting off."
Everyone cheered.
Qin Mu was pulled over by Ling Yuxiu to stroll down the street. "River Prefecture's trade and commerce are flourishing and they have many interesting items from foreign countries. Let's take a look at the fair"
"I'll go too!"
Si Yunxiang followed after them, and Ling Yuxiu took a glance at her while thinking to herself, 'Vixen!'
'Little hussy…' Si Yunxiang thought with a face full of smiles.
Sparks flew from the gazes of these two girls, but Qin Mu didn't notice anything. There were indeed numerous unusual and strange toys in River Prefecture's fair, but what attracted him the most weren't these strange items, instead, it was the foreigners.
He saw numerous foreigners wearing strange and different clothing, and their appearances were different from those of the people of Eternal Peace. There were even some that were cyclops. They only had a single eye at the heart of their brows, and it was grown vertically.
There were also four-armed and two-headed humans.
He even saw a few maidens from the sea tribe that was gorgeously dressed. However, they had eight legs like an octopus and walked quickly. When he looked at them in detail, he could also see gills beside their ears.
"They come from the sea," Si Yunxiang whispered to Qin Mu. "They are merchants of the sea tribe. I've heard they have founded a country under the sea."
Qin Mu was astonished.
The items that the sea tribe was selling were also very strange. He stopped in front of a blue coral tree which was automatically giving off water vapor while a huge ball of water was wrapped around it. Within the water vapor, there was a girl that was three inches high, riding a seahorse and singing a folk song whose words he didn't understand.
After that, couple more maidens riding seahorses came down from the tree and began to circle the coral tree with some men, dancing and singing together.
This coral tree actually had small tribes.
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu were also entranced by it. Right at this moment, a slender and tall girl in a long dark green dress came forward and looked at that blue coral tree, exclaiming in admiration, "What a strange species, Xiao'hong, don't you think so too?"
Qin Mu tilted his head and saw a red-colored jade earring hanging from the fair earlobes of that girl. Suddenly, that earring stretched itself and revealed itself to be a small red snake, opening its mouth to hiss at Qin Mu.
"Long Jiaonan!"
Qin Mu was astonished and wanted to pull out his sword when the woman smiled. "It's best if Cult Master Qin doesn't make a move, my Xiao'hong is of Seven Stars Realm and can swallow all three of you with a single mouthful. Cult Master, my father would like to see you."
Qin Mu's scalp turned numb as he said solemnly, "Old Dragon King is here as well?"
Long Jiaonan chuckled. "My father is known as the dragon king so how could he have no power in River Prefecture? However, all thanks to Cult Master, our Dragon Rider Sect got eradicated, giving my father and I no other choice but to hide in the east sea!"
Si Yunxiang blinked and said in delight, "Congratulation Sister Long in capturing the Heavenly Devil Cult Master and Eternal Peace Sixth Princess! Since I'm not needed here, I shall take my leave first!"
Long Jiaonan sneered, and the little snake suddenly swam toward Si Yunxiang, stretching out its tongue to lick her neck. "The eldest daughter of Si Family, the saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult, your worth isn't any inferior to that of Eternal Peace Sixth Princess. Did you think I didn't know who you are?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Heavenly Saint Cult was a large family, and the 'Si' in Si Yunxiang's surname meant to manage, to control. Ever since Heavenly Saint Cult was founded, Si Family was in charge of managing the cult's skills, inheritance, wealth, and propagation.
Because Si Family was extremely important, the saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult would most often come from Si Family. She would be its head, and to some extent, the importance of Si Family would even be higher than that of the cult master sacred teacher.
Granny Si was like that before, and Si Yunxiang was the same after.
Therefore, Long Jiaonan naturally knew Si Yunxiang's worth. This time she caught the sixth princess of Eternal Peace Empire as well as the cult master and saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult, making her quite pleased with herself. However, she was still very careful and removed the taotie sack from Qin Mu's waist as well as the spirit weapons on Ling Yuxiu's body. She then stretched her hand out and groped around Si Yunxiang's body.
Si Yunxiang chuckled. "Sister Long, don't grope me. There are no spirit weapons on my body since I'm walking down the spell path."
Long Jiaonan sneered. She took her hairpin and said, "Spell faction? I see you're an expert on sword skills as well! The power of this hairpin isn't little!"
The Pig Slaughtering Knives, iron hammer, and the rest of the weapons on Qin Mu's back were also removed, while the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone that were hidden in his sleeves were also ransacked. However, when Long Jiaonan saw that these items were all ordinary and not spirit weapons, she stuffed them back in again.
She whistled, and the small red snake tunneled around the clothes of the trio to search for more spirits weapons.
Long Jiaonan was an experienced person, so she absolutely wouldn't leave them any chance to make a comeback.
The most crucial point was that Qin Mu hadn't brought the dragon qilin along when he was going out for a stroll with the two women. At this moment, the dragon qilin was still sleeping in the city lord's manor!
"Let's go." Long Jiaonan, who was dressed as a female, was charming. As she embraced Qin Mu's arm, there was even a hint of shyness in her expression. "My boat is by the sea, and it has already waited quite a while for cult master, saintess, and princess. When the crown prince realizes what happened, the three of you will already be in the east sea."
Qin Mu smiled. "Sister Long is really thoughtful."
Long Jiaonan whistled, and the small red snake slithered onto Qin Mu's body and hung itself on his left ear, spitting out its forked tongue as it hissed. Long Jiaonan smiled gently. "No matter how sweet your mouth is, it'll be hard for you to escape my grasp. Don't try any tricks. Xiao'hong can take your life by just opening his mouth."
The three women and the one man walked out of the fair and met Chen Wanyun, Wei Yong, Yue Qinghong, and the rest of the scholars. As the two groups came face to face, Long Jiaonan gave a smile and whispered to Qin Mu, "Act natural, don't force me to kill you and your friends."
Chen Wanyun stopped and took a look at the three women. "Cult Master, this maiden seems unfamiliar, may I ask who she is?"
"An old acquaintance. You guys are shopping?"
"I didn't want to come out, but what could I do when Fatty Wei, Qinghong, and the rest forced me to go out, saying that we should meet the local events and customs," Chen Wanyun said helplessly. After he was done, he brought everyone into the fair.
Long Jiaonan then brought Qin Mu and the rest to the port.
In the fair, Chen Wanyun's face sunk, and he said swiftly, "Cult master is in danger!"
Wei Yong, Yue Qinghong, and the rest were stunned, not understanding what he meant. Chen Wanyun said solemnly, "The weapons on the cult master's body were missing. They never leave his body, yet now they were gone. Also, the hairpin on Junior Sister Si's back, the spirit weapons on the princess were also missing. There's definitely something wrong with that woman… Go inform the crown prince, I shall track them down!"
Wei Yong, Yue Qinghong, and the rest finally understood the severity of the matter and immediately returned to the city lord's manor. Chen Wanyun in the meantime left the fair while thinking to himself, 'That woman looks somewhat familiar, I seem to have seen her before. I wonder who she is…'
Long Jiaonan brought Qin Mu and the rest to the port and boarded a ship. "Set sail!"
The ship immediately sailed toward the east sea. Behind them, Chen Wanyun left a trail before jumping into the sea, sprinting on the surface of the water o follow the ship.
The speed of the ship wasn't slow, but he sprinted as if he was flying so he could follow at a steady pace.
On the ship, a person said solemnly, "Young Sect Master, there's someone behind."
Long Jiaonan came to the aft of the ship and was slightly stunned when she saw Chen Wanyun stepping on the waves. "Just an imperial scholar. Does he really think he can defeat the dragon king in the sea?"
She executed her whistle, and there was a strange change. Not long later, satiny sea snakes that were over thirty yards long appeared from beneath the water and swam rapidly toward the scholar.
Chen Wanyun was astonished, and flying swords flew out from the sword sack on his back, slaying the sea snakes that came pouring over.
The area in which he was fighting instantly seemed like it was boiling water that was overflowing from the pot. Countless flood dragon-like sea snakes broke through the water and attacked him frantically!
When Chen Wanyun had slaughtered his way out of the ambush of the sea snakes, the ship had vanished without a trace.
He rose into the sky and stood in the air to look around. As he looked at the jade ripples of the huge sea in a radius of ten thousand miles, he couldn't find where that ship had gone to.
"Crap!" Chen Wanyun's expression turned grave.
On the ship, Long Jiaonan didn't restrict the movements of Qin Mu and the rest, letting them wander around and watch the ship going further and further into the depths of the sea.
Qin Mu raised his head and saw the sky high above and the deep sea below. There was no way to leave a trace on the surface of the sea.
He was full of excitement and spread open his paper to start painting at the bow of the ship. Long Jiaonan came over to have a look and saw that he was drawing the sea. There were perilous waves and dark clouds sweeping everything away. A ship traveled with the wind and the waves while lightning flashed in the darkness outside, brightening the place for an instant.
There was a peculiar artistic mood to this painting which made people feel like they were in that painting.
"I didn't expect Cult Master Qin's painting skills to actually be not bad," Long Jiaonan praised. "If you went to the capital to sell your arts for a living, you should be able to achieve the reputation of a distinguished and accomplished scholar."
A boatman at the side walked over with an executioner blade and waved it near Qin Mu's neck while chuckling. "What a pity this Heavenly Devil Cult Master is about to die yet he still has the mood to scribble."
Long Jiaonan sneered, "Old Ghost Three, before my father orders him to be killed, he is still a guest invited by our Dragon Rider Sect, give some respect!"
Ling Yuxiu's eyes lighted up, and she came over to see Qin Mu's painting while giving a secret glance to Si Yunxiang.
Qin Mu seemed to be not satisfied with the painting and placed the finished painting aside to start on another piece. It contained wind, rain, lightning, and perilous waves once more, but there was no ship this time.
Long Jiaonan was originally watching with keen interest, but when she saw Qin Mu drawing the same kind of paintings over and over again, the freshness of the sight faded away. She walked away herself, leaving only Xiao'hong to remain on Qin Mu's ear.
Qin Mu painted a few more paintings of the storm on the sea. Then, he raised his brush as if to add a few finishing touches to the paintings. As he laid down his first stroke, the painting seemed to become slightly different. The storm inside seemed to be flying out.
Qin Mu added a final stroke to the dozens of paintings and threw them off the ship without extra trouble.
Long Jiaonan sighed in pity to herself when she saw this sight.
With his hands behind his back, Qin Mu looked towards Long Jiaonan with a smile. "I've heard that there are strong wind and waves on the sea, so I wonder if Sister Long's ship will be able to handle the turbulence?"
Long Jiaonan sneered, "The weather is all clear now, so about what wind and waves are you speaking?"
Just as she said that, the wind suddenly grew stronger, becoming a gale from a breeze in just a matter of a few breaths' time. The sky then turned dark, and the gale erupted. The height of the waves surpassed the mountain tops, throwing the ship into the sky before it went crashing down.
Everyone on the ship was caught off guard and hurried to stabilize themselves. However, bolts of lightning crackled and struck at random. Amid the chaos, Qin Mu flicked Xiao'hong who was hanging on his ear away.
Just as the small red snake flew out and was about to reveal its true form, several hundred bolts of lightning gathered together and struck its body with a world-shaking bang!
Long Jiaonan was shocked when she saw the small red snake falling into the sea.
There were countless bolts of lightning striking the area where the small red snake had fallen. It finally revealed its true form in the seawater, but it was continuously electrocuted by countless bolts of lightning, turning its body numb and making it sink to the bottom of the sea.
"Where did the storm come from? Why does it only strike Xiao'hong?" Long Jiaonan's heart was flustered, and she looked around, but only saw pitch black darkness. This made a weird feeling rise up in her heart. "This situation looks very similar to his paintings…"
Qin Mu's left hand grabbed onto Si Yunxiang while his left took hold of Ling Yuxiu. The three of them then jumped into the pitch black sea.
Long Jiaonan cried out in astonishment, and the ship under her feet suddenly split into five pieces, throwing everyone on board into the sea. Right at this moment, she saw another ship sailing over from the fierce waves, and Qin Mu, Ling Yuxiu, and Si Yunxiang were standing on the bow of that ship. The young cult master waved at her, and the ship sailed into darkness, vanishing without a trace.
Long Jiaonan immediately gave chase, but a huge mountain-like wave came crashing onto her, submerging her in the water.
She grunted and broke out, but just as she leaped into mid-air, countless bolts of lightning came bombarding down and they all focused on her body, turning her tender on the inside, crisp on the outside.
Long Jiaonan did everything she could to fight back against the lightning, when it suddenly vanished and the wind stopped. The sea became dead calm.
Long Jiaonan was totally drenched and stood on the surface of the water miserably. Looking around, she saw ink gradually dispersing in the sea.
A huge red python swam to her side, its body covered in injuries.
An icy cold feeling swept across Long Jiaonan's heart as she looked around. The boatmen on the ship had died in this abrupt disaster, with Old Ghost Three having died the most miserably among them.
"Was this peril of the sea drawn by Cult Master Qin?" Long Jiaonan was still in slight disbelief.
Qin Mu and the two girls stood at the bow of the ship that soon dispersed and turned into a pool of ink which vanished into the sea. The three of them mobilized their vital qi and landed on the water's surface. Up ahead, they saw an island.
"Long Jiaonan brought us into the depths of the east sea, so it'd be quite difficult for us to return to River Prefecture by the sea; it would exhaust us to death."
Thus, Qin Mu suggested, "Why don't we go over there to rest first. Chen Wanyun is very smart and should have already informed the crown prince. With Fan Yunxiao's ship, it won't be difficult for them to find us."
When the three of them came onto the island, numerous small humans in yellow suddenly came out running from the forest. They wielded knives, forks, staffs, and cudgels while rushing forward aggressively. However, when they came in front of them, these small humans all stopped in their footsteps and looked up at them in terror.
"Giants!" one of them shrieked at the top of his lungs.
This army immediately dispersed and escaped in all directions. These small humans were only a foot tall. Some of them hid in the crevices of the rocks, some under the sand, some went under the leaves, while others just decided to play dead on the ground when they couldn't find any place to hide. They stuck their tongues out and opened their eyes wide.
"So many Solomon's seals?" Si Yunxiang was astonished. "They are Solomon's seals that have turned into spirits. They can be eaten and would help in raising the cultivation by a great amount."
"The giants are going to eat us!" One of the Solomon's seal that had been playing dead rolled over and jumped to his feet. He immediately began running after turning around, but only to crash into a tree and faint.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu picked this Solomon's Seal and flipped him over to examine him. The other Solomon's seals popped their heads out from under the leaves, sands, and crevices. When they saw a giant picking up their comrade, they couldn't help crying out in alarm before hiding even deeper without any spirit of loyalty.
Qin Mu examined the little human in detail and saw that the legs of this Solomon's Seal were formed by numerous entwining roots. Around his waist was a skirt weaved from grass and on his face was a root-like beard.
His hand was holding onto a spear made from a bamboo branch. The tip of the spear was snow bright and was a special kind of metal. Qin Mu couldn't help being astonished and pinched the delicate spear which was like a needle, examining the metal on the spearhead in detail.
He couldn't see what metal it was formed from, but what was strange was that there were traces of imprinted runes on it. From the outfits of these Solomon's seals, it was impossible for them to be proficient in things like runes and spells.
So where had the metal on the spear come from?
The Solomon's seal seemed to wake up, for it began to shiver. Suddenly, a green sprout popped out from his head. He was really nervous, so the sprout grew very fast.
Qin Mu smiled. "Stop playing dead. I won't eat you, I just have some questions to ask you."
The Solomon's seal mustered his courage and opened his eyes. However, when he saw Qin Mu's smile and his shiny teeth, he couldn't help crying out in alarm and fainting again.
Fierce shouts came from the island as some hundred Solomon's seals came rushing out aggressively. It was evident that they were the rescue troop, but when they saw Qin Mu pinching their comrade, these Solomon's seals immediately turned in the other direction and ran away.
Qin Mu was startled and shook his head. "There's really no spirit of loyalty…"
He flicked the leaf on the Solomon's seal's head, and the little human woke up once again. Qin Mu let go of him and lifted him up with his vital qi, making him float in front of the three of them. "Stop playing dead, do it again and you will really die. Let me ask you, why are there so many Solomon's seals on this island?"
That Solomon's seal shivered and said, "I don't know, you will have to ask the ancestor!"
Qin Mu frowned and asked, "Where did your spearheads come from?"
"I don't know, you will have to ask the ancestor."
Helpless, Qin Mu placed the little human down and said, "Bring us to meet your ancestor."
When this Solomon's seal landed on the ground, he started walking into the island. A small head then popped out from the grass nearby and scolded him angrily, "Betrayer!"
Qin Mu stretched his hand out and grabbed that Solomon's seal out from the grass as well. "You will lead the way as well, bring us to see your ancestor."
This Solomon's seal immediately complied and hung his head down in shame to become a betrayer, walking into the island with the other betrayer by his side. That Solomon's seal next to him instantly lifted his head up high as if it was glorious for him to have been the first to surrender.
"There are too many Solomon's seals on this island."
Si Yunxiang was astonished. When they came to the center of the island, they noticed houses hanging on the trees, and they were all very delicate, not much bigger than a bird's nests. They were weaved by vines which were made into the shapes of houses to hang under the branches. From afar, they looked like green apples.
The group walked over, and the doors of these houses in the trees opened. Numerous Solomon's seals sneaked glances at them.
It was like a strange world on the tree.
On the ground, there were numerous houses constructed from small rocks by the Solomon's seals. A city was created, but it was only six ares big.
The two Solomon's seals walked into the lifeless city, and the soldiers that were guarding the city just stared at the three giants in a daze. They were speechless from astonishment and didn't even retaliate.
"There are probably tens of thousands of Solomon's seal here!" Si Yunxiang couldn't leave her state of shock, and she whispered, "Cult Master, if you captured all these Solomon's seals, your wealth would rival that of an empire if you sold them!"
Qin Mu stopped outside the city and didn't enter. He shook his head. "Why should I do that?"
Si Yunxiang was bewildered. "The weak are prey to the strong, isn't that the rule of Great Ruins?"
"Saintess, the predatory behavior of Great Ruins is slightly different from what you imagine," Qin Mu explained. "Even though the strange beasts of Great Ruins hunt and feed on the weak, they wouldn't do any unnecessary killing once they are full. This is a predatory behavior, not the killing of everything that's weaker than me. These Solomon's seals are also lifeforms with intelligence and have founded their own civilization and nation. Since we have come into their territory, we will have to interact as civilized people with civilized people. How could we just eradicate their country and eliminate their people the moment we come here?"
Si Yunxiang looked pensive.
Not long later, numerous Solomon's seals surrounded a carriage which came driving out from a dazzling mansion in the city. On the carriage was an old woman with white hair. She stood up shakily and greeted them, "It has been a while since we have seen outsiders, so we small people are a little flustered, I'm here to pay my respects to you."
"Elder is polite." Qin Mu returned the greeting respectfully. "This foolish brother and sisters have passed by your land and alarmed your people, we seek your forgiveness."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang saw that this Solomon's seal old woman was also only a feet tall. She was pitifully small yet Qin Mu still showed his etiquette and didn't dare to neglect her. This made them unable to restrain their smiles.
Soon, the two girls also greeted the woman according to the etiquette.
The Solomon's seal old woman said, "My humble home is too small and will be hard to accommodate the bodies of three giants so I can't invite the three of you to come in, pardon me. The three of you are just passing by?"
Qin Mu smiled. "The three of us were passing by and planned to rest our legs, but because we saw your distinguished country being so unusual, we came to disturb. May I ask elder, why are there so many Solomon's seals here?"
The old woman smiled. "It should be because of the water and land. When I woke up, I was beside a spring and I suddenly had intelligence. From then, we started flourishing and that resulted in more and more small people."
"A spring?" Astonished, Qin Mu asked, "Can elder lead us there to have a look?"
The Solomon's seal old woman smiled. "Of course."
When she said that, she ordered the other Solomon's seals to drive the carriage out of the city and brought them to the front of a spring. This spring wasn't huge and was only a deep pond that had a radius of twenty yards; however, it was too deep to see its bottom. There was numerous Solomon's seal fetching water from this spring, but no matter how much water they fetched, there was no different in the pond.
Qin Mu picked some spring water and opened Green Heaven's Eyes to have a look. His expression turned grave when he saw a strange power contained within. It was extraordinary.
The Solomon's seals on the island must have consumed the water here all year round and turned into spirits because of that. Furthermore, there was no demon air on their bodies.
'This is not an ordinary spring,' Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang thought to themselves as they had also noticed the peculiarity.
Qin Mu rose and asked, "I saw that your weapons are also slightly unusual, may I ask where you got them from?"
The Solomon's seal old woman said, "These items were all picked up by these children, they were flushed out by the spring."
"Flushed out by the spring?" Qin Mu looked at this deep pond and muttered to himself for a moment before saying, "Elder, we would like to go into the pond to take a look."
"Even though you guys might be giants, you will still have to be careful. The depths of this pond are beyond measurement and many of my children have drowned here."
The Solomon's seal old woman immediately summoned people over and said, "I'll order them to fetch long vines. The three of you will be able to wrap them around your bodies before going down. Once you'll no longer be able to hold your breath, you'll be able to come back up by following the vine."
"There's no need for that."
Qin Mu took in a deep breath and gales rushed towards him from all directions. After an immeasurable amount of air was sucked into his chest, he leaped into the pond. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang also immediately took in a deep breath and leaped in.
The three of them then executed their techniques. Ling Yuxiu cultivated Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, so she swam like a flood dragon. Si Yunxiang executed Heavenly God Creation Technique and darted around like a fish in water, swimming toward the bottom of the pond.
This place was actually so deep that the bottom couldn't be seen. After diving for some time, their surroundings became dimmer and dimmer yet they still didn't reach the bottom. The pressure of the water was also becoming greater and greater.
Suddenly, light appeared in front of them, and they saw the four walls of the pond gradually becoming wider. There were luminous pearls on them that there the size of wicker baskets and gave off a dim glow.
"They are even bigger than the luminous pearls in the imperial palace!" Ling Yuxiu cried out in astonishment.
As they went farther down, more luminous pearls appeared. After diving several hundred yards down, they finally felt the pressure becoming so heavy that their lungs were going to concave. Their eyes became bloodshot, and their eardrums hummed. If they were to dive down some more, their lives would probably be in danger. But just as Qin Mu wanted to stop the two girls and return back, a huge cauldron caught his eye.
They had finally reached the bottom of the pond.
A huge cauldron sat there, and it was dozens of yards wide. There were weak currents pouring out from its center while the surroundings of the cauldron were empty, without any water. Instead, there was air surrounding the cauldron, and it was bright as day.
Qin Mu swam over there and passed through the water screen. His body instantly fell downwards, and he hurriedly landed on his two feet.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang also swam out from the water and landed on the ground, their bodies drenched.
Qin Mu took a glance, and Si Yunxiang immediately hugged her chest, only to see Ling Yuxiu not noticing anything. She immediately nudged her with her shoulder and said in a low voice, "He's looking at you!"
Ling Yuxiu only then came to a realization and hurriedly turned around, using vital qi to shake the water off her body.
Qin Mu retracted his gaze and thought to himself, 'It's not like I haven't seen it before. I already saw it when she slept over at my place last time, but so what if her chest is bigger and fairer than mine, her strength is still inferior to mine."
The three of them dried their clothes and started to look around. This place had to be the bottom of the sea and surrounding them on the outside was the pitch black sea water. They could even see chimneys on the seafloor giving off black smoke and spewing out a trail of lava once in a while. From time to time, the strange creatures in the sea would swim over after being attracted by the bright lights here, revealing their humongous bodies. However, the group didn't know what kind of monster they were.
In front of them, there were marble pillars standing tall and giving off a tranquil glow. When they walked forward some more, they could see pure white fog and a faint huge palace hiding within it.
Below their feet was white jade that was built quite smoothly, but the rubble was scattered everywhere.
There were several pillars surrounding the cauldron which was behind them, so this place should be the ruins of a shrine.
Currents rose from the huge cauldron which wasn't linked with the sea. The Solomon's seals on the island had drunk the water that was pouring out from this cauldron and it had given them intelligence.
"I have seen such a place before." Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly, and he said, "There is Surging River Dragon Palace in Great Ruins, and its layout is quite similar, but it's much smaller compared to this one. That place was were the Surging River Dragon King lived, the place where the dragon king managed Surging River."
"Could this be a dragon palace as well?" Si Yunxiang was slightly excited.
"It's not a dragon palace." Ling Yuxiu shivered and said in a low voice, "I don't feel any air of dragons here. On the contrary, I feel an extremely unpleasant air towards the dragons… There's probably a god here!"
"Even if there's a god, it will be a dead god."
Qin Mu walked forward and waved his sleeves. Rubble flew up and landed to the side, revealing a collapsed stone tablet. The words on the stone tablets were very ancient, and they said 'Bent Mountain God Shrine'.
"Bent Mountain God?" Qin Mu frowned. "Could there be a mountain god at the bottom of the sea?"
Si Yunxiang shook her head. "It's impossible to have a mountain god at the bottom of the sea, unless this place was above the sea level in the past…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When Si Yunxiang said until there, she realized what she was saying. "Could this place have been above the sea level in the past? That's not right, there isn't such an outrageous change in geography recorded in the history of our sacred cult…"
Heavenly Devil Cult had existed for twenty thousand years, and this was considered an extremely long time. Over it, the east sea had always been the east sea, and there were no records saying it had once been another continent.
As for the history of Eternal Peace Empire, its existence was even shorter, so it was impossible for it to know when the east sea had transformed.
"This sea area here is extremely deep, so even divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm like us would be almost unable to withstand the pressure here. It's probably three thousand yards deep at the minimum."
Qin Mu came to the side of the huge cauldron and stretched out a finger. His vital qi flew out and shot straight upwards. After a moment, he pulled his vital qi back and said with a grave expression, "It's even deeper than I expected, four thousand nine hundred and fifty-six yards. Since a mountain god is mentioned, there has to be a mountain on which this shrine was once built. For a mountain to be granted to a god, it must at least be three thousand yards tall…"
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu immediately knew what he meant. Where Bent Mountain God Shrine was should be Bent Mountain while the area surrounding it should have been vast fields.
After some huge transformation occurred, that land had sunk and become a sea! The place around the Bent Mountain must have sunk six to ten thousand yards into the ground.
Thinking about it, if an earthquake suddenly shook the entire Eternal Peace Empire and sunk it ten thousand yards into in the ground, what situation would that be?
This land where Bent Mountain God Shrine stood should have suffered such a terrifying situation.
Qin Mu looked around. From his position next to the unreasonably huge cauldron, the owner of this place must have been refining pills when the huge change occurred, thus he didn't have enough time to take out the spirit pills from the huge cauldron.
Qin Mu looked at the cauldron and saw that there were broken pieces of metal inside, which should be the weapons that had been shattered.
Qin Mu jumped back into the cauldron to check and saw that the spirit weapons were all completely shattered. There was nothing useful that he could find. Instead, the decorative designs on the cauldron caught his attention. They were rune-based, but different from the runes he had seen before. There was a different kind of beauty to them.
'This cauldron isn't from this era, and these runes are similar to the ones in the ruins of Great Ruins; however, there are also differences.'
He examined them before jumping out again.
Qin Mu dried the water on his body and walked away. "Our spirit weapons were all taken away by Long Jiaonan, so we don't have any suitable weapons and might be in danger. Be careful everyone."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang went after him as Ling Yuxiu said, "Using our Six Directions Divine Treasure to give birth to a spirit weapon is more suitable than using other people's spirit weapons. If we could refine a Six Directions Spirit Weapon, we should be able to protect ourselves."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and asked, "How can I give birth to a spirit weapon?"
He had once heard Xian Qing'er, the great demon, mention such a thing. She had said that spirit weapons were treasures born from Six Directions Divine Treasure, but he had never understood how a divine treasure could give birth to spirit weapons.
He was still lacking in knowledge in regards to Six Directions Realm.
Si Yunxiang was astonished. "Cult Master, you don't even know this? Nun Hong Fa from Hall of Six Directions had given a lecture on how to give birth to a spirit weapon in Six Directions Divine Treasure before."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I've gone to Hall of Six Directions only once before, and I got chased out to stand in the corner with you the moment I entered."
Si Yunxiang recalled the incident when she had gotten called out to stand in the corner with Qin Mu and couldn't resist smiling.
Ling Yuxiu said, "Six Directions Divine Treasure giving birth to spirit weapon is actually a vague saying. What Six Direction Divine Treasure gives birth to is a form of the spirit weapon, only the shape, and physical form. As long as you execute your technique, you can see the vital qi gathering in your Six Directions Divine Treasure to form the shape of a spirit weapon."
She formed the shape of her spirit weapon, and the roars of dragons could be heard as nine of them flew over and danced around her. The heads of the dragons gathered behind her back while the bodies coiled together, transforming into a five yards long handle and the head of a hammer that was like a small mountain.
Si Yunxiang had a weird expression. "Princess Xiu, your spirit weapon is a hammer?"
"Not only that," Ling Yuxiu said. "The path I took is the fusion of battle spells. I'm studying if I can merge battle techniques and spells with Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, so this Nine Dragons Hammer is one of the forms of my spirit weapon. The nine dragons can separate to transform into other forms at will. Saintess Xiang, so what's the shape of your spirit weapon?"
Si Yunxiang gave a smile and executed her technique. Vital qi flew out from her Six Directions Divine Treasures and transformed into a thread. That thread had a myriad of changes, weaving and circling around her like a chain as she smiled. "This is the shape of my spirit weapon. Cult Master, what's the shape of your spirit weapon?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "My technique of the Six Directions Realm isn't perfected, so I still don't know the shape of my spirit weapon. Since you guys only have the shapes of spirit weapons, how do you refine the spirit weapons?"
As they walked through the fog-covered palace, Ling Yuxiu said, "We will need capable and skilled craftsmen to forge our spirit weapon. A good spirit weapon can perfectly match the form of your spirit weapon, unleashing the power of the spirit weapon to its maximum potential. If the craftsmanship isn't good, the spirit weapon might not be able to match the power of the divine arts. I plan to stabilize the shape of my spirit weapon and ask assistant minister and the rest to help me forge my spirit weapon. However, the structure of my spirit weapon is complicated and will probably be hard to forge. It's better to cultivate sword skills, so there won't be a need to forge one's own spirit weapon, any sword pellet would do."
Si Yunxiang said, "The skills of Heavenly Works Hall Master are superb and I also plan to ask him to help me forge my spirit weapon. Mine has many transformations, so it'll also be very difficult to forge."
The people the two of them were talking about was the same person. Heavenly Works Hall Master was none other than Assistant Minister Shan Youxin.
Qin Mu opened Green Heaven's Eyes and walked into the shrine while saying, "I can help the both of you, my forging abilities aren't weak as well. I could forge both of your spirit weapons in a day or two if I could only find some gold and iron here."
Ling Yuxiu was astonished. "Divine Physician Sacred Hands who is proficient in painting is also proficient in forging?"
Si Yunxiang was also very astonished. "Cult Master also has attainments in forging?"
"Can't be considered attainments," Qin Mu said humbly. "I just know how to beat the metal and exert a little brute force. I passed Grandpa Mute's test in the village by a cheap trick. Grandpa Mute is the most outstanding blacksmith in the villages in our area and his test was very strict."
The two girls looked at each other and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The space in the shrine was vast, and Qin Mu revealed astonishment. He then backed out of the shrine and circled around it, measuring its size with his steps.
Ling Yuxiu popped her head into the shrine and cried out, "So huge!"
Si Yunxiang also looked into the shrine and cried out with her eyes wide open, "How can it be so huge inside?"
Qin Mu returned into the shrine and walked quickly along its sides with a pondering expression.
"The one that herds cows, what's wrong?" Ling Yuxiu was bewildered.
"The shrine outside is nine steps long and fifty steps wide, while inside it is nine thousand steps long and five thousand steps wide."
Qin Mu looked up and saw the ceiling that was as high as the sky. Huge jewels were sculpted to look like stars, and the aspects of the celestial bodies were completely different from the aspects of the celestial bodies now. The stars were about ten thousands yards away from them.
Other than the stars, there was also a moon and a sun. Qin Mu didn't know what kind of divine art had created such a treasure, but the sun was still blazing furiously, lighting up the entire shrine.
How was this still a shrine? It was clearly a small-scaled world!
"The space in the shrine is ten thousand times bigger than it looks from the outside!" Qin Mu suppressed the pounding of his heart and said solemnly, "The position of the sun and moon is in the eye sockets of a divine beast taotie! This shrine is built on top of the divine bones of a taotie which might have even been a god! This is even more powerful than my taotie sack, since this is a pure-blooded taotie! Sister Yuxiu, this might be the reason why you were feeling a pressure earlier."
Si Yunxiang's eyes shone with light before becoming dim. "What a pity this shrine is too huge and we can't move it..."
Qin Mu felt the same. "What a pity…"
His gaze landed on the sun and his heart suddenly stirred. 'This sun is a man-made artifact. I wonder if I could light up the sun on Sun Ship?'
His heart started to throb violently. If he was able to light up that sun, then Sun Guardian Yan Jingjing wouldn't have to be eaten by Sun Ship.
Qin Mu had become Moon Guardian once and knew how terrifying it was to have his lifeforce absorbed by Moon Ship. He was quite concerned about the sun guardian and didn't want her to die just like that.
If he could light up the sun on Sun Ship, he would definitely do it.
He rose into the sky and flew quickly to the ceiling of the shrine. The interior of this shrine was extremely vast. When Qin Mu exerted all his strength to sprint to the sky and planned to pluck the sun down, he didn't expect for it to become more and more scorching the closer he came, making him unable to withstand the heat!
His body trembled, and he executed Mars Sovereign's Fire Marquis True Technique, transforming into a bull-headed human-bodied form of Mars Sovereign which was stepping on two flame dragons. Like that, he continued to close in on the sun.
The closer he got, the higher the temperature was, and tears started to flow out from his eyes due to the dazzling light. However, they instantly evaporated.
He stared with his eyes wide open at the sun which was getting closer and closer. He saw that this treasure was actually a huge eyeball that was emanating blazing fire energy. It seemed to be refined from an eye of a strange beast whose pupil could still be seen. That pupil presented a perfect circle, and the terrifying fire energy and dazzling light shot out from nowhere else but that pupil!
Before he could get close, he felt a stinging pain as if he was stabbed by countless needles.
Qin Mu hurriedly descended, with the light from that pupil shining like burning needles. If he proceeded forward without careful consideration, he would either be melted by the high temperature or be shot to death by the sunlight.
Thump.
Qin Mu landed on the ground and swayed his tail with a pensive look.
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu were astonished as they examined him up and down. Si Yunxiang mustered her courage and stretched her hand to touch Qin Mu's large and firm-fleshed bull buttocks that were as round as those of a hippopotamus. She cried out, "It's a real butt! Princess Xiu, try touching it as well!"
"No way." Even though Ling Yuxiu said so, she also stretched her hand out to touch Qin Mu's bull buttocks. "It's a real butt!" The princess then said in astonishment, "How fleshy!"
Piak.
Qin Mu swayed his tail and slapped the hands of the two girls away as he walked out of the shrine. The two girls held their hands in pain and looked at the cow that Great Cult Master Qin had transformed into. When his fleshy buttocks trembled as he walked, they couldn't resist wanting to grope them.
Qin Mu came to the outside of the shrine, and the two flames dragons beneath his feet suddenly soared into the sky. He flew to the roof of the shrine and removed a glazed roof tile.
This shrine was extraordinary, and each tile was imprinted with rune markings. Even if they received attacks of divine arts or spirit weapons, they would be hardly damaged.
After a moment, Qin Mu removed several glazed roof tiles, and light shone out from inside. He smiled. "As I thought, the back of the eye doesn't give out light."
Si Yunxiang raised her head to have a look and saw an incomparably huge bull head popping in from the outside, appearing behind the back of the sun. A huge hand then stretched out and grabbed that sun in the sky. With a gentle shake, the sun was extinguished.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The inside of the shrine instantly turned slightly dimmer, but when the girls raised their heads up to take a look, they could see the light from the stars becoming clearer and brighter, with the starlight and the moonlight shining over each other. If it was the outside world, it would definitely be a situation where the moon was bright and the stars were scarce. However, the moonlight and starlight here decorated each other and made the starry sky in the shrine even more charming.
Qin Mu didn't return to the shrine. Instead, a bull head soon appeared behind the moon and plucked it away.
The two girls were slightly angered. 'This wet blanket, he doesn't understand any amorous feelings! If it was under this shrine's moonlight and starlight, you would just have to say some nice things and that's it. Wouldn't it just be you and me? Of course, I'd first have to chase away that vixen beside me first!"
Soon after that, Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang heard the sound of tiles piling up, and the sky in the shrine gradually disappeared. A bull head would pop up from time to time to pluck down the stars.
They slowly decreased in number, until an hour after the sky had been opened up, the stars, sun, and moon had all been plucked down by Qin Mu.
The two girls came out of the shrine and saw a mountainous pile of luminous pearls and two large eyeballs with covered pupils.
These two eyes were about three yards tall, so they were much taller than them. They seemed to be made of jade and didn't look like real eyes, so they should have been sculpted from fine jade.
Ling Yuxiu went up and saw that there were numerous markings that were extremely complicated in the eyes. They were most likely the marks of a formation.
The eyes were down, which closed the formation in the pupil so it became a white line. The pupil couldn't be seen, only vein lines that scattered out like golden rays shining from the sun.
The two girls touched them and felt an icy cold at their fingertips. It completely didn't feel like it had been blazing with fire energy earlier.
"I thought they were the eyes of a taotie, yet they're made of jade." Si Yunxiang was slightly disappointed.
Qin Mu was standing behind one of the eyes and playing with it. They didn't know what he was doing with it when the pupil of that eye suddenly opened up a crack, looking like an erected apricot.
The two girls immediately saw an incomparably complicated formation being activated at the opening of the pupil. It was like an intricate mechanism formed from countless gears, and the next instant, a terrifying flame emerged from the pupil that burned more and more furiously. Their eyes cracked from the burn when their gazes landed on it.
Si Yunxiang hurriedly pulled Ling Yuxiu away, and the two girls avoided looking at the eye. With a whoosh, a beam of snow white light shot out from the pupil and ignited the air. Along the path of light, all the white marble slabs on the ground had been instantly turned into lava, and even that lava was evaporating!
The beam of light hit a few pieces of glazed roof tiles, yet even though those glazed roof tiles also had rune markings, they were instantly vaporized.
Ling Yuxiu jumped in shock. 'If I was hit by this beam of light, wouldn't I have died already? Luckily Saintess Xiang pulled me away…'
Qin Mu continued to fiddle with the back of the eye, so the two girls walked around to see that it was actually a formation that was marked with runes. The formation wasn't complicated, but it was hard to see what type it was exactly.
Qin Mu was using his vital qi to adjust the formation.
With his adjustments, the pupil of this jade eye gradually opened up to the sides, and the fire energy blazed more and more furiously. It was like the sun scattering its heat in all directions, making them feel a heatwave that was hard to endure even when standing at the back of the eye.
"Close your eyes," Qin Mu said with a grave expression. "I've opened the full power of the formation in this eye and now I'm ready to close the eye into a slit to test out the power of this spirit weapon."
'Spirit weapon?'
While the two girls were slightly stunned, Qin Mu controlled the formation to shrink the pupil, making the light become incomparably bright. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang immediately closed their eyes.
Even with closed eyes, they were still able to see a terrifying beam of light slicing out like an extremely thin blade!
Qin Mu stopped the formation and heard a hum coming from the jade eye. The light then vanished, and the fire energy in the surroundings also gradually faded away.
The two girls opened up their eyes, but there was still darkness in front of their eyes. Such extreme brightness resulted in darkness as their eyes had been damaged by the burn.
Even though they didn't look at the light directly, the light from the jade eye had still damaged their pupils through the eyelids. Luckily for them, their vital qi was dense and this kind of damage could self-healed.
Qin Mu walked out from the back of the eye and looked up. He couldn't help being stunned when he saw that the shrine in front of them had been sliced through the center by the blade of light from the jade eye!
Even though the shrine was still standing tall, it might collapse at any moment!
Furthermore, in the sky of this underwater world, there was a mark of the blade across the sky. A huge crack had opened up on the barrier that was supporting the pressure from the bottom of the sea, and the seawater was already starting to leak inside.
Qin Mu stroked his chin and forcefully pulled out a few strands of beard he had grabbed.
The youth sucked in a mouthful of cold air from the pain, but it wasn't a physical pain. It was his heart that was hurting.
By testing the power of the jade eye just then, he had accidentally broken the barrier of this strange underwater world, and in a few days, the seawater would flood this place to the brim.
Si Yunxiang looked as a few droplets landed on the shrine, and that building which looked to be extremely stable instantly creaked, as if unable to handle the weight. The shrine started to lean in two sides, and with two loud rumbles, it split in half. Dust and smoke permeated the air, revealing humongous bones of a beast.
These were the bones of a taotie. That creature had been a pureblood, but its bones were also sliced into two by the beam.
Once the shrine collapsed, the bones of the taotie were revealed, and they were extremely huge.
"The heavenly kings were right, Cult Master Qin really demolishes everything wherever he goes…" Si Yunxiang muttered.
Ling Yuxiu was also exclaiming what a pity to herself.
This was a shrine, a mysterious underwater world, and it was destroyed by the fiddlings of Qin Mu just like that.
"The one that herds cows, you have a name but not a nickname yet, so let me give you a nickname. Let's call you Demolisher, Demolisher Qin!" Ling Yuxiu suggested.
Qin Mu's heart was still in pain when his face blushed from hearing what Ling Yuxiu had said, and he tried to explain, "I'm not Demolisher Qin, I didn't demolish anything, don't talk nonsense and spoil my innocence!"
Si Yunxiang sneered, "You are innocent? The moment you reached Saint Arrival Mountain, you demolished the Hall of Three Kings!"
Ling Yuxiu sneered as well, "You have demolished Scholar's Residence at least three times, right? The palaces around Temple of Heaven have also been demolished by you leading Heaven Devil Cul. And also, I've heard Heaven Wave City was also demolished by you! Just look, we came here moments ago, and this underwater world has already been demolished by you. This underwater world has probably stood here for tens of thousands of years, but is gone the moment you came!"
In a bad mood, Qin Mu muttered, "Don't talk nonsense, don't talk nonsense…"
The two girls teased Great Cult Master Qin and went to scavenge the collapsed shrine for anything useful. After a moment, Ling Yuxiu carried two huge pillars over and placed them in front of Qin Mu. These two huge pillars were probably tens of thousands of pounds heavy, yet she was able to carry them with brute force.
Si Yunxiang praised, "Fat people are truly strong, I'm not like Princess Xiu, I'm too weak to even stand up to the wind."
Ling Yuxiu went into a frenzy and wanted to push this saintess onto the ground to give her a good beating. However, since Qin Mu was at the side, it wasn't good for her to do this. She gritted her teeth and smiled. "That's right, Saintess Xiang is indeed too weak to even stand up to the wind. You're too skinny and there are not even two taels of flesh in front of your chest."
Si Yunxiang was angered, and her gaze became unpleasant. "I'm still young and growing. What's the use of being so big? Ain't it still going to sag when one becomes old?"
The two girls stared at each other before averting their gazes.
"Great Cult Master, do you think you can refine these two pillars into spirit weapons?" Ling Yuxiu asked gently.
Qin Mu was currently checking the other jade eye and trying to understand the marvel of operating such things so he hadn't listened to what they were fighting about.
"This kind of metal is rarely seen. It seems like it has different metals mixed into it, and because of this its quality and flexibility are much stronger than those of Winter Crystal Iron!"
Qin Mu checked the two pillars and was rather astonished. The divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire usually looked for the level of purity in refining their spirit weapons, but these two pillars didn't care about purity. By mixing different kinds of metal with the copper, the strength and flexibility of the pillars had been greatly increased!
"Can you refine the Nine Dragons Weapons I require?" Ling Yuxiu asked immediately.
"Can!" Qin Mu was full of confidence. "My smithing skills are great, I'm not lying!"
He activated the formation in Sun Jade Eye and smelted one of the copper pillars to forge a huge hammer first. He then let Ling Yuxiu exhibited the form of her spirit weapon and demonstrate all the changes of her Nine Dragons Weapons.
He pondered for quite some time and took out his brush and paper to draw the blueprints before starting to forge.
Two days later, Qin Mu finally finished forging Nine Dragons Weapons. It was nine dragons that could be combined together to form a huge hammer or separated to form Nine Dragons Divine Flames Shroud by connecting their tails with one another.
The bodies of the dragons were soft, and he had incorporated Spirit Creation Technique into them while forging, so they could do numerous transformations. For example, even though the nine dragons were made out of metal, there were over nine hundred pieces of bones in their bodies, allowing them to swim around in the air freely. Each and every one of the dragon scales stood alone and could also be detached from the bodies of the dragons. These scales were very sharp and could be used as solitary weapons.
Other than the dragon scales, the dragon claws were like hooks that were abnormally sharp and the dragon teeth were like blades. The two whiskers on each dragon were chains that were very soft, but strong and could chain people up.
When the nine dragons came together, they would become Nine Dragons Golden Wall. The scales would form the surface of the mirror while behind it would be nine dragon heads.
Even if Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu didn't have many attainments in forging, they could still see that the Nine Dragons Weapons that Qin Mu had forged was indeed exceptional. This weapon should be very suitable for Ling Yuxiu.
The princess rushed over excitedly and transformed her vital qi into runes to mark onto the Nine Dragons Weapons, using her vital qi to nourish it. After trying it out for a moment, she felt that it was easy to control it, and it could transform into another shape she wanted at any time.
"Not bad, not bad!" Ling Yuxiu praised endlessly. "The one that herds cows, your craftsmanship ain't bad. It's just a tiny bit inferior to that of assistant minister of Ministry of Works."
Si Yunxiang looked over enviously and exhibited the form of her spirit weapon which was a thread that had a myriad transformations. "How would one expect a well-tempered steel to become so soft that it could coil around the fingers. To forge a spirit weapon to the extent where it can coil around the finger is not as simple as just beating the metal. Cult Master, my spirit weapon is called Thousand Silks, and it's a sword and also a spell. What it imitates is the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures of our Heavenly Saint Cult, so could Cult Master refine a metal to be as soft as silk?"
Qin Mu examined the form of her spirit weapon and frowned. "Refining such a sword that's as fine as silk while still having to forge the spell imprints on it poses some difficulty. I have learned it before, but I have never try forging it. Let me try!"
Si Yunxiang's Thousand Silks was much more troublesome than Ling Yuxiu's Nine Dragons Weapons. It was much finer and required the metal to be hammered to the extreme limits of its flexibility before spreading it out to forge a metal membrane that was much thinner than natural silk. The thickness of natural silk was at one Si while behind Si there was still Hu, Wei, Xian, Sha, Chen, Ai, Miao, Mo, and even finer thicknesses.
Qin Mu could only spread the metal membrane to the thickness of Chen and Ai. Any finer, and he wouldn't be able to do it.
When the thickness reached such a step, it would require markings that were even more intricate. Qin Mu and Si Yunxiang both cultivated Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, so the two of them painstakingly worked together to imprint all the runes on the metal membrane. While they were doing that, the membrane broke a few times and he had to reforge it.
After that, Qin Mu folded the metal membrane carefully and began to temper it again before spreading it open once more to reimprint the runes. After doing that over and over again, he finally managed to forge Thousand Silks.
Si Yunxiang's heart moved and Thousand Silks transformed into a ribbon which tied itself around her waist.
The seawater in the underwater world gradually became deeper, and they couldn't stay there for much longer.
Qin Mu immediately transformed his vital qi into a thread and wrapped the two jade eyes and stars with a net while saying, "Let's go up."
The three of them hurriedly rushed toward the huge cauldron, and Si Yunxiang's eyes shone when she came close. She tried to lift the cauldron up to take it away, but how could she do that when the cauldron was unimaginably heavy. Even with all her strength, it didn't budge an inch.
"Your chest is small so you're weak," Ling Yuxiu snickered.
"Come try it with your big chest then!" Si Yunxiang retorted angrily.
Ling Yuxiu went forward, but she hadn't expected that the cauldron would be so heavy that even she couldn't lift it. Her face blushed uncontrollably.
Qin Mu shook his head. "This cauldron spews out so much spirit water, and it comes up five thousand yards above to the spring. The weight of the water spewed out from the cauldron could probably match the weight of a mountain, and there's also the weight of the cauldron itself. This item is definitely a divine artifact, so you can drop the thought of taking it away."
The two girls sighed in pity and followed Qin Mu to swim upwards.
After some time, they floated up to the water surface. Ling Yuxiu smiled and said, "We had gotten quite a few treasures this time, so it wasn't a wasted trip…"
"How many treasures did Princess get? What kind of treasures are they?"
A voice came from the side of the pond, and the three of them hurriedly looked over. They saw Long Jiaonan sitting on the head of a huge red snake. The beast's large body was circled around the pond.
Long Jiaonan revealed a smile, and her gaze went from one face to another. She said to Qin Mu, "How wonderful of Cult Master, giving me such an exercise to find you."
"Die!"
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang smacked the waves and rushed into mid-air, activating their Nine Dragons Weapons and Thousand Silks to attack Long Jiaonan without any explanation!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Long Jiaonan sneered. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang had merely just entered Six Directions Realm, while she and the red snake were experts of Seven Stars Realm.
Whoever entered Seven Stars Realm could become a general in Eternal Peace Empire.
Before Dragon Rider Sect had rebelled, Long Jiaonan had assumed a position in the army by dressing as a male!
With Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang's abilities, they were no match for her and the red snake.
"Courting death!"
Long Jiaonan's palm flipped over and her vital qi transformed into a huge python which coiled behind her body with jaws wide open. The air in the surroundings instantly rushed towards its mouth as it tried to swallow the two girls in the air.
Even though Dragon Rider Sect wasn't proficient in spells, the power of their spells still couldn't be underestimated. Imperial Preceptor's reform had allowed Dragon Rider Sect to absorb the strong points of other sects, raising the power of their spells by a level.
This Dragon Python Swallowing Heaven had already obtained the samadhi state.
However, Ling Yuxiu held Nine Dragons Weapons in her hands and raised it over her head to smash down. In mid-air, bolts of lightning instantly gathered and crackled as they struck onto her Nine Dragon Weapons.
It transformed into Nine Dragons Hammer which collided with the huge mouth of the vital qi python. The explosion of the power of lightning instantly shattered the spell of Long Jiaonan, causing her vital qi to disintegrate.
While Long Jiaonan was astonished, Si Yunxiang waved her hand and a fine string came stabbing towards her left eye. Long Jiaonan flicked her fingers continuously yet that string wasn't affected and continued to fly over.
The middle and index fingers of Si Yunxiang's pointed toward Long Jiaonan, and the tip of her fingers dotted again and again. The tip of Thousand Silks also transformed again and again, actually executing sword moves that were extremely intricate.
"Saintess Xiang's sword skills ain't bad!"
The sleeve of Long Jiaonan's left arm swept over and over again and her vital qi transformed into a jade annulus to mess up the sword treads that were rushing toward her. Yet at this moment, Long Jiaonan noticed that Si Yunxiang had her right hand in front of her body and her left hand behind her body. Her left hand was also gesticulating sword secrets which alarmed her and made her immediately rise into the sky.
Just as she did that, she saw her purple dress fluttering as thousands of holes opened up, wind passing everywhere.
Meanwhile, in the sky, Ling Yuxiu raised her huge hammer to smash down, and Long Jiaonan raised her hand to block. A loud rumble rang out when flames burst forth from the huge hammer. The strength was incomparably terrifying, blowing Long Jiaonan away with one strike!
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was naturally a first-rate technique and had extremely high attainments in spells. Due to that, the accumulated magic power was like a vast sea. Both on the same realm and below, the magic power from Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was the densest. Of course, this was excluding Qin Mu's Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
In addition to that, Emperor Yanfeng was the most intelligent emperor since Eternal Peace Empire was founded and had long become a great expert of his generation. He had improved Nine Dragons Monarch Technique and added in transformations of battle techniques and sword skills, allowing the power of this technique to far surpass what it was in the past.
The technique that Ling Yuxiu cultivated was this, and the path she took was the fusion of battle spells. By unleashing battle techniques and spells together at the same time, the power of her attacks was increased. So even though Long Jiaonan was on Seven Stars Realm, she was still caught off guard by the attacks of the two girls and got blown away.
The moment Ling Yuxiu landed on the ground, she let go of her hammer, and Nine Dragons Hammer separated into nine dragon-shaped weapons which swiftly combined together once more. The countless number of scales moved and transformed into a mirror.
Ling Yuxiu stood behind the mirror, and with a hum, a beam of light shot out. Within it seemed to be golden dragons flying and dancing around, shining on the body of Long Jiaonan who was flying backward.
Si Yunxiang immediately rushed over and flew past the mirror. Her sword threads coiled around and sliced toward Long Jiaonan who was hit by the mirror light.
"Xiao'hong!" Long Jiaonan shouted sternly. With a raise of her palm, the ground trembled, and several hundred stone spikes shot up from below, blocking Si Yunxiang's path and the mirror's light.
The huge red snake behind the two girls suddenly stretched its body, which was as thick as a pillar that only several people could hug. It came sweeping over with boundless strength, and if they got hit by this behemoth, they would be severely injured if not shattered in pieces!
Dragon Rider Sect's true trump card wasn't cultivation or magic power, and neither was it divine arts - it was the 'dragon' in their mouth!
The snakes they raised were all a special breed that had the bloodline of flood dragons. Even if the people's cultivation wasn't high, the snakes they raised would definitely have a high enough ability to kill their opponents.
This red snake of Long Jiaonan was one of the special breeds among the special breeds. It was the same as the dragon king's flood dragon of the Divine Bridge Realm. This snake had an extremely close kinship with it, and the bloodline of this flood dragon was very pure, thus a snake was enough to sweep everyone on Seven Stars Realm.
Long Jiaonan had relied on this pet of hers to become a reputable expert.
The fierce power of the red snake came barreling over, but just as it was about to crush the two girls, a scorching beam of light shot from behind its body.
The red snake was stunned when it saw its body being sliced in half by that beam. The loose half then wiggled about, sweeping down the forest in pieces!
At the side of the pond behind the huge snake, Qin Mu stood with a huge eyeball which was shooting out a bright beam. This was, of course, the attack that had cut the snake in half.
The red snake hissed in pain and spewed out a lump of dense poisonous fog while springing up to bite Qin Mu with the remainder of its body!
This poisonous fog was highly toxic, and Qin Mu wasn't willing to get tainted by it. Moving away, he executed Heavenly Pilfering Divine Legs and avoided the attack of the red snake.
His speed was extremely fast, and before the red snake could even react, he was already in the sky. Qin Mu looked down from above and saw that the city of the Solomon's seals had been completely destroyed. The Solomon's seals that had been living in the trees were also swept away.
It was evident that after Long Jiaonan had discovered this place, she had ruthlessly killed and captured all the Solomon's seals and razed the place where they lived!
Long Jiaonan must have learned about Qin Mu and the rest from the mouths of those Solomon's seals, since they really didn't have any spirit of loyalty and were swift to sell out others.
Qin Mu's expression sunk. Even though these Solomon's seals didn't have the spirit of loyalty, they had still helped his group. And since they had helped, they were benefactors.
Suddenly, the huge head of the red snake sprung into the air with its jaws wide open to an extreme degree. The mouth of the snake nearly formed an 'I' shape as it came biting toward him.
"Die."
Qin Mu adjusted the jade eye, and a beam shot straight down the mouth of the snake with a hum. All the flesh that the light passed by was melted.
Hmmm!
The intense light shone onto the ground, and the ground instantly melted, creating a pit. Boiling lava started to vaporize into steam that flowed out, condensing into small beads of rocks that fell from the sky when they cooled down. It was as if there was a small-scaled rain of rocks.
The jumping strength of the red snake was astonishing, so its huge body swallowed both Qin Mu and the jade eye. However, since its flesh was pierced all the way through, a passageway was opened up. The brain of the snake was also pierced as well.
Qin Mu's body landed on the ground, and behind him, a red snake fell down like a tattered sack that was giving off a fragrance of cooked meat.
"Xiao'hong!"
Long Jiaonan's miserable shriek came from a distance. The three women had already fought all the way to the surface of the sea and were clashing furiously on the water's surface. In the sea, it was extremely easy to control water, so Long Jiaonan's vital qi had fused with the seawater, transforming into pythons to attack in all directions with astonishing power.
However, it was a pity that Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang's spirit weapons were too good and their powers were too strong. When facing Long Jiaonan's attacks head-on, Ling Yuxiu could separate her Nine Dragons Weapons into nine pieces, transforming into nine dragon-shaped blades moving up and down, left and right, colliding with the spells and destroying them. They could also transform into a defensive state, Nine Dragons Shield, to block Long Jiaonan's attack any time.
Meanwhile, Si Yunxiang's techniques were even stranger. They were as unpredictable as her Thousand Silks, vanishing in the water sometimes and appearing on top of Long Jiaonan's head from time to time, making her unable to guard against it.
Even though Thousand Silks was fine, it was very lethal, and it posed the most danger to Long Jiaonan.
When the red snake died, Long Jiaonan's frame of mind was messed up, and Si Yunxiang saw a flaw. The spirit weapon hummed and transformed into a thin sword blade, which pierced Long Jiaonan's heart. The tip of the sword came out the other side.
Just as Si Yunxiang succeeded in landing a blow, Ling Yuxiu stretched her hand out, and the nine dragons combined into a hammer, smashing onto Long Jiaonan's body!
Cracking sounds rang out, and countless of bones were shattered, piercing the woman's skin. With bones sticking out of Long Jiaonan's body, she was a bloody sight that was extremely terrifying.
Si Yunxiang pulled out Thousand Silks, and Long Jiaonan's body trembled as it fell into the seawater.
Ling Yuxiu shouted out, "She still has our spirit weapons!"
Si Yunxiang immediately lifted up Long Jiaonan's corpse. Having almost let it fall into the sea, she couldn't help grumbling, "I had already succeeded in landing the killing blow yet she still had to hammer on the body. Look at how shattered her bones are now, I can't even carry her properly."
The two girls dragged Long Jiaonan's corpse back onto the island and started rummaging through her body for treasures. They could only find the taotie sack, which they opened. Inside, they saw all their spirit weapons and all kinds of other treasures.
Si Yunxiang poured the items out, revealing countless corpses of the Solomon's seals that piled up like a small mountain.
Close to ten thousand corpses of the Solomon's seals piled up together were merely three yards high. However, these Solomon's seals all had the shape of humans, and ten thousand corpses piled up together was still an extremely astonishing sight. It had an indescribable sorrowful feeling to it.
"Cult Master, I finally understand, this is not the strong preying on the weak…" From the corner of her eye, Si Yunxiang saw Qin Mu slowly walking over. There was a hard to detect hint of sorrow in the eyes of the devil cult saintess when she said in a low voice, "This is definitely not the strong preying on the weak, but instead… toying with the lives of others to realize selfish desires. When she was killing these Solomon's seals, she must have felt like she was a god…"
Qin Mu walked to her side and said, "Being apart from nature, she couldn't understand that. These Solomon's seals were originally spirit herbs, so even though they are dead, their roots are still here. They might just come back to life again if we plant them beside that spirit spring. Let us do this."
The two girls nodded. Planting down ten thousand Solomon's seals was quite tiring, but luckily they were divine arts practitioners. Until nightfall, they finished planting all of them.
Si Yunxiang went to gather some firewood while Ling Yuxiu went to fetch some spring water to water the Solomon's seals.
Qin Mu tidied up the taotie sack and placed the two jade eyes inside before placing over three thousand jade quality luminous pearls on the beach. Each of these luminous pearls gave off a charming glow.
Si Yunxiang picked up some firewood and came to the beach to lit the bonfire. She then took out her outer clothing and jumped into the sea in her undergarments.
Her undergarments were like a skirt with straps on the shoulder and were made of pure white silk with no embroidery.
On her lower body were white underpants that were only three inches long. They also had fine straps there were tied to her snow-white thighs.
After a moment, Si Yunxiang carried a huge fish out from the sea and threw it beside Qin Mu. She then circulated her vital qi to dry up her undergarments before putting back on her clothes.
Only then did she notice that Qin Mu had dragged Long Jiaonan's corpse over some time ago and placed it beside the bonfire. He had also dragged over the two parts of the red snake's corpse, which made her bewildered. "Cult Master, what are you doing?"
"Guarding the corpse, waiting for her to wake up."
Si Yunxiang burst into laughter. "If you wait for two more days, the corpse will start to stink. I've pierced her heart and Princess Xiu shattered her bones, so how could she still be alive?"
When Ling Yuxiu walked over and saw Long Jiaonan's corpse, she couldn't help frowning. She probed, "The one that herds cows, are there any weird rules in Great Ruins?"
Qin Mu kicked the corpse of Long Jiaonan and sneered, "Sister Long, stop acting, I've seen you shed your skin before!"
The two girls smiled. "It's better to bury her soon."
Qin Mu sneered, "Before I bury her, I have to chop off her head first! This knife of mine is thirsting for blood!" Once he said that, he pulled out his Pig Slaughter Knife with an unpleasant expression.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang were both shocked. Ling Yuxiu asked softly, "Saintess Xiang, is there some rule about beheading corpses in Great Ruins?"
"I also don't know. Maybe there's really such a weird habit in Great Ruins…"
Just as Si Yunxiang said this, they heard the sound of human skin splitting. It came from the top of Long Jiaonan's head.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Long Jiaonan's scalp split open, and the sound was hair-raising. With difficulty, a woman began crawling out from the split human skin.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang screamed, then noticed that they were both hugging each other. The next second, they let go.
Qin Mu took out his 'Qin' jade pendant and put it on him. The jade pendant and Emperor's Disk were tied together and had been thrown in together into taotie sack by Long Jiaonan. One of these items was related to Qin Mu's parentage while the other was a treasure Cripple had given him to ward off evil.
The sight of Long Jiaonan crawling out from her skin was simply too terrifying, and it just so happened that Emperor's Disk could be used to ward off evil.
After a moment, a naked woman managed to pull her upper body out of Long Jiaonan's skin and some shattered bones jutting out from the skin were also squeezed out.
This woman was naked and had disheveled hair. She had difficulty crawling and coughed up blood as she did so.
Ling Yuxiu then came to her senses from the shock and immediately urged Qin Mu, "Turn around, don't look!"
"It's not like I've never seen this before…" Qin Mu muttered but he still turned around.
Not long later, Long Jiaonan finally managed to crawl out from her skin. She was at her last gasp and had no strength, and her appearance had become slightly older; she was no longer a woman in her prime age. She now looked a dozen years older.
Si Yunxiang fetched a shirt to cover her body, and while she did that, she secretly pinched the body of this woman, and her gaze flickered. She told Ling Yuxiu in a low voice, "There are still some shattered bones in her body, she didn't spit all of them out."
Long Jiaonan sat up with difficulty and wiped away the blood at the corner of her mouth. She said weakly, "My injuries were too severe, so this shedding could only heal the injuries of my heart and some of the bones. If I wanted to recover completely, I would have to shed a few more times. Every time I shed my skin, I become a dozen years older, losing much of my lifespan. You guys can be at ease, I am of no threat to you anymore."
Ling Yuxiu looked at the two halves of the red snake's body and suddenly gave a shudder, "Could this huge snake also…"
Long Jiaonan's expression turned sorrowful, and she shook her head. "Xiao'hong has already been severed into two halves and its head was destroyed, there's no way it can recover…"
"That's good!" Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu sighed in relief.
Qin Mu turned around and revealed a smile. "Sister Long, may I ask where your esteemed father is? Where is he hiding? Who is with him? Why does he want to meet me?"
Long Jiaonan didn't speak a word.
Qin Mu kept smiling as he stretched out his index finger. A strand of vital qi flew out and sliced a piece of the snake, then moved it to roast it over the bonfire. Fats started dripping off the snake meat, and it gave off smoke as it sizzled.
Long Jiaonan's gaze landed on that piece of snake meat and her pupils contracted.
"There are three hundred and sixty-one halls in my Heavenly Saint Cult, and one of them is called Justice Hall. They rigorously carry out cruel laws and have thousands of ways to make one confess."
Qin Mu's face was sometimes bright and sometimes dark under the illumination of the bonfire. "Eternal Peace Empire also has a Ministry of Justice and you should have heard of their ways. The government minister of Ministry of Justice is the emperor's man, but the assistant minister is the Justice Hall Master of my Heavenly Saint Cult. If I wanted your answers, I would just have to trouble him. Will you take the initiative to speak or shall I force it out of you?"
Long Jiaonan sneered, "Eternal Peace Empire and Heavenly Devil Cult have such deep ties with one another, it's truly founding an empire by the means of the devil. Cult Master Qin, even though there was a threat in inviting you this time, I was still courteous, wasn't I? I didn't cause trouble for you guys; otherwise, chopping off Cult Master's legs, the princess's hands, and blinding the saintess wouldn't have been too difficult for me. I would like for you to treat me the way you've been treated. Now that I'm in your hands, I hope to receive deferential treatment as well."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I can give you deferential treatment and not give you trouble on the way as well. However, since you have rebelled and caused chaos, it's only natural for me to hand you over to Ministry of Justice for questioning. You had an official position in the past, so it also a possibility for me to hand you to Supreme Court; however, there are people of my Heavenly Saint Cult in Supreme Court, too."
Long Jiaonan's expression wavered, but she still didn't speak a word.
Qin Mu couldn't ask anything out from her, so he flicked his fingers to seal her souls and spirits with Heavenly Devil Creation Technique. He then said to the two girls, "Fan Yunxiao's ship is fast and he shouldn't find it difficult to find his way here. He should come tomorrow. If not, five days is the longest he may take. Let us stay on the island for a few days and see if the Solomon's seals can be brought back to life."
Si Yunxiang hesitated. "Cult Master feels tenderness for the lives of these Solomon's seals, but if Long Jiaonan was to escape, she might find her way here again and trample on these Solomon's seals once more. Cult Master cannot lust for her charm just because she's pretty…"
"Lust for her charm?" Qin Mu sized up Long Jiaonan and asked in puzzlement, "She isn't pretty so where's the charm?"
Si Yunxiang was astonished. Even though Long Jiaonan had a weird temper, she was still considered a beauty. Even though she had become slightly older after shedding her skin, she was still a beautiful woman. For the sacred cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult to not find her beautiful, wasn't he a little too slow?
She probed, "What's Cult Master's definition of beautiful?"
"Someone who looks like granny." After a moment, he added without thinking, "Or someone plump like Sister Yuxiu. Granny Si said that plump girls look nice, but I must be careful of doxies."
Ling Yuxiu was very pleased and gave Si Yunxiang a glance. Her heart already secretly considered the cowherd boy to be her intimate friend.
Si Yunxiang felt indignant and said, "I'm from the same family as the previous cult mistress, and in terms of seniority, I should be calling her aunt. Does Cult Master thinks I'm pretty?"
"You're too skinny and you're still young, you must be even younger than me, right?" Qin Mu sized up Si Yunxiang and shook his head. "Granny said that skinny girls are not that pretty. Being a little plump is okay, since they can bear children. Granny Apothecary also said that it's good for girls to be a little plump, but all the people in the village said he's an old rogue. Don't be sad though, you will be pretty if you eat more, but don't get too plump. Grandpa Apothecary said that being too plump isn't beautiful, either."
Si Yunxiang was stunned. According to Qin Mu's beauty standards, Long Jiaonan was indeed not considered beautiful, and even she herself was not considered beautiful. No wonder then that when she had taken off her clothes just moments ago and was left with only her undergarments, this fellow had not even taken an extra glance at her. It turned out that he had been brought astray by the rogues in his village!
The young sacred cult master was good at everything. His wisdom, capability, aptitude, comprehension, and even resolution were all outstanding. It was just that there was something wrong with his beauty standards.
Qin Mu purposely didn't lower his voice and said, "Leaving this Sister Long alive is mainly to lure the dragon king out. The dragon king's abilities are high and he has even raised a flood dragon. He's a sect master after all, so if I don't get rid of him, it will be hard for me to be at ease. I have to be very scared and on the edge every time I walk in the streets, fearing I will be killed. By handing Sister Long to the crown prince and requesting the help of the left and right guardians and cult protector elders, as long as the dragon king dares to come, he will die with an intact corpse."
He had a grave expression as he continued, "He must die without an intact corpse, his brain must be smashed into smithereens; otherwise, no one will know if he will come back to life! Speaking of it, I wonder why this dragon king is looking for me… but this isn't important. The important point is that he must die!"
Long Jiaonan shuddered. Qin Mu's plan was too vicious. As long as the dragon king came to save her, he would certainly die. There was no chance that he could defeat the guardians and cult protector elders of Heavenly Devil Cult!
"Cult Master Qin, there's a reason why my father invited you over!" she suddenly said.
Qin Mu looked at her and smiled. "Sister Long is finally willing to speak?"
Long Jiaonan sighed and said, "Someone found my father and said that it wasn't good for him to show himself, but that he still wanted to meet with Cult Master Qin and negotiate peace."
Qin Mu was astonished. "May I ask who this person is?"
"Dao Master."
Long Jiaonan continued, "Of so-called three religions and nine schools, Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Heavenly Devil Cult are considered the three religions, while our Dragon Rider Sect is only considered a sect of the nine schools. Cult Master is simply too powerful and not only did he rescue the emperor, he even killed so many experts of Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery at the Temple of Heaven in Imperial City.
"Dao Master is flustered now and fears that Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor will ally with Heavenly Devil Cult to deal with Dao Sect. It isn't convenient for him to meet you personally, so as to prevent any misunderstandings between you and the emperor he found my father and requested him to invite you to Heavenly Dragon Island for a meeting."
Her expression turned cold. "I was courteous to you on the way here, but do you really think I didn't want to kill you? You killed countless disciples of my Dragon Rider Sect in Heaven Wave City and the emperor even seized our properties and executed our entire family, so my grudge with you guys is deeper than the sea! However, Dao Master is my father's benefactor and had saved his life before. I don't dare to go against his words."
Qin Mu had a pensive look as he rubbed his chin. Another few stubbles had popped out on his chin which was really irritating.
'Dao Master wants to meet me to negotiate peace, yet Dao Sect is negotiating peace with my Heavenly Saint Cult but not with Eternal Peace Empire.'
He pondered over it.'Dao Master is worried about my Heavenly Saint Cult allying with Eternal Peace Empire to attack Dao Sect, since he's already old and doesn't have many years left to live. He can still protect Dao Sect if he negotiates peace now; otherwise, once he dies, Dao Sect is going to be eradicated."
The snake meat was very fragrant, and the fish was also not bad. However, Long Jiaonan only ate a few pieces of fish and didn't even try the snake meat. Qin Mu politely offered it to her twice, but seeing how she simply didn't want to eat her snake, he could only drop this thought.
The next day, Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu had woke up early, yet they saw Qin Mu already moving around on the island, his footstep neverending. Sometimes he was walking through the beach, and at other times he was walking over the sea. He would even leap up into the clouds at times.
'His aptitude and comprehension are higher than that of others yet he's still so hardworking!' Si Yunxiang gritted her teeth and thought to herself, 'If it wasn't so that I wouldn't have a chance to kill you, would there be a need to be so hardworking?'
Qin Mu had no other thoughts in his mind as he executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique while walking. He operated the technique, trying to merge all kinds of techniques into one to comprehend Unity Technique of Six Directions Realm.
Si Yunxiang was wrong. Qin Mu's aptitude was definitely the lowest tier. Back then, the people of Disabled Elderly Village had tested it, and he wasn't even a Spirit Body, but merely an ordinary person.
Qin Mu should have lived his whole life ordinarily, yet who would have expected that an Overlord Body from Village Chief would ignite Qin Mu's fighting spirit, as well as the fighting spirit of everyone in Disabled Elderly Village, pushing all kinds of spirit pills and miraculous medicines onto him.
Furthermore, Qin Mu was indeed hardworking and could even be the most hardworking person in the world. There was also an invincible belief in him that he was the Overlord Body that surpassed others. If he was inferior to others, that could only mean that he wasn't working hard enough.
His current cultivation and abilities were not entirely due to the grooming of Village Chief, Granny Si, and the rest or gained by chance encounters, but mostly his hard work.
If an ordinary person was willing to use their brain and work hard, it was hard to imagine how big their potential would be.
No one could find someone extraordinary based on hard work before they succeeded. Only after success would others find the person extraordinary, when they looked at a legend, yet they would all be overlooking the person's hard work.
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu saw this situation and began to cultivate diligently as well. The two girls cultivated by themselves and didn't disturb each other. Long Jiaonan laid under the tree and breathed in and out, trying to shed her skin again. However, since her injuries were too severe and the energy consumed would be too great, she couldn't do it.
If she shed her skin once more, she would become a middle-aged woman. After shedding a few more times, she would become an old woman.
When it was late in the morning, Qin Mu returned to the spring, planning to fetch some spring water for the Solomon's seals at the side of the spring. Yet he stopped in his footsteps when he saw an old Daoist in a washed Daoist robe that was slightly gray beside the spring. The man was currently using a leaf to fetch water while walking carefully among the Solomon's seals, watering them. Beside him was also a youth that was helping to water as well.
The old Daoist saw a leaf sprouting from a Solomon's seal's head, and his wrinkled face beamed. He squatted down and gently touched the leaf. "These Solomon's seals can still be brought back to life after dying, what a wonderful life. Isn't that so, Cult Master Qin?"
Each and every action from the old Daoist seemed to go according to the course of nature. It was as if this sea, this island, this spring, this sky, and these Solomon's seals were one and had no distinction between what is one's own and what is that of another.
"What Senior Brother says is extremely right." Qin Mu walked forward and said, "It's just that I don't know if these Solomon's seals will still be the Solomon's seal from before when they are brought back to life. Heavenly Saint Cult Master, pays his respects to Dao Master."
The old Daoist immediately returned the greeting. "It's still the first time we have met, this Old Dao pays his respects. Lin Xuan, quickly pay your respects to the human emperor of the current generation!"
Beside him, Daozi Lin Xuan was bewildered, but he didn't ask any question and did a disciple rite to Qin Mu while saying, "Daozi pays his respect to Human Emperor."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly when he guessed how Dao Master was so sure that he was the human emperor of the current generation.
He had only learned two moves from Village Chief's Sword Picture, and he didn't use them much. Other than executing it in front of Emperor Yanfeng and Imperial Preceptor, he had only used them in front of Pangong Tso and Daozi Lin Xuan.
When Daozi Lin Xuan had followed Dan Yangzi to block the gate of Imperial College, he was defeated under the first move of Sword Picture, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
When he returned back to Dao Sect, he must have shown Qin Mu's Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. Dao Master must have more or less known that Qin Mu's sword skills came from Village Chief, but he couldn't confirm Qin Mu was the human emperor of the current generation.
As for why he had such a confident tone, he was actually testing the waters.
Qin Mu's thoughts were also meticulous, but even though he guessed Dao Master's thoughts, he didn't deny and also went to fetch some water for the Solomon's seal while saying with a smile, "Dao Master possesses remarkable abilities and your wisdom surpasses others."
Dao Master and Daozi Lin Xuan were using leaves to carry water while he used his vital qi to sweep up the spring water, which was more convenient and much faster.
Old Dao Master saw him using vital qi and said, "Dao follows the nature. Human Emperor, what's the rush?"
Qin Mu said, "Being free from nature, we should apply what we learn. Since Dao Master is not applying, why did he have to learn?"
Dao Master frowned, but his eyebrows soon smoothed out again and he smiled. "The disagreement of our sects comes from our ideals and how we conduct ourselves in society, I won't debate with you over the teachings of Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Cult. Human Emperor has withdrawn from worldly affairs for several hundred years, yet his student has come back. You must be planning something, am I right?"
Qin Mu used his vital qi to control the flow of the water, then said seriously, "What can I be planning? Village Chief said that the human emperor is a responsibility, but until now, I still don't understand what good can come from being the human emperor. First, there's no authority, and second, there's no power, yet I still have to carry responsibility. If Dao Master is willing, I could give it up to you."
Dao Master was watering the Solomon's seals with the leaf when his expression changed slightly. He hurriedly shook his head. "I can't shoulder this responsibility."
One of them used a leaf while the other a spell to water the Solomon's seals.
Daozi Ling Xuan took it all in and shook his head secretly. This old and young both had their own stubborn viewpoints and were very obstinate.
After a time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Qin Mu finished watering all the Solomon's seals. Old Dao Master also planted the leaf he used to carry water back into the soil and stretched his back with a sigh. "I'm old and my bones aren't like they used to be. Since Human Emperor is the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, Dao Sect won't be able to go against Human Emperor anymore. This Old Dao came to find Human Emperor to identify his successor to Human Emperor. Lin Xuan had also paid his respects to you just now, and after I die, he will become Dao Master."
Qin Mu greeted Lin Xuan, and Lin Xuan immediately returned his greeting. "I'm not Dao Master, I dare not accept."
Old Dao Master smiled. "After you become Dao Master, you will still be half a seniority lower, so you will have salute half a hand lower."
Lin Xuan was shocked.
Old Dao Master said in a neither too fast nor too slow voice, "Us who cultivate qi have received grace from the human emperor of the first generation, so everyone respects him. Each and every clan and sect had taken out their best treasure at that time to create Human Emperor's Seal, so you must follow the etiquette and can't be negligent. Could Old Dao take a look at the seal?"
Qin Mu took out the black lump which was Human Emperor's Seal and tossed it to him. Old Dao Master caught it in a panic, his face was twitching slightly. "How could you toss it? How could you toss it? Before this Old Dao came to meet Human Emperor, I had washed myself and changed my clothes, and even my hands were washed several times. I was reverent and respectful, not daring to be negligent, so how could you just toss Human Emperor's Seal like this?"
Qin Mu was bewildered and said, "Village Chief had tossed it to me like this. I didn't want it, so I tossed it back at him, yet he stuffed it back to me. I couldn't defeat him so I could only accept it."
Old Dao Master had a bitter face as he held Human Emperor's Seal in both of his hands. He examined it over and over again and verified that it was indeed the seal. "Human Emperor, please take it back." Once he said that, he took a step forward and offered Human Emperor's Seal respectfully in both of his hands.
Only when Qin Mu took back Human Emperor's Seal did the old Daoist take a step back and placed his hands down. He said to Daozi Lin Xuan, "Remember, Human Emperor's Seal can only be received like this, you can't mess up the etiquette."
Daozi Lin Xuan acknowledged this while watching Qin Mu toss Human Emperor's Seal into his taotie sack; however, Lin Xuan didn't dare to say anything.
"He is the human emperor, he can be disrespectful, but we can't be disrespectful." Old Dao Master put a lot of effort into saying, "That seal was created from the best treasures of our ancestors from various sects and various clans. It was offered to the human emperor, and the person who controls this seal will become the emperor of all the human races. Therefore, our Dao Sect has to be respectful. This seal is what we offered to the human emperor so the human emperor can be disrespectful to this seal. Do you understand?"
Daozi Lin Xuan nodded. "Disciple understood."
Qin Mu couldn't help feeling slightly moved. Old Dao Master was left with little of his lifespan, his life coming to an end in the next few years, yet he still dedicated his full attention to teaching his disciple.
This kind of traditional master and disciple relationship had it much easier to produce outstanding talents.
Old Dao Master was already old so he had to be hoping to groom Daozi in these final years, allowing him to succeed him.
"What else did Dao Master come here to say, besides enquiring about Human Emperor's Seal?" Qin Mu asked with a smile.
Old Dao Master looked him deeply in the eyes and said, "Human Emperor should know that the reform of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng isn't the orthodox path and will bring the wrath of Heaven. This snow disaster was a warning, so for all the people in the world, Human Emperor should stop this reform."
Qin Mu shook his head. "The general situation of the world is rolling forth like a flood, may the deceased rest in peace while the living move on with their lives. Whoever dares to stand in front to block the path will be crushed. I can only go with the flow, along with the flood. Old Senior Brother, you have already suffered quite a lot, why are you still so stubborn?"
Old Dao Master sighed. "I won't argue with you. No matter how we'd argue, it's still about the teachings of both sides so it's hard to convince the other, that's why it's better to not argue at all. Since you are insistent on supporting Imperial Preceptor's reform, I will only say one thing to you: Dao follows the nature, and the reform seeks to change Dao, to change nature. God is born in nature and formed by the Great Dao. If you want to change Dao, you know its advantages and disadvantages. Great Ruins was the mistake of our predecessors, but Human Emperor should have noticed that by now."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. Dao Master obviously knew more inside stories about this.
However, Dao Master wasn't willing to speak more about it and said, "I came to see Human Emperor and express my intentions. Dao Sect is enemy with Eternal Peace, but we won't be enemies with Human Emperor. Disciple, bring Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword over."
Lin Xuan took out a stone tablet from a leather sack around his waist. That stone tablet was six yards tall when taken out, and on it were some sword markings drawn vertically and horizontally.
Lin Xuan hesitated. "Dao Master…"
"Show him," said Old Dao Master. "Old Human Emperor's sword skills are better than mine and even more superior. I've shown Imperial Preceptor the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword so why can't I show them to the current human emperor?"
Daozi Lin Xuan erected the stone tablet nearby, and Old Dao Master said, "Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword, one writing for one sword. When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to Dao Sect to seek knowledge, I let him look for fourteen days, so I will let Human Emperor look for fourteen days as well. As for the Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique of our Dao Sect, I won't be showing it to Human Emperor."
Qin Mu revealed an expression of astonishment. Old Rulai had also allowed him to see Rulai's Mahayana Sutra; however, he only showed him the skills and not the technique.
Now Dao Master was allowing him to see the technique of Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique, but not showing him the skill. No matter what, both masters of the two sacred grounds were broad-minded.
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely and took out Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. "I'm not used to receiving favors from others, so this is Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. I will allow Daozi to read for fourteen days."
Daozi Lin Xuan's heart was quite moved, and he looked toward his master. Old Dao Master's face changed slightly, and he muttered to himself before saying, "Since he let you read, you will read. If Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures contain good, you are a god. If it contains evil, you are devil. If you fall and become the devil, it just means your cultivation was not enough, your nature was not enough."
Daozi Ling Xuan understood.
Qin Mu sat in front of the stone wall and looked at the sword traces on the stone wall.
These sword traces were vertical and horizontal and didn't look like they had any pattern to them. When he looked at the first one, he didn't see anything wonderful about it, but once he put his mind to it, he gradually felt some wonderful sword will.
In his eyes, the sword trace was no longer a sword trace, but seemed to have some mathematical reasonings. There seemed to be a Daoist scribbling with a brush and writing down the reasonings of algebra. It was then gradually transformed into a black and white taiji diagram that was stirring up.
A Dot Threading the Vast Movements, Yin and Yang Come and Go Within Two Modes!
Qin Mu's heart slightly trembled. The cultivation method of Dao Sword was indeed different from other, and an extremely deep sword will was carved into the sword trace on the wall. This sword will contained mathematical reasonings and formed the first form of Dao Sword.
The mathematical reasonings contained in Dao Sword's first form was the yin and yang calculation of the binary system!
'This can be compared with Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery.'
Qin Mu's mind was slightly stirred. He had comprehended most of Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery, so the first form wasn't hard for him.
Not long after, Qin Mu finished comprehending the first form of Dao Sword and turned to look at the second sword trace.
The second form of Dao Sword, Binding of Five Qi and Three Aeons, Rising on the Spot, Cloud Chariots Crossing!
This sword trace contained a ternary system and a quinary system which correspond to three aeons and five qi. The mathematical reasoning behind this move would construct the sun, moon, and earth, while the five qi would face the aeons!
This move wasn't considered difficult for Qin Mu as well. He used the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to finish comprehending this move before going to look at the third sword trace.
The third form of Dao Sword, Five Colored Auspicious Clouds Cover, Celestial Sounds Tinkling on the Three Heavens.
This move also used three aeons and five qi; however, it was superior and included the transformation of three aeons and five qi.
Qin Mu spent a whole hour to finish comprehending this move.
The fourth form of Dao Sword, Turning Heavenly Cycle Silently, Meeting Every Manifestation of Nature Shifting. The mathematical reasoning in this move was extremely complicated and interrelated with the mathematical reasoning of three producing all things. Using Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery to understand the marvel of this move was extremely difficult.
When Qin Mu solved the marvel of this sword trace, he realized that the sun was about to set into the sea. The sky was already turning dark, and the island was all red from the shine of the red sun on the surface of the sea.
"I won't be able to solve the fifth writing!"
Qin Mu's expression turned grave. Dao Sword was harder and harder to learn as he progressed, and the mathematical reasonings became more and more profound. It was impossible to completely learn everything in fourteen days. He might not even be able to learn the fifth writing!
He could only choose to comprehend the sword wills and learn the sword skills. As for the other writings, he had no time to learn them and could only see how much he could comprehend!
Qin Mu thought this, then immediately looked toward the fifth sword trace. The fifth form of Dao Sword, Jade Cave Taking Back Myriad of Transformations, Romance on Kunlun Mountains.
He put his heart to comprehend, but the mathematical reasonings in the sword will were already too hard for him to understand. Even though Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery was mostly comprehended by him, there were still some mathematical reasoning not included in there. He reckoned they should be in Computational Canon of Mysterious Lady.
Dao Master was sitting to the side, calm and composed. He seemed to not know what was hunger.
Qin Mu was hungry and went down the stone wall to find Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang. The two girls were already done preparing dinner. They asked him about the stranger, and when they heard that it was Dao Master, the two girls were both astonished and didn't dare to be impudent.
When the third day came, Fan Yunxiao flew his ship over and suddenly cried out loud. He kowtowed several times to Dao Master. Old Dao Master opened his eyes and took a look at him with a calm expression. "You joined Heavenly Devil Cult? I was indeed right about you, your heart is indeed not righteous. Go, I won't kill you."
Fan Yunxiao bawled, then wiped his tears while driving the ship away.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Five days after Fan Yunxiao left, numerous people in strange outfits started to appear on the small island. They were male, female, young, and old. One person had come over first and planted a flag on the island. Then, numerous lights flashed and more flags appeared.
Once the flags were put away, several hundred people appeared and sat down around this island. The positions of everyone sitting were different, and they were all scattered about like stars in the sky, not moving at all.
However, every four hours, these people would stand up and change their positions. This regular pattern never changed.
Under the shade of the tree, Long Jiaonan shuddered and walked to the center of the island.
Si Yunxiang was very happy on the other hand, making meals for everyone in case they were hungry.
Ling Yuxiu had a grave expression as she examined her surroundings. She could see that this was a huge formation which trapped all of them on the island, not giving them the chance to leave. If one was to barge out of this formation, the formation would activate and transform into a killing formation, turning this island into a scene of carnage!
When this huge formation was activated, it would definitely be incomparably terrifying!
Furthermore, Ling Yuxiu even saw some of the weird people wearing clothes of the imperial court. Some were high officials of the current imperial court, some were peddlers in the market, some executioners in charge of beheadings, and even directorates of Imperial College. They were all fantastic oddities of every description!
The most intriguing thing was that these people were changing their positions every four hours to change the formation. This should be to prevent Dao Master from solving the changes of the formation.
"Heavenly Devil Cult is no doubt the number one sect of the devil path, your timings are very precise."
Old Dao Master was examining this killing formation, and he couldn't help exclaiming to himself endlessly, 'I can calculate the changes in the formation in precisely four hours, and they change the formation at precisely this moment. Formation Hall Master is really crafty.'
Formation Hall Master was the directorate of Imperial College's Hall of Array Element and was bestowed the role of an imperial secretary by Emperor Yanfeng. He was a favorite of the emperor and was frequently summoned to the palace to be consulted with matters of the empire. Even though the emperor didn't give him any actual power due to the fact he was from Heavenly Devil Cult, most of the formations in the army were designed by him.
It seemed like Formation Hall Master had knowledge about Old Dao Master, so as long as Qin Mu was in trouble, he would definitely not allow him to leave alive. If he was to leave, he had to be dead.
The fourteenth day came in no time, and Qin Mu shut his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and came from the stone tablet. He saluted Dao Master. "Senior Brother, much thanks for letting me comprehend Dao Sword."
Dao Master got up to return the salute. "I dare not. Human Emperor of course has the right to comprehend Dao Sword. I have shown Dao Sword to you and Rulai will also show Rulai's Mahayana Sutra to you. Human Emperor is worthy of us doing so."
Qin Mu said, "I've already seen Rulai's Mahayana Sutra."
Dao Master was stunned. After some time, he shook his head and smiled. "This old fellow is still clever and sly, always one step ahead of me. Disciple, hand Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures back to Human Emperor."
Daozi Lin Xuan came back to his senses from his comprehension and immediately pulled Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures back into a ball of thread, passing it back to Qin Mu with both hands.
Qin Mu smiled. "Your age and mine are similar, so there's no need for so many formalities."
Daozi Lin Xuan shook his head and said, "There's nothing wrong with formalities. I am not yet Dao Master and will always be your junior."
Helpless, Qin Mu said, "Even though Dao Master had never seen Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures before, his phrase that it contains evil and good achieved the samadhi of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. How much good and how much evil did you see when you were comprehending Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures?"
Daozi Lin Xuan hesitated for a moment, and Dao Master smiled. He said, "Cult Master Qin is an expert in this field, so just speak your mind."
Daozi Lin Xuan said, "It might be because first impressions are strongest that when I first read Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, I found almost every sentence to be harmful. Only when I read until the writings in the middle did I feel a different flavor to them. At that time, there was no longer righteous or evil in my heart. When I reached the writings at the end, I felt that I might have misinterpreted the writings in front so I read over them again, and this time I had different thoughts and feelings."
Qin Mu smiled and asked, "How many percent of them are evil?"
"There's still twenty percent," Daozi Lin Xuan replied honestly.
Qin Mu said, "Your Dao heart is still twenty percent devilish. However, you are already much better than Fozi. When Fozi Fo Xin read Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, every part of it was evil to him. He may have had the appearance of a buddha, but he was an unsalvageable devil in his heart."
Daozi Lin Xuan was stunned and came to an enlightenment. "So that's why!" He found it somewhat hard to accept this result in his heart, so he asked Qin Mu with his gaze flickering, "When Human Emperor read Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, how many percent of it was devil?"
"All of the writings in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures are righteous writings, but they are also devilish writings. It all depends on how I use them."
Daozi Lin Xuan was stunned. "This…"
Qin Mu said with a deep meaning, "The path of the saint is none other than the everyday use of common people, which is the first sentence of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, already makes things clear. You and I are also part of the common people, so when the hearts of you and I are righteous, Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures are righteous. When the hearts of you and I are evil, Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures will be evil. I can use them as a righteous technique, but I can also use them as an evil technique. The wonders of usage lie in one's heart."
"The wonders of usage lie in one's heart?" Daozi Lin Xuan was stunned again and felt that what Qin Mu said was very logical.
Old Dao Master immediately shouted, "Tut! Don't listen to his teachings, it's their askew reasoning of being free from nature! You are the next Dao Master, be careful of being bewitched by his clever words and entering his devil cult!"
Daozi Lin Xuan came back to his senses, sweating profusely. His entire body was drenched as he thought to himself, 'He used the chance to guide me to talk about the teachings of the devil cult, attempting to bewitch me! His teachings of being free from nature are different from my Dao Sect's teachings of Dao following the nature!"
Old Dao Master said righteously, "Cult Master Qin's nature is indeed higher than yours, so you will have to be careful if he comes against you with the identity of the devil cult master in the future. You can't only think of him as the human emperor and forget that he is also the Heavenly Devil Cult Master!"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Old Dao Master was actually treating him like severe floods and fierce beasts, paying extra attention to guiding his disciple to prevent him from being pulled into Heavenly Devil Cult.
Old Dao Master said, "How does Human Emperor see Dao Sword?"
Qin Mu said solemnly, "I struggled with the mathematical reasonings; they were extraordinary intricate. The last few moves also seemed to transcend from mathematical reasonings and close in on Dao."
Old Dao Master smiled as he said words with a deep meaning to them. "The Dao Sword of my Dao Sect can also be seen as how to accurately measure a circle. The digits of pi are close to endless, and the circular ratio of pi can't conclude with just Xu Kong and Qing Jing, since at the back there are still digits that couldn't be counted. Dao has no end, and pi also has no end, so why is there a need to change Dao? Why is there a need to transform Dao?"
Qin Mu was stunned. This Old Dao Master was propagating righteousness and justice of Dao Sect to him!
"Dao Master, take care not to overdo it," Qin Mu said with a smile.
Old Dao Master laughed and had Daozi Lin Xuan take back the stone wall, "Human Emperor, your identity is special and there will be quite a number of terrifying enemies, so it's still best for you to return to Great Ruins as soon as possible. The daughter of the dragon king was sent by me, could you let Old Dao bring her back?"
Qin Mu looked at the Solomon's seals under their feet, noticing that a few leaves had already grown out from most the herbs; however, there were also some that had already died.
"You don't have to worry, she will listen to my words and never come back here again." Old Dao master smiled. "You didn't lose anything, while she was the one who lost much."
Qin Mu nodded and called Long Jiaonan forward. The woman endured her pain and stumbled over.
Qin Mu asked, "Are you still going to be my enemy?"
"My Dragon Rider Sect was eradicated because of you, I have no choice but to be enemies with you."
"Without me, your Dragon Rider Sect would still have been eradicated. This was simply the reality of your situation. Even if I hadn't been in Heaven Wave City, you guys would still have met the same end," Qin Mu told her. "I was there only by coincidence. It's natural for you to hate me, but the next time you come, I will kill you, I won't hold back."
Long Jiaonan gritted her teeth. "I won't hold back as well!"
Qin Mu shook his head. "You already have no chance. Don't shed your skin anymore. The more you shed, the older you'll get. Follow Dao Master and leave."
Long Jiaonan stood beside Dao Master in a daze. Every time she met Qin Mu, she would discover that he was stronger than he was previously. The next time she saw him, would she still be his match?
Did she still have a chance?
However, her wisdom was soon drowned out by her hatred, throwing this momentary daze to the back of her mind.
Old Dao Master cupped his fists and said, "Farewell."
Qin Mu returned his salute and rose. "Send Dao Master off."
Whoosh. All of the hall masters, guardians, and heavenly kings of Heavenly Devil Cult stood up and opened up a path.
Old Dao Master brought Long Jiaonan and Daozi Lin Xuan out of the island. A cloud then appeared under their feet to bring the three of them away.
Qin Mu looked at the Heavenly Devil Cult Followers around and waved his hand with a smile. "Disperse, disperse."
Everyone saluted him and their huge flags swept around them, making them vanish without a trace. However, Heavenly King Yu and Heavenly King Wang remained. It was evident that they were worried about Qin Mu's safety.
Qin Mu smiled. "No need to be so worried about me, you guys can leave as well."
The two heavenly kings looked each other in the eyes. Using their clothes to cover themselves, they vanished on the spot.
"I don't think they will go far," Si Yunxiang said.
Qin Mu nodded, but Ling Yuxiu was anxious. "Great Cult Master, you only care about putting on airs in front of your subordinates and let them leave, so how are we leaving?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. He was indeed putting on airs. The elders of the village had taught him to never lose airs even if he lost to others, so he didn't let the followers of Heavenly Devil Cult bring him off this island on the east sea so that he didn't lose face in front of them.
"Do you think Fan Yunxiao will come back for us?" he probed.
The two girls laughed grimly and said in unison, "He cried so miserably when he left, of course he won't be coming back!"
Qin Mu muttered, "Why don't we returned back by the sea…"
"We have no choice then."
Si Yunxiang looked back at the spirit spring, a little unwilling to leave. "Say, do you think the Solomon's seals will still remember us when they wake up?"
"I don't know."
Qin Mu turned back and saw the overflowing greenery beside the spirit spring and shook his head. "They died once, so if they had souls, they should have already landed into the dark Youdu. Yet their bodies will come back to life. As for whether their souls will still be the original ones and their memories their original memories or whether a new soul will be born in their bodies with their memories like a sheet of blank paper, I do not know."
Si Yunxiang was slightly depressed. But she saw Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu already on the sea surface, so she immediately chased after them. A wave grew under Qin Mu's feet and continued to surge forth like a dragon head, carrying them toward the west.
Meanwhile, at another place, Grand Shaman received news from Pangong Tso and immediately left Rolan's Golden Palace to head to the west.
He walked for a long time around the vast Great Ruins, traveling through the snow mountains and into the flaming desert. He came to West Earth and climbed the highest peak there.
The golden peak of this divine mountain was empty, with only a sacrificial altar remaining. Grand Shaman took out three incenses and lighted them. The smoke rose in spirals and reached High Heavens.
Where the smoke vanished, a green-colored face appeared in the sky, almost blending with the blue sky.
"The new human emperor has appeared," Grand Shaman said while burning incense to pay his respect.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The green face in the sky was very huge and seemed to be formed by smoke which was light and faint. However, as it started coming lower, it gradually became clearer.
Fine beads of sweat emanated from Grand Shaman's forehead, and his head fell down, the man too afraid to lift it up.
"High Heavens…"
A faintly discernible voice came from the sky. "Got it."
Grand Shaman stood motionless. The golden peak of the divine mountain was very cold yet his sweat kept dripping down, drop after drop.
After a long time, he secretly raised an eye to look up at the sky and saw that it was clear blue. The face had vanished some time ago.
Grand Shaman let out a sigh of relief and quickly left to get away from here as far as possible.
A long time later, tiny flames appeared on the golden peak and shook like ripples. When they stopped shaking, two golden-eyed suannis galloped out from the flames while pulling a treasured carriage.
An imperial canopy was erected in its center, and under it were items like jade and pearls that formed a hanging screen. On top of the imperial canopy were three golden peaks that were circular lumps, each smaller than the one above it.
There were four golden pillars supporting the imperial canopy which were as thick as an arm and were seven feet tall. Besides each pillar stood a beautiful maiden, their vital qi forming a ring at the back of their heads. Their robes fluttered in the wind, and they were all wearing different colored attire. The maiden in green was carrying a jade vase in her hand, the maiden in red was hugging a seven-stringed guqin, the maiden in yellow was carrying a sword in both of her hands, while the maiden in white was hugging a pipa.
Under the imperial canopy and past the jade and pearls, a man in purple could be seen sitting upright. He was still and had an extraordinary atmosphere.
The two suannis' bodies overflowed with brilliant lights and vibrant colors as they stepped on auspicious clouds while pulling the treasure carriage at a lightning fast speed toward Middle Earth.
The treasure carriage wasn't careful like Grand Shaman, who had avoided the vast Great Ruins. This carriage just drove straight in, leaving a trail of light as it rushed toward Eternal Peace Empire. The people in the carriage seemed to not mind the dangers of Great Ruins at all.
When night fell, darkness enveloped the land, and the two suannis emanated flames that rose into the sky. They were extremely eye-catching in the darkness as they pulled the treasured carriage in the dark.
Devil qi poured and suddenly transformed into a pitch black palm that darted toward the treasured carriage and the glow given off by the suannis. Every place it passed by, light was swallowed and only darkness was left.
When the pitch black palm came in front of the treasured carriage, no light could be seen, and the pearl curtain swayed as the maiden in red played her guqin, giving off two sounds of ding and dong.
Once guqin sound echoed in the air, the pitch black palm paused slightly and moved back.
"High Heavens?" a raspy voice asked from the darkness.
That maiden in red nodded and said, "High Heavens Star Sovereign Qiao."
The monster in the darkness retreated and vanished without a trace. From then on, no more monsters went to disturb the treasured carriage.
Even though Great Ruins in the darkness seemed incomparably dangerous, it was still pretty bustling at night. All kinds of terrifying things were active, and all kinds of bizarre incidents were happening one after another.
The treasured carriage drove toward the east in a neither too fast nor too slow pace. The Star Sovereign Qiao under the imperial canopy looked at the current Great Ruins and shook his head. "The remaining evils have not yet been purged, and poison still remains."
The treasured carriage flew in the sky, leaving a streak across the darkness. Looking up from below, it seemed like there was a star that moving neither too fast nor too slow across the horizon.
The night of Great Ruins was shrouded by the darkness, and there were no stars nor moon in the sky, so most of the villagers and strange beasts hiding in the ruins couldn't help raising their heads to look up at the sight that they had never seen before.
Suddenly, the star started to descend urgently, crashing into Great Ruins from the sky. This made all the people and strange beasts that were watching sigh in pity.
Boom!
The treasured carriage descended diagonally toward the source of Surging River. The two mountains in the darkness were like a gate, and the treasured carriage came down in the middle between them.
The two suannis struggled to control the descent, but no matter what, they couldn't do it. In the end, they couldn't help yelping.
The four maidens on the carriage were also flustered. They realized that they had become skeletons some time ago!
The four maidens looked ahead of them and saw the two suannis that were pulling the carriage had also become two galloping skeletons!
Under the imperial canopy, there was another skeleton.
He was calm and composed as he snorted coldly. "To pull my carriage down, could it be that Fengdu's evil intentions are still not dead yet?"
In the darkness and fog in front of them, there seemed to be huge shadows standing around. There were even red lights lighting up in the fog, and what looked like lanterns followed the treasured carriage as it moved.
Those weren't lanterns though, but eyes.
The shadows gradually faded, and the red lights vanished one after another as well.
The flesh on the two suannis came back, and they didn't feel that the carriage was heavy once more. They immediately exerted force and pulled the treasured carriage back into the sky. The four maidens on the carriage saw their flesh recovering and couldn't help letting out sighs of relief.
Star Sovereign Qiao's body also returned back to normal, and he said indifferently, "Fengdu, not heeding the discipline of Youdu, to even dare go against High Heavens. This place will be gotten rid of sooner or later."
The treasured carriage continued to move forward along Surging River, but only when the sky was turning bright did they see the end of Great Ruins that was over one thousand miles away from them.
Suddenly, a sword light rose from below and exploded in mid-air. Instantly, snow bright lights burst forth, and they actually eclipsed the light from the sun.
The suannis and the four maidens on the carriage immediately closed their eyes. When they opened them later, the four maidens cried out in astonishment. The world-shaking sword light had vanished, and in front of the carriage were majestic mountains and rivers. The towering peaks and precipitous ridges were unending.
What was weird was that these mountains and rivers weren't there just a moment ago, but now were seemed to be floating on the clouds. It was as if they had grown out from the clouds.
The rivers flowing out from the towering mountains and precipitous ridges were even giving off sounds of crashing water. There was even a waterfall running down from the cliffs, flowing down like jade.
These green mountains and azure water floated among the clouds, and there was nothing abnormal about them. They didn't look like mirages.
"Halt," Star Sovereign Qiao said slowly.
The two suannis halted, and Star Sovereign Qiao stood up to look at the end of the mountains and rivers. Yet they stretched into the distance as if growing by themselves. The mountains in the clouds were majestic and vast, appearing continuously from below the clouds.
Meanwhile, at the borders of the mountains and rivers were flashing sword lights that were hard to catch, but which couldn't deceive his eyes.
This was as if someone was using a sword as a brush to draw out vast mountains and rivers!
"Old Handicapped is actually still alive." Star Sovereign Qiao revealed and smile and said softly, "Go down. I have an old friend living here."
The two suannis immediately pulled the treasured carriage to descend. When they reached the bottom of the clouds, the mountains and rivers also descended with them. The mountain and rivers lowered along with their pace, blocking the path in front of them all the time
Finally, the treasured carriage landed on the ground, and the mountains and rivers in the sky also became smaller and smaller, continuing to retract. When the mountains and rivers disappeared, a small village beside the river appeared in front of them.
Star Sovereign Qiao looked through the pearl curtain and saw a recliner at the entrance of this village. On the recliner lay an old man without four limbs. The recliner creaked as it swayed back and forth while the messy old man without limbs enjoyed the spring sun leisurely.
"You are handicapped." Star Sovereign Qiao didn't get off the carriage. He simply spoke from behind the pearl curtains. "You don't have arms and you don't have legs yet you still want to block my way? Aren't you overestimating yourself a little?"
Village Chief beamed at him as he continued swaying on the recliner. It seemed to be very comfortable for him to lie there as he said leisurely, "In that case, why don't you try? I have no arms and legs and only a few years of lifespan left, so you should definitely have the confidence to kill me, right?"
Star Sovereign Qiao snorted coldly. "You don't have many years left to live, so you can't protect the new human emperor. However, I won't use my life to fight head-on with that disabled life of yours."
"If you don't dare to fight with your life, then return."
Suddenly, Village Chief's vital qi transformed into arms and legs so he could stand up from the recliner. As he walked towards the treasured carriage, the two suannis instantly felt their blood run cold, and the four maidens on the carriage also revealed appalled expressions. In their eyes, the dry and thin old man's body became bigger and bigger, more and more majestic as he came closer. With a few steps, his body seemed to cover the heaven and earth, blocking their line of sight!
"You can't protect the new human emperor!"
Star Sovereign Qiao stood up, and the imperial canopy on the carriage started to spin. The pillars under the canopy became thicker and thicker, as well as taller and taller. As the imperial canopy expanded in the wind, the jade and pearls became bigger as well, as if they were stars that surrounded the star sovereign.
The four maidens in front of him seemed incomparably small, and the two pure-blooded suannis which had huge bodies also seemed pitifully small at this instant.
Zhnng.
The sword from the maiden in yellow came out from its sheath and landed in Star Sovereign Qiao's hand.
He swung his sword and met with the sword swung by the old man in front of him. The instant the two sword lights met, Surging River was cut off and the water started flowing backward. The bright sword lights vanished with a flash.
Where the sword lights had vanished, Village Chief was still sitting in the recliner and creaking as he swayed. Star Sovereign Qiao had also sat back down and the size of the treasured carriage had returned back to normal. It was as if the giant and the sky full of stars had been just an illusion.
"I won't kill the human emperor but other people will come." Star Sovereign Qiao looked at the elder lying in the chair across the pearl curtains and said indifferently, "Some young people from High Heavens will find him."
Village Chief said lazily, "As long as it isn't you old farts, feel free to send them."
Star Sovereign Qiao looked at him deeply and suddenly said, "Return to High Heavens."
The two suannis immediately turned the carriage around and rose into the sky, galloping back into the west.
On the carriage, the maiden in green asked, "Star Sovereign, why are we returning just like this…"
Star Sovereign Qiao didn't say a word, but suddenly grunted. Droplets of blood dripped down from the carriage and landed in the forest of Great Ruins that was below them. Wherever the fresh blood landed, flowers would bloom in the entire mountain and plants would grow in a frenzy. They spread until they covered the whole mountain.
Whoosh!
The imperial canopy fell backward and dropped into Great Ruins, scattering all the jades and pearls in the wilderness.
Star Sovereign Qiao's face was slightly pale as he said solemnly, "No need to pick them up, return to High Heavens as soon as possible!"
The four maidens were shocked and the two suannis increased their speed as they galloped toward the west.
At the gate of Disabled Elderly Village, the recliner swayed when the chair split into pieces. Village Chief fell to the ground and called out in a hoarse voice, "Apothecary, Apothecary!"
Apothecary ran out in a panic and grumbled, "Still want to put up a strong front when you don't even have any limbs, serves you right… Stop moving, let me check on your injuries first!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Apothecary diagnosed Village Chief and grumbled, "One's muscles and bones are not as capable when they are old, what's more, you don't even have muscles and bones already. Stubbornly wanted to show off, didn't you? Happy now?"
Village Chief panted heavily. "His injuries are heavier than mine. I have fought basically all of the strong practitioners of High Heavens before."
"Look at how capable you are." Apothecary used needles to suppress his injuries and shook his head. "Didn't you still get your limbs severed by someone with a sword?"
"When I passed the position of the human emperor to Qin Mu, I knew that such a day would come when people would come to find Mu'er." Village Chief gaze became faint as he looked away. "High Heavens will not tolerate the existence of a human emperor.
"I was already old and disabled, so they didn't pay any attention to me. However, they will definitely get rid of the new human emperor. Star Sovereign Qiao is one of the very best in High Heavens so I had to intercept him and make him back off. This way, it won't be strong practitioners like him that will come after Mu'er. They have to follow by the rules, and if they try to go around them, I will force them to follow the rules."
Apothecary prescribed medicine for him as he said, "So what happens after you die? Will they still go according to the rules?"
Village Chief was silent for a moment before revealing a sudden smile. "A human emperor while alive, and a ghost hero when dead. My life can be extinguished, but my will to battle will last forever. It's probably time for you to go out for a walk."
Apothecary shuddered and shook his head. "I'm not going out, whoever that wants to go out can go out."
In West Earth Divine Mountain, Star Sovereign Qiao's carriage landed, and the star sovereign mustered his vital qi with difficulty. Just as he was about to return back to High Heavens, he vomited blood, and the injuries on his body instantly split apart. He raised his hand with difficulty at the four maidens. "Light the incenses…"
The four maidens were astonished, and the maiden in green hurriedly took out three sticks of incense, lighting them up on the altar. After a moment, a face appeared in the sky looking down.
"I've met the old human emperor," Star Sovereign Qiao said while gasping for breath. "Even though he's old and handicapped, he is not yet dead. His abilities have increased tremendously and I was injured by him. His intention is that if the older generation goes to find the new human emperor, he will definitely take things into his own hands; however, he won't interfere if it's the younger generation."
"He's still alive?" The face revealed an astonished expression as its faint voice floated in the air. "Star Sovereign, who do you plan on sending from High Heavens to get rid of the new human emperor?"
"Young Master Xu Shenghua."
That face in the sky became slightly grave. "Is there a need to mobilize Young Master Xu?"
Star Sovereign Qiao nodded. "The old fellow is old and is close to death. The new human emperor is still young and not yet mature. Getting rid of the new human emperor can cut short our troubles forever."
A beam of light descended from the sky and shone on Star Sovereign Qiao's body, forming a road from light. The face in the sky said, "Young Master Xu might not be willing to leave the mountain, you will have to tell it to him personally."
Star Sovereign Qiao said to the four maidens, "Yu, Qing, Yao, Jing, stay here and bring along my four treasures to support Young Master Xu in killing the new human emperor. I shall return to High Heavens, but Young Master Xu will come down soon."
The four maidens acknowledged his words and walked down from the carriage. The two suannis pulled onto the ruined carriage and rose into the sky along the road of light, returning back to High Heavens.
When the light vanished, the four maidens looked at one another, and Yu Liu said, "Old Master has instructed us to follow Young Master Xu to kill the new human emperor, but we still don't know who is the new human emperor."
Jing Yan said, "This news was spread out by Rolan's Golden Palace, so we will have to take a trip there. Qing Ying, Yao Hua, visit that place, Yu Liu and I shall wait here for Young Master Xu."
The two other girls nodded and went down the mountain. They didn't walk into Great Ruins but instead crossed West Earth, the flaming desert, and the snow mountains plateau, heading straight to Rolan's Golden Palace.
Without Star Sovereign Qiao, they didn't dare to step into Great Ruins directly.
In the East Sea, Qin Mu, Si Yunxiang, and Ling Yuxiu were drifting on the water. When it came to night time, the surface of the sea suddenly glowed. It came from countless special fish that came to the surface, lighting up the sea like jewels.
Qin Mu controlled the waves to move forward, and the glowing fish leaped out from his waves one after another. As he moved forward, the fish also hurried with the waves, making it quite interesting.
Some fish had two feelers growing from their forehead, at the end of which were transparent lumps of flesh that were the size of a fist. These lumps were like lanterns which gave off a faint glow at night, so these creatures were known as lantern fish.
The lanternfish grew fins that were like wings. When they rushed out of the waves, they would shake their four fins to fly dozens of yards in the air before landing back into the water.
These strange fish would sometimes swim with the trio, floating beside them to light up the sea for them.
At times, some huge fish that were three to six yards long also came, flapping their fins to look at them curiously.
Si Yunxiang was still a kid at heart, so once she saw that the huge lantern fish had some intelligence, she wanted to play with them and started teaching them to talk, word by word. Out of her expectations, a few of the huge fish actually managed to learn a sentence or two and speak the human language.
On their way, the group passed by the territory of a sea tribe and numerous maidens floated out from the water. They waved their tails, swimming to and fro around the waves and singing a melodious love song. The song they were singing was about two maidens liking the same youth and all the feelings and moods of the girls. There were also a few giant clams and conches that had turned into spirits, clapping their shells to accompany the song.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang became shy after listening to the song by the maidens of the sea tribe. They secretly glanced at the youth beside them and couldn't help feeling slightly furious.
They discovered that Qin Mu wasn't hurrying on his way with his full attention. Instead, he was in a daze, his heart not focused on hurrying, but neither was he listening to the melodious song from the maidens of the sea tribe. He was focused s on comprehending his path.
They didn't know what he was comprehending. Even though there was a smile on his face, his heart wasn't set on the beautiful scenery in front of him nor on the girls beside him.
Qin Mu had been trying to comprehend Unity Technique of Six Directions Realm for the entire journey, and he finally reached the crucial period in the last few days.
'This scoundrel, he deserves to be alone for the rest of his life!' The two girls were furious.
Dao Master allowed Qin Mu to comprehend Dao Sword for fourteen days, and he reaped quite the reward. Even though Dao Sword was made of sword skills, the mathematical reasonings and sword reasonings in it seemed to be able to merge into numerous techniques, thus it was worth to learn from it.
Another hour later, Qin Mu's vital qi gradually weakened, and the speed of the waves going forward also slowed. They gradually shrunk down. Ling Yuxiu immediately took over and executed her spell, making a water dragon carry the three of them forward.
Qin Mu, on the other hand, relaxed while standing on the water dragon, letting Ling Yuxiu bring him along.
Six Directions Divine Treasure was a huge improvement to cultivating people and no matter if it were spells, sword skills, or battle techniques, all of them would be raised to the level of divine arts. This multiplied their power by several times.
At this realm, the techniques had to be able to link Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, and Six Directions Divine Treasures together to mobilize the energy in these three great divine treasures. Qin Mu's Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was a technique but had no skills, Woodcutter's teachings had skills but no path, Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures covered everything in the world but lacked unity; however, the three of them together could form an entire body.
Yet Qin Mu wanted more. He wanted the transformations of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, the stability of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, as well as the maths of Dao Sword to be incorporated into his technique.
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was proficient in transformations and Emperor Yanfeng had imparted this technique to him and even guided him in cultivation. Even though the time Qin Mu had cultivated this technique was short, he had already understood the true essence of this technique's transformations.
The transformations of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique could be said to lie in one's heart. The divine dragons had myriad transformations, and through them, the sword skills, spells, and battle techniques of the other sects could all be executed. The moves could be fierce and strong, but also soft and gentle.
Rulai's Mahayana Sutra was proficient in stability. Old Rulai had not personally taught Qin Mu this technique, but he had allowed him to enter Heavens Cloisters to comprehend. Qin Mu had gone through all twenty cloisters of them, which meant he had mastered Rulai's Mahayana Sutra.
There were twenty heavens in Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. The blessings from the gods and devils from there allowed one to be incomparably stable, unmovable like Mount Meru.
Dao Sword was proficient in algebra, using mathematical reasonings to explain the nature of heaven and earth and the great Dao. When it came to the fourteenth sword, it was already close to Dao.
If these three techniques could be mastered via comprehensive studies and combined into one, merging their advantages with Unity Technique, Qin Mu would definitely improve by leaps and bounds once again!
However, for the past few days, he had focused his mind on this, yet his returns were few. The techniques he wanted to merge were all top notch and each and every one of them were all inclusive. They were the ultimate arts of their sect and were all supreme ultimate arts of a sacred ground.
If they could all be merged, wouldn't it result in the number one technique in the world?
'I got a little greedy.'
Qin Mu suddenly felt like he was wasting time on an unsolvable problem. These techniques were already perfected, so if he really wanted to merge them, it was impossible for him to do so with his current knowledge.
That being the case, why did it have to be so troublesome?
'What I want is the reasonings behind these techniques, and this being the case, why do I have to merge the techniques? Wouldn't it be easier to merge their reasonings?'
Among the beautiful night scenery on the sea, he was suddenly enlightened and felt his frame of mind relax. He also felt the sea and the girls beside him becoming more charming and moving.
Trying to merge the techniques was something he couldn't do. Besides, doing so would neglect the fundamentals by concentrating on the details. On top of that, merging reasonings and not techniques was much easier.
Once he came around to this point, he no longer insisted on his path, but instead became free from nature, cultivating however he felt comfortable.
Once they crossed the territory of the sea tribe, the sea became much quieter. A huge turtle floated over and offered to carry them on their way.
This turtle had attainments in cultivation and floated on the sea surface like a small island. As he swam toward the west, he enquired them about some problems he faced during cultivation.
Qin Mu and the two girls told him everything they knew and solved many doubts he had. The old turtle was very happy and invited them as guests. Qin Mu asked in curiosity, "Where is Old Mister's home? Where do we go to be guests?"
"The four seas are my home, but even though I say so, there are some children living on my back."
When the old turtle said this, numerous turtles surfed up on the waves and leaped onto the back of the old turtle.
"Lights!"
The old turtle smiled and the huge luminous pearls on the turtle shell lighted up, making the island on the turtle's back brightly lit.
The small turtles stood up on their two hind flippers and started dancing and singing around Qin Mu, Ling Yuxiu, and Si Yunxiang. They slapped their bellies and shells as they danced and sang.
Si Yunxiang pulled Qin Mu to join in the singing and dancing on the island, and after fooling around for a moment, Qin Mu also pulled Ling Yuxiu up. The princess was still slightly reserved at first, but she soon joined them.
The night of celebration went by fast, and when the day broke, the old turtle said, "We have reached land, farewell, my friends!"
Qin Mu looked up ahead and saw a land not far away. The city and the harbor were shrouded in early spring morning mist.
The trio jumped from the turtle's back and landed on the harbor.
"Goodbye!" The small turtles waved at them.
"Goodbye!" Qin Mu also waved back at them. When the old turtle disappeared, they walked into River Prefecture City.
"What a charming sea," Ling Yuxiu said with a soft voice.
Si Yunxiang's gaze was still blurry. "What an enthralling night at sea, however, after stepping on land, we have returned back to the mortal world…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In the sky above the sacrificial altar on the divine mountain in West Earth, flowing light poured forth. After a moment, the eyes of Jing Yan and Yu Liu lighted up when they saw an exquisite looking youth walking out. His expression was slightly cold, but when his gaze landed on the two maidens, they became secretly bashful.
"Young Master Xu, Star Sovereign Qiao has ordered us sisters to assist Young Master in getting rid of the new human emperor. Yao Hua and Qing Ying have gone to Rolan's Golden Palace to scout out news of the human emperor."
Yu Liu said softly, "Young Master, let us go meet up with them now…"
Xu Shenghua nodded gently and said, "We should settle this matter as soon as possible, since I want to return to High Heavens. This mortal world provokes dispute and is not a good place for a long stay."
Jing Yan smiled. "Young Master, there are some extraordinary and unusual people in this mortal world and they can't be underestimated. The human emperor is the enemy of our High Heavens and has been against us for many years, so he won't be eliminated that easily."
Xu Shenghua walked down the mountain in his white clothing that was untainted by even a speck of dust. "There are some abnormalities in the mortal world, like Little Jade Capital, Great Thunderclap Monastery, Dao Sect, Heavenly Saint Cult, Middle Earth. Among these sacred grounds, there are experts that are no weaker than West Earth. I won't underestimate them nor will I underestimate the human emperor. I would like to take a look at the places that scare these existences, but the mortal world doesn't match with my nature, so it's best to return as soon as possible."
The two girls immediately caught up to him.
"Since I've already come down, I will have to visit all the sacred grounds in Middle Earth," Xu Shenghua said. "I want to see how their divine arts, paths, and skills have developed. Also, the reform of Eternal Peace Empire is like a wildfire, so I will also have to take a look. My master, Jade Sovereign, had sent a disaster on an order and was injured by the saint that appears once every five hundred years. I would very much like to see how this saint that appears once every five hundred years looks."
The two girls looked at each other, worried slightly.
In River Prefecture City, an official said in a fluster, "When His Highness learned that Cult Master Qin wasn't in any danger, he left to settle affairs in other prefectures."
"Which prefecture is he at now?" Ling Yuxiu asked.
"His Highness left for Snivel Prefecture, but it was quite some time ago, so I do not know in which prefecture he is at now."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "I'll let my cult's disciple scout out news, and I should know where they are soon."
After resting in River Prefecture and eating some food to fill their stomachs, Heavenly Devil Cult i came to report. "His Highness has reached Bent Prefecture."
Qin Mu opened up the geographic map of Eternal Peace and glanced at it. "In that case, the crown prince's next destination should be Peaceful Prefecture; his speed is quite fast."
Ling Yushu had headed south first and reached River Tomb before going west along Gold River. This should have been to manage the irrigation works along the way.
Even though Ling Yushu didn't have the bold and decisive spirit of Emperor Yanfeng, he was quite a professional at handling the irrigation works and transportations in all parts of the empire. With the help of the people from Ministry of Works, his speed was very fast. Furthermore, he was different from the previous Crown Prince Ling Yuxia. He didn't want to snatch authority and this made Emperor Yanfeng very reassured.
With the help of Fan Yunxiao, Ling Yushu's speed was unmatched. When Qin Mu took the two girls to catch up to them, they took half a month to reach it, and Ling Yushu had long left Peaceful Prefecture and reached Mill Prefecture in the west.
Mill Prefecture was not far from Great Thunderclap Monastery, some thousand miles away.
When they reached that place, Ling Yuxiu finally saw her brother, and her eyes turned red. It was obvious that he had been very exhausted these days and had become much thinner.
"Beast Qin didn't do anything to you, right?" Ling Yushu asked her secretly.
Ling Yuxiu was embarrassed and angry as she said while fuming, "Brother, what are you thinking? Saintess Xiang was also around!"
Ling Yushu laughed dryly. "Aren't I just worried about your safety? Beast Qin…"
Ling Yuxiu gave him a stare. "He's the sacred cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and you only took the position of the previous crown prince after he killed him. Be careful of him hearing you call him a beast and killing you off as well, leaving me to be the crown prince."
Ling Yushu became resentful. "Protecting a man that isn't even yours yet, and being fierce even to your brother. That's right, Great Thunderclap Monastery is nearby and I've sent orders to retrieve the land of Great Thunderclap Monastery back to the empire. Since we are close to the monastery, you have to be careful. There have been eminent monks coming to find me to beg."
Ling Yuxiu's gaze flickered. "They are asking for the land back?"
Ling Yushu nodded/ "The lands of Great Thunderclap Monastery are the best agricultural lands nearby, and since Great Thunderclap Monastery rebelled and plotted to kill the emperor to appoint another emperor, I took back their lands. I didn't eradicate them ruthlessly, yet they keep coming to beg again and again, heh… I'm only out this time to manage the irrigation works and people, but this place will delay me for some time."
Just as he was saying that, a clear voice came from outside. "Poor monk is here to beg!"
Ling Yushu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he walked out. Qin Mu also followed him and saw a thin monk with a wax yellow face holding onto a devil subduing alms bowl sitting before them. A few soldiers wanted to carry him away, but couldn't lift him up no matter what.
"Poor monk will only beg for an alms bowl size of land, may Crown Prince give alms." The monk saw the crown prince coming out and lowered his eyelids.
"Your alms bowl should be the Devil Subduing Alms Bowl of the previous Rulai in Great Thunderclap Monastery, right?" Ling Yushu sneered. "This would be a cult legacy treasure if placed in other sects, and an alms bowl size of land would probably be equal to the territory of Great Thunderclap Monastery, some several hundred miles of land. Monk, you are not ordinary; otherwise, you wouldn't have a cult legacy level treasure with you."
At that moment, the monk suddenly saw Qin Mu and raised his eyebrows. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master!"
Qin Mu smiled and acknowledged him, but the monk didn't have a pleasant expression. In the battle at Imperial City's Temple of Heaven, many experts of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect had died or been severely injured. Many of the top-notch experts were slaughtered by Heavenly Devil Cult, and there were numerous eminent monks and old Daoists of Divine Bridge Realm that had lost their lives, so there was a great loss in power for the monks.
If not for this, how could Ling Yushu have retrieved the lands of Great Thunderclap Monastery?
That yellow-faced monk didn't say much and hurried away.
Ling Yushu looked at QIn Mu and said in a low voice, "The monk left without even begging, so he must be going back to call reinforcements to find trouble with you. You have to be careful."
Qin Mu shook his head. "Don't worry, Rulai won't pay attention to him."
The yellow-faced monk was as fast as lightning as he hurried back to Great Thunderclap Monastery. When he reached the golden peak, he saw that the place was solemn and respectful. All the abbots of the various cloisters were gathered at the moment. Some abbots were in sorrow and there were even Teacher Poor and the rest observing the ceremony.
Old Rulai was currently hosting a huge ceremony and had taken off his kasaya and grass shoes. All the various treasures on his body were also taken off, and his body was relaxed.
Monk Jing Ming stood behind him, quiet.
"This…"
The heart of the yellow-faced monk trembled violently, and Old Rulai turned around to look at him with a smile. "Junior Brother Nan Ye, my time is near and I am now resigning from the position of Rulai. With my body free, I plan to go out for a walk, to quietly wait for the great awakening and nirvana. After I achieve perfect awakening, Jing Ming will bring my corporeal body back and allow it to continue protecting Great Thunderclap Monastery and promote buddhism."
The heart of the yellow-faced monk was in grief, but it wasn't good for him to show it. "Rulai is a realm, it can not be pushed away nor returned."
Old Rulai smiled. "What I return is the Revered One of the World of Great Thunderclap Monastery."
"Then who will succeed as Rulai?" the yellow-faced Monk Nan Ye asked.
Old Rulai pointed at the seat of Revered One of the World and smiled. "Whoever will become a rulai will take this seat. Those that are not rulai won't be able to sit there. Don't you worry, there will be a rulai that will sit there. My Dao friend is here, I'm off!"
Nan Ye still wanted to ask questions, but Old Rulai walked away and went down the mountain.
Nan Ye was stunned as he looked at the seat of Revered One of the World.
Below the mountain, an old and a young Daoist were resting their legs next to the mountain gate.
"Dao Master, Daozi." Old Rulai and Monk Jing Ming went forward to greet the two travelers.
Daozi Lin Xuan and Old Dao Master hurriedly got up to return the greeting. Old Dao Master smiled. "You're free?"
Old Rulai nodded and smiled. "I'm free. Let us go."
The two sect masters of the two biggest righteous sacred grounds looked at each other and smiled while saying in unison, "You have also aged!"
Old Dao Master sighed. "I want to take a look at Little Jade Capital. I heard there are immortals there that live freely and without worry. They are then people who have truly achieved the Dao."
"I will like to go to Great Ruins first," said Old Rulai.
Old Dao Master took a glance at him. "Even though you aren't Revered One of the World anymore, you still can't let Great Thunderclap Monastery go."
"Aren't you the same as well?" Old Rulai smiled. "Since you've already resigned from the position of Dao Master, why are you still bringing Little Dao Master along? Aren't you trying to groom him more before you leave to become an immortal?"
Old Dao Master sighed and said, "We'll go to Great Ruins first."
The four people walked toward Great Ruins.
Not long after they left, a young master brought four maidens who were all wearing different colored dresses. They were also carrying different items, like a jade vase, a guqin, a sword, and a pipa, as they came to the mountain gate. They looked at the monk receiving them at the gate and said, "Young Master Xu Shenghua from High Heavens has come forth to visit."
"High Heavens?"
The heart of the monk receiving them trembled, and he immediately went up the mountain to report. When he reached the top of the mountain, the expression of Monk Nan Ye and the rest changed drastically. They were all slightly flustered.
"What should we do now that people from High Heavens have come? Rulai's position is now vacant so who has the qualifications to receive the esteemed guests from High Heavens?"
"Don't panic first," Monk Nan Ye said. "Let's invite this Young Master Xu Shenghua up first. No, we should all go and welcome him, don't forget your etiquette!"
All of the monks went down the mountain and saw a young master with four beauties standing at the mountain gate, all of whom looked extraordinary. Nan Ye went forth and said,
Amitabha…"
"You are not Rulai?" Xu Shenghua's gaze was like lightning when it landed on the monk's face while he shook his head. "Rulai have no need to chant the names of buddha. Where's Rulai?"
"This…" Monk Nan Ye said. "Revered One of the World has just resigned and there's no Rulai in Great Thunderclap Monastery today…"
Xu Shenghua turned around and left, leaving the crowd of monks behind him. The four maidens immediately went up, and Yu Liu in green asked, "Why does Young Master not want to go to Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
Xu Shenghua shook his head. "Old Rulai resigned yet there's no new rulai, which means that he felt that none of the monks on the entire mountain were worth to be rulai, so he just left like this. Since Rulai is not satisfied with the monks on his mountain, why should I go and see their abilities?"
Qing Ying smiled. "So Young Master despises them. Young Master, we saw the shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace when we went there yet we didn't see any figures worth seeing. Even their Grandmaster was merely so, avoiding to meet Young Master and being cowardly before even fighting. This time, there also isn't any worthy person to meet in Great Thunderclap Monastery, so should we go to Dao Sect now?"
Xu Shenghua nodded and said, "Dao Sect has fourteen Dao Swords, and my master said that Dao Swords are very extraordinary. It's worth to take a look."
They came to Mill Prefecture and went upstream Gold River. They found a ship and prepared to head down the river when they saw a youth measuring the depth of the river at its heart.
The youth used his vital qi as a ruler. With a wave of his hand, trails of vital qi went straight into the river, and he would report the depth each time he did that. Beside him was an official recording the measurements with a brush.
Xu Shenghua stopped the boat and looked at that youth as he stood quietly.
The youth seemed to notice this and looked over at him, giving off a radiant smile that revealed his white teeth. This gave a pleasant feeling.
Xu Shenghua felt his emotions influenced and smiled back in greeting.
The hearts of the four girls beside him melted when they saw his smile.
"Young Master actually smiled!"
Xu Shenghua saluted the youth in the river and asked, "This senior brother, could we have a small chat on the ship?"
"Please wait a moment, Senior Brother, let me finish handling the hydrographic surveys."
Xu Shenghua waited for a moment, and when the youth had finished handling the hydrographic surveys, he boarded the ship and the two of them greeted each other before sitting down.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"I was measuring the water level just now and there's still some mud on me, please pardon me."
Qin Mu examined this young master on the ship and felt that this person was someone from the mortal realm. He couldn't help sighing ruefully that even a man could be so charming. "May I ask where did Senior Brother come from?"
"High Heavens."
Xu Shenghua examined Qin Mu and saw that this youth was very simple. His gaze was very pure and seemed to have no impurities at all, but there was also a wild and unruly air about him. "Where did Senior Brother come from?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment, but couldn't recall any place called High Heavens, so decided that it had to be some hidden sacred ground. He replied, "I'm from Disabled Elderly Village."
Xu Shenghua had also not heard about the name Disabled Elderly Village and memorized this name while thinking to himself, 'Could it be some hidden sacred ground?'
"I saw Senior Brother sending out dozens of vital qi threads with just a wave of a hand and that was very bizarre. It seemed like threads were being constructed from swords, which is very different from the usual method of refining qi into a thread. This confused me a bit."
Xu Shenghua opened a tea bag to make tea, and the four maidens went to boil water. After waiting for a moment, they placed the tea leaves into the boiling water after it had been slightly cooled.
Xu Shenghua covered the teapot and said, "Your sword mastery is extraordinary. You sent dozens of vital qi threads into the water, and they all went straight to the bottom of the river. Each of the vital qi threads landed on the sand and didn't push even the speck of it away to go deeper, nor did they make any of the sand float. The strong current of the river also didn't have any impact on your vital qi thread. This kind of control is simply worthy of admiration. You have extremely high attainments in algebra, so could you have learned the sword techniques of Dao Sect before?"
Qin Mu was astonished. "Senior Brother has good eyes, I have indeed learned the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword before. Vital qi threads are hard to control as they have no weight, so to make the vital qi thread hang straight down I had indeed had to calculate it with algebra. What I used was the calculation of magnetic force to make them unmovable."
Xu Shenghua was done with the tea and raised the teapot to pour Qin Mu a cup of tea while saying, "To be able to control so many vital qi threads without applying any strength requires great knowledge and meticulousness down to the smallest detail. If you used this ability to control vital qi thread in controlling swords, your sword techniques would definitely be extremely terrifying, and I think that only the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword would require such fine sword control techniques. Furthermore, your vital qi thread is different from others, using sword qi as a thread, making it a sort of a sword technique."
"Vital qi thread is the Spiral Sword Form founded by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor." Qin Mu was once again astonished and exclaimed in admiration, "You're a clever one! It's my first time meeting someone like you who is able to see through my vital qi thread at first glance. Many people who were defeated by my hands had never realized it, so you're very extraordinary. Seems like High Heavens are very extraordinary as well."
Xu Shenghua smiled. "I saw through it by luck. To be able to teach a disciple like you, Disabled Elderly Village is then the extraordinary one. Come, have a taste of the Green Destiny Tea from my High Heavens."
Qin Mu took a whiff of the tea fragrance then tasted a sip. It was slightly bitter and astringent when it first went into his mouth, but after that, the sweetness rushed forth endlessly into his taste buds, causing his saliva to excrete.
The tea leaves of Green Destiny Tea were also very beautiful, each of them looking like sharp feathers that floated at the top, bottom, and the middle of the cup.
"Good tea. Could you gift some to me?" Qin Mu asked.
Xu Shenghua hesitated, then said, "I didn't bring much Green Destiny for this trip…"
Qin Mu smiled. "I'll treat you to wine another day!"
Xu Shenghua's eyes lighted up, and he took out his bag of tea and gave half of its contents to Qin Mu with a smile. "Deal! Where do I find you after I've settled my task?"
Qin Mu put away the bag of tea. "The capital city, I'm a palace grandee there. When you're in the capital, you can find me at Imperial College."
"Alright. After I'm done with my task, I'll go to Eternal Peace Capital City to find you for a drink."
The two of them then used tea in place of wine to toast each other, and the two tea cups collided with a clink. Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua seemed safe as ever, but their sleeves suddenly rose up, and the whooshing of wind came from behind them.
The river surface suddenly rumbled, and the water exploded. The waves that were stirred up formed two lines upstream and downstream, only calming down after exploding dozens of times.
The four maidens on the ship jumped in shock. Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua were having a good chat so why did they suddenly clash with each other?
Qin Mu revealed a hint of astonishment and looked Xu Shenghua deeply in the eyes. Xu Shenghua was also slightly astonished and lifted the teacup to place it by his mouth.
After enjoying the fragrance of the tea, Xu Shenghua took the seven-strings guqin from Qing Ying's hands and played it leisurely, creating a lofty artistic mood. It was like a god beyond the nine heavens was using the sound of guqin to express his true feelings. It was also like an invitation, calling guests from beyond the heavens.
Qin Mu listened to it for a moment and praised, "Truly a lofty artistic mood that's out of this mortal world. However, I'm in this mortal world and can't jump out of it."
Ling Yuxiu shouted over from the side of the river at that moment, "The one that herds cows, come back quickly!"
"Got it!" Qin Mu shouted back as he turned around at her. He then rose with an apology. "I've got many ordinary affairs to handle so I won't disturb you anymore. I still have to check the irrigation works."
Xu Shenghua rose to send him off. "Affairs of the mortal world will only cause troubles in your heart, it would be better to go to High Heavens for tranquility."
Qin Mu jumped off the ship and smiled. "You're too free and unfettered, I can't live such an idle life. I like to be busy. Remember to find me in the capital, I still owe you a drink!"
Xu Shenghua nodded, and his decorated pleasure ship floated down the river, sailing downstream.
On the ship, Qing Ying came to the table, ready to take away the teacups, but Xu Shenghua stopped her. "Don't touch them."
Qing Ying was bewildered and immediately stopped.
There were two teacups on the table. One had been used by Qin Mu and the other one by Xu Shenghua. Qin Mu's cup still had half a cup of tea remaining while Xu Shenghua's teacup was empty.
Xu Shenghua told Yu Liu, "Use the jade vase to protect the table and not spoil our ship."
Yu Liu immediately executed her vital qi, and the jade vase she was carrying flew up and fell with the mouth of the vase facing down.
A light screen poured out from the jade vase and protected the table.
Xu Shenghua blew at the table, and the two teacups suddenly exploded. Xu Shenghua's teacup exploded into pieces, numerous pieces shooting out in all directions, turning the table into fine powders.
Meanwhile, the half cup of tea in Qin Mu's teacup suddenly turned into a bright light and split the cup in the center. It fell in two pieces, but it didn't shatter!
"Expert." Xu Shenghua had Yu Liu take away her jade vase and examined the broken pieces of the two teacups. With a grave expression, he said, "This youth is about the same age as me, but his cultivation is actually stronger than mine. It's truly formidable. The divine arts practitioners from Middle Earth really can't be underestimated!"
He had touched cups with Qin Mu, and the two of them had taken that chance to clash once with each other. When their vital qi collided, their divine arts were hidden in that move. Xu Shenghua's vital qi was slightly suppressed by Qin Mu's vital qi. Since it was fierce and strong, the cup had exploded into pieces.
However, Xu Shenghua was superior in divine arts and had focused his power in one line, so Qin Mu's cup was sliced in the center.
Both of their methods were high level and had intercepted the power of each other's divine arts, making them remain in the cups. They had temporarily sealed the will and power of each other's divine arts, so the two cups were still complete when placed on the table. However, when an external force touched them, the will and power contained in them were activated!
"He is probably Daozi of Dao Sect." Xu Shenghua looked upstream and praised, "Dao Sect is truly extraordinary, the future accomplishments of the current Daozi will be no small matters! Now that we saw Dao Sect's Daozi, let's go to Little Jade Capital before finding the new human emperor. Grand Shaman said that this new human emperor is none other than the Heavenly Devil Cult Master so we'll visit Heavenly Devil Cult at that time."
On the river, Qin Mu ran over to help Ling Yuxiu who was currently stabbing stakes in the dam. She asked, "Who was the person on the ship just now? Could he have evil intentions? I saw the divine arts of you two exploding on the surface of the river."
Qin Mu smiled. "We were just trying to test each other out. I'm very happy today, very happy!"
Ling Yuxiu flicked the stake at him and heard a trembling noise as she asked in bewilderment, "What's made you so happy?"
"I always thought there was only me who's an Overlord Body in this world." Qin Mu was excited and gripped his fists tightly. Looking at the decorated pleasure ship that was sailing downstream, he said, "But today, I finally found another Overlord Body! If Village Chief knew about this, he would definitely be so happy that he would go crazy! There's a second Overlord Body in this world, so the old man will definitely be happy for me!"
Ling Yuxiu was slightly muddle-headed and thought to herself, 'What Overlord Body?'
Qin Mu walked to and fro in excitement. "I tested his cultivation just now and he was merely a line weaker than me, just one line! Sister, do you know? Even on the same realm, Imperial Preceptor's cultivation is a lot inferior to mine, yet this guy is only one line inferior. If this isn't Overlord Body, then what is Overlord Body?"
Ling Yuxiu stabbed another stake into the huge dam and didn't know whether to laugh or cry/ "Imperial Preceptor is a saint that appears once every five hundred years, how could his cultivation be weaker than yours on the same realm? Come and help me quickly, I can't finish all of these by myself. Everyone else has gone to make water wheels."
Qin Mu immediately went forward to help, but he still couldn't contain the excitement in his heart. 'A second Overlord Body… Even though his cultivation is weaker than mine, his moves and divine arts are stronger than mine… As expected of the Overlord Body!'
Ling Yuxiu saw that he was preoccupied with his thoughts and was slightly angry. However, she was also happy for him in her heart. It was natural to be happy after finding someone similar to oneself.
After a moment, Qin Mu finally calmed down, and his vital qi became sensible and linked up Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, and Six Directions. The operating speed became faster and faster, becoming more and more smooth and unhindered.
Ling Yuxiu suddenly stopped and felt slight abnormalities in her surroundings.
At this moment, the sound of water became clearer, and the chirping of birds seemed sweet sounding. The fragrance of the flowers in the air, the smell of the green grass, and even all her senses became incomparably clear.
She was slightly bewildered and looked at Qin Mu. He had a clear gaze and it met with hers. Ling Yuxiu was brought along by his gaze and suddenly entered a wonderful state which stirred her spirit embryo and soul.
The two of them stood on the river dam and held hands, looking at each other with smiles. However, their bodies remained motionless.
Their souls and spirit embryos flew out from their bodies and seemed to become incomparably vast. They went on a mental journey through the skies, traveling a thousand miles.
Ling Yuxiu saw that she was holding onto Qin Mu's hand as they flew high above and saw thousands of temples and monasteries on Mount Meru. They then entered North Pole and saw snow lotus herbs in the world of ice and snow. After that, they went to the South Sea and stepped onto the white clouds to observe the jade sea and blue sky. Later, they visited Great Ruins as well and saw layers and layers of divine lights standing tall and upright among the boundless mountains.
At this moment, they seemed to hear someone calling their names and instantly felt an invisible force of attraction coming over and pulling them back from ten thousand miles away.
Swoosh!
The souls of the two people returned to their bodies, and they realized that they were still standing on the river damn, smiling at each other. Ling Yuxiu's face turned slightly red, and she immediately let go of Qin Mu's hand. Beside them, Crown Prince Ling Yushu was looking at them with a stern face.
Qin Mu reminiscenced about the feeling he had felt just now and said, "Your Highness, I had just comprehended Unity Technique of Six Directions Realm and suddenly went into a kind of wonderful state. My spirit embryo and soul had fused together and flew out of my body to roam the vast world. Does Your Highness knows what happened?"
Ling Yushu's body trembled violently, and he cried out, "So fast? You have cultivated your primordial spirit!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Primordial spirit?"
Qin Mu was slightly puzzled. He had perfected his Unity Technique on the Six Directions Realm and entered comprehension. Then, he somehow brought Ling Yuxiu's soul and spirit embryo to fly out as well. Was this primordial spirit?
"Spirit and soul, spirit and soul. The first is spirit and the second is soul. Spirit means spirit embryo and soul means soul. When you succeed in cultivating a spirit embryo, the soul is formed."
Ling Yushu was much higher than them in cultivation. Besides that, ever since Crown Prince Ling Yuxia had died, Emperor Yanfeng came to value him more and appointed a new grand tutor, grand preceptor, and grand protector to teach him how to cultivate and how to manage the politics of the empire.
Ling Yushu had also had quite plentiful gains lately and his cultivation had increased much faster than when he was in Imperial College. Now that he was already at the peak of Seven Stars Realm, he was more than capable to guide Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu.
"Primordial spirit is formed when the soul attaches itself to the spirit embryo to form a god in the human body. Vital qi then transforms into primordial essence of the soul which forms the primordial spirit.
"Other than giving birth to a spirit weapon in Six Directions Realm, there's also the primordial spirit there. However, primordial spirit only matures after Six Directions Realm enters Celestial Being Realm, so it can roam to the ends of the world. Both of you have just entered Six Directions Realm, so how could your primordial spirit come out of your body and roam the world?"
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were at a loss. They didn't know what was happening, and their primordial spirits had just carelessly left their bodies to roam the world.
"Six Directions is heaven, earth, north, south, east, and west. It's also the fusion of the body and will, will and qi, qi and soul, soul and spirit, spirit and heaven as well as heaven and earth. Only when this step is achieved are all the Six Directions reached."
Ling Yushu pondered it, then said, "After Six Directions, the soul and essence link up. With the primordial spirit and corporeal body as one, the primordial spirit can finally come out of the body. If you come out of your body without that, you might not be able to return to your corporeal body. How did you guys do it of all things…"
He was completely bewildered.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu looked at each other and shuddered. If they hadn't achieved the fusion of body, will, qi, soul, spirit, heaven, and earth, they might not have been able to find their corporeal bodies after their primordial spirits had come out of their bodies!
'We were having so much fun, but luckily elder brother was able to get here in time and call us back. Otherwise, our primordial spirits might not have been able to find our corporeal bodies.' Ling Yuxiu felt fear at the ordeal.
"Roaming the world is a small matter. When you reach Celestial Being Realm, you can roam the universe and witness the strange things in it. However, there's still a Seven Stars Realm in between."
Ling Yushu threw this unexplainable matter to the back of his head and said, "Imperial College teaches a lot in regards to Six Directions Realm, you should go and listen to more lessons. Shan Youxin has already completed the water wheel and is now heading to the manufacturing factory in Mill Prefecture to improve their craftsmanship. He wants to invite Bea…"
He wanted to say the word beast but caught himself and changed it. "Great Cult Master Qin to head there as well."
Qin Mu hesitated. "This river dam…"
Dozens of imperial scholars came to the side of the river, and it was Chen Wanyun and the rest. Ling Yushu said, "Hand the river dam to them. This time the assistant minister plans to improve the craftsmanship of the manufacturing factory by forging some River Suppression Beasts so he said you must come over."
They headed to the manufacturing factory and met with Shan Youxin who had just come there with the people from Ministry of Works. Mill Prefecture had a lot of mountains and a lot of mines. The manufacturing factory was in charge of refining black gold and black iron. Qin Mu met up with Shan Youxin and Shan Youxin immediately greeted him.
"Refining treasures and forging weapons requires black gold and black iron so His Majesty has long had the intention to construct a manufacturing factory in Mill Prefecture. However, Great Thunderclap Monastery had great power then, so he hesitated. But Great Thunderclap Monastery has suffered a great loss now, and His Majesty wants to take this chance to expand the manufacturing factory, thus we invite Cult Master to come forth and improve the boilers and the industrial arts of forging and pressing…"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "That's easy."
Ling Yuxiu went forward at that moment and said to Shan Youxin, "Assistant Minister, I've cultivated to Six Directions Realm and forged my spirit weapon. Can I ask Assistant Minister to improve on it." When she was done, she took out her Nine Dragons Weapons.
Shan Youxin took it and smiled. "Princess has a master by her side so why are you asking me?"
Ling Yuxiu was bewildered, not knowing what master he meant.
Si Yunxiang also took out Thousand Silks and said, "This is my Thousand Silks Spirit Weapon, can Hall Master Shan help me?"
Shan Youxin took her Thousand Silks and examined the two spirit weapons. His face changed slightly, and he gently used them. He then saw the two forms of the spirit weapons change precipitously. The Nine Dragons Weapons instantly expanded and transformed into nine flying dragons with incomparably vivid scales. On the other hand, Thousand Silks increased step by step, spreading open and folding up from time to time, doing it in an unpredictable manner.
"Fellow colleagues, come and take a look!" Shan Youxin immediately summoned over the numerous officials of Ministry of Works. The assistant minister came forward and everyone observed the two spirit weapons and exclaimed endlessly. Assistant Minister said, "Truly marvelous creations excelling nature, the forging skill is truly fantastic, supernatural!"
The people of Ministry of Works studied them for a while before Shan Youxin returned them back to Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang while saying, "Saintess, Princess, these two spirit weapons were made by Cult Master, right?"
Ling Yuxiu nodded. "The one that herds cows forged them for us in the sea."
Shan Youxin revealed an expression of admiration and said, "Cult Master's forging skill has already surpassed that of all of us in the Ministry of Works. We might be able to surpass Cult Master in terms of some techniques, but overall, we are inferior to him."
Ling Yuxiu was stunned and cried out, "You can't make it better?"
"We can't make it better than Cult Master," Shan Youxin said. "I had just taken a look and already learned quite a lot from Princess and Saintess's spirit weapons. Both of your spirit weapons are already perfected and Ministry of Works can't improve them any more."
Si Yunxiang was skeptical. "Is Hall Master Shan giving him face because he is the cult master?"
Shan Youxin became solemn. "Cult Master Qin's forging skills and techniques are close to god and close to Dao. Based on his techniques alone, no one in the world can surpass him. His forging methods are extremely intricate and I have never seen most of them nor even heard about them! The pill furnace of Incense Master Fan Yunxiao's ship was forged by Cult Master, and I was present at that time, gasping in amazement! His skills can be said to be number one in the world!"
The two girls stared with their eyes wide open, unable to say a word.
Qin Mu immediately said humbly, "Assistant Minister praises me too much, I really don't deserve so much praise. I had merely learned how to forge, so I don't dare to claim myself to be the number one in the world!"
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang blinked and looked at the cowherd boy of Great Ruins while thinking to themselves, 'He always likes to brag but now he actually knows how to be humble, how rare…'
"I'm at most number two in the world," Qin Mu said humbly. "I'm inferior to Grandpa Mute from our village. Grandpa Mute is the best blacksmith in the villages around us, and when we go to the temple fair, his kitchen knives are always the first to be sold when placed with mine."
Shan Youxin sigh. "Such a divine knife, I would also like to buy one back to study and treasure. Never would have I expect for them to be hidden in the fair of a small village, how I wish I could go back there and buy all of them. Cult Master, you can just teach us how to improve the manufacturing factory this time. Please!"
They grouped around Qin Mu like he was a revered leader and behind them was Ling Yushu, Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and the government minister. The four of them stood with their eyes wide open, slightly stunned.
The government minister sighed and said, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, the first imperial academician of Imperial College, the reputable Divine Physician Qin, and now the number two in the world in forging and refining treasures. This imperial academician sure is unrivaled. What other abilities does he have that people don't know about?"
Ling Yuxiu suddenly thought of something and said, "His drawing skill is very good. He once gave me a painting and stamped it with runes. He said if he didn't do that, the me in the painting would come out and run away from the painting."
Si Yunxiang also recalled an event and said, "We were able to escape the hands of Long Jiaonan because of his paintings as well. He painted a storm on the sea and a ship breaking through the wind and waves, then the exact same storm appeared on the sea as well as the ship, ferrying us away!"
Ling Yushu looked at the government minister and asked, "Does Pavilion of Art Saint have these kinds of abilities?"
The government minister shook his head. "The talents of Pavilion of Art Saint can only draw what they see. Their paintings have grace and those people have the skill, but I've never heard about any of their drawings coming to life. Heavenly Devil Cult Master is truly…"
He shook his head and said, "Too surprising. How can a person have such high attainments in so many skills? Furthermore, he is still so humble? This kind of morality and conduct really make one sigh in admiration."
"Is the one that herds cows humble?" Ling Yuxiu was slightly puzzled. The one that herds cows was clearly very arrogant, giving off the appearance of 'I, your father, is the number two in the world'.
Si Yunxiang was also unwilling to accept it. Their sacred cult master was usually not matched with the word humble. When she wanted to challenge him, he would give off the appearance of 'You won't be able to beat me, go train more'.
"He's already quite humble." The government minister sighed ruefully. "If I had ten or twenty percent of his skills, I would be bragging about being the number one in the world yet he never proclaims it nor shows off. He will only say the truth when other people ask about it. He doesn't say he's the number one in the world, instead, he says he's the number two. I have never met such a humble person before!"
Ling Yushu was stunned. This Heavenly Devil Cult Master was out of his expectations. 'Such an outstanding youth, sister seems to be…"
He became worried if his sister would actually be a match for such an outstanding Heavenly Devil Cult Master. He then immediately shook his head. 'What am I thinking? That brat better not get close to my sister!"
They saw QIn Mu and the rest measuring the structure of the boilers. The officials of Ministry of Works were using all kinds of calculation tools to inspect everything while others were calculating. They were all so busy that they paid no attention to the group.
After some time, everyone gathered around Qin Mu and saw him using vital qi to draw the blueprints. In the air, he drew the structure of the new boiler and the forging press machine. There were also a few blueprints of human-shaped machines. Other people immediately recorded them and went to get the required materials.
The manufacturing factory was buzzing with activity, and deafening sounds of forging rang all the time. Qin Mu explained his forging techniques to the people beside him as he forged, and all the officials of Ministry of Works nodded repeatedly.
After some time, Qin Mu finally created the first forging press machine. It was a human-shaped mechanism with eight arms which had a large pill furnace on its chest. In it, the medicinal stones could be sent to activate the mechanism.
The upper body of this human mechanism was a composite of smelted black gold and black copper which continuously flowed down its body. The black gold and black copper composite could flow to the hands to transform into a huge hammer or tools like steel drill or pliers. Furthermore, it had immense strength and could apply tens of thousands of pounds of pressure.
The person controlling the pill furnace at the side would only feel slightly warm, which was more than bearable. By controlling the machine here, one could control its mechanism to forge the black gold and black copper into shape.
The runes and mechanisms used here were very complicated, and Ling Yushu couldn't help being dumbstruck when he saw Shan Youxin and the rest actually recording what they learned into a few thick books. When they were piled together, they were almost half the height of a human.
He went forward to flip through them and sighed in admiration. Within them were mostly runes transformed from divine arts. Qin Mu had applied common divine arts and spells into his forging, brilliantly exhibiting the application of what he had learned!
'Cult master is really worthy of the word sacred, he's not like Li Tianxing, that evil person!'
Ling Yushu was deeply moved. When he saw Qin Mu resting to the side, he immediately went to him with a smile. "Cult Master, if I joined Heavenly Saint Cult, what position could you give me?"
Qin Mu raised his head with an astonished expression. "Aren't you worried the emperor might be fearful of you after you enter Heavenly Saint Cult?"
Ling Yushu was slightly excited. "He has his imperial preceptor and I also need to have my imperial preceptor! If I ascend to the throne in the future, you will be my Imperial Preceptor Qin!"
Qin Mu rose and shook his head. "Eternal Peace is not my homeland. I'm a person of Great Ruins. Does Your Highness still remember that? I'm a person abandoned by gods and can't be your imperial preceptor. Do you have the guts to go against the orders of gods and let the people of Great Ruins become your people as well?"
Ling Yushu was stunned.
"You are inferior to your father, he would dare to do that."
Qin Mu patted his shoulder and walked toward Shan Youxin and the rest. "He dares to face opprobrium and bring about his reform. The very first time he met me, he didn't see me as an abandoned person. You can only preserve the accomplishments of the previous generations and still feel that I'm an abandoned person of Great Ruins. Your Highness, if you had great ambitions like the emperor, I would become your imperial preceptor. However, do you have them?"
Cold sweats ran down Ling Yushu's forehead when he thought of Emperor Yanfeng's words and actions. He knew he couldn't do it.
It was not Ling Yuxiu who was no match for this man. It was him who was no match for an imperial preceptor like Qin Mu.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The Ministry of Works reconstructed the manufacturing factory in Mill Prefecture while Qin Mu redesigned the great furnace. The manufacturing factory looked completely new, and there were new forging machine giants in it. With the great furnace activated, all the machine giants started operating, and the factory was instantly buzzing with activity.
Shan Youxin and the rest hurried to adjust the components during testing while Qin Mu executed his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to circulate his vital qi. Other people first cultivated their spirit weapon before cultivating their primordial spirit after perfecting Six Directions Realm. Furthermore, the primordial spirit wasn't perfect at that time as well. One would have to cultivate to Celestial Being Realm for the primordial spirit to take shape and roam the universe. However, he had cultivated his primordial spirit before cultivating his spirit weapon.
His primordial spirit was still very weak and had not been cultivated to the extent of taking shape. If it could take shape behind him, he would be a Celestial Being.
However, between Six Directions and Celestial Being was Seven Stars Realm. He had just entered Six Directions Realm and was far from that step.
His primordial spirit roaming the world was only something that happened by chance. It was because he had met an expert like Xu Shenghua which had agitated his mind. Only because of it did he manage to enter comprehension beside the river and brought Ling Yuxiu to roam the world.
According to the traditional way of cultivating, he still needed to give birth to a spirit weapon with his Six Directions Divine Treasure.
With the circulation of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, Qin Mu felt his vital qi linking his spirit embryo, five elements, and six directions together. His soul and spirit embryo fused together and his primordial essence condensed, forming his primordial spirit. As he breathed in and out the nature of heaven and earth, his cultivation speed became much faster than before.
'Do other people cultivate like me? Based on the crown prince's words, it doesn't seem that way…'
He couldn't help feeling bewildered when he listened to Ling Yushu's words about how it was impossible for people to cultivate their primordial spirit at this stage.
After cultivating primordial spirit, his cultivation speed was very fast, while if he didn't cultivate it, he would only stay with the normal routine.
He temporarily placed his doubts aside and focused on executing Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. He guided the vital qi in his body and mobilized his qi and blood. In his Six Directions Divine Treasure, the primordial essences gathered and continuously flew into the center. At that place, a spirit weapon was gradually taking shape.
Its shape born from Six Directions Divine Treasure was usually the most compatible with one's technique. This kind of spirit weapon was usually different from other spirit weapons as it breathed together and shared the same fate as its owner. It was a spirit weapon that grew together with the person.
There was no need to even think about the shape of the spirit weapon. It naturally formed its shape as it accompanied the person's cultivation.
While the spirit weapon was under construction, Qin Mu still couldn't see what shape it was going to take. He could only see a ball of light as his primordial essences came flying from all directions, gathering onto that ball of light.
Faint markings of runes could be seen on the primordial essences, which was very mysterious. However, Qin Mu saw that these rune markings were nothing more than his techniques and skills. They were simply displayed in the form of runes.
The Nine Dragons of Ling Yuxiu and Thousand Silks of Si Yunxiang also had these kinds of rune markings. When they were forged, these kinds of rune markings had to be imprinted on them to match well.
The primordial essences flying towards the ball of light appeared as sword markings, so when the primordial essences flew toward the ball of light, it looked like flying swords were continuously flowing into the sword pellet.
That sword pellet wasn't a pellet but a sword. It was refining dozens, no, more like hundreds or even thousands of swords into one.
Therefore, the intrinsic quality of a sword pellet was still a sword.
Six Directions Divine Treasure giving birth to a sword pellet spirit weapon was due to primordial essences with the form of flying swords rushing into the center. These primordial essences merged to form the shape of the pellet.
The sword shapes were also called primordial swords. Only when every single one of them entered the pellet could one forge the sword pellet that belonged solely to oneself. Furthermore, the number of flying swords in the sword pellet had to match the number of primordial swords.
Refining a sword pellet was the same as refining a sword until its form was even finer than a needle before turning it into the shape of a pellet. When refining a sword pellet, one would have to refine each and every single sword to the standard of being able to change their size at will. This point was very difficult.
This was why the prices of sword pellets were high. Many divine arts practitioners usually used sword cases as a replacement. These could store much fewer flying stores. When refining them, bones of a beast with taotie bloodline were needed to increase the internal space, so in truth that they weren't that cheap, either.
Imperial College provided every imperial scholar with a sword case, so the empire's treasury also had to spend quite an amount of money every year.
The imperial scholars that were truly rich would usually invite reputable masters and blacksmiths to forge a sword pellet for them as they were a symbol of status.
"So my spirit weapon is a sword pellet. Even though sword pellets are hard to make, it shouldn't be too difficult for me."
Qin Mu had no real idea how valuable sword pellets were. After all, sword pellets were strewn everywhere around Disabled Elderly Village. They were under Granny Si's bed, in her shoes, and were even eaten by some of the hens.
What was even more terrifying was that Mute had an entire chest of sword pellets. It was filled to the brim and as heavy as a mountain.
Qin Mu thought that it was hard work to refine a sword pellet, but since he had learned under Mute, he didn't believe that it'd be too much trouble.
However, in his Six Directions Divine Treasure, primordial swords were still continuously entering the ball of light. Qin Mu calculated them and his face turned slightly green. The number of primordial swords that had entered the ball of light had already reached five thousand!
This meant that he had to refine five thousand flying swords to forge his own sword pellet. But that wasn't even worst of it. There were more primordial swords entering the ball of light, which meant that his future work was still increasing.
Qin Mu wasn't worried about having no money to refine his sword pellet spirit weapon, though. He was never worried about money, but he was worried about the pellet being too heavy!
Even if a thousand flying swords were refined until they were extremely fine, their weight wouldn't change. If this many flying swords were added into a small pellet, its weight would be considerable!
Eternal Peace Empire's flying swords were classified into nine grades. The weight of the ninth grade one was two pounds, and this sword had the most inferior quality, having been forged using ordinary metal. These were weapons used by ordinary people, and even if they were all ninth grade swords, the finished sword pellet would be ten thousand pounds in weight!
The bad news was that the better the flying sword was, the more it weighed. A second-grade flying sword would usually be a thousand pounds. Only first grade flying swords, which belonged to first ranking high officials, such as Qin Mu's Junior Protector Sword, were very light.
Junior Protector Sword was made from the best materials in the world and forged by the best master of sword refinement. There were only over a dozen of them forged, and even if Qin Mu wanted to refine a sword pellet with such swords, he wouldn't have enough good materials to do so.
'Third-grade swords are forged using Winter Iron Essence and Winter Crystal Iron. It's just that the weight would be too heavy. Even if I managed to refine them into a sword pellet, I wouldn't be able to use it. Just the sword pellet alone would exhaust me to death.'
As Qin Mu thought about this, his primordial swords finally stopped and no longer entered the ball of light. From the start to the end, there had been eight thousand swords.
'Eight thousand swords, holy sh*t. Even if I'm rich, I'll still go bankrupt trying to make so many of them!'
Qin Mu was starting to feel a little terrified. But at that moment, he saw another type of primordial essences flying over and entering the ball of light. They were buddhas that were coming from all directions.
"Wait a minute, isn't it a sword pellet?"
He was slightly stupefied. If his spirit weapon was a sword pellet, everything should have already been over, so why were there still buddha-shaped primordial essences flying over?
Other than them, there were also primordial knives. They entered the ball of light, followed by primordial Dao in the shapes of wuji diagram, taiji diagram, four symbols diagram, five elements diagram, and eight trigrams.
After that came all kinds of runes. There were insect markings, beast markings, and even dragon markings, as well as phoenix and bird markings. There were also god markings, devil markings, and even pictures of Youdu's words. In other words, a bit of everything.
Qin Mu's green face started to turn slightly purple. Those pictures were there probably because there were too many things contained in his Unity Technique. There was Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, Pig Slaughter Knife Skills, and all kinds of other techniques, skills, and divine arts. Though in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures alone there were many bizarre techniques and skills.
Even the calculation methods from Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery were shown by his primordial essences, becoming a part of his spirit weapon's form.
'So many forms, what will my spirit weapon evolve into?'
Qin Mu was on tenterhooks. Could his sword pellet become a freak with all kinds of weapons?
It was fine being a freak, but he was worried about how heavy it was going to end up after it was refined.
How much money would he have to spend to refine it?
After some more time, all of the primordial essences were in the ball of light, and its glow gradually dimmed. The form of the spirit weapon there slowly got clearer.
Qin Mu was very scared and on edge, not daring to take a look. He was afraid that his spirit weapon had a form that was a spectacle too horrible to endure.
Sometime later, he finally mustered enough courage to look towards the spirit weapon in his Six Directions Divine Treasure and couldn't help freezing in shock. He saw that his spirit weapon still had the shape of a sword pellet and hadn't become abnormal. It wasn't like what he had imagined, which was a huge buddha that had swords, knives, and all kinds of strange stuff stabbed into it.
The sword pellet was still a sword pellet. It was just that every primordial sword had numerous markings on it. There were primordial buddha markings, primordial Dao markings, primordial knife markings, bird, beast and insect markings, dragon and phoenix markings, god and devil markings, and writings of Youdu.
Qin Mu sighed in relief. 'It's still okay, it's at most awfully heavy and not to the extent of crushing me. However, this sword pellet seems much bigger than other sword pellets. If I can refine a sword pellet that has the form of water like Grandpa Mute's, it should be slightly smaller…'
Shan Youxin and the rest spent numerous hours working busily for two days before finishing adjusting the components for a test. The manufacturing factory then began its operation.
Qin Mu had also not slept the entire night just to condense the form of the spirit weapon; however, he had still ample vitality. He called Shan Youxin over and said, "The form of my spirit weapon is determined, but it's a little troublesome to refine. I require eight thousand sword embryos."
"Eight thousand sword embryos?"
Shan Youxin was shocked and cried out, "Cult Master, eight thousand sword embryos would be enough to make a sect legacy treasure for a small sect. Is Cult Master sure he needs this many swords?"
Qin Mu nodded and said helplessly, "The refinement of these eight thousand swords so they could change size at will before turning them into a sword pellet is giving me a great headache as well."
Shan Youxin hesitated and said, "Eight thousand swords is enough to equip a small army. If you want to forge so many sword embryos, you'll require metals of the best quality…"
"Before the natural disaster, I had sold some medicine and exchanged it for some money." Qin Mu thought of Hu Ling'er who had managed his finances and started to miss the little fox. He said, "I still have a million great abundance coins here, I wonder if it'll be enough?"
Shan Youxin was shocked and smiled. "How can we spend Cult Master's money? We usually have the habit of collecting all kinds of natural materials and treasures. For example, there are people of our Heavenly Saint Cult in the mines. When we dig out treasures, we usually don't hand them to the empire, but hide them away in private."
After looking around and seeing nobody around, he said in a low voice, "The rules of the sacred cult state to present the higher quality materials to the emperor while bringing the highest quality ones to the treasure vault of our sacred cult."
Qin Mu was startled.
Shan Youxin smiled. "The crafting of Sacred Cult Master's spirit weapon is naturally a huge event, so you can mobilize all of the natural materials and treasures in the treasure vault of our sacred cult. As long as Cult Master gives the order to open the treasure vault, we Heavenly Crafts Hall will take out the treasures and refine eight thousand sword embryos for Cult Master! I don't dare to say how good the materials there will be, but they won't be much inferior to the materials used for the swords of the first ranking high officials."
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and asked, "Where's the treasure vault?"
"Cult Master doesn't know where his treasure vault is?" Shan Youxin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's naturally in Saint Arrival Mountain."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"The key to the treasure vault on Saint Arrival Mountain is kept by the mistress of Si Family, which is also the saintess of our sacred cult," Shan Youxin said.
"The finances of our sacred cult are all managed by Si Family and all properties must go through their hands. If Cult Master wants to touch the treasure vault, you will have to fetch the key from the saintess. As long as we take out the natural materials and treasures, refining eight thousand sword embryos won't be too difficult. It will actually be quite quick when using this factory!"
Si Family was a big family that had an illustrious position in Heavenly Devil Cult, and the saintess was usually from it. The saintess of this generation was Si Yunxiang, which meant that the key to the treasure vault was with her.
Qin Mu found her, and his words astonished her. "Sword pellet refined from eight thousand swords! Can Cult Master lift so many swords?"
Qin Mu's face blackened. He was also slightly worried that he wouldn't be able to carry a sword pellet made from so many flying swords.
Si Yunxiang took in his expression and chuckled. "You're the cult master sacred teacher so using the cult's materials and treasures to refine a spirit weapon is only natural. However, all of them had been accumulated by the disciples of the cult throughout a long time. By sending disaster relief, we had spent most of our money, so the treasury vault has no more money. If anything happened, it would be quite troublesome to deal with the problem without money."
Qin Mu smiled. "I know your troubles, I still have a million great abundance coins here so why don't I offer them to the sacred cult. You can also use them in times of trouble."
Si Yunxiang burst with joy and smiled. "Even though a million great abundance coins is a lot, with a million disciples, everyone can only get one great abundance coins at most. Since Cult Master is refining a sword for himself, he will no longer need Junior Protector Sword…"
Qin Mu's face blackened, and he passed over his Junior Protector Sword to her.
Si Yunxiang then reminded him in goodwill, "There's still some other treasures in Cult Master's taotie sack, for example, Thousand Banners Pagoda and some other stuff which could be used to refill the treasure vault…"
Qin Mu took his taotie sack and pulled out Thousand Banners Pagoda and the burnt guqin. But suddenly, he was alerted and said, "That's not right, I'm only refining a spirit weapon that's on the Six Directions Realm, so why do you want my cult master level treasures? The worth is not the same! Saintess, are you trying to fool me?"
Si Yunxiang sneered at him. "Cult Master, the materials in the sacred cult's treasure vault are enough to refine dozens of treasures! Cult Master wants to use these treasures to refine a sword pellet, but he shouldn't leave the sacred cult's treasure vault empty just like that, right?"
Qin Mu gave it some thought, and it was indeed logical, so he could only give her all the cult master level treasures he had. All of them had been stolen from Rolan's Golden Palace so he wasn't too pained by losing them.
"Cult Master, you still have the star pearls that you scavenged from the shrine in the east sea, right?" Si Yunxiang's eyes were shining. "There were three thousands of them!"
Qin Mu's face blackened as he said, "Saintess, they're all I have left!"
Si Yunxiang smiled. "You're the sacred cult master, and I'm not taking those treasures of yours for myself, I'm just safekeeping them in the treasure vault of the sacred cult, so won't they still be yours? Our Si Family manages the finances, but isn't it that a tough job? We can only see but we cannot use so no matter how much treasures we collect. Don't they all it still belong to Qin?"
Qin Mu thought that what she said was very logical, but he still felt that something wasn't right. In the end though, he took out the three thousand luminous pearls.
Si Yunxiang took a sneaky glance at his taotie sack and said, "There are also the two huge eyeballs…"
"No way!" Qin Mu's face turned black, and he had the urge to kill.
Si Yunxiang probed, "That dragon qilin of Cult Master…"
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "If you can raise him, you can take him away."
Si Yunxiang immediately laughed. "I'm just joking, Cult Master. That glutton should remain with Cult Master. Even Patriarch doesn't want him, disliking him for eating too much. Let me go and find the elder of my Si Family to fetch the treasures from Saint Arrival Mountain to refine the swords for Cult Master."
Qin Mu put away his empty taotie sack with a black face. He felt that he was standing naked after being plundered by the little maiden.
'That woman is addicted to money, I can't win against her. I need to let Ling'er handle the finances; otherwise, I will be stripped naked and get my bone marrows sucked out by that saintess!' Sacred Cult Master Qin thought to himself.
Si Yunxiang ran to the side and took out a mirror. It floated in the air and spun two rounds. Another mirror then appeared in the mirror and behind it was an old woman who asked, "What is Saintess Xiang looking for me?"
Si Yunxiang told her about how Qin Mu was going to refine his swords and said, "The spirit weapon that the sacred cult master is refining is no small matter. May great grandma please take out the best quality materials in the treasure vault and send them to the manufacturing factory in Mill Prefecture."
The old woman frowned and said, "Si Family never does business that sustains a loss. Cult master is still young and his cultivation is still low, so why does he need the best quality treasures…"
"It's a steal!" Si Yunxiang immediately showed all the treasures she had scammed from Qin Mu and made the eyes of the great grandma of Si Family shine brightly.
"So many treasures of the cult master level, Saintess sure has a way with housekeeping! Good, good, as expected of the one I've taught, you didn't learn from your aunt! Your aunt only knows how to splurge money like flowing water, but not how to calculate it and is a wastrel!"
The one she meant was Granny Si. She never cared about money and always bought what was expensive and not what was right.
The great grandma of Si Family said, "The best quality materials for refining swords are usually extremely heavy. A chunk that is the size of a thumb usually weighs dozens of pounds. Furthermore, we don't have enough materials in the treasure vault to refine eight thousand swords. To make treasures of the cult master level, it's enough to refine twenty-seven swords, each one weighing around ten thousand pounds."
"What about a grade lower?" Si Yunxiang asked.
The great grandma of Si Family said, "One grade lower is also not enough, it's at most enough for a hundred swords."
Si Yunxiang frowned and asked, "Another grade lower?"
"Another grade lower would be Winter Iron Essence, Black Gold Essence, and Black Copper Essence. They are more than enough to make eight thousand swords."
Si Yunxiang said, "Then could great grandma please bring all the highest quality and a grade lower ones over, while using Black Gold Essence for the rest to make up for the lack. The highest quality ones should be enough to open up the edge for the spirit swords."
The great grandma of Si Family asked suspiciously, "Winter Iron Essence is three times lighter than Black Gold Essence so why are you asking for it and not Winter Iron Essence?"
Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly, and the great grandma of Si Family rolled her eyes at her through the mirror. "You little wench, trying to be mischievous again, be careful of cult master smacking your bum sore when he can't lift it up! I'll send the items to Harmony Prefecture, so get the bandit with the surname Fan to drive his ship over."
Si Yunxiang acknowledged it and spun the bronze mirror two rounds in the opposite direction. The mirror in the mirror then vanished without a trace.
After two days, Fan Yunxiao came from Harmony Prefecture, transporting all the materials Qin Mu needed to refine his swords. The manufacturing factory in Mill Prefecture immediately got busy again.
It wasn't too much of a trouble to forge the sword embryos as it was only shaping the metal into the initial shape of a sword, but even so, the sword embryos had to be refined up to a thousand times, hammered and cast over and over again.
After refining the sword embryos, the body of the sword would be a flat club. The grinding of it into the shape of the sword required Qin Mu to do it personally with hard work and numerous refinements.
Qin Mu picked up one sword embryo, and his expression wasn't pleasant. Si Yunxiang went up to act concerned. "Cult Master, what's wrong?"
"It's a little heavy," Qin Mu said resentfully. "It's two to three times heavier than what I imagined. Now that one sword is three hundred pounds, after refining all of them into a sword pellet, eight thousand swords…"
Si Yunxiang burst out laughing. "Cult Master wanted materials of the best quality so they naturally are slightly heavier. The materials for the edge are better, heavier, sharper, and harder to forge than the treasured swords emperor grants to his first-ranking officials! The so-called great crafts will need no skill, Cult Master will just be able to throw his sword pellet over and you smash a whole bunch of people to death without any need for sword moves."
Qin Mu's face went black as he said, "I will still need to be able to throw it, the eight thousand swords…"
Si Yunxiang was overjoyed and said, "I've heard that when one refines an artifact to its maximum, its weight will change according to one's will. Cult Master is an expert in refining treasures so he will definitely refine the sword pellet to such a step!"
Qin Mu turned away while carrying the sword embryo and said some difficult to understand words. It was something like 'hundred creation hundred forge divine transformation technique' and 'power to remove mountains'.
Si Yunxiang blinked and felt happy in her heart.
In the factory, Shan Youxin wanted to stay to observe Qin Mu refining his sword, but Crown Prince Ling Yushu had to handle the government affairs in the other prefectures so he could only order the disciples of Heavenly Crafts Hall to come and help. Meanwhile, he and the officials of Ministry of Works had to follow Ling Yushu to the next prefecture.
With the disciples of Heavenly Crafts Hall helping, the speed of refinement wasn't slow. However, to forge all eight thousand swords to completely match the form of Qin Mu's spirit weapon was still a huge project.
It was especially so because the natural materials Si Yunxiang had transported were extremely good. It was quite exhausting to refine them until they could change their size at will. Qin Mu also had to continuously mark the spirit weapon and imprint all kinds of markings on the bodies of the swords. After a few months like this, he was a lot thinner from exhaustion.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang had remained to help, and the two girls had learned numerous forging techniques from Qin Mu. They also added some high-quality materials to their Nine Dragons and Thousand Silks, increasing their quality.
Qin Mu finished refining seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine swords, which left only the last sword - the mother sword of the sword pellet. It had to be made from the best materials, or it wouldn't be able to unite all the child swords.
To refine the mother sword, Qin Mu spent a lot of thought and effort. He had put aside the highest quality material for it, and this was a metal that he had never seen before. It was only the size of a fist, but such a chunk was already ten thousand pounds in weight. Si Yunxiang said that it was an object that came from outer space.
However, this chunk of metal was only enough to refine the blade and not the complete mother sword.
Qin Mu took out the broken sword which came from Rolan's Golden Palace. Si Yunxiang had seen that it was only a fragment and so hadn't scammed it away from him.
Qin Mu held the chunk of unknown metal in one hand and the broken sword in the other, waving them around. Suddenly, he heard a clang. The broken sword and the chunk of unknown metal actually attracted each other and collided!
This was out of Qin Mu's expectations, and he saw the broken sword giving off a brilliant glow. Golden lights also flowed out from the fist-sized metal. It seemed like swords were flowing in the air, revolving in a large circle around Qin Mu, with him acting as the center. The dazzling radiance lighted up every corner of the manufacturing factory, and the brilliant rays also shot out from the doors and windows!
Clanging sounds rang continuously, and Qin Mu saw the rays from the metal colliding with the glow of the broken sword. Each time that happened, his arm would go numb from the tremors.
After countless collisions, the chunk of metal suddenly fell to the ground and scattered into ashes.
Meanwhile, the broken sword in Qin Mu's hand was shining brilliantly. But how was it still a broken sword?
It had actually absorbed the gold qi from that metal and grew out its blade, looking completely new!
The body of the sword had strange markings that were wiggling about like dragons and snakes. Those markings lighted up and dimmed down right away, but Qin Mu still saw the word that was formed by those markings.
'Carefree!'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'Carefree?'
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly, but when he took a look at the markings on the sword again, he could no longer see the word carefree. It was as if the markings that were flowing earlier had been just a hallucination on his part. However, it wasn't a hallucination, the word carefree had really appeared!
'This sword that's called Carefree, is it related to Carefree Village?'
He sunk into deep thoughts. Could Carefree Sword have come from Carefree Village?
However, how did it become a broken sword?
Why did this broken sword return back to normal when it met that chunk of unknown metal?
All of this seemed to be destined by fate. It was destined that the broken Carefree Sword would land in the hands of Rolan's Golden Palace and destined that Heavenly Saint Cult would get hold of that chunk of metal. It was destined that Qin Mu would steal the broken sword from Rolan's Golden Palace and destined that he would put it near that metal. It was destined for Carefree Sword to return back to normal!
When there's too much coincidence, it cannot be a coincidence anymore. Instead, there has to be a kind of power that could have facilitated this kind of coincidence.
"Sister Xiang, that chunk of metal is from outer space? When did it arrive?" Qin Mu asked.
Si Yunxiang's mouth was agape, and she couldn't come back to her senses after being astonished by the turn of events for a time. When she calmed down though, she rolled her eyes at him.
"It's from outer space but I'm not clear on when it had exactly arrived, I will have to get my great grandma to check it out. Don't call me Sister Xiang. When you said it so affectionately, I feel like you are using sweet speech and honeyed words while thinking of getting rid of me in your heart."
Qin Mu mumbled, "In that case could Saintess help me check the origin of this chunk of metal."
Si Yunxiang took out her mirror and spun it two rounds. A mirror appeared in the mirror and the great grandma of Si Family appeared on the other side. Si Yunxiang made inquiries and the great grandma of Si Family was astonished. "Something like that actually happened? Give me a moment, let me check. Such a divine metal should have been recorded."
Not long later, the great grandma of Si Family came back with a book and said, "That divine metal came from outer space. It appeared sixteen years ago. The record states that on the winter sixteen years ago, a divine light streaked across the sky and descended into Ghost Valley. Disciples of the cult went forth to investigate and found dozens of casualties. They picked up this chunk of divine metal there and offered it up to the treasure vault."
"Sixteen years ago?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. Since the time he had been picked up by Granny Si, fifteen years had passed, while this chunk of divine metal that repaired the broken sword had appeared in the winter sixteen years ago. This was very close to when he was picked up.
"In that case, were there any people from Rolan's Golden Palace in the surroundings then?" Qin Mu asked hurriedly.
The great grandma of Si Family was bewildered and looked at him while asking, "How did Cult Master know this? Ghost Valley is located at the back of the Duck Tongue Zone that's in front of Qingmen Pass. Back then, the disciples of our sacred cult were guarding Qingmen Pass when the divine light flew down.
"The disciples of our sacred cult saw the light and immediately entered Duck Tongue Zone. It borders Barbarian Di Empire which had great shamans and shaman kings from Rolan's Golden Palace on guard, so they also went forth to investigate. The sacred cult lost a hall master and dozens of divine arts practitioners while Rolan's Golden Palace also lost a great deal of people. I've heard that the situation was quite bitter.
"They suffered disastrous damage and had no choice but to retreat from Ghost Valley. The great shamans and shaman kings of Rolan's Golden Palace seemed to have gotten a broken sword…"
Qin Mu's heart was stirred. So that was it!
The broken sword and divine metal were both from sixteen years ago. Heavenly Devil Cult got the divine metal while Rolan's Golden Palace got the broken sword. They were both actually one once, so when these two treasures were put together, they became complete!
Great Ruins' Ghost Valley!
'I must definitely go there and have a look!' he thought to himself.
The great grandma of Si Family said, "The Ghost Valley in Duck Tongue Zone is very treacherous. The sacred cult had gone to search it a few more times but the place was ridden with dangers so they retreated without heading in deeper."
Qin Mu thanked the old woman. Even though Si Yunxiang was the saintess, the mistress of Si Family, this old woman, was the one that was actually in charge of Si Family. She had an extremely high position in Heavenly Devil Cult, having once been a saintess, before giving up her position to Granny Si.
Si Yunxiang put away her bronze mirror and took a glance at the sword in his hand. "Great Cult Master, your sword…"
Qin Mu immediately tightened his grip on Carefree Sword and said alertly, "This is the mother sword of the sword pellet, I can't give it to you."
Si Yunxiang burst out laughing. "I didn't say I wanted it, I just wonder if after you spent so much time and energy on this, if your sword pellet can be finished."
"Sword pellets have the word pellet which means a circular shape. Piecing several thousand swords together into a circular shape requires extremely great calculations. The arc of the bottom of the hilt has to be a circular ball that's split into eight thousand portions. Each portion will have to be exactly the same and must be accurate to the Mo Hu digits!" Qin Mu was rather arrogant. "My calculations have always been good."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang pouted at him.
Qin Mu laughed and tightened his grip on Carefree Sword, sending his vital qi into it. Instantly, the mother sword and the child swords connected, sensing each other. The sharp swords whooshed through the air, and in a split second, sword lights filled the inside of the manufacturing factory.
Qin Mu vibrated his sword, and countless of sword lights whizzed toward him. As they collided, they vanished one after another.
Qin Mu's face became redder and redder as he grunted. His thighs and arms trembled.
Suddenly, the stone slab under his feet cracked, and his shoes were crushed by the pressure.
There were still countless sword lights flying over with a rumble when Qin Mu vanished. He had sunk into the ground from the pressure and created a huge hole in the manufacturing factory!
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang were both shocked. They immediately leaped forward and said in loud voices, "Come quickly and save the cult master!"
The other disciples of Heavenly Crafts Hall that was in the manufacturing factory hurried over and heard rumblings from underground. The sword pellet was simply too heavy and was continuously pressing Qin Mu down into the ground. From the rumblings below, he had to have sunk close to fifteen yards down by then.
Everyone was planning to excavate a hole to save Qin Mu when his dull voice came from underground. "I'm okay, the sword is too heavy, everyone make way!"
Everyone immediately scattered when they saw countless flying swords spewing out from the huge hole as if it was a spring. Eight thousand swords danced in the sky before stabbing themselves into the ground, making the sword hilts tremble endlessly.
Qin Mu leaped out from the huge hole and landed on both his feet. However, his legs were still trembling and his complexion wasn't too good.
He shook his sword once again, and countless flying swords came whooshing over. However, Qin Mu had learned his lesson and moved to stand on a pile of black iron chunks in the factory while pointing the tip of the sword down. The eight thousand swords merged together and formed a sword pellet.
Just as he had said, the bottom of the sword hilts from so many swords could form a huge circular ball. It was perfect but for errors at the digits of Mo Hu.
However, this sword pellet was unexpectedly big. It had a radius of six yards.
"It's rare to see such a huge sword pellet…" Ling Yuxiu couldn't help saying when she walked to and fro around the sword ball with her head raised to examine it.
"Shrink!"
Qin Mu executed his magic power, and the huge sword pellet began to shrink. When it shrunk to its limit, it still had the radius of three feet.
Qin Mu's vital qi was already mobilized to his limits, and his face was red from holding his breath, but he still couldn't shrink it any more than that.
His eight thousand flying swords were all able to shrink to an inch, but because there were too many swords, the sword pellet was still very big.
"The time I used to refine them is too short, they still require more nourishment and refinement. If I could refine them until they are as fine as natural silk, I would be able to form a sword pellet that's the size of a pigeon egg.
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and gripped the sword hilt of Carefree Sword with both of his hands. With a sudden spin, the seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine swords instantly expanded outwards. They hung in the air with the tips of the swords pointing to the center of the circle.
He activated Carefree Sword again, and the flying swords flew over and collided with it with a hum before vanishing into the mother sword.
The collisions became faster and faster as more and more flying swords disappeared from the air.
Everyone gave a cry of astonishment. Qin Mu was now using another refinement method for a sword pellet.
There were two methods to make a sword pellet. The first was to piece all of them into a pellet with the tip of the sword facing the center of the circlet. This refinement method had a high requirement for algebra and many sword sects from Dao Sect's factions used this kind of method to refine their sword pellets.
The second kind was to use the mother sword to swallow the child swords. Keeping all the child swords in the mother sword was the refinement method used mostly by the sword sects of the south.
The second variant required the mother sword to be extremely flexible. After entering all the child swords inside, the two hands would just have to rub the body of the mother sword and it would turn into a sword pellet. This didn't need a high requirement for algebra.
Both methods had their own advantages. Sword pellets made by the first method had an easier time executing sword skills and was quicker in making a move, laying out sword formations at any time.
The second method of swallowing swords could direct the power of the child swords to the mother sword, allowing it to explode with abnormally powerful strength.
These two refinement methods were not flexible. It was either one or the other.
But at that moment, Qin Mu had tried to accommodate both methods, and he actually succeeded. It was truly extraordinary!
"A well-deserved reputation of the world's number two in refining weapons." Si Yunxiang sighed. "How I wish I could witness how the number one expert in the world refines weapons, how brilliant must his techniques be…"
Qin Mu had collected over two thousand swords when he started to feel that he couldn't bear the weight anymore. After operating so many swords repeatedly, his vital qi was completely emptied out.
He stopped holding onto the swords and shook his taotie sack. Countless flying swords immediately flew over like fish and went inside.
Even though his sword pellet was done, the only thing he could only use his taotie sack as a storage bag since the swords' weight was simply too great. A sword pellet that had a radius of three feet was just too shocking, and he wouldn't be able to lift it either
"I was originally a little envious of the cowherd's sword pellet, but now I don't feel anything of the kind," Ling Yuxiu said in a low voice while holding back her laughter. "Even though his spirit weapon is good, he won't be able to use it."
Si Yunxiang nodded. "Even if he could lift them, his vital qi will be gone after a few swings."
Qin Mu hung the taotie sack back on his pants. However, even though taotie sacks were said to be able to dismiss magnetic forces, his was not made from a real taotie skin. Because of that, some of the magnetic forces still affected the flying swords. The taotie sack came to weigh a hundred pounds and dragged his pants down.
Great Cult Master Qin undid the taotie sack with a black face and fetched some golden thread rope to make two straps to the taotie sack. This allowed him to carry it on his back like a small backpack.
"Piak!"
A clear smacking sound rang out, and Si Yunxiang's face turned red as she rubbed her buttocks. Qin Mu had given a tight slap to her behind when no one looking. The great cult master knew she had played some trick on the materials used for refining the swords to make them so heavy.
Ling Yuxiu looked over in bewilderment but didn't ask anything. She said, "My brother has already been gone for a few months, so I'm afraid that he has already reached the southern borders. Are we still going to hurry over?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm not going to find the crown prince. Qingmen Pass is right to the north of Great Thunderclap Monastery and is not far from here, so I will visit Ghost Valley."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Visit Ghost Valley?" Ling Yuxiu hesitated and said, "The great grandma of Si Family said that Ghost Valley is very treacherous and even the experts of Heavenly Saint Cult as well as the great shamans and shaman kings of Rolan's Golden Palace had encountered disastrous casualties when they explored that place. So what can we do there by ourselves?"
Qin Mu didn't change his intentions."That place might be related to my birth, so no matter what, I have to visit it. This is my personal matter and is unrelated to the sacred cult, as it is unrelated to the two of you. I'll be fine going there by myself."
He walked out of the factory and called the dragon qilin over. The dragon qilin, who had been sleeping outside, immediately stood up when he heard Qin Mu. He pulled himself together and asked, "Is it the next day already? Is it time to eat?"
Qin Mu leaped onto his back and said unpleasantly, "It's not the next day! What can you do other than sleep and eat? Let's go to Qingmen Pass!"
The dragon qilin yawned and fire clouds grew under his feet as he began sprinting to the north. "Cult Master, you have gotten fatter again, you're two hundred pounds heavier than before."
Qin Mu was furious and scolded, "Bullshit! Just to refine those swords, I slimmed down these days. Besides, the swords in my sack are at most a hundred pounds or so. You are the one who has clearly gotten fatter!"
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang ran out to see the dragon qilin already in mid-air and over ten miles into the distance.
Si Yunxiang frowned. "Even if you really want to go, you should prepare for it. The one that herds cows is too reckless, he's underestimating the dangers of Ghost Valley.
Si Yunxiang rubbed her buttocks again. Qin Mu's slap had been hard, and she still felt her buttocks searing with pain. "How would there be a lack of experts in Heavenly Saint Cult? Ever since we were kidnapped by Long Jiaonan, Heavenly King Yu and Heavenly King Shi no longer felt at ease so they are definitely nearby. Don't worry, if he meets any danger, they won't sit by and do nothing. What a pity…"
She fell into a daze and suddenly said, "If the sacred cult master died in Ghost Valley, the saintess would naturally succeed him. What a pity I didn't go along with the cult master, otherwise the sacred cult master would have certainly died in Ghost Valley…"
Ling Yuxiu became alert and sneered, "Little vixen, if you dare to touch the one that herds cows, I'll break your legs!"
Si Yunxiang chuckled. "Little hussy, I've long seen you as a thorn in my side. You've become a hindrance to me by sticking around the cult master with those big breasts of yours, taking away my chance to strike when I wanted to."
The two girls stared each other in the eyes and found the other really annoying. The two of them then turned away, standing with their backs facing each other.
Si Yunxiang's gaze flickered, and Thousand Silks quietly spread out and tunneled into the ground like fine spirit snakes, sneaking towards the direction of Ling Yuxiu.
At this moment, Nine Dragons behind Ling Yuxiu's back also quietly stretched their bodies, and the dragon scales shifted their positions silently. Sharp blades popped out from the dragon claws, and the dragon-shaped spirit weapons secretly flew towards Si Yunxiang.
"I've long found you annoying!"
The two girls burst forth at the same time and ruthlessly executed their moves. Ling Yuxiu's dress was split apart by Thousand Silks as she narrowly avoided becoming minced meat. In the meantime, Si Yunxiang's body fluttered around like a butterfly, avoiding the combined attacks of the nine dragons.
Ling Yuxiu's body flipped continuously, until she slammed her palm on the ground. Terrifying magic power burst forth, and the ground trembled violently as stone pillars broke through the earth, forcing Si Yunxiang to fly into the air.
Ling Yuxiu soared into the air with a few steps and stretched her hand to grab Nine Dragons Weapons. Instantly, lightning and flames gathered on the Nine Dragons Hammer, and she smashed down with it!
"I said I'll break your legs and I'll definitely not eat my words!"
Si Yunxiang chuckled, and Thousand Silks came stabbing at Ling Yuxiu's back. The silver sword threads suddenly expanded and slashed towards Ling Yuxiu's head like incomparably fine snakes. "How are your abilities compared to those of Fozi? Going to break my legs? I'll chop off your head first!"
Numerous disciples of Heavenly Crafts Hall walked out of the factory and raised their heads to take a look. They could saw two women fighting fiercely in the sky, then Si Yunxiang being smashed down, giving all the disciples of Heavenly Crafts Hall a shock. They did not know if they should go and help.
They then saw Si Yunxiang becoming invisible and appearing behind Princess Yuxiu, causing her to vomit blood.
"This is not something we can bother with," an incense master said. "With regards to matters of jealousy, no matter which side we help, we won't be able to justify ourselves to the cult master, so let's just treat it as we didn't see anything."
Everyone nodded and left.
The dragon qilin's leg speed wasn't slow, and he reached Qingmen Pass by evening. However, the atmosphere there was oppressive. Commander in Chief Bian Zhenyun of Qingmen Pass was old friends with Qin Mu and immediately came to welcome him. "How did Divine Physician have the time to come here?"
"I plan to visit Ghost Valley," Qin Mu explained. "It's getting dark now so I can't enter Great Ruins, so I want to rest at Qingmen Pass for a night. General, what's the situation here now?"
Bian Zhenyun shook his head with a grave expression. "The situation is grim. These few months, Barbarian Di Empire has been increasing the number of their troops, and more strong practitioners have been appearing in Rolan's Golden Palace. I've heard that the envoys of Barbarian Di Empire have secretly gone back to the prairie, so it looks like Barbarian Di Empire is planning to send their army against Eternal Peace when we are weak.
"In the last few days, I've seen some people on the other side of the border that looked like they'd come from Wolf Store Country. Recently, the mounted scouts of the barbarian tribe have even frequently come out to run about the area between our two borders with arrogant aura. I'm afraid…"
He had a worried expression. "I've already sent people to report to the emperor as fast as possible. If the barbarian tribe attacks, the military power of Qingmen Pass alone won't be enough to defend. Divine Physician Qin, by right, I should be sending experts to escort you to Ghost Valley, but I really can't mobilize anybody."
Qin Mu smiled. "General should attach the most importance to the general situation, there's no need to worry about me. I'm just going to Ghost Valley and not the prairie, so I won't have any conflict with the barbarian tribe."
The sky was already dark, the darkness having invaded the land. Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw the brilliant rays shining into the sky from the enemy encampment a hundred miles away, penetrating through the darkness like daylight.
When it came to the morning, Qin Mu woke up and washed up before eating breakfast and feeding the dragon qilin. Bian Zhenyun sent him out of the pass while saying, "Divine Physician, I won't be able to send you off any farther; otherwise, the enemy will take this chance to mobilize its troops. I can only have my mounted scouts follow you from afar as an escort. Be careful on your journey."
Qin Mu gave his thanks and sat down on the dragon qilin's back, sprinting towards Duck Tongue Zone that was between the two empires.
Behind him, the mounted scouts of Qingmen Pass followed from afar while riding on all kinds of strange beasts and came to Duck Tongue Zone that was in the center of the two lands. The opposite side also had sent out a few more men and horses that were dressed queerly. They rode on the strange beasts that looked like camels with wings. They were most likely the mounted scouts of Barbarian Di Empire.
The two sides discovered each other and made their moves at almost the same time. Sword and knife pellets filled the sky and clanged as they collided.
The mounted scouts of Qingmen Pass suddenly opened up a few bottle gourds, and clouds instantly poured out, covering a radius of over ten miles. A person's gaze then could only see a distance of thirty yards or so.
Both sides instantly lost track of each other and a rare silence fell on the battleground.
Qin Mu opened Green Heaven's Eyes, and his gaze penetrated through the fog to help him determine his path. The dragon qilin went towards the back of Duck Tongue Zone under the cover of the fog.
"The emperor had indeed listened to my suggestion and kept the clouds and lightning to be used as a weapon. Even with so many soldiers stationed in Barbarian Di Empire, it will probably be quite difficult for them to break through Qingmen Pass."
Duck Tongue Zone was very long and stretched for a thousand miles, all the way to Great Ruins. When it came to night time, this was a barrier that separated the two empires.
When entering Great Ruins, the greatest danger was the darkness. Qin Mu was an abandoned person that was born in Great Ruins and naturally knew the things he had to look out for, thus he surveyed the passing scenery for things like ruins and stone statues.
If he couldn't return back to Qingmen Pass before it turned dark, he would have to spend the night in Great Ruins, so he had to find a place to settle down.
Duck Tongue Zone was very quiet. Not even a bird could be seen along the way.
Qin Mu had a grave expression. If not even a bird could be seen, it meant that there was no safe place here. Not even the strange beasts of Great Ruins could live here when it came to night time!
He went past a lake which was azure like a sapphire. The surface of the lake was incomparably serene and had no ripple at all.
This was a dead lake and there were no fish or prawn inside.
'There's also no place to avoid the darkness in the lake.'
Qin Mu composed himself and continued forward. Without him noticing, the dragon qilin walked out of Duck Tongue Zone and the mountains in the surroundings gradually became precipitous. A ravine appeared in front of them.
Qin Mu sat on the back of the dragon qilin and saw that the trees in the ravine were growing vertically and horizontally. Some of them were growing on the cliffs, seemingly escaping from the earth's magnetic force. The trees that grew horizontally covered the sky above the ravine.
It seemed like he'd entered a world flipped upside down, where the cliff was the ground.
The thick trees were extremely ancient and some couldn't even be hugged by dozens of people. The roots of these trees intertwined like dragons and phosphorescence of will-o'-the-wisps could be seen under the roots. There were bones of huge beasts there, but Qin Mu couldn't recognize who they belonged to before.
What was peculiar was the corpses and bones were on the cliff and not at the bottom of the ravine.
The falling leaves were also not floating down to the bottom of the ravine but landed on the cliff. This ravine was strangely clean without any fallen leaves or branches in sight.
Thump.
The dragon qilin accidentally bumped into a huge rock floating in the air, and that rock spun to one side but still remained floating in the air.
In the ravine in front, rocks of all sizes floated.
"Cult Master, we should be entering Ghost Valley, right?" the dragon qilin asked in a low voice.
Qin Mu nodded. "We should. There are no other lifeforms here which makes me uneasy…"
Just as he said this, he heard a voice coming from in front of them. "... you always like to eat them raw, but I like them medium done, having been roasted on the fire as oil dripped down, ending up tender inside. There have been some people coming over these few days and they've all tasted great, yet you want to eat them raw. Aren't you too dirty?"
"Medium well is not nice, there's no fresh and tender feeling. It's best to roast them on the fire for a moment until their hairs are burned off. It's the most delicious when they squeal as you eat them…"
"Bullshit, medium is the tastiest… Shhh, silence, someone is here."
…
Qin Mu executed Mars' Fire Marquis True Technique and transformed into the form of Mars Sovereign. The dragon qilin carried him forward, coming to the place from which the voice had come. Qin Mu looked around and was slightly stunned.
The voices had come from here, but he couldn't see anyone that could have been talking. There was only a large fire pit on the cliff with a great shaman from Rolan's Golden Palace being roasted. That great shaman had a profound cultivation and was not yet dead. However, his strength had been exhausted by being roasted, and he opened his eyes weakly to take a look at Qin Mu and the dragon qilin.
Whoosh.
The trees suddenly moved, and two huge, white-furred bats hung down from one tree. With their heads below and feet above, they looked at Qin Mu from right in front of him. The two white-furred bats were extremely strong, with muscles all over their bodies. Their arms were crossed in front of their chests, while their eyes revealed white lights that seemed like white flames flowing in their eyes.
Qin Mu's heart leaped slightly. These two huge bats were variants and very terrifying ones at that. They had no more demon air around their bodies, having replaced it was an aura that was like that of gods or devils. They had to be the descendants of gods or devils!
"They're not humans."One of the huge bats pulled itself back into the crown of the tree. "Killjoys. I thought there were more humans."
The other huge bat also pulled its body back, and Qin Mu hurriedly asked, "Two Dao friends, how do you do!"
The leaves rustled, and the two huge bats hung down again. They still had their arms crossed in front of their chests and said in unison, "How do you do! However, this is not for you, we caught him ourselves! If you have the ability, go and catch your own humans, there's still some in the valley."
Qin Mu immediately smiled. "This little Brother has been a vegetarian since birth."
The two huge bats were immediately put at ease, and Qin Mu said, "This little Brother is from outside. The two Dao friends, is the valley safe to stay at night?"
One of the bats smiled and said, "No wonder you look unfamiliar. The valley is very safe."
Qin Mu sighed in relief and thanked the two bats. They shrunk their bodies and appeared beside the bonfire once more, waiting for the great shaman to be cooked.
"Just now that cow seemed to have the bloodline of Mars, but a pity he wouldn't be delicious. Humans are the best, tasty and juicy," one of the bats said while staring at the fire.
The other bat snickered and said, "So why are you harming him? You clearly know how treacherous the valley is…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"From what the two white bats said, there seems to be quite a number of great shamans coming from Rolan's Golden Palace. I will have to guard against them."
Qin Mu's expression was grave as he opened up a small opening in the taotie sack on his back so he could draw his sword out if anything bad happened.
"Cult Master, those two fellows just now were very strong." The dragon qilin walked forward and avoided the huge rocks floating in the sky while saying, "Those two fellows are not weaker than me and they are extremely ancient."
Qin Mu looked around and said in a low voice, "They should be offsprings of some god, descendants of gods or devils. You're bragging by saying they are not weaker than you. Ten of you couldn't beat either of the two bats. Their aura is too strong."
The dragon qilin was rather unconvinced and said resentfully, "That's because I'm still young. Once I reach adulthood, ten of them won't be able to beat one of me. I'm very useful!"
Qin Mu ignored the dragon qilin that had become as fat as a ball and yet still wanted to brag. He pondered and said, "Strange, why are there still such creatures like white bats in Great Ruins? Could they have been left behind by the bat gods from before the catastrophe? Had the descendants of gods and devils survived the disaster?"
There were temples in Great Ruins worshiping divine statues of bat gods as they were gods of prosperity, blessing the people.
He had once seen a stone statue of a bat god in Border Dragon City. That statue had had a bat head and a human body, with flesh wings and a membrane growing under the arms. The appearance of that bat god was slightly similar to these two white bats, but these two looked more primitive. If not for the head and wings of the bat, the bat god looked like a human.
If those two white bats were the descendants of the bat god before the catastrophe, could there be other descendants of gods and devils in other places of Great Ruins?
However, Qin Mu had never seen any of them in Great Ruins. He thought of something then and asked, "Fatty Dragon, where were you living at before you met Patriarch?"
"Great Ruins." The dragon qilin recalled the past and was filled with reminisce as he said, "Not long after I was born, my mother disappeared. I was giddy-headed from all the starving and was almost dead when I met Patriarch. I saw that he was quite handsome and was swindled by a spirit pill. It was a single slip up that caused everlasting sorrow."
Qin Mu was between laughter and tears. "Clearly Patriarch saw you there so pitiful from hunger that he gave you a spirit pill which made you cling you him, shamelessly sticking around and making him unable to shake you off! But come to think of it, Fatty Dragon, you're also considered an offspring of a god, right? Could the offspring of gods before the catastrophe have become the strange beasts of Great Ruins today?"
He had a weird expression. Great Ruins had to have been an incomparably prosperous era in which gods and humans lived together. Because of that, their descendants also lived here. Then, the great disaster struck, and the gods went extinct while their descendants slowly transformed into the current strange beasts.
This guess was truly shocking, but it wasn't impossible.
In the ravine in front, the two sides of the cliffs were covered in dense vegetation. Forests growing on the cliffs gave people an extremely preposterous feeling while the rocks floating in the air clearly showed the distortion of the magnetic force here.
Suddenly, Qin Mu felt movement from his taotie sack, and his heart stirred slightly. He opened his taotie sack and saw Carefree Sword gently trembling, giving off a crisp and clear sword cry.
Qin Mu's vital qi went in and brought out the sword.
He had planned to use Carefree Sword as the mother sword, refining it into sword pellet, so he had not made a sheath for it. However, it wasn't convenient to hold Carefree Sword in his hand all the time, so he stretched out his hand and Carefree Sword flew up to chop off a branch of an ancient tree.
"What a durable wood!"
Qin Mu cut off a branch and tried to use his vital qi thread to slice the wood, but he couldn't do so, which made him exclaim in astonishment. The quality of this wood could be compared to black iron.
He executed Carefree Sword to shave the branch and soon made a wooden sheath, in which he inserted the sword. The blade was still trembling, but it was no longer as eye-catching.
'Seems like it wasn't only the broken sword and divine metal that dropped from outer space sixteen years ago. There is still another item which is resonating with Carefree Sword!' Qin Mu thought to himself.
The people of Rolan's Golden Palace had already entered Ghost Valley, so would they find that item a step ahead of him?
They two came to the end of the ravine, and the area in front of them suddenly widened. Qin Mu walked in there without a hurry and looked around himself in alertness. At the two ends of the ravine were two huge stone statues that were carved along the mountain ranges. These two statues were as high as the mountains.
The two sculptures had solemn expressions and looked dignified and divine. Their gazes were deep and each of them stood upright with their swords propped.
The bubbling of water came from afar, and it the sound of streams flowing down the sculptures' shoulders. The power of those waterfalls was immense as they surged three thousand yards down, landing onto the hands of the sculptures before flowing down the swords and gathering below to form a river.
Two rivers flowed down from the legs of the sculptures and formed the image of two dragons in the forest before vanishing into the center of the valley.
The two sculptures had bat heads and human bodies. They were no one else but the bat gods.
'Two bat gods guarding Ghost Valley? What's the relationship between these god statues of two bat gods and those two white bats earlier?'
Qin Mu looked into the distance, stunned. 'Could these two rivers flow into the ground? Cyan Heaven's Eyes, awaken!'
Another heaven instantly appeared in Qin Mu's pupils, and he looked at the place in which the two rivers vanished. He couldn't help frowning when his vision seemed to be blocked by something. He couldn't see clearly what was there in the distance.
"Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, awaken!"
Qin Mu gathered his vital qi and formed the rune formation of Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, making a circular vermillion red marking in his pupils. Another layer in, it was a cyan green color of Cyan Heaven's Eyes, and another layer in was the green of Green Heaven's Eyes. One more layer in was the Heaven's Eyes that were formed by white light, while the middle contained the pupil.
Blind had imparted Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skills to him, and he had already learned them. However, with his cultivation, he could only awaken Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes at most, and the consumption during their use was very huge. He would not use this skill on a normal day.
In an ordinary situation, Green Heaven's Eyes were enough, so there was no need to awaken Cyan Heaven's Eyes and Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes.
However, even if it was Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, he still couldn't see what was at the place where the two rivers vanished.
"Eh…"
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly when he saw a few corpses in front of the forest. They belonged to Rolan's Golden Palace's great shamans. The corpses were not far from each other, but the strange thing was that some of them were vivid and lifelike as though they had just died while the others had rotted until only bones were left, yet their clothes were perfectly fine.
As Qin Mu's gaze went deeper into the forest, he saw another few corpses. It was obvious that those people had encountered misfortune and died unnaturally!
With Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, he suddenly saw something moving beside one corpse before vanishing in a split second. His Heaven's Eyes suffered a violent impact, and layers and layers of them rapidly closed one after another!
Qin Mu was left dizzy by the impact. He felt as if there were countless miserable screeches in his brain, nearly tearing his soul apart!
Luckily for him, he had already succeeded in cultivating primordial spirit and could endure this attack head-on.
However, he didn't manage to see what had attacked him.
"Amida amida, maha amida!"
The miserable screeches in Qin Mu's brain became louder and louder, so he immediately executed Rulai's Mahayana Sutra. The buddha rays around his body shone brilliantly as the gods and buddhas of the six heavens appeared behind his head to chant loudly in unison. As the buddha voice lingered around him, it instantly purified the peculiar screeches that were attacking his soul.
The soil under his feet sizzled as green smoke rose with a stink from the soil. Qin Mu stretched his hands out. As he hugged the void in front of him, a rumble sounded out as his vital qi transformed into an emerald green Bodhi Tree descending from the sky, crashing onto the land in front of him. Thousands of branches and roots slammed into the ground with the trunk and the roots flailing as they tunneled into the soil.
Miserable shrieks came from underground, and the ground in front of Qin Mu started to roll as though there was something escaping there. When it passed by the huge tree, it rustled loudly from being shaken by something below it.
"Even my Bodhi Saha divine art can't kill this creature?"
Qin Mu gave a low shout and suddenly his body became like jade, sparkling and translucent. A Bodhi Tree faintly appeared behind his back, and he looked like a bull-headed buddha which was achieving enlightenment under the tree.
In Great Thunderclap Monastery, he only received Rulai's Mahayana Sutra's teachings and not the divine arts. However, the teachings were enough for him to start mulling over the divine arts.
Rulai's Mahayana Sutra's divine arts were actually included in the twenty heavens of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra with Thunderclap Eight Strikes being one of them. Thunderclap Eight Strikes was a divine art that belonged to Sakra Realm and was considered a top-notch divine art that was only inferior to Brahma divine arts.
Bodhi Saha divine arts belonged to Bodhivrksa Devata Heaven. The fourteenth heaven counting from the top down and the seventh heaven counting from the bottom up.
Even though Rulai's Mahayana Sutra was not Qin Mu's main in cultivation, he had not neglected his comprehension of it even if we didn't spend more time on it.
What he was executing now was the true body of Bodhi Jade Buddha, using buddha nature to suppress the weird creature under the ground, preventing it from coming near.
That strange creature was one moment there and the next over there, moving at an extremely fast speed. Furthermore, what's strange was that Qin Mu could feel that creature splitting and gathering from time to time. Sometimes it would tunnel into the tree and even the corpses.
"What exactly is that thing?"
At this moment, two breaths closed in from behind, and the Carefree Sword on Qin Mu's back came out of its sheath, transforming into Wave Sword Form to swirl around his body.
The two breaths went around, flying at him from two sides. It was the two white bats.
They separated and came to the top of the two sculptures. They hung down from their nostrils, and one of the white bats chuckled. "The foolish bull doesn't know that there's a large troop coming from behind, a few hundred experts have entered…"
"Silence!" The white bat on the nostrils of the other sculpture grumbled, "What are you warning him for?"
'Large troop? Few hundred experts?'
Qin Mu was astonished. The ones coming in were definitely not the troops of Eternal Peace Empire. The military power of Qingmen Pass was okay, but they didn't have additional troops to deploy into Ghost Valley!
'It's the troops of Barbarian Di Empire!'
Qin Mu could no longer hesitate and immediately walked into the forest, rushing to the center of Ghost Valley.
Clashing with the army of Barbarian Di Empire was definitely seeking death. That country's soldiers were wild and overbearing. The cooperation between the troops was very good, and they had the support of battle formations. When Qin Mu had followed Chancellor Ba Shan into Rolan's Golden Palace, they had met the troops of the prairie and seen their extremely powerful abilities. Eight hundred people could then fight against a cult master level existence such as Ba Shan.
Upon hearing the bats' words, Qin Mu could only avoid the several hundred experts from Barbarian Di Empire.
"The foolish bull is going to die!" The two bats on the sculpture laughed in unison. "Collapse, collapse!"
The buddha rays lingering around Qin Mu's body protected him and the dragon qilin, so he didn't collapse.
The two white bats were bewildered, and one of them flew down from the nostrils of the sculpture. It grabbed onto a branch and hung in front of Qin Mu while asking in bewilderment, "Why are those things not attacking you?"
Qin Mu raised his head. "Dao friend, what's under the ground?"
The white bat was about to reply when it suddenly flew toward the nostril of the white bat god's sculpture without a word. Several hundred soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire and dozens of brilliant gold great shamans and shaman kings walked into the entrance of Ghost Valley.
"Prince Pangong Tso, please!"
A shaman king bowed, and Pangong Tso slowly walked out from the back. With his gaze sharp as lightning, he swept through Ghost Valley and saw Qin Mu who was sitting on the dragon qilin's back. He couldn't help being stunned and revealing a smile.
"I trust you have been well since we last met, Cult Master Qin?"
His voice was soft and immature, but it was loud and clear, exhibiting his incomparably dense cultivation.
Qin Mu heard him, and his heart trembled slightly. 'His cultivation speed is even faster than mine! When we had clashed outside the capital city, even though he was on the same realm as me, his cultivation wasn't as dense as mine, but now he's already caught up!'
"I'm well." Qin Mu laughed and said, "I'm very well! Little Prince looks good as well, I was quite worried that those couple knives might have chopped you to death at that time. I'm now relieved to see that you're still alive."
Pangong Tso smiled. "Cult Master might have been well earlier, but not now."
A shaman king raised his head and said after examining the bat gods' sculptures, "Prince, there are two bats up there."
Pangong Tso said nonchalantly, "Kill them."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Several hundred experts of Barbarian Di Empire didn't say a word and just drew their spirit weapons. In an instant, several hundred gleaming knife pellets rose into the sky. Countless knife lights swept like waves toward the nostrils of the bat gods' sculptures in mid-air.
The divine arts practitioners worked together to form a formation, drastically increasing the power by making their moves together. It was truly stunning!
Back then, Chancellor Ba Shan had defended against eight hundred soldiers on the prairie by himself, and his divine art, Heavenly Spirits Escarpment, had been broken numerous times. However, that was because the troop had some experts of the prairie on Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm.
Even though the experts Pangong Tso had brought from the army were all divine arts practitioners, the ones with the strongest cultivation were still the four shaman kings that had cultivated to Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm. These four shaman kings didn't make their moves, so even though the formations' power was immense, it couldn't be compared to what Chancellor Ba Shan had faced.
The two white bats flew out in a hurry and opened their mouths. Circular sound waves came bombarding at the soldiers, the divine art they executed being one that used sound waves. However, what was weird was these sound waves couldn't be heard when they reached the ears.
In the sky, countless curved knives were bombarded by the sound waves and came clanging down to the ground. The several hundred experts from the army below were struck by the silent sound waves and instantly turned into a complete mess.
Suddenly, the heads of Barbarian Di Empire's soldiers grew bigger and bigger before exploding with a bang. The noise rang in the air without stopping, as the heads of the soldiers exploded one after another. The blood splattered in all directions, making the situation really shocking.
The two white bats flew down from the sky and rushed toward the army with sound waves coming out from their mouths without stop.
Suddenly, one of the shaman kings snorted and took out a white banner. He shook it at the two white bats, and they instantly felt their souls wavering. They fell from the sky and landed among the troops.
The still-alive soldiers felt the pressure in their heads suddenly vanish and hurriedly controlled their knife pellets. Countless curved knives slashed toward the place where the two white bats had descended, and the clanging rang endlessly!
After a wave of knife rain, everyone controlled their curved knives back into the knife pellets that were spinning in the sky rapidly.
The place where the two white bats had landed had been carved into a huge pit by the countless curved knives. Even the rocks were sliced into fine powder.
Two divine arts practitioners from Barbarian Di Empire went forward to check if the white bats were dead when dust suddenly filled the air from the pit. The two white bats flew out from the dust and flapped their wings, coming to the two divine arts practitioners in a flash. Their speed was so fast that no one could react, allowing them to grab the two soldiers before flying away.
A shaman king saw this and jolted his shoulders. Golden rays shone brilliantly behind his back as they transformed into two golden wings. With a flap, he rose into the air and chased after the two white bats.
While flying, that shaman king grew a bird's head and six arms. He wielded a vajra scepter in his hand, which he smashed toward the two white bats with the rumbling of thunder. The speed of the bats who carried two divine arts practitioners was greatly decreased. The shaman was about to close in on them because of that, so the white bats could only throw their prey away. With an increase in speed after, they shook off their pursuer.
The shaman king transformed his vital qi into a huge hand that caught the two divine arts practitioners. At that moment, he saw that these two people had already been sucked dry of their blood and died from unnatural causes.
The two white bats landed on huge trees with their mouths open. Silent sound waves came from again and turned their pursuers into a complete mess.
One of the shaman kings raised a mirror and hung it in the sky. When the light from the mirror shone onto the body of one of the white bats, both of them fell from the trees.
Whoosh!
Knife lights came down like rain and slashed toward the place where the white bats had fallen. One of the shaman kings shook his body and transformed into a golden giant with an elephant's head. He raised a huge rock that was like a small mountain and threw it where the two white bats had fallen.
The primordial spirit of another shaman king showed its form behind him, and his vital qi transformed into a huge palm. With a mudra smashing down, the huge rock was smashed into smithereens, and the ground trembled endlessly as the trees in the surroundings got blown away.
"Now they should be dead, right?"
Everyone didn't even have to time let out a sigh of relief. As the troops rushed over, the two white bats flew up again before they even got there. They flew into the forest in a drunken manner, but were not yet dead.
A shaman king shook the white banner once again, and the souls of the two white bats were bombarded once again. They fell down, and the knife rain landed on them once more.
When the wave of attack was over, the two white bats flew up again. Even though their bodies weren't stable, they were still not dead.
"Pretty impressive."
Pangong Tso couldn't help being astonished. These two white bats had truly thick skin and flesh. Even the most famous knife pellets of the prairie couldn't injure them. The only ones dealing damage to them were the shaman kings of Rolan's Golden Palace.
The white bats withstanding the attacks of the shaman kings and not dying right away was actually out of his expectation.
Qin Mu, who had already gone into the depths of the forest, smiled and asked to the dragon qilin, "Fatty Dragon, do you still think you are an opponent for these two white bats?"
The dragon qilin snorted. "They are very strong, but aren't they still getting the crap beaten out of them?"
The soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire had already rushed into the forest of Ghost Valley to chase after their prey. The two white bats were heavily injured and were flying up and down in the forest from time to time. The divine arts practitioners of Barbarian Di Empire scattered and searched for them in all directions.
At this moment, a rustle came from the forest, and a divine arts practitioner from Barbarian Di Empire executed his knife pellet in alert. It spun round and round, making fine curved blades fly out and revolve around itself. Some of those curved blades were big and some small.
The rustling suddenly stopped, but that divine arts practitioner still didn't dare to relax. As he walked over carefully, more and more fine curved knives came out, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.
He walked into a forest that was full of fruits. Most of them were apples that were the size of a fist.
The divine arts practitioner carefully walked in deeper, until he heard the rustling coming from his back. He immediately turned around, yet he still didn't see anything. The rustling then came from his front.
He suddenly wrung his head to look before himself, but he still didn't see anything. The next moment,, the sound came from his back once more.
However, he was a perceptive person. Without a change in his behavior, a curved knife appeared in front of his face and gradually became larger. Since the blade was shiny to the point of being mirror-like, it reflected the situation behind the man.
The apples on the trees were currently turning their 'heads' over to face him. On one side, they actually looked similar to human faces. They had noses, eyes, and mouths with strange smiles aimed at the man.
The divine arts practitioner shuddered, and all the curved blades flew out from the knife pellet, slashing toward the apples all around him!
Whoosh!
The red apples suddenly fell from the trees as the leaves swirled in the air. Countless apples flew towards the divine arts practitioner, but he was strong. His knife lights rained heavily and sliced apart countless apples. In a split second, the ground was filled with sliced apart apples which were giving off a fruity fragrance.
Right then, an apple suddenly rolled on the ground. It avoided the knife light aiming at it and pounced to bite the man's leg.
The divine arts practitioner felt his leg go numb and lost all feeling in it. Then, half of his body turned numb. When he was about to chop the apple that was on his leg, his head was also paralyzed, and so all the curved knives dropped to the ground.
The other apples rose back into the air and returned to their trees. The apples turned their heads back and looked at the collapsed divine arts practitioner with strange smiles.
The man couldn't move at all, and his heart was thumping violently. He felt that his neck was very itchy, and then saw a face growing out from there.
That new face had a nose and mouth which opened wide to gasp for breath while smiling. "Caught you, caught you!"
The face squirmed and grew outwards. Soon, there were two necks and heads on the man. Then, an upper torso grew out for the new head.
The divine arts practitioner felt tearing pain and opened his mouth to scream, but he couldn't make any noise. Meanwhile, the man that was born from that apple was crawling outward with both his hands, dragging himself out. His crawling speed was quick, and more body parts soon emerged.
Finally, the two people were completely separated. The newborn one was identical to the divine arts practitioner, but for the fact that he was naked. Picking up a curved knife from the ground, the newborn person stabbed it into the man's chest before stripping off the clothes on his body.
"Hehe, freedom!"
The apple man grabbed the knife pellet and skipped out of the forest while the other apples watched him leave in envy.
Miserable shrieks came from the forest. All of the divine arts practitioners of Barbarian Di Empire who had entered the forest of Ghost Valley had encountered all kinds of unimaginable dangers.
Among them, some encountered strange insects that were translucent and looked like jade. They could fly around with great agility and tunnel into people's nostrils before reaching their brains to take control of their bodies. There was only death waiting for the people who ended up like that.
There were some incomparably tiny leeches that hid in the dew on the tree leaves. When a droplet landed on a divine arts practitioner's body, the person wouldn't find anything abnormal at first. They would only feel their body becoming heavier and heavier while they themselves became giddy.
On their backs, there would be a huge leech that was continuously sucking them out. After a moment, that leech would grow a face and four limbs yet still remain on the person's body. The leech would look exactly like their host, and it would seem as if a human was carrying another human.
Once the essence and blood of the divine arts practitioner were sucked clean, he would collapse dead while the leech would run away happily.
The serene forest was full of danger. The arrival of Barbarian Di Empire excited the dangerous inhabitants there, and many people that had barged in lost their lives.
Even though the divine arts practitioners of Barbarian Di Empire had remarkable abilities, they had no way to guard against this place!
Qin Mu walked through the forest with incomparable alertness. He used the true body of Bodhi Saha to protect the dragon qilin and himself, so they've been safe this far.
At this moment, he saw a monk sitting cross-legged under a tree. It was unknown when he had died, but his body had not yet decomposed. Behind him was a Bodhi Tree, and it had brilliant lights and vibrant colors. It was evident that it had been transformed by an unusual treasure.
'The Bodhi Saha True Body of this eminent monk was even stronger than mine, but he still died. Rulai's Mahayana Sutra can't counter the danger here!'
Qin Mu's skin crawled, and he immediately dispersed Bodhi Saha True Body. With both of his hands spread out before himself, he intertwined his fingertips as he gently moved them through the air, with one hand raising to the heaven and the other hand facing down to earth!
The first form of Dao Sword, A Dot Threading the Vast Movements, Yin and Yang Come and Go Within Two Modes!
The vital qi threads on his hands transformed into swords when an incomparably complicated calculation was launched. The sword lights transformed into two faces of the taiji diagram, with one on top and one below, protecting the dragon qilin and him in the middle!
The sword lights continuously flickered as the taiji diagrams swirled, changing yin and yang over and over again. Trails of sword lights also hung from the borders of the two taiji diagrams!
"Foolish bull isn't that foolish after all."
The Bodhi Tree rustled as two white bats covered in wounds hung down from the crown of the tree. One of the white bats coughed up blood and phlegm. In a weak breath, it said, "This bald donkey barged into this place over ten years ago. By relying on the blessing of buddhism, he thought he could enter this place without worry but ended up dying from tree insects."
"Tree insects?" Qin Mu was slightly stunned.
"They're the seeds of a type of tree. Akin to insects, they leap and frisk about. They hide underground and tunnel into people's anus when they encounter them, planting their roots into the flesh. The muscles of this bald donkey have long been devoured, so only his skin is left. The tree insects have already germinated in his body.
The other white bat stretched out its claw to slice at the eminent monk's head, and exuberant foliage burst out from the eminent monk's head, turning into a small treetop.
"This is the tree insect; however, it has already grown into a tree." That white bat was quite clever, and it looked at Qin Mu. "Foolish bull, we're injured. If you can protect us, we can point out the safe path for you so you don't meet danger!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Two Dao friends, actually, I'm also an apothecary that's proficient in curing injuries. Why don't I treat your injuries so both of you can protect me after you have recovered?"
The two white bats looked at each other and landed onto the ground from the Bodhi Tree. They asked in bewilderment, "Physician Bull Head? There are physicians in your Mars Family? Aren't you always sticking your noses up to the sky and spewing fire everywhere?"
Qin Mu stuck his bull nose toward the sky and spewed out two trails of flames while saying, "How's my suggestion?"
"Great!" The two white bats agreed right away while thinking to themselves, 'After Physician Bull Head cures us, it won't be too late to fall out with him!'
Qin Mu's gaze flickered as he thought to himself, 'The best time to poison a person is while treating their injuries. These two fellows will no longer have a choice then and have to listen and protect me!'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu's taotie sack always contained all kinds of herbs for emergency, to make sure that he would be able to treat himself when he got hurt. Of course, as a divine physician of a generation, he always had some poisonous herbs as well.
Anyway, even if he didn't have any poisonous herbs, he could still create a poisonous substance with just spirit herbs alone.
The white bats stood upright like humans, and Qin Mu went forward to check on their injuries. He frowned slightly. The injuries on the two bats' bodies weren't severe. It was their souls that had suffered heavy injuries from the shaman kings' attacks.
The great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace used the souls of other living beings—humans included—to cultivate. Even if their spells and divine arts were all-inclusive, their attainments on the divine arts of souls were still the strongest. Their battle divine arts were still slightly inferior compared to them.
When Pangong Tso had fought with Qin Mu, he hadn't used the soul divine arts which he was best in. Instead, he used Dao sword and techniques from Little Jade Capital and the rest of the sacred grounds to compete with Qin Mu. This ended up with him losing the upper hand and being miserably defeated by Qin Mu.
If he had used the divine arts of the soul, it would be hard to say who would have come out victorious. Qin Mu wasn't certain if his Heavenly Devil Creation Technique was able to defend the other's soul divine arts.
Rolan's Golden Palace's soul divine arts were called shaman spell divine arts due to being cultivated to the extreme. This was why that place was referred to as the sacred ground on the prairie.
The two white bats were struck countless times by the shaman king's shaman spells, and the lowest cultivation among their opponents was Celestial Being Realm. For the two white bats to be still alive after receiving several attacks from their shaman spells, it showed that the descendants of gods were truly extraordinary.
"So strong, I will have to apply a heavy dose…" Qin Mu muttered to himself.
The two white bats were instantly alerted. "What did you say?"
"I said your injuries are very heavy so I have to apply a heavy dose. How should I refer to the two Dao friends?"
To deal with Pangong Tso and the shaman spells of Rolan's Golden Palace, Qin Mu had researched about medicine and nourished his soul. In Apothecary's teachings, there wasn't much about shaman poisons that were targeted at the soul and what was wasn't too detailed Even if Apothecary was the Poison King, he usually moved around Middle Earth and would rarely run to the prairie, thus he didn't have much understanding regarding shaman poison and injuries to the soul.
However, Qin Mu had had a number of encounters with Rolan's Golden Palace, so he slowly came his understanding.
By combining the Seven Writings of Creation in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, he researched a treatment that consisted of both herbs and techniques.
"I'm called Fu Yuqiu, and this is my elder brother Fu Yuchun," the white bat with the longer ear said.
When the two white bats saw that Qin Mu didn't need a pill furnace to refine pills and medicine and just used hand techniques and vital qi to extract the medicinal energy out from the herbs while using hand techniques to complete the medicinal roles, they couldn't help crying out in surprise. "Physician Bull Head is truly extraordinary, we're dazzled."
Not much later, Qin Mu succeeded in refining the first batch of spirit pills.
The short-eared Fu Yunchun didn't immediately consume the spirit pills but said alertly, "Apothecary Bull, you shall taste one first!"
Qin Mu burst out laughing. "Brother sure is cautious. My surname is not Bull, my surname is Qin and my name is just Mu." When he said that, he picked a spirit pill and ate it.
Only then were the two white bats reassured and ate the spirit pills. Qin Mu then used Ghost Creation Technique and Earth Aeon Creation Technique to smack the two white bats to catalyze the medicinal energy and strengthen their souls. The two white bats felt much more comfortable, and their injuries indeed lessened.
Qin Mu refined another batch of spirit pills, and Fu Yuchun made him eat one first again. This white bat was much more cautious than his younger brother Fu Yuqiu.
Qin Mu complied and ate one spirit pill. Only then did the two white bats eat the rest, healing more of their injuries.
At this moment, a few great shamans who had chased until here came attacking without a greeting. The two white bats still had heavy injuries, their external ones having been treated in the least. Qin Mu stretched out his hand and pointed with a finger. Carefree Sword rushed out at the great shamans.
The great shamans saw the cheap attack and all laughed loudly. "How poor is Heavenly Devil Cult's Cult Master Qin to actually have only a spirit sword of Six Directions Realm. Well, it's fine, it'll make it much easier for us brothers to achieve a great merit!"
Before they could finish their words, a piece of shining white rain came from Qin Mu's back as eight thousand swords moved in unison and rushed into the sky from the taotie sack. The swords turned in the direction of the shamans and rushed over, drowning out their targets with a whoosh.
Qin Mu flicked his index finger up, and Carefree Sword flew back into the sword sheath. The seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine swords then soon followed into the taotie sack.
At the place where the treasured swords had landed, there wasn't a single complete corpse that could be seen.
The two white bats stared with their eyes wide open, unable to utter a word.
It was a majestic sight when the soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire had executed their knife pellets and had countless curved knives slash at the enemies, but this Physican Bull Head was actually a hundred man army by himself, sending thousands of swords flying over at his enemies. The great shamans had suffered and died unjustly under his attack.
"Since these great shamans found their way here, the shaman kings should be close, it's not good to stay here anymore!" Qin Mu's gaze flickered, and he said to the two white bats, "Dao friends, let us quickly head forward."
The two white bats followed him while glancing at one another. Fu Yuqiu smiled and asked, "Just now the two people said you're Cult Master Qin of Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Qin Mu sat down on the dragon qilin's back and continued to refine his spirit pills without concern. "That right. However, we call ourselves Heavenly Saint Cult."
"We have once met people who called themselves Heavenly Saint Cult in this place. The bunch of golden people who faced them also called them Heavenly Saint Cult. If you are the cult master of humans, are you not from Mars Family?"
Qin Mu dispersed his Mars Sovereign form and regained his true appearance with a smile. "That's right. I'm originally a human, I just used the god transformation of Heavenly Saint Cult to transform into the form of Mars."
The two white bats salivated, and their hearts were connected. 'When our injuries are cured, we'll eat him!'
'We'll eat him rare!'
…
Qin Mu finished refining the spirit pills, but he didn't give them to the two white bats. He just ate one himself without giving the remaining ones away. Fu Yuchun was bewildered. "Why doesn't Cult Master Qin give us the spirit pills?"
Qin Mu smiled. "This batch of spirit pills is used to detoxify my poison so there's no need to give any pills to the two of you."
"Detoxify poison?" Fu Yuchun quivered and stuttered, "W-what poison?"
"Of course it's the poison in the two batches of spirit pills I've given you," Qin Mu naturally explained.
The faces of the two white bats instantly blackened, but just as they were about to pounce on him, they felt their souls turning numb and their bodies convulsing from the pain. The two of them collapsed to the ground and twitched endlessly.
The dragon qilin snickered and said, "Two foolish birds, to actually dare to eat Cult Master's spirit pills, truly acting recklessly."
The two white bats were furious and said in unison while lying on the floor, "Damned fatty, you're the foolish bird!"
"Fatty Dragon, not all that grow wings are birds, they aren't birds." Qin Mu grabbed the two white bats up and placed them on the dragon qilin's back, "Dao friends…"
"Bah!" The two white bats were very unyielding.
"My poison has merely infiltrated both of your souls. It's a new soul poison that I've developed and both of you are experiencing the first flare up. After ten flare-ups, your souls will be torn apart by the unbearable pain!"
Qin Mu beamed at them. "Soul poison is different from normal poison as it reproduces itself in the soul. Each time it flares up, the toxicity will become ten percent greater. I have the antidote here which can negate precisely the extra ten percent of toxicity."
He took out two spirit pills and sliced a small piece from each of them, stuffing them into the mouths of the two bats. He then gave a smack and smashed the two spirit pills into powder.
He didn't leave the antidote on his body in worry that the two white bats would suddenly make a lethal move on him, killing him to snatch the antidote. Only if he refined the antidote right before the soul poison in the white bats would flare up could he control them.
The soul poison in the bodies of the bats was suppressed by the antidote, and the great pain vanished. They stood up with darkened faces.
After a moment, Fu Yuchun said, "We admit defeat; however, we'll only protect you in Ghost Valley. Once you are out of it, we'll go our separate ways!"
"Deal!" Qin Mu agreed without a moment's hesitation and refined another batch of pills, throwing them to the two white bats. He then threw a bottle of dragon saliva to them as well to cure their external injuries while saying, "Apply the dragon saliva on the outside and consume the spirit pills, your injuries will then be basically healed."
The two white bats consumed the spirit pills and applied the dragon saliva on their wounds. In no time, their injuries truly recovered almost completely.
Fu Yuqiu's ears twitched, and he warned, "Be careful, there are soul insects underground! Damned fatty, don't step on the ground!"
Fire clouds immediately appeared under the dragon qilin's feet, lifting him off the ground. Qin Mu lowered his head to take a look and saw snow white tentacles having tunneled out from the ground, waving around gently.
This kind of wonderful organism was very strange. Twisted faces sometimes appeared on the snow white tentacles, and they would open their mouths to give off miserable shrieks that attacked people's souls.
The two white bats screeched in unison, and the silent sound waves bombarded the ground. Violent tremors instantly came from below, and a huge insect that was covered in tentacles popped up with half of its body above the ground and the other half underground. It was shaken to death by the two white bats' sound waves.
The bug melted and soon became a pile of water which was absorbed by the soil. When it happened, numerous small humans tunneled out from its body and the faces ran in all directions, turning into wisps of green smoke.
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. What was this weird lifeform?
"The origins of Ghost Valley are very ancient. I've heard from my ancestors that this is a place which is connected to Youdu. The ancient gods had opened a path to another world, the Youdu world," Fu Yuchun explained,
"This ended up letting some things from Youdu to run in. The gods had spent painstaking effort to seal this place and our white bat god race was ordered to stay guard here, to not let the lifeforms of Youdu to break through the world barrier and enter this place. However, in our generation, it's only us two brothers left."
The two white bats looked at each other with bitter expressions. Both of their faces wrinkled until they were like two dried up mandarins.
They were both male and how to reproduce future generations had become their biggest problem.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then said, "I didn't expect Dao friends to be the guardians of this world. However, you're both brothers and male, who will guard Ghost Valley after you die…"
"Don't mention it!" the two white bats said in unison.
"Alright then." Qin Mu didn't talk about this again and instead asked, "Do you still remember the incident sixteen years ago? Did something like a meteor come from outer space, crashing into this place?"
"There was such an incident, the unknown thing had penetrated through the seal left behind by our ancestors of white bat god race," Fu Yuqiu said.
"We had gone to take a look before, but that place was very dangerous. Some people came afterward and we ate a few of them. However, there were more who went in deeper, but few of them came out."
Qin Mu's spirit was greatly roused, and he asked immediately, "What fell from the sky?"
"A ship. Half of it is now stuck in Youdu and the other half in the ground here."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'A ship? Could it be from Carefree Village?'
Qin Mu was slightly excited. Village Chief and the rest had found an incomparably enormous ship, but it was destroyed so they couldn't go to Carefree Village. If this ship was from Carefree Village, wouldn't he be able to go to his hometown?
The two white bats led the way in a strange temper. They flew around silently, so if Qin Mu was not careful, he wouldn't notice where they had flown. The next moment, there would be some rustling and the two bats would hang down from a tree or cliff before flapping their wings away silently.
The lifeforms in the Ghost Valley were incomparably peculiar, and their attacks were very strange. However, as the two white bats were the guardians here, they knew every detail about this place. With them leading the way, Qin Mu's journey was free of any danger.
Sometimes, the two brothers would even capture the strange lifeforms in Ghost Valley to eat them.
"Heh, when luck comes, nothing can stop it, to actually meet a borer turtle!"
Qin Mu saw the two brothers flying above a lake before diving into the water to drag out a behemoth. It was a hexagon-shaped insect with weird hexagon markings on its body that had a regular pattern. At the front, it had two huge pincers that were very powerful.
There were white insect eggs that were the size of a human on its back. Some of the eggs had already opened, and it looked like someone had neatly opened them from the outside.
That borer turtle's abilities were astonishing, and it wasn't willing to be carried away by the two brothers. Its pincers rushed forward and caused thunderous explosions. Bolts of lightning appeared from compressed air, and lightning crackled while surrounding the borer turtle. It was a terrifying sight.
The borer turtle even spewed out toxic liquid which melted everything on the ground, be it soil or rock!
Qin Mu's heart shuddered. The abilities of this borer turtle were not weaker than those of the dragon qilin. The toxic liquid was especially terrifying since it could melt everything!
The abilities of the dragon qilin were strong, and he was situated between Seven Stars Realm and Celestial Being Realm. However, even Celestial Being Realm wouldn't be able to withstand the toxicity of the borer turtle.
The abilities of the two white bats were even stronger, however. The impact of the sound waves from Fu Yuqiu's mouth made the borer turtle dizzy from the vibration. The two brothers then jumped onto the borer turtle's back and opened up two insect eggs as if they were opening doors in eggshell pods.
The two white bats jumped in and moaned. They then waved at Qin Mu and the dragon qilin. "Come in, come in quickly!"
Qin Mu hesitated before bringing the dragon qilin onto the borer turtle's back.
Fu Yuchun popped his furry head out from the eggshell like a rat that was just born and twitched its ears. "Find an egg and quickly hide in it, since this borer turtle is about to wake up. This fellow is an expert in swimming and the overlord in the water. He will bring us to the river from the lake and swim toward the deep pit in the lake! Its nest is there!"
Qin Mu hesitated. "Can't I stand on its back?"
"This fellow is very alert, but his love for his children is the greatest. If we hide in these eggs, he won't attack us. Also, any other things that attack us will be killed by it," Fu Yuchun explained.
Qin Mu looked at the dragon qilin and asked, "Can you shrink your body?"
The body of the dragon qilin was only six yards smaller than the borer turtle, so he definitely couldn't hide in an egg with his current size.
The dragon qilin snorted and shook its body, causing it to shrink slowly. "Cult Master is underestimating me. I was taught by Patriarch, so of course, I can change my size at will."
He shrunk to the size of a huge dog, which was his limit. With his big tummy, he continued to execute the technique, but to no avail. After a moment, he mumbled, "Cult Master, do you think this is okay?"
Qin Mu looked at the ball-shaped fellow and picked the biggest egg. He opened the cover and carried the dragon qilin up, trying to stuff him in.
"It's been a while since I got carried," the dragon qilin said while reminiscing about the past.
Qin Mu forced the guy's tummy in and pushed down with strength, but the dragon qilin was stuck and couldn't go in any direction anymore.
Qin Mu was furious and placed the white egg-shaped cover on the dragon qilin's head. "Stay in this position and don't move!"
The dragon qilin didn't dare to move with the shell on his head. He said pitifully, "Cult Master, you won't decrease my food right? I'm still growing…"
Qin Mu opened up an eggshell for himself and jumped in. There seemed to be something like egg white inside and it was actually very comfortable. It was the feeling of consuming spirit pills and spirit medicines.
He could feel some fine energies entering from his pores and going into his muscles, blood vessels, meridians, five viscera, and six bowels, nourishing his body, hair, and skin.
Those energies even entered his soul and nourished it!
Qin Mu stood with astonishment and tried to execute Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and instantly felt even more energy coming from the egg white, allowing his primordial spirit to grow stronger.
'This egg white is better than any spirit pill or miraculous medicine. If I could hide inside here to cultivate for a very long time, my primordial spirit would probably become abnormally strong!'
He looked toward the other eggs and saw that most of them were already empty. It was most likely that the other borer turtles had matured and left the shell. There were only two to three other eggs that had yet to mature.
'Good stuff, I shall steal these eggs when we reach our destination!'
Just as he thought this, the huge borer turtle woke up and swayed its head before diving back into the lake.
This lake was one of the tributaries of the rivers, and as the borer turtle dived into the water, it swam into the mainstream and went with the river, swimming to the place where two rivers converged.
The water of this river was very strange. There were all kinds of Youdu lifeforms living in it. There was a long insect with eyes over its whole body, a huge fish that had muscles and no scales on its body, a weird insect that was covered in tentacles with mouths with hooks at their ends, and also some things that were floating around like souls.
Qin Mu also saw some lotuses floating on the river surface. Some of them had withered and grew out a lotus seed head. From that seed head came out white and chubby babies. Their buttocks were bare as they danced around and giggled, looking pure and innocent.
Suddenly, one of the babies opened his mouth wide, and a twenty yards long tongue swung out and wrapped around a weird fish in the water. The tongue then swung back into the air, and the baby ate the weird fish in an instant, leaving only fish bones to sink into the riverbed.
Once that baby was full, he once again danced and giggled. Soon though, a huge bird dived down and picked the baby up, raising its head to swallow him down.
'What are all these monsters from the world of Youdu!' Qin Mu shuddered.
Finally, this borer turtle brought them to the deep pit that the two white bats had mentioned. Instead of being called a deep pit, it would be better described as an abyss. The two rivers converged there, and water descended down into the abyss, rumbling continuously.
When they were about to drop into the abyss, the borer turtle suddenly leaped out of water and into mid-air. With a swoosh, it opened two hard wings and below which were two soft wings.
The latter were sharp like razor blades. They trembled and hummed as the turtle flew down, straight into the abyss.
Qin Mu and the rest were thrown against the insides of the eggs, which were stuck on the hard wings. When the borel turtle flew, the hard wings didn't move, only the soft wings were flapping continuously.
From inside the egg, Qin Mu looked around and saw huge mushrooms hanging on the walls of the abyss, spewing spores. They glowed and floated in the air like dandelions.
Huge fish sometimes jumped out from the raging waterfall to eat the glowing spores. The moment they did that, their bodies would swell in mid-air and explode. Huge mushrooms would then grow out from their bodies.
Those mushrooms were very weird. They only exploded the lower half of the fish or the insects, leaving the upper part of their bodies fine. Due to that, the creatures were still alive. Only their aesthetic appearances had been destroyed, since their lower bodies had become mushrooms.
Long roots grew out from the mushrooms, and they flailed around in mid-air. Some of them landed on the cliffs and immediately grew their roots there. The fish and insects that were then growing from the mushrooms helped to hunt, creating a strange kind of symbiosis.
The borer turtle continued to fly downward with the illumination of the weird mushrooms. They were the only ones that prevented the abyss from being totally dark.
After countless miles downward, they finally came to the bottom of the abyss. It was very humid there, and the surroundings were filled with glowing crystal pillars. They were translucent and sparkling, with a charming shine that lighted up the entire underground.
The borer turtle had built a nest on a piece of a huge crystal pillar and landed there. Just as it did so, it was once again stunned by Fu Yuqiu's sound waves.
Qin Mu, who had absorbed all the energy inside, jumped out from the egg looking refreshed. He immediately went forward and plucked the other three eggs that were still full, putting them into his taotie sack.
"Cult Master, I can't get out!" the dragon qilin called over pitifully.
Qin Mu went forward and pulled on the dragon's two ears, spending out all his strength to pull him out. He said angrily, "If you continue to be so fat, I'll start feeding you dirt!"
"I'm just a little sturdy, I'm not fat," the dragon qilin muttered in a small voice
The two white bats flew upward silently and said, "The ship crashed from outer space and created this deep pit. When it reached underground, it slid quite a distance more and cracked the barrier sealing Youdu.
"That ship is right in front, not much farther away. However, most of Youdu's lifeforms are living there. By following the underground stream, we will be able to reach them."
Qin Mu followed the two white bats, and they really didn't walk far before seeing corpses washed up on the shore. They belonged to Rolan's Golden Palace's strong practitioners, and based on the bodies' state of decay, they should have died not long ago.
Qin Mu had the two white bats to lead him, so he didn't meet any danger, but if he had wanted to cross Ghost Valley and reach this place by himself, it would have been much more dangerous.
Those that reached this place were basically all experts, and the lowest of them would be on Seven Stars Realm. It was a pity though that they couldn't see the ship before they died.
Not a long time later, Qin Mu saw some skeletons, and from their belongings judged them to be disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult.
He sighed and was about to pick up a few stones to bury them when the 'stones' suddenly ran away, vanishing with a plop into the river.
They walked ahead then, until suddenly they heard a buddha voice lingering in the space underground.
Not much later, they came to where the buddha voice was coming and saw two old monks in yellow robes sitting cross-legged on stone pillars. Two shrines had been chiseled out from the stone pillars, and the two old monks sat there with their long eyebrows hanging out of the shrines. Buddha voice rang continuously from their bodies, while the buddha rays were sometimes bright and sometimes dim, defending against the devil qi surging over.
"Great Thunderclap Monastery's monks!" Qin Mu said in astonishment. "They are already dead?"
The two white bat brothers were also astonished. Fu Yuqiu said, "These two bald donkeys ran here with their extremely high abilities. They had said that they came here on Rulai's order to help us suppress the unusual movements from Youdu, preventing Youdu's lifeforms from running out to harm all living things. We were not happy, but we couldn't defeat them, so we let them stay here. They sat here for over ten years and helped us quite a lot. There were a few times the seal had almost been broken and they helped us suppress it. Never would I have expected for them to die from exhaustion…"
Fu Yuchun sighed. "We once thought they were delicious, but now I don't want to eat them at all… That ship that fell from outer space is right in front."
Qin Mu raised his head to look over and his body trembled slightly.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The space underground was vast, and there was a mountain in front which looked like the upper body of a giant sculpture. It was incomparably huge, and its whole body was covered in pitch black rocks, but the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears were all sculpted in detail.
Since only the upper body could be seen, the lower body had to be buried in the ground. Otherwise, not sculpted at all.
Behind the sculpture, an ancient ship floated in mid-air. Half of it was in the space underground while the other half had gone through a huge gate. There were beehive seals on it, but the bow of this ship had pierced through them, entering the other world.
That seal had to be the Youdu seal that the white bats had mentioned.
The ancient gods must have opened a passage from the real world to Youdu world which resulted in the invasion of life forms from Youdu, so the gods had no choice but to seal this place. The white bat god race had then been ordered to stay guard, and life was peaceful around there until the ship arrived and broke the seals.
From the looks of it, the seals were loosening, especially at the place where the ship was touching upon them. Numerous cracks had appeared there.
Not only that, there was also the problem of the life forms of Youdu entering Great Ruins through the ship!
Strangely shaped, they would come down the ship from time to time. Some spread their wings to fly while others jumped down from the ship. However, they didn't make it far before the beehive seals would flash with a bright light, silently severing the heads of those life forms.
A huge god sculpture, a gate, a large ship, beehive seals, Youdu's life forms—this underground world seemed to be grotesque and variegated.
'This gate looks a little familiar…'
Qin Mu examined the huge gate up and down, feeling that he'd seen it somewhere before, yet he couldn't remember where he had seen it.
"How did the two eminent monks die?"
He frowned slightly. The abilities of the two eminent monks were way superior to those of the two white bats, and ever since they came to guard this place under Rulai's orders, everything had been peaceful, so why had they suddenly died?
The two white bats said that they had died from exhaustion, but from the looks of it, there was more to it than just that. For the corporeal bodies of the old monks to be able to defend against the devil qi of Youdu with their buddhism after the two monks had died, their abilities had to have reached an extremely high realm. Even if they weren't cult masters of Divine Bridge Realm, they couldn't have been far from it.
It would be difficult for such existences to die from exhaustion against the invasion of the devil qi.
Could it be that there were some terrifying life forms which entered this world through the ship and killed the two old monks? Or was it because something had attacked the seals furiously and the two monks had exhausted themselves to death by using all their power to defend?
No matter what it was, this was not a good thing. If Qin Mu was to approach the ship, he was certain that there would be dangers hidden one beneath the other.
'Youdu, the world of Earth Count, the place where the souls belong. The envoys of Earth Count guide the souls that have died in this world to Youdu, and they are the messengers of death. I once saw messengers of death, and they are the strange elders folding paper boats in the darkness of Great Ruins. Even though they are strange, they are considered peaceful. As long as one doesn't interfere with their tasks, they won't cause trouble to the living.'
Qin Mu examined the surroundings. It seemed that the Youdu world of Earth Count had its own unique rules and regulations. The messenger of death operated according to them, and Earth Count didn't interfere with the real world.
In that case, what were all these Youdu life forms in Ghost Valley?
They were powerful, strange, demonic, sinister, and even more evil than the Heavenly Devil Horde Qin Mu had met before!
Compared to Youdu life forms, Heavenly Devil Horde would still be considered kind.
The Youdu life forms and the messengers of death were two extreme opposites!
He looked up at the ship which was not in the sky and not on the ground. The beehive seals had fixed it in place, and the hexagon pillars were inlaid in the air, layer upon layer. They were translucent like colored glass, forming the seal that was left behind by the ancient gods.
However, there was devil qi and other strange auras leaking out from the ship, and an unnerving sound could be faintly heard coming from inside there. It was like numerous damned souls that were suffering in Youdu were screaming.
Qin Mu composed himself, and his body suddenly trembled. He transformed into a creature with the snake's body and a scroll in its hand while the Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him. His snake tail slithered forward, rising up into the sky, avoiding the god's sculpture in front to enter the ship.
The two white bats jumped in shock and immediately flapped their wings to examine Qin Mu curiously. "Transformed, he has transformed again! He was a cow, then he turned into a human, and now he has turned into a snake!"
"This door is weird, let me go in and take a look!" Fu Yuchun said curiously, planning to push open Gate of Heaven Influence to take a look.
"Behind the gate is the Youdu world. If you want to die and let your soul enter Youdu, you can go and open the gate." Qin Mu said sternly.
When he said this, his heart trembled violently as he paused in mid-air while looking at the huge gate in front of him in a daze.
Gate of Heaven Influence.
This gate that was sealed by the beehive was a Gate of Heaven Influence!
Since that was so, then what was the sculpture?
Qin Mu turned his head back with difficulty and looked at the sculpture of the god.
Didn't the sculpture and the Gate of Heaven Influence match Qin Mu's current appearance?
"This is not a sculpture, it's someone who has perfectly cultivated the form of Saturn Sovereign, like me!"
Qin Mu's mind was blown. Even though the form of Saturn Sovereign always had a human head and snake's body, not everyone could cultivate Gate of Heaven Influence and the scroll in hand. Even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who was known as the saint that appears once every five hundred years had not managed to cultivate this form.
This was the most perfect form.
Qin Mu had once thought that this was the symbol of Overlord Body and also the reason for his confidence that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could never be as strong as him.
And now, he met another existence that had succeeded in cultivating Gate of Heaven Influence.
"Is this an ancient Overlord Body? Why is he petrified, why has he turned into such a state?"
Qin Mu stood in the air silently and looked at the god's sculpture. But it wasn't a god sculpture, though. It was a god in Saturn Sovereign's form that was petrified. Half of his body should be buried underground.
His Gate of Heaven Influence had become the gate which linked Youdu and the real world, but it was hard to say why the gate had lost control. This resulted in the life forms of Youdu flooding out from the door and creating havoc in the real world, thus the ancient gods had no choice but to seal this gate.
'In that case, how was he petrified and who petrified him…'
Qin Mu was slightly puzzled. What had this ancient Overlord Body encountered to fall into such a state? Why didn't Gate of Heaven Influence close and vanish after he died? Why had it become a gate between Youdu and reality?
The white bats said the ancient gods had opened a gate between Youdu and reality, but what did that mean?
Did the two bats know about the incident that had happened back then?
Qin Mu composed himself and abandoned all the messy thoughts in his head. He turned his body around and slithered toward that ship. Many things that the current generations viewed as strange had happened in the years before the disaster of Great Ruins. Those incidents had long become histories that lay in the dust, turning into mysteries that were waiting for the future generations to uncover the truth.
Qin Mu was still very weak though and didn't have the ability to uncover the secrets behind everything.
He flew at the ship from outer space, carefully closing in on it. The closer he got, the more he felt the immensity of the ship.
Of course, when compared to Sun Ship and Moon Ship, this ship wasn't considered anything, but when compared to Eternal Peace Empire's flying ships, this one was way larger.
This ship didn't seem like it was something from the mortal realm. There were all kinds of strange runes imprinted on its body. Even though many of the runes had been destroyed, there were still some runes that flashed with life once in a while. Between the lighting up and going out, the shapes of the runes would change. If Qin Mu observed them in detail, he was likely to conjecture some marvel from their transformations.
However, he had no time to observe the rune markings. He secretly boarded the aft of the ship and saw many parts of the ship that were already destroyed. The main body was still intact, though.
The beehive seals left behind by the ancient gods didn't target him or the bats. Those seals should only be targeted at Youdu life forms and pose no threat to life forms of the real world.
Qin Mu landed on the ground. Behind him, the dragon qilin and the two white bats had also landed on the deck. There was green liquid everywhere on the deck, giving off a faint glow. Qin Mu accidentally slithered into one puddle and immediately dodged to one side. He discovered that silk like objects was being pulled out from the sticky liquid.
Fu Yuqiu grabbed a handful of sticky liquid and took a sniff. "It should be the remnants of the killed insects."
The dragon qilin shook his body and balls of true fire flew out, burning away all the sticky liquid on the deck.
Suddenly, a ball of devil qi flew out from the bow of the ship, and the true fire of the dragon qilin was instantly extinguished. Fu Yuqiu and Fu Yuchun hurriedly flashed to the front of Qin Mu, opening their mouths to give off silent screeches, which clashed with that devil qi.
Boom!
An unimaginably huge force came sweeping over to blow the two white bats away. Even Qin Mu and the dragon qilin behind them were lifted up into mid-air.
Each of them landed on the ground and looked head with worry.
The darkness flooded forward as if it had a consciousness, closing in on them. The dragon qilin growled and trembled. Crackles came out from his body as he expanded, and the dragon scales gave off piercing sounds as they scraped against each other. In an instant, he revealed his true form and transformed into a half dragon half qilin behemoth. Flames and lightning burst off from his body and surged toward the depths of the ship.
The dragon qilin opened his mouth, spewing out flames and lightning.
His abilities were superb, and even experts of Celestial Being Realm would have to temporarily avoid the cutting edge of this strike. However, it landed into the flooding darkness like a clay ox entering the sea, making no ripple at all.
The two white bats flapped their wings and spun in mid-air. The fine white hair on their bodies instantly flew out like rain, shooting into the darkness like countless white needles.
After that, the two bats called the hair back, yet no matter what they did, the hair wouldn't come back. For an instant, they were like two huge rats that had shed all their hair, standing in the open and shivering.
The darkness still continued to pour forward at a pace that was neither fast nor slow. A gentle laughter came from inside it and said something incomprehensible.
It wasn't a god's voice, nor was it a devil's voice, and it definitely wasn't a buddhist incantation.
Suddenly, Qin Mu's expression changed slightly, and he spoke the only Youdu words he knew.
The darkness suddenly halted and stopped flooding toward them. Instead, it rapidly retreated. Countless fine hairs flew back and returned to the bodies of the white bats, making them seem like hedgehogs.
The two white bats were bewildered, but they immediately trembled their bodies to allow their white hair to enter back into their pores.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Pangong Tso and a bunch of great shamans and shaman kings had made their way to the entrance of the abyss. The several hundred divine arts practitioners of Barbarian Di Empire were left with less than a hundred people. All the others had died in this strange and unpredictable forest of Ghost Valley.
Even if there had been countless expeditions of Rolan's Golden Palace's great shamans who had explored this place in the past, the large-scaled exploration this time still resulted in great casualties.
To Pangong Tso, it didn't matter how many people had died as long as he wasn't one of them The lives of these soldiers, great shamans, and even shaman kings were disposable. The purpose of bringing all these people was to have them protect him, to use their corpses to pave out a path to the center of Ghost Valley.
As an old monster that had lived for ten thousand years, he could overlook the lives of anyone. The only one he treasured was himself.
"I'm finally here."
Pangong Tso stood at the side of the abyss and looked down with infatuation. Ghost Valley had only entered his sight sixteen years ago.
The incident of a flying ship from outer space crashing into Ghost Valley had led to the attention of three powers. Rolan's Golden Palace, Heavenly Devil Cult, and Great Thunderclap Monastery had all set their sights on this place. However, Heavenly Devil Cult had no cult master at the time, and Great Thunderclap Monastery knew some secrets, so neither of them came to explore the place.
At that time, Pangong Tso was already approaching old age, and because he valued his life, he didn't come personally. Instead, he hid in Rolan's Golden Palace to wait for his Sacred Child of Reincarnation. However, the broken sword that one shaman king brought back from Ghost Valley had made him realize that the ship from outer space was extraordinary.
Once he succeeded in reincarnating, he made his way here. As if to make things easier for him, Khan Ruandi was preparing to mobilize his army on Eternal Peace Empire, and Pangong Tso could borrow the military power of Khan Ruandi to enter the place.
"Gongmu, do you guys feel it?" Pangong Tso asked in a low voice. "This place is filled with the power of souls that have shattered souls and given birth to these weird life forms. This is the best sacred ground for us great shamans to cultivate."
Beside him, the great shamans and shaman kings felt a throbbing from their souls. The atmosphere here made their souls, spirits, and primordial spirits dance in jubilation.
This place was filled with the power of souls and spirits. The abundant spirit energy and soul energy here surpassed what they could find in Rolan's Golden Palace!
Along their way, they had met the queer life forms of Ghost Valley, which were like a nightmare to the soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire. However, to these great shamans, they were like moving supplement pills. Of course, these kind of pills were slightly dangerous.
Using the souls and spirits of other life forms was the original cultivation method of the great shamans!
Shaman King Gongmu breathed in the air coming from the abyss greedily. The spirit energy there was even stronger, and he exclaimed, "If our Rolan's Golden Palace gained a footing here, we'd be able to strengthen the abilities of our great shamans twice as fast! The spirit energy and soul energy here even helps to improve the primordial spirit!"
It went without saying that Rolan's Golden Palace which was strong in souls and spirits was strong in primordial spirits as well. Their attainments in souls, spirits, and primordial spirit were very profound. Other sacred grounds and even Great Thunderclap Monastery were inferior them in regard of these.
It was only that their method of cultivation was strange, using souls and spirits of living beings to cultivate, that they were always criticized. If they could take over this place, Rolan's Golden Palace would definitely develop to a stage that had never been imagined by relying on the spirit and soul energy of this place!
The rise of the prairie's sacred ground would definitely reach the throne of the middle plains, suppressing all the sacred grounds in Middle Earth!
"What's important isn't this, it's that flying ship from outer space." Pangong Tso's gaze was slightly infatuated when he said softly, "What is attracting me is not how to borrow the spirit and soul energy to cultivate, but how to break through, to surpass the boundaries of humans and become a god. This ship should have what I want. It had come from outer space…"
He didn't say more and jumped down. The other great shamans, shaman kings, and the remaining soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire went after with him, guarding his surroundings.
Pangong Tso was an existence that had lived for ten thousand years and knew a lot of secrets. Other sacred grounds like Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect relied on the histories recorded in the books in the sacred grounds which might be biased, but he relied on his own memory. The things he had experienced were simply too many.
Even though his lifespan didn't surpass the length of Great Thunderclap Monastery or Dao Sect's existence, he had once been part of the higher-ups of those two sacred grounds. He had even been to Little Jade Capital and seen the secrets recorded there.
'This ship should have come from that mysterious place which might be the only place in the world where people can still become gods. No matter what, I've got to get the ship and go there!' he thought to himself.
In mid-air, they met attacks from all kinds of strange and weird life forms from the abyss. Numerous soldiers, great shamans, and shaman kings made their moves and exerted all their power to protect Pangong Tso. After losing over a dozen men, they reached the bottom of the abyss.
On the treasure ship, Qin Mu looked at the devil qi that was withdrawing and felt hesitant.
There was definitely a terrifying entity in the devil qi. He didn't know if it was a Youdu life form, but its abilities were extremely strong, stronger than those of the two white bats. But with just a single phrase of Youdu language, this entity had retreated. It made things slightly suspicious.
After the devil qi withdrew, the miserable screams lingering around also vanished. The surroundings became incomparably quiet, and the strange life forms pouring out from Youdu world vanished.
Because of the silence, things seemed even stranger.
"The entity that exhausted the two eminent monks to death must be on this ship!"
Qin Mu frowned. The silence on the ship was terrifying.
"Fatty Dragon, Yuchun, Yuqiu, let's go in and take a look. If we meet with any danger, we'll immediately leave!" Qin Mu said solemnly and took a step forward.
Fu Yuchun and Fu Yuqiu immediately came in front of him while flapping their wings. The two white bats flew silently with their heads lower than their feet. The dragon qilin followed after the group, guarding the back
They moved forward from the left of the treasured ship and encountered the beehive seals when they reached the center. The beehive seals here were still very densely packed together, allowing little devil qi to leak through the cracks.
Suddenly, the structure beside them creaked, and a door opened up. A faint light came from inside.
The two white bats hurriedly dodge aside and hung between the two sides of the door, stretching their heads toward the room to take a look.
The place was part of the building on the deck. The room was twenty yards long and wide, decorated with jade tables and screens. The candlesticks on the jade table were alight, and there was a censer in the mouth of the bronze crane. Smoke was rising from it in spirals.
There was nobody else in the room, but from the looks of the candlesticks and censer, there someone seemed to have been there moments ago.
"This place is safe!" Fu Yuchun said.
Qin Mu opened his Green Heaven's Eyes to look in and saw no problem. He then did another sweep with Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, but could still see nothing wrong.
They walked into the room and looked around. Fu Yuqiu said, "Weird, this door has never opened before, but it opened today…"
"Never opened before?" Qin Mu was slightly stunned.
The two white bats nodded in unison. "The doors on this ship couldn't be opened even with all our strength; it's very weird."
There were not many things in this room beside screen embroidered with green mountains and blue waters. There was a small boat in the heart of the river and an elder sitting on the bow of the boat, fishing. One of the white bats came to the front of the jade table, wanting to pick up a candlestick, yet he couldn't lift it so he could only drop the thought.
Qin Mu took a look around this place. He faintly sensed someone looking at them yet he couldn't find the source of the gaze. It pushed him to a state of alertness.
His gaze went around his surroundings, but the feeling of being watched remained.
His vital qi poured out and transformed into a mirror that reflected the surroundings. At that moment, he saw the fishing old man in the painting secretly turn his head back to examine their group.
Qin Mu turned and pounced at the screen. The old man lost his head out from fear and immediately threw down the fishing rod while leaping away himself. He was extremely agile, running from this screen to the wall before disappearing through a door.
Qin Mu immediately gave chase and opened the door to rush out, but it slammed closed. Astonished, Qin Mu retreated backward, and Carefree Sword that was on his back rose into the sky, transforming into Wave Sword Form to protect his body. At the same time, he stretched his hand out to push the door behind him while saying in a solemn voice, "Fu Brothers, Fatty Dragon, come quickly! Fu Brothers…"
Qin Mu turned his head back and was stunned. This room wasn't the one he'd entered before. Instead, it was some woman's embroidery room!
Meanwhile, the room that he had come from had vanished without a trace!
The two white bats and the dragon qilin hurriedly pushed open the door, but they were met with emptiness, Qin Mu having vanished into thin air. Their expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly pushed open the doors to the other rooms, but they still couldn't find any traces of Qin Mu.
"That's not right!" The dragon qilin had pushed open the door behind him and stretched his head out to look. "This is not the room that we come from! There's something strange with the rooms in this ship!"
The two white bats closed the door which they had opened and saw that the room had changed into another one when they opened it again. They did this a few more times, and each time they closed and opened the door, the room would be different!
"We're goners!" Fu Yuchun had an ashen expression and his voice quivered. "If we don't find him, our white bat god race will go extinct once the toxicity flares up!"
"Don't panic," the dragon qilin said. "There definitely has to be a limit to the rooms here; there can't be infinite rooms. As long as we find the previous room, we will be able to find a pattern. That's right, how are your algebra attainments?"
Qin Mu's heart leaped, and he immediately walked into the embroidery room. He closed the door behind him while thinking, 'I came through the same door, so why did it become another room after closing and opening the door? There's definitely some method used to overlap space. Even though this ship is huge, there can't be infinite rooms in this building; there's definitely a limit. As long as the number of rooms has a limit, we'll be able to find a pattern.'
He calmed himself and examined his surroundings. This embroidery room had wall lamps lighted, and on the walls hung a few embroideries. Below them was a work table with a handkerchief of dragons playing with phoenixes on one side.
The writing table was farther away. It held a brush, ink, papers, and inkstone, while a mat was situated below to sit. The ink on the paper had yet to dry,
'The moist dew moving to and fro under the tender yellow wind. The night show of the human world is not inadvertent, the refined character and light makeup that's as beautiful as the sky. Who could match it?'
After this, the words were abruptly cut off. Something urgent must have happened, because of which the person couldn't continue to write.
Qin Mu examined the handwriting and praised, 'This technique is not inferior to mine, it's a little graceful.'
At this moment, the fishing elder suddenly entered the writings in front of him and blinked at him. Qin Mu sneered and raised the brush to smear him when that elder jumped onto the table. He then ran onto the wall and escaped through another door.
Qin Mu immediately chased after him with the brush in hand. The elder in the painting vanished after going into the next room and Qin Mu didn't know where he had hidden himself this time.
Qin Mu entered the room and looked around. It was a study, and the books there were very ancient. He pulled one out and wanted to open it, but he couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried.
Suddenly, the elder in the painting jumped out from the book and entered another book.
Qin Mu hurriedly pulled out that book, and this time he could open it. He flipped through it and saw that it was a family register.
'First generation, Founding Emperor Qin, his name Ye, Common Lord of the World…'
Qin Mu was stunned, 'Founding Emperor from Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood? The surname of this Founding Emperor is also Qin, the same as mine.'
The family register was very thick, having recorded the life and marriage of every person with the surname Qin with a few words. Qin Mu flipped through the book to find the old man in the painting. When he reached the last page, there was only a sentence there.
'One hundred and seventh generation, Son of Hanzhen, Fengqing.'
After it, the family register was cut off.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Pangong Tso and the rest finally reached the treasured ship. Along the way, twenty-thirty more people had lost their lives due to the strange attacks from the life forms of Ghost Valley.
"Your Highness, the cultivation of these two monks isn't weak, they are nearly at the realm of rulai!"
Shaman King Gongmu saw the two old monks sitting on the two cliffs and his eyes lit up. "Their corporeal bodies can be used to refine quite a decent treasure! I'll fetch them over!"
Pangong Tso didn't express his opinion, so Shaman King Gongmu immediately led his men up to the shrine on the cliff, toward the corporeal bodies of the two old monks.
Even though the old monks were already dead, they still gave off buddha rays. With the vibration of the buddha voice, they defended against the devil qi that was pouring inside. The moment the corporeal bodies of the two old monks were taken away, the devil qi behind the beehive seals instantly trembled violently, causing the seals to waver from the endless bombardment!
The devil qi poured out from the beehive seals all of a sudden, and the impact caused more cracks to appear on the seals. The old ones in the meantime became much larger.
An indistinct dull sound came from the back of the seals, and the devil qi suddenly withdrew back behind the seals, and the terrifying impact quietened down.
The silence was out of the ordinary.
"I'm finally here, next to the ship that carries my hopes to become a god!"
Pangong Tso looked at the ship from outer space and the calm heart of his was slightly excited. With lotuses blooming under his feet, he rose up into the air.
Everyone came onto the ship and looked around. Suddenly, a great shaman discovered an open door and immediately reported it.
Pangong Tso brought everyone into the room while a few soldiers remained to scout out the way. When they returned to enter the room, the door suddenly closed before them, and when those soldiers opened it again, they couldn't find Pangong Tso and the rest.
The people around Pangong Tso tried to go out to scout and gradually lessened in number. Even if Pangong Tso didn't care about their lives, he couldn't help panicking at this moment.
"Don't walk away!" Pangong Tso had a grim expression as he examined the doors in details and sneered. "Integration spell, space integration, layer interlocking layer—I once saw records of this kind of spell in Little Jade Capital; it's a spell from the period of Founding Emperor!"
Shaman King Gongmu had not lost his way and said in glee when he heard Pangong Tso's words, "Your Highness definitely knows the method to solve it!"
Pangong Tso shook his head. "Little Jade Capital had no records of the method to solve it. However, a spell of integration is a kind of spell of space and algebra. My attainments in the path of algebra are very high, to the point that even Dao Master might not even be stronger than me. Calculating the method to solve this isn't difficult for me! Let us go, I want to see if the spell of integration will be able to block me or not!"
In the study room of the treasured ship, Qin Mu closed the family register. 'The last person of Founding Emperor's bloodline is called Qin Fengqing. Could the owner of this ship be this Qin Fengqing? Founding Emperor's Qin Family goes back to the dim and distant past. It's a family that's been influential for generations. The owner of this ship, Qin Fengqing had the surname Qin, so did he have a blood relation with me?"
Qin Mu was about to put the family register back on the bookshelf when a strange force made him stop and stuff this family register into his taotie sack.
Just as he placed the family register, he saw that old man from the painting popping out and running onto the table, appearing on the papers that were there.
Qin Mu was about to capture the weird person from the painting when a figure suddenly flashed in front of his eyes. A young man appeared in front of the table and walked toward him. It was too late for Qin Mu to avoid him, but then the young man passed through his body. He was an apparition.
The man had an extraordinary bearing, and his appearance gave Qin Mu a familiar amiable feeling when he passed through him.
Qin Mu was astonished and turned around in a hurry. He saw the young man in white walking unhurriedly until he stopped before a wall and made the motion of opening a door. Then he vanished.
Qin Mu immediately went forward and indeed saw a door. He opened it and walked through, and saw the man in white again. The place they were in was a hall in the building that suddenly filled with people walking to and fro. There were countless bodies moving about, and Qin Mu had no idea where they had come from out of nowhere.
He was caught off guard, and numerous people passed through his body. They all looked very busy, so something must have happened. Among them, there were some who couldn't stabilize themselves and were falling left and right.
It seemed like the ship had suffered an impact that was extremely violent and caused many of the people in the hall to fly around. There were some who got heavily injured and vomited blood.
The man in white raised his hands, and all of the people were suspended in the air before gradually landing on the ground. Even though the ship was still trembling violently, everyone stood steadily where they were.
A woman with a graceful and elegant bearing quickly walked toward the man in white, but Qin Mu couldn't hear what the two were talking about. The young man seemed to be consoling the woman before walking out, though.
Qin Mu's gaze landed on the body of the woman, and confusion took root in his heart. He felt an indescribable familiarity with her, like she was someone close and dear.
He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, chose to follow the man in white.
The man walked through the long corridor, passing through doors after doors. Later, he waved his hand and a sword flew over, landing on his back. Qin Mu followed him step for step.
Slightly stunned at the last action, he called his Carefree Sword. It gently trembled as Qin Mu saw it seemed to be the same sword as the one before him.
That man in white walked to the bow of the ship and raised his head toward the sky to say something. Suddenly, the sky shook violently, and an incomparably huge snake appeared with its mouth wide-open.
The snake seemed to be extremely far from them, but it was very huge. In the black sky, only its head and neck could be seen while the rest of its body was hidden in the darkness.
On the head of the huge snake stood terrifying existences that didn't look like humans. They looked like the god statues in the temples of Great Ruins but were the actual living gods.
They were currently attacking the ship, and each strike felt like the destruction of a world.
Qin Mu was attracted by the sword skills of the man in white since they didn't seem like they were from the mortal world. They had a wonderful charm. This kind of charm gave Qin Mu a feeling of the Dao that Village Chief and Dao Master had mentioned before.
What was different though was that Village Chief said that sword skills were close to Dao while Dao Master said that mathematical reasonings were to Dao.
The sword skills of the man in white had a different path from that of Village Chief pr Dao Master. There was a different kind of sword path in it, but Qin Mu couldn't see what it was exactly.
His judgment was still not at that kind of level yet.
He was obsessed with watching it, though. What he had learned in the past were all techniques, and he'd learned them to the extreme so his sword skills could be praised to be powerful. When Village Chief had made him take over as the human emperor and polished his swords skills in the village, he had entered the stage of skill, the beginning of founding sword skills.
After that, he had been under the guidance of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and his attainments on the stage of skill grew, becoming more and more profound.
At his stage of skill, he could be known as a grandmaster.
Above skill, there was still the level of path. It was the level of Village Chief that not even Dao Master had reached. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also a step away from it.
Now that Qin Mu was looking at the sword skills of the man in white from the height of skill, he could see the exquisiteness of the sword skills. As for the realm of the path, even though he couldn't comprehend it, he could still grasp the marvel of it.
The sword skills of the man in white were close to Dao and contained true marvel. His enemies were truly strong—they were gods, after all—but they were all still blocked by him!
Suddenly, an unforeseen event happened. A terrifying power trembled the time and space. A palm collided with Carefree Sword, smelting it. The body of the sword melted and broke off, causing that ship to fall from the sky after the broken sword and descend into the darkness.
Behind the huge palm, the snake carried the gods over to chase after the falling ship.
Qin Mu was on the ship, and he could feel the tremors as it fell from the sky. The white bat god statues flashed by before the ship crashed into the ground and forced its way underground.
He then felt violent tremors as the ship passed through the god underground and smashed onto the beehive seals.
Qin Mu could see many casualties on the ship from the tremors; most of the people had died in the collision. The woman walked out and gathered the people that were still alive, bringing them to leave the ship and escape to Youdu.
The man in white was severely injured, but he chose to stay behind on the ship and guard the entrance to Youdu.
Outside, a huge snake was stretching its head down the abyss while majestic gods stood on its forehead.
The huge snake slid down and slithered through the underground, getting closer and closer to the bottom.
Suddenly, the apparitions in front of Qin Mu vanished, leaving him standing alone on the deck. With a cool wind blowing against his face, his clothes flapped loudly.
Turning back his head, he saw only the darkness of Youdu.
He was now at the bow of the treasured ship, having entered the world of Youdu.
He didn't see a huge eye appearing beneath the ship, or that it was even larger than the ship. It was watching him with interest.
Qin Mu looked at Youdu world that was in the darkness. It was monstrous and multicolored over there, with life forms of all kinds of colors giving off all kinds of glow from the distance.
A bunch of people had entered Youdu under the lead of the woman while the man in white had chosen to stay guard, stopping the huge snake and the gods from coming after them.
Was the man in white still alive?
Did he die in battle or did he manage to stop the gods and went into Youdu to look for his family?
Were they from Carefree Village?
Their surnames were also Qin, so were they Qin Mu' kin?
Who were those after them?
Qin Mu roused his spirit. Maybe he just needed to make this ship float and he would be able to return to Carefree Village!
With his heart ablaze, he walked toward the hold of the ship. It definitely had to have things like a compass to record the route to Carefree Village.
Village Chief had once given him a mirror and said it was the map to Carefree Village, but he'd sealed it for the time being. Only when Qin Mu had the ability to break the seal could he see the route.
That mirror had been found in the huge ship that was unmatched in the world. It was the ship heading to Carefree Village, but it had been destroyed, whereas this ship was still mostly complete. In that case, there had to be something similar - a map that was not sealed!
Qin Mu pushed open a door and walked into the ship's bridge. At the bow, the huge eye gradually rose up, and another eye became bright as well, revealing two vertical pupils.
A huge snake head appeared in the darkness and spat out its fork tongue silently as it stared at youth who was at the bridge.
Qin Mu seemed to feel something and turned back to have a look, but he didn't see the two eyes hidden in the darkness.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"There's something looking at me!"
Qin Mu's heart leaped. Even though he didn't see the two eyes hidden in the darkness, he could feel their gaze.
He turned around, away from the bridge, and closed his eyes while slowly walking outside. His footsteps weren't slow nor fast, and even though he had closed his eyes, he had still walked a circle, a perfect circle.
After he did so, Qin Mu stopped. The reason he walked in a circle was to calculate the precise location of the gaze. This involved using algebra skills to calculate space.
To other people, he would only be pacing around while thinking of some problem. No one would expect that he was actually calculating the location of the watcher.
His mind was greatly shaken. In the few steps, he had determined the source of the gaze and some extra information.
What was watching him was a pair of eyes, the distance between which were nine hundred yards! What a humongous entity!
'Could it be the Youdu life form that was scared off by my one phrase of Youdu language when I boarded the ship?'
Qin Mu composed himself, his expression remaining normal. He didn't reveal any hint of panic as he turned to walk toward the bridge.
He wanted to scout out the bridge first. If something happened, he would leave immediately and not stay around!
The bridge was the control room of a ship, the place where its direction, route, command battles, and evade attacks could be determined. This was the central administration of the treasured ship.
As long as Qin Mu entered the bridge and found the route map, he would be able to control this ship according to the map.
His heart was ablaze, for this ship carried his dreams of returning to Carefree Village.
Just as he walked into the bridge, a door suddenly opened and a great shaman barged after him carelessly.
When the two of them came face to face, they were both stunned. The great shaman was an expert that had been through many battles, so he reacted instantly and opened the mouth of the bottle gourd behind him. Countless souls instantly flew out, pouncing at Qin Mu!
At the same time, the great shaman shone with golden light as he executed Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures of Rolan's Golden Palace. His body swelled up and transformed into a one-eyed four-armed giant.
His eyes combined into one and still grew larger. Because of that, the mouth was squished and pushed to the bottom of the left cheek while the nose moved to the lowest part of the right cheek. He held a vajra truncheon in his hand, and the sections of the vajra pillars spun. They looked like four long and slender pagoda that came smashing as Qin Mu!
'Grand Shaman's disciple?'
Qin Mu could see that what he executed belonged to Rolan's Golden Palace from a single glance. The cultivation of this person was extremely dense, and the wandering souls spewing out from the bottle gourd on his back was his method of attacking.
Great shamans refined the souls of other people into wandering souls, and each one had great power. When a wandering soul entered the opponent's body to bite on their soul, even divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm would find it hard to defend themselves.
If dozens of wandering souls came attacking together and invaded the body, there was no way for divine arts practitioners of Six Directions to resist!
However, the wandering souls bottle gourd was still the best on the battlefield. Countless wandering souls could slip here and there, invading human bodies and eating away their souls. Only corpses would be left after they were done. This kind of attack was said to be successful in every way and had an astonishing power!
In front of Qingmen Pass, the most terrifying thing wasn't the knife pellets of Barbarian Di Empire, but the great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace. Their attacks were simply strange and hard to guard against.
Countless wandering souls from the bottle gourd flew over with miserable shrieks. Behind Qin Mu, Gate of Heaven Influence opened up, and a cold wind blew out, sweeping away all the wandering souls with a swoosh!
As long as it were the souls of the dead, it was hard for them to escape the control of Youdu. Even if Rolan's Golden Palace had secrets arts to make the souls stay behind, using the souls of others to cultivate, and their attainments on this path were at a point that other sacred grounds couldn't reach, Gate of Heavenly Influence was their natural bane!
Gate of Heaven Influence swallowed all the wandering souls and shut itself. The miserable shrieks on the bridge instantly vanished.
The great shaman was astonished, and the bottle gourd behind him fell to the floor with a thud and shattered into pieces. His four arms moved up and down as the vajra truncheon on his hand transformed into four vajra pagodas. With his immense strength, he smashed them against his opponent.
Qin Mu didn't receive it head on but moved back to dodge. The Carefree Sword on his back flew out from its sheath, and the great shaman sneered. A beam of light shone from the vajra pagoda and hit Carefree Sword, sucking this treasured sword inside.
The great shaman's four golden truncheons might have looked like truncheons, but his spirit weapon was actually four pagodas that were refined to change their sizes at will. Once they were shrunken to the smallest possible size, they looked like truncheons which could be held in one's hands.
However when in battle, the great shaman could use the terrifying power of the pagodas to overwhelm his enemies, using invincible strength to smash the opponent into a pile of mush!
The pagodas were also unusual treasures that could take away the opponent's spirit weapons. If the opponent was not careful, their spirit weapons would be sucked into the pagodas. If this happened, the opponent could only die!
The great shaman had just taken away Qin Mu's Carefree Sword with his pagoda when he saw treasured swords flying out from behind the other and stabbing into the pagoda.
He was stunned and didn't react before the sword lights came flooding over like a sea, drowning him out. In an instant, the surroundings of the pagoda became filled with swords!
The arm of the great shaman gave in first. Even with his immense strength of a cyclops, he still couldn't carry such a heavy thing. A crisp crack came from his arm as his bone snapped.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
Several thousand treasured swords stabbed neatly around the pagoda to form an unimaginably huge sword pellet that had a radius of several yards. The great shaman had already disappeared by then.
Qin Mu walked toward the helm of the bridge, leaving behind the great shaman which had been stabbed to death under the gigantic sword pellet. Beneath it, there was a leg sticking out.
Qin Mu came to the front of the rudder. In this treasured ship, it was structurally different from those of Eternal Peace Empire's flying ships. The latter had one rudder which was used for changing the direction, rising, and descending, but the rudder of this treasured ship had other strange contraptions. There was also a silver helmet with red tassels.
Frowning, Qin Mu examined the contraptions in detail, but he still couldn't understand their usage. He hesitated for a moment before picked up the silver helmet and placing it on his head.
Hmmm...
Suddenly, his vision lit up, and the vast space in front of his eyes expanded and spread out. In a split second, the heaven and earth transformed, revealing the geographical features of Great Ruins, as well as Eternal Peace, the prairie, and the world of ice and snow in the north!
Qin Mu was stunned. 'The person who forged this ship truly had the hands of god. They stored the geographical features in the helmet, so it could be used to control the course of the treasure ship!'
He stretched out a finger and gently made a dot on the geographical map in front of him. IN an instant, the treasured ship trembled. It seemed to want to fly out from the beehive seals and toward the direction he had pointed.
However, the ship was firmly stuck in the seal between the two worlds and couldn't fly up.
'So that's how you control the movement of the treasured ship!'
Qin Mu was delighted and blinked a few times Suddenly, the scenery in front of him changed and an unfamiliar world appeared. It was the geographical map of another world. It had dark voids while the land was hidden in the depths, looking mysterious.
'What is this place? This isn't Eternal Peace nor is it the prairie…'
Qin Mu examined it again to be sure that he had really never seen this strange place before. He blinked a few times, and the scenery changed again, presenting a magnificent and wonderful world that was neither Great Ruins nor Eternal Peace.
He blinked his eyes again, and the scenery changed once more. This time, it was a water world with underwater mountains everywhere.
Qin Mu tried over ten times, and there were over a dozen or so geographical map that he saw. However, it was different from what he had imagined. These maps didn't specify what world they portrayed and had no indicated routes. It left him clueless regarding which world had Carefree Village, and how to find it even if he went to the right world.
'There definitely has to be a compass with the record of the route to Carefree Village, so as long as I find it, I will be able to fly this ship back to Carefree Village!'
Qin Mu looked around, and his gaze landed on the place where the compass should be placed. There, he should have seen a mirror similar to the one Village Chief had given him, but that place was empty.
'The compass mirror was shattered? Luckily I still have the compass mirror Grandpa Village Chief gave me; however, I wonder if I can solve the seal on it.'
He stretched his hand into the taotie sack to look for the compass mirror when he saw the shattered pieces on the floor.
The mirror had been deliberately smashed by someone so that other people couldn't know the location of Carefree Village!
'Could the man in white have been the one that destroyed the mirror?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and pulled his hand out of the taotie sack. There were many gods that were chasing after the man in white. They had defeated him, and Carefree Sword had been shattered so he would have no more strength to fight against the gods. Yet he had still stayed to cover the escape of his passengers. While doing that, he must have destroyed the compass mirror with the route to Carefree Village before he died, not wanting people to find it.
'In that case, this ship is a trap!'
A chill passed down Qin Mu's back of the head, and his hair stood up on end. He pretended to search and started inching toward the door of the bridge.
'The people who escaped into Youdu might still be alive. The aim of this trap is to capture them and find the route to Carefree Village! I have the mirror Grandpa Village Chief gave me, so if they get hold of it, they will be able to find Carefree Village!
He passed by his sword pellet and it loosened up. The sword hilts started to fly outward= and break down, but the feeling of being watch swept over him again. The two eyes that were nine hundred yards away from each other had landed on his body again, applying terrifying pressure on him!
It was evident that the owner of the gaze was suspicious!
Qin Mu pretended to be startled and turned his head back as if he had just felt something. At that moment, the invasive gaze suddenly faded away.
"Which senior is hidden in the darkness?" Qin Mu asked loudly. "Much thanks to senior for your guidance, allowing junior to enter this treasured ship! Could senior please show himself?"
He waited for a moment, but no one replied.
Qin Mu revealed a look of disappointment and continued to collect his treasured swords one by one while sighing. "Since senior isn't willing to show himself, this junior can only engrave this evet in his heart.'
He walked toward the door of the bridge, his heartbeat slightly faster than before. He used his vital qi to suppress his heartbeat, making it come back to normal.
Just as he was about to leave the bridge, the door suddenly opened. Pangong Tso walked in and blocked the door with a smile. "Cult Master Qin, you have two choices: you can either take off the helmet or lose your head."
Qin Mu almost blurted out vulgarities, wishing for more than anything to stab the guy's chest with thousands of swords!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Qin your head!"
Qin Mu stabbed forward with one sword, and instantly eight thousand swords moved together, overwhelming Pangong Tso. While he did that, he shouted out ruthlessly, "Qin Gongtso, you and I cannot live under the same sky!"
'Qin Gongtso? Why is he calling me Qin Gongtso?'
Pangong Tso was stunned, but he didn't think much about it. He immediately smacked the taotie sack around his waist, and a huge banner leaped out. He grabbed it and turned around while shaking the banner, causing countless locusts to fly out. The locusts buzzed around him before shifting toward Qin Mu's sword rain.
The locusts pounce on his flying sword as well as all the others. They gnawed on them with kacha kacha sounds, but they couldn't bite through.
Qin Mu's refinement of eight thousand swords had nearly depleted all the highest quality materials in Heavenly Devil Cult. Even though the eight thousand swords were mostly made of black gold, every sword came from the hands of Qin Mu, a forging professional. When he was tempering the swords, he added the highest quality metals that were even better than the materials used for Junior Protector Sword and the other first ranking high officials' swords.
Even though Qin Mu's cultivation was limited and he couldn't raise the power of the eight thousand swords to the level of Junior Protector Sword, they were no inferior to it due to their hardness.
Qin Mu operated his sword energy to slash at the locusts only to hear endless clanging sounds. With sparks flying in all directions, his swords actually didn't harm the locusts at all, surprising him, 'This guy also has some treasures!'
Qin Mu's own taotie sack had been stolen from Rolan's Golden Palace as well as most of that place's treasures. However, Pangong Tso was the grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace, so his position far surpassed that of Grand Shaman, and he had his own treasure vault and wasn't robbed by Qin Mu.
He had numerous spirit weapons, and the locusts actually came from a technique that belonged to Venomous Insect Hall of Heavenly Devil Cult's Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. It was an unusual treasure which was refined with the technique of venomous insect refinement.
Pangong Tso had entered Heavenly Devil Cult once and learned Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. Even though he had not received Unity Technique, he had learned all of the techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
The venomous insects in his taotie sack were a cult legacy level treasure, and they had been fused with the skill of soul cultivation. Every venomous insect was refined to not only attack the corporeal body, but also the souls of the enemy. The offensive soul insects of Rolan's Golden Palace's Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures had been derived from the path of venomous insects in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
The hardness of the locusts exceeded metal, and they could change their sizes at will since when they had been refined in his previous life. An ordinary spirit weapon would be cleanly eaten by the flying locusts without a scrap left.
Since the locusts had shaman spells that attacked souls, they were proficient in tainting other people's spirit weapons as well. Once this happened, the owners would lose control of their spirit weapons, which would make it easy for other to slaughter them.
The most important point was that normal cult master level treasures exhausted quite a lot of cultivation in their execution, while the use of locusts didn't burden Pangong Tso much. This was why he used this treasure the instant he clashed with Qin Mu.
He knew that Qin Mu's cultivation was abnormally dense and even surpassed his. Even if he was recultivating after a reincarnation and his speed of cultivation was much faster than that of Qin Mu, he didn't dare to underestimate him. He didn't think he could overwhelm Qin Mu with just cultivation.
Qin Mu had a lot of flying swords and there was also quite a number of flying locusts. Both of them were actually executing sword skills, both flashing in the air all the time. What Qin Mu had executed was Dao Sect's third writing of Dao Sword, and Pangong Tso had also executed the third writing of Dao Sword.
Five Colored Auspicious Clouds Cover, Celestial Sounds Tinkling on the Three Heavens!
These moves and sword skills in the hands of Dao Sect's disciples could be said to be magical and out of the mortal world.
However, in the hands of the two on this battlefield, the sword qi and flying locusts had no celestial breath. Qin Mu's sword lights were overbearing as eight thousand swords formed five colored auspicious clouds; his three aeons and five qi were also incomparably overbearing. When the flying swords collided, there was no celestial atmosphere, the cadence having turned into the rumblings of battle drums when soldiers marched into battle with their murderous intent!
Pangong Tso, on the other hand, had executed the third writing with shaman spells, the flying locusts turning into the clouds. The gorgeous five colors rolled with demonic nature and looked like all kinds of poison spreading about. With the addition of strangeness of shaman spells and shaman poison as well as the weird chirping of locusts, the celestial sounds were defiled.
Boom!
The powers of the third writing of Dao Sword burst forth as the swords clashed with the locusts. With the explosion of the two moves, the bodies of the combatants trembled violently as they fell back, smashing against the walls of the bridge. Blood dripped down the corners of their mouths.
"Qin Gongtso, your death is due!"
Qin Mu's body jolted and broke free from the wall. With both of his hands raised high above his head, his little and ring finger clasped inwards, his middle and index finger stretched straight out and his thumb clasped inwards, he clutched the sword formula.
Carefree Sword instantly flew over with its sword tip pointing upwards. Eight thousand swords came whooshing over, forming a large sword. The eight thousand swords took Carefree Sword as their core while they swirled around it continuously, executing both Drill Sword Form and Hack Sword Form.
Qin Mu's hand slashed downwards.
Whoosh!
A huge sword came falling on Pangong Tso!
"Cult Master Qin, for you to control so many swords, is your cultivation going to be enough?"
Pangong Tso swung his Ten Thousand Locusts Banner left and right. Countless flying locusts flew back, attaching themselves onto the backs of one another, forming a giant shield. The sword and flying locusts clashed, and the sword skill transformed. Countless swords started spiraling as they changed to Spiral Sword Form. The locusts that were refined until they were like steel made the swords unable to drill through, but Spiral Sword Form could tunnel into the gaps in between to slash at Pangong Tso who was at the back.
"Qin Gongtso, your magic power isn't enough as well, right?" Qin Mu said ruthlessly.
Pangong Tso was bewildered inside. 'Why does this brat keep calling me Qin Gongtso? My surname is not even Qin, weird…"
What he didn't know what that the owner of this ship was called Qin, and he had come from the Qin Family of Carefree Village. On top of that, the behemoth whose eyes were nine hundred yards apart guarded this ship while waiting for the people of Carefree Village to come back!
Qin Mu had deceived that terrifying entity with difficulty, acting as a muddle-headed explorer that had found his way here. Just as he was about to walk out of this trap though, Pangong Tso had to call him Cult Master Qin, which was clearly pushing him into the pit of death!
Therefore, Qin Mu brought him down with him, dragging him into this mess by purposely calling him Qin Gongtso. It was basically the mentality of 'if I have to die, you will be accompanying me'.
Qin Mu wasn't wrong in his previous words. Pangong Tso's magic power was somewhat unable to make ends meet. Even though the requirement for cultivation for his Ten Thousand Locusts Banner wasn't high, it was still a cult legacy treasure. Since he was still on Six Directions Realm, it was pretty exhausting to execute a treasure that was on Divine Bridge Realm.
Competing with the third writing of Dao Sword against Qin Mu had exhausted pretty much all of his vital qi; otherwise, he wouldn't have used Ten Thousand Locusts Banner as a shield to block Qin Mu's sword moves.
Qin Mu's exhaustion also ran extremely deep. Otherwise, he wouldn't have used basic sword forms like Drill Sword Form, Spiral Sword Form, and Hack Sword Form. Instead, he would had used big moves like Dao Sword.
The two of them controlled their spirit weapons strenuously, but since both of them were extremely astonishing and surpassed the category of Six Directions Realm, the two people would definitely die miserably if they weren't careful in defending against the opponent's spirit weapon, thus it was impossible to stop halfway. They could only struggle with their lives to rouse their vital qi to fight each other.
"Qin Gongtso, can you give way please?" Qin Mu gritted his teeth. With his vital qi cultivation, it was difficult for him to control so many treasured swords. Because of that, several thousand swords fell to the ground or stabbed themselves into the walls.
However, it was time for him to attack. Several thousand flying swords flew up to execute all kinds of sword moves with fierce momentum.
Pangong Tso couldn't control all of his locusts, so several thousand of them landed on the ground. They wanted to fly up, but there was simply not enough vital qi to control them. Pangong Tso could only control several hundred locusts to clash with Qin Mu.
"As long as Cult Master Qin takes down the helmet on your head, I'll let you off!" Pangong Tso sneered.
The spirit weapons that the two of them could control became fewer and fewer in number. Suddenly, Qin Mu executed Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, transforming into a huge buddha to fight close combat with Pangong Tso. With a huge mudra pressing down, the gods and buddha of eight heavens appeared behind him with resounding buddha voice.
The first form of Thunderclap Eight Strikes, Spring Thunder on the Lonely East Sea!
"Vajra Unbeatable!"
Pangong Tso sneered and also executed Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, executing Vajra Unbeatable Technique. Gold flowed throughout his whole body as if vajra was protecting him as he clashed with Qin Mu.
He had learned the technique and divine arts of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, but Qin Mu had only learned the technique, so he was definitely inferior to him in divine arts. To Pangong Tso's surprise, even though Qin Mu had executed Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, his leg skills changed and became unpredictable. They had myriad changes, and his body frantically circled around like a phantom!
Pangong Tso was caught off guard and got kicked in the groin by Qin Mu's raised knee. The sudden pain caused him to tear instantly and suck in a cold breath.
Thud, thud, thud.
Qin Mu landed numerous kicks on his face, forcing him to move back continuously until his back hugged the wall. Just as death was imminent, Pangong Tso's body suddenly transformed into a shadow, and he escaped through the wall. What he executed was Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures' Phantom Illusion Technique, which allowed him to avoid Qin Mu's Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs.
Qin Mu sprinted toward the door of the bridge in delight while controlling his swords at the same time to stab at the shadow. Just as he reached the door and was about to open it and rush out, his legs were fixed in place. It was Pangong Tso who had used his flying locusts to block his flying swords before sticking his shadow close to the ground, stretching out two shadowy hands to grab his ankles.
"Cult Master Qin should leave the helmet!"
Pangong Tso gave a forceful pull, and Qin Mu transformed into a black shadow which went down to the ground. Both of them had executed Phantom Illusion Technique to transform into two shadows, flashing here and there on the walls and the floor to attack each other ruthlessly.
Bang!
The walls of the bridge trembled violently, and Pangong Tso was blasted into the wall, transforming back into his physical body from the shadow. He immediately sent his flying locusts to bite Qin Mu's shadow that was on the wall.
Qin Mu swam quickly through the wall before dropping down from the ceiling of the bridge. His legs were still shadowy, but his body had already returned back to normal as he gave a mudra and forced Pangong Tso to tumble away.
Pangong Tso leaped up, but he didn't attack. Instead, he stared blankly behind Qin Mu as droplets of sweat rolled down his forehead.
Qin Mu was about to attack him when he suddenly felt something wrong as well. He froze when he felt two terrifying eyes land on his body.
He couldn't help dispersing his Phantom Illusion Technique to land back on the floor and turn his head to look behind him with difficulty.
In the darkness outside the bridge, two huge eyes appeared. One of them was on the left side of the bridge while the other was on the right. The distance between the eyes was nine hundred yards.
The pupils of the two eyes were vertical and looked strangely evil as they gazed at the two men.
Pangong Tso's body trembled, and his legs became shaky. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Cult Master Qin, now I know why you want to leave this place…"
"Qin Gongtso, you son of a bitch!" Qin Mu gritted his teeth. "If not for you, I would have left long ago!"
An unpleasant voice came from below the two pupils. It was a screeching sound that was like nails scratching steel. "Which one of you has the surname Qin?"
"Him!" Qin Mu and Pangong Tso raised their hands at the same time to point at each other.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Pangong Tso was angry and anxious as he stuttered, "Cult Master Qin, don't joke with me, my surname isn't Qin, I'm from the barbarian tribe…"
Qin Mu was furious and shouted, "Qin Gongtso, are you not acknowledging your ancestors of Qin Family? You even said you were born in Carefree Village…"
"Little liar, shut up!"
Pangong Tso attacked with overflowing anger, and Qin Mu immediately defended. One of them executed Grand Shaman Ruda Scriptures to transform into a bird-headed mutant while the other one executed Nine Dragons Monarch Technique to look like an awe-inspiring emperor. With the roars of dragons and cries of birds, the dragon-shaped divine arts clashed numerous times with the bird feather swords.
The two of them may have looked young, but they were both ruthless. Each of their attacks was lethal, and every move wanted the other party's life. Based on the intricate moves, there were no divine arts practitioners in Six Directions Realm that could be compared to them.
However, because the battle earlier had exhausted too much of their strength, their vital qi wasn't as dense as earlier. The power of their moves was still no small matter, though.
Even if they fought fiercely, looking like they didn't want anything more than to beat the other to death, their feet were still inching closer and closer to the door.
They knew what each other was thinking about, and they fought closer and closer to the door. Just as they were about to open it and escape, the treasured ship trembled violently. The owner of the two eyes outside the bridge was slightly angered, so it shook the ship and caused it to tremble endlessly.
Suddenly, an invisible force came over and bound the two, pulling them to the windows of the bridge. They immediately stopped and didn't dare to resist. The abilities of this mysterious entity were a profound mystery, and even Pangong Tso felt his scalp crawl Even at his strongest in his previous lifetime, he wouldn't have been its match.
The two huge eyes outside of the ship had a hint of anger. The sinister voice next made them shudder without even feeling cold. "Which one of you has the surname Qin?"
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso pointed their fingers at each other in unison. "Him!"
That voice spoke again. "Both of your surnames are Qin?"
Pangong Tso shuddered and immediately said loudly, "My surname is not Qin, I'm the grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace, senior can ask around…"
The foreign voice was very strange and seemed to brush across their souls. It was ear-piercing and shaking them into numbers. "Since your surname isn't Qin, there's no need for you to stay alive."
"Looking at how things are now, it seems like I can't hide it from senior anymore," Pangong Tso said with a resolute expression. "That's right, I'm none other than Qin Gongtso! This guy beside me is the grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace, taking other people's bodies through reincarnation, he's called Pan Mu. May I invite senior to make a move to immediately get rid of this useless person!"
Qin Mu sneered, "You called me Cult Master Qin just now, so could your words be bullshit?"
The two people looked at each other furiously and gritted their teeth, wanting to dig into each other's chests to pull out that black heart out to gnaw on.
The voice was silent for a moment before asking, "Which one of you is sixteen years old?"
Pangong Tso and Qin Mu looked at each other in the eyes, then Qin Mu immediately said, "I'm sixteen years old!"
Pangong Tso also said in a hurry, "I'm also coincidentally sixteen years old!"
Even though Qin Mu was fifteen years old in name, his age was counted since when Granny Si had picked him up. The people in the village were always debating about that. Some felt that he was fifteen and some felt that he was sixteen, so Qin Mu didn't know how old he was exactly.
Pangong Tso was only thirteen years old, but because he was a person of the prairie, staying in the wind and sun daily had made him look much more mature. Therefore, both of them looked like fifteen to sixteen years old.
The pair of vertical pupils revealed a confused expression, not knowing what to do with the current situation.
It was different from what he had imagined. He had guessed that it would be either people from Carefree Village or a sixteen years old boy with the surname Qin who would come to take the treasured ship back to Carefree Village. Yet now there were two youths that looked to be the same age with surnames Qin!
Who was real and who was fake, he couldn't determine it.
"You guys shall activate this ship and head to Carefree Village!" the voice declared. "No matter which one of you has the surname Qin, as long as you can get this treasured ship to Carefree Village, you won't die."
Qin Mu immediately took the silver colored helmet off and stuffed it in Pangong Tso's hands with a sincere expression. "Qin Gongtso, didn't you always want this helmet? Now you can take it away."
Pangong Tso picked the helmet with a headache. He wanted to reject yet Qin Mu kept pushing it to him so he couldn't help scolding him countless times in his heart. However, he still put the helmet on.
His gaze wavered. Even if it was him who had lived for ten thousand years, experienced countless historical moments, had lots of knowledge and secrets, he still didn't know much regarding Carefree Village, let alone where it was located.
He only knew from the records of Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Little Jade Capital that it was a place to become a god. Gods were active there, and they were the remnants of Founding Emperor Era.
Him coming here this time was also in hopes to rely on this ship to bring him to the mysterious place so he could become a god. Now that he had received the control helmet that he had dreamed about, how was he going to go to that so-called Carefree Village?
He wore the helmet and felt his brain become several times larger, making his groan uncontrollably.
What a sabotage.
He was sabotaged by Qin Mu.
No wonder that fellow had called him Qin Gongtso the moment he met him. He had been waiting for him here!
'However, if you think I will die here, you're underestimating me too much! In ten thousand years, countless geniuses had died. No matter whether they were Dao Masters, Rulais, or immortals, didn't they all just die when their time was up? Over the ten thousand years, only I survived, and what I relied upon wasn't my comprehension or aptitude, but my extraordinary abilities! The reason I survived for so long isn't because of luck!'
Pangong Tso's gaze flickered, and he quickly figured out the controlling method of the silver-colored helmet. He tried to dot the geographical map on top of the helmet, and the treasured ship trembled, but it still didn't pull itself out from the beehive seals.
"Senior," Pangong Tso immediately said, "this ship is stuck and can't be moved."
Suddenly, the treasured ship trembled violently and shook off the beehive seals in the surroundings. It was obvious that the terrifying entity had made a move to shake this treasured ship out.
The beehive seals loosened from the vibration and numerous cracks appeared. The seals then crumbled like colored glass, and the devil qi of Youdu poured into Great Ruins.
At this moment, the two white bat god sculptures trembled, and the mountain rocks rumbled, falling off the three thousand yards sculpture.
Where the mountain rocks once were, the two white bat god sculptures revealed the color of flesh. Blood could faintly be seen running under their skins.
Thump!
The sound of heartbeat suddenly came from the bodies of the two sculptures, and it was deafening.
In front of the treasured ship, the huge sculpture that was half buried underground was also trembling. The black rocks on its body flew off in all directions and smashed onto the cliffs in the surroundings, splitting open the stone cliffs with loud cracking noise!
The black rocks that came off the sculpture also revealed the color of flesh underneath. It looked like a god that was petrified was waking up again!
Pangong Tso was delighted. He knew many secrets that others didn't. In regards to Great Ruins, he also knew quite a lot. During one lifetime, he had found a treasured land and encountered an unimaginable change of events when he was exploring it.
There was a seal in that treasured land at that time, and he thought there would be some world-shaking treasure there. Never would he have expected that after he broke the seal by force, it was not treasures inside. Instead, it was a devil god!
However, right when he thought he would surely die, a sculpture of a divine beast suddenly transformed from stone to flesh as if the divine beast had revived and beat up that devil god that wanted to kill him half dead, sealing him once again.
After that, the divine beast returned back to the stone platform and its body gradually petrified once more. It changed back into a stone sculpture.
From that time onwards, Pangong Tso rarely stepped into Great Ruins. He knew that there were too many secrets buried there, and too many dangers as well as murderous intent. Any carelessness and he would die inexplicably.
However, this time, he borrowed the strangeness of Great Ruins to fight against the mysterious entity!
The treasured ship was embedded in the seals, so if it was moved, the seals would be broken and the gods and devils that had created this seal would revive from their stone statue state!
With this, Pangong Tso would be able to resolve the danger in front of him!
From the tremors outside, the current situation was progressing as he had expected. The god statues that were reviving would soon clash with the terrifying entity, and when that happened, that entity wouldn't have the time to take note of him!
Furthermore, he would be able to attain this ship and the silver-colored helmet that controlled it!
As expected, the tremors outside became even more violent. Even though he couldn't see what was happening, from the pulses of the clashes, he could imagine how the terrifying entity was discovered by the sculptures that had revived and were clashing against each other!
"Hahaha, this ship is finally mine…"
Boom!
Before he could even finish laughing, a punch smashed ruthlessly onto his chest, and the helmet fell off his head. Qin Mu grabbed the red tassels and laughed loudly as he punched his opponent away.
Pangong Tso was furious and sent his flying locust to attack.
Qin Mu raised his hand, and Carefree Sword brought other its flying swords to block the attacks of the flying locusts while he himself walked towards the cabin door. Pangong Tso guarded the cabin door, his face filled with murderous intent as he attacked ruthlessly.
The two of them clashed once more and exchanged hundreds and thousands of blows in an instant. Suddenly, the treasured ship gently jolted and slid off from the shattered beehive seals, landing into the Youdu world shrouded in darkness.
The two of them were astonished and hurriedly looked out the bridge only to see the ship in darkness, floating away silently. Meanwhile, behind the ship, the beehive seals were currently disintegrating, their glows extinguished one after another. They were getting farther and farther away from them.
Qin Mu hurriedly put on the helmet and tried to control the treasured ship to sail back. The beehive seals were the gate for them to leave Youdu world. If they floated deeper into this land, no one could tell what dangers they would face.
Never did he expected to get hit by Pangong Tso the moment he put on the helmet, which resulted in him being smacked ruthlessly into the window. The helmet was then snatched by Pangong Tso, who put it on his head.
Qin Mu sent a sword out and flicked Pangong Tso up, then threw him to the side the next instant and took the silver helmet back for himself.
The two of them landed on the ground and looked at each other ruthlessly. Suddenly, the last beehive seal shattered and the light vanished. The treasured ship continued moving, and the hearts of the two people turned cold. Neither of them knew where the entrance to the real world was anymore.
"It's your fault!" Qin Mu and Pangong Tso said in unison.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In the bridge, two figures moved up and down as Qin Mu and Pangong Tso was still beating each other up and struggling for their lives.
They thought that since they couldn't find the entrance to the real world, why shouldn't they just get rid of their hindrance first. Only by killing the other party could they continue to control this treasured ship to find the exit.
Otherwise, it would be quite a headache with such a great enemy watching their every move and free to stab them in the back at any time.
Pangong Tso was a person who had reincarnated. His advancement in cultivation was amazingly rapid, and Qin Mu didn't want to leave him alive. If he dragged this out, Pangong Tso's cultivation might just surpass his, so he had to get rid of him as soon as possible.
Pangong Tso, on the other hand, realized the dreadfulness of this new human emperor. The potential of his growth was astonishing, and his character was sinister and cunning. It was hard to scheme against him, so he might end up the one getting duped. The longer he dragged this out, the more dangerous it would become, so he had to get rid of Qin Mu as soon as possible.
The two of them had already exhausted their cultivations, no longer having the ability to swiftly kill each other. As they tried to kill each other, their vital qi exhaustion increased even more drastically. Not long later, the two of them were covered in wounds and gasping for breath.
Bang!
The two of them clashed for the final time, and then fell to the ground on their backs. Neither of them had any more vital qi or strength to stand up.
Qin Mu crawled with difficulty to one of the flying swords and grabbed its hilt as he revealed a smile. It froze soon, though. 'Si Yunxiang, I'll definitely smack your bum into three segments and make you unable to lie down on the bed for half a month!'
He had grabbed the sword hilt, but since his flying swords were all made from Black Gold Essence, each one was about three hundred pounds in weight. With his current strength, he couldn't even drag one!
As for why they were so heavy, it was naturally Si Yunxiang's great doing!
On the other side, Pangong Tso was trying his best to gather a trace of magic power to execute a flying locust to get rid of Qin Mu. However, his vital qi kept breaking off, causing the flying locust to not be able to fly. It could only slowly crawl towards Qin Mu, its speed not any faster than that of an ant.
Qin Mu turned around and tried his best to crawl toward Pangong Tso. On his way, he took out a bunch of toxic herbs from his taotie sack with a strange smile on his face.
The flying locust that Pangong Tso had controlled finally caught up to Qin Mu's thigh and landed on it to take a bite. However, since his vital qi was simply too weak and the strength of the flying locust wasn't big, it took it a very long time only to bite through the pants.
Qin Mu by then crawled forward while enduring the pain, and Pangong Tso became flustered. He tried his best to flip over and use both his arms and legs as well as his chin to push himself away from Qin Mu.
One of them hurried away while the other gave chase at a speed that was slow enough to raise hackles.
They pushed themselves for a long time and crawled some three to six yards. Suddenly, Pangong Tso pulled out something from his taotie sack. It was a bottle gourd that stored shaman poison.
Pangong Tso was delighted. This was the shaman poison he had refined in his previous lifetime, and its toxicity was fierce. It was easy to use it to get rid of Qin Mu, so he stopped crawling away and turned back to reach his opponent.
Qin Mu saw this and immediately turned around, which took him quite a while. The poison in his own was only a half-complete one, while the one Pangong Tso held was completed shaman poison, its toxicity to not to be underestimated.
"Rascal, you're dead!" Pangong Tso moved quickly and finally caught up to Qin Mu's legs. He tried to open the mouth of the bottle gourd with excitement until his face turned red from holding his breath, but he still couldn't pull it open.
Qin Mu thought he was definitely going to die and turned back to look. Pangong Tso then immediately repeated himself, "Rascal, you're dead!" He hoped that it would scare him off.
"Little Prince, you're already out of strength, aren't you?"
Qin Mu sent a kick over and stuffed his foot into the other's mouth, trying to choke him. Pangong Tso's eyes almost rolled backward from disgust. He then hardened his heart. 'I've already reincarnated so many times, so why am I still bothered by the insult of the corporeal body?'
He bit down onto Qin Mu's foot, and Qin Mu pulled back his feet from the pain. He sneered before applying poison onto his foo, preparing to stuff it back into his mouth once more.
Pangong Tso took the chance when he was applying poison to crawl over. The two of them twisted their bodies around as they tried to choke each other; however, they had no strength in their hands.
Furthermore, the breath of divine arts practitioners on Six Directions Realm was astonishingly long. After choking each other for more than an hour, they still couldn't choke each other to death. Instead, they had exhausted the last bits of strength they'd had left.
The two of them turned completely limp, only their fingertips, toes, and eyeballs still slowly moving.
They were doing their best to adjust their breaths to recover a little of vital qi, wanting to get rid of the other party before they could recover.
As time slowly ticked by, Qin Mu recovered some strength. He took out dragon saliva to apply on his wounds. Even with a body forged by iron wouldn't be able to endure letting blood to just flow out from the wounds.
On the other side, Pangong Tso took out a jade bottle and consumed some medicine. As an existence which had lived for ten thousand years, he had learned a lot of stuff and had very deep attainments on the path of healing. He had also researched famous shaman poisons and could even poison a soul.
Qin Mu took a glance at him and revealed a fearful look.
Pangong Tso was a jack of all trades that was rarely seen. He was proficient in all kinds of skills. Even though they didn't reach the highest possible levels, they weren't ordinary. If he was able to combine all he had learned into one, he would definitely have an astonishing improvement. Of course, that was very difficult.
Pangong Tso had no hope in fusing all that he had learned. Even though he had superior abilities and wisdom, his drive had long been obliterated; there was no more heart to improve within him.
Pangong Tso didn't continue to attack. After going through so many lifetimes, he still couldn't hold an upper hand against Qin Mu.
When he met him for the first time, he was pressured by him and nearly lost his life. This time, both sides resulted in utter defeat. This really set him back.
In his body was the power of his previous lifetimes, but he couldn't touch it carelessly. He had to continue raising the durability of this body, polishing its foundation so that it could endure more power.
The power of his previous lifetimes was too terrifying, so if he was careless, he would explode his current body. However, as long as he improved it, his cultivation would reach the peak it once had. Because of that, his speed in cultivating was still superior to that of Qin Mu.
However, it had been five months since they had last met, so according to logic, his cultivation should have left Qin Mu far behind. Never had he expected that they would still be evenly matched.
The two of them didn't say anything and just looked out of the windows.
The Youdu world looked no different whether one looked up or down. There were no four seasons, no earth, sun, and moon, and naturally, there weren't any north, south, east, or west. Any other world would have the differences in six directions, but this place didn't.
In the lonely Youdu, the treasured ship floated aimlessly in the darkness.
The farther it floated away, the harder it would become for it to return to the real world. In this kind of loneliness, its passengers would probably go crazy before long!
Outside the ship, a light flashed in the darkness of Youdu. It was a life form of Youdu, flashing its light in the darkness to attract prey.
However, what was weird was ever since the treasured ship had entered Youdu, there had been no terrifying Youdu life forms coming near it.
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso suddenly thought of the reason and were astonished, 'There's probably another terrifying existence on this ship which is why the life forms of Youdu don't dare to come near!"
The terrifying thing was naturally something else that was on the ship and not them.
Qin Mu recalled the devil qi that had poured forward when he just boarded the ship. This confirmed to him that they weren't the only ones on the ship. There were other things hiding somewhere!
'The human heart is really sinister. This world is so challenging. My bones might get cleanly eaten if I let myself be a little careless.'
Qin Mu stood up shakily, and Pangong Tso immediately became alert. He hurriedly went into a defensive pose, but Qin Mu didn't attack. Instead, he took down the taotie sack from his back and opened it, then put all of his flying swords back inside.
Pangong Tso sighed and also put his flying locusts back. "Cult Master Qin, there's still an unpredictable danger on this ship so we should work together and walk through this crisis in as one instead of continuing to fight each other to the death. What do you think?"
Qin Mu beamed. "I had the same idea as well. However, it's hard for me to be at ease working with you."
Pangong Tso's gaze flickered, and he said, "I'm not reassured about you as well. Cult Master Qin, you and I are opponents, and I had underestimated you in the past. However, from now on I won't underestimate you anymore. This journey was different from what I had imagined: entering Youdu world muddle-headed, and there are still secrets on the ship as well as a terrifying existence in hiding. You and I have to bury the hatchet and work together, only then can we manage to leave this place alive. If we continue fighting like this, we will only die here!"
Qin Mu then said reluctantly, "In that case, we will cooperate only on this ship. Once we are off it, we'll return to being enemies."
Pangong Tso revealed a smiled and nodded. "Deal!"
"Deal!" Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "Do we need to sign the Pact of Earth Count?"
Pangong Tso smiled and said, "No need for so much trouble, we're only temporarily cooperating."
Qin Mu nodded in agreement. "It seems to be so."
Pangong Tso let out a sigh of relief to himself. 'This new human emperor is still young; he can't outwit me. If I signed the Pact of Earth Count with you, I could only ally with you. How would Il have the chance to get rid of you then?'
Both of them had ill intentions, but Pangong Tso was the first to speak, "We need to find my subordinates so we can regroup, only then will we have the strength to protect ourselves."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Grandmaster is right. We'll do as you say. That's right, Grandmaster, this silver helmet…" He took out the silver helmet with the red tassels and gave it a troubled look.
Pangong Tso wanted to snatch it, but he was afraid that Qin Mu would sneakily attack him when he put on the helmet and shook his head. "Now that you and I are working together, we will naturally have to trust each other. You shall safe keep it for now and follow me. I have calculated the marvel of the rooms in the ship, what's used there is the spell of integration."
Qin Mu was sincerely impressed. "Grandmaster is wise!"
The two of them finished packing up and walked out of the cabin only to see the ship completely empty. There was nobody else, no sign of any life. There was only some green liquid glowing on the deck.
The treasured ship was huge. The white bats, the dragon qilin, the great shamans, and shaman kings that Pangong Tso had brought as well as the soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire were most likely still trapped in the rooms.
The two of them consumed some spirit pills and tried their utmost best to recover their cultivations. As they walked side by side into a room, Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to catalyze the medicinal energy. His cultivation recovered twenty to thirty percent, and the wounds on his body had already scabbed over. Those scabs started to fall off because of the dragon saliva he'd applied earlier.
Pangong Tso's injuries were also much better. His spirit medicine wasn't inferior to that of Qin Mu.
Suddenly, Qin Mu saw the old man from the painting flashing across a wall and his heart couldn't help stirring, making him give chase immediately.
Pangong Tso immediately shouted, "That's the wrong way!"
However, Qin Mu had already opened another door and rushed into the room!
Pangong Tso forced himself to follow after him, furious in his heart. 'If there was a place in which I could still use you, I would have gotten rid of you long ago! Rascal, if you land in my hands, I won't let you have an easy death!'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
They barged into the room, but the elder in the painting didn't stop. He went into another room, and Qin Mu quickly followed after him. There, he came face to face with another person, and the two of them nearly collided as they avoided each other in a hurry.
At the instant the two figures met, they were both astonished.
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master!"
"Barbarian Die Empire's soldier!"
Qin Mu's reaction was faster. At the instant they crossed each other, his palm was raised, sounds bursting off it. With thunderous rumbles, his mudra was imprinted on the back of that person's heart.
Tempest of the Nine Dragons!
His palm landed on the back of that person's heart, and his strength poured out. Only then did that person react. When the knife pellets rose into the air, the power in Qin Mu's move had already burst forth. The dragon-shaped force bombarded the person. The first wave crumbled the vital qi protecting his body, the second wave destroyed the structure of the muscles at the back of his heart, the third wave crumbled his bones, the fourth wave shattered his heart, and the fifth wave pierced his chest, transforming into a blood dragon that burst out from his body!
The knife pellets of that soldier from Barbarian Di Empire rose into the sky, and fine curved blades hummed as they separated. At this moment, Qin Mu raised Carefree Sword, and it sliced the knife pellets into halves.
They instantly broke down and transformed into hundreds of broken knives that dropped to the floor. The vital qi of that Barbarian Di Empire's soldier dispersed, and he collapsed to the ground, dead.
Pangong Tso was a step too late, unable to save that soldier. By the time he got close, Qin Mu had already closed in and killed that person. Pangong Tso couldn't help becoming furious and shouted sternly, "Cult Master Qin, that was my man!"
Qin Mu's Carefree Sword returned back into its sheath, and he shook his head. "Your man's first reaction in seeing me was to kill me so I only defended myself. If I didn't make the first move, I'd be the one lying down there. If Grandmaster is not happy, why don't you walk in front? If your men meet you, they won't make a move."
Pangong Tso was hesitant. If he was to walk in front of Qin Mu, he would show him his back. Seeing how the brat had killed that Barbarian Di Empire's soldier with nimbleness, it was clear that he would be even more nimble if there was a chance to kill him.
He didn't dare to hand his back to Qin Mu.
Furthermore, Qin Mu only mentioned one situation. If the next person wasn't Pangong Tso's man but the two white bats or the dragon qilin, Pangong Tso could already imagine his end once he got trapped between the two forces.
However, it was a horrible plan to run around aimlessly. Qin Mu was barging into rooms at random without any pattern. It was clear that he hadn't solved the integration on the treasured ship. If Pangong Tso continued to go through room after room with him aimlessly, he would probably also lose his direction and would have to recalculate the structure of the rooms on the ship.
'I can't let this brat lead the way,' Pangong Tso thought while opening a room. "Here!"
Sound of a door opening came from his back, and he saw that Qin Mu had already run into another room. Pangong Tso was furious, but he could only chase after. In the end, the silver helmet that controlled this ship was still with Qin Mu.
The two of them came to the next room and suddenly stopped. Qin Mu lifted his feet, noticing that there was some sticky liquid stuck to it.
The room was covered in green sticky liquid that filled the ground and walls. Even the table was covered with it.
Qin Mu looked around and saw that the elder from the painting was also in the room. He was carefully avoiding the sticky liquid, moving through places that did not have it.
He was a human from a painting, and this sticky liquid was dangerous to him as it could glue him to a place, thus he had to avoid it.
Pangong Tso also saw the old man from the painting and was astonished. He hurriedly waved the Thousand Locusts Banner in his hands and violent clanks sounded out as Qin Mu executed his flying swords to block the flying locusts.
Pangong Tso was furious and looked at Qin Mu while asking in a stern voice, "Doesn't Cult Master Qin owe me an explanation?"
Qin Mu said indifferently, "My surname is Qin, this is the best explanation."
Pangong Tso's heart trembled violently as he instantly caught the crux of the matter.
The terrifying entity whose eyes were nine hundred yards apart had been waiting for a person with the surname Qin. The reason why the two of them had caught its interest was because they were 'both' Qin!
He was extremely clever; otherwise, he wouldn't have survived for so long. He thought to himself, 'Could the owner of this ship have had the surname Qin? This brat and the owner of the ship are from the same family? If that's the case, then he must also be from Carefree Village! No wonder this guy came all the way here, but wait a minute! Sixteen years old, that terrifying entity had been waiting for a youth that has the surname Qin and is sixteen years old! This brat is also sixteen years old! Sixteen years ago, this ship crashed here so there has to be a connection between all this!'
He suppressed his astonishment and waved his Thousand Locusts Banner. Qin Mu then pulled back his flying swords.
The old man in the painting found another path and went through another door.
The two of them immediately followed after him, and when they pushed open the door, they saw a long long corridor. Pangong Tso was stunned. He had calculated out the spell of integration used by these rooms, so he was able to find where the bridge was, but he hadn't expected such a corridor.
'By right, the total number of rooms should be what I had calculated, so why is there some place I don't know about?' He was confused.
If he did not solve the spell of space integration, how did he find the bridge?
If he had solved it, then why wasn't this long corridor present in his result?
In his calculation, there was absolutely no way this long corridor could exist!
In that case, there was only one possibility. The spell of space integration was just an outer structure used to fool people. This was to make people who entered to think that they had searched the whole ship and neglect the true secrets hidden below!
Even the silver helmet that Qin Mu possessed might only be a treasure to fool people and couldn't truly control the ship.
'The gods of Carefree Village are indeed extraordinary, even I was fooled. Luckily the Qin brat is here; otherwise, I wouldn't have discovered this secret.'
Pangong Tso's gaze flickered. In the last room, there had been a lot of green liquid, which meant that the unknown existence had also found this place and killed its way in.
The old man from the painting was sprinting through the wall of the long corridor, moving up and down from time to time, seemingly avoiding something.
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso looked over and saw numerous markings left on the wall. There were deep palm imprints as well as other types of palm imprints. There were also strange imprints of weapons that were incomparably terrifying. It seemed like just a slight touch would cause their destructive energies to activate and wipe out everything in the surroundings!
These were marks left behind by divine weapons!
Other than marks of divine weapons, there were also imprints left behind by divine arts. They were not big, but still contained a terrifying power that emanated a pulsing glow which could make people's hearts palpitate.
The glow of the imprints was due to runes, and they were sometimes bright and sometimes dark. They were complicated and profound, hard to understand.
When a person looked at them for the first time, they wouldn't understand anything, but once their mind slowly seeped inside, they would instantly feel the marvel of the world flooding over, sending them into a trance.
"It's different from the stone wall of Dao Sect's Dao Sword, but it has the same result!"
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso couldn't help exclaiming in admiration. The imprints from the divine arts and divine weapons were simply a treasure vault of techniques. Even though these weren't comparable to the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword from Dao Sect, if one could comprehend all the marvels contained in the imprints on the corridor and attain the techniques and divine arts there, they could probably found their own sacred ground!
Both their hearts stirred, but they had no choice but to hold their minds back. Their enemy was right beside them, and if they fell into comprehension, they would definitely be killed by the bad egg beside them.
Even though they would have very much liked to get rid of the other party and take this place for themselves, the imprints on the walls were not very stable. If someone came into contact with the imprints accidentally, the explosion from power contained in them could easily kill them hundreds or thousands of times!
That old man from the painting was still leading the way. The long corridor seemed to have no end. Since the time they had stepped in it, they should have long walked out of the ship but there was still no sight of the end.
This was an even superior spell of integration which used great magic power to warp space, folding it and stretching instead of using the skin and bones of taotie to expand the space.
It was such a narrow corridor, but there were numerous imprints of divine arts and divine weapons on the walls. From them, it could easily be imagined how fierce the battle had been. But the most crucial point was that when these strong practitioners had made their moves here, the power of their divine arts was condensed and would only explode when it hit the enemy. If it didn't hit the enemy, not an ounce of power would leak out.
This was extremely terrifying.
It meant that their control of power had reached an extremely intricate step, using the least amount of power to create great damage. It was extremely difficult to achieve this step.
Even if it was a divine arts practitioner of Six Directions Realm, the explosion of a divine art could sweep a radius of numerous yards. If a divine arts practitioner was to condense the damage to their palm, not many people would be able to achieve it. But if they did that, the destructiveness of the attack would probably be multiplied by a hundred times.
If gods shrank their divine arts to such a state, how terrifying would they destructive power be?
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso's eyes lighted up, and they immediately realized the strength of this. If both of them had similar cultivation, but one could shrink the explosion of their divine arts, wouldn't the other party be killed when the two of them clashed again?
Furthermore, the power wouldn't leak, and and the exhaustion of magic power would be cut to the minimum. It would allow one to fight for an even longer time.
However, both of their techniques and divine arts didn't have such a fine method of control. To be able to control divine arts to such detail required extremely high attainments in algebra,
Dao Sect had extremely high attainments in algebra, but even its people couldn't achieve this step; otherwise, Dao Sect would be invincible.
'I guess only by being proficient in calculations can one control their power to such an extent, right?'
A gentle breeze suddenly came through the long corridor. Qin Mu and Pangong Tso both grunted, and their bones cracked. This wasn't the breeze putting pressure on their bodies, but the air of a god that had come with the breeze putting so much pressure on them that they almost couldn't catch their breaths.
Qin Mu immediately transformed into a black shadow and sunk into the wall to move through it. Pangong Tso saw this and found this to be clever. He also hurriedly transformed into a shadow to sink into the wall. The both of them then avoided the imprints in the wall, moving forward until they soon saw the source of the air of god.
It was a divine corpse, one that belonged to a god. His head was pierced through, and half of his body was petrified while the other half was still corporeal. He had been killed by the enemy before he could finish petrifying.
The fierceness of the battle in the corridor was slightly out of the two's expectations.
They slithered through the wall and followed the old man from the painting. After dozens of yards, they saw a second divine corpse, followed by the third, fourth…
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso's hearts palpitated as they moved forward while trembling with fear. Finally, they came to the end of the corridor and saw a door.
It opened automatically with a creak.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before coming down from the wall and entering.
Pangong Tso was a step later as he wanted Qin Mu to first test out if there were any dangers inside. After he had entered and didn't seem to meet any danger, Pangong Tso came down from the wall. But just as he wanted to walk through, the door suddenly creaked and shut itself, blocking him out.
Pangong Tso immediately went to bang on the door, but it wouldn't open no matter what. Suddenly, he remembered that doors had to be pulled open, and the moment he did so, he rushed in and raised his head to take a look. An ice cold feeling swept across his heart, and beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
Outside was the Youdu world filled with darkness and glowing lights swimming around the sky like the stars.
He was currently standing on the deck of the treasured ship. Qin Mu and the old man from the painting had vanished.
It was obvious that after the door had shut, the spell of space and time integration had shifted the space so it was no longer the room Qin Mu had entered!
"Damn it!"
Pangong Tso was furious and turned around to open the door, but the room behind it was no longer the mysterious corridor. It was a new room.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"I can't believe a word that Qin brat says!"
Pangong Tso's fury couldn't be contained. He entered a random room while shouting sternly, "Where's the working together? What about being friends on the ship and enemies after disembarking? Liar! Running away when you meet something good and even hogging it for yourself! Stuff yourself to death, you bastard!"
When he was behind Qin Mu, he had clearly seen Qin Mu close the door as he was entering the mysterious room!
It wasn't the door that had shut automatically, but Qin Mu who closed the door to use the spell of space integration on the ship to block him!
The brat had clearly decided to hog everything for himself!
Pangong Tso quickly calmed down and calculated the second layer of spell of space integration. He said coldly, "Since I already know that there's a second layer of space, I can easily calculate where that long corridor is, so you can forget about hogging it by yourself!"
He started calculating as he opened room after room to search for his subordinates; however, there were too many rooms in this ship and his subordinates had long lost their way, going from one room to another. They tried to find a way out only to go in deeper and deeper.
Pangong Tso had already found the method of solving the outer layer of the spell of integration, but he still spent quite some time to find his people. He even met the two bats and the dragon qilin on the way. The dragon qilin was actually trying to calculate the method for the spell of integration and had almost found the location of the bridge.
The two sides fought a fierce battle. Pangong Tso and the rest suffered a massive defeat, but luckily a shaman king barged into the room at that moment and managed to save Pangong Tso and the rest.
When they found the other shaman kings, Pangong Tso still couldn't find the location of the long corridor, making him feel even a stronger sense of defeat.
'It's fine even if I can't find that place, since that Qin brat will definitely come back. I'll just take him down then and force him to hand over the silver helmet and spit out all the secrets!"
In the room at the end of the long corridor, Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently. He had deliberately shut Pangong Tso out. The whole journey, the old man had led him to discover the secret of this ship, and since he was about to find the secret, there was no need for Pangong Tso to stay behind him to be a nuisance.
His aim in agreeing to ally with Pangong Tso was to push Pangong Tso out to tank damage for him in times of danger. Once there was no longer any danger, it was natural that he should kick Pangong Tso out.
'Grandmaster, you must have thought about this as well, right? But I'm still a little superior.'
He turned around and examined his surroundings. He was in an unimaginable room. It was similar to Bent Mountain Shrine that he had seen underwater, which was outrageously vast. It was close to ten miles wide, so it was like a small world hidden in the ship that was a little smaller than Bent Mountain Shrine.
However, this room was much bigger than the treasured ship, so to hide such a large space within it was truly inconceivable.
Qin Mu raised his head to take a look and the sky which was constructed from long sticks of wood. The one in Bent Mountain Shrine was constructed from the bones of a taotie divine beast, so the two were different.
The inner body of a taotie divine beast naturally had a vast space, so the shrine only needed to be constructed outside the bones. The space inside it would then naturally become vast.
However, the space in this room was forged by using great magic power and divine arts to warp space. This method was much more difficult.
In the center of this vast and spectacular room was an incomparably huge tree that reached the sky. The roots on the ground coiled and snaked around like dragons, giving off an ancient feeling.
Glowing lights flowed through the body of the huge tree from the roots to the sky. The glow shone continuously and lighted up the entire room.
The glowing lights seemed to have rune markings flowing inside them as they flowed below the bark of the tree toward the sky and the surroundings of the room. They entered the body of the ship.
The sound of a heartbeat came from the body of the tree after some time, giving off a deafening boom.
Qin Mu examined the tree with a look of doubt. The ship was constructed around an unimaginably huge and ancient tree. The long pieces of wood in the sky had to be its branches.
Furthermore, from the flowing light and the heartbeat that came from the tree trunk, the ancient tree was still alive and acting as the core of the treasured ship. It could even be said to be the source of its power!
However, how many years must it have taken for such a huge tree to grow?
Why did this ancient tree have such tremendous power which could be used to move the treasured ship and sustain it for a long journey?
'As expected, the bridge and the silver-colored helmet aren't really used to control the treasured ship, this is."
Qin Mu's gaze landed on the ground, and it was bright and clean as a mirror. The elder from the painting was sticking to the floor and waved at him before running forward.
Qin Mu hurriedly caught up with him with endless curiosity. 'Was this old man from the painting painted out? This kind of path of painting seems to be slightly superior to Grandpa Deaf's. Even though Grandpa Deaf's paintings can bestow a divine soul to a dot using mutual sensitivity, his paintings that come to life don't last long before turning back into ink. On the other hand, this old man from the painting looks like a living and breathing being. Besides him only being able to travel through the walls, there's little difference between him and normal life forms. In the world, is there really a person whose painting path is superior to that of Grandpa Deaf? Impossible!"
He instantly thought of the key point. The person who had drawn the old man from the painting might not have surpassed Deaf in the painting path. Instead, they surpassed him in the path of creation.
This person had drawn the old man and bestowed life to him using the path of creation, bringing the old man from the painting to life so he would become a secret guardian and guide!
Deaf's painting didn't rely on cultivation, but on his attainments in his painting path!
Qin Mu caught up to the old man from the painting that was sprinting to the ancient tree in the center. As he was about to get near, he frowned slightly. He saw that the bright and clean floor was once again covered in a pile of green sticky liquid as if something had crawled past the floor.
The closer Qin Mu got to the ancient tree, the more of the green sticky liquid he saw.
The old man from the painting had also become more careful, avoiding the sticky liquid as he closed in on the ancient tree.
Qin Mu sized up the surroundings with alertness. This place was very vast, but after looking around, he saw nothing that was terrifying. However, the sticky liquid gave unnerved him. He had seen it on the deck of the ship, and that was when he had encountered the devil qi invasion which had flooded towards them. There had been a terrifying entity hidden in that devil qi.
The room before entering the long corridor had also been covered in this kind of liquid.
Now that it was all over the place, it meant that the ancient tree was of extreme importance to the owner of the sticky liquid.
Qin Mu looked around, and his uneasiness grew. The more he looked, the more he felt like this was a nest, the nest of the sticky liquid's owner!
Finally, Qin Mu reached the bottom of the tree following the old man. When he got there, he was slightly stunned. He saw the man in white that he had seen in the illusion.
To be exact, he only saw his face.
The owner of the treasured ship, the man in white that had the surname Qin and had come from Carefree Village had merged with the ancient tree, becoming one with it. Only his face was shown on the outside, and even it was not fully revealed.
It had nearly completely merged with the ancient tree, and his eyes were lifeless. The heartbeat that rang out before had to be his heart beating very slowly.
Qin Mu was stunned. The man in white had to have used some unique method to extend his life by merging himself with the tree and linking their lives. However, the disadvantage of this method was extremely huge, as it would make one become part of the tree, unable to move and even slowly turn into a tree!
The person's injury had to have been extremely severe, so severe that he couldn't endure it any longer!
He had gotten chased by his enemies all the way to this place. He got rid of all of them, but he had no choice but to execute a forbidden skill to transform himself into a part of the ancient tree to live on!
Qin Mu looked at him, and the eyes of the man in white began to open with difficulty. They were like two eyeballs sculpted into the wood, barely able to see an unclear image ahead of them.
"Was it you who had this old man from the painting guide me here?"
Qin Mu felt that this man was indescribably familiar, and there seemed to be a connection between them. This made his heart stir uncontrollably, and he asked, "Are you called Qin Fengqing? Are you from Carefree Village?"
The man in the tree seemed to slowly get a clearer view of his face and become slightly excited. He opened his mouth with difficulty, but the tongue had already turned into wood, so he couldn't make a sound.
Qin Mu was stunned. The drawback of this kind of forbidden skill was too strong. Even though the life of the man in white was extended, his senses and his body functions were all mostly lost.
"Do you recognize this jade pendant?"
Qin Mu hurriedly plucked the jade pendant from his neck and pushed it in front of the man while suppressing the excitement in his heart. "Do you recognize it? This was inside my swaddle and I've always kept it with me. Is this Qin word the Qin word of Carefree Village?"
The man in white became even more excited, and the ancient tree trembled. It seemed like the man in the tree was struggling to break free from the restraints and grab the jade pendant with his hand!
Rings and rings of light flowed down the trunk of the tree and suppressed his struggle.
He opened his mouth, seeming to have a lot of things he wanted to tell Qin Mu, but he couldn't say a word.
Qin Mu's expression turned dull. He seemed to be talking to the man in the tree and also to himself as he muttered, "I've heard from granny that there was the corpse of a woman who'd carried the basket and sent me into Disabled Elderly Village in Great Ruins. I met her under the river, but no matter what, I couldn't see her clearly. I only have this jade pendant which I've been wearing ever since I was young, and I always keep hoping to find where I've come from, if my family is still there…"
He sat down under the tree with his arms hugging his knees. On his fingertip hung the jade pendant which swung to and fro.
"I feel like my parents could still be alive and waiting for me to find them. I've never met them before…
"A little girl who had become the sun guardian told me that I may be from Carefree Village, so I tried my best to go there. I scouted out news of Carefree Village and tried to find the path there, but I've failed over and over again. I even implicated Village Chief and the rest, which almost resulted in all of them dying because of me…
"I didn't tell them about this place this time because I was afraid of implicating them again. Qing Fengqing, you're called Qing Fengqing, right? I've found you, but I didn't expect that you wouldn't be able to tell me anything. Is it really that hard to go home and learn about one's birth…"
He buried his face in his arms and didn't say another word.
Drip, drop.
There were tears falling down, and Qin Mu raised his head while wiping his own eyes to look up. Tears were rolling down the cheeks of the man in the tree.
Suddenly, something seemed to squirm in the tree above and slither down while coiling around the trunk like a huge snake. A queer and cryptic voice came out from its mouth. "Qin Hanzhen, now that you met Qin Fengqing, your wish should be fulfilled, right?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu's thoughts went into disorder.
Qin Hanzhen, Qin Fengqing?
The family register that he had found in the study room had recorded the people of Founding Emperor's bloodline, and on the last page of the family register was the sentence, 'One hundred and seventh generation, Son of Hanzhen, Fengqing.'
Qing Fengqing was the son of Qin Hanzhen.
So what did the words from the weird thing that slithered down from the tree mean?
Who was she calling Qin Hanzhen?
And who was the Qin Fengqing that she mentioned?
Qin Mu's body trembled, and his face turned pale, bloodless. He was Qin Fengqing, and the man in the tree was Qin Hanzhen!
The last person in the family register of Founding Emperor was none other than him, and the man in the tree was his father!
This person who had fused with this ancient tree was his father? Was he the kin that he had been longing for every day?
His closest kin!
Why had he become like this?
Qin Mu repeatedly told himself to stay calm, since Old Ma had once told him to never lose his composure no matter what he encountered. He needed to stay level-headed. Even if came face to face with an apocalypse, he could find a way to survive in a sure death situation if only he kept his calm.
Cripple had also once told him to always maintain his smile and stay positive. It was not only to numb the enemies but to also keep his own spirits up. Even if a leg was chopped off, he always had to show his most sincere smile. Only then would he have a chance to escape.
Granny Si had also once said that no matter if his heart was plagued by darkness or a devil, he needed to stay strong. Once he was messed up, everything would be over.
However, even if danger was close to Qin Mu, he couldn't compose himself.
When his father, his closest kin that he had never met before, had entered such a state, he couldn't do what Old Ma, Granny Si, and Cripple had told him.
Qin Mu tried his best to compose himself and not think about the man in the tree or even care about him. He suppressed the trembling of his body.
Suddenly, he felt a slight pain in his palms. He had subconsciously gripped his fists so tight that his nails stabbed into his palms, bringing out blood.
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the mysterious entity that was slithering down.
It was half a snake and half a human that had an extremely huge body. Even though the lower half was was that of a snake, it had no scales. The upper half of the body was that of a woman. She was very beautiful and alluring, but the voice that came from her mouth belonged to a man.
Her body left a trail of the sticky liquid. She looked like the form of Saturn Sovereign that Qin Mu transformed into, but her form was much more primitive.
There seemed to be something like two flesh membranes growing on the back of her neck, and when she spoke, they would open up like two fans stabbing on the sides of her neck, going over her head and trembling continuously to create the sounds.
She seemed to not be able to open her mouth to speak. Instead, she relied on the trembling of the flesh membranes to make noise. Because of that, her voice was very weird and cryptic.
The flesh membranes had to be her vocal cords, and on their tips were bone spikes that were two feet long and looked like javelins. When the membranes opened, two pictures of black eyeballs would be revealed, which seemed like two strange eyes.
According to what Qin Mu knew, there were two forms of Saturn Sovereign. The first kind was a simple Saturn Sovereign's form that didn't have Gate of Heaven Influence or the scripture in hand. The other kind was Qin Mu's one, which had Gate of Heaven Influence behind him and a scripture in his hand.
However, the strange life form in front of him had a form that was even more primitive. It didn't look like she had cultivated this form but was born in it.
This was a life form of Youdu that might even be a god!
She and the owner of the eyes that were nine hundred yards apart were two different people.
"You and I made a promise, Qin Hanzhen."
She slithered to the bottom of the tree and coiled around it. Her alluring face closed in on the face of the man in the tree and rubbed her head against his. The flesh membranes behind her neck trembled and gave off a sound as she laughed. "You and I made the Pact of Earth Count that as long as you find your son named Qin Fengqing, you will let go of everything and follow me to Youdu, handing over the location of Carefree Village. Now that you have found him, your wish is achieved and it's time to fulfill your promise."
The man in the tree didn't move, his gaze still on Qin Mu's body. His corporeal body had already turned into wood, and his eyes could no longer see the person in front of him clearly. Yet tears were still flowing out from them.
The strange life form surrounded the body of the ancient tree and left the man alone for a moment. As she slithered around leisurely, her voice floated over erratically. "When you barged into Youdu world and broke the sealing barrier, you were left only with a last breath, so you merged with this divine tree. This was for no other reason than to meet with your son, so you exhausted all you could to preserve your life. I came here and accompanied you. In time, you promised me that as long as you meet your son, you will be able to let go of everything, no matter if it's your life or Carefree Village. You'd be willing to hand over your soul to Earth Count as well as the location of Carefree Village. I agreed to your terms, which was why I didn't take your life."
Her face suddenly hung down from the divine tree and landed in front of Qin Mu's face. Her huge body circled around him, and she released a strange laugh. "Could you be thinking of going back on your word after seeing your son? Do you want to see your son die in front of you? Hehehe, such a delicious body, such a young life. He's only sixteen years old, am I right? He must be tender and juicy…"
Cold sweats broke out on Qin Mu's forehead, and he suddenly executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to operate Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique, transforming into the form of Saturn Sovereign. With a hoarse voice, he said, "This senior, I'm also…"
"You also have a Saturn Sovereign's form?"
The strange Youdu life form suddenly stretched her snake body and slithered away from the body of the towering tree, landing back on the ground. Yet her long tail was still coiled around the tree and not completely off.
Looking down at this miniature youth in front of her, she let out a playful smile. "What a pitiful little thing, how laughable and immature you are to show off this trick in front of me. Don't you know? Saturn Sovereign's form is merely imitating me. I am none other than… Saturn Sovereign!"
She bent her body down to Qin Mu's face, expecting to see fear on the face of this youth. She wanted to see uneasiness and despair after his knowledge has been destroyed.
Qin Mu tried his best to stay composed, but she still saw the fear deep in his heart.
Saturn Sovereign raised her head in satisfaction and smiled. "What an interesting little man, trying his best to be like an adult yet looking so cute from not knowing anything. Didn't you say a Youdu phrase when you boarded the ship? You only know that single Youdu phrase, right? That phrase is Gate of Heaven Influence. Did you really think I would have retreated just because of hearing this phrase and allow you to board the ship?"
Qin Mu suppressed the trembling of his body. In front of a god like Saturn Sovereign, all his schemes were useless!
Like what she had said, he had always tried his best to be like an adult, a person that could shoulder everything. He learned how the people of the village handled things and learned from what they did, yet in nature, he was still a big boy.
In front of Saturn Sovereign, his hard work, his studies, his maturity all seemed laughable.
"Looking at how you are trying your best to act like an adult, I won't make things difficult for you."
Saturn Sovereign returned to the tree, and her tail coiled around the divine tree like a woman clinging to the man she loved. The flesh membranes behind her head opened up and trembled as she smiled. "Qin Hanzhen, you should be happy that you, father and son, have reunited, so why am I feeling such sorrow from you? That's right, that's because from today onwards, both of you will be separated forever, one living and one dying. Shi, shi, shi, there's no need for you to be like this…"
She slithered to the man in the tree and looked up at him while talking leisurely. "If you say the location of Carefree Village, all your children and clansmen will be free to go to Youdu to accompany you. Truly interesting, a pitiful human dared to make a deal with a god and thought to have struck a bargain, not knowing that he had lost everything! Meanwhile, the chips I had used for the deal were merely your life."
She came to the right side of the man in the tree and couldn't resist smiling. Her expression was filled with happiness, and she whispered beside his ear, "I used your life in exchange for the lives of everyone in Carefree Village, as well as the life of your son. And you merely got a chance to meet your son for a moment. What a foolish mortal, even if you mastered the power of gods and devils, you were still affected by your foolish thoughts. Like this, you will never achieve the mental state of gods. And because you are bounded by the Pact of Earth Count, you can't go against your oath."
The man in the tree regained his composure and opened his mouth. However, since his tongue had already turned into wood, he couldn't make any sound.
Saturn Sovereign smiled. "What are you trying to say?"
The man in the tree moved his mouth again, but nothing came out..
Saturn Sovereign came closer, wishing to know what he was speaking. She asked curiously, "What are you trying to say?"
The man in the tree still couldn't utter a sound.
Qin Mu's mental state suddenly calmed down, and he said, "Saturn Sovereign, the hearts of father and son are one. I think I know what's he is trying to say."
Saturn Sovereign took a look at him. "He certainly didn't make any sound, yet you could hear?"
"The life of us father and son are in Saturn Sovereign's hand. With this, is Saturn Sovereign still afraid of us playing any tricks?"Qin Mu said.
Saturn Sovereign looked at him deeply and chuckled. "You guys can't play any tricks. Come over, let's see what he wants to say."
Qin Mu went forward and came to the face of the man in the tree. Tilting his head to listen, he said after a moment, "He is saying that his eyes are almost blind so he can't see my face clearly, therefore this doesn't count as seeing me, which is why the Pact of Earth Count is still not in effect."
Saturn Sovereign was astonished and smiled. "Interesting, I would have never expected you, father and son, to indeed have interlinked intentions. This is troublesome, the forbidden technique he executed fused him with the divine tree and it is called Spring Comes Upon a Withered Tree, a forbidden technique that borrows lifeforce from others. However, its drawback is also very strong. Not only are the lives interconnected, the same happens even to the corporeal bodies. When your father fought with those gods, he exhausted them to death, but he also exhausted himself to death, thus he had no choice but to extend his life with a forbidden technique. Now, only his face is yet to completely turn into wood, so reversing this process is very difficult, but not for me. After all, I'm from Youdu and control life…"
The flesh membranes behind Saturn Sovereign's head opened up and revealed the pictures of the eyes. Two beams shot out from them and hit the body of the man in the tree. Gradually, the wood on the surface started to shed off, and the vein lines on the skin of his neck no longer looked like grains of a tree.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The beams that shot out from the eye pictures on the flesh membranes behind Saturn Sovereign's head suppressed the lignification of the man in the tree. Once the wooden nature in the body was suppressed, the eyes would be able to see.
The face of the man in the tree broke free from the tree bit by bit, and the wooden nature of his tongue also gradually faded.
Swoosh.
The picture of the eyes on the flesh membrane behind Saturn Sovereign's brain closed, and she said, "Qin Hanzhen, you should be able to see your son now, right?"
She was very careful and knew that the man in the tree was extremely powerful. He was no inferior to her at his peak, so she didn't completely undo the forbidden technique on his body. She only allowed his eyes to be able to clearly see what's in front of them.
The man in the tree shut his eyes closed and opened his mouth; however, there were still no sounds.
Qin Mu tilted his ears to listen and nodded repeatedly. After a moment, he said, "What he meant is that Saturn Sovereign had guessed something wrong."
Saturn Sovereign tilted her head and sneered, "What did I guess wrong?"
The man in the tree opened his eyes. They still couldn't see anything, and the skin on his face was rapidly lignifying; however, the roots of the divine tree were trembling!
Qin Mu's expression regained its composure. "What Saturn Sovereign guessed wrongly is that he didn't want to see me and fulfill the Pact of Earth Count. For it to happen, he's willing to never see me. His aim was just to have Saturn Sovereign help him suppress part of the wooden nature so he could regain a portion of his mobility."
Saturn Sovereign sneered, and the flesh membranes behind her head trembled. "Is this what Qin Hanzhen wants to say or what you want to say? Boy Fengqing, are you too conceited and overestimate your own abilities? So what if Qin Hanzhen regains a fraction of his movement? His divine sword has already broke, and when relying on just a small body part, he is absolutely not my opponent!"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "This is what I want to say, but also want he wants to say. Even gods and devils can't control everything. There will always be some life forms which are unwilling to accept their fate and try to jump out. He isn't totally unable to fight back. Because…
"Because, I've brought him his sword!"
Behind Qin Mu's back, snow bright sword light rushed into the sky!
Carefree Sword had shattered the wooden sword sheath, and a huge wooden hand grew out from the divine tree. Sword light instantly filled the entire hall, and everywhere in front of Qin Mu's eyes became snow white. He couldn't see anything at all!
This was a sword skill that was close to the path. It surpassed his understanding and was beyond his scope.
The sword exploded with world-shaking power and rays. The broad and powerful divine lights shone as sword lights and mercury flooded the ground. They then flooded the sky and in an instant, what Qin Mu saw was no longer the sword. Instead, he saw the sorrows, joys, partings and reunions of a person, their lifetime pursuits and the will with no regrets!
The sword and path had fused into one!
Village Chief's Sword Picture, Dao Sect's Dao Sword—all these legendary sword skills lost their color in front of this.
Within the sword light, Saturn Sovereign's cry of astonishment rang out, and Qin Mu could feel the overflowing divine power. Intense heat waves came sweeping over, followed by boundless pressure as if he was being crushed by the vast and incomparably thick land!
He saw a huge orange-yellow star that possessed vast and mighty power looking like it was going to crush everything in sight. Saturn Sovereign stood in front of that huge star, overflowing with imposing might.
Qin Mu's eyes began to burn then, and he immediately shut them closed. He felt the overflowing divine power weaken rapidly as Saturn Sovereign quickly went away. After that, there was the sound of the door slamming.
"Qin Hanzhen, Qin Fengqing, I'll definitely come back to find you, father and son!" the weird voice of Saturn Sovereign echoed from farther and farther away. With a loud bang, the treasured ship swayed violently. Saturn Sovereign had to have escaped.
Zhnng.
There was a humming sound, and Qin Mu secretly opened his eyes. The sword lights that had filled the space just then had vanished, and Carefree Sword was stabbed right in front of him with the hilt of the sword still vibrating.
Below the sword was a pool of god blood which was giving off multicolored divine lights that were very astonishing.
Qin Mu turned around and saw the face of the man in the tree. The lignification gradually faded away, but he still kept his eyes shut tight. He wasn't willing to open them.
If he did that, the Pact of Earth Count would be activated. Earth Count would then take his soul, and Carefree Village would be revealed. His kin would all die because of it.
Qin Mu stared blankly. Could he never open his eyes to see him?
"Am I called Qin Fengqing?" Qin Mu asked in a low voice while looking at the man in the tree. "Village Chief gave me a name of Mu. Qin Mu, the cowherd boy with the surname Qin."
He leaned against the tree and said in a low voice, "From that moment onwards, I've always been called Qin Mu. Only now did I learn that my parents had already given a name to me, Fengqing… It's a little unfamiliar. You, are you my father?"
The man still kept his eyes shut, but a branch grew out from the tree. A tender leaf took form on it and gently stroked Qin Mu's head.
He leaned against the tree in silence as hundreds of emotions burst forth in his heart.
No one had ever touched him like this before. Apothecary wouldn't as he didn't like kids. When he was concocting his medicine, he would either grab the young Qin Mu to put him in the medicinal cauldron by a hand or a leg.
Blind wouldn't as well. Even if Qin Mu executed the best staff skill, Blind would only nod and give a look of praise, but he would never spoil him.
Granny Si had never brought up a child before, being forced to wash and change his diapers every day. Only when Qin Mu had grown up a bit and helped her do the chores and tailoring that she sometimes praised him.
Old Ma who was the strictest never praised anyone. When he saw Qin Mu, he was always reminded of his dead children, so his face was always very grim, thus he never even smiled.
Deaf, on the other hand, would always find him annoying, in all shapes and forms. When he was painting, he would always chase Qin Mu out. Even when he was teaching Qin Mu how to read, write, and paint, he would mostly smack his hands and seldom praise him.
Mute was always naughty and found all kinds of methods to play tricks on him, entertaining himself with this.
Cripple would usually bring him along to steal stuff or just steal from him. He had a childish heart and treated Qin Mu as a partner.
As for Village Chief, he had no arms or legs, and he was also a gloomy fellow. Even though he smiled frequently, he was plagued with lots of matters of the heart.
No one had ever touched Qin Mu's head like this, not even a cold and dead branch.
This was a feeling he had never felt before.
Qin Mu tilted his head up to look at the sky at an angle, trying to not let his tears cover his vision. In the past, he always wanted to be like an adult as the adults in the village were his role models. He learned from their characters and followed them in how they handled affairs. However, at this moment, he felt like he was a little child that should have been used to being by his parents.
The divine tree he was leaning against was very durable, and although it bark was slightly painful to press on, his heart was at peace, as tranquil as it had ever been. It was as if he had returned to the safe bay called home.
The old man from the painting came out from nowhere and looked around before sneaking into the tree. Raising his head to look, he didn't know why was this place so quiet.
"You are very good…"
A hoarse voice came from the divine tree as if the wooden man had opened his mouth to speak. Each word was said with difficulty and no emotions could be heard from them, yet Qin Mu's body shuddered.
"You are very good."
This was the voice of the man in the tree, and he seemed like he only knew this phrase. He seemed like he hadn't praised a child before and couldn't think of anything else to say.
The reason he said that was because Qin Mu had understood his intentions.
The father and son were interlinked, and Qin Mu could understand what he was saying; however, at that point in time he couldn't even make a sound, so how could he have said anything?
Yet Qin Mu had guessed his intentions and lured Saturn Sovereign into making a move, suppressing part of his wooden nature and allowing him to execute his magic power.
Qin Mu had then leaned over to give him a chance to grab the sword, using words at the same time to mess up the mental state of Saturn Sovereign. This created another chance, and this one was to strike.
Qin Mu revealed a smile and said in a low voice, "We are father and son, and even though we have never met before, I feel like there are ways in which we are similar. I have made the Pact of Earth Count with others before and know the shenanigans of it."
The man in the tree gave a sound of acknowledgment.
Qin Mu lay there and enjoyed the rare tranquility. After a long time, a flower bloomed on the tree and a fruit was bore. It dropped off the tree and landed in his hand, its fragrance assaulting his nostrils. Parents were all like this, always worrying that their children wouldn't have enough to eat or would not be warm.
Qin Mu lifted the fruit up and suddenly asked, "Where did mother go? Is she still alive? I will go find her."
The man in the tree said in a difficult to understand voice, "She brought you and the clansmen to Youdu."
Qin Mu was stunned. Granny Si had found him at the side of Surging River outside Disabled Elderly Village that was in Great Ruins. She didn't find him in Youdu.
So how did he get to Great Ruins?
What had happened back then?
"How do I go back to Carefree Village?" Qin Mu then asked.
The man in the tree continued to keep his eyes shut while replying in a cryptic voice, "Elder Painting will bring you to the study room, there's something inside that I've left for you. Go, we shall never meet again." Every word he said was uttered with difficulty, and each one was like a stab to the throat.
Qin Mu's heart tightened and crumbled.
Father and son will never meet again?
The old man from the painting waved at him and signaled for him to pull out Carefree Sword.
Qin Mu composed himself and went forward to pull out Carefree Sword which was stuck in the ground. The old man in the painting then waved at him again and motioned for him to follow him.
Qin Mu turned his head back, but the eyes of the man in the tree were still shut; he didn't open his eyes.
Elder Painting had to have some sort of connection with the man in the tree. As for what kind of connection it was, Qin Mu had no idea. Maybe it was the man in the tree that had bestowed life to him.
"Can't father and son meet again?" Qin Mu asked loudly.
The man in the tree still had his eyes tightly shut, and his voice sounded a bit heartless when he said "No."
"I will save you!" Qin Mu turned around and went after the old man from the painting while shouting in a loud voice, "Isn't it just Earth Count? I'll get rid of him, so wait for me!"
The divine tree remained motionless, but after a while, the man in the tree slowly opened his eyes and tears rolled down from them.
He heard Qin Mu's footsteps outside the room. This youth was saying to the old man from the painting in a low voice, "Elder Painting, after I leave, help me take care of him."
In the study room of the treasured ship, Elder Painting moved and came to the front of the bookshelf. The books there had all been taken by someone, leaving only a clean bookshelf.
"Pangong Tso, this scoundrel, coming to rob my house?" Qin Mu was furious.
Suddenly, Elder Painting tunneled into a painting and waved toward him from inside. Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before walking over. What followed was something marvelous. He discovered that he actually walked into the painting and became a man in the painting!
There, a man in white stood as if waiting for him to arrive.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
It was Qin Mu's first time encountering such a strange incident as walking into the world inside a painting. This path of painting was different from Deaf's path of painting. Deaf's paintings transformed his paintings into reality. Fr example, if he painted a storm and shook the painting, a storm would erupt in reality.
Once, he painted the eighteen levels of hell, and the entire Heavenly Painting Imperial City suddenly crumbled, transforming into the eighteen levels of hell.
This was how his paintings affected reality.
The painting in which Qin Mu had walked into was a complete opposite. It allowed him to enter the painting, and when he did so, he became part of the painting. However, when he went inside, he discovered that it wasn't a two-dimensional world. It was three-dimensional, and there was a very vast space around.
'This is another kind of painting path!' Qin Mu thought to himself after examining his surroundings.
If Deaf's painting allowed his brush strokes to invade reality, then this painting path developed a world internally.
If these two paths were to ever complement each other and fuse, the height of the painting path could be brought to an unimaginable elevation.
Qin Mu pondered. If one achieved this step, with the raise of a brush, storms would sweep through a battlefield and bombard countless enemy troops. That storm could then sweep the enemy troops into the painting before raising the brush to erase that painting. This could be the so-called use of one stroke to sweep away a ten thousand men army!
Scholar full of pep, full of vim, nothing more than this!
Qin Mu pushed away his wandering thoughts. The attainments he had in the path of painting were far inferior to those of Deaf. This grandpa of his was like an insurmountable mountain which he could only look up to. He felt he should tell this idea to Deaf and let this existence at the peak of the painting path research these two kinds of painting paths, fusing the two of them into one.
He should then learn from Deaf again and it would make him succeeded in cultivating these two painting paths quicker.
Deaf was more proficient, so if he was to let him research before learning from him, he could save a lot of time to do other stuff in the meantime. Furthermore, Deaf's painting path would be able to reach an even higher realm.
He looked towards the man in white who had to be the painting of his father, Qin Hanzhen. He was once again alive in this world. When he had become the man in the tree, his graceful bearing and demeanor couldn't be seen. Whereas in the painting, Qin Mu could see the elegant manner of his father.
The only pity was that this wasn't the real Qin Hanzhen; it was just a man in the painting.
There was no sound in this world, so the Qin Hanzhen there couldn't open his mouth to speak either. He could only do some simple actions like writing and painting. He wasn't the real Qin Hanzhen and was only drawn by him. It was drawing bestowed life, just like Elder Painting.
Qin Mu came to his side and saw that he was currently painting the diagrams of Daoyin Technique.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. "Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!"
The man painting was already a strange thing, yet what he was painting was the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that Qin Mu was cultivating!
In regards to it, Qin Mu naturally had an extreme appreciation. He had relied on the Daoyin Technique as enlightenment to awaken his spirit embryo which in time resulted in his achievements.
The Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that he had seen before was somewhat different from the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique he cultivated.
He started painting from the first realm of the Daoyin Technique, but it was different from what Qin Mu had cultivated. It was much simpler and cleaner.
The Daoyin Technique of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that Village Chief had taught Qin Mu was considered the most simple and fundamental technique in the world. It was the technique that was the most suitable for ordinary people to cultivate.
Yet the Daoyin Technique drawn by the man in the painting was even simpler, but it wasn't crude.
Qin Mu's current scope was far different from when he was young. He understood the logic that the simpler the fundamentals were, the higher the achievements would be.
This was like painting on a white paper. The less thing there was in the foundation, the cleaner the end result would be. The things painted on white could be more exquisite and fine.
If one was to draw on a paper on which somebody had already scribbled, it would be difficult to write a fine work or paint a magnificent painting on top of such a foundation no matter what divine brush was used.
The Daoyin Technique of the man in the painting was simple to an unimaginable extent. Qin Mu tried to execute his vital qi according to what he saw, and at first, it was slightly sluggish, but with the circulation, it soon became more lively and boundless, reaching his limbs and bones, giving him a feeling of seizing the creation of heaven and earth.
"If I had had such a Daoyin Technique, I'm afraid it would have been even harder to break through the Spirit Embryo Wall."
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. When Village Chief had imparted Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to him, he had to have done some minor adjustments to make it simpler for it to break through the Spirit Embryo Wall. If it was for the better or worse, it couldn't be said.
After changing the technique, the Spirit Embryo Wall was much easier to break, but the foundation wasn't as dense as it would have been with the Daoyin Technique the man in the painting had drawn. And at that time, the most crucial thing for Qin Mu had been to break through the Spirit Embryo Wall.
The man in the painting painted the second diagram, and the second Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was what Qin Mu had seen in the valley of Doom Suppression Palace. There was little difference between the two diagrams, only minute changes in some places.
Qin Mu tried to execute the diagram and instantly felt like his spirit embryo bore the heaven and earth. This stirred heart stirred uncontrollably.
The Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that he had learned from Doom Suppression Palace didn't have this feeling.
Spirit Embryo was the realm of martial arts practitioners. Only by reaching this step could one be considered to have stepped through the door of cultivation. The foundation was extremely important, but passing through the door was extremely important as well.
According to Qin Mu's current understanding, Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure opened the heaven and earth in his body. As he cultivated and his cultivation became more and more profound, the heaven and earth became more distinguished. The top was heaven and the bottom was earth. The spirit embryo was located in the middle, and below its feet was the spirit platform, breathing in and out the five qi which was gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.
The legs of the spirit embryo stepped on the land, and the body unified the six directions, which were heaven, earth, north, south, east, and west.
Qin Mu had cultivated to Six Directions Realm, and his understanding of these divine treasures was this. As for Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge, his understandings wasn't deep regarding them, but he still had thoughts on them.
Six Directions Realm could cultivate the primordial spirit, and it grew as the spirit embryo absorbed the soul and vital qi during cultivation, becoming the primordial spirit upon reaching Six Directions Realm.
When the primordial spirit could leave the body, one would basically be at Celestial Being Realm.
Qin Mu had never felt anything wrong with his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique ever since he started cultivating it. Only when he followed the diagrams of the man in the painting did he realize that something was missing.
Spirit embryo needed to grow into primordial spirit. If it couldn't bear the heaven and earth in his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, it meant that his cultivation wasn't there yet. What he was lacking previously might have been this.
He then looked at the third diagram. It was for Five Elements Realm. The circulation diagram Qin Mu had received back then wasn't complete. He had relied on the wisdom of Patriarch and himself to patch the circulation path. However, a flaw was left behind on his left shoulder.
Even though Qin Mu had relied on Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to patch it up, there was still some hinders when he executed his technique. It was just that the influence wasn't too big and Qin Mu was too outstanding. He was able to sweep through all the martial arts practitioners of Five Elements Realm and even some of the weaker Six Directions Realm's divine arts practitioners, so he had never delved into this problem.
The circulation diagram of Five Elements Realm that the man in the painting drew was a complete one. Qin Mu studied it in detail and let out a sigh of relief. This circulation diagram could finally patch the part that was missing in his technique so no more flaws would remain!
The fourth diagram was different from what he was cultivating now. It was more complicated.
Qin Mu stared at it blankly. From the first Daoyin Diagram, he had noticed something interesting. Comparing the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that the man in the painting drew and his own Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, the techniques of the formed had a tendency to become more and more complicated. It was like drawing a sapling that had broken out of the soul and only had two budding leaves then slowly showing him grow luxuriant branches and leaves.
The Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that he had pieced together was lacking in comparison. It was like a small tree whose one branch grew to the east while the other pointed to the west. Even though it could also become a huge tree, it was quite crooked.
Furthermore, the techniques drawn by the man in the painting had no divine arts. Although only the circulation diagrams had been drawn, when Qin Mu executed any divine arts, he had a feeling of being able to use it casually.
Suddenly, his heart trembled, and the sound of Woodcutter imparting his scriptures on the rock rang out in his brain. The reciting and the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique drawn by the man in the painting combined, and Qin Mu opened his mouth in astonishment.
Unity Technique had actually overlapped with the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that the man in the painting had drawn!
It was fusion, an overlapping!
Unity Technique contained the general principles of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. It was like the sacred tree that Woodcutter had imparted to Heavenly Devil Cult Founder. Unity Technique was the body of an ancient tree while Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were its thousands of branches and roots.
The previous Heavenly Devil Cult Masters had all needed to comprehend their own Unity Technique. Only then could they unify Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. Everyone's comprehension of Unity Technique was different, not one them being the same!
At this moment, Qin Mu combined the scriptures imparted by Woodcutter on the rock and discovered to his astonishment that Unity Technique of Heavenly Devil Cult was actually the same as Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!
He had a feeling that space and time were in disorder. Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was actually the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that he had cultivated!
"Could Heavenly Saint Cult be from Carefree Village? In that case, the woodcutter that had imparted his techniques…" He had a weird expression. "Was his surname Qin as well?"
He didn't think much about it and continued to look at the paintings in an entranced state. He subconsciously followed the circulation diagram, and there was absolutely no hindrance with his vital qi circulation. It became livelier and smoother with each pass.
When the man in the painting drew the eighth diagram, he finished the foundation to Divine Bridge Realm.
Qin Mu concentrated on memorizing it, not expecting the man in the painting to not stop. Instead, he continued to draw the ninth diagram!
"There's still a realm above Divine Bridge Realm?"
Qin Mu was astonished. Wasn't Divine Bridge Realm the last realm?
In that case, what was the realm the ninth circulation diagram was meant for?
The ninth diagram was extremely complicated and linked the first seven great divine treasures. When the vital qi circulated, all seven great divine treasures had to be mobilized. It could be said to be so complicated that one wrong step could cause qi deviation!
Qin Mu concentrated on memorizing it, not daring to be sloppy. Yet there was too much information contained in this ninth diagram. It made him dizzy, and his eyes dimmed.
Once the man in the painting finished drawing the ninth diagram, he stopped. After a moment, when Qin Mu had completely memorized all the nine diagrams, he moved and attacked.
Qin Mu immediately defended, and within a few moves, he was dropped to the ground.
Once the man in the painting dropped him, he didn't continue to attack. Instead, he waited for Qin Mu to recover before starting over.
'He's feeding me moves!' Qin Mu's eyes lit up.
On the deck of the treasured ship, numerous great shamans, shaman kings, and soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire were attacking the bridge while two white bats and a dragon qilin were guarding the door, not letting them in.
Pangong Tso wad checking the books and treasures he had ransacked so far.
"These books all have seals, and it'll be slightly troublesome to break them open, I'll have to mobilize the corporeal bodies of my previous lifetimes."
Pangong Tso looked at book after book and was somewhat disappointed when he couldn't open even a single one. Looking back at the building on the ship, he thought to himself, 'It's been two months already, and that brat is still hasn't come out…'
Suddenly, a door opened, and Qin Mu popped his bruised head out. When he saw him, he waved, and Pangong Tso rushed after him in a hurry, elated.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'This brat got beaten so miserably, could he have met the terrifying entity hidden on this ship?'
Pangong Tso gave chase with a slight suspicion in his heart. 'But didn't that terrifying entity already run away?'
When Saturn Sovereign had escaped from the treasured ship, a lot of activity was happening throughout the ship. Pangong Tso was searching through the rooms for his followers that were still scattered. Some of them were still waiting on the deck, but when he came there, the people on the deck had disappeared. They had to have been swept off into Youdu world by the gale which was raised by Saturn Sovereign's escape.
This had happened two months ago.
During this period of time, Pangong Tso had brought everyone to search through all the rooms and collected all the treasures that could be moved. Only when he wanted to ransack the bridge did he meet with a hindrance, the dragon qilin and the white bat brothers. They blocked off the way, making it impossible to enter the room.
There was only one door into the bridge, and Pangong Tso would have had to go through it if they wanted to enter the room. However, the two white bats and the dragon qilin were not weak. Once they decided to guard the door, even the shaman king of Life and Death Realm couldn't break through. Due to that, in the last few days, Pangong Tso had them attacked continuously so they wouldn't be able to get any rest.
The moment Pangong Tso barged into a room, he immediately executed Ten Thousand Locusts Banner, and numerous locusts started to circle around his body, protecting him.
At this moment, the sound of a door closing came from behind him. Qin Mu had stayed next to to the door and had just closed it.
Pangong Tso rushed forward a dozen steps before turning back with a smile. "Cult Master Qin, why have you lured me here?"
The bruises on Qin Mu's face were obvious traces of being thrashed, and his voice was full of resentment. "I had suffered numerous beatings over the past two months, and my confidence is severely crippled. Old brother, you should also know, if a person fails too many times without succeeding once, their hearts will become twisted and they will become perverted."
Pangong Tso was astonished. "What kind of person could actually beat Cult Master Qin into such a state? This is starting to interest me. Other than me, who else in this world can actually defeat Cult Master Qin repeatedly and make him feel such a strong sense of defeat. Could that person be a divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm?"
Qin Mu touched the injuries on his face. "What he used was his cultivation of Six Directions Realm."
Pangong Tso was even more astonished and let out a shaky breath as he praised, "This person truly has great abilities."
Qin Mu said very sincerely, "Therefore old brother, I can only take the chance to find you during a break. To prevent my spirit from becoming twisted and my mind from becoming perverted, won't you let me give you a beating?"
Pangong Tso's eyebrows drooped, and his gaze fell on the Ten Thousand Locusts Banner he was holding. With a low laugh, he said, "Cult Master Qin, I usually don't fight battles that I know I can't win, so I usually use dirty tricks in such situations. However, when I saw you waving at me sneakily, I ran over immediately, do you know why?"
He raised his head. "I have cultivated diligently for the past two months and have improved extremely compared to two months ago. You also know I'm the grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace and have already reincarnated eighteen times. Two months of my cultivation is equivalent to two years of your cultivation! I've chased after you not to listen to your rubbish and not to get beaten by you as well, I'm here to kill you!"
He erupted in fury, and his black hair rushed upwards. Swinging his Ten Thousand Locusts Banner, he attacked Qin Mu while shouting sternly, "I'll beat you to death! Hand over that silver helmet and I'll let you die peacefully!"
Ding, ding, ding, ding.
The flying locusts and the sword rain collided. The thin wings of the golden-colored locusts were like knives while Qin Mu's flying swords were incomparably heavy. In that instant, the collisions filled the entire room with sparks shooting off in all directions.
Among the sword lights and flying locusts, Pangong Tso stabbed the Ten Thousand Locusts Banner onto the ground, and his feet flashed as he moved left and right among the sword rain and flying locusts to close in on his target.
Qin Mu's footwork was also changing unpredictably while he closed in on Pangong Tso as well.
The room they were in wasn't very large, so with all the places having flying swords and flying locusts clashing with each other, any carelessness would lead to being stabbed or even losing one's life.
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso had been researching on how to transform their divine arts to become fine, so due to the room's size, their flying locusts and flying swords were all shrunk to the smallest possible size. The flying swords were no more than three inches long, while the flying locusts were no more than five fingernails long.
The smaller they got, the more dangerous it would become to move through the room. The action would require extremely great eyesight and judgment to avoid the sword rain and the flying locusts.
The next moment, the two people exchanged palms and fists, bursting forth with force. A crisp cry of thunder instantly sounded in the room.
Pangong Tso revealed a smile. "With my current cultivation… Hnnnng!"
He gave a grunt when he felt the opponent's terrifying strength, astonished. He had cultivated diligently these days, and his cultivation had increased tremendously. Thus, it should have had an overwhelming advantage. Instead, when he exerted his full strength, Qin Mu still had a slight upper hand!
How was this possible?
Was this brat also someone who had reincarnated?
However, he noticed that something wasn't right. Qin Mu hadn't surpassed him in the cultivation of magic power. Instead, his vital qi had become even purer and the way he used his moves and divine arts had improved by a level. Even his corporeal body had become stronger.
This meant that Qin Mu could use less vital qi to have his divine arts burst forth with a greater power. He had gone ahead in terms of finesse in his divine arts. When his attacks didn't hit, the power would rarely leak out, while when they did hit, the force of the explosion would be even stronger!
Pangong Tso and Qin Mu had gone into that mysterious corridor together and both of them had seen the markings of the divine arts and divine weapons on the wall. However, both of them had only gained a superficial understanding from the cursory observation and hadn't researched it deeper.
Yet Qin Mu had surpassed Pangong Tso in the attainments of this path.
'This is bad!'
Pangong Tso was stupefied. He had a bad feeling about this. Now that Qin Mu's cultivation had increased and his vital qi had become purer, he would exhaust a lot less magic power. With his corporeal body improving as well, it was obvious that Qin Mu's battle prowess and endurance would both surpass him.
Even though it wasn't much, it would be enough for him to achieve victory as long as he was an inch superior.
The battle was fine for the moment, but once it dragged out, Pangong Tso was going to be in deep shit!
When their big moves clashed, the eight thousand swords and Ten Thousand Locusts Banner both exhausted a great amount of magic power. This made their vital qi deplete at a rapid pace, and so the numbers of flying swords and flying locusts they could control declined.
Yet Qin Mu's corporeal body was still going strong as he unleashed his moves unhindered. He split mountains and rocks with his punches and kicks that contained astonishing power, forcing Pangong Tso to fall back continuously.
Suddenly, Pangong Tso crashed backward and threw open a door on his way there. He took this chance to close the door. Before it could happen, a huge force came bombarding over, blowing him away and smacking him into the wall on the opposite side!
'I just need to hold on until my subordinates find me. As long as they come, this brat will surely die!'
Pangong Tso remained calm. In the past two months, he had taught some shaman kings how to calculate the spell of space integration to find the treasures on the ship and that mysterious corridor.
Those shaman kings would definitely find their way over!
However, the wisdom and algebra of those shaman kings were inferior to his own, so they would definitely take some time to find their way over to him. Thus, he needed to hold on until they did.
Qin Mu came whooshing over and attacked him from a distance, engaging in hand to hand combat once he was close. The number of flying swords and flying locusts they used in this clash was even lower. Qin Mu controlled nine swords, each of which was extremely fine as it swam to and fro around his body. Those swords were like flying fish that were the length of a finger. Pangong Tso's nine flying locusts were also extremely fine, and they looked like real golden locusts.
Even though the two fighters' vital qi was severely depleted, their attacks were still extremely fierce. When they were attacking from a distance yet close to each other, any carelessness would result in that person dying.
Pangong Tso dealt with the attacks carefully, but his cultivation was still depleting too rapidly until it was finally exhausted.
Qin Mu's cultivation was also exhausted, but his corporeal body was still as strong as a bull. Pangong Tso could only block over a dozen attacks before his defense was broken. In an instant, his entire face was bruised.
Qin Mu pressed him against the floor and beat him until his eyes could no longer open. Pangong Tso shouted out, "Well done! Come and beat me some more if you have the guts!"
Qin Mu gave two more punches before he heard a door opening. His heart wavered, and he immediately stopped.
Pangong Tso shouted, "Come and beat me some more!"
Qin Mu put away his flying swords and turned around with a laugh. "Older brother, I'm satisfied, I'll find you another day. That's right, the taotie sack that's on your waist, I'm taking it!"
Astonished, Pangong Tso grabbed towards his waist, his heart turning cold.
However, the taotie sack on his waist had already vanished without a trace.
He actually didn't realize when Qin Mu had undone it!
'My craft is still slightly inferior to that of Grandpa Cripple; otherwise, he wouldn't even know if I had taken off his pants.'
Qin Mu tossed the taotie sack up before catching it again and sighed to himself about how Cripple's craft was too excellent.
"Kill him!" Pangong Tso's voice sounded out as some shaman kings finally came into the room.
Qin Mu revealed a smile and turned around to close a nearby door behind himself. On his way out, he collected the flying swords that were scattered on the ground and placed them back into his taotie sack. He also picked up the Ten Thousand Locusts Banner.
Opening the taotie sack of Pangong Tso, he looked inside and frowned slightly. The books in the study room weren't there, just all the other treasures from the ship: an incense burner, tea set, candlesticks. Pangong Tso didn't seem to have carried the books with him.
'What exactly is recorded in those books from the bookshelves? Techniques of gods? Or is it something else…"
Qin Mu hung the two taotie sacks around his waist and returned to the study room while thinking, 'When I beat him up the next time, I should ask where he hid the books.'
Pangong Tso struggled to walk out of the building and come onto the deck. When he saw the gazes of the shaman kings, he knew what they were thinking of him. Once they saw him beaten up to such a state by Qin Mu, their respect for him started to fade.
Pangong Tso said indifferently, "Cult Master Qin isn't in a good condition as well; he was severely injured by me. I know his name and surname, so when my cultivation recovers, I shall cast a spell to take his life!"
When his cultivation recovered, he immediately cast his spell. Yet something weird happened. Even though he knew Qin Mu's name and surname, he couldn't find him. It was as if he had vanished from this world.
Pangong Tso cast his spell again, but his shaman spell still couldn't find Qin Mu.
'Impossible, he's clearly on the ship, yet the shaman spell can't find him. Could he be hiding in some secret space which blocks off my spell?'
Qin Mu returned to the painting, and the man there continued to feed him moves. Even though Qin Mu was still defeated time and time again, he was starting to last longer and longer.
Time went without anyone's notice, until one day, the treasured ship trembled. Even though Qin Mu was in the world in the painting, he could still feel those tremors.
The old man revealed a worried expression and called him over. Qin Mu quickly followed him out and onto the deck.
A distance away from the treasured ship, countless Youdu life forms were flooding over. The tremor came from the treasured ship increasing its speed to escape them.
The old man from the painting stood on the door and waved at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was stunned. Were they going to part just like this?
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The treasured ship left the Youdu life forms in the dust, its speed becoming faster and faster. This was something that had never happened before!
On the deck, Pangong Tso and the rest grabbed onto the guardrails in a hurry so that they wouldn't fly off. 'Could it be that Qin Mu that brat used the silver helmet to drive the ship?'
Pangong Tso looked around for him Qin Mu and to his surprise saw him holding onto the guardrails as well. He wasn't wearing the silver helmet so it was obvious that the person controlling the ship wasn't him.
Pangong Tso was slightly stunned. If it wasn't Qin Mu driving the ship, then who was the one doing it?
Could there be another terrifying entity hidden on the ship, or was the ship possessed?
Ever since they had come to this strange ship, weird things had been happening one after another, and until they had yet to explore the whole ship. Thinking back on it, it sure was terrifying to meet such strange incidents time and again.
The treasured ship was speeding through Youdu world, which was a piece of darkness with no heaven or earth. As they sailed through this endless dark, it was truly frightening.
They sailed like this for some time, until the sound of collision rang out and everyone on the ship was almost thrown off. Some of the soldiers and great shamans didn't have a stable footing or grip so they went overboard. Just as they landed in the darkness outside the ship, their flesh suddenly melted away, and they turned into piles of bones that clattered down.
"There's land below!" someone cried out in astonishment.
Qin Mu looked down and saw that the treasured ship had collided with the peak of a mountain, creating a huge hole in it. It was this collision that had swung the soldiers and great shamans out.
The mountain peak was soon left behind as the passengers watched the land below. What was weird about it was that the land wasn't connected, but seemed to consist of islands floating in the darkness.
Booom!
Once two huge pieces of land collided, the situation became intense. The tectonic plates were pushing against each other, and instantly, several thousand volcanoes erupted at the same time. Lava spewed into the sky with black smoke, reaching from nine hundred to a thousand yards, creating a magnificent sight.
Countless bolts of lightning flashed in the thick clouds as they ripped through the sky. The lava that had cooled in the sky came raining down as a terrifying rain of rocks. It had astonishing power, as the rocks came crashing down like meteors with long fiery trails.
The earth trembled and the mountains swayed. With the rain of lava, rocks, and acid, it seemed like the apocalypse had come.
As the treasured ship sailed through the heavy rain, everyone on the ship burst forth with vital qi to prop up shields to block the weird rain and not get smashed to death.
Suddenly, there was a clanking sound, and the lava rain changed into diamonds. Diamonds the size of a fist came raining down from the sky. They were created by lightning strikes and scattered all throughout the ship.
The treasured ship tilted to one side, so all the lava rocks and diamonds were swept off, then went around a huge volcano and sailed into the distance.
On the volcano, lava was flowing like flame dragons from the mouth of the volcano to the bottom. Qin Mu hurriedly took a look and was shocked. In that earth-quaking and mountain-shaking destruction, there were actually millions of people walking up the mountain.
With lowered heads, they walked silently through all the destruction, acting like zombies. Every step they took seemed extremely difficult, but they still continued to walk forward as if there was a fatal force of attraction in front of them.
At the mouth of the volcano, there were already quite a number of people who had reached it, jumping in without any feeling. They were then drowned by the lava rushing into the sky!
Besides this huge volcano, there were thousands of others on this piece of land, which also numbered in thousands.
Exactly how many people were walking with difficulty through this apocalypse and throwing themselves into the volcanoes was probably uncountable!
"They aren't people, they are souls!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. He could see that these were damned souls, and they had no corporeal body. Furthermore, they were not all human souls. Some of them belonged to strange beasts, demons, dragons, phoenixes, and even heavenly devils.
The treasured ship passed by volcanoes after volcanoes with countless of souls walking among them.
As the volcanoes erupted, flaming red lava rushed into the sky, accompanied by deafening rumbles.
With a pale face, Pangong Tso muttered in a trembling voice, "Ye-yellow Springs, Yellow Springs…"
Qin Mu stared blankly, not knowing what this fellow was talking about.
"What Yellow Springs?"
"They are going down the Yellow Springs!" Pangong Tso suddenly roared with all his strength. "This is the world after we die! We are on the horns of Earth Count!"
Qin Mu shuddered when he finally understood Pangong Tso's words. Their ship was currently sailing between the horns of Earth Count. These lands weren't lands, but sections of Earth Count's horns.
The meaning behind Earth Count's Nine Pacts came from the nine bends. They meant that the two horns of Earth Count had nine bends, like a flowing river.
Because of that, the two horns of Earth Count were also sometimes called Nine Bends Yellow Springs, which likened them to two trails of Yellow Springs.
Qin Mu couldn't help feeling his scalp crawl. It did indeed look like this place was called the Yellow Springs. Because of the volcanoes erupting continuously, the lava spread across the sky and lighted the land. Looking from afar, it probably seemed like a yellow or red river.
However, weren't these two horns a little too huge!
Was this even still a god?
"Hehe, hehe…" Pangong Tso seemed to have suffered a severe setback once and was now a little crazed. He muttered, "This was the truth I had once seen… I can't die, I definitely can't die, whoever that likes to die can die, I must definitely live on…"
The treasured ship finally sailed through the lands and left. Qin Mu turned back to take a look and could finally saw the full appearance of the two horns. Lava spewed out from the lands and connected all of them together. The lands on top were the sky of the lands below.
With such connection, the countless pieces formed nine bends which looked like Nine Bends Yellow Springs from afar.
Countless souls were guided in from god knows how many worlds into these lands, to jump into the Yellow Springs.
And yet they were only the horns of the incomparably humongous Earth Count!
Looking down, Qin Mu didn't know how long the two horns were. They were hidden deep in the darkness, their end unable to be seen. Under the two horns had to be Earth Count's head. Legend said that he had a tiger's head while his horns were those of a bull. Qin Mu, however, could't see the head at all.
He shrunk back and made a decision deep in his heart. The Pact of Earth Count could never be signed carelessly. If he did so and it took effect, he would probably never be able to make a comeback!
He was sad, though. His father had signed the Pact of Earth Count.
Once it was signed, it would be difficult to make it void.
The treasured ship sailed faster and faster, coming to the sky above another piece of land. This was a crumbling world shrouded in darkness. Paper boats with dead souls floated over from the black.
Many of them sailed past the treasured ship and floated towards the land of the nine pacts. The clothes of the souls were all tattered, and they all belonged to Heavenly Devil Horde, the Heavenly Devil Race. However, none of them were the fiendish ones Qin Mu had seen in Great Ruins. Instead, they were all old, sick, and weak.
Countless paper boats floated past, which made it obvious that an extremely large number of people from Heavenly Devil Horde had died. Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be so many deaths. Even a large scale war wouldn't cause so many people to die at the same time.
"O soul come back—"
In the time and space of the darkness, vibrations could be faintly felt. They were the miserable shouts of a devil god in another world as he chanted in a devil language. Qin Mu looked towards the source of the voice and could faintly see an eight-armed four-headed devil god standing in the pitch black space bawling. With a world between them, he couldn't see or hear him clearly.
'It seems like Dutian Devil King is crying…'
Qin Mu was slightly stunned that the figure that standing in the crumbling world was Dutian Devil King. His power was so great that the crumbling world couldn't confine his figure and voice. With the Dutian world between them, he called for the souls of his people, trying to summon those who had died back.
"O soul come back!
"Go not down to the Land of Darkness.
"Where the nine pacts of Earth Count lie, in the dreadful horns on his forehead.
"He has a great humped back with bloody thumbs, pursuing men swift-footed.
"Three eyes in his tiger's head, while his body is that of a bull.
"O soul.
"Come back! Lest you bring on yourself disaster.
"O soul, come back! And enter the gate of the city.
"Skilled priests call for you there, walking backward to lead you in…"
The treasured ship sailed forth, and Dutian Devil King's voice became softer and softer until Qin Mu could no longer hear what he was crying. The treasured ship left Dutian world which was in the process of dying and because of which there were so many Heavenly Devil Horde's people around.
Qin Mu turned back and saw many paper boats floating into Youdu from Dutian world, and his heart became sorrowful. Maybe this would be the future of the world they were currently in as well.
After some time, they came to another land in the darkness. Specks of divine light lit up the darkness hazily, revealing some life forms of Youdu moving about.
The speed of the treasured ship gradually became slower, and the people in it could finally see what were those divine lights. They were the rays given off by the god statues in every village. Some of them were also given off by ancient ruins.
The ship had traveled to Great Ruins.
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. When night time came to Great Ruins, the place got connected to Youdu!
There was a part of Great Ruins that was overlapped with Youdu. When night came, there would be life forms from Youdu coming out for activities. At that time, Youdu world was dominant, suppressing the real world. However, when the day came, the real world would overshadow Youdu world.
In the darkness, wherever the rays shone upon was the real world, and each of the rays was the entrance to the real world.
This meant that if they entered any village protected by the god statues or any ruins, they would be able to leave Youdu and return to reality!
The aim of the treasured ship sailing to here had to have been to send them back to the real world.
The speed of the treasured ship became slower and slower, so the passengers could finally see their destination. In front of them was an ancient ruin that was giving off astonishing rays, which forced the darkness back. There was also a majestic palace over there, but it was already dilapidated. Yet the majestic god statues were still giving off rays that lighted up the darkness.
The treasured ship slowly stopped and floated into the sky above the ruins. Below it, there was many strange beasts lying prone as well as some passers-by that were getting along well with the strange beasts while avoiding the invasion of the darkness.
They all raised their heads and looked curiously at this ship that had suddenly appeared above them.
Qin Mu called the two white bats and the dragon qilin to jump from the ship. Pangong Tso also had his retainers to jump off the ship.
One of the shaman kings looked at Qin Mu and said with a flickering gaze, "Grandmaster…"
Pangong Tso shook his head. "We are now in Great Ruins so we shall follow the rules of Great Ruins, don't create additional troubles."
Qin Mu raised his head to look at the ship with a complicated expression. The treasured ship slowly rotated and changed its direction before sailing out of the ruins and into the darkness.
The man in the tree had to have driven the ship back into Youdu to look for his family.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"This is not Ghost Valley."
Fu Yuchun looked around. The two white bats were slightly reserved as it was their first time leaving Ghost Valley. They wanted to hang upside down yet felt too shy to do it.
Qin Mu raised his head to look at the dilapidated hall and roof over them before saying, "You guys can hang on the roof and take a break, don't alarm the others. I'll bring you guys back to Ghost Valley tomorrow, once we reach it, I'll give you guys the antidote."
The two white bats let out sighs of relief and flew up silently. They hung under the roof, their hands crossed in front of their chest.
Fu Yuchun opened his eyes and said in a low voice, "This brat lied to us, we were not poisoned at all."
Fu Yuqiu was astonished. "We were not poisoned? Impossible, we were clearly in pain when the toxin flared up!"
Fu Yuchun rolled one of his eyes. "The toxicity should have been undone long ago. When he first gave us the antidote, he must have already undone the poison. The rest was just to scare us. Otherwise, we would already have already died from poison after the passage of two month plus."
Fu Yuqiu was furious. "This brat lied to us to get us to work for him! Let's eat him well-done!"
"Oh well, oh well," Fu Yuchun said. "Even if we hadn't allied with him, we still would have been chased by Pangong Tso and his lackeys. They wouldn't have let us off. By allying with the brat, we instead got to live on, so it isn't bad for us. It's also because of him that we know our old ancestors are still alive. Now our white bat race won't have to go extinct. Let's go back to wake our ancestors and have them give birth to girls for us."
Fu Yuqiue was excited. "Give birth to two females! No, no, it should be a nest of females, I want to hug them left and right… Wait a minute! Brother, we are generations away from our old ancestors, so even if they give birth to two girls, in terms of seniority they would be our great great great grandmothers, this seniority…"
Troubled expression filled the faces of the two white bats, and they could no longer fall asleep.
In the ruins, Qin Mu leaned against the dragon qilin's body to rest. There were over a dozen god statues guarding the place, and their rays lighted up the entire ruins. Qin Mu still didn't know where this ruin was located in Great Ruins. He would have to fly into the sky during the day to observe the surroundings, only then could he determine his location.
Pangong Tso took a glance at him then also sat down. The dozen of great shamans, shaman kings, and the remaining few soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire that were lucky to be alive surrounded him.
Qin Mu looked around and saw many strange beasts. There was no lack of strong existences among them, and their physiques were huge. They were even larger than the dragon qilin in his full form.
"Eh, these people are slightly interesting…"
His pupils slightly contracted as his gaze landed on the bodies of some travelers. There were three groups of them, and one of them consisted of three eminent monks. They were rugged-looking, but they had kind gazes, even if there was a strong demonic air about their bodies.
'Little Thunderclap Monastery's monks!'
Qin Mu felt the demonic air about their bodies and immediately realized who they were. Little Thunderclap Monastery was a sacred ground, but it belonged to the demon race. Their head was revered as Little Rulai, and he was a junior brother to Old Rulai. He had exceptional abilities and had also achieved the realm of rulai.
Little Thunderclap Monastery was referred to as Little Western Paradise and was even more west than Great Thunderclap Monastery on Mount Meru. It was located on the westernmost side of Great Ruins.
'Since I can see the demon monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery, could we be at the west of Great Ruins?'
Qin Mu's heart sunk slightly. It was his first time going to such a far-off place, since Great Ruins was extremely vast. This place might be even farther away than Rolan's Golden Palace.
The second group of travelers only had two people, a man, and a woman. They were both very young and looked like a married couple. There was nothing dangerous he could see about them.
The two of them wore outfits of different tribes. The man had a white cloth wrapped around his head, revealing his black hair on the top of his head. On the other hand, the woman donned gold and silver, wearing numerous accessories made from those two metals and jade on her body. She had tied her head with a black head covering, and it hung down with her beautiful hair in front of her slightly bulging chest. There was also a little red flower fastened to the top of her head.
Her hand was very fair. The sleeves of her shirt were quite short, revealing more than half of her small arm. It wasn't thick, yet there were over a dozen gold, silver, and jade bracelets of different thickness on her wrist.
These two people were guarding a magnificent carriage of a very strange shape.
Qin Mu had seen some magnificent carriages before, and most of them were very squarish. Some of them had a yurt top with an octagon top. The yurt top represented the square earth and spherical heavens while the octagon top represented the eight points of a compass. They were both symbols which signified status.
This carriage, however, was circular, with a circular base and a circular top. The ornaments hanging around the carriage also had the feel of a different tribe.
The third group of people was a hundred divine arts practitioners. Their appearance and clothing were also of a different tribe. All their pupils were blue, but Qin Mu also didn't know from which country they came.
These divine arts practitioners had murderous intent leaking from their eyes and would glance toward the young married couple and the carriage from time to time.
"Cult Master, the atmosphere isn't right," the dragon qilin said after opening his eyes secretly. "There are way too many spirit weapons on that woman's body, and the abilities of those divine arts practitioners are all very strong!"
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows. The eyesight of the dragon qilin was indeed not bad. The gold, silver, and jade accessories that the woman was wearing were all spirit weapons.
When Qin Mu glanced at them with his Green Heaven's Eyes, each and every spirit weapon was giving off dazzling spirit ray which showed that their power wasn't weak.
To hang so many spirit weapons on her body, her abilities couldn't be weak.
Pangong Tso had also noticed these people and gave instructions to two of the great shamans in a low voice. One of them immediately rose and went to the side of the young couple, greeting them before inquiring about their origins. He then came back to report. "They said they are from True Heaven Palace of West Earth. They asked if we could assist them."
"True Heaven Palace of West Earth?" Pangong Tso said. "Since they are qi refiners of West Earth's True Heaven Palace, we have no association with them and no need to guard against them. As for their matter, we won't help."
The other great shaman also came back from inquiring and said, "Those divine arts practitioners are from True Heaven Palace; they wish we don't interfere with them."
"They are both from True Heaven Palace?" Astonished, Pangong Tso smiled. "It seems like an internal strife, so there's no need for us to bother with them. Those three demon monks are from Little Thunderclap Monastery and there's some grudge between them and our Rolan's Golden Palace, so we should guard against them."
Rolan's Golden Palace frequently captured humans and demons to cultivate and had quite a number of clashes with Little Thunderclap Monastery due to capturing quite a number of demon monks from there and using their souls to cultivate.
The three monks also saw through the origin of Pangong Tso and his followers. They looked at each other, but they didn't make a move.
Pangong Tso said in a low voice, "Since we met with people from Little Thunderclap Monastery and West Earth, it means that this place is in the west of Great Ruins. It shouldn't be too far from Little Thunderclap Monastery so the three monks can't be left alive. After the sun rises, we'll get rid of them immediately!"
Everyone acknowledged.
"As for Cult Master Qin…"
He looked towards Qin Mu who was currently rummaging through a taotie sack. He sensed his gaze and raised his head to give him a radiant smile. He looked like a sunshine bright boy.
The taotie sack that Qin Mu was holding was that of Pangong Tso. He took out items from the inside and examined them over and over again, playing with each and every one of them.
"What a huge hammer!"
He raised a white bone huge hammer and gently swung it. Instantly, countless skulls came out from the huge skull on the top, spewing soul fire in all directions.
Qin Mu shook it again, and the huge skull opened its mouth to suck the smaller skulls back into its mouth.
"There's actually also a sword pellet inside!"
Qin Mu returned the white bone hammer into the taotie sack and took out a sword pellet. Once he executed it gently, countless fine swords that were like hair surrounded his palm.
"Cultivating to such a fine realm, your technique sure is profound! Is this the refining method of Dao Sect's Dao Sword? Doesn't seems so." Qin Mu shook his head. "Dao Sword only needs one sword and that's it, Old Brother Pan, your cultivation isn't there yet. No wonder your Dao Sword is only so-so and not as good as that of Dao Master."
Pangong Tso grunted and sneered. "The taotie sack you stole was merely a fraction of the wealth I have accumulated throughout all my lifetimes."
He lowered his voice and instructed the shamans on his left and right, "Tomorrow morning, you shaman kings shall get rid of the two white bats and that fat cat, the rest will work together to get rid of the Qin brat!"
Qin Mu checked the items in the taotie sack before standing up and walking towards the three demon monks. He greeted them. "Senior Brothers."
The three demon monks that had been meditating hurriedly got up to return the greeting. "Senior Brother!"
The three monks wore wide robes with large sleeves, but even though their robes were big, they still couldn't cover their legs, revealing razor sharps talons and thick bird legs that were covered in feathers.
"Are the three of you from Little Thunderclap Monastery?" Qin Mu asked. "Does Little Rulai have a disciple that's a devil ape, his name in religion Kong?"
The three demon monks were astonished for a moment, then nodded. "Senior Brother, Rulai bestowed him the name in religion of Zhan Kong, and he's indeed Rulai's disciple. May I ask how do you know Zhan Kong?"
Qin Mu smiled. "I'm Heavenly Saint Cult Master, and he's my sworn brother so I naturally know him."
"I see." The three monks let down their guards and smiled. One of them said, "My name in religion is Ding Jue, and these are my brothers, Ding Zhi and Ding Ming. We pay our respects to Heavenly Saint Cult Master."
Qin Mu took a look and Pangong Tso and said, "That youth is the grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace and has three shaman kings beside him. Two of them are on Celestial Being Realm and one of them is on Life and Death Realm."
The three monks were shocked, their faces turning ashen. "What can we do then? We are still not at Celestial Being Realm, we can't fight them!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Don't worry, there's me. I'll bring you guys out tomorrow. Follow me, let's rest over there."
The three monks relaxed and followed him to dragon qilin's side. They immediately greeted him. "Senior Brother."
The dragon qilin was already asleep so he didn't bother replying.
The three demon monks had good tempers so they didn't take it to heart. They greeted the two white bats that were hanging from the roof as well. "Senior Brothers."
The two white bats cupped their fists and returned the greeting. "Senior Brothers."
Only then did the three demon monks sat down to continue meditating.
Pangong Tso saw the situation, and his face turned slightly black. He humphed to himself.
Qin Mu asked with a pleasant expression, "Have the three of you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult before?"
Ding Jue shook his head. "We have only moved around in Great Ruins so we have not heard before."
Qin Mu was ready to speak more when the male divine arts practitioner that was guarding the carriage walked over and bowed. "This Senior Brother…"
Qin Mu rose and returned his greeting before shaking his head. "Please hold your tongue."
The divine arts practitioner asked in astonishment, "Senior Brother, why do you say so?"
"You guys are being chased by these strong practitioners, having escaped to Great Ruins, I won't ally myself with you guys." Qin Mu shook his head. "They have too many people and not one of them is weak. I have enough trouble just protecting myself, so I would only be seeking death by allying myself with you. Please go back."
The man revealed a disappointed expression and returned back to the carriage, saying something to it in a low voice.
The voice of a little girl came from the carriage. "Mother, does that big brother not want to help us?"
Another charming voice came from the carriage after a sigh. "There is not one righteous person in Great Ruins to save us mother and daughter…"
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows. 'Righteous person? I'm definitely not a righteous person. I'm the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, if I don't do evil, people should already be celebrating. Yet they ask for me to still be a righteous person? Chey, I only did good deeds when I was young and hot-headed, now that I've grown up…'
The night seemed to pass by very slowly, with everyone in the ruins having different intentions. It was hard to say how much later a hen dragon flapped its wings among the strange beasts and rose to the roof of a dilapidated hall to crow toward the sky.
Instantly, the darkness withdrew, and a ray of sunlight shone over from the east, hitting the mountains outside the ruins and lighting up the mountain peak.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The sun had come out, so Qin Mu rose. He pushed Carefree Sword into the sheath he had carved yesterday. Giving a kick to the dragon qilin, he woke it up as well as the two white bats.
The dragon qilin crawled up, his eyes were filled with vigor. "Cult Master, today's ration?"
Qin Mu rummaged through his taotie sack. He didn't have much of the Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills left, but he still gave away the full meal.
The two white bats let go of their purchases and fell to the ground from the roof. The three demon monks also opened their eyes and took out clear water and biscuits from their backpacks. Their biscuits were made from crushed insects.
The monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery were of the demon race so they weren't strictly vegetarian and didn't have as many rules as monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery. These three were bird strange beasts so they still liked eating insects. For the convenience of carrying them around, they had squashed them into biscuits.
Ding Jue split half of the insect biscuit to give it to Qin Mu and he gave it a try. The taste was actually not bad, fragrant and crispy.
The crowd of beasts started to move, and the people in the ruins also began to follow the crowd out, each and every one of them on alert. Only Qin Mu was slightly absent-minded. This place was close to the west borders of Great Ruins, and he really wanted to see where the darkness disappeared.
Since the darkness of Great Ruins flooded in from the west, that place had to be where it originated. If Qin Mu found it, he just might be able to find the source of Great Ruins' calamity.
The beasts walked out of the ruin, and Qin Mu turned back to have a look. He saw that the carriage was also driving over, but he could no longer see the woman with the little red flower or the man with a white cloth wrapped around his head. He only saw two deers covered in plum blossom spots pulling the carriage.
There was a white cloth wrapped around the buck's horns while the ears of the doe were wrapped with a black cloth. There were gold and silver chains and pendants hanging in front of its chest. On its head, there was a little red flower while its two front legs had over a dozen gold, silver, and jade bracelets.
"So they are demons."
Qin Mu blinked. Yesterday, he hadn't managed to see that the married couple were a pair of strange beasts. There was no demonic air about these people's bodies, so he never expected that they would be two deers that had cultivated until they could change their shape into that of a human.
'This kind of technique is pretty extraordinary; it should be an orthodox cultivation technique. Are they guests from West Earth?' Qin Mu thought to himself.
When Qin Mu looked behind the two, he saw that the hundred divine arts practitioners followed silently behind the carriage. A small head with two braids popped out from it and took a look backward. Two fair hands then pulled the head back and closed the window of the carriage.
Qin Mu retracted his gaze. While he sat on the back of the dragon qilin, Carefree Sword was ready to come out of the sheath at any time while the flying swords in his taotie sack were slowly stirring.
The two white bats flew up silently and traversed the herd. In the meantime, the robes of the three demon monks fluttered as they moved a great distance every time their talons touched the ground.
Pangong Tso's gaze flickered as he looked around. In the herd among them, there was no lack of abnormally strong strange beasts. There were also rules among the strange beasts so if they were to attack now and agitate the herd, they would probably still get attacked by everyone.
In time, the herd started to disperse.
At that moment, the two deers pulling the carriage began to sprint, pulling the carriage away at a fast speed. Behind them, the hundred divine arts practitioners also sped up to give chase.
"Nai Kui, stop running (Nai Kui, in the Hmong Language, means Princess Mother)!"
Vital qi flooded out from the carriage, and numerous grasses and trees started to grow frantically, becoming incomparably long and thick. A forest that took up a hectare seemed to come alive.
The ancient trees instantly pulled themselves out from the ground, becoming walking giants. When they lifted and landed their roots on the ground, the ground trembled. Then, the trunks changed into incomparably thick fists that blew every single one of the pursuers away.
The trees in Great Ruins were very huge. Most of them were dozens of yards tall, but there was no lack of those that were as high as mountains as well. With the marvelous divine art of the woman in the carriage, these trees became even more gigantic in stature and gained boundless strength!
The vines in the forest became akin to demons as they coiled around the divine arts practitioners in a snake-like manner, strangling them to death!
Qin Mu's eyelids kept twitching from this sight. This kind of divine art was rarely seen and was slightly similar to Earth Aeon Creation Technique; however, it was even more overbearing!
The earth trembled and the mountains shook as the tree giants wreaked havoc.
However, the divine arts practitioners of the different tribe had good reaction speed, as they executed their own divine arts. Shrieks came out from the huge trees and vines, and white lights that seemed like spirits but were not spirits, as well as souls that were not souls, came flying out from the flora. The tree giants then collapsed, and the green vines withered.
One of the divine arts practitioners waved his hand, and a mountain trembled and rumbled. Countless rocks rolled down in all directions, and the mountain transformed into a giant which swung its huge fist to smash the carriage!
The doe in front of the carriage lifted both of her hooves, and the gold and silver bracelets on them flew out to bind the fist of the mountain giant, crushing it. The other fist of the mountain giant then came bombarding over, and the doe grunted.
She stomped her feet, and countless green grasses grew frantically. They were like swords, stabbing into the gaps between the mountain rocks of the mountain giant. They planted their roots inside its body and sprouted, causing it to instantly break down into pieces and crumble.
The two deers immediately put in a burst of speed to get the carriage away from there.
"What divine art is this?"
Qin Mu was astonished to no end. These people seemed to be borrowing the power of heaven and earth to strengthen the power of nature, transforming it into divine arts. This kind of action was different from what Eternal Peace Empire did as well as the countries surrounding it.
"It's the divine arts of West Earth's True Heaven Palace," the dragon qilin said in a low, muffled voice. "I had gone to West Earth with Patriarch once, and True Heaven Palace is the sacred ground there. The divine arts over there are different from those in Middle Earth. They believe that all things have spirit and soul, even the grass, wood, rocks. In those people's eyes, all of these have their own spirits and divine treasures. Therefore, their path is of everyone and everything having spirit and soul. Patriarch said that they aren't bad at all."
"All things have spirit, all things have soul?"
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration. The divine arts of West Earth had taken a different path from everyone and were indeed worthy of being learned. For the young patriarch to praise them being not bad meant that True Heaven Palace was indeed worthy to be called a sacred ground.
Using divine arts to create a mountain giant was simply astonishing. A mountain just coming to life and becoming a giant to battle was simply world-shaking. This contained unimaginable attainments in regards to its force of destruction which widened Qin Mu's horizons.
'It's force of destruction is just too huge!' Great Cult Master Qin became excited. 'I wonder if there are not yet demolished houses in West Earth. I'm afraid they wouldn't even have a single mountain, right? If I could learn this, it would be pretty good to tear down mountains to make roads!'
"Attack!"
Suddenly, Pangong Tso gave an order, and everyone under him sprung into action at once. Knife pellets filled the sky, and countless sword lights came raining down on Qin Mu. At the same time, the three shaman kings also moved and cast shaman spells to bring the two white bats down from the sky.
Qin Mu laughed loudly and raised his clothing up to vanish. In the next instant, he appeared beside the great shamans and soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire. Once his Carefree Sword flew out, countless sword lights burst forth from his taotie sack and shot off in all directions.
Swoosh!
Eight thousand swords filled the ground and floated in an area of three hundred yards. Blood continuously dripped off from the blades of the swords, when only two great shamans of Seven Stars Realm had escaped unscathed. They withstood the countless sword lights and didn't get pierced through the heart; however, they had been frightened.
'Teleportation clothing?'
Pangong Tso was astonished. Qin Mu had made his move way too fast. By relying on the teleportation to come right next to them, he instantly unleashed his fatal move.
With a raise of his finger, Carefree Sword flew up and countless sword lights swirled around it, slashing down towards one of the great shamans on Seven Stars Realm!
Golden wings appeared behind the great shaman's back and flapped repeatedly. Countless golden feather swords flew out and clashed with the attack. Qin Mu was suddenly overwhelmed and blown backward. As he did so, his clothing covered his body, and he vanished.
The next instant, Qin Mu appeared behind that same great shaman, and his five fingers opened up, making Carefree Sword and the rest of the eight thousand swords whizz over.
At this moment, Pangong Tso's body turned and he also vanished.
The dragon qilin and the three demon monks came sprinting over, and the two great shamans on Seven Stars Realm rose into the sky. They were being chased by the three demon monks who shook their bodies to transform into three golden-winged dapengs that pounced toward them.
The dragon qilin opened his mouth to roar, and a pillar of fire shot towards Pangong Tso.
He didn't dare to take it head on, and his figure flashed, vanishing and appearing at the side of the three shaman kings.
The three shaman kings were beating the two white bats furiously, but the two white bats could truly take a beating. Even as they were getting beat up by a shaman king on Life and Death Realm and two on Celestial Being Realm, they could still jump around. They truly had a thick skin.
"Gongmu, you shall deal with these two white bats! The other shaman kings, kill those three bald donkeys!" Pangong Tso said sternly. "We have to get rid of them!"
Shaman King Gongmu was a great expert on Life and Death Realm, so he alone was enough to suppress the two white bats. Even though he couldn't beat them to death, he could prevent them from coming to support Qin Mu.
Two shaman kings on Celestial Being Realm and two great shamans on Seven Stars Realm were more than enough to kill three demon monks and the dragon qilin as the four of them had not yet cultivated to Celestial Being Realm!
Just as Pangong Tso said those words, he saw Qin Mu taking out a black jar from his taotie sack, and his scalp couldn't help crawling. He shouted sternly, "Move back quickly!"
He activated the teleportation spell, and his figure immediately vanished. Even though his cultivation had already reached Six Directions Realm, he still couldn't teleport too far away. He could only cover about two thousand yards.
Pangong Tso turned back to look and saw that Qin Mu had already smashed the black jar. Incomparably dense black smoke started to spread in all directions and instantly covered an area of several hundred yards.
Shaman King Gongmu and the other two shaman kings hurriedly rushed away and didn't get caught up by the black smoke. Yet even after escaping with their lives, they couldn't help feeling a lingering fear.
The corner of Pangong Tso's eyes twitched furiously. This was the shaman poison he had refined in his previous lifetime, and it had an extremely intense toxicity. If a soul or primordial spirit was tainted by it, the soul would corrode and the primordial spirit would rot. Even great experts on Life and Death Realm would lose their lives and go to the Yellow Springs in a few breaths' time!
Qin Mu's action of smashing the jar was clearly to drag everyone down and kill them together.
'That's not right! This black smoke isn't like the shaman poison I created!;
Pangong Tso's heart jumped. Even though this black smoke was similar to his shaman poison, he was an expert on shaman poison. He quickly saw through the trick and knew that the black smoke was just smoke and not shaman poison!
It was obvious that the Qin rascal had not been lazing around yesterday night. He had to have created a black jar sneakily and made some black smoke to store inside it.
He had two taotie sacks, so if he had made something in one of them, no one would know what he was making.
"Crap, we were tricked!"
Pangong Tso's expression turned black, and he wanted to fight his way back. However, the two great shamans on Seven Stars Realm had already been gotten rid of by the three demon monks while the two white bats had once again crawled up with vigor.
He wanted to return to fight more, but then he saw Qin Mu taking out another black jar from his taotie sack and couldn't help hesitating.
Qin Mu laughed loudly and said in a clear voice, "Old Brother Pan, farewell?"
Pangong sneered and shook his sleeves. Looking at the three demon monks, he suddenly said loudly, "Monk Ding Ming!"
The three golden-winged dapengs lowered their wings and transformed back into three demon monks when they landed on the ground. They had the bodies of humans with bird talons while wearing the loose buddhist robes. Monk Ding Ming raised his head and said, "Here."
Pangong Tso bowed and paid his respect. Suddenly, an apparition of a devil appeared behind him which stood on a sacrificial altar. That devil also bowed and paid his respect.
Monk Ding Ming gave a cry of astonishment, and his body couldn't help reverting back to its true form, the golden-winged dapeng. Loud snapping sounds came from his body as his three souls and seven spirits split. He then collapsed to the floor, dead!
Qin Mu couldn't help feeling his skin crawl. Monk Ding Ming was a great expert on Seven Stars Realm, yet he had actually died from a pay of respect. This was the divine art that Grandmaster used to kill people after learning their name, the divine art that caused Butcher to not dare to reveal his true name?
'How do I counter this?'
While Qin Mu thought until this point, Pangong Tso, whose face was slightly pale, spoke up again. "Monk Ding Zhi!"
Monk Ding Zhi kept his mouth shut and didn't reply. Pangong Tso bowed to him nonetheless, and the apparition of the devil on the sacrificial altar also bowed. Monk Ding Zhi then gave a loud cry and instantly died an unnatural death.
Blood leaked out from the corner of Pangong Tso's mouth as he sneered. When he looked at Monk Ding Jue, the latter felt his skin crawl, and he spread his wings to fly away.
"Ding Jue!"
Pangong Tso paid his respect, and Ding Jue's souls and spirits dispersed in midair. The corpse of the golden-winged dapeng fell from the sky.
Pangong Tso spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at Qin Mu ruthlessly before turning around. "If you had not used a fake name, it would have been this easy for me to kill you!"
The three shaman kings immediately caught up with him and vanished into the forest.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu frowned. Pangong Tso was afraid of the shaman poison he had created himself so he didn't dare to attack and could only retreat. However, the shaman spell he had used to pay respect to the soul when he was angry was indeed terrifying!
Pangong Tso was still on Six Directions Realm yet experts on Seven Stars Realm had just died with just the paying of respect. The abilities of the three demon monks were very extraordinary and they were strange beasts that had great success in their cultivation, yet that had helped them none.
Golden-winged dapeng was considered quite a well-known unusual breed in Great Ruins and had extremely strong abilities. Their corporeal bodies were tough, and by cultivating the dharma of Little Thunderclap Monastery, their primordial spirits were stable.
For someone to kill three golden-winged dapeng in a row by just paying respects, the divine art was truly enough to make Butcher take strict precautions!
In the past, Pangong Tso had some tolerance, giving off the demeanor of a great scholar. However, after suffering several setbacks under Qin Mu's hands, he was shamed into anger and no longer held back.
This time, he killed three demon monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery by paying respects, but next, he would probably lay his hands on the people beside Qin Mu.
Who would be able to take his respect?
'However, after Pangong Tso paid his respects to these three people, he seemed to have suffered heavy injuries as well. It's obvious that this divine art has an extremely great drawback and can't be used recklessly.'
Qin Mu's brows still didn't relax. Even though the drawback was great, such a divine art was still hard to deal with, impossible to guard against.
"Bury these three monks, we can't let their corpses be exposed to the wild."
The few of them buried the corpses of the three golden-winged dapengs, and Qin Mu paid his respects while sighing. "Rest in peace, I shall burn Pangong Tso as an offering to you guys some other day. Let us go… Wait a minute!"
The dragon qilin immediately halted, and Qin Mu shut his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and took out his brush, ink, inkstone, and paper. His vital qi burst forth and spread open the paper in midair.
Stirring the ink with his brush, he painted in midair and not long later, a picture of the devil standing on the sacrificial altar was painted by him.
Qin Mu planned to put down the last stroke, but he stopped. He took out his seal to stamp on the painting and only then made the last stroke.
'The crux of Pangong Tso paying respect to the soul with the shaman spell should lie within this devil.'
Looking it up and down, Qin My ensured that he didn't draw it wrongly. Between the painting and calligraphy Deaf had taught him, painting had to pay particular attention to capturing the form, will, and grace. Qin Mu frequently went out of the village with him to collect local cultural materials and draw all kinds of stuff. Even though the devil behind Pangong Tso hadn't stayed there for a long time, Qin Mu had still captured its rough form and grace, painting the devil accurately.
'I don't recognize this devil, but there are all kinds of god and devil sculptures in Great Ruins. Village Chief, Old Ma, and the rest are more experienced and should recognize it. Since I'm already in Great Ruins, I should just return to the village and ask them. Even if they don't recognize it, there's still Heavenly Saint Cult and Eternal Peace Empire. Among all of them, there will be someone who will recognize it!'
Qin Mu put away the painting and thought to himself, 'As long as someone recognizes this devil, there will be a possibility to break Pangong Tso's shaman spell! Otherwise, I'll just have to get rid of him without caring for consequences."
Not caring for consequences meant that he would have to attack Rolan's Golden Palace. But before he could even lay his hand on this sacred ground, he would have to take down the prairie by eliminating all the countries there.
The difficulty of this could be well imagined.
Without any alternatives, the final way out would be to incite the emperor to launch his troops on the prairie and raze Rolan's Golden Palace, since Heavenly Saint Cult alone didn't have such an ability at the moment.
The dragon qilin took a step away, and Qin Mu called the two white bats back to treat their injuries. When they were healed, Qin Mu sprinted into the sky with the protection of the two white bats to survey the terrain.
After a moment, he landed and frowned slightly. He didn't see Surging River.
If he saw Surging River, he could determine his location, but without it, he had a hard time to determine his precise location with just the markings on the geographical map of Great Ruins.
After walking a hundred miles to the east, Qin Mu once again flew into the sky to survey the terrain, comparing it with the map in his memory.
He did a few more times before finally determined their location from the path of the mountains.
"Our location is close to West Heaven Palace, not far from West Earth."
Qin Mu determined his direction and let out a sigh of relief. Landing on the ground, he told the dragon qilin the route. After another hundred miles east, Qin Mu reckoned they were close to the location where West Heaven Palace was marked on the geographical map of Great Ruins. Surveying his surroundings, he suddenly saw that the road was becoming more and more precipitous.
A huge piece of land was stabbed diagonally in Great Ruins and was like a huge circular plate. It was much higher than the mountains surrounding it and seemed to have fallen from outer space!
The dragon qilin stopped in his footsteps, and Qin Mu looked at this huge piece of land. He saw that it was covered in dense vegetation and that there was a large ruin among the green plants.
Where some parts of the land were crack, the shine of metal could be seen. Deep underground, something made out of metal was buried.
There were also some majestic god statues, some standing upright while some were collapsed, on the ground.
Qin Mu's group spent quite some time walking around this land, quite stunned. In front of them was a basin with scattered slabs of land. Some were stabbed into the ground, some were overturned, showing off a mountain's bottom, while some had split into a few pieces. There were also some slabs that had a complete ruin of a city. There were strange beasts moving inside them, the strong ones roaring in heart-stopping voices from time to time, threatening the life forms from other territories when they got near.
Where the slabs of land had broken off, a long construction made out of metal was revealed. There looked to be pipes of different heights all around there.
When wind blew across the basin, these metal constructions would hum in a tune which was actually melodious.
'How did such a magnificent civilization fall into such a state?'
After looking into the distance for a time, Qin Mu retracted his gaze. This should be a safe place that darkness couldn't invade, so there was an extremely large number of strange beasts in the surroundings. Qin Mu's group had to be extremely careful while passing through a place like this.
If they took a detour, they would probably require a day to go around, so they could only continue forward.
Qin Mu jumped down from the dragon qilin's back and led the way personally. He had lived in Great Ruins ever since he was young and so knew the habits of the strange beasts well. If he let the dragon qilin or the two white bats lead the way, they would definitely cause some trouble.
He entered deep into the basin, and Qin Mu suddenly saw the ruts of a carriage. The ruts had to have been left behind by that carriage of West Earth's True Heaven Palace. There were also some messy footsteps which should have been left behind by the divine arts practitioners giving chase.
They had obviously barged into this place in a hurry, but looking from their tracks, these people had to know the rules of Great Ruins well since they didn't take the wrong path.
However, the divine arts of West Earth's True Heaven Palace were pretty unusual as their scale and activity were all very large in scope. If they were to make their moves here, it would be easy for them to anger the territorial strange beasts.
'If we take the same path as them, we might get implicated.'
Qin Mu wanted to find another path yet what could he do when this was the only safe path across this basin. If he was to take a detour, he would have to go through a huge pool.
He looked toward that huge pool, and the water in it suddenly churned. A huge crocodile man rose up and stood on the water's surface. With smoke spewing out from his nose, he sharpened his already razor-sharp claws.
This territorial strange beast wasn't good to provoke, so if Qin Mu took a detour through there, he would be seeking death.
On the other side were the ruins of a city. It had as many majestic shrines as there was hair on a cow, and numerous red-crowned and black-necked cranes were flying around it. They danced in the sky and looked very peaceful.
However, in the city, there were two huge, male and female, cranes practicing their sword moves. As their wings vibrated, countless sword lights filled the sky and lined up into a circle. From the movement speed of those sword lights, Qin Mu felt that these two crane leaders were even more dangerous than the crocodile leader.
'There's only this path!'
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and muttered under his breath, "We can not interfere with the family matters of West Earth's True Heaven Palace. I'm not someone who likes fighting and poking my nose into other people's business. We will just walk around them…"
The center of the basin was very bustling, with four rhinoceroses that had thick bone armor walking around. Their bodies were snow white, without a speck of impurity. Their little eyes glanced at Qin Mu and the dragon qilin behind him in alert as well as the white bats that were flying to and fro and hanging themselves on the trees continuously.
One of the female rhinoceroses spoke up in a human language. "This huge dog is so fat that it had become a pig, yet it is actually still able to walk."
The rhinoceroses in the lead had an ashen face and immediately rolled on the ground, transforming into a giant with the head of a rhinoceros and a human body. Underneath his bone armor was bulging muscles, and he put his front hooves forward while saying to Qin Mu, "Dao friend, my old wife likes to spout nonsense, please don't take it to heart!"
Qin Mu smiled. "No worries. Fatty Dragon is indeed a little fat."
The rhinoceros leader let out a sigh of relief and brought the three female rhinoceros to leave immediately while grumbling, "Can't you see it? These fellows are all ruthless characters, every one of them is fiendish, especially that human and the two white bats, having so many souls of the dead circling around them."
Qin Mu was astonished, and the dragon qilin said, "People say that white rhinoceroses are psychic, that they are able to see the netherworld as well as the souls of the dead. It's truly remarkable. However, they are still wrong in their judgment. I'm not a huge dog nor am I fat, I'm sturdy…"
The sound of divine arts and spirit weapons clashing against each other came from up ahead; it sounded very lively over there. Qin Mu called the two white bats over and carefully walked forward.
They didn't walk far before a battlefield opened up in front of their eyes. The strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace were surrounding the carriage, all of their bodies already covered in wounds.
When those divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace saw their arrival, they suddenly stopped attacking. Instead, they turned their heads to look at them without moving.
"Dao friend." A youth came out from the crowd and greeted Qin Mu. "Family matters."
Qin Mu returned the greeting. "I'm only just passing by."
The youth revealed a smile and waved his hand. "Open a path and let them pass."
Qin Mu smiled and nodded to both sides to show his intention before bringing the dragon qilin and the two white bats over. In front of them, they saw that the carriage was already shattered in pieces, the wheels and roof destroyed. One of the plum blossom deers sat beside the broken carriage while the other was in its true form. This should be because it was too injured and could no longer keep up its human shape.
The mother and daughter that the two deers were protecting had come out from the carriage. The woman was covered in blood and gasping for breath as she protected the child behind her.
"Righteous person…"
The man that had transformed from the buck suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed the corner of Qin Mu's shirt. He raised his head with difficulty, hanging onto the last of his breath. "Righteous person, could you please…"
Qin Mu pulled his shirt free and broke away from his grasp to continue walking forward.
He passed by the doe and was slightly stunned. He saw that she was already dead, without any more breath left.
Qin Mu pulled his gaze back and continued to walk forward. Suddenly, the woman who was referred to as 'Nai Kui' grabbed his hand and looked at him hopefully while pleading in a hoarse voice, "Take my child, just let her live…"
Qin Mu paused, and the youth from True Heaven Palace behind him shouted, "Dao friends, these are the family matters of our True Heaven Palace!"
Qin Mu broke free from the woman's grasp and continued to walk forward. He smiled at the divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace on both sides and led the dragon qilin and the two white bats out of the battlefield.
The dragon qilin caught up to Qin Mu in a few steps and turned his head to look at his face. He hesitated before saying, "Cult Master…"
Qin Mu was expressionless as he said, "It's other people's family matters, so we shouldn't interfere."
"It's good not to interfere. Patriarch said that you liked to create trouble, but it looks like you have grown up."
Qin Mu stared blankly ahead. "Grown up? This is growing up?"
"You understand how to weigh the pros and cons, so you have naturally grown up. You have become rational," the dragon qilin explained. "You were very irrational in the past, fighting here and there, not fearing to offend anyone. During those few months, Patriarch had to clean up a lot of your messes."
Qin Mu fell silent as shouts came behind him.
"So this is growing up… I don't want to grow up then…"
Qin Mu burst into laughter and continued walking forward. Small swords came flying out silently from his taotie sack and stabbed in his surroundings. More and more flying swords landed on the ground and laid a sword formation.
He continued walking forward, and the eight thousand swords continued to enter the ground in front of him. Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers—the swords actually formed the shape of mountains and rivers by stabbing themselves into the ground.
With a ding, the final sword landed.
Qin Mu stopped and pressed his hand down. The eight thousand swords went underground in unison, and he suddenly covered himself with his clothing, vanishing without a trace!
" I, your father, am not willing to become an adult like this!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Right and Wrong
"Nai Kui, so what if you escaped to Great Ruins?"
The youth had his hands behind his back and looked at the other divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace attacking the woman protecting the little girl. With a calm expression, he said, "You guys have already lost, and True Heaven Palace now belongs to the Yu. Don't blame me for being heartless. There's a good saying in Middle Earth: If the roots are not removed during weeding, the weeds will grow back up when the winds of spring begin to blow. True Heaven Palace no longer belongs to your Xiong family."
Their current place was considered to be the remains of Great Ruins' West Heaven Palace, so the practitioners of True Heaven Palace had to be careful in executing their divine arts here. What they cultivated was the idea that all things had souls and spirits. Mountains had mountain spirits, water had water spirits, grass, trees, and wild beasts had their own spirits as well, with no one being an exception. There was nothing that couldn't become a divine art.
Because of that, they naturally had sharp senses in regards to nature and in the remains of Great Ruins' West Heaven Temple, they could feel a danger. Everything here contained immense power as if there were ancients gods lying asleep somewhere below!
Their divine arts could awaken all things in the world to fight for them, but if they awakened the gods in this land, they would only bring great danger upon themselves.
The power of West Heaven Palace wasn't a power they could control.
Therefore, they had to be careful not to stir up this imposing but for the time being, lying dormant power. Luckily, they had all refined their own spirit weapons. They were different from the spirit weapons of Eternal Peace Empire's divine arts practitioners, however. Most of them were in the shapes of grasses, trees, mountains, flowing water, and white clouds. There were also strange beasts that had been refined into spirit weapons by them, so after they activated their vital qi, the bodies of the tiny strange beasts would swell up by ten thousand times and swallow living humans, which was very unusual.
Thus, even if these people couldn't use their divine arts, they could easily get rid of the couple escapees. With one of the plum blossom deers dead and the other one heavily injured, the woman would have to protect her child by herself. She wouldn't be able to move and avoid their attacks, only able to stand there and hold on against their beating!
The woman vomited blood and collapsed on the ground, yet she soon crawled up with to her feet to continue protecting the little girl.
"Traitor!"
The man flew up and revealed his true form, transforming into a huge buck to face the attacks from the crowd while shouting sternly, "Palace Master had treated you guys well yet you guys took the chance when Palace Master passed away to rebel. Where's your conscience? Why are you still being so ruthless?"
Bang, bang, bang!
In an instant, countless attacks landed on his body, and he was killed up in the sky. Before he died, though, he tried his best to swing his huge antlers out to stab at the youth!
The abilities of the two deers were extremely brilliant, not in any way inferior to those of the dragon qilin. It was only a pity that there were too many people on the other side and they could only meet with such a miserable end.
Over a dozen divine arts practitioners rose into the sky and grabbed onto the branches of the antlers. The dozen or so people landed on the ground yet they still couldn't stop the force from the swing of the antlers and were pushed back. The soil and rocks under their feet overturned, and the antlers continue to crash towards their target.
The youth was unmoved and sneered, "Xiong Family has dominated True Heaven Palace for so many years that it should be time to give up the position of the palace master. Blood must be seen when killing a person and weeds must be uprooted. If your Xiong Family isn't extinguished, our Yu Family will have to worry about you guys making a comeback."
In front of him, a puppet-sized strange beast suddenly swelled up and gave a world-shaking roar as it beat its chest with both of its hands. It grabbed the antlers that were crashing over with both of its hand, and the antlers came to a stop.
Ba-thump.
The corpse of the buck landed beside the doe.
The youth laughed and said, "Kill Nai Kui and the little princess so we can go back and finish our mission!"
The divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace walked up, and their spirit weapons flew into the air. The woman gave them a dark look and turned to hug the little girl in her arms while saying in a gentle voice, "Little darling, it's going to be fast…"
"Mom, can we meet grandpa and grandma?"
The woman's heart trembled. "We can…"
"What about dad?" The little girl's eyes were sparkling as she asked.
The woman shed tears when she said, "We will meet him…"
The little girl calmly consoled the young married woman, "Mom, I'm not scared, so you don't cry either. I miss grandpa and grandma. Before dad died, he looked so scary covered in blood, he made me cry from shock, but I think he will be smiling when we see him later…"
Whoosh!
The spirit weapons transformed into spirit trees and strange beasts in the sky, then pounced at them. But just as they were about to land on them, a ray of light flashed by and Qin Mu appeared in front of the mother and daughter. When he spread out his arms, the embroidered gown on his body automatically flew out in front of him.
The youth gave a smack with his palm on the embroidered gown, and Qin Mu's arm swirled. The embroidered gown rotated, becoming larger and larger, transforming into a gown that had a radius of over thirty yards. The spirit weapons of True Heaven Palace crashed into this embroidered gown and got wrapped up, after which they vanished along with the gown!
Afterward, three hundred yards away from them, countless sword lights shone as eight thousand swords moved in unison, slashing the spirit weapons and the embroidered gown into pieces!
The divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace were astonished as they lost their connection to their spirit weapons. Among them, there was no lack of strong practitioners on Celestial Being Realm whose spirit weapons were extremely powerful. Yet even these were sliced into pieces.
Everyone wanted to move forward to attack, but the youth hurriedly stopped them and probed, "Dao friend, these are the family matters of our True Heaven Palace."
Qin Mu felt his heart in pain as he thought about his embroidered gown. It had been 'bribed' by him from Incense Master Qu and Venomous Insect Hall Master in Secret Waters Pass. Ever since it was tailored, it had saved Qin Mu from harm several times. Furthermore, his teleportation formation markings were imprinted on that embroidered gown.
Now that it had been destroyed along with the spirit weapons of True Heaven Palace's strong practitioners by his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, how could his heart not be pained?
'I should have known there would be nothing good from doing good, what a great loss…'
Qin Mu squeezed out a smile. "How do I address this little brother?
"Yu Bochuan of True Heaven Palace's Yu Family."
The young master was full of smiles, making people feel like they were bathing in the spring wind. He said, "Dao friend must have felt pity when seeing an orphan with a widowed mother, therefore, you wanted to save them; however, you don't know that this mother and daughter have done much evil, killing countless people in their daily lives. Our West Earth's True Heaven Palace place righteousness before family, so I was ordered to lead everyone to come and annihilate them."
Qin Mu nodded solemnly. "So I see. I'm the one being reckless, may Brother Yu pardon me."
That youth Yu Bochuan smiled. "One who does not know is not guilty. May Senior Brother please give us face and let us finish this difficult mission. To kill these two rebels, we have already lost countless brothers."
Qin Mu put on a righteous face and said, "Your matters are of course important, but I can't just take your word for it. I still need to ask them if they are like what you have said."
Yu Bochuan smiled with a pleasant look on his face. "Dao friend, I've already given you a ladder to step down, so don't fail to appreciate my kindness."
Qin Mu also smiled with a pleasant expression. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master doesn't need anyone to give him a ladder to step down. If it's truly like what you have said, I'll just turn and leave, and you guys can continue to deal with your traitors. If—"
"No need for that!" Yu Bochuan raised his hand and instructed those to his left and his right, "Kill him and finish the mission."
"Understood!"
Most of the qi refiners acknowledged the command in unison and leaped towards Qin Mu. He laughed loudly and turned around to run after picking up the mother and daughter.
One of the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm shouted out angrily, "Can you even run?"
A towering tree appeared behind him, its roots like coiling green dragons. This was his primordial spirit. The cultivation method of West Earth's True Heaven Palace was also different from that of Eternal Peace Empire. The primordial spirits of Eternal Peace Empire's strong practitioners were usually split into Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Once someone cultivated to Celestial Being Realm, their primordial spirit would appear behind them and usually be one of the four great spirit bodies after god transformation, which was similar to the four kinds of stone statues in Disabled Elderly Village.
Even if there was a difference, it wouldn't be a huge one, since they all belonged to the four major types.
The primordial spirits of True Heaven Palace's strong practitioners were peculiar. Even though that strong practitioner on Celestial Being Realm belonged to the green dragon bloodline, his primordial spirit looked like a tree, which was rarely seen.
The roots and branches of the huge tree flailed like green dragons dancing in the sky, spreading towards Qin Mu's back. Their speed was extremely fast, and rays of green lights flashed across the sky.
Even though Qin Mu was carrying two people, his movements were extremely fast. Like flickering lights and passing shadows, his speed surpassed the speed of sound and exploded with a thunderclap!
Cripple's Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs was considered to be the number one movement skill in the whole world, but Qin Mu was still on Six Directions Realm and couldn't execute it to Cripple's standard. Furthermore, the abilities of the strong practitioners on Celestial Being Realm were simply too strong. The roots caught up to Qin Mu in a blink of an eye and stabbed towards the back of his heart.
Yet at that moment, sword lights burst forth once again in the surroundings, and the eight thousand swords rose up like a storm again, instantly unscrolling a picture of mountains and rivers behind Qin Mu. Endless sounds of collision rang out as the swords slashed at the roots and branches that were trying to pass through.
The power of Sword Picture was extraordinary, and in addition to that, Qin Mu's swords were all made from the best materials. Because of that, there were quite some roots and branches of the divine tree primordial spirit that got chopped off.
However, Celestial Being Realm was still Celestial Being Realm. The divine tree primordial spirit crashed over with a world-shaking rumble. Sword Picture instantly crumbled, and the eight thousand swords flew off in all directions!
"Fatty Dragon!" Qin Mu shouted out loudly.
The dragon qilin came sprinting over from the front, but even though his speed was very fast, his speech was very slow. "Cult Master, you've created trouble again."
The body of the dragon qilin became larger and larger until it collided with the divine tree primordial spirit. True fire blazed around his body, and the flames with extremely high temperature burned down the divine tree primordial spirit!
The Celestial Being Realm's strong practitioner immediately called back his primordial spirit, and a burly man wearing a lined jacket rushed forth with heavy footsteps. Behind him, a rock giant appeared, which was his mountain god primordial spirit that had boundless strength. With a punch, he sent the dragon qilin flying.
The dragon qilin tumbled back in midair. Because he was too fat, he couldn't help when he couldn't control the fire clouds, thus he immediately pulled himself into a ball and shouted out, "Fu Brothers!"
The two white bats flapped their wings to fly over and let out silent soundwaves from their mouths. Those soundwaves turned the pursuers into a complete mess.
The dragon qilin crashed onto the ground and pulled out his head before shaking it. He roared in anger, "I had called you guys to catch me!"
The two white bats flew around nimbly to avoid the attacks from below, until they grabbed two guys and went to hang upside down on a tree, hugging their victims to drink their blood. Yet the tree ended up transforming as it was the primordial spirit of another strong practitioner, binding the two white bats securely.
Qin Mu took out a huge white bone hammer and shook it gently. In an instant, countless skulls came out from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose of the white skull, filling the entire sky. The skulls squeaked weirdly and pounced forth, shuttling among the crowd and biting whoever they found before tunneling into their bodies.
The dragon qilin rushed over again and spewed out blazing true fire towards the green tree primordial spirit, saving the two white bats.
Yu Bochuan saw the situation and immediately shouted out, "Retreat! We can't execute our skills here, we'll have to fight them outside!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace quickly fell back and vanished, leaving behind a mess.
Qin Mu frowned slightly. This youth called Yu Bochuan was a ruthless character, and his decisions were firm, without any hesitation. Such an outstanding youth was rarely seen in the current times.
'A very outstanding youth.' Qin Mu rather admired him as he placed the mother and daughter down.
The dragon qilin walked over and grumbled, "Cult Master, haven't you caused trouble? Now that we antagonized these people, if they decide to fight with us outside the basin, they can just transform any mountain into a mountain giant and crush us to death."
"This is Great Ruins, not West Earth," Qin Mu said while shaking his head. "To fight with me in my territory? There won't even know how they died. Besides, the bond between the mother and the daughter has moved me. If I didn't act straightforwardly, wouldn't it be considered heresy?"
The dragon qilin stared at him blankly. To act straightforwardly, to be free from nature, this was a good way to summarize the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. Furthermore, the next sentence was 'that's the meaning of path'!
This was the path!
'This then is Heavenly Saint Cult Master,' The dragon qilin sighed ruefully in his heart.
He didn't understand Qin Mu's actions, but every move and action he took was according to the teachings of Heavenly Saint Cult. To act straightforwardly, to be free from nature, that's the meaning of path. Qin Mu had already achieved this step and started to walk on his own path. No wonder the young patriarch had chosen him as the next cult master and no one else. It was also no wonder that the hall master and elders of Heavenly Devil Cult were willing to accept him.
Qin Mu checked the injuries of the young woman and asked, "This lady, what exactly is your background? Why are the people of West Earth's True Heaven Palace after your lives?"
The young woman was holding onto her last breath when she raised her head up. "I'm the Nai Kui of True Heaven Palace…"
Qin Mu turned around and asked the dragon qilin, "What's the meaning of Nai Kui?"
"Nai Kui means Princess Mother. The women are the ones in charge of the family in West Earth's True Heaven Palace, having visiting marriage with the men. At night there would be a banquet, and after the songs and dances, if both sides take a liking to each other, they will go to the woman's house to consummate," the dragon qilin explained.
"The next morning, the man must leave. This would happen a few more times, the man and woman spending a few nights together until the woman gets pregnant, giving birth and raising the child. The child would then usually know their mother but not their father. Patriarch had gone for a visiting marriage there before, that old degenerate…"
Qin Mu gave him a stare. "Don't talk bad about Patriarch! Say the important stuff!"
The young patriarch had an extremely high image in his heart. Even though he looked like a young man that was about the same age as him, he was a flawless person to Qin Mu and couldn't be tainted.
"Patriarch was a casual and dissolute old degenerate before, wearing the outfits of different tribes to flirt everywhere in West Earth. And he didn't even have to take responsibility! That old degenerate was so happy that his buttocks jolted here and there…"
The dragon qilin then saw that Qin Mu wasn't pleased and immediately changed the topic. "The mistress of True Heaven Palace also needs to go through visiting marriage. If the palace master of True Heaven Palace is pregnant or has a child, if the child is a female, she will be the princess and the next successor. If it is a male, the child will be let out of the palace. The True Heaven Palace Master that has a child will be called Princess Mother or Nai Kui in the language of West Earth.
"The abilities of Nai Kui are usually extremely strong; after all, the technique they cultivate is all things have spirit, all things have soul. Women are usually stronger than men in the attainments of this field."
Qin Mu squatted down and took out silver needles to stab into the woman's body. He asked curiously, "Since you're True Heaven Palace Master, the mistress of True Heaven Palace, how did you land into such a state? Aren't you an expert on Divine Bridge Realm?"
He then took out some spirit herbs and applied medicine according to the symptoms, refining spirit pills to cure her injuries.
"Don't waste your efforts." The woman shook her head. "My injuries are already incurable. If my cultivation was still with me, I wouldn't have landed in this state. I was poisoned by Mu Yingxue, the most well-known poison maker. The poison she used on me is called Coiling Silk."
The dragon qilin chuckled. "Don't worry, if Cult Master doesn't want you to die, not even Earth Count can take your soul away!"
Qin Mu's hand techniques changed as he skillfully refined the spirit pills while shaking his head. "Don't brag, be a little more humble. My medical expertise isn't the number one in the world, I'm only number two. As for poison, at most number three in the world. Little Poison King, that guy, is still stronger than me by a little."
The young woman felt herself become more comfortable under Qin Mu's treatment and was bewildered. She said, "My mother was the palace master. After she passed away, True Heaven Palace elected me as the successor. My cultivation realm was somewhat okay, so I could succeed with difficulty. However, an unforeseen event happened at the succession ceremony. I was poisoned by Mu Yingxue and my cultivation was reduced to nothing. The same happened to everyone in our Xiong Family. Yu Family then took this chance to eradicate my Xiong Family. I could only bring my daughter away…"
Qin Mu refined the medicinal energy while sighing ruefully. "There's something wrong with how your True Heaven Palace manages things."
The young woman was slightly angered and asked, "What is wrong with the way we manage things?"
Qin Mu fused the medicinal energy and gathered it into a pill. "There are three big sacred grounds in Eternal Peace: Great Thunderclap Monastery, Dao Sect, and my Heavenly Saint Cult. I'm the cult master, and when I succeeded as such, I was only on Five Elements Realm, yet no one rebelled against me. The new Dao Master Lin Xuan of Dao Sect has a cultivation realm similar to mine yet no one in Dao Sect had rebelled and dethroned him. When Old Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery left, the seat of Rulai is empty, but everyone is still living together in harmony, no one fighting one another to snatch the seat of Rulai. My Heavenly Saint Cult is sometimes called Heavenly Devil Cult in Eternal Peace, but even if we are fiendish, our inheritance is still in order. Comparing that to your True Heaven Palace, you guys are inferior. That's why I said that there's something wrong with the way you guys manage things."
The young woman stared at him blankly. She wanted to retort, but she really couldn't find a way to do it.
Qin Mu pinched open her mouth and fed her a spirit pill. His two fingers slid down her throat, and the vital qi on his fingertips brought the spirit pill all the way to her abdomen. With a few flicks, he catalyzed the medicinal energy of the spirit pill.
His sleeves fluttered, and the young woman floated upward. As his ten fingers danced around, he tapped countless times on her body, refining all the medicinal energy inside her body.
When he stopped, the young woman landed on the ground. She staggered, but her internal injuries were already healing rapidly.
Qin Mu turned around to look at the little girl who was adorable. She looked four to five years old and had two small braids. On her body were numerous gold, silver, and jade accessories, and they were all pretty good spirit weapons.
He examined her and saw that she had only suffered some superficial wounds. She wasn't badly wounded and just need to apply some dragon saliva.
"Little sister, what's your name?" Qin Mu asked.
The little girl blinked her shiny black eyes and said in a loud and clear voice, "Xiong Qi'er! My mom is called Xiong Xiyu."
Qin Mu smiled. "Your mom is True Heaven Palace's Master so I can't call her by her name; I can only call her Palace Master. On the other hand, I can call you Qi'er. My name is Qin Mu."
The young woman Xiong Xiyu immediately said, "Greet Uncle Qin!"
Qin Mu's expression instantly blackened, and he said to Xiong Xiyu, "I'm only fifteen years old, calling me big brother is fine."
Xiong Xiyu said with a troubled expression, "Big Brother Qin…"
Qin Mu immediately said, "I said to let Qi'er call me big brother, not you."
Xiong Xiyu's face immediately turned beet red.
Qin Mu laughed out loud and made her stretch out her hand. He pricked her finger and took a drop of blood. Once he spread his hands apart, the drop of blood instantly swelled up by ten thousand times and transformed into a huge blood cell.
Four formation markings appeared in Qin Mu's pupils and transformed into Cyan Heaven's Eyes. After examining the cell in detail, he said, "So it's a poison that affects the vital qi, but doesn't do much damage to the body. Palace Master, pardon me, I'm going to enter your body and check your divine treasures."
Xiong Xiyu wanted to say something, but before she could, Qin Mu transformed into a black shadow and entered the heart of her brows.
Xiong Xiyu instantly felt the heart of her brows swell up, then the area of her heart, as if there was a tiny human tunneling to and fro in her body.
Qin Mu checked all the way from Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure to Celestial Being Divine Treasure. When he came to Life and Death Divine Treasure, he couldn't help being astonished. It was actually open!
'Could she be a great expert on Life and Death Realm?'
He transformed into a black shadow and entered Xiong Xiyu's Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, and his heart trembled violently. The Divine Bridge Divine Treasure of this woman was actually open!
'I saved a female expert on the cult master level, and she actually called me big brother…'
Qin Mu became slightly giddy, but he composed himself before leaving Xiong Xiyu's body. It was no wonder that she could become the palace master of a big sacred ground when she was an existence on Divine Bridge Realm.
Xiong Xiyu felt the abnormal feeling in her body vanish and immediately asked, "Cult Master Qin, the poison in my body…"
"The poison has already entered your divine treasures through the circulation of your vital qi, tainting your divine treasures." Qin Mu calculated for a moment, then said, "If you had immediately closed off your divine treasures, the poison wouldn't have gone in so deeply and would be easy to remove. But now that it has entered the divine treasures, there will be some difficulty in refining it away."
Xiong Xiyu looked gray. "Mu Yingxie's Coiling Silks Poison is unrivaled in the world. The longer I drag it out, the more exhausted will my vital qi become and my cultivation will drop even lower. Not long after that, I'm afraid I will become useless…"
"Unrivaled in the world?" Qin Mu smiled and said, "I only dare to call myself number three in the world in regards to poison, so how could she dare to call herself number one? Don't worry, I can help you suppress the toxicity so this poison won't continue to exhaust your cultivation. However, I don't have enough spirit herbs, so I will need to gather some."
A thread of hope rose up in Xiong Xiyu's heart. She struggled to get up while holding her daughter's hand. "Cult Master Qin, thank you very much! What I said yesterday was speaking and doing anything in a crisis, so I purposely tried to agitate Cult Master Qin…"
Qin Mu waved his hand, not minding it. He smiled. "Righteous person? I'm not one. Truth be told, my reputation isn't good in the eyes of the righteous path in Eternal Peace Empire. If you told them that Cult Master Qin of Heavenly Saint Cult is a righteous person, they would laugh their heads off."
He picked Xiong Qi'er up and placed her on the dragon qilin's back. "Let's go."
Xiong Xiyu immediately said, "Yu Bochuan and the rest…"
"This is Great Ruins and not West Earth," Qin Mu said leisurely. "Coming to Great Ruins means coming to my home. There, they can forget about playing any tricks."
Xiong Xiyu felt worried but could only follow after him. When she thought of it, it was quite weird that during the time she had been talking to him, her injuries had become much better and her footsteps also gradually felt lighter.
When they walked out of the basin, her injuries had already healed.
Qin Mu in the meantime looked around for spirit herbs. Whenever he saw some, he would go to pluck them. On the way out of the basin, he actually gathered hundreds of spirit herbs. As he plucked them, he refined them as well. Xiong Xiyu was bewildered at the sight of it. Qin Mu had refined dozens of herbs, but he had stuffed all of them into his taotie sack, so she didn't know what medicine he had refined.
They came to a hill zone, and Qin Mu frowned slightly. There were verdant hills and limpid water, creating a pleasant scenery. There was actually no traces of strange beasts nor even little birds.
"Something's wrong."
At this moment, they heard songs coming from ahead of them. The voices of the singers were charming and gentle, tugging at the heartstrings.
Qin Mu threw a glance at the two white bats, and they immediately flew forward, toward the place from which the voices came. After a moment, the white bats flew back and said, "There's a lake ahead of you, and there are many naked girls bathing there."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. "Many girls are bathing? What's so interesting bathing in the wilderness… Wait a minute, I've met girls bathing in the wilderness before!"
He was suddenly reminded of an incident and couldn't help shuddering. He muttered, "It couldn't be that old demon, right? Impossible, it couldn't survive so long in Great Ruins. I must be worrying too much! But to be careful, let's take a roundabout way."
Suddenly, a loud voice came from behind. "Dao friend, it's a small world, eh?"
Qin Mu turned his head back and saw Yu Bochuan leading all the divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace over to kill them at an extremely fast speed.
Those divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace cast their spells as they ran, and huge trees uprooted themselves, transforming into tree giants that sprinted forward with wide steps.
At the same time, the ground trembled as mountain rocks rolled forward at a rapid speed, gathering together to form rock giants.
Even the hill under Qin Mu's feet was trembling, the soil started to roll down. The mountain rocks in the hill rose up into a taller and taller structure until a hill giant was gradually formed.
"Looks like I can only rush forward! Hope it's not that old demon!"
Qin Mu gave a command, and the dragon qilin immediately sprinted forward. The hill beneath their feet had already stood up, and the fire clouds under the dragon qilin's feet blazed as he ran frantically down the arm of the hill giant.
The giant turned its body and swung the other huge arm toward them. The dragon qilin leaped into the sky, and a world-shattering rumble rang out behind them. The two arms of the hill giant smashed together and broke, which resulted in countless rocks flying away in all directions!
Qin Mu turned his head back to take a look and saw that the moment the rocks landed on the ground, they tumbled back at the body of the hill giant as if they had grown legs. Not much later, the two arms grew back.
"Palace Master, the ultimate arts of your True Heaven Palace are indeed extraordinary!" Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration.
Xiong Xiyu gathered her remaining magic power, and her palm smashed backward before rising p. Instantly, a miserable shriek came from the hill giant's body. Green rays flew out the hill that formed the giant, and it vanished without a trace.
The giant then also crumbled down, and huge rocks rolled away, returning to the shape of a hill.
"This spell is remarkable!" Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Can you teach me?"
Xiong Xiyu hesitated for a moment before nodding. "You're the benefactor of us mother and daughter, if you want to learn, I will naturally teach you."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "I won't learn from you for nothing. True Heaven Palace is the sacred ground of West Earth, so I will also take out cult the legacy technique of a sacred ground to exchange with you. But let's leave this place first!
While the dragon qilin sprinted forward, the two white bats circled around, releasing sound waves to hit the experts of True Heaven Palace. "Fatty Dragon, faster, faster!" the bats hurried the dragon qilin.
"Shut up!" The dragon qilin went into a fury and shouted back, "I'm already doing my best!"
Blazing flames came from his body that grew larger and larger, transforming in a hundred and twenty yards behemoth. When he sprinted, he was as fast as lightning. In a few breaths' time, he crossed the mountain in front of them and came to the lake where the white bats said numerous girls were bathing.
This lake was extremely clear, like a transparent jewel embedded within the mountains. From above, the bottom of the lake which was dozens of yards deep could be seen. There were no water plants or fish there. The lake was unimaginably clean.
Trees were surrounding the huge lake in an orderly manner, while white cloths and pants hung on their branches. On the ground, there were embroidered shoes with white soles and brightly colored peonies at the front.
The sounds of girls laughing and playing in the lake reached the group, along with melodious songs. It was as if this place was a paradise in the mortal world.
The dragon qilin barged into this place and got shocked. He didn't dare to break the serene atmosphere here, so he shouted out loudly, "Maidens in the lake, come to shore quickly!"
"Ahh!"
The girls in the lake all cried out in astonishment when they saw this behemoth barging in, while some of the more daring ones raised their fair arms and chuckled. "Big fella, come down and play!"
Qin Mu looked at the girls in the lake, and his face turned ashen. He hurried the dragon qilin, "Fatty Dragon, it's indeed that old demon from Lonely Mountain Ridge! Go quickly, go, we have to go around it!"
He wasn't scared of Yu Bochuan and the rest, but he was scared of that root demon from Lonely Mountain Ridge, the old demon that Heavenly Saint Cult had suppressed for a long time!
"The old demon from Lonely Mountain Ridge?"
The dragon qilin jumped in shock, and all the dragon scales on his body stood up, nearly pricking Xiong Qi'er's feet. He immediately went around the lake and sprinted frantically in a straight line, his speed far surpassing what it was before!
The mountain ridge behind them rumbled in the meantime, and mountain rocks flew in all directions. They came tumbling down from the top of the mountain, and it was obvious that it was Yu Bochuan leading the experts of True Heaven Palace to transform this mountain into a giant to attack them!
This mountain was much higher than the hill before, so if it transformed into a giant, it would be quite easy for it to catch up to the group!
At that moment, the elegant mountain suddenly crumbled and countless white skeletons rolled out from within it. Among them, there were both beast and human skeletons that piled up into a mountain of their own!
There were so many of them that nearly the entire mountain had been hollowed out to hide them. This sight made Yu Bochuan and the rest who were in the back, flabbergasted.
"What thing could eat so many people and strange beasts?" Yu Bochuan couldn't bother to think about it though and said sternly, "There are spirits in bones, so execute the secret arts to kill Nai Kui!"
Everyone cast their spells, and countless bones crawled rapidly to form a white giant that was as tall as a mountain and which strode toward the lake for the shortest path toward the group.
Yu Bochuan and the rest rose into the sky and landed on the white bone giant. Some women that were bathing in the lake couldn't avoid the giant's feet in time and got crushed to death.
Yu Bochuan and the rest controlled the white bone giant to cross the lake in the chase after the dragon qilin who was sprinting frantically around the shore. At this moment, the water of the lake churned as several hundred women flew out into midair. Behind them were pitch black tentacles, and they all shrieked in unison, "Heavenly Saint Cult Master!"
Pak, pak, pak.
Loud snapping sounds rang out continuously as the white bone giant got entrapped by the pitch black tentacles. With a tight squeeze, the giant crumbled into pieces and countless shattered bones flew off in all directions. Over a dozen divine arts practitioners on Six Directions Realm couldn't avoid them due to their low cultivation and got pierced through and fell into the water. Those with a slightly stronger cultivation also didn't have it easy defending against the shattered bones that came shooting over, each and every one of them vomiting blood from the impact.
When divine arts practitioners that fell into the water tried to struggle out, the water of the lake started to bubble as countless pitch black things that were like huge pythons swam over and coiled around them to pull them to the bottom of the lake.
Yu Bochuan and the rest were dumbstruck. They hurriedly flew into the air to escape the lake. The peaceful scenery had suddenly become incomparably bustling. Naked women with tentacles kept coming from the lake and grabbing people to drag them into the depths.
Some people immediately executed the divine arts of True Heaven Palace to try to control these strange roots. True Heaven Palace believed in all things having spirits and souls, so their divine arts could control all things no matter if they had life or not. All things could be controlled to transform into offensive attacks. Yet when they encountered such strange roots, their divine arts were completely useless.
Over a dozen people got caught by the women on the roots, their life and death unknown as they got dragged into the lake.
"Heavenly Saint Cult Master, I finally found you!"
Yu Bochuan and the rest finally flew out of the huge lake and landed on the ground. Before they could even catch their breaths, they saw the huge trees on the shore uproot themselves and run frantically in the direction the dragon qilin had escaped.
Yu Bochuan and the rest were startled and immediately began to run as well. The few strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace that were on Celestial Being Realm immediately unleashed their primordial spirits to execute their divine arts and withstand the attacks of the huge trees.
After running for a hundred miles away, they finally escaped the attacking range of the weird trees and roots. Everyone let out sighs of relief and slowed down their pace.
If they traveled at a steady pace, they wouldn't feel tired even if they covered a thousand miles, but when they escaped with all their might, a hundred miles was enough for them to be out of breath.
The dragon qilin also slowed down his pace as he panted heavily. He wasn't too far away from them.
"We should have escaped." Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said, "The distance that the roots of this root demon can cover is merely a hundred miles or so… Wait a minute!"
His expression became grim when he examined his surroundings. He saw that the vegetation was dense here and the trees created shade. This kind of forest was commonly seen, but as they passed through it, Qin Mu saw plants he'd never seen before.
They were large flowers that were the height of a human, their tender buds closed up, but standing tall and upright. Two large leaves grew on the sides of each stalk.
Even though Qin Mu had learned medicinal knowledge from Apothecary and could distinguish all kinds of plants and spirit herbs, he had never seen this kind of weird flowers.
Yu Bochuan and the rest also barged into this flower forest and frowned when they saw the situation. However, they didn't stop chasing after Qin Mu and the others.
Suddenly, a huge flower leisurely sprouted its stamens and its bud whirled as the petals slowly opened up. The color of those white petals gradually became darker, turning from light pink to pink before turning to bright red.
When the flower completely bloomed, the maiden kneeling in the middle of it slowly rose and looked at Qin Mu, giving off a miserable shriek. "Heavenly Saint Cult Master, your Heavenly Saint Cult has made me so miserable!"
In the flower forest, the huge flowers bloomed one after another, and in the center of every one of them stood a maiden that looked as charming as jade. They all looked at Qin Mu and screeched, "So miserable!"
Qin Mu's scalp started to crawl, and he hurried the dragon qilin, "Fatty Dragon, set them on fire! Fu Brothers, use your sound waves to attack!"
The dragon qilin spewed flames from his mouth while true fire also surrounded his body. The two white bats flew into the air and spat out sound waves. Qin Mu, in the meantime, executed Carefree Sword, and the divine swords swooped to and fro like lightning, slicing the roots that were attached to the buttocks of the women pouncing over.
At this time, any other treasure sword would have been useless. Only this divine sword could defend against the roots of Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon.
But if it was the true body of the old demon, Qin Mu wasn't certain that even Carefree Sword could defend against it.
"The cultivation of this old demon seems to have improved!" he said with worry.
Whoosh!
Countless maidens rose into the air, carrying the flowers and leaves to attack the people that had stepped into their forest.
A divine arts practitioner of True Heaven Palace executed a jade tree, and a thousand roots and branches of the jade tree attacked the maiden, only to see the petals and leaves wrapped around her tightly.
That divine arts practitioners was delighted and used the roots and branches of the jade tree to coil around her. However, the flower bud was slippery and escaped with a pop, a stamen then pierced through the head of that divine arts practitioners.
Yu Bochuan's expression changed drastically, and he shouted out, "Sacred treasure, please!"
The strange beast that looked like a violent ape with horns and was only a foot long jumped off his shoulder and beat its chest with its fists. Its body grew larger and larger before the creature opened its mouth to roar loudly. A treasure overflowing with green light then came out from its mouth.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
What the strange beast had spat out from its mouth was a bead that gave off a green glow. It lit up the surroundings with a lush green shine. However, it wasn't the bead that was glowing, but what inside, which looked like a green dragon swimming around. It was the rays of this green dragon that lit up the surroundings.
Xiong Xiyu saw the green light, and her complexion changed slightly. She hurriedly turned her head. "The Green Dragon Bead of my True Heaven Palace!"
Qin Mu turned his head and saw that the perimeter the bead covered had already reached three yards. The green dragon in the bead had also become much clearer as it swam happily. The maidens in the flowers that had pounced at Yu Bochuan and the rest got hit by the light, and they lignified, turning into wooden sculptures. With their bodies stiff, they paused in midair.
Popping sounds came from them, and green sprouts soon popped out from the lignified bodies. Branches then sprouted out, decorating their hosts with lush flora.
The tentacles that were the roots of the root demon had become hard wood and couldn't move at all.
Yu Bochuan led everyone forward as the violent ape strange beast with horns on its head followed closely with the bead held high up. Where the rays of the bead shone, the maidens in the flowers were frozen in all kinds of weird poses, without any two being the same.
"Green Dragon Bead?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. This bead was a remarkable treasure to actually be able to counter monsters such as the root demon.
"The sacred treasure of my True Heaven Palace has been snatched by them!"
Xiong Xiyu sneered and stretched her hand out. The strange beast felt that the Green Dragon Bead flew up and couldn't help becoming astonished. It hurriedly jumped onto it, trying to press it down.
The Celestial Being Realm's strong practitioners beside Yu Bochuan also burst forth with their vital qi to grab the Green Dragon Bead, fighting with Xiong Xiyu. The Green Dragon Bead then floated in midair, with the two sides in a temporarily into deadlock as they both wanted to control the sacred treasure.
The two white bats immediately changed direction and circled around in the air. Countless fine hairs shot out toward Yu Bochuan and the rest as they tried to help snatch the treasured bead.
In the blink of an eye, the two white bats' hairs had fallen off cleanly. They had been refined into unusual treasures and were like needles. If they hit flesh, those fine hairs would become abnormally soft, tunneling into the body and taking their host's life in an instant!
The dragon qilin trembled his body, and the scales on his body that were akin to an incomparably sharp shield whooshed through the air as they sliced toward Yu Bochuan and the rest.
The dragon qilin was instantly butt naked, having only some qilin hair at the tip of his dragon tail and big head.
Xiong Xiyu's face lost color, and she immediately said, "Don't make a move!"
Before her voice even fell, the fine hairs of the two white bats were touched by the green light of the Green Dragon Bean. It immediately lignified them and all of them fell to the ground.
The two white bats wanted to call back their fine hairs, but they lost their connection with them. The two brothers stared with wide eyes at this situation and hugged their shoulders, at a loss.
The dragon scales of the dragon qilin also lignified, turning into wooden shields that dropped onto the floor. The fat dragon was also struck dumb, and his big belly fell to the ground. There had been scales covering it before, so it didn't hang down too much. However, without the scales, the flabs hung down uncontrollably.
"Cult Master…"
The dragon qilin was at a loss and immediately turned to look at Qin Mu who was on his back.
Qin Mu had originally planned to unleash his eight thousand swords over, but after seeing the situation he abandoned that idea.
The Green Dragon Bead of True Heaven Palace was strange beyond conjecture. Even though the dragon qilin's cultivation was not yet at Celestial Being Realm, his strength was no different when compared to those on Celestial Being Realm. His skin and flesh were also very thick.
Back at the battle of Heaven Wave City, when Dutian Devil King had descended and fought fiercely with the dragon king, the aftermath of the collision had scraped the dragon qilin's butt, but had only broken the scales, causing no heavy injuries to the dragon qilin. This showed how strong was the defense of the dragon scales.
The abilities of the two white bats were even stronger since they definitely reached the peak of Celestial Being Realm. They would also not use the fine hairs on their bodies recklessly.
None of them would have ever expected that their treasures would lignify and lose control just by encountering the green light from the Green Dragon Bead.
If Qin Mu's eight thousand swords flew over, Carefree Sword would probably be the only one that wouldn't lignify. The other swords would all turn into wood.
Xiong Xiyu grunted as her magic power could no longer fight against Yu Bochuan and the rest. The Green Dragon Bead was about to fly over to Yu Bochuan and the rest when the ground suddenly trembled and countless roots poured out from underground, filling the sky. The roots formed a huge pitch black wooden callus which wrapped around the Green Dragon Bead before pulling it underground.
Xiong Xiyu and Yu Bochuan were caught off guard and both sides couldn't pull back the Green Dragon Bead in time, letting that root demon snatch it away!
Yu Bochuan said sternly, "Green Dragon Bead is the treasure of my True Heaven Palace and sealed inside it is a true soul of a Green Dragon. This old demon won't be able to swallow it!"
Suddenly, the ground trembled even more violently, and everyone had a hard time keeping their footing. The ground shook nonstop and was actually rising upward as if there was a behemoth below.
Boom!
The soil and rocks flew in all directions as vegetation flooded out from underground, lifting them up higher and higher. The dragon qilin immediately leaped to one side, and a tree crown with a radius of several hectares flooded out, brushing past their bodies.
The two white bats hurriedly flew up before remembering that their bodies were still bare. They then immediately used their two hands to cover their lower parts. This caused them to fall straight down and head first into the dense tree.
The two white bats were slightly stunned. They saw that the tree was still growing frantically, the tree crown getting larger and larger. The trunk was also becoming taller and taller; therefore, not long later, the white clouds floated passed by the tree crown.
The air became cooler and cooler while the sunlight became more and more intense. The two white bats found it difficult to breathe and immediately flew down from the tree crown.
This flight was a long journey down as the tree crown was actually incomparably huge and thick. Even though their speed was very fast, they still spent quite some time flying out.
Below them was a head-spinning height. Out of the foliage, they saw an incomparably thick tree that was much taller than the mountains around it!
The two white bats immediately flew down, but only saw the ground after a while.
Rumbling sounds kept coming from the huge tree in the meantime, and every once in a while, countless branches would grow out frantically to form a second, third, and fourth tree crown.
The two white bats avoided obstacles repeatedly. At one point, lightning crackled in midair, striking here and there. Rain then slowly started pattering down.
When the two white bats landed on the ground, they immediately covered their lower bodies and turned to look around. They didn't see Qin Mu and the rest, only a majestic trunk that was like a mountain blocking their vision.
The ground split continuously as roots that were as thick as dragons pushed through. They crackled and spread into the distance. Even some mountains that were far away got tangled by the roots until they were sealed tight.
By then, the sunlight was completely covered, so there wasn't much light.
The Fu Brothers flew onto the trunk and climbed the tree rapidly, searching for Qin Mu and the rest.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the bottom layer of the tree crown and fibrous roots came hanging down from the tree crown. They swung to and fro with huge flower buds.
"This should be the original body of the root demon, right?" Qin Mu said.
Fu Yuqiu and Fu Yuchun hurriedly crawled over where they heard his voice and only let out sighs of relief when they saw him, the dragon qilin, and the rest. They leaped off from the trunk of the tree and used their wings to cover their bodies.
Qin Mu raised his head to look at the transformed root demon and was ineffably astonished. He went forward to peel open a huge flower bud hanging down.
Inside it, there was a maiden hanging motionlessly with her arms dangling.
This maiden opened her eyes weakly and took a look at Qin Mu, saying with a weak breath, "Heavenly Saint Cult Master…"
Qin Mu closed the maiden's eyes, but she opened them again to stare at him fiercely.
Qin Mu went to open other flower buds and inside all of them were maidens hanging upside down. They were the strange things that Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon had born and weren't independent life forms; these girls were just a part of the root demon's body.
"The root demon was just a bunch of roots that had absorbed the blood of a god and devil to become a great demon. It didn't have a trunk, but now that it had absorbed the energy of Green Dragon Bead and grew its trunk, it will only be even more terrifying."
Qin Mu was worried. "Let us leave this place as soon as possible!"
The white bat brothers saw that there was some of their hair on the floor which was no longer in their lignified state and were delighted. They trembled their bodies and pulled their hair back.
Noticing it, the dragon qilin swayed his body and the scales that had returned to normal flew back as well.
Xiong Xiyu shook her head. "In the Green Dragon Bead there was a true soul of a Green Dragon, and this great demon won't be able to absorb it. It's most likely controlled by the energy in Green Dragon Bead and can't move. As long as we find the Green Dragon Bead that it had swallowed, we will be able to turn the tables and kill Yu Bochuan with his rebels!"
Xiong Qi'er was curious. "Mom, if we take out the Green Dragon Bead, will this root demon come back to life?"
Xiong Xiyu shuddered. Now that the Green Dragon Bead was suppressing the root demon, if they took it, the root demon would recover its mobility and they would be in danger once again.
Suddenly, a voice spoke. "Young Master, the Green Dragon Bead is here!"
Qin Mu's expression changed drastically. "Crap! We can't let them dig out the Green Dragon Bead!"
They looked toward the source of the voice and saw Yu Bochuan and the rest of the strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace looking at a piece of trunk. It was glowing with a lush green color, just like jade, lighting up an area of a hectare.
It was obvious that Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon had swallowed the Green Dragon Bead, and the terrifying energy within it had instantly lignified it, causing the trunk to grow out from the roots and pressing them down. The roots had also turned stiff and were unable to move.
"Don't take out the Green Dragon Bead. If you do it, the great demon will regain its mobility and none of us will live!"
After saying this, Yu Bochuan looked toward Qin Mu and the rest. He frowned slightly while the people beside him waited while protecting him.
Qin Mu smiled. "Fellow senior brothers, how do you do? Can you still use the divine arts of True Heaven Palace here? If you can't, I can only send all of you on your way."
Yu Bochuan's body suddenly flashed and came to the origin of the green light. He stretched his hand and reached into the trunk of the tree with a sneer. "Heavenly Saint Cult Master, if I'm to die, we will all die together… Such fragrance, what's this smell?"
Just as he said this, the world started spinning for him and he collapsed.
"The smell of Lost Fragrance," Qin Mu answered while beaming.
Thud, thud.
The people of True Heaven Palace collapsed to the ground, with only the three experts of Celestial Being Realm able to barely endure it. However, their faces were all flushed and with Lost Fragrance suppressing their cultivation, there wasn't much magic power they could mobilize.
Suddenly, there was the voice of a woman, and she was speaking while laughing. "Lost Fragrance, it's a kind of anesthetic, right? Let me take a whiff!"
Xiong Xiyu's expression changed drastically, while the three strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm were delighted.
"Poisoner!"
"Mu Yingxue!"
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice and saw a black-clothed woman with gold and silver accessories and a jade bead crown on her head. When she walked past the women hanging from the branches, they would wither and turn into a pile of ashes.
Qin Mu took out a jade bottle and threw it over with a smile. "It's an anesthetic, take a whiff and see."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
That woman in black was none other than Poisoner Mu Yingxue of True Heaven Palace. She wasn't old and her body emanated the vigor of youth from under her black clothes. Her skin was fair, contrasting well with the black clothes, and its whiter than snow tenderness suited her name well.
She caught the jade bottle and only then did Qin Mu noticed the black silk gloves that were very thin yet could protect her skin from coming into contact with the air.
That pair of gloves couldn't be any ordinary object. People who were used to making poison needed to be very careful to keep themselves from coming into contact with toxic substances. Qin Mu was certain that those black silk gloves didn't have the quality of silk, but instead were air-tight.
The woman's chest was not moving up and down as she was relying on the pores of her skin to breathe in and out so that she wouldn't be poisoned.
It was obvious that her abilities didn't rely on her cultivation or spirit weapons, but her poison.
The cultivation realm was never the standard to measure Apothecary's abilities. Even though his cultivation realm was very low, he could even kill a god with his poison!
Mu Yingxue took a look at the jade bottle, but she didn't smell the Lost Fragrance within it. Instead, she revealed her arm and let her skin take a whiff. She absorbed a tiny amount and instantly felt half of her arm go numb, losing its sense of touch.
"What a wonderful drug!"
Her eyes lit up, and she stuffed the jade bottle before throwing it back to Qin Mu while praising him. "Even though it can't paralyze strong practitioners on Celestial Being Realm, it can restrict their mobility. A remarkable anesthetic."
Qin Mu flipped his palm and vital qi surged out, catching the jade bottle. He didn't let it come into contact with his hand but instead took out a three-legged jade-eyed toad from his taotie sack.
That toad opened its mouth and swallowed the jade bottle, closed its mouth, then spat the jade bottle out. After that, Qin Mu placed it down, and the creature hopped toward Mu Yingxue.
Xiong Xiuyu and the rest were staring blankly. They knew that Qin Mu had gathered herbs in the basin, but they didn't know when he'd caught a jade-eyed toad to put it in his taotie sack.
"Big Sister Mu's poison is also extraordinary," Qin Mu praised. "However, your poison is only minor and unqualified to take place in the higher circles, much less to be called unrivaled in the world."
Mu Yingxue's eyes were snow bright as she watched the jade-eyed toad hopping over. She gave a gentle flick with her finger, and a strand of vital qi thread transformed into a flying insect that flew here and there. The three-legged toad swung its tongue out and caught that flying insect before croaking two times. Then, it swelled up like a balloon and became as huge as a cow.
Qin Mu took out a spirit pill and gently sliced it through the center. Once it split open, buzzing sounds could be heard coming from within. The pill was actually empty, with only a mosquito inside.
That mosquito vibrated its wings to fly onto the back of the toad and lie down there. Not long later, the toad became smaller and smaller while that mosquito became larger and larger. The stomach of the mosquito was like a huge water bag, but inside it was blood, which was not fresh red but instead lush green.
By the time the mosquito had its fill, the three-legged toad had returned to normal and was hopping around once again. It swung its tongue at the huge mosquito, but since it was too small, it couldn't swallow it.
Mu Yingxue was astonished. "Raising insects in spirit pills? Interesting."
She bared her arms and revealed her delicate white skin. The mosquito immediately went forward to sting her arm, but just as it pierced her skin, that mosquito shrunk as if it was dehydrated and its color also changed. It turned red as it turned and flew back toward Qin Mu while blazing with flames.
Qin Mu's pupils contracted, and he took out some spirit pills from his taotie sack. These pills were of different sizes and their colors were also all different.
Qin Mu rapidly sliced them into cubes and took some of each according to ratios known to him alone. With a ball of flame coming out from his palm, he fused different medicinal energies, transforming them into another kind of pill.
He opened his mouth to swallow this pill and hastened the medicinal energy while rolling up his sleeves.
After sucking his blood, the mosquito returned back to its original color. It then flew leisurely back to Mu Yingxue.
She sneered at him. "You didn't poison it?"
Qin Mu's nose suddenly grew by a huge chunk, and his nostrils flared upwards, making him incomparably hideous. With a chuckle, he said, "If I didn't poison it, how would it have flown toward you? By following your scent?"
Mu Yingxue frowned slightly and stared at the mosquito that was flying over, trying to distinguish what poison Qin Mu had applied.
After a moment, she took out a few kinds of herbs from her sleeves and dispensed them nimbly. She then spread them on her arm and let the mosquito sting her.
Once it did so, Mu Yingxue's hair began to grow frantically. In an instant, it went in all directions, making her look like a porcupine.
Poof.
A soft pop sounded out, and Mu Yingxue felt that her buttocks were itchy. A bushy tail that reached the ground had grown out and burst open her pants.
Mu Yingxue's complexion turned slightly dark. The mosquito had absorbed her blood, and the toxicity in its body had changed, making it lose interest in her. With a buzz, it flew back toward Qin Mu.
His expression changed slightly, and he took out dozens of spirits pills from his taotie sack, slicing and mixing them up. When the mosquito flew over, he had already finished making a new spirit pill.
Once he consumed it, his face returned back to normal.
The mosquito stung him and flew up by itself again. Meanwhile, rumbles came from Qin Mu's body that sounded like thunder. Bolts of lightning then came from the sky and struck him, charing him in the blink of an eye.
Mu Yingxue had been refining poisonous herbs during that time and had refined a small bottle of a drug. She raised her head and drank it all, making her fine black hair that had spread out in all directions to fall off, not a strand left. The tail at her buttocks also fell off.
The woman lifted her pants up with a black face, then stretched out her arm to let the mosquito sting it.
The next moment, she grunted and collapsed on the floor face first. Crackling sounds came from underneath her as she grew eight legs all over her body, which resulted in her looking like a hairy spider.
"Your poison is very intense!" Mu Yingxue screeched in anger. "Try my poison now!"
The mosquito flew back toward Qin Mu, and his expression changed drastically. He immediately prescribed new medicine for himself to undo the cold poison while retorting sternly, "Do you think I'm scared of you?"
The two of them pitting poison against each other was a new sight, making Xiong Xiyu, Xiong Qi'er, and the rest watch with flabbergasted expressions. When the two had first clashed, the poison had been on the jade bottle, so Qin Mu had used the three-legged toad to detox it while changing the toxicity at the same time.
The three-legged frog was affected by the toxin and thought that Mu Yingxue was a delicious food, thus it hopped towards her with highly toxic poison in its belly.
Mu Yingxue then used her vital qi to transform into an insect who had another kind of toxic inside it. When the toad ate that insect, the toxicity in its body had transformed again. Qin Mu then released the unusual mosquito he had captured in the basin of West Heaven Palace, borrowing its primitive toxicity to absorb the blood of the toad. This caused an unusual change, making it sting Mu Yingxue and poison her.
After Mu Yingxue detoxed the poison, she planted poison in the flying mosquito to make it sting Qin Mu, testing his abilities.
The two of them exchanged blows and exhausted all their means. With every move, they had to undo the poison of the other side, ensure that the unusual mosquito wasn't poisoned to death, and also attempt their best to poison the opponent. This required extremely high attainments in making poison and detoxification. If they were careless and didn't poison the other side, they might get poisoned by their own creation.
Qin Mu looked at the mosquito flying over and frowned. He raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute. Your poison refining ability is similar to mine, so since that we want to determine who's the winner, why should we poison ourselves?"
Mu Yingxue was also slightly unable to take it. When she heard that, she immediately looked at Xiong Xiyu and the rest with a smile. "In that case, you shall poison Yu Bochuan and I will detox his poison, then I will poison Nai Kui and you will detox it. Don't worry, Yu Bochuan is now the little young master of True Heaven Palace so his position currently isn't any lower than that of Nai Kui."
The expression of Xiong Xiyu and the rest changed drastically, and even Yu Bochuan who was lying motionlessly on the floor cried out silently in dismay.
The two who pitted poison against each other dazzled his eyes. Even the famous cold poison from Poisoner Mu Yingxue was used, but she still couldn't do anything to Qin Mu. This showed that his attainments in knowledge regarding poison were no lower than those of Mu Yingxue.
'To use poison on me… If the poisoner can't undo it, won't I end up dying?' He wanted to escape, but the anesthetic was not yet undone and his soul was still paralyzed.
Qin Mu laughed. "Poisoning oneself is not considered an ability. You and I don't have weak attainments in the poison path, so we should seek a stronger target, only poisoning the strongest existence to death can be considered an ability."
Mu Yingxue revealed a curious expression, itching to start. "Nai Kui is one of the strongest existences in True Heaven Palace and her cultivation was shaved off by my Coiling Silk, so is my poison path still not strong enough?"
Qin Mu patted the huge tree beside him and smiled. "That is not considered anything. If we are to compete with poison, let us choose this great demon to fight! It is a root demon that had absorbed blood from a god and a devil, and so possessing both the bloodline of a god and devil. With this power, it is extremely extraordinary. If you want to poison it, you will have to make the toxicity suppress the blood of a god and devil, to have the means to poison gods and devils!"
Mu Yingxue's eyes instantly lit up. She examined the huge tree that had transformed from the root demon, and her heart began to stir. "Practitioners of poison view poisoning gods and devils as their ultimate goal, so to poison a strong practitioner of Divine Bridge Realm is indeed not considered an ability. Alright, I will agree with you! You and I, whoever can poison this root demon will be the winner!"
A strong practitioner on Celestial Being Realm showed a look of despair and struggled to move forward. "Poisoner, there are important matters at hand…"
Mu Yingxue gave him a glance and sneered, "I'm not interested in the fight over authority within True Heaven Palace. In my eyes, poison is the important manner. I and this little brother appreciate each other so we naturally have to fight to our hearts' content. This is so we won't let down what we had learned our entire lives!"
Suddenly, everyone collapsed onto the floor, and even the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and the two white bats crumbled to the ground. The three strong practitioners on Celestial Being Realm also fainted from the drug.
Mu Yingxue looked at Qin Mu and said firmly, "It's rare for Yingxue to meet such a Dao friend, so we must play to our hearts' content today. I didn't bring enough spirit herbs so I need to go gather herbs in Great Ruins. Two days later, you and I shall meet under this huge tree and execute all our methods!"
Qin Mu sighed. "Alright!" After he said that, he placed a jade bottle that was half open. For the next two days, Lost Fragrance would leak out continuously so no one would be able to come close to this place.
The two of them made their moves and headed to other places to find spirit herbs, abandoning the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and the rest.
After they left, the huge tree began to struggle in an attempt to move, wanting to pull its roots out to take this chance to escape, but what could it do when it was fixed in place by the Green Dragon Bead. It was unable to pull away even an inch.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The night descended and darkness came surging forth in all directions. But when it came to the huge tree, there were divine lights shining in its surroundings.
This was due to the root demon wishing to avoid the invasion of the darkness and making quite an effort to remain safe. It had snatched god statues from many other places to protect itself.
The area which the roots could cover was vast, but the original body was only a lump of roots. During the day, they would be spread out in all directions, transforming into women to attract preys to its doorstep, but at night, they would all be retracted to hide in the area guarded by the god statues' divine light.
The white bat brothers, the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and Xiong Qi'er were all near the roots, in the area covered by the light, so they were safe for the night.
However, all of them were either poisoned or paralyzed by Lost Fragrance, so they were unable to move. They could only wait quietly for the morning to come.
Ghostly wails came from the outside while huge shadows moved in the darkness. Devil language rang continuously as if whispered by the ears. Some of the god statues had suddenly revived and were saying words that the people of current times couldn't understand.
Light burst forth in the darkness, and it suddenly retreated, revealing a world with verdant hills and limpid water. The Great Ruins overlapped with the other world, and there were people there examining the darkness in Great Ruins with curiosity.
At another moment, a deadly quiet world which was grey and hazy, without any signs of life, suddenly appeared in the surroundings.
A night of bizarre encounters pushed the hearts of everyone into their mouths.
When the sun finally rose in the sky, the dragon qilin lay on his back with his four legs raised up. He had suffered from Mu Yingxue's poison, but he could still mutter, "Cult Master haven't fed me today…"
Another day passed by, and evening came. Qin Mu rushed back from outside covered in dust. He refined a drug while walking. He had also gathered some fine jade, which he refined into an eight trigrams five phases furnace which was much more complicated and intricate than the sealed furnace in Imperial College.
Since he was a professional in crafting artifacts, crafting such a furnace wasn't difficult for him.
When Qin Mu came to the bottom of the tree, he was still refining pills and medicines.
A sealed furnace would prevent poisonous gas from leaking out.
His methods were different from the past. Ever since he had competed with Little Poison King, he had improved a lot in the path of refining poison.
This time, he used the basic method of refining simple poison pills.
Just like how sword techniques had fourteen basic sword forms, refining poison also had one thousand and twenty-four basic poison pills. By arranging them in different groups, a different kind of poison would be concocted. The dosage of each kind of poison pill was different, and with different ways of matching them, the poison achieved would also be different.
Besides these, he also refined numerous basic supplement spirit pills to boost medicinal energy. They could raise the power of a poison by dozens of times!
After he finished refining the basic poison and supplement pills, he took out a few seeds and over a dozen insect eggs. He planted the seeds under the tree and used Earth Aeon Creation Technique and Spirit Creation Technique to hasten the growth, growing them into spirit herbs.
At the same time, he had the insect eggs hatch, and numerous little insects crawled out.
Qin Mu fed them supplements and made them plump from all the feeding. He then placed them onto the spirit medicines to gnaw on them, making their toxicity increase.
Despite his medicinal knowledge being close to reaching perfection, Apothecary had never purposely imparted poison techniques to Qin Mu. He had learned to fuse the poison path with his medical skill from Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing.
Qin Mu let the venomous insects kill and swallow each other until only one insect king was left. He then concocted different poison pills with all kinds of high poisonous pills to feed to it.
Before the sky turned dark, Mu Yingxue made her way back.
This woman was riding a white elephant, and it walked over at a leisurely pace. Beside the white elephant were numerous flowers and herbs, as well as birds and animals.
Qin Mu was stunned when he saw flowers, herbs, birds, animals, and even insects following the woman. All of them seemed to be inseparable.
'All things have spirits, and poisonous substances also have spirits. The method she used to gather herbs is much superior to mine, to actually make the poisonous herbs follow her by themselves.'
This was indeed a great foe with brilliant attainments in the poison path!
Qin Mu could feel the pressure. Victory or defeat wasn't determined in the competition two days earlier as both of them had suffered losses; however, this time it might be a real competition!
Mu Yingxue came to the bottom of the tree, and the flowers, herbs, birds, animals, and insects followed right after.
The hair of everyone who was lying under the tree stood up on end as they looked at Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue with eyes filled with fear.
Poisonous substances were common to Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue, but to others, they were dangers that they wanted to avoid at any cost.
Mu Yingxue immediately took care of her herbs and executed her own technique. The poisonous substances grew by themselves until their toxicity was perfected. At that moment, they would pluck off their most toxic part, offering it to her.
This girl was very serious and did everything meticulously, grooming her poison with single-minded devotion.
Her poison was slightly different from Middle Earth's poison. It mainly targeted the vital qi, which was the beginning of a person's qi. When there was not enough of it, the body would empty out and the blood would become weak, along with their spirit and appearance. If the vital qi was completely emptied out, the person would die.
It was the same for people who cultivated.
Her poison knowledge chased after the origin of life with the intention to poison it to death. Her plan was brilliant.
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows, then focused on refining his poison with similar single-minded devotion. The two of them competed with each other and refined diligently throughout the night while the huge tree beside them shivered. The trunk swayed for an entire night, but it still couldn't manage to break free.
Light finally broke through the sky, and Qin Mu finished his poison. Mu Yingxue also straightened her back, and in both of their hands was a small jug. The two people looked at each other.
"What poison has big sister refined?" Qin Mu asked curiously.
Mu Yingxue didn't open her jug, but smiled. "Your poison is very toxic, but your mouth is as sweet as honey, warming my heart. My poison has no prescription since it's a new one that I created to target the blood of a god and devil. I haven't named it yet. My poison has the benefit of dissolving the blood of gods and devils, destroying the origin of the vital qi. After consuming it, the vital qi will be depleted in three-quarters of an hour, eliminating the spirit and scattering the vital qi, killing the host!"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and he said, "Big sister, since your poison doesn't have a name, let me help you name it! Let's call it Spirit Eliminating Three Wonders Powder, how about it?"
Mu Yingxue was extremely delighted and looked at him happily while praising, "Good little brother, I didn't expect you to be so erudite. If it was me, I wouldn't have thought of such a nice name. What kind of poison did you make?"
Qin Mu patted his jug and smiled. "My poison is also different from usual. My master never taught me any prescriptions for poison and only taught me medicinal knowledge. I learned the skill of refining poison from my senior brother. One benefit of this poison is that it can reverse the yin and yang, messing up the five phases. A great supplement is also a great poison. Once a great supplement is used to nourish a great poison, the corporeal body and primordial spirit will be spoiled. If my poison is consumed, the body will be the first to break, followed by the spirit. My poison has also fused the shaman poison of Rolan's Golden Palace which can disperse the soul, so it breaks three things."
"Why don't we call it Three Break Powder then? Even though the name doesn't sound nice, it suits it well," said Mu Yingxue.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Big sister's name is interesting as well, let's call it Three Break Powder."
The people lying on the floor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. These two people were clearly foes in a life and death battle to poison each other and defeat the other's poison path. Yet there they were, flattering each other, calling each other big sister and little brother, and looking affectionate.
Besides, hearing them praise their poison, it was as if they were talking about some sacred medicine that could make them gods after consuming it.
"Good sister, will you poison it first or shall I poison it first?" Qin Mu asked.
Mu Yingxue hesitated. Poisoning first and poisoning later had its own problems.
Once the first person poisoned the root demon, even if the poison didn't kill the creature, it could still cause major damage to its vitality, allowing the next person to gain an advantage. However, being the first to poison would give the person the ability to seize a key moment. If the root demon was poisoned to death, that person would win and the other party could only admit defeat.
Mu Yingxue was slightly troubled.
Qin Mu caught her expression and opened his jug with a smile. "How about I go first?"
He opened his jug and a wisp of black smoke floated out. A venomous insect came from within, rays of light coming from its body. The little thing looked like a spider, but it wasn't a spider. It had eight claws, a long body, a stomach of a wasp, and eight eyes that were all tightly shut.
This wasn't a true venomous insect, but a vision transformed from the toxicity. It looked like a world-shaking poison would erupt from it the moment the venomous insect opened its eyes!
Mu Yingxue took a glance and shuddered. She then immediately said, "Let me go first!"
Qin Mu moved back a step, and Mu Yingxue went forward to open her jar. A wisp of green smoke floated out, and the Spirit Eliminating Three Wonders Powder was revealed to be a green seed.
Mu Yingxue executed her magic power, and the green seed flew into the huge tree with a whoosh before vanishing.
The both of them could faintly see the seed sprouting in the tree and growing rapidly.
Mu Yingxue cast her spell to catalyze all the toxicity in Spirit Eliminating Three Wonders Powder, and the ground suddenly trembled. The root demon seemed to have felt immense pain which made its trunk tremble endlessly. The roots that were as thick as dragons snapped and decomposed, causing miserable shrieks to come from the flower buds. The women flailed in all directions as the flowers withered. Numerous buds fell to the ground while the women inside them became charred bits!
In the sky above, the first layer of the tree crown suddenly crumbled with a world-shaking rumble. It crashed down on a mountain nearby, splitting its peak!
"Great poison! Great drug!" Qin Mu sighed in astonishment.
Yet Mu Yingxue frowned slightly. Even though the first layer of the tree crown had crumbled and the tree bark looked like it was withering, there was something that was out of her expectations, and it was the Green Dragon Bead.
The root demon had swallowed the Green Dragon Bead. This might have suppressed its mobility, but it also provided the root demon with incomparable vitality!
The power contained in the blood of a god and a devil also surpassed her expectations. Her Spirit Eliminating Three Wonders Powder might not be able to poison this root demon to death.
Mu Yingxue waited for two hours until the root demon gradually stopped struggling. Roots started to grow once more, and the tree crown also grew out. The withered bark fell off while new ones replaced it.
"I've lost." Mu Yingxue's expression turned dim, and she shook her head.
Qin Mu went forward and smiled. "I also might not be able to win."
His vital qi burst forth, forming a sacrificial altar. He then placed the jug at the center and cast his spell. The insect on the altar became bigger and bigger. With a sudden whoosh, it flew up and clung to the tree before seeping into it.
Qin Mu's hair fluttered as he moved around while casting his spell. His Three Break Poison used shaman poison, so he had to cast the spell to move it.
The root demon did not react for a time. Then, the toxicity erupted, and the huge tree rumbled. Snapping sounds rang out continuously, and countless wooden shards fell from the sky, resulting in a rain of wood.
The ground became akin to a boiling pot as countless roots jumped out of the ground like huge snakes, wriggling in the air.
Boom!
The roots that had flown out from the soil formed a huge black ball while withering and breaking into pieces. The black wood that scattered all over the ground piled up to form a huge mountain!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Mu Yingxue stood with a dazed expression. A huge piece of wood came flying down, crashing down toward her. However, she forgot to dodge, so Qin Mu pounced over and dragged her away.
Just as they left, that piece of huge wood landed, and the airwave threw the two of them away.
Soon after, they came to a halt, and Qin Mu placed the woman down. When he turned his head back to have a look at where she had stood earlier, he saw a huge pit where the huge piece of wood had crashed. The soil and rocks had flown in all directions.
Mu Yingxue had yet to recover from her shock when she suddenly came to her senses. She took out a couple jade bottles and said in a hurry, "There's poison on my body, so you might have gotten poisoned when you carried me."
"No need."
Qin Mu quickly matched a few antidotes to detox himself.
The two of them looked around, unable to help the slight numbness that entered their hearts. The valleys in the surroundings had all piled up with black wood, which accumulated into mountains.
Under their feet were the roots of the root demon. They were countless as they lay twisted and motionless.
Qin Mu then immediately looked toward the dragon qilin and the rest. When the unimaginably huge tree collapsed, they who were at the roots were lucky to not end up injured or buried.
"You've won." Mu Yingxue's expression turned dim as she said dejectedly, "The number one poisoner of West Earth still cannot compare to a little brother from Great Ruins. I'm ashamed to be the number one in West Earth."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "You don't have to be sad since I've picked up a bargain this time. There's Rolan's Golden Palace's shaman poison in my poison, and in addition, you had poisoned the root demon beforehand and injured its vitality. Only then was I able to poison it to death."
"It had swallowed the Green Dragon Bead and could restore its vitality at any time, so I was not of any help," Mu Yingxue said in a bleak voice.
"Actually, I'm not that proficient in poison and am more skilled in curing illnesses and saving people. Furthermore, I'm not just anybody, my reputation is quite loud," Qin Mu explained in consolation.
Mu Yingxue suffered another blow from this. He wasn't proficient yet he had still defeated her?
"You might as well not console me," she said coldly. "Now that you have won, how are you going to deal with me?"
Qin Mu was bewildered and shook his head. "Why do I have to deal with you? I'm very happy that the two of us got to compete and in the process got rid of this strong foe that is the root demon. We are both from the same path, so exchanging pointers is something we should do."
Mu Yingxue stared at him with her shiny black eyes, then suddenly tiptoed to kiss him on the lips. She then stuffed a small bag in his hands and turned to leave while chuckling. "I've poisoned you now with the poison of yearning! If you go to West Earth, don't forget to find me, but don't walk through the front door. You need to flip in through the window!"
Qin Mu stared blankly, feeling that the lips of the girl had been wet, soft, and fragrant. His head was slightly blank.
However, this wasn't due to poison.
As a young divine physician from Eternal Peace Empire, Qin Mu knew his body like the back of his hand, so he was calmly analyzing his condition. 'These are the symptoms of lack of blood to the brain. When I got kissed by her, my heart stopped for a beat, causing the brain to have no blood flow, so my mind is all blank.'
Mu Yingxue went straight for the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and the rest, so the surprised Qin Mu hurriedly gave chase.
The Green Dragon Bead had popped out from the root demon's body when it crumbled and landed in the middle of everyone. Xiong Xiyu, this Nai Kui of True Heaven Palace, was struggling with all her might to move her body toward it.
The two white bats were also crawling over. The poison in their bodies that had been planted by Mu Yingxue had gradually faded away, so they could move once again.
On the other side, the effects of Lost Fragrance on Yu Bochuan and the rest were also fading away. Thus, they were also crawling toward the Green Dragon Bead, trying to grab it before the other side could do it.
The dragon qilin crawled the fastest. This behemoth with an obese body was very lazy and would only move when fire was burning his buttocks, but at this moment, he looked like he had to get this Green Dragon Bead no matter what. He forced himself forward with great effort, surpassing the rest.
However, his endurance was lousy, and he began panting for breath after crawling for a short while. His speed then gradually slowed down.
The two groups of people were getting closer and closer to the Green Dragon Bead. An expert on Celestial Being Realm was the closest to it, so he stretched his hand out, trying to grab it.
The dragon qilin saw the situation and immediately opened his mouth to stretch out his tongue. His tongue grew longer and longer, getting closer to the Green Dragon Bead. From the looks of it, he was going to sweep it up.
When Mu Yingxue came to this place, Qin Mu was a step late. Yet he waved his hand and his vital qi flew out, sweeping the Green Dragon Bead up.
Mu Yingxue didn't make a move to snatch it, but instead swept her sleeves to collect Yu Bochuan and the rest, sending them to the back of the white elephant.
The woman in black stamped her feet, and her body floated upward to stand on the nose of the huge white elephant that was raised up. She waved at Qin Mu. "The master of Yu Family is my benefactor so I'm bringing them as well! The young man that I yearn most for, come to West Earth as soon as possible!"
Qin Mu was in a daze. He waved back at her with a weird emotion in his heart.
The small bag that Mu Yingxue stuffed into his hand wasn't big, similar to a scented bag. However, it was black. On the side of it, a pair of mandarin ducks swimming beside a lotus with their necks together were embroidered in a gold thread.
Qin Mu opened the scented bag to find a handful of bright red beans. They were like ripe apples, but way smaller.
"The red bean grows in southern lands, their slender tendrils twining together in spring?" Xiong Xiyu stumbled to her feet and looked at the red beans in his hand while chanting softly, "Gather for me some more I pray, of fond yearning is this the sign. Cult Master Qin, Poisoner is inviting you for a visiting marriage.
Qin Mu sniffed the red beans and shook his head. "There is poison in the red beans, so she is probably trying to poison me! Could it really be Yearning Poison? That's right, she kissed me on the lips. Hers was a little wet, so there has to have been some kind of medicine there that once fused with the red beans becomes deadly… Yes, that must be the case!"
Xiong Xiyu was flabbergasted. This previous palace master of True Heaven Palace stared at the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult with shiny black eyes, her heart full of doubt. 'Isn't red beans used to express yearning and love? How did this Great Cult Master Qin link it to poison? Even suspecting Mu Yingxue of trying to poison him?'
She finally realized that this Great Cult Master Qin had some misunderstandings in regards to the feelings between men and women. Furthermore, they were quite severe!
'He seems to have been taught wrongly by someone.' Xiong Xiyu thought to herself.
However, Qin Mu still put the poisonous red beans back into the black silk scented bag and put it away with care, making Xiong Xiyu feel that he wasn't beyond redemption.
Qin Mu raised the Green Dragon Bead up and examined it. He saw that the color of the green dragon's body was that of jade, having a sparkling and translucent feeling to it. The whiskers were also green in color as if it was a jade dragon.
The soul happily swam around in the bead.
This was the dragon soul of a true dragon, not a mixed breed like the hen dragon, dragon qilin, or the green bull. Instead, it was a pure-blooded green dragon whose abnormally powerful divine energy Qin Mu could feel even from within the bead.
Even though the root demon had absorbed part of the energy in the Green Dragon Bead, this item seemed to be able to continuously absorb the vital qi lingering in nature, replenishing itself. It was very strange.
'Truly a great treasure. Could the dragon soul inside belong to a dragon god?"
Qin Mu circulated his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and his vital qi automatically transformed into Green Dragon Vital Qi. He then tried to mobilize the energy in the Green Dragon Bead, but he soon realized that he couldn't do it. This puzzled him, and he said, "I guess only by using the unique technique of True Heaven Palace could I be able to control the energy of the Green Dragon Bead. My Green Dragon Vital Qi is probably just food for the green dragon soul."
To use the power of the Green Dragon Bead, he would need to communicate with the green dragon soul inside. To do it, the technique of all things having spirit and soul might be the only way.
'The sacred ground of West Earth is pretty remarkable!' he exclaimed to himself.
The poison in the dragon qilin's body had decreased quite a bit, and he could finally stand up. He then immediately swung his long tail to and fro, raising dust behind him as he shouted, "Cult Master, give me the bead!"
Qin Mu didn't pay attention to him and threw the Green Dragon Bead to Xiong Qi'er, that little girl, with a smile. "For you to play."
Xiong Qi'er caught the Green Dragon Bead and smiled sweetly. "Thank you, big brother!"
The dragon qilin's saliva flowed down continuously, and he wagged his tail at Xiong Qi'er. "Big sister, let me play with the bead! Don't worry, I won't eat it, I promise you!"
Qin Mu immediately fetched a couple jade bottles to collect the dragon saliva and thought to himself, 'I should collect a few more bottles to sell in the capital city so I would have money… Right, I'll have to return to the village first to fetch Ling'er back. She's much better at managing finances than me.'
He collected over a dozen bottles until Xiong Qi'er placed the Green Dragon Bead into her undergarment. Only then did the dragon qilin stop drooling.
Qin Mu threw a glance at the little girl. Even though Xiong Qi'er was still small, she was very intelligent. She took out the Green Dragon Bead again, and the dragon qilin's tail began to swing again, his saliva flowing down like a waterfall once more.
After collecting over twenty bottles of dragon saliva, Qin Mu was finally satisfied. He was afraid that the quality would be affected if too much flowed out, so he signaled for Xiong Qi'er to put away the Green Dragon Bead.
The two white bats and Xiong Xiyu had also recovered their strength, so Qin Mu brought them to head east.
Xiong Xiyu had been too deeply poisoned. If it was something simple, the toxicity would be mild and curing her would be very easy. However, the Coiling Poison had penetrated deep into her divine treasures, so it was difficult to remove it.
To others, this could be considered beyond cure, but Qin Mu felt that she was still savable.
He searched for spirit herbs throughout the journey to refine spirit pills, and after using ten kinds of spirit pills and changing the prescription ten times, he finally got rid of the Coiling Poison in her Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, and Seven Stars Divine Treasure.
After walking for over ten days, they didn't encounter Yu Bochuan or any of his people. It was probably because the Green Dragon Bead had been snatched away, so they felt that they weren't a match for Qin Mu and the rest anymore. Because of that, they should have gone back to West Earth for reinforcement.
Suddenly, the sound of bubbling water came from the front, and Qin Mu's eyes lit up as he smiled. "We have reached the source of Surging River."
Not long later, they saw steam coming from above a cliff while below it was a several thousand feet deep drop. Xiong Xiyu and the rest immediately looked around and saw Great Ruins stretching from the west to the east from where the land had suddenly broken off, forming a natural moat spanning thousands of miles from north to south.
The natural moat had split Great Ruins into two, and the West Great Ruins was thousands of feet higher than East Great Ruins.
"What kind of power could have formed these sections?" Xiong Xiyu muttered.
"A huge earthquake." There was no expression in Qin Mu's face as he spoke. "An unimaginable earthquake."
Xiong Xiyu couldn't help shuddering.
Qin Mu jumped down from the cliff, and his feet landed on air, walking down step by step. Xiong Xiyu brought her daughter to catch up, and when they reached the middle of the cliff, they saw that the first stream merged with other streams that came pouring down from the sky, forming a huge waterfall. As they went farther down, they saw that the crashing of water had formed a huge pool below.
The river poured out from there, but it wasn't wide. Its beginning was only ten yards wide, but as it continued forward, other rivers flowed into it, speeding up the current and widening the riverbed.
Xiong Xiyu turned back to take a look and saw that from the natural moat, which was the cliff behind them, there were countless waterfalls pouring down. The flowing water would then gathered below to form a huge river.
Surging River!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
They had reached Surging River.
Qin Mu examined the surroundings. When Village Chief had brought him to search for Carefree Village, they had come near here, so that village where the messenger of death was guiding the souls shouldn't be too far from this place. It would be a five to six days journey at most, and then they could return back to Disabled Elderly Village.
It was close to the end of the eighth month, so the sun was scorching. With it burning high up in the sky, the road was quite a bumpy one. When Qin Mu had come out with Crown Prince Ling Yushu, it had been the season of spring and now it was already the end of summer. Another season later, he would have to go back to the village for New Year again.
All the encounters he'd had on his journey could be considered legends.
As they headed down the river, water vapor suddenly blew over on the surface of the river. Pure white fog then sealed it off, preventing them from seeing anything in their surroundings.
Qin Mu immediately halted, and the rest also stopped in their footsteps, standing on the river surface motionlessly.
Xiong Xiyu's heart tightened, and she asked in a low voice, "Monster?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "Doesn't look like it. It should be a kind of peculiarity in Great Ruins."
At that moment, Carefree Sword, which was in the wooden sheath behind him, began trembling, and Qin Mu's heart moved slightly. Carefree Sword rarely gave out sword hums. The last time it did so was when he met his father Qin Hanzhen on the treasured ship.
Carefree Sword trembled continuously, and the clamor of troops could gradually be heard from the fog. There seemed to be countless of people passing by here.
Look under our feet, the water is gone!" Xiong Qi'er exclaimed.
Qin Mu immediately lowered his head and saw that Surging River had vanished from under their feet. Replacing the river was a dry and parched yellow land.
The fog gradually became fainter and fainter, so they could see moving figures around them.
Qin Mu, Xiong Xiyu, and the rest couldn't help being stunned. Their bodies froze when they saw a barren desert surrounding them, the yellow sand filling the horizon. Tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners wearing olden style clothing were leading huge beasts to construct large buildings.
These buildings didn't look like houses for humans to stay. They were tall, with pagodas reaching the clouds and gold and jade palaces radiating glorious splendor. All of them looked like places in which giants or heavenly gods would reside.
On the tall altars stood brilliant golden heavenly gods. All of them had human bodies, but they heads were varied. Some were bird-like, while others matched different beasts. They all wore golden armor, and their divine eyes were shining brightly.
They were living gods, and it seemed like here would be eternal radiance where their bodies stood.
Tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners were building palaces for gods under their supervision, making the scale of the construction grand and spectacular.
However, wasn't Qin Mu and the rest walking above Surging River?
How could this place then be a desert?
A few hornless dragons dragged a treasured carriage through the sky, and the group could head a voice rumble through the sky. "By the orders of High Emperor: Ministry of Works shall construct West Palace and open up irrigation works and transportation!"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. 'High Emperor? The third move of Sword Picture that Village Chief imparted to me is Calamity of High Emperor! What relation does the High Emperor from Calamity of High Emperor have with the High Emperor from the orders mentioned just now?"
A god with a dragon's head standing on an altar bowed to receive the orders. His body then trembled as he transformed into an azure dragon, summoning clouds and rain, drawing water over to water the barren desert.
At the same time, another god that held onto a bronze plow transformed into a giant, cutting into a mountain and digging a canal for the irrigation works.
Another god then took out a treasured vase which floated in midair. It pointed downwards and vegetation instantly flooded out, turning the desert into a grassland with dense forests that grew frantically.
There was also another god, who took out a huge cauldron. When it landed on the ground, a mountain range rose from the land, changing the terrain. In no time, the desert turned into a green mountainous region.
Qin Mu and the rest stared blankly at this sight. The boundless abilities that the gods of High Emperor Era used to change the heaven and earth, a blue sea into mulberry fields, did not seem to cost them much effort.
"This huge river should be Surging River, right?"
Qin Mu was stunned. He saw that a god that was wielding a bronze plow was opening up a main river stream. It was very long and surging toward the east.
The shape of this huge river was slightly similar to that of Surging River, but the path wasn't exactly the same.
At that moment, fog surged over once again and drowned out everything. While the group was distracted by this, they could feel the land tremble violently and heard huge rumbles that sounded like the sky crumbling and the earth rending. Within the fog was a sight of an apocalypse. The sky was swirling, and the earth was flipping over. Volcanoes, meteors, thick smoke, lightning flooded the once grand palaces, burying a civilization.
The group heard a rumbling behind them, and when they turned back to look, a natural moat was gradually rising up, blocking off the land.
The fog gradually dispersed, and the time and space gradually changed. The natural moat slowly regained clarity, and the waterfalls began to pour into Surging River once more.
The yellow sand under everyone's feet turned back into flowing water, flowing day and night toward the east.
Pssh, pssh.
The two white bats that were hanging under the dragon qilin's chin were stunned. Losing their firm grips, they fell into the water. They immediately flew out and hugged each other while shivering. "Great Ruins are too strange! Cult Master Qin, quickly send us back to Ghost Valley!"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Fu Brothers, you two are also part of the strange things in Great Ruins and you still say that Great Ruins are strange? You brothers have scared god knows how many explorers in Ghost Valley."
The two white bats looked at each other in dismay. "We are also strange?"
Qin Mu was angry yet at the same time found it funny. These brothers didn't have the least bit of self-awareness. They had no idea how terrifying was the strangeness of Ghost Valley, which was filled with all kinds of strange life forms. Even Celestial Beings couldn't say that they would definitely manage to pass through that place unscathed. On top of that, the brothers were the guardians of Ghost Valley, and so the strangest of all things there.
The fog in the surroundings didn't disperse completely. When looking at the natural moat, everything was hazy.
Suddenly, clouds of the fog floated over, and when they came close, they showed up to be gray figures that passed right through them.
Everyone hurriedly turned around and saw the fog gathering together again. A voice came then came from it. "What happened in the High Emperor Era? Why did this magnificent time pass? Was what happened just now an echo of history? A record of what has happened, replaying a scene from times past due to coincidence and fate? This land is truly wonderful, and the people of the ancient empire are also admirable."
"Your Majesty, Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery have some records that were passed down throughout the years. Your Majesty just has to give an order to send them over."
"Excellent, have them send them over. I don't want to bother with these monks and Daoists that keep interfering with my reforms. Without a reform, how can we change the lives of the people. I don't want to see them."
The fog walked toward the natural moat, saying, "I don't want our Founding Emperor Era to end up in the same predicament, we have to learn from the lesson of our predecessors. How could such a magnificent empire, with gods ruling the mortal world and working for the people, ended up in ruins? Such a powerful and rich era..."
…
With excitement, Qin Mu looked toward the fog. Founding Emperor?
On the family register of Qin Family, the one in the first position was Founding Emperor. He was the ancestor of the Qin Family!
Qin Mu immediately chased after that human-shaped fog, but its speed was really fast, leaving him behind in just a matter of a few steps. Qin Mu executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs and ran as fast as lightning, but the fog had still suddenly disappeared.
He stopped in a daze.
Founding Emperor.
Founding Emperor Empire.
The empire before Great Ruins should have suffered a calamity, but how was Founding Emperor Empire related to Carefree Village?
Xiong Xiyu and the rest caught up. The woman looked around before asking, "Cult Master Qin, that sight earlier?"
"An echo of history." He then composed himself and said, "There are many weird things at the source of Surging River. This place is connected to numerous worlds, so when night falls, many weird things happen around here. Yet never did I expect weird things to happen during the day as well. From the echo of history earlier, this place should be where one of High Emperor's temporary imperial residence rested. We may find some ruins from that era here."
"An echo of history?"
Xiong Xiyu and the rest were stunned. How could things that had happened show themselves again?
Yet Qin Mu had seen an echo of history before. On the treasured ship, he had seen the scene of when his father Qin Hanzhen had been ambushed.
This kind of echo of history was usually the mark left behind in time by strong practitioners. Echoes of history were usually activated by a person, object, or incident that was related to the original, and had a strong sense of coincidence.
The echo of history on the treasured ship that time was due to Qin Mu and Carefree Sword, so what could have caused the echo of history this time?
'It was two echoes of history this time!'
Qin Mu suddenly came to a realization that it could be said that they'd seen an echo of history within an echo of history.
When Founding Emperor came to this place, he had activated the first echo of history and saw the incident when the gods under High Emperor had changed the desert in the ancient times. Then, the second echo of history was when Founding Emperor and the rest had appeared on Surging River.
The first echo of history was part of the second echo of history which got recorded by time as well.
'Then what had activated this echo of history? Could it be Carefree Sword again?'
Behind Qin Mu, Carefree Sword had already quietened down and no longer let out any sword hums. The echo of history had also completely dispersed. There was no more fog on the river surface, and the sky was clear with the sunlight blazing intensely.
The fog had come out from nowhere and left in the same manner!
'Too strange, why is strange stuff happening here… Wait a minute, the echo of history had also happened on father's treasured ship. At that time, it was stuck between Youdu and the real world, with the beehive seals sealing the entrance. If the circumstances are the same, then the echo of history here must have also been because there's an entrance to another world somewhere around here!'
Qin Mu pondered about it. Maybe, the echo of history was reflected on the barrier between worlds and once it was activated, past events would be shown.
He and Village Chief had met the messenger of death near here and entered the living realm of the dead of Fengdu. The second time he came here, he had also met the messenger of death and entered the living realm of the dead to borrow Moon Ship.
The living realm of the dead was close, so Youdu should be close as well.
'The source of Surging River seems like an important node that connects the worlds. Maybe there's a divine art here that goes to other worlds? There are definitely nodes that connect things to other worlds!"
Qin Mu regained his composure, and layers of lights swirled in his eyes, revealing Cyan Heaven's Eyes. Looking around, he didn't discover any abnormalities.
He raised his head to look upwards, and after a moment, he saw a trace of abnormality.
The sky was the same blue, but he actually saw two clouds meeting each other and passing through one another.
According to his knowledge, when two clouds met, they would converge. Yet even though these two clouds had passed through each other, it was as if they had never touched anything!
This situation looked more like two clouds existing in different time and space so they couldn't meet and collide!
This meant that there were two skies that were overlapping above their heads!
'No, it may be three!' Qin Mu leaped up and sprinted high into the sky. Suddenly, a wind blew over and made him shiver. 'It may also be four overlapping skies or even five…'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The directions of the clouds and wind were different. One was heading left, while the other was heading right. And in the sky where the two clouds were, the direction of the wind was completely different. It was unexpectedly blowing downwards.
The only reason behind such a situation could be that the two clouds and the wind existed in a different space. From the clouds and wind, there were at least three layers of it!
If the skies of Youdu, which was always in the darkness, or the hazy Fengdu had appeared, they would definitely be black or gray.
Even though they weren't such, Qin Mu was certain that those two worlds were close by!
This meant that the source of Surging River might have five worlds overlapping one another!
When night fell, darkness would invade, and the worlds would appear one after another, coming onto the bustling stage!
'When I have time, I will definitely need to go to the place where West Earth connects to Great Ruins. The darkness comes from there, so I might discover more secrets in that place.'
Qin Mu came down from the sky with his head aching. What exactly were those echoes of history? What were the worlds that were connected to the source of Surging River? Where were the connecting points?
There were many secrets in Great Ruins, and there also seemed to be quite a number of them in Surging River.
'Some secrets are something I can't touch or solve. If I tried to do it by force, our lives would be put in danger. Let's go back to the village first.'
As they headed down the river, Xiong Xiyu couldn't help sizing Qin Mu up. She couldn't resist asking curiously, "Cult Master Qin, did you really grow up in Great Ruins?"
Qin Mu nodded and asked with puzzlement, "Why are you asking this?"
"How did you survive in such a dangerous place? There are all kinds of strange beasts in Great Ruins, all kinds of strange things, dangers, and even the invasion of darkness at night, when devils and monsters wreak havoc. There are even other worlds overlapping with Great Ruins frequently. It's truly unimaginable for you to have survived up until now!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Big Sister Palace Master, you're mistaken! Great Ruins are actually very safe, much safer than the outside. The real danger lies outside. When I first walked out of Great Ruins and came to Eternal Peace, I stayed in an inn beside the river, and an incident happened that very night. That place was called Dyke River County, and the people in the entire county died. Only me and Ling'er managed to escape. I had never met with such an incident in Great Ruins."
Xiong Xiyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You can't say that Eternal Peace is more dangerous than Great Ruins just because of that. It was only a coincidence."
"Ever since I entered Eternal Peace, I've suffered murderous intents and killings, as well as assassination attempts. In comparison, Great Ruins are much safer. The greatest danger I encountered in Great Ruins was also caused by the outside people barging in. Thus, Great Ruins is the safest place," Qin Mu explained with a calm expression
Xiong Xiyu was puzzled. She didn't understand how he could feel that Great Ruins were safer than the outside world.
The dragon qilin chuckled. "Palace Master might not know, but when Cult Master goes out, he doesn't even dare to use his real name. This is because the moment he used his real name, people rushing to kill him would line up all the way from Eternal Peace Empire to Disabled Elderly Village. The righteous practitioners are all itching to kill him."
Qin Mu gave him a stare and immediately explained to Xiong Xiyu, "Our Heavenly Saint Cult is actually very righteous, so don't be misled. That's right, once we reach the village, I'll be able to get rid of your poison. What do you plan to do after that?"
Xiong Xiyu was in a daze. Return to True Heaven Palace?
Now that only her daughter was left, she didn't have the confidence to return to True Heaven Palace to seize the power and the position of the palace master back. On top of that, she was worried about Xiong Qi'er's life.
However, she couldn't accept giving up the foundation of her ancestor.
Qin Mu caught the expression she made and smiled. "Even though I can get rid of your Coiling Poison, your cultivation won't recover straight away, I'll still need to help you recuperate and assist you in recovering your vital qi. If you can't make a decision, I have a suggestion. Why don't you follow me to Eternal Peace Empire for some time? I'm the academician of Imperial College so I can recommend you to teach at Imperial College."
Xiong Xiyu's beautiful gaze was like clear water as she looked deeply into his eyes, subconsciously giving off the aura of a mistress of a sacred ground. "I'm the mistress of True Heaven Palace, and you are asking me to teach in Imperial College?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Then why don't you come to our Heavenly Saint Cult's School Hall to teach?"
Xiong Xiyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said, "Let me go to Imperial College first."
Five days later, they finally reached Disabled Elderly Village. Qin Mu first went to find Hu Ling'er, and a few white foxes came out of her room, speaking the human language. "Young Master, Big Sister has gone to Eternal Peace Empire to look for you, and she has been gone for a few months!"
Qin Mu inquired about the details, and the white fox in the lead said, "Great Demon King came to force Big Sister to marry him, so she beat him up. Great Demon King then called his dad over who Big Sister couldn't defeat, so she ran away, saying she would find Young Master in Eternal Peace Empire.
Qin Mu bade farewell and brought everyone toward Disabled Elderly Village. When it came in sight, Qin Mu became excited and shouted out loudly, "Grandpa Village Chief, Grandpa Apothecary, I'm back!"
Xiong Xiyu looked at this small village and saw an old man with a scraggly beard sitting on a recliner at the village entrance. He had no arms or legs, and the beard on his face was very unkempt. His hair was messy as well.
There was a flock of chickens patrolling in the village, looking very awe-inspiring.
"Oh, Mu'er is back? You've grown taller again." The messy old man swayed in his recliner, looking at Xiong Xiyu and the two white bats while basking in the sun. After a moment, his expression changed to that of astonishment. "This girl is very pretty and her cultivation is also very strong. A pity she's poisoned. The two white bats are a little interesting."
The two white bats went to hang upside down from the tree above his head and sized Village Chief with interest. "You're very strong as well!"
Qin Mu couldn't help frowning upon examining Village Chief. He then ran into the village to fetch a Pig Slaughtering Knife before going into Granny Si's room to find a white cloth and coming back. In a basin of hot water, he wetted the towel, then covered Village Chief's face.
/After a while, Qin Mu uncovered the towel and used a Pig Slaughtering Knife to help him shave his beard. "Village Chief, where are the people from the village? Grandpa Apothecary? He's not in the village? Take a look, your beard is almost dragging on the floor."
"Apothecary had ran away." Village Chief sighed and said, "A few women found their way here and scared him off, leaving me here alone. I don't have any limbs so I can't crawl back into the room."
Qin Mu jumped in shock and cried out, "Village Chief, how long have you stayed here at the village entrance?"
"Almost two months."
Qin Mu was speechless. This old man had actually not moved for two months, staying at the village entrance motionlessly, allowing himself to be windswept and battered by rain, even letting the darkness surround him!
This should be considered as having achieved a new realm in laziness!
Xiong Xiyu also jumped in shock. From the layout of the stone statues in the village, the rays from them wouldn't have shone until here. Then this messy old man who had lain here for two months without dying, was he a god?
Or were the strange things in the darkness not interested in him?
Qin Mu shaved off Village Chief's beard and washed his face for him. He then cut off his messy white hair and groomed him before carrying the old man into his room, changing the clothes on his body into a new set before going to wash the old ones.
He then carried the old man out to place him back on the recliner, pouring a pot of tea for him before asking, "Grandpa Ma and the rest haven't returned?"
"Old Ma came back once. Dao Master and Old Rulai had also found their way over. The latter said he wasn't Rulai anymore and severed one of his arms. He told me that he couldn't return Old Ma his children, but he could still return him an arm."
Qin Mu cried out, "Old Rulai severed his own arm?"
"That's right. Old Rulai's arm was pecked at by the hen dragons. It's in the chicken coop, though, since the hen dragon couldn't eat it."
Village Chief sighed. "Old Ma may look cold and hate the world, but when Old Rulai severed his arm to give it to him, he was still moved and cried. He went to Great Thunderclap Monastery to oversee it, saying that he would return once a new rulai came. I reckon he won't be coming back. He plans to wait for the new rulai, but once he will sit down on the seat of Rulai, he will discover that he's Rulai."
In a daze, Qin Mu said, "I'm going to Ghost Valley, so I can find him on the way there. Where's Grandpa Cripple? Isn't he always inseparable from Grandpa Ma?"
"They are inseparable, so he naturally went to be a guest at Great Thunderclap Monastery. He said he was afraid that Old Ma would be at a disadvantage." Village Chief revealed a worried expression. "I'm afraid that after Old Ma becomes Rulai, he will discover that his entire mountain is an illusion."
Qin Mu also didn't see Butcher, Blind, and Mute so he asked about them as well. Blind and Butcher had run off with Old Dao Master and Old Rulai, saying that they wanted to take a look at Little Jade Capital. Mute didn't seem to have had any plans to leave the village, but just before the day Apothecary escaped, Mute suddenly went crazy, picking up his belongings and rushing into the darkness, chasing after something. He had yet to return.
Granny Si hadn't yet returned. She had to still be at Eternal Peace Empire, suppressing her heart devil and sharpening her nature.
Qin Mu tidied up the village and put all treasures and things that looked like treasures into his two taotie sacks. He then came to the herb garden at the village entrance and stretched his hand out. Flying swords stabbed into the surroundings and tunneled underground, slicing something underneath the soil.
Qin Mu raised both his hands as if lifting something, then the entire herb garden flew upwards and was put into Pangong Tso's taotie sack.
It was much better than Qin Mu's own, and the space inside could even store a piece of land.
Qin Mu picked Apothecary's herb basket and placed Village Chief inside it. Village Chief was instantly angered. "Rascal, what are you doing? Put me down!"
"I can't let you stay here." Qin Mu tightened the herb basket to his back while saying, "What if something happens to you, who will know? From now on, Grandpa Village Chief will follow me wherever I go!"
Village Chief was silent for a moment, slightly moved in his heart. He smiled. "Put me down. Silly child, I'm old, I can't move around anymore. I even promised Yama to go to his living realm of the dead after death. When I die, a bird god will come and fetch me."
Qin Mu instantly felt the herb basket becoming incomparably heavy as though he was carrying a mountain. He knew Village Chief wasn't willing to leave Great Ruins and blinked before saying, "Doesn't Grandpa Village Chief want to meet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor? Does the old sword god not want to meet the new sword god? Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is being acclaimed as the saint that appears once every five hundred years, so he is definitely worth meeting."
The herb basket on Qin Mu's back instantly became lighter, and Village Chief's tone seemed to gain a hint of heroism. "The new sword god? Oh well, it's also a good thing to meet him before I die. Go, let us meet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Sea of Blood
In Great Thunderclap Monastery, the bell rang non stop. It was the bell to welcome visitors.
While Qin Mu carrying Village Chief up the mountain, he saw a dignified Rulai leading all the monks to welcome them. At this moment, the youth was slightly depressed. The cold-faced yet heartwarming Ma Wangshen had still become the Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery, a buddha.
Old ma couldn't let go of the place he had grown up in even if the monks from there had killed his wife and children. It was not Old Rulai's intention, after all, just what the monks under him had done.
He was Old Rulai's disciple, so the two of them knew each other very well. Old Rulai was old and couldn't control the monks under him anymore. The arhats of Arhat Cloister had gone down the mountains with monks from other cloisters, and so Old Ma's wife and children had lost their lives.
Old Rulai severed his arm and gave it to him. Even though this wouldn't resolve the hatred in his heart, he still had to succeed his master's cassock and alms bowl; he couldn't let Great Thunderclap Monastery disappear just like this.
When he returned to his homeland and sat on the throne of Rulai, the wind swept azure clouds past his body. When that wind dispersed, he suddenly achieved true enlightenment, breaking through the last realm of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra and succeeding in cultivating Brahma.
From Sakra to Brahma was a moment of enlightenment, a kind of perfect awakening.
On the golden peak of Great Thunderclap Monastery, Qin Mu looked at Old Ma who had educated him on how to be an adult and had all kinds of emotions in his heart. In the end, he called him senior brother.
This Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery had cultivated to the highest realm, the realm of Brahma. His corporeal body, spiritual sense, and tathata were perfected and had twenty heavens behind him, with Brahma sitting in the lotus position while gods and buddhas of all sizes surrounded him, giving off radiance like perpetual daytime, looking sacred and merciful.
"Senior brother," Old Ma greeted him in return.
Qin Mu face turned dim. Now that Old Ma was sitting in this position, he was no longer the Old Ma from the past—he was Rulai. He had to put down his worldly affairs and let the four elements be vanity.
Cripple was nearby. Even though he had said he would just go to attend the ceremony, he had actually been worried about Old Ma's safety. He was afraid that the monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery would harm him.
However, now that Old Ma had cultivated to the highest realm in Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, there was no need for protection, so Cripple was also itching to move. There were treasures everywhere in this Great Thunderclap Monastery, and they made this old rogue unable to sit still. He wanted to steal, but he wouldn't be able to face his conscience then, so when he saw Qin Mu and Village Chief, he couldn't resist suggesting to leave as soon as possible.
Qin Mu wanted to stay for a few days, but when night came, he saw bright lights coming from the north, the Qingmen Pass. With such glorious lights lighting the sky, one thing was certain—the battle at Qingmen Pass was very intense.
Beside Qingmen Pass was Ghost Valley where the two white bats lived. It wasn't considered too far from Great Thunderclap Monastery.
Early next morning, Qin Mu bade farewell and brought Village Chief, Xiong Xiyu, Cripple, and the rest to leave.
"When I met Old Ma, he was the most famous constable in the world known as Divine Constable Ma. He almost caught me."
Cripple looked back at the golden peak of Mount Meru, which was shining brilliantly as resonating buddha voices rang in the air. They materialized into words, into a lotus, and into apparitions of buddhas surrounding the sacred ground.
Cripple fell into a daze and said in a low voice, "He caught me many times, and we fought many times. The one I was afraid of and respected the most was him. When I was young, I was an orphan with nothing at all, begging for food everywhere. When I couldn't endure my hunger, I would steal. I didn't dare to snatch cause I was thin and frail.
"Sometime later, I was caught by an old constable who didn't send me to see the official and only made me stop stealing. He taught me crafts and was like a father to me. I followed him and fantasized about being a constable like him one day. Old Ma reminds me of him, I feel like Old Ma looks especially like him when he's stern…"
Qin Mu sat on the dragon qilin's back, not saying anything as he listened to Cripple talking about his past with Village Chief and the rest.
"I didn't have a dad, so I always felt that the old constable was my dad. During the years I followed him, I was especially hard working and happy. But one day, the old constable died."
Cripple's eyes relaxed, and his tone became calmer. "At midnight, his enemies came to find him. I was asleep then, but shouts from outside woke me up. He barged into my room and sent me out of the house with his life. He told me, 'Child, be a good man… Run!' I wasn't wearing any clothes then, so I just ran butt-naked. I ran and ran until my speed became faster and faster, faster and faster. I cried for help but no one came, no one…"
A thin, frail, and butt-naked boy had been helplessly running, crying for help, yet no one came to help him.
Cripple ran from night until day and covered over ten thousand miles. When he came to his sense, he returned to the residence of the old constable, but it had already been razed to the ground. He could only dig out the charred bones of the old constable.
"He wanted me to be a good man like he'd been throughout his life, but how had he ended up? I don't want to be a good man! He didn't want me to steal so I shall steal."
In a lonely voice, Cripple continued, "I stole while I ran, and as I did that, my reputation rang louder and louder, until I was referred to as Thief God by the people. All the bullshit seals and forbidden arts were nothing in my eyes. I ran past the wind, past the clouds, past the lightning, and stole throughout the whole world. Whatever sect, whatever sacred ground, I stole from all of them.
"At one point, I found his enemies and stole their heads. When I paid my respects to the old constable again and wanted to become a good man, I had already caught the bad habit of stealing and no matter what I did, I couldn't quit. After that, I met Old Ma. He reminded me of the old constable, so I feared him a bit, and I respected him. Now that he has become Rulai, his merciful look reminds me if the old constable had become a buddha…"
Village Chief popped his head out from the herb basket. "Old Ma won't become buddha. When a new rulai comes one day, he will take down his cassock and become the Old Ma from the past."
Cripple raised his head to gaze at the sky. "I hope so."
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and said in a low voice, "Old Ma will definitely come back…"
Along this journey, he had gotten rid of the poison in Xiong Xiyu's body and even prescribed a few types of spirit pills to nourish her vital qi. After that, they finally came to Ghost Valley, and the two white bats flew into the ravines of Ghost Valley. They hung down on one tree and bade farewell to Qin Mu and the rest.
"Cult Master, come over and play when you're free, we won't eat you!" Fu Yuqiu said.
Qin Mu laughed loudly and waved goodbye. The two white bats immediately flew into Ghost Valley while shouting, "Let's wake the old ancestors up and make them give birth to a few girls so we can breed!"
"Even if they give birth to them, they'll be our great grandmas, so how are we going to breed? Furthermore, what if both of the old ancestors are male?"
"Shut up!"
…
The dragon qilin left Ghost Valley, and they soon came to a battlefield that unfolded before them on a magnificent scale. The forest in the Duck Tongue Zone had already been razed to the ground. Duck Tongue Zone stretched throughout close to a thousand miles, and the woodland and mountainous region had all been flattened by the two parties, becoming the battlefield of Barbarian Di Empire and Eternal Peace Empire!
When Qin Mu and the rest came to this place, a large-scale battle was on the way. Tens of thousands of soldiers in the mountain passes on both sides were rushing forward with their earth-shattering divine arts. Huge strange beasts stepped forth and brought countless divine arts practitioners with them, once they landed on their backs.
Below the mountain-sized strange beasts were martial arts practitioners wielding knives and swords. They rushed forward frantically and collided with the enemies on land. In a split second, flesh and blood filled the sky.
Above the heads of the strange beasts, flying ships filled the sky, their flags fluttering. Cannons fired for days on end, and lines of light that were as thick as water barrels bombarded the enemy army with destructive force, vaporizing everything they touched!
There were also countless knife and sword pellets spinning rapidly in midair, the lights from which pierced flesh.
There were also some great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace who had transformed into golden-colored bird-headed mutants. Once they flapped their wings and shook their hands, countless rays shot off in all directions.
On the ground, there were golden elephant-headed giants charging forward furiously.
On both sides of the mountain passes were huge mirrors that shone into the sky, on the souls of divine arts practitioners. Next to them were huge flags that swept to the side and changed the wind and clouds, causing lightning to rain down on the battlefield.
There were also huge cloud chariots being pulled by topless giants into the battlefield and causing blood and flesh to fly wherever they went. Upon reaching the frontline of the battlefield, the giants suddenly stopped the cloud chariots and opened them up. Countless bottle gourds were placed within them, and when the chariots were opened, venomous insects buzzed out and covered the sun and the sky. They entered the bodies of the enemy army to gnaw on them.
There were also sacrificial altars that got pushed out, and the golden great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace cast some kind of shaman spells to kill the generals of Eternal Peace Empire, causing the opposite side to have no leader.
Eternal Peace Empire, in the meantime, had sent out groups of divine arts practitioners that were proficient in sword techniques to cut their way through thistles and thorns into the battlefield to kill the golden great shamans on the sacrificial altars.
This sight was truly shocking. Both sides had obviously killed numerous people, for the flowing blood had turned into a river, turning Duck Tongue Zone into something like hell.
It was Qin Mu's first time seeing such a grand spectacle, and his heart palpitated. This was the battlefield of men, the place where men died.
While carrying Xiong Qi'er, Xiong Xiyu, whose face was pale, asked in a low voice, "How do we cross such a place? My cultivation has not yet recovered…"
She had only recovered to the standard of Celestial Being Realm, and in this kind of battlefield, the strength of a Celestial Being Realm was simply insignificant. In the battlefield, a strong practitioner of this realm could die at any moment under a killing formation formed by soldiers of Seven Stars Realm.
Even strong practitioners of Life and Death Realm would find it hard to protect their lives if they just barged through a battlefield like this.
Xiong Xiyu was an existence of cult master level, and upon looking over, she could see that whenever thirty to fifty people gathered together, formation markings would light up. These formations markings would either be on the ground or floating in the air, changing continuously. It showed that even though the battlefield was big, and there were many people, the formations were never messed up.
If someone barged in, they would be minced by a battle formation, and even if one didn't kill them, they would be killed by another one after taking a couple of steps.
Qin Mu tightened the herb basket on his back, and in the herb basket, Village Chief smiled. "Just walk over. Mu'er. You have mastered Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood, right? Let me execute it once more for you to see."
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly, and boundless sword lights burst forth toward the fighting. In a split second, they shrouded the battlefield in front of the two mountain passes, bathing the countless soldiers in the sea of swords. Those sword lights circled and coiled around them, making them not dare to make the slightest movement!
Most of the soldiers standing on the two mountain passes felt their scalps crawl as they looked down. The place had become a sea of sword lights, and everyone was drowned within it!
"Beat the gong to recall the troops!" people shouted out from the city towers on both sides.
However, everyone in the battlefield stood still, not daring to move. None of the troops retreated, and even the flying ships in the sky froze in place.
If they moved, it would mean death.
If these sword lights moved, there would be a sea of blood!
"An expert has arrived!"
On the city tower of Qingmen Pass, a middle-aged man walked out and looked down to see a huge dragon qilin walking unhurriedly through the sea of sword lights.
"Imperial Preceptor!" all of the soldiers greeted the man in the tower.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The middle-aged man on the city tower had a pale white face, and it was obvious he had injuries which were yet to heal. This middle-aged man was none other than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who had been injured in a battle with a god. Even though Qin Mu and Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing had worked together to cure him, he had still been wounded by a god, so he was yet to recover.
Barbarian Di Empire had taken this chance to invade Eternal Peace. The situation at Qingmen Pass was of utmost importance. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor knew that Eternal Peace Empire had suffered great losses in strength after two huge calamities, and in addition to that, he and Emperor Yanfeng had yet to recover to their peak strength. Emperor Yanfeng's injuries were even heavier than his.
He was afraid of Barbarian Di Empire barging straight in, so he had mobilized the troops to guard Qingmen Pass to the death.
He even didn't hesitate to personally come to the battlefield to command the army.
When Village Chief unleashed his swords, the shocking sight of one sword suppressing the struggles on the whole battlefield caught his eye.
Actually, this wasn't a simple shocking sight. Instead, it was having the ability to turn the entire battlefield into a sea of blood, intimidating the soldiers and cavalry on both sides.
The lives of everyone on the battlefield laid in his hands.
This kind of sword skill was no longer part of sword skills, but closer to a profound path. This let Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor see an even higher level, the level of the sword path.
The sword lights unleashed Village Chief's move were uncountable, but the truly terrifying thing was that the movement of each and every sword light was different, restraining every martial and divine art practitioner. This was something that was nearly impossible.
There were tens of thousands of people on the battlefield, and the cultivation of each and every person was different. The martial and divine arts they learned also had differences. Furthermore, with the battle formations having a myriad of changes, if he wanted to restrain everyone, he had to restrain all of their divine arts, martial arts, spirit weapons as well as formations. The number of things to be calculated was at an unimaginable level!
To be able to reach such a level, one could be called god, the god of the sword!
'Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood, I've seen this kind of sword skill before. It was in the painting of Art Saint.'
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor focused his gaze toward the dragon qilin and saw Qin Mu and the rest standing on the creature's back. Even though these people were all very strong, they didn't catch his attention.
'I could see the extremes of sword skill from that painting, and I had studied the sword technique of the man in the painting for the past two hundred years. I would have new gains whenever I observed this painting for a long time. When I no longer could see anything new, I thought I had already reached his level.'
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor reminisced about the painting and tried to look for the man in the painting, but he couldn't find him. His gaze then landed on Qin Mu's back.
The youth was carrying a herb basket within which he could see a white-haired old man that had no limbs.
This old man didn't look like the man in the painting. That person was a sword god in his heyday. His acute spirit burst forth like a sword that had just drunk blood.
The old man in the herb basket, however, was in the last of his days. He looked as if his light could be extinguished at any moment. There was no sight on him of the high spirits of the sword god in the painting.
However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was certain that this handicapped old man was the sword god from back then!
After all, the enlightenment for his sword skills came from the sword god in the painting.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body trembled slightly, and he let out a shaky breath before instructing the people around him, "Welcome the guests!"
The city gates opened, and the soldiers in the city lined up on both sides. The dragon qilin walked in with his head held high. At that moment, all the sword lights in the battlefield poured over like a flood at Qin Mu, going into the herb basket behind his back.
Village Chief popped his head out and saw a middle-aged person coming over to welcome him. He was the man who was said to be the saint that appears once every five hundred years, the man that was said to be the number one practitioner under the gods, the man that was acclaimed to be the current generation's sword god!
The gaze of the two people met, and ripples billowed in their hearts.
The sword god of the previous generation and the sword god of the current generation had finally met!
Next to the battlefield, the beating of a bronze gong came from the city towers on both mountain passes. It was the sound of retreat, sending orders to the soldiers on the battlefield to withdraw.
The tens of thousands of soldiers felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off their shoulders. Everyone instantly felt their bodies drenched in sweat.
In Qingmen Pass, Village Chief, who had been in the herb basket, flew out. As if he had grown arms and legs, he walked toward Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and the two strongest men of their respective generations met!
"You have learned sword?" Village Chief asked.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor did a disciple greeting and said respectfully, "Disciple has learned sword in his early years, but haven't done that since reaching one hundred and sixty years old."
"You understood sword at one hundred and sixty years old?" Village Chief asked.
"I had read extensively through all the techniques and ultimate arts in the world and comprehended boundless divine arts, thus I understood sword and started to create my own sword skills," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor answered solemnly.
Village Chief smiled. "Display your sword skills for me."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor drew his sword, and sword light filled the heaven, lighting up the world. His sword skills had countless changes, were as complicated as the numerous stars in the sky, yet simple like the counting rods. Some were straight, some were winding, as if they could transform into all the skills in the world, giving others an indescribable feeling.
There was a kind of bearing that pressed forward in his sword skills, a spirit that was like a blazing fire tearing through the bright flowers coming from the reform. It seemed to want to set all the things in the world ablaze, changing the inherent heaven and earth, the never changing great Dao, to reform everything that is trite, tear open and reveal the ugly faces of the degenerates of the old generation!
This man wanted to use his sword to change the empty and trite paths of this world, to open up new paths and let the world enter a new age!
His sword skills had already surpassed technique and become skills which incorporated his philosophy. Just one step, and he could reach the realm of the path!
With philosophy, life was given to sword skills, so his sword skills already had life. Since the path was in front of philosophy, only by surpassing it could he see the path.
With only a step forward, he would be able to see the path.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pulled his sword back and gasped for breath. His injuries were still not yet healed, so his cultivation wasn't like it was before. However, before the previous generation's sword god, he was like a student wishing to show his most perfect sword skill and looking forward to hearing his evaluation.
"Superb sword skills," Village Chief praised. "No doubt you're the number one man under the gods, the saint that appears once every five hundred years. Before death, I have finally met someone who I can interact with. I've come out this time just to meet you, to let you witness the path."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then said solemnly, "Today at Qingmen Pass, there are a million soldiers stationed, many of whom are my students; however, I'm your student. There are also numerous scholars from Imperial College who had come here to lend their strength in the face of the empire's disaster, so may teacher please expound his wisdom and dispel our doubts!"
Village Chief smiled. "I dare not, it's just an interaction."
The two of them walked side by side with Qin Mu following behind them. Xiong Xiyu raised her head to look at a man approaching old age and a man at his robust years with a bizarre gaze while saying under her breath, "In my West Earth's True Heaven Palace, there are no such outstanding men. With the women of our West Earth in charge, the men are all yes-men, doing whatever they are told to do. If the men of West Earth were as bold and as capable as them, why would us women need to be in charge?"
They walked into the city, and Qin Mu saw numerous scholars from Imperial College. All of them were sitting cross-legged and waiting quietly. They were unable to hide the excitement that was on their faces.
Now that Barbarian Di Empire was launching a full-scale invasion on Eternal Peace Empire after it had just gone through a massive rebellion and snow disaster, there was no way for people to make a living. The population was declining, and the people were mostly destitute and homeless. Before the empire could settle down, the rations were also in short supply. Even in the army, the rations were lacking, so many scholars from Imperial College could only save on food after coming here, not daring to eat till they were full.
Qin Mu saw Wei Yong, Qin Yu, and the rest. Wei Yong was originally a big fatty, but now he had slimmed down quite a bit from starvation.
Only when they reached fall's harvest could this hard-pressed situation turn slightly better.
Village Chief and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sat down, and Village Chief said in a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow, "The purpose of my visit is not to talk about sword skills. I shall only talk about the path. The sword path. As for how much you can take from my speech, it will depend on your comprehension. There was no such thing as a sword path in this world before, but ever since weapons such as a sword were created, a sword path came to be."
Numerous soldiers that had come back from the frontlines walked over. Some of them took off their armor to sit on the ground while some just stood and listened.
Many people revealed puzzled expressions when they heard the lecture of this elder. Someone said in a low voice, "Could the great Dao of heaven and earth be created? Aren't we divine arts practitioners cultivating the natural great Dao of heaven and earth?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. He recalled his conversation with Heavenly King Yu, about how the great Dao of heaven and earth had changed.
The creativity of humans had born numerous great Dao of heaven and earth that didn't exist in the world at the start. It was also that same creativity that had changed the old Daos into something new.
When a great Dao is changed, the skills would also change, thus it was known as a reform.
Heavenly King Yu felt that reforms could touch the benefits of gods and devils.
However, what Village Chief said was much more profound.
Everyone was puzzled because they were all people who had cultivated qi and their inherent knowledge was to learn the paths, skills, and divine arts that were passed down to them. Furthermore, divine arts relied on a path and skills, so if they changed their inherent understanding, one could well imagine how big of a blow it would be to their hearts!
"How is a great Dao created?" asked Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
"Walk to the extreme and it will be created. Imperial Preceptor, have your sword skills reached their extremes?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned and said, "Just a little more."
Village Chief revealed a smile. "Let me help you."
He stabbed at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and the scenery around them changed. Thousands of mountains and rivers came flooding in his face, and in a split second, their surroundings no longer looked like Qingmen Pass or a battlefield with blood flowing in a red river. Instead, it looked like a whole new world that had fresh green mountain ranges overflowing with greenery, rivers rolling into the distance. Each and every wave looked extremely clear and real, while the veins of each and every leaf on the trees and bushes were complicated, without any two being alike.
Everyone stood up, and there were even some people that climbed the mountains while some jumped into the river. There were even some that plucked the flowers formed by sword lights while Qin Mu stretched out his hand to catch a drop of dew trickling down from a leaf.
Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
This was the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers that Village Chief had executed. It was clearly a move that had supreme power, but in Village Chief's hand, it was completely harmless. Instead of dealing damage, it brought everyone into a bizarre world.
It was as if this place was a real world, one formed by a sword path.
Even though this situation had a huge impact on them, it was the strongest on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. His body trembled, and his soul palpitated. He squatted and caressed the ground, then raised his head to look up at the starry sky. Village Chief had shown him the true face of the path, allowing him to touch the sword path.
Suddenly, he felt that a door had been blown open, and he stood there motionlessly with a blank gaze.
Village Chief saw this sight and exclaimed to himself, 'The saint that appears once every five hundred years indeed has much better aptitude than Mu'er, comprehending the path in such a short time.'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu's gaze landed on the dew on his fingertip. It left him slightly at a loss. A sword skill could actually reach such a level?
The sword skill that Village Chief executed this time was different from those in the past. The Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers showed back then taught him how to execute the whole process flawlessly, allowing him to learn how to execute the sword skill.
Even though the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers this time was the same one he'd been taught, there was something additional in it that made it different.
It was like executing the creation of heaven and earth to create all things.
Dao Sect's Dao Sword used the method of algebra to analyze all things in nature, and then the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword recreated all things in nature, which gave it unimaginable power.
The sword skill of Village Chief, however, seemed to have taken an opposite path. He was creating all things in the world while his sword skill to interpret them.
It was hard to say which method was superior, but from a conceptual point of view, there was an obvious choice. Dao Sword worked under the expression of Dao follows the nature, while Village Chief's Sword Picture created nature, which showed that the conception of Sword Picture should be superior.
Interpreting nature was a kind of learning, a learning from nature. Creation, on the other hand, was the act of making something out of nothing. Based on the summary of Dao Sect's teachings—the path produces one, one produces two, two produces three, and three produce all things—Village Chief's sword picture had mastered the path to produce all things. The Dao Sword of Dao Sect was interpreting all things, but exhausting all possibilities.
Qin Mu focused his gaze on the drop of dew, which was sparkling and translucent, looking incomparably glossy. In the surface of the dew, he could actually see the reflection of boundless universes presenting themselves in fine detail.
"Cyan Heaven's Eyes, awaken!"
Layers of formation markings swirled in Qin Mu's pupils, and with Cyan Heaven's Eyes, he tried to see the fine sword lights which formed the dew. However, what disappointed him was that he couldn't see anything even with his skill.
However, he noticed a marvelous point. The dew reflected external objects, and looking at it in detail, he could actually see even more details of the reflection.
Through it, he looked at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who had entered some marvelous realm. His gaze may look blank, but when looking into his eyes through the dew, Qin Mu could see countless changes in the arrays of his eyes.
By looking even deeper, he seemed to see a world produced inside the transformations of the arrays.
Qin Mu stirred up his spirit and maintained the operation of Cyan Heaven's Eyes. Looking over, he could see everything even more clearly, and the transformations of the arrays in Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes seemed to open a new world, demonstrating the magic of creation!
He had the feeling of being there personally, situated in the world that was born in Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes. He was experiencing the comprehension of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
He was comprehending the sword path, and he was indeed a person brimming with talent. It was no wonder that Heavenly Devil Patriarch, Old Dao Master, and Old Rulai had sympathy for a talent such as him the moment they laid eyes on him and imparted the ultimate arts of their respective sacred grounds to him.
Qin Mu was inferior to him in terms of comprehension and aptitude. When Imperial Preceptor first saw Village Chief's sword path, he was able to comprehend new things by analogy and grasp his own sword path. Faced with such a heaven-defying aptitude and talent, Qin Mu acknowledged that his own ability falling short.
However, Qin Mu was currently using the dew's power to enter Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's state of comprehension, borrowing it to improve himself.
"Truly marvellousĄ"
When Village Chief saw this, he sighed ruefully to Cripple. "Even though Qin Mu's aptitude and comprehension aren't comparable to those of the saint that appears once every five hundred years, but this kind of quick wit and diligence is not something the saint can match."
Cripple was proud. "As expected of the one I taught!"
"It's as expected of the one we taught!" Village Chief added as well.
"How do you view Imperial Preceptor? Can he be the human emperor?" Cripple asked.
Village Chief was silent for a moment, then said in a soft voice, "He's not inferior to me and might be even more outstanding than me in the future."
Cripple looked at him with doubt. "I know you never finish your sentences, but why don't you say what you want to say all at once?"
Village Chief sighed. "I'm very strong and have reached the extreme of sword skills, but look at what severed my limbs - a sword."
Cripple no longer said anything, so Village Chief continued, "My limbs were severed, severed by someone with a sword. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, this saint that appears once every five hundred years, might be stronger than me, but if he doesn't have any chance meeting, he will be trapped on Divine Bridge Realm like me. If he can't connect the divine bridge, there'll be no way to reach the other realm and he will just face the same end as me."
Cripple's body trembled. He looked at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor before turning to Qin Mu. With a questioning look, he asked in a low voice, "After you and I die, if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also dies, what's going to happen to Qin Mu?"
"I had originally wished for him to be an ordinary person, a normal person who will live a normal life. Yet he had exceeded my expectations time and again, destroying all my plans for him one after another. I can't be sure about his future. At first, I thought that he was an ordinary human, but ever since I went to search for Carefree Village, I became aware that he might have some extraordinary points."
Cripple broke into a grin. "Ordinary? Village Chief, you're getting muddle-headed. Is there ever an ordinary Overlord Body? Mu'er is the Overlord Body, so how is he ordinary?"
Village Chief's expression froze, and he gave a forced laugh before continuing, "That's right, I've forgotten that he's the Overlord Body, so it's natural for him to do stuff that is out of the ordinary. Yet he still exceeded my expectations this time. I thought he would comprehend some profound stuff from my sword path, yet he saw the process of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's comprehension in that drop of dew. This is too… too…"
He didn't know how to continue. Cripple laughed. "Too inconceivable!"
Village Chief nodded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "It's indeed too inconceivable! Mu'er, this little fellow, I thought he would never awaken his spirit embryo yet he did it. I thought he would be stuck on Spirit Embryo Realm and never progress yet he found the follow-up technique of Overlord Body… Ehem, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. I thought he would be like everyone else yet he defeated all three hundred and sixty hall masters of Heavenly Devil Cult and became their young cult master. I thought he wouldn't be able to learn what we teach him yet he learned very well, with the momentum that surpasses us."
He smiled bitterly. "I thought I would never acknowledge him and never hand my legacy down to him, yet I acknowledged him and imparted my legacy to him. I even handed my burden and responsibility to him."
He reminisced about the past with a feeling of wanting to laugh. "At first, I didn't trust him and didn't think he could accomplish anything extraordinary, yet every time he raises my expectations higher and higher. In the end, I realize that is still the one I trust the most. In truth, as we raised him up, we also grew from that."
Cripple asked with a smile, "What you're trying to say is?"
Village Chief's wrinkles gathered together on his forehead, and he revealed a sincere smile from the depths of his heart. "What I mean is that in comparison to Imperial Preceptor, I think more highly of Mu'er who we all raised together. The child that was given to us by Surging River in the darkness fifteen years ago was born extraordinary! His aptitude isn't as astonishing as that of Imperial Preceptor and his comprehension isn't as heaven-defying, but there's something about him that I can't see through…"
"It's Overlord Body!" Cripple said excitedly.
The smile on Village Chief's face froze, and he had a myriad of emotions as he muttered, "Maybe it's because of Overlord Body. An ordinary person creating a miracle once might be by chance, twice might be by luck, but after three or four times, it won't be chance or luck anymore. Instead, he is indeed different from others, an Overlord Body that's worth our respect. Our Mu'er has inherited the good points of us failures who have hidden in Great Ruins and learned from our lessons. He will definitely be able to walk farther than any of us!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor comprehended the path, his understanding growing deeper and deeper. With the drop of dew to peek at him comprehending the path, Qin Mu managed to see the entire process as it happened.
With Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor comprehending the sword path, he would gain a lot of benefits due to the man being on a way higher realm than him.
Even though Qin Mu was still at the primary stage of skill, by borrowing Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor comprehending path, he could peek into the stage of sword path. The benefits he gained from that were unimaginable!
Compared to a giant like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Qin Mu was only a small child. Yet this small child could stand on the shoulders of this giant to attain a wider horizon.
Even though all the people in Qingmen Pass were comprehending Village Chief's Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, those that were able to grasp the paramount marvel within it were few and far between. Most of them could comprehend a move or two, and it may be extraordinary enough for them to last the rest of their lives, but there was absolutely no one that had receives as huge a benefit as Qin Mu!
It was equivalent to learning about paramount marvels in regards to the sword from Village Chief and Imperial Preceptor, these two great sword gods!
After a long time, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor woke up from comprehending the path, and there was an indescribable bearing about him.
Upon reaching the highest peak, all mountains could be held within a single glance.
Now that he had stepped onto the peak of sword skill, looking at all the sword skills and divine arts in the world gave him a sense of depression. There were no more sword skills and divine arts in this world that could light up his eyes.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor revealed a sorrowful expression, but soon after, he noticed something different. He could actually feel someone peeking at him, into his Dao heart, into him comprehending the path!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was astonished and looked toward the source, his gaze landing on Qin Mu.
He was stunned for a moment, then broke out laughing while shaking his head. "I see, Heavenly Saint Cult Master is really great at using others for his own gain."
Qin Mu immediately felt his gaze. There was a light sting in his eyes, and he immediately redirected his gaze. When their gazes crossed paths, Qin Mu revealed a radiant smile. "Heavenly King, sorry to disturb you."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled in return. "No worries."
Suddenly, the mountains and rivers dispersed as all sword lights vanished. Village Chief pulled back his sword lights and said to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, "You have already attained the path."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor bowed to express his thanks. "If not for Dao brother's guidance, I still wouldn't know when I would be able to enter the realm of the path."
The arms and legs of Village Chief that were formed by vital qi dispersed automatically as he said, "Come forward and take a look at the severed section of my arms and legs. I had always left these sword scars alone, never erasing them. In the future, you might meet the god that left me these wounds."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked forward solemnly, squatting down to examine the wounds in detail.
What he saw were sword scars which had been left behind on Old Human Emperor by a sword that was stronger than his. A practitioner proficient in sword had been injured by the sword. In Imperial Preceptor's eyes, Village Chief's sword skills had already reached the realm of the path, which meant they were above his. It's just that his qi and blood were exhausted and not flourishing like his. Yet from these injuries, he could see sword skills and a sword path that was even stronger!
"Do you have confidence in defeating him?" Village Chief asked.
"Not now. However, I might in the future! You imparted your sword path to me and you are also the enlightenment of my sword skills, so you are my teacher. Thus, would you hand the burden that you're carrying to me?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked with a grim face
Village Chief shook his head and smiled. "There's no need to hand it to you, I have already given it to someone else."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's heart trembled violently, but then he came to a sudden realization. He looked at Qin Mu and asked in a low voice, "The new human emperor?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The new human emperor!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a somewhat complicated gaze, and a murderous thought even arose in his heart. As the human emperor of the previous generation, Village Chief didn't care about fame and fortune nor did he desire power; his goal was much further away. He didn't set his gaze on the power of the mortal world, thus he was respected by everyone.
However, will Qin Mu, this new human emperor, be like Village Chief?
Human emperors held massive power, and it surpassed even that of Emperor Yanfeng. Their charisma was even higher than that of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor as well!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had gone to Little Jade Capital before and knew some secrets, like the power of the human emperor. He and Emperor Yanfeng wanted to unite all the sects and sacred grounds in the world, but there were not many that would submit to them.
However, it was possible for the human emperor.
He could make the sects submit to him. The power of the human emperor wasn't won through a fight, but was instead given to him by all of the big sects and sacred grounds!
Even if it was Little Jade Capital, if they knew Qin Mu was the new human emperor, they would probably support him as well.
If Qin Mu got drunk on power, he could snatch the throne of Eternal Peace, completely destroying the great cause of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng!
"If you and Emperor Yanfeng fail, the human emperor will still be around, giving the hope of a hope for a comeback," Village Chief said.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's heart shook, and he pulled back his gaze. "I won't fail."
Village Chief smiled. "I hope you won't fail. I don't want Mu'er to suffer."
Qin Mu walked over so the two of them closed their mouth and stopped talking.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze landed on the youth again, and there was a weird feeling in his heart. This fifteen or sixteen years old boy in front of him could be said to hold the greatest authority in the world yet he knew nothing about it.
Qin Mu was the current Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Imperial Academician of Imperial College, the successor of Disabled Elderly Village, but his greatest identity to date was the current human emperor.
His authority was even higher than that of the emperor and Imperial Preceptor, but Qin Mu didn't seem to know what it meant, which was really strange.
Cripple caught Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's expression and was secretly pleased. 'Imperial Preceptor probably doesn't know that Mu'er has the treasure that symbolizes the imperial power of Ling Family. If he knew Emperor's Disk was with Qin Mu, he would probably jump up and down in fury.'
Cripple had handed Emperor's Disk to Qin Mu for fun. He had studied that jade disk for dozens of years, but he could never comprehend the marvel of it, so it was useless for him to keep it.
However, he did know what Emperor's Disk symbolized. This jade disk was granted to Ling Family by a god which represented a god giving imperial power to them. It was said Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of Ling Family was comprehended from Emperor's Disk.
When it was stolen, it was quite a huge incident, but it was suppressed by Emperor Yanfeng so no outsiders knew.
No one would thus expect that this Emperor's Disk would actually be in Qin Mu's hands!
With Emperor's Disk and Human Emperor's Seal, Qin Mu was the person with the most authority in this world, yet he knew nothing about it.
'If this foolish boy learned of this, he would definitely be shocked to the point he couldn't close his mouth!' This thought pleased Cripple.
Assistant Minister of Ministry of Works Shan Youxin walked over and greeted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor before saying to Qin Mu in a low voice, "Cult Master, the cannons in the flying ship need to be repaired after the huge battle. Can I invite Cult Master to go over and have a look?"
"Your forging skills aren't any inferior to mine, so why do you need me to go over?" Qin Mu asked in bewilderment.
"There are problems with the formation markings in the cannon barrel. After the cannon is activated for eight-nine times, the barrel becomes red-hot, and the formation marking in the cannon gets disturbed, causing the power of the formation to decrease drastically and even blow up."
Shan Youxin was Heavenly Works Hall Master, so he quickly led the way in front while saying, "While fighting with Barbarian Di Empire this time, over a dozen cannons have already exploded and over a hundred divine arts practitioners died from that. The formation markings of these cannons were designed by Hall of Heavenly Works and Hall of Array Elements together. I think it might be caused by the weariness of the black gold, it might not be able to handle the strain…"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I don't think it's the weariness of black gold. It should be problems with the formation that caused thermal decay. Let me go and take a look."
"Thermal decay?" Shan Youxin's eyes lit up, and he praised, "It's possible! But the design from Hall of Array Elements is perfect, I'm afraid it would be hard to improve it."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his eyebrows when he saw the two walking away. "Cult Master actually knows the path of forging treasures so well that even Assistant Minister Shan needs to consult him!" he said in astonishment.
Cripple smiled. "Mu'er learned to forge before."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a glance at him and remembered how this shameless old thief had shat on his bed and peed in his teapot, causing his face to become slightly green. Furthermore, the picture of Sword God's back had also been stolen by him!
Qin Mu and Shan Youxin came onto a flying ship and saw numerous officials from Ministry of Works hurrying to repair the damaged parts on the ship. There were a few cannons that had exploded, and there were still some bloodstains on the barrels of the cannons.
These kind of cannons were called True Origin Cannons. There was none on the merchant ship and Fan Yunxiao really wanted to get a few, but they couldn't be bought on the market.
Qin Mu first checked where the explosion had originated, then examined what energy had caused it. After that, he checked the section of the metal before taking a look at the batteries. He mumbled to himself "Besides the problems in forging, the formations are wrong as well. However, they are hard to change. With the war at hand, we won't have time to reforge the batteries and redo the formations. In that case, we can only make changes to the cannon. In my opinion, we should add ring-shaped treasures at the cannon's opening and the depths of its bore, using them to concentrate the light."
He sliced down a huge chunk of metal from the cannon's body and melted this piece of black gold with his vital qi, forging it on the spot.
Numerous officials from Ministry of Works came over and looked as he forged the treasure. They were all full of praises as they took out paper and brush to record his forging methods.
Not long later, Qin Mu forged two rings and made formation markings on them.
The formations he had marked on the rings were the Heaven Markings from Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Technique that Blind had taught him. These two rings looked like the irises of an eye, just without a pupil.
One of the rings was placed in the depths of the cannon's bore, and the other at its opening.
Qin Mu transformed Vermillion Bird Vital Qi into blazing fire and connected the formation markings of True Origin Cannon with the formations on the two rings while saying, "Hall Master Shan, try activating True Origin Cannon."
The energy for True Origin Cannon was supplied from the pill furnaces of the flying ship. After improving the pill furnaces on the flying ship, True Origin Cannons could release their strongest power.
Shan Youxin immediately gave orders for the soldiers to start the furnace and rise into the air. The flying ship floated in midair and shot down toward Duck Tongue Zone.
A beam of light that was brighter than before shot out in a straight line and hit a soldier of Barbarian Di Empire that was cleaning up the battlefield.
That soldier had been relying on his fast speed to clean the treasures off the corpses on the battlefield, yet he didn't expect a beam of light to shoot over. He was pierced by the light, and his corpse fell to the ground.
The officials on the flying ship were all stunned. They looked each other in the eyes, seeing their own astonishment there. The beam of True Origin Cannon could only reach thirty miles originally, but now it could actually cover a hundred miles and more!
Shan Youxin personally adjusted the battery again and fired once more. Another beam of light shot out, and another Barbarian Di Empire's soldier collapsed onto the ground, dying an unnatural death.
The other soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire immediately scrambled for their lives as Shan Youxin fired repeatedly, killing the soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire one after another. None of them escaped alive, leaving only their mounts to sprint back alone to the mountain pass on the opposite side.
Shan Youxin touched the cannon's barrel and said in astonishment, "After firing seventeen times, the barrel is still cool! Imperial Preceptor, Imperial Preceptor! Quick, invite Imperial Preceptor over!"
After a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to the ship with a look of inquiry.
It was hard for Shan Youxin to cover up his excitement as he bowed. "Imperial Preceptor, we can now capture Barbarian Di Empire!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's heart trembled violently, and he said with a grim face, "Assistant Minister Shan, there's no joking around in the military!"
Shan Youxin smiled. "Imperial Preceptor, this is definitely no joking matter! The True Origin Cannons on our flying ship could only shoot thirty miles, and on the battlefield where there are many experts, strong practitioners on Seven Stars Realm can execute their sword pellets to take the lives of people thirty miles away. This is why the True Origin Cannons on the flying ship could only be situated in the middle guard, and they could only fire eight to nine times. Now a True Origin Cannon can shoot a hundred and sixty miles; it had increased by five times!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor jumped in shock and cried out, "A hundred and sixty miles? Are you sure it's a hundred and sixty miles?"
Shan Youxin nodded heavily and said, "It's a hundred and sixty miles. Furthermore, after Cult Master Qin's improvement, the barrel won't become hot, and this is the most crucial point, we can fire as many times as we want! The flying ships were originally in the middle guard, but now, they can totally line up and be used to pave the way! Our army has over two hundred flying ships and there are two rows of True Origin Cannons on both sides of the ships. Each row has eight cannons, and there are also four cannons in the front and back of the ships, coming to a total of forty cannons. With over two hundred flying ships—eight to nine thousand cannons—we can kill enemies from over a hundred miles away, purging them wave after wave. We can directly push to the area outside of the city!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sucked in a cold breath and muttered, "Hall Master Shan, this cannon of yours will save a lot of our rations as well as countless soldier lives…"
Shan Youxin bowed. "This is all Cult Master's work, I don't dare to take his credit."
Qin Mu was currently drawing the formation blueprints of Heaven's Eyes. When he finished, he handed them over to an official from Ministry of Works.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went forward and took a look before asking with suspicion, "This is some kind of pupil divine art! You used a pupil divine art on the True Origin Cannon?"
Qin Mu washed his brush and nodded. "The opening of the cannon is the pupil, and the cannon's light is the gaze, this can really work."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was first stunned, then said, "There are over a hundred pupil skills in Imperial College's Floor of Heavenly Records, and among them, the strongest one is called Sunshot, which even I might not be able to cultivate. I have recorded the formation markings of Sunshot Divine Eyes, but could you create such a huge cannon?"
His vital qi burst forth and layers of formation markings appeared, transforming into an incomparably complicated pupil.
Qin Mu examined it in detail, and his body suddenly shrank. He walked among the formation markings, then his body returned to normal and he landed on the ground. He said, "This cannon requires many people to create and needs two to three manufacturing factories to work together. I reckon only one can be made within two months' time. Furthermore, this kind of cannon would be extremely huge, much heavier than any other spirit weapon! Where did Imperial Preceptor get such a complicated divine eye?"
"Great Ruins," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said in a deep voice. "I was also shaken when I first saw this kind of pupil skill, but can you see what it is used for?"
Qin Mu shook his head.
"Slaughtering gods," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said calmly. "If you can create it, you will be the number one in heavenly works in the world. The cannon you will make might be able to kill gods!"
Qin Mu immediately waved his hand and said extremely sincerely, "I don't dare to call myself number one in heavenly works, I'm just number two."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor seemed to be smiling yet not smiling. "Sacred Cult Master sure isn't humble."
Qin Mu was slightly bewildered. He was clearly humble, but he was realistic as well, admitting he was number two and not number one. He never bragged, so how could this not be humble?
Assistant Minister Shan Youxin is the Heavenly Works Hall Master of Heavenly Devil Cult and his treasure forging methods were top notch in the world. Even if other sects had capable people who were proficient in forging treasures, they couldn't match Shan Youxin.
Yet Shan Youxin was inferior to Qin Mu, so since Qin Mu felt that he was still inferior to Mute, admitting himself to be number two was being humble and telling the truth. Old Ma had taught him not to be arrogant or hot-tempered, not be servile or overbearing, so he was just following these requirements.
It's just that to others, being the world's second best in heavenly works at such a young age was simply too shocking. Besides, when such a youth admitted that he was the number two divine physician as well, it was simply too shocking.
Qin Mu pondered the situation for a moment, then wrote down a list of materials before handing it over to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. These were the rough estimations for materials needed to create such a battery. If it wasn't enough, he could always ask for more.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor picked the list and took a moment to look through it before asking, "Sacred Cult Master wants to empty the empire's treasury?"
"Why does Imperial Preceptor say so?" he asked in bewilderment.
"The black gold and black copper on your list are fine. Even if you use up more than several mines worth, they can still be provided. However, where do you want me to find divine gold and other divine materials?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor flicked the list away, revealed a very sincere look. "Is Cult Master coveting the treasures in the empire's treasury? If that's the case, there's a place for Cult Master at the entrance of the marketplace."
"Imperial Preceptor, what you want to make is a thing to slaughter gods, something that's greater than a cult legacy treasure that can kill a few cult masters! Also, if you hadn't said it, I would have forgotten, salaries will have to be paid since the cult followers of our Heavenly Saint Cult will be helping out with the forging of the treasure."
Qin Mu pondered over it, then wrote down the salaries as well as how many manufacturing factories he would need. Some of the names of the first ranking high officials in the imperial court were also listed by him.
"To forge such a divine cannon, I will also require all the divine arts practitioners that are great in algebra. It'd be best to invite the experts of Dao Sect!"
Qin Mu wrote down Dao Sect on the list and said, "Every component of this divine cannon requires extreme precision, so there will be a lot of calculations to be done. With just the scholars of Imperial College, I'm afraid it will take us several hundred years to finish calculating everything, and there may even be errors. The experts of Dao Sect are strong in this field, so we definitely need them."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's face changed slightly as he felt the list in his hands becoming heavier.
Even with the power of the entire empire, he reckoned they would only be able to forge one Sunshot Divine Cannon!
The hardest part in all of this was going to be inviting the experts of Dao Sect. Old Dao Master had once attempted to assassinate Emperor Yanfeng and almost succeeded. They even assisted the previous crown prince in the rebellion and almost crowned him the new emperor. After the rebellion was quelled, Emperor Yanfeng and Crown Prince Ling Yushu had ruthlessly beaten down on Dao Sect, so the two sides weren't on friendly terms. They were like fire and water.
To ask the experts of Dao Sect to help was going to be very difficult.
However, this kind of divine cannon had to be forged. Otherwise, when the next disaster struck, there would be no way for them to defend against it!
With Imperial Preceptor yet to recover to his peak state, who knew if the next disaster would arrive before that could happen?
"The empire's treasury is empty, we don't have that much money. Could Sacred Cult Master give a discount?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor probed.
Qin Mu calculated it and said, "After Rolan's Golden Palace is conquered, Imperial Preceptor shall allow me to choose a hundred treasures, then I'll pay the salaries of the cult followers myself."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still wanted to bargain when Qin Mu smiled. "Heavenly King, I didn't ask for my own salary. It's not a small price to invite the number two in heavenly works in the world to undertake this! What's more, I'm still the Heavenly Saint Cult Master!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed. "I shouldn't have agreed to be the heavenly king of Heavenly Saint Cult, now my hands are tied and I can't even bargain. I need to report this to the emperor and ask him to make a decision. Over the years, Eternal Peace Empire has annexed many countries and eradicated numerous sects, so there are some divine gold and divine materials in the empire's treasury. We just need the emperor to nod his head. Wait for a dozen days, and the emperor's decree will come."
Qin Mu turned around to help forge Heaven's Rings. He wasn't too worried about the divine gold or divine materials since he didn't find them valuable as he had many of them when he was refining his sword pellet. They had come from the treasury of Heavenly Devil Cult, while he had transferred all kinds of cult legacy treasures there in return.
He, Ministry of Works, and the scholars of Imperial College forged Heaven's Rings together, their speed extremely fast. Speed was a crucial asset in war, and even if they only forged Heaven's Rings, they still needed over seventeen thousand of them, which turned it into a huge project.
Once the Heaven's Rings were connected to the formation markings, they could concentrate the true origin light in the center of the barrel, not allowing it to come into contact with the walls. This gathered true origin light would become as thick as a bowl's opening, so the barrel wouldn't heat up, eliminating the weariness of the black gold and thermal decay.
The cannon beam of True Origin Cannon was originally as thick as a water barrel, but now it had become as thick as a bowl's opening. The attack's surface might have become smaller, but the range was drastically increased. The shooters could also fire them as long as they liked, without worrying that the cannon would explode. This turned the flying ships into battleships.
Actually, Heaven's Eyes wasn't the greatest improvement that could be done to True Origin Cannon. Among Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill, Heaven's Eyes was the most basic pupil skill. The other eight kinds of pupil skills were much stronger.
The strongest was the ninth heaven, Fire Heaven's Eyes.
However, the formation of Heaven's Eyes was the simplest and the easiest to learn. It was easiest to make and required the least amount of materials, so Qin Mu chose this skill to impart to everyone.
If it was Fire Heaven's Eyes, even Qin Mu would need ten to fifteen days to refine one ring. The formation markings of Fire Heaven's Ring were too complicated, and if he used them, the true origin light might be concentrated into a beam of light that was even finer than a needle, and the range would once again be drastically increased. However, activating such a True Origin Cannon would require an extremely large amount of energy, one that even the empire's treasury might not be able to handle.
'If Fire Heaven's Rings could be forged to concentrate light into a thread, there would be no stronghold it couldn't overcome. Even an army with ten thousand men and horses wouldn't be able to break through if it was used to guard a sacred ground!"
Qin Mu calculated how much would such a guarding formation cost and was instantly disappointed. Heavenly Saint Cult would be able to forge it, but they wouldn't be able to use it, activating the formation and maintaining it required too many medicinal stones.
His thoughts started wandering again. Even though Fire Heaven's Eyes wasn't as crazily strong as Sunshot Divine Eyes, Blind's Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill and his divine eyes contained the formation markings of nine layers of heavens, which was equivalent to the power of nine layers of heaven accumulating together. Now that was terrifying!
'When Grandpa Blind's eyes were still around, wouldn't everyone have just died from one look?'
Qin Mu couldn't help becoming fascinated. Blind was short and was always chattering away while propping himself up by his bamboo cane to show off his literary excellence. It was hard to imagine how terrifying his gaze would have been when his eyes were still around.
Then again, what kind of person could have dug out Blind's divine eyes?
Since the spear god back then had such terrifying divine eyes, who was the one that was able to take his eyes and reduce such a godly existence to that kind of state?
'Dao Sect? Great Thunderclap Monastery? Li Tianxing? Or is it Little Jade Capital?'
Qin Mu wondered about it when he suddenly remembered the youth called Xu Shenghua, which stirred his heart. 'Could it be that place called High Heavens from which Xu Shenghua came?'
Blind was known as Spear God, but his strength lay in his divine eyes. But they were dug out.
Butcher was known as Heaven Knife and had once slaughtered his way up to the sky. Legend said that a god had appeared and severed him from the waist.
Village Chief was known as Sword God, but his limbs had been severed by a sword.
Were any of these related?
Cripple was the Thief God, and his leg had been chopped off by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor when he went to steal from the imperial palace, so it was different from Blind, Butcher, and the rest. Mute's tongue was cut off, but without Mute saying anything, no one knew the story behind it.
Apothecary's face was sliced off by himself, parting over the dispute of love. Deaf's ears had been cut off by himself as he hated himself for not using them to pay attention to outside matters. Granny Si's heart devil was Li Tianxing. They were master and disciple fighting over a divine beauty. Old Ma's arm had been severed by himself as a compensation for his master's kindness. All these were not related.
Only Butcher and Village Chief's disability had similar reasons.
A god.
Meanwhile, the person who dug out Blind's eyes was unknown.
'Where could Grandpa Blind's eyes be?'
Qin Mu fell into a daze, but then shook his head to throw this matter to the back of his mind. He thought to himself, 'According to the theory of True Origin Cannon, I can make use of Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Technique to create a pupil divine art. Grandpa Blind only taught me pupil skills, without teaching me divine arts, but I can create one myself! When I succeed in cultivating my divine eyes, I would like to see who will come to dig out my eyes!'
He immediately put what he thought into action and executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Mobilizing the Seven Writings of Creation in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, he utilized Human King Creation Technique and Earth Aeon Creation Technique. Instantly, fire energy from his vital qi started to gather in his eyes.
Layers of formations gathered in his pupils, and Cyan Heaven's Eyes appeared. When he executed the technique, two beams instantly shot out.
Qin Mu's eyes blazed with fire, and the light became more and more intense. His gaze focused on the cannon battery in front of him, slicing it into three parts!
Everyone on the ship looked over, and Qin Mu immediately retracted his gaze, dispersing the formation in his eyes. With a smile, he said, "Don't panic, I just felt that this battery was useless so I decided to reforge it."
The astonishment on everyone's face didn't fade away, while Qin Mu's heart pounded violently as his hands formed into tight fists, 'Divine eyes are truly powerful, whoever I look at will die…'
Cripple and Village Chief sat at the gate of the city lord's manor, basking in the sun. When they saw the two beams, Cripple couldn't help shaking his head. "Mu'er, this rascal, playing around again. He's totally not afraid of spoiling his eyes with the heat. Blind is also too big-hearted, to even teach him such a dangerous thing."
Village Chief beamed at him while saying, "You can see how strong Blind's divine eyes were by looking at Qin Mu. The person who dug his eyes out is no ordinary person. With someone able to do this around, you should be careful as well, maybe someone will take a liking to your legs."
Cripple trembled, then looked over while asking in a low voice, "What you mean is that someone is trying to gather all the things that had reached the realm of god? What does he want all of them for?"
"To piece together a god." Village Chief sighed and said, "There are more people from my generation than just me. You may meet someone like this."
Cripple shrunk his head back. "I'm timid so don't scare me, can't I just run away?"
Village Chief looked at Qin Mu who was on the ship and said in a low voice, "I wish I could cut down the obstacles for Mu'er to grow peacefully; however, I don't know if I'll live that long… Mu'er is still too innocent. If only he could be a little more crafty…"
In Rolan Golden Palace, strong corporeal bodies sat in the shrines around Pangong Tso, each of them executing shaman spell divine arts to continuously bombard an ancient book in the middle. They were trying to undo its seal.
This book was, of course, one of those that he had scavenged from Qin Hanzhen's treasure ship.
Boom!
A huge explosion rang out, and the seal on the book was finally broken. Pangong Tso couldn't hide the excitement in his heart and hurried over to flip open the ancient book. But his face turned black the moment he read the first few lines, and he threw the ancient book to the ground. "Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures again! Is this god from Carefree Village part of Heavenly Devil Cult?"
Beside him, books were strewn all over the floor. There was only one that hadn't yet been opened.
Pangong Tso composed himself and used up all his energy to mobilize his previous bodies to open up the final scripture.
When he flipped open the first page, golden light burst forth and lighted up the entire sacred hall.
Pangong Tso became wild with joy.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"What technique is this?"
That book was a golden one that was extremely difficult to destroy. There weren't many words on it, and the bits and pieces of them were all very short. For example, there were words like 'Magpie Bridge', 'Mysterious Guide', "God Crossing' whose meanings were unknown.
Pangong Tso's gaze landed on the first page, and on the picture, there was splendid celestial heaven, which was a dazzling sight. What had lighted up the entire hall with golden light were the rays that came from that picture.
Even though it was a painting, it was way too realistic. It seemed like the celestial heavens in the book was real.
In front of it was a broken bridge, and whose end stood a god-like figure.
Pangong Tso was slightly stunned. This sight looked a little familiar. He then looked at the surroundings in the picture and noticed a sun and moon as well as the five elements. "This is Divine Bridge Divine Treasure! That figure of a god should be the primordial spirit! What's this picture doing in the golden book? Isn't the divine bridge of Carefree Village complete? Then why is it broken in this picture?"
The others pages had different pictures which portrayed different circulation paths: the circulation method of vital qi in the spirit embryo, how to control the five qi of Five Elements Divine Treasure, how to determine six directions to stabilize the heaven and earth, how to link the seven stars, how to combine the soul and vital qi as one to strengthen the primordial spirit, how to open up life and death to see Youdu.
When it came to the eight diagram, it was Divine Bridge Divine Treasure again. Pangong Tso's heart suddenly pounded violently a few times. He saw the first seven pictures as a bedcover that was spread out for the vital qi in the eighth picture, so there would be a fantastic transformation at the time. Most of the vital qi seemed to have been drawn over by an indescribable force. It looked like magpies were laying out the way forward from the broken bridge.
"Magpie Bridge!"
Pangong Tso's heart throbbed. This was the cultivation method of Magpie Bridge which could reconnect the broken bridge!
He hurriedly flipped open the next page and saw that the primordial spirit there had come to the end of Magpie Bridge; however, there was still an impassable distance to the celestial heavens in front of it.
At this moment, the circulation path of vital qi had a miraculous transformation and gained an indescribable feeling of intersecting with the celestial heavens. It was drawn in its direction, and a bridge was slowly growing out from there.
"Secrets of Mysterious Guide!"
Pangong Tso's eyes sparkled from excitement, but he immediately stabilized his heart. He then turned the next page while suppressing his urge to cheer.
The methods recorded in the golden book were simply too complicated. If it was him, he wouldn't be able to come up with even the first step for such a complicated and intricate technique to reconnect the divine bridge. Yet the people of Carefree Village could actually create it, which was simply unimaginable!
"This is a golden book that surpasses the knowledge I accumulated throughout all of my lives! So what if the Qin brat stole a portion of my previous wealth? With this golden book, I will be able to break through Divine Bridge Realm to become a god!"
Pangong Tso rose, feeling giddy. He knew he was too excited, which resulted in his Dao heart getting bombarded. Even though he was an old monster which had lived for over ten thousand years, blood still rushed to his head from happiness, making it hard for his Dao heart to calm down.
"As long as I cultivate to Divine Bridge Realm and awaken Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, I'll be able to become a god. I have to quickly raise my cultivation!"
At that moment, Grand Shaman of Rolan's Golden Palace came to report. "Grandmaster, the frontlines are being hard-pressed. Khan Ruandi sent word that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has reached the frontlines and he has also called over the Heavenly Devil Cult Master. He showed off his sword skill divine art, which resulted in the sword lights that were like sea, controlling the entire battlefield of several hundred miles in radius."
Astonished, Pangong Tso broke into a laughing fit. "Is Ruandi crazy? Heavenly Devil Cult Master is the Qin brat, so where would he get such a great ability? Controlling several hundred miles with sword lights? Even in my previous lifetimes, I didn't have that kind of skill! I doubt that even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would be able to do that, and he's even injured now. Nonsense, pure nonsense."
"Khan Ruandi's intention is to invite Grandmaster to mobilize the experts of the golden palace to assist," Grand Shaman said.
Pangong Tso's was in quite a good mood, so he smiled. "Ruandi that brat is a little too timid. I have already sent orders to the entire prairie. There were a hundred tribes on the prairie and a hundred khans to support him. The abilities and cultivations of these khans are all not weak. In addition, Wolf Store Country is attacking Winter Iron Pass in the north to disperse the army of Eternal Peace, yet he actually still wants to borrow the power of our Rolan's Golden Palace?"
Grand Shaman immediately said, "Grandmaster, how do we reply to Khan Ruandi? The sea of sword light didn't seem to be fake."
Pangong Tso rose and walked to and fro while mumbling, "Sea of sword light, sea of sword light… I've seen this kind of sword skill before! Hehe, looks like that one has arrived. Old Human Emperor can't even sit still before he dies."
Grand Shaman shuddered. "Old Human Emperor?"
"Since Old Human Emperor made an appearance, things will be much easier." Pangong Tso smiled. "This is a chance for our Rolan's Golden Palace to show our face. Go to the divine mountain in West Earth and invite the people of High Heavens with incenses. Tell them that their Old Human Emperor has walked out of Great Ruins. In the meantime, I shall bring the experts of Rolan's Golden Palace to assist them at the border station."
Grand Shaman's expression changed drastically as he cried out, "Think thrice, Grandmaster! Old Human Emperor has arrived and his sword skills have reached perfection. I'm afraid our Rolan's Golden Palace…"
"Our Rolan's Golden Palace is a sacred ground, so how can we be scared of this old fart? Now that Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng are both useless, Dao Master and Rulai are old, Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery don't have anyone in charge anymore. That Qin brat who is the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult is still small and serves no purpose, so Eternal Peace deserves to be eradicated," Pangong Tso said leisurely.
Grand Shaman was slightly stunned. He then immediately said, "Grandmaster, Eternal Peace Empire can't be underestimated."
Pangong Tso hid the golden book in his clothes and walked over with a smile. "You're overestimating them. Our Rolan's Golden Palace is not to be trifled with, since we have over a dozen experts of the cult master level. In addition, there are also over a hundred khans in the prairie, so we don't need to be afraid of Eternal Peace. Actually, now that Old Human Emperor appeared, the fate of Eternal Peace Empire is already determined. High Heavens will definitely be very willing to help us eradicate Eternal Peace. Old Human Emperor has caused a huge problem this time!"
Laughing, Pangong Tso walked out of the sacred hall. After summoning all the strong practitioners in the golden palace that was on Celestial Being Realm, Life and Death Realm as well as Divine Bridge Realm, he left for the border station.
Grand Shaman didn't dare to hesitate. He immediately rushed toward West Earth.
Pangong Tso brought all experts that had cultivated a primordial spirit. They boarded a treasure ship while some of the shaman kings on Celestial Being Realm grew bird wings to drag the treasured ship through the sky. The speed at which they moved was as fast as lightning.
Even so, they still took almost six days to reach the border station.
Behind it, there were cows and goats roaming over the mountains while the khans from all over the prairie brought their troops to kill the livestock for meat.
Eternal Peace Empire was weakened by the principle of taking their own lives when they were weak, so Pangong Tso personally ordered the entire prairie to unify. With Khan Ruandi as the leader, they began an invasion. At the same time, they allied with Wolf Store Country, which would attack from the north. When they conquered Eternal Peace, they agreed to split the lands equally.
With the prairie army in a deadlock, more and more troops came to reinforce it. Plenty of experts showed up, but Qingmen Pass was also being reinforced by people hurrying over to the battlefield. This caused the situation to stayed in the deadlock.
When Qin Mu and the rest arrived, it was the crucial moment for the fight over Duck Tongue Zone. However, Village Chief had quelled the battle with the Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood.
When Khan Ruandi heard that Pangong Tso was coming with the strong practitioners of Rolan's Golden Palace, he immediately led most of the khans of the prairie to welcome him. Even though Pangong Tso was his son in name, his true identity was that of the Grandmaster. Even though this made him sad, he was also delighted.
After Pangong Tso had taken over the body, the attitude of Rolan's Golden Palace in regards to him had changed for the better. Everyone fully supported him to become the overlord of the prairie.
"We pay our respects to Grandmaster!" Khan Ruandi shouted out while leading all the khans.
Pangong Tso immediately came forward to personally help him up with a smile. "You're my father in this generation, so there's no need to be too formal. For that sea of sword lights that you mentioned, I've already got an idea about who caused it. I've come this time to put you at ease."
While maintaining the bowing posture, Khan Ruandi shuddered at the memory of the sword lights that had covered the sky and earth like a vast sea. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master's abilities are extraordinary and his sword skills are invincible. Him being in Qingmen Pass is making it hard for the elites of our prairie to make a move! Grandmaster…"
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master?" Pangong Tso laughed aloud and stamped his feet, only then did he manage to stifle his mirth. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is merely a sixteen-year-old brat! His abilities are very superficial, so how is he worth you attaching importance to him? Don't worry about him, since he's on the opposite side, let me meet him and put you be at ease."
Khan Ruandi let out a sigh of relief. "If we could get the help of Grandmaster and the shaman kings, we would definitely win a victory in raising the flag and conquering Middle Earth!"
Pangong Tso led everyone into the pass, and the city gate in front of him opened up to allow them out of the impregnable pass and toward Duck Tongue Zone. Once they were between the two impregnable passes, Pangong Tso ordered someone to shout, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu, Grandmaster has come forth to talk with you. Do you dare to come out of the city?"
The person who had shouted out was a shaman king of the cult master level. His voice resounded throughout the whole Qingmen Pass.
Qin Mu was forging Heaven's Rings with everyone, so he was caught off guard by the words. 'Pangong Tso that rogue still dares to appear? Once I kill him, his shaman spell of paying respect to the soul will disappear! It's a pity Grandpa Butcher is not here or he would be more than willing to kill him."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had already come to Qin Mu's side and beside him was Cripple and Village Chief as well as numerous generals of Eternal Peace Empire's army. Qin Mu took out his painting of Pangong Tso paying respect to the soul, revealing the vividly drawn devil.
"I've never seen it before." Village Chief shook his head.
Cripple also shook his head, followed by the generals of the army. "This devil is weird, we have never seen its kind before."
Qin Mu looked at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who pondered for a bit before saying, "When I and my wife were invited to Little Jade Capital, I seem to have seen a similar sculpture; however, I didn't ask about it."
While they talked, shouts continued to ring outside.
Qin Mu put away the painting and rose with a smile. "If we kill Pangong Tso, there will be no need to go to Little Jade Capital! Grandpa Village Chief, come with me to get rid of him without a word!"
Village Chief shook his head. "I'm the human emperor, so I can't meddle with the struggles of the mortal world; otherwise, no one would listen to the words of the human emperor."
"Then what's the use of that Human Emperor's Seal?"
Qin Mu hated the Human Emperor's Seal so much that he wanted to throw it away. This thing was absolutely useless and yet still managed to have so many restrictions. However, if he were to throw it away, Village Chief would be hurt. In addition, he hadn't yet been able to defeat Village Chief on the same realm, so he could only abide by his promise and keep it.
'Pangong Tso, that beast, actually dared to steal the stuff of my Qin Family and now even comes to show off in front of me. Isn't he dancing on the graves of my ancestors by doing this?'
Qin Mu was filled with anger and said ruthlessly, "Grandpa Cripple, come with me! Let's steal until he becomes bankrupt!"
Cripple's eyes lit up and he chuckled. "Let us go and see who is the thief god with sacred hands!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Cripple and Qin Mu walked out of Qingmen Pass, and many generals in the pass frowned. Bian Zhenyun immediately consulted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who said while shaking his head, "There's no need to help them. With that cripple around, no one will be able to kill Cult Master Qin."
"Cripple?" Everyone looked at Cripple only to see this old man having all four limbs and walking quickly. How was he crippled?
"His heart is crippled." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's face was slightly unpleasant. "His morality and conduct are crippled, his body improper, and his shadow lame, with deformed intentions. Forget about him. Shan Youxin, how many Heaven's Rings has Ministry of Works and Imperial College forged?"
"Fourteen thousand."Shan Youxin said. "They are already installed on the True Origin Cannons. Just one more day, and we can finish making the remaining few thousand. When that time comes, we will be able to attack the enemy encampment."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at the impregnable pass in front of them and said indifferently, "There's no need for one more day. Pass down orders to all the troops for them to get ready at once, form a formation with the flying ships, and we shall push forward! General Bian, Grand Marshall, General who Supports the State, General of White Horse, Pillars of State, Duke Wei, General of Pillars of States, General who Crowns the Army, General of Cherishing Transformation!"
He pointed out the names one by one, and numerous generals of Eternal Peace Empire walked out of the ranks to wait for their orders.
After being through the rebellion of the previous crown prince Ling Yuxia, the officials under him were all cleared out, but Eternal Peace Empire was a place of talents after all. The emperor selected numerous lower officials for promotion, so there was no case of a temporary deficit in manpower.
"Mobilize the army behind the pass so it stays behind the flying ships. They will pave the way while the army behind with clean up the rest. Meanwhile, all of you shall focus on the experts of Divine Bridge and Life and Death Realm, killing them when you get the chance!"
All the generals' hearts became stern, and Duke Wei asked, "Imperial Preceptor, Cult Master Qin is still on the frontlines. If we attack now, I'm afraid the other side would lay their hands on him."
Imperial Preceptor revealed a smile. "The moment he retreats is the moment we attack, but there's no need to worry about his safety. With that cripple around, there aren't many people in this world that could harm him."
"Who will be the one dispatching the flying ships?" Bian Zhenyun asked.
The flying ships were originally scattered throughout all the army and were commanded by various generals they served to at the time. But once Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor changed the strategy to have the flying ships pave the way, they needed to set up another army with strong practitioners proficient in offense to dispatch the ships. Only then could they deal with the ever-changing situation on the battlefield instantly.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze flickered as he said solemnly, "Summon all the high ranking military officers over! And also, get all the directorates of Imperial College as well!"
After a moment, several hundred high ranking military officers and numerous directorates hurried to his side.
"We have a total of two hundred and forty-five flying ships, which is equivalent to two hundred and forty-five flying swords." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor swept his gaze over all of them and said solemnly, "Those who are proficient in sword skills and can control two hundred and forty-five swords at the same time, please step forward."
Over fifty people from the high ranking military officers and directorates did so.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's vital qi burst forth and transformed into flying swords that surrounded his body. "Attack me. The one who can break through my sword formation and stab my body shall become the new army's commander in chief!"
The fifty strong practitioners heard what he said and all executed their sword skills to attack. In an instant, countless sword lights swirled around rapidly, resulting in incomparably loud clanking sounds.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood motionlessly, controlling the countless sword lights with his mind, blocking the attacks of the fifty high ranking military officers and directorates.
Suddenly, a general got hit in the chest by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword light, but it didn't injure him. That general immediately fell back.
After a moment, people began to continuously fall back, until only ten or so sword skill experts were still attacking.
Duke Wei, Bian Zhenyun, and the rest exclaimed in their hearts when they saw this sight. The remaining people were all outstanding existences in regards to sword skills, and their attainments in that field were at the standard of a professional. The only thing they lacked was cultivation.
It was truly gratifying for Eternal Peace Empire to have so many talents.
After some more time, the ten or so people were finally left with three that were still attacking Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. Suddenly, a sword sun burst forth, its red light that glowed like a fire lighting up all the surroundings. A sword light then stabbed out from the red sun and penetrated through Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword skill defense, making a small hole at the corner of his clothes.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his hand and had the three of them stop. He looked toward the man that had stabbed his clothes and asked, "The directorate of Hall of Hidden Light?"
The one who had stabbed the corner of his clothes was none other than Sword Hall Master. He then bowed and said, "Hall of Hidden Light, Jian Sansheng."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded and looked at the other general who had executed the red sun. The Sunset Sword Skill he had used earlier had let Sword Hall Master succeed. "General of Guide Commandery Yuyuan Chuyun?"
Yuyuan Chuyun bowed and greeted. "Imperial Preceptor."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor revealed a smile. "Jian Sansheng, you are the new commander in chief. Yuyuan Chuyun, you are the new assistant commander in chief. I shall give you an hour to familiarize yourselves with the names of the ships and their military officers. Memorize all of them. Remember, when you command the ships, don't think of them as ships, but as your flying swords!"
Sword Hall Master's eyes sparkled, and he asked solemnly, "What does Imperial Preceptor want us to do?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pointed at the majestic and impregnable pass at the opposite side and said, "Raze the Helan Pass to the ground!"
Sword Hall Master's sturdy body trembled, and he turned his head to look at the impregnable pass with heroism burning in his chest.
In the meantime, Qin Mu and Cripple had already reached Duck Tongue Zone.
"Qin Gongtso, I trust you have been well since we last met?" Qin Mu said loudly while smiling.
Pangong Tso smiled and looked left and right. "Khan Ruandi, this is Heavenly Devil Cult Master. He isn't someone who can execute that sea of sword light, right?"
Behind him, Khan Ruandi's lightning fast eyes scanned Qin Mu, and he said solemnly, "It's this youth. When he came to the battlefield, that terrifying sword skill burst forth and made everyone hold their breaths."
Qin Mu looked at Pangong Tso's back, slightly stunned. Behind him were numerous khans and shaman kings of Rolan's Golden Palace. However, one of them was extremely eye-catching.
His figure towered over all others since he was much taller even than Sword Hall Master and Apothecary. Even though it was the end of summer, he was still wearing a thick raccoon skin with a golden knife and quiver on his waist.
After feeling his invasive gaze, Qin Mu could immediately guess the origin of this person. "The mighty lord of the prairie, Khan Ruandi!"
Back when Grand Shaman had personally granted the title of khan to this person, Khan Ruandi became the number one divine archer in the world. His tribe was also proficient in horseback archery, so from that day onwards, Khan Ruandi rose in power.
His martial power was definitely near the top, and he wasn't just a divine archer. When Qin Mu and Chancellor Ba Shan had met the Pangong Tso who hadn't yet been taken over, his fist skills had made both Qin Mu and Chancellor Ba Shan take notice of him.
Those skills had originated from Khan Ruandi, which showed that his battle power was not limited to the bow and arrow.
People frequently compared Khan Ruandi and Emperor Yanfeng. Both of them were mighty leaders that had pushed ahead with bold and decisive reforms. Yet Khan Ruandi was more like an imitator, learning from Emperor Yanfeng's actions and reforming the messy situation on the prairie where all the tribes ruled themselves. He annexed them and eradicated all big and small shaman sects. All the experts were then taken in by him to join his army.
If it was not for Rolan's Golden Palace purposely obstructing him, he would have long united the prairie.
At that time, Rolan's Golden Palace had been worried that Khan Ruandi would imitate Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng and after uniting the prairie beat down on the golden palace, therefore they didn't fully support him. Only after Grandmaster had reincarnated into Pangong Tso and taken the leadership of the golden palace did they fully support him in his effort to unite the prairie.
'Khan Ruandi's abilities won't be any weaker than those of Emperor Yanfeng.'
Qin Mu smiled and walked in front of Cripple while shouting, "Pangong Tso, is that your dad, Khan Ruandi, behind you?"
Pangong Tso was unmoved and smiled. "Little slut, still trying to agitate me?"
"Senior Brother Ruandi!" Qin Mu greeted Khan Ruandi with a face full of smiles. "Heavenly Saint Cult Master pays his respects to the khan of the prairie."
Khan Ruandi frowned, slightly at a loss, since Qin Mu obviously wanted to take advantage of Pangong Tso. If he was to greet him back, that would make Pangong Tso's seniority a level lower than that of Qin Mu. Then, in the next instant, Qin Mu would make Pangong Tso call him uncle. But if he didn't return the greeting, he would be rude, and if he conquered Eternal Peace Empire in the future, Qin Mu would definitely lead Heavenly Devil Cult to cause trouble for him.
Pangong Tso knew what he was thinking and smiled. "Khan Ruandi, the Qin brat drives people mad this way. A sentence from him can stifle one to death while wanting nothing more than to mince him to pieces. Now that you have seen him, you should know that all his abilities come from his mouth. He's nothing more than that."
"In that case, is that old man behind him the one that executed the sword light that was like a vast sea?" Khan Ruandi asked.
Pangong Tso didn't recognize Cripple, so he shook his head. "It's not him. It's an armless and legless old fart. Don't worry, that old fart won't make a move easily. He has too many rules which restrict him to death. Furthermore, a few days later, there will be people from High Heavens coming here to get rid of him."
He smiled. "After he dies, you will be able to trample Qingmen Pass, walking inside it without a hitch and becoming the owner of Middle Earth!"
"At that time, the golden palace will be the only sacred ground left in the world!" Khan Ruandi immediately said.
Pangong Tso laughed. "You don't need to be so careful. My goal isn't to have the number one sacred ground, or the only sacred ground. My goal is much further and beyond your imagination."
He remembered that golden book he had placed in his clothes, and his heart started blazing. Unconsciously, his hands formed into fists.
At this moment, Qin Mu walked over with wide strides, his face full of smiles. "Khan Ruandi is quite rude. I've greeted you, yet you didn't greet me back. Your manners are too poor, no wonder you taught this brat Pangong Tso to be like this."
Pangong Tso's expression sunk. He wanted to reply, but Qin Mu suddenly rushed toward him while shouting, "Pangong Tso, you better come out and call me uncle! Let uncle smack your butt!"
Pangong Tso was furious. When he looked over, he saw the old man still standing far away, in the same spot with a beaming face, so he immediately grew guts and rushed toward Qin Mu with a sneer. "Qin brat, I didn't kill you on the ship, so I shall have you die on the battlefield this time!"
The two of them clashed, and their magic powers burst forth. With their divine arts exploding, the air currents swirled from the vibrations and expanded outwards!
Pangong Tso felt his arm go numb, and his heart trembled. 'I'm already at the peak of Six Directions Realm, yet this brat is actually not weaker than me in magic power!'
Qin Mu put his hands together, and countless sword lights flew out from the taotie sack on his back to attack!
Pangong Tso immediately defended. However, the countless sword lights suddenly pulled back and transformed into a huge sparkling silver ball that came crashing down. Pangong Tso raised his hands to hold the huge sword pellet, but he couldn't help grunting as he got pressed into the ground.
Khan Ruandi and the rest hurriedly went over to save him, so Qin Mu immediately opened his taotie sack and pulled his sword pellet back inside. In the meantime, the figure of that beaming old man vanished. Like a phantom, it flashed pas every single person. Everyone was messed up for a moment, feeling like they had been attacked by this elder!
Right then, Pangong Tso appeared from far away, floating out from the ground while shouting, "No need to fight with him. We shall let him see true power on the battlefield…"
Qin Mu and the old man didn't remain to battle. Instead, they suddenly ran away, leaving two trails of smoke as they sprinted back to Qingmen Pass.
That amiable looking elder raised the spoils that piled up on his hands like a mountain. The clothes, accessories, and spirit weapons on Khan Ruandi and the rest had been cleanly looted, leaving all of them standing there naked and not knowing what to do.
On Qin Mu's hand was a golden book, with a piece of underwear beneath it, while he was frantically escaping toward Qingmen Pass.
Pangong Tso was stunned, then hurriedly opened up his clothes before giving off a world-shaking scream.
The golden book that he had hidden in his clothes had vanished, and along with it, his underwear was gone as well!
"Chase them!" Pangong Tso shouted sternly.
Right at this moment, the city gates of Qingmen Pass opened wide, and countless soldiers and horses flooded out from inside. Flying ships rose into the air from behind the watchtower, the bows of which were pointed at Helan Pass.
Giants were standing on those bows, beating battle drums. The sound they made was like the rumble of thunder.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's voice could be heard throughout the whole city. "Soldiers, raze Helan Pass to the ground!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Pangong Tso was leading Khan Ruandi and the rest of the experts to chase after Qin Mu when he saw over two hundred flying ships flying their flags. They covered the sky and the sun as though there were over two hundred clouds covering half of the horizon and moving over.
Below the flying ships, an army of strange beasts rushed out. The large creatures were moving forward like small mountains while archers sat on their backs. Behind them were chariots, mounted riders, and then the infantry in formation. They were separated into different types of troops according to the attributes of their spirit bodies, and it was a majestic sight.
This formation was astonishing, and puzzled Khan Ruandi.
In the past, Eternal Peace Empire had the army of strange beasts in front, with the chariots and mounted riders behind. The infantry would then act as vanguard by rushing forth under the strange beasts. As for the flying ships, they would be situated in the middle of the army.
Even though flying ships could float in the air, their range wasn't too great. They could easily be taken down, so they needed the protection of the middle guard.
Yet right then the flying ships were at the very front.
To take them down, experts needed to just swing their knife pellets into the sky from thirty miles away, and the ships would be destroyed while all of their passengers would fall off. Worse, if a pill furnace was hit, all the soldiers on the ship would die in the explosion.
Qin Mu had improved the pill furnaces of the flying ships and drastically increased their firepower. However, if they exploded, it would be up to ten times more frightening than before. Ordinary divine arts practitioners would have basically no chance to survive it.
Of course, this couldn't be blamed on Qin Mu entirely. He improved the pill furnace so the flying ships could become faster, but their firepower did not catch up, so they weren't able to unleash all of the energy.
'Is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor crazy?'
Khan Ruandi thought until this point when Pangong Tso's voice pulled him away. "Ruandi, kill that Qin brat!"
Khan Ruandi was naked, his pants having been pulled down by Cripple. His golden knife and quiver were both taken away, and the luxurious raccoon cloak was also gone.
However, as the leader of an empire, he still had his cultivation. When he heard Pangong Tso, he immediately pulled up his pants, ready to tighten his belt, but he found nothing there.
His belt that was inlaid with gold and embedded with jade was gone as well.
'That Cripple's abilities are too strong! If instead of stealing my clothes he had come to kill me, how could I have defended against him?'
Khan Ruandi shuddered and cold sweat started rolling down his body, drenching his back.
However, he had overestimated Cripple. Even though Cripple's hands and feet were nimble, all of his abilities were used for stealing and then escaping for dear life. His body and hand techniques were unpredictable, but it was a pity that he relied only on his legs in close combat, so his hands lacked any combat abilities.
Cripple's corporeal body divine arts were sloppy and ordinary without any strong attacking moves. If one was to really attack him, it would be difficult for him to have an exchange of many blows. The most terrifying thing about him was his body techniques.
Even though Khan Ruandi didn't have a bow or an arrow, his cultivation was still around. His vital qi suddenly burst forth, and a figure that was like a god and a devil slowly stood up behind him. It had four arms and a bird's head while blazing fire shone brilliantly all over its body.
This god which Khan Ruandi's primordial spirit materialized. Its four arms pulled onto the bow, and blazing fire instantly filled the air of Duck Tongue Zone. Flames whooshed and gathered toward him, forming an incomparably bright arrow between the huge bow.
Hmmmm.
A vibration could be heard, and an arrow shot out. The sky and land became incomparably parched while flames caused visions to appear one after another. Wherever the arrow flew, fire dragons would seem to roll around in the yellow desert. They wrecked havoc all they went!
Still topless, Khan Ruandi raised his right hand. With his index and middle fingers put together while his thumb was on his ring and little finger, by which a sword art was clutched, he pressed on the heart of his brows.
Swoosh!
The arrow of flames was incomparably quick and shot straight toward the running Cripple and Qin Mu. The arrow was so fast that no one could see its incomparably bright flames, only a black line after the arrow had flashed past them!
Pangong Tso was extremely shocked. Khan Ruandi was acclaimed as the number one divine archer on the prairie, and the power displayed by his arrow had made even his heart palpitate!
'If I retrieve the golden book and go onto the next step to become god, I will need to guard against my convenient father… My golden book!'
Pangong Tso's heart was tearing apart. When he thought of how Qin Mu had stolen his golden book, he felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart before it was crushed.
On the journey to the border station, he had sneakily read the golden book and memorized the circulation diagram inside it. However, the circulation diagram was extremely complicated and the barest hint of difference would be the same as walking a thousand miles in the wrong direction. There couldn't be any mistakes in repairing the divine bridge.
Pangong Tso wasn't certain that he could replicate everything he saw without a single mix up.
The arrow light caught up to Qin Mu and Cripple, who suddenly threw away everything he had stolen and stretched out his hand to grab the youth by his side. He then moved like a phantom to avoid the arrow light.
Khan Ruandi frowned, suspicious. "The abilities of this elder aren't as high as I thought…"
While his fingers on the heart of his brow remained unmoving, the arrow light changed its direction in midair to shoot toward Cripple again. The old man's body techniques changed one after another, and he literally flashed here and there in an instant, giving people a feeling that he had already stepped through the obstruction of space.
Cripple didn't dare to receive the arrow, so his bizarre body techniques left everyone dumbfounded, while Khan Ruandi found it hard to hit him.
The distance between Cripple and the flying ship was decreasing faster and faster. Duke Wei rose into the air while holding the Duke Sword and slashed toward the arrow light!
Boom!
Incomparably terrifying explosion burst forth, and Duke Wei was blown upwards from the vibration. He then rose back up and landed on a flying ship while laughing. "Ruandi, you indeed have a skill or two!"
Ruandi's abilities were above his, so the arrow's momentum didn't slow down. Suddenly, Grand General who Crowns the Army stepped forward. His square sky halberd soared into the air and transformed into the claws of a dragon that stretched out to grab onto the arrow light.
Grand General who Crowns the Army grunted, and his vital qi almost burst from the impact. His legs couldn't resist moving back repeatedly, until he finally took the arrow light down. In the end, he was left overwhelmed with shock.
If it wasn't for Duke Wei who had clashed with the arrow first and exhausted more than half of its power, he wouldn't have been able to receive this move at all.
"The Khan of Barbarian Di Empire had a justified reputation. He's just a bit weaker than Imperial Preceptor and His Majesty!"
Once the sword light dispersed, Grand General who Crowns the Army stretched his hands out to grab forward. The long dragon flew back and transformed into a blood-red square sky halberd in his hands. The dragon claw changed into a small branch of the halberd which hummed as it vibrated.
In Duck Tongue Zone, all the khans and shaman kings were lifting their pants up, but all of them couldn't find their belts.
Suddenly, the tooting of a bugle horn came from Helan Pass, which was behind them. The army of all tribes came pouring out like a flood. The troops of the prairie were proficient in horse riding, so the first to come out was the goat army.
The divine arts practitioners that belonged to it weren't riding on mountain goats but barbarian goats, which were strange beasts with two legs. They were mixbloods that came from goats and strange beasts of Great Ruins. They ate grass, but were all strong and sturdy.
Barbarian goats had only two legs, but when they sprinted, they were like flightless birds rushing forward. Their physiques were very tall, so when they stood up, they were like small buildings. The strongest part of a barbarian goat was its horns which curved into spirals. When the beasts came sprinting forward with lowered heads, they were akin to plows going through dozens of yards and smashing everything in their way.
Meanwhile in the air was the prairie's flying calvary on hawk-eagle wolves. They were a sort of carnivorous strange beast which had the body of a huge wolf with wings. On the backs of the wolves were the strongest archers and knife practitioners in the prairie.
It was because the troops of the prairie came and went like the wind that the army of Eternal Peace Empire couldn't gain any advantage.
At that moment, the army of all tribes of the prairie rushed forth with world-shaking power, their numbers far exceeding those that came from Eternal Peace Empire.
Khan Ruandi and the rest tightened up their pants around their waists with dead knots.
Khan Ruandi laughed loudly. "So what if a small thief stole our treasures and clothes? We are only true men when we fight on the battlefield topless, our hot blood rushing through our veins! Our grudges have all been over land and livestock so our tribesmen could live better lives. Even though the prairie is vast, there's still an end to our land. On the other hand, Eternal Peace Empire is rich and flourishing; they have plenty of women and land! Let us fight to our hearts' content on this battlefield today! Once we conquer Qingmen Pass, Eternal Peace Empire will be our grazing land!"
Blood pumped in the veins of all the khans on the battlefield. They all laughed loudly with their bare upper bodies as their heroic spirit overflowed into the heavens, dispersing all the white clouds as if washing the sky clean.
Their cultivations weren't weak; there were quite a number of experts of Celestial Being and Life and Death Realm. There were even a few khans who had cultivated to Divine Bridge Realm.
Everyone's vital qi burst forth, and their primordial spirits appeared. All kinds of god and devil apparitions took shape behind them, all of them looking extremely powerful as they waited for their army to arrive.
Once it did so, everyone executed their own methods. Some sprinted on the land while others flew into the air to face the fleet of Eternal Peace Empire.
Pangong Tso hesitated, but he didn't follow after them. He summoned a shaman king over and said solemnly, "Escort me back into the pass."
That shaman king acknowledged his order, while the other shaman kings rushed toward Eternal Peace Empire's fleet.
On the flagship of the fleet, Sword Hall Master stood at the bow with his clothes fluttering in the wind. Yuyuan Chuyun stood beside him, and the two generals looked at the army of the prairie that was coming closer and closer.
"General, the enemy has entered the range of one hundred and sixty miles!" the signaller that was measuring the distance shouted loudly as he stood on the tall mast while gripping tightly on the ropes.
Sword Hall's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Continue forward, inform me when it'll be eighty miles."
Yuyuan Chuyun's face was also indifferent, but when he heard eighty miles, he raised his eyebrows slightly. The signaller waved a flag and ordered the ships to continue forward.
"General, the enemy has reached the eighty mile range!"
Yuyuan Chuyun took out his sword pellet and held it in his hand with his eyebrows raised. Sword Hall Master then said, "Call me when it's forty miles."
Yuyuan Chuyun frowned slightly while looking at Sword Hall Master, but he didn't say anything.
The signaller's nervous voice could soon be heard again. "The enemy has reached the forty miles range!"
Yuyuan Chunyun let out a shaky breath, and the light in his eyes began to shine in all directions like the sun. Sword Hall Master said, "Send orders for all ships to heat up the True Origin Cannons, we will fire at thirty miles."
Yuyuan Chuyun's palms were all sweaty as he gritted his teeth while hissing, "General Jian sure can restrain himself! To actually wait until thirty miles... Thirty miles, it's the range of the enemy…"
The signaller immediately waved his flag to command all the ships. The cannon batteries instantly drew energy from the pill furnaces and waited for action after having accumulated enough for an attack.
Sword Hall Master looked at the army of the prairie that poured forth while covering the horizon, the experts of Celestial Being and Life and Death Realm at the front. He then explained at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow, "Imperial Preceptor's order was to raze Helan Pass to the ground and not just defeat the enemy. At one hundred and sixty miles, the enemy would have the chance to escape with the main force still intact. At eighty miles, sixty percent of the enemy would be able to escape. At forty miles, only thirty percent of the enemy would be able to escape, but the chief generals would still manage to get away. At thirty miles, even the chief generals' survival rate will only be thirty percent at most!"
Yuyuan Chuyun sighed in admiration. "Teacher Jian is still Teacher Jian. Chuyun is only able to have today's achievement after learning sword from you back then."
Over two hundred flying ships suddenly turned to their side with a creak. The huge bodies instantly became a barricade in the air, and the cannons fired all at once. Instantly, several thousand thick pillars of light appeared in the air!
In a single face-off, many barbarian kings, khans, and shaman kings were turned into sieves and fell from the sky!
Quite a few of the strong practitioners of Life and Death Realm as well as Divine Bridge Realm who were behind the first wave were astonished. In the meantime, Duke Wei, Grand Marshall, Grand General who Crowns the Army, and Grand General of Cherishing Transformation rushed out to attack them!
On the flagship, Sword Hall Master personally waved the flag, and the cannons changed direction to point toward the ground. They were like sword lights slicing at the army rushing forward!
Sword Hall waved his flag and split the two hundred and more ships into two fleets, one flying high in the sky while the other hovered three hundred yards away from the ground. Yuyuan Chuyun controlled the fleet above to attack the flying wolves, while Sword Hall controlled the fleet below, plowing the land in front of them as they pushed forward. With the cannon beams sweeping through the battlefield, humans and goats were thrown into disorder wherever they passed!
Meanwhile on the other side, Qin Mu and Cripple returned to Qingmen Pass to see Village Chief and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor leisurely drinking tea on the city tower. They were completely unfazed by the situation outside.
"Jian Sansheng can restrain himself, and his attainments in sword skills are also extraordinary. With the battlefield like his sword, he's already considered a professional."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor poured tea for Village Chief, who was waiting for him to lift the teacup to his lips when he suddenly remembered that the man before him was not Apothecary, thus he used his vital qi to lift the teacup up to take a sip. "His sword skill has the shadow of your sword skill, but what's weird is that it also has the shadow of my sword skill."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "I have never taught him before."
The two of them turned their heads in unison to look at Qin Mu who had just entered the city tower. If neither of them had taught Sword Hall his sword skills, it could only be this Great Cult Master Qin.
The two of them immediately frowned when they saw him holding a weird golden book with one hand and underwear with another.
"Mu'er, I've been forced to throw away the stuff I stole, but you haven't, so now you are the number one divine thief in the world!" Cripple praised as he stuck up his thumbs.
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "My abilities are way inferior to those of Grandpa Cripple."
"Throw it, throw it!" Cripple pinched his nose and said, "What's so good about Grandmaster's underwear? Quickly throw it away!"
Qin Mu threw the underwear out of the city tower. He then walked toward the two people that were drinking tea and threw the golden book onto the tea table. He sniffed the fragrance of the tea and smiled. "I have some good tea leaves. They're from a young master called Xu Shenghua who is from High Heavens. I had shamelessly asked for half a bag from him."
"High Heavens?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Village Chief's hearts jumped. Village Chief hurriedly asked, "You met a visitor from High Heavens? Did he attack you?"
"No." Bewildered, Qin Mu said, "Xu Shenghua is a very amiable person. I had a clash with him, and we were both equally excellent. Village Chief, he's also an Overlord Body! An Overlord Body like me!"
The youth became excited.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Overlord Body?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a little bewildered. When he thought about it, he had never heard about this kind of constitution before, so he looked at Village Chief in doubt. Overlord Body sounded much better than Four Great Spirit Bodies, but could this world really have a constitution that above Four Great Spirit Bodies?
If so, why hadn't he heard about it before?
And from the looks of it, there seemed to be two of these Overlord Bodies in the world!
Village Chief's face muscles twitched as he felt his face about to fall off. It was loose so often that it looked like it was just waiting for the moment to drop. 'Overlord Body again! Mu'er this rascal really can't calm down…'
He couldn't help sighing ruefully. He had really gone old. A small lie like this could alarm him and make his heart tremble in fear of being exposed. However, who could expose him?
As the previous human emperor, he had merely said a white lie, so why did he have to subject himself to such torture? Why did he always have to think of how to cover up the lie?
'Ever since I made up this Overlord Body constitution, I've lied more than I did in the past eight hundred years!'
Village Chief roused his spirit and shook his head. "Mu'er, there can never be a second Overlord Body! This Xu Shenghua is definitely not an Ovelord Body!"
Qin Mu was puzzled, and so was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Cripple formed fists excitedly. 'As the only one who knows about the existence of Overlord Body, Village Chief usually don't breathe a word of it to anyone, but he's finally going to divulge some secrets!'
Village Chief's face was calm when he said at a speed that was neither fast nor slow, "It seems to have been the Will of Heaven that there would only be one Overlord Body in all the previous generations. Others that seemed to look like it were all pseudo Overlord Bodies, but never the real thing. It has been like this since the start of days. In one era, there can only be one person with the true Overlord Body! You need to remember this point!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor couldn't hide his astonishment. The only Overlord Body in the world? The rest were all pseudo Overlord Bodies?
The mysteries in this world were indeed deeper than what he had imagined!
Village Chief's words alerted and thrilled him. The Will of Heaven, the only Overlord Body, pseudo Overlord Bodies—there seemed to be an indescribable power controlling all of this!
Cripple didn't think much about it and said excitedly, "As I guessed, there's only one true Overlord Body in this world!"
Qin Mu was slightly excited, but then doubt assailed him. "But Xu Shenghua's cultivation and mine have no difference. To be on the same realm as me, he can only be an Overlord Body as well."
"There can only be one reason for this," Village Chief said with a solemn face. "That's because you aren't hard working enough! As the Overlord Body, you are actually going to be caught up by the Four Great Spirit Bodies or a pseudo Overlord Body. You should be ashamed and reflect on yourself!"
Qin Mu nodded heavily and said solemnly, "Grandpa Village Chief, don't worry, I will definitely work even harder! Come to think of it, I have indeed been slacking for the past few days. If I'm improving, Xu Shenghua is also improving, but if I slacken, he might really surpass me!"
Village Chief relaxed, thinking to himself, 'Mu'er is still too innocent, getting tricked by me just like this to work even harder. If this brat gets defeated by Xu Shenghua, he will definitely think that he hadn't been working hard enough, so next time I will have even more excuses.'
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's gaze flickered, and he asked sincerely, "Dao brother, you said there's an Overlord Body and also pseudo Overlord Bodies, so there seems to be some relation. Would you mind explaining it in detail?"
Village Chief's eyes instantly became big. Qin Mu was easy to trick, and Cripple was the same, since he only liked stealing and didn't know much about the martial world. But Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a whole different kind of person.
"Cough, cough, between Overlord Body and pseudo Overlord Body is the struggle over fate," Village Chief said solemnly. "There's only one Overlord Body in this world and there can only be one however, there can be many pseudo Overlord Bodies. I have once heard of a legend, according to which, if a pseudo Overlord Body kills the Overlord Body, they can snatch its fate, becoming the true Overlord Body from a pseudo one. As for whether that is true, I don't know."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went deep into thoughts before raising his head to said, "The struggle over fate between Overlord Body and pseudo Overlord Bodies is indeed extremely disturbing. However, how does a pseudo Overlord Body know the opponent is the true Overlord Body? If they don't know who the Overlord Body is, how do they kill it?
Village Chief was furious. Was this scoundrel done or not? How was he supposed to make up even more of the story?
"Overlord Body and pseudo Overlord Bodies have an unimaginable connection. When the two meet, they can sense each other." Village Chief stabilized his mind and said, "From the moment they meet each other, they will have a feeling of appreciation for each other's talent, yet they are natural enemies that will have to fight to their last breath..."
When he was out of ideas about how to continue from there, Qin Mu's eyes suddenly lit up and he clapped in surprise. "The moment I met Xu Shenghua, I had this kind of feeling. No wonder, no wonder! We met on the river, when he was sitting in a pleasure boat. At the time, he stopped the boat when he saw me to invite me over! So that was because of the connection between Overlord Body and pseudo Overlord Bodies."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor no longer doubted it and raised his head to look at the sky in a daze. "Xu Shenghua is from High Heavens, and the god I met which sent the disaster is also from High Heavens. What kind of place is it? To actually have gods and even an Overlord Body? Dao brother, you should know that place, right?"
"They are just fake gods."
Village Chief also raised his head to look at the azure sky. In their west was an incomparably fierce battlefield, but none of them looked at it, having no concern in regards to the situation there.
"High Heavens consists of nothing more than a bunch of lackeys, they are the eyes planted by gods to oversee this world," Village Chief said softly. "Your Eternal Peace Empire's snow disaster had left people in a terrible situation, and the land hadn't recovered even now. But High Heavens' disaster is merely an ordinary meteorological attack. If a real god sent a disaster your way, hehe…"
He retracted his gaze and said, "East Sea is thirty thousand yards deep and it had sunk in one night. The east of Great Ruins was originally a sea, but it had become land and mountains overnight."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's hair stood on end.
"I have pitted myself against High Heavens all my life, and they aren't easy to deal with; however, the existences behind High Heavens are even harder to deal with."
Village Chief looked at where his arms and legs were severed and fell into a daze. He mumbled, "You will meet them, Mu'er will also meet them…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at the places where the limbs were missing on the old man. The scars left by a sword may have seemed ordinary to other people's eyes, but in his eyes, those of the current generation's sword god, there was boundless marvel within them.
He knew well how terrifying was the person who had severed Village Chief's arms and legs!
"High Heavens will send disaster on Eternal Peace once more." Village Chief let out a shaky breath and said, "However, the main enemy of High Heavens is still the human emperor. I fought with them for several hundred years, but the current me only has some two-three years left, but there's also you who have comprehended the sword path, so you can now fight with them. In the future, there'll be Mu'er as well. Now that I've walked out of Great Ruins, there will be visitors coming to find me in the next few days. I'll fight them one more time."
He said it indifferently, but the three of listeners could hear a hint of resolution in his voice.
"Human Emperor can't die on the bed." Village Chief revealed a smile and said softly, "The bed is not my resting place."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his head once again and said softly, "High Heavens… One day, the cavalry of my Eternal Peace will trample on that place! But first, we shall trample that Helan Pass!"
He stood up and said, "Everyone, please move to Helan Pass."
A treasured carriage rolled up and came to the top of the city. Qin Mu carried Village Chief up and placed him in the treasured carriage while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor drove the carriage with a smile, "Let us continue our conversation at Helan Pass."
Cripple picked up the golden book on the table and threw it back to Qin Mu while saying, "Grandmaster's book, no idea what kind of harmful and evil techniques are recorded inside."
Qin Mu caught the golden book and shook his head. "This doesn't belong to Grandmaster, it's a book from my Qin Family that he stole."
Cripple snorted. "Mu'er, you are definitely not hardworking enough. How could you still be robbed by that brat after learning my Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hand? You are better off staying as the number two divine thief in the world."
"I said I wanted to be number two, you are the one that wanted to push me ahead." Qin Mu flipped open the golden book and said in astonishment, "Pangong Tso actually opened up the book! It was originally sealed. That's right, Grandpa Village Chief, I have finally met my father!"
Village Chief's mind was suddenly blown, and he cried out, "You have met visitors from Carefree Village?"
Qin Mu placed the golden book down with a hint of sorrow on his face. "I met him in the treasured ship at Ghost Valley, but he had already used a forbidden technique and become a tree man… He signed the Pact of Earth Count with Saturn Sovereign so he couldn't open his eyes to see me. He taught me a lot of stuff, but we still had to part ways…"
Qin Mu stared blankly in front of himself. He then shook his head and threw all the messy thoughts out. He told everyone about his encounters in Ghost Valley and Youdu world, making the three people dumbfounded. These kinds of weird encounters birthed a longing in them, but it was mixed with a sense of fear. The many frightening secrets hidden within the treasured ship stunned them.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was greatly shaken. Not only was Qin Mu the Overlord Body, he even had a father that was like a god!
"How do the people of Carefree Village become gods?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor suddenly recalled that the divine bridges of the people of Carefree Village were connected to the celestial heavens!
The people of Little Jade Capital had told him before that the divine bridges of everyone in this world were broken, everyone except for the people of Carefree Village whose divine bridges was connected to the celestial heavens!
Didn't this mean that Qin Mu's divine bridge would also connect him to the celestial heavens?
He turned back to look at Qin Mu, but the youth didn't know what he was thinking about. He instead picked up the golden book again and flipped open to take a look.
Ahead of them, the fleet of flying ships had already crushed everything in its path and was about to reach Helan Pass. Duck Tongue Zone was filled with corpses of Barbarian Di Empire's divine arts practitioners that were killed by True Origin Cannons!
Sword Hall Master Jian Sansheng and General of Guide Commandery Yuyuan Chuyu used flying ships as swords. The two sword professionals controlled the flying ships to massacre the army of the prairie, and after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the army of the barbarians crumbled. With their will to fight crushed by the fourteen thousand True Origin Cannons, they escaped back to Helan Pass like a flood.
What followed after was a one-sided massacre. Even with the shaman kings and various khans doing their best, they couldn't stop the flood of the escapees that surged back into the pass.
Eternal Peace Imperial drove the carriage quite slowly. The time was calculated so that when Sword Hall Master took down Helan Pass, the carriage would enter the city.
Within it, Qin Mu looked at the first page of the golden book with a serious face. He suddenly rose and vital qi flew out from his fingertip, transforming into all kinds of rulers. There were circulars ones, square ones, triangular ones, and semicircular ones. They had all kinds of angles and metric systems to measure the blueprints on the first page.
"Mu'er, what are you doing?" Cripple asked curiously.
"Measuring the magpie bridge," Qin Mu said without even raising his head. "The technique in this golden book of my Qin Family is a little weird. If I wanted to cultivate it, I would need to calculate every corner of the vital qi on this blueprint flawlessly. This picture might be… It might be…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"What is it?" Cripple asked in bewilderment.
Qin Mu stroked his chin and plucked out a beard hair while saying, "I think the techniques in this book detail the method to connect the divine bridge."
Cripple didn't hear clearly and asked, "What bridge?"
"Divine bridge." Qin Mu continued to take measurements while saying, "Divine treasures aren't like the meridians in the human body, who are right there so one can execute the technique just with one look. Divine treasures are empty spaces, so when vital qi need to move around there, each and every millimeter possesses a different dimension. Thus, I need to measure the specific dimensions. It's hard to determine the coordinates in space, and any carelessness would result in a mistake.
Cripple's face was blank as he stared at Qin Mu changing a scale to continue measuring the picture in the golden book.
Qin Mu took out brush and paper to write down the data of his measurements. Without even raising his head, he continued, "If there's a mistake in the dimensions… The smallest mistake at the digits of Mo Hu is no different from a mistake of a thousand miles. My calculations have to be accurate and reach all the way to the digits behind Mo Hu. Furthermore, the size of the human body in the painting is different from the size of a real human body. The size of the divine treasure here is also different from the divine treasures of a real human, so let me calculate the underlying numerical values first. The size of everyone's Divine Bridge Divine Treasure is different, but with the underlying numerical values, one will be able to cultivate using ratio. In that case, they will be able to cultivate the Secrets of Magpie Bridge…"
Cripple blurted out again, "What bridge?"
Bewildered, Qin Mu smiled, "Magpie bridge. Grandpa Cripple, you seem to be in a daze. I shan't talk to you anymore, this part here is troublesome to calculate and is also very difficult. I will need to spend a very long time…"
Suddenly, Village Chief's head popped over, and he asked with excitement, "What bridge?"
Qin Mu was then even more bewildered. "Village Chief, you are also in a daze? Magpie bridge!"
"That's not it!" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned back and said quickly, "That's not it! Before magpie bridge you had clearly said divine bridge!"
"That's right!" Cripple immediately said. "I've also heard divine bridge!"
Village Chief nodded repeatedly. "It was divine bridge!"
Qin Mu came to a realization and smiled. "The divine bridge of this man in the painting is broken, and the technique he uses to repair it is called magpie bridge. I was just calculating the mathematical reasoning needed in Secrets of Magpie Bridge. This technique is very difficult to cultivate and there are way too many things that need to be measured here…"
"Technique used to repair the divine bridge!"
The aura of the three men suddenly erupted, and the carriage that was flying in midair was shattered into pieces. The broken fragments then turned into powder from the vibrations caused by the terrifying aura!
Qin Mu immediately rose into the sky while holding the golden book and the data he'd measured next to his chest, his clothes dyed dark from the spilled ink.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Village Chief, and Cripple nearly grabbed for the golden book. But once they saw Qin Mu hugging it to his chest, they paused and pulled back their hands, barely able to contain the excitement in their hearts.
"Luckily this is golden book is not afraid of being stained by ink. Otherwise, your sins would be huge," Qin Mu grumbled.
Village Chief immediately said, "Land on the ground first!"
The four of them dropped down, and everywhere around them was corpses. Some places were even blazing with fire and billowing with smoke. Those were traces left behind by fire divine arts. In the meantime, the army of Barbarian Di Empire banged on the gates of Helan Pass in hopes to escape, but the guards kept the city gate tightly shut, unwilling to open it to let them in. This was to prevent Eternal Peace Empire from taking the chance to invade.
The defeated army was actually bashing against Helan Pass frantically. The high wall crumbled continuously from being bashed by the numerous strong practitioners, and shattered rocks began to fly around. However, what they broke through was the outer city wall since it was wide enough, but the inner wall still stood strong.
The soldiers guarding the city executed their divine arts and spirit weapons at the ground below, attacking both friend or foe, killing the comrades with whom not long ago they had been fighting on the same side. All kinds of vulgarities were hurled from below the city wall, turning the situation outside too horrible to see. The corpses below the city piled up into a mountain.
In front of Helan Pass, the fleet led by Sword Hall Master and Yuyuan Chuyun stopped sixty miles away and didn't move forward anymore. True Origin Cannons shot continuously, smashing the city tower and gate into pieces.
Instantly, countless escapees poured into the city like a flood.
The hands and feet of Pangong Tso who was in the city turned ice cold.
The city gate was destroyed, and the defeated army rushed into the city. Helan Pass no longer had any chance of stopping the enemy's advance. The defeated army fell onto the guards inside the pass who found it hard to form formations, so they decided to make a run for it as well. If the enemy took this chance to rush in and massacre them in an orderly manner, the prairie would definitely suffer a complete loss!
"Bring me away immediately!" Pangong Tso steeled his heart and ordered the shaman king beside him, "Abandon the city, retreat out of Helan Pass!"
That shaman king immediately picked him up and flew out of Helan Pass. On the way, Pangong Tso said sternly, "Have the disciples of our Rolan's Golden Palace all leave the battlefield!"
The heart of that shaman king trembled, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Grandmaster, if our disciples of Rolan's Golden Palace retreat, the army won't have any way to survive!"
"But Rolan's Golden Palace will survive." Pangong Tso was extremely calm. "By defending, the disciples of our Rolan's Golden Palace will only die in this city. We have to preserve our strength. The true battlefield is on the prairie. The reputation of our Rolan's Golden Palace is not due to the respect and worship of the tribes. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wants to take over the prairie, he will have to pay a big price!"
The shaman king immediately gathered his vital qi and transformed it into a world-shaking shout that spread throughout the battlefield. It ordered the disciples of Rolan's Golden Palace to retreat.
After that, the situation became even more disorderly. The heart of the army was totally gone, and everyone wanted to just escape for their lives. They poured through the city gate with people squeezing past one another, trampling on the fallen. There were some who had cultivated flying divine arts, so they flew up into midair and were shot down by the True Origin Cannons.
Yuyuan Chuyun controlled the sky so that no divine arts practitioners of Barbarian Di Empire could escape in this way. Sword Hall Master in the meantime controlled the ground, but he didn't block the people from escaping back into the pass. Instead, he wiped out all the enemies on the land in front of him, forcing the rest to escape even more frantically.
Below the flying ships, the army of Eternal Peace Empire poured forward to clean up the remnants on the battlefield.
Pangong Tso turned back to take a look at Helan Pass which was already starting to crumble. Fire blazed in the city, and thick smoke billowed up into the sky. The soldiers of Barbarian Di Empire were all escaping for their lives. Some of them tried to scale Helan Mountain when they couldn't get out of the city, but most of them fell and became meat paste.
Numerous great shamans and shaman kings flew back and gathered around Pangong Tso. There were fear and despair on everyone's faces, but Pangong Tso was calm as he instructed, "Immediately disperse and poison all the water sources in the prairie with shaman poison to have the plague wreck havoc on the land. If the army of Eternal Peace Empire kills its way in, they will all die miserably!"
"Grandmaster!" The hearts of all the great shamans and shaman kings trembled violently, and one shaman king said with a sob, "All the tribesmen on the prairie will be poisoned to death as well!"
Pangong Tso was indifferent. "The prairie is big enough. As long as we don't poison all the big cities, we can still preserve a portion of the tribesmen."
"But there are so many nomadic small tribes…"
Pangong Tso was expressionless. "Those are all poor and lowly people. For them to die along with the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire, it's worth it. Immediately disperse and poison the water. There can be no delay. Otherwise, when the army of Eternal Peace Empire reaches here, their first target will be Rolan's Golden Palace!"
Most of the great shamans and shaman kings fell into a daze before dispersing in all directions.
Pangong Tso overlooked Helan Pass where smoke rose from the fires of war, shrouding the crumbling once impregnable pass. He turned around and walked toward the golden palace while muttering, "It's been so many years, about seven or eight thousand years, right? My heart is already as calm as an old well, without a single ripple. This is the first time, right? The first time I have the feeling of wanting to struggle with all my might like in my first lifetime… Eternal Peace Empire, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Heavenly Devil Cult Master, you guys have once again lit up my fighting spirit!"
In the battlefield, Qin Mu moved a few corpses to one side and opened up the golden book to let Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Village Chief, and Cripple see its contents.
The three heads gathered together and looked nervously at the writings and pictures on the page while frantically calculating and memorizing everything.
"Marvelous, truly marvelous! How did the people of Carefree Village think of such an intricate method to actually connect the divine bridge like this?"
"How immense of a calculation ability is required to calculate such precise markings before transforming them into a technique?"
The trio exclaimed endlessly, until Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Brothers, can I flip the page? Magpie bridge shouldn't be all there is; there are definitely other techniques on the next page! However, the calculations there will be even more intricate and require the result of the calculation on magpie bridge as a basis."
The golden book was flipped to the next page, and there was another wave of exclamations.
"It's indeed the next technique that's calculated off the basis of magpie bridge. Secrets of Mysterious Guide is truly remarkable. It's literally building a pavilion in the air! To be able to calculate to this step, this is definitely a godly calculation!"
"This is not what one person could calculate. This is a technique which had probably gathered the wisdom of everyone in Carefree Village in order to be calculated!"
"Quick, quick, quick, flip to the next page… What are you looking at me for? I have no hands!"
...
After the three of them looked at it for quite some time, loud explosions and cheers suddenly came from far away. Qin Mu raised his head to look over and gave a cough. "Helan Pass has been conquered."
Without saying anything, the trio continued to read the golden book. Qin Mu shook his head. "Shouldn't we be going over? The sky is going to turn dark soon. If we stay at Duck Tongue Zone, we will be in danger when the darkness invades at night. This is Great Ruins after all.
The trio remained silent.
Qin Mu was bored to death, and after waiting for a moment more, he couldn't resist saying, "No matter for how long you guys look at it, if you can't calculate the mathematical reasoning in the technique, any hasty cultivations will end up for naught."
The trio then finally lifted their head. They reluctantly pulled their gazes away from the golden book, and Qin Mu immediately asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, do you have confidence in patching your divine bridge?"
Village Chief shook his head and said, "I don't have much lifespan left, so it will depend on my fate whether I can patch my divine bridge before I die from old age. From the three kinds of techniques in this book, patching the divine bridge is no easy task."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. "Before that, we first need to calculate the mathematical reasoning inside these three techniques. This point is very important and we must build the algebra model as soon as possible. Once that is done, we will be able to spread this knowledge."
Cripple sneered. "Imperial Preceptor, you want to spread this technique that could make people become gods and devils, but have you asked permission from the person from Carefree Village's Qin family? After all, these three techniques don't belong to you!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was stunned for a moment, then said apologetically, "I only thought if this technique can or cannot be spread, but I forgot to ask the owner. Cult Master Qin…"
Qin Mu smiled. "I didn't plan to keep it to myself. I was just thinking that we should spread it out as well, since there's no need to keep it only for myself."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked into his eyes in an attempt to know his true intention, but he could only see Qin Mu's incomparably clear gaze. He suddenly sighed. "Old Human Emperor, I finally understand why you chose him as your successor. He indeed has the quality and the breadth of mind to be the human emperor. He may be young, but his mindset is broad enough!"
"Mu'er has been taught by us, so of course his mindset is broad enough!" Village Chief said calmly.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor knew the backgrounds of the nine elders, he would know why Qin Mu had the gaze and breadth of mind that others of his age did not.
The nine 'elders' of Disabled Elderly Village were Qin Mu's closest kin and also his teachers.
Among these nine, there was the current rulai, the spear god of the past, the number one in forging treasures with a penchant for mischievousness Mute, the once incomparably handsome yet ruthless Jade Face Poison King Apothecary, and the saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult that charmed both the gods and devils in the world.
There was also Deaf who was honored as Art Saint by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Cripple who had never slipped up and could escape from his grasp despite having a leg severed, and Butcher who was acclaimed as Heaven Knife, brandishing his knives to fight with the gods.
There was also the glorious human emperor of his generation, Village Chief.
All of them were broad-minded and open. Some were emotional, some merciful, some steady, some crafty, some good at keeping to themselves, some filled with heroic spirit and hot-bloodedness, some good at scheming, and some were ruthless. However, what all of them had was utter sincerity, the heart of a newborn.
It was because of such a village and such people that Qin Mu had been groomed into a person that he was, one that even the saint that appears once every five hundred years admired.
Qin Mu didn't feel anything special about himself, however. After walking out of Disabled Elderly Village, he didn't think he was very powerful. After all, since he was the Overlord Body, it was natural for him to get some accomplishments, so there was no need to make a fuss out of nothing.
However, in the eyes of others, he was simply a monster. No matter if it was poisoning or saving people, or even forging, stealing, painting, and calligraphy, he was one of the professionals in this world.
Only Qin Mu's battle prowess wasn't caught in the eyes of others. He had cultivated diligently to raise his abilities, but this point wasn't as eye-catching in Eternal Peace where the stars were bright.
Yet even this most unremarkable battle prowess could cause Pangong Tso to suffer over and over again after having swept through his peers.
Qin Mu didn't have high attainments in algebra when he had left Disabled Elderly Village, but he had improved by leaps and bounds afterward. Even people from Dao Sect might not have comprehended Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery as well as he did. Even though Qin Mu wasn't a person from Dao Sect, he had thoroughly studied Computation Canon of Supreme Mystery in detail.
He had started late yet he had reached the end first. There were not many people who could surpass him in algebra in this world.
The more Imperial Preceptor got into contact with him, the more he felt that this youth was extraordinary.
"If we want to transform the content in the golden book into algebra models, we will need people who are proficient in algebra to assist."
Qin Mu put away the golden book and continued, "This first technique, Secrets of Magpie Bridge, I can finish the measurements in one month and construct the algebra model. However, the second technique, Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and the third technique, Secrets of Divine Crossing, have too many things which need to be calculated. If there's only me to sort them out, I will probably take a year. That's way too long."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Village Chief, and Cripple revealed grim looks. To construct the algebra mode, they would need to measure every angle in the space of the golden book, using numerals to reconstruct the coordinates of the three techniques in space. This point was of utmost importance!
After having the algebra model, using the ratio of the divine bridge in the golden book on one's own divine bridge for measurement, one could calculate the coordinates and determine how to circulate the techniques in their own divine treasures.
Only then could one manage to learn the Secrets of Magpie Bridge and construct the magpie bridge. Once when it patched the divine bridge and extended it could the next step be taken, which was Secrets of Mysterious Guide, refining a mysterious guide bridge from the celestial heavens on the other side.
After Secrets of Mysterious Guide were cultivated, they could then learn Secrets of Divine Crossing.
If there was a mistake in any of the calculations of magpie bridge, mysterious guide bridge, and divine crossing bridge, they wouldn't be able to match one another. All efforts would be for naught, and everything done up until then would be wasted!
"In Dao Sect, the one with the best algebra is Old Dao Master. However, he retired and went god knows where. The next one would be the current Dao Master, who was before Daozi Lin Xuan."
Qin Mu continued measuring while saying, "His attainments in algebra are extremely high. I saw him execute Dao sword before; his algebra is very strong."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's head started aching as he said slowly, "Dao Sect and Eternal Peace Empire don't have a good relationship, but we need to invite them over. Besides the golden book, we also need them for Sunshot Divine Cannon! That weapon is extremely important and we definitely need to make it. With just Dao Sect's manpower alone, it won't be enough to complete these two things, so I'll still need to go to Little Jade Capital as well. However…"
He looked in the direction of the prairie and his head ached even more.
Now that Barbarian Di Empire was defeated, it was the best time to conquer the prairie. He definitely couldn't let go of this chance!
Inviting Dao Sect over, heading to Little Jade Capital, sending the army into the prairie to overthrow Rolan's Golden Palace—all of these things were extremely important yet he didn't know a cloning technique.
Meanwhile in the north, Wolf Store Country was still attacking Eternal Peace. With so many things to handle at once, Imperial Preceptor's head was about to explode.
"I'm very familiar with Dao Master, so I can go to Dao Sect. Maybe Dao Master Lin Xuan can be moved." Qin Mu smiled before continuing, "I can also take a trip to Little Jade Capital. I've met Wang Muran and his master, Wanderer Zhen, before."
"I killed Wanderer Zhen," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said. "You're Heavenly Devil Cult Master, so Little Jade Capital might not treat you nicely."
Qin Mu looked at Village Chief and Cripple.
"Since I've nothing to do, it's good to take a walk now that I'm out."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor understood and said, "Alright, you guys shall go to Little Jade Capital while I raze the prairie and eradicate Rolan's Golden Palace!"
"A hundred of its treasures are mine!" Qin Mu immediately said. "You promised to let me choose anything!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor replied solemnly, "Don't worry, my promises always count!"
Qin Mu relaxed and smiled. "Village Chief, Grandpa Cripple let's return to Qingmen Pass. We shall bring Xiong Xiyu and her daughter, as well as Fatty Dragon, to Dao Sect and Little Jade Capital."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor immediately walked toward Helan Pass while Qin Mu and the rest returned to Qingmen Pass to fetch Xiong Xiyu and her daughter. The youth then lifted Village Chief up and placed him in the herb basket.
Qin Mu then suddenly came to a realization. "Crap, I've never been to Little Jade Capital!"
Village Chief said indifferently, "I've been there before. There are only bags of old bones there, stinky and tough. Even if you go over there, you might not be able to move them."
Cripple rubbed his palms in excitement. "Little Jade Capital, I've not been there before! Without stealing from this sacred ground, my life won't be complete! A pity Old Ma is not here…"
Xiong Qi'er raised her head and looked at Cripple seriously. "Grandpa Cripple, you will be beaten to death for stealing."
Cripple was rather pleased with this little girl and caressed her head while beaming at her. "Does Qi'er want to be the number three sacred hands in this world?"
"Yes!" The little girl's voice was loud and clear.
In Helan Pass, all the troops were consolidating their armaments, while chief generals came forth to report to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor about the losses. The casualties weren't too severe and couldn't be compared to the small-scale battle previously. All kinds of spirit weapons and supplies like rations and spirit medicine were mostly untouched.
Sword Hall Master and Yuyuan Chuyun also came forth to report. "Imperial Preceptor, there are no more medicinal stones."
"What?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor cried out.
"The medicinal stones for the new army have already been finished," Sword Hall Master said once more.
"Impossible!" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor suddenly stood up. "The flying ships were stocked with three months worth of medicinal stones, so how can they all be gone in a day?"
Sword Hall Master didn't have many words. "Finished by firing the cannons."
"Imperial Preceptor, the cannons improved by Academician Qin have a huge consumption in regards to energy, and the improved pill furnaces also require more medicinal stones. In that battle earlier, the cannon beam fired from each cannon was a hundred times stronger than in the past! The consumption was also a hundred times greater than in the past! Therefore, the medicinal stones were quickly depleted," explained Yuyuan Chuyun.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor composed himself and said, "In that case, we can't leave the pursuing to the new army. Let the cavalry and flying units give chase. Your new army shall first rest and reorganize itself. When the medicinal stones are shipped over, I'll have another mission for you guys."
"Imperial Preceptor, our new army doesn't have a name yet. May Imperial Preceptor bestow us a name," Yuyuan Chuyun said.
"I would be breaking the rules by bestowing a name. The emperor has to be the one who does it."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waved his hand to dismiss them while thinking to himself, 'How are they all depleted just like that? The things that Cult Master Qin improves seem to not take our hard-earned capital into consideration, accumulating energy at all costs. It's as if he's scared the firepower wouldn't be enough…'
Right at that moment, a messenger from a flying unit came over to report. With a whoosh, a nine-headed bird landed on the ground and tumbled forward, transforming into a divine arts practitioner. While kneeling on one knee, he said, "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, General Bian requests for Divine Physician Qin to head to the frontlines!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's heart stirred slightly. All the troops were currently resting and reorganizing, only General Bian had led the army of Qingmen Pass to chase after the enemy. He was prepared to directly wreck havoc at Yellow Dragon Manor, the capital city of Barbarian Di Empire.
Bian Zhenyun guarded Qingmen Pass all year round and was extremely familiar with the prairie. Once he brought the elites to head straight for Yellow Dragon Manor, he could be said to be moving at godspeed, so conquering the capital wasn't impossible.
"Divine Physician Qin has already left for Dao Sect and is no longer here. What happened?"
"Shaman poison!"
The divine arts practitioner opened up his shirt and revealed his chest. Livor mortis could be seen on his body, and there were also extensive ulcerations. The divine arts practitioners hissed out, "Our brothers in the army have all suffered from shaman poison and countless of them have already died! The military doctor from Imperial College says that great shamans have poisoned the water!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked over with a grim face, then quickly stood up. "Bring me over to have a look!"
The divine arts practitioners cultivated corporeal body divine art and wanted to transform back into a nine-headed bird when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor circulated his magic power to fix him in place, making his body float up in the air with him. He said solemnly, "Don't use your magic power. Otherwise, the shaman poison will spread even faster. You just need to point me in the right direction."
His speed was extremely fast, and the space under his feet seemed to shrink rapidly. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor crossed a thousand miles, catching up with Bian Zhenyun's troops.
Before Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor even descended from the sky, he was stunned.
All around, there were corpses of humans and livestock throughout the whole of the prairie, and they weren't only of Eternal Peace Army led by Bian Zhenyun. Most of the corpses were of shepherds and livestock that lived there for generations.
The rate at which the corpses were decomposing was simply without equal.
There were many flies in the skies, circling the countless corpses, but none of them dared to land. Any of the brave who landed died!
The corners of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes twitched. Suddenly, the divine arts practitioner behind him grunted and puked out fresh blood as well as the intestines. He died an unnatural death, and his corpse fell off the sky.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's heart became heavier and heavier. Even if Qin Mu, this divine physician, was to come here, it would be useless. Rolan's Golden Palace had poisoned the entire prairie, so the scale was simply too great!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor formed his hands into tight fists as he walked among the seas and mountains of corpses. There were numerous soldiers beside Bian Zhenyun that were still alive, but their bodies were already rapidly decomposing.
The corners of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes twitched as he looked at Bian Zhenyun. This man's cultivation was dense, so the shaman poison couldn't get close to him. However, this old general had a blank gaze. He sat in a daze beside a young officer which was his son who had already died from the poison.
"General Bian…" Bian Zhenyun lifted up his head in a daze, his eyes lifeless. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned back and left while saying with a solemn face, "You guys shall stay here, don't enter the pass."
Bian Zhenyun looked at his back that was walking away and suddenly shouted, "Imperial Preceptor, we still have many sons of Eternal Peace here, we can't let them all die here—"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body trembled, but he didn't stop. He continued to walk toward Helan Pass.
In the pass, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire that were carrying green-colored bottle gourds. No one made a sound.
"Let's begin." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor closed his eyes and waved his hands. "Flood the prairie and wash away the shaman poison."
The bottle gourds opened up, and dark clouds rose into the air to cover the prairie. Bolts of lightning crackled as they struck down, and heavy rain descended from the sky.
About ten days later, the rain gradually stopped. By then, the prairie had already become a kingdom of water.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor entered it once again and saw countless people and livestock that had drowned. He found the army of Qingmen Pass of whom only Bian Zhenyun was rest. All the rest had died.
"General Bian, let's return to the pass," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said gently.
Bian Zhenyun looked at him in a daze and croaked, "I brought them out, but I couldn't bring them back, I'm ashamed to face them… Imperial Preceptor, bring our corpses back to the empire… I'm ashamed to face you guys!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor opened his mouth to speak, but Bian Zhenyun drew his sword to sever his own head. With his two hands, he placed his head in front of him.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor picked up this head filled with white hair while Bian Zhenyun's corpse collapsed to the ground.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor put away Bian Zhenyun's head properly while looking at the corpses on the floor, his heart trembling. He saw that Bian Zhenyun had placed the corpses of the soldiers of Qingmen Pass in an orderly manner during the ten days of heavy rain. The old general had to have braved the storm to place the corpses of his soldiers together.
There was even a wooden tablet beside each and every body. On the tablet were the names of the fallen.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked forward, the corpses of the soldiers of Qingmen Pass on both his sides. On every corpse, there was a wooden tablet, and each one had a name written on it.
Bian Zhenyun could recognize each and every soldier under him, able to name every single one of them!
"You're a qualified general."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stopped, no longer going forward. He turned around, and his gown fluttered as countless of corpses flew up, following him back to Eternal Peace.
Back in the country, the soldiers' families were still longing for their return. Some of the fallen were young sons, some old fathers, some were husbands who had come out for war, and there were also some who were daughters, wives, and mothers who had people waiting for them at home.
He wanted to send them home.
"Rolan's Golden Palace."
Imperial Preceptor looked to the east before turning his head away and walking back to Eternal Peace.
The night descended, and another world overlapped with this world. An ancient boat with ghostly lights sailed over, and elders appeared under numerous dots of light, folding paper men and paper boats. The souls on the battlefield quietly boarded the boats, without a single person making a sound.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor passed by their sides, not disturbing the envoys of Youdu.
The heroes who had died in battle and the herdsmen of the prairie that had died to poison would be guided to the mysterious Youdu. No one knew who were the ones that were receiving them.
In the meantime, Qin Mu scaled up Kunlun Jade Void Mountain.
This place was known as Jade Void Paradise and didn't seem like the real world. Everywhere one looked there was a feeling of an immortal sacred ground. Even the huge snow disaster that had shrouded Eternal Peace Empire hadn't affected this place in the slightest.
It was unlike Great Thunderclap Monastery's Mount Meru, which was located high at the top and had tens of thousands of monasteries. It resulted in a dazzling sight which people could see from far away. Their hearts would shake from the vastness of buddhism.
Jade Void Paradise was located between two mountains and hidden in the depths. If one wanted to go there, they would have to flip through thousands of mountains and rivers and even then they might not be able to find this sacred ground.
Dao Sect had people of cultivation who didn't like others to disturb their peace. These Daoists rarely left for the outside.
The dragon qilin came to the bottom of the mountain. There weren't any strange beasts guarding the gate of Jade Void Mountain, only a straw hut within which lived an old Daoist. When the group approached the place, he was cooking his meal.
Qin Mu leaped down from the dragon qilin and greeted that old Daoist. "Heavenly Saint Cult Master is here to meet Dao Master. May senior brother please notify him."
The old Daoist was astonished and took a good look at him. He then took a glance at the herb basket on his back and the crippled man that was full of smiles. "So it's Heavenly Devil Cult Master. You have killed quite a lot of Old Dao's senior brothers in that battle at the capital city." The old Daoist then sized Cripple up and revealed a suspicious look.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Daoists are most afraid of people disturbing their peace yet they came to disturb the peace of other people. They deserved to be killed."
The old Daoist shook his head and said, "For the people of the world, Daoists sometimes have to make a move. Heavenly Devil Cult Master, I won't argue with you. You guys shall go up the mountain yourselves. Don't disturb my cultivation."
Cripple smiled. "Dao Sect's people are lazy, so they don't restrict anyone from scaling their mountain. There aren't that many rules here."
The old Daoist looked at Cripple again, and his expression suddenly changed drastically. "You guys can go up the mountain, but this old man can't go up. He must stay here!"
Qin Mu was puzzled.
Angered, the old Daoist said, "I didn't recognize him at first! I only remembered after hearing his voice. Back when the Thief God ran up Jade Void Mountain and wrecked havoc, he stole nearly everything we had!"
"How many years ago was that? I've already washed my heart and renewed my face, turning over a new leaf," Cripple muttered.
"Peh, peh, peh!" That old Daoist ignored him and called over his dog. A huge yellow creature shakily lumbered over from the toilet while wagging its tail. The old Daoist then shouted, "A dog can't stop himself from eating shit!"
Cripple was angered. "This old Daoist scolded me in a roundabout way!" Even though he was furious, he was still full of smiles, making people feel as though they were bathing in the spring wind.
Qin Mu's heart jumped a beat, and he secretly prayed for the old Daoist.
He carried Village Chief while the dragon qilin followed after them up the mountain. Cripple then suddenly flashed like a phantom, and his body vanished. He laughed. "If you don't let me up the mountain, try stopping me!"
The old Daoist hurriedly gave chase, and the two of them disappeared into Jade Void Mountain.
After a moment, Qin Mu saw the old Daoist halfway up the mountain, stripped naked. He squatted on the cliff with no care. When he saw Qin Mu riding the dragon qilin, the old Daoist immediately hugged his shoulders.
Qin Mu pretended not to see anything and walked past him.
The old Daoist let out a sigh of relief, and Qin Mu suddenly turned back to ask, "How can I meet Dao Master?"
The old man was embarrassed and angered. "Dao Master Lin is at the Jade Void Monastery at the mountain peak!"
Qin Mu gave his thanks and took out a piece of clothing to throw at him. The old Daoist immediately caught it and wanted to give his thanks, but Qin Mu had already walked away.
Once they came to the mountain peak, they could see waterfalls and springs. Many disciples of Dao Sect were currently practicing their sword moves under one waterfall beside which were the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword. It was placed there for everyone to observe.
The disciples of Dao Sect practiced their swords in weird ways. They first calculated with all kinds of tools. Qin Mu could see that they actually forged the tools of calculation—like Wuji Diagram, Taiji Diagram, Four Symbols Diagram, Five Elements Diagram, and Eight Trigrams—into treasures, forming the structure of three-dimensional space to continue performing calculations.
'These Daoists look like geomancers.' Qin Mu thought to himself.
When they came to a conclusion, the disciples of Dao Sect would leap up, their flying swords swaying. Their sword skills were extraordinary.
Qin Mu couldn't help watching for a moment before exclaiming in his heart, 'Dao Sect is truly a sacred ground, they are very serious in their learningĄ'
A young Daoist nun was seeking to solve an equation without any result, making her so urgent she scratched her ears. Once she saw Qin Mu, she immediately came over to greet him. "This senior brother, who are you looking for?"
Qin Mu jumped down and said, "Is Dao Master Lin Xuan around? My name is Qin Mu, I need to find him."
"Dao Master is at Jade Void Monastery. He just came back from Little Jade Capital two days ago," said the young Daoist nun while pointing at a Daoist monastery to the side.
Qin Mu looked at her tools of calculation and stretched out a finger to pluck two times at her eight trigrams plate with a smile. "The sixty-four hexagram astronomical phenomenon can be solved like this."
The young Daoist nun immediately looked at her eight trigrams plate and was stunned for a moment before becoming delighted.
When the group left, an old Daoist nun asked, "Who was that person?"
"He said his name is Qin Mu and he has come to find Dao Master Lin." The young Daoist nun smiled. "He helped me solve this hard astronomical phenomenon question conveniently so I could go through with solving the numbers of Milky Way's stars!"
The old Daoist nun was astonished. "Qin Mu? That's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master! This old devil killed god knows how many of our senior brothers and he still dares to barge into our Dao Sect!"
The young Daoist nun jumped in shock. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master? Is he here to kill Dao Master? What should we do?"
The old Daoist nun smiled. "Our Jade Void Monastery has all the experts of our Dao Sect. If he tries anything, Heavenly Devil Cult will have to choose another cult master. Let us practice our sword. There's no need to bother with him."
In Jade Void Monastery, Qin Mu saw a bunch of old Daoists and old Daoist nuns. Some of them were squatting in the garden and looking at a fresh flower with keen interest; some were sprawled on the floor looking at a bunch of ants fighting; while some were drinking tea leisurely while playing chess. A number were playing flutes beside the pavilion, while others were walking around in ragged shoes. The tips were already tattered, revealing a few charming toes.
Qin Mu retreated out of the place and raised his head to look at the horizontally inscribed board hanging on top of the Daoist monastery. He confirmed it was Jade Void Monastery before walking in again to ask an old Daoist, "Where is Dao Master Lin Xuan?"
"Dao Master!" The old Daoist turned his head and shouted, "Someone is looking for you!"
Dao Master Lin Xuan's voice came from the depths of Jade Void Monastery. "Got it, I'm coming out now! Please help me attend to them first, I'm at the crucial point of refining my pills!"
The old Daoist turned his head back and said, "Feel free."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. After waiting for a moment, he heard a loud explosion, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky from where Dao Master Lin Xuan's voice had come. A bunch of old Daoists and old Daoist nuns laughed. "Dao Master exploded the furnace again!"
Dao Master Lin Xuan came out with a sooty face and said, "Senior Uncle, if you hadn't shouted, I still wouldn't have exploded the furnace… Cult Master Qin!"
Daoist Lin Xuan saw Qin Mu and was astonished. He immediately wiped off the soot on his face and asked righteously, "How does Heavenly Devil Cult Master have the time to visit our Dao Sect?"
"Heavenly Devil Cult Master?"
Once he said that, all the old Daoists and Daoist nuns turned to look at Qin Mu, and he felt murderous intents coming from their gazes!
The grudges between Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Cult could be traced all the way back to some ten-twenty thousand years ago. The conflict between the two sects was carved into their bones, and to top it, Qin Mu had killed almost half of the experts from Dao Sect in the capital to quell Ling Yuxia's rebellion. It was no wonder then that the strong practitioners around would radiate with murderous intent upon hearing his title.
Qin Mu's face didn't change, but a white head popped out from the herb basket on his back.
Village Chief looked around. Wherever his gaze went, the old Daoists and Daoist nuns averted their gazes. They didn't look into his eyes, but hurried off to do their own stuff.
Village Chief then slowly shrunk back into the basket.
Qin Mu took out the golden book and smiled. "Old Dao Master allowed me to read the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword and I'm grateful for that. Now that Senior Brother Lin has become Dao Master, I've come to let you read a book. I shall give you three days."
Dao Master Lin Xuan smiled. "You had also let me see Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures so you don't owe my Dao Sect anything. This book…"
Once his gaze landed on the first page of the golden book that Qin Mu had flipped open, he found it hard to avert his gaze. He couldn't help taking out numerous rulers and measure the picture repeatedly.
As he measured, he also kept mumbling different rhymes for calculation.
When the old Daoists and Daoist nuns heard his rhymes, they paid no attention to it at first. But as Dao Master Lin Xuan's rhymes became more and more profound and his calculations became more and more complicated, they couldn't help becoming curious.
An old Daoist walked over, and his gaze was immediately captured by the picture in the golden book.
After a moment, more and more old Daoists and old Daoist nuns gathered around. All of them were measuring and calculating.
As they got entranced by the calculation, time passed without notice by them. Suddenly, a hand stretched out to take the golden book away, and Qin Mu's voice awakened them from their trance. "Dao Master, fellow senior brothers, three days are up."
"Has it been three days already?" Lin Xuan and the rest were astonished.
Qin Mu smiled. "Farewell." When he was done, he turned around, planning to leave.
"Hold your step!"
"Cult Master Qin, hold your step!"
Qin Mu turned around and revealed a smile.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Dao Master Lin Xuan was the first to come back to his senses. He raised his hand to stop Qin Mu and said sincerely, "Cult Master Qin must hold his step! You have brought this golden book forward not to just let Little Dao read for three days; you're trying to hook me! Since you have already thrown the bait and I'm already hooked, why not sit down and discuss it in detail?"
The old Daoists all nodded and said in unison, "Discuss! There's nothing that can't be discussed!"
"We are all people who cultivate Dao, all qi cultivators, so there's nothing we can't discuss!"
"The righteous path or the devil path are still both paths, we are one family!"
…
Dao Master Lin Xuan invited Qin Mu to take a seat, and an old Daoist nun immediately went to boil some tea, which she served in a moment. Qin Mu drank it and smiled. "Wonderful tea, it's just a little inferior to that of High Heavens. What kind of tea is this, can I have some?"
"Can!"
The old Daoist nun grinned, revealing her few remaining teeth. "This is our Dao Sect's Heavenly Green Precious Fragrance. Only tea leaves that are produced by a tree that grows at Jade Void Spring can be called Heavenly Green Precious Fragrance. There are only three such trees, and only a few pounds are produced each year! How many pounds does Cult Master Qin want?"
Qin Mu placed the herb basket down and invited Village Chief to come out. He poured tea for him and asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, could you get used to this taste?"
"Heavenly Green Precious Fragrance has a light yet long lasting aftertaste, so of course I would get used to it!" Village Chief smiled. "Not even the emperor gets to drink this tea! In that case, let's have a pound first so we can drink this new tea at the beginning of next spring."
"Bring us one pound, I want the best quality one," Qin Mu said to the old Daoist nun.
She hurried away and came back with a huge bag of tea after a moment.
Qin Mu put it away and looked around before saying, "Dao Sect sure is poor."
An old Daoist hurriedly said, "We are not poor. We still had some property, but it was stolen by someone. Cult Master Qin, your golden book…"
"Oh, it's from my old Qin Family." Qin Mu placed the golden book to the side and said, "I and Dao Sect have some grudges, but I always wanted to come to apologize. However, I couldn't find the time. This trip today is to let Dao Master Lin Xuan read the book and hopefully resolve this grudge between us."
"Cult Master Qin, it's enough!" Dao Master Lin Xuan said firmly. "Grudges can be resolved, but the differences between our teachings are not the same thing. Even if we resolve our grudges today, we will fight again in the future because of our teachings, and more grudges will be created. Cult Master Qin, it's still better for us to talk about this golden book."
Qin Mu exclaimed in his heart at this thorough judgment and said, "Dao Master Lin's eyesight sure is deep, I'm truly amazed. In that case, let us talk about this golden book. It records three techniques which are Magpie Bridge, Mysterious Guide, and Divine Crossing. They are techniques used to connect the seventh divine treasure, the Divine Bridge. Everyone should be able to guess the reason why I brought this book forward."
"It indeed has techniques to patch the divine bridge!"
Numerous old Daoists and Daoist nuns' hearts were shaken. They were so excited they found it hard to control themselves.
Patching the divine bridge and breaking through the last obstacle to become a god was the dream of who knew how many people. Even the experts of Dao Sect were not exempt!
Cultivating into immortals meant nothing for the people of Dao Sect. It was merely a kind of excuse to console oneself.
Immortal was a title that came from Little Jade Capital, with which the experts of Dao Sect frequently interacted. The people there posed themselves as immortals, living on a mountain away from worldly affairs. They were even more tranquil and lofty than people of Dao Sect.
When the old Daoists and Daoist nuns took the first look at the golden book, they were immediately shaken by the Secrets of Magpie Bridge. They had immediately become aware that this was a technique to patch the divine bridge, and it was extremely intricate, which was why they didn't sleep, eat, or even rest for three days.
Once Qin Mu repeated what they thought, that this was three techniques to patch the divine bridge so it would connect to the celestial heavens, the experts of Dao Sect had an urge to snatch the book back.
However, looking at that armless and legless elder who could still drink tea at the side, they calmed down.
Three days ago, this elder who popped out from the basket had only given them a look, yet they had seen the extremes of sword skills.
When they saw the gaze of this elder, they felt like they were seeing a sword attacking toward them. They could neither avoid nor defend against this attack, so they had all averted their eyes instead.
They were all legends of Dao Sect, so even though they weren't at the level of Old Dao Master, they were all people of the cult master level with superior sword skills. Yet this elder made them feel that if they snatched the book by force, they would definitely die a miserable way.
Dao Master Lin Xuan's gaze flickered. His vital qi burst forth and arranged a model of heavenly cycle stars with algebra. "Cult Master, please solve this."
Qin Mu smiled, knowing that his attainments in algebra were being tested. If he knew nothing about algebra, Dao Sect could then raise their initial price. If Qin Mu had extremely high attainments and let Dao Sect know they were dispensable, only then would he make them willing to assist him.
"This is the technique of Great Heavenly Cycle Stars Heaven Chess Transformation." Qin Mu's fingers moved and dotted here and there on the heavenly cycle stars while he said rapidly, "Great Heavenly Cycle has three hundred and sixty-five stars, while the three hundred and sixty-sixth one in hidden inside. It's Celestial Emperor Jade Emperor Constellation. You didn't label Jade Emperor for me to solve the Jade Emperor's Star Number, right?"
Just as he said that, Qin Mu drew a star on the great heavenly cycle of stars with vital qi. "Jade Emperor's Star Number is right here!"
The hearts of all old Daoists and Daoist nuns in Jade Void Monastery shook, and they all looked at one another. 'Heavenly Devil Cult Master's attainments in algebra are extremely high; he solved it so fast! He managed to calculate Jade Emperor's Star Number so quickly, so the technique in the golden book shouldn't be too difficult for him. All he needs is time.'
Dao Master Lin Xuan dispersed his vital qi and asked in doubt, "Since Cult Master Qin can solve it, why did he still come to our Dao Sect?"
"I can solve it by myself, but it would take a very long time. I can't wait that long," Qin Mu said with a resolute expression. "I also need the experts of Dao Sect to help me calculate the space algebra model for a divine cannon. These two matters require many experts that are proficient in algebra. If Dao Sect is willing to assist me, then it will receive copies of the three techniques to patch the divine bridge and the space algebra!"
In Jade Void Monastery, everyone took in a deep breath as the place became silent.
Qin Mu put away the golden book and rose. "If Dao Master Lin Xuan is interested, there's no harm in waiting in Imperial College. I need to take a trip to Little Jade Capital and invite a few experts who are proficient in algebra from there. That's right, Dao Master Lin, could you gift me a Computational Canon of Mysterious Lady?"
"Small matter," Dao Master Lin Xuan said and passed one over.
Qin Mu put it in his taotie sack and expressed his thanks. He then said profoundly, "Your master, Old Dao Master, is also at Little Jade Capital, right? He doesn't have much time left. If we fixed these techniques of patching the divine bridge…"
Dao Master Lin Xuan's body trembled, but he didn't say anything.
Qin Mu walked out of Jade Void Monastery and called Xiong Xiyu and Xiong Qi'er, who were waiting outside, to go down the mountain.
Dao Master Lin Xuan let out a shaky breath and looked at the old Daoists in Jade Void Monastery. All of them were looking back at him as well.
Dao Master Lin Xuan suddenly rose and said solemnly, "Gather all the people that are proficient in algebra. We will go down the mountain and head for the capital."
"Think thrice, Dao Master!" an old Daoist immediately said. "Dao Master really wants to work together with Heavenly Devil Cult? Those people have the ambition of wild wolves, and the Heavenly Devil Cult Master of this generation is extremely talented. He also harbors evil intentions, having killed who knows how many of our senior and junior brothers in the capital city!"
Another old Daoist nun said, "Heavenly Saint Cult's Cult Master Qin is indeed much smarter and more ruthless than Li Tianxing, so he's harder to deal with as well! He most likely brought the golden book to lure us into a trap!"
"Our Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Sect's grudge is deep, and this Heavenly Devil Cult Master is fearful. He's not a kind person. Dao Master, please think thrice!"
...
"We must go to the capital! And we must get the method to become a god!"
Dao Master Lin Xuan brushed his sleeves and said indifferently, "Fellow senior brothers, say no more. Cult Master Qin is right. Even if we don't assist him, he can solve the contents of the golden book by himself. What's more, Imperial College and Little Jade Capital also have people that are proficient in algebra, so calculating the space algebra model is merely a matter of time. If our Dao Sect is a step behind, we will slowly get farther and farther away, until we will be surpassed by Heavenly Devil Cult. We will fall in time!"
He turned around to pack his luggage. "Our Dao Sect requires its own god, a living god to protect it. In this world of huge changes, a sacred ground that doesn't change will have no way to survive!"
Numerous old Daoists didn't say anything and packed their own luggage. They picked out the outstanding disciples and prepared to head to the capital.
Suddenly, an old Daoist let out a world-shaking scream, "God damn it, who has stolen the leader's horsetail whisk?"
Another angry voice sounded out from another side of the mountain, "Who ate my fish?"
"Who stole my mountain and river screen? That's my precious treasure that I worked on for many years!"
"Who has seen my Universe Bay? It's a fake mountain that I refined after taking Universe Bay away."
"My hairpin was placed on the dressing table, who took it?"
…
Below Jade Void Mountain, Qin Mu passed by the mountain gate. The old Daoist guarding the mountain was standing at the straw hut. He returned Qin Mu's clothes to him and asked suspiciously, "Old Thief God has stolen our Dao Sect's treasure again?"
Qin Mu took back the clothes and shook his head. "I didn't see him on the mountain."
The old Daoist stamped his feet and said, "Crap! If you saw him, he could still be lazing around somewhere, but if you didn't see him, then that old scoundrel could have flipped the graves of our ancestors over and over again!" When he was done, the old Daoist called the big yellow dog over and led it up the mountain.
The big yellow dog was incomparably nimble as it jumped to the top. There, he sniffed around, and began barking, causing a havoc.
"If we don't go now, the experts of Dao Sect will slaughter their way down," Village Chief who was in the herb basket warned.
Qin Mu came back to his senses and hurried the dragon qilin, "Run quickly!"
The dragon qilin immediately sprinted away toward the majestic Kunlun Mountain Range.
After running for a long time, they finally left the Kunlun Mountain Range. With a worried expression, Qin Mu said, "I wonder if Grandpa Cripple was able to make it out…"
Before he could finish saying this, he saw Cripple sitting in the shade of a huge tree in front of them. He seemed to have been waiting for a long while.
Qin Mu was dumbfounded and wanted to say something, but Cripple suddenly leaped to his feet as though fire was burning his buttocks. He scrambled away and disappeared into thin air. A voice then came from the distance, "Mu'er, you guys shall go to Little Jade Capital first. I'll be right there!"
A huge dog landed nearby, and sitting on the back of it were a few old Daoists. Both male and female ones were full of killing intent.
The huge dog sniffed at the ground, and clouds grew under its feet. It rose into the sky and chased in the direction Cripple had left. Its speed was extremely fast, and it moved like flickering lights and passing shadows.
Qin Mu was stunned. He looked at the dragon qilin with a pleasant expression. "Fatty Dragon, can you catch up to that dog?"
The dragon qilin shook his head. "That fellow runs very fast, I can't catch up to him."
"It can run faster than you by eating shit!" Qin Mu said in a pained voice. "How dare you still have the face to eat spirit pills for all your meals!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin wagged his tail and fawned. "I'm more majestic than it."
Qin Mu was speechless. How was riding a huge meatball with a tail majestic?
He ate better than anyone, and it was still fine if he couldn't outrun the green bull, but now he couldn't even catch up to a dog!
"Cult Master, do you dislike me already?" The dragon qilin turned his head around with watery eyes. "You must dislike me, right?"
Qin Mu snorted and his brows softened. "No. Another few months, and it's New Year again, so how can I dislike you? How about I give you two buckets of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills each day? You can eat more, plump yourself up."
The dragon qilin shuddered, and Xiong Qi'er climbed onto his head. She carefully grabbed a tuft of hair on the back of his ear so that she wouldn't fall off. She whispered in his ear, "Don't eat anymore, you will be slaughtered for New Year!"
The dragon qilin spoke in a sob to her, his voice soft, "I know! I just can't control myself…"
Little Jade Capital was in the sky far from Dao Sect. With the dragon qilin's speed, he would need to run for ten days to reach the place. Qin Mu made a rocking chair and secured it on the dragon qilin's wide back. He then placed Village Chief on it. The one good thing about the dragon qilin being fat was that he could run steadily, so there was no worry that Village Chief would fall off.
Xiong Xiyu sometimes drank tea with him, while Qin Mu would go down to buy spirit herbs when they passed by cities to continue with the treatment of her injuries. She also didn't break her promise and imparted the Ten Thousand Soul Nature Technique of True Heaven Palace to Qin Mu.
Ten Thousand Soul Nature Technique had the meaning of all things having spirit and soul. The cultivation method of West Earth's True Heaven Palace was different from the cultivation method of Middle Earth. Its way was slightly similar to that of Dao Sect, as they were both close to nature. However, Dao Sect studied mathematical reasoning thoroughly, one of Dao follows the nature, whereas True Heaven Palace focused more on the interaction with all things, materializing the soul.
The technique of True Heaven Palace cultivated an incomparably strong power of interaction, granting all things soul.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and felt that this technique was more suitable for women to cultivate. Women's thoughts were more meticulous, and their perception was keener, so they naturally surpassed men in this. If he cultivated it, he could achieve something, but it wouldn't be of much use to him. The thing that was useful however was the method of creation that laid within it.
Granting all things soul was a kind of creation, and compared to the Seven Writings of Creation in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, Ten Thousand Soul Nature Technique was more direct and also more intricate. There were things he could derive from it.
"This technique from True Heaven Palace doesn't look like something from this era." When Xiong Xiyu had taught Qin Mu Ten Thousand Soul Nature Technique, Village Chief was also listening to it, analyzing what he heard. "Palace Master Xiong, your technique from True Heaven Palace seems a little ancient and is different from the techniques of Founding Emperor Era. When was True Heaven Palace founded?"
Xiong Xiyu shook her head. "I don't know about this. The moment I became the palace master, Yu Family rebelled and seized the power, so I didn't have the time to look at the records of my True Heaven Palace. However, I know that it's extremely ancient, and it goes back to the dim and distant past. I had once heard Nai Kui say that our True Heaven Palace is even older than the sacred grounds in Middle Earth…"
Her expression dimmed, but soon her spirits rose up again. "If both of you could assist me in taking back the control of True Heaven Palace, I would let the two of you read the books in the palace to your heart's' content!"
Village Chief yawned and closed his eyes to sleep. Xiong Xiyu looked at Qin Mu, but he was playing with Xiong Qi'er. He used his brush to draw a few birds, who then flew out. The birds circled around the little girl while chirping, making Xiong Qi'er giggle nonstop.
Xiong Xiyu sighed and didn't say anything else.
It was obvious that Qin Mu and Village Chief had no intention of helping her seize back the power. Going to True Heaven Palace was troublesome, and she couldn't take out anything of value, so the two of them were not interested.
'The only method left for me now is to assume the position of directorate in Eternal Peace Empire's Imperial College, hoping to discuss this with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in detail.'
Her gaze flickered as she pondered this. 'However, from the actions of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, after he conquers the prairie, he probably won't stop expanding. Even the icy plains in the north would find it hard to stop him. Could West Earth be one of his targets as well? If she discussed it with him, she would probably be asking the tiger for his skin…'
She was hesitant about it, but when she remembered how Xiong Family was left with only the two of them, she steeled her heart. 'Yu Family exterminated my Xiong Family, so I have to take revenge. And so what if I show the wolf into my house? I must take revenge!'
Qin Mu took a glance at her. Women were the ones in charge of West Earth, and from her methods, Xiong Xiyu was indeed not suitable to be the princess of True Heaven Palace. She didn't have enough boldness and capability.
The reason why Qin Mu didn't want to help her was because she lacked the ability, so even if she regained the control, she wouldn't have a firm seating. Since she was a strong practitioner who had opened Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, she had enough strength, but to control an entire sacred ground was not as simple as relying on one's personal strength.
The fall into ruin of Xiong Family and its extermination soon after Xion Xiyu ascended to the position of palace master was enough to prove that she was not qualified to be a palace master.
When Qin Mu had recommended for her to go teach at Imperial College, it was to give her the chance to meet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, who had the ambition and capability. If Xiong Xiyu wanted his hand to take revenge, she would have to pay a price that was big enough.
But all of this was unrelated to Qin Mu.
Suddenly, Village Chief opened his eyes and looked into the distance in astonishment.
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly. "Village Chief, what's wrong?"
"Someone is inviting me to battle. An old opponent." Village Chief raised his eyebrows, but said, "Ignore them. We are almost at Little Jade Capital. We will talk when we get there."
"Inviting you to battle?" Qin Mu stared blankly. 'Inviting Village Chief to battle? Aren't they afraid of dying?'
At that moment, Xu Shenghua who was in Little Jade Capital suddenly rose and looked into the distance. An expression of doubt came onto his face. Old Dao Master and Old Rulai were also at this place, so they could all sense it when they looked in the direction of Qingmen Pass.
"These auras are quite strong," a blind man propping himself on a bamboo cane said in astonishment. "Old Butcher, can you sense it?"
Butcher was currently using a Pig Slaughtering Knife to cut his nails. He raised his eyebrows. "These people have some ability. Their origins make me very curious."
Yu Li and the rest of the girls didn't sense any peculiarity and asked in bewilderment, "Young master, what's wrong?"
"My masters came down," Xu Shenghua said in astonishment. "So many gods came down. Did something happen in High Heavens?"
Old Rulai smiled. "Young Master Xu, the aura that they are releasing seems to be challenging someone. It shouldn't be High Heavens that are in trouble."
Xu Shenghua pondered over it. "Challenging someone? That someone can only be an expert like Old Human Emperor or Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. The latter may be known as the number one man under gods, but he still doesn't have the qualifications for it, so it can only be Old Human Emperor. Hermit Qing You, sorry for disturbing you over the past few days. Thank you for the hospitality, I shall take my leave now."
Hermit Qing You tried to have him stay. "Why doesn't Young Master Xu stay for a few more days? Even though our Little Jade Capital can't compare to your High Heavens, it's still considered a tranquil place that is hard to find."
"Seeing the ultimate arts of Little Jade Capital these few days has widened my horizons and allowed me to gain much benefit. However, since my masters have come forth to challenge Old Human Emperor, I cannot miss it," said Xu Shenghua.
Hermit Qing You didn't urge him to stay anymore.
Xu Shenghua brought Jing Yan, Yu Liu, and the rest of the girls down the mountain. They came to a pleasure boat, which they boarded swiftly. It sailed through the sky that was as smooth as a water mirror, creating ripples as it went into the distance. When it left Little Jade Capital, the sky that was like a water mirror disappeared, and the ripples also vanished without a trace, becoming a true sky.
The pleasure boat slowly sailed through the sky into the distance.
Butcher threw a glance at Blind, who smiled. "I can't see even if you throw glances at me; I'm a blind man. Senior Brother Qing You, Old Daoist, Old Monk, us brothers will be leaving the mountain too."
Hermit Qing You immediately said, "Senior brothers are also people who have achieved the Dao, so why not stay in Little Jade Capital? The world of mortals is muddy, so why do you have to get yourself dirtied?"
Butcher shook his Pig Slaughtering Knife, which expanded in the wind, transforming into a door-sized blade that leaned against his shoulder. He smiled. "I'm a butcher, and would you allow me to open a butchery here? If I can't sell meat and earn money, am I going to drink the northwest wind?"
Hermit Qing You's face froze, and Blind waved his hand. "With so much spring in the garden, how can it be contained? Meeting now, need we have known each other before? The most precious time is priceless! Senior Brother Qing You, no need to see me out!"
Hermit Qing You was stunned. While he tried to understand what those poem lines meant, Butcher and Blind walked out of Little Jade Capital.
Butcher's voice came from the water mirror sky. "Blind, your first sentence means that we are leaving, right? Which is why the spring can't be contained, which also means that Little Jade Capital can't hold us back. The second sentence should be a polite formula, saying how strangers coming together by chance, chatting through the night about path, skills, and divine arts end up as friends.
"The third sentence is even more remarkable. It means that we have urgent matters and have to go as soon as possible, therefore the most precious time is priceless. Is what I said right?"
Blind sounded proud. "Butcher, you're indeed my soulmate! This is indeed what my three poem lines meant. That guy Deaf keeps saying I'm frivolous, but how can he understand my brilliant expression of emotions?"
With great admiration, Butcher praised him, "You are indeed getting more and more talented. Your feelings are like poems, leaven Hermit Qing You stunned! Even the old Daoist and the eminent monk were dumbfounded!"
…
Hermit Qing You was dumbstruck. Old Dao Master and Old Rulai were also akin to wooden chicken.
Not long after Butcher and Blind left, a voice suddenly came from far away. "The current human emperor has come to visit Little Jade Capital!"
Hermit Qing You's heart trembled violently, and he dared not be negligent. He hurriedly beat the bronze gong, and the sound of it reverberated throughout Little Jade Capital. Sagely elders came out from the celestial mountains. They flew over with immortal breath rising in spirals as they came to Hermit Qing You's side.
Everyone looked at the water mirror in the sky and saw a black lump flying over, creating ripples on its way over.
Hermit Qing You trembled his sleeves as if he was shaking off dust, but Little Jade Capital was the sacred ground of immortals, so from where could there be dust?
Hermit Qing You took a step forward and raised his hands high above his head. The black lump that was plain and ordinary fell into his hand. Hermit Qing You then took a step back and placed his hands down. The other old immortals of Little Jade Capital immediately came forward to take a look with solemn expressions.
"Human Emperor's Seal! We are honored by your presence, Human Emperor, please!"
As they said that, they saw a dragon qilin dragging its huge tummy to carefully walk through the water mirror sky. The tummy created ripples as it touched the water surface.
An adorable and clever little girl was sprawled beside the ear of the dragon qilin. She said softly, "Fatty Dragon, suck in your tummy."
The dragon qilin did as asked and straightened himself to walk forward majestically. However, he only took a few steps before his tummy relaxed and smacked the water mirror with a boing.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"This water mirror sky of Little Jade Capital is indeed extraordinary."
Qin Mu examined the water mirror sky under the dragon qilin's feet and exclaimed in admiration. This thing was very marvelous. When looking from the bottom, one could see an azure blue sky during the day, and a starry sky during the night. However, when one came above the water mirror, they would see another world.
The water mirror sky lifted Little Jade Capital up and separated it from the world. When standing above and looking down, one could see the clouds floating past mountains, sometimes revealing their terrain and long rivers that looked like dragons.
'What is this water mirror sky made out of?'
Qin Mu suddenly jumped down from the dragon qilin's back and stretched out his hand. What he touched was actually like a real world. He scooped up some water with his hands, and he could actually hold it in his hands. It would even flow out from the crevices between his fingers.
Qin Mu stood up and stamped his feet. The surface of the water mirror then rippled outwards.
'Weird, this isn't water nor is it air, what exactly is this made out of?' He was becoming more and more astonished. 'Could there still be materials I don't know about in this world? No, I have to get to the bottom of this!'
He was full of excitement. After having learned to forge from Mute for so many years, it was already a habit for Qin Mu to study a material he hadn't seen before upon encountering it.
He opened Cyan Heaven's Eyes to study the structure of the water mirror sky in detail, trying to find how it was formed by the rune markings. However, to his disappointment, he couldn't find them.
'This is impossible! Water mirror sky is clearly a treasure, and since it's a treasure, it requires rune markings to increase its power. It's impossible for there to not be a single rune marking!'
Qin Mu was stunned. He had seen the sealing techniques of gods before, for example, the beehive seals in the underground space of Ghost Valley. Within them, there had been flickering rune markings. Could the forging technique of this water mirror sky surpass the methods of gods? How could he not see any rune markings?
The dragon qilin had already reached Little Jade Capital and ascended onto a flying island. Xiong Xiyu turned back to take a look, only to see Qin Mu still 'playing with water' on the water mirror sky. She couldn't help smiling. 'This Cult Master and Human Emperor Qin may seem mature, but he is still a kid at heart.'
Hermit Qing You immediately came forward and raised Human Emperor's Seal high up in the air. He looked towards the dragon qilin's back and saw a mother and daughter as well as Village Chief who was like a human stick. Everyone hesitated for a moment.
Hermit Qing You smiled. "Human Emperor, please take back your precious seal!"
Village Chief flew down from the dragon qilin's back with the rocking chair, but he didn't take the Human Emperor's Seal. He shook his head. "I'm no longer the human emperor. I have abdicated and passed the responsibilities to the next generation."
Hermit Qing You hurriedly looked at that mother and daughter, hesitating for a moment. "The current human emperor is a woman? It's no wonder then that this woman doesn't look weak and is already cult master level. It's extraordinary. However, she doesn't look like a person of Middle Earth, but like she comes from West Earth…"
There was no lack of women among the previous human emperors, but Xiong Xiyu was from a tribe in West Earth, and this made him feel strange. However, the tribes in West Earth were also human, so they could also become human emperors.
Wanderer Qing You and the old immortals of Little Jade Capital greeted Xiong Xiyu and Xiong Xiyu, who immediately smiled. "I'm not the human emperor, fellow seniors. Don't scare me, I can't handle this!"
Hermit Qing You looked at Xiong Xiyu and revealed a troubled expression.
Xiong Xiyu knew why they were mistaken and smiled again. "The human emperor is behind."
Hermit Qing You and the rest of the old immortals of Little Jade Capital looked toward the water mirror sky and saw a youth that was 'playing with water'. Their faces couldn't help turning black.
"For this youth to be the human emperor, this little girl might be better off…"
Qin Mu examined the water over and over again, but he still couldn't see its structure. He then sneakily took out a small jade bottle to store some of the water. He stuffed the cork back into the bottle and put it inside his taotie sack, ready to study it in detail when he had the time. This method of forging a treasure was not as simple as striking metal. It was somewhat similar to Mute's treasure, a forging method that left no fixed shape and was thus worthy to be studied.
Mute's treasure has no fixed shape, and he could forge black gold and black iron into treasured that had no fixed shape or state, reaching the level where he could transform them at will. Qin Mu was still far from this realm.
'No one should notice that a little water is missing.'
The youth raised his head and saw a bunch old sage-like elders looking at him with a dumbstruck expression. Qin Mu's expression froze, and he instantly laughed loudly, beaming up at them. He clasped his hands in a greeting. "The current human emperor pays his respects to fellow senior brothers and sisters. Sorry to disturb the peace of seniors, I feel bad about it."
The old immortals all returned the greeting.
Hermit Qing You rose and said, "Please take Human Emperor's Seal back. That's right, the water mirror sky of our Little Jade Capital, could Human Emperor please…"
"Old Dao Master, Old Rulai, both of you senior bothers are actually here as well!" Qin Mu caught the Human Emperor's Seal and stuffed it into his taotie sack. While laughing loudly, he walked over to Old Dao Master and Old Rulai, "Senior brothers have also come here to become immortal? That's good, that's good, you can be free from your worries."
Old Dao Master and Old Rulai immediately returned his greeting. Old Rulai smiled. "Old Daoist and I are now free from our burdens and don't have much time left. Coming to this peaceful land to spend our final years is also a good thing."
Old Dao Master smiled. "Could Human Emperor Qin also want to be an immortal that ignores the world affairs? If you are willing, it would be the fortune of the world."
Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm duty bound so how can I dare to shirk my responsibilities?"
Old Dao Master and Old Rulai greeted Village Chief with a smile as well. "Senior brother has abdicated the position of human emperor and even left Great Ruins, could you be wanting to become a carefree immortal in Little Jade Capital as well?"
Village Chief shook his head and said bleakly, "Mu'er is just afraid I will be lonely in the village by myself, so he's bringing me wherever he goes."
Hermit Qing You came forward with a smile. "Old Human Emperor, New Human Emperor, and also three Dao friends, this way please."
Qin Mu followed him to a celestial mountain, where the scenery here was magnificent and beautiful, having a different kind of flavor to it. The celestial mountains that were floating in the sky were connected by rope bridges which seemed to form a kind of wonderful formation that made the mountains float.
'Borrowing the law of heaven and earth, this kind of method doesn't seem to be from the mortal realm!' Qin Mu's heart was greatly shaken.
This kind of array belonged to a borrowing law whose degree of superiority reached an inconceivable extent!
Even though Qin Mu wasn't a formation expert, he knew that all the formations in the world were required to abide by the law of behavior and have a source of energy to operate them. For example, Qin Mu had once thought of creating Nine Heavens True Origin Cannons with Fire Heaven's Eyes to protect Saint Arrival Mountain; however, the medicinal stones that would be needed to maintain such formations would be massive, and so he could only drop the thought.
The formation of the celestial mountains and rope bridges, in the meantime, borrowed the law from heaven and earth. It took the energy from heaven and earth, so there was no need for medicinal stones or pill furnace to provide it.
In the attainments regarding formations, Little Jade Capital could be said be thousands of miles ahead of Eternal Peace Empire.
Qin Mu wanted to study the formation of Little Jade Capital, but after how he had provoked those old immortals by stealing a bottle of water mirror sky, it wasn't a good time to strike right then.
'This Little Jade Capital is a little similar to my Heavenly Saint Cult. The two of them use the same formation, so could they be related?'
Qin Mu's gaze flickered. Heavenly Saint Cult's Saint Arrival Mountain was also floating in the sky and had formations protecting it that borrowed the law from heaven and earth. Heavenly Saint Cult's Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were extraordinary, but they still couldn't surpass Eternal Peace Empire in the path, skills, and divine arts. However, their teleportation technique was akin to a legendary divine art. It was something to which Eternal Peace Empire's spell divine arts had no hope of catching up!
Little Jade Capital's water mirror sky showed that their method of forging had also reached an astonishing degree, being as marvelous as Mute's treasure with no fixed shape.
It was obvious that Little Jade Capital had many techniques and ultimate arts that far surpassed those of the mortal realm. It was no doubt the number one sacred ground in the world!
Hermit Qing You toasted Village Chief and said, "Dao brother went into seclusion in Great Ruins and disappeared for a few hundred years, and many people thought that you died. Now that the world is at peace, why does Dao brother have to come out again? Once you come out, people are going to be in a terrible situation again! If you didn't want to come out, how could Human Emperor have asked you out?"
"The people of our generation have mostly died of old age. Even though some people were outstanding and had world-shaking cultivations, they were willing to bury their talent and die quietly of old age in this fake paradise. However, I don't want to die of old age like this. If I die, I want to die like a human emperor should, dying vigorously," Village Chief said indifferently.
Hermit Qing You drank a sip of tea and smiled. "Dao brother, so what if we were outstanding? You were the number one in the world back then, one sword lighting up how many mountains and rivers? In regards to outstanding, how could we be compared to you, Dao brother? But what happened then? What did you become?"
Village Chief's eyes became sharp.
Hermit Qing You was not frightened at all and placed down his cup. He said, "Old Rulai, Old Dao Master, me, Ling Jing, and these immortals all admired you back then! We admired you greatly and felt that your exploits could shake the world. But what a pity, even the outstanding you were forced to such a state."
Village Chief was silent.
Hermit Qing You sighed. "Your lofty aspiration was obliterated with your limbs, but not everyone is like you. We feel that staying here is pretty good as well. You are not a fish, so how can you know the happiness of a fish? I'm also not you, so I can't share your emotions."
Village Chief lifted up the teacup with his vital qi and slowly drank his tea.
Hermit Qing You looked at Qin Mu and smiled. "Human Emperor Qin, Hermit has heard of your name before. You are also the sacred cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult."
Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he said, "Since you guys are immortals that stand aloof from worldly affairs, why do you still have to scout out the worldly affairs?"
Hermit Qing You smiled and didn't explain. He had a feeling to try to keep him a thousand miles distant from himself. "After Human Emperor finishes his tea, please leave Little Jade Capital."
Qin Mu didn't drink the tea, but took out the golden book. "May Immortal please take a look at this book. I wonder if Immortal's heart will be moved?"
Hermit Qing You flipped open the golden book, and his face changed. His aura suddenly rose drastically before becoming calm once again. He flipped to the second page and then to the third page.
After a moment, Hermit Qing You closed the book and pushed the golden book back to Qin Mu with a smile. "It indeed moved my heart. Human Emperor Qin, please leave."
Qin Mu was stunned. Anyone who saw this golden book would find it hard to stay calm, much less return the book to him. Yet this Hermit Qing You actually seemed to be unmoved, making everything he wanted to say useless!
"Immortal Qing Y—"
Just as Qin Mu said until this, Hermit Qing You gave him a deep look and said, "All the previous human emperors were like this; it's hard to make a human emperor give up. In that case, let Hermit make things clear to Human Emperor."
He stood up and asked, "Does Human Emperor Qin have a sense of familiarity when looking at Little Jade Capital? Does it look like Heavenly Saint Cult's Saint Arrival Mountain?"
Qin Mu was stunned and couldn't help standing up as well. He indeed had a sense of familiarity. The thing that he felt was the most familiar was the formation Little Jade Capital used to borrow the law of heaven and earth. It was nearly the same as the one used in Saint Arrival Mountain!
"This is because Little Jade Capital and Saint Arrival Mountain come from the same source."
Hermit Qing You looked at the majestic celestial mountains of Little Jade Capital and said softly, "Heavenly Saint Cult's saint and the founder of our Little Jade Capital were both people from the same generation. They walked out from the same place. Not only Heavenly Saint Cult and Little Jade Capital…"
He turned back to look at Village Chief while putting emphasis on each word he voiced. "The First Generation Human Emperor from Hall of Human Emperors also came from there! Furthermore, Little Jade Capital, Saint Arrival Mountain, and Hall of Human Emperors are fragments from the same place! Dao brother who has gone to Hall of Human Emperors before should know very well what kind of place that is, right?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu's brain was blown, and all kinds of thoughts surged through his mind, turning it into a mess. Even his ears were buzzing.
What Hermit Qing You had revealed was simply too astonishing, just too unbelievable!
Little Jade Capital, Heavenly Saint Cult, and Hall of Human Emperors actually came from the same source and the same era, they were created by people who had walked out from the same place. Not only that, these three sacred grounds were actually the fragments of the same place!
Qin Mu turned around to look at Village Chief. His expression was normal, without any fluctuations. It was as if Hermit Qing You's world-shaking words were not enough to move his heart.
Or more likely, he had already known the connection between the three sacred grounds, so the words held no shock value for him.
Old Rulai and Old Dao Master, however, were shocked. It was obvious that these two previous leaders of two big sacred grounds didn't know the inside story.
The origin of those two sacred grounds was even more ancient, but not all history got recorded.
Hermit Qing You pulled his gaze away from Village Chief and looked at Qin Mu. As he smiled, there was surprise in his expression. "Looks like Old Human Emperor didn't tell you any inside information. You have also not been to Hall of Human Emperors. Young Human Emperor, you should take a trip there; you'll learn many secrets in that place."
Qin Mu composed himself and said solemnly, "May Immortal Qing You clarify!"
Hermit Qing You looked at Village Chief whose expression was like an old well.
Hermit Qing You smiled. "If you are not saying, I shall meddle in your affairs, even if it's not my place. Human Emperor, please follow me."
He walked down the mountain, and Qin Mu followed. Village Chief also quietly floated behind the two of them. Xiong Xiyu hesitated for a moment, then pulled back Xiong Qi'er while shaking her head. "We shouldn't dabble into the affairs of Middle Earth."
Xiong Qi'er couldn't understand, but Xiong Xiyu had her own worries. The matters of True Heaven Palace were already giving her a headache, yet the matters of Middle Earth were even more terrifying. She could sense that some secrets were better off not known.
Old Dao Master and Old Rulai looked at each other, and Old Dao Master smiled. "We are already free from our burdens and have become immortals of Little Jade Capital. Let not learn any more secrets so we don't spoil our frame of mind."
Old Rulai took a look at him and said, "What that golden book records in the method to connect the divine bridge. Is Dao friend's heart not moved?"
"So what?" Old Dao Master said leisurely. "Where's the person that created the method to connect the divine bridge now?"
Old Rulai was stunned and laughed loudly. He didn't plan to follow after them as well. "All the previous human emperors failed, so there's no need to join in the fun."
As for the dragon qilin, he also didn't follow after them. He sprawled out to the side began to snore, which sounded like thunder striking the land.
"You will be eaten," Xiong Qi'er whispered in his ears.
The dragon qilin immediately raised his head and looked around cautiously. When he saw Qin Mu not around, he said to the little girl, "I will exercise after taking a nap."
Xiong Qi'er actually believed him.
Qin Mu followed Hermit Qing You across the long rope bridge and passed by a few celestial mountains until they came to a particular one.
Hermit Qing You led them up to the mountain peak through an extremely ancient hall. It seemed to not have been repaired for many years and was a little dilapidated. The walls were broken, and there were not many pillars that were supporting the ceiling. It was as if they had been destroyed in the fires of war.
That huge hall was called Hall of Historical Records. The writings on the horizontally inscribed board were slightly blurry, but Qin Mu could still see that the person who had written those four words had extremely high attainments in calligraphy and painting. The words, Hall of Historical Records, had a profound meaning of history as a feeling of transformation swept into one's face from the words.
"During Founding Emperor Era, Hall of Historical Records was a famous place."
Hermit Qing You walked through the hall, but there were no books there. Only rows of ancient bookshelves were left. The interior of the room they were in had a circular shape, which was very vast. Qin Mu saw numerous shelves placed on the circular walls, so anyone who wanted to read them would have to take a walk around.
However, it was a pity that all the books were gone.
"Many books in this place were destroyed in the fires of war, while the remaining books were moved to other halls to preserve them. The group of immortals that founded Little Jade Capital had at first planned to tear down Hall of Historical Records, but in the end, they found it meaningful to let it remain, so they didn't touch it."
Hermit Qing You went to walk the wall, past the rows of empty bookshelves, his hand caressing them.
Qin Mu followed after him, slightly stunned. A magnetic force came from the wall and drew his body toward it, allowing him to be able to walk freely on the wall.
"Those immortals that founded Little Jade Capital were in charge of recording the history during Founding Emperor Era.
"Not only during it, but also the time before it. Because of them recording everything, we can see the failures in history and know the dangers that come with them. That's why when Founding Emperor Era was obliterated, they moved out of Hall of Historical Records to found Little Jade Capital, this sacred ground.
"Little Jade Capital is far from the mortal realm and doesn't participate in worldly affairs. We only quietly float outside the mortal realm to record the prosperity and decline of the world. Does Human Emperor know where Hall of Historical Records used to be located in Founding Emperor Era?"
Qin Mu shook his head.
Hermit Qing You walked to the domed roof with his head facing the ground and legs moving over the roof. "In that case, does Human Emperor know the meaning of Jade Capital?"
"It's the capital in which Celestial Emperor lives," said Qin Mu.
Hermit Qing You sighed. "That's right, the capital city where Celestial Emperor lives. Jade Capital is Celestial Heavens. The name Little Jade Capital is used to commemorate the capital in which resides Celestial Emperor. The history recorded in Hall of Historical Records was actually for Celestial Emperor to read."
Qin Mu's heart was greatly shaken, and he stared blankly at him while muttering, "Little Jade Capital is from Jade Capital?"
"That's right, Little Jade Capital is from Jade Capital!" Hermit Qing You turned around and looked away from him to glance at Village Chief. He said in a solemn voice, "Little Jade Capital comes from the capital city of Founding Emperor Era, Jade Capital! Hall of Human Emperors is also from there! As well as Saint Arrival Mountain!
"They are all fragments of Jade Capital! The ones that created the three big sacred grounds, no matter if they were the immortals of Little Jade Capital, the First Generation Human Emperor of Hall of Human Emperors, or Saint Woodcutter of Heavenly Saint Cult, they were all from Founding Emperor Era's Jade Capital!"
Village Chief's eyes sparkled. "Since we are all from the same source, why won't Little Jade Capital lend a hand? Human Emperor Qin is also the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult. Based on sentiment and reason, your Little Jade Capital should support us with your fullest might!"
Hermit Qing You walked down from the domed roof and shook his head. "Old Human Emperor, your magnificent aspirations are hard to eliminate, you are still so stubborn and pigheaded, swallowing ancient learning without digesting it. I really want to show you the history recorded in Little Jade Capital, I really want to show you the cruelty of it and crush all your beliefs, to see you crawl on the floor and cry helplessly, to see you devastated and void of life!
He let out a shaky breath and then added indifferently, "I don't need to do this. Because I just need to let you see a few stone statues and you will crumble."
He walked out Hall of Historical Records and looked at a celestial mountain nearby.
Qin Mu and Village Chief also left Hall of Historical Records, side by side.
The clouds above the celestial mountain far away were rising in spirals and the celestial rays were like rainbows sashes surrounding the majestic stone statues. These stone statues had multifarious ambience and it wasn't known which heavenly work had sculpted them.
Hermit Qing You walked down the celestial mountain and headed towards the direction of a rope bridge.
They came to a celestial mountain with stone statues, and the corner of Qin Mu's eyes suddenly twitched. He saw a stone statue with the getup of a woodcutter and a stone hatchet in his hand.
It was very tall, as if the person had been a giant.
The woodcutter was sculpted to be remarkably life-like. He didn't seem like something sculpted, but a petrified human.
"This is the saint which Heavenly Saint Cult worships. He is the woodcutter who imparted his path on the rock."
Hermit Qing You looked up at Woodcutter's stone statue and said, "After he imparted his path, he was completely disheartened and came to Little Jade Capital. Like the immortals who founded Little Jade Capital, he chose to turn into a stone statue here. Look, where is his gaze looking?"
Qin Mu's heart shuddered, and he croaked, "Great Ruins."
"He's looking toward Great Ruins. That was once his homeland, but that place had become a barren land at the time. He couldn't do nor change anything."
Qing You's words were like knives into Qin Mu's heart, the man's ordinary words were like the most terrifying divine art that could destroy his will. "The previous cult masters of your Heavenly Saint Cult were all outstanding, but which one's attainments surpass those of Woodcutter? So what if he is your saint? Wasn't he disheartened to the point he chose to become a stone statue in Little Jade Capital?"
He walked to the second stone statue, which had the appearance of a scholar. The man's gaze was bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate of mankind. He held a scroll in his hand, but even though it was open, his gaze was not on it.
He was also looking at Great Ruins.
"This is one of the immortals that founded Little Jade Capital. He was one of the historians in charge of Hall of Historical Records during Founding Emperor's Era.
Hermit Qing You then walked to the third stone statue. "This is also a historian from Hall of Historical Records. There's also him, and her!"
He walked past those stone statues and came to one that was extremely tall and large. It had a presence that was extraordinary heroic, and the man's hands were propped on a sword which was stabbed into the ground. The statue's gaze was aimed into the distance, in the direction of Great Ruins.
"Their homeland had turned into ruins. and no matter how gallant or fierce they were, their magnificent aspirations were all crushed."
Hermit Qing You raised his head and revealed a serious expression. "That person during the ancient era when Founding Emperor Era was destroyed tried his best to save the world, but he who struggled for the human race to survive couldn't help becoming disheartened as well, turning into a rock here. Old Human Emperor, among the corpses of the past human emperors in your Hall of Human Emperor, hasn't one always been missing? He's right here."
Hermit Qing You expression turned sorrowful as he said, "He's right here…"
Village Chief's mind was blown as he raised his head to look at the extraordinary majestic stone statue.
The founder of Human Emperor Hall, the first human emperor, the one who saved countless big and small sects, saving the seeds for the future civilizations, the man who was revered by all sects as the emperor of the human race, the person who founded Hall of Human Emperor, yet this legend had lost his drive in the end as well.
He had turned into a stone statue in Little Jade Capital!
A rumbling came from Village Chief's heart. It was the sound of his persistence and certainty crumbling.
It was akin to that day all those years ago. All that he persisted on and all his beliefs suddenly crumbled, turning him back into the helpless old man whose limbs had been severed. He wanted to struggle, but he had no hands to grab onto anything. He wanted to stand, but he had no legs; he could only squirm on the ground!
That was what he was back then.
Only after Qin Mu had come to Disabled Elderly Village that he slowly walked out of that helplessness and despair.
Yet the moment the god in his heart crumbled, he was thrown right back into that swamp of misery!
His eyes became hazy, and he wanted to stretch out his hands to grab something, but he couldn't grab onto anything. He collapsed on the ground and wanted to stand up, but he couldn't.
Qin Mu hugged the white-haired and helpless old man.
"Mu'er…" The previous human emperor cried out, begging, "Let us return to Disabled Elderly Village, let's return, let's not come out anymore… Return Human Emperor's Seal to me, return it to me! I can't let you walk my old path, I need to bring it to my grave! You can't handle this responsibility—"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
It was Qin Mu's first time seeing Village Chief so helpless and in such despair. He hugged him like he was holding onto a floating ring, begging him to bring him home, to Disabled Elderly Village, to his own little world.
Qin Mu truly couldn't believe that this terrified and devastated old man was actually the expert that had taught and educated him. He had never imagined that the powerful Village Chief could be so easily struck down.
Village Chief always said that he was too powerful, yet all his beliefs had been so easily crushed.
When Village Chief had been struck the first time, he went to Disabled Elderly Village to become a disabled old man whose heart and ambitions were crippled. If Old Ma, Apothecary, Mute, and the rest didn't come to join him there, it was hard to imagine what he would have become.
Qin Mu still remembered the sight of Village Chief all alone after Apothecary and the rest left the village.
The dispirited Village Chief just sat at the village entrance, letting the wind and rain batter him, the darkness wash over him, and his beard grew frantically. All of his happened because he didn't feel like moving.
He didn't care about his appearance and didn't eat or drink. It was as if he wanted to rot right there and then
Yet the Village Chief had to have been even more dispirited when he'd been struck down the first time. At that time, it had been his personal failure that had led him to lose all interest in life, until he became no better than a walking corpse!
Yet right then, what had struck Village Chief was not his personal failure, but the failures of the previous human emperors and that of the first generation's Human Emperor!
Qin Mu could feel the despair of the once great man. He was like a frightened child that wanted to escape into his own world to huddle up and lick his wounds, or maybe just hide in a dark corner where no one would see as he rotted away.
Without experiencing this kind of failure, it was hard to understand what Village Chief was feeling.
Hermit Qing You looked over from nearby, his eyes filling with pity as he sighed. He hadn't wanted to strike the old human emperor like this, but Qin Mu, this new human emperor. He wanted to give this brat who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth a severe lesson, to let him know that all he was seeking and all the responsibilities he took upon himself were nothing but a joke in the end. All his hopes and hard work would lead to nothing!
Yet his blow didn't land on Qin Mu, but his old friend, who was left devastated. The two of them had interacted a lot during their youth.
Back then, Village Chief had invited him down the mountain, and he had agreed and went down, but so what? He had returned to Little Jade Capital covered in injuries. Even his heart had been wounded.
From then on, he was disheartened, and all his hot-bloodedness had been washed off.
In the years after, he had read through all kinds of records in Little Jade Capital and knew much more about the history. The greater his knowledge became, the less of the youth that went down the mountain was left in him.
When Qin Mu came to see him with the technique that could patch the divine bridge and allow one to become god, he was indeed moved for an instant. His dormant blood had once again become hot.
But right after, it cooled down.
So what?
Even if he patched up his divine bridge, could he become stronger than the immortals who founded this place?
So what if Old Human Emperor managed to patch his divine bridge? Could he become stronger than the human emperor who founded Hall of Human Emperors?
So what if Qin Mu became a god? Could he be stronger than Heavenly Saint Cult's Saint Woodcutter?
"So what?" Hermit Qing You was slightly stunned when he heard Qin Mu's voice. The youth repeated his words once more and smiled at the disheartened Village Chief. "So what? Grandpa Village Chief, so what if they failed?"
"Naive child." Hermit Qing You broke out in laughter and shook his head. "The current Human Emperor is still a naive child who likes to play with water. Back in the day, I was also hot-blooded like you, a naive child…"
Qin Mu smiled. "They failed, the previous human emperors and Grandpa Village Chief. But so what? When the first Human Emperor failed, wasn't there a second Human Emperor? When he failed, wasn't there a third one? Village Chief, even if you failed, isn't there still me?"
Village Chief was stupefied. His white hair swayed as he shook his head.
"I don't want you to become like me…" he said in a sob.
The him then was just an ordinary old man and not the human emperor that could rebuke the heaven and earth. He was not that sword god whose sword skill had reached the realm of the path. He was just a crippled old man who wasn't willing to let his child follow in his footsteps.
"I'm the Overlord Body, have you forgotten?" Qin Mu said with a smile. "The only Overlord Body, and I was raised by all of you. Isn't that enough?"
"Overlord Body?" Village Chief laughed and cried at the same time. "Overlord Body! Hehe, it's my sin… Mu'er, let us go home, okay? I beg of you!"
Qin Mu's vital qi surged out and lifted the elder into his arms. His smile was radiant like the morning sun in early spring. It seemed to be able to drive away all the dark clouds in others' hearts, bringing them warmth and hope.
"Overlord Body will never admit defeat, never accept death!"
Qin Mu had an indescribable infectiousness to his voice when he straightened his back and spoke with new confidence and certainty. "I will surpass all of you and stop always being the number two in the world!
"I will surpass you in sword skills and become the sword god, reaching the extremes in sword path! I shall surpass Grandpa Apothecary in the art of healing, Grandpa Cripple in speed, Grandpa Mute in forging treasure, Grandpa Deaf in the path of painting, Grandpa Ma in fist skills, Grandpa Butcher in knife skills, Grandpa Blind in divine eyes, and Granny Si in divine arts! I will be the number one in the world!"
Hermit Qing You laughed loudly. "Human Emperor's ambitions are laudable, but can you surpass these stone statues? Can you surpass those in Great Ruins? Even if you can, can you surpass Founding Emperor?"
His voice gradually became sterner as if he was lecturing a small boy. "You are only a naive child that has ambitions, but has never been faced setbacks or trials, so go back and play with water! Isn't it good to be an ordinary human and live an ordinary life? You can't yet understand the world of adults!"
Qin Mu raised his head to look a the stone statues and said calmly, "If I don't work hard and strive for success, I will naturally not surpass the first Human Emperor. But if I push myself one step at a time, there will be a chance, there will be hope. If I don't work hard and strive for success, but only think about failure all the time, of course I won't have shit!"
He took a glance at Hermit Qing You. "Immortal Qing You, since you are an immortal, will you die?"
Hermit Qing You shook his head. "There's no immortal that won't die."
"What can you leave behind?" asked Qin Mu.
Hermit Qing You said, "I didn't bring anything when I came to life, so I can't bring anything when I leave either."
Qin Mu revealed a smile. "But the immortals of Little Jade Capital left behind stone statues, and so did the first Human Emperor and Saint Woodcutter. But are they truly dead? During nighttime in Great Ruins, I saw a stone statue of a heavenly king ride the dragon qilin to slay divine dragons, I saw stone statues reviving to go into battle once again. I have even seen them give off divine light at night to protect the people of Great Ruins. But what will you leave behind after you die?"
He didn't wait for Hermit Qing You to reply and answered for him. "Nothing!"
Hermit Qing You was angered, and he shook his head while smiling. "You are still a little child who only knows how to brag, not understanding the gains and losses. You will get bruised all over and break your head, your body, and yourself until you are like me and the old human emperor. When that time comes, your family will be eradicated, leaving you all alone, without even a child to send you off. At that time, you will come to the realization that my words were gems of wisdom."
Qin Mu raised his head to look at the stone statue and said with a calm expression, "They will revive and when there's hope in this world once again, they will come back to life and continue to fight for hope. But when that time comes, will Immortal Qing You be able to come back to life to fight? He won't, because you are already dead."
Furious, Hermit Qing You took a step forward. His clothes moved by themselves, without the wind, and his hair fluttered as he shouted, "Even if you are the human emperor, what can you do?"
Qin Mu took a glance at him. "I'm the Overlord Body."
"There is no Overlord Body in this world!" Hermit Qing You shouted out at an ear-deafening volume. "What the f*ck is an Overlord Body? There's absolutely no such constitution! Who are you trying to fool?"
"This world has an Overlord Body."
Village Chief suddenly opened his mouth, and Hermit Qing You was slightly stunned when he shifted his gaze at him. Village Chief struggled free from Qin Mu's vital qi and floated up with a solemn face. "There's an Overlord Body in this world, an Overlord Body from Carefree Village!"
Hermit Qing You's heart was greatly shaken, and he looked at Qin Mu in a hurry while crying out, "What you mean is…"
"His surname is Qin, Qin of Founding Emperor."
Village Chief seemed to have lost his depression from earlier, but his tone still had a hint of exhaustion. "Qin of Carefree Village, the Qin that had swept all eight lands and united the world. He is the Overlord Body, the matchless Overlord Body!"
"Carefree Village?" Hermit Qing You's heart was a little flustered, and it took him a moment to compose himself. He asked, "Qin of Carefree Village? Qin of Founding Emperor? That golden book is from Carefree Village? Carefree Village still has someone from Qin Family?"
Village Chief nodded. "We can't do it, but the Qin Family can."
Hermit Qing You revealed an excited expression, but soon hid it away once more. He chuckled. "Old Dao brother seems to not have much understanding of Founding Emperor Era. What can the Qin Family do? Aren't they just a bunch of failures like us? Carefree Village is merely some people trying their best to stay alive. What's the difference between them and our Little Jade Capital? Actually, you don't even believe it yourself."
Village Chief was silent for the moment, then suddenly opened his mouth. "There's hope, even if it's a slither."
Hermit Qing You's expression was apathetic as he said, "Don't take Carefree Village to pressure me. There is no Overlord Body in Carefree Village. There's no Overlord Body in this world."
"Mu'er can prove it to you," Village Chief said solemnly. "He can prove he is the one and only Overlord Body!"
Hermit Qing You laughed loudly and shook his head. "Dao brother, are you only left with the ability to say lies? Overlord Body, hehe, Overlord Body…" His voice suddenly became incomparably resounding and spread through Little Jade Capital. "Disciples of Little Jade Capital, come over here!"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned.
Hermit Qing You's face became solemn, and he ruthlessly stared over, his sleeves trembling. "Prove it to me! My Little Jade Capital has only groomed three disciples, but defeat them, and I'll go down the mountain with you!"
Qin Mu flexed his muscles, revealing a smile while raising his eyebrows. "Immortal Qing You, you were the one who said it. Three is too little, why don't all of you immortals of Little Jade Capital seal your cultivations and come at once? Dao Master and Rulai can come as well." His aura suddenly burst forth, and he roared ruthlessly, "I'll beat you all to death!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Human Emperor is fierce, eh," Hermit Qing You sneered. "You are like a hurt kitten brandishing his claws, putting on a bravado in an attempt to scare me. Yet you are actually hiding the fear in your heart. However, since you asked, the immortals of my Little Jade Capital will wait at Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi for Human Emperor's teaching."
He then added indifferently, "However, if you want to challenge us, you will still need to defeat the three disciples of my Little Jade Capital to qualify to enter Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi. If you can't defeat them, go down the mountain!"
Village Chief's eyes lit up. "Qing You, much thanks."
"What are you thanking me for? I'm just teaching you two to give up on your recklessness! That's right, before you guys, Xu Shenghua from High Heavens had come here. He used ten days to pass through Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi. If you can't even match up to him, quickly go down the mountain, don't disgrace the previous human emperors and the saints of Heavenly Saint Cult!" Hermit Qing You said coldly.
Qin Mu's spirit was roused and he laughed. "Xu Shenghu is merely a pseudo Overlord Body, while I'm the true Overlord Body. If he can pass, why can't I?"
Hermit Qing You was stunned and shook his head, "I don't know where your sick confidence comes from."
Qin Mu's smile faded away, and he looked at the three figures closing in rapidly. He was suddenly reminded of something and asked in a low voice, "Village Chief, was I very fierce just now?"
Village Chief nodded, seemingly having walked out of the shadow of his beliefs being destroyed. He said, "Super fierce."
"Was I scary?"
"Especially scary."
Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Body and smiled. "I can be even scarier."
The vital qi in his body circulated, and a whooshing of gale could be heard. Village Chief and Hermit Qing You raised their eyebrows in astonishment.
Among the howling of the gale, there were also the sounds of huge waves crashing against a cliff. The rumblings came from Qin Mu's vital qi's rapid flow and crash against the cliff when turning around!
After them came the rumbling of thunder. It sounded like lightning was flashing in the depths of dark clouds. The thunder rolled rapidly from one point to another, created by Qin Mu's vital qi as it flowed through the sky in his divine treasures!
The three disciples of Little Jade Capital were still rushing over and were some three celestial islands away.
"Immortal Qing You."
Qin Mu's aura peaked with an uncomfortable pent-up feeling. He looked at Immortal Qing You with excitement and smiled. "Why don't we fight first before they arrive!"
Hermit Qing You shook his head. "If you don't defeat them, you don't have the right to challenge me…"
Crack!
Qin Mu took a step, and his body instantly pressured his surroundings to explode with the sound of thunder. The air in front of the old immortal was compressed like a wall which then exploded from the pressure!
The corners of Hermit Qing You's eyes twitched, and he finally allowed anger to enter his face. He raised his palm, and green rays filled the entire sky.
Village Chief immediately said, "Qing You, Six Directions!"
"I know!"
Hermit Qing You shouted out, and loud sounds of the gates closing came from his body as he closed his divine bridge, life and death, celestial being, and seven stars divine treasures. His vital qi then burst forth, and he smiled in anger. "Little Human Emperor, I have long been annoyed with you! You're merely a brat that knows how to play with water and play with m—"
The palm and fist of the two people collided, and Hermit Qing You grunted before being sent backward. He crashed into a stone statue with a rumble. That stone statue was incomparably dense and, similar to the stone statues in Great Ruins, was unbreakable. Because of that, it didn't even move when he crashed into it.
"This cultivation…" The air in Hermit Qing You's chest was almost all pushed out. With a flushed face, he shouted out, "Old Dao brother, are you sure he's only on Six Directions Realm?"
Qin Mu rushed forth like a barbaric dragon, and when he moved, his body was heavy yet his speed was unbelievably fast. By combining a body that was as heavy as a mountain with speed, Qin Mu created something that should have been impossible to do at his age yet he did it anyway!
Hermit Qing You didn't have time to think about it. When he moved his hands, his green qi suddenly changed color, becoming black and white. Like two huge fish, they suddenly transformed into twin dragons to strike Qin Mu.
"It's Six Direction Realm." Village Chief also couldn't hide his astonishment. He first took the time to compose himself, then said, "But his cultivation is much stronger than before."
Qin Mu's cultivation of Spirit Embryo Realm had reached a height that Village Chief had never expected to see on that realm. After all, when Qin Mu reached Five Elements Realm and then Six Directions Realm, the gap between him and those on the same realm hadn't widened but stayed the same.
However, from the looks of it, after Qin Mu had traveled through Ghost Valley and returned from Youdu, his cultivation had quite a steep increase!
This kind of incomparably dense magic power astonished and shocked even Village Chief!
Upon hearing two loud bangs, Qin Mu clasped his hands and crushed the two huge dragons with brute force, his speed not decreasing in the least. Hermit Qing You rose into the air and gathered qi into sword. When he pointed down with a finger, tens of thousands of sword qi shot towards Qin Mu like meteors.
A Dot of Moving Starlight, Ten Thousand Swords Breaking Through the Sky!
Qin Mu leaped into the sky, and his sword lights burst forth. His vital qi was like a dragon whose body trembled, and ten thousand dragons burst forth.
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique!
The dragons and swords collided. Hermit Qing You grunted once more, and his feet tapped rapidly in the sky to disperse the overwhelming power from Qin Mu's divine art.
The dragons and swords crumbled and transformed into a meteor shower. Within it, a fist became larger and larger. Hermit Qing You moved irregularly, trying to avoid it.
Village Chief couldn't help shaking his head. 'How can you win by competing your footwork and body movements with those of Cripple…"
Hermit Qing You couldn't avoid the strike and had to face it head-on. With a loud rumble, he flew backward.
A cloud of dust rose from a celestial island. After a moment, the sound of Hermit Qing You crashing into the celestial mountain could be heard.
'When competing with fist skill against Old Ma, you can only lose, Qing You.' Village Chief shook his head once again.
Qin Mu was sprinting frantically in midair when the three disciples of Little Jade Capital came to the top of the celestial mountain. At that moment, they saw Qin Mu transforming into a trail of light as he crashed into the place where Hermit Qing You had landed. They couldn't help being dumbstruck by this sight, as they didn't know what had happened.
Village Chief took a glance at the three of them and smiled. "Immortal Qing You has already gone over, so let us go there too." When he finished saying this, he floated up and headed toward that celestial mountain.
The three people looked at one another and immediately followed after him.
On the other celestial mountains and celestial islands, old immortals walked out from their seclusion and looked at the mountain where the fight was happening with astonishment.
"What commotion is this?" Old Rulai and Old Dao Master were also alarmed and looked over in that direction.
Old Rulai's discerning eyes were matchless, and he said in astonishment, "It looks like Human Emperor Qin is beating Hermit Qing You who doesn't dare to fight back."
Old Dao Master smiled. "It's more like he can't fight back. He lost the key moment and is now suppressed by the magic power of Human Emperor."
On the celestial island, the mountains extended forever into the distance. Two people, one young and one old, fought their way from the bottom of the mountain to the top. Qin Mu's magic power was violent, transforming into a huge mudra to press down on his opponent. Hermit Qing You rolled and tumbled to dodge the attack as countless trees were flattened by Qin Mu's palm. A huge handprint that had an area of six ares instantly appeared on the ground!
Qin Mu unleashed all his big moves, beating Hermit Qing You all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the top. Up there was a hall that was built with green bricks and red tiles, as well as copper pillars that were as thick as a water cauldron.
Hermit Qing You was smashed into the hall's wall. Coming over with heavy footsteps, Qin Mu kicked a copper pillar. Village Chief shook his head and said in a heavy voice, "Mu'er, this is the Jade Capital of Founding Emperor Era, a palace that was constructed by gods. How can you demolish it so easily?"
Before he could finish saying that, the copper pillar was broken by Qin Mu's kick, stunning Village Chief.
A youth beside him explained softly, "Senior, this hall was built by Senior Uncle Qing You afterward. It isn't as sturdy as the original hall…"
Qin Mu dug his fingers into the copper pillar that was as thick as a water cauldron and lifted it up. Using it as a spear, he stabbed the hall's wall.
A loud rumble came from inside. Even though the copper pillar was thick, Qin Mu could utilize it as nimbly as he could a spear. It pierced the air with a whoosh. After just a few moves, the hall's wall was covered in thousands of holes while bricks flew in all directions.
Hermit Qing You was battered and left exhausted. His hands finally caught the bronze pillar, only to feel it become incomparably scorching as it was being smelted by Qin Mu's magic power, causing liquid bronze to flow down.
Liquid copper flowed down from the pillar and transformed into copper swords in the air. Ten thousand of them flew in unison, straight at Hermit Qing You.
The old immortal flew back and crashed into a celestial mountain on another celestial island.
Qin Mu exerted force as he roared, throwing the melting bronze pillar after his opponent. It smashed into Hermit Qing You's chest, securing him on the celestial mountain.
At the same time, Qin Mu's figure flashed forward like a shooting star. Raising his knee, he crashed into the bronze pillar.
The whole celestial mountain shook, and all the trees rustled.
Village Chief and the three disciples of Little Jade Capital immediately flew over. Just as they reached that celestial island, they saw Qin Mu pulling the copper pillar out from the cliff before grabbing Hermit Qing You out from a cave by the collar. He tossed this elder ruthlessly at the ground, which resulted in a loud bang as a deep pit was created.
"I've been long annoyed by your nagging. This is so satisfying! You even made Village Chief cry! I'll beat you to death!"
Qin Mu turned his head to look at the four people flying over and grinned at the three disciples of Little Jade Capital. "Don't be scared. I haven't fought for quite a few days so I'm just doing some stretches, and not looking for revenge or murder. Now that I've finished stretching, I feel much better!"
The three were too frightened to say anything. They just looked at Hermit Qing You sprawled at the bottom of the pit.
"Senior uncle…" a girl said shyly.
"I'm okay!" Hermit Qing You lay unmoving, but his voice was still full of vigor. "Don't need to care about me, just let me lie here for a while."
The trio relaxed, and one of them, a slightly older man, said, "Senior Uncle Qing You is fine."
Qin Mu looked toward the three people, one of whom was an old acquaintance. It was Wang Muran who he had met once before.
Wang Muran was the disciple of Wanderer Zhen who was one of the immortals of Little Jade Capital. He wanderer had been invited down the mountain by Eighth Imperial Uncle Ling Yinfeng to stop Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, but got killed by him instead.
Back then, Wang Muran was a mischievous youth, and when Qin Mu had first met him, Wanderer Zhen was fishing under a waterfall while he was throwing stones a bit farther away. Yue Qinghong even said that he should be Wanderer Zhen's own child or else he would have beaten him to death.
The Wang Muran back had been mischievous, but after the last two years, he had become much steadier.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu looked at the other two people. Both the woman and man had graceful bearings, but he remembered Wang Muran having said that there weren't many people of his age in Little Jade Capital. Based on that, these to should have grown up with Wang Muran, even if they were slightly older.
The girl was around seventeen or eighteen, and she was already lovely, gentle, refined, and elegant. She was dressed in cyan clothes, her collar and sleeves embroidered with a darker blue. Her sashes were green and white, and on her forehead, there was a thin chain strung together by jade beads. One side hung on her forehead while the other side was tethered to her hair bun.
She had to like jade a lot since even her head accessories were decorated with it.
It had to say whether if it was the wind in the mountain or her vital qi that caused her sashes to flutter behind her. They were very long and slithered in the air like green and white spirit snakes.
'She's a little skinny, and she's not as pretty as Yuxiu, Yuxiu's chest is a lot plumper than hers.'
Qin Mu pulled his gaze away and looked at the man. He seemed a bit more mature than the jade girl. He didn't pay as much attention to his clothes and appearance, wearing a long gown with long sleeves and a jade pendant around his waist. However, he also had a distinct style of being sage-like.
His gaze was very deep. Sometimes it was like starlight while at other times it would transform into a blazing sun full of bursting flames.
'Little Jade Capital is the head of the sacred grounds in the world. The techniques they cultivate seem to be different from one another, and each one of them isn't any inferior to that of Great Thunderclap Monastery or Dao Sect,' Qin Mu thought to himself.
"Senior Brother Qin."
When Wang Muran saw him, his jet black eyes burst forth with a hint of vigor which dimmed straight afterward. It was obvious that Qin Mu had reminded him of his own master, Wanderer Zhen.
When he had come to Eternal Peace Empire with Wanderer Zhen back then to intercept Imperial Preceptor from quelling the rebellion in the south, he had met Qin Mu. Since their ages, as well as those of Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the rest, were close, his impression of them had been deeply etched into his mind even though they had only interacted for a short while.
After Wanderer Zhen was killed by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Wang Muran brought the corpse back to Little Jade Capital and they had never met again after that.
"Brother Muran." Qin Mu greeted him and asked, "The senior brother and sister are?"
"This is my Senior Sister Mu Qingdai, and this is my Senior Brother Long Yu," Wang Muran introduced. "Senior Sister Mu is the disciple of Wanderer Ding Xi, and Long Yu is the disciple of Hermit Tian Yun."
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. There were many inheritances in Little Jade Capital, and they could probably even take out over a dozen techniques like Rulai's Mahayana Sutra of Great Thunderclap Monastery or Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique of Dao Sect.
The so-called immortals of Little Jade Capital were all proficient in one or several techniques, but could there be any ultimate arts in Little Jade Capital that could be above these techniques?
If there wasn't, no matter how many top-notch techniques they had, there was still a limit to one's energy. It was impossible for anyone to cultivate every single technique to its extreme; after all, not everyone was an Overlord Body like him.
Suddenly, Hermit Qing You spoke again. "Xu Shenghua's abilities are extraordinary, and Mu Qingdai was defeated by him in twenty-seven moves. Long Yu lost to him in twenty-four moves, while Wang Muran was defeated in twenty-three moves. However, you mustn't think that Wang Muran's is the weakest. As a matter of fact, Wang Muran's abilities are the strongest among the three of them. However, when fighting with Xu Shenghua, the stronger ones will fall even faster."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He lowered his head to see that Hermit Qing You was no longer in the pit.
At this moment, Hermit Qing You was standing beside Village Chief as if nothing had happened. There were no injuries on his body and his clothes were not dirtied or wrinkled. It looked as if he hadn't been the one who got beaten up by Qin Mu earlier."
"Old Immortal sure is extraordinary, your speed is too fast," praised Qin Mu. "I didn't even see when you got up and tidied up your clothes." Hermit Qing You's face turned slightly green, but Qin Mu did not pay attention to it. "Why did Immortal Qing You say that when fighting with Xu Shenghua, the stronger ones fall faster?"
Hermit Qing You looked at Wang Muran and said, "Muran, you shall explain."
Wang Muran acknowledged and said, "Xu Shenghua's technique is weird; it becomes stronger when facing a strong technique, and his divine arts were also very weird. They should belong to an adaptable type. Many of his divine arts seemed to have been adapted on the spot, being created at the last moment. The stronger the opponent's abilities are, the stronger his abilities become. The more intricate his opponent's divine arts are, the more intricate his divine arts become."
Qin Mu's expression became grim. "He has already jumped out of technique and reached the realm of skill?"
"I can't see through it. It looked like it might be related to his technique yet it also looked like he had already entered this kind of realm," Wang Muran said.
Qin Mu went into a daze. If there was this kind of technique, it would be something interesting. Techniques that developed creativity were rarely seen, but when his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique wasn't complete in the past, he had been required to develop his creativity. Woodcutter's teachings were also a method for developing creativity.
However, the true Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was preserved in the Qin Family of Carefree Village. When Qin Mu received the complete technique from his father Qin Hanzhen, there was no longer any need for creativity.
If Xu Shenghua's technique could really develop creativity, it would be on another level.
With such a person, how many moves would it take to determine victory or defeat?
One move?
Or would it take hundreds of moves?
"He's indeed a terrifying opponent, no doubt a pseudo Overlord Body," muttered Qin Mu.
Hermit Qing You's expression froze, and he looked towards Village Chief. He asked in a low voice, "Dao brother, never mind Overlord Body, where did this pseudo Overlord Body come from?"
Village Chief's expression darkened a bit, and he snorted. "Your knowledge is shallow, it's best if you don't ask."
Hermit Qing You snorted and looked at Wang Muran and the rest. "Human Emperor Qin is the Heavenly Saint Cult Master and also the human emperor, holding two great inheritances simultaneously. Furthermore, his technique and divine arts are both extremely weird. His magic power is beyond dense so don't contest him in magic power alone. Otherwise, you will be suppressed by him."
When he said this, he couldn't help feeling slightly ashamed. He had tried to fight Qin Mu with magic power earlier, which ended up in him being overwhelmed by the youth. He didn't have the time to execute any intricate moves.
Wang Muran, Mu Qingdao, and Long Yu immediately memorized his advice to the last word.
"His attacks have many variations, his body movements and footwork are bizarre, his speed is also extremely fast, so don't get caught by him, or else it'll be hard to break free."
Hermit Qing You continued to give pointers to the three. He said, "His fist skills are Great Thunderclap Monastery's Thunderclap Eight Strikes. It's a fist divine art on Sakra Realm and has an extremely high power. If you fight with fist skills against him, you will be suppressed by his magic power and strength, so you need to be careful. He has also cultivated Ling Family's Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, so his divine arts aren't weak as well. Furthermore, he has also incorporated the skill of forging treasures into his fighting method, thus the three of you must be careful!"
That was what made his heart ache the most. Qin Mu had plucked the bronze pillar up and used it as a spear to attack with an overbearing offense. Then, he even used his vital qi to melt the bronze pillar, shaping the bronze into swords.
That attack had completely defeated him.
And what Qin Mu had used was nothing else but the method to forge treasures.
Hermit Qing You had never met anyone who would forge treasures in battle and use them to attack!
Mu Qingdai revealed a troubled expression. "Senior uncle, how are we to fight then?"
Hermit Qing You was stunned. He also suddenly realized the problem. With the Little Human Emperor being so fierce, how were they supposed to fight against his dense magic power, his ever-changing body movements and footwork, his fast speed, his superb fist skills, his powerful divine arts, and even the incorporation of forging treasures into the battle?
The three disciples of Little Jade Capital had no chance of victory!
"Defeat him in sword skills!" Long Yu said solemnly.
Hermit Qing You took a glance at the 'old human rod' beside him which was full of smiles. He was that close to bursting out in laughter.
Barely holding his mirth back, Village Chief gave them a slight warning. "As for sword skills, Mu'er has already reached the realm of skill."
Hermit Qing You gritted his teeth. It was the first time his head ached so much. When Xu Shenghua came to Little Jade Capital, he had asked to see the techniques and divine arts, which was actually him trying to challenge Little Jade Capital, but Hermit Qing You hadn't felt this much of a headache that time.
Qin Mu was clearly a human killing machine that scored full marks in all aspects. He could crush any challenger on the same realm in his peak state at any time.
Furthermore, this fellow's confidence was also at a sick level. With condescension, he thought that he was the marvelous 'Overlord Body' which no one could match.
With great confidence in addition to the powerful abilities, the three disciples were indeed in an overwhelming situation.
'I wonder how is his endurance?' The corners of Hermit Qing You's eyes twitched. 'If his endurance isn't good, we can drag the battle out to exhaust his energy…'
However, when he looked at Qin Mu's physique, it was obvious that the youth was a well-built cowherd boy. After beating Hermit Qing You up, he said that he'd only been stretching. He was still filled with an unbelievably vigorous energy.
'How's is his battle experience?'
Hermit Qing You thought until here and shook his head again. Qin Mu's battle experience could be said to be top notch. His battle methods were wild and he could even incorporate the skill of forging treasures into his moves. He was clearly a battle maniac! Because of that, his fighting experience was obviously abundant. Little Jade Capital, in the meantime, stood aloof from worldly affairs, so the battle experience of his disciples would definitely be incomparable to that of Qin Mu.
'What about his ability to adapt on the spot? If he can't do that, he will fail even with a high cultivation… Wait a minute! For this brat to be so arrogant, not yet having been beaten to death, his ability to adapt on the spot should also be top-notch!'
Hermit Qing You looked at the 'old human rod' beside him who had already walked out from the shadow of his beliefs crumbling. He had a pleased expression on his face as he prepared to see Little Jade Capital make a joke of itself.
Hermit Qing You gritted his teeth and said to Wang Muran and the rest, "Adapt to the situation!"
The three of them looked at one another and grumbled in their hearts, 'Senior uncle said so much, but it's the same as if he'd said nothing. Instead, he put a lot of mental pressure on us. It would have been much better had he not said anything!'
Long Yu's gaze flickered, and he walked forward while saying, "Little Human Emperor, I want to challenge you with a sword."
Hermit Qing You almost spat out a mouthful of black blood. Of all things Long Yu, this rascal decided to challenge him in sword skills!
The 'old human rod' beside him had already said that Qin Mu's sword skills had reached the realm of skill. Doing this meant that he was starting to create sword skills. His comprehension of the sword had already reached the realm of grandmaster or was on the borders of it.
Of course, if his horizons were low, his starting point would be low as well, and the sword skills he founded would be poor and ordinary. However, the crucial thing was that the starting point of Qin Mu's sword skills was not low. Not only was it not low, Little Jade Capital's sword skills could never match the teacher of his sword skills!
Yet once Long Yu spoke, Hermit Qing You couldn't stop him anymore.
Qin Mu revealed an astonished expression and said, "Senior Brother Long Yu, I have learned about Dao Sect's skills, so how is the sword skills of your Little Jade Capital compared to those?"
Long Yu smiled. "Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword might not be able to match up to the sword skills of my Little Jade Capital."
Qin Mu left out a sigh of relief. Since he was not inferior to Dao Sword, he wouldn't be killed by his sword in one move.
"My sword is pretty heavy and I sometimes even like to use the sword pellet's weight to scheme against others. However, since we are competing in sword skills, I shan't use the weight of my sword pellet to scheme against Senior Brother Long Yu." Qin Mu kindly reminded him then, "Senior brother, be careful."
Swoosh!
Sword rain filled the sky as eight thousand swords rushed out from the taotie sack and stabbed themselves into the ground.
"Please." Qin Mu smiled.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The corners of Long Yu's eyes twitched furiously. The entire mountain and wilderness were covered with Qin Mu's sword, so how was he going to fight?
Just the weight of those swords alone could squash him to death!
Long Yu looked at Hermit Qing You who appeared to not notice anything. Taking out eight thousand swords may look like a simple task, but it would exhaust the cultivation of most Six Directions Realm's divine arts practitioners. Only Qin Mu, this fellow with unbelievably dense cultivation could execute that many flying swords in one go, right?
On top of that, controlling so many flying swords needed extremely high attainments in algebra and calculation. A brain with good reaction speed was necessary in order to control each of the flying swords so that they wouldn't interfere with each other.
Just the calculation of the routes for the eight thousand swords required a sick level of attainment in algebra!
It was obvious that Qin Mu had already fused Dao Sect's Dao Sword with Village Chief's sword skills, that's why he was able to control so many flying swords.
'Could this world really have Overlord Body?'
Hermit Qing You was in doubt. If there was an Overlord Body, it would definitely exist in the records of Little Jade Capital. Ever since he had dragged his disheartened self back to Little Jade Capital, he had read most of the books, and there were no records even related to something like an Overlord Body!
The books collected in Little Jade Capital were all-inclusive, tracing all the way back to the eras of long ago. This was something that other sects and sacred grounds could not imagine.
There were no records of Overlord Body in Little Jade Capital, so Overlord Body couldn't exist!
Because of that, Hermit Qing You was sure that Village Chief was lying. However, when he saw Qin Mu's performance, his confidence was shaken.
"Senior Brother Long Yu, please," Qin Mu said again.
Long Yu composed himself and said solemnly, "Human Emperor, please!"
Fire blazed in his eyes as he thought to himself, 'This Human Emperor needs to control that many flying swords, which is definitely exhausting to him. One or two moves with all of them will probably exhaust all of his cultivation. I just need to withstand a move or two and I'll be able to turn defeat into victory!'
Yet he soon discovered that he had overthought the matter.
Qin Mu didn't give him any chance to withstand an attack. He immediately used the fourth writing of Dao Sword, Turning Heavenly Cycle Silently, Meeting Every Manifestation of Nature Shifting!
Eight thousand swords instantly circulated the heavenly cycle stars and executed the manifestation of nature!
When Dao Master Lin Xuan tested Qin Mu on his attainments in algebra, he had used the calculation of heavenly cycle stars heaven chess transformation. The mathematical reasoning in there was the fourth writing of Dao Sword!
Qin Mu executed that Turning Heavenly Cycle Silently, Meeting Every Manifestation of Nature Shifting, causing the starry sky and a galaxy to operate vividly above them!
Each move of Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword was stronger than the last, and when it came to the fourth writing, the eight thousand swords transformed into heavenly stars that filled the sky. Right away, Long Yu was trapped in the sword formation.
He didn't have the time to think. Flames burst forth from his eyes, and as they opened and closed, two trails of snow white sword lights flew out from them!
His sword skill was different from the common paths and was a kind of ultimate art in Little Jade Capital. Long Yu mainly cultivated his eyes, but different from other eye skills, he cultivated sword skills in them. His eyes and his sword became one, which came from the art called Secrets of Heavenly Eyes Sword Heart.
The strength of this kind of sword skills lay in the fact that there was no need to cultivate spirit weapons or spirit swords. Instead, by treating one's eyes as sword pellets, the sword would point towards what the eyes saw. It was much more direct and straightforward.
In addition, this art possessed a unique technique. When the eyes transformed into huge blazing suns, the sword lights could conquer every obstacle. When they began to shine with starlight that was as brilliant as the galaxy, no enemy would be able to guard against them.
If Long Yu managed to succeed in cultivating the sword heart, then with the heart and sword as one, he'd become even scarier than with the sword eyes. The moment his heart thought of a move, the sword would execute it.
Long Yu hadn't reached this realm yet, but his sword eyes were already extraordinary.
Yet the next moment, the countless flying swords crumbled his two trails of sword lights. They were made out of vital qi, while Qin Mu's swords were treasures made from the stuff scourged in Heavenly Devil Cult. Their quality far surpassed that of the sword lights Long Yu had cultivated, and due to Qin Mu's incomparably dense cultivation, the sword lights were overwhelmed!
Starlight burst forth from Long Yu's eyes, flowing like they were out in the galaxy, colliding head-on with the transformation of the fourth writing of Dao Sword. The sword skills of the two people may have seemed similar, but there were differences in their essence.
Dao Sword used mathematical reasoning to construct the heavenly stars and had the composition of mathematical reasoning on transformation. Secrets of Heavenly Eyes Sword Heart, however, did whatever they pleased, changing along with the heart. Its intricacy wasn't comparable to that of Dao Sword, but it surpassed Dao Sect in transformation.
However, when comparing the two swords, Long Yu's sword light was far inferior.
Long Yu grunted, and the galaxy that had burst forth from his eyes was extinguished. The eight thousand swords transformed into sword rain that shredded the galaxy. When they came shooting down, Long Yu heard Hermit Qing You's shout out, "Spare him!"
The next moment, he saw the flying swords surround him as if he had become a huge sword pellet. He was situated inside it, and the swaying sword tips were pointed at every part of his body. This raised a certain question in his head, if they were to descend, would he even have a corpse afterward?
The sword pellet split open and gathered into a long river made from sword light as the swords went back into the taotie sack on Qin Mu's back.
Long Yu hurriedly touched all over his body and discovered that he was still complete. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. He wanted to thank Qin Mu yet all his limbs had gone numb at some point. His throat was also parched, unable to make a sound.
Mu Qingdai immediately came forward and brought him clean water. Long Yu drank a mouthful and only then was able to speak. "Much thanks for sparing me, Human Emperor. However, I didn't lose in sword skills! You overwhelmed me with your treasure!"
Qin Mu didn't deny and said humbly, "Senior Brother Long Yu is right. I haven't cultivated Dao Sword diligently, only worked on it for ten days. I'm actually not that good at it."
Long Yu's expression instantly turned black, and his throat became parched again. He croaked, "Not good at Dao Sword?"
Qin Mu took a look at Village Chief and said, "I learned sword skills from Grandpa Village Chief, but what he taught me is too powerful, I'm scared that I couldn't hold my power back. My attainments in Dao Sword aren't high, so you could still block my attack."
Long Yu immediately drank a few mouthfuls of water, but his throat was still slightly dry.
Mu Qingdai's gaze flickered, and she asked, "In that case, can Human Emperor Qin execute his strongest sword skill?"
Wang Muran's gaze also sparkled, as he revealed a look of anticipation.
If what they just saw were Qin Mu's attainments in Dao Sect's skills, then how strong would his strongest sword skill be?
Qin Mu revealed a troubled expression. He looked at Village Chief and said in shame, "There are some flaws in my sword skill… No, I can't say some, there are flaws everywhere! Especially recently, they've been increasing all the time!"
Long Yu, Mu Qingdai, and Wang Muran were all dumbfounded. Hermit Qing You was also astonished. 'There are still times he is actually humble?'
Qin Mu's face was full of shame. "My strongest sword skill was defeated by Grandpa Village Chief, and I have never won against him before. I then met my father, and I never won against him either… When Imperial Preceptor was comprehending the path earlier, I peeked at him, and the number of flaws in my skills have increased once again."
The few months on Qin Hanzhen's treasured ship was the time when Qin Mu had suffered the greatest setback. Qin Hanzhen in the painting had fed him moves and beat him down over and over again.
If Qin Mu hadn't beaten Pangong Tso up once in a while to feel better, his confidence wouldn't have recovered.
When Imperial Preceptor was comprehending the path, Qin Mu had peeked into his Dao heart to observe the entire process. It had then shocked him to the extreme.
However, this had resulted in another consequence as well. His horizons had expanded drastically and reached a height that he'd never imagined before. When Qin Mu thought about the sword skill he had improved, he realized that there were even more flaws in it when he saw before!
Village Chief revealed an astonished expression and said, "Mu'er, execute your sword skill that's full of flaws, I'd like to take a look."
Qin Mu hesitated, then said, "In that case, I shall embarrass myself."
He took in a breath with deep concentration, and Carefree Sword hummed as it came out of the sheath.
Qin Mu held it in his hand, and the blade flashed with sword light. Instantly, countless flying swords flew out of the taotie sack on his back. They flew into Carefree Sword one after another.
Three thousand swords merged together.
Carefree Sword was the mother sword, and the rest of the swords were the child swords which could enter it. As a professional in forging treasures, Qin Mu knew that there were two types of shapes to a sword pellet. Child swords entering the mother sword was one of them, but because his magic power and strength were limited, he could only fuse three thousand swords. If he added any more, it wouldn't be as easy to use Carefree Sword, and it would restrict him from using any skills.
Qin Mu's gaze was focused on the tip of the sword as if there was nothing else in the world. He then executed his sword skill, and Carefree Sword started to move clumsily in his hand.
Whoosh!
The surging of wind rang out. Qin Mu's Carefree Sword moved very slowly, but it gave off a sound of an unimaginably heavy object crushing the air!
He executed his sword skill. As Carefree Sword moved, child swords started to fly out from it as though they were its afterimages. Sword lights continued to break up continuously, and every child sword that flew out executed a different sword move. The seventeen basic sword moves were displayed through the trajectories of those flying swords, and when the disorderly sword moves overlapped each other, the sword skill also became messy and irregular.
What Qin Mu had executed was Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. However, it was completely different from the one Village Chief had taught him.
His sword skill was very clumsy and didn't have the feeling of agility. Only when the movement of Carefree Sword gradually grew faster did it gain it. The child swords in the air slowly increased in speed, while the sword skill also became faster and faster, dancing with Carefree Sword!
The expression on Hermit Qing You's face became grimmer and grimmer, while Long Yu, Mu Qingdai, and Wang Muran started to realize that they couldn't understand what they were seeing.
The sword reasoning that was involved in Qin Mu's sword skill became more and more complicated, more and more profound. In the sky above the celestial mountain, the three thousand flying swords would gather and disperse like clouds from time to time, transforming into majestic mountains that dispersed the water vapor and even transformed into a long river in the sky, or tens of thousands of trees that overflowed with green. They were so detailed, that even the vein lines on the leaves could be seen!
After a moment, all of the sword lights vanished.
Qin Mu shook his Carefree Sword, and all the flying swords flew out from it to go back into the taotie sack on his back.
"There's no need to compete!" Mu Qingdai came to her senses and immediately said, "My cultivation is a line inferior to that of Senior Brother Long Yu, so let's not compete!"
Wang Muran shook his head as well. "I also won't be able to take this attack, so there's no need to compete, I admit defeat."
Long Yu's expression was pale white and his mouth was agape. He realized that his throat was dry again, and he immediately gulped two mouthfuls of water. He said, "Your sword skill, I don't understand it."
Hermit Qing You fell into a daze. He looked at Qin Mu before looking at Village Chief, then sighed. "Old Dao brother, you have taken in a good disciple. His sword skills have already entered the path."
Village Chief shook his head and said, "I didn't teach him to cultivate sword this way; he comprehend it himself. Mu'er, your sword skill really has many flaws, it's like a broken sieve that's leaking air everywhere. You need to continue working harder. If you meet someone whose knowledge is higher than yours, you won't even know how you died!"
Qin Mu's hair stood on end, and he muttered, "I also see too many flaws, but it's just that I can't improve it anymore."
'Who teaches their disciple this way?' Hermit Qing You didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'This sword skill could clearly be considered one of the most powerful in this world, right? Those that can surpass him would be people that reached the sword path!'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Hermit Qing You's evaluation of Qin Mu's sword skill could be said to be extremely high. One of the most powerful sword skills in the world couldn't be achieved by simply learning a few profound sword skills. It required one to have an extremely high understanding of the sword and have reached the level of skill, where one could create their own sword skills.
Qin Mu's current standard surpassed sword techniques and reached the realm of skill. Even though he said his move was full of flaws, those who could see them were experts that were either half a step into the sword path, or experts that had already entered the sword path!
Such people in the world were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns and could be counted on one's hands.
For Qin Mu to have entered the stage of skill at such a young age—even if his sword skill was full of flaws in his eyes—it was still an incomparably marvelous work of art in the eyes of others who had yet to enter that stage.
Yet Village Chief was still not satisfied with such a disciple, saying that he was a broken sieve full of holes and wouldn't know how he died when he faced a superior opponent.
This requirement was simply too high.
But Qin Mu actually acknowledged it and wasn't resentful or complacent in the least. This kind of humbleness was much more sincere than the humbleness he had shown after defeating Long Yu.
Hermit Qing You shook his head. 'This pair of master and disciple are weirdos.'
His eyes sparkled, and he said solemnly, "Human Emperor Qin, the defeat of the three disciples of my Little Jade Capital doesn't mean that your abilities are high. They are merely ten to twenty percent higher than theirs. Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi will be the true test!"
When he said that, Long Yu and Mu Qingdai revealed ashamed looks as they thought that Hermit Qing You was saving face for them. Wang Muran, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking about something.
"Immortal Qing You's judgment is truly extraordinary." Qin Mu nodded. "My abilities are indeed ten to twenty percent higher than theirs."
This sentence of his was no longer humble. It was stating the facts.
They were all at Six Directions Realm, and when their cultivation ability reached that step, being ten to twenty percent stronger than the opponent meant that one could defeat them in one or two moves!
After all, the scope and knowledge they possessed were completely different!
When one's abilities reached their level, if they wanted to continue improving, they would need lots of hard work in order to improve ten percent. It was extremely difficult to improve under such conditions.
That ten to twenty percent advantage was extremely hard to get!
If Qin Mu hadn't stepped into the realm of skill, he would have needed more than a few moves if he wanted to defeat Long Yu and Mu Qingdai.
"Muran, you guys shall withdraw. Human Emperor Qin, follow me. I will bring you to Hall of Three Aeons." Hermit Qing You then walked down the mountain.
Wang Muran and the rest revealed expressions of envy, and Long Yu muttered in a low voice, "When can I enter Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi…"
Village Chief immediately said, "Many thanks, Dao Friend Qing You!"
Hermit Qing You shook his head and said, "Human Emperor has the right to enter Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi."
Qin Mu followed them, bewildered. 'From their words, Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi don't seem like some test, but like a huge opportunity. Grandpa Village Chief has already thanked Immortal Qing You twice, and for him to do that, those places cannot be ordinary. However, didn't Xu Shenghua also enter Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi? He used ten days to pass through both of them, so it doesn't seem like they're something that's worthy of Grandpa Village Chief thanks…'
He thought that Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi would just be immortals of Little Jade Capital fighting him personally, giving him a test of sorts. However, he was no longer so sure.
Village Chief floated over and smiled. "Since Mu'er is allowed to enter Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi, why don't you just open Hall of Six Directions as well?"
Hermit Qing You sneered. "Dao friend, don't be unsatisfied with small gains!"
Village Chief sneered back at him. "You allowed Xu Shenghua from High Heavens to enter Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi, so is Human Emperor inferior to Xu Shenghua?"
Hermit Qing You shook his head. "High Heavens is extremely strong and not inferior to Hall of Human Emperors. They are even stronger. I need a bowl of water as a scale, for I can't show favoritism or else I will be criticized."
Village Chief tried to agitate him then. "The number one sacred ground is merely so, aren't you just afraid of High Heavens creating trouble for you?"
Hermit Qing You said indifferently, "You can't rile me up. Little Jade Capital became known as the number one sacred ground because of outsiders forcing that title on us. We have never claimed it ourselves. Dao friend, you can stop trying."
While talking, they came to a celestial mountain and went up it, until Hall of Three Aeons appeared right in front of them. There were three immortals of Little Jade Capital waiting outside the hall who looked much older than Village Chief, Dao Master, and the rest. Their eye sockets were sunken in, making their eyes look round and small. Their white hair and long eyebrows were all dragging on the ground, so even though they were standing, they seemed very short.
The height of those three old immortals and Xiong Qi'er was about the same.
"Senior brothers, thank you for the trouble." Hermit Qing You greeted the three men.
The old immortals returned his greeting and said, "Human Emperor has come to visit so we naturally have to receive him politely."
Village Chief's gaze flickered and he said, "The three aeons of Little Jade Capital? How are you guys still alive? You're all much older than I!"
The old immortals took a look at him, and an old woman said with her sunken mouth that had no teeth, "Earth Count must have forgotten about us, that's why he hasn't come to claim our lives."
Village Chief was bewildered.
The three old immortals dragged their long eyebrows and white hair into the hall and said, "Human Emperor, please follow us."
Qin Mu caught up to them, a little afraid that these people would step on their own hair or eyebrows. Luckily, that didn't happen. Their white eyebrows and hair were like living objects as they were always able to avoid the feet.
'Could it be that because they had lived for so long that their hair also became spirits?' Qin Mu guessed secretly.
Suddenly, he stepped on the air and leaped into the sky. His vital qi trembled and transformed into wings on his back. Qin Mu then flapped them to hover in the sky, his body moving up and down.
In front of him, bright flames surged forth and dazzled his eyes. Formation markings appeared layer after layer as Qin Mu operated Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill to open Green Heaven's Eyes. Only then was he able to look at the incomparably bright flames in front of him.
The flames filled the entire sky, but they rapidly moved away. A huge blazing sun pulled farther and farther away from him before stopping in the sky.
Then, a cool sensation came from the back. Qin Mu hurriedly turned around and saw a huge moon covering the sky behind him. It was also pulling away rapidly.
"The heaven aeon as the sun, the water aeon as the moon, then where's the earth aeon?"
Qin Mu looked at his feet and saw dirt-yellow streams of air flowing everywhere. As they churned below, huge mountains slowly rose from the ground without any regular pattern.
When the three aeons flowed together, they immediately became verdant hills and limpid water with all living things growing in the auspicious and peaceful world.
"Human Emperor, do you choose to break through the heaven aeon, the earth aeon, or the water aeon?" a rumbling voice which could deafen the ears asked.
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the sound and saw a brilliant gold god standing upright in the sun. Behind him was a three-legged golden crow. The god also had three legs, and there was also a third eye at the heart of his brows, while in his hand was a huge bell.
Qin Mu turned back to take a look and saw that there was a woman in the moon. She was sparkling with silvery light, her hair like silver threads. A huge toad stood behind her back with dark and muddled eyes. The female god held an osmanthus tree in her hand while her silver-white clothing fluttered in the breeze.
Qin Mu looked down and saw the third god. His body was tall and upright, with yellow dragons coiling all around him. The yellow air bobbed up and down under his feet as it continuously surged around.
Qin Mu breathed in the air and instantly felt different kinds of energy pouring toward him. This actually made his spirit embryo grow a bit.
He couldn't help being astonished. After cultivating to his step, almost all of the marvels of Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure had been uncovered, so there could be no more improvement. Yet at this place, Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure seemed to be able to continue improving!
"What is this place?" Qin Mu asked loudly. "Where are the three elders from earlier?"
"This is the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of a god," the brilliant golden god in the sun said, his voice like thunder. "This god is already dead, so only his body remains. I'm Heaven Aeon Spiritual Master, with secret arts, I became the heaven aeon of this god."
"I'm Water Aeon Spiritual Master," said a voice from the bright moon behind Qin Mu. "I used secret arts to become the water aeon of this god."
"And I'm Earth Aeon."
The earth under Qin Mu's feet swirled and rose. The giant stood still, but his body rose up with a swirl of air. A huge and twisted mountain then rose up in front of Qin Mu.
The giant looked down at Qin Mu from above. "Earth Aeon Spiritual Master pays his respects to Human Emperor!"
After being stunned for some time, Qin Mu came to a realization. "You're much older than Grandpa Village Chief, but the reason you haven't died is not because Earth Count forgot about you guys; it's because you guys borrowed the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of this god to continue living!"
Earth Aeon Spiritual Master didn't have the doddering appearance of when he was outside the hall. In his incomparably heavy voice, he said, "What you guessed is right! Human Emperors are indeed all smart people. The lifespan of the three of us has already surpassed two thousand years. If it were other people, they would have died three or four times. No matter if they were strong practitioners that were close to gods, they still couldn't escape the fate of being born, growing old, then getting sick and dying. However, we live on by having seized an opportunity."
Golden light fluttered around Heaven Aeon Spiritual Master and flames grew out from his back like rainbows and wings. "We aren't clinging to our lives at death's door, but are trying to choose the best talent in Little Jade Capital to push them one step forward. We want to let them take a look at the marvel of a god's divine treasures to achieve a breakthrough."
"However, if they want to receive the benefits, they have to pass the test of the three aeons." Behind Qin Mu, Water Aeon Spiritual Master's lights floated like rainbows as she came to Qin Mu's side. She then said. "Test of the three aeons asks one to challenge the elites transformed from the three aeons of this god. Can you feel it? At this place, the density of the three aeons is enough to push your spirit embryo a step forward! However, since the ancient times, there haven't been many that could reach the three aeons of the god. Those who could were all top notch people."
'There's is such a place in Little Jade Capital?'
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. Three aeons were heaven aeon, earth aeon, and water aeon. If he could achieve all three of them, his Spirit Embryo Realm would definitely break through once more!
Since his spirit embryo was already powerful enough to the point of being seen as abnormal, what level would it reach if it break through once again?
However, based on what the three spiritual masters said, he would need to challenge the elites of the three aeons in order to gain the benefits. And fighting with a god still made him uneasy.
"Hall of Three Aeons can only be challenged once! In that case, do you choose Heaven Aeon Breakthrough, Earth Aeon Breakthrough, or Water Aeon Breakthrough?" asked the three gods in unison.
Qin Mu pondered over it, then asked loudly, "Seniors, which is the strongest breakthrough?"
"Of course Three Aeons Breakthrough is the strongest!" the three of them said at the same time.
Qin Mu's spirit was greatly roused, and he said in a loud and clear voice, "In that case, I shall challenge the three aeons!"
The three gods looked at one another and saw their own astonishment in the eyes of the others.
"As you wish!"
The sun trembled, and a trail of flame flew out. At the same time, a silver light and a yellow light shot out from the moonlight and the land. The lights transformed into three youths that possessed extremely powerful auras. What was weird was that the three of them looked exactly the same.
The three youths were all on Six Directions Realm. Suddenly, they walked into each other, and their bodies overlapped. The aura of the body then increased drastically, and the corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched irregularly.
'Maybe Heaven Aeon Breakthrough might have been safer…' he thought to himself.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Outside Hall of Three Aeons, Village Chief floated calmly in the air. Hermit Qing You took a glance at him. "Dao brother sure is calm, you don't seem to be worried about whether your disciple will be able to clear the test of the three aeons. You quite confident in him."
Village Chief had been reminiscing about the rocking chair that Qin Mu had made for him. He smiled. "I'm confident in Mu'er's abilities. Even though the test of Hall of Three Aeons is very difficult, there have been many people who had entered it, and a good number of them had passed. Mu'er is not weaker than them."
Hermit Qing You's gaze flickered. "Hall of Three Aeons tests the three aeons of the god, and Dao brother should know the pros and cons of that. After all, you were one of those who had entered back then."
"Aren't you the same?" Village Chief reminiscenced about the past and sighed. "I had chosen Heaven Aeon Breakthrough, what did you choose?"
"Water Aeon Breakthrough," Hermit Qing You said. "I had lost while you had won. That was the reason you surpassed me."
"The reason I surpassed you wasn't because I had achieved Heaven Aeon Breakthrough. My ability to struggle was just stronger than yours."
Village Chief looked at him and said with a serious expression, "My fighting spirit is stronger than yours, and your ability to receive setbacks is also inferior to mine. Just a small difference in personality caused the gap between you and I to slowly increase. The inheritance of Little Jade Capital is actually not inferior to that of Hall of Human Emperor. If your fighting spirit had been stronger, your attainments wouldn't have been inferior to mine."
Hermit Qing You snorted, not feeling too comfortable. He said, "Heaven Aeon Breakthrough, Earth Aeon Breakthrough, and Water Aeon Breakthrough, what do you think Human Emperor will choose?"
Village Chief didn't think twice and said, "He will choose the strongest one."
Hermit Qing You's body trembled, and he revealed a look of disbelief. "Three Aeons Breakthrough?"
Village Chief nodded and said leisurely, "His belief is stronger than mine was back then, and his fighting spirit is even greater. He possesses a matchless belief in himself and a fighting spirit that has no equal in this world, so he will definitely choose Three Aeons Breakthrough!"
"Yet you aren't the slightest bit worried?" Hermit Qing You cried out. "You have experienced this kind of test before, so you should know how frightening Three Aeons Breakthrough is! He has no chance to win!"
"Actually…" Village Chief smiled, and his face wrinkled up like a dried mandarin. His smile was ugly yet full of happiness. "Mu'er is already stronger than I was back then, he just hasn't realized it himself. And it's not just by a little bit! He should be able to pass Three Aeons Breakthrough."
Hermit Qing You's face suddenly turned cold, and he sneered, "Dao brother, I don't think his confidence is invincible, it's just your confidence in him that is invincible! However, you are not from our Little Jade Capital so you don't know how terrifying Three Aeons Breakthrough is. He will have to face a young god on the same realm as him!"
"Overlord Body has never lost to any divine arts practitioner on the same realm!" Village Chief said solemnly.
Hermit Qing You went into a frenzy. Overlord Body again!
"In the history, there has been only one person who passed Three Aeons Breakthrough! He was the saint that appears once every five hundred years and was acclaimed by Heavenly Saint Cult. Only he passed Three Aeons Breakthrough."
Hermit Qing You then sneered and added, "And then he died. He was beaten to death by Dao Sect and Rolan's Golden Palace along with all the righteous Daoists in the world! After that, there were a few others that were acclaimed as saints that had entered Hall of Three Aeons. Want to try guessing if they passed the test? No! They got beaten up like dead pigs and got hauled out from Hall of Three Aeons without even having entered Hall of Five Qi behind!"
Village Chief was astonished. "There are such useless saints?"
Hermit Qing You was displeased and rolled his eyes at him. He said, "This god isn't one of those fake gods in High Heavens; it's a true god. Otherwise, Xu Shenghua of High Heavens wouldn't have stayed so long in our Little Jade Capital. There are quite a lot of the so-called gods in High Heavens. Do you know the difference between fake gods and true gods? A true god reaches the god realm in every aspect whereas you only possess the aspect of a sword god!"
Village Chief was silent. He suddenly smiled and said, "Mu'er has never lost before so losing once would also be good for him. If he can't win, it just means that he isn't working hard enough to bring out the fullest potential of Overlord Body."
Hermit Qing You was driven completely mad. Was there such a teacher in this world?
"I would like to know the origin of this god very much." Village Chief's gaze sparkled, and he asked, "I wonder if Dao friend can tell me about it?"
In Hall of Three Aeons, Qin Mu's expression was grim. There were three young gods and if any of them would be placed in Eternal Peace Empire, they would be the greatest in Six Directions Realm. They might even be stronger than people like Daozi and Fozi.
The most crucial thing was that no matter if it was experience or the breadth of the horizon, the young gods would far surpass them. That was the most terrifying point.
Each young god represented one aeon, and when the three of them merged together, their ability would be nearly equal to a young god at Six Directions Realm. His abilities had soared up in a straight line!
It wasn't like the three old immortals hadn't met people who dared to challenge the three aeons. After all, geniuses naturally had strong confidence.
But confidence was just confidence. There weren't many who could complete the test of the three aeons.
However, since Qin Mu had chosen it, his end result would depend on his luck.
The young god in front of him was expressionless and looked like an emotionless machine. Suddenly, his strength burst forth, and he reached Qin Mu in a single step.
'There's no difference when compared to my speed!'
Qin Mu was astonished as rumblings of thunder came from beside his ears. This sound reached him only after the young god had reached him. The rumblings of the thunder were left in his wake!
Boom!
The young god sent a punch, and a thunderclap exploded from the vibration of the space. This wasn't the power of a divine art, but was the abnormal occurrence caused by unleashing the pure strength of the corporeal body to its extremes.
Corporeal body divine arts didn't rely on divine arts, but instead on the powerful corporeal body.
Qin Mu didn't avoid, but threw his own punch forward. Just as their punches were about to strike each other, they moved through the air and flashed past mirages as they avoided the other's attack.
Qin Mu's pupils shrank. Cripple's Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs had met their first opponent.
Since he was the number one divine thief in the world, his escaping speed naturally had to be fast, so fast that his enemies and pursuers could not catch up to him. Thus, Cripple had trained his legs to their extremes.
If one was to say a part of him had already become a god, then it would be his legs.
Ever since he was young, Qin Mu had cultivated alongside Cripple and trained his legs to their extremes in Six Directions Realm. When talking purely about speed, even Pangong Tso was inferior to him.
Yet the speed of the young god was no slower than his!
Suddenly, a loud bang rang out as their fists collided. In a split second, Qin Mu executed the eight form of Thunderclap Eight Strikes, Thousand-Armed Buddha. He was like a huge buddha with a thousand arms smashing countless fists onto his opponent. His fists were so quick that they dazzled the eyes and couldn't be caught with normal gazes!
Old Ma's fists were acclaimed as the fists of the buddha!
The realm of the buddha was also the realm of the god. Old Ma's cultivation was focused on his fists who were overbearing and steady. However, they also had a multitude of changes, so even though he was only left with an arm, it could still be like a thousand arms!
Even if he didn't use magic power, the strength of his corporeal body could make his moves even more powerful than divine arts!
The period when Qin Mu had followed Old Ma to cultivate was when he had suffered the most. Thunderclap Eight Strikes was also the fist skill in which he had put in the most effort, yet the young god was able to block his attacks. Not only that, he could even retaliate!
Qin Mu shouted out, and his aura suddenly turned wild and overbearing. The youth from Great Ruins had naturally inherited the wild and overbearing nature of Great Ruins. With fierceness and savagery, knife skills appeared among Qin Mu's fist skills. With his hands as knives, he hacked and slashed at all the obstacles in front of him, splitting apart all the injustice that stood in his way!
Butcher's knives, the knives of frenzy!
Heaven Knife was a maniac that dared to raise his knives at the heavens. His knife skills were the knife skills of a maniac. With overflowing murderous aura and two blades in hand, he dared to slaughter all royalty including the emperor, to point his knives at the heavens, to slash at the gods!
Two rapidly moving figures streaked across the sky as clanging sounds rang out like rain. Qin Mu unleashed his skills frantically, seemingly reenacting the scene when Butcher went crazy as he scolded the heavens and pointed his knives at them!
Heaven Knife, his god liked knives were blocked down.
Qin Mu's heart sank. Formation markings swirled frantically in his eyes, and four heavens appeared. Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill!
On Six Directions Realm, his magic power was only enough to execute his eyes to the level of Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, but this was enough. Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes, Cyan Heaven's Eyes, Green Heaven's Eyes, and Heaven's Eyes—with the effects of these four heaven's eyes overlapping one another, five colors burst forth from his eyes. The black pupils in the center became even deeper, and each and every movement of the opponent could be clearly captured in his eyes.
Blind's eyes were the eyes of a god!
They could see through all fabrication, all moves, and all divine arts. They could capture each and every movement of the opponent and predict their next move. From there, they could see through the marvel of the opponent's divine arts and solve them to aim at the opponent's weak points.
At that moment, Qin Mu saw the other's eyes. They used a different eye awakening skill compared to his Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill, since the forehead of the young god split open and revealed a third eye. Five stars appeared in it.
"No way…"
Qin Mu could see rays of light starting to shine in the opponent's divine eye. It was the give away when a divine eye was activating its power!
The opponent was also proficient in divine eyes, but his divine eye had a corresponding divine arts, whereas Blind hadn't imparted any pupil divine arts to Qin Mu when he taught him!
Vital qi started to gather in Qin Mu's eyes, and the formation markings of the heaven's eyes became Heaven's Eyes Ring, Green Heaven's Eyes Ring, Cyan Heaven's Eyes Ring, and Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes Ring.
It wasn't the first time he had used his eyes as True Origin Cannon. When he was at Qingmen Pass, he had already tried out the power of it!
"Are you an Overlord Body as well?" Qin Mu's eyes blazed. "In that case, let's see whose divine eyes are more powerful!"
Their divine eyes burst forth with light, and five resplendent rays rushed at each other. The speed was so fast that neither could dodge!
Before the divine eyes of the young god had activated, Qin Mu had determined their attributes. What burst forth was a five-colored light that was different from Long Yu's sword eyes. It was like a five-colored divine sword that came straight at him.
The young god had three eyes, and their order was different. The three beams of five-colored light definitely possessed no ordinary power!
Boom!
Two figures fell from the sky. Both of them were hit by the other's divine light and crashed to the ground.
Two mushroom clouds poofed up.
Qin Mu leaped up and sucked in a deep and cold breath. He had used the body refinement and qi refinement techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, Nine Transformation Three Conditions Mystery Technique to block the attack. This technique was extremely dangerous, and when Qin Mu had cultivated it, all his energy had been drained. Soon, his body had become like a matchstick and he had almost died.
The cultivation of that mystery technique required him to have enough spirit pills to replenish his energy. Ever since that encounter, he had carefully used the technique to cultivate his corporeal body and refine his vital qi for the past two years. He had already cultivated to the fourth transformation and second condition.
The first condition was bones that were inseparably close, while the second condition was body like iron.
His vital qi was on the fourth transformation. The first transformation was qi like rainbow, the second transformation was like lead and mercury, the third transformation was like a fire dragon, and the fourth transformation was opening the great furnace.
It was as if he had hidden a huge and round pill furnace in his body. The vital qi within it was like a blazing fire that protected his body. When it combined with his corporeal body that was like steel and iron, he was able to block the strike.
"I have Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, techniques from my ancestors!"
Qin Mu leaped up from the pit, his moves quick. In a few steps, he scaled up a mountain and looked toward where that young god had landed. He said in a low voice, "I don't believe you can take my divine eyes!"
Suddenly, his pupils contracted, for he saw a figure slowly walking out from the dust permeating inside of the pit. The figure slowly became clearer.
"Still not dead?" Qin Mu released a long hiss and executed Carefree Sword, but then discovered that he couldn't use it here. His vital qi then burst forth afterward as he sprinted toward the young god. "If I can't use my spirit weapon, I shall make one!"
Outside Hall of Three Aeons, Hermit Qing You revealed a smile as he said leisurely, "The god is called Chongming, and come to think of it, what a coincidence, he's also from Carefree Village. Try and guess what his surname could be."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Village Chief blinked and probed, "Could his surname be Qin as well…"
Hermit Qing You sneered. "That's right, his surname is indeed Qin. Could Qin Chongming be an Overlord Body as well? Dao brother, you are making me slightly puzzled. Even we Little Jade Capital don't know about Overlord Body so how can you be so sure that there's such a thing as an Overlord Body in this world?"
Village Chief rose up and down. He didn't explain anything and just shook his head. "I wonder, why did a god from Carefree Village come to Little Jade Capital?"
"This senior is one of the founders of Little Jade Capital," Hermit Qing You explained. "I know from the records that he made a Pact of Earth Count with someone, but afterward, he decided to break it. There were some reasons because of which he had no choice but to do it, thus his primordial spirit was taken away by Earth Count while his body was left behind. Before he died, he transformed his divine treasures into seven divine halls. He gave a lot of thought to it, so that even after he died, he would leave seven divine halls to groom the future generations."
Village Chief looked at the Hall of Three Aeons and asked in suspicion, "Seven divine halls? Could there be Hall of Seven Stars, Hall of Celestial Being, Hall of Life and Death, and Hall of Divine Bridge besides the three halls? Why can't we see them?"
"The seven great divine treasures in the human body are one, so the seven divine halls are naturally one as well. All of the other halls are inside Hall of Three Aeons."
Hermit Qing You said, "You asked me to open Hall of Six Directions as well, since I had already opened the other two halls, but our Little Jade Capital actually doesn't have the ability to open Hall of Six Directions. The god from Carefree Village holds many secrets, and I can't be the judge if I can open Hall of Six Directions or not. We don't have enough manpower in Little Jade Capital, though now that Old Dao Master and Old Rulai are here, it might be enough. However, they just came to Little Jade Capital so they still need some time to familiarize themselves with Hall of Six Directions."
There were only over a dozen old immortals in Little Jade Capital and opening Hall of Six Directions required six top-notch practitioners. When it came to Hall of Seven Stars, they would need seven people of their level. For that, Little Jade Capital would be even more shorthanded.
"As I thought, even though you are stingy, there was no need to be this stingy to a person from Carefree Village. So that's the reason." Village Chief smiled.
Hermit Qing You snorted. "That god had cultivated everything to the god level. He had divine eyes, divine hands, divine legs, divine corporeal body, and not only that, his primordial spirit had also reached an extremely pure level. The density of his magic power was also at the level of a god. Same as his wisdom! Dao brother, if Human Emperor chose Three Aeons Breakthrough, I'm afraid he won't gain any benefit!"
Village Chief pondered over it, then said slowly, "His magic power is also at the level of a god? In that case, Mu'er has really met his opponent."
Hermit Qing You didn't understand what he meant.
"We, the geezers of Disabled Elderly Village, have our personal areas of expertise, and the nine of us have all reached the god realm in them. However, none of us reached the god realm in the area of magic power. However, Mu'er's vital qi is so dense that he has done so. Even though his cultivation realm hasn't caught up, the density of his magic power is something that others could never reach. If I was to say that there was someone in the world with a god-like magic power, then that person would not be Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, but only be Mu'er!" Village Chief said indifferently.
Hermit Qing You also knew how strong Qin Mu's cultivation was and said, "You said that his sword skill was still full of flaws and when he met someone with greater knowledge than him, he wouldn't even know he died. I think he has already met that person."
Village Chief's heart trembled violently. "This god is also a sword god?"
Hermit Qing You nodded and seemed to be smiling yet not smiling. "Dao brother, can you now tell me about Overlord Body?"
Village Chief smiled and said leisurely, "Overlord Body is unique and surpasses the four great spirit bodies; it's the rarest constitution in the world. As long as there is one Overlord Body that has appeared in the world, there can never be a second Overlord Body. However, there will be pseudo Overlord Bodies appearing to fight over for the fate of the Overlord Body…"
In Hall of Three Aeons, Qin Mu widened his steps to chase after the young god. His footsteps were heavy, but his speed was extremely fast. With his feet landing on the ground, the soil flew into the air while the land trembled in waves.
The soil and shattered rocks that floated upwards were melted in an instant. Some of them transformed into pottery swords while others into stone swords. Some of the rocks had metal hidden inside them, which was smelted and formed into sharp flying swords!
Incorporating forging treasures into battle was Qin Mu's ultimate art which Mute had not taught him. Applying what he had learned was Qin Mu's expertise.
Since he couldn't use the spirit weapons he had brought, he could only make them on the spot!
When the two of them were about three hundred yards apart, Qin Mu had a hundred flying swords around him. At that moment, he executed his sword skill.
The move he used was Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
Qin Mu recited the name with heroism in his chest. Could the gods be cut down? Say: Can!
His sword light burst forth, and the flying swords attacked the young god. Sword lights flashed, but since a hundred flying swords were too few, more sword lights burst forth from Qin Mu's body to make up for the lack.
He rushed forward at a quick speed, and Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers laid out mountains and rivers into the distance like a scroll unfurling. This sword skill used all kinds of stuff—Qin Mu's own comprehension, Village Chief's teaching, Imperial Preceptor's enlightenment, and Qin Hanzhen's guidance. He had incorporated everything he had learned into his sword!
The power of the sword light increased drastically.
This was Qin Mu's most powerful move. Even the second move, Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood couldn't be compared to it in terms of power. This was because Qin Mu had put all his heart and mind into Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, improving this move the most.
Compared to the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers Village Chief had taught him, the power of this move had already increased by several times!
While he used his sword skill, there were also sword lights bursting forth from the palm of the young god. Countless sword lights flew over, and Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He immediately saw the mysterious principles behind the sword lights.
'Carefree Village's sword skills! He is from Carefree Village!'
Qin Mu didn't have time to think about it. The two sword skills collided, and countless sword lights drowned out both of them. The power contained in the majestic mountains and rivers was released, and the power of the sword skill from Carefree Sword also increased drastically!
The three aeons elders stood on top of the sun, moon, and high mountain, looking down. They saw the instant the mountains and rivers broke down, the boundless energy exploding like two snow-white ball expanding rapidly outwards.
"Remarkable," Heaven Aeon Spiritual Master who was in the sun exclaimed in admiration.
The power of the two moves exploded until nothing was left. Qin Mu and the god flew back and crashed onto the ground. Their bodies continued to tumble backward and rolled down the hills like ragdolls as they flailed their limbs helplessly.
Pak!
Qin Mu smashed onto the cliff with sword wounds all over his body, painting blossom markings on the cliff with fresh blood.
"My sword skills…" Qin Mu coughed up blood and slid down from the cliff. He sat on the ground with a thud, unable to wipe away the astonishment on his face. "I've lost…"
It was the first time he had executed his refined sword skill and had cleanly lost after that. His sword skill had been broken by the opponent.
The young god smashed into a mountain with a bang as well, unsettling huge chunks of rock that fell to the ground. There were no sword wounds on the man, but the power of Qin Mu's move was too great, surpassing the limit he could withstand.
Purely on sword skills, his sword skills were indeed above those of Qin Mu. Even though Qin Mu had controlled around a hundred swords and several hundred sword lights with Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, none of them had hit him.
Yet the massive power from Qin Mu's move had heavily injured him. When the power of the sword skill exploded, the terrifying energy overwhelmed him. Even though it didn't hit him directly, the crack of his ribs still could be heard.
The young god didn't seem to be able to feel any pain. He shook his arms and broke free from the mountain rock. He then slid several dozen yards forward and landed on the ground steadily.
Under his armpits, the broken ribs had already pierced through his skin and the bones were exposed outside, yet he seemed to have no feeling at all. He raised his hand to pull out the broken bones, throwing them on the ground.
Below the cliff, Qin Mu stood up while swaying. He roared and circulated Human King Creation Technique to seal up the wounds on his body.
He didn't choose to use the dragon saliva to heal his wounds because the opponent's sword will was hidden in his wounds. Without removing it, the dragon saliva wouldn't be able to cure his injuries.
Besides, the opponent didn't heal himself either, and he would rather have a fair fight!
'Overlord Body is unrivaled in this world. If I can't win against you, I'm not working hard enough!'
Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and suddenly transformed into a cow-headed human that stood on twin dragons. Bull's eyes grew out on his forehead and rolled around.
Flames blazed around his body, and the two dragons under his feet rushed toward the young god.
Using Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers had exhausted Qin Mu greatly, and if he continued to fight like that, he wouldn't be able to endure for much longer, thus he needed to change his style.
The body of the young god also transformed, but he chose the form of Venus Sovereign who was also standing on twin dragons. However, they were formed by gold qi while the dragons under Qin Mu's feet were formed by fire qi.
The twin dragons below their feet sprinted forward, and the two of them suddenly changed their directions to rush horizontally toward a mountain to the side. The huge dragons gripped their claws onto the cliff and moved as if they were flying to scale up the mountain. Meanwhile, on the dragons' backs, the two were in their transformed states. They unleashed their most powerful divine arts, attacking one another!
The huge mountain was extremely high, and it was the one on which Earth Aeon Spiritual Master was standing.
Even though it was three thousand yards high, Qin Mu and the young god fought their way up the mountain peak. The two of them changed their techniques over and over again, and the five great god transformation states of Five Elements Realm were all executed by the two of them. Sometimes they were the human-headed Jupiter Sovereign with the body of a bird while at other times they were the human-headed Saturn Sovereign with the body of a snake, or the scarlet-haired Mercury Sovereign as they fought each other with all their might.
Earth Aeon Spiritual Master raised his hands, and this huge mountain began to grow higher. The mountain range expanded to become larger and taller.
Qin Mu and the young god continued to go upwards as rocks to flew in all directions from their commotion.
'His magic power isn't any weaker than mine as well! He's definitely an Overlord Body!'
Qin Mu's was ineffably astonished. He had already subconsciously lost the upper hand and was only defending against the opponent's attacks while smelting rocks and stones to make stone, iron, and copper swords, in an attempt to take advantage of having weapons.
However, since he was distracted, he was being suppressed. Even though the young god was below him, he was forced to retreat upwards. The flying swords that Qin Mu had made were struck away continuously, until one could see the path they had taken from broken swords pieces scattered everywhere.
The two figures were nearly as flat as the ground while they continued to sprint upwards, showing no signs of their momentum slowing down.
'This mountain can't go any higher, if it continues to rise, it will crumble.'
Earth Aeon Spiritual Master frowned and was about to leave the mountaintop to let them fight to their hearts' content when Qin Mu suddenly mobilized all of his magic power.
"Human Emperor is still too young. He forged too many flying swords and exhausted quite a lot of magic power. Now that he's fighting the young god with his brute force, he might not be able to win."
As Earth Aeon Spiritual Master said this, the two were blown backward by the vibrations and left the mountain. Qin Mu was jolted high up while the young god was blown downwards.
Qin Mu tried to stop his body and the sores on his body instantly split open, spurting blood.
"The outcome is decided!" he shouted out and rushed downwards. Everywhere he passed by, the stone, iron, and copper swords would fly to attack the young god!
The whole mountain was filled with all kinds of swords he had forged, so at that moment, there were countless blades under Qin Mu's control.
The blades were all attacking the young god who had no time to avoid, so his vital qi burst forth as he executed his sword skill. The concentrated sword lights that were like a storm collided with the flying swords. His sword skill was indeed profound, but he had still lost the favorable position, thus he gotten sent to the bottom of the mountain by the power from above!
Meanwhile on the cliff, even more stone, iron, and copper swords flew out to converge into a flood of swords. The speed of each blade was different, and the way they moved was also different. They were sometimes slow and sometimes fast, sometimes advancing and sometimes retreating!
What Qin Mu had executed was still Sword Treading Mountains and River, the move which possessed the strongest power. The sword light of the young god would break through the sword rain from time to time, landing more and more blows on the youth's body.
Qin Mu seemed to feel no pain as he used his sword skill to pressure the young god to smash him down.
The ground came closer and closer.
"You've lost!"
Qin Mu revealed a smile as countless swords smashed the young god ruthlessly onto the ground!
Boom!
The ground trembled violently, and wind swept chunks of mountain rocks which it threw in all directions. A huge and deep pit appeared on the ground, surrounded by broken blades.
Bang!
Qin Mu fell down as well and created a huge pit that was only slightly smaller. His feeble voice then came from there, "You are… a pseudo Overlord Body, heh, hehe…"
At that moment, movement could be heard from the other pit, and Qin Mu's blood ran cold, "You're still alive?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu struggled to get up when cracking sounds came from his legs. The bones there had fractured when he got smashed, and when he exerted force just then, they instantly broke.
His whole body convulsed from the pain, and his arms broke as well. Qin Mu then didn't dare to move anymore. Even twitching and taking in a deeper breath became something he didn't dare to do.
He was scared that more forceful inhale could shatter all his bones.
His magic power was completely exhausted, so he couldn't even retrieve the dragon saliva from his taotie sack to heal himself.
Pain flooded him, and beads of sweat continuously flowed out.
The sword-made wounds all over his body split open, and fresh blood flowed out. Qin Mu felt his body grow warmer, as if he was as scorching as lava; however, he knew this was actually an illusion. Because he had lost too much blood, his body gradually cooled down, creating an illusion in his brain.
He had learned about this from Apothecary.
If he continued to lose blood, he was bound to die.
An explosion came from the huge pit nearby, and Qin Mu felt decrepit. 'Could it be that I'm the pseudo Overlord Body… No, I'm just not working hard enough, I haven't unleashed all the abilities of the Overlord Body…"
He had bet almost his whole life to win by half a move, but this had exhausted him of all his battle power.
Suddenly, three streams of air currents burst forth from the huge pit and landed on Qin Mu like three long rainbows as they entered his body.
Qin Mu instantly felt his bones move and reconnect. The cracks sealed up while the wounds on his body recovered rapidly!
The few teeth he had lost from the fight earlier were also actually growing out!
Qin Mu was stunned, but then he heard a flood. The sound was coming from his body, and it originated from his surging vital qi. His cultivation was actually recovering rapidly!
His strength was also recovering, and the tears in his muscles repaired themselves. Soon, all of his injuries were more or less healed.
Not only that, he also felt the strange power coming from the three rainbows cause his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure to undergo a drastic change. His vital qi seemed to liquify and embrace it, which made it look like the spirit embryo was soaking in a warm ocean that was incomparably comfortable.
'The last time I experienced such a comfortable feeling was probably when I was three years old or so. I had fallen asleep on granny's bed and tried so hard to find a latrine in my dreams. When I finally found it after much difficulty, I ended up wetting the whole bed. I was then lifted up by my leg and thrown into the snow by granny.'
Qin Mu blinked. What he felt had to be the so-called three aeons: heaven aeon, earth aeon, and water aeon.
The energy of the three aeons flooded over, and Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure underwent a huge change. It grew at a fast speed while the spirit platform under its feet became bigger as well. It was like a tiny land in the middle of the sea.
The vital qi breathed out from the spirit embryo's nose rose into the air and surging vital qi gathered alongside it, forming a bright red ball that hung in midair.
It didn't look like a sun.
The liquified vital qi gathered together into what seemed like a ball of water, but not the moon. His Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure still couldn't be compared to that of a god.
Qin Mu tried to executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and felt that it was still difficult to circulate it. There had to be some hidden injuries that hadn't yet healed.
"Congratulations Human Emperor for succeeding in Three Aeons Breakthrough."
Suddenly, the mountains vanished and the sun and moon in the sky also disappeared without a trace. Qin Mu lay in a huge hall, ice cold floor beneath him.
He struggled to get up and saw five elders sitting in five positions. They were high on top and looked as ancient as three aeons elders.
He looked around, but it wasn't the Hall of Three Aeons that he saw. The place looked like another huge hall. The appearances of the five elders were also different from those of the three aeons elders.
Qin Mu composed himself as his muscles continued to ache and his arms and muscles shook, unable to stop.
"Where are the three old immortals from earlier?" Qin Mu asked in a trembling voice.
"Three aeons elders are not here."
One of the old wanderers may have been short, but his voice was extremely loud and clear. "We are Five Elements Wanderers, and this is Hall of Five Qi. We saw Human Emperor achieving Three Aeons Breakthrough from Hall of Five Qi and we really admire you. After Human Emperor broke through, you were sent to our Hall of Five Qi to face the test of five qi."
"I achieved Three Aeons Breakthrough?"
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. However, his legs didn't listen to him and couldn't stop shaking.
"He's indeed the pseudo Overlord Body, while I'm the true Overlord Body!" The youth was pleased with himself.
Five Elements Wanderers heard what he said and were confused. They revealed expressions of doubt as they didn't know what was Overlord Body and its pseudo version.
Qin Mu tried his best to stand steadily, but his legs kept shaking badly. His arms also didn't listen to him.
One of the old wanderers frowned and said, "Human Emperor is the second person who has passed Three Aeons Breakthrough. Do you plan to challenge Five Qi Breakthrough?"
Qin Mu just sat down on the ground so that he wouldn't embarrass himself for not standing steadily. He asked, "How is Five Qi Breakthrough compared to Three Aeon Breakthrough?"
"It's slightly more difficult."
"When Human Emperor achieved Three Aeons Breakthrough, your foundation became even more firm, so Five Qi Breakthrough shouldn't be too difficult for you," an old woman said with a pleasant face.
"It's still slightly more difficult?" Qin Mu was frightened and shook his head. "Five seniors, could you get around the regulations and allow me to challenge another day?"
He was simply too weak to challenge Five Qi Breakthrough right then.
Even though he had achieved three aeons by defeating the young god and his injuries had mostly healed, the soreness in his corporeal body wasn't even close to fading away. Furthermore, the last strike when going down from the mountain that was several thousand yards high left an impact on him that was too large for his heart to withstand. Not only was his corporeal body trembling, his soul was also swaying to and fro, almost leaving his body.
The five wanderers could see that his condition wasn't good so they looked one another in the eyes. One of the elders said, "Our Little Jade Capital has never had this happen before. If someone passes the test of three aeons, they can enter our Hall of Five Qi and leave when they are defeated. Taking a break midway has never happened before."
An old woman then spoke up. "However, Three Aeons Breakthrough is too rare. The last person to break through is from seven thousand years ago. Since Human Emperor was able to reach this step, it would be truly too much if we didn't agree to let him challenge the hall another day."
The five elders discussed it for a time, then the elder in the lead said, "Since Human Emperor has asked, our Little Jade Capital is not that stubborn. When Human Emperor recovers, he can come and challenge our Hall of Five Qi."
"Many thanks!" Qin Mu struggled to get up and thank the five elders.
When he straightened his back, the sight in front of him changed and he appeared outside Hall of Three Aeons. The three aeons elders were talking to Hermit Qing You who had an expression of astonishment while Village Chief had an unpretentious look of pride.
"Human Emperor." The three aeons elders greeted him, and Heaven Aeon Spiritual Master asked in astonishment, "Why has Human Emperor come out before taking the test of five qi?"
Qin Mu's legs were still shaking, so he said, "Five Elements Wanderers knew that my condition wasn't good so they allowed me to come back later for the challenge. Immortal Qing You, can I get a few days before the test at Hall of Five Qi?"
Hermit Qing You's expression softened and he said firmly, "Human Emperor's condition now is indeed not suitable to continue fighting. There's Hall of Six Directions after Hall of Five Qi and Old Dao Master and Old Rulai still need some time to familiarize themselves with it. Oh well, Human Emperor can come to our Little Jade Capital another day to break through both halls."
Qin Mu probed, "In that case, about inviting the experts of Little Jade Capital to come down the mountain…"
Hermit Qing You smiled. "I had promised to come with you if you defeated the three disciples of my Little Jade Capital. Now that you achieved Three Aeons Breakthrough as well, you have already exceeded my expectation. Since I have promised you, I naturally can't go back on my word."
Qin Mu was astonished. Hermit Qing You didn't show him a single pleasant expression since he had come up the mountain, scorning him from the start, yet he was suddenly so easy to talk to?
Hermit Qing You looked at the three aeons elders and said, "Three senior brothers, I shall follow Human Emperor down the mountain to settle some worldly affairs. May senior brothers help me look after my duties during these days that I will not be on the mountain."
Water Aeon Spiritual Master said, "The worldly affairs are full of distractions and the hearts of immortals can be hard to calm. Be careful of disturbing your clear heart when you go down the mountain."
Hermit Qing You smiled. "I have already underwent an experience in the mortal world so my mortal heart is long dead. Don't worry, I'll definitely return."
He called Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu over and said, "I'll be going down the mountain with Human Emperor, so come with me. There's no need to stay in Little Jade Capital for your entire lives, I know there's little joy in accompanying us old men and women."
The three were surprised and delighted. They had wanted to go down the mountain for a long time, but what could they do when Little Jade Capital had strict rules. Hermit Qing You would never allow them to go down the mountain under normal circumstances.
Hermit Qing You excused himself from Old Dao Master and Old Rulai, and the two elders smiled. "We have just freed ourselves from the worldly affairs and came to Little Jade Capital for peace. Yet now you are jumping into the mortal world. Immortal Qing You, I'm afraid you won't be able to jump up once you are tainted!"
"You guys are worrying too much. I'm just going down to keep my promise, and I'll return once I fulfill it. The worldly affairs won't hold me back," Hermit Qing You said solemnly.
"I sure hope so."
Hermit Qing You then invited two more old immortals over. "You Yun, You He, both of you senior brothers are proficient in algebra. Will you follow me down?"
The two old immortals smiled and said, "It's good to go down for a stroll."
Wang Muran rode a buck which was Wanderer Zhen's mount. This master had died under Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's hand, but his mount had been kept by Wang Muran.
That buck was no inferior to the dragon qilin, and because the dragon qilin was fat, the buck seemed more muscular in comparison. He looked at the dragon qilin from the corner of its eyes and was full of disdain for the fat cat.
The dragon qilin was long used to it and didn't pay any attention. Yet Xiong Qi'er whispered to him, "Fatty Dragon, the buck is looking down on you."
"Even if he spits in my face, it will dry off by itself, even without wiping it away." The dragon qilin seemed to have long achieved enlightenment. "Let him think what he wants, it's merely a cool breeze brushing past a mountain."
Everyone left Little Jade Capital, and Hermit Qing You turned back to take a look. He sighed ruefully and said to Village Chief, "Many years ago, I had left this place with you. My heart was full of ambition and wanted to achieved a world-shaking feat with you. When I came back, my will was low and my great ambition was cleanly erased. I thought I would never leave again and never did I expect to be invited out of Little Jade Capital by your disciple. Fate truly makes a fool out of people."
"It's not Mu'er who invited you, but actually your heart that has moved," Village Chief said meaningfully. "Is it the wind moving or the banner moving? It's just the humane heart that's moving."
Hermit Qing You laughed. "You're wrong, my mortal heart is already dead. It won't come back to life!"
Village Chief shook his head with a smile. "Your mouth is like a blade, but your heart is like tofu. Mu'er, don't look at how this old fellow is always fierce with you, for he's actually the softest. If you make him sad, his tofu heart will cover the whole floor and no one will be able to piece it back together!"
Hermit Qing You sneered and said, "My heart can't be pieced back together? You were still sprawling on the floor and crying just moments ago!"
Village Chief was furious. "When Fairy Xue Qi left you back then, who was the one sprawling on the ground and bawling his eyes out?"
"You cried so miserably just now, needing Human Emperor to hug you."
"When you shamelessly cried for reconciliation, did you think how I would use it to scorn you now?"
"You even wiped your snot on Human Emperor's chest!"
…
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open. The two old men were almost one thousand and six hundred years old added together, yet they still fought non-stop, exposing the faults of each other and digging out the ugly past.
'They are becoming younger and younger, they're like old children.'
Qin Mu shook his head and thought to himself, 'Where has Grandpa Cripple gone to? If the experts of Dao Sect didn't catch up to him, he should have entered Little Jade Capital long ago. I was delayed for two-three days here, so it should have been enough for Grandpa Cripple to rummage through Little Jade Capital several times. Also, I wonder how's the battle on the prairie, did Imperial Preceptor reach Rolan's Golden Palace?'
On the large snow mountain outside Rolan's Golden Palace was a massacre.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had his hands behind his back, standing expressionless. His gaze moved to the majestic palace that was decorated with gold and jade in glorious splendor. Behind him, the army of Eternal Peace Army of tens of thousands of men was arranged in neat rows. The soldiers didn't make any sound, and even the strange beasts of the army were silent.
A general came forth and said as he bowed, "Imperial Preceptor, Khan Ruandi has come to surrender!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Let him come up," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently.
Khan Ruandi was tightly wound in chains while a few soldiers followed behind him, pushing him forward.
"Criminal Ruandi…"
Khan Ruandi was about to kneel down when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor held him up. With a smile that was not a smile, he said, "Senior Brother Ruandi wants to frame me for being corrupt?"
Khan Ruandi took the chance to get up and smiled. "If I could spoil the friendship between you and Emperor Yanfeng, I might get a chance for a comeback."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "You can't spoil it. Even if you pay your respects to me in front of the whole army, the emperor will still not suspect me. It's just that the contrarians will make my head ache. If I can have one less trouble, it's better. Senior Brother Ruandi, take off the chains, I won't accept your surrender. You shall surrender yourself to the emperor personally when we come back to the capital."
Khan Ruandi shook himself, and the chains on his body broke off inch by inch. The soldiers were all astonished and took a step forward. However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his hand to have them fall back. "There's no need to be on guard."
Khan Ruandi's gaze flickered. "I've heard that Imperial Preceptor had fought with a god and suffered heavy injuries. Even though you had Little Poison King and Little Divine Physician healing you, your current cultivation is still yet to recover to its peak. Aren't you afraid of me suddenly springing into action and killing you?"
"I'm not," said Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "I might have been a month ago, but since I comprehended the sword path, there's no need for me to be scared even with my injuries. If you attack, you will die."
Khan Ruandi was terrified.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his head to look at Rolan's Golden Palace that was in front of them while saying leisurely, "Senior Brother Ruandi, please take a look. Rolan's Golden Palace is well fortified, with great shamans and shaman kings guarding it. It's easy to defend and hard to invade, so if I force this invasion, my army will definitely suffer heavy casualties. I can even feel terrifying auras hidden inside the palace which must come from the previous bodies of Grandmaster. I can feel eighteen auras that are like gods, and that's why I'm still stationed here and am yet to make a move."
"These eighteen corporeal bodies that are like gods, devils, and buddhas are the corporeal bodies of Grandmaster's past eighteen lifetimes. They are extremely terrifying and are the strongest power that guards Rolan's Golden Palace. Other than Grandmaster's eighteen bodies, there are also twelve cult master level existences which had cultivated to Divine Bridge Realm. The strongest one is none other than Grandmaster himself. His ability is no inferior to mine," said Khan Ruandi.
"How many experts on Life and Death Realm are there?" asked Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Khan Ruandi smiled and said, "How would I know?"
"You are imitating Emperor Yanfeng so you should know." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a look at him and said softly, "For example, the names, abilities, and spirit weapons of all the experts in Heavenly Saint Cult, Dao Sect, and Great Thunderclap Monastery are all in my hands. The empire is above and no sacred ground is allowed to ride roughshod over people. You are the emperor of the prairie, so you should naturally not let Rolan's Golden Palace ride on your head. You have to know it."
"I can't win against Emperor Yanfeng because he has Imperial Preceptor assisting him. If I had a helper such as you, how would I need to surrender? I have already prepared a name list of the strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm. This is an offer to Imperial Preceptor," Khan Ruandi said. When he finished speaking, he took out a booklet.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor handed the name list to Duke Wei who was behind him and said, "Let the soldiers browse through it and search for their opponents, prepare to kill the enemies."
Duke Wei summoned all the famed generals in the army of Celestial Being Realm and Life and Death Realm and gathered everyone to study the name list.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then said, "Rolan's Golden Palace has formations to protect it, both restricting and killing ones which had been placed by the previous grandmasters and grand shamans. Now, every single one of them has been activated to defend against my army. If Khan Ruandi has the heart to overthrow Rolan's Golden Palace, you must have a plan, a method to take down this stronghold."
Khan Ruandi didn't reply but asked back instead, "Why won't Imperial Preceptor ask me why I surrender? You have seen me come to surrender yet you still trust me as such without putting up any guard. You even ask me how to take down Rolan's Golden Palace. Aren't you afraid I'm just acting and will provide you with faulty information which will wipe out your entire army?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head and said, "You surrendered because of the shaman poison."
Khan Ruandi fell silent.
"Grandmaster ordered all the great shamans and shaman kings to poison the water, which resulted in nine out of ten houses in the prairie becoming deserted. The tribesmen are only left with ten percent of their population, with only the people in your big cities yet to die.
"You are the emperor of the prairie, but so many of your people were slaughtered. Who are you supposed to take revenge at? It can only be at Rolan's Golden Palace. Therefore I believe you, there's no need to doubt your words."
Khan Ruandi was silent for a time, then let out a shaky breath. "Civilians shouldn't be killed in the war between two empires. If I were to invade Eternal Peace Empire, the civilians of Eternal Peace Empire would become my people, so I wouldn't hurt them. If Emperor Yanfeng invaded the prairie, the people of the prairie would become Emperor Yanfeng's people, so he wouldn't hurt them. Yet Rolan's Golden Palace eradicated my people; I can't take that lying down. Imperial Preceptor, I will tell you all of Rolan's Golden Palace's weaknesses, not hiding the smallest detail."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor revealed a smile. "Do you know how long I have been waiting for you here? Now that you have come, there will be one less sacred ground in this world!"
Khan Ruandi was completely won over. "As long as Imperial Preceptor is around, Ruandi will never rebel! If I break my oath, my eyes should be pecked away by gyrfalcons and my heart dug out by eagles! And all my descendants will become slaves!"
The capital was the place where the nine dragons gathered. Nine mountain ranges that were like dragons converged there and gathered the qi, making that place the imperial capital.
"Only by coming down to the mortal world this time and seeing Eternal Peace Empire invading the prairie could we find out that the army of Eternal Peace Empire is looking more and more like the heavenly army. They are starting to resemble the army of gods and devils from Founding Emperor Era."
In the sky above the capital, a roughly built shelter which was about six ares wide floated in the sky. On the cloud under it, a couple extraordinary looking men and women were sitting at the top of the cloud. With the shelter covering the sun above, they looked below at the destiny of Eternal Peace Empire.
Those men and women were all very handsome and pretty, and none of them look old, but their cultivations were terrifyingly high, like those of gods and buddhas.
One of them was Star Sovereign Qiao who had Yu Liu and the rest of the girls serving him at the side. Xu Shenghua was also around, but he was standing beside another young man who was his master, Jade Sovereign.
They were not the only ones that had come out. There were four leaders in High Heavens and other than Star Sovereign Qiao and Jade Sovereign, there was also Flower Sovereign and Star Sovereign Yan.
Because Village Chief had left Great Ruins, the four leaders of High Heavens had actually all went out.
The four of them were looking down with startled expressions.
"I didn't examine them in detail when I came to send disaster the previous time," Jade Sovereign mumbled. "Back then I only roughly looked at the nine dragon veins of the capital and which had allowed Eternal Peace Empire to become a major power."
Flower Sovereign was a beautiful woman and her voice was as melodious as the chirping of the yellow oriole. She said, "These nine dragon veins are the Yellow Dragon Mountain Range, but besides them, there are also four river dragon veins—Mud River, Gold River, Surging River, and Li River."
Her palm gently stroked the air, and her vital qi transformed into a mirror which revealed the underground layer of Eternal Peace Empire.
That mirror could actually penetrate to the depth of over ten miles and show three huge dragons. They were the magma rivers beneath the city.
"Including these three fire dragon veins that are hidden underground, there are already sixteen dragon veins in Eternal Peace Empire," said Jade Sovereign.
Star Sovereign Qiao shook his head. "Not only that. Look at the shore of Eternal Peace Empire. The mountain ranges near there are going up and down irregularly, like two dragons coiling around each other—they're two more dragon veins, even if I'm not sure what they're called. With eighteen dragon veins, it's no wonder Eternal Peace Empire is full of talents and achieving meteoric success."
"The prairie being annexed by Eternal Peace is just a matter of time. Imperial Preceptor should already have reached Rolan's Golden Palace by now. How many dragon veins are on the prairie?" Star Sovereign Qiao asked solemnly.
The other three sovereigns' hearts trembled slightly.
"And also the snow plains in the north, in Wolf Store Country, how many dragon veins are there?"
"The number of Eternal Peace Empire's dragon veins surpasses my expectations. It would be fine if it was just one dragon vein, it would be hard to change the situation then. However, if all the dragons are to ascend to heaven, this would be stealing the fate of heaven and earth! I feel that killing Old Human Emperor is a small matter when compared to finding the main dragon vein in Eternal Peace Empire and taking it away or changing it. We have to make the other dragons lose their leader," said Star Sovereign Qiao.
Jade Sovereign mumbled to himself for a bit, then said, "If the main dragon vein is gone, the dragons will have no leader and the fate will fall apart. All the heroes in the world will rise and shatter Eternal Peace Empire. This is indeed a good idea. Which dragon vein is then the main in Eternal Peace Empire?"
Everyone looked around and searched for a moment, but they still couldn't see which was the main vein.
"In that case, let's invite Dragon Rearing Sovereign to look for the main vein. He rears the dragon race so he should be able to differentiate the different types of dragon. He's also good at working with the terrain."
"Qing Ying, Yao Hua, go back to High Heavens and invite Dragon Rearing Sovereign down to examine the dragon veins of Eternal Peace Empire to locate the main vein," said Star Sovereign Qiao.
Qing Ying and Yao Hua acknowledged before leaving in a hurry.
Jade Sovereign smiled. "For Sword God to not appear until now, what a downer. I thought he would come straight away when we released our aura, but he's actually acting scared. This had never happened before, so it looks like Sword God has truly grown old."
"This is the sorrow of a mortal body." Flower Sovereign smiled and said, "No matter how strong they are in their prime, their qi and blood will still wither and fail when reaching old age. Calculating it, his time is up in two years from now. To live out these two years, he had chosen to avoid the battle, how pathetic. Xu Shenghua, have you found the new human emperor?"
"Disciple had met the person by chance but did not recognize him so missed the chance. However, I gave him a bag of tea and he invited me to the capital of Eternal Peace Empire for a drink. I think I can meet him again if I go there."
Jade Sovereign was interested. "How are the abilities of this new human emperor?"
"Very high." Xu Shenghua recalled when he had clashed with Qin Mu and said, "His magic power at that time was extremely dense, and his vital qi cultivation was even denser than mine. However, his moves and divine arts were inferior to mine, and his comprehension of divine art was also weaker than mine."
"Cultivation even denser than yours?"
The four sovereigns of High Heavens revealed expressions of astonishment. Xu Shenghua's cultivation overwhelmed the entire High Heavens, and even the cultivations of the four sovereigns were inferior to his. Yet there was actually someone whose cultivation actually surpassed his!
"However, I have gone to Little Jade Capital and patched up the shortcomings in my cultivation," Xu Shenghua said. "If he didn't receive the same opportunity, my cultivation will be stronger than his."
Jade Sovereign revealed a smile and said, "Go to the capital, kill him, and return to High Heavens as soon as possible. The human world is a tainted place, so it isn't good to stay here for long. We shall find a place to wait for Dragon Rearing Sovereign and check the dragon veins. It would naturally be good if Sword God dared to accept the challenge, but if he doesn't, we will return after taking away the main vein."
Xu Shenghua acknowledged his words.
"I shall let Jing Yan and Yu Liu follow you so that other rats won't lay their hands on you," said Star Sovereign Qiao.
Yu Liu and Jing Yan were secretly delighted. Yu Liu carried a jade vase while Jing Yan hugged a pipa in her arms as they followed Xu Shenghua to the capital.
The four sovereigns of High Heavens saw that the sky was becoming dark, so they lowered the cloud. They came to a serene place, and the shelter landed on the ground.
This place had verdant hills and limpid water, with no villages in the surroundings, yet there was a house in front of them. When the door to the house opened, an elegant woman walked out. She carried a small and delicate wooden bucket to fetch water. The four sovereigns of High Heavens blushed at the sight of her, and their hearts pounded violently.
Even Flower Sovereign, the most beautiful goddess in High Heavens, became slightly ashamed of herself and felt inferior. Yet at the same time, she was infatuated with this woman.
"This is a true beauty that makes even gods envious!"
While the four sovereigns stabilized their hearts, the woman noticed the shelter that had appeared out of nowhere. She looked at the group and greeted the four of them. "Four esteemed guests, the sky is turning dark, and you should not go out at night."
Adoration was born in Jade Sovereign's heart and he smiled. "Fairy, this place isn't Great Ruins so why can't we go out at night? Even if it were Great Ruins, we could do as we will."
Adoration was also born in the hearts of Star Sovereign Qiao and Star Sovereign Yan. They wanted to get closer to the woman, so they smiled from ear to ear. "Charming time, beautiful scenery, and a beauty for a neighbor—this is truly a sacred ground."
Flower Sovereign felt a pang of sourness and jealousy, but when she saw the beauty of the woman again, her jealousy vanished without a trace.
The woman revealed a look of astonishment and said, "So the four of you are all immortal-like people that are able to go in and out of the darkness of Great Ruins. Sorry, it's me who seems to have overthought the matter." When she finished speaking, she went to fetch the water for which she had come out.
When night came, the three sovereigns of High Heavens looked at the house in front of them. Flower Sovereign was also full of anticipation. She smiled. "Since your hearts are moved, why not invite her over to take a seat?"
As she was saying that, the door of the house opened. A laugh that could make a person's blood boil and run quicker sounded out. "Four esteemed guests have come from afar yet as the owner of this place, I have come late."
The four sovereigns of High Heavens looked over under the hazy moonlight, and they all exclaimed in unison, "This is truly a peerless beauty for which even immortals will fall!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Those gods from High Heavens didn't hide their auras, and it seems like they went to Granny Si's place."
Butcher and Blind were staying in Relax Prefecture that was a thousand miles away, but Blind still seemed to be able to see what he wanted. He had a weird expression when he said, "It's night time now, Old Devil Li has come out again."
"Meeting Old Devil Li with the appearance of Granny Si, they are probably going to die," Butcher said in astonishment.
Blind's expression became weirder and weirder. "Old Devil Li is chatting with them."
"Then they really are going to die. When Old Devil Li was in the village, who wasn't smitten? Even Village Chief didn't dare to look at him and only you could disregard granny's beauty. When do you think those four sovereigns will fall out with one another and start fighting?" Butcher said.
Blind shook his head. "They are gods after all, how would they fight over a woman? I think… Eh, they have really started fighting!"
Blind 'looked' for a moment and let out a sigh of relief. He said, "They are just competing with one another, but their competitive spirits are very strong, they are not far from fighting. Granny Si really is a troublemaker!"
Butcher shook his head. "Granny is not a troublemaker, but Cult Master Li is Granny Si is very kind and would never harm us. Yet once Cult Master Li came out, the village was almost separated. That's right, have you seen Deaf and Mute during your journey? They are usually never away from each other."
"I haven't seen them." Blind smiled, "Mute ran away chasing a ship and Deaf went to chase him, but he was most likely unable to catch up. Mute's speed is very fast, only slightly inferior to that of Cripple. When do you think these four gods will become enemies?"
Butcher chuckled. "That would depend on how long Cult Master Li wants to play with them. There's no need to worry about these four gods from High Heavens now. We don't need to go too close. We can check out the situation after Cult Master Li has had his fun."
On the dragon qilin's back, Qin Mu suddenly recalled something and asked Hermit Qing You about it. "Hermit Qing You, when Xu Shenghua entered Hall of Three Aeons, what breakthrough did he choose?"
"He didn't say but Three Aeons Elders knew and told me about it, it was Heaven Aeon Breakthrough. He had an easy time breaking through and said that he regretted not choosing Three Aeons Breakthrough," Hermit Qing You said.
"What breakthrough did he choose in Hall of Five Elements then?" asked Qin Mu again.
"Earth Element Breakthrough in Hall of Five Element. Among the five elements, the earth element is the strongest."
Qin Mu nodded. Xu Shenghua was indeed very strong. His abilities in the past were no weaker than his own, and even though his cultivation had been slightly weaker, his divine art was much more intricate.
Since Xu Shenghua had broken through Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi, his shortcomings in cultivation should have been patched. Qin Mu achieving Three Aeons Breakthrough had patched the foundation of his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. He also had gotten both Heaven Aeon Breakthrough and Earth Element Breakthrough whose element was the foundation of Five Elements Divine Treasure.
Yet it was still hard to say if Qin Mu's magic power could suppress the other.
'Before, I didn't know he was a disciple of High Heavens and even asked some tea from him. I even owe him a drink.'
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment. Xu Shenghua was still quite a nice person and had a nice bearing. He was a rare opponent, and Qin Mu very much wanted to meet him again. However, he also didn't want to meet him.
"Village Chief, what kind of place is High Heavens?"
"It's the place of hounds, the place where the real gods rear dogs," Village Chief said. "It's at West Earth and is very mysterious, but I have never gone there, so I don't know where it is exactly. I only know that some people can scale the divine mountain in West Earth and offer incense to reach High Heavens. However, I don't have the right kind of incense, since it should be a specially made one. If I had it, I would have long fought my way up."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Village Chief and the strong practitioners of High Heavens had probably fought their entire lives, so he didn't really like that sacred ground.
"Has Palace Master heard of High Heavens before?" Qin Mu asked Xiong Xiyu.
"High Heavens is indeed in my West Earth, and the people of True Heaven Palace have seen people of High Heavens before. However, that sacred ground is very mysterious, even more so than Little Jade Capital."
Xiong Xiyu's gaze flickered and she said softly, "The incense that Village Chief mentioned is called divine incense, and True Heaven Palace has three sticks. If Cult Master Qin could assist me in taking back the position of the palace master, I could give them to him."
Qin Mu blinked and didn't reply to her. He pondered over the matter and said, "I wonder if Rolan's Golden Palace has any of these divine incense. Pangong Tso, this brat, has lived through so many lifetimes so there must be an extremely large amount of treasures he collected, and one of them might even be this. Imperial Preceptor still owes me a hundred treasures… Come to think of it, why hasn't Grandpa Cripple returned? Little Jade Capital should be looted clean by now, shouldn't it?"
Xiong Xiyu sighed.
After coming to the capital, Qin Mu brought everyone to Imperial College where there were few scholars left. Most of them had gone to the frontlines.
"This is Eternal Peace Empire's sacred ground, Imperial College?" Everyone looked around in curiosity.
Other than Qin Mu and the dragon qilin, the rest of the people had come here for the first time. Compared to the other sacred grounds, Imperial College was still very young. It was not as majestic as Great Thunderclap Monastery's Mount Meru, not as serene as Dao Sect's Kunlun Jade Void Mountain, and not as mysterious as Heavenly Devil Cult's Saint Arrival Mountain. Of course, it couldn't be compared to Little Jade Capital that had a profound and long-lasting foundation.
Purely on appearance, Imperial College couldn't be compared even to West Earth's True Heaven Palace.
Yet such a place had produced countless famed generals and officials, giving birth to countless experts!
Even though Imperial College was young, it had already shown its extraordinariness, surpassing other sects in various places!
Qin Mu came to Divine Arts Residence and found that his residence had been tidied up neatly. He was bewildered. 'Could Ling'er have come to Imperial College?'
A voice suddenly came from outside. "The one who herds cows, you're finally willing to come back? Did you know that Chancellor Ba Shan brought me and Saintess Si to follow my second brother to the north, to fight with Wolf Store Country unti—"
Qin Mu turned around and saw Ling Yuxiu rushing in from outside. When she saw the many people behind him, she was startled and didn't dare to be loud. She immediately held her breath and her footsteps became more dainty. She walked in like a lady and stood beside Qin Mu like a little bird. "The one who herds cows, who are they?"
"This is my Grandpa Village Chief."
Qin Mu moved the rocking chair down from the dragon qilin's back. Village Chief didn't rise from his rocking chair, but looked at Ling Yuxiu with a face full of smiles.
"These are the old immortals from Little Jade Capital: Immortal Qing You, Immortal You Yun, and Immortal You He."
After introducing the three elders of Little Jade Capital, he said, "The three at the side are the senior brothers of Little Jade Capital: Wang Muran, Long Yu, and Mu Qingdai. Also, this pair of mother and daughter are West Earth's True Heaven Palace's Palace Master Xiong Xiyu and Little Princess Xiong Qi'er."
Ling Yuxiu greeted them one by one and everyone returned her greeting.
"My place is not big enough for so many people to stay. Does sister have extra rooms?" Qin Mu asked.
Ling Yuxiu smiled and said, "The girls can stay at my place. I stay right next door."
Qin Mu thanked her and said, "Sister, thanks for tidying up my room when I wasn't around these days."
Ling Yuxiu shook her head and said, "It's not me, it was done by your little fox."
"Ling'er is really here?" Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. He missed Hu Ling'er very much.
"She had run out to listen to lessons not long ago and hasn't returned yet." Ling Yuxiu smiled with reservation. "That little girl sure knows how to curry favor. During these days when you weren't around, she eagerly attended lessons and the directorates all like her very much."
'Little girl?'
Qin Mu was stunned, but he didn't think much about it and arranged accommodations for Immortal Qing You and the rest. His courtyard wasn't small and there was also quite a number of rooms. Everyone had their own rooms, while as for Xiong Xiyu, Xiong Qi'er, and Mu Qingdai, they would stay in the opposite house.
Qin Mu arranged everything well, and Ling Yuxiu whispered, "A bunch of Daoists came to Imperial College a few days ago in search of you. Gu Linuan is busy attending to them, his face all pale from fright. He hasn't looked well for a day."
Qin Mu smiled. "The algebra experts of Dao Sect have arrived."
"My father sent down a decree to promote you as Supervisor of Divine Weapons. He said to let you be in charge of forging some divine cannon. The imperial decree is kept by your little fox.
"Father dispatched the algebra experts of Imperial College and the imperial court and the five big manufacturing factories to listen to your orders. Also, Heavenly King Yu and Heavenly King Shi of the sacred cult couldn't find you in Ghost Valley so they almost went mad from searching!"
Qin Mu's head started to ache. Ever since he returned to the capital, he had to settle so many things that he didn't have time to rest.
"That's right, there's also a person called Xu Shenghua. He brought two girls and came to find you two days ago, saying he's waiting for you to treat him to a drink."
Ling Yuxiu gave it some thought before adding, "Imperial Preceptor's wife has given birth and sent over an invitation. She says she wants to invite Great Cult Master Qin to be the godfather."
Astonished, Qin Mu asked, "Imperial Preceptor has a child already? Is it a boy or a girl?"
"It's a boy."
Qin Mu smiled. "Me to be a godfather? Imperial Preceptor's wife is playing around. I'm still a child, so how can I be a godfather?"
Village Chief looked at Ling Yuxiu and gave a cough. He said, "Mu'er, you aren't young, you can give birth to a kid already."
Qin Mu's face turned red, and he muttered, "Why do you suddenly talk about giving birth, I'm still not ready… Village Chief, I'm only fifteen this year!"
Ling Yuxiu snickered. "Fifteen isn't young anymore. My mother and Empress Dowager always hurry me to choose a consort. Furthermore, my father is also easy to talk to, as long as someone talks to him about it, he will agree…"
She was pretty gutsy, blinking her eyes as she waited for Qin Mu's reply.
"The emperor is so casual?" Qin Mu shook his head. "They are not doing it right. How can marriage be so casual?"
Ling Yuxiu stared at him, for that youth didn't understand. He rose and went to Hall of Supreme Learning. When Gu Linuan saw him, only then was he relieved of his burden. "Cult Master, come quickly and take the Daoists away from my house. I won't be able to thank you enough!"
The numerous Daoists of Dao Sect all stayed with him and made him really nervous these few days.
Dao Sect was the head of the righteous path and he was a great master of the devil path. He kept on worrying that the Daoists would get rid of the devil at some point.
Qin Mu was in no hurry to meet the experts of Dao Sect so he sat down with a smile. "How's Grand Chancellor's algebra?"
Gu Linuan smiled and said, "I'm an authority in the devil path, so how can my attainments in algebra be weak?"
"Good! With Lord Gu and the experts of Dao Sect, I can take a breather."
Gu Linuan's expression turned ashen. "I will still have to be with the people of Dao Sect?"
"The emperor has ordered me to forge Sunshot Divine Cannon to target gods. The people of Dao Sect know their place and won't lay their hands on you," he consoled.
Gu Linuan still couldn't sit at ease. He kept feeling unsafe around those Daoists since his reputation was quite stinky.
Qin Mu went to meet Dao Master Lin Xuan to exchange basic greetings. "Once I'm done with the arrangements, I will need to trouble all of you. Please wait for my news."
"All's good."
Qin Mu left, and as he passed by Hall of Array Element, the school coincidentally ended. Over a dozen scholars came out from the hall, and among them was a seven to eight years old girl. She looked clever and adorable as she hopped about, using a gust of demon wind to carry books which were neatly arranged behind her.
That little girl was short yet there were three long and furry snow white tails swaying at her back.
'Is that Ling'er? But she was illiterate…' Qin Mu stopped in his tracks.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu wasn't too sure. There were some scholars from the demon race in Imperial College, since in comparison to the other sects, Imperial College didn't stick to a single pattern when recruiting disciples. As long as the person passed the test, they could become an imperial scholar.
Because of that, there were quite a lot of women in Imperial College, taking up almost half of the placings. They would usually become officials in the various parts of Eternal Peace, while some would go to the army to become generals.
However, the books behind the adorable little girl were all arranged neatly, which was usually Hu Ling'er's style.
Yet she couldn't read a single letter, so it was impossible for her to be bringing a bunch of books everywhere she went. It wasn't the style of the little demon fox.
The little girl didn't see Qin Mu and parted ways with the other scholars. She didn't walk towards Divine Arts Residence, but instead went down the mountain. Qin Mu waited outside Hall of Array Elements for a few moments more, but no one else walked out from inside.
'Yuxiu said Ling'er was listening to a lecture in Hall of Array Elements, but there are no more people in the hall, she must have been that little girl earlier. She changed shape?'
Qin Mu was stunned. 'The Great Demon King of Great Ruins really deserves death. Ling'er is so young and yet he wanted to marry her.'
He went down the mountain with puzzlement in his heart. 'If she is Ling'er, where is she going if she's not returning to Divine Arts Residence?'
He followed up secretly and saw that the little girl with three tails skipped down the mountain. Then she suddenly sprawled onto the ground with an "Aiya!" and crawled forward two steps with her hands and legs. Shaking her three tails, she stood up after a bit. She tried to take a step and sprawled onto the ground again.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He saw the little girl glancing around, and when she saw no one around, she began running with her hands and feet. She went skipping and swaying her tails to and fro, pleased and proud of herself.
She had to have morphed not long ago and still wasn't accustomed to walking on two legs, thus she would trip once in a while when walking like a human.
After morphing, she looked like a little girl but was still more agile when running with her arms and legs instead of two legs.
Hu Ling'er walked out of Imperial College and went toward the city. However, since there were people walking around, she stood up again and skipped, her three tails behind her swaying around to keep her balance.
Bathump.
Qin Mu saw the little girl plunging face first into the ground again, her tails rising straight up. Her tails then twitched and drooped downward.
"It really isn't fun being a human…"
The little girl pouted and crawled up. She sneakily went behind an old tree, and a small snow white fox came out in a bit. It ran forward like a wisp of smoke with her three long and furry tails.
Her speed was much faster than before, and she soon came to the Garden of Rare Treasures in the capital. On her way, she bought some food and weighed some fruits.
Garden of Rare Treasures was a fair for secondhand goods. It sold antiques and cultural relics as well as rare treasures and even spirit weapons. Scholars that were down and out would sell stuff like calligraphy and ancient books.
'Is Ling'er coming here to sell books?' Qin Mu was bewildered. He saw Hu Ling'er transforming back into a little girl when she came to the Garden of Rare Treasures and carefully weaved through the crowd. She used a spell to lift her books above the fair.
After coming to the Calligraphy and Painting Street, the little girl let out a sigh of relief and looked around. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she sprinted toward one stall.
Behind it was an old scholar who was down and out. His face was covered by a beard while he squatted in a corner with his arms folded. His head was lowered, revealing two silver-colored iron ears.
Behind him were a couple paintings and some calligraphy while at the front of the stall there were a few scrolls laid out. The four corners of the stall were held down by rocks so that it wouldn't be blown away.
"Grandpa Deaf, how many paintings and calligraphy have you sold today?"
Hu Ling'er came to the back of the stall and placed down the food and the fruits.
Deaf immediately stuffed himself without raising his head. "I haven't met anyone who knows how to appreciate my painting. You have come at the right time, I'm starving."
"Grandpa Deaf should sell his paintings in front of Imperial Preceptor's manor, that man will definitely be willing to buy them at a high price."
When Hu Ling'er said this, she suddenly recalled something and became vexed. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also has no money. His wife has just given birth to a son and ordered Elder Fu to send an invitation to young master, but since he wasn't around, I was the one that went there. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wasn't around as well, and the banquet was very unpresentable; there was only meager fare.
"The mother and son are going to starve until their faces turn pale. I heard it's because Imperial Preceptor is fighting a war, and since the treasury was almost depleted, he donated all his savings. My heart softened for a moment, and I gave madam a huge red packet, for which she began to bother me by wanting young master to be the godfather of their son… Only when the emperor heard of their situation did the mother and son were finally able to be satiated by the money scrimped and saved by the palace."
"A man can be poor, but his integrity can't be poor. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is truly my soul mate," Deaf said.
Hu Ling'er pouted at him.
Deaf took out some paper and said, "I have written some words with dotted lines, you just have to trace them."
The little girl placed the papers on the ground and planned to dip the brush in ink when Deaf said, "Don't use ink, just trace the brush over the dotted line. In that case, you can practice for a few times. Let me read your books first, I'll explain them to you later."
Hu Ling'er knelt on the ground and traced Deaf's writings very seriously.
"I would like to buy a painting."
Hu Ling'er heard a voice speak and couldn't help being surprised and delighted. She immediately raised her head to see a youth standing in front of the stall.
"Young Master!"
This little girl leaped to her feet and pounced into Qin Mu's embrace. Just as he caught her, the little girl transformed back into a white fox to wiggle out of his embrace and coil around his neck.
She was in a hurry when she jumped out and overturned the ink which tainted a few papers. Deaf immediately tidied them up, grumbling, "Ling'er, you're too naughty, these papers are also bought with money, but now they are dirtied…"
"Grandpa Deaf!"
Qin Mu laughed loudly and wrapped his arms around Deaf without any warning, hugging him forcefully. Deaf wasn't used to it and tried to break free while replying insipidly, "You've come."
"Grandpa Village Chief has also come!" Qin Mu said excitedly.
Deaf's face blackened and he snorted. "He is also out? Is he here to see me being a joke?"
Qin Mu knew his ego was strong and smiled. "Village Chief is in Imperial College. Pack your stall, Grandpa Deaf, follow me back."
Deaf shook his head. "I can make a living by selling my paintings, I don't need you to raise me. I shall prepare New Year goods in two months' time. I will draw paintings of door gods which will definitely sell."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He took down Hu Ling'er who was snuggling around his neck and stroked her head with a smile. "Ling'er is learning how to read from Grandpa Deaf? Do you recognize the words in the books?"
Hu Ling'er transformed back into a little girl and smiled sweetly. "I recognize them, it's just that I don't really know their meaning. I've been running here frequently to ask Grandpa Deaf to teach me."
Qin Mu put her down, his gaze bright. He said, "Grandpa Deaf can't sell his paintings like this, there are not many that know what they are worth after all. Besides, painting and calligraphy are valued in a flourishing period while gold is valued in troubled times. With the disasters in the past two years, there aren't many rich people. If you want to sell, you need to use some tricks."
He put away all of Deaf's painting and calligraphy, piling them at one side as he raised his brush to paint.
As he did so, butterflies flew out from the paper and flew around the stall. Sparrows then followed out and began to chirp around, attracting the passers-by who clicked their tongues in wonder.
Qin Mu continued painting, and more and more birds started to fly out from the paper. There were bramblings dancing in the sky, and even a huge swan which flapped its wings to fly out. Its wings were seven to eight feet long when spread out and made everyone exclaim in admiration.
Deaf sneered and said, "Show off! I'm not Blind, that frivolous fellow, I have no need to show off like this. Those who know worth will naturally know what's worthy, I won't sell to those that don't even if they beg me!"
Qin Mu ignored him and another rainbow-colored phoenix came flying out from the paper. It roamed around Calligraphy and Painting Street to attract even more people.
Qin Mu raised his brush to draw a door god, and it actually also jumped out from the painting. He had a tall and large body that inspired people with awe, causing everyone to have no choice but to move back!
"Your skill is not there yet!"
Deaf became angrier and angrier the more he saw and snatched the brush over. He raised it and also drew a door god, Instantly, the awe of a god and a devil burst forth and caused everyone in the street to move back continuously as they saw a god of three hundred yards standing up. He had red phoenix eyes, dragon beard, as well as a divine blade at his waist that could vanquish all evil. It looked extraordinary mighty.
"This is a door god!"
Deaf raised his brush, and the door god instantly fell back down. It was still on the painting in vivid detail. Meanwhile all the butterflies, birds, phoenix, and door god that Qin Mu had drawn changed back into splotches of ink that fell on the ground.
Who had the higher skill and who had the lower skill was clearly shown.
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration along with everyone in the surroundings. There were instantly people who came forward wanting to buy the door god. When they said their prices, they immediately blew Deaf's mind. He had been selling paintings here for over two months, and if it wasn't for Hu Ling'er who had found him, he would have starved to death. That's why he didn't expect for a single painting to be sold at such an astonishing price.
Hu Ling'er also jumped in shock and immediately went forward to haggle the price. Even if it was actually several times higher than that of the dragon saliva which had really made them speechless.
One painting from Deaf could earn enough for him to live out the rest of his life luxuriously.
Hu Ling'er sold the painting of the door god and took the money. She then immediately scrolled up the other paintings and Qin Mu opened his taotie sack for her to stuff them all inside.
The two of them looked at each other and blinked. Their hearts were thinking of the exact same thing.
Rare commodity was worth hoarding. If they sold too much, it would become worthless.
Qin Mu immediately pulled Deaf away and smiled. "Grandpa Deaf, now that we have money, let us buy some good quality fabric to make a few sets of new clothes for you before eating a good meal. We can meet Village Chief after that. One more thing, I met a painting path that was completely different from yours on the ship from Carefree Village. What you paint is the world which lets all things walk out of the painting while the painting path of Carefree Village is a world within the painting."
Deaf was originally not willing to leave with Qin Mu, but when he heard what he said, he was instantly moved. He asked, "World within the painting? There's actually such a painting path? Tell me about it in detail!"
Qin Mu went to buy good fabric in the cloth shop and tailored it personally to make a few sets of clothes for Deaf. He then took out Pig Slaughtering Knife to shave his beard and trim his hair, grooming the old man to be clean and tidy before bringing him back to Imperial College.
He then said, "Grandpa Deaf, if you could join your painting path with the world within the painting, you would definitely be able to take another step forward. Imperial Preceptor asked me to forge Sunshot Divine Cannon, and this also needs Grandpa Deaf's brush. You will need to first paint the Sunshot Divine Cannon!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Grandpa Deaf will save me the trouble of drawing the blueprint. The structure of Sunshot Divine Cannon is complicated, so if Grandpa Deaf could draw it into the real world, it would be much easier and simpler to measure it. Making it would be much easier as well."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief.
Deaf sold paintings for many months yet he had not sold anything. Then Qin Mu came and helped him to sell one painting, and the money he earned was much more than what he had earned in his entire lifetime. This made the Heavenly Painting Crown Prince sigh ruefully. It was due to the fact that the hearts of people were not like they were in the past.
Once he did not have to worry about clothes and food, he had no reason to reject Qin Mu who was inviting him to Imperial College to help.
When Qin Mu came back, he couldn't think about resting. He immediately gathered all hands and assigned them their tasks.
With Qing You, You He, and You Yun of Little Jade Capital, Dao Master Lin Xuan and ten Daoists that were proficient in algebra, the algebra experts of Imperial College, the design bureau of the imperial court, and Heavenly Saint Cult as well as Village Chief, there were a total of twenty-six people. Including the dragon qilin too, they would be responsible for drawing the pictures from the golden book and tidying up the space algebra model.
The dragon qilin's attainments in algebra weren't low after all, no inferior to those of the old Daoists.
The dragon qilin shed tears of gratitude. He had finally found a reason to not be on the dinner table, so he naturally worked with gusto.
The golden book had no need for Qin Mu to get involved, so all his energy was focused on Sunshot Divine Cannon.
Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu were told by Qin Mu to arrange the space algebra model and array model with the algebra experts of Dao Sect, Imperial College, Design Bureau, and Heavenly Saint Cult.
Most of the secretaries from Imperial College's Floor of Heavenly Records were experts in formation skills. They were proficient in spell divine arts and were literally walking library of techniques, thus they were also invited by Qin Mu.
Sunshot Divine Cannon was originally a pupil skill called Sunshot Divine Eyes. It was found by Imperial Preceptor who had then put it in Floor of Heavenly Records, thus secretaries needed to guide them.
Qin Mu interacted with them for several days and mastered the formation skills and structure of Sunshot Divine Eyes, changing them into a sequence of formations needed for Sunshot Divine Cannon before finishing its structure.
Deaf observed from the side. When Qin Mu determined the structure, Deaf immediately began to paint.
Even he who was acclaimed as Art Saint took five days to finish the drawing of the divine cannon.
When he finished painting, he brought the blueprints he had drawn to the outskirts of the city and chose an empty land to spread them out. Instantly, a terrifying three hundred yards tall cannon battery materialized. The land it occupied was extremely vast, taking up the area of sixty-six hectares.
It was different from True Origin Cannon since it didn't have a cannon tube. It looked just like a huge platform.
Beside it was two frames which stretched out on their sides, forming circular arcs. At the top of each was a thick and solid axle.
The two axles were symmetrical and not joined together. At the end of each was a semicircular fork and a space of two hundred and forty yards. The two forks floated a divine eye that was blazing with fire, rumbling from time to time.
When the eye opened, and a fire beam would burst forth.
When the eye closed, it would rotate on the spot.
This was the Sunshot Divine Cannon designed from Sunshot Divine Eyes by Qin Mu!
Several hundred algebra experts immediately surrounded the materialized drawing and climbed onto all corners of the huge cannon battery. They drew, measured, calculated, and broke down the huge construct into numerous components, recording their structure and length without allowing the slightest mistake.
The formation markings on each and every one of the components also had to be measured, so there were a lot of calculations.
Qin Mu's design of Sunshot Divine Cannon hadn't listed every detail. He had designed the main body of the divine cannon, but there was no factory big enough to construct such an enormous divine cannon in one go.
That's why if he wanted to construct it, he needed to break it down into smaller components and forge them separately before assembling them together.
This was the reason why Qin Mu needed so many algebra experts.
With all of them working together to measure and calculate, the coordination between them was also a kind of learning. There was no room for error.
Qin Mu invited Emperor Yanfeng from the capital and let him coordinate all the algebra experts. Emperor Yanfeng's injuries had completely recovered, but since they were extremely severe and his divine treasures were still tattered, his cultivation had not yet recovered. He still needed to nurse his health.
Qin Mu and Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing had treated him by giving him doses of herbs that were too heavy, tormenting him and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor quite heavily. Even until then, Emperor Yanfeng was still bearing a grudge.
"Your Majesty, these algebra experts were all invited by me and aren't the subjects of Your Majesty. If something they do displeases you, Your Majesty can't just execute them," Qin Mu instructed.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled and said, "I'm not those tyrants who like to keep calling for executions, you don't have to worry."
The officials from Ministry of Works came along with Heavenly Works Hall Master Shan Youxin having all come back from the frontlines. When the war on the prairie had no longer any need for them, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sent them back to the capital.
"Imperial Preceptor is currently attacking Rolan's Golden Palace. When we left, the fight had not yet started," the government minister of Ministry of Works reported to Emperor Yanfeng.
Qin Mu immediately summoned all the officials from Ministry of Works and gave them instructions. The government minister of Ministry of Works then reported to Emperor Yanfeng, "Supervisor Qin found the five manufacturing factories that Your Majesty gave him to be too small and too far from each other. He plans to tear all of them down and build a new factory beside the river."
"Tear down five of my manufacturing factories? They were constructed with real gold and silver; he is splurging so much money because it's not his money! Off with his head!"Emperor Yanfeng said in anger.
"Has Your Majesty forgotten? The factories of our Eternal Peace Empire were designed and improved by Supervisor Qin," the government minister of Ministry of Works said/
Emperor Yanfeng's expression softened. "He's indeed a capable man. Note down that he owes me his head."
After a moment, Qin Mu mobilized the flying ships to tear down the five manufacturing factories and move them next to Mud River. Ling Yuxiu's ability to lead and command wasn't weak, so Qin Mu invited her to help coordinate the people constructing the new factory.
He then ordered people to move all kinds of divine metals and rare treasures from the treasury to the new factory.
Emperor Yanfeng was busy coordinating all the algebra experts so that there would be no mistake. All his energy was used up there.
Some ten days later, the calculations regarding Sunshot Divine Cannon were completed. All of the algebra experts prepared and transformed their vital qi into all the different components they had noted down. They then pieced the tens of thousands of components together without a single mistake, forming a perfect Sunshot Divine Cannon.
Nearby, Qin Mu had nearly emptied the imperial treasury and even requested some black gold, black iron, and black copper from the mines all around the empire. Outside the new factory, all kinds of treasures were piled up like a mountain.
The new factory had already been started up, and the new pill furnaces that Qin Mu had designed provided an even greater firepower. Hundreds of huge mechanical giants were hammering the black gold and black iron, piling up the smelted gold, silver, iron and copper orderly.
Emperor Yanfeng returned to his senses and summoned the government minister of Ministry of Works over. "What's left in my imperial treasury?"
The government minister of Ministry of Works hesitated for a moment. "Your Majesty, there's is basically nothing left. All of the materials in the treasury have been emptied out by Supervisor Qin!"
Emperor Yanfeng walked into the new manufacturing factory and saw the inside buzzing with activity. All kinds of new machinery were activated, and the pill furnaces were blazing to maintain the operations of the mechanical giants. Boilers of all sizes were steaming with hot air while giving off dazzling rays.
"The amount of medicinal stones the new factory consumes in a day is equivalent to the medicinal stones consumed by a medium-scaled war in a day," explained the government minister of Ministry of Works.
"Supervisor Qin also designed the energy source for the divine cannon, and they are fifty-six of the strongest pill furnaces. The number of medicinal stones depleted for one activation will be almost the same as the number of medicinal stones Imperial Preceptor had taken to wage war on Barbarian Di Empire."
Emperor Yanfeng was dumbstruck. After a moment, he slowly said, "It's not his money that's being spent. Where's Supervisor Qin? I would like to ask him if he feels good about splurging my money."
"Supervisor Qin brought the princess to have a drink."
The government minister of Ministry of Works then added carefully, "He said he owed someone a drink and that person had been waiting for many days. There's basically nothing else he can do here, so he might as well treat that person to a drink so that he doesn't owe him a favor anymore. When the princess heard it, she decided to follow after him. A small fox also went with them. Supervisor Qin said that he didn't have any good wine so the princess went to get some tribute wine from the palace."
Emperor Yanfeng was angered. "I was invited by him and have to hurry here and there and look what he's doing, running away to drink wine, and even MY wine. He even brought my daughter to spend time to drink and have fun! Off with his head!"
The government minister immediately said, "Your Majesty, Sunshot Divine Cannon is not done yet…"
Emperor Yanfeng felt very much refreshed. "Then note down that he owes me his head first."
"Supervisor Qin said that the salary can't be delayed. He has already written the list, so may Your Majesty take a look."
Emperor Yanfeng took a look and became furious again. "So much money? My treasury has already been emptied by him so where will I get the money for him? Off with his head!"
"Your Majesty, Barbarian Di Empire has been conquered and Wolf Store Country is being invaded now, so we will have money soon," the government minister immediately said.
Emperor Yanfeng's anger turned into joy and he smiled. "Fine, then just note down that Supervisor Qin owes me his head. I can't treat these heavenly workers badly. We will pay them once we have the money. Is there any news from the northern border?"
"Your Majesty, General of Heavenly Strategies has sent report of a victory. They have broken into Wolf Store Country's king's courtyard and the ruler has surrendered. General of Heavenly Strategies will stand guard at Wolf Store Country while the crown prince will be escorting the ruler of Wolf Store Country. They will reach here either today or tomorrow."
Emperor Yanfeng nodded and smiled. "There's a lot less to worry about Yushu than his older brother."
"Supervisor Qin…"
Emperor Yanfeng raised his hand. "Don't talk about him! Change a person, change to another topic."
"Grand Chancellor Gu Linuan asked Ministry of Revenue if he could have his salary a month in advance…"
"No money!" Emperor Yanfeng sneered and said, "Grand Chancellor Gu is always toadying for personal gain, how could he lack money?"
"Lord Gu is really broke." The government minister of Ministry of Works smiled. "He spent all his belongings to redeem Junior Protector Sword back. I've heard the saintess of Heavenly Saint Cult had brought the sword and asked him if he wanted it back, thus Lord Gu became bankrupt. Furthermore, Lord Gu has also helped with the drawing and measuring of the divine cannon, so he also made a contribution and thus wanted an advance salary."
Emperor Yanfeng asked in puzzlement, "Wasn't Junior Protector Sword with Supervisor Qin? How did it land in the hands of Heavenly Saint Cult's saintess… Bah, you have mentioned him again, off with your head! I have not lost just the family's fortune, I've lost the entire empire's fortune. Where will I find any money? All of you want money from me, yet I've already sold almost all the things in the palace that can be sold, only the dragon robe and the dragon throne are left! I really have nothing left to sell!"
The government minister smiled and said, "Your Majesty, once you unify the prairie and the snow plains, the money will naturally come. Furthermore, with Supervisor Qin improving the manufacturing factories, if we forge all kinds of flying ships and machinery to sell to the merchants, money will naturally flow in like water into our treasury…"
Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "Note down that both you and he owes me their heads. I wonder, with whom does Supervisor Qin plan to drink while bringing my precious daughter along?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Young Master Xu, have you drank the tribute wine of the imperial palace?"
In Rain Listening Pavilion of the capital city, Qin Mu poured some wine for Xu Shenghua while girls were playing instruments and dancing along to the music. He smiled and said, "This is the imperial wine that the sixth princess brought. I rarely drink wine so I don't know if it's good or bad, but what do you think of the taste?"
Dressed in a male getup, Ling Yuxiu looked around with her beautiful eyes while slightly excited in her heart. 'The one who herds cows actually brought me to a cathouse. If father learned about this, he would definitely execute him! This is the most famous cathouse in the capital, Rain Listening Pavilion… But it doesn't seem like that erotic place from the legends…'
Hu Ling'er and the girls of Rain Listening Pavilion were very familiar, so she had long run away to gossip with her friends.
Even though Xu Shenghua had stepped into a place of hardships, he still looked untainted as he enjoyed the fine wine. "The wine of the imperial court may be good, but it still can't be compared to the fine wine of my High Heavens. It should be the time in the cellar that's not long enough. If Cult Master Qin drank the fine wine of my High Heavens before drinking this wine, he would definitely be able to taste the difference."
Ling Yuxiu looked at the youth in front of Qin Mu with curiosity. Xu Shenghua was exquisite as if he was made of jade. He didn't look like a real human.
There were no faults to point out in his appearance, dressing, actions, or even words.
On the other hand, Qin Mu, who was sitting in front of him, had numerous small faults.
His appearance wasn't too beautiful. Even though he didn't look bad, he couldn't be compared to Xu Shenghua. Qin Mu was slightly robust and gave people the feeling that he was full of vigor. Even when he was busy and had no time to sleep, he still seemed to be in high spirits.
Xu Shenghua, on the other hand, seemed reserved and steady. He gave off a presence as if he wouldn't be alarmed even if the sky fell, his heart as still as water.
Qin Mu was sometimes overly humble and was sometimes overly arrogant. Even though his heart was kind, it was also evil. Sometimes he was dense, yet at other times he could pluck on other people's heartstrings like flowers blooming in spring.
Qin Mu was careful when doing things at times, to the point that not one drop of water could leak out, but at other times, he was rough and rushed into things headlong with brute force. He would frequently cause trouble like that.
Sometimes he was very clever yet so stupid that he would make people grit their teeth in anger.
However, all of this couldn't be used to describe Xu Shenghua. He was like a perfect person that had no flaws. It may be overboard to describe a man as beautiful, but it wasn't the case for him.
He was such a person. No matter if it was his enemy or his friend, they would have a feeling of being bathed in the spring wind when facing him.
'He's so fake that there's nothing true about him.'
Ling Yuxiu took a glance at the two girls behind him and felt pity for them. She could see their fiery gazes when they looked at him, but it was obvious that they had developed feelings for the wrong guy.
For such a perfect person like Xu Shenghua, it was impossible to love them. Even if he did so, they wouldn't dare to accept because they themselves weren't perfect. They would always feel inferior.
This kind of love wouldn't last long. It would merely be an unrealistic dream.
"When we first met, I didn't know you and I would be enemies." Qin Mu placed his wine cup and said, "When I learned of it, I was very upset. We could have become friends, but it's going to be fine as is, I need an enemy like you."
He revealed a smile. "There aren't many outstanding people like you and me in this world. If we were all friends, that would be disappointing."
Ling Yuxiu stretched out a finger to poke him and said in a low voice, "The one who herds cows, be a little more humble…"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "I'm just speaking the truth."
Behind Xu Shenghua, Yu Liu smiled. "Human Emperor is truly not humble. High Heavens is not the world of mortals. Xu Shenghua of High Heavens isn't a mortal of your mortal world so how could you be compared with him?"
Xu Shenghua shook his head and said, "Human Emperor has the right. As the successor of the Hall of Human Emperors who had fought against High Heavens for twenty thousand years, why couldn't he be compared to me? If you insult him, you're insulting me as well."
Yu Liu's face turned red.
"I came down the mountain to get rid of the new human emperor, but I thought Brother Qin was Daozi of Dao Sect when I first met you. Never would I have expected you to be that human emperor I was looking for. Only afterward did I learn that I had missed a meeting with you. After coming to the mortal world, I have met numerous outstanding people from the younger generation, and even consulted them, but they were all not to my expectation. Thinking back, it's still Brother Qin who stunned me the most," Xu Shenghua said.
Qin Mu poured wine for him and smiled. "I promised you a drink, and after it, no matter if it's you beating me to death or me beating you to death, it will still be a pleasant and fortunate event. No regrets will be left behind."
Xu Shenghua raised his cup to toast him, and the two of them touched their cups from a distance before drinking everything in one go.
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. "As Overlord Bodies, we still have the difference between genuine and pseudo. For you to be able to find me, it's not just a coincidence. Instead, it's the connection between the genuine and the pseudo. You and I are destined to be enemies and not friends."
"Overlord Body?" Xu Shenghua was at a loss.
"So Brother Xu doesn't know about Overlord Body." Qin Mu pointed at himself and smiled. "I'm the Overlord Body, you are the pseudo Overlord Body. Between you and I, there's a connection in the unseen world. It's not because you are the disciple of High Heavens and I'm the disciple of Human Emperor that we have to fight to the death. It's because both you and I are Overlord Bodies. You are the pseudo Overlord Body and I'm the true Overlord Body, so you have to kill me to snatch my fate and become the true Overlord Body."
Xu Shenghua was left at even more of a loss.
"It's also no wonder that Brother Xu doesn't know about the details," Qin Mu said seriously. "Regarding the Overlord Body, it's a hidden secret and not many people know about this. Look, as one of the most outstanding people in this world, you became the disciple of High Heavens and I became the human emperor of all things. Do you think this is a coincidence? No!"
The youth tightened his hands into fists and said with strength, "This is the work of fate between the Overlord Bodies!"
Xu Shenghua was flabbergasted. After a moment, he said, "I'm an Overlord Body? My master Jade Sovereign never mentioned this."
"Overlord Body is the strongest physique! Do you find learning everything simple and master anything when you just learn it for the first time? Before the other four great spirit bodies can even begin to learn something, you have already mastered it," Qin Mu said with a grim face
Xu Shenghua nodded and said in astonishment, "So this is the Overlord Body."
"That's right!" Qin Mu placed the wine cup down and said with agitation, "Do you feel that the other people's cultivation isn't as dense as yours? Even with the same divine arts, the power of their divine arts is not as strong as yours?"
Xu Shenghua nodded again and said, "When I was fourteen years old, I had no opponents in High Heavens anymore. Even when my master sealed his divine treasures, his magic power wasn't as dense as mine."
"This is Overlord Body!" Qin Mu said with a sincere gaze.
Xu Shenghua muttered to himself for a moment. "So this is Overlord Body… However, why does Brother Qin say that he's the true and I'm the pseudo Overlord Body? What's the difference between them?"
His expression was very serious.
Qin Mu poured wine for him once again and smiled. "You can't defeat me so you're the pseudo Overlord Body. Come, as fellow Overlord Bodies, let's have a toast!"
The two people drank their cup in one go, and Xu Shenghua shook his head. "How can we know who would win or lose if we haven't fought before? I might be the true one and you the fake one. Maybe the destiny in the unseen world has brought you to snatch my fate to become the true Overlord Body."
Qin Mu was astonished and scratched his head while saying, "There's this possibility too. Come, let's have another toast for true Overlord Body!"
He pushed one jar of wine to the front of Xu Shenghua while he brought a jar for himself to gulp down with his head up high.
Xu Shenghua frowned. Even though he had drunk wine before, he always had his limits, stopping after a taste. He would never let loose and drink to his heart's content. However, Qin Mu had already hugged the jar and downed the wine, so he could only raise his own jar to drink with him.
Ling Yuxiu took her finger to prod Qin Mu and said softly, "The one who herds cows, you are almost drunk, stop drinking!"
Qin Mu took a long swallow, already somewhat drunk. He smiled and said, "It's rare to meet a person on the same path, so it's natural to get drunk. Sister, fetch some wine from the imperial palace."
"There's no more, I took the last three jars of wine. All the tribute wine was sold by father to get money to fill the treasury." Ling Yuxiu shook her head and added, "Even some of my accessories and clothes were also sold by father."
Qin Mu laughed out loud. He smacked the jar on the table and rose up while saying, "I planned to drink until we were drunk and fight with Brother Xu after we sobered up, but I didn't consider that the wine might run out before we got really drunk. Brother Xu, let's go."
Xu Shenghua placed the wine jar down and stood up. Jing Yan immediately fetched a wet towel for him to wipe his hands and mouth. "Let's go."
The two of them walked out. On the way, Qin Mu turned back to say, "Sister Yun'er, put it on my tab."
Fu Qingyun chuckled and said, "Cult Master is joking. Rain Listening Pavilion is Cult Master's property, so what tab is there?"
Ling Yuxiu's face turned black. 'So the one who herds cows actually opened a cathouse! I thought why this fellow would actually bring me to visit a cathouse, but it was because he had opened it himself!'
She walked out with quick steps, and Hu Ling'er immediately followed. Beside her followed Yu Liu and Jing Yan who were carrying a pipa and a jade vase.
Clanking came from outside the capital, the sound of the manufacturing factory forging the components of Sunshot Divine Cannon. Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua walked side by side as they came out of the city near the origin of the noise.
Yu Liu and Jing Yan felt uneasy. It was all Qin Mu's men over there, and they couldn't help worrying that he would suddenly give an order for those experts to get rid of Xu Shenghua!
Qin Mu led Xu Shenghua over and said, "How does Brother Xu view Eternal Peace Empire's atmosphere?"
"Very extraordinary." Xu Shenghua examined the pill furnaces and mechanical giants in the factory and couldn't help but praise, "Superb craftsmanship!"
Qin Mu fetched a large piece over and gently stroked the markings on it. He observed the flawless craftsmanship and said, "I've spent much care on this divine cannon. I found countless algebra experts and used up all the treasure in the treasury of Eternal Peace Empire. In two or so months, the cannon will be done. If you will be still alive by then, you must come and take a look. This divine cannon is used to kill High Heavens."
Xu Shenghua's heart trembled slightly, and he carefully examined the markings. With a grim face, he then went to check markings on other components.
Qin Mu let him walk around freely as he waited quietly with his hands behind his back. He thought to himself, 'Your heart got messed up before the fight even began, so you have already lost. Brother Xu, you've still had too few life and death experiences!'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
It wasn't only cultivation, divine arts, and techniques that influenced life and death battles. The mind and knowledge also affected them.
Regarding this point, Qin Mu was well experienced.
There were numerous experts in Dao Sect who would usually calm their hearts down, burn incenses, and take a bath before their life and death battle. Some would even meditate for three days to get rid of all the distracting thoughts in their mind, to not let any thoughts affect their thoughts in battle. They would let them flow naturally.
Even though Xu Shenghua said that he had beat the entire High Heavens and had no opponents on the same realm, the fights in High Heavens were usually not those of life and death battle.
He had too little experience in this field and could be said to be a blank piece of paper. Even though the mortal world was 'tainted' to him, it had numerous life and death battles. No matter if it was Dao Master Lin Xuan, a person that was high up like Pangong Tso, young experts like Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, Chen Wanyun, or even reputable people like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng, all of them had risen above others through the grind of life and death battles.
In terms of knowledge in battles, they surpassed Xu Shenghua by miles.
If it was Qin Mu, he would never go and check the components of enemy Sunshot Divine Cannon before a life and death battle. It was because that would deplete his brain power too much.
To design Sunshot Divine Canon, Qin Mu had invited hundreds of algebra experts and even professionals and talents in forging treasures. He literally redesigned the manufacturing factory and gathered the knowledge of all those people he brought over to forge Sunshot Divine Cannon. If Xu Shenghua wanted to understand its marvels, he would have to memorize all their knowledge in a short time. The exhaustion to the mind from that could be easily imagined.
His mind's exhaustion would definitely bring exhaustion to his abilities as well. His adaptability in battle would lessen greatly.
To an expert like Qin Mu, it didn't matter if Xu Shenghua's ability to adapt would slow down only by a millisecond. That would be enough to determine victory or defeat!
Xu Shenghua examined the markings on the components in the manufacturing factory and calculated the shape and power of Sunshot Divine Cannon. There were tens of thousands of components, and the runes on each and every one of them was different, and the same went for formations markings. Without going in order, he would have to rely on his strong brain to piece them together, and this exhausted his mind even more.
Suddenly, he felt slightly giddy and came to a realization. He hurriedly closed his eyes, only opening them to look at Qin Mu after a moment.
Qin Mu revealed a smile and nodded at him.
His smile was as radiant as the sunshine, and he looked like a big boy that did not even know what scheming meant. However, in Xu Shenghua's eyes, that radiant smile seemed incomparably evil.
"Many thanks, Brother Qin. I've learned a new move."
Xu Shenghua composed himself and walked over. As he did so, he tried his best to forget all the runes he had memorized earlier. Even though it was a last minute effort, it was better than not doing anything.
Qin Mu gave a slight smile as he walked out of the manufacturing factory. He said leisurely, "Brother Xu, do you still think it's good for you to stay in High Heavens?"
Xu Shenghua shook his head. "While staying in High Heavens, I never experienced true battles and that did slow my growth. The mortal world is indeed a place for people to grow, and since Brother Qin grew up here, you are truly the most terrifying opponent I've met."
The two of them walked side by side up the Mud River.
Behind them, Hu Ling'er, Ling Yuxiu, Yu Liu, and Jing Yang followed and stepped onto the river surface. At that moment, numerous Daoists walked out from the manufacturing factory, led by Dao Master Lin Xuan. They followed them step for step and came to the river.
Dao Master Lin Xuan looked over with astonishment. He ignored the four girls, his gaze falling on Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua who were walking on the river.
"Dao Master, those two youths are both very strong!" an old Daoist said in a low voice. "We all know Cult Master Qin, his methods are profound, but what's the origin of the other youth?"
"High Heavens Xu Shenghua, I met him when I followed master to Little Jade Capital." Dao Master Lin Xuan's gaze flickered. "He defeated me in five moves."
The hearts of numerous Daoists of Dao Sect trembled. Even Qin Mu could not say to be able to defeat Dao Master Lin Xuan in five moves. Over the years, Dao Master Lin Xuan had cultivated along Old Dao Master and his attainments in algebra had gotten even deeper. His comprehension of Dao Sword had also become higher and higher.
His ability was definitely not inferior to that of Old Dao Master back then and might even surpass his!
Dao Master Lin Xuan's footsteps didn't stop as he brought everyone forward. He said softly, "His technique becomes stronger when he meets stronger opponents. The most terrifying thing is that the stronger his opponent is, the more power would be aroused from his technique and divine arts. In Little Jade Capital, he defeated many people. I would like to know if there's someone who can receive his divine arts, someone who can force him to break through the limits of his technique and divine arts, to reach the limit!"
"Human Emperor might be such a person." Dao Master's fighting spirit suddenly became vigorous, but he controlled it so that it wouldn't interfere with the two fighters.
The river water surged.
Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua didn't stop in their footsteps and continued to walk forward. Soon, they crossed to the opposite shore of the river, but their feet didn't stop.
'He's giving me a chance to rest.' Xu Shenghua learned another move, and his heart slightly trembled. 'He brought me to the manufacturing factory to make me exhaust my brain power and get the upper hand. Now he's giving me the chance to rest, which shows that he doesn't care if my brain power is exhausted or not, since from the start he was the one standing higher! I exhausted my brain power moments ago, and now he is putting pressure on the mental level. He's making me feel like I'm inferior to him!"
Even though Xu Shenghua understood Qin Mu's way of thinking, he had already sunk into the trap and couldn't break free.
When he met with Qin Mu and drank wine with him in Rain Listening Pavilion, the battle had already begun!
From then on, he had fallen into Qin Mu's tempo, and the other's plan had worked without a hitch. If the two of them made a move, one could imagine how overbearing and unrestrained Qin Mu's attack would be!
'Overlord Body is indeed extraordinary.' Xu Shenghua composed himself, his gaze flickering. 'However, I'm also an Overlord Body! As a fellow Overlord Body, I won't be weaker than him!"
Their footsteps gradually became matched, but one walked first while the other second. Whenever Qin Mu took a step forward, Xu Shenghua would do so as well. He was like a shadow, giving people a weird feeling.
The four girls following after them saw this sight. The two big boys were walking one after another, with the one in front revealing the back of his heart to the one in the back yet the one there following step for step, but not taking the chance to land a fatal blow. Instead, he looked like he had been roped in and was walking forward unwillingly.
'Young Master is in a disadvantageous position!'
The hearts of Yu Liu and Jing Yan trembled slightly. It was their first time seeing Xu Shenghua in a disadvantageous position before the fight had even started.
In High Heavens, Xu Shenghua was beyond outstanding and had astonished all the gods there. He was praised as the person with the highest aptitude in five hundred years.
And when Xu Shenghua came to the mortal world, he was worthy of his reputation.
Pangong Tso of Rolan's Golden Palace had avoided the battle, Great Thunderclap Monastery didn't want to fight, Daozi Lin Xuan had been challenged and defeated along with the experts of Little Jade Capital, while the Hall of Three Aeons and Hall of Five Qi's tests were passed successfully.
Yet right then, Xu Shenghua had met the most terrifying opponent!
Qin Mu brought Xu Shenghua for a hundred miles, but he was also slightly shocked. Until then, Xu Shenghua's footsteps were still not in order, and there were no flaws in his movements!
This was something that was nearly impossible. Even Pangong Tso, that old monster which had lived for ten thousand years, couldn't remain walking this steadily!
Pangong Tso was skilled in the techniques and divine arts of Great Thunderclap Monastery, Dao Sect, Little Jade Capital, and Heavenly Devil Cult. But if he was suppressed by Qin Mu and got led by him, he would start to wobble when after ten miles, changing his body movement to ensure he wouldn't reveal any flaw.
When it would come to twenty miles, Pangong Tso would start to reveal his flaws and find it hard to change. When it would come to twenty-one miles, Pangong Tso would attack Qin Mu first, trying to take the key moment or else he would definitely die!
If Pangong Tso continued to follow Qin Mu's footsteps and did not attack, he would die at twenty-four miles. He would definitely be killed by Qin Mu in one strike!
Yet Xu Shenghua could always match Qin Mu's footsteps, and even if he was led, his footsteps and body movements did not falter, thus he was invulnerable!
From Mud River to over a hundred miles away, he didn't reveal any flaws!
'Wang Muran said his techniques and divine arts are very strange, becoming stronger when meeting stronger opponents. The stronger the opponent is, the faster they would lose at his hands! His divine arts are all adapted on the spot and created in battle. This kind of technique is definitely extremely high level. It must have surpassed technique and entered straight into the level of skill upon being mastered!'
Qin Mu became more and more excited. He didn't turn back, but instead continued to walk forward at an increasing speed!
Xu Shenghua's technique was very mystical, allowing him to surpass technique and go straight into the level of creating divine arts.
Qin Mu wanted to test the limits of that techniques and see how it fared when compared to Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!
His footsteps became faster and faster while his aura became stronger and stronger. He flew forward as fast as lightning, but his footsteps were still as calm as before. There was no sense of hurry.
Xu Shenghua followed after, and his footsteps were still steady, without any sign of a mistake.
Their speed became faster and faster. Suddenly, Xu Shenghua's face turned pale and his complexion slowly began to whiten. He was brought by Qin Mu to run another hundred miles, and he couldn't endure it any longer. He vomited a mouth of fresh blood.
Qin Mu continued to move forward, and Xu Shenghua continued to run with him while puking another mouthful of blood.
But even if he did so, there were still no flaws in his movements. However, if he continued to vomit blood like this, he would use up all of it and die!
From the beginning to the end, Qin Mu had never made a move on him. He was the one who had injured himself.
When Qin Mu walked, their auras, body techniques, and divine arts were actually in battle. Even though it looked like there was no danger, the battle had already started and there was no room for mistakes.
Xu Shenghua's technique and divine arts relied on adapting on the spot and creation, thus they had an extremely high requirement for mental strength.
He had exhausted his mind in the manufacturing factory, and even though Qin Mu had given him time to rest, the brainpower that was exhausted couldn't be replenished that easily.
From the moment he vomited blood from exhaustion, the strain on his brain would only grow larger as he continued. There was no need for Qin Mu to make his move, for he would push himself to being exhausted to death!
If he continued walking, his brain would definitely tire itself out.
Xu Shenghua's hair black strands of hair began to turn whitish gray. As he coughed blood, he followed in Qin Mu's footstep. The exhaustion of his brain power had already affected his body. If nothing changed, he would soon exhaust himself to death!
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and smiled. "If I kill you like this, you will definitely not be willing to accept it, and I won't feel the pleasure of the battle as well. Brother Xu, nurse your injuries and replenish your vital qi. We shall determine our life and death next time."
Xu Shenghua stopped in his footsteps and opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but he suddenly collapsed on the ground and fainted.
"Truly a respectable and terrifying opponent," praised Qin Mu. He left Xu Shenghua who had fainted there and turned to leave.
Blood leaked out from the corner of Qin Mu's mouth, but he immediately swallowed what had risen up his throat. He had almost exhausted Xu Shenghua to death, but he had almost not been able to endure it himself as well. However, the people of the village had said that one can lose a battle, but not their bearing.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Xu Shenghua gradually awakened and noticed that he was lying on the sickbed. There was a warm, wet towel on his forehead, which felt like splitting. There seemed to be millions and millions of voices screaming in his mind, ringing beside his ears.
His head was on the verge of exploding, the splitting pain making him want for nothing more than to chop his head off and kick it as far away as possible!
He couldn't resist groaning, and Jing Yan's voice came from outside, "Young Master is awake?"
She hurried over, bringing with her a medicinal smell. She looked at him in surprise and delight.
"I've lost." Xu Shenghua had a stupefied expression.
Jing Yan immediately said, "Young Master has slept for a very long time, I'm brewing some medicine for you…"
"How long have I been asleep? Where is this place?" Xu Shenghua asked with a muddled head as the sound of his heart beating boomed in his mind.
"We are still at the capital, and Young Master has slept for over two days."
Jing Yan helped him up to lean against the bed. She said, "Sister Yu Liu heard that there was a divine physician in Eternal Peace capital whose abilities are remarkable, so she went out in a hurry to invite him."
Xu Shenghua wanted to raise his hand, but he suddenly groaned. It was as if his head got split by a knife.
"It's best for Young Master to not move or have any thoughts!" Jing Yan immediately said. "Young Master got led by Bad Guy Qin and followed him unwillingly. He attacked and you defended which had placed you in a disadvantageous situation. In addition to the technique, you needed divine arts to continuously break through his attack, so you exhausted too much brain power. If you start thinking, you will be using your mind, and since Young Master's mind is injured, it's best for you to rest now. Wait for the divine physician to come."
Xu Shenghua closed his eyes and didn't say anything. He didn't move anymore as well.
He remembered the situation back then. Qin Mu had first used Sunshot Divine Cannon to exhaust a portion of his brain power, and after he had seen through that plot, the other pressured him mentally and led him along at his tempo.
When the two of them were walking, they were competing with their aura. Qin Mu held the upper hand to attack. When he released his murderous intent, he immediately felt that he could get attacked, thus he immediately changed his body movements and the flow of his vital qi, taking the corresponding defensive position.
His technique was extremely marvelous and could create divine arts to counter the opponent's attacks. However, since Qin Mu didn't attack, Xu Shenghua could only create and not unleash the divine arts.
And just like that, Qin Mu attacked non-stop with his aura, while Xu Shenghua had to defend non-stop. In just a short distance of two hundred miles, he exhausted all his brain power and his mind couldn't endure it any longer. His body also couldn't take it anymore, which caused him to vomit blood continuously. His consciousness then crumbled, and he fainted on the spot.
Back then, Qin Mu had stopped in his footsteps, but if the other had continued on, he would have been dragged forward until he vomited all the blood, all the way until his brain became tired itself to death. He would have only stopped when he became a corpse!
A crushing defeat.
It was the first time Xu Shenghua had tasted such a defeat, and he was actually slightly bitter in his heart. It was his first time feeling such an emotion.
Yu Liu's voice came from outside. "Yan'zi, come out for a moment!"
Jing Yan immediately went out and said, "Young master is awake but he can't move. Have you invited the divine physician?"
"I've invited, it's just that..."
Jing Yan walked out and an astonished cry could be heard outside. "Why is it you?"
"I was even more astonished than you; however, I pleaded him for a while until he was willing to come…" Yu Liu said with a bitter smile
Xu Shenghua opened his eyes and said weakly, "Invite the divine physician in."
The curtain was parted and Qin Mu walked in with a smile. "Brother Xu."
Xu Shenghua looked at him and was stunned. His head started to ache severely, and Qin Mu immediately went forward. He took out a few Spirit Buddha Pills for him to consume and said with a smile, "It's best if your mind doesn't fluctuate too much. I've experienced a situation like yours before as well. My body was exhausted by cultivating a technique, to the point I almost died. Your symptoms are from overexertion of your mind and brain power beyond the limits of your body. Your injuries are actually not severe and you can recover in a month or two by nursing it slowly. However, with me treating you, you'll be fine in half a day."
Xu Shenghua consumed Spirit Buddha Pills and felt much more comfortable. His head was still aching, but it wasn't as severe as before. He could slowly control his arms and legs, and his body also seemed to belong to him once more.
"You're also a divine physician?" he croaked.
"I can't be considered a divine physician. My attainments in the art of healing are at most number two. However, you can't find anyone better than me in the art of healing in Eternal Peace Empire."
Qin Mu diagnosed his condition for a moment and wrote down a prescription for Yu Liu to grab some herbs. He smiled and said, "With my spirit herbs nursing you, the deficiency in your body will recover in two-three days. Victory and defeat are commonplace in military operations, and it's also common for us cultivators, don't put it to heart."
Xu Shenghua looked at him in the face and suddenly sighed. "There are some places in which I'm really inferior to you. You schemed to defeat me, but I can't bear any hatred for you. I have come under the orders of my master to kill you and only wanted to return to High Heavens after accomplishing my mission. Never would have I expected to treat you as a friend."
Qin Mu sighed. "Overlord Bodies are hard to find. However, you and I can only be enemies; it's impossible for us to be friends."
Both of them fell silent.
Not long later, Yu Liu came back with the medicine and Qin Mu refined the spirit pills for Xu Shenghua to consume.
The young man walked by the bed unsteadily, his whole body trembling. He frowned and said, "I can clearly feel that the injuries are recovering, but why can't I stand steadily? My hand is still shaking…"
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment, then his eyes lighted up. He smiled. "I know what illness you're suffering. Follow me." When he said that, he walked outside.
Xu Shenghua wanted to follow him, but his body was still shaking. His legs wobbled, so Yu Liu and Jing Yan had to help him out of the room.
Since Xu Shenghua was a disciple of High Heavens, the place he stayed at naturally couldn't be too shabby. An inn would have been too noisy, so they rented out a house that was quite tranquil.
Qin Mu brought him to the streets and looked around with bright eyes. He smiled when he saw for what he was looking. "The medicine to cure your illness is here."
Xu Shenghua was stunned, and so were the two girls beside him. Qin Mu sat down in front of a stall and said to the stall owner, "Ten bowls of noodles, extra large bowls. Don't add chili and oil in the first bowl, just a bit of salt is enough. That's right, when you knead the noodles, add one more egg. What are you standing there in a daze for? Come and take a seat!"
Yu Liu and Jing Yan frowned. They looked at the old noodle stall which was placed out on the street. With people walking to and fro, dust couldn't be prevented. The people sitting there to eat were all burly men. One look at them was enough to know that they were country folk who did bitter work.
When had the group from High Heavens eaten dinner like that, at a noodle stall? They would usually find too dirty to even think about it.
One needed to know that High Heavens was a sacred ground of gods that were high at the top, so what they ate and drank were all rare delicacies in the mortal world. They were also unimaginably clean and untainted by even a speck of dust.
The boss of the noodle stall was also a burly man. He pulled noodles with both his hands and smacked them loudly. It was obvious that they weren't clean.
Yet Xu Shenghua sat down while gasping for breath.
Yu Liu and Jing Yan could only sit down next to him and use a towel to wipe the oil stain on the table. They frowned when they couldn't do it. They couldn't sit still, feeling that even the stool under their butts was also greasy.
However, Xu Shenghua was calm and sat calmly while waiting for his noodles.
The first bowl of noodles was served, and it was clear soup egg noodles in a bowl as big as a face-washing basin. The noodles were pulled with equal thickness and were like white jade threads placed in the middle of the soup. The top was garnished with chopped onions.
Xu Shenghua looked at the noodles and didn't know how to eat such a thing.
Qin Mu passed a pair of chopsticks to him, but Xu Shenghua was still at a loss. He held the chopsticks and jabbed into the bowl, but he couldn't pick up any noodles. He had never used chopsticks in High Heavens before, since all he ate were spirit pills, and all he drank was dew. He had never eaten the food of the mortal world before.
Xu Shenghua looked at the people eating noodles and gradually learned how to use a pair of chopsticks.
"Eat slowly," Qin Mu said while beaming at him. "You have been starving for a few days, so it is easy to damage your stomach if you eat too fast. Your illness is starvation, and because your brain was overly exhausted, the energy in your body had been redirected to your brain. When you fainted, you had used up all your energy, but then still continued to starve for two more days. So it would only be weird if you weren't feeble. Drink some soup first, it will help with digestion."
Xu Shenghua gulped down the soup while listening to his words.
Qin Mu, Yu Liu, and Jing Yan's noodles were also served. The two girls were quite reserved, but Qin Mu didn't care and just poured lots of chili oil in his bowl, eating to his heart's content.
Xu Shenghua finished a bowl of noodles first and looked at them impatiently.
Qin Mu immediately said, "Digest it first, there will be a second bowl later."
Xu Shenghua sat there obediently. When Qin Mu finished, there were already three more bowls of noodles on the table. Qin Mu then nodded and smiled. "Brother Xu, you can begin."
Xu Shenghua immediately started eating. Having learned from Qin Mu, he poured a layer of chili oil on top of the bowl. Instantly, his body started steaming with hot vapor.
When Yu Liu and Jing Yan finished eating the noodles in front of them, Xu Shenghua had finished his seventh bowl and slumped down in his seat, feeling very comfortable.
Yu Li and Jing Yan looked at each other in dismay. Young Master Xu had never been so lacking in manners. He was actually slumping!
'This human emperor is truly devilish. If young master interacts with him a few more times, you will be able to smell the stink!' The two girls looked at each other and felt uneasy in their hearts.
Qin Mu rose and asked, "Does Brother Xu have any great abundance coins?"
In a daze, Xu Shenghua shook his head. "Yu Liu is usually the one in charge of finances."
Yu Liu revealed a troubled expression and said softly, "Young Master, we have spent all our money buying herbs just now. I even used my own hairpin to mortgage. Only then did I manage to get all the herbs…"
Qin Mu took out a great abundance coin and went forward to pay the bill. He shook his head and said, "I really don't know how the three of you get by. I'll treat this meal. Brother Xu, get up, now that you've eaten so much, it's best to take a stroll."
Xu Shenghua got up. Yu Liu and Jing Yan immediately went forward to support him, but Xu Shenghua shook his head and said, "There's no need to support me. I was indeed suffering from starvation, but I'm much better now. I can walk by myself."
The four of them took a casual stroll at a leisurely pace.
Yu Liu couldn't help worrying. 'Is this human emperor going to stroll young master to death again?'
When they came to the outskirts of the capital, Qin Mu brought them in the direction of the manufacturing factory. Xu Shenghua's gaze flickered, and he asked, "Why did Brother Qin bring me to this place again?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Don't be mistaken. When you were unconscious these two days, the base of Sunshot Divine Cannon had been done, and we are starting to assemble it. I need to install the components of the base so that nothing goes wrong. That's right, when will you give me the money for treating you? My treatments are very expensive."
Xu Shenghua groaned. "No money!"
"In that case, Brother Xu…" Qin Mu's eyes lit up as he came forward and said mysteriously, "Have you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Xu Shenghua was bewildered and said, "Other than having the identity of the human emperor, you are also the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, so I have naturally heard of it before. Why did Brother Qin ask about that?"
Qin Mu beamed at him. "If Brother Xu is willing to join our Heavenly Saint Cult, you won't have to pay me back. Even though I'm the human emperor, I'm also the Heavenly Saint Cult Master. Hall of Human Emperors may have a deep grudge with High Heavens, but Heavenly Saint Cult doesn't, right? If Brother Xu joins Heavenly Saint Cult, it would be a win-win situation."
Yu Liu and Jing Yan had weird expressions. The actions of this human emperor were truly preposterous and unconstrained. High Heavens and Hall of Human Emperors were sworn enemies yet he still invited his sworn enemy to join Heavenly Saint Cult!
'This human emperor can't really think that nine bowls of noodles and a treatment could make Young Master Xu join his Heavenly Saint Cult, right? Should I say that he's innocent or scheming,' Jing Yan thought to herself.
Xu Shenghua was silent for a moment before saying, "Brother Qin, don't joke around. Don't worry, I'll pay you back as soon as possible."
Qin Mu hadn't pinned his hopes on him agreeing to join Heavenly Saint Cult. Even though Heavenly Saint Cult wasn't sworn enemies with High Heavens, Saint Woodcutter of Heavenly Saint Cult and First Generation Human Emperor of Hall of Human Emperors were both from Founding Emperor Era. They had the same goal, just that their methods were different.
Hall of Human Emperors relied on fighting to achieve their goal, while Heavenly Saint Cult relied on the philosophy of the common people to push the world to improve to reach their goal.
The ending point for both of the sacred grounds was to overthrow the rule of gods and build the world in their hearts.
And regarding this point, their philosophy was naturally conflicting with High Heavens.
Numerous divine arts practitioners flooded out from the manufacturing factory. They executed their vital qi and lifted up huge components. With them floating in the air, Qin Mu walked around in the sky to adjust their positions.
Even though it was only the base of Sunshot Divine Cannon, the formation markings were extremely complicated. Especially the fifty-six pill furnaces that Qin Mu had personally designed. Every one of them was huge and hard to forge it as a whole. They required the assembly of more than a hundred components, and the connection of the formation markings couldn't have any mistakes.
Qin Mu used tenon structure so there was no need for any hammering when piecing them together. As long as they were locked together, they would become incomparably sturdy and be able to withstand an extremely huge impact.
Furthermore, even if Sunshot Divine Cannon was damaged by the opponent and a portion of it stopped working, it could be removed and quickly replaced by new, working parts. After the replacement, the divine cannon could then be used once again without any decrease in power.
When connecting the base of the divine cannon, numerous officials gathered outside the manufacturing factory. Emperor Yanfeng had also come out; it was obvious that he placed a lot of importance on the divine cannon.
"Supervisor Qin's tenon structure could also be used for spirit weapons and flying ships on the battlefield." Emperor Yanfeng was full of praises when he spoke to the government minister of Ministry of Works. "I feel that we can promote this to the entire army. If the flying swords and flying ships were all made using tenon structure, we could reduce the losses during wartime drastically."
The government minister of Ministry of Works nodded. "However, it would be difficult to forge them."
"With the new manufacturing factory that Supervisor Qin designed, forging each and every component of a flying sword wouldn't be that difficult."
Emperor Yanfeng pondered over it for a moment more, then added, "If we had all the manufacturing factories produce a large number of components to replace the damaged parts of the spirit weapons, flying ships, and cloud chariots, then even with a large scale war, the losses wouldn't be too high! Your Ministry of Works should go and learn so you can popularize this kind of manufacturing factory."
Just as he was saying that, Qin Mu gave the order to piece everything together. The hundreds of divine arts practitioners connected the center components, and a circular plate with an area of six ares was formed.
After that, Chancellor Ba Shan who had returned from the frontlines in the north went to the bottom. With his both hands raised up, he used his dense magic power to lift up the huge and thick circular plate.
Several hundred divine arts practitioners walked out of the manufacturing factory again. Beside them, a person was continuously reading out numbers. With every number he read, a divine arts practitioner would come forward and add a component to the circulate plate.
The more components were added, the bigger and thicker the circular base became. When nearly ten thousand components were attached, the legs of Chancellor Ba Shan, this strong man, were starting to tremble. The weight on him made it hard for him to even straighten his waist.
Gu Linuan went forward, and the two of them raised this circular plate with their dense magic power. The circular plate by then had the area of twenty-seven hectare.
When the number read reached twenty-seven thousand, the circular plate that had an area of sixty-six hectares was finally formed. Below it was four strong practitioners of the cult master level using magic power to lift the base of the divine cannon in the sky.
On the circular plate, Qin Mu and numerous officials of Ministry of Works moved around rapidly to check on the runes of every meeting point between the components. When they were sure there were no problems, Qin Mu gave an order, and huge beasts pulled over large carts. The numerous apothecaries on the carts immediately jumped down and moved medicinal stones onto the circular base.
"Start the furnace," Qin Mu ordered.
"Start the furnace!"
Fifty-six pill furnaces were started as medicinal stones were poured into them. Each and every apothecary executed their vital qi to ignite them, and flames instantly blazed to life. The flames turned from red to white before changing to green, and then to blue.
This incomparably terrifying energy rapidly coursed through the formation markings and runes on the circular plate, activating the full formation!
Below the circular plate, the four strong practitioners of the cult master level immediately felt a decrease in pressure. The huge cannon battery actually didn't need them to lift it up anymore; it could float by itself!
The officials praised such a sight. "Supernaturally fine craft, truly a supernaturally fine craft!"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression wasn't too good. Qin Mu mainly wanted to piece the base of the divine cannon and test the operation of the pill furnaces and formation. However, just testing the pill furnace required the same amount of medicinal stones as medium scale war!
"It's not his money that's being spent…"
Emperor Yanfeng felt a pain in his heart.
Qin Mu finished the examination and jumped down from the base. He then said in a loud voice, "Extinguish the furnaces and lower the base."
The pill furnaces gradually extinguished, and the huge base that was floating in the sky also slowly landed on the ground. Even so, wind was raised and blew past everyone in gales. Their clothes fluttered, and their faces suffered from the air pressure.
The air currents quelled.
Qin Mu said loudly, "Apothecaries, prepare the medicinal stones, once the cannon's frame and the light gathering forks are done, we'll activate the pill furnaces again."
The apothecaries accepted the order.
Emperor Yanfeng's face paled, and he ordered someone to invite Qin Mu over. He asked him with a pleasant face, "Supervisor Qin, why do you still need to activate the pill furnaces?"
"Your Majesty, there are too many components in Sunshot Divine Cannon, so it's hard to prevent mistakes, thus after the cannon's frame and light gathering forks are done, I will need to activate it again to check if anything had gone wrong."
Emperor Yanfeng beamed at him and said, "How many more times do you need to activate it?"
"If there's no mistake, two-three times will be enough." Qin Mu calculated it for a moment and said, "If there's something wrong, we will need to check where the problem is and in that case, I can't say how many times we will have to activate it. Especially at the position of the divine eye, which uses tenon structure and three-dimensional pinion suspension structure. This leads to it being extremely complicated, so the chances of making a mistake are much higher.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, with so many algebra experts here, we will definitely find the mistake in the shortest amount of time. I will try to control the number of activations to not go over ten to not spend too much money. Your Majesty, the next time the furnace will be started shall be half a month later, may Your Majesty…"
"In that case, that's good, that's good, I won't be coming so you shall settle everything yourself… Government Minister, escort me back to the palace."
Qin Mu saw the emperor off as he got escorted back by a few officials while shaking. He was bewildered in his heart. 'Could the emperor have not healed yet? That's not right, Little Poison King and I had clearly cured him…'
Xu Shenghua looked at the huge circular plate with a grim face.
Qin Mu walked over to him with a smile and asked, "Brother Xu, what do you think about this cannon battery?"
"It's the work of gods, a supernaturally fine craft." Xu Shenghua took a glance at him and said, "Brother Qin spends all his energy on things like this, so I think that he will soon be defeated by me. You're a divine physician and also a heavenly worker at the same time, which makes it impossible for you to place all your energy on cultivation. As time goes by, your cultivation will be surpassed by mine and you'll suffer a crushing defeat!"
"Brother Xu knows how to use mind tactics." Qin Mu smiled and said, "You don't want me to forge this divine cannon and also want to beat down on my confidence. However to me, no matter if it's the art of healing or the heavenly works, they are both a kind of cultivation where I can apply my abilities. Actually, if I wanted to defeat you, it would be very simple for me to poison you or even forge a powerful weapon to blow you into smithereens, for these are also my abilities."
Xu Shenghua's heart sunk, and he said, "Those aren't true means."
Qin Mu laughed loudly and patted his shoulder. "We as the Overlord Bodies. Whatever we learn, we can't just focus on cultivation. The next time you challenge me, will you know if I decide to beat you with bare hands, poison you, or smash you with treasures? The fee for my treatment is a thousand great abundance coins, so pay them to me as soon as possible and don't owe me any favors. After that, you can challenge me again. I'll wait for you."
Xu Shenghua was stunned. Suddenly, a young girl came skipping over with three white tails swaying behind her. She quickly wrote down a certificate of debt before saying with a loud and crisp voice, "Young Master Xu, please sign!"
Xu Shenghua signed in a daze, and the girl put away that certificate of debt with utmost care before following Qin Mu to leave.
"I've come down from High Heavens and not only did I not kill the human emperor, I even got indebted to him, owing him a thousand great abundance coins…" Xu Shenghua shook his head and sighed ruefully in his heart. "How am I supposed to return like this? Yu Liu, Jing Yan, how can I earn money?"
Yu Liu and Jing Yan were also unable to find a solution. The fastest way to earn money was to sell treasures, and they had brought quite a number of them from High Heavens, so they were fine with selling a few pieces.
However, when Xu Shenghua had fallen ill, they had sold all they could sell. Only the jade vase and pipa were left. These two were Star Sovereign Qiao's treasures so they absolutely couldn't sell them.
"I'm proficient in music, can that be exchanged for money?" asked Xu Shenghua.
"Young Master wants to sell his singing service?" Jing Yan cried out. "How is this feasible? Besides, singing doesn't make much!"
"I also have some knowledge on forging spirit weapons. Maybe I can forge a few spirit weapons to exchange for money…"Xu Shenghua muttered.
"Young Master is planning to be a blacksmith?"
Xu Shenghua smiled and said, "I'm an Overlord Body, it's fine if I don't learn, but if I learn, I'll definitely be the best! Don't worry, even as a blacksmith, I'll definitely be the best. I'll definitely not be any inferior to that Human Emperor Qin, that Overlord Body!"
Jing Yan and Yu Liu revealed worried expressions when they looked at one another. They thought to themselves, 'Young Master Xu probably won't be going to High Heavens anymore. His heart is no longer the one he had when he was in High Heavens…"
When Qin Mu met Xu Shenghua again a month later, it was in a smithy. The most outstanding disciple of High Heavens no longer had the flawless and untainted image like in the past. He was currently wielding a huge hammer to deal with black gold.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When Qin Mu came to the smithy, he saw Xu Shenghua with an apron. This was to prevent sparks from burning his clothes. However, his originally bright robe had long become similar to a rag cloth.
He was forging a hairpin and had hammered the black gold a thousand times. He hammered it into the thinnest gold paper before folding it to finally forge the shape of the hairpin. An accessory forged with this method would have the finest vein lines and be what the upper-class women loved the most.
As a matter of fact, Xu Shenghua had made himself quite a reputation in the blacksmith circle of the capital. There were quite a number of divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm who had come to find him to forge spirit weapons. There were also quite a number of nobles who wanted strange weapons like hairpins and bracelets.
Divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm required a forging expert to forge the spirit weapon they had given birth to in their divine treasure, thus the ability of the forging master was very important. Xu Shenghua was very clever and could forge all kinds of spirit weapons well. His technique and divine arts had myriad changes, and he could forge spirit weapons which were compatible with the divine arts practitioners.
"Human Emperor Qin, take a seat in the shop first, I'll come over once I'm done with the hairpin." Xu Shenghua saw him coming and shouted into the shop, "Yan'zi, Human Emperor is here, help me attend to him first!"
Qin Mu walked into the ship and smiled. "It's fine just calling me Cult Master. When you call me Human Emperor, it just keeps reminding me that you and I are enemies."
Jing Yan wore the clothes of a village girl, having replaced the gorgeous and elegant clothes she had come with from High Heavens. She carried a pot of tea and invited Qin Mu to take a seat.
The tea was plain. When Xu Shenghua and Qin Mu had met for the first time, he had served him with the best tea in High Heavens, and it had been the best tea Qin Mu had drunk; it was called Green Destiny. Yet what he was served at that moment was the most ordinary tea.
"There's no more good tea. Cult Master Qin, please forgive us." Jing Yan blushed with shame and poured the tea for him. "We have finished Green Destiny Tea last month," she said in a low voice.
Qin Mu took a sip and said, "I'm also used to plain tea. How did you buy this shop?"
"Young Master had originally bought a house in the capital, so we sold it to buy this shop." Jing Yan then added, "Sister Yu Liu couldn't get used to this kind of hardship so she found an excuse to leave and return to High Heavens, only I'm left to stay with young master."
Qin Mu invited her to take a seat as well. He smiled and said, "You're a good maiden."
Xu Shenghua lifted the curtain and walked in with a towel in his hands, having just washed his hands. He hung the towel behind the curtain and came to the table to sit down, pouring a cup of tea for himself. He drank it in one gulp and poured another cup for himself.
Jing Yan wanted to stand up, but Xu Shenghua waved his hand and said, "There are no rules here. You are the mistress of our smithy so just take a seat."
Jing Yan could only remain seated after such words.
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and he smiled. "Brother Xu, how's your daily life?"
Xu Shenghua sighed and shook his head. "It's not too good, but it's very fulfilling. I never knew it was so hard to earn money, since I had never had to worry about money in High Heavens. But now, I actually know how great is the worth of a great abundance coin! Brother Qin, you paid a great abundance coin for ten bowls of noodles, truly a waste, it's more than enough to buy a hundred bowls of noodles!"
Qin Mu looked at him blankly and said, "I'm also not sure about how much a great abundance coin is worth. I rarely lacked money, so I usually pay with a great abundance coin when I go out to eat."
"You have never been poor before." Xu Shenghua drank a few more cups of tea and let out a shaky breath. He said, "The money I've earned during these days is still not enough, give me some more time. I should be able to pay you in about two years' time."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "It's small money, so I'm not in a hurry. Ling'er will keep it in mind better than me. I'm here to invite you to observe the ceremony; Sunshot Divine Cannon is already done."
Xu Shenghua was stunned for a moment, then sighed. "You used two months to design and build a divine cannon yet I could only forge spirit weapons in this smithy. Fifteen days ago, I had felt you starting the furnace twice, you should have been testing the cannon's frame, right?"
"That's right." Qin Mu drank the tea in his cup in one gulp and said, "I used the power of the entire empire to forge that Sunshot Divine Cannon and didn't charge for it as I had no lack of money. If I charged, even the emperor wouldn't have been able to pay me. Let's go and take a look."
Xu Shenghua stood up and removed the apron. He said to Jing Yan, "Follow me as well."
Jing Yan agreed and the three of them walked out of the smithy and headed for the outskirts.
When they reached their goal, they saw a large spirit weapon that covered an area of sixty-six hectares. The eyeball in the center of the huge cannon battery had been forged and floated between the light gathering forks. Hundreds of divine arts practitioners were on the cannon battery measuring something busily.
The three of them walked to the front. Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan were full of astonishment as they raised their heads to look at the humongous object. It was very hard to imagine how Qin Mu had only used two months and more to forge that kind of terrifying spirit weapon!
Of course, it wasn't the work of Qin Mu alone. Instead, it was the fruit of all the algebra experts and forging masters of all Eternal Peace Empire putting their wisdom together. Even if among them, Qin Mu's contribution was the greatest.
If it wasn't for his design and him improving the craft of forging, it would have been impossible for the forging standard of Eternal Peace Empire to create such a heaven-defying treasure!
Qin Mu had pushed the Eternal Peace Empire's craft of forging forward by a hundred years!
The emperor and the civil and military officials had all arrived. There were also high officials and nobles from the capital as well as the commoners gathered around to look at the Sunshot Divine Cannon starting up. Even Village Chief, Hermit Qing You, and the rest of the people hurried over to see the divine cannon fire.
"Pill furnace inspection normal! No cracks found!" an official from Ministry of Works shouted out loudly.
"Formation markings inspection normal! No break in connection found!"
"Runes inspection normal!"
"Cannon's frame inspection normal!"
"Light gathering forks inspection normal!"
"Divine eye inspection normal!"
…
Voices rang one after another, and Shan Youxin looked at Qin Mu who kept nodding his head. Shan Youxin said loudly, "Number one pill furnace ignited, strength test, maximum firepower!"
After a moment, an apothecary beside the pill furnace shouted, "Number one pill furnace at maximum firepower, results are normal!"
"Number two pill furnace ignite for test!"
"Number two pill furnace at maximum firepower, results are normal!"
...
Xu Shenghua looked at this kind of test method and was instantly stunned. He muttered, "Cult Master Qin, when will I ever reach your standard in the craft of forging? My smithy is simply too shabby…"
Qin Mu swiftly consoled him. "Don't worry, everyone comes to the top step by step. I also had my bad days."
"Really?" Xu Shenghua asked suspiciously.
Qin Mu thought and shook his head, "No. Not long after I left the village, I had already become renowned in the world."
Xu Shenghua was silent for a moment, then said, "Cult Master Qin, you will be beaten to death sooner or later if you keep consoling people like this."
"However, when I was at the village, I picked up the iron hammer when I was five and I learned painting from Grandpa Deaf." Qin Mu had an indifferent expression. "You only picked up the iron hammer and do not know how much hard work I put in it over the ten years."
Xu Shenghua nodded and said, "Overlord Body is not something that can achieve success without hard work. I've benefited from your advice."
Finally, the fifty-six furnaces were at maximum firepower. Instantly, all the runes on the base of Sunshot Divine Cannon lit up, and all of the formations were activated. The huge cannon battery gradually rose into the sky, and waves of terrifying power bloomed, shaking the space around continuously.
The energy in fifty-six pill furnaces flooded frantically toward the light gathering forks and through them they transformed into four thick beams that tunneled into the center of the huge divine eye.
Sounds of gears rotating came from the inside of the divine eye, their speed becoming faster and faster. Suddenly, the sound vanished, and the two hundred and forty yards divine eye seemed to turn into void. All kinds of formations in it were activated one after another, and the black gold, black iron, divine gold, and other divine materials used to form it all vanished. They were all replaced by a divine eye bathed in divine light.
The eye was closed
Grrrrk.
The huge eye rotated on top of the cannon battery, and the sound of wind that it brought with it was scary. But the throbbing from the eye was even more terrifying. Even the strong practitioners of the cult master level felt fear in their hearts.
"Cult Master Qin!" Shan Youxin bowed toward Qin Mu while standing on the cannon battery. "The preparations for Sunshot Divine Cannon are done!"
Qin Mu rose and said to Emperor Yanfeng, "Your Majesty, please!"
Emperor Yanfeng took in a deep breath and led all the civil and military officials to fly up onto the cannon battery. He said solemnly, "Supervisor Qin, you have been busy for the past two months, so you should be the one to fire this shot!"
Qin Mu acknowledged his words, and Shan Youxin brought over a jade plate. Qin Mu executed his vital qi, and the jade plate burst forth with dazzling lights. The rays shone and transformed into a light screen that was three feet wide. It showed the sight of the surroundings.
Qin Mu gently touched the screen shown by the jade plate, and the divine eye of Sunshot Divine Cannon rotated with this move. Qin Mu adjusted the direction of the divine eye to aim at the sky.
He tapped on the jade plate, and the eye opened suddenly, ripping the world above apart. The sky trembled violently as a tear was opened up. Everyone instantly saw a black mark spread above, which tore the sky open. In the meantime, the beam of light vanished without a trace.
After a moment, a rumbling came from beyond the sky. It sounded like ten thousand thunders booming at once!
A huge tear appeared in the sky, a void within it. Sometime later, it started to slowly heal.
Xu Shenghua's heart became heavier and heavier. No one in High Heavens could be able to hold against such a cannon. Even if it was his master Jade Sovereign or the other three sovereigns, none of them would be able to survive the attack from Sunshot Divine Cannon.
This kind of weapon was no longer a weapon of the mortal world!
It was a weapon to slaughter gods!
"My money is not wasted…" Emperor Yanfeng looked at the sky that was slowly healing and muttered, "Imperial Preceptor, it's a pity you are not here to see this sight."
In the prairie, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was bringing the army back to Eternal Peace when he suddenly raised his head to see a tear in the sky. His heart trembled violently. 'Cult Master Qin, you have finally completed the weapon to slaughter gods…'
On the cannon battery, Qin Mu dispersed his vital qi, and the light screen from the jade plate vanished. The pill furnaces were also extinguished one by one, which caused the formations to stop operating. The huge Sunshot Divine Cannon gradually descended from the sky.
Qin Mu raised his head to look above and muttered to himself, "Since it's called Sunshot Divine Cannon, should I shoot at the sun once?"
Everyone around him shuddered, and Emperor Yanfeng hurriedly snatched the jade plate from his hands while shouting, "Supervisor Qin, if the sun was destroyed by your shot, how would the people survive? Your idea is too dangerous, off with your head!"
A contrarian among the civil and military officials immediately said, "Your Majesty, a ruler doesn't go back on his words!"
Emperor Yanfeng turned his head to look at him before waving a hand and saying, "I will certainly go back on my words. But since you can't see the need for it, why should I keep you? Retire and return home. Dear Minister Qin, how do I use this jade plate?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Activating Sunshot Divine Cannon required the jade plate in Qin Mu's hand. Since the battery was too large, it wasn't easy to control, so Qin Mu had created a tool to interact with it. The jade plate could then have the huge divine cannon shoot wherever he pointed.
It was the central control of Sunshot Divine Cannon.
Qin Mu taught Emperor Yanfeng how to use the jade plate, which was simple to learn and use. As a great master in forging, Qin Mu could simplify the most complicated things, and with just this point, he surpassed other great masters of forging by leaps and bounds.
Emperor Yanfeng put away the circular plate. After a while, he took it out to play with it before putting it back again. Some time later, he took it out once more to fiddle with it again.
Qin Mu said kindly, "Your Majesty can try firing one shot."
Emperor Yanfeng looked at him, then said unpleasantly, "One shot and the treasury will be emptied! I'm not like you, spending money like flowing water."
"Hasn't the crown prince come back from the snow plains? He should have brought back quite a lot of treasure," Qin Mu said.
"But also I also can't shoot randomly! The money in the imperial treasury can't be touched carelessly. There are many things to be done in the empire, and which of them don't need money?"
Emperor Yanfeng put away the jade plate, but after a moment, Qin Mu saw him taking it out again sneakily. He couldn't help shaking his head. If Emperor Yanfeng never fired a shot, he would definitely be unable to have a pleasant sleep. He would just keep thinking of doing it.
However, his rationality would tell him that he couldn't misuse Sunshot Divine Cannon so he would end up at a loss.
'Let him be,' Qin Mu thought to himself.
Suddenly, a couple officials from the Department of Sky Supervision carried over some thick scrolls. In their lead was Huo Shanling who greeted Qin Mu and said, "Supervisor Qin, we at the Sky Supervision Platform have noticed some peculiarity when you shot at the sky earlier. Supervisor has many algebra experts here, so I would like to invite Supervisor to help us calculate it."
"What peculiarity?" Qin Mu asked with bewilderment.
"When the sky was torn, there was a change in the astronomical phenomenon."
Huo Jingling of Department of Sky Supervision who was at the side then added, "The sky split open and the astronomical phenomenon in the sky shifted, returning back to normal only after the tear was healed. We recorded the shift in angles, but since our attainments in algebra aren't high, it's hard for us to calculate what happened. Lord Qin, please take a look, these are the previous star charts."
He flipped open the star charts and went through them page by page. Qin Mu observed that the celestial bodies that Department of Sky Supervision had recorded each year had a regular pattern. Their changes were very minute.
"This is the star chart after Lord Qin fired that cannon."
Huo Jingling flipped to the last page and pointed at the star chart. "After that cannon, the sky turned dark for an instant, and the armillary sphere recorded the celestial bodies in the sky. The sun had shifted an inch and three quarters at the time, but when the tear recovered, the sun moved back. During the darkness, the other stars had also shifted. Meanwhile, at the location of the tear, there had been no stars at all. This is definitely not normal. In the tear, there should have been a hundred and seven stars!"
Qin Mu was still puzzled. "Would it be because the power of the divine cannon was too strong, causing distortion in vision which resulted in what looked like the shifting of celestial bodies?"
"There's this possibility," Huo Jingling said. "However, Department of Sky Supervision uses an armillary sphere, which is a spirit weapon as well as a heavy spirit treasure. Our vision can be distorted, but the armillary sphere couldn't be tricked like that. The star chart on the armillary sphere moves together with the celestial bodies in the sky. If the star chart on the armillary sphere moved, it means that the stars in the sky had really moved. But the most crucial thing is why were there no stars at the location of the tear?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he probed, "What you mean is?"
The people looked at one another, and Hu Shanling coughed lightly. "Before doing any calculations, we at the Department of Sky Supervision don't dare to make any guesses and can't be responsible for anyone else's guesses. Please forgive us, Lord Qin."
'These fellows are mysterious.'
Qin Mu frowned and said, "The experts with me are mostly algebra experts of Dao Sect and Little Jade Capital. They are currently planning to leave and return to Dao Sect and Little Jade Capital. I don't dare to say if I can ask them to stay."
Xu Shenghua walked up and said with excitement, "I also have some attainments in algebra."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "It's naturally good for Brother Xu to come and help. I will go invite Dao Master Lin Xuan and Wang Muran."
Jin Yan immediately said, "Since my young master is helping, the thousand coins that we owed…"
"Even if you don't help I have no lack of algebra experts here!" Qin Mu replied without even turning his head.
Jing Yan's expression instantly turned black. "Miser!"
"Yan'zi, don't be angry. Actually, I would also like to know what had happened to the sky after Cult Master Qin fired off that shot. What he said isn't wrong as well, with or without our help, it changes nothing for him, it's just a matter of time," Xu Shenghua said.
Qin Mu found Dao Master Lin Xuan, Mu Qingdai, and the rest of the young experts. After gathering everyone, Wang Muran asked, "What is Cult Master calculating this time?"
Qin Mu looked at Huo Jingling of Department of Sky Supervision whose gaze was sparkling as he said, "An astronomical phenomenon."
Dao Master Lin Xuan smiled and said, "Astronomical phenomenon? Cult Master Qin had cultivated our Dao Sect's Dao Sword and the fourth writing of Dao Sword is nothing else but an astronomical phenomenon. With him around, what use are we?"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "The fourth writing of Dao Sword calculates a normal astronomical phenomenon. What Department of Sky Supervision wants us to calculate is an abnormal one."
Dao Master Lin Xuan and the other Daoists became bewildered. There was a difference between a normal and an abnormal astronomical phenomenon?
Huo Jingling explained the astronomical phenomenon his department had observed and said, "The stars moving and the stars in the tear disappearing, this kind of astronomical phenomenon is definitely not normal. It's like, it's like…"
"It's like the stars are hanging on a piece of curtain!" Mu Qingdai blurted out.
Huo Jingling clapped his hands and said, "That's right! It's like they are all hanging on a piece of curtain. Lord Qin used the beam to tear apart this curtain, so the sun, moon and the stars split to both sides!"
All of the young people looked at one another with grim expressions.
The astronomical phenomenon was hung in the sky?
Xu Shenghua raised his head to look at the sky while composing himself. He asked, "Cult Master Qin, what do you want us to calculate?"
"According to the shift in stars caused by that beam, we will have to calculate the height and thickness of the sky!" Qin Mu looked at the officials and asked, "Is that your intention?"
The officials of Department of Sky Supervision looked at each other and nodded.
"Lord Qin is wise," Huo Jingling said in a hoarse voice. "In the past, we felt that the sky is boundless, and the thickness of the sky is also boundless. However, that beam from Lord Qin made us realize that there might be a limit to the height of the sky, and its thickness as well. The stars in the sky may not be as far away as we thought, and the sun seemed to also be…"
He didn't dare to continue saying.
Qin Mu looked at everyone and said, "What does everyone feel?"
They were all young people, so even though their origins were different, their inheritances were different, and even their factions and philosophies were different, they were all very curious. Every one of them looked up at the sky.
Dao Master Lin Xuan retracted his gaze and said, "Since Cult Master Qin's beam showed us that the sky has a height and thickness, why can't we calculate it?"
Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.
"We need to know the dates of the stars shifting in order to be able to calculate," Wang Muran said.
"My Department of Sky Supervision has recorded all the stars, including the sun," Huo Jingling said right away.
"This makes it much easier!"
Everyone immediately sprung to action, and after a long time, they calculated the numbers. When they looked at them, their faces became grim and dazed.
"I won't believe it!" A Daoist from Dao Sect suddenly got up and smashed his eight trigrams on the ground, breaking them to pieces. He then again shouted out angrily, "I won't believe it!" When he was done, he left.
The other algebra experts were silent. Long Yu muttered, "This is impossible, we must have calculated wrongly, this is absolutely impossible…"
The minds of the Dao Sect's experts had already crumbled, and they chuckled. "We must have calculated wrongly, the sky cannot be so thin…"
"It's definitely wrong!" Huo Jingling said firmly.
"That's right, it's definitely wrong!" many others chimed in.
Xu Shenghua shook his head and said, "It cannot be that so many of us had calculated wrongly, right? Everyone's numbers are the same, so the result is correct; the sky is this high and this thick."
"It's impossible! Impossible…" Long Yu stumbled away in a daze. He was slightly crazy.
Mu Qingdai was giddy. She squatted down on the ground, then sat down.
Qin Mu looked at the numbers they had calculated and sunk into deep thought. The sky was ten thousand miles high yet the thickness was only a pathetic one thousand yards. This meant that in that thickness of a thousand yards, there was a sun, a moon, a galaxy, and countless other stars!
How was this possible?
"Hehehehe…"
His mind had also slightly crumbled as he chuckled non-stop. He laughed till tears were almost pouring from his eyes as he sat down and slapped his knee repeatedly.
"Cult Master Qin, what are you laughing about?" Dao Master Lin Xuan shouted out while staring at him angrily.
"Abandoned people…" Qin Mu laughed loudly and pointed at his nose, almost crying from laughter. "You are an abandoned person! You are also an abandoned person! And you, you, you, you are all abandoned people!"
Everyone looked at him coldly as his finger pointed at every single one of them. When he finally pointed at Xu Shenghua, his laughter quelled and his face became terrifyingly cold. "You are also an abandoned person!"
Xu Shenghua frowned. The sky was only this high and this thick. Not to say a sun, a moon, and many stars, not even a mountain could be put there.
Yet there was a sun, a moon, and the galaxy above, so there was only one possibility. The resplendent stars, the blazing sun, the bright moon, and the galaxy that was filled with millions and millions of stars like a long river were all fake—they were all painted there!
The sky was like a seal that sealed their world, showing them the sun, moon, stars, constellations, and the galaxy that were all fake.
In Great Ruins, there was God Broken Mountain Range, all around which no sun could be seen. When it came to night time, the darkness invaded, so the stars and moon could never be seen either.
The people of Great Ruins were the people abandoned by gods.
However, the lifeforms in the whole world were the same as the abandoned people of Great Ruins; they were all abandoned people!
Daoist Lin Xuan suddenly shook his sleeves and said coldly, "I'm not an abandoned person! Disciples of Dao Sect, let's go, return to the mountain!" As he walked, tears suddenly filled his face.
"Dao follows the nature… follows the f*cking fake nature!" The young Dao Master strained his throat as he bellowed at the sky, "All my effort in cultivating was used on f*cking fake nature!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Measuring out the height and thickness of the sky may have dealt a severe blow to Qin Mu and the rest but Dao Master Lin Xuan had suffered the greatest blow.
Dao Sect's teachings, techniques, and divine arts were all built on the foundation of Dao follows the nature. To search for the essence of all living things through nature was the origin of their techniques, divine arts, and even frame of mind.
And then Dao Master Lin Xuan discovered that the astronomical phenomenon of nature was fake. With that kind of situation, it was no wonder his frame of mind would collapse!
What kind of great Dao could be comprehended by comprehending a fake nature?
The legs of Dao Master Lin Xuan who was walking forward by himself suddenly went soft and he knelt onto the ground with a thump. His expression was stupefied, and his eyes were blank.
A few Daoists immediately went forward to help him up only to hear their Dao Master mutter, "The fourteenth writing of Dao Sword had never been cultivated before, and master used his whole life to comprehend it, only then was his talent and learning enough, but he still couldn't succeed in cultivating it… It turns out it was not that he couldn't do it, it was because all the nature is fake. How could he succeed in cultivating it if the nature he comprehended was fake… Cough, cough!"
He coughed violently and blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. He was devastated. Dao follows the nature was the teaching of Dao Sect, yet the nature was fake. The impact he received from learning this could be imagined.
Qin Mu looked at Xu Shenghua and asked, "Is the sky in your High Heavens the same as this sky?"
Xu Shenghua raised his head to look at the sky before nodding.
The same sky, the same stars—High Heavens was no exception.
Qin Mu saying that he was an abandoned person wasn't false at all.
The sky was a cage and no matter if it was High Heavens or Great Ruins, they were all birds that didn't know they were in a cage.
Qin Mu composed his heart and walked to Dao Master Lin Xuan's side to help him up. He said in a low voice, "The truth is cold and hard to accept, so it's best to not make it public. Chase after the few Daoists that had run away and don't let them talk nonsense. You need to protect some of their hope."
Dao Master Lin Xuan looked at him, straight in the eyes, with a weird expression. He asked in a hoarse voice, "Do you think people will believe what they say?
Qin Mu smiled and said, "People will believe you."
"You are asking me not to say?" Dao Master Lin Xuan filled with scorn, and he chuckled. "Our previous Dao Masters and countless other Daoists had all wanted to solve the fourteenth writing of Dao Sword. They spent immeasurable effort comprehending the nature of heaven and earth yet the fourteenth writing of Dao Sect seemed to be an insurmountable peak, an impossible to solve conjecture. But in the end, it all comes to the astronomical phenomenon being wrong. Hehe, how mocking, truly f*cking mocking!"
Even though he was the Dao Master of Dao Sect, a sacred ground, he was still a youth in his nature, so he couldn't help spitting out a few vulgarities.
"The previous Dao Masters of Dao Sect didn't know where the mistake was, so they couldn't succeed in cultivating the fourteenth sword, but now you know. Maybe Dao Master Lin Xuan can be the first person to succeed in cultivating the fourteenth sword!" Qin Mu said meaningfully.
Dao Master Lin Xuan's heart trembled slightly, and he turned to look at him.
"Crisis. Danger lies together with opportunity. The situation now is a danger and an opportunity at the same time." Qin Mu smiled and added, "Ordinary people can only see the danger, but wise people can see the opportunity that lies with the danger. However, only those with the abilities can be able to grasp this opportunity! Which kind of person is Dao Master?"
Dao Master Lin Xuan's chest heaved up and down.
He'd seen that the sky was fake and the astronomical phenomenon was also fake earlier. That had halted the progress of Dao Sect's path, skills, and divine arts, causing everyone to not be able to comprehend the final marvel of Dao Sword.
However, Qin Mu's words made him see the opportunity. Since he knew what was fake, he should go and see the real thing. In that case, there would be a possibility of cultivating the fourteenth writing of Dao Sword!
"I accept wholeheartedly you being the human emperor." Dao Master composed himself and said, "I feel that the debate between the teachings of Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Cult can finally be put to a rest."
Qin Mu nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. I think we can form an alliance, and when our abilities grow enough, we will be able to pierce through this sky!"
Wang Muran walked over and stretched out his palm while saying, "Wang Muran of Little Jade Capital is willing to form an alliance with Human Emperor and Dao Sect!"
Qin Mu and Daoist Lin Xuan stretched out their palms as well. Qin Mu turned around to look at Xu Shenghua who walked over and stretched out his palm as well. "Xu Shenghua of High Heavens is willing to form an alliance with Human Emperor, Dao Sect, and Little Jade Capital. Now, shouldn't our alliance have a name?"
Wang Muran smiled and said, "Why don't we call it Heaven Alliance!"
The three of them said in unison, "Great! Heaven Alliance it shall be!"
The four of them pulled back their palms, and Dao Master Lin Xuan nodded to everyone before bringing all the experts of Dao Sect to leave.
"Lord Qin, should we tell this to the emperor?" Huo Shanling went forward to ask with a low voice.
"Of course, the emperor has to know," Qin Mu said. "However, only tell the emperor, don't spread it to others, be careful of your head falling off."
Huo Shanling immediately nodded and called the other officials of Department of Sky Supervision before hurrying away.
Wang Muran let out a shaky breath and said, "Human Emperor, please forgive me, I will have to tell this to Senior Uncle Qing You!"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Immortal Qing You knows what to say and what not to say. Feel free to tell him."
"Senior Sister, find Senior Brother Long Yu, I shall go find senior uncle!" Wang Muran said to Mu Qingdai.
The two of them then immediately split ways.
Now only Qin Mu, Xu Shenghua, and Jing Yan were left. Qin Mu glanced at Xu Shenghua and said, "Brother Xu seemed to not be astonished in the least. Even Dao Master couldn't help his surprise, and his face lost color once his mind was shaken to the core. Yet Brother Xu still looked as usual; I'm really impressed. Even I had lost my composure just now, so my cultivation of frame of mind is still slightly inferior to that of Brother Xu."
Xu Shenghua's expression remained the same when he said, "I'm astonished and I'm still in shock. I had originally thought High Heavens was high above, far from the mortal world. Never did I expect us to be in the same cage as well. The blow of that is extreme."
Qin Mu examined him, but couldn't see any expression of shock. He asked suspiciously, "Really?"
"Cult Master Qin, my young master looks like this when he is shocked; he at most reveals a slight frown," Jing Yan said in a low voice.
Qin Mu frowned. "And when he's not astonished?"
"He's also like this."
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. Xu Shenghua raised his head to look at the sky and suddenly said, "Brother Qin, what do you think is beyond the sky?"
"I don't know."
Qin Mu chose to walk back to the capital and said, "When we have the ability, we will take a look."
Xu Shenghua followed him, and the three of them entered the city. Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan returned to their smithy, while Qin Mu went to Imperial College. Numerous algebra experts in Imperial College had already confirmed the space algebra model of the golden book. Dao Sect had made a copy and the palace also had a copy. Hermit Qing You had also made a copy while another copy was left in Imperial College. Of course, Heavenly Devil Cult also got a copy.
Establishing the golden book meant that the experts of cult master level who were stuck on Divine Bridge Realm had the possibility for a breakthrough. This would result in a huge batch of gods. Of course, not everyone would be able to connect the divine bridge. In order to cultivate the techniques in the golden book, one needed to have very high attainments in algebra.
If their attainments weren't high, they still wouldn't be able to patch the divine bridge even if they had received the techniques and space algebra model of the golden book,
Qin Mu returned to his residence and saw Hermit Qing You, Village Chief, and the rest with grim faces. Wang Muran was at the side, so it was obvious that he had already told them about what Qin Mu and the others had found out.
"I've thought of a person." Village Chief raised his head to look at the sky and suddenly said in a daze, "Maybe he would know some details. Dao Friend Qing You, do you know who I'm talking about?"
"I know, the person who raised his knives at Heaven." Hermit Qing You's gaze flickered. "Heaven Knife."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. "Grandpa Butcher?"
"Rumors say that Heaven Knife raised his knives at Heaven, and many people had seen that scene. His knife sliced open the sky and gods appeared. He fought with the gods until his corpse fell back into the mortal world. He was known as the craziest martial maniac, and if it wasn't for that battle, Heaven Knife wouldn't have vanished without a trace."
Hermit Qing You then added, "If Heaven Knife didn't leave back then, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wouldn't have been able to use his sword skill school to defeat battle technique school. He wouldn't have been known as Sword God. The god that had fought with Heaven Knife wasn't from High Heavens, but had actually come from outer space. I didn't think of it before, but now that I do, Heaven Knife should know many things. Some time ago, Heaven Knife and Spear God came to my Little Jade Capital as guests, but they left immediately after they sensed the auras of the gods from High Heavens. It's a pity we have no idea where they went after."
Village Chief pondered it over and said, "That maniac must have gone to find the fake gods of High Heavens. Ever since his waist was reattached, he has always been in a half-crazed state. If Blind wasn't with him, who knows what trouble he would have caused. He knows many secrets, so we shall go and find him. Mu'er, let's go and find Butcher."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still owes me a hundred treasures, and he is returning to the capital soon…"
Village Chief shook his head. "The treasures in Rolan's Golden Palace are worthy to look at? Grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace is none other than a rag and bone man. Cripple wouldn't even look at the treasures that guy had collected in his past lifetimes."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then called Hu Ling'er over and instructed her, "Ling'er, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor owes me a hundred treasures, so after he returns to the capital, help me collect them."
Hu Ling'er's eyes instantly shone, and she smiled. "Young Master, what treasures?"
"He will bring treasures back from Rolan's Golden Palace, and we can choose any hundred of them!" Qin Mu said.
Hu Ling'er was overjoyed, but she hesitated and said, "Young Master, my judgment isn't as good as yours. I'm afraid I won't be able to choose the good ones."
"I shall teach you Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill so you can awaken your eyes and see what treasures are worth it."
...
Qin Mu taught Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill to Hu Ling'er before waking the dragon qilin. He placed Village Chief on its back and said, "Village Chief, how can we find Grandpa Butcher?"
"Very simple, I'll just have to let out my aura and I will be able to alarm the visitors from High Heavens. I can also alarm Butcher and Blind as well. In this way, they will know about us. The visitors from High Heavens will definitely release their auras to challenge me. After we go over, we will be able to see Butcher and Blind," Village Chief said indifferently.
He then added softly, "It's time to settle our deals with the visitors of High Heavens."
He was about to release his aura when he suddenly revealed an astonished expression. Hermit Qing You and the rest of the strong practitioners of Little Jade Capital also looked over in the same direction with shock.
Qin Mu was about to ask when he also felt terrifying pulses emanating over.
"It's those fellows from High Heavens. Weird, I haven't even let out my aura and they already revealed their location… Not right, they have started fighting!" Village Chief muttered. He then cried out, "The four sovereigns of High Heavens are massacring each other! Mu'er, I shall go ahead first!"
Boom!
A huge bang came from the rocking chair, and Village Chief disappeared from the dragon qilin's back. A few more tremors swept over as Qing You, You He, and You Yun—the three old immortals—also vanished into thin air.
"Muran, after Qingdai finds Long Yu, you guys shall hurry over!" Immortal Qing You's voice said from the distance.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Wang Muran rode his buck over and shook his head. "The old people are really worrisome."
Qin Mu was astonished. "Your side as well?"
Wang Muran nodded and said, "There are thirteen such elders in Little Jade Capital. Including the newly arrived old Daoist and old monk, we have fifteen of them now."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "My village only has eight and a half, so I can be said to be slightly luckier."
"Luckily I have Senior Sister Qingdai and Senior Brother Long Yu to help me share the burden," Wang Muran said.
Qin Mu's face blackened. He was the only young person in their village. Granny Si was also young of course; however, she always liked to act old.
The two of them walked forward at a steady pace while waiting for Mu Qingdai to find Long Yu. Not long later, she dragged Long Yu back, who looked slipshod. He had removed all of his clothing and when Mu Qingdai found him, he was sprinting around in the capital city only in his underpants, dancing and singing while babbling nonsense.
At that time, Mu Qingdai gave this big senior brother three slaps to wake him up. Long Yu then spat out a few mouthfuls of blood that had clotted his heart and followed her with his head held low.
Wang Muran let the two of them sit on the back of the buck. Even though Long Yu was no longer crazy, he had still crumbled.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Senior Brother Long Yu, what's the difference between knowing and not knowing how high and thick is the sky? The sky is there, no matter if you know about it or don't. It is still there. Maintain your heart as usual and work hard to cultivate. You should focus on going breaking the sky and going outside once you have gained enough strength."
"I understand what Human Emperor is trying to convey, but whenever I think that all of this is fake, I can't help losing my fighting spirit," Long Yu said sorrowfully.
Qin Mu understood this kind of feeling. Not everyone could walk out of the shadow as fast as Dao Master Lin Xuan.
The astronomical phenomenon was fake, and this incident dealt the greatest blow to Dao Master Lin Xuan. However, Long Yu didn't have the position and the responsibility of Dao Master Lin Xuan, so his ability to handle shock was slightly inferior.
However, given enough time, Long Yu would also walk out of the shadow.
"Since Senior Brother Long Yu is here, let us hurry on our way."
Wang Muran gave an order, and clouds immediately grew under the buck's feet as it rose into to leave. The dragon qilin immediately followed after, and the buck looked back with a disdainful glance, increasing its speed.
The dragon qilin was furious and tried his best to keep up. After a hundred miles of running, the dragon qilin started to pant heavily with his eyes rolling backward. "There's no need for me to stoop to the level of a dumb buck, right? Cult Master, I'm right, aren't I? We are not competing in speed, but in endurance!"
Qin Mu acknowledged it with a black face.
The dragon qilin slowed down and looked at the buck bringing Wang Muran and the rest to disappear into the distance.
The dragon qilin ran five thousand miles and was so tired that he couldn't catch his breath. He whined for a break, so Qin Mu allowed him a stop. He made a fire to cook a meal while the dragon qilin snored while sprawled on the ground.
Once Qin Mu finished eating and drinking, he called the dragon qilin for quite some time before he slowly crawled up and hurried along unwillingly. He ran from day to night and night to day yet still couldn't see the buck, nor Wang Muran and the rest.
"That dumb buck's endurance isn't bad as well…" Fatty Dragon said ashamedly.
Qin Mu acknowledged it with a black face and threw over one Scarlet Fire Spirit Pill. "Your rations for today."
The dragon qilin was aware of his own incompetence and carefully licked the pill. He didn't dare to eat it in one mouthful. After licking it for over a dozen times, he finally finished it. In the end, Qin Mu couldn't bear to be so cruel and grabbed some more for him.
The dragon qilin was elated, and he immediately ate all of them. He said, "Cult Master, don't worry, I will run with all my life and will definitely catch up to that dumb buck!"
"That buck isn't dumb, my dragon qilin is the dumb one," Qin Mu criticized.
The dragon qilin sprinted through the sky. Not long later, lingering notes of a flute reached them, and Qin Mu looked around in astonishment. The dragon qilin was running in midair, and even though his speed couldn't be compared to that of the buck from Little Jade Capital, it wasn't slow. Wind howled past them as he moved.
For the sound of the flute to be able to reach them, it couldn't have been played by an ordinary person.
As Qin Mu thought that, the dragon qilin suddenly swayed his head to follow the sound of the flute as though he was drunk. He sprinted down from the sky.
The sound of the flute was very charming. It played a style of folk song that was sometimes high and sometimes low, sounding very cheerful and lighthearted, thus the dragon qilin also danced around in the sky, skipping here and there in glee. His big tail whooshed as he swept it around.
Another long note came from the flute, and the dragon qilin sprinted straight downwards, into a forest.
"Fatty Dragon, stop!" Qin Mu immediately shouted, but what could it help when the dragon qilin seemed to be entranced. He totally couldn't hear those words and seemed to not have any control of his own body as he rushed straight down.
Qin Mu hurriedly rose into the sky and flashed to the front of the dragon qilin. He pressed his two hands on the dragon qilin's head and pushed with force as he shouted, "Fatty Dragon, wake up!"
He used the incantations of buddhism, and his voice boomed like thunder. However, the dragon qilin continued to rush forward as though he heard nothing.
Qin Mu erupted with all his strength, but he still couldn't fight against the strength of the dragon qilin. He got pushed into the forest, and cold sweat started to drip from Qin Mu's forehead. The sound of the flute was becoming clearer and louder.
He turned back to take a look and saw a huge red flood dragon coiled around the mountain with its huge head lying on the ground. Its mouth was wide open like a gigantic cave while its teeth were like sharp stalactites that were dripping with saliva.
The sound of the flute was coming from the head of the red dragon where a girl in a long dress was sitting. Even though the song was cheerful, the girl's face was ice cold.
"Long Jiaonan!"
Qin Mu was astonished and looked around in a hurry. The flood dragon should belong to the dragon king, and since it was there with the girl, did it mean that the dragon king was nearby as well?
The melodious sound of the flute meandered, and the dragon qilin ran happily toward the mouth of the flood dragon.
A cold gaze flashed across Qin Mu's eyes as Carefree Sword rose into the air. Eight thousand swords instantly flew out and shot towards Long Jiaonan without any explanation.
She sneered at him, and the tail of the red flood dragon swept over. Countless swords clanked as they hit the tail, bouncing backward.
Qin Mu's heart sunk. This flood dragon was an existence of cult master level; in other words, way too strong. It would be hard for him to escape.
At that moment, a huge hand suddenly stretched down from the sky as a voice that boomed like thunder rang out, "What luck, to be able to pick up a flood dragon just by coming down to the mortal world to take a stroll."
The hand, which was covered in rough scales, grabbed toward the red flood dragon. The large creature filled with terror, its expression betraying it, and actually turned limp.
The dragon qilin also collapsed on the ground, not daring to move. Long Jiaonan immediately gathered her vital qi to play the flute, but the red flood dragon just shrunk into itself and didn't move at all.
Long Jiaonan immediately flew up and avoided the hand, but that hand did not mind her. It picked the red flood dragon of the dragon king with a gently grasp before pulling it into the clouds.
The voice in the sky laughed then. "There's also a dragon of the qilin breed, but a pity it's too young, I shall come back for it after letting it grow for a few more years. Coming down to the mortal world is truly good, got a flood dragon."
Qin Mu's mind was blown as he raised his head to look up. In the clouds, there was a giant that flying in the sky while stepping on two flood dragons, one green and one red. On his ears hung two yellow flood dragons as well.
"God…"
Qin Mu shook his head and found it hard to compose himself. When he looked over once more, the green and red flood dragons had slithered forward, carrying the god toward the south.
"My father's dragon!" Long Jiaonan screeched and sprinted to the south frantically. Qin Mu suppressed the astonishment in his heart and raised his hand to summon Carefree Sword back. With a stab, eight thousand swords transformed into a sword cloud which suddenly rained down, covering the entire mountain mound.
Long Jiaonan grunted and slithered around like a huge snake to avoid the sword lights. However, there was some that she couldn't avoid and was stabbed.
"Long Jiaonan, do you still remember? I said if you lay your hands on me again, I will not show you mercy anymore!"
Qin Mu woke up the dragon qilin with a kick while he rushed forward. With his sword lights whooshing up like a tidal wave, he attacked Long Jiaonan. Her body moved like a spirit snake, at an extremely fast speed, but the next moment, Qin Mu's speed burst forth as he rose into the air, rushing forward with his sword cloud.
Long Jiaonan hissed continuously as she circulated her magic power to execute divine arts to take on the sword lights.
The dragon qilin woke up and hurriedly rushed forward. When he roared, the vibrations confused Long Jiaonan.
Even though she was a strong practitioner of Seven Stars Realm, she was still lacking when faced with the dragon qilin. Her aura dispersed from the roar, and Qin Mu immediately took that chance. With his sword fingers stabbing down, countless flying swords circled around Carefree Sword and went toward Long Jiaonan like a single huge treasure sword!
"Who dares to bully my son?"
Suddenly, a thick and heavy voice rang out, and Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. 'The dragon king is here!'
He hurriedly recalled his swords, wishing to escape as a dragon-shaped dark cloud rushed toward them at a rapid speed, but Long Jiaonan raised her head to shout, "Father, it's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master!"
Qin Mu rushed to the front of the dragon qilin and shouted, "Fatty Dragon, I've raised you for a thousand days to be all paid back in this hour, quickly run!"
The dragon qilin was about to exert all his force to sprint when his four limbs turned numb again, making him sprawl over on the ground. He shouted, "Cult Master, it's back!"
"What's back?"
Qin Mu raised both of his hands and picked the dragon qilin up. He was about to run away when the sky turned dark again, and a thunderous voice rang out, "I'm still lacking a virgin male and a virgin female to raise the dragons, and it just so happens that I can take the two of you…"
The dragon qilin was completely limp as though he was dead. He was totally paralyzed.
Only then did Qin Mu understand what was back. His world started to spin, and his body landed on the cloud against his wishes. With him was Long Jiaonan who was also still in shock.
"Where's sorcerer from, place my son down!" The sound of the dragon king came from a distance, closing in rapidly.
Qin Mu saw two thick and sturdy legs beside him in the cloud, covered in rough scales. In the cloud under those two legs, there were two flood dragons flying forward, carrying them to the south.
He raised his head to take a look and saw a giant that was over thirty yards in height. His clothes fluttered in the wind, revealing his face covered in scales. His brow ridge was high and there were horns on his head.
"Noisy bug."
The god gave a flick, and the dragon king of Dragon Rider Sect flew backward, spewing blood in the air. He crashed into a huge mountain and his life and death were unknown.
"Virgin male and virgin female, serve my dragons well." The god lowered his head to look at the two of them in the clouds and grinned to show his mouth which was full of sharp teeth. "Otherwise I will use you two as toothpicks."
Qin Mu placed the dragon qilin down and said bravely, "Senior, my primordial yang is long discharged, and I'm no longer a virgin male…"
Long Jiaonan immediately said as well, "My primordial yin is also long discharged, and I'm also not a virgin female!"
That god sneered and said, "In that case, there's no use keeping you alive, I shall eat then!"
"I'm a virgin male!" Qin Mu said righteously. "But this naughty girl is no longer a virgin female, so may senior please kill her!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Long Jiaonan pounced forward and shouted, "Rascal, it's all because of you that I'm like this!"
Buddha rays burst forth from Qin Mu's hand as he collided with her. Their bodies trembled violently, and Long Jiaonan's beautiful hair suddenly fell to the ground, revealing bald patches. The skin of her face also suddenly turned loose.
Qin Mu's qi and blood fluctuated. He was about to make another move when he was suddenly stunned. He didn't continue to attack.
On the east sea, Long Jiaonan had almost died under the combined attacks of Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang. She tried her best to shed her skin, but she had exhausted her lifespan for that. Even though she was taken away by Dao Master, she had yet to recover.
When clashing with Qin Mu, the wig on her head had fallen apart, and the pulled tight skin had also turned loose.
Long Jiaonan noticed her hair falling off and cried out in astonishment. She immediately grabbed here and there to pick up her hair. Every time she caught a lock, she would try to stick it back on her head, but since the wig had already fallen apart, how could she stick it back together?
"Sister Long, you don't have much of your lifespan left. If you don't fight with your life, you can still live like an ordinary person for dozens of years. But if you make a move on me, I won't even need to kill you. A severe injury will be enough to make sure you'll have no chance at survival."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "It's impossible for you to take revenge on me in this life anymore, so what is this for?"
"You are the one who reduced me to this state and you are still being sarcastic!" Long Jiaonan shouted out.
"You are the one who harmed yourself and your father, and the dragon king is also someone who harmed you. I'm not responsible for it. Pushing the blame on me is nothing more than you trying to find someone to vent your anger on."
Qin Mu examined the thick and sturdy legs beside him and raised his head to take a look. The god was currently looking down, but not at them. Instead, he was surveying the terrain of Eternal Peace Empire.
It was obvious that the god paid no attention to them and felt that they posed no threat to him. Their only use was to help him raise his dragons.
Qin Mu composed himself and calculated his chances of escaping if he executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs. Then he immediately banished the thought. Even though Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs were fast and he could surpass the speed of sound by four times and more if he exerted his full force, he could only maintain that state for a very short time. His vital qi would be completely exhausted in seven minutes, and so would his body.
Based on the speed of the two flood dragons under the god's feet, he could create a distance between them, but they wouldn't find it hard to catch up to him once he faltered.
Besides, the rubbish that was the dragon qilin was paralyzed and couldn't stand up no matter what. If Qin Mu had to carry the dragon qilin on his, the distance he could cover would be limited.
The dragon qilin was simply too fat and too heavy!
'Isn't it just raising a dragon? I'm raising Fatty Dragon every day, so it'll be simple to me!'
Qin Mu sat down, the body of a flood dragon under his buttocks. With skill in his hands, he was not afraid. If he could even raise Fatty Dragon, how could he not raise flood dragons?
"How do we address senior?" Qin Mu asked loudly.
"You can call me Dragon Rearing Sovereign." The god's voice boomed like thunder when he spoke while looking around. "I'm a god from High Heavens, and as long as you serve my dragons well, I will spare your lives. Not only that, I will even bring you away from this mortal world to High Heavens to enjoy life as you raise my dragons."
Long Jiaonan's eyes lit up, and she said loudly, "Founder, I'm a disciple of Dragon Rider Sect, Dragon Rider Sect is the sect that you founded!"
Qin Mu suddenly shuddered. 'Crap! This Dragon Rearing Sovereign is the founder of Dragon Rider Sect!'
He couldn't help regretting asking the god how to address him. Now that Long Jiaonan had established their relationship, he was going to die!
He wanted to flee, but, no matter how much he kicked the dragon qilin, the fatty just lay on the limply, unable to get up.
'I'm skilled in a specialized area, I'm skilled in a specialized area!' Qin Mu consoled himself while trying to regain his composure.
"Dragon Rider Sect?" The two dragons below Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet paused, and the god lowered his head to look at Long Jiaonan. With bewilderment, he said, "I indeed founded this sect, but that was something long ago. Founding Dragon Rider Sect was just something I found interesting at that time, that's why I didn't bother myself with it after going to High Heavens. You are the disciple of Dragon Rider Sect? Who was the idiot who called you his son just now?"
Long Jiaonan was both surprised and delighted. She immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "That's disciple's father, the current Dragon Rider Sect Master!"
"His cultivation is so weak, to actually be flicked off by me. He won't die, though."
The two dragons under Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet started to descend, and he said, "Since you are a disciple of Dragon Rider Sect, I won't make things difficult for you. You seem to have damaged your vital qi, so here's a dragon bead for you to nurse yourself. Even though it won't return your beauty to what it was, it can still replenish your vitality and extend your lifespan."
A bright orange bead flew down from above, and Long Jiaonan grabbed it. She then kowtowed repeatedly while saying sternly, "Founder, that man is a nemesis of our Dragon Rider Sect, the one person that eradicated it!"
Qin Mu shrunk his neck back and shook his head. "Maiden Long, please do not accuse my innocence person. Look at my cultivation, how could I eradicate your Dragon Rider Sect? It's such a big sacred ground with as many experts as a cow has hair. Each and every one of them has remarkable abilities and are extraordinary. On top of that, the dragons they raise are all powerful beings, so how would I have the ability to eradicate them?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign examined him. He was clearly a very honest youth and looked much more reliable than Long Jiaonan. "This honest child that's as weak as a chicken can eradicate a sect that I founded? Are you guys that weak?"
Long Jiaonan gritted her teeth and shouted, "This brat summoned a devil god which killed my entire sect!"
With an honest face, Qin Mu stuttered as he tried to defend himself. "When did I do that? I learned the art of healing when I was young and am acclaimed as the divine physician. Every day, I prescribe medicine and raise a dragon qilin, feeding him until he got so plump. How could I summon a devil god to harm people? Not only are you slandering me, yo- you are even insulting me!"
Long Jiaonan was furious and jumped over to choke him. She screeched, "You are the Heavenly Devil Cult Master and your mind is full of evil ideas to harm people. You are the devil among the devils!"
Qin Mu couldn't take a breath and his eyes rolled upward.
Suddenly, Dragon Rearing Sovereign gave a flick and made Long Jiaonan tumble back a few times.
She crashed to the ground, and only then did she notice that they had already descended. The two flood dragons under Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet had brought them to Gold River.
"Are you the one who fed this dragon of the qilin breed until he got so plump?" Dragon Rearing Sovereign lifted Qin Mu up in his palm and examined him up and down. He smiled and said, "You have fed him well. Not bad, I like you very much."
When Qin Mu faced him, his heart shuddered. Dragon Rearing Sovereign was too huge and just his face alone was much taller than Qin Mu's whole body. He was covered with dragon scales and only his brow ridge that was raised was free of them. Instead, there were two eyebrows that were shaped like feathers.
"Senior…" Qin Mu gathered his courage and said, "I've learned the art of healing ever since I was young and my medical techniques are passable. I feed my dragon qilin half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills every day."
"Half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills?" Dragon Rearing Sovereign chuckled. "Looks like your pill refinement technique is truly extraordinary, to actually refine so many spirit pills daily. How could a young'un with a child body like him need to eat half a bucket every day? All he needs is a bowl of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and that's enough."
Qin Mu's face instantly turned black.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign then added, "However, all the pills he ate were not wasted. They turned into dragon and qilin vitality which are stored in his body. Once that power is activated, he will be able to cultivate his dragon bead and qilin fire, both of which are quite extraordinary. Only then could he be considered as just having become an adult. I see that even though you know how to refine pills, you don't know how to raise dragons. Are you willing to learn from me?"
"Disciple is willing to!"
Long Jiaonan was furious. The black-hearted scum was taking this opportunity to actually climb above her head to become a disciple of her founder!
"I asked if you want to learn from me and not if you want to be my disciple. You are just a small boy." Dragon Rearing Sovereign smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry to pay your respects, since I'm not taking in disciples. But as long as you serve my dragons well, it won't be impossible for me to take you in as my disciple in the future. Now, refine a furnace of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills for me to take a look."
Qin Mu immediately burst forth with vital qi and took out some herbs from his taotie sack to refine the pills in midair. While Dragon Rearing Sovereign was talking, he finished refining one pill of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign revealed an astonished expression which turned into great delight. He laughed and said, "I'll take you in; it'll free me from numerous mundane tasks. From today onwards, you will be in charge of refining pills. I can then relax."
He raised his leg to give the dragon qilin a kick and said, "Little thing, I shall teach you the technique to cultivate the dragon bead and the qilin fire, so you can help start the fire to refine the pills."
The dragon qilin could finally stand. He was surprised and delighted.
Qin Mu's mood swiftly lifted. 'Grandpa Deaf frequently said that each and every variety of studying is the highest thing to be sought, while Grandpa Apothecary's art of healing is useless. One might have to pay the patient until bankruptcy in case of misdiagnosis. In comparison, studying and painting can help you make a living anywhere. Yet in the end, Grandpa Deaf almost starved to death while selling his paintings on the streets, and Grandpa Apothecary's medical expertise make my life easy wherever I go…"
"Little girl, come over."
Long Jiaonan lowered her head and walk forward so Dragon Rearing Sovereign could examine her up and down. He shook his head and said, "You also know some skills on how to raise a dragon, so you shall be his attendant and help me raise my dragons. Remember, don't slander him anymore or I won't forgive you!"
Long Jiaonan was seething with anger, but had no choice other than to nod in agreement.
Pleased with that, Qin Mu asked, "What is Dragon Sovereign doing here at Gold River?"
"Searching for the main dragon's vein of Eternal Peace Empire."
An earring on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's ear swayed and slithered down, transforming into a yellow flood dragon. Its body became longer and longer when it slithered into the river with an aura that was growing more and more terrifying.
The current of Gold River was rapid, and the moment the flood dragon swam in, it started to stir up havoc. The water instantly rose into the sky, creating a flowing river in the sky.
"This is where Gold River Dragon's abdomen lies, its claws are nearby as well."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign looked at the bottom of the river and revealed an expression of disappointment as he shook his head. "This place isn't the main dragon's vein."
Qin Mu also looked down at the bottom of the river and was slightly stunned. He saw that the current had actually washed out stones that looked like pieces of dragon scales. From their path, he could faintly see that they actually had the shape of claws!
"River has the river qi which will gather to form a dragon's vein, it will be water. When mountain qi will gather to form a dragon's vein, it will be the land. If fire qi like magma will gather to form a dragon's vein, it will be fire. These are the dragon's veins that people generally know. However, there's also a fourth kind of dragon's vein which is wind. The wind blows tens of thousands of miles and carves out traces of a dragon among the mountains and land."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign raised his head to look up and said in a low voice, "I have checked the wind veins and the mountain veins, Mud River and Gold River are also both checked. If I continue forward, I will have to check the three veins of the fire dragon that are underground. With Eternal Peace Empire having so many dragon's veins, I'm afraid a big dragon is coming. But if I take away the main dragon's vein, all the dragons will have no leader and, keke, the world will fall into utter chaos…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'Eternal Peace Empire is truly full of disasters. After the mutiny and rebel, there was the descent of a natural disaster, followed by the alliance of Barbarian Di Empire and Wolf Store Country to invade them. Now a Dragon Rearing Sovereign hops out who wants to take away the main dragon's vein.'
Qin Mu sighed ruefully in his heart. Emperor Yanfeng truly had a hard time being the emperor, pushing even him to clear up all the shit repeatedly.
'Sunshot Divine Cannon I forged could be used to kill this Dragon Rearing Sovereign. Although the battery is still at the capital and Emperor Yanfeng is not here…"
Qin Mu was suddenly stunned. He had never been part of Eternal Peace Empire, so why did he have to risk his life for it?
When he walked out of Great Ruins, it was for no other reason than to gain experience and improve. His goal hadn't been to protect Eternal Peace Empire, so when had his original intention changed without his awareness?
Not so long ago, he had still viewed Eternal Peace Empire as an enemy for treating the people of Great Ruins as abandoned and good only to be slaves. When had his views changed and he began to treat Eternal Peace Empire's matters as his own?
Wasn't what he was supposed to do to gain experience?
Wasn't he supposed to fight for the survival of Great Ruins' people?
When had he then started to treat Eternal Peace Empire like his second home? Subconsciously treating its matters as his own?
He looked deep into his heart and discovered the cruel and fascinating truth there. The complexity and changes of the human heart surpassed any reforms and changes in the paths, skills, and divine arts.
Qin Mu reflected on his own heart, which was calm. As the human emperor, he wasn't doing things for Eternal Peace Empire, but for the people of that land. If Emperor Yanfeng was unkind and incompetent, he would have him replaced. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor failed in his reform, he would then take it from his hands and proceed with it himself.
But even if Eternal Peace Empire's reform was good, if Emperor Yanfeng invaded Great Ruins and made the people of Great Ruins slaves, he would get rid of him.
Qin Mu blinked and felt that this was pure and simple.
"We're here!"
The two dragons under Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet suddenly paused and stopped in their tracks. Qin Mu looked around, slightly stunned. There were huge volcanoes everywhere, and thick smoke was billowing from their mouths. However, there wasn't any lava spurting out.
Time and time again, qi cultivators would come up to the mountain to gather underground fire which was used for cultivating fire divine arts.
This was Volcano County of Eternal Peace Empire, named for the numerous volcanoes in its territory. Ninety percent of Eternal Peace Empire's volcanoes were gathered there. It also had the biggest volcano which was called Great White Mountain. It was extremely high, and its peak was covered with snow while the mouth was bubbling with lava.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign looked around, and his gaze landed on Great White Mountain. He smiled and said, "The dragon's eyes are there!"
The two dragons under his feet rose into the air, and he came to the peak of Great White Mountain. Located there was a sect who, unlike the three big sacred grounds of Eternal Peace Empire, had suffered from enormous pressure like the other sects. It had gone through a sharp drop in disciples due to the primary schools and colleges located everywhere.
The sect at the peak of Great White Mountain was called Great White Sword Sect. Their population was sparse, and there were only a hundred disciples on the mountain.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign brought Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan and descended directly on the mountain. He came to the hinterland of Great White Sword Sect which was the entrance to the volcano. The experts of the sect were alarmed and flooded out like bees. When they saw Dragon Rearing Sovereign and a bunch of dragons, they were dumbstruck and didn't dare to move.
A fire flood dragon under Dragon Rearing Sovereign flew out and tunneled into the volcano. After a moment, a passage was opened, and multicolored light burst into the sky, turning it golden.
Qin Mu looked inside the volcano and grew giddy. The interior of the volcano was actually not made of lava, but dragon scales that were shining in a radiant gold color. It stretched down from the inside the mountain and went down all the way to the unknown depths.
The people of Great White Sword Sect were also stunned. Great White Sword Sect had occupied that land for a few thousand years, yet they didn't know that there was another completely different world inside the volcano.
However, they still didn't dare to move.
"Senior…"
The sect leader of Great White Sword Sect mustered his courage to go forward, but just as he was about to say a word, the huge dragons under Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet carried him, Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan into the volcano.
"Sect Leader, those people barged into the forbidden ground of our sword sect!" a middle-aged man shouted out. "What do we do now?"
The face of the sect leader of Great White Sword Sect changed between dark and clear. He said, "I recognized that youth just now, it's Heavenly Devil Cult Master. That old devil actually brought such a terrifying expert who has actually raised so many dragons! The sacred ground of the devil path has a truly justified reputation; their foundation is indeed deep. Our Great White Sword Sect is not their opponent so what can we do? Of course, we shall file a complaint to the imperial court!
Everyone in the sword sect was stunned. File a complaint to the imperial court? Wouldn't this be too embarrassing?
"If we file a complaint to the imperial court, the emperor and Imperial Preceptor won't ignore it." The sect leader rose and said, "I shall head to the capital to file an imperial appeal and will definitely have the emperor make Heavenly Devil Cult give us Great White Sword Sect an answer!"
In the volcano, Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan followed behind Dragon Rearing Sovereign, looking around at the spacious underground space. The walls were all made of radiant dragon scales. Qin Mu stretched out his hand to touch one and felt that it was scorching. It was akin to magma, but not it.
"Maybe this will be the main dragon's vein. The dragon qi that has gathered in this underground is about to transform into a divine dragon and fly away!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign then added in astonishment, "This dragon's vein seems to be slightly better than the nine mountain veins in Eternal Peace Capital City."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "Dragon Sovereign visited the nine dragon's veins in the capital? What's the situation there?"
Even though Qin Mu had gone to the capital numerous times, he had never gone to see the mountain there. The capital was surrounded by nine dragons and the dragon qi there was thick and extraordinary. People living there usually had longer lifespans and could cultivate twice as fast. Especially in Imperial College and the imperial palace. Those were the places in which the dragon qi was concentrated.
"The dragon's veins at Eternal Peace Capital City are nine yellow dragons. I went into the interior of the mountain and saw that they had hollowed out the center of the mountain. They had already transformed into qi which had scales and claws," Dragon Rearing Sovereign said. "However, they are still qi and have not formed their bodies yet. Meanwhile, the fire dragon here is almost taking shape."
Qin Mu was puzzled. Long Jiaonan touched the dragon scales and asked, "What Founder means is that the dragon scales of this dragon's vein are true dragon scales and not marks?"
"Of course they are true dragon scales," Dragon Rearing Sovereign said. "Flood dragons are not considered true dragons; they are merely huge snakes that had absorbed the dragon qi and transformed. True dragons are born from qi and transformed from dragon's veins. All things in the world are born from egg or the womb; however, true dragons are born from qi.
"Qi gives birth to a true dragon which then gives birth to eggs or fetus. You have been to Great Ruins, right? There are numerous ruins of dragon kings there, so why are there so many dragon kings in Great Ruins? It was all because back then, there were hundreds of dragon's veins, and their fate was prosperous, to the extent that they transformed into true dragons!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled. Hundreds of dragon's veins, prosperous fate, dragon's veins transforming into true dragons!
He had indeed seen a Dragon King Temple in the basin of East Sea! Not only that, there was also a Dragon King Temple in Surging River, and even a temple for dragon kings such as Well Dragon King!
Could those dragon kings had all been true dragons?
"True dragons transformed from the dragon's veins of Great Ruins surrendered and paid their allegiance to the— hehe!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign seemed to be afraid of the consequences of finishing his thought and didn't continue. Instead, he said, "Eternal Peace Empire now is still considered small, with only ten to twenty dragon's veins. However, in order to prevent trouble in the future, I have to find the main dragon's vein.
"Otherwise, if Eternal Peace Empire is allowed to continue growing, it might just be able to bring another calamity. Finding the main dragon's vein and killing it as soon as possible is thus the proper thing to do."
They looked toward the depths and suddenly heard a dull roar of a dragon. Qin Mu's spirit was roused. 'Is this fire dragon's vein really going to transform into a true dragon?'
When he came to the front, only then did he notice the roar wasn't from a true dragon. Instead, it came from an underground magma river that was dozens of miles wide. The four walls around it were all covered with dragon scales that were shining a brilliant gold, dazzling their eyes!
Qin Mu felt an extremely strong dragon qi.
He had cultivated Ling family's Nine Dragons Monarch Technique and his attainments were quite high, so he immediately knew that the dragon qi here wouldn't lose that in the capital!
There was the dragon qi of the nine dragon's veins gathered together over there, while there was only a fire dragon's vein here, yet the dragon qi was just as strong. Could then this really be the place where the main dragon's vein of Eternal Peace Empire laid?
"Strange…" Dragon Rearing Sovereign frowned and examined the upstream and downstream of the magma river. "Weird… the path of the dragon's vein here seems wrong…"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign walked down from the backs of the two flood dragons. Qin Mu took a look at his legs and saw that they weren't human feet. Instead, they were two dragon claws.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign took out a small and delicate golden cauldron. Or it was so to him, but to Qin Mu, it was large enough to cook two or three humans without a problem.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign scooped out magma with it before taking out some golden power to scatter it inside the cauldron. He then waited silently.
Qin Mu went forward to take a look and saw the golden powder fusing with magma, gradually changing.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign tossed him a golden book and a taotie sack while saying, "The dragon's vein here is weird; it doesn't seem to just be a simple dragon's vein. I want to cast a spell to investigate something the fishiness here. You shall refine a few furnaces of pills to feed the dragons. There are prescriptions in this book, so don't mess up."
Qin Mu understood and took the golden book which was called Dragon Rearing Scripture. he flipped through, noticing that it recorded all the methods for raising a dragon. It also listed all dragon types, their habits, and properties, the methods to control them, and finally what each type of dragon ate.
Qin Mu didn't care about the spirit pills recorded inside. What made him curious was the method to refine them. Apothecary had taught him numerous kinds of hand techniques to refine pills yet there were many inside Dragon Rearing Scripture that he'd never seen before.
'As expected of the god who raises dragons, there are so many methods to refining pills. From the prescriptions and the methods for refining the pills, Dragon Rearing Sovereign's ability in the path of pill refinement might just be slightly weaker than mine."
Qin Mu became alert in his heart. If he wanted to refine a deadly poison for Dragon Rearing Sovereign, it probably wouldn't be easy.
He secretly banished that thought and continued to study the book. Dragons of different attributes consumed different spirit pills. For example, the dragon qilin was of fire attribute, so Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills were very suitable for him. However, after Qin Mu checked, he found out that Scarlet Fire Spirit wasn't the most suitable for the dragon qilin. It was simply that its taste for him was the best.
For a dragon qilin, Fire Element Divine Vitality Pill was the best. It could help them grow, increasing their sprinting speed drastically.
However, Divine Vitality Pill didn't have a nice taste as it was a little spicy.
"No wonder that glutton always wants to eat Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, and even so many of them!"
Qin Mu's face turned dark, and he took a glance at the dragon qilin who was looking around curiously. With an unpleasant face, he said, "Maid, come over, help me refine pills."
Long Jiaonan gritted her teeth and walked forward, wishing she could swallow him in one mouthful.
Qin Mu kicked the dragon qilin. "Fatty Dragon, have you heard of Fire Element Divine Vitality Pill?"
"I've never heard of it before," the dragon qilin said with some guilt.
Qin Mu snorted and opened up Dragon Rearing Sovereign's taotie sack. Inside it was all kinds of spirit herbs. Qin Mu differentiate them before throwing them to Long Jiaonan, asking her to take out the herbs according to the prescription. He then ordered the dragon qilin to spew fire while he executed a pill refinement technique. He executed all kinds of hand techniques and dazzled people's eyes. Like that, he soon refined batches of spirit pills.
The numerous small dragons on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body smelled the fragrance and immediately ran down his body to surround Qin Mu. The big ones were three yards long, while the smallest ones were not even an inch. There were dragons of all sizes, color, and even species raising their heads to look at him.
Qin Mu's scalp started crawling. He didn't dare to move at all. Most of these dragons were flood dragons, but every single one of them was incomparably powerful. Getting rid of him would be extremely simple and as easy as blowing off dust for them!
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was currently casting a spell and spewed out a mouthful of vital qi into the golden cauldron, causing the golden powder that was fusing with the magma to undergo a change. He said, "Place the spirit pills in the basin, they will eat by themselves."
Qin Mu looked at Long Jiaonan who immediately rummaged through the taotie sack and took out a huge basin. It had the diameter of thirty yards, so how was that still a basin, it was clearly a small pond!
Qin Mu poured all the spirit pills into the basin, and dozens of dragons instantly pounced inside. They swam around in the spirit pills, frolicking and playing around.
The dragon qilin could only look at Qin Mu impatiently, swishing his tail. Qin Mu took out a huge basin and poured in some Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills which had over a dozen Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills mixed among them.
The dragon qilin was overjoyed and immediately went forward to eat. Qin Mu then saw him picking out Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills secretly and sneakily throwing them into the magma river next to him.
Qin Mu was furious and shouted, "Maid, this fellow is picky about his food, beat him for me!"
Long Jiaonan was furious and knocked Qin Mu down with a punch. She sat down on him and started beating him up. "I have tolerated you long enough! I'll beat you to death!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign flicked with his finger and smacked Long Jiaonan away. She crashed into the dragon scales and vomited blood from the jolt. Dragon Rearing Sovereign shook his head and said, "You are the master so how can you get beaten by your maid? What will come next?"
Qin Mu crawled up and said with some shame, "I still am on Six Directions Realm while she's on Seven Stars Realm. Dragon Sovereign even granted her a dragon bead so she's filled with brute force now. I can't defeat her."
"So I see." Dragon Rearing Sovereign took out a dragon bead and threw it to him. He said, "I cannot do anything regarding your cultivation realm, but I have plenty of dragon beads with me. I'll give you an even better one. The dragon bead I gave her is merely a small toy, coming from a mixed blood dragon of Divine Bridge Realm. Although this dragon bead is also from Divine Bridge Realm beast, its bloodline is much purer and closer to a true dragon. If she wants to beat you again, you can blast her off with one punch."
Qin Mu grabbed onto the dragon bead and felt a savage force instantly filling his entire body. His strength increased frantically, and he couldn't help becoming delighted.
Long Jiaonan's expression turned ashen. Was this still her founder? He was siding with an outsider so much that he seemed to be Qin Mu's founder instead!
"The shenanigan in the dragon's vein has already been discovered by me." Long Jiaonan picked the golden cauldron with a grim face. "This isn't the main dragon's vein, merely a branch of it, having come here to guard the other dragons. On top of that, this main dragon's vein seems to be related to the dragon's veins in Great Ruins…"
Qin Mu went forward and saw golden dragons swimming around in the magma in the golden cauldron. A bunch of them were surrounding the center where a menacing, huge dragon was coiled upon itself as it slept!
"The dregs of Great Ruins indeed have exceptionally talented methods!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign sneered. "They transferred the fate of Great Ruins over to Eternal Peace Empire, wanting to use the fate of two dynasties to give birth to a true dragon lord! Hehe, I shall take away this vein of the true dragon lord, destroying their master plan of tens of thousands of years in one day and see how they cry to the heaven and earth!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'Dragon Rearing Sovereign's spell to calculate the dragon's veins is pretty brilliant.'
Qin Mu looked at the dragon-shaped qi that was swimming in the golden cauldron. This kind of calculation skill of Dragon Rearing Sovereign seemed to be able to calculate some auspicious mountains and lands. For example, Great White Sword Sect was built on top of the dragon's eyes and it seemed to be located on an auspicious land. However, according to the picture in Dragon Rearing Sovereign's cauldron, this place wasn't an auspicious land. Instead, it was a land where a group of dragons seized fortune from others to support the true dragon lord!
Sects that resided nearby would have most of their fortune seized, causing them to go downhill and wither with every passing day.
'No wonder Great White Sword Sect had fallen to such a state today,' he secretly exclaimed in his heart.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign put away the golden cauldron, and Qin Mu immediately returned Dragon Rearing Scripture to him. The god shook his head and said, "Take it and study first. As a boy that raises dragons, you need to know the habits of all kinds of dragon well. There are also skills that deal with rearing dragons inside which you should comprehend carefully. I shall give you two days' time, and how much you can comprehend will depend on your comprehension. I will take the book back after two days."
Long Jiaonan's expression instantly turned black. Dragon Rearing Sovereign didn't know about Qin Mu's terrifying comprehension, but she knew it very well!
On the empty island on the east sea, Dao Master had shown the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword to Qin Mu for ten days, and the youth's comprehension of Dao Sword was no inferior to that of Daozi Lin Xuan.
Even if Dragon Rearing Scripture was a technique of a god, it wouldn't be more difficult to comprehend that Dao Sword. Probably even easier. Dao Sword involved algebra, so the higher one's attainments in algebra were, the easier it would be to comprehend Dao Sword. However, how hard was algebra?
Dragon Rearing Scripture was more about raising dragons, controlling, and living together with dragons. The technique inside, Secrets of Dragon Control, was the unique studies of Dragon Rider Sect which consisted of the technique to molt and rebirth.
Even though Dragon Rider Sect was the sect that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had founded, the complete Dragon Rearing Scripture was never passed down. Even the Sect Master had only received an incomplete copy.
Yet even so, Dragon Rider Sect was considered an extremely powerful sect. Of course, it couldn't be compared to the three big sacred grounds, but it was reputable in the martial world. Otherwise, Emperor Yanfeng would not have let them lead an army by themselves.
Eternal Peace Empire originally had a dragon army, and Dragon Rider Sect led it.
Even though Dragon Rearing Sovereign had founded Dragon Rider Sect, it didn't receive the complete Dragon Rearing Scripture. Yet Qin Mu, this scum, did. This naturally drove Long Jiaonan mad.
How could it not when Dragon Rearing Sovereign trusted Qin Mu because of his honest appearance while not trusting Long Jiaonan. She felt helpless.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign didn't know what was on her mind. In the eyes of a god like him, keeping Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan by his side was an insignificant thing. It was like carrying two ants, and he naturally didn't need to know what those ants were thinking.
If it wasn't because Qin Mu was more useful, his attitude toward him wouldn't have been better than that to Long Jiaonan.
This was natural at the height he was standing.
He was a god and nothing could threaten him. A small ant like Qin Mu naturally didn't mean anything to him, so there was no need to put it to heart. He only needed it to help him, after which giving the little ant some benefit would make it even more willing to help him.
Even if the ant had ill intentions, it could be killed with just a flick of a finger.
Besides, from how Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan looked and handled things, it was obvious that Qin Mu was more reliable. The tiny human had a natural earthy and honest feel to him, so it was obvious that he was more trustworthy than Long Jiaonan.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign brought them upstream, and as they walked, they went farther away from the surface. The magma river was originally buried deep underground and spanned over several thousand miles. Upstream was its source, which was dozens of miles underground.
After walking for some time, they felt the surroundings becoming warmer. Qin Mu looked down at the river and saw more and more dragon scales on both sides. Besides them, there was also flesh and blood!
He saw them growing out from the dragon scales along with long blood vessels. Compared to the huge underground dragon's vein, those blood vessels were as thin as hair, but to Qin Mu, they were passageways that were thicker than a water barrel.
The blood vessels stretched in all directions as they followed along the river.
'There is blood flowing through them!'
He then discovered that the blood belonged to a true dragon. When the blood flowed, there would be sounds of mercury flowing rapidly.
"This dragon's vein has grown a heart," said Dragon Rearing Sovereign suddenly.
Qin Mu could also hear a faint beating of a heart. The heartbeat grew louder and louder, until they saw the heart in the center of a magma lake.
It was like a mountain which was hung in the air by numerous thick blood vessels. A good number of which were also rooted in the lake.
With the beating of the dragon heart, the magma in the lake would flow backward and circulate through the entire heart as though it was cleansing it.
When the beating stopped for a moment, the magma would fall back into the lake with splashes, waiting for the next time the heartbeat to flow in reverse again.
In the surroundings of the magma lake, there were huge chunks of diamonds hanging from the walls, some of which were like stalactites while others were pillar-shaped crystals. Other than diamonds, there was also gold sand, and chunks of solid gold lying on the ground.
Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan were dazzled by that sight.
Even though Eternal Peace Empire had mines throughout its land, they had never seen a mine with such fertile mineral resources. With the power of Eternal Peace, they could never mine to this place.
Their gazes were blank. Even though great abundance coins was the currency of Eternal Peace Empire, gold was useful as well. Besides, diamond was an extremely durable material for forging treasures, and numerous eminent monks in buddhism used them for that exact purpose. Thus, this kind of huge diamonds could be sold for a very high price!
'If only I could… what a pity,' Long Jiaonan thought in her heart.
'I'm rich!' Qin Mu's heart bloomed with joy. 'After getting rid of Dragon Rearing Sovereign, all this treasure will be mine!'
"If this was anywhere else, I would definitely think that this fire dragon's vein was the main dragon's vein of Eternal Peace Empire. What a pity that this is only a smokescreen designed by those old fogeys of Great Ruins!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign paid no attention to the golds and diamonds lying around and sneered. "They might be able to deceive others, but they can't deceive me! Since Great Ruins is involved, the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord cannot be so weak and small."
He took out his golden cauldron and checked before saying, "There's another dragon's vein nearby!"
He lifted the golden cauldron up and moved quickly to the front of the magma waterfall. With a smile, he said, "Right here!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign raised his hand to lift up the magma waterfall and saw another magma river on the other side.
"Man! I still need to cross a few magma dragon's veins to be able to find the one of the true dragon lord!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's spirit was roused, and he brought Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan through the waterfall. He said with a smile, "However, this makes it more interesting. This trip down to the mortal world is not in vain!"
The dragon's vein they were in was also extremely extraordinary, and even of a higher quality than the one earlier. Besides the dragon scales, blood vessels, and vein lines of muscles on the four walls, some places also had organs!
If it wasn't for the fire dragon's vein at the side, Qin Mu would have thought he had come inside of a true dragon!
'If the group of dragons is already like this, then what kind of dragon's vein would the true dragon lord be like?' Qin Mu was secretly astonished.
As they continued down and covered ten thousand miles, they came into contact with the third underground dragon's vein. Qin Mu frowned slightly. They were walking to the west.
Volcano County was at the outback of Eternal Peace Empire, the central region. If they headed west and walked such a long distance, they should be very close to God Broken Mountain Range.
Qin Mu didn't know if Dragon Rearing Sovereign was familiar with the geography of Eternal Peace and Great Ruins, but since Heavenly Devil Cult was originally dabbling in the smuggling business, they had to cross God Broken Mountain Range. Qin Mu had also crossed it before and could determine it was right above them.
Meanwhile, the third dragon's vein was still stretching out to the west. If they continued to head in that direction, they would enter Great Ruins!
'It should still be night time in Great Ruins currently!'
Qin Mu suppressed the pounding of his heart. Would the underground of Great Ruins be dangerous at night? Would the darkness shroud them as well?
He couldn't be sure.
However, there was nothing wrong about sticking close to Dragon Rearing Sovereign. The abilities of this god were extremely powerful, and even if the darkness shrouded them, he could protect their lives.
They continued forward until the underground dragon's vein in front of them became dim. The place was originally brightly lit by the intense light from the magma, but by then even the light seemed to be consumed by the darkness, leaving only a weak glow.
Qin Mu gave the dragon qilin a kick, and the slow creature came to realization. He immediately came forward and didn't dare to stray far away from Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Long Jiaonan saw this and instantly understood what it meant. She also came closer to Dragon Rearing Sovereign in a hurry.
'This woman is very quick-witted. It'd be best for me to get rid of her as soon as possible to prevent meeting with unexpected failure.' Qin Mu frowned slightly.
They didn't walk far before they saw a god statue erected upright in the center of the magma river. The god statue was giving off a faint glow and driving away the darkness in the surroundings.
"It's indeed the old fogeys of Great Ruins who had messed around!" Dragon Sovereign sneered and continued to walk forward. "If I had not come down to check on the dragon's veins of Eternal Peace Empire, I might have just been fooled!"
He held his aura, not allowing it to leak out as he walked from the stone statue. It seemed that he was afraid of waking it up.
This magma river flowed for a long distance, and every section of it would have a stone statue guarding the dragon's vein. It could be said how far they walked when they finally encountered the fourth dragon's vein.
It no longer belonged to Eternal Peace, but was a dragon's vein of Great Ruins!
Upon entering the fourth dragon's vein, Qin Mu calculated and realized that they had already passed by Border Dragon City and Disabled Elderly Village. They were getting closer and closer to the outback of Great Ruins.
The speed of the two flood dragons under Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet was extremely fast. They were countless times faster than the fat glutton which was the dragon qilin. A journey that took the dragon qilin over a dozen days was covered by the two flood dragons in a day or two.
When they came to the fifth dragon's vein, the darkness had already withdrawn and day had arrived. When they reached the sixth dragon's vein, Qin Mu was sure that they were in the underground of Great Ruins' central region!
"We are close to the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign's spirit was greatly roused, and he smiled. "How's Dragon Rearing Scripture? It's also time for you to return it."
Qin Mu handed back Dragon Rearing Scripture respectfully and said, "My aptitude is small and I only gained some little understanding. There are still some places that I don't understand."
"You're honest and sincere, lacking in sly intentions, and not clever enough; there's naturally some places which are harder to understand," Dragon Rearing Sovereign said. "As long as you serve my dragons well, I will slowly explain this Dragon Rearing Scripture to you."
Qin Mu was overjoyed.
Long Jiaonan saw the expression on his face and wanted to pounce on him and strangle him to death so he could maintain that honest smile on his face even in his death!
"We are at the main dragon's vein!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign's spirit rose and he smiled. "I shall take it away from these old fogeys and ruin their grand scheme that had lasted for ten thousand years in one day… Wait a minute, this is…"
He revealed a puzzled look as he walked out of the sixth dragon's vein. As he looked around, the puzzlement on his face grew even stronger.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan walked forward. What connected the sixth dragon's vein and the main dragon's vein was actually a huge gate. On its two sides, there were numerous dragon-shaped reliefs.
They looked vivid and lifelike, interesting and appealing, like true dragons. Not only were they in all kinds of shapes and denoting different breeds, they were also no inferior to Hundred Dragons Portrait.
Great Thunderclap Monastery's treasure only had a hundred types of heavenly dragons, but there were as many as a thousand types here. Dragon-shaped reliefs of all sizes surrounded a huge dragon that was coiling and raising its head upwards, looking straight at the people outside the wall. Some of the dragons were dancing in the air, some were crawling on the ground, and there were some which were sprawled on the floor hibernating.
There were also some dragon-shaped reliefs that were staring at the ground as though there was something interesting below. There were also big dragons looking at small dragons playing around, some of which had even climbed onto the whiskers of the huge dragon. They were hanging down and frolicking in all kinds of poses.
The huge dragon was sculpted to be formidable and terrifying. It possessed the air of a divine dragon yet it also had a wild and savage side to it. Its gaze stared directly at the people that had come to the place, making it hard for anyone to look back at him.
'This huge dragon is the true dragon lord? If I could comprehend it, my comprehension to Thunderclap Eight Strikes might just reach their extreme point, and I could probably even create new divine arts!'
Qin Mu's heart was greatly moved. Old Ma was skilled in sculpting, Deaf was skilled in painting, and Mute was skilled in smithing, so they had taught Qin Mu numerous things.
He could admire the beauty of the reliefs of the thousand dragons, but he could see much more than just that. The reliefs of the gate and the others had been sculpted with a hatchet. Qin Mu could almost see a god wielding a huge hatchet and moving its heavy frame as though it was as light as the wind. The unwieldy tool became the finest brush, both coarse and wild, letting the god scrawl freely and willfully. This resulted in a set of world-shaking hatchet skills that the god could use to his heart's content.
"Strange, strange!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice came from the other side of the gate, sounding very anxious. It seemed that he had encountered something he didn't understand.
Qin Mu walked through the tall gate and was slightly stunned. Below his feet was an empty abyss while in the surroundings was thick magma running down the four walls while giving off world-shaking rumbles!
They were in a straight and circular hole. It was so perfect that it seemed like it had been sliced out. But there was no main dragon's vein that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had expected.
He lifted the golden cauldron and flew to the center of the abyss. He examined the true dragon lord inside his treasure while looking around at the same time, the perplexed look on his face growing stronger and stronger.
"That's not right, the dragon's vein of the true dragon should be right here, so why is it gone? Could it have been moved away by someone? Or has it already transformed into a true dragon and flown away?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was fretful and uneasy. He immediately descended at a rapid speed, going towards the bottom of the huge hole.
Qin Mu immediately rose into the sky and jumped onto the dragon qilin's back. Fatty Dragon flew down while stepping on auspicious clouds. Long Jiaonan also flew up then descended downward. After some time, they finally came to the bottom of the huge cavern.
The two of them trembled as they looked at their surroundings in a daze. They saw lava flowing down on the walls of the cavern, washing down on the brilliant gold underground space!
They were in an extremely vast space. Magma poured down from above and pounded against the ground which was made of metal. The whole surroundings were densely packed with black gold essence, some of it in pillars and some in huge rocks that looked extremely luxurious.
Strange writings, runes, and pictures appeared on the black gold, sometimes glowing and sometimes dimming as they flowed continuously.
The group could feel extremely terrifying auras around, which were both powerful and cryptic. A dragon's roar which was brutal and formidable could be faintly heard as well.
'Strange, these writings and runes seem slightly familiar, I seem to have seen them somewhere before…'
Qin Mu was bewildered. He went next to one of the black gold essence pillar and examined it in detail; the writing was indeed familiar.
"True dragon lord is indeed not here, not here…"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was already annoyed and was checking on the gold dragon when he suddenly let out a deafening shout, "There's only a dragon nest. Who dug away the true dragon lord?"
'The true dragon lord has been dug away?'
Qin Mu was stunned. He looked at the huge underground dragon nest. It was very wide, with black gold essence everywhere. However, from the pillars' arrangement, there should have been a huge dragon entrenched there.
The center of the dragon nest was empty, presenting a ring-shaped space. Of course, that area was extremely huge, with the circumference of over a dozen miles.
The huge dragon's vein didn't seem to have been finished absorbing the dragon qi to become the divine dragon when it got dug out and brought away.
"The true dragon lord had been refined into a dragon jade!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign walked around the area, his face turning black. He said coldly, "However that person still miscalculated. He didn't expect for me, Dragon Rearing Sovereign, to come here, and didn't foresee that he couldn't leave the dragon nest of the true dragon lord behind!"
'The person who kept away the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord had really refined it into a dragon jade? 'Qin Mu cried out in astonishment in his head. 'Whoever has that great magic power?'
Dragon jade was a kind of jade pendant that portrayed a coiling dragon. The shape was that of a circle, but there was a gap. From the shape of the dragon nest left behind, the dragon's head and tail weren't connected, which was the shape of a dragon jade.
However, the material in the dragon nest was black gold essence, while dragon jade was made of jade.
On top of that, the biggest a dragon jade could be was the size of a palm. How could a true dragon lord that was over a dozen miles long be refined into a dragon jade that was the size of a palm?
Qin Mu soon saw why Dragon Rearing Sovereign said it was a dragon jade.
The god peeled off a layer of black gold essence from one of the black gold pillars, revealing the jade inside.
Qin Mu raised his head and examined it in detail. The magma around them contained molten black gold essence and when it washed over the dragon nest, it covered the jade and gave it the color of gold.
The dragon nest that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had mentioned was made solely of fine jade. The dragon's vein of the true dragon nest should have been nurtured to completion, absorbing the dragon qi coming from Great Ruins and Eternal Peace Empire.
However, someone had found it before it had matured and become a true dragon. They refined it into a dragon jade and brought it away.
No wonder then that there was such a huge abyss in that place. The person who had taken away the dragon jade had to have found the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord and dug through the ground to find the dragon nest!
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body trembled, and fire flood dragons instantly peered out from his clothes. As they shook their bodies, they transformed into huge flood dragons and spewed out intense fire in all directions, smelting all the black gold essence around them.
Melted gold flowed all over the dragon nest continuously, which made Qin Mu sigh in pity.
After the black gold essence flowed away, more jade mountain rocks were revealed. They reflected the light from the magma, and multicolored lights gradually shone from the crystal-like jade whose luster was much gentler than that of crystals.
"The person who took away the true dragon lord must have left the dragon nest to continue absorbing the dragon qi here. When accumulated was large enough, he would come to take the dragon nest and use it to nourish the true dragon lord. This way, both the dragon nest and the true dragon lord could be protected!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign laughed continuously and looked at the dragon nest below that was gradually showing its shape. He said arrogantly, "However, it's useless! They didn't expect me to be a step faster than them to take away the dragon nest! They took the true dragon lord away to refine it into dragon jade, but I will control the dragon nest to restrain the dragon jade. Once I collect it, I will be able to sense the direction of the dragon jade. Once I find it, the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord will become complete!"
Qin Mu touched his chest, and the jade pendant on his chest became scalding hot, so much so that he felt uncomfortable.
There were two jade pendants hanging around his neck. One had been passed down from his ancestors—the jade pendant from Carefree Village—and the other was Emperor's Disk, which Cripple had stuffed into his hands some time ago.
Emperor's Disk was currently giving off heat which left Qin Mu somewhat uncomfortable.
'Wait a moment!'
Qin Mu blinked and grabbed his chest. The Emperor's Disk that Cripple had given him seemed to have the shape of a dragon jade!
His heart suddenly pounded violently twice. Emperor's Disk was a jade pendant that was carved with numerous cryptic runes, writings, and pictures that were glowing from time to time.
Legend said that Emperor's Disk was a treasure gods had conferred to the Ling Family and it represented the authority and role of the emperor. To steal this item, Cripple had even lost his leg to Imperial Preceptor.
However, after getting the Emperor's Disk, Cripple had studied it for dozens of years and still couldn't figure anything out, thus he stopped paying any attention to it.
Emperor's Disk was useless to him, so he stuffed it into the youth's hands. Qin Mu had planned to return it to him after coming back to the village, but Cripple didn't want to take it back. He had already reattached his leg, so he lacked any interest toward the Emperor's Disk.
Since then, that treasure had always been hanging around Qin Mu's neck, tied together with his own pendant.
'It can't be such a coincidence, right?'
Beads of cold sweat formed on Qin Mu's forehead. Emperor's Disk indeed had some runes, writings, and pictures which were similar to the runes, writings, and pictures around the dragon nest. They were also glowing and flowing from time to time, making him unable to understand them.
'However, this Emperor's Disk of mine isn't a dragon jade; it just looks like one. There is no gap. Maybe the writings and pictures on the Emperor's Disk being similar to the ones in the dragon nest are just due to a coincidence.'
Qin Mu composed his heart, thinking to see how Dragon Rearing Sovereign would take away the dragon nest. However, the Emperor's Disk around his neck became more and more scalding. Soo, it became unbearable.
Suddenly, Qin Mu felt something moving over his chest, and the heart of the youth couldn't help pounding an extra time. He stretched his hand out to touch it.
The Emperor's Disk had split open and become a dragon jade!
Not only that, Qin Mu could even feel the dragon jade becoming slimy, as though it had become a living thing. It felt like a small dragon!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Qin Mu heard the violent beating of his heart which couldn't be suppressed. Bigger droplets of sweat formed on his forehead and his legs also became slightly numb as he almost couldn't breathe.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign took a glance at him and asked when he sensed his nervousness, "What wrong with you, little thing?"
Qin Mu composed himself and said, "I just remembered that I haven't fed the dragons today and was afraid of Dragon Sovereign's punishment, that's why I'm feeling uneasy…"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign smiled and said, "So I see. However, this place is too hot and there's magma everywhere. There's no place to stand, so if you want to refine pills to feed the dragons, it'd be best if you went back up. Don't be so scared of me, I'm easy to talk to."
Qin Mu acknowledged his words, but his legs were still soft. He said, "In that case, disciple shall go up to refine pills."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body trembled, and instantly, numerous dragons of all sizes flew out from his clothes. He then passed his taotie sack to the youth and said, "Let your maid follow you to help. Train her well, don't let her be so wild all the time."
Qin Mu immediately hurried the dragon qilin into the air while the group of flood dragons followed behind them to wait for their food.
Long Jiaonan also followed up.
When he came to the gate of the cavern, Qin Mu said, "Maid, you shall stay here, I will go over there to refine pills."
Long Jiaonan sneered and said, "Dragon Sovereign made me follow you as he's scared you will run."
"I will run, I will run? Hahaha, what a joke!" Qin Mu's face was black.
Below the cavern, Dragon Rearing Sovereign started to cast a spell, trying to refine the huge dragon nest to take it away.
"Strange, it seems like the true dragon lord is quite close to here, there's a reaction from the dragon nest…" Dragon Rearing Sovereign said in astonishment. "It seems to not be far away, strange… Let's just take the dragon nest first. Once I'm done with it, I will know where is the true dragon lord!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In front of the gate that had the reliefs of a thousand dragons, numerous flood dragons of all sizes followed closely behind Qin Mu, waiting for him to feed them.
Long Jiaonan was also following behind with her gaze flickering. Time and time again, her gaze would fall on the body of a red flood dragon. That time, among the dragons that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had let Qin Mu feed, the red flood dragon from Dragon Rider Sect was also present.
The red flood dragon of the dragon king was an entity of the cult master level, and it was very familiar with Long Jiaonan. Even though it was snatched by Dragon Rearing Sovereign, as long as Long Jiaonan blew the jade flute, she could still control it.
Qin Mu's eyes were still, but his brain was moving at a lightning fast speed as he thought of ways to escape.
If Dragon Rearing Sovereign took away that huge dragon nest, he and the Emperor's Disk might just fly over to squat there obediently upon the nest's activation. How would he then explain the origin of his pendant then?
Getting torn apart and eaten by a dragon was an acceptable ending, but what if he didn't die?
If he ran away right then, he wouldn't be able to escape all the flood dragons following behind him. Furthermore, Long Jiaonan was also around, so if he tried to run, he would definitely be killed by that woman.
"Maid, fetch the herbs to refine pills."
Qin Mu threw the taotie sack to Long Jiaonan, his face flickering between dark and clear.
Even though he was slightly farther away from the dragon nest, Emperor's Disk around his neck was still squirming as though it was going to come to life. There was an indescribable connection between it and the nest. On top of that, the Emperor's Disk became more and more scalding as if it would transform into a dragon to fly back to the nest.
Long Jiaonan held back her anger and opened up the taotie sack to separate the spirit herbs. Qin Mu took out the dragon bead and held it in his hand to absorb its energy. Instantly, a terrifying energy swept through his whole body and flooded his limbs, causing his strength to rise up drastically!
'No matter what, I will have to leave. Otherwise, after Dragon Rearing Sovereign takes the dragon nest away, I won't have any chance to leave!'
Qin Mu stretched his hand, and a trail of flowing magma flew up from the river nearby, coming to his side.
'Since you want me to feed the dragons, I shall feed! Not only shall I feed them, I shall even kidnap them! I can't run away from Dragon Rearing Sovereign by myself, but if I ride on a dragon, who knows!'
His vital qi transformed into Black Tortoise Vital Qi, and the temperature of the magma fell; however, it didn't solidify. Numerous shiny metals dropped down from the trail of magma and clanked on the floor.
What had solidified in the magma was the black gold essence. It required a higher temperature to be liquid than magma.
Using this method, Qin Mu could extract black gold essence at a quick speed. The purity was also extremely high.
Soon, he managed to collect enough black gold essence to forge a golden flute. In the meantime, Long Jiaonan was still separating the spirit herbs. She had yet to finish.
Qin Mu placed the golden flute at his mouth and used Secrets of Dragon Control which was spoken about in Dragon Rearing Scripture. Once he gathered his vital qi to blow the golden flute, a couple of notes left it.
It was the first time he cultivated Secrets of Dragon Control, so the melody of the flute was slightly clumsy. However, after testing out the tones for a few times, Qin Mu became more skilled. The flood dragons which had lower cultivations flew to and fro according to the sound of his flute, seeming to be enjoying it.
Qin Mu walked forward, and a few more flood dragons moved along with his music. Gradually, he could feel the immense consciousness of the seven flood dragons connecting with his through the melody of the flute.
Boom!
His mind exploded, and he felt his consciousness and thoughts link together with the consciousness of the seven flood dragons which were as vast as the sea!
The corner of Long Jiaonan's eyes twitched, and she immediately stopped separating the herbs. With her eyes flickering, she took out her jade flute and also began to play it. She tried to fight for the control of those flood dragons.
"Maid, seeking death?"
Qin Mu was furious and suddenly let go of the golden flute. He used his vital qi to play a melody with the flute while he himself sent a punch toward Long Jiaonan. He was completely infuriated. That woman just kept causing trouble for him! If he didn't kill her, it would be hard for him to leave!
"I've also tolerated you for long enough!"
Long Jiaonan couldn't help becoming furious when she heard the word maid. She also let go of her jade flute to let her vital qi blow it. She stretched her hand out to face Qin Mu head on as well.
'This woman isn't that dumb. She clearly knows that Dragon Rearing Sovereign gave me an even better dragon bead yet she still dares to face me head on. There's definitely something wrong!"
Qin Mu immediately used the force, and at the instant their two palms collided, a red flood dragon came barrelling toward Qin Mu. It was none other than the fire flood dragon of Dragon Rider Sect!
Once Dragon Rearing Sovereign was trying to take the dragon nest, all his attention was placed on it. This caused the control he had on the dragons he raised to weaken, and Long Jiaonan could instantly connect with the red flood dragon, ordering it to attack.
Qin Mu had expected the danger, so he immediately moved backward. A green-colored flood dragon instantly brandished its claws to collide with the red flood dragon. Terrifying waves of air in the dragon's vein blasted out, sending both Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan flying!
Qin Mu landed on the scalding magma river. It instantly rumbled, and two fire flood dragons rose and carried him over.
Long Jiaonan was smacked into a wall by the blast, and the melodious music of her flute immediately controlled another flood dragon. Its fire grew brighter and brighter, blazing in its throat. When it opened its mouth, a beam of surging Li fire shot out, rushing toward Qin Mu like a fire dragon!
It was the type of fire which could smelt everything and even vaporize magma!
Qin Mu's flute immediately controlled a water flood dragon to pounce on the head of the fire flood dragon. His pet spewed out Kan water which suppressed the Li fire, and the two flood dragons instantly tangled each other in a fight!
Qin Mu put his fingers together to stab forward, and Carefree Sword came out of its sheath to pierce through the layers of flames, going for the heart of Long Jiaonan's brows in a flash.
Long Jiaonan was astonished, but she didn't have time to dodge, so she just tilted her head to the side. Carefree Sword brushed across her face and stabbed into the dragon scales behind her.
'So close!'
Before she could even take in a breath, thousands of sword lights passed through the flames!
Right at that moment, the red flood dragon suddenly coiled its body around her to protect her. Countless sword lights clanked against the dragon scales as Qin Mu's flying swords were all blocked by the flood dragon of the cult master level.
In the dragon's vein, the flood dragons sunk into a panic, and they all gave off deep dragon roars. The reverberation of it almost exploded Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan's eardrums.
Qin Mu's vital qi blew toward the golden flute as he tried to take control of more flood dragons. Long Jiaonan also immediately roused her vital qi to fight with him.
The flood dragons were controlled by the sounds of their flutes, and their consciousness was connected with them, making them fight one another. The cultivations of the flood dragons were equivalent to experts that were near god level, and every single one of them was matchless. They used few divine arts and mostly clashed with their corporeal bodies.
Only then did Qin Mu see how terrifying were the corporeal bodies of the dragon race. When they moved, thousands of muscles were mobilized, and when their tendons stretched tautly and became loose afterward, they gave off loud bangs which were like thunder from a clear sky!
This was a strength that could shift mountains and fill seas, and it was within the body of a dragon. Their explosive force surpassed that of the human race countless times!
But it wasn't even all. If the flood dragons executed their divine arts and exploded with their real might, they would be even scarier.
However, Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan were both self-aware. The both of them had almost died in the dragon's vein when the two flood dragons had spewed fire and water, so it was best to not let them execute their divine arts and just fight with their corporeal bodies.
Even though their cultivations were different, with Long Jiaonan being on the Seven Stars Realm which far surpassed Qin Mu on the Six Directions Realm, Qin Mu was no inferior to her in terms vital qi density.
The number of flood dragons their flutes could control was three. Any more than that, and their vital qi wouldn't be enough. Their consciousness also wouldn't be able to handle it.
Qin Mu had just begun cultivating Secrets of Dragon Control, but it was one that was complete. Long Jiaonan had cultivated that technique for thirty-forty years, but it was from an incomplete copy. Due to that, their power with Secrets of Dragon Control was about identical.
However, Long Jiaonan still possessed an advantage. The red flood dragon of the dragon king was familiar with her, so it was much easier to control. It was also the fiercest in fights, listening to every word of hers.
Qin Mu, on the other hand, had just established his connection with the three flood dragons, so he couldn't control them as he wished.
That bit of difference determined the outcome of their fight!
Long Jiaonan controlled the red flood dragon to bite on the neck of a yellow flood dragon, smashing it against the stone wall heavily. The limbs of the red flood dragon touched the floor, and he slithered forward, passing through the other flood dragons that were fighting to pounce straight at Qin Mu.
"Rascal, I want to take revenge for everyone in Dragon Rider Sect!" Long Jiaonan shouted furiously.
Qin Mu's eyes lighted up, and he moved backward quickly. He suddenly transformed into a shadow that stuck to the wall and moved along the wall of the dragon's vein, avoiding the red flood dragon by going over its head.
"Sister Long, I'm sorry." His voice came from the wall as he rapidly closed in on her.
Astonished, Long Jiaonan saw a huge shadow appear behind her. The dragon qilin had long been waiting for the moment the red flood dragon would leave her side. When his mouth opened, blazing true fire spewed out.
Long Jiaonan hurriedly turned herself around and grabbed the dragon bead to welcome the qilin fire. When the two touched, the bead burst forth with multicolored lights and blocked the qilin fire!
The abilities of the dragon qilin were comparable to an expert of Celestial Being Realm, and his qilin fire was incomparably fierce, charring the hand which Long Jiaonan used to hold the dragon bead. However, Long Jiaonan herself was safe and sound.
At that moment, the shadow in which Qin Mu had transformed descended from above and materialized as he punched the back of Long Jiaonan's heart.
Boom!
Long Jiaonan was blown away and crashed into the wall of the dragon's vein, all the bones in her body shattering.
"If there's afterlife, find me for revenge!"
Qin Mu flicked his finger, and Carefree Sword stabbed the heart of Long Jiaonan's brows. She'd been sliding down from the wall, but the sword nailed her still.
Swoosh.
Eight thousand swords arrived all together and filled the stone wall.
Qin Mu's sword finger pointed back, and Carefree Sword returned back into the sheath. The other swords also returned into his taotie sack, but Long Jiaonan could no longer be found on the stone wall. Only a pile of minced meat was left behind.
She couldn't shed her skin to rebirth anymore.
Qin Mu's vital qi played the sound of the flute, and a fire flood dragon rushed over. Qin Mu leaped one its back and shouted, "Fatty Dragon!"
The dragon qilin immediately jumped onto the back of the dragon and wagged his tail to fawn at him. Only then did Qin Mu saw him carrying Dragon Rearing Sovereign's taotie sack in his mouth.
"Well done!"
Qin Mu gave a rare praise which made the dragon qilin's heart bloom with joy. The sound of the flute became hurried, and the fire flood dragon immediately turned direction, running back the way from which they had come.
"With the speed of this fire flood dragon, if it continues running at full speed, it can probably run out of Great Ruins in less than a day and reach Eternal Peace Empire!"
Qin Mu was excited. But when he turned his head back, his face turned black. Even though the fire flood dragon ran very fast, the other flood dragons followed behind him like shadows. Some were flying, some were running, and some were even swimming. All of them raised their heads to look at him, waiting for him to feed them.
"I've only fed you guys once, don't keep following me!" Qin Mu pleaded them. "I beg you! You guys are free, go wherever you want to go, don't follow me!"
The flood dragons of various colors still continued to follow him with their heads raised up to look at him, waiting for him to feed them.
"All of your conducts are like those of Fatty Dragon!"
Qin Mu was speechless from anger. He could only take the taotie sack of Dragon Rearing Sovereign and refine pills to feed those bum beetles.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Refining pills for the flood dragons was a walk in the park for Qin Mu. The spirit pills that each type of flood dragon ate were different and he had to refine numerous types of them. However, Qin Mu still managed to refine enough spirit pills to feed those bum beetles until they were full.
He had thought that the flood dragons would disperse after they were full, but they actually continued to follow him.
His intention had been to just control one dragon to get out while letting the others run around. In this way, Dragon Rearing Sovereign might chase after his brood which could delay him for a short period of time.
However, the flood dragons already recognize Qin Mu as their meal person, so they were reluctant to part with him. He was driven mad but helpless at the same time.
'Dragon Rearing Sovereign only recorded how to subdue dragons and not how to chase them away.'
Qin Mu blinked and could only submit to his fate.
The fire flood dragon under his feet followed the underground dragon vein while sprinting at full speed. It was twice, maybe even three times faster when compared to when they were coming there. It couldn't be denied that a dragon was a strong lifeform even if it was just flood dragon. Their corporeal bodies were much stronger than those of humans, and their endurance was even more astounding. After running for twenty-thirty thousand miles, there was still no decrease in their speed.
'Dragons are really strong. Of course, other than Fatty Dragon, that glutton is a disgrace to dragons.'
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration. Chancellor Ba Shan's green bull also had the bloodline of the green dragon and his endurance was also terrifyingly strong. He had once carried him and Ling Yuxiu out of Rolan's Golden Palace to the capital, and that was truly an astonishing endurance.
Qin Mu took another glance at the round dragon qilin beside him and was absolutely sure that he was a disgrace to dragons. The dragon qilin would start to pant heavily after running with all his strength for two-three hundred miles. Running leisurely for five thousand miles would completely exhaust him, which would result in him lying down on the ground to snore heavily like a dead pig.
'According to this speed, I will be able to return to Eternal Peace in a short while!'
Qin Mu was full of confidence. If he returned to Eternal Peace Empire, he could either go to the capital to activate Sunshot Divine Cannon or find Blind, Butcher, Village Chief, and the rest. At that time, there would be no need for him to be afraid of Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
At that moment, Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice blasted beside his ear, "Little thing, where are you rushing with my kidnapped dragons?"
Qin Mu's hair stood up on ends, and his sweat flowed down like a waterfall. He hurriedly turned back to look, but he didn't see Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
'He's transmitting his voice!'
Goosebumps formed on Qin Mu's body. Could Dragon Rearing Sovereign had already taken the dragon nest away?
'How could he take such a huge dragon nest so quickly? Moving such a huge thing isn't difficult for a god, but it is difficult to refine it into becoming so small that it can be put away easily.'
Qin Mu's scalp crawled. To refine the dragon nest into the size of a jade pendant in a short time required incomparably dense cultivation. To a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm like him, this was something that was completely impossible to even imagine.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was no doubt a god of High Heavens. To take away the dragon nest in such a short time required the densest magic power Qin Mu had ever encountered!
'He must have only taken the dragon nest when he discovered that I ran away with the dragons, so that's why he transmitted his voice. It isn't because he's already behind me, so I still have the possibility to reach Eternal Peace.'
Qin Mu composed himself. The speed of the fire flood dragon under his feet had already started to slow down. The beast had already sprinted for twenty-thirty thousand miles, so even if its speed had slightly slowed, it was still extremely astonishing and its endurance could be said to be long-lasting.
Qin Mu immediately made a decision, and the sound of his flute changed. He had another flood dragon come close and jumped on it.
The dragon qilin also jumped over on the other dragon's back. The golden dragon immediately exerted its strength to sprint faster, and their speed was boosted once again.
"Hehehe, little thing…"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice continued to travel over. He was using magic power to have his words reach an extremely far off place. Qin Mu had once seen this kind of great divine art used by Chancellor Ba Shan. However, Chancellor Ba Shan had transmitted his voice from a thousand miles away, while Dragon Rearing Sovereign could probably transmit it even farther than twenty-thirty thousand miles.
Qin Mu could feel his voice coming over at an extremely fast speed. It was obvious that Dragon Rearing Sovereign was transmitting it while running. Between his sentences, he had already gotten a thousand miles closer!
"I don't blame you for kidnapping my dragons, so I'll still treat you well and continue to let you be my dragon-raising boy. You should know that I admire you very much, that's why I like your talent… wait a minute! Weird!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice had a hint of astonishment as he cried out, "I can sense through the dragon nest the true dragon lord moving rapidly!"
The Emperor's Disk on Qin Mu's chest became warm, and the dragon jade started to stretch out and squirm continuously. It seemed to be able to sense the dragon nest as well!
"Hehehe, little thing. The true dragon lord is running in the same direction as you, so no wonder you would run away. The true dragon lord is on your body!"
His voice was both delighted and furious. "So the true dragon lord was always right under my nose! How daring of you, to bounce around under my nose for so long. If you were able to escape, wouldn't my reputation as Dragon Rearing Sovereign be ruined by you?"
"Where was I bouncing around? I was clearly very honestly by your side…" Qin Mu said resentfully.
Suddenly, a strange whistle could be heard. It was sharp, piercing through the space from twenty thousand miles away. The dragons of all sizes that were sprinting with Qin Mu paused in their footsteps, slightly hesitant.
The gold flood dragon under Qin Mu's feet also slowed down. It turned its body, thinking to run back in the direction of the whistle.
Qin Mu immediately executed the golden flute and used it to control the golden dragon, but it wasn't moving at all. Qin Mu gritted his teeth and jumped off the dragon's back. He landed on the dragon qilin and shouted, "Fatty Dragon, go!"
The dragon qilin immediately rushed forward, and the whistle suddenly changed. The dragon qilin also paused in his footsteps. The other flood dragons surrounded them, and it was obvious that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had used his whistle to control them. Even the dragon qilin was ordered around and ready to attack Qin Mu.
The flood dragons surrounded him so tightly that even a drop of water couldn't trickle through. They all raised their heads to look at him, but they didn't make a move. Suddenly, a flood dragon stretched out its long tongue to lick Qin Mu's stiff body, his palm to be exact.
The whistling suddenly became fiercer, and from the sound of it, Qin Mu could well imagine that Dragon Rearing Sovereign was definitely furious. He was executing Secrets of Dragon Control to urge the flood dragon to beat up Qin Mu.
However, none of the flood dragons lay their claws on him.
The whistle from Dragon Rearing Sovereign became even more urgent, but the flood dragons still didn't listen to its orders.
Cold sweat rolled down Qin Mu's forehead, and he tried to move his shoulder. The dozen flood dragon surrounding him lowered their heads, and their dragon whiskers swayed around slightly.
"Ma zu sha—"
Strange dragon roars came from the mouths of the flood dragons as they became docile and obedient.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and lowered his head to take a look. He saw that the Emperor's Disk had popped out from under his clothes, and it looked like an extremely fine dragon who had popped its head out and was leaning on his collar.
'Emperor's Disk, the true dragon lord!'
Qin Mu came to an enlightenment. Dragon Rearing Sovereign's cultivation surpassed his by far, and his attainments in Secrets of Dragon Control were also much higher. However, it had to be the effect of the Emperor's Disk that the flood dragons weren't didn't go under Dragon Rearing Sovereign's control.
Qin Mu jumped onto the back of a flood dragon and shouted, "Collapse this dragon's vein for me!"
Dragon roars sounded out as over a dozen dragons trembled their bodies. They expanded drastically as they all revealed their true forms. In an instant, all kinds of savage and wild auras burst forth.
Over a dozen flood dragons opened their mouths, and an incomparably terrifying throbbing sound exploded. Instantly, there was a world-shaking boom, and the dragon scales and stone walls of the dragon vein were destroyed. Crumbling walls collapsed, and the debris blocked off the entire passageway.
The lava would then continue to rise higher and higher until it totally flooded the dragon's vein. Soon, the magma would completely fill up the passageway.
Qin Mu shouted a command, and the group of flood dragons immediately went with him to rush out at a lightning fast speed. Behind them, lava continued to pour down. The middle section of the dragon's vein had been ruined, so it would soon crumble in its entirety!
In time, Qin Mu managed to rush out of the passageway and entered another dragon's vein before the previous one had completely crumbled. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
'The ruined dragon's vein can block Dragon Rearing Sovereign off for a period of time, but not for long.'
He hurried the group of dragons to move forward through the dragon's vein, heading them toward Eternal Peace Empire through the underground.
In Great White Mountain, numerous disciples of Great White Sword Sect guarded the volcano closely. They had even brought the sect legacy treasure which was Hundred Cases Sword Formation. There was a hundred sword cases, each one twenty yards in length, surrounding the entrance of the volcano.
Hundred Cases Sword Formation had quite a high reputation among the sword technique school. It was a precious treasure that the founding master of Great White Sword Sect had left behind. Ever since the sect had been founded, the hundred sword cases were smelted every day in the volcano, thus their power grew stronger and stronger.
They were like a hundred huge and black stone tablets that were standing upright. The sword formation was ready to burst forth at any moment.
On the mountaintop, snow fell continuously. Even though the place was a volcano, it was still very cold. Only the places near the mouth were warmer.
A few disciples of the sword sect rubbed their hands to feel warm while they breathed out white vapors from their nostrils. A female disciple asked, "How does Heavenly Devil Cult Master, that old devil, knows that there's an unusual treasure in the mountains of our Great White Sword Sect? We lived here so long, and we still didn't even discover anything, yet that old devil knew the moment he arrived."
"How would I know?" The male disciple beside her leaned on a huge sword case to avoid the cold wind and shook his head. "However, the people of Heavenly Devil Cult are all very crafty, so they must have found about the treasure in our Great White Sword Sect and thus came to take it. But they are underestimating our Great White Sword Sect too much, not even greeting us at all, truly arrogant."
An elder of the sword sect said, "Isn't the devil path always like that? What kind of person is this current Heavenly Devil Cult Master? He brought the emperor and Imperial Preceptor to the temple by killing his way through, then slew the crown prince in the emperor's face. So what else would he not dare to do?
"However, since Sect Leader has gone to the capital to submit an imperial appeal, we will definitely win! The treasure will belong to our Great White Sword Sect! But now that Sect Leader isn't around, we need to buckle up and guard this place to prevent that old devil from bringing the treasure out and escaping."
The numerous disciples that were stationed at the entrance of the volcano laughed. "Even though the treasure is below, there will definitely be numerous dangers. That old devil risks his life to find the treasure, not expecting that whatever he'll find will have to be handed over to us, the Great White Sword Sect!"
Just as they were saying that, the volcano suddenly rumbled, and the elder of the sect immediately shouted loudly, "All disciples, the old devil is coming out, execute Hundred Cases Sword Formation to trap that old devi—"
Roooooar!
Dragon roars came from the volcano which suddenly erupted. Lava spurted out from its mouth and shot straight into the sky.
Before everyone in Great White Sword Sect could execute the sword formation, they saw the entire peak exploding from the impact. The sword cases which were like black stone tablets flew out in all directions.
Everyone was dumbstruck, not knowing what to do. They could only watch the lava spewing out from the volcano as Qin Mu brought out a dozen flood dragons.
"Disciples of Great White Sword Sect, quickly abandon the mountain and run for your lives!" Qin Mu's voice came from above. "The big one is coming!"
"What big one?" Everyone in the sword sect was furious. An even more violent tremor came from the depths of the volcano, and Great White Mountain gave off loud splitting sounds as huge cracks spread through its body. Lava started to pour out from the cracks.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"The treasure of our Great White Sword Sect is actually so astonishing by just coming out from the ground!"
Nearly everyone in Great White Sword Sect was escaping off the mountain. However, the three elders didn't retreat and advanced toward the mouth of the volcano instead. They shouted, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master can't take the treasure in the mountain, so he's merely diverting our attention until he could! Everyone, don't run!"
"This is the blessing of the founding master to strengthen our Great White Sword Sect, conferring the treasure in Great White Mountain to us. This is a sign that our Great White is going to prosper!" another old woman cried out.
"Heaven pitied us!" A white-haired elder raised his head to the sky and let out a long sigh. He said loudly, "The founding master of our Great White Sword Sect said that this was a place where dragons prospered and we were bound to flourish and prosper with them, and the prophecy has indeed come true today. All disciples, listen up, today is the day when our Great White Sword Sect will prosper and surpass the three big sacred grounds. Come back and let us fight together to subdue this treasure!"
Numerous disciples of Great White Sword Sect heard his words and stopped immediately. They no longer ran, but turned back.
Great White Sword Sect had never had many people. There was the sect leader who had gone to the capital to file an imperial appeal and besides him, only three elders and over a dozen middle-ranking personnels were left behind on the mountain. They were all in charge of teaching the hundred disciples.
At that moment, numerous people of the sword sect chose to stay behind and retrieved the sword cases that had been blown away. The black-colored sword cases thumped as they landed around Great White Mountain that was almost crumbling. The huge sword cases that were twenty yards tall opened up, and countless flying swords flew out like streams from a long river.
In midair, Qin Mu stood on two dragons who exerted all their strength to sprint away. Numerous other dragons followed beside him and flew into the distance. Qin Mu turned back to take a look and saw flying swords transforming into clouds above Great White Mountain with their tips pointed downwards. All of them shot toward the volcano which was spewing lava.
Qin Mu was dumbfounded. He immediately shouted, "Why aren't you guys running, are you seeking death?"
On the peak, the three elders sneered at him as one. "You want to lie to us to swallow the treasure by yourself? Heavenly Devil Cult Master's heart is indeed so evil that it's frightening. If we didn't know Great White Mountain is a place where dragons prosper, we might have just been fooled by you."
Qin Mu sighed and rushed away.
'Great White Mountain Range is built on the dragon's eye of the dragon's vein; however, this dragon's vein is merely the auxiliary dragon's vein of the true dragon lord. Not only is it not a place where dragons prosper, it's a place that seizes all fates there. Great White Sword Sect had their fate seized by the dragon's vein for so many years so their time is probably up,' Qin Mu thought to himself. 'Luckily there are only a hundred people in this sword sect, so there won't be a huge disaster…'
Just as he thought that, Great White Mountain exploded with a bang. The huge volcano was shattered into pieces.
The instant it happened, Hundred Cases Sword Formation crumbled and countless flying swords were melted in the sky, turning into molten iron. The disciples of Great White Sword Sect were also vaporized before they could even grunt in pain.
The cultivation of the three elders was extremely high, but under such a terrifying power, it was completely useless. They vomited blood from the shockwave and stumbled backward, only to look at the flying swords which had turned into molten iron falling toward them at a speed that was even faster than before.
Despair filled the elders' faces. The molten iron would pierce their bodies and put an end to their lives.
Moments before it, they saw a behemoth rising from the debris of the collapsed Great White Mountain.
"As the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, he actually didn't lie to us. There's really a big one in the mountain…"
The three elders raised their heads to look at the god which was incomparably sturdy. He gradually stood up, and two azure and scarlet dragons under his feet let out world-shaking roars.
Pssh, pssh, pssh!
The bodies of the three elders burned as they got rained on by the molten iron. Their corpses fell from the sky along with the debris of Great White Mountain, and even the disciples of Great White Sword Sect were deeply buried.
The founding master of Great White Sword Sect should have never chosen to found his sect in that place.
At that moment, Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body was dozens of times larger than before, like a huge coiling dragon with solid muscles. Under his claws were two huge dragons which carried him as fast as lightning in the direction of Qin Mu. However, there were no signs of the youth in the sky.
There were still a few flood dragons hanging on the god's ears, and they crawled into his clothes to hide their heads.
Those flood dragons were left behind because they had assisted him in refining the dragon nest, only due to that was he able to refine the dragon nest at such a fast speed.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's flames torrented into the sky as he looked around, but he still couldn't spot Qin Mu. Flipping his palm over, he took out a jade artifact that was a big as a table. He sneered and said, "Little thing, do you think you can run?"
The base of the jade artifact was like a huge round table which had been sliced smoothly. However, on the top of the table, there was a semi-circular domed roof. Under it, the surface was separated into nine levels. Each level had numerous jade pillars and jade canine teeth that seemed to be intertwined. On the ninth level, there was a ring-shaped notch that had a gap.
This was none other than the dragon nest of the true dragon lord!
When Qin Mu had come to the dragon nest, most of its parts had been submerged in the scalding magma. What was revealed in front of their eyes was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign had exhausted quite a huge amount of strength to dig out the dragon nest and refine it so that he could bring it away.
He then activated the treasure then, borrowing its borrow to determine Qin Mu's direction. However, the youth seemed to have vanished, and even the dragon nest couldn't sense the true dragon lord.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was astonished. He increased his magic power and activated the dragon nest again, but he still couldn't sense where was the Emperor's Disk.
'He has managed to hide the true dragon lord? No, no, no matter where he hides, it's impossible to block the connection between the true dragon lord and the dragon nest!'
He activated the dragon nest repeatedly, but he still couldn't sense Qin Mu's position.
Beads of sweat formed on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's forehead. Qin Mu had 'kidnapped' over a dozen of his dragons, and they were all extremely powerful. The red flood dragon that the dragon king had raised was merely a child compared to his own. They had been raised with meticulous care, and the battle prowess of every single one of them was astounding!
If they were truly kidnapped by Qin Mu, his losses would not need to be said.
In addition, the purpose of his journey was to find the main dragon's vein of Eternal Peace Empire. If it wasn't gotten rid of, how could he still have the face to return to High Heavens?
"Seems like I can only take out my Golden Dragon Cauldron to cast spell to look for my dragons!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign stretched his hand for his taotie sack, but found nothing there. His face instantly turned charcoal black.
He had handed his taotie sack to Qin Mu so he could feed the dragons, thus his taotie sack was naturally in the youth's hands!
His Golden Dragon Cauldron was in that taotie sack!
"That honest-looking brat…" Dragon Rearing Sovereign's teeth creaked from the grinding, and sparks even jumped from his mouth. "If I ever meet another honest-looking person, I will definitely tear them to pieces right away! Do you think I won't be able to find you just because you took away my taotie sack? You are too naive!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign raised his hand and pulled out a bunch of hair from his head. Every strand was wavy, not a single one straight.
Not only that, his hair even branched out. On every single strand, there were four branches which were separated near the two centers of the hair.
On top of that, when the hair was plucked out from his scalp, the root seemed to give off yawns as though it was a young dragon opening its mouth to breath with sleepy eyes.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign chanted for a moment, then he opened his palm to blow the hair away. They floated up from his hand and actually came to life, transforming into small dragons as they landed on their feet.
They grew in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, they had all transformed into black flood dragons that were ten yards long. They had slim bodies, thighs, necks, and their four limbs were all very slender. They sprinted away covering the mountains and the plains.
"Since you aren't in the sky, you won't be able to run far."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's face was flickering between dark and clear. He plucked out another bunch of hair and did the exact same thing again, sending hundreds of slender black flood dragons into the distance.
He plucked a few more times, pulling out almost all of the hair on his head before stopping.
The speed of several thousand black flood dragons was extremely fast. With each one responsible for a radius of a mile, they quickly formed a search area of several thousand miles wide.
The black flood dragons could smell dragons, so no matter how the youth hid the Emperor's Disk, it would be useless. As long as there were still flood dragons beside him, even the dragon qilin, the black flood dragons would be able to smell them and find his traces!
"No one has ever fooled me like this. Upon finding you, I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death!"
In River Shade Country, Qin Mu looked at the wooden chest, still slightly uneasy. He asked, "Can Dragon Rearing Sovereign really not sense anything if Emperor's Disk is placed inside here? He refined the dragon nest, and Emperor's Disk is the true dragon lord that was nurtured in that place, so it's very strange!"
"Aba! Ah, ah, ah?"
The person carrying the wooden chest was a well-built old man who looked travel-worn. He waved his hands and grinned. There was no tongue in his mouth.
Qin Mu nodded and said, "I know, how would I dare to doubt Grandpa Mute's abilities? I'm just worried that even if this chest will be able to block off the dragon nest, Dragon Rearing Sovereign will still find his way over. He is a god of High Heavens who raises dragons well, so they are all extremely powerful!"
When he was escaping earlier, he had encountered a silver boat flying through the sky like a silver shooting star. He immediately shouted for Grandpa Mute, and he saw the silver boat flying back. Sure enough, Mute had been in it.
Qin Mu quickly explained everything to him, and Mute put away his flying boat. It transformed into a pile of silver pellets which landed in a wooden chest. He also made Qin Mu put the Emperor's Disk inside.
"Ah," Mute said with concern.
"Grandpa Mute, don't underestimate him." Qin Mu's expression became grim as he felt Mute was slightly underestimating the enemy. "That's right, Village Chief said you went to chase after a ship. What ship was it? Did you manage to catch up to it? I also met a ship and even saw my father on it."
The smile on Mute's face vanished, and he seemed to become slightly dejected. He carried the wooden chest without a word.
Qin Mu immediately followed after him and said, "Grandpa Mute didn't manage to find that ship?"
Grandpa Mute was still dejected. He signaled that the ship had gone to a world in which he couldn't follow. He was beaten back by the strong practitioners of that world.
After a moment, a surprised and delighted voice suddenly sounded out. "Human Emperor Qin, why are you here? Your dragon qilin is indeed remarkable, to actually run ahead of us!"
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice and was slightly stunned. He saw Wang Muran, Long Yu, and Mu Qingdai sitting on a huge buck, hurrying over while looking travel-worn.
The dragon qilin was pleased and his tail instantly rose straight up like a flagpole. He gave the huge buck of Little Jade Capital a disdainful glance.
The huge buck stared with its eyes wide-open and its mouth agape. Its little tail that had been sticking straight up immediately fell. With its butt clenching its tail, the huge buck revealed a look of reverence.
It then saw the flood dragons of all sizes beside Qin Mu all following the dragon qilin, and the look of reverence on its face grew even stronger.
Qin Mu was astonished. "You guys only came here after three days?"
He had gone from the capital to Great White Sword Sect before crossing eighty or ninety thousand miles to the center of Great Ruins before running back in the same three days!
However, if he said so, he reckoned that the three people wouldn't believe him.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Wang Muran and the rest were very puzzled. When Qin Mu rode the dragon qilin, the creature had obviously run very slowly, so they never expected him to get ahead of them. Could the dragon qilin, that glutton, have hidden his abilities and only be pretending to be weak?
The three stepped forward and exchanged greetings. Long Yu looked much better than a few days earlier. He was no longer cracked and his complexion was better.
"This is our blacksmith, Grandpa Mute," Qin Mu introduced Mute to everyone.
Mute grinned. He handed the wooden chest to Wang Muran, but Qin Mu immediately shouted, "Don't take it!"
Wang Muran was stunned. He didn't stretch his hands out, and Mute pouted. He babbled and grumbled about Qin Mu not understanding how to respect the elderly.
Qin Mu didn't explain, for he knew very well how heavy Mute's chest was. If Wang Muran took it, he would definitely be crushed.
If Qin Mu had to choose the most mischievous elder in the village, he would definitely vote for Mute!
Even though Cripple had scammed of his hawthorn candies ever since he was young, Cripple was only playing with him and would usually return it back to the tearful him after biting a mouthful or two.
Mute was thus the most mischievous in the village, his belly overflowing with evil tricks. From young to old, Qin Mu had been tricked countless times by him.
"The battle that happened two days ago has stopped, but we are not sure what happened," Wang Muran said. "We were hurrying on our way and could feel the auras of those gods clashing. Based on the direction from where they came, the location should be in the center of Relax Prefecture and Bazhou."
He took out a map of Eternal Peace Empire and found Relax Prefecture and Bazhou. He drew a mark at the spot in the center.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. That was where Granny Si was staying!
'The place where those gods fought wasn't far from granny, so she is probably in danger!'
His heart was slightly uneasy, but Village Chief and Hermit Qing You had gone there first. Their speed was faster and they should have long arrived at the place.
"We aren't far from there anymore. There are only about a thousand miles, so we can reach it in half a day or less!" Mu Qingdai said.
Qin Mu took out his golden flute and used his vital qi to play it. He said, "There's no need for half a day."
A flood dragon's consciousness linked with Qin Mu and it immediately shook its body to transform into a behemoth that was dozens of yards long. Qin Mu jumped on its back and the dragon qilin came after.
"Come on up, we'll take an hour at most to reach there," Qin Mu said.
Wang Muran and the rest were bewildered, but they still jumped onto the back of the flood dragon. The buck also came on and looked at the flood dragon suspiciously before looking at the dragon qilin who was on its back as well.
The dragon qilin looked down his own nose and paid no attention to the disdainful gaze of the buck.
Mute also jumped up with his chest, and the flood dragon which had been awe-inspiring moments ago was instantly crushed on the ground. It flailed around like a dead snake, its four claws struggling to push it up, digging deep gorges in the ground. But it couldn't get up no matter what.
"Grandpa Mute, go down, go down!" Qin Mu immediately shouted out. "You're about to squash it to death!"
Mute jumped down resentfully and signaled with his hand. Qin Mu's face blushed. "Grandpa Mute, why are you scolding me? I'm not being disrespectful to you, it's your chest that's too heavy… Look, you're scolding me again!"
Wang Muran and the rest looked at each other in dismay.
Qin Mu played the golden flute, and over a dozen flood dragons flew over to lift Mute up. Only then was the old man satisfied. The flood dragons were all extremely strong, equivalent to top-notch existences of the cult master level, so their speed was naturally not slow.
Everyone hurried forward at an extremely fast speed, the trees in their passing unable to be seen, just flashing past like shadows. Even mountains passed by them quickly. On the back of the dragon, the buck continued to look at the dragon qilin with stronger and stronger disdain. It couldn't resist giving a loud sneeze which seemed to be scorning the glutton.
The dragon qilin's tail drooped down as he lowered his head to look at his snout.
Qin Mu was rather gratified. 'Fatty Dragon still knows shame, so it's not that he can't be taught. I shall feed him Fire Element Divine Vitality Pill tomorrow, and he shouldn't pick them out this time.'
Suddenly, a few black-colored slender flood dragons showed up. Some were climbing on tree tops and some were flying in the sky. They raised their heads to look at the flood dragons, then the group they were carrying.
Qin Mu swept his gaze around, startled.
"Strange beasts such as flood dragons are extremely low in number so why are they everywhere now?" Mu Qingdai asked in bewilderment.
Those black flood dragons flew up and raised their heads to roar, giving off weird sounds like "maha, maha". Everyone looked back and saw a swarm of their kin, some good thousand of them flying over. They were a dense mass which covered the whole mountain peak.
What happened next was that those thousands of black flood dragons jumped, slithered, and flew over in pursuit of them.
Qin Mu turned away from them.
'For someone to use such an ability, it naturally has to be Dragon Rearing Sovereign! Most of his flood dragons are with me, so where did these black flood dragons come from? They don't look too real.'
He opened Dragon Rearing Sovereign's taotie sack and took out Dragon Rearing Scripture. After examining it in detail, he saw a sentence which mentioned using dragon qi to nourish one's body.
'Absorb the dragon qi, refine body into that of a dragon, then circulate the technique to transform. Muscles, hair and skin—there's nothing that can't be transformed.'
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He turned back to look at the black flood dragons that were chasing after them frantically. 'In that case, these black flood dragons should be part of Dragon Rearing Sovereign, and since there's such a large number of them, it can only be his hair. As expected of the gods of High Heavens, able to even refine one's hair into dragons. Since they are hair, they must be scared of fire…'
Qin Mu blinked, and the sound of the flute slightly changed. One of the fire dragons carrying Mute slowed down and suddenly lowered its body as it went into the forest below.
Qin Mu controlled the other dragons to hurry on their way why the densely packed black flood dragons chased after frantically like a piece of huge black cloud.
When the black cloud flew above the fire flood dragon, terrifying true fire swept up from below and instantly covered the radius of several dozens of miles. Countless black flood dragons squirmed as they burned in the true fire. Thick black smoke billowed in the sky, and not long later, the creatures that were Dragon Rearing Sovereign's hair were completely incinerated.
After the fire flood dragon burned all of the black flood dragons, it quickly chased after the group while nodding and wagging its tail. It soon caught up to them and continued to carry the elderly.
Mute revealed a look of admiration and gave Qin Mu a thumbs up. The youth smiled bashfully and waved his hand. "Grandpa Mute, don't praise me like this…"
Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu stared with their eyes wide open at the thousands of black flood dragons that had been reduced to ashes. Every one of them shuddered.
"Muran, you are a good child, leave the human emperor," Long Yu said secretly. "This person is too demonic!"
Wang Muran hesitated. "Big senior brother, when you were crazy, he and I already formed an alliance and founded Heaven Alliance. I'm one of the four great leaders there, so the two of us are on the same ship as of now…"
Long Yu stared with his eyes wide open and sighed after a while. "You will be brought astray by him."
After a moment, Dragon Rearing Sovereign finally came to the place were Qin Mu had burned his black flood dragons and his face went black when he saw the ashes that filled the mountain. He was so angry that his hands trembled uncontrollably. "Honest-looking brat, honest-looking brat…"
There were only a few strands of curly hair left of his head, and they seemed to come to life on their own as they started shivering from fear.
"I will definitely not let you off! Even if you go up to heaven or down to hell, I will find you! I will mince your corpse! I will chop you into fine pieces!"
He plucked out the remaining strands of hair which squirmed in his hand as they struggled to go back into his scalp. It was obvious that the end of their comrades had made them afraid.
With a black face, Dragon Rearing Sovereign blew a breath of dragon qi to transform the strands of hair. They took the shapes of black dragons and sniffed their surroundings. They could smell the scent left behind by the other flood dragons, but they didn't dare to give chase.
"What's the use of having you guys!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was furious. He shook his head, and the black flood dragons transformed back into hair and returned to his scalp.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign sliced his wrist and spilled some fresh blood. The droplets instantly transformed into blood flood dragons to continue searching for Qin Mu's trail.
'In front is the place where granny lives in seclusion.'
Qin Mu stopped playing his flute and looked ahead. At the sight, he couldn't help being stunned.
Granny Si stayed under the foothill that was in the center of Bazhou and Relax Prefecture. Beside the house, there was a clear lake, and it was a very serene place. However, the surroundings were barren and desolate. Because Li Tianxing liked to come out and play around, granny chose a place that was far from the worldly affairs.
However, what appeared in front of Qin Mu and the rest's eyes wasn't a wild and mountainous land. Instead, it was an incomparably luxurious community of palaces that were constructed from gold and jade.
The celestial palaces situated near one after another transformed the once wild and mountainous land into a sacred ground for immortals. There were marble pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes, smooth white jade that was laid out on the floor, and incomparably thick golden pillars holding up the roofs that had extraordinary style!
The mountains in the surroundings had also went through a transformation. There were strange rocks and weird pines, spirit grass that spread throughout the land, brightly colored flowers, and all kinds of strange and weird strange beasts as well as flying creatures loitering around. Gardens of all sizes were everywhere, and they had spirit herbs that even Qin Mu didn't recognize.
Spirit springs, flying waterfalls, crooked footpaths, streams, and brooks also helped to construct the beauty of mountains and rivers that could usually only be seen in ink paintings.
Even though everyone in the group was from reputable and big sects and were used to seeing luxury, walking into such a sacred ground still made them feel slightly wretched. They were afraid of dirtying the floor and spoiling the arrangements.
Mute revealed a look of suspicion and signaled twice. Qin Mu said in a daze, "I also don't know. It wasn't like this when I was here las… Granny! Granny!"
He called out twice, but no one replied. Only a few huge fish leaped out of the water, transforming in beautiful women who had human upper bodies and fish lower bodies. They leaned against the fake mountains and sang a soothing song with their charming and gentle voices.
Mute gave two ahs and Qin Mu nodded. "It's indeed too luxurious. I also don't know how granny managed to get all of it…"
They came to a divine hall whose decorations were simply too exquisite. After entering, they immediately walked out in fear of dirtying the place. Mute walked a couple more steps, then placed down his wooden chest.
"Granny isn't here," Qin Mu said to Wang Muran and the rest in bewilderment. "Granny must have left home, so let's just wait here for a moment. If granny doesn't come back before the sky turns dark, we'll have to leave immediately. We can't stay for even one minute! When the sky turns dark, it's definitely not granny that would come back. It would be the old demon!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Could it be that this place will be invaded by the darkness? Why else must we leave before the sky turns dark?" Mu Qingdai asked.
Qin Mu shook his head, but didn't explain in detail.
Everyone was waiting outside the divine hall when the sky suddenly turned dim and thunder could be faintly heard. Qin Mu raised his head to look and the sky that was still clear a moment ago. By then, it was covered with densely packed dark clouds.
It was winter season and the weather was cold, so there would rarely be thunder and much less lightning. Yet there were dark clouds and thunder above their heads.
The dark clouds became thicker and thicker, slowly covering the entire sky. A heavy shower then started, and everyone hurried to hide under the roof of the divine hall to avoid the icy cold rainwater.
The rain shouldn't have been this heavy in the winter season, yet it was pouring heavily over them.
The dozen flood dragon also squeezed in under the roof and coiled around the bronze pillars to avoid the heavy rain. The dragon qilin was taking a nap at the entrance, since he could avoid the rain there.
The buck went to the dragon qilin's side and lowered its head. With its horns, it flung the dragon qilin out of the hall and took his spot.
The dragon qilin was furious when he got drenched by the rain. He walked back with his mouth opened wide, and the buck jumped up and shook its huge horns, readying itself to fight anytime.
Steaming water vapor suddenly rose from the ground, and Long Yu stretched his hands out and caught a handful of rainwater. "The water is hot!" he said in astonishment.
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he stretched his hands out as well. The rain coming down from the sky was indeed hot. It was as scalding as boiling water!
He immediately walked out of the divine hall, and his vital burst forth to split the rainwater to the sides so it didn't land on his body.
He raised his head to take a look and saw that the sky had become very dark. In the pitch black above, there was lightning moving through the dark clouds from time to time, and the rumblings of thunder could be heard from a thousand miles away. It was rolling above them at an extremely fast speed before leaving into the distance. In a split second, the thunder had rolled two thousand miles forward!
It didn't sound like a thunderclap that could be produced by lightning!
Wang Muran and the rest also walked out from the divine hall and raised their heads to look. They saw more and more lightning, and when the bolts crossed each other while slicing through the pitch black clouds, it was very terrifying.
The rain falling from the sky became hotter and hotter.
"There seems to be something happening in the sky… Fatty Dragon, put that buck down!"
Qin Mu turned back and shouted out. The dragon qilin loosed the grip of his jaws and let go off of the buck's neck. The buck was furious and wanted to attack, but it got squashed by the dragon qilin sitting on top of it, which felt like an immovable mountain rather than a living creature.
The thunder in the sky became more and more frequent as though there was a giant beating onto a war drum. The lightning in the meantime transformed into balls that rolled around, lighting up the darkness.
Layers of heavens opened up in Qin Mu's eyes as he looked at the clouds. Suddenly, he could faintly see figures flashing in the sky. Those figures leaped around through the clouds and fought each other!
Wang Muran, Long Yu, and Mu Qingdao from Little Jade Capital had also learned spells like the third eye or divine eye. They all executed their spells to look up and couldn't help crying out in astonishment.
Suddenly, the thick and heavy dark clouds were torn apart as a tall and imposing figure appeared in the darkness. He wielded two huge knives, and the lightning flashing next to him made him look even more fierce than usual, both excited and sinister!
"Grandpa Butcher!" Qin Mu cried out in astonishment.
He had seen Butcher's crazy side before, since Butcher frequently went crazy in Disabled Elderly Village. He could even slash Village Chief when in that mood. He would only reveal a slight tenderness when facing Qin Mu.
As his cry of astonishment rang out, a few more figures appeared in the tear in the dark clouds, going straight for Butcher!
'The dark cloud had been torn by Grandpa Butcher's knives!'
While Qin Mu realized that, the dark cloud closed and thunder rumbled again. But the constant booming actually didn't come from thunder—it was the loud bangs created from the rapidly moving bodies!
Butcher's knives split open the sky, and since they were incomparably hot, they raised the temperature of the clouds to boiling. Thus, the rain coming down became more and more scorching!
At that moment, Qin Mu saw a majestic piece of land descend from the sky while passing through the clouds. It had mountains and rivers, and was just opposite to the land they were on. It looked like it was going to collide with Eternal Peace Empire, and the sight was astonishing.
"Aba!" Mute said solemnly.
"That's right, it's Village Chief!" Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. "Village Chief is also above, so who are they fighting?"
The land in the sky seemed to have met its nemesis as it flew back into the clouds. The mountains and rivers suddenly crumbled to pieces.
Qin Mu was stunned. Village Chief's sword skill was broken!
Rumble!
The sky trembled violently. A pillar that was dozens of yards thick descended from the sky and pierced through the clouds. It seemed like something from heaven coming straight for earth.
However, it wasn't a pillar. Instead, it was a frantically swirling current that was like a spear formed by huge water dragons coiling around one another. Someone was gathering water as a spear!
"Grandpa Blind's spear skill!"
Qin Mu's mind was blown. The incomparably thick water dragon spear was nothing else but Blind's spear. Blind rarely used a weapon. Even when faced with existences of the cult master level, he usually used a bamboo cane to finish the battle.
A bamboo cane was enough for him to break all spells and divine arts in the world.
Yet at that moment he had gathered water into a spear so he should have met a strong enemy which caused him some trouble!
With a solemn expression, Mute turned around to walk back into the divine hall. He carried his wooden chest out and pointed at Qin Mu. "Ah ah, ah ah ah!"
Qin Mu nodded solemnly and said, "Grandpa Mute, don't worry, I will definitely not run around. However, I can also help, I have many powerful flood dragons under me."
Mute raised his eyebrows and revealed an expression that looked like he was smiling yet not smiling.
Qin Mu blushed and said in a low voice, "They are still powerful though…"
Mute jumped up, but then he paused ten yards in the sky and floated motionlessly.
Among the heavy rain, blood flood dragons crawled over from all directions and encircled the immortal sacred ground layer after layer.
Thump!
Mute's feet landed on the ground, and two deep footsteps were left behind. The surroundings of the footprints crackled, and the stone slabs exploded, while the farther ones cracked.
Mute placed the chest down on the ground, and its lid automatically opened, revealing a chest filled with silver pellets that were the size of a thumb.
On Mute's back was a huge furnace which he often used. Yet even after placing the chest, the huge cylinder furnace was not removed. He was still carrying it.
The furnace had long been extinguished and was jet black.
Mute clasped his hands tightly, and his vital qi burst forth. The furnace behind his back suddenly blazed fiercely with flames.
The blood flood dragons stopped in their footsteps. Some of them had been climbing up the railings while others were squatting on stone lions' heads, some stopped at the stone stairs while others were on the roofs of the halls behind Qin Mu and the rest.
The surroundings were under the cover of darkness, but incomparably heavy footsteps could be heard from it. There was also a heavy breathing that was steady yet frantic.
The chest before Mute's feet rattled and trembled continuously. The Emperor's Disk suddenly flew out and landed in Qin Mu's hand. Mute didn't even turn his head back. He just raised his hand, and his five fingers moved as he did a few hand signals.
Qin Mu hung the Emperor's Disk on his chest and said solemnly, "Grandpa Mute asked us to retreat into the divine hall! Fatty Dragon, quickly get up, don't sit on that buck until it dies!"
The dragon qilin immediately stood up from the buck who was sprawled out on all four. It gasped for breath, its tongue stretched long before it.
"Pah!" The dragon qilin spat a mouth of dragon saliva at the buck.
'This glutton is truly wasteful, that's a few bottles of dragon saliva!' Qin Mu was furious.
The footsteps in the darkness came closer and closer. Two huge flood dragons came into their view first, their heads as huge as small mountains. Their long necks then showed up, followed by their sharps claws, and then a pair of feet that were standing on the backs of the two flood dragons.
The heavy rain filled the air, and the boiling rainwater came down in waterfalls, drenching the gigantic body that was walking out from the darkness. The rainwater cleaned the scales, turning them bright and clear as they reflected the bolts of lightning in the sky.
The two flood dragons stopped, and a bolt of lightning tore through the darkness, lighting up the gigantic figure.
It was Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
The Dragon Rearing Sovereign whose head was only left with a few hairs and whose face was as black as charcoal!
"You want to block me?'
His eyes tore through the darkness like lightning, as if they were two beams of light shining on the body of Mute, who carried a blazing furnace of his back. It seemed like he was trying to see everything about Mute. His voice then exploded like thunder. "Just you alone want to stop me? Hand over that honest-looking brat who burned all of my hair, and I will grant you an intact corpse!"
Mute was stunned and scratched his head.
"Grandpa Mute, he meant me!" Qin Mu popped his head out of the divine hall and said honestly and sincerely, "Dragon Sovereign, I was the one who burned your hair, but I didn't do it on purpose. You asked me to feed the dragons, so I fed them well, and they followed me when I left. Afterward, when I saw your hair giving chase, I found it ugly and insulting to your image so I took the liberty to burn your three thousand worries."
The corner of Dragon Rearing Sovereign's eyes twitched, but he didn't move his gaze away from Mute. He wanted to do it, but he realized that the instant he looked away, it was highly possible he could receive a fatal blow.
"So it's a remnant of Founding Emperor Era." His gaze landed on the furnace behind Mute and he sneered. "You are a descendant of the Heavenly Creator of the fake Celestial Heavens during Founding Emperor Era, right? The fake Celestial Heavens conferred your ancestor the title of Heavenly Creator and let your heavenly workers create Carefree Village.
"He then had all of you create Paramita Ark to head to Carefree Village, but it didn't manage to sail there. Hehe, we heavenly gods sealed all of you up, thinking you remnants would die within, but never would I have expected that there would be someone who would manage to escape! Why are you not talking?"
Mute was expressionless. He gave a hand signal.
Qin Mu popped his head out of the hall and shouted loudly, "Dragon Sovereign, he is calling you a slut. It's not me scolding you though, it's him!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's face turned even darker. The two flood dragons on his ears stretched their bodies secretly and jumped onto his shoulders. They slid down his arms, growing larger and larger. Their scales were like incomparably intricate mechanisms as they flowed and covered his arms.
In his clothes, there were three more flood dragons slowly growing larger as they coiled around his waist and thighs.
Thump.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign jumped down from the back of the dragon, and two thick dragon claws gripped the ground firmly. The two flood dragons that were originally under his feet suddenly shrunk and transformed into two truncheons that he grabbed from the ground.
"Remnant from the Ministry of Works of the fake Celestial Heavens!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign shouted loudly. His body contorted, and his weird barbaric dragon strength burst forth from his body. With razor sharp teeth clenched tightly, he swung his truncheons to smash them at Mute. "Prepare to die!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body was the corporeal body of a god, and with the addition of five dragons coiling around his body and two serving as his weapons, his strength multiplied several times.
Even though Dragon Rider Sect was founded by Dragon Rearing Sovereign, it only had the abilities to control unusual breeds of dragons and snakes; its people didn't have the abilities to borrow strength from dragons. But Dragon Rearing Sovereign's Secrets of Dragon Control could allow one to borrow flood dragons' strength for themselves.
Besides that, his Dragon Rearing Scripture didn't contain all the techniques he had, either. He had held back some information. Even though the Dragon Rearing Scripture in Qin Mu's hand was much more complete than the one passed on to Dragon Rider Sect, the most important battle methods were no recorded inside it.
When using flood dragons as twin truncheons, his strength was so massive that when he struck, the eardrums of Qin Mu and the rest rang loudly, deafening them for an instant.
Not only that, that strike had emptied out all of the air in the surroundings. It was as if a huge chunk of space had crumbled, and all the air around was sucked away.
That was different from the clash of normal strong practitioners.
Qin Mu had seen numerous fights between strong practitioners, the struggles between those of cult master level, and even personally witnessed how Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor quelled the rebellion. The impact from their divine arts didn't really collapse inwards but would explode in all directions with destructive force.
However, Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body was so strong that the impact actually caved inwards; there was no excess power leaking out. All of the destructive power was concentrated in one area, allowing his strength to burst forth with no restraint!
Even though the impact that burst forth in all directions looked vast and had astonishing destructive power, its energy was scattered. When the divine art hit the opponent, the power had already been weakened by quite some bit.
The fact that it didn't happen when Dragon Rearing Sovereign attacked represented that he had reached extreme control over his strength.
It was the beauty of strength, and that kind of beauty could only be admired by the few who had dedicated their lives to studying strength to its extreme.
In the palace hall, Qin Mu and the rest didn't have the time to admire. The air in the hall was sucked out, and the group immediately felt an immense pressure as even what was in their lungs was pulled out!
The astonishing pressure seemed to be squeezing them, while due to the air having been cleanly sucked away, there was a sense of their bodies trying to expand outwards. Their eyeballs, heart, lungs, bladder were all expanding while their blood and urine nearly flowed out uncontrollably.
They got hit by the air which was trying to leave, and their bodies rose into midair against their will. They flailed as they flew toward the truncheon of Dragon Rearing Sovereign as though they were sending themselves to their deaths.
If they were to be sucked under the truncheons of Dragon Rearing Sovereign, they would be crushed like ants and lose their lives.
Qin Mu hurriedly stretched one hand to grab the thick horn of the buck while his other caught onto Mu Qingdai's hand. The girl's sashes fluttered and coiled themselves around Long Yu's legs, who then grabbed onto Wang Muran.
The force pulled the four people in a straight line, and the buck's footing started to become unsteady as it tried to dig for purchase into the ground. However, that didn't stop them from floating out of the hall.
The huge buck opened its mouth and clamped his teeth onto the dragon qilin's tail, who felt a sharp pain and growled furiously. No matter how astonishing the pulling force was, the dragon qilin remained unmovable.
Boom!
A world-shaking explosion came from outside of the hall. Dragon Rearing Sovereign's strike had to have unleashed its power to clash with Mute, and the resounding tremor shook the four of them violently in midair as though they were struck by countless bolts of lightning.
It wasn't exactly what happened though. When Mute and Dragon Rearing Sovereign's attacks clashed, the strength of their corporeal bodies had created ripples in space, and it undulated up and down violently. The group who was in the air thus moved up and down as well, suffering from the extreme shaking.
Blood leaked out from the corners of their mouths. The ripple in space not only subjected them to the tremors, their bodies also warped along with the space, which resulted in their five viscera and six bowels shifting to wrong places. Their bones also cracked as they couldn't stand the heavy load anymore!
"Too powerful!" the dragon qilin shouted. "I'm close to vomiting!"
Qin Mu and the rest were feeling so terrible that they were about to vomit blood, yet the fat dragon could still speak with plenty of vitality!
At that moment, a bright light burst from the outside, and snow white light dazzled the group's eyes. When brightness reached an extreme level, it would become darkness, even if they had no idea whose divine art it had been that had turned everything in front of their eyes pitch black. Tears flowed out of their eyes, and they immediately executed their pupil divine arts to prevent their eyes from getting damaged.
Thump, thump, thump.
Their bodies landed on the ground; however, the next moment the ripple from the second collision came over. Luckily, it seemed to be much farther away. Yet the tremors still turned the ground into something similar like the surface of the sea, rising up in waves. Even a glutton like the dragon qilin was bounced up.
Pak, pak, pak. There were a few crisp smacks as Qin Mu and the rest were flung against the ceiling.
"Who's the one who constructed these palaces for granny, such sturdiness…" grumbled Qin Mu. Blood leaked out from Qin Mu's mouth due to the collision, and he swallowed down the rest that had bubbled up his throat.
In the past, Great Cult Master Qin had demolished numerous houses and palaces. When had he ever met one that was so sturdy?
The palaces of Heavenly Devil Cult's Saint Arrival Mountain had been demolished without much trouble. Even the imperial palace, Imperial College, and palaces of Rolan's Golden Palace had been demolished when he got his mind to it. What palaces, he had even demolished a dragon vein!
However, the palace that belonged to Granny Si seemed to be unimaginably durable. When they crashed against the ceiling, their bones almost shattered, yet the roof didn't have a single crack, let alone signs of it collapsing.
The ripple produced by the third clashed caused Qin Mu and the rest to fall back onto the ground, piling up together. Mu Qingdai was squashed at the very bottom, followed by Wang Muran, Long Yu, Qin Mu, the buck, and the dragon qilin at the top.
Everyone got up in a hurry only to see that the big senior sister of Little Jade Capital had already rolled her eyes. Qin Mu immediately pinched her mouth open and fed her a bottle of dragon saliva. Only then was she rescued.
The fourth ripple was even farther away from where they were, but it still wasn't small. The movement in space stretched their bodies up and down, then pulled to the sides and pushed within. When they were stretched to the sides, even Mu Qingdai who was the thinnest looked like a plump and round girl in the condensed space. When they were pushed into themselves, even the fattest dragon qilin looked very slim. His tummy was gone.
When it came to the fifth ripple, its effect was already very small, and everyone finally let out sighs of relief.
The fight of immortals could only make mortals suffer. Even though they were the more outstanding ones among the divine arts practitioners, they would die miserable deaths if they were the least bit careless when faced with a clash between such strong practitioners.
"Ma ha! Ma ha!"
Strange cries came from outside, and Qin Mu who had just let out a sigh of relief was once again on tenterhooks. While he took out his golden flute, his sight filled with blood flood dragons jumping down from the roof. Their long limbs landed on the ground, and several hundred creatures encircled the group, blocking them from all directions.
Qin Mu played the flute, and the flood dragons coiling around the bronze pillars slowly slithered down to stand guard in front of the hall.
Inside, everyone was indescribably nervous.
The blood flood dragons transformed from the blood of a god were numerous. On top of that, even the Little Jade Capital had heard about the power of a god's blood. The youths were successors of Eternal Peace Empire's number one sacred ground, so the secrets they knew were no lesser in number than those that Qin Mu knew.
It wasn't the first time Qin Mu had seen the blood of a god or a devil before. He had seen its power when he was with Village Chief in Great Ruins, and he had also seen the Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon who had been nourished by the blood of a god and devil. He had also seen the pool of god's blood left behind from the fight of Imperial Preceptor and a god from High Heavens.
Yet exactly how strong were the blood flood dragons formed from Dragon Rearing Sovereign's blood, he had no idea.
Even though he had borrowed the golden flute to sense and control the flood dragons, he had no confidence in them blocking the attacks. The most dangerous thing was the peculiar energy contained in the god's blood that formed the blood flood dragons!
They moved rapidly outside the hall, leaping here and there. They were like a pack of hyenas, waiting for their chance to strike.
Suddenly, a blood flood dragon roared twice, and its brethren ponced into the huge hall in an instant.
The sound of Qin Mu's flute rang loudly, and the guarding flood dragons roared as they pounced on the blood flood dragons!
The creatures that Qin Mu controlled were incomparably powerful. They were the dragons that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had spent numerous years raising, so their abilities were extremely high, blocking hundreds of blood flood dragons.
Those creatures were shredded by the dozen or so genuine flood dragons, turning into balls of blood mist. Compared to the flood dragons that were raised up by Dragon Rearing Sovereign, the abilities of the blood flood dragons were still too weak.
Outside, the roars gradually quietened down. Only the pattering of rain and the melodious melody of Qin Mu's flute could be heard.
The flute quietened down.
The pattering of the rain became even more resounding. Everyone in the hall stood with nervous expressions, not daring to relax. They looked out of the hall and saw lightning flash through the sky, bolt after bolt, lighting up the darkness. The expression of Qin Mu and the rest flickered between light and darkness.
A flood dragon slowly retreated and moved from the entrance of the hall to the inside.
Qin Mu's heart sank. He saw the second flood dragon retreating into the hall, followed by the third, the fourth…
The dozen or so flood dragons seemed to have met their nemesis, something that terrified them. They retreated one after another while passing by the group.
"Who's outside?" Long Yu croaked.
The sound of something satiny rolling around came from the outside. It was followed by heavy footsteps, which sounded as though they were stepping on their hearts as the person got closer, step by step.
Qin Mu played his golden flute again, but the dozen or so flood dragons lowered their heads onto the floor, not moving.
Cold sweat formed on Qin Mu's forehead, and a tall and sturdy figure appeared at the entrance of the hall, blocking it. That figure belonged to Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was made purely of blood.
When the dragon qilin saw him, his muscles went limp. He sprawled out on the ground and didn't dare to move.
The corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched. Dragon Rearing Sovereign had a natural suppression over flood dragons he had raised. On top of that, there was a kind of special aura about his body which made the dragon qilin afraid to resist.
"The blacksmith you called over had truly strong abilities." Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was formed by god's blood revealed his crimson teeth. His blood-red eyes stared at Qin Mu when he said coldly, "However, he can't protect you. Little thing, show me another honest smile."
Qin Mu forced out a smile and shouted out to the others, "Merely a pile of god's blood, let's team up and destroy him!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Not this smile." Dragon Rearing Sovereign stared at Qin Mu's face and shook his head. "In the past, your smile was of the kind that could make anyone let down their guard. Even if a knife was in your hand and you stabbed someone in the heart, they would still be unable to put their guard up. Whereas now, you are merely giving me a forced smile, a fake smile; this isn't the honest smile from your heart."
Listening to his words, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu who were at Qin Mu's side shuddered. Even the huge buck's eyes popped out in fear.
They didn't have much interaction with Qin Mu, but they were still considered friends. When they were together with him, it was easy for them to forget that he still had another identity besides that of the human emperor. He was the Heavenly Devil Cult Master!
The number one devil of Heavenly Devil Cult!
It was simply that it was just too easy to forget about his identities when being around him. No matter if he was Heavenly Devil Cult Master or Human Emperor, they just felt that he was a friend worth making.
However, listening to Dragon Rearing Sovereign's words, they felt chills run down their back.
'As expected of Heavenly Devil Cult Master, no wonder people call him old devil…' Long Yu thought to himself. 'The human emperor of this generation is truly hard to pin down, even a god like Dragon Rearing Sovereign was at a disadvantage in his hands.'
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "Dragon Sovereign, you made me out to be too scary. I never scheme against my friends."
His expression was so sincere that anyone who saw him would find him a reliable person. When Wang Muran and the rest saw that expression, the uneasiness in their hearts vanished.
"This is the right one." Dragon Rearing Sovereign sneered and said, "The sincerity from the depths of your heart! You can still reveal this kind of sincere smile which is even slightly bashful! What a joke, stealing my dragons in the blink of an eye!"
His aura suddenly burst forth frantically, raising currents of air to smash forth in all directions. When they hit the walls, loud bangs rang out like raging waves splitting the shore!
Qin Mu was astonished. He circulated Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and his corporeal body became incomparably tense. At the same time, his sword sheath burst open, and Carefree Sword rushed in a blocking position in front of his chest.
The next moment, there was a loud bang, and Qin Mu flew backward with Carefree Sword. His feet moved rapidly in the air as he executed Cripple's Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs to get rid of the powerful after effects. However, the strength of Dragon Rearing Sovereign was simply too great. Even a wondrous technique like Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs wasn't enough to completely get rid of its force. Qin Mu, in the end, couldn't move back anymore and smashed into the wall behind him!
Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu didn't hesitate anymore, and they all made their moves, unleashing their strongest attacks toward Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
The three of them were all disciples of Little Jade Capital, and it used the most traditional way of choosing their disciples. They would first walk through the human world to choose the youths with the best aptitude before observing their character as well as patience, comprehension, adaptability, and other abilities. They would then have to pass numerous tests before being taken in as disciples.
The three of them were brought to Little Jade Capital like that, and what they learned were the best techniques and divine arts, thus their cultivation was naturally extremely strong. It could be said that every step they took was extremely solid, and they had nearly no flaws in any realm. On Six Directions Realm, there were few that could surpass them!
What Long Yu executed was Heavenly Eyes Sword Heart, and two trails of sword light shot out from his eyes. One went in a horizontal manner and the other vertical when they slashed toward Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Mu Qingdai executed Strange Dao Strict Jia Scriptures. It was a kind of technique that cultivated both Daoism and buddhism. It was quiet like a bodhisattva tree and moved like an immortal traveling. When she raised her hand, ten thousand rays would form a huge palm which would retain its gracefulness.
The two of them were skilled in cultivating the techniques of Little Jade Capital, and they had put in a lot of hard work on one technique. Wang Muran, however, had taken a totally different route. Because of his master Wanderer Zhen's death, he pondered about the painful experience and always wanted to take revenge on Eternal Peace Empire. He treated Imperial Preceptor as the enemy in his mind, so he cultivated numerous techniques.
He knew that with just Wanderer Zhen's technique alone, he could never surpass Wanderer Zhen no matter how well he cultivated. Yet his master had still died in the hands of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, so he could only open up another path. Only then could he have a chance to surpass Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Wanderer Qing You and the rest also knew what he was thinking, so they took good care of him. They taught him personally and imparted their ultimate arts to him. Thus, even though Wang Muran was the youngest disciple in Little Jade Capital, his abilities were the highest.
However, the divine arts from the three of them couldn't touch Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
The god's speed was simply too fast. What they hit was the afterimage left behind after he had already moved. Once the afterimage shattered, only then did they know that their divine arts had missed.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign paid no attention to the three of them and sprinted straight at Qin Mu who was flying away. His speed was so fast that the trio simply couldn't catch up to him!
The buck's footsteps were extremely fast, and its four hooves brought him in front of Dragon Rearing Sovereign. It waved its horns like they were spirit weapons.
"Be gone, animal!"
After a loud shout, the body of the buck flew away and crashed through a wall into the heavy rain outside.
"Open your eyes!" Wang Muran shouted sternly.
Mu Qingdai and Long Yu instantly came to a realization. Dragon Rearing Sovereign's speed was too fast, to the point that their naked eyes could no longer capture his trace. Only by activating pupil divine arts could they only capture his figure.
When Dragon Rearing Sovereign was blocked by the huge buck, his speed had been slightly slowed. But soon, it was raised once again, and the air in the hall was compressed into a wall with his movement.
Behind him, Wang Muran and his friends felt a strong suction force pulling them forward, so they just used that force to rush toward Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Meanwhile, in front of him, Qin Mu swallowed the blood that had come up in his throat. Countless flying swords flew out from his taotie sack and rushed into the sky. In that instant, he used Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
The first move that Village Chief had imparted flashed with sword lights. The power of that move had yet to be completely unleashed when the mountains and rivers were shattered.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign tore through with brute force.
Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and Carefree Sword stabbed forward.
He had been waiting for that chance!
He was merely on Six Directions Realm, and Wang Muran and the rest were the same. The huge buck couldn't defeat the dragon qilin, while the dragon qilin and the rest of the flood dragons were afraid of the aura of Dragon Rearing Sovereign so they didn't dare to move. Thus, the youths were no match for Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
In that case, the only chance to kill Dragon Rearing Sovereign was by using Sword Picture to block his vision and having Carefree Sword attack from behind it in an ambush.
The instant Dragon Rearing Sovereign broke through Sword Picture, it was the time for Carefree Sword to stab him to death!
Qin Mu couldn't defeat him in an open fight, so he could only scheme!
The moment Dragon Rearing Sovereign destroyed the first move of Sword Picture, he saw a cold light coming his way. He hurriedly raised his hand to block the heart of his brows, but Carefree Sword pierced through his palm. It went past his forehead and sliced through his brain.
Carefree Sword, the divine sword of Qin Hanzhen—just the sharpness of the sword was something that one couldn't defend against.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was stunned, and Carefree Sword behind him changed direction to stab his heart from the back, until its tip came out from his chest.
Qin Mu burst forth with all his magic power. He guided the divine energy inside the sword and shouted at the same time. Eight thousand swords rose into the sky and fell toward Carefree Sword.
In an instant, Dragon Rearing Sovereign vanished, replaced by a huge, round sword pellet. The sword handles interlocked with each other, making it airtight. They seemed like a huge golden ball that was so round it was flawless.
Qin Mu let out a sigh and spat out the blood in his mouth.
Wang Muran and the other two reached him and saw the huge round ball, then also sighed in relief.
At that moment, the circular ball suddenly moved, and cracks appeared on its sides. It was caused by the sword handles loosening, and it was a sign that the sword pellet was breaking apart.
"Quickly dodge!" Qin Mu shouted out and ran out of the hall frantically. Wang Muran and the rest immediately turned when they saw the situation. Behind them, the huge sword pellet burst open with a loud clang as the flying swords shot off in all directions!
The imposing figure of Dragon Rearing Sovereign appeared in the center of all the flying swords, his gaze freezing cold. There was only a small pool of spoiled blood from when the divine blood was hit by the divine energy hidden inside Carefree Sword to mark the earlier attack.
The strike from Qin Mu had been pretty sinister and terrifying. If Dragon Rearing Sovereign hadn't covered his body with a pool of blood, he would have died right there and then, under the sword of the crafty brat.
The bodies of Qin Mu and the rest flashed as they tried to avoid the sword lights that were shooting over from behind them. The swords were concentrated and there were as many as eight thousand of them, and the sword lights were rushing many times faster than when Qin Mu had executed his sword with his full power.
Chii!
Mu Qingdai was pierced by the sword lights and nailed to a bronze pillar. Even though she was a proud disciple of Little Jade Capital, had extremely powerful cultivation, and cultivated body techniques, she couldn't help it when there were that many flying swords and the swords light were that fast. She didn't manage to avoid all of them completely.
Luckily, those swords were Qin Mu's, and Dragon Rearing Sovereign only had the strength of the corporeal body. There was no magic power in his body, so he couldn't execute the power of Qin Mu's flying swords to fatally injure the group.
Even so, Mu Qingdai was severely injured.
Just when she got hit, Long Yu and Wang Muran's cries could be heard. One of them was nailed to the wall while the other to the ground.
Qin Mu grunted as a sword light pierced through his chest. He moved his heart and the sword missed his vitals by a narrow margin. He got nailed to the beam of the palace's door and hung high in the air.
Outside the hall, the buck rushed in and got hit by dozens of swords in a split second, which threw it back.
"Don't you just want the true dragon lord? I'll give it to you!"
Blood was leaking out from the corners of Qin Mu's mouth when he gritted his teeth to circulate his vital qi. The Emperor's Disk flew out of his taotie sack, and he threw it to Dragon Rearing Sovereign while shouting sternly, "You can kill me, but let my three friends go!"
The disciples of Little Jade Capital were moved. Long Yu thought to himself, 'I held prejudice against Human Emperor when he is so loyal to his friends... I only thought about how he is Heavenly Devil Cult Master…"
That Emperor's Disk flew toward Dragon Rearing Sovereign, having already transformed into the shape of a dragon jade. Numerous writings, runes, and pictures flowed and transformed on its body continuously, creating a marvelous image.
"True dragon lord…" Dragon Rearing Sovereign became excited, and he raised his hand to catch the Emperor's Disk. He sneered, "True dragon lord was originally mine, so even if you didn't hand it over, I could have still gotten it after I killed you… Hmm?"
His face changed, and he immediately shook his hand to throw the Emperor's Disk away. He shouted sternly, "You poisoned it!"
His body began to dissolve, becoming shorter rapidly, like an ice cube which had landed on a hot plate. Below his feet was a pool of spoiled blood which was quickly growing.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign cried out as his body started to blister. Those blisters popped and out came the heads of tiny flood dragons which opened their mouths to shriek. They struggled to escape, and a few actually managed to do it. However, some of them did it with half of their bodies, the other half having dissolved.
Wang Muran and the rest were in a daze. Their minds went blank from the revelation.
Qin Mu pulled at the sword holding him nailed with force, but the door beam was too hard, so he couldn't even budge the blade. When he realized it, he immediately gave up on the action and stretched his hand to smack the beam. With a chi sound, the sword penetrated through his body, and he dropped to the ground.
Qin Mu stood up, and his eyes brimmed with tears form the pain. He hurriedly poured some bottles of dragon saliva on his wounds and said in a just and forceful manner, "If I can't win, of course I will use poison!"
Wang Muran and the rest were stunned once again. Qin Mu said those words as though using poison when he couldn't defeat an enemy was right and proper. He made it sound as if it was as simple and obvious as eating and sleeping.
'The people who taught this human emperor don't seem to have been good people…' Long Yu thought.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Using poison when one couldn't win was a despicable thing in most people's eyes. This was the main reason why Jade Face Poison King had infuriated numerous people back in the day.
However, this kind of thing had no psychological effect on Qin Mu. In his eyes, poisoning someone when one couldn't defeat them was something that was right and proper. Poisoning the opponent was also an ability. His logic went along the lines of 'if I can't fight you yet you still come to beat me, poisoning you is a fitting answer'.
For example, what they faced was not a fair fight from the start. Dragon Rearing Sovereign was a god of High Heavens that was high above, so the clone that was formed by his fresh blood also had extremely high abilities. Even strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm wouldn't be a match for it, let alone Qin Mu and his companions.
The opponent was a god, so poisoning him was a normal fight back method.
The poison Qin Mu had used was the Three Break Powder he had created when he fought with Poisoner Mu Yingxue of West Earth, who had given the poison its name. It was lucky that he had good habits. Every time he refined a poison or a medicine, he would usually make more so that he would still have half left to keep after putting it to use. Who knew if he might come to need it in the future?
Thus, what Qin Mu had spread on the Emperor's Disk was none other than Three Break Powder. It flipped the five phases and messed up the yin and the yang, causing the body to break down, along with the spirit and soul. That was why the poison was called Three Break Powder. By using great supplement to nourish itself, it created an incomparably marvelous poison.
That kind of poison had been used specifically to deal with the blood of a god and devil in Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon. Therefore, it was only right to use it to deal with Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body of blood as well.
Back then, Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon had been fixed in place by the Green Dragon Bead and couldn't move, so it was easily poisoned. However, Dragon Rearing Sovereign was free to move, so Qin Mu had spread Three Break Powder on the Emperor's Disk. As long as Dragon Rearing Sovereign touched it, he would be poisoned.
Numerous pocket-sized blood flood dragons squirmed in all directions to avoid the Emperor's Disk and the spoiled blood, then tried to gather back together.
Qin Mu immediately rushed to them while shouting, "If we don't get rid of this god's blood cleanly, none of us will live!"
His eight thousand flying swords filled the hall, but with his cultivation, he couldn't summon all of them back. His vital qi instead transformed into a thread to sweep up Carefree Sword which was nailed in the pillar, pulling it out.
Carefree Sword was a divine sword that was incomparably sharp. Even though it was embedded deep into the pillar, it could still be pulled out, unlike the other swords.
Qin Mu gathered his remaining vital qi and executed all kinds of basic sword forms toward the blood flood dragons that were running around on the ground.
Long Yu grunted. He couldn't pull out the flying sword in his chest, either, so having learned from Qin Mu's demonstration, he smacked the handle forcefully, and the flying sword went through his chest.
Long Yu let out a blood-curdling scream from the pain, then gritted his teeth. But right then, two jade bottles flew over; Qin Mu had thrown him some dragon saliva.
The youth caught them in a hurry and didn't even have the patience to open the corks. He crushed the two jade bottles with force so the dragon saliva would flow out, then used his vital qi to send it to his wound.
The effect of the dragon saliva was swift, as the flesh on his chest started to grow back. It felt painful and itchy.
Long Yu didn't have the time to care about the immense pain in his chest. He pounced forward to kill the small blood flood dragons that were running randomly in all directions.
Wang Muran and Mu Qingdai also did the same thing to break free, losing flesh and blood in the process.
Qin Mu threw two bottles of dragon saliva to each of them as well, and the two of them immediately poured them onto their wounds. If it was under normal circumstances, they would have used their vital qi to force out the clotted blood to prevent any hidden damage, but they had no time to care about that. They controlled their spirit weapons to slaughter the small and delicate blood flood dragons.
"Don't step on the spoiled blood!" Qin Mu shouted out to them in warning. "The poison I had refined is too strong, so even I can't detox it!"
The three were frightened and immediately became more careful, avoiding the spoiled blood on the ground.
The four leaped up like rabbits and soared down like falcons as they cut the blood flood dragons one by one. However, their power was still not enough to eradicate all of them, as they were formed by a god's blood. After the dragons were killed, they would instantly reconstruct themselves. Only Qin Mu's Carefree Sword was able to eradicate a portion of the god's blood.
"Lend me your magic power and let's activate this sword together!"
Wang Muran and the rest immediately roused their vital qi and transformed it into threads that flew toward Carefree Sword. With their magic power pouring in, its power instantly rose drastically. Qin Mu controlled Carefree Sword, and his sword skills burst forth, slicing off the heads of all the flood dragons that were running around. The sword light then suddenly changed to Drill Sword Form as it traveled on the ground like a silver dragon, shredding all the headless bodies!
A few of the creatures hugged themselves and rolled on the ground, avoiding the sword light. When the small and delicate dragons stopped, they vanished, and in their place stood Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was only a foot tall.
"Dragon Rearing Sovereign, serves you right!"
The four were both surprised and delighted. They couldn't help laughing out loud. Suddenly, the small and compact Dragon Rearing Sovereign took a step forward, and his body vanished. The tibia bone of Long Yu's left leg cracked from the kick of the small Dragon Rearing Sovereign!
"Eyes awaken!" Wang Muran shouted out and awakened his divine eyes, but he could only see the small Dragon Rearing Sovereign moving rapidly. He flashed around like a phantom, to the point it was nearly impossible to capture his figure.
Qin Mu executed Carefree Sword to stab over and over again, but his sword kept missing the back of the little one by a narrow margin. It was completely impossible to hit him!
"Senior sister, be careful!"
Just as Wang Muran called out his warning Dragon Rearing Sovereign appeared beside Mu Qingdai like a phantom and punched her. Mu Qingdai shouted loudly, and her sashes coiled around the arm of the small Dragon Rearing Sovereign while she retaliated with a palm strike.
Qin Mu arrived and executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique while circulating Nine Transformation Three Conditions Mystery Technique. His body rapidly shrunk, and he became a small human that was one foot tall. Carefree Sword had also become three inches long, and he controlled it to attack Dragon Rearing Sovereign. "Don't clash with him head-on; his strength is immense!"
Bang!
Fresh blood burst out from Mu Qingdai's palm, which got mangled. Qin Mu moved rapidly in the air and used qi to control his sword to attack Dragon Rearing Sovereign. The small god avoided Carefree Sword with phantom-like speed. Wang Muran gathered his qi into a net and tried to capture the small Dragon Rearing Sovereign, but was blasted away.
Long Yu stood up on one leg and hopped to Mu Qingdai's side, allying himself with Qin Mu and the rest to attack Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
"His body is too small, which makes it hard to attack, shrink your bodies!" shouted Qin Mu.
Mu Qingdai executed a technique from Strange Dao Strict Jia Technique, and her body instantly shrunk. She became a one-foot girl whose hair dragged behind her. On the other side, Wang Muran also shrunk his body and became a tiny thing. Only Long Yu did not cultivate any such techniques, so he could only stand on one leg and put his guard up.
He executed Heavenly Eyes Sword Heart, and sword lights shot out from his gaze. They moved as the four tiny ones moved, but even though his sword eyes were fast, it was still hard for them to capture Dragon Rearing Sovereign's small and delicate body. He could only see four tiny things rushing around in the sky, flashing here and there.
'Too fast… This is bad!"
Long Yu saw Dragon Rearing Sovereign rushing toward him and hurriedly hopped up with a single leg. The instant he did so, he heard a crisp sound and looked down to see his other leg bending at an unimaginable angle. 'Crap,' he thought.
Bathump.
Long Yu fell to ground in a kneeling position, the pain almost making him faint. Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body appeared behind his head, and the tip of his foot was aimed straight for the undefended target before it. If he managed to land the kick, Long Yu's head was definitely going to explode!
But at that moment, Carefree Sword that was three inches long flashed past and pierced Dragon Rearing Sovereign's foot, and the kick missed.
Long Yu let out a sigh of relief and ruthlessly turned his neck a hundred and eighty degrees backward. Sword lights burst forth from his eyes and stabbed Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body, blowing him away!
"I've tried my best!" Long Yu shouted. He collapsed on the ground, almost breaking his neck from the twist.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign flew backward as his feet tapped repeatedly in the air to get rid of the power of the two swords. His body was made of fresh blood, so he didn't have any magic power and could only rely on the strength of the corporeal body to deal with Qin Mu and the rest. However, the exhaustion of the god's blood was also quite astonishing. He had no choice but to use the moves of corporeal body divine arts to win.
Suddenly, a huge black figure appeared at the door of the hall. The buck which was covered in swords climbed up and shook its head. Its horns flew off the head, and one of the small branches stabbed into the back of Dragon Rearing Sovereign's heart.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body exploded, countless balls of blood rolling away, and the god became even smaller than he was before. He jumped up from the horns and landed on the bare head of the buck. He punched down, trying to smash in the head of the huge buck.
Qin Mu sent his sword over. Dragon Rearing Sovereign avoided it, but saw three small humans land one after another on the buck's head.
The huge buck blinked eyes and revealed a look of terror. With the four small humans scuttling here and there on his body, his bones crackled as though they were going to be broken.
"You you—" the huge buck cried out in astonishment and hurriedly rushed toward the dragon qilin who was lying in the corner of the huge hall. He tried to push the trouble onto the dragon qilin's body.
There were also over a dozen flying swords stabbed into the dragon qilin's body, but his muscles and bones were limp. He had a natural fear of Dragon Rearing Sovereign which was why he hadn't moved for the whole time. The other flood dragons were sprawled beside him, and some of them were hit by the swords as well; however, they all lay still not daring to move.
It was good that the dragon qilin's skin was rough and his flesh was thick. With fat surrounding his whole body, there wasn't much of a problem even if he was stabbed by over a dozen swords.
"Don't come over…" groaned the dragon qilin weakly.
The huge buck was about to reach him when cracking sounds came from his body. It twisted, and his limbs snapped, causing him to collapse to the ground and slide forward.
The dragon qilin exhausted all of his strength to turn his body around and crawl away from the buck. The other flood dragons also shifted on the floor and crawled in the other direction with difficulty.
The intimidation of Dragon Rearing Sovereign was simply too strong, making them unable to resist.
Suddenly, Mu Qingdai flew backward and crashed into the dragon qilin who was crawling away with all his strength. She fainted. Dragon Rearing Sovereign rushed over, wanting to claim Mu Qingdai's life, and the dragon qilin went totally limp, paralyzed on the ground.
Qin Mu grabbed Carefree Sword and shouted loudly, "Brother Muran!"
Wang Muran puked out fresh blood as he exerted all his strength to lift Qin Mu up and toss him over. Qin Mu's footsteps tapped repeatedly as he rushed over as fast as lightning. The sword light of the three inches sword in his hand rose drastically, and a piece of small and delicate green mountains and blue water poured out from the sword light, drowning Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Clanging sounds rang non-stop, and Sword Treading Mountains and River suddenly fell apart. Only the figure of Qin Mu wielding his sword and pouncing over was left.
The body of Dragon Rearing Sovereign was even smaller, and beneath his feet was even more spoiled blood. He alternated between his fingers and palms to smack Carefree Sword continuously, and powerful jolts traveled through Qin Mu's body, forcing him to puke blood repeatedly. He thus transformed into a shadow to move along the floor, but Dragon Rearing Sovereign gave a punch and blew him out from the ground.
Wang Muran shouted loudly, and his hair fluttered in the wind as he rushed over. Two small humans fought fiercely, and among the sparks, the sound of bones breaking could be heard as Wang Muran flew backward.
Qin Mu lay on the ground and used the last of his strength to raise his sword to stab downwards. Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was two inches tall clasped his hands about Carefree Sword, using all his strength to withstand it.
Qin Mu's sword instantly couldn't continue, and he shouted fiercely, "Fatty Dragon, do you still want to eat? If I die, you will have to starve to death!"
The dragon qilin's eyes were filled with fear when he looked at the tiny Dragon Rearing Sovereign in a daze. But when he heard the sentence, he suddenly gave a fierce roar and raised his claw to smack down the sword's hilt.
Chii.
The sword light pierced through Dragon Rearing Sovereign, and he who was two inches tall was split into half. The fresh blood was still squirming and wanted to flow together, but the dragon qilin gave a furious roar. With magic power flooding into the sword, the sword light increased sharply and exploded in all direction. The last of the god's blood withered into spoiled blood and fell lifeless to the ground.
Qin Mu was stunned. The strength of his body withdrew like a tide, and his hands that were holding onto the sword loosened. He collapsed on the ground.
The dragon qilin continued to roar fiercely. He raised his claws, wanting to smack once more the sword again, but Qin Mu said weakly, "Stop smacking… If you smack some more, I might just die as well…"
He coughed violently. His magic power was completely exhausted, and his corporeal body gradually returned back to its normal size. He wanted to crawl up to treat his own injuries, but he couldn't move at all.
The dragon qilin climbed to his feet and looked at the bloodstains on the ground. He then looked at the surroundings and saw the flood dragons that were incomparably powerful not daring to look him in the eyes. Their heads were lowered, their eyes filled with fear.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu were all severely injured and couldn't move. Long Yu's legs were broken, Mu Qingdai had fainted from severe injuries, Wang Muran nearly had all his bones shattered, and Qin Mu's most severe injury was the punch he received when he was a shadow. It had nearly shattered him when he was in the shadow form.
The four of them just lay on the ground. Long Yu's tongue was stuck, his neck crooked. He had twisted it himself, and it had nearly broken it.
He could only look helplessly at the dragon qilin walking over and stretching out his long tongue to slobber all over him. The dragon qilin flipped him over and licked him once more. Long Yu got turned over, but his tongue still didn't retract.
The dragon qilin licked him again, covering the whole person in drool.
His body became itchy. It was the itch of broken bones growing back, his tendons reconnecting, and his flesh growing back. He executed his vital qi and used it to adjust the bones to prevent them from reattaching themselves in a crooked way.
If he didn't do that, he'd end up with problems in moving even if his injuries were healed.
Wang Muran who had collapsed a bit farther away couldn't help giggling when he saw how his senior brother was covered in drool. The huge tongue of the dragon qilin kept flipping him over and over as though he was scared of the man being burnt.
The youth laughed until his wounds opened up. The pain made tears roll down his face.
The dragon qilin walked over to him and stretched out his long tongue; and Wang Muran could no longer laugh. He saw the dragon qilin's tongue cover his face like a slimy carpet. It then flipped him over and over again.
After the dragon qilin was done with Wang Muran. He also licked Mu Qingdai who was unconscious and made the girl all wet. Mu Qingdai woke up from the licking and could only remain acting unconscious to spare herself the embarrassment.
The dragon qilin walked towards Qin Mu, but he said weakly, "Don't lick me. Senior Brother Long Yu, how are your injuries? There are some jade bottles in my taotie sack that contain dragon's saliva. It will be fine if you just take them out and spread it over my wounds…"
"Lick him! Big f— dragon, you must lick him!" Long Yu immediately shouted.
Wang Muran nodded repeatedly and added in a shout, "We all got licked so how could we let him off? Big dragon, lick!"
Mu Qingdai also opened her eyes in a hurry, no longer acting like she was sleeping. She smiled and said, "To enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together, Boss Dragon, lick!"
Qin Mu's expression changed drastically. He wanted to crawl away, but the dragon qilin raised his claw to press down on the corner of his pants. Qin Mu couldn't move and became furious, "Fatty Dragon, there's poison on my body! If you lick me, you will die by bleeding from all your orifices!"
The dragon qilin hesitated for a moment, and the three disciples of Little Jade Capital laughed. "Who will apply poison on their body? Fatty Dragon, just lick him to your heart's content. We will bury you if you die from poison!"
The dragon qilin was finally at ease. He licked Qin Mu until he was upside down and totally drenched him. The youth was his meal master, so he naturally had to be more attentive. He licked Qin Mu more carefully than the others.
Qin Mu's face was black when he got flipped around. He didn't move nor struggle, seemingly having accepted his fate.
The dragon qilin pulled back his tongue. When he saw Qin Mu's hairstyle that was messed up by him, he hurriedly licked it smooth for Qin Mu until it was slick and shiny.
"Enough, Fatty Dragon…" Great Cult Master Qin said sternly, "Enough, stop licking… It's fine now, it's very smooth already… Stop licking!"
The dragon qilin saw that he was furious and pulled his tongue back reluctantly. His front claws rested on his hind legs as he squatted nearby.
Qin Mu had a stubborn strand of hair that hung down to the corner of his left eye. The dragon qilin hesitated for a moment, then took a glance at Qin Mu's face—it was black as charcoal. But the dragon qilin couldn't resist it and quickly stretched out his tongue to lick the strand of hair back in place.
Qin Mu went into a frenzy.
…
The huge buck on the ground laid with all his legs shattered. When Qin Mu and the rest transformed into small humans to fight with Dragon Rearing Sovereign, they had tormented the buck quite a bit. Luckily, its life hadn't been endangered; it's just that his injuries were quite heavy.
When the buck saw the dragon qilin curing Qin Mu's injuries, he immediately pouted and shouted, "Hey, hey! Fatty, lick me, lick me!"
"Bah!" The dragon qilin spat a mouthful of dragon saliva in front of the huge buck and said arrogantly, "Rub it on yourself!"
The huge buck was furious, but healing himself was more important. He could only move his body with difficulty to rub the dragon saliva on his wounds. All throughout it, he kept twitching from pain.
The dragon qilin looked at him rubbing himself in his saliva and felt delighted. 'This damned buck keeps putting me down in front of my meal master, not leaving me any face. Now I shall let him know how powerful I am and humiliate him in front of his meal master!"
Fatty Dragon instantly felt that the happiest moment in his life wasn't when he had hugged the young patriarch's leg to beg for a meal, but the one right then.
Qin Mu and the rest gradually recovered some strength and all sat up to mobilize their vital qi. They forced the clotted blood in their bodies out to prevent any hidden injuries from being left behind.
The three from Little Jade Capital had also learned the art of healing before, and their abilities weren't weak. It was only when compared to Qin Mu that they were lacking. There were many places in which they weren't meticulous.
Qin Mu pushed the clotted blood out from his body and mobilized his vital qi to squeeze his shattered bones bit by bit out of his body. With a low shout, his primordial spirit flew out to check on his limbs and bones, examining the situation of his body as well as the injuries on his divine treasures.
He examined them in incomparably fine detail, and his primordial spirit returned back to his body. He consumed a few Spirit Buddha Pills to quickly replenish his spirit and raise his vital qi. He then took medication according to his symptoms and refined pills to cure his hidden injuries.
"Primordial spirit!" Mu Qingdai gasped, and astonishment spread across her face.
Wang Muran and Long Yu's mind were also blown. Primordial spirit was not something that could be cultivated at Qin Mu's realm, so they would have never thought to see Qin Mu actually execute it!
Even though Qin Mu's primordial spirit was still weak and small, looking like a faint shadow, it was indeed his primordial spirit!
Qin Mu cultivating the primordial spirit on Six Directions Realm meant that he held an advantage in cultivation. His speed would be much faster than that of the others. Primordial spirit was also one of the more important battle methods after Celestial Being Realm. Since he was already in contact with it, the raising of his abilities was really important!
Just then, Qin Mu had awakened the eyes of his primordial spirit to check on his own body. What puzzled the group though was that they didn't know how he had cultivated it.
"Human Emperor is truly powerful, I'm completely won over." Long Yu sighed and said, "To be able to cultivate primordial spirit on Six Directions Realm and even make his primordial spirit leave his body, Human Emperor's aptitude and comprehension are indeed the first in this world!"
Qin Mu shook his head and walked toward Mu Qingdai to examine her body. "My comprehension and aptitude aren't the first in the world. Cultivating a primordial spirit on Six Directions Realm isn't anything remarkable, either; Sister Yuxiu has also cultivated it. It's actually not hard to cultivate the primordial spirit. Sister Yuxiu and I cultivated it carelessly and our primordial spirits just left our bodies," he said.
Speechless, Long Yu shook his head.
"The sixth princess of Eternal Peace Empire has also cultivated the primordial spirit? Eternal Peace Empire is truly not to be underestimated; there are truly many experts in the younger generation. If I shut myself in Little Jade Capital, I may just fall behind times!" Wang Muran said with awe.
He began to worry. There were many divine techniques in Little Jade Capital, and any of the ultimate arts would be enough to start a sect if taken out, but with Eternal Peace Empire's reform blazing like wildfire, the skills changed, and the paths also changed. Divine arts would evolve accordingly too. If Little Jade Capital didn't catch up with the reform, they would definitely be eliminated.
Qin Mu and Sixth Princess Ling Yuxiu cultivating their primordial spirits on Six Directions Realm together was just one of the signs of the reform.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu did not know how great of an impact this act of theirs would have on other cultivators. If they could find the way to cultivate the primordial spirit so early and spread it, they would be acclaimed as grandmasters, gaining high positions in the history of cultivation. They would definitely be placed on the same level as Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and may even surpass him!
Imperial Preceptor founding the three other basic sword forms was also one of the signs of reform, and it established his accomplishments of a grandmaster.
On top of that, the importance of cultivating the primordial spirit on Six Directions Realm was even greater than that of the three basic sword forms. It would benefit all divine arts practitioners from Six Directions Realm and upwards, allowing their cultivation on every realm to increase drastically!
Wang Muran told Qin Mu his idea, and Qin Mu was stunned. He said, "I had not thought about this… However, what you said is very logical. When I'll return to the capital, I will discuss this with Sister Yuxiu. We might just be able to discover how it came to be."
He used Cyan Heaven's Eyes to examine the ins and outs of Mu Qingdai's body and checked on all the hidden injuries. He then refined spirit pills for her.
Mu Qingdai was slightly bashful from his penetrating gaze. 'He's a divine physician, he's a divine physician…' she kept repeating to herself in her head.
She then heard Divine Physician Qin muttered softly, "The structure of a woman's body seems to be different from that of a man. If they don't have that thing, how do they pee…"
Mu Qingdai's face went red, and she glared at him.
Qin Mu hurriedly went over to check on Long Yu's injuries, and after some time, he finished treating the injuries of his companions.
The dragon qilin wobbled over and mumbled, "Cult Master, look at the swords in my body…"
There were still over a dozen flying swords stuck in his body.
Qin Mu took a glance at him and sneered. "Is my hair still messy?"
"All the strands are neat! Wait a minute, this strand of hair is messy…"
Just as the dragon qilin stretched his tongue out, Qin Mu raised his arm and signaled with his fingers. The dozen or more flying swords flew out of the dragon qilin's body at once, and pillars of blood spurted out.
The dragon qilin screamed miserably.
"Try licking again!" Qin Mu told him ruthlessly.
Even though he said so, he still took out bottles of dragon's saliva to quickly pour it on the wounds. He used his vital qi to help squeeze out the clotted blood, then sealed his wounds.
The dragon qilin tried to curry favor and said, "Cult Master, now that I've done a great merit, my rations…"
Qin Mu ignored him and went to the huge buck, which was in a much worse shape than the dragon qilin. There three times as many swords in its body, and it still had to roll around in the saliva on the ground.
Qin Mu shook his head and helped the huge buck set his bones back in place. He then took over a dozen bottles of dragon's saliva to help him stop the bleeding before pulling out the flying swords.
Wang Muran's injuries were much better, he picked up the buck's horns back and ran over to stab them back into its head.
"Young master, the horns are inserted wrongly," the buck told him.
"Oh!"
Wang Muran immediately pulled the horns out again, causing blood to spurt. The buck exhaled in pain, and Wang Muran immediately turned the horns around to stab them back in. He asked Qin Mu for a bottle of dragon's saliva to pour on the wound.
Qin Mu then treated the injuries of the flood dragons. After being busy for half a day, the sky outside suddenly turned snow white. The next moment though, it became pitch black with lighting flashing again.
Everyone looked outside in a hurry and saw that the heavy rain had stopped. A tear could be seen in the sky as though a huge sword had sliced it open.
"This is…" Qin Mu's heart trembled violently as he muttered, "Sunshot Divine Cannon…"
Trails of red lines came down from the torn sky, and Qin Mu raised his hand to catch one. However, his complexion changed suddenly, and he hurriedly avoided it.
The trails of red lines pitter-pattered on the palaces in front of them. Wherever they landed, flowers bloomed throughout the mountains while the grass and trees grew frantically.
God's blood fell from the sky as though heaven was griefing.
A god had fallen.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The blood rain wasn't heavy, and the area covered wasn't vast. It landed just on the foothills where the group resided.
Qin Mu saw numerous trees and flowers growing at an astounding speed. The trunks were tall and verdant while the spiritual air in the surroundings was so dense it seemed to be on the verge of materializing, floating around the trees like ribbons.
Among the flowers, there was a milky white fog which made them look abnormally bright and tender.
After the long rain, the lake, moat, and river were all filled up, and numerous fishes grew frantically, transforming into fish monsters like those in Great Ruins. Some of them grew legs and jumped onto the shore. When they opened their mouths to catch the raindrops, razor-sharp teeth could be seen.
The bodies of the auspicious beasts in the mountains also expanded, and all kinds of bone spikes pushed out, making them look terrifying.
The mermaids in the lake had also become abnormally huge, and their once beautiful faces had become strange.
The energy in the god's blood was too great, transforming all the lifeforms into misshapen monsters. That kind of growth couldn't be controlled, and the places which had been touched by the blood rain first would usually grow more than other places!
The land and insects were also living things, so when they got drenched by the blood rain, the foothill transformed into a place reminiscent of Great Ruins.
In Qin Mu's eyes, it was the powerful qi of yin and yang, four symbols, and five phases which had changed the balance in the bodies of the various lifeforms, resulting in the abnormal transformations. But it was different from his home.
Most of the strange beasts in Great Ruins had the bloodlines of gods and devils, which were hereditary. The strange beasts in the foothills, however, had been transformed by the powerful energy in the god's blood.
"Which god fell? Is it that Dragon Rearing Sovereign?" Mu Qingdai asked in a low voice.
Outside the huge hall, the entire mountain was covered with multi-colored lights and white fog, decorating the place as if it was a sacred ground. However, if they walked into the blood rain, they would probably transform like the lifeforms in the mountain.
If they weren't drenched directly, they could cultivate under the roof and absorb the powerful divine energy outside. That, to a divine arts practitioner, was definitely a sacred ground for cultivation!
Based solely on the spiritual and divine energies, the three big sacred ground of Eternal Peace Empire were much inferior. After all, no matter if it was Heavenly Devil Cult, Dao Sect, or Great Thunderclap Monastery, none of them would be able to kill a god to nourish their sacred ground.
'Granny had decided to stay in this desolate land to keep Li Tianxing here, but she would never have expected this place to become a sacred ground for cultivation, right?'
Qin Mu had a weird expression. He used Carefree Sword to carefully catch a drop of god's blood and examined it. He then shook his head. "This isn't Dragon Rearing Sovereign's blood. His blood is dragon's blood, but the divine energy here isn't such…" His expression became even weirder after he said that. "I've seen this blood before."
Qin Mu lowered the blade, and the droplet of blood flowed to the tip of the sword. With his wrist lifting and lowering the blade, the drop flowed continuously on the sword, never sliding off.
Suddenly, energy burst forth from the sword, and the power in the drop of god's blood was also activated. It was like a divine art exploding, and the surging energy clashed with the power of Qin Mu's move, forcing him to move backward repeatedly.
Qin Mu nodded and said solemnly, "I have seen this god's blood before. A year ago when the snow disaster suddenly stopped, it was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who had found the god who was responsible for it. He fought a fierce battle with him and was severely injured at the end. However, that god was also injured and bled. When I treated Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's injuries, I saw the blood of that god, and the energy in that blood was very similar to this."
Back then, Qin Mu had used a sword pellet that Mute had given him to act as a bridge to connect the remnant of the god's divine arts with the god's blood, activating their energies to wipe out each other and lessen the injuries. Only then was he able to treat Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
However, the obliteration of that energy had eaten up a lot of his sword pellet. It had been given to him by Mute to deal with Village Chief and comprehend a higher level of forging techniques, sp Qin Mu had regretted what happened to it for a period of time.
Qin Mu remembered those days very well. It was because Emperor Yanfeng had been encircled by Old Dao Master and Old Rulai at the time, almost dying, and it had been Qin Mu who had saved him.
Back then, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng had both become useless and were in a terrible state. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had even brought his wife to live in seclusion in a random valley while his wife was pregnant.
"The god killed by Sunshot Divine Cannon is the god who sent the snow disaster!" Qin Mu's gaze flickered between light and dark as he said softly, "This is his retribution; he deserved to die. During the snow disaster, those that suffered were the poor, and the population of Eternal Peace Empire had instantly decreased by twenty-thirty percent. The number of people who had died was even larger than in most wars."
The three from Little Jade Capital didn't say anything.
When the snow disaster had erupted, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had gone to Little Jade Capital. Hermit Qing You had tried to stop him, wanting him to stay at Little Jade Capital to end the reform. The immortals of Little Jade Capital thought that it was the reform of Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng that was the root of the snow disaster, so it had to be stopped for the disaster to end.
Wang Muran and the rest had also heard about that matter.
After being in a bad mood for a few days, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had still left Little Jade Capital, and not long later, the snow disaster stopped. However, Hermit Qing You frowned at that and told them that Eternal Peace Empire was still determined to proceed with its reform.
At that time, no matter if it was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor or the immortals of Little Jade Capital, none of them would have expected the events to proceed to such a stage. No one would have expected a god to fall, and it was a god that had sent the disaster.
It was hard to say what change his death would bring to Eternal Peace Empire. No one could guess nor predict it.
Qin Mu used clear water to wash the Emperor's Disk numerous times, but he still didn't dare to touch it. He mixed a few herbs and let it soak in the concoction before finally picking it up. He then hung it back around his neck.
Outside, the blood rain gradually stopped, and the dark clouds in the sky dispersed. The day became bright once again. Qin Mu and the rest walked out of the huge hall and rose into the air to avoid the blood water on the ground.
The sky was clear, with no clouds for ten thousand miles. The battle above Eternal Empire Empire was like a dream that had never happened.
Sunshine came from the west, and the blue sky looked clear as though it had been washed clean. The air seemed to have become much fresher as well.
The group stood in the air and examined their surroundings. Suddenly, Qin Mu looked to the north and saw a humongous object flying over.
It was Sunshot Divine Cannon, and it was actually hurrying over to them through the sky!
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood on the floating battery, their clothes fluttering in the breeze. There were numerous officials by their side as well. Qin Mu had taught Emperor Yanfeng how to control Sunshot Divine Cannon, so he was probably the one who had fired it earlier.
On the battery, the flames of the pill furnaces gave off white-colored rays while the divine eye in the center was slowly revolving around and giving off terrifying might.
Emperor Yanfeng's face was shining with happiness, and he was full of enthusiasm.
"The divine cannon that you forged has shot down a god," Long Yu said. "The era has changed, even a mortal can kill a god that's high above. Human Emperor, is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
"I don't know. I only know that the gods can no longer behave unscrupulously!"
Qin Mu's mind trembled. The Sunshot Divine Cannon he had forged had shot down a god that was high above. It was a kind of supreme honor!
Long Yu looked at him and suddenly sighed meaningfully. "Human Emperor, there are many collections in my Little Jade Capital. If you have the time, I would suggest you read about the history of the previous eras."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He flew over to the battery and smiled. "I still have to return to the capital and research with Sister Yuxiu on how to cultivate primordial spirit on Six Directions Realm, to push ahead with the reform. When there's time, I will go to Little Jade Capital. The old immortals there even promised me to let me have a chance to enter Hall of Five Qi."
Long Yu sighed and didn't say anymore.
Wang Muran was drunk with cultivation while Mu Qingdai couldn't sit still. Among the three disciples of Little Jade Capital, Long Yu was the only one calm enough to browse through the numerous books their sacred ground possessed.
Sunshot Divine Cannon killing a god was admittedly shocking, but the consequences it might bring worried him.
Wang Muran and Mu Qingdai also went toward the battery, so Long Yu could only follow along.
"Your Majesty. Imperial Preceptor!"
Qin Mu and the rest landed on the battery and greeted the people there. Eternal Yanfeng could hardly conceal his excitement as he waved his hand. He said with a smile, "There's no need for formalities, Minister Qin! This cannon…"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Does Your Majesty feel invigorated?"
Emperor Yanfeng was full of enthusiasm as he laughed out loud. "Great! This cannon I used just killed a god that had sent the disaster; this is far more than invigorating. This is enforcing justice on behalf of heaven! It's a pity that the other gods had run away too fast; otherwise, we could have let Imperial Preceptor feel great, and even Minister Qin to have a taste of it!"
A scribe behind him coughed and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, mind your words…"
Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and smiled. "Just don't record it and it will be fine. I have long itching to fire at least one bloody shot. But what could I do when it exhausts that much medicinal stones? If I hadn't heard that Minister Qin was in danger, having been kidnapped by a weird-looking god and there were gods fighting around here, I wouldn't have had the chance to use this huge cannon!
"That's right, Minister Qin, come and meet this victim, the sect leader of Great White Sword Sect. He came to make an imperial appeal, saying you brought a weird-looking existence and a bunch of flood dragons to seize his Great White Sword Sect."
Qin Mu looked behind Emperor Yanfeng and saw a white-haired elder step out with a smile.
"This sect leader said that you and that weird man seized the treasure of his Great White Sword Sect." Emperor Yanfeng smiled and said, "I felt that something was wrong here, so I invited Imperial Preceptor. He said that your Heavenly Saint Cult didn't have so many flood dragons so you were most likely in danger."
Qin Mu thanked Imperial Preceptor.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "There's no need to thank me, just thank Great White Sect Leader. If he didn't come forth to submit an imperial appeal, nobody would have known you were in danger."
Great White Sect Leader immediately said, "One who does not know is not guilty. I thought Cult Master Qin wanted to seize our Great White Sword Sect and swallow our treasure, so I had gone forth to the capital in a hurry. Never would I have expected to be doing a meritorious deed by this. Cult Master Qin, are there any treasures in our Great White Mountain? If Cult Master really got a treasure, could it be returned to our Great White Sword Sect?"
"This…"
Qin Mu revealed a troubled expression, truly at a loss. He didn't know if he should tell the truth to the Great White Sect Leader.
Suddenly, a soldier flew over and reported, "Your Majesty, the god's corpse has been found!"
Emperor Yanfeng's spirit was greatly roused. He waved his hand and smiled. "Bring it up!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
No long later, the god's body was lifted up by several experts and its might filled the air. Yet it was merely a broken thing, split into so many pieces that they could never be put together again.
The head of the god was still complete, though, and his face could still be seen.
"It's the god I met; he said he came from High Heavens," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said after taking a look at him. "His abilities were extremely high. When I fought with him, I had to go all in to force him back, yet I was still crippled by him."
The conclusion on that battle was Imperial Preceptor being so damaged that he dejectedly decided to live in seclusion beside the blood lake with his wife. If it wasn't for Qin Mu who had found him, he might have disappeared from the world from then on.
Qin Mu examined the head and was slightly stunned. There was something familiar about it.
It seemed to be made from fine jade, and even though the god was dead, there were still no flaws to be found. The man looked very young, unlike some elder one might expect. However, gods lived as long as the heaven and earth, so it was difficult to guess their true age from their appearance alone.
"The head of this god looks a little like…"
Qin Mu's expression was weird. The god and Xu Shenghua looked slightly similar!
But the similarity wasn't only in their appearance. Xu Shenghua was a perfect person who seemed like he was sculpted from flawless fine jade; he looked very exquisite. And the head was the same. It mirrored that of a human, but it was more like a jade carving than anything real!
'This god that was killed, could it be Jade Sovereign, the master Xu Shenghua had once mentioned?'
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open. Xu Shenghua's master, Jade Sovereign, could have very well been killed by Emperor Yanfeng with the cannon!
'Jade Sovereign was the person who sent disaster on Eternal Peace Empire, so he deserved death. I wonder what Xu Shenghua's reaction will be when he finds out.'
Qin Mu pondered about it, but he didn't say anything. He didn't plan on revealing that relationship. If Emperor Yanfeng knew that Jade Sovereign was Xu Shenghua's master, he would definitely get rid of Xu Shenghua to prevent danger in the future.
The emperor never went by the rules of the martial world. So because Qin Mu admired Xu Shenghua very much, he didn't say a word, not wishing for him to die just like that.
"Minister Qin forged this Sunshot Divine Cannon, so his contributions are endless, I haven't rewarded him yet so I shall reward him with the head of this god," Emperor Yanfeng said.
"Don't want!"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression changed slightly, and he grunted as he felt his face was lost.
Qin Mu then immediately smiled and said, "I did not achieve anything in this battle of slaughtering the god so how would I dare to take the trophy? Your Majesty had fired the cannon, and the number of medicinal stones exhausted must be great, so this trophy should be put into the imperial treasury."
Such words were easy on the ears and gave the emperor face in front of his officials.
Emperor Yanfeng was pleased. He smiled and said, "Minister sees the overall picture and I shall not force you. This credit of forging Sunshot Divine Cannon, I shall help you donate it to the imperial treasury."
Qin Mu's face instantly turned black.
Emperor Yanfeng laughed loudly. But he soon remembered how much medicinal stones were exhausted by the Sunshot Divine Cannon and felt a pain in his heart. It felt great firing the cannon, but the money required for it was a terrifying thing.
The battle between gods and devils had made Emperor Yanfeng lead the experts of the imperial court with the battery from the capital to the hills. He had to maintain Sunshot Divine Cannon to fly in the sky, so the amount of medicinal stones used was definitely higher than when just firing the cannon once!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Ling Yushu might have brought numerous treasures back from Barbarian Di Empire and Wolf Store Country, but Sunshot Divine Cannon was like an abyss that couldn't be filled, a gold swallowing beast. If he played with it for any longer than necessary, the empire would go bankrupt.
"This is the first god my Eternal Peace Empire slaughtered!" Emperor Yanfeng raised his head to look at the sky and sneered. "There may be a second and even third one from today onwards! My people are not fish and meat, and I'm not a coward that those gods can just mess around with! Return back to the court!"
Sunshot Divine Cannon gradually changed direction, and Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. He said, "Your Majesty, I still have some minor stuff I have to attend to, so I have to stay here for some time…"
Emperor Yanfeng looked at him and said, "Minister Qin, could you know those strong practitioners that were fighting against the gods? You want to stay to meet them?"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "They are my elders."
Emperor Yanfeng seemed to have a smile that yet not a smile. "There are quite a number of elders in your family. Can you introduce them to me? The empire is currently in need of talented people and I would like to meet these experts with peerless talents."
Qin Mu immediately pointed at Wang Muran and said, "There should be a few that were his elders. My elders don't really like to meet outsiders so Your Majesty should ask their elders."
Wang Muran shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, my elders also don't like to meet outsiders."
Emperor Yanfeng's face turned black.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed and took a step to stand beside him. His body slanted nonchalantly and he whispered in Emperor Yanfeng's ear, "Their elders are all remarkable people. On one side, there's Old Human Emperor who is living in seclusion in Great Ruins and mysterious experts like Heaven Knife. On the other side, it's Little Jade Capital. Your Majesty can't pull in any one of them."
Emperor Yanfeng jumped in shock, astonished. He also knew about Little Jade Capital. Even though they were hidden in seclusion, its position was above the three big sacred grounds, and some mysterious old immortals stayed there. Yet Imperial Preceptor placed Qin Mu's family even above Little Jade Capital. Could it be a sacred ground that was hidden in Great Ruins?
"Imperial Preceptor, since there's the old human emperor, the human emperor of this generation…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head and said, "The pavilion closest to the water enjoys moonlight first; the human emperor of this generation won't be Your Majesty."
Emperor Yanfeng's heart trembled and he looked at Qin Mu, slightly dizzy.
Qin Mu asked to be excused again, and Emperor Yanfeng hesitated for a moment. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor knew the thoughts of this ruler, aware that he had put his guard up against the new human emperor.
"Your Majesty?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed.
Emperor Yanfeng came back to his senses and waved his hand. "Minister Qin, handling your matters is more important, you may withdraw first."
Qin Mu jumped down from the battery. Wang Muran and the rest also went after him.
Emperor Yanfeng looked at their figures moving away while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood silently behind him. He suddenly said, "Your Majesty had the intent to kill?"
"There was that moment." Emperor Yanfeng didn't hide anything from him and admitted without a moment's hesitation. "Him being the Heavenly Devil Cult Master already made me put my guard up. Even though Heavenly Devil Cult has a devil in their name, they are the number one cult. They may be a sect in name, but they are actually a country, a country in our country. I always felt uneasy by putting him in an important position. Now that he has also become the current human emperor, it makes me even more worried."
He sighed and said, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is so outstanding and such a person is hard to control. My sons and daughters won't be able to be a match for him. My life will come to an end in time, and then, hehe, Eternal Peace Empire will be in his pockets, so my intent to kill had indeed awoken."
He stood there and looked at Qin Mu and the rest leaving into the distance. "But it's gone now," he said with a calm expression.
Emperor Yanfeng raised his head to look at the sky, and his tone became calmer and calmer, "Imperial Preceptor, even though you and I are minister and ruler, we are actually brothers and our hearts are connected. We are both outstanding and rare in this world. With you and I working together to reform the country, it is still so difficult. We seem to be piloting a small boat that could be flipped over anytime by the strong gales and big waves. I was thinking, what if we failed? What if we died? Who shall succeed our mission in life?"
He turned around with a fervent expression. He raised his hands and grabbed the shoulders of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, his eyes incomparably bright. "I have to think about my Ling family, about Eternal Peace Empire, our cause, the reform! So I can't have any intent to kill him! Our cause needs to have a successor, someone to follow in our footsteps after we fail! My sons and daughters don't have the ability, but he has! Isn't that right, my Dao friend?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor heard the phrase Dao friend and his heart moved. He nodded gently, "He has the ability."
Everyone knew he was the advocate for the reform, his thoughts, and efforts concentrated solely on it. He wanted to be a saint that established his virtue, his merit, and his ideas in writing. However, no one knew that he had also faced a moment of weakness, of being at a loss, that he had also thought about giving up.
The person that gave him the biggest support and made him persevere was his close friend.
Emperor Yanfeng was his best friend, his most reliable comrade-in-arms!
This kind of friendship was something others wouldn't understand.
Dao friend.
To have met such a Dao friend in this lifetime was enough for him.
"I will stand by your side." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked into the distance, his heart calm. "Always."
Qin Mu and the rest returned to the palace that was nearly soaked with spiritual qi and energy. When they landed on the ground, they saw that there were quite a few people waiting in the palace for them.
"Mu'er, return to Great Ruins with us." Blind stood up by propping himself on his cane. He walked toward Qin Mu and pulled onto his hand. He said resolutely, "Butcher, Village Chief, there's no need for further discussion, let's go back to Great Ruins, immediately!"
Butcher quickly rose and sheathed his knives behind his back. He said coldly, "Blind, are you scared?"
Blind sneered at him. "I'm scared? Half of my body is almost in the grave so what am I scared of? On the other hand, it's you who is afraid, isn't it?"
Butcher was furious and looked like an angry lion. "When have I ever been afraid?"
"When you barely existed back then, weren't you scared?" Blind said with scorn. "You were sprawled in the mud and had to crawl over with your arms! I may be blind, but it doesn't mean that I can't see, I know the fear in your heart!"
"Damned Blind, you weren't any better than me back then!"
Butcher pulled out his knives and Blind threw away Qin Mu's hand to grip his cane tighter. Both of them overflowed with murderous aura.
Qin Mu hurriedly squeezed himself between them to prevent them from really fighting. Lying on a recliner, Village Chief said with his head hurting, "Alright, stop squabbling! You two are usually on the best of terms, so do you think it's worth falling out over this matter? Old Butcher, Blind's foresight is usually the best, and he wants Mu'er to return for the child's good. Mute, you usually talk the least, but what you say holds weight. What's your opinion?"
Hermit Qing You waved his hand and signaled for Wang Muran and the rest to come over. They immediately went to his side and asked in a low voice, "Senior Uncle, what happened?"
"Emperor Yanfeng killed Jade Sovereign of High Heavens," Wander Qing You said in a low voice.
"We know about this. However, why did these grandpas started squabbling?" Mu Qingdai asked in bewilderment.
Hermit Qing You sighed and said, "If Jade Sovereign of High Heavens had died under the hands of our Little Jade Capital or Old Human Emperor, it would be nothing, at most we would have a grudge with High Heavens. However since he died under Emperor Yanfeng's hand, Eternal Peace Empire will be in grave trouble. Blind wants Human Emperor to return to Great Ruins so he wouldn't be standing near a collapsing wall. Heaven Knife, on the other hand, wants to stay in Eternal Peace and scolds him as a coward. They have been fighting for quite a while regarding this matter."
In the hall, Mute sat on the wooden chest. He took out a bag of shredded tobacco and lighted it up. He let out a puff of white smoke and squinted his eyes. "Ah, ah ah."
"What Mute said is logical." Village Chief nodded/ "The younger generations will do all right on their own, we are all old farts so there's no need to worry. For how much longer will we live? Can we protect Mu'er for his whole life?
Blind hardened his resolve and said, "I want him to go back to the village no matter what. I'll find him a woman to make a baby so he can live his life honestly! Why should we make him do what you couldn't do? Your limbs were severed, and this oaf even got his lower body chopped off! If Mu'er does what all of you did, everything under his neck will be chopped off! Mu'er, let's go home!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Butcher couldn't resist saying, "Damned Blind, you are making decisions on your own. Have you asked Qin Mu about his opinion?"
"I have no need to ask! He was raised by me, so I can make decisions on my own!"
After Blind said that, he pulled onto Qin Mu's hand and walked out of the huge hall. The flood dragons immediately followed after them. Village Chief frowned and said, "Old Butcher, no need to chase after them. Blind will think things through."
Butcher shook his head and said, "That old fellow's temper is even more explosive than mine; he was actually furious."
In the hall, Hermit Qing You sighed ruefully. He said to Wang Muran and the rest, "Human Emperor invited us down the mountain to calculate the space algebra model of patching the divine bridge and now that it's done, we have no need to remain in Eternal Peace Empire, this place of troubles. Will you guys follow me back to Little Jade Capital?"
Long Yu and Mu Qingdai were somewhat hesitant. Long Yu wanted to return to Little Jade Capital, but he wasn't certain about it. His gaze subconsciously went to Wang Muran. Among the three disciples of Little Jade Capital, Wang Muran had the most ideas. Mu Qingdai had a playful heart, and the wonderful and brilliant encounters during the past few months made her want to stay.
Wang Muran was silent for a moment, then said, "Disciple had met Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor just now." Hermit Qing You raised his eyebrows, and Wang Muran continued, "He no longer recognizes me."
Hermit Qing You sighed and said, "He is Imperial Preceptor, so he naturally won't remember you."
"Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is working on the reform to change the world, creating a completely new structure. His path, skills, and divine arts see new development every day, and the speed of their improvement is godly. If I remain in Little Jade Capital to cultivate diligently, no matter if I work a hundred times harder than him, I will never be able to surpass him in this life. Besides, he is also extremely hard working."
"You want to stay here?" Hermit Qing You asked.
Wang Muran bowed. "Disciple would like to enter the change of an era brought by the reform which has already shown numerous things. The three sword forms of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Six Directions Primordial Spirit of Human Emperor Qin, and also Sunshot Divine Cannon as well as meteorological divine arts. This shows that the paths, skills, and divine arts are already changing. If I stay in Little Jade Capital and miss out on this era, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor will never remember me. When I seek revenge on him, he will also not remember who I am even after killing me in one attack."
Hermit Qing You sighed in his heart. "In that case, you shall remain here. Qingdai, Long Yu, what about the two of you?"
Mu Qingdai smiled and said, "I'm also staying in case Little Junior Brother doesn't have someone to look after him."
Long Yu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Since junior brother and junior sister have both decided to stay, as the senior brother, I should stay behind and look after them."
Hermit Qing You's head started to ache. "Alright then. Senior Brother You He, let us return to Little Jade Capital."
The three old immortals of Little Jade Capital rose and gestured to Village Chief, Mute, and Butcher before bidding farewell and leaving.
When the three of them rose into the sky, Hermit Qing You said to You He and You Yun, "I'm worried about these three disciples, so you guys shall return to Little Jade Capital first. I will look over them in the dark."
"The emperor killed a god of High Heavens, drawing unpredictable consequences. If you stay, you might also be dragged into it. This place of troubles is not a good place to stay!" You He immediately said.
Hermit Qing You smiled and said, "Don't worry, I understand. My mortal heart is long gone and I won't be tied down by the teeming world." When he said that, he went into hiding.
Qin Mu sat down on the back of the dragon qilin and went on a journey with Blind at a steady pace. He let Blind come up, but he didn't want to. He just continued walking toward Great Ruins with his walking cane.
After some time, Blind suddenly stopped walking.
Qin Mu made the dragon qilin stop and the numerous dragons beside him also stopped.
After a moment, Blind sighed with frustration and disappointment. "Mu'er, Old Butcher wanted me to ask for your opinion, but I didn't do so. Now I ask you, are you willing to return to Great Ruins?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Since Grandpa Blind wants me to go back, I shall go back. If I said I wanted to stay, would Grandpa Blind allow me to stay?"
"Of course not!"
Qin Mu changed the topic and asked, "Did Village Chief ask Grandpa Butcher about how the sun, moon, and stars are all fake?"
"Ask the pig slaughterer yourself!"
Qin Mu didn't talk anymore. The two of them continued on their way until the sky gradually turned dark. Qin Mu started a fire to make dinner, and after the two of them had finished their dinner, Blind raised his bamboo cane and drew a circle around Qin Mu. He said, "Wait inside here and don't walk out of it… You can't walk out anyway! I shall go steal a wife for you and you shall get married and make babies when we get back to the village!"
Qin Mu jumped in shock. Blind took his bamboo cane and leaped into the sky, vanishing without a trace.
'Steal a wife? Make babies?'
Qin Mu's mind was blown. He immediately tried walking out of the circle, but he suddenly heard a hum as the circle Blind drew burst forth with light, bouncing him backward.
'Grandpa Blind's restriction is very powerful, but Grandpa Cripple taught me Heavenly Pilfering Divine Legs which aren't afraid of any restrictions!'
Qin Mu exerted strength beneath his feet, but just as he executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs, he was bounced back again. The circle Blind had drawn was very marvelous. The size of the circle was precisely to counter Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs. Cripple's technique required extreme speed to break through the restraint of space, only then would one be able to ignore all restrictions.
'Grandpa Blind taught me Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill, and isn't it just so that it can be used to break restrictions? Eyes awaken!"
Layers of formation swirled in Qin Mu's eyes when he opened Cyan Heaven's Eyes. Focusing his gaze at the circle, he couldn't help feeling decrepit.
He couldn't understand what he was seeing.
As the founder of Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill, Blind was known as Divine Eye Spear God. Because of his powerful divine eyes, he had extremely high attainments in the path of formations.
Even if Qin Mu awakened all nine heavens of his Heaven's Eyes, he still wouldn't be able to break free.
'I still have two huge eyeballs here, Sun and Moon Jade Eyes. Maybe they can break open Grandpa Blind's restriction! However…"
His expression became troubled. The circle Blind had drawn was so small that the two eyes couldn't be placed inside.
Qin Mu took a look at the dragon qilin and the dozens of flood dragons. He immediately took out the Emperor's Disk and executed Secrets of Dragon Control with the flute. The flood dragons then snarled and attacked the circle.
Even with their numbers, they still weren't able to break the circle. The light screen kept on breaking down and reassembling itself, changing continuously to keep its victim trapped inside.
Qin Mu also didn't dare to let the flood dragons use their full power. If the circle couldn't withstand the attacks and broke, he might be blown to pieces as well.
He was completely out of ideas. He could only wait in the circle until Blind stole a wife for him.
Sunshot Divine Cannon was still flying in the sky and floating back to the capital city. On the battery, Emperor Yanfeng looked at the burning pill furnace with an aching heart. In his eyes, what was burning weren't medicinal stones but bags and bags of great abundance coins. The amount burned made even him feel pangs of pain!
At that moment, a human figure suddenly flashed past the battery and disappeared.
"What a fast speed!" Emperor Yanfeng exclaimed in admiration
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked over. He looked into the distance and said, "Seems to be that blind old man who fought with the gods of High Heavens. He should be the spear god from back then."
"It's a pity he can't be employed by me." Emperor Yanfeng sighed.
When it came to midnight, that figure hurriedly sprinted back, passing by the battery again. Emperor Yanfeng took a look at him and asked suspiciously, "Why is the spear god carrying a huge sack?"
"I have no idea."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also slightly puzzled. "The experts outside the mortal world all have some weird hobbies. The elders in Cult Master Qin's family all have some weird addictions that are hard to understand."
When the sun was high up in the sky, they came to the outskirts of the capital and lowered the battery down. The guards in the palace immediately rushed out and knelt on the floor. "Your Majesty, we have a problem! The sixth princess was kidnapped last night by an old man with a walking cane!"
Emperor Yanfeng was in a daze. "Old man with a walking cane? Imperial Preceptor, was that spear god an old man with…"
Qin Mu woke up when the sky was already bright. Blind also returned at that time. He placed down a huge burlap sack, and there was a girl's voice coming from inside it.
"Fatty Pig, come over, reveal your true form!"
Blind brought the dragon qilin over and had him transform into a huge behemoth that was a hundred and twenty yards long. Blind placed the burlap sack on his back and walked over, erasing the circle with his bamboo cane. He smiled and said, "Mu'er, return to the village to get married!"
"Grandpa Blind, forced love does not last!" Qin Mu immediately said.
"It will definitely last." Blind brought him to the dragon qilin's back. He said while beaming at him, "If it doesn't last, I will just return it and change to a lasting one. You are in for a treat, boy! Fatty Pig, stop in the town in front and buy some phoenix coronets and bridal gowns."
The dragon qilin acknowledged his command. His true form was extremely wide, and when he ran, it was as steady as a huge ship.
Qin Mu undid the burlap sack and beautiful black hair flowed out from inside. A familiar fragrance assaulted his nostrils.
The burlap sack squirmed, and Ling Yuxiu raised her head up. A cloth was stuffed in her mouth, and she cried out while nudging forward. Blind stood to the side and smiled proudly.
Qin Mu immediately pulled the girl out from the burlap sack and saw that her arms and legs were tied firmly by golden ropes. She couldn't move at all.
He pulled out the cloth from her mouth and was about to untie the golden rope when the burlap sack suddenly squirmed again. There was another maiden inside, and she popped her small head out.
Qin Mu was shocked and immediately went forward to bring the other maiden out from the burlap sack. It was Si Yunxiang who looked flustered, her beautiful hair messed up.
Qin Mu's mind was blown and he stuttered, "G-grandpa Blind, you kidnapped two…"
There was still something moving in the burlap sack, and Qin Mu's face couldn't help turning black. A small girl popped her head out and looked helplessly at him.
Qin Mu was completely speechless. "Why have you even kidnapped Ling'er?" He went forward in a hurry to pull the little girl that was around six or seven years old out.
.
"When I went to kidnap the princess and the saintess, I picked her up on the way." Blind was still beaming at him. "They were all living in Imperial College's Divine Arts Residence, right next door. There's no time like the present, so you shall marry and consummate tonight! Who do you like? Choose freely!"
Qin Mu pulled out the cloths in Si Yunxiang and Hu Ling'er's mouths. Hu Ling'er was overjoyed and asked bashfully, "Are we getting married tonight? I'm still not prepared…"
Blind smiled and said, "No matter if it is the princess or the saintess or even the little demon fox, it's all fine. If you want to marry all three at once, that is also alright, I can get to carry babies sooner. Say, who do you pick?"
The three girls looked nervously at Qin Mu who didn't say a word. He went to undo the golden rope, but it suddenly revealed a head. It opened its mouth and almost bit him.
Qin Mu jumped back in shock and immediately pulled his hand away.
"This is dragon's tendon and not any ordinary rope, you can't undo it." Blind sneered and said, "This dragon's tendon is the tendon of a real dragon and not something of those flood dragons."
Qin Mu sighed and said, "Grandpa Blind, you are messing around again… Granny, why are you here?"
Blind immediately turned back, and Qin Mu exploded with Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs to run away at full speed.
Blind raised his bamboo cane to tap at the void. The next moment, Qin Mu lost all his strength in midair and fell from the sky.
Thump.
A heavy object landed in the distance.
"Truly worrisome."
Blind shook his head and took out another golden rope. It flew out and firmly tied Qin Mu up, flying him back to the dragon qilin's back.
"Grandpa Blind, forced love doesn't— Uwu!"
Blind stuffed a cloth in his mouth and put him with the three girls while muttering to himself, "One day one girl, it will surely last!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin carried everyone to the village in front and Blind immediately took care of the purchases. He bought phoenix coronets and bridal gowns, some other outfits, and a big red silk ball for Qin Mu. He invited a few old women to help the four to change.
"Emperor Yanfeng lost his daughter so he might find his way here. Who knows what will happen if we drag this out, so it's best they consummate immediately!"
Blind took out some great abundance coins from the little fox's bag to buy a huge house with a courtyard. He also hired some maids and took care of all other things, preparing to have them marry that day.
Qin Mu was tied up firmly, but his cultivation was still there. He secretly blew the golden flute to make the flood dragons launch a sneak attack on Blind and tie him up.
However, just as the golden flute sounded, before it could make a connection with the flood dragons, Blind sensed something wrong. He tapped the heart of Qin Mu's brows with his bamboo cane, and Qin Mu heard booming coming from his body. His Six Directions, Five Elements, and Spirit Embryo Divine Treasures were forcefully closed one after another.
Blind was scared of him playing any tricks, so he sealed Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang's divine treasures as well.
Hu Ling'er saw him walking over and jumped in excitement. "Grandpa Blind, don't worry, Ling'er won't run!"
Blind immediately loosened the golden rope on her body. "I shall untie your ropes, so help me look after them. I shall go book a few banquet tables and invite a theatrical troupe."
"Alright!" the little fox said without a moment's hesitation.
"Traitor!" Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang stared at her angrily.
Hu Ling'er was immensely proud of herself. She jumped into a chair and swayed her braids.
'Grandpa Blind sure is experienced…' Qin Mu exclaimed in his heart, admiring him endlessly. The divine art he'd just used had casually sealed their cultivations, making them unable to execute their tricks even if they had any.
"Fatty Dragon, come over." Qin Mu's gaze flickered as he called the dragon qilin over. "Carry us and run!"
The dragon qilin shook his head. "Since I can't run faster than him, might as well not run." When he was done, he wagged his tail and went back to guard the door.
Qin Mu was stunned. He felt the dragon qilin needed to lose weight severely.
When night time came, Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were held down by a few old women and forced to marry each other. Blind had invited nearly all the people in the small town to witness the wedding. He didn't accept any gifts, and the theatrical troupe also consisted of only ordinary people playing horns and suona. Everything was very basic.
The wedding was naturally very bustling, though, and finally Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were sent into the bridal room by the townsfolk.
Hu Ling'er was unhappy to see that the bride wasn't her and began to drink a lot, spewing nonsense.
Blind waved his hand and said, "Come again tomorrow, there'll be another wedding. The groom will be the same, but the bride will be changed!"
"This groom is truly a lucky man!" everyone exclaimed and left.
Hu Ling'er jumped onto the table, carrying a wine jar that was bigger than hers. She said in a drunken stupor, "Grandpa Blind, I want to be the bride tomorrow!"
"Alright, alright." Blind nodded repeatedly.
In the room, Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the commotion gradually fading into the distance. They felt slightly terrified and anxious. After a moment, Ling Yuxiu lifted a corner of her veil and took a sneaky glance at Qin Mu who was wearing the big red silk ball at her side. He was clutching it nervously, and she suddenly burst into laughter.
Qin Mu stared at her. "You can still laugh! If you father learns of this, he'll definitely take my head off!"
Wanting to lift up the veil, Ling Yuxiu rolled her eyes and giggled. "People say that it's unlucky for a girl to take off her own veil; e a man must do it."
"There's even such a rule?"
Qin Mu was astonished. He took the veil off of her and became stunned. The powdered and rosy-cheeked girl was indescribably captivating under the candlelight. Ling Yuxiu blushed bashfully and rolled her eyes at him. "What are you looking at?"
"So beautiful." Qin Mu then stood up and went to push the door, but he couldn't open it. "Grandpa Blind locked the door. I'll go and check the windows."
He opened the window and was about to jump out when a bamboo cane pointed at him. Blind's voice followed right after it. "Sleep, don't think of running."
Qin Mu jumped in shock and said furiously, "Grandpa Blind, why are you squatting at the corner?"
"Rules," Blind said. "Don't worry, I'm blind, I can't see anything."
"Sure you can't!" Qin Mu closed the window and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Grandpa Blind is guarding over there so I'm afraid we can't escape," he said, slightly depressed.
The two of them sat at the side of the bed. Ling Yuxiu clutched the corner of her skirt while Qin Mu held onto the red silk ball in front of his chest. After some time, Blind's coughing came from outside the window. "There are nuptial cups on the table, quickly drink them and sleep!"
Qin Mu picked up the wine jar and smashed it. Blind was furious and walked away with the cane. After a moment, they could hear him begin to beat a rooster. "What's the use of having a small rooster that doesn't crow? If you don't crow, I will break your leg!"
"Is Grandpa Blind scolding the rooster or me?"
Qin Mu was puzzled. After a moment, the window opened and a bamboo cane with a broken rooster leg appeared at the window.
Qin Mu closed the window and went back to sit down on the edge of the bed. He muttered, "We haven't met for quite a while."
Ling Yuxiu burst out laughing. "You are still bad with words. I'm slightly sleepy, so I shall go to rest first."
"Okay."
Qin Mu saw her wormed under the blanket, until a small head popped out from under the big red blanket. Ling Yuxiu blinked at him. "I'm sleeping."
"Okay."
Ling Yuxiu gave a humph and turned to the other side.
Qin Mu also laid down and covered himself with the blanket. The two of them shared a pillow and looked each other in the face. Qin Mu didn't dare to breathe, and Ling Yuxiu burst out laughing, her breath fanning his face. It instantly reddened, and the girl quickly gave him a peck on the lips.
"Smells pretty nice." Qin Mu blinked and said, "Kiss again."
Ling Yuxiu gave him another kiss, giggling.
"What's the use of kissing?"
Blind's impatient voice came from outside, slowly moving farther away. "Little rooster can't crow so it's better to stew it and eat… Eh? Emperor Yanfeng has caught up? Come to think of it, the emperor is now an in-law, so I can't be rude. I need to treat in-laws to a wedding feast, so I shall slaughter this rooster that doesn't crow to treat in-laws!"
Qin Mu heard him walking farther away and quickly left the bed. He went to the window and opened it sneakily. He stretched his head out to survey the surroundings, then waved to Ling Yuxiu, but she didn't come over.
He turned his head back and saw that the girl seemed to be really asleep.
Qin Mu went over carelessly and said quietly, "Stop acting, quickly get up."
Ling Yuxiu's face flushed, and she immediately left from under the blanket. She put on her shoes and crawled out through the window while Qin Mu received her on the other side, bringing her down. The two of them sneaked along the wall to Si Yunxiang's room. When they came to her window, Qin Mu asked quietly, "Is Sister Xiang asleep?"
"Not yet."
Her voice came from behind, and Qin Mu jumped in shock. He swiftly turned back and saw her sneakily following behind him.
"When did you come out?" he asked in astonishment.
Si Yunxiang seemed to be smiling yet not smiling. "I've sneaked out a long time ago and wanted to listen from the wall. But In the end, I just heard a little female cat in heat calling out yet there was no little male cat coming."
Ling Yuxiu sneered and said, "Some female cats don't even have the right to call for a little male cat. Cowherd boy, let's go and find the little fox?"
"Ling'er has rebelled!" Qin Mu shook his head and said, "Let's go now, not making any sound."
"Where's Cult Master going?" The dragon qilin suddenly appeared behind them, shocking all three.
"Traitor!" Qin Mu gritted his teeth. "If you still want to eat, don't be noisy or else we will have a dragon banquet for New Years!"
The dragon qilin shuddered and followed behind them softly. "Grandpa Blind is out; he said he's inviting Emperor Yanfeng for a wedding feast. We can sneak out now."
Qin Mu looked behind the dragon qilin's butt and saw over a dozen flood dragons sneakily following after. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It might be unsafe leaving Ling'er here alone, where's she?"
The dragon qilin lowered his head, and a snow white fox showed up on his forehead, sleeping peacefully.
"Go! Go quickly! If the emperor is here, my head is really going to roll!" Qin Mu pulled onto the two girls and jumped on the back of the dragon qilin with all his strength. "Don't use the fire clouds, or else Grandpa Blind will see. His eyesight is very good! We shall leave the town secretly, without alerting anyone."
The dragon qilin carried them out and headed south. After sprinting for a hundred miles, Qin Mu was finally at ease and said, "You can now run with your full strength!"
The dragon qilin increased his speed and ran the whole night. He traveled three or four thousand miles, and Qin Mu smiled. "Grandpa Blind's eyes shouldn't be able to see this far. Fatty Dragon, you can rest now… Surging River is right in front of us, so let's go by the riverside to reach the east sea. We can then take a detour to the capital. Is Ling'er awake? Tie up the traitor!"
"She's still drunk."
They came to the Surging River and were about to find a ship when they saw one sailing down from the center of the river. On its bow was an old blind man propping himself on a cane.
Qin Mu's face turned ashen.
"I've chased Emperor Yanfeng all the way to Great Thunderclap Monastery," Blind said calmly. "Mu'er, I've been waiting for you guys for two hours and only now did you reach here, I'm disappointed."
Qin Mu was stunned, while the dragon qilin immediately shouted, "Old Master Blind, I knew you were here so I rushed over with all my might!"
Everyone could only board the ship which immediately sailed them to Great Ruins.
"When we are back at the village, it won't be too late to host the two remaining weddings," Blind said while beaming. "Yesterday night I invited Emperor Yanfeng to eat chicken so he most likely agreed to the marriage."
Qin Mu could already see himself being escorted to the market to be beheaded.
Suddenly, the river water became turbulent, and the current grew in speed. Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He hurriedly leaned over the side of the ship. He saw the water current suddenly turn back calm, but the water level grew higher and higher, until it gradually became as high as the trees and mountain on both sides of the river.
Ling Yuxiu ran to the bow while Si Yunxiang went to the aft to look upstream and downstream. Both of them were stunned by the sight, for they could see Surging River floating up from the river canal like a long jade ribbon.
More and more of the river water floated into the sky like a water dragon.
Everyone looked at it in a daze. The small ship sailed along the long river in the sky and looked numerous times smaller than before.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Besides the group's ship, there were fishing and treasure ships transporting ores, black gold, black iron, and black copper. There were also merchant ships carrying goods and transport ships ferrying passengers.
Surging River was flourishing, and the fish were plump and delicious, thus there were many ships in the river as well as at the port.
Yet the mountains on both sides vanished below the river and only ships were left on its surface. All of them stopped, and countless people stretched their heads out to look outside, not knowing what had happened.
Divine arts practitioners flew up from their ship, looking at Surging River in a daze.
Surging River floated in midair, its water stretching tens of thousands of miles in length. It continued to flow in the sky and gave off multicolored rays from the sun shining on it.
Whoosh!
A merchant ship that was transporting goods didn't manage to stop and sailed out of the river, falling from the sky. It fell toward the mountains helplessly and became smaller and smaller. After a moment, it crashed into a forest, but it took quite a while for the sound to reach the people on the river, which was a very dull thud.
The owner of the merchant ship had hurriedly jumped out when the ship was falling and numerous divine arts practitioners had helped to save the crew, so there weren't too many casualties.
There were Eternal Peace Empire's officials on a government cargo ship, and they immediately ordered divine arts practitioners to save people first, carry away the commoners on the other ships and send them to the land below. Some soldiers were also sent away to seek assistance from the city, invite people to save everyone on Surging River.
"It's not my fault, don't look at me, I didn't do it." Qin Mu and the rest looked at Blind who was shaking his head with a grim expression. "To have Surging River rise like that, his magic power is much stronger than mine. I have yet to see a person with such dense magic power… take a look below!"
Qin Mu and the rest immediately looked downwards.
Surging River had been raised and floated in the sky, its water separated from the land. The current, which was somewhat muddy, couldn't be seen. All the sand and the mud in the river had vanished. When Surging River had risen into the sky, only the water had been moved; the mud and sand weren't touched. Because of that, the river water had become incomparably clear, so they could see the land below through it.
The group saw the marvelous sight of huge fish swimming about.
Because Surging River originated in Great Ruins, there were numerous fish monsters and water monsters that usually remained in its depths, growing in all kinds of shape and sizes. Qin Mu had lived beside the river since he was young and had seen all kinds of fish and water monsters; however, he still noticed numerous fish and water monsters he had never seen before. They had to have been hidden deep at the bottom and rarely rose to the surface, so it was hard to see them.
Yet the river was see-through right then.
And the hair of everyone stood up on end. An incomparably huge and long satiny body brushed past the bottom of the group's ship. The creature moved along with the current and swam toward the west.
Huge scales grazed the hull of the ship. It shook for a moment before becoming steady again.
When the huge body swam past, it didn't raise any waves at all. When the scales grazed the hull of the ship, they didn't damage it. There was only some turbulence as though rapid currents had hit the bottom of the ship.
That creature was a sapphire blue flood dragon that was incomparably huge.
On the ship, the flood dragons became excited. Some of them climb onto Qin Mu's neck while others poked their heads out from under his armpits and looked around.
"Ma ha! Ma ha!" cried the dozen more flood dragons.
Whoosh.
A huge head rose from the water and looked at them curiously before diving back in to swim away. Wherever it passed, the water monsters of Surging River avoided it.
Some huge fish were so frightened that they escaped too quickly and left the water, flapping their fins as they fell from the sky. The clouds rained fish, which would give the commoners something to discuss for days.
However, what would give them even more stuff to ponder about was that Surging River had risen into the sky!
'That flood dragon is so huge…'
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. The sapphire blue flood dragon was much bigger than the complete forms of the little dragons around him; it was over ten times larger!
The sapphire blue flood dragon could be even stronger than Dragon Rearing Sovereign. Qin Mu didn't know,, however, if it was a dragon raised by Dragon Rearing Sovereign or one that's been called over from somewhere.
"This is a water flood dragon that has cultivated to the god realm. His power to control water is very powerful, terrifyingly powerful."
Blind had a grim expression as he looked to the west. He said in a hoarse voice, "I saw a man that had scales all over its body and looked very weird. He instructed this divine flood dragon king to raise Surging River."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. "Could Dragon Rearing Sovereign of High Heavens have come to take the dragon vein? I once saw his ability to move rivers."
Blind gripped his bamboo cane tightly, his face slightly nervous. "Such a dense magic power is truly powerful. This fellow should have borrowed the power of divine flood dragon king to raise his magic power to its extreme… No, that's not right, it would still not be enough to raise Surging River up… He is borrowing the power of Surging River as well!"
Qin Mu executed Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Technique and looked upstream. He could only awaken until the level of Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes so he couldn't see the middle section of Surging River where Dragon Rearing Sovereign should be. If he wanted to raise Surging River, the middle section was the best place to exert force.
According to Qin Mu's understanding of Dragon Rearing Sovereign, he shouldn't have the power to raise Surging River. It had to have been borrowed from the divine flood dragon king.
He had most likely invited him to raise Surging River at the estuary while he placed flood dragons at the other places to stir up havoc, raising all of Surging River.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was knowledgeable about dragon veins and was skilled in directing their power. Other than inviting the divine flood dragon king over, he had even called other flood dragons, but the most crucial thing was that he had probably mobilized the power of the dragon vein as well. With Surging River's own power, he had raised the giant body of water that stretched across tens of thousands of miles into the sky.
Surging River was very ancient, and it was a dragon vein since Founding Emperor Era that was filled with many secrets. Due to that, it might soon mature and transform into a dragon.
The power of Surging River's dragon vein was extremely great. If Dragon Rearing Sovereign was able to mobilize it, there was a good chance he could raise the river up!
"Does he plan on taking away Surging River's dragon vein?" Qin Mu muttered.
Blind shook his head. "It's not that. He plans to change the path of the dragon vein so it would become a fierce dragon. With that, the fate of Eternal Peace Empire will be changed completely as well.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He immediately took out Dragon Rearing Scripture and flipped to one of the pages.
It introduced all kinds of dragon veins, and one paragraph mentioned how to change the path of the dragon vein to change fate and destiny. It detailed how to change the fate of an entire country!
"He's planning to guide Great Ruins to Eternal Peace Empire!" Qin Mu cried out.
From what was recorded inside Dragon Rearing Scripture, the consequences of Dragon Rearing Sovereign's action would be no small matter. Just by changing the path of Surging River, he would force the dangers of Great Ruins to flow into Eternal Peace!
If he succeeded, Eternal Peace Empire would be gradually transformed into a place that was like Great Ruins, one that was invaded by darkness at night!
"A very remarkable fellow."
Blind's eye sockets were empty, but he seemed to be able to see where Dragon Rearing Sovereign was located. He gripped his bamboo cane tightly and tapped on the river surface while saying, "An ant hole may cause the collapse of a great dike, so he just needs to change the path of the dragon vein slightly to borrow its power to guide the darkness from Great Ruins into Eternal Peace Empire, spoiling its fate. His studies on dragons are extremely profound and his attainments are astounding."
His bamboo cane tapped gently on the river surface, and the ship below their feet shot forward like an arrow that had left the bow. They sailed straight for the middle stream of Surging River, their speed so fast that the ship started creaking, unable to handle the pressure. It was about to break apart at any moment.
Crack!
This ship broke apart and countless wooden shards flew in all directions. Qin Mu and the others all executed their magic power to run on the river surface. However, the water under their feet churned. Fierce dragons roars could be heard as water dragons rose up, carrying their bodies forward at a rapid pace!
Blind held onto his bamboo cane while sitting on a dragon's head. Qin Mu and the rest looked nervously at both sides, seeing ten thousand dragons roaring while flying forward!
"This Surging River is the territory of Old Blind!" Under their feet, Surging River rushed forward, and Blind's clothes fluttered in the wind as he overflowed with murderous intent. "Have you asked this dragon king before moving it?"
The water dragons surged toward the west. The youths didn't know how far they had traveled when Blind suddenly raised his bamboo cane and tapped with on the dragon's head heavily. The water in a few hundred mile radius trembled violently, and Surging River looked like a long dragon whose waist had been severely injured, because of which it uncontrollably fell to the ground!
At the riverbed below, Dragon Rearing Sovereign's feet moved like those of a dragon, slithering around as he raised his hands up high. Violent magic power flooded out and raised up hte faltering sections of Surging River.
At the same time, a huge stone beast that was dozens of yards tall at the bottom of the river got wrapped by his magic power and flung out to the foothills.
Dragon Chasing Technique from Dragon Rearing Scriptures.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign had hurried up from downstream, and along the way he'd seen numerous stone creatures which were River Suppression Beasts. They had been forged by the officials of Eternal Peace Empire, and all kinds of runes were imprinted on them. They were used to suppress the dragon vein in case its tremors caused water hazards.
There were quite a number of extraordinary people in Eternal Peace Empire who could recognize dragon veins so they had ordered skilled blacksmiths to forge River Suppression Beasts to suppress the dragon vein.
Usually, because of them, Surging River's dragon vein would be obedient. But once they were pulled out one by one, the power of the dragon vein was completely activated.
Other than River Suppression Beasts, there were also a lot of strange items that had been brought downstream, each one of them more bizarre than the other. Dragon Rearing Sovereign tried to avoid them as much as possible so that he wouldn't meet unnecessary trouble.
The closer he got to Great Ruins, the more and more of those strange items were in his way. Surging River in there actually also had stone statues suppressing it, so it was definitely impossible for Dragon Rearing Sovereign to lift it there.
But his aim wasn't to take away Surging River, so there was no need to trouble himself with that. He just needed to change the path of the dragon vein and its origin so would become a fierce dragon.
But at that moment, Surging River that was in midair suddenly came crashing down.
Shocked, Dragon Rearing Sovereign stood still, his hands frozen above his head. Suddenly, the river water above transformed into a huge pillar which came stabbing down!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The strike had the pressure from the power of Surging River and the divine arts from Blind's own immense magic power, and Dragon Rearing Sovereign immediately felt an incomparably intense sense of danger before the strike had even landed!
"Why are there so many experts in a tiny place like Eternal Peace Empire?" It was too late for Dragon Rearing Sovereign to change his move, so he could only grit his teeth to execute all his magic power to welcome Blind's strike!
The pillar of water spun rapidly, its speed so fast that even the air began screeching as it was sliced!
At the front of the pillar, the concentrated water transformed into a dragon's head to pounce on Dragon Rearing Sovereign!
'Using dragon-shaped spells to deal with me?'
Dragon Rearing Sovereign let out a sigh of relief and his body trembled. Dragon-shaped vital qi flooded forward and transformed into a huge Thousand Dragons Plate that coiled around his head.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign raised Thousand Dragons Plate up high, and countless flood dragons bared fangs and brandished claws while dancing in the wind. 'Even though this person is an expert, he has still met his nemesis. I am a god that raises dragons so the details of dragon-shaped divine arts will never be able to escape my eyes. This person is not to be feared.'
Just as he thought that, the dragon's head started to spin, and the water pillar coiled to transform into an incomparably huge dragon spear. The dragon's head leaned on the blade while the river water transformed into the sharpest tip.
'It's not a dragon-shaped divine art!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's heart trembled violently. Blind's spear had already stabbed into Thousand Dragons Plate and struck a point on the thousand dragons.
The spear's power that burst forth was unexpectedly small, and its force wasn't powerful at all. However, Thousand Dragons Plate still crumbled, and the bodies of the thousand flood dragons warped as they become disorganized. In the center of the huge Thousand Dragons Plate was a huge hole.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign turned to take a look at the incomparably thick dragon spear at the center of his defense!
'The power of that spear didn't explode during the collision with Thousand Dragons Plate, so it will definitely explode when it reaches my corporeal body. The man's move is brilliant, and his control of divine arts has already reached their extreme. He is able to see through the weakness of my divine arts!'
Dragon Rearing Sovereign couldn't waste time. He no longer tried to lift Surging River up, but with all his magic power flooding into his hands, he spread his palms to create layers of barriers. However, they were all pierced through by that spear as if there was no obstruction at all.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's hand reached over and clasped the tip of the spear. He couldn't help grunting as his hands were both instantly bloodied; the dragon scales on his skin had been pierced by the spear's blade.
"His magic power is inferior to mine! Break!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body started to expand, his body instantly surpassing the river valleys. Standing three hundred yards tall, he lifted the spear with brute force, and his body spun rapidly.
At that moment, the might of the water dragon spear that was stabbing down burst forth and spun crazily as well. Its dragon roar became incomparably resounding the instant both of them exploded with power. The huge dragon spear crumbled and transformed into streams of water that came crashing down.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was completely drenched, his mangled palms trembling. He had only managed to break the opponent's spear because the other person's magic power was inferior to his. However, the power in that person's spear was extremely great, and it was even imbued with the power from Surging River.
With Surging River pressuring from the top, it had been too much. When the might of the spear was added into the mix, his hands were injured.
Before Dragon Rearing Sovereign could even have a chance to catch his breath, an incomparably thick dragon spear came rushing at him again. Dragon Rearing Sovereign dodged, but yet another dragon spear came from the Surging River in the sky.
His body moved repeatedly toward the west, avoiding strike after strike along the river bed. Whenever the thick dragon spears came from the sky, their power would suddenly retract, not a drop of it leaking out. Instead, they would strike the crucial points and fix the power of Surging River's dragon vein in place.
'A Dao spell experts!'
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was secretly astonished. Every strike of Blind's fixed the points of Surging River's dragon vein in place, preventing him from executing its power.
Without the god's magic power holding it up, Surging River started to fall.
However, it had risen quite high, so it would still take some time for it to land back into the river bed.
'His control to Dao spells is truly intricate; he is no inferior to that heavenly worker of few words!'
Cold sweat broke out on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's forehead. The dragon spears that came from the sky become more and more concentrated, slowly taking away his ability to dodge. He had no choice but to fight, which earned him numerous injuries.
More and more crucial points of the dragon vein were fixed in place by Blind.
The flood dragons upstream and downstream of Surging River were quite a distance away, so Dragon Rearing Sovereign couldn't call them back in time to borrow their strength.
Meanwhile, the divine flood dragon king had been already dispatched.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign had recently had a fierce battle with Mute, and they were both experts. They had tried all they could to get rid of each other, and he had severely exhausted his vital qi.
Until then, his vital qi still had yet to completely recover, and to change the path of Surging River, he'd exhausted his magic power as well. With Blind holding onto the moment, he was defeated again and again, getting injured repeatedly.
Meanwhile in the Surging River above, Blind held onto his bamboo cane as he stepped on a water dragon to fly through the river's surface. The water behind him churned, and an incomparably huge apparition rose. It was a huge Black Tortoise God, cultivated close to the substance state.
The Back Tortoise God was an old man with a tortoise shell. A flying serpent was coiled around his body while flapping his wings, in a pose as though it was about to fly away.
Qin Mu found it familiar. The Black Tortoise God was Blind's primordial spirit, and it was similar to Black Tortoise God Statue. Only the face was different. Qin Mu was mischievous when he was young and had peed on all four statues in the village. Even the Black Tortoise Stone Statue had been peed on quite a lot.
On the river surface, Blind moved as though he was flying, and the bamboo cane in his hand kept stabbing on the water's surface as he fought with Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
It was Qin Mu's first time seeing Blind fighting with his full strength. Back when Qin Feiyue had entered Great Ruins through Surging River, Blind had given a tap with his bamboo cane against Surging River's surface, which caused it to pulse a few times. However, Qin Feiyue was only an expert of Seven Stars Realm at that time, so Blind had only been scaring him. He didn't use his full strength.
But at that moment, Blind had unleashed all he had to fight with Dragon Rearing Sovereign across the river surface. Every time his bamboo cane tapped on the water, there would be a huge pillar rushing down to the bottom. The water would frantically transform into a dragon spear. Every one of them would stab at the flaws of Dragon Rearing Sovereign's divine arts, exhausting him with the struggle of dodging the attacks.
Blind had his own unique mental cultivation method to execute his Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill, but he didn't impart it to Qin Mu. His mental cultivation method wasn't the best in the village, but Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill was the strongest in the world.
What he used on the enemy was none other than that very same skill. However, his eyes awakening skill didn't just simply cultivate the nine heavens; it also cultivated divine mind eyes.
Under their gaze, even a god like Dragon Rearing Sovereign was full of flaws.
Blind's magic power was indeed not equal to that of Dragon Rearing Sovereign. Even when the other had exhausted a large amount of their magic power in changing the dragon vein, Blind was still inferior.
If Dragon Rearing Sovereign controlled flood dragons once again, borrowing their strength and magic power, his reserves would be ten times greater than those of Blind. Yet Blind's strongest attack was his divine mind eyes that could see through all divine arts. Even if there were no flaws, he could still find some.
In regards to cultivation, the density of Blind's magic power was inferior to that of Village Chief, Old Ma, Mute, Butcher, and even Granny Si when her heart devil erupted. His magic power only surpassed that of Apothecary and Cripple.
In regards to the power of his divine arts, they were inferior even to Deaf's painting. When compared to Village Chief, Butcher and Old Ma, they were still slightly inferior.
However, other than Village Chief and the mysterious Mute, no one else would dare to say they would hold an advantage in front of Blind.
Once divine mind eyes were out, his moves were invincible. All the divine arts in the world would be broken with one cane!
"Rat of the martial world, do you only dare to hide? Why don't you come down and have a battle with me?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice came from below the riverbed. There was already some water in the riverbed, and it was very muddy. The god was forced to hide from Blind's spears, but he could never escape from the riverbed. Blind's spears always forced him back into the middle.
By then, the water in the riverbed was mixed with god's blood and mud, turning it into a quagmire. There were numerous loaches skipping in the water, absorbing the god's blood to transform into loach dragons. They pounced around in the mud, looking ferocious as they bared their fangs and brandished their claws.
"You really think I don't dare to?" Blind shouted and suddenly left Qin Mu and the rest to pass through the water to attack Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was in the middle of the riverbed. A water dragon flew out to sweep Qin Mu and the rest onto the dragon qilin's back.
The divine treasures of Qin Mu and the rest were sealed, and without magic power, they could not stand on the water's surface. The dragon qilin's cultivation was still there, however, so he could carry all of them.
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu were astonished. They stamped their feet and said, "Why is Grandpa Blind so reckless, being spurred into action by a few negative remarks? How can he face the opponent head on?"
Delighted, Qin Mu smiled. "If Dragon Rearing Sovereign doesn't die, he's going to be severely injured. Grandpa Blind isn't a strong practitioner of divine arts because he's from the battle technique school."
The two girls were stunned.
The old blind man was from the battle technique school?
In what way did those spears earlier look like they were from the battle technique school?
The experts of battle technique school could explode with astonishing strength in close combat, instantly unleashing all their strength which was gathered in their knives or body. Yet the spears that Blind had used earlier had astonishing power. He was clearly an expert of spells and divine arts school!
Qin Mu and the two girls leaned on the dragon qilin's head to look down. Qin Mu saw Hu Ling'er who had returned to her original form still sleeping soundly, so he immediately grabbed her into his arms, afraid that she might drop into the water.
The river was clear, and the bottom could also be seen clearly.
At that moment, the river water was getting nearer and nearer to the ground. Not long later, the entire river would fall back into the riverbed!
Over there, Blind's size was insignificant compared to that of Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was three hundred yards tall. However, he was extremely agile and moved rapidly. A human and a god fought in the mud.
Blind flew around in the sky at a very fast speed, prancing around Dragon Rearing Sovereign to avoid his attacks. The bamboo cane in his hand tapped on the air rapidly, and his spear was akin to a dragon and lightning, striking Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body at a speed that couldn't be caught by the naked eye.
And Surging River that was falling from the sky finally reached the ground. The massive amount of water crashed down with a world-shaking splash.
Blind's cane tapped on the heart of Dragon Rearing Sovereign's brows, leaving right after.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign stood in the spot in a daze, then the water crashed down on him. It was hard to say how many explosions came from his whole body. His bones instantly broke and tendons snapped as he got submerged underwater.
Above the river, the dragon qilin rose into the air to avoid the terrifying impact of all the water crashing back down. It spread out and Surging River churned as its waves surged into the sky.
In the meantime beside the river, Blind stood on a reef with his cane. He stretched it out to tap on the agitated river's surface, and it calmed down.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When the river water landed, the mountains in the surroundings shook from the impact and some of them even crumbled. Landslides came crashing down and caused extremely terrifying damage. Quite a number of villagers living nearby suffered from it.
However, Blind was helpless in that.
If he didn't get rid of Dragon Rearing Sovereign and cut him off from changing the dragon's vein, the ones who would suffer wouldn't just be the villagers living beside the river. The whole Eternal Peace Empire would feel it!
"Grandpa Blind, Dragon Rearing Sovereign is able to shed skin to heal his injuries!" While standing on the head of the dragon qilin, he even added, "Don't be careless! He's still not dead yet!"
Blind was slightly puzzled. "What did you say about this Eel Sovereign? I shattered his limbs and bones, broke all his scales, and even ended his life with Surging River crashing down on him. How could he still be alive?"
"He's not dead!" Qin Mu shouted loudly. "As long as you don't chop off his head, no matter how severe his injuries are, they will heal completely after he'll shed his skin!"
At that moment, the river water suddenly bulged up and came surging down from the upstream, raising waves that were like mountain peaks. A behemoth was swimming underwater.
"That divine flood dragon king of Eel Sovereign has arrived! Looks like Eel Sovereign is really not dead yet."
Astonished, Blind raised his bamboo cane to tap on the river. Dragon Rearing Sovereign was pressed down by the mass of water when it had fallen from the sky. The huge pressure and Blind's attacks were enough to shatter his body into pieces.
Just as Blind's cane tapped on the surface of Surging River, the sapphire blue divine flood dragon king's body coiled. Its huge head popped out from the water to clash with the cane!
Boom!
Surging River was cut off, and the deep riverbed was revealed. The dragon qilin flew upwards to avoid the aftermath of that strike.
Qin Mu leaned down the dragon qilin's back to look below and saw that Dragon Rearing Sovereign was in a large and deep pit. The mud within it had been blown away by the attacks of Blind and the divine flood dragon king. Dragon Rearing Sovereign was sprawled out on his back and looked extremely miserable.
However, just Qin Mu had expected, he was not yet dead, but was casting off his skin.
Qin Mu quickly took a closer look and saw that the head of Dragon Rearing Sovereign had already split open. A new one was currently squirming in the crack, trying to worm its way out.
'If Dragon Rearing Sovereign succeeds in casting his skin and joins the fight with divine flood dragon king, Grandpa Blind will definitely not be his match!"
He didn't have time to think. He suddenly jumped down from the dragon qilin's back and ran frantically toward Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was lying at the bottom of the river!
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu cried out in astonishment and stretched out their hands to catch him, but they caught nothing. They didn't manage to grab hold of Qin Mu.
Bang!
Qin Mu's speed became faster and faster. In a split second, he surpassed the speed of sound and only left a trail of white smoke behind himself.
Blind had sealed his three great divine treasures, preventing him from using his vital qi. However, Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs was a corporeal body divine art. It was one that would burst forth with the strength of the corporeal body.
Blind was unable to seal that.
Qin Mu sprinted down from the sky with a whoosh and went straight for Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Meanwhile, the water of Surging River was starting to merge together. Black Tortoise Primordial Spirit appeared behind Blind's back and fought with the divine flood dragon king. Blind 'saw' Qin Mu sprinting down from the sky and couldn't help scolding him in his heart for being too daring. He hurriedly gave a flick.
Qin Mu was in midair when he got flicked in the heart of his brow by a gust of wind. Instantly, three rumbles came from his body, and his Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, and Six Directions Divine Treasures opened up one after another. His magic power returned to his body, and he couldn't help being overjoyed.
Beside the shore, Blind was attacking frantically, pitting his life against the divine flood dragon king so that Qin Mu wouldn't be smacked to death with a tail.
'He's still so daring after having his divine treasures sealed by me! This rascal, why didn't I see him being so energetic in bed?'
Blind's brows fluttered in the breeze; he was truly furious. The divine flood dragon king's claws came down on him only to be tapped several times by his bamboo cane. The muscles and bones in the dragon's claw were thrown in disorder so their power couldn't be released.
Blind's cane tapped again, and the river water swirled and gathered to form a huge spear which went straight for the divine flood dragon king's heart. The creature had no choice but to rise into the sky to avoid the strike.
Pshh!
Before the river water totally merged, Qin Mu dived into the mud at the bottom of the river. What followed was a world-shaking rumble as the river water collided and converged. The sight of huge waves overflowing into the sky and surging toward the east was spectacular.
Under the river, Qin Mu held his breath, but the pressure of the river water converging still almost crushed him to death. His chest almost caved inwards, and his ears kept on ringing.
After a moment, Qin Mu came back to his senses and tunneled out from the mud. His body moved like a fish and came to the pit where Dragon Rearing Sovereign lay.
Surging River was currently transporting mud and sand which continued to accumulate in the pit, burying almost half of Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Qin Mu swam toward the god's side and saw mushy flesh everywhere. Even the god's blood was pushed out by the pressure and swept away by the water. In just a short time, over half of it had been swept away.
The body of a god was very dense and heavy. Even strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm would find it difficult to carry one and walk, so Dragon Rearing Sovereign was not swept away by the current and just lay there.
Even when most of his blood had been drained, his head was still squirming. Two dragon's horns had already popped out.
Qin Mu stretched his hands forward to swim around Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body to flip it around.
'Where's the true dragon's nest? Where did he hide it…'
Kacha.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's head split open wider, and waves of god's might came from the crack.
Astonished, Qin Mu saw that the dragon's head had already wormed halfway out. He quickly swam to Dragon Rearing Sovereign's bald head while pulling out his Carefree Sword. Mobilizing his three great divine treasures and rousing his vital qi, he stabbed Dragon Rearing Sovereign's head with force, only to heard a clink when Carefree Sword came into contact with a dragon's scale and got bounced back. A crack appeared on it, but that was it.
Qin Mu raised his hands to stab a dozen more times until he finally pierced the scale.
Qin Mu pulled his sword out to stab down again. Carefree Sword went halfway into Dragon Rearing Sovereign's head. Qin Mu then took out a huge iron hammer to smash forcefully on the sword's hilt. After pounding it for quite some time, he finally stabbed Carefree Sword all the way through Dragon Rearing Sovereign's head.
Carefree Sword had nailed Dragon Rearing Sovereign's skin and the corporeal body that was casting off the skin. The dragon's head didn't dare to squirm, afraid of alarming the god's might hidden in the sword. It could only slowly cast off the skin, but once it was fixed in place by Carefree Sword, even that option was out.
"Honest-looking boy, it's you again…" Dragon Rearing Sovereign opened his mouth to speak in a weak voice. "I want to kill you, I must kill you…"
Qin Mu circulated his vital qi and swept up mud and sand to stuff his mouth and nose so he couldn't speak. He then took out the last of his Three Break Powder and wrapped it up with his vital qi to stuff it into the mouth as well before searching around again.
"Even if I can't poison you to death, I can still make you cast your skin one more time!" Qin Mu flipped over the god's body to find the true dragon's nest.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's nearly stiff body trembled continuously. It was the so-called taking advantage of you when one is weak. The toxicity of Three Break Powder erupted, and it was truly powerful, causing cracking sounds to come from the already broken body as it broke once more along with the spirit and soul.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign hadn't yet completely cast off his skin, so he wasn't yet separated from it, and his new body was instantly poison. It was truly miserable beyond words.
Qin Mu found strange and weird items like dragon skin drum, dragon's horns, claw staff, dragon bone short flute on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body, but he could not find the nest of the true dragon lord.
'Weird, this guy had to have hidden it on his body, so it's impossible for it to go missing…'
Qin Mu took out the Emperor's Disk to sense it, but it couldn't sense anything. He then tried to activate the Emperor's Disk a few more times, and the writings on the Emperor's Disk changed, but he still couldn't find the location of the dragon's nest.
At that moment, he suddenly felt an abnormal motion in the currents around him.
The river water was very murky as the mud and sand were being swept up by the currents, thus his vision was very limited. Qin Mu then quickly flew to Dragon Rearing Sovereign's head and supported himself with the hilt of the sword as he looked around carefully.
Another torrential current rushed past his body, but he remained motionless. He saw an incomparably thick dragon's body with dark green scales. Each and every one of them was larger than his body.
It was a flood dragon that should have been reared by Dragon Rearing Sovereign. It was attracted over by its master's aura. That flood dragon was incomparably powerful, even stronger than ordinary existences of the cult master level, so Qin Mu was definitely no match for it.
His gaze flickered, and his other hand took out the dragon bone short flute he had found on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body. He secretly used vital qi to have the water current blow the short flute.
He wanted to use Secrets of Dragon Control to establish a connection with the flood dragon to control it.
At that moment, his mind was suddenly attacked, and he gained a splitting headache. Dragon Rearing Sovereign had roused the last of his consciousness to strike his mind, nearly causing him to faint.
While suffering from the pain, Qin Mu saw Dragon Rearing Sovereign, who was under his feet, squirming with all his strength, so Carefree Sword swayed back and forth. From the motions, the blade had even sliced apart Dragon Rearing Sovereign's scalp.
'You can still shed your skin after eating so much Three Break Powder? My poison is indeed inferior to that of Grandpa Apothecary. If it was a poison refined by him, Dragon Rearing Sovereign would have died even if he'd cast off his skin ten times."
Qin Mu immediately tried to pull out his sword, but how could he do that when he had pounded it in with an iron hammer. It would require him quite some time to pull it out. A dragon's head was worming out from Dragon Rearing Sovereign, even if there was still a Carefree Sword stuck in it.
Qin Mu stood on the head of Dragon Rearing Sovereign, his hands gripping the sword's hilt. Beneath his feet were the god's big eyes. They were open and looking straight at him. The god's face was green, which was the sign of him being poisoned. He was using all his strength to suppress Three Break Poison.
Meanwhile, behind Qin Mu, a huge dragon's head appeared, its body coiled in the water. The dark green flood dragon opened its mouth, revealing the sharp teeth inside.
Qin Mu's eyeballs swiveled left and right as he secretly stretched his hand out to grasp the Emperor's Disk. He quickly shone it backward, at the huge mouth of the dark green flood dragon who had already come to the top of his head. The sharp teeth were inches away from his head!
Qin Mu raised the Emperor's Disk up high, even if his legs were trembling. Below him, Dragon Rearing Sovereign was still trying his best to squirm out.
Clack, clack, clack…
Qin Mu opened his mouth to say something, but he only heard his teeth clattering. Bubbles flowed out of his mouth as he said, "Don't m-move, b-be nice…"
The mouth of the dark green dragon stopped, then slowly moved back. The creature's gaze fell on the Emperor's Disk.
"Ma ha…"
The flood dragon slowly lowered its head.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and stomped on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's eye. He shouted ferociously, "You almost killed me! Tell me quickly, where have you hidden the true dragon's nest? I have hundreds of poisons here, so do you really believe that I won't turn you into ashes?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign looked at him coldly, continuing with his squirming action. Suddenly, a crack sounded from his head as another dragon's head came worming out. He had suffered from Qin Mu's poison and shedding his skin once was not enough to detox himself; he had to cast his skin off once more.
"Ma ha ma ha!"
The dark green flood dragon behind Qin Mu shrunk in size and climbed onto his shoulders. With its two claws on his shoulder, it opened its mouth, shocking Qin Mu. He saw the true dragon's nest resting inside.
"Sly, you are truly sly!" Qin Mu burst out with joy while giving Dragon Rearing Sovereign a thumbs up.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
If Dragon Rearing Sovereign had hidden the true dragon's nest somewhere else, Qin Mu wouldn't have praised him for being sly. One has to know that in Disabled Elderly Village, being called sly is definitely a big praise.
If Dragon Rearing Sovereign had hidden the true dragon's nest on his body or that of the divine flood dragon king, it would be something regular people would think of, so it would be easy for one to find it. However, hiding it in dark green flood dragon's mouth was an irregular thought process which was praiseworthy.
That's why Qin Mu was not stingy with his praises for Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
The god, however, ignored him and continued to cast off his skin as he tried his best to worm out. As long as he cast off the two layers of skin, he would be able to get rid of Qin Mu and snatch the true dragon lord and its nest back.
Qin Mu touched the dark green flood dragon on his shoulder, and it rubbed its head against his palm while giving off a cry that sounded like a baby. "Ma ha!"
Qin Mu executed Secrets of Dragon Control to establish a connection with the dark green flood dragon and gave it Carefree Sword, wanting to control it to kill Dragon Rearing Sovereign. However, that flood dragon didn't dare to make a move on the god and actually broke free from the mental control.
The dark green flood dragon was not only raised by Dragon Rearing Sovereign, but also had a natural fear of him, which was why it didn't dare to attack him. Yet with Qin Mu's own ability, he couldn't land a fatal blow even if he wielded a divine sword in his hand. He could at most pierce the skin.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's injuries were extremely heavy, and what he suffered from were fatal blows. Blind's strikes had wounded him way too deeply, and with Qin Mu personally feeding him poison, he had to go through two metamorphoses in order to erase all his injuries. Even if he succeeded, his vitality would still be greatly reduced.
'My Three Break Powder is finished, and there's no time to refine more poison. Even though Fatty Dragon is on Celestial Being Realm, it'd be difficult for him to use Carefree Sword to kill Dragon Rearing Sovereign… Then why don't I try the power of Sun Jade Eye…"
When he thought of that, he reached his hand to take the Sun Jade Eye out, but midway through the motion, he changed his mind. He took out Moon Jade Eye from his taotie sack instead.
In Surging River, the currents were fierce. What Sun Jade Eye could shoot was an incomparably intense beam of fire, so its power would definitely be weakened when coming into contact with water.
On the other hand, Moon Jade Eye's power was still a mystery. However, it would certainly not be afraid of water, so it could still unleash its full power even underwater.
Qin Mu came to Dragon Rearing Sovereign's neck and placed the huge eyeball on the skin. The god ignored him, still trying his best to morph.
Qin Mu adjusted the direction of Moon Jade Eye and aiming it at the neck of Dragon Rearing Sovereign. He then started to adjust it.
It was his first time using Moon Jade Eye. He had tested the power of Sun Jade Eye before, and its power was extremely strong. It sliced apart Bent Mountain Shrine and destroyed the space underwater.
When he had been designing Sunshot Divine Cannon for Emperor Yanfeng, he had also taken reference from the structure of Sun Jade Eye and absorbed numerous concepts of forging from it. After all, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had only taught him the cultivation methods of Sunshot Divine Eyes, so he didn't have any records of any divine cannon.
Qin Mu had derived some structure designs from the Sun Jade Eye, and only then was he able to transform Sunshot Divine Eyes into Sunshot Divine Cannon.
He deduced that Bent Mountain Shrine should have most likely come from an era before Founding Emperor Era. He based that on the fact that it had numerous runes that had a big difference from the current runes and the those used during Founding Emperor Era.
After studying Moon Jade Eye for some time, he activated it.
He saw it open slowly, and the huge eyeball gradually lighted up as though a clear and round moon was hidden in it.
Both Sunshot Divine Eyes and Sunshot Divine Cannon required energy to be provided for them, so Qin Mu had forged numerous pill furnaces to support them. However, there was no similar structure in Moon Jade Eye or Sun Jade Eye, and this had made Qin Mu pondered over it for quite some time. However, he still didn't know from where the energy was coming.
He had a few wild guesses. First, there might really be a sun or a moon hidden in the two eyes, providing the two jade eyes with boundless energy. However, this guess was simply too outrageous, and Qin Mu didn't believe it himself either.
The second guess was more reliable, and that was that the ancient humans or gods had mastered a kind of strange formation that could absorb energy from heaven and earth.
However, the flaw in this guess lay in the fact that when Qin Mu activated the jade eyes, he couldn't feel any unknown energy moving in the surroundings.
He still had a third guess, but it was simply ridiculous. He thought that Sun Jade Eyes and Moon Jade Eyes might actually be treasures of space teleportation. However, they were much more complicated than the teleportation formation, closer to a teleportation door.
That kind of treasure required a huge door to be built on either the surface of the sun or the surface of the moon and another door to be built in the jade eyes. The energy of the sun and the moon would be released through those doors when the eyes opened. If this was how the terrifying attacks were created, there would really be no need for a treasure to provide energy to it.
However, this guess was too outrageous. Who would be able to fly to the sun and the moon?
Furthermore, based on the calculations of Qin Mu and the rest, the astronomical phenomenons were all fake, and that included the sun and the moon. They were all painted on the sky. It was impossible for anyone to leave, so how could they build a teleportation door on the sun and the moon?
He wanted to dismantle the jade eyes to look at their structure, but he didn't dare to do so.
Finally, the energy had finished gathering in Moon Jade Eye. Qin Mu controlled it, and the pupil short out a beam of light that was as straight as a thin blade!
Dragon Rearing Sovereign had almost pulled himself out, so when the blade of light sliced through his neck, there was nothing strange. Yet there was a side-effect. Wherever it passed, an incomparably thin sheet of ice would form. The ice covering was so long that its end could not be seen, and it had separated the bottom of Surging River.
There were quite a lot of fish and water monsters swimming in the river when one huge fish was sliced apart by the ice wall that had no thickness.
However, that fish monster seemed to not have felt it and continued to swim. Yet its body separated from the center, and it became two pieces of swimming fish.
There was no fresh blood leaking out, and Qin Mu could even clearly see the beast's organs and brain tissue!
Two halves of the fish monster swam to and fro, not knowing that they had already been sliced in half.
Qin Mu was stunned, not understanding what had happened.
'Could this Moon Jade Eye have no power, just able to slice people apart? Why are they not dead after being cut in half?' He was puzzled. 'Could the injuries of the fish monster be frozen so that's why no blood flowed out? However, the area that froze has to be very thin; otherwise, the fish wouldn't be able to move.'
Suddenly, blood started to flow out of the two halves of the fish monster. The frozen wounds had to have melted, for the water started to reek of blood. Soon, the fish monster that was in two halves was devoured by others until only its bones were left.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign who was casting his skin off had long stopped squirming. He remained motionless, only his eyeballs rolling around. He saw the state of the fish monster and his blood ran cold.
Qin Mu adjusted the jade eye and sliced another fish monster through the center. It was also cut in half. Qin Mu's vital qi surged out and swept the two halves of the fish monster over, and he pieced them together.
The fish monster connected and swam away.
Qin Mu was stunned, then became overjoyed. 'There's still such an effect of Moon Jade Eye?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's eyeballs rolled around disorderly, his body behind the neck not crawling forward; it was crawling back instead. He tried to shed off the two layers of skin like that.
"Dragon Sovereign don't move!"
Qin Mu raised the jade eye up and circled it around his neck.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign remained motionless, his dragon eyes filled with fear. A white line that went around his neck took shape.
Qin Mu tried to push at the neck, but it was completely unmovable, so he took out a huge iron hammer and smashed it along the white line.
Kacha.
A crisp sound rang out, and Dragon Rearing Sovereign's scalp instantly turned numb. He croaked, "Hold it!"
Qin Mu raised his huge hammer again and smashed it down heavily. Another crack rang out, and Dragon Rearing Sovereign shouted himself hoarse. "Hold it, I have something to say!"
Qin Mu stopped and asked curiously, "What does Dragon Sovereign want to say?"
"What's the benefit in killing me?" Dragon Rearing Sovereign said carefully to prevent his neck from being broken by the tremors. "Even if you kill me, you will still attract the revenge of High Heavens. There will be stronger gods than me that will descend. They will find you, kill you, and change the path of Surging River to make Eternal Peace another Great Ruins!"
Qin Mu swung his hammer down and said, "Different situations call for different actions, I will just have to kill them first!"
"Hold it! We, High Heavens, are just watch dogs. If a god dies, it's fine, but if two gods will die, the true gods will be alarmed. The consequences of that will be the wiping out of the world!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign stated. "I have no grudge with you and have only come down because of an order, so why must we pit ourselves against each other until one of us dies?"
Qin Mu stopped and smiled. "How is the extermination of Eternal Peace related to me? I'm from Great Ruins, so if Eternal Peace becomes another Great Ruins, I will feel freer instead. Moreover, if I let you off, what if you still want to kill me? You won't speak good of Eternal Peace after you return to High Heavens so why should I leave you alive?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's face flickered between darkness and clarity. He then gritted his teeth and said, "I can make an oath to Earth Count. After you let me go, I will definitely not take revenge on you!"
Qin Mu raised his huge hammer. "If it's just not taking revenge, you won't be able to take revenge after I kill you as well."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice trembled. "Hold it! I can teach you how to collect dragon veins and mobilize the true power of the true dragon lord!"
Qin Mu put down his iron hammer, his gaze sparkling. "What else?"
The muscles on Dragon Rearing Sovereign's face twitched, but he still said, "I can guard Surging River's dragon vein and work for you!"
Qin Mu's face was solemn. "Swear to Earth Count!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's gritted his teeth. "I'll swear an oath to Earth Count!"
Qin Mu smiled and put away his iron hammer, but still held onto Moon Jade Eye. He transformed into Saturn Sovereign that had a human head and a snake's body. Behind him appeared the Gate of Heaven Influence.
The two doors opened up and revealed the sinister darkness of Youdu.
"You can now make an oath to Earth Count, but don't play any tricks. I've already made an oath to Earth Count once, so even if you'll try to play any tricks, you won't be able to trick an honest man like me," Qin Mu said solemnly
"Honest man…"
The corner of Dragon Rearing Sovereign's eyes twitched, but he could only make an oath. He recited the oath about guarding Surging River and not rebelling word for word. At that time, his true form revealed itself, and his body swelled up to transform into a huge flood dragon that was three hundred yards long. Black qi surrounded his body and transformed into chains. One end was connected to Surging River and the other to his soul!
If he went back on his oath, that chain would pull his soul into Youdu and he would die!
Qin Mu carefully studied the words in his oath to check that there were no loopholes. He then smiled and said, "When the ice line around your neck melts, your body will still be complete. Call back your divine flood dragon king and guard Surging River properly!"
The huge flood dragon that was Dragon Rearing Sovereign had a huge head like a mountain. He looked at Qin Mu with a complicated expression. "I keep calling you an honest-looking boy, but that's not your name. May I ask who you are?"
Qin Mu took the dark green flood dragon to the river surface with him, and his voice came from above, somewhat distorted by the water. "Qin Mu of Disabled Elderly Village, Heavenly Devil Cult Master, the current human emperor."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was stunned, then asked in a low voice, "So it's Human Emperor… Who taught you like that? You are way harder to deal with than the sword god back then…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
While Qin Mu rose from the water, a huge flood dragon swam past him, diving into the depths. It was none other than the divine flood dragon king. Qin Mu stopped, noticing a bamboo stick stuck in the forehead of the sapphire blue flood dragon. It was bubbling with blood.
'Grandpa Blind's bamboo cane!"
Qin Mu rose from the river and walked toward the shore. The dragon qilin brought over a dozen flood dragons while carrying Ling Yuxiu, Hu Ling'er, and Si Yunxiang carefully. The battle between Blind and the divine flood dragon king had to have just ended. They had avoided the aftermath of the fight, so they were slightly slow to get close.
Hu Ling'er had finally sobered up and was looking around curiously. She didn't know how she had ended up there from the banquet in town, so she was very puzzled.
Qin Mu looked around and saw Blind.
At that moment, he looked very miserable, all covered in mud. His clothes were disheveled, and there were wounds all over his body. It was evident that he'd faced an extremely tough battle with the divine flood dragon king.
That creature was extremely strong; it was a flood dragon that had become a god after all. It possessed remarkable abilities, and it was also a water attribute flood dragon. Blind had used all his power and made life difficult for the divine flood dragon king, but he'd gotten injured as well.
The dragon qilin flew over and landed on the ground. Hu Ling'er jumped down from his back, still in the form of a small fox. She skipped and jumped onto Qin Mu's shoulder, and only then noticed the dark green flood dragon on the other shoulder, which caused her hair to stand on ends. Even her tail became straight.
When she got drunk, she would return back to her true form. And upon waking up, she forgot to transform back into a human as well.
"Ling'er, don't be scared, this is a flood dragon I just recruited. It has even done a huge credit," Qin Mu consoled the little fox while taking a glance at Blind. He blinked and beamed at him. "Sister Yuxiu, Saintess Xiang, let me show you a big fella."
The two girls were very curious and asked, "What big fella?"
Qin Mu stood beside the river and shouted loudly, "River Suppression Dragon King, aren't you coming out?"
Waves surged forward and overflowed into the sky. The huge dragon that was Dragon Rearing Sovereign raised its head from the river, tall as a mountain. His long whiskers hung by his nose, sparkling and translucent, fluttering in the wind.
They were three hundred yards long and beautiful.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign hung his head down. "Does Your Majesty have any instructions?"
The two women were stunned, and Blind was also astonished.
Qin Mu was pleased with himself as he looked around. When he saw everyone's expression, he crossed his arms over his chest. He smiled and said, "Nothing much, I just wanted you to come out and meet everyone."
With a solemn face, Dragon Rearing Sovereign endured the urge to slap the little thing with one palm. As he was about to sink back into the water, Qin Mu said, "Hold on, don't be in a hurry to leave. You had promised to teach me how to collect dragon veins and how to mobilize the power of the true dragon lord."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign immediately stopped, no longer sinking into the water.
Qin Mu proudly looked over. "Grandpa Blind, how's that?"
"Beyond awesome." Blind was full of smiles.
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, and he secretly took out a golden flute. He then executed Secrets of Dragon Control so numerous flood dragons flew toward Blind!
They were all extremely powerful, and if they tied Blind up, he would definitely be unable to move!
But at that moment, Blind suddenly flicked his finger, and Qin Mu gave a grunt. The three great divine treasures in his body were sealed up once again. The sound of the flute stopped, and the flood dragons looked around in a daze; they didn't attack Blind.
"Mu'er, you're being too awesome for your own good." Blind gave another flick, and golden rope flew out to tie his arms and legs. He sighed. "Each age brings forth a new genius on this noble land, yet the younger generations always die on the sandy beach. The ginger gets spicier as it gets older. You were too slow in making your move, trying to control the flood dragons to tie me up? It's not that simple."
Qin Mu fell to the ground, his face black like charcoal. Just as he wanted to order Dragon Rearing Sovereign to take Blind down, his mouth was stuffed with a piece of cloth, making him unable to talk.
"The wedding has to continue, and the child has to be born!" Blind picked him up and said to Dragon Rearing Sovereign, "Ferry us back to Great Ruins by following the river. We will go back to the village to continue the wedding! There are still two brides, and if you organize it nicely, I'll treat you to the wedding banquet."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign hesitated for a moment while looking at Qin Mu. Muffled cries came from the youth's mouth as he tried to struggle. However, after a moment, the boy just nodded in submission.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign secretly felt happy. 'This honest-looking boy is so crafty yet there's a time when he's at a disadvantage too. Serves him right."
He bent down, presenting hem his long back. It was like a narrow island on the water. "Come onto my back!" he shouted.
Blind carried Qin Mu onto the dragon's back, and the dragon qilin hurriedly came over as well. Numerous flood dragons that were bustling with activities squeezed into a ball too.
'These are the flood dragons I raised; they are all freeloaders…'
Dragon Rearing Sovereign felt another pang of pain, but the incident was already beyond any salvaging. If he could redo everything, he would send a fatal blow to Qin Mu the first time he met him, killing the honest virgin boy with a slap.
On the dragon's back, Qin Mu seemed to have already accepted his fate and didn't struggle anymore. He also didn't try to make Dragon Rearing Sovereign make a move. Thus, Blind took out the cloth in his mouth and said, "Have the Eel Sovereign teach you."
Qin Mu stretched out his hands, and Blind took off the golden rope. However, the portion on his legs remained.
Qin Mu's gaze wavered. "Why is Grandpa Blind so careful? I'm just learning how to collect dragon veins from Dragon Rearing Sovereign and need magic power for that. Besides, the flood dragons are already hungry, so I need to refine pills to feed them. Can I run away if you undo the seals on me? Even if I want to run, can I escape Grandpa Blind's grasp? Isn't sealing me just as easy as flicking a finger for you?"
Blind raised his eyebrows and stretched his hand to tap on the heart of his brows. Qin Mu was delighted as he heard a rumble. His Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure was opened, but his Five Elements and Six Directions Divine Treasures were still sealed.
"The vital qi in Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure is enough for you to learn," Blind said calmly.
Qin Mu sighed with admiration and gave Blind a thumbs-up. "As expect of the old and experienced that taught me how to be an adult, always being so careful!"
Blind's heart burst with joy and he laughed. "Stop flattering me! Go, go!"
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang looked at each other in dismay. The teachings in cowherd boy's family seemed to be different from the other families. No matter how they saw it, it looked like they were bringing their child to walk an unorthodox path.
Qin Mu refined spirit pills and fed the dragons. The dragon qilin also ate a few mouthfuls, but felt that the taste was wrong. He secretly peeled a Scarlet Fire Spirit Pill open, and his face couldn't help turning black. He saw that there was a Fire Element Divine Vitality Pill in the center of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pill; no wonder it was somewhat spicy!
"Cult Master, these spirit pills are wrong!" the dragon qilin shouted. After that, he peeled open a few more spirit pills and threw the Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills into the river while eating just the skins.
Qin Mu played the golden flute and had the green flood dragon beat the dragon qilin up. The fatty yelped miserably and didn't dare to be picky anymore.
As Dragon Rearing Sovereign swam toward Great Ruins, he taught Qin Mu an even more profound Secrets of Dragon Control. The Dragon Rearing Scriptures he had given Qin Mu had still held some information back; numerous crucial points had not been recording in them. Qin Mu learned diligently and didn't play any tricks.
After half a day, he had learned all of Secrets of Dragon Control and asked on how to mobilize the power of the true dragon lord. Dragon Rearing Sovereign said, "I have no idea who refined the true dragon lord into a treasure, but now it has already become a treasure of fate. It can never become a true dragon. However, placing it into the nest would allow it to absorb the dragon qi there.
"With a unique technique to absorb the fate of the true dragon lord, the cultivation of the person wearing the true dragon lord will grow by leaps and bounds! I have never learned this kind of technique before, but I think that the person who wanted to collect the treasure should have imprinted the technique into the true dragon lord. After seizing the fate, you will become the true dragon lord!"
"A unique technique?"
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He immediately mentioned the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique he had learned from Emperor Yanfeng. "Is this kind of technique one to seize fate?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign pondered it for a moment, then shook his head. "This kind of technique can only seize the qi, borrowing the dragon qi to cultivate, so it isn't a technique to seize fate. We, the dragon race, are born from heaven and earth and naturally inherit the knowledge of the cosmos, changing it into a language known as the dragon language.
"Every dragon is naturally proficient in the dragon language, so there's no need to learn it. The writings and runes on the true dragon lord and its nest are nothing else but the writings of my dragon race. I only saw the ones on the nest, but from the writings there, there's indeed a technique that seizes fate written down there. However, it isn't complete."
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. He should only be able to learn the complete technique to seize fate after putting the Emperor's Disk and the true dragon's nest together.
Legend said that a god had conferred Emperor's Disk to the ancestors of Ling family, and that it symbolized the authority of the emperor. The Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was then naturally a technique that was comprehended from the Emperor's Disk.
On top of that, a genius like Emperor Yanfeng had been able to perfect Nine Dragons Monarch Technique and raise it to a level where it could compete with Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and Rulai's Mahayana Sutra!
One could well imagine how terrifying would be the technique that combined the writings on the Emperor's Disk with those on the nest!
"Dragon Sovereign, teach me the dragon language!" Qin Mu said suddenly.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign taught him the dragon language he knew and said, "It is actually hidden within the bloodline. The purer the bloodline, the more dragon words one would know. I'm not a true dragon, so there are still some parts that I don't know the meaning of."
Qin Mu memorized all the syllables and writings of the dragon language, and his head started to swell. The strokes of the dragon language were strange, and they looked like they were formed by dragons. There was no regular pattern to be seen!
Without it, it would be impossible to deduce the meaning of the characters he didn't recognize.
Besides that, the method of pronunciation was also different from the human language. They had unusual cadences, and some syllables couldn't be pronounced with the human throat. It was nearly an impossible task for him to want to use the dragon language to converse with dragons.
Qin Mu memorized the dragon language as much as he could, then took out the Emperor's Disk that was hanging around his neck. Looking at it, he was instantly able to understand the meaning of some of the characters and the runes. However, since Dragon Rearing Sovereign didn't know the whole language, Qin Mu couldn't recognize all that was written.
The writings on the Emperor's Disk changed continuously and made him giddy from reading them.
Qin Mu closed his eyes and shook his head. He said in a low voice, "Only true dragons will recognize all of the writings of the dragon race, so where can I find a true dragon and ask him to teach me all of the dragon language?"
"There are true dragons in Great Ruins," Dragon Rearing Sovereign said.
Qin Mu's spirit was greatly aroused. He suddenly raised his head to look forward and saw Secret Waters Pass ahead of them.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's speed was truly astounding. In just half a day, he had brought them to Great Ruins.
Secret Waters Pass was blockaded by the army of Eternal Peace Empire. If Dragon Rearing Sovereign wanted to cross, he had to destroy the whole city. Qin Mu immediately had him stop, and everyone jumped off his back and entered Secret Waters Pass.
Feng Xiuyun led many people over to welcome Qin Mu and bowed in greeting. "We pay our respects to Cult Master!"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Spare the formalities. It's getting late so we shall take a rest here before entering Great Ruins tomorrow. Incense Master Feng, please arrange the guest rooms."
Blind beamed and said, "This girl doesn't look bad… prepare a banquet. It's the second blooming of your cult master tonight; he will get married."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The whole Secret Water Pass was decorated with lanterns and colored banners. Feng Xiuyun was swift in handling matters, and soon Si Yunxiang was dressed nicely by a bunch of female soldiers. She wore a phoenix coronet and veil while Qin Mu wore the big red silk ball again. He was forced to bow and get married with Si Yunxiang.
"Little Girl Feng is also not bad, she's quick in handling matters, saving me the trouble." Blind couldn't keep his mouth closed from smiling. He thought to himself, 'I wonder if she's married…"
At the wedding banquet, the little girl Hu Ling'er tears looked like raindrops on a pear blossom. She hugged her wine jar, unable to even stand straight, crying that Grandpa Blind had lied to him, that he was an old trickster.
Numerous soldiers of Secret Waters Pass that had come forth to congratulate the couple looked at one another in dismay as they didn't know why was the six to seven year old girl whimpering so sorrowfully.
After all the joyous activities, the newly wedded couple was sent to the bridal room. Si Yunxiang secretly had hidden a dagger on her body for the time Qin Mu lifted her veil. That would be the moment for her to strike and fulfill her long-cherished wish as the saintess—to assassinate the licentious and tyrannical cult master.
After waiting for quite a while, Qin Mu hadn't yet come to her, and a pang of jealousy welled up in her heart. 'Am I inferior to that fat girl, Ling Yuxiu? Grandpa Blind is blind, but his heart isn't blind, yet someone's eyes and heart are both blind. Does he only like girls with big chests?'
She waited for a while more, but Qin Mu still didn't come to sit beside her nor lifted her veil.
She secretly raised the veil and saw that Qin Mu was sitting beside the table and studying a book diligently. Si Yunxiang was bitter and angry. On the night of a wedding with a beauty that looked as lovely as a flower, the fool was studying. It was truly outrageous!
Si Yunxiang lifted her veil and tossed it aside. She walked forward and smiled. "What is Cult Master so engrossed in?"
"Computational Canon of Mysterious Lady." Qin Mu raised his head and invited her to take a seat. He said sincerely, "Grandpa Blind always like to play a fool, so sorry for implicating you to marry me. I know he is worried about my safety and wants me to marry a nice girl and give birth to babies so I would be tied down by a wife and unable to return to Eternal Peace. He simply doesn't want me to face the dangers in the future. Sister Xiang, allow me to apologize to you for making you suffer along the way." When he finished saying that, he stood up and bowed.
Si Yunxiang immediately returned his greeting and said firmly, "You have always treated us courteously and didn't take advantage of me nor the princess. I have seen all that, so I naturally know Cult Master's conduct. You are the cult master and half a seniority higher than me, so there's no need for the formalities."
She was even younger than Qin Mu, only a girl that was fourteen years old who had bright eyes and white teeth. The way Si Yunxiang conducted herself always seemed trifling and disrespectful, but when she was serious, she had a bearing that was kind of magnanimous and graceful.
The saintess of the Si Family was the alternative choice for the cult master. If Heavenly Devil Cult Master were to unfortunately die, she would succeed in his place. Thus she naturally had an extraordinary bearing as well.
"Cult Master still hasn't said why you want to read Computational Canon of Mysterious Lady," she said while smiling.
Qin Mu continued to study while saying "I want to escape Grandpa Blind's grasp, but I definitely can't outrun him. If I poison him, it won't be nice; he's my grandpa after all. That's why I've thought of using a teleportation divine art."
Si Yunxiang cried out in astonishment, "Cult Master's attainments in algebra have already reached this step?"
Teleportation divine art was extremely hard to cultivate, and there were not many people who were able to succeed in it in Heavenly Devil Cult. All the hall masters used teleportation flags or teleportation clothes, since if they wanted to succeed in cultivating the teleportation divine art, they would need astonishing attainments in algebra!
The difficulty in that divine art was no inferior to that of Dao Sword. To make use of teleportation divine art, the space algebra had to be cultivated to its extreme. Otherwise, a mistake in the calculation would send one to the wrong, dangerous place. But even scarier than that was sending oneself into a rock; one's body would then fuse with it
Yet the most terrifying point was still a different problem. With the teleportation divine art, a person could dissect oneself, leaving pieces in different spaces!
The most difficult point of teleportation divine art was calculating the numerous points of teleportation in a split second without making a single mistake. Besides, one would need to continuously calculate while teleporting. The required calculations were so numerous that for them to all be accurate was something nearly impossible!
In Heavenly Devil Cult's history, there were quite a few strong practitioners who had crippled, killed, or even went missing because of cultivating teleportation divine art. There were also many who had dissected themselves!
What was even more terrifying was that those strong practitioners all had astounding attainments in algebra!
Qin Mu studied computational canon and calculated continuously at the same time. He was trying to calculate all the space teleportation points.
"Dao Master Lin Xuan gave me Computational Canon of Mysterious Lady a few months ago and I've been studying it since then. As for Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery, I've already mastered it. Dao Sect's attainments in algebra can be said to be number one. With two kinds of computational canons together, I will be able to solve the marvel of teleportation divine art.
"Don't worry, I will be able to understand Computational Canon of Mysterious Lady by tonight. Once the darkness withdraws from Great Ruins tomorrow morning, I'll leave with this divine art. Once Grandpa Blind sees that I have left, he naturally won't trouble you girls."
Si Yunxiang's expression was complicated when she said gently, "Why are you struggling? Even though Grandpa Blind kidnapped us by force and forced us to marry you, you are only thinking about yourself. Have you once asked if we are willing to marry you?"
Qin Mu stopped calculating and raised his head in astonishment. Under the light of the lamp, Saintess Xiang looked bashful and irresistible.
"Sister Xiang, are you willing to marry me?" Qin Mu asked with his eyes wide open.
Si Yunxiang's eyes went down, and she lowered her head bashfully. The beads of the phoenix coronet swayed gently as candlelight reflected off them in a captivating glow.
"I don't believe." Qin Mu lowered his head down to continue reading the book diligently. "There was a dagger hidden in your sleeve just now. If I go to your side, you will stab me, so I don't believe you."
Si Yunxiang formed into such tight fists that they crackled, and her teeth creaked from grinding. Suddenly, she pulled out a small dagger and pounced.
Qin Mu laughed and rose up. He avoided the dagger and flicked his finger against the blade. Si Yunxiang spun around him, and the red gown of the bride whirled like a red lotus. With cold light flashing in her hand, she attacked Qin Mu frantically.
The noise of furniture being smashed came from the bridal room as numerous items were shattered into pieces.
"How bustling." Blind put down his wine cup, his ears twitching. As he sat calmly, he beamed at Feng Xiuyun who was drinking with him. "General Feng, are you married?"
Qin Mu fought with Si Yunxiang for a moment, until he gained the upper hand. He then snatched her dagger and threw her onto the bed. There, he smacked her butt a few times, taking revenge on her for cleaning out his small treasury before going back to studying diligently.
Si Yunxiang went under the blanket angrily, her back to him.
The sky gradually turned bright while the world in Great Ruins was shrouded in incomparably dense darkness. Qin Mu had read the book for the whole night, but his vitality was still ample.
Si Yunxiang woke up. When she turned over to face Qin Mu, she couldn't help snorting.
He turned his head to her and smiled. "You snore when you sleep, but it isn't loud, just like the noise of a kitten. It should be something in your throat that's most likely left from qi deviation. I refined a pill for you, so consume it as soon as possible, and it'll be cured."
Si Yunxiang left the bed and stretched her body. She took the spirit pill.
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath, and his gaze flickered. "I can definitely escape this time. However, Grandpa Blind only unsealed my Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, so my magic power is still not enough for me to teleport far away. Because of that, I need to use Secrets of Dragon Control in Dragon Rearing Scriptures to have the flood dragons coil around my body and lend me their magic power!"
Si Yunxiang jumped in shock. "You still want to leave?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "That is natural. Grandpa Blind thinks that I will die in Eternal Peace, so I want to prove it to him that I can escape from his hands and thus escape from the great disaster coming in the future! There is nobody in this world that can kill me!"
He was full of confidence when he pushed open the door. Si Yunxiang walked out with him, only to see Blind standing at the arched doorway to the garden, seemingly smiling at them.
Si Yunxiang hurriedly looked at Qin Mu whose face was also filled with smiles.
Blind raised his eyebrows, having gotten a new bamboo cane from somewhere. He tapped it gently against the ground, then said, "Mu'er, granddaughter-in-law, come and eat breakfast."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Just in time for breakfast."
Si Yunxiang kept feeling that there were sparks crackling non-stop between the two men. Blind clearly didn't have eyes, but she had a feeling that the two were staring at each other and silently competing.
On the breakfast table, Ling Yuxiu also appeared as the 'first wife'. The little girl Hu Ling'er sulked with her head lowered as she ate. Her displeasure was worn on her face, and her cheeks were puffed up. Nobody could say why exactly she was sulking.
"Fatty Dragon, I'll beat you to death if you're picky!"
The little girl suddenly blew up at the dragon qilin, scaring him into nearly flipping over his rice bowl. The small and delicate flood dragons were amused and cried out ma ha ma ha.
The dragon qilin smiled and said, "Sister Ling'er, I'm not picky, look, I've already lost half a tael in weight."
After breakfast, Blind revealed a smile and raised his eyebrows. He then said leisurely, "Mu'er, Great Ruins is right ahead, so do whatever you want to do."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and he said, "Grandpa Blind sealed my Five Elements and Six Directions Divine Treasures, so how would I dare to do anything?"
Blind yawned and stretched out his hand to tap him on the heart of his brows. "Don't say I didn't give you any chance."
Two loud explosions came from his body, and his Five Elements and Six Directions Divine Treasures suddenly opened. His magic power flooded back, and he instantly felt power coursing through his body.
"Grandpa Blind is very confident eh." Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, and his will to battle blazed.
Blind propped himself on his bamboo cane and beamed at him. "Not a problem, not a problem."
Suddenly, Qin Mu gave a heavy stomp, and incomparably luxurious teleportation formations appeared around his body. They lit up, and his body instantly vanished!
Teleportation divine art!
He had just vanished when Blind suddenly tapped the ground with his bamboo cane. Qin Mu then fell off midair. The moment he did so, incomparably luxurious formation markings swirled around him again, and he vanished once more.
Blind tossed the bamboo cane up, and as if it was a jade it changed in the sky like a green dragon. It tapped numerous times in space, and Qin Mu's teleportation divine art was intercepted again and again, forcing him to keep revealing his traces.
Qin Mu's body flickered on and off as he was slowly forced back into the courtyard. Finally, he was forced out by Blind's bamboo cane and landed back into the courtyard.
Before his feet could touch the ground, the sound of a flute rang out, and flood dragons pounced on Blind. In an instant, he was bound tightly by them!
Blind paid no attention to them. His bamboo cane flew over and tapped gently on the necks of two of them. They instantly turned limp, as if they had died.
There were also two flood dragons that had flown to Qin Mu's feet, and he instantly felt magic power flooding over. His palms then sliced down one after another!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Countless teleportation formation markings surged out crazily, appearing between him and Blind. The space between the two of them expanded rapidly, flashing with formation runes of all colors!
Blind's expression changed slightly, and he gave chase with his bamboo cane. It tapped rapidly and destroyed the runes one after another. Suddenly, however, the formations in the surroundings swept toward Blind who was in the center.
He stopped and let them drown him out. There was a smile on his face. "Mu'er, you have won…"
Swoosh.
A ray of light flashed, and he was teleported away by the teleportation divine art.
Outside Secret Waters Pass, Blind walked out from a ray and looked back at the place. He was silent for a moment, then revealed a smile. "You have grown up."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The distance Qin Mu had teleported Blind wasn't great, not even a mile away from Secret Waters Pass, with Great Ruins behind him.
To Blind, destroying Qin Mu's teleportation wasn't hard, so the boy could only send him that far at most
Blind quietly returned to Secret Waters Pass to find Qin Mu. Without a word, he undid the seals on Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang's divine treasures. Propping himself on his cane, he walked away by himself.
Qin Mu was stunned. "Grandpa Blind…"
"Grown up, all grown up…"
Dark tears trickled out from Old Blind's eye sockets, and the faster he walked, the faster they fell. The child he'd raised had finally grown up, and his heart suddenly felt empty and sour. Qin Mu most likely wouldn't be going back to Disabled Elderly Village again. He was no longer the little youth that carried him while training punches.
The child he had picked up already had his own ideas and ability to protect himself. His heart was wild, and after seeing the outside world, he wouldn't want to remain in Disabled Elderly Village where there was only a bunch of old men and one old woman.
Blind walked so quickly that when Qin Mu rushed to the city walls of Secret Waters Pass, he could only see his grandpa's back that was leaving farther and farther away. It looked a little lonely.
The youth's heart was also slightly depressed. He waved his hand, but didn't say anything. Blind had his back toward him, but he seemed to see him wave his hand so he also waved back. He didn't turn back though.
Qin Mu saw Blind lowering his hand after seeming to have wiped his eye sockets with it. He seemed to be clearing his tears.
Blind quickly walked through the river, and after a while came to Disabled Elderly Village.
There was no one else there, so the place had already become the world of hen dragons. They had laid brood and moved into the houses of Village Chief, Blind, and the rest. When they saw Blind coming back, one young and proud hen dragon rushed to him for a fight, planning to chase the old blind man out of their territory.
After a moment, the bamboo cane pierced through that creature and stripped it of its feathers. It was then roasted on a bonfire while the other hen dragons hid in a corner and shivered.
Blind then went to Butcher's room and dug out a few jars of wine. After roasting the hen dragon, he drank with his meal
Once he was full, he threw the chicken bones all of over the ground. When he stood up, he reached for his bamboo cane, but it had already turned into ashes by the flames.
Stunned, Blind patted the ashes with his hand. He walked to Surging River that was outside the village in wide strides.
"How many years has it been…" he muttered to himself. "Old brother, how many years have you accompanied me? When I lost and carried you here, Village Chief said that my heart is defeated and I no longer deserve to have you. He made me put you away, buried in this Surging River. He said I would never need to have you in Disabled Elderly Village."
Waves rose on the surface of Surging River, and a soft rumbling came from the bottom of the river. Ripples spread out into the surroundings with a regular pattern.
Blind walked onto the water, his tattered clothes flapping in the wind.
"Back then when I abandoned you, my heart was dead; I saw nothing worth living for in this world anymore. In the past, you had followed me because of my strength, my invincibility, my arrogance!"
While he stood on the river's surface, an incomparably terrifying will to fight suddenly burst forth from his small body. It rushed straight into the sky, and the clouds warped, transforming into a tortoise with a snake coiling around it. The tortoise was black and had a dragon head, while the snake was a flying serpent soaring with a thousand wings!
Suddenly, whispers came from the bottom of the river. It was a strange voice that sounded like the roars of a dragon yet at the same time as the dead whispering. It was the dragon language and also voices from another world.
If anyone heard it, they'd feel as if a long and soft body had gradually risen from the river and coiled around Blind's small and thin one.
"Sa tuo, mo ba sa, xi qu mi tuo (You've lost, eyes are blind, don't deserve to have me)..."
"I've lost."
Blind straightened. His stature was short, and other than Village Chief and Butcher in the past, he was much shorter than everyone in the village. Even though he was small, he gave others a feeling that he was abnormally tall, imposing and straight!
Sorrow was on Blind's face as he said in a low voice, "My divine eyes were dug out and my Dao heart was defeated. I don't deserve to have you, but instead of saying that I had abandoned you, it's you who has abandoned me. At that time, I had lost completely, and I didn't deserve to have you."
The waves on the river surface grew larger and larger, and ripples started swirling. A huge whirlpool formed in the middle of the river, and the strange voice came out from within, bringing along with it a terrifying air of awe. "Xi qu mi tuo, yi he su po suo? (Don't deserve to have me, so why have you come?)"
"I've found my Dao heart!"
Blind's eyebrows and hair fluttered in the wind, and his clothes flew outwards. His voice like the rumbling thunder resonated through the clouds. His will to fight became incomparably sharp and powerful, as though a god had once again returned to the mortal world.
"The me in the past only chased after the extremes of the divine eyes; I could see through everything yet I couldn't see through the human heart! Whereas the me now has someone I need to protect. For this child, I found my fighting spirit once again, and picked my confidence and Dao heart!"
He stretched out a hand toward the river's surface, and his voice rumbled. "My Long Tuo, I had abandoned you in the past, but will you still be willing to follow me? Do you still reminiscence about the times in the past, the days we bathed in blood? If you want, if you are willing, I shall do as you wish! I shall let you experience fights, and the bitterness, that you had never experienced. One man, one spear, we shall kill all gods and devils that stand in our way!"
Boom!
The river's surface exploded, and the roars of a dragon rang in all directions. From the bottom of the river, a huge pitch-black dragon rose, formed by black bones. It slowly swam out from the water, and its numerous joints cracked continuously as it coiled around Blind's small and thin frame.
The pitch black bones trembled and rattled non-stop. The sound became louder and louder while rays of blood light shone through. An incomparably terrifying aura spread out along with an unrivaled fierceness.
Blind gripped tightly one of the bones, and the black dragon suddenly retracted itself. The bones collided with each one as sparks shot out in all directions, and changed shape into a black dragon spear!
"Long Tuo, you are finally awake! I'm also finally awake!" With the black dragon spear in his hand, Blind was full of delight. He didn't even turn his head back when he left Disabled Elderly Village. "I will never return to this village again! Follow me to relive the days we bathed in blood!"
In Secret Waters Pass, Qin Mu sensed a terrifying aura bursting forth in Great Ruins, and he raised his head to look in that direction for a moment before looking away. There were all kinds of strange things in Great Ruins that would erupt from time to time, so it was actually something very normal.
"I plan to make a trip to Sun Well. Are you girls really coming along as well?" Qin Mu surveyed his surroundings, and his gaze landed on Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and Hu Ling'er. "I'm going over there to fulfill my promise, but I don't know if Sun Well will welcome you girls or not."
He revealed an apologetic look as he added, "You girls are different from us, outsiders while we are the abandoned people of Great Ruins."
Hu Ling'er transformed into a little fox and jumped onto Qin Mu's shoulder. She chased the dark green flood dragon off him and wrapped herself around his neck like a scarf. "I'm also an abandoned person of Great Ruins, so I shall go with young master!"
"If you marry a chicken follow the chicken, if you marry a dog follow the dog, since I'm already the cult mistress, I definitely have to follow Cult Master wherever you go," Si Yunxiang said shyly.
Ling Yuxiu sneered and said, "Even the cult mistresses should have a first and second, right?"
Si Yunxiang chuckled and said, "What does the previous cult mistress want to say?"
Ling Yuxiu was furious, but then burst out laughing. "I won't fight with you over this, I will just not go then. Grandpa Blind kidnapped me so my father must be worried sick. I shall return to inform him that I'm safe and sound. The marriage was merely Grandpa Blind's game, so it's not counted. If Saintess Xiang really treats it as a real marriage, then she can be the cult mistress. That's right, cowherd boy, what promise are you going to fulfill?"
"I made a promise to the Sun Guardian that I will help reignite the sun on Sun Ship." Qin Mu caressed the head of the little fox on his neck. "After finding Sun Jade Eyes, I've been busy and couldn't leave for a visit. The longer I drag this out, the shorter the Sun Guardian's life will be. Since I've already come to Secret Waters Pass, I might as well make a trip to Sun Well and hopefully manage to help."
Secret Waters Pass was very close to Constellation Sea, and he could head to Sun Well from there. Qin Mu really wanted to meet the Sun Guardian again, afraid that her legs might have already been swallowed by the ship.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang had never heard of Constellation Sea or Sun Well, but Ling Yuxiu had seen Sun Ship before. She acted nonchalantly and asked, "When Sun Ship came to Border Dragon City, I missed it and didn't meet this Sun Guardian. That's right, I still don't know if that person is a man or a woman?"
"A girl. Her name is Yan Jingjing," Qin Mu said honestly. "Her age is similar to yours."
Ling Yuxiu gave a warm smile and said, "Since our ages are similar, we can surely get along well. Let me go to broaden my horizons and meet this Sister Yan."
Si Yunxiang rolled her eyes and smiled. "I got caught by Grandpa Blind carelessly and was forced to marry, yet Cult Master doesn't have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex. Since I'm already here, it's also good to go and meet the Sun Guardian to broaden my horizons."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "The position of Sun Guardian is extremely high. She is of the god race and her status is slightly higher than of me, an abandoned person of Great Ruins."
"God race?" The two girls were speechless.
Qin Mu summoned a flood dragon and it immediately changed into its true body. Everyone went onto its back, but when the dragon qilin wanted to jump on as well, he was kicked down by Qin Mu. With a pleasant face, he said warmly, "Fatty Dragon, you should train your body more. Ling'er, supervise him."
Hu Ling'er gave a sound of acknowledgment.
The dragon qilin blinked and couldn't help shuddering when he saw Qin Mu's vibrant smile. He cried out, "Cult Master, I won't dare to be picky anymore!"
"Not picky anymore?" Qin Mu said with a pleasant face. "So why are there still Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills hidden in your cheeks, not eaten?"
The dragon qilin jumped in shock and cried out, "How did you know I hid my Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills in the cheeks?"
Qin Mu took out a mirror and said with a pained heart, "Look at yourself! Of all the places to hide, you chose your cheeks, and you hid such a large amount as well!"
The dragon qilin immediately looked at the mirror and saw his two cheeks bulging out as though there were two huge balls in his mouth.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin wanted to spit out the Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills, but when he saw the pleasant smile on Qin Mu's face, he got so frightened that he gulped down all of the pills.
"What a pity, he should be able to go on the table for New Year," muttered Qin Mu.
The dragon qilin shuddered and ran behind them obediently. Hu Ling'er in the meantime stood on his head and encouraged him continuously, "Fatty Dragon, if you run slow, you will be slaughtered!"
Qin Mu relaxed. Secret Waters Pass wasn't far from Border Dragon City, and according to the geographical map of Great Ruins, Constellation Sea was located at Heavenly Dragon Star Palace that was north of Border Dragon City. It was two hundred miles away, and it was called Star Sea on the map. However, the people around Border Dragon City called it Constellation Sea.
There were numerous locations in Great Ruins that had a different name from the past, which had to have been a result from the fall of Founding Emperor Era.
According to the information Qin Mu knew, after Founding Emperor Era ended, there was a huge break in the recorded history. There were about a thousand or more years during which few things were put to writing. Other than some of the scattered records lying in three big sacred grounds and Little Jade Capital, other sects and countries didn't have any memory of that period of time.
Qin Mu summoned the dark green flood dragon, and it opened its mouth to reveal the true dragon's nest that been refined by Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
The five feet true dragon's nest was still quite big, but even a god like Dragon Rearing Sovereign could only refine it to the size of a table. If he wanted to make it smaller, he would require even more strength.
With Dragon Rearing Sovereign's current cultivation, it was impossible for him.
'Yet the true dragon lord was refined into a jade pendant, so doesn't this mean that the cultivation of the person who refined the Emperor's Disk is even higher than that of Dragon Rearing Sovereign?'
Qin Mu was stunned. Who was the one who had taken away the true dragon lord and refined it into a jade pendant? Why did that god hand it to Ling family? What was their aim?
The dark green flood dragon spat out the true dragon's nest, but just as Qin Mu planned to catch it, he immediately felt an incomparably heavy pressure. "Take it back quickly…"
Boom.
The two girls were alarmed when they saw Cult Master Qin being squashed by the dragon's nest, both his shoulders dislocated.
"This fake mountain basin seems to be much heavier than Great Cult Master's sword pellet," Si Yunxiang whispered and stuck her tongue out when she recalled how she had sent black gold essence for Qin Mu's sword, causing him to sink into the ground.
Qin Mu grunted. He exerted all his strength to pull out his ten fingers. The dragon qilin immediately ran over and tried to curry favor by saying, "Cult Master, I can help you lick your hands."
"No need."
Qin Mu's arms swayed helplessly, and he circulated his vital qi. He endured the pain as he set his arms back into place and took out a bottle of dragon's saliva to spread it on his fingers. He then let out a sigh of relief.
With the appearance of the true dragon's nest, the Emperor's Disk on his neck had begun to stir once more. It became hot and scorching, and stretched its 'body' like a small dragon squirming once more, trying to fly back into the dragon's nest.
Such a situation had happened once before, when Qin Mu was nearly killed by the flood dragons. At that time, the Emperor's Disk had popped out its small head to make the bunch of flood dragons submit.
However, the true dragon lord had already been refined into the Emperor's Disk. Dragon Rearing Sovereign had said that it was impossible for it to become a true dragon.
True dragons were born from qi and fate, which gave rise to their corporeal bodies. True dragon lord had been a main dragon vein, but it was refined into treasure so there was no more possibility for it to become a true dragon.
Qin Mu took the Emperor's Disk from his neck. The moment he loosened his grip, it flew up and stretched out in the air. It gradually grew larger, but its length was still about a foot or so. It then vanished into the true dragon's nest!
Qin Mu looked at the dragon's nest and saw that the Emperor's Disk coiled around the center of the ninth layer, precisely in the gap there!
When the true dragon lord entered the nest, a world-shaking aura burst forth. The flood dragons beside Qin Mu turned limp as they fell prone on the ground. Even the flood dragon that was carrying everyone hurriedly went down to lie prone on the ground, unmoving!
The dragon qilin also immediately stopped. The fur and scales on his body stood up on end, but he couldn't fight against the terrifying aura from the dragon's nest. He was pressured down on the ground, not daring to even lift his head!
Qin Mu didn't care much about it, for he saw numerous runes flickering on the dragon's nest—they were the writings of the dragon race. There were thousands of then that continuously changed, without a single one repeating!
Different words contained different meaning, and the writings on the true dragon's nest contained an incomparably complicated technique!
True dragons were born from fate, and it was born from the Dao of heaven and earth, thus true dragons were close to Dao and every dragon would naturally master the language of the dragon race. There was no need for them to learn it.
In that case, there was no need to repeat any word, since the dragons could use a word to represent a phrase, a sentence, and even an essay of thousands of words!
It was because of this that there was an unimaginably high wall blocking them when other races tried to learn the dragon language.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's bloodline was extremely pure, but he was a flood dragon and not a true dragon. Because of that, even if he had taught Qin Mu quite a lot of the dragon language, there were still numerous words on the dragon's nest that he didn't recognize.
Among the words Dragon Rearing Sovereign had taught him, the meaning of some of them was extremely complicated. If someone wanted to express them in human words, tens of thousands of them would be needed. What was even worse was that some couldn't even be expressed in human language!
Qin Mu memorized diligently, putting to memory all of the dragon language on the true dragon's nest.
The two girls came over, and Si Yunxiang asked in bewilderment, "What are these writings?"
"Writings of the dragon race." Ling Yuxiu was astonished. "These are all writings of the dragon race! I had learned some before. My father had taught me, but I only recognize a few of them, a couple of them here and there."
Qin Mu gave it some thought and suddenly asked, "Sister Yuxiu, do you have the original Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of your Ling family?"
At first, it hadn't been outstanding, but after the improvements of the experts of the many generations, it had slowly become a top-notch technique. However, Qin Mu reckoned the first copy would have still been preserved; otherwise, Emperor Yanfeng wouldn't have taught Ling Yuxiu the dragon language.
Qin Mu suspected that the original Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was written in the dragon language, and Emperor Yanfeng had taught his daughter to let her read the most primitive version of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique.
"How did you know I've seen it?"
Ling Yuxiu was truly astonished. "The most ancient Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of my Ling family is written in the dragon language, and I've indeed seen it before. Father had made me memorize it before teaching me his version."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "If you'll recite the most ancient version of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique in the dragon language once, I will give you a huge benefit later."
Ling Yuxiu shook her head. "I can't recite it, but I can write it down."
Qin Mu fetched some paper and brush, and Ling Yuxiu wrote down a few strangely-shaped characters. "This is it. Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of my Ling family was recorded on the Emperor's Disk, but it's a pity it has gone missing, I wonder which vile thief stole it."
Qin Mu's face grew slightly red, but he didn't reply to her. Instead, he continued to look at what she had written.
'I see, Nine Dragons Monarch Technique is actually the introductory chapter of the technique that appeared on the true dragon lord and the true dragon's nest.'
He looked through the paper before looking at runes that were flashing continuously on the dragon's nest and finally found the overall basis for the true dragon lord's technique.
After that, Qin Mu continued to study it and a broad and exquisite technique slowly formed in his mind, becoming rich and perfect.
Ling family's Nine Dragon Monarch Technique was only the introduction and not any divine or miraculous technique. However, since the Ling Family could perfect it into a top-notch technique that could compete with the techniques of the three big scared grounds, it was enough to see how astounding it truly was!
He cracked the riddle bit by bit, and he became more and more astonished. It was the technique to seize fate that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had mentioned, but it wasn't completely about it. By cultivating the technique to absorb the dragon qi of the true dragon lord, he would become the true dragon lord himself!
The strong points of that technique lay in making the magic power of the cultivator incomparably dense, and his strength like that of a true dragon. Even among all the techniques that Qin Mu had seen in the past, it was probably only Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that could reach a cultivation on the same level.
However, the attainments of that technique in strength and the corporeal body was not something Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique could compare!
Even though Qin Mu had more than small attainments in his corporeal body, Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique required a powerful body refinement technique to complement it, but he didn't have that kind of skill. The body refinement technique in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures wasn't considered to be top notch.
However, the technique on the true dragon's nest could refine the corporeal body into that of a dragon king!
"Superb technique, truly a superb technique… Emperor Yanfeng is remarkable as well!'
Qin Mu was full of praises after he had cracked more than half of the technique. He only raised his head after meeting numerous writings that he didn't recognize. He let out a shaky breath and praised, "His Majesty is truly remarkable! Cultivating an introduction into an exceptional martial art, such a talent isn't much inferior to that of Imperial Preceptor! Sister Yuxiu, when had your Ling Family received this technique?"
"I guess about seven hundred or more years ago." Ling Yuxiu recalled what Emperor Yanfeng had told her. "Father once mentioned that the ancestor of Ling Family had met a god who passed him the Emperor's Disk and even taught him the dragon language. However, the character of our ancestor was lax, and he didn't put learning the dragon language to heart.
"At that time, he liked a woman and placed all his mind on her, who was none other than our first grandmother. Yet when our ancestor wanted to learn, he realized that the god had already left and that he'd already forgotten eighty-to-ninety percent of the dragon language the god had taught him. In the end, he could only comprehend the initial Nine Dragons Monarch Technique from the Emperor's Disk."
'Grandpa Deaf's words were true!' Qin Mu thought to himself. 'No wonder that Grandpa Blind also said that women are trouble; it's really the case! Grandpa Butcher also said that women are too troublesome. Old Ma doesn't like to be close to women either, and now I see that there are actually reasons for that! I can't be like the ancestor of Ling Family and delay my cultivation! However, Sister Yuxiu is really quite pretty, and even though Sister Xiang is skinnier, she's also quite good-looking…'
His heart was alarmed, and he immediately wiped out the impure thoughts in his mind. He pulled the true dragon lord out from the true dragon's nest and the dragon-shaped dragon vein turned back into a jade pendant with its head connected to the tail.
Ling Yuxiu saw this and was slightly suspicious. "This piece of jade is slightly similar to the Emperor's Disk of our Ling Family… but there's also some difference. I've heard the Emperor's Disk was a jade pendant while this piece consists of parts put together. There's a gap between them."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "I said I will give you a huge benefit earlier, so now I shall teach you the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique I comprehended."
Ling Yuxiu burst out laughing. "My father taught me Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, so could you have comprehended more than him?"
Qin Mu slowly explained the 'Nine Dragons Monarch Technique' that he had comprehended, and gradually, Ling Yuxiu face became more and more solemn. She realized that at the start, it was still the initial technique of the Ling Family, but as it went further, it became more and more profound. It was even more profound and powerful than the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that Emperor Yanfeng had perfected!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
'Could it be that I learned the fake Nine Dragons Monarch Technique and the cowherd boy learned the true one?'
Ling Yuxiu was in a slight daze. Only the introductory chapter of the 'Nine Dragons Monarch Technique' that Qin Mu had taught her belonged to the Ling Family. The content afterward had surpassed what she had ever known. Not only did it surpass, it even transcended it.
What was most terrifying was that Nine Dragons Monarch Technique of Ling Family seemed like a branch developed from the introductory form, while the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that Qin Mu taught her was the trunk. Her branch was only one possibility from it!
The most primitive Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was like a small sapling that had just broken out from the dirt. Ling Family's perfected Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was like the trunk breaking off and growing a branch while Qin Mu's Nine Dragons Monarch Technique grew upward like a tree.
Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was perfected by generations and generations of people, until it was finally finished at Emperor Yanfeng's generation. By then, the technique had already grown to its extreme and there was no more possibility of digging out more potential.
However, Qin Mu's Nine Dragons Monarch Technique possessed boundless potential!
Yet why did the continuous hard work of the many generations of Ling Family unable to compare to Qin Mu's comprehension of a short while?
Could he be a saint that appears once every five hundred years as well?
Qin Mu didn't think much about it. The 'Nine Dragons Monarch Technique' he had learned from the true dragon's nest wasn't complete, either. He just taught Ling Yuxiu what he had comprehended, which was sort of a compensation for the Ling Family.
It was impossible for him to return the Emperor's Disk. It was a treasure that Cripple had given him, and the rules of Great Ruins were that the things given to one could never be returned.
Besides, the true dragon's nest and Emperor's Disk were a pair, so one couldn't be without the other. With the nest, Ling Family had no use for the Emperor's Disk. The complete Nine Dragons Monarch Technique could only be seen when the two were combined.
Qin Mu took the Emperor's Disk away from the dragon's nest, and the pressure on the flood dragons and the dragon qilin instantly vanished. They all rose with eyes full of respect as they looked at Qin Mu.
He ordered them to continue on their way to Heavenly Dragon Star Palace. When he looked at the dragon's nest, his heart stirred slightly. He smiled and said, "I have an extremely fine place to cultivate Nine Dragons Monarch Technique. Sister Yuxiu, come with me, let us jump into this dragon's nest." After he finished saying that, he grabbed Ling Yuxiu's hand and jumped into the dragon's nest.
Ling Yuxiu was astonished, thinking about how they were supposed to jump in when the fake mountain basin was so small. Yet when they came close to it, it grew larger and larger. Their figures descended at a quick speed, as though they were dropping several thousand yards from the sky.
Meanwhile, the landscape in the basin seemed to have become a huge space that was over twenty miles in length and width!
Just the perimeter of the ninth level of the dragon's nest was already over ten miles!
Just as the two landed, cries of astonishment came from the sky. Si Yunxiang had actually jumped with them as well, and when she landed in the space of the true dragon's nest, she realized that there was a completely different world there. It astonished her.
Hu Ling'er saw the three of them disappear from the dragon's back, she immediately jumped over. When she looked into the landscape of the basin, she saw Qin Mu and the other two like ants. They seemed to have become part of the landscape in the basin.
However, they were still moving and talking, though their voices seemed to be coming from dozens of miles away. They sounded unclear.
The three of them looked curiously around the place. Even though Qin Mu had followed Dragon Rearing Sovereign into the dragon's nest before, most of it had been submerged in magma, so he couldn't see it back then.
Only now could he take a look at the whole nest.
The inside was split into nine levels, and each one had numerous glowing pillars. Some were stalactites, some were dragon teeth, and some were pillars. The writings and pictures flashing on the ground and the structures transformed continuously, containing indescribable mysterious principles.
Ling Yuxiu took in a breath and instantly felt the incomparably dense dragon qi flooding toward her. She couldn't help giving out a cry of astonishment at that.
The dragon qi in the true dragon's nest was even denser than in the capital. On top of that, comparing the dragon qi here to the qi of the nine dragons was like comparing heaven to earth. Their quality was completely different!
The dragon qi in the nest seemed to be of much higher quality, far surpassing that of the nine dragons. After all, that qi had formed when the nine dragon's veins converged, while the dragon qi in the nest had gathered all the dragon qi of the veins in all of Eternal Peace Empire and Great Ruins!
"Cultivating here is much faster than cultivating in the capital!"
Ling Yuxiu executed the Nine Dragon Monarch Technique that Qin Mu had imparted to her and instantly felt her cultivation increasing by leaps and bounds. Her vital qi also became much purer!
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had techniques that observed the divine dragons, so Si Yunxiang gave it a try as well. She felt the dragon qi flooding toward her endlessly, and after a short moment, it was as if she had cultivated the technique for dozens of days. It shocked her to no end.
If she could cultivate here for over a dozen days, it would be equivalent to cultivating diligently in the outside world for dozens of years. If there wasn't any restriction in cultivation realms, her attainments in techniques and divine arts would be unimaginable!
Of course, even if there was a restriction due to cultivation realm, it was still extraordinary. The nest was definitely a sacred ground to cultivate dragon attribute techniques and divine arts.
"It's a pity it doesn't benefit me much." Si Yunxiang shook her head.
She mainly cultivated the creation writings from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, having been taught by the young patriarch. He had studied the Seven Writings of Creation to their extreme and imparted all of his comprehensions to her. However, even if she didn't receive the teachings of Unity Technique which Qin Mu got, she was still considered one of the rare experts in the younger generation.
Qin Mu was also absorbing the qi of the true dragon, but it was different for him. Ling Yuxiu cultivated Nine Dragons Monarch Technique while he was trying to incorporate the body refinement part of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique into his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
The powerful point of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique lay in the vigorous magic power that was no inferior to that of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. However, the latter lacked precisely a technique for body refinement, so Qin Mu wanted to patch that weakness.
He had incorporated the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that Emperor Yanfeng had taught him into Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique before, but new one he had comprehended was much more complicated. The language of the dragon race was also different from the human language, so it was much harder to fuse the two techniques. Even trying to absorb only the body refinement technique was very difficult, not something that could be done in a short while.
Not long later, Hu Ling'er's voice came from the outside. "Young master, we are at Heavenly Dragon Star Palace!"
Qin Mu left Ling Yuxiu, who was in deep cultivation, inside the dragon's nest while bringing Si Yunxiang out. When the two of them flew out, their bodies gradually became bigger. By the time they landed on the ground, their bodies had returned to normal. There was no discomfort in the whole process.
'Dragon Rearing Sovereign is remarkable. He didn't shrink the dragon's nest, but instead shrunk the space in which it exists!' Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration. That kind of ability was equivalent to a taotie sack, but a taotie sack contained space inside, while Dragon Rearing Sovereign used great magic power to shrink the space of dozens of miles into just seven-eight feet.
"Heavenly Dragon Star Palace is right in front!" Hu Ling'er said.
Qin Mu looked forward and saw dilapidated palaces before his eyes. Heavenly Dragon Star Palace was a cluster of old constructions. Numerous villages were clustered within them while above were huge mountain like rocks floating in the sky. They were black, red, blue, and all the other colors.
Those rocks were filled with thousands of holes, and they collided time and again, showering stone fragments. Many larger pieces also fell down, but they never landed on the villages. Instead, they'd fall somewhere outside.
The once tall and majestic divine palaces and shrines had become ruins, yet they could still protect the people living within them.
Qin Mu looked at the earthy-looking villagers wearing beast skin clothes and couldn't help feeling a sense of familiarity. Si Yunxiang's face was slightly reddish. Even during winter, the villagers wore short pants and close-fitting shirts made of beast skins. There were also some kids that were over ten years old still squatting down with half of their buttocks showing shamefully.
"I was also like this back then!" Great Cult Master Qin said excitedly.
Si Yunxiang tried to imagine Great Cult Master Qin also showing half of his buttocks back then and couldn't help spitting at the image.
Qin Mu walked forward and greeted the elders in the village. He asked them about the direction to Constellation Sea, and after a moment, Qin Mu returned back, saying excitedly, "The elder said that Constellation Sea is very dangerous and it's always shooting stars. It's a resplendent sight at night! Let's go over there quickly!"
Si Yunxiang cursed him endlessly in her heart.
They brought the bunch of dragons to a huge valley below which was a deep abyss. However, there were countless spots of white light shining in the darkness. Looking down from above, it indeed looked like they were looking at a starry sky.
"How pretty!" Hu Ling'er said excitedly. "They are truly like the night sky! Even the Milky Way is there!"
Si Yunxiang's scalp started to crawl. The Milky Way in the abyss of Star Sea was indeed similar to the Milky Way in the sky, but the 'stars' were colliding continuously as though they were within a bowl of boiling porridge that seemed incomparably dangerous!
Whoosh!
A weird pitch black wind came blowing over from the abyss, and a 'star' was blown out. It was as huge as a mountain, but it didn't land on the ground. Instead, it came to float in the sky.
Suddenly, another 'star' flew out of the abyss, and the two huge rocks collided, exploding with a dull blast. Power burst forth, making Si Yunxiang's heart palpitate. "Cult Master! This Star Sea is not a place where people of our cultivation can step into, even existences of the cult master level might not come back!"
"Don't worry, we have the flood dragons to assist us" But even though he said that, he still felt some reservations against entering. "Sun Well is quite a distance away from here and it's located at the center of Great Ruins. However, Yan Jingjing said they had come from Star Sea and returned to Sun Well through it. Could Star Sea have some passage to reach Sun Well quickly?"
He pondered it for a moment, then blew his golden flute to have the flood dragons fly toward the Star Sea. Si Yunxiang was on guard as though she was facing a dangerous enemy, but then she suddenly relaxed. She shook her head. 'If the stars come, there's no use even if we try to defend. Why don't I see if Cult Master has any thoughts about this.'
Qin Mu carefully executed Secrets of Dragon Control to avoid the stars as he closed in on the galaxy in Star Sea. They were clearly going underground, but it didn't look like that. The place seemed like another world.
They seemed to have entered a vast and deep space. Around them were stars that were the size of mountains. Qin Mu looked back and could only see a huge crack from where they had come; he couldn't see the surface anymore.
The bright stars gave off rays of all colors while the galaxy swirled. Millions and millions of so-called stars were moving along and colliding continuously, causing waves and waves of force to bombard the group like knives.
"Divine Dragon Cover!" Qin Mu shouted, and the flood dragons changed their formation, their tails connecting together. Their hind claws interlocked and with heads downwards, they created a ball to protect them, keeping them away from any danger.
Qin Mu looked toward the center of the Milky Way and saw that there were Yin Yang Fish that looked like the taiji diagram. They were like two incomparably huge and deep wells, while the countless stars swirled continuously around them. Above the deep wells, there seemed to be two tears.
It had to be Great Ruins where Sun Well and Moon Well were located!
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently. The Star Sea didn't look like it was made. Instead, it seemed like another world, a world that was countless times smaller!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"This world has been created!"
Qin Mu and the rest soon realized that such a small world—they had soon reached its top— couldn't have been born naturally. Qin Mu let the flood dragons protect them while flying above the Milky Way, but while rising, they collided with an invisible barrier.
They couldn't see it, but it truly existed there. It was the barrier of the world they were in acting like a wall which separated it from the others.
The reason why they thought that the world was created was because the instant they collided with the invisible barrier, countless beehive-shaped seals appeared while giving off thumping sounds. They swiftly spread out through the sky, and it looked as though the group had entered a huge beehive.
It was quite a familiar sight to Qin Mu. He had seen it at Ghost Valley.
The ancient gods had used beehive seals to block off the tear between Youdu world and the real world. Now, it seemed that they were used as the wall for the world made by the gods as well.
"We have no way to take a detour; we can only go through the Milky Way."
Qin Mu examined the darkness in the surroundings. With the barrier blocking their way, they couldn't go through the sky, but only through the Milky Way, barging their way into Sun Well.
"This space seems strange. It doesn't look huge, and the distance between Sun Well and Moon Well is also too short. They are at most five miles away," Qin Mu said. "However, from the map of Great Ruins, Moon Well and Sun Well are tens of thousands of miles apart. What happened here?"
Si Yunxiang pondered it for a moment, then said, "Teleportation divine art… No! It should be overlapped space… but that's not right as well! This is a complete space and there's no overlap. What divine art is this exactly?"
The two wells in Great Ruins were tens of thousands of miles apart yet they were only three to five miles apart in Star Sea. However, when looking at the starry sky in Eternal Peace Empire, the stars looked were very close to each other but they were actually very far from each other. This place was the opposite of reality and this really made them click their tongues in wonder.
Si Yunxiang was also confused. She didn't know what kind of divine art could have caused such an unusual sight.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "The gods of ancient Great Ruins possessed remarkable abilities and many divine arts that were never passed on to us. Maybe they had created this place just for the sake of opening up a passage that's convenient for them to move around Great Ruins. Let's go to Sun Well first."
Nine flood dragons covered the group while flying toward the Milky Way, but they soon grew nervous, with huge rocks the size of mountains everywhere around them. The rocks collided here and there, causing confusion. Whenever a star the size of a mountain came rushing toward them, the flood dragons would execute their divine arts to push the star away.
Those stars were also man-made, and their sizes weren't too great. However, there were some unique ones among them, like those made of fine jade that was sparkling and translucent. They glowed as they streaked past them.
"How pretty… This is bad!" Qin Mu's face changed drastically, and the sound of the flute could be heard. The body of the numerous flood dragons hurriedly shrunk, and they all swarmed over to climb on his body. Qin Mu then threw Hu Ling'er onto his shoulder and grabbed Si Yunxiang while shouting, "Fatty Dragon, into the nest, now!"
He brought Hu Ling'er and Si Yunxiang inside, while the dragon qilin jumped after in a hurry to. At that moment, the glow of the star that looked like a fine jade became incomparably radiant. The next instant, sword lights of all color swept through the sky, covered the whole place as they shot at the stars the size of mountains in all directions.
They were pierced through by the sword lights, earning thousands and thousands of holes!
Luckily, Qin Mu had brought the bunch of dragons, Hu Ling'er, and Si Yunxiang into the dragon's nest. Countless flying swords swept above them, and Hu Ling'er immediately shrunk her head back. A few strands of her fur were sliced off, and the dragon qilin hurriedly pulled back his tail. A sword light swept past it at that moment, and two scales fell off.
Everyone was still in a panicked state when the star made of fine jade vanished into thin air.
Suddenly, multicolored flying swords came streaking across the sky above the dragon's nest like a meteor shower. As they collided, they transformed into a star made of fine jade and floated away into the distance.
"What a huge sword pellet!" Hu Ling'er was stunned by the sight.
The dragon qilin muttered, "It's even bigger than Cult Master's sword pellet…"
Qin Mu was also flabbergasted. There was actually such a huge sword pellet in the world. He had thought that his sword pellet was already huge, yet only a glance at the one they just saw was enough to know that his paled into insignificance by comparison!
"Could this be the treasure of a god?"
They flew out of the dragon's nest. Qin Mu had the flood dragons form their Divine Dragon Cover once again while others carried the dragon's nest. He acted more and more careful.
Divine Dragon Cover was a divine art from Ling Family's Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover. It was originally a divine art for offense, but Qin Mu used it to control the nine dragons as a formation skill.
In his heart, the marvel of use lay in the heart and soul. There was never many rules for him. Some people felt his thoughts were unconstrained in style while some felt that he was going astray from the path, but he didn't care.
In the chaotic Milky Way, stars came crashing against each other from time to time, and even the Divine Dragon Cover formed by powerful flood dragons suffered damage. Some bones were broken, and some tendons snapped. Qin Mu had to continuously refine spirit pills and miraculous medicines to heal the injured dragons while having other dragons take the place of the injured ones to maintain Divine Dragon Cover. After a painstaking journey, they finally came to the core of the Milky Way and got close to the two divine wells.
That place was relatively safe as the stars were swirling around Sun Well and Moon Well, there were only a few of them around.
Si Yunxiang let out a sigh of relief and said in bewilderment, "Cult Master, this place is so dangerous and we needed over a dozen flood dragons to protect us. We even had to hide inside the dragon's nest from time to time to avoid danger, so how did the Sun Guardian come here?"
Qin Mu raised his head and saw Sun Well and Moon Well as well as a huge, thick pillar of light shooting upward. There were two large circular holes above it, like the openings of the wells.
"Since they are Sun Herders, of course they would drive Sun Ship to this place. Besides, the abilities of Sun Guardian are extremely high; she's an existence that's like a heavenly god."
Si Yunxiang jumped in shock. An existence like heavenly gods?
Qin Mu didn't explain. The flood dragons flew toward the pillar of light above. Suddenly, Qin Mu looked down, and he couldn't help being stunned. He saw that there were huge balls of light filling in the huge Sun Well that looked like huge suns!
Of course, those suns weren't huge, so they were probably treasures forged by gods. However, with so many of them squeezed in the deep well, he was still rather blown away!
'Since the sun on Sun Ship had extinguished, why don't they fish a sun from here?'
Just as he thought that, the sounds of chains rattling came from above, and an incomparably thick black chain came from the opening of the well. It was let down continuously, getting closer and closer to the suns inside.
"Young master, are the Sun Herders trying to hook a sun?" Hu Ling'er asked in astonishment.
Qin Mu was also startled. There were a few huge hooks hanging below the chain, so the people above had to be trying to hook and bring up a son from the Sun Well.
However, he soon saw the black iron chains become scarlet red from the heat. Before they even reach the middle section of the well, they already looked like about to melt. Molten iron slowly flowed down the chain, dripping into the water.
Not only that, the hooks had also softened from the heat, so before the black iron chain could even get close to the suns, the hooks were already gone. In no time, the black iron chain also snapped from the heat.
Rattling sounds came from above, and a sigh sounded out from the side of the well. "We still can't fish one out…"
The flood dragons flew to the opening of the well. The closer they got, the wider the opening became. When the flood dragons had carried Qin Mu and the rest out, Sun Well had already become a huge hole that was five hundred miles wide.
Looking down it, Qin Mu couldn't see anything except for the glaring rays of the suns that were shooting straight out and shining on the sky.
The rays then scattered and formed a huge dome which covered the place.
The Sun Well looked more like an incomparably huge mirror that could shine back the rays of light!
"Ee, we didn't catch a sun, but instead got a flood dragon!" A resounding voice came from the side of the well, full of astonishment.
Qin Mu and the rest looked toward the source and saw a few giants of the Sun Herd Tribe standing nearby. They looked like priests and were pulling onto a chain while looking at them in astonishment.
Qin Mu walked to the head of the flood dragon in two to three steps and said with a smile, "Man of Carefree Village, Qin Mu, I'm here to meet the sun guardian! May elders please inform her!"
"Visitor from Carefree Village!" The strong practitioners of Sun Herd Tribe were astonished and hurriedly threw down their chains to greet in a loud voice, "Visitor from Carefree Village, please wait a moment for us to go inform her!" When they were done, they immediately turned to leave.
'They seem to be mistaken. I just said I'm a man of Carefree Village, not that I was from Carefree Village.'
Qin Mu scratched his head and let the flood dragons land beside the well. Looking at how respectful the Sun Herders were, they had to be telling the higher-ups of the tribe to hold a grand welcome for him.
Si Yunxiang knocked on the dragon's nest and shouted inside, "Princess Xiu, we are at the Sun Well, come out quickly."
Ling Yuxiu woke up from her meditative state and leaped up, transforming into a trail of dragon qi. She changed back when she landed on the ground. Si Yunxiang was extremely envious. 'Plump chest princess' cultivation has improved drastically in this short while; she's even stronger than me now!"
Ling Yuxiu looked around, and her mind trembled violently. She kept looking at the huge ship which had stopped not far from Sun Well. Even if it was not her first time seeing Sun Ship, it was still hard for her to conceal the shock in her heart.
Sun Ship was simply too huge, and its chains were dragging a black sun as it crawled on the ground.
The deck of that ship was a piece of land on which tens of thousands of people could live and reproduce.
She looked at the surroundings, and her heart was shaken once more. The Sun Well was shrouded by a dome which formed a unique space that emanated with an energy that made people stir restlessly.
Qi of pure yang!
Qin Mu in the meantime was examining a huge stone tablet beside the well. Hu Ling'er came forward then and took out a small booklet, brush, and ink, planning to copy the writings on the tablet. Ever since she had started learning how to write and read from Deaf, she had become super serious, copying down every word she encountered.
However, she didn't recognize the words on the tablet, so she could only ask, "Young master, what's written here?"
"These are inscriptions in a god language, it records the history below Sun Well."
He then read out for her, "The emperor ordered Zi Qing to forge Sun and Moon Well, but she was naughty and mischievous. A hundred years passed, and nothing was done. The emperor was furious and ordered her to be put to death. Zi Qing then trembled with fear. The wells were forged in fifty years yet there was no light from the suns and moons inside them. At that time, she took out her eyes and dropped them into the wells. From that moment on, there was light from the suns and moons. The emperor then ordered the court recorder to erect a memorial tablet."
He raised his head up to look at the black sun floating above Sun Ship and said, "That sun had God Zi Qing's blood, which was why it could burst forth with radiance; however, I've no idea why it went out."
"The sun was extinguished because of powerful enemies!"
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice and saw several hundred Sun Herders walking over to them. Their bodies were all gigantic. The one in the lead was the old chief of the Sun Herd Tribe. When he saw Qin Mu, he was slightly stunned and revealed an expression of disappointment. "So it's the little friend from Border Dragon City; I thought it was someone from Carefree Village. Little friend, what are you here for?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "To meet Sun Guardian."
The old chief shook his head and said, "Sun Guardian doesn't have long to live, so we are currently choosing a new sun guardian. Since little friend has deep connections with Carefree Village, stay and witness the ceremony.
Qin Mu's heart trembled, and worry showed up on his face. "Didn't Yan Jingjing still have many years to live? Why…"
"The devil gods of a foreign territory attacked Sun Well. Sun Guardian personally led everyone to defend against them, so her lifespan is more or less exhausted." The old chief sighed. "Come with me, Sun Guardian should smile as she departs this world after being able to see an old friend again."
The faces of the Sun Herders around were dim as their white robes fluttered in the wind. This gave a sorrowful atmosphere to their group. The old chief stopped and looked around before shouting, "Why the sorrowful looks! When she became the sun guardian, it was destined that she would have to fuse with Sun Ship and become one it, standing side by side with the ancestors. This is an honor! Why are all of you feeling sorrowful? The sky is turning dark, the devil gods from the foreign territory will try to invade again, so pick up your spirits!"
Qin Mu raised his head to look at him, and saw his white hair trembling. Yan Jingjing was his granddaughter. The reason he asked why all of them were in sorrow was because he could not express his own feeling.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
On Sun Ship, the qi of pure yang was even denser. Yet the place wasn't hot at all, but instead had the warmth of spring.
Sun Ship was very large, and its land was very vast. However, to the Sun Herders, the resting place wasn't big at all. That was because they were all giants over thirty yards high!
When Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang looked at them, they couldn't hold back their exclamations of surprise. Even the children of Sun Herders were about ten yards in height. Their bodies were covered in muscles, every little movement showing it off.
'That Sun Guardian should also be a giant,' Ling Yuxiu thought to herself before letting out a sigh. 'The one that herds cows is really here to help reignite the sun and not to flirt around. A giant wouldn't like a small thing like him. Besides, that Yan Jingjing is a god. Even if she's a female god, she must still be muscular and strong. Even a slight smile might reveal muscles on her face. Even though the beauty standard of the one that herds cows is weird, it shouldn't be weird to that extent!'
Qin Mu looked around. The reason Sun Herders were known as such was because they were a people who herded the sun.
It was similar to Moon Herders. Their name came from the fact that they herded the moon.
Since they were herders, it of course couldn't be just one sun or moon, but a bunch of them. There had been a point in time when Sun Herders drove numerous suns through the land in darkness. They would move from the east to the west to drive away the darkness.
When night time came, Moon Herders would bring out moons to travel Great Ruins, looping forward and backward.
Sun Ship looked even more dilapidated than before. The previous time Qin Mu had seen it, the deck had been still looked quite good. Even though there had been numerous traces of battle, the Sun Herders had cleaned them up pretty nicely, so the place retained its sacredness.
However, now there were crumbling fences and dilapidated walls. There were also numerous injured people of the Sun Herder Tribe. When they saw the chief leading Qin Mu and the rest, they immediately held their breaths. Only when Qin Mu and the rest had walked farther away did they let out soft groans. They had gritted their teeth to lower their voices as much as possible.
They were trying to preserve their dignity.
"Chief, you have the most heroic warriors in this world!" Qin Mu said with deep respect.
"There are no cowards among the Sun Herders!" the old chief said with a resonating voice.
Qin Mu saw wisps of black smoke floating out from the wounds of Sun Herders. They were the burns left behind by the strong heavenly devil gods. The qi of pure yang of Sun Well was helping them to refine it.
Not long later, they passed by a run-down shrine where a half-broken halberd was stabbed in the center of the huge hall. Black gas surged around it, and screeches came from within it.
"Cult Master, it's a devil god weapon!" Si Yunxiang said in a low voice.
Qin Mu nodded, but didn't say anything. As Heavenly Devil Cult Master, the head of the number one sect of the devil path in Eternal Peace Empire, he was naturally not a stranger to the devil path.
Qin Mu pursued knowledge to the end and applied what he knew. The marvel of use lay in his heart. In front of him was learning, discovering, and achieving. while behind was freedom from nature, the so-called Dao.
That was why he didn't care about differentiating between gods and devils.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was a good example. If one's heart was of devil nature, they would see techniques of the devil path. If one's heart was of god nature, they'd find techniques of the god path. If one's heart was of the buddha, they'd see buddha techniques.
It was clear from the wounds of Sun Herders and the devil god weapon that the strong practitioners who had attacked Sun Well had extremely high attainments in the devil path. Their knowledge far exceeded what he, the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, possessed.
'When Moon Guardian was facing the attacks of the devils from the foreign territory, he had chosen to escape and abandon his tribesmen. Sun Guardian, on the other hand, chose to accompany her tribesmen and die protecting them.'
Qin Mu recalled the incomparably frail girl whose legs were gnawed at by Sun Ship. He then thought to himself, 'Sun Guardian's moral integrity is much higher than that of Moon Guardian.'
When they passed by a ruin, they saw a huge golden bell. It was over thirty yards high, and banging sounds would ring out from time to time. At the bottom of the bell, black smoke leaked out, so there had to be something powerful suppressed inside. Some Sun Herders stood nearby, executing sun true fire to purify the strong practitioners inside the bell.
Other than that, there were also some Sun Herders that were piling the corpses of strangely-shaped monsters together. They executed true fire to incinerate them, which resulted in a nauseous smell.
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu were frowning. They didn't know from which race was the enemy and why they had to attack Sun Well.
"Sun Herders are the protectors of Great Ruins, even if many people don't know that the Sun that they've been saved from many dangers. When Imperial Preceptor invaded Great Ruins, he was also forced back by the Sun Herders. When the gods and devils of the other races come to invade Great Ruins, they also had to first pass through the Sun Herders. Moon Herders are all dead so only Sun Herders are left," Qin Mu explained
Ling Yuxiu's face became slightly red.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor invaded Great Ruins, she was among his troops, in charge of scouting. It was also during that time that she had come in contact with Qin Mu. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had really invaded Great Ruins, what awaited Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would have probably been an incomparably painful lesson!
They came to the center of Sun Ship and finally met Sun Guardian.
Yan Jingjing was only left with her head and hands still outside. Her body had already sunk into Sun Ship, though her four hands were still holding onto the thick pillars, giving off a terrifying god's prestige.
The old chief came to her side and said in a low voice, "Jingjing, that youth Qin Mu from Border Dragon City has come to see you."
"The cowherd boy came to see me?" Yan Jingjing let go of her grip on the pillars as she wanted to break free of Sun Ship, but her body had already fused with it so she couldn't move. She panted heavily while saying, "I can't come out, I can't see you. Come over here."
Qin Mu walked forward and came in front of her. Yan Jingjing's face still had a childlike look to it. She raised her eyes at Qin Mu and smiled. "You really came? It's truly wonderful to be able to meet a childhood friend again."
Qin Mu stood in front of her and looked at her eyes in detail. He said in a gentle voice, "I'm here. I've grown slightly."
The girl's eyes were filled with blazing flames that were like two small suns. They could no longer see anything, completely filled by the sun true fire. The structure of her eyes was gone.
She loosened her grip on the pillars again and her body shrunk rapidly, but the ground of the Sun Ship shrunk as well, keeping her trapped no matter what.
Sun Guardian was like this, and Moon Guardian had also been like that.
As long as they took on the responsibility of Sun Guardian and Moon Guardian, they would slowly merge with Sun Ship and Moon Ship, entrusting their life to the ship. It would absorb their life force until they became one.
Qin Mu's face held a complicated expression. He had become the moon guardian when he was searching for the people of the village. However, he had only used the ship for a short period of time so it didn't exhaust him much.
Yan Jingjing, on the other hand, had already fused with Sun Ship. She wasn't long for the world anymore.
The more Sun Ship's energy was used, the more it would fuse with the guardian, and the more it would exhaust their life. Yan Jingjing's flesh and blood had fused completely with Sun Ship. Even if Qin Mu reignited the sun, he wasn't sure if he could still save her.
When the girl wasn't holding onto the pillars, she looked frail, pitifully so. Her neck was so thin that she couldn't even lift her own head, that her neck would break at any moment.
She had said Qin Mu was her childhood friend, but he had only met her once. Yet it was still true, since she didn't have any playmates.
She was the sun guardian, and the tribesmen only held respect for her. The youth in the tribe were all respectful of her and wouldn't play with her. Ever since she was young, she had carried the heavy burden of protecting her tribe and protecting Great Ruins.
Near Border Dragon City, Qin Mu, a youth from a foreign race, had come onto her ship and chatted with her. Just because of it, she treated him as her playmate and close friend.
To a certain extent, Qin Mu was similar to her.
When he was young, he also didn't have any playmates. He had to learn all kinds of things from the elders in the village and train diligently. There was no one of the same age to play with him.
However, Qin Mu had nine elders who treated him with utmost care, while Yan Jingjing had elders that held respect for her.
Si Yunxiang, Hu Ling'er, and Ling Yuxiu came to Yan Jingjing's side with their hearts filled with sorrow. The girl before them was about the same age as them yet the burden she bore was countless times heavier than theirs.
Si Yunxaing couldn't resist asking, "The sun is extinguished, but there are still many suns in Sun Well. Why don't you guys change the sun? These chains that are chaining the black sun, why can't you use them to capture a new sun?"
"These chains were made by the heavenly workers god race, who are already extinct," the old chief said. "The chains that we, the Sun Herders, forge with true fire cannot withstand the true fire of the sun, so we can't fish a new sun out. We had already tried countless times."
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly and he remembered Dragon Rearing Sovereign's words to Mute. "There are still heavenly workers in this world who could forge such a chain."
The old chief took a look at him and shook his head, "The remaining heavenly workers are all in Carefree Village now. If you ever return to Carefree Village, you might be able to bring a heavenly worker to save our Sun Herd Tribe. But you're yet to find it, right?"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I have indeed not found Carefree Village, but I've come to help you guys reignite the sun. And even if I can't reignite it, I still have other abilities. I had learned smithing from a heavenly worker before, so I might just be able to forge new chains for you guys to bring up a new sun." He smiled radiantly and said to the frail little girl, "I've come to fulfill my promise. I promised you, and I don't go back on my word."
He stood up and raised his head to look at the black sun in the sky. He asked with a calm expression, "You had once told me that if I ignite this sun, you will be able to break free. If I ignite this sun now, can you still break free from Sun Ship?"
"I don't know." The flames in Yan Jingjing's eyes suddenly blazed even more vigorously as though hope was renewed in her heart.
The old chief of the Sun Herders had a dim expression as he said, "Little Friend Qin, even though you're a visitor from Carefree Village, you have yet to go there, and you don't have the ability to reignite the sun. But even if you do so, Sun Guardian won't be able to live for long; her lifespan has been mostly exhausted. Death is like an extinguished lamp, the oil of her life is almost finished…"
He roused his spirit and said, "Don't waste your efforts! We are currently choosing the next sun guardian and as the visitor from Carefree Village, come and witness the birth of a new sun guardian! Tonight, the devils will come again and attack, so we have to choose the next sun person to be prepared for any accidents!"
Qin Mu shook his head. "No matter if I can ignite the sun or not, I have to try!"
The old chief shook his head and brought the tribesmen to leave as they got ready to choose the next sun guardian.
Qin Mu took out Sun Jade Eye and placed it on the ground. Raising his head to look at the black sun, he pondered over it for a moment before raising the jade eye up high, near the black sun on the chain. "Wait here for me, I will come back after reigniting the sun!"
Ling Yuxiu immediately shouted loudly, "When the sun reignites, it will burn you to death!"
"It won't!" The sound of a flute could be heard, and the fire flood dragons soared into the sky to follow behind Qin Mu. He then shouted back from far away, "With these flood dragons, I can escape alive!"
"Sun Guardian, is your sun a real sun or a fake sun?" Ling Yuxiu asked in a hurry.
"It's a god artifact. It is said that this sun was a treasure forged by Heavenly God Zi Qing," Yan Jingjing said.
"This is bad!"
Ling Yuxiu's scalp crawled. The one who herds cows hadn't asked for details before running away to finish his task. When the treasure of the heavenly god went ablaze, the might of the heavenly god would spread out and probably turn the one who herds cows and his flood dragons to ashes!
"Wouldn't that mean I can succeed as the cult master?" Si Yunxiang's eyes instantly lit up.
Ling Yuxiu gave her a cold look, and Si Yunxiang hurriedly laughed. "I'm just joking, I don't want to be a young widow. I was thinking, since they are Sun Herders, they should be able to withstand the divine fire of the sun. Maybe we can ask that old chief to protect the cult master."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Fatty Dragon!" Hu Ling'er called out.
The dragon qilin understood the severity of the situation. He shook his body and transformed into his true form. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang jumped onto his back while Yan Jingjing said, "They are at the Sun Shrine of our Sun Herd Tribe. Head over in that direction and it will be the highest shrine!"
The dragon qilin immediately exerted his strength to sprint toward the place where they were choosing the next sun guardian.
When they came to the Sun Shrine, they saw the symbol of a three-legged crow within the picture of a sun on the doors. Two giants, propped up on their battle axes, stood guarding them. They were adult sun herders, and their bodies were extremely tall and sturdy. Their battle axes were crossed in front of the door to prevent people from going in.
"Stop, outsiders!" The two sun herders had solemn looks as they shouted out in dull voices. "The shrine is a sacred ground; outsiders can't barge in!"
Hu Ling'er jumped down and said, "It's your sun guardian who has asked us to come! Quickly inform your chief that something big is going to happen!"
"Wait a moment!"
One of the sun herders immediately went into the shrine. After a moment, he walked out and said respectfully, "Chief has invited all of you inside to observe the ceremony."
They entered the shrine and instantly felt minute. The giants of Sun Herd Tribe were all gathered there, standing tall. When the girls walked among them, they were merely up to their ankles.
The giants were surrounding a circular platform upon which a selection was taking place. Sounds of astonishment came from time to time. Hu Ling'er jumped up as she wanted to take a look at the situation, but how could she do it when the fence was simply too high. Her body was too short so even if she jumped fifteen yards into the air, she still wouldn't be able to see what was happening.
Hu Ling'er swayed her tail in a hurry, and her body started to float up. She could then finally see the platform.
There were numerous young men and women separated in two groups. In the center of the platform were three god statues, and every one of them was a mutant with three legs and wings that were spread opened. Their bodies were bent, carrying a giant furnace.
It was different from usual, since it was circular and its sides had openings. There was nothing like medicinal stones in the furnace.
A strong youth of the Sun Herder Tribe cutting his wrist and letting his blood flow into the huge circular furnace. He then executed true fire and reigniting the furnace.
A ball of fire soon appeared, its flames growing larger and larger. Instantly, blazing rays burst forth from the openings in the furnace, becoming more and more dazzling.
Terrifying pulses came from the furnace along with the roars of strange beasts that would grip the heart or anyone who heard them.
The sun herders in the surroundings revealed delighted expressions, but at that moment, the rays suddenly dimmed and the flames in the furnace died down.
"Next!"
An unbelievably muscular girl went up and sliced open her wrist. She also failed, but she had fared slightly better than the youth before her. An apparition of a fire dragon had actually taken shape in the flames of the furnace.
It was just that it lasted for a short while before vanishing.
Hu Ling'er looked on the other side of the platform and saw the old chief and some other white-haired elders of the Sun Herd Tribe. They were observing the test below. Hu Ling'er's heart stirred slightly, and she simply flew over to them.
She heard an elder say, "The body of pure yang is simply too hard to find. Jingjing held out for ten years, but if we don't find another body of pure yang, tonight might be the night when Sun Well will get invaded."
Worry entered the expressions of all elders. For anyone but the body of pure yang, it was difficult to withstand the terrifying and boundless energy of Sun Ship. If one tried to forcefully master it, they would soon be incinerated.
"There are simply too few bodies of pure yang." The old chief sighed and said, "If we can't find one, I will control Sun Ship and fight those devil gods with my life!"
His constitution wasn't the body of pure yang, but his cultivation was dense, so he could last for some time.
Below, on the platform, young men and women tried to light up the sun furnace, but they all failed. This caused the elders' face to grow more and more solemn.
Ling Yuxiu and the rest came to where the old chief was, and he raised his hand. A green slab under their feet rose up and lifted them up to observe the ceremony.
"Chief, Human Emperor Qin is currently helping you guys reignite the sun. If he succeeds, he'll turn into ashes!" Ling Yuxiu said in a hurry. "May Chief please go forward and assist the human emperor!"
She was very clever. She knew his other identities would hardly push the chief of the Sun Herd Tribe to aid him, so she just took the identity of the human emperor.
The old chief shook his head and said, "It's impossible for him to reignite the sun. It has long died down and only the appearance of a fire god of pure yang could reignite it. Don't worry, Little Friend Qin not only won't be able to reignite the sun, he won't even get near it; it's too hot over there. Even though it's an extinguished sun, its power is still no small matter. Look."
He raised his arm which was as long as a flying bridge. He then pointed below them and said, "When we, the sun herders, choose our sun guardian, we look for a person with a natural born pure yang so their blood would assist the true fire in order to ignite the sun furnace. It's merely an ordinary treasure, but lighting it up is already so difficult; it's even more impossible to reignite the sun."
"Human Emperor Qin has a god's eye, he might just be able to—" Ling Yuxiu said angrily.
The old chief cut her off and said, "We, the sun herders, had also found numerous god's eyes and god's blood over the years to reignite the sun, but none of them had worked. There's no need for you to say anymore, observe the ceremony."
Ling Yuxiu was furious. "We had come to help you reignite the sun, rushing over full sincerity, yet you aren't willing to, so aren't you sun herders bitterly disappointing us with your actions?"
The old chief's gaze landed on her and he said seriously, "It's not that we, the sun herders, are not reasonable. It's just that we need to choose the next sun guardian. After the sun sets, the darkness will invade and that's when the soul of Sun Guardian will return to Sun Ship. She can no longer hold on anymore. Without Sun Guardian, our Sun Herd Tribe will surely be unable to defend against the invasion of those evil devils.
"The moon herders are already wiped out, and if the sun herders are wiped out as well, the devil gods will come to control Great Ruins. Do you think the world outside Great Ruins will be able to defend against them? Right now, choosing the next sun guardian is of utmost importance!"
Ling Yuxiu was stunned.
Si Yunxiang sneered and said, "Even if you choose the next sun guardian, so what? Aren't they still going to die in Sun Ship, fusing into it?"
"It's an honor to die protecting the tribesmen and Great Ruins," the old chief said solemnly.
"Little friends, don't worry, Little Friend Qin will be fine. He won't be able to get near that black sun and he will retreat when he finds out what it's really like," another elder nearby said.
The other elders all nodded, but at that moment, a vast heatwave suddenly pulsed through the building. The expressions of the old chief and the few elders changed instantly. They got up with astonishment evident in their eyes. "This pulse… that extinguished sun! This is bad! Little Friend Qin!"
Boom!
The old chief and the elders rushed into the sky, opening a hole in the majestic Sun Shrine's roof. Hu Ling'er immediately shouted out, and the dragon qilin brought them after the giants. Once out, they looked at the sky.
The sunlight was dazzling.
The black sun had vanished without a trace, having been replaced by a sun blazing with yellow-white rays and emanating heat.
"Young master will be fine, right?"
Hu Ling'er immediately made the dragon qilin fly toward the sun. Ling Yuxiu was also anxious as she hurried the dragon qilin again and again. Only Si Yunxiang's heart bloomed with joy. 'I'm going to become a charming widow…'
They flew into midair, but the dragon qilin suddenly changed his direction. He flew toward the pillars below, stunning the girls. They then looked there and saw two figures as well as a group of flood dragons.
The dragon qilin landed, and the three girls immediately jumped down. They saw Qin Mu laying down a frail and thin girl from Sun Ship on the floor.
Ling Yuxiu hurriedly went forward. "The one who herds cows, you…"
"Shush." Qin Mu put a finger on his lips and said in a low voice, "She fainted. I'm quite skilled in nursing girls; my reputation of the divine physician comes from Flower Alley."
Ling Yuxiu pinched him with ruthlessness under the armpit and grumbled. "I was worried to death!"
"I said that there will be no danger. Awaken!" Qin Mu said with a smile.
Layers of formations swirled in his eyes as he opened Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes. He then executed Secrets of Dragon Control and a flood dragon flew over. It leaned on his shoulder while its body coiled around his waist.
With the borrowed dragon qi, Qin Mu's cultivation rose drastically, and more layers of formations surged in his eyes. He opened all nine layers of Heaven's Eyes to check on Yan Jingjing's body.
After a moment, he dispersed Secrets of Dragon Control, and the layers of heavens in his eyes faded away. However, the flood dragon didn't leave his shoulder and continued to lay there comfortably.
"Ma ha." The flood dragon opened its mouth to yawn, growing sleepy.
Hu Ling'er immediately ran over and grabbed onto the corner of Qin Mu's shirt to climb up. "Go down, go down! Go sleep elsewhere, this is my spot!"
That flood dragon could only scramble down.
Hu Ling'er sat on Qin Mu's shoulder and swung her feet from side to side. Her snow white tails swayed around proudly.
Qin Mu muttered to himself for a moment before saying, "Ling'er, I will read the prescription and you will grab the herbs."
Hu Ling'er gave a sound of acknowledgment and transformed back into a little fox which jumped into his taotie sack. Qin Mu read the names of all the herbs he needed, and a whirlwind in taotie sack brought them out.
Ling Yuxiu saw their chemistry and felt slightly jealous of the little fox. She took a glance and smiled at Si Yunxiang. "No more chance to be the charming widow."
Si Yunxiang giggled and said, "Cult Master likes to play with his life, so he will play himself to death sooner or later. It's still very likely that I'll become a charming widow."
Qin Mu refined a few furnaces of spirit pills and fed them to the fainted Yan Jingjing. He was separating the rest of the pills when the old chief brought the elders back from the sun. From far away, their loud voices could be heard. "We didn't find Little Friend Qin, he has most likely turned into ashe—"
Before the elder could finish his sentence, he saw Qin Mu.
The group couldn't hide its astonishment. Qin Mu in the meantime finished separating the medicines. "Ling'er, feed her a portion every day and night. Chief, mission accomplished."
The old chief suppressed the throbbing in his heart and asked, "How did Little Friend Qin ignite the sun? How did you come back alive?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "It's very simple. I used Secrets of Dragon Control to have the fire flood dragons lend their magic power to me. I then adjusted the power of Sun Jade Eye to its maximum and threw it into the black sun, which then ignited it."
He gave a simple description, but the old chief knew how big was Qin Mu's sacrifice. A treasure that could ignite the black sun was no little thing, yet he'd had no hesitation in parting with it.
He couldn't help feeling guilty in his heart. Qin Mu was so selfless yet he wasn't willing to come forth and assist him earlier. Comparing the two acts, he was ashamed to show his face.
"Sister Jing needs to rest for a few days. Her body is too exhausted, and my spirit pills will only help to replenish some of her vital qi." Qin Mu had a solemn expression as he added, "Her lifespan was exhausted, and it's hard to retrieve it. I can only help nurse her back and stop her lifespan from deteriorating."
The old chief let out a sigh of relief and said, "It's already a huge kindness to save her life. What's more, Little Friend Qin even helped our Sun Herd Tribe by igniting our sun. Such a kindness I won't forget until my death. Little Friend Qin, now that Jing'er is unconscious, we still need a sun guardian to defend against the invasion of the devil gods tonight, may little friend come and observe the ceremo— You mustn't!"
Qin Mu's palm came into contact with a pillar and the old chief's expression changed. He immediately went up to stop him, but he was a step late. Qin Mu's palm had already touched the surface of the pillar.
Instantly, boundless energy burst forth and flooded Qin Mu. In an instant, he roared fiercely and true fire blazed around him. His corporeal body became larger and larger, and his other arm took hold of the other pillar without having a choice in the matter.
His muscles expanded, and two more arms came out from under his armpits to grab hold of the remaining two pillars. In a split second, he transformed into a god that was bathing in the sun's true fire!
God's prestige surged out wave after wave and smacked the surroundings, making people feel like they were standing in fierce waves.
The old chief protected Hu Ling'er, Ling Yuxiu, and the rest. With a dazed look, he raised his head up to see the three hundred yards giant. Suddenly, he came to realization and knelt down on one knee.
He lowered his head and greeted, "Your Highness."
Behind him, the elders also knelt down on one knee and lowered their heads. "Your Highness."
Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and the rest were puzzled. They saw the giants of Sun Herd Tribe walking over, coming to the pillars in silence. They all knelt down on one knee.
"Your Highness."
Si Yunxiang moved to Ling Yuxiu's ear and whispered, "Princess Xiu, the one who herds cows seems to have an even more powerful background than you…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Ling Yuxiu and the rest were all astonished. They saw more and more sun herders walking over and kneeling down on one knee while greetings of Your Highness rang out continuously.
By then, nearly all of the sun herders had come and were looking at them. There was close to a hundred thousand of them kneeling down on one knee with their heads lowered.
There was no emperor among the sun herders, and Qin Mu was not even a sun herder so in which place was he a royal person?
"Could Qin Mu be the highness of Great Ruins? Or is he the highness of Carefree Village? Is the one who herds cows the crown prince of Great Ruins?"
Ling Yuxiu was slightly at a loss. Cowherd boy still had such a background?
How was he able to steer this Sun Ship and control its power?
Hu Ling'er, on the other hand, was slightly disappointed. "Isn't young master a male fox turned intelligent?"
Qin Mu loosened his grip, and his figure gradually returned back to normal. The two arms that had popped out also disappeared. He then immediately helped the old chief up and said, "Chief, quickly have all the tribesmen stand up."
"Thank you, Your Highness." The old chief rose and said solemnly, "I didn't know about Your Highness's identity before, so please forgive me if I have offended you in any way."
He turned around and raised his arms up high while shouting to the sun herders below. "People of the Sun Herder Tribe who had protected Sun Well, the highness of Carefree Village is here! Carefree Village has not forgotten us! The long wait, the painstaking twenty thousand years, we have made it! Sun Well won't fall! The sun herders won't be wiped out!"
Delight spread across the faces of the earthly-looking sun herders. They cheered and laughed loudly. The pressure brought by the days of struggles and the cruelty of war all vanished without a trace.
The invasion of the devil gods had shrouded the sun herders near the Sun Well with a dark cloud of pressing extermination. All of the tribesmen were fighting with their lives for the future of their tribe; however, they didn't have the confidence of avoiding this calamity. The pressure on them grew heavier and heavier, and the atmosphere in the tribe also became more and more stifling.
However, with Qin Mu's arrival, their vanished hope had once again been reignited!
It was a party with giants running and cheering. Some of them cried from happiness while others danced and sung. A few of them went to inform the injured soldiers, dying elders, while others went to offer incense to their ancestors and thank them for the blessing.
"Is Chief mistaken?" Qin Mu looked at the people partying below in puzzlement. He said to the old chief, "I'm not your highness…"
The old chief shook his head. "If you aren't a sun herder, then there's only one way for you to be able to control Sun Ship, and that's by being a royalty! Back when Zi Qing created Sun Ship under the emperor's order, other than the sun guardian with the body of pure yang, the other group of people he allowed to control it was the royalty. Your Highness isn't a Sun Herder, so you naturally have to be a royalty from Carefree Village!"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm the Overlord Body, and Overlord Body is the body of pure yang as well."
"Overlord Body? What Overlord Body?" The chief was in a daze. The party below was getting rowdier and rowdier, until it was extremely bustling. He probed, "Your Highness, is Overlord Body the name for the royal bloodline?"
Qin Mu couldn't help being suspicious. Was Overlord Body really the name for royalty? Yet it seemed like something was wrong somewhere in that question.
If Overlord Body was the name for royalty, could Xu Shenghua be a royalty too?
If he was royalty, what was the so-called true and pseudo Overlord Bodies that Village Chief had mentioned? Could there be pseudo royal bloodlines too?
If Overlord Body didn't belong to royalty, was it then the body of pure yang?
If it was the body of pure yang, why could Qin Mu control Moon Ship?
Doubt grew in his heart. He wanted to find Village Chief to ask for clarification.
He had always known himself to be Overlord Body, having an invincible belief in it. In regards to that, he strongly believed Village Chief's words.
However, the words of the chief of the sun herders made him suspicious.
After the party, the chief gave the order to continue choosing the next sun guardian, and the sun herders were puzzled. However, they still returned back to the Sun Shrine. Qin Mu also brought Ling Yuxiu and the rest over. As a royalty, they were waited upon as guests of honor.
Qin Mu looked down and saw numerous sun herders going forward to light up the sun furnace. However, it would die down right after being ignited by most of them and not one of them could last for a long time.
What was even weirder was when they ignited the sun furnace, there would be marvelous apparitions appearing within it. There were pictures of unusual animal breeds, like fire dragons, fire phoenixes, fire flood dragons, and fire qilin, which gave off wonderful sounds.
Ling Yuxiu and the rest felt extremely weird. Si Yunxiang said in a low voice, "The sights in the furnace are like spirit bodies yet they don't look the same."
Everyone nodded. There were four great spirit bodies which were Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise, Green Dragon, and White Tiger. The four great spirit bodies was the collective term while each name was a main category. A person might not have the form of Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise, Green Dragon, or White Tiger, but they might one of the numerous Dragon Wolf Spirit Bodies in Wolf Store Country.
And it originated from Green Dragon Spirit Body.
However, from the apparitions that appeared in the sun furnace, the spirit bodies of the sun herders had fire dragons and fire phoenixes. All of them looked like branches of Vermillion Bird Spirit Body.
However, Vermillion Bird Spirit Body didn't seem to be the so-called body of pure yang. Instead, it was a fire attribute spirit body. But the spirit bodies of the sun herders couldn't be simply classified as Vermillion Bird Spirit Body.
"Chief, could the world not only have the four great spirit bodies?" Qin Mu asked in suspicion.
"Four great spirit bodies? You mean Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise types of spirit bodies?" The old chief shook his head and said, "Body of pure yang is not among these four great spirit bodies."
"As expected!"
Everyone's hearts trembled violently. There was indeed not only four great spirit bodies;, there were still other ones!
"Four great spirit bodies should be a term from the people outside Great Ruins, right?" the old chief asked. "There's not only the four great spirit bodies in this world. There's still body of pure yang, body of pure yin, as well as even stronger spirit bodies. The saying of four great spirit bodies came during the period of the last phase.
"There are some legends in my tribe that there were many spirit bodies in the past, as many as a few hundred types. However, after the great calamity, most of them vanished. Restrictions were placed in the people outside Great Ruins which is why there are only the four great spirit bodies left."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang looked at each other, their gazes both empty and full of fright. It was completely different from what they had heard!
The abandoned people in Great Ruins were supposed to be the ones sealed and cursed, never allowed to leave Great Ruins! If they stepped a foot outside, they had to be killed without mercy!
How did it then become that the people outside Great Ruins were the sealed ones?
"There are only four great spirit bodies outside," the old chief said. "Yet there can be many other types of spirit bodies within Great Ruins, so the ones sealed are the people outside. They live in a cage yet they don't know about it themselves, living under a fake starry sky, cultivated by the gods. They are just a bunch of pitiful bugs."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang grunted. When the people of Eternal Peace Empire saw the abandoned people of Great Ruins, they found them as pitiful as bugs. Yet they would have never expected that they were the real pitiful bugs in the eyes of the people outside. Great Ruins was free. It had the true sky!
The old chief's words sent their hearts in disarray!
However, when Qin Mu linked it to the calculation Heaven Alliance had done, discovering that the sun, moon, and stars were fake, he felt the words of the old chief were pretty logical.
What was sealed couldn't be Great Ruins, but the outside world!
"Chief, this world should have Overlord Body too, right?" he asked confidently.
The old chief shook his head. "Your Highness, I have never heard of Overlord Body before. In the tribe's records, there is nothing about such a constitution."
Qin Mu waved his hand and said with a smile, "If you don't know, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Your knowledge is too shallow, not like that of my village's chief who is experienced and knowledgeable. Chief, if I was this highness, a royalty, could I ignite the sun furnace?"
The old chief smiled and said, "Even though Your Highness is royalty, it's probably impossible to ignite the sun furnace. It can only use the blood from the body of pure yang as a guide, igniting the furnace with true fire. Without the body of pure yang, it's impossible to do it. We, the Sun Herder Tribe, are widely known for our bodies of pure yang, and only we can ignite the sun furnace. Not even the royalty can."
Qin Mu jumped down and walked toward the sun furnace. "However, the blood of Overlord Body can ignite the sun furnace!"
He went to the platform and slit open his wrist. Fresh blood flowed into sun furnace and Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly as he executed true fire which surged into the sun furnace.
Boom!
The sun furnace instantly blazed fiercely as though a sun had risen, releasing surging heat waves and heat energy. In a split second, sunlight lit up the whole Sun Shrine!
In the sun furnace, there were no apparitions of fire dragons or fire qilin. Instead, there was a human figure, and it became larger and larger, until it filled up the entire sun furnace. It then walked out with its hands clasped around the sun furnace as though holding a sun in front of its chest!
Qin Mu dispersed the true fire, and the sun furnace was instantly extinguished. The human figure disappeared at the same time, and the sun furnace landed back onto the backs of the three god statues.
Qin Mu's confidence was reignited, and he returned back up. He smiled toward the dumbfounded chief of the sun herders. "Now, does this prove that I'm an Overlord Body?"
The old chief had a dazed expression, feeling slightly puzzled. He muttered, "The royalty can also possess the body of pure yang… It must be this case!"
Qin Mu shook his head and smiled. "This is the effect of Overlord Body!" He was full of confidence. 'Village Chief indeed didn't lie to me! There's really Overlord Body in this world!'
Yet he didn't know that he possessed the most ordinary body which had no attributes. It was because he was a piece of white paper that he was able to change his attribute as he willed. He could transform into four great spirit bodies and control the vital qi of Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise, Green Dragon, and White Tiger. He could also transform into body of pure yang and control the Pure Yang Vital Qi. It wasn't because of any Overlord Body.
Ever since Village Chief had mentioned Overlord Body, Qin Mu had struggled and cultivated diligently. The constitution of a normal person could also go through an unimaginable change. He used a thousand times more hard work than others to transform his constitution again and again, slowly walking towards an unknown. This created numerous possibilities that couldn't be predicted in his future.
Qin Mu treated it as him being the Overlord Body, ignoring his hard work when cultivating.
"Chief, the sky is almost dark!" an elder of the sun herders suddenly said solemnly.
The old chief's heart tightened, and he looked toward Qin Mu. "Your Highness, the monsters from the foreign territory are going to invade once more. May Your Highness assist us!"
Qin Mu nodded as he saw the sky barrier of Sun Well being shrouded by darkness. The surroundings shone with bright light while the outside filled with complete darkness!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The sun herders on Sun Ship flew into midair and surveyed the barrier that shrouded Sun Well anxiously as though a great enemy was arriving.
The barrier of Sun Well was formed by the rays spewed out from the well, forming a light body of a hemisphere. It covered the Sun Well and formed a heaven and earth with a radius of several hundred yards.
Qin Mu had never been to Sun Well, but he reckoned that there had to be a trick outside the light hemisphere to conceal itself so it wouldn't be eye-catching and would not stand out. Otherwise, news of a huge golden ball shining radiantly in Great Ruins would have long spread throughout the place and even to the outside world.
Fengdu was somewhat similar. It would only appear at night, and it couldn't be seen at all. One could only go into it by chance and coincidence.
Sun Well had to be like that too. If one was in Great Ruins, they might not be able to see Sun Well at all. That was why it wasn't an easy place to find. The devil gods had to have spent a great deal of effort trying to find it.
The sky barrier of Sun Well was shining radiantly as though they forged from golden leaves. Suddenly a huge face appeared behind it and tried to squeeze in. It looked like it wanted to get into the Sun Well.
The face's chin was very long, like a handle, and the mouth was located at its bottom. There was only one eye that was humongous and took up the center of the face. It was like a huge ball propped on top of the nose bridge, which looked very weird.
"Which world is this devil god from?"
Qin Mu was stunned. He had not seen a devil god that looked like that.
At that moment, he suddenly heard a smacking sound coming from all directions. He saw more and more weird faces sticking against the sky barrier. In the blink of an eye, its whole size of several hundred yards was covered with faces!
They were of all sizes and all looked different. However, their structure was the same, with a huge, disproportionate eye in the center and a mouth located at the bottom of a long chin!
The eyeballs were rolling around here and there, looking at the interesting stuff inside the barrier while giving off peculiar smiles that made everyone's scalp crawl.
Suddenly, the eyeballs all looked toward the sun that was chained up in midair and filled with astonishment.
"These are Body Replicators," the old chief said with a solemn face. "This devil race is different from others of their kin, for they are proficient in assimilation. When they meet a lifeform, they will assimilate it and change it wholly, turning it into their clansman or even part of them."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. To assimilate the opponent and turn them into their clansman or part of them?
There was really such a weird race?
"The most bizarre point about the Body Replicators is that they share the same mind." Fear showed up on the old chief's face, but quickly concealed it in his heart. "If you get caught by them, your mind will join theirs. Body Replicator Devil God usually has close to billions of replicated bodies. Its mind is incomparably powerful, and if you are caught by one of his bodies, it'll crush your mind easily and reform you into one of them!"
Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and the rest couldn't help feeling a chill run down their spine. If such a devil god rushed out of Great Ruins and came to Eternal Peace, Eternal Peace Empire would probably become part of the Body Replicator Devil Race in a matter of days!
Who could withstand billions of minds gathered together?
It looked like it was truly like what the old chief of the sun herders had said: If the sun herders were wiped out, the devil gods in Great Ruins would be able to break free and the world outside would be wiped out as well.
Suddenly, the faces in the sky vanished and the old chief immediately said, "May Your Highness control Sun Ship to assist us!"
Qin Mu immediately flew over to the pillars and stretched his hand out to touch one of them. The boundless energy in Sun Ship came flooding toward him and caused his corporeal body to expand drastically. His aura also climbed crazily, breaking through Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death and Divine Bridge to enter an unknown realm!
Boom!
Explosions came from his body, which was produced by the opening of his divine treasures. However, since the speed of it all happening was too fast, it was as if there was only one loud explosion!
God's aura burst forth in all directions from his body and caused a short warp in space. What followed afterward was the ripples of space trembling.
"How powerful!"
A world-shaking voice came from Qin Mu's mouth. By then, he had become one with Sun Ship, and the energy coming from it was even much greater than what he'd gotten from Moon Ship. Its moon had been extinguished and about to crumble whereas the sun of Sun Ship had been reignited by him. Due to that, the ship's energy had increased greatly!
That energy was the qi of pure yang which was incomparably violent, filling his heart with the desire to destroy.
Two arms grew from under his armpits and grabbed hold of the other two pillars. The energy in Qin Mu's body was still rising frantically, and at that moment, he heard a pop sound and looked back in astonishment. A thick and sturdy leg had grown out from his tailbone.
'Ugh, would Sister Jing grow a third leg as well?' he thought to himself secretly.
Standing with three legs on the ground, Qin Mu had a stable footing and his confidence was instantly boosted as he looked toward the sky barrier.
It was abnormally quiet, then there was a sudden explosion when a long chin pierced the barrier of Sun Well. The mouth opened up, and countless Body Replicators flew out from it.
They looked like countless bugs. Black as night, they looked like a dark cloud. It grew furiously and transformed into a black sea.
It surged forth and pounced towards Sun Ship. Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and the rest raised their heads to take a look and their scalp crawled. The countless body replicating devils were actually moving up and down like the waves. The numbers at which they were pouring down could drown out Sun Ship in one go.
That long long chin that had stabbed through the sky barrier was spewing more and more devils. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang had both been on the battlefield before and experienced the baptism if it in Wolf Store Country. During that attack, the scale of the battle was huge and tens of thousands of soldiers had clashed on the wasteland. When the divine arts practitioners, huge beasts, and flying ships went for one another, flesh and blood flew in all directions.
However, it was a completely different sight from what was in front of their eyes at that moment. It paled into insignificance in comparison and didn't deserve to be mentioned.
"Attack!"
On Sun Ship, the sun herders roared with excitement and took out their spirit weapons. They were fired up and ready to welcome the incoming battle.
Hu Ling'er was also fired up by their hot bloodedness and raised her tiny arms while her face was red with excitement. Her voice was still soft and immature as she shouted loudly, "Attack!"
The flood dragons behind her also became excited, and they all stretched out their necks while overflowing with murderous intent. They all opened their mouths to roar, "Ma ha!"
Hu Ling'er jumped onto the back of the dark green flood dragon and pulled out her small sword to point at the sky. She also shouted along with the bunch of dragons. "Ma ha!"
The bunch of dragons was abnormally excited and before the war even broke out, they brought the little fox into the sky and fought their way through a bunch of devils pouncing at them!
"Ling'er, this girl is really as reckless as the cult master!"
Si Yunxiang was driven mad, and she immediately jumped onto the dragon qilin's back to rush up so that the little fox wouldn't land in the hands of the enemy. Just as the dragon qilin was about to raise up, Ling Yuxiu also landed on his back. The two girls looked each other in the eyes and said in unison, "Watch out!"
Boom!
Sun Ship collided with the Body Replicator Devils and trembled continuously from the impact. There were only a hundred thousand on Sun Ship while the numbers of the Body Replicator Devils were in the millions!
Countless devils landed on Sun Ship and a bitter fight instantly began. The warriors of the Sun Herder Tribe had absorbed the qi of pure yang ever since they were young so their cultivation was extremely dense and their battle power was astounding. The strength of their corporeal body also far surpassed that of the other races, and even their 'children' that were ten to fifteen yards tall had natural god-level power.
Their magic power was incomparably pure, and they cultivated pure yang true fire and sun true fire from the moment they were born. Their divine arts were also marvelous, and they had a variety of spirit weapons like bells, cauldrons, swords, buildings, glazed tile pagodas, which were very different from just the path of sword and knife in Eternal Peace.
There was no worthy match for their strikes as they just blew apart the Body Replicator Devils, but enemy's numbers were simply too high. Hundreds of devils were like hornets that were disturbed as they swarmed up to drown out the sun herders one by one.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
The Body Replicator Devils opened their huge eyeballs and devil light shot out, covering numerous sun herders in thousands of holes. Once they were injured, it was difficult for them to escape the mind control. Hundreds of devils gathered together, and the black light in their eyes would shine on the body of the injured sun herder. That person's face would then warp, and their mind would then continuously be tampered. Even their face couldn't be saved from damage.
Their eyes would rapidly gather together, and the two eyeballs would fuse to become a huge single one that was situated at the center of the face. Their mouth would start to move downwards and their chin would grow longer and longer, until they become another body replicator and follow the devils to attack their own tribesmen!
Sun Herder Chief brought a few elders to fight with all they had. There was no lack of extremely terrifying opponents among the Body Replicator Devil Race, which were strong practitioners that had assimilated. Their abilities were incomparably powerful and some even wielded devil god weapons to attack.
The old chief raised his head and saw dozens of huge dragons slaying enemies in the sky and causing heaven to fall and earth to rend from their battle. The flood dragons had attracted a quite a bunch of experts from among the devils.
However, there were simply too many devils which continuously surged forth.
'Why isn't His Highness making a move?'
Just as the old chief thought that, the twelve legs of Sun Ship suddenly opened up and walked toward the sky barrier. The speed of Sun Ship grew faster and faster.
The huge ship that was like a land city was actually increasing in speed to rush toward the sky barrier.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?" The old chief immediately tore apart a strong practitioner of the devil race in anger. He then rushed toward the heart of Sun Ship and shouted, "Your Highness, you can't!"
Boom!
With a world-shaking bang, Sun Ship crashed through the sky barrier and rushed out of the area covered by Sun Well!
A huge Body Replicator Devil God was kneeling on the ground there. With two hands supporting its body, it had stabbed its chin into the sky barrier of Sun Well. Behind its body were bone wings which were vibrating continuously. They would flap once in a while to raise up gusts of black wind.
The instant Sun Ship broke through the sky barrier, that wind blew it backward. The devil god hurriedly flapped its wings, wanting to fly up, but Qin Mu suddenly grabbed onto the chains and exerted his force to swing the sun that was in midair.
The old chief had a blank gaze as he stared at Qin Mu swinging the sun of their Sun Herder Tribe as a weapon to smash it ruthlessly against the Body Replicator Devil God, blasting him into smithereens with a single blow!
"My god…" The old chief's legs became weak and he collapsed onto the floor on his butt. "His Highness is too violent, as long as he gets the chance, he will stop at nothing…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Hiding in the area covered by Sun Well and getting attacked by people was definitely not Qin Mu's style. His way was to grab any chance to land a fatal blow with a lightning-fast strike.
Butcher had once told him that it wasn't hard to see the chance, but only those who could grab it ended up known as heroes. Those who saw the chance yet hid and did not make a move were cowards.
Numerous people that were stronger than Butcher would usually be defeated by him because he was brave and pushed forward boldly. He never considered prudence and just grabbed every chance he saw!
The chance that Qin Mu grabbed was to taking advantage of the moment when the devil god used itself to send in the Body Replicator Devils into Sun Well and couldn't break free. That was why he had Sun Ship break through the world formed by Sun Well and swung the sun to smash his opponent into smithereens!
Being trapped in Sun Well and defending against the opponent's attacks wasn't his style. This would only make him follow the opponent's rhythm and suffer from continuous encirclement, letting the opponent attack however they wanted.
That was why he changed the rhythm by rushing out and destroying the leader straight away.
'You fight your way, and I'll fight my way. If I win, you're dead.'
It was that simple.
And it was the essence of Butcher's knife skills.
Sun Herder Chief's body was still slightly weak. He looked at the rattling chains in Qin Mu's hands as he dragged the sun which he had used to smash the devil god back. That sun had burned the surroundings and the ground had turned into bubbling lava.
Suddenly, the corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched, and so did those of the old chief. They had heard cracking sounds coming from the sun.
Qin Mu blinked and gently shook the chains to flick this sun up. He didn't use all of his strength as he seemed to be afraid of breaking the sun.
The old chief stood up shakily, but right then, the sun that had floated back into the air suddenly gave off a loud cracking sound again. The old chief looked up and saw an alarming crack on his tribe's treasure. He couldn't help the energy that left his limbs again.
"It's alright, it's alright." Qin Mu's voice boomed as he consoled, "It won't shatter! Don't worry!"
The Body Replicator Devil God had been shattered in one strike, but there were still countless devils frantically attacking Sun Ship. They continued their slaughter and assimilation of warriors of the Sun Herd Tribe.
At the same time, countless devils ate each other, the bigger ones swallowing the smaller ones, so their bodies would grow larger and larger. Their cultivation also grew stronger like a rolling snowball. Three devils who were growing larger and larger stood on Sun Ship while other devils rushed into their mouths, feeding them.
"The Body Replicator Devil God was not the true body?"
Qin Mu was astonished. He shouted, and the sun in the sky burst forth with incomparably intense true fire which flooded down and burned through Sun Ship!
Sun true fire blazed and turned the entire Sun Ship into a flaming divine ship. Countless devils shrieked as they got burned, slowly turning into black smoke that vanished in flames.
Qin Mu controlled Sun Ship. Although it was a treasure to guide the sun to rise from the east and set in the west, it also had an extremely strong offense. In the past, when Yan Jingjing had controlled it, she couldn't unleash all of its power because the sun had been extinguished. But once Qin Mu had reignited the sun, the might of the ship had instantly unleashed!
Even though sun true fire was incomparably terrifying, it wasn't much of a threat to the sun herders. They had lived on the ship ever since they were young and what they breathed was the qi of pure yang, so they had an extremely high resistance to true fire.
Hu Ling'er, Ling Yuxiu, and Si Yunxiang were fighting together with the bunch of dragons and the dragon qilin in the meantime, so the sun true fire didn't sweep past there. The little fox who was standing on the dark green flood dragon was very excited and kept on shouting, but she couldn't do much.
Compared to the bunch of flood dragons, her abilities were insignificant.
Qin Mu burned countless Body Replicator Devils, but the three abnormally large devils were not burnt to death. Instead, they crawled rapidly among the intense fire and suddenly leaped up. The bone wings on their backs flapped as they rushed toward Qin Mu who was in the center of the ship!
One of the devils swooped down and stretched its hand out to pull out the devil god halberd that was stabbed in a huge hall. His aura then instantly erupted!
"Don't use the sun!" the old chief shouted the moment he saw Qin Mu wanting to swing the sun again. "If you smash it once more, it's really going to shatter! We old bones will block those devils for you!"
"Troublesome!"
Qin Mu stopped and surveyed his surroundings, searching for the true body of the Body Replicator Devil God.
The old chief shouted loudly, calling over the elders to face the three devils. Their bodies were incomparably huge and their strength was also great. Even when facing the old chief and the elders, they were not in a disadvantageous situation.
The old chief grabbed a bronze bell, and it rang continuously. It didn't look like a treasure from the mortal realm as layers of runes appeared on its walls. The ringing circled non-stop around the bronze bell and sun-shaped fireballs came flying out to bombard the enemies.
However, the broken halberd was still a devil god weapon so it could easily slice apart all the divine arts from the bronze bell. It was extremely powerful.
Qin Mu looked around and saw the deep and profound darkness of Great Ruins. He still didn't know where the true body of the Body Replicator Devil God was located.
Suddenly, the thump of heavy footsteps came from the darkness, and the ground trembled continuously from the vibrations. The footsteps came from all directions and became faster and faster. Suddenly, the noise vanished, then changed into the sound of something breaking through the air.
It was very sharp and Qin Mu's heart sunk. He saw numerous Body Replicator Devils with huge bodies flying over through the darkness, straight for Sun Ship!
"It was indeed not its true body!"
Qin Mu's heart moved slightly, and Carefree Sword suddenly came out from its sheath to float silently in the sky without moving.
On Sun Ship, the sun hung high up in the sky as warriors gripped their weapons anxiously. They looked above and watched the numerous huge devils covering the rays of the sun as they came to Sun Ship. The size of their shadows struck fear into their hearts.
At that moment, sword lights burst forth, and it was as if there was a silver sun in the center of Sun Ship. The terrifying sword will and sword qi shot off in all directions like sunlight!
The divine might of Carefree Sword swept through the sky and black rain started falling on the enemy. Countless broken limbs fell and almost filled Sun Ship completely!
Yet there was a devil in the sky that had avoided all the sword lights and flown near the four pillars. It passed through two of them and went straight for Qin Mu.
Hmmm.
The huge eye in the center of the devil's face flashed with black light as it shone on Qin Mu's face!
The four claws gripped onto Qin Mu's chest and dug deep into his flesh. The black light from the devil's eye became darker and darker as though it would swallow everything, so the spirit and soul of a person to continuously fall even though it had already fallen.
On the ship, everyone cried out in alarm. The face of the old chief and the elders changed drastically. They hurriedly abandoned the three devils and rushed over to Qin Mu frantically. However, the three devils immediately flew over and delayed them, making it hard for them to save Qin Mu.
"You were able to come here because I let you." Qin Mu's eyes stared straight into the devil eye of the devil as his gaze flickered. "I want to use your shared mind to know where your true body is hiding!"
The gaze of the devil shone onto Qin Mu's eyes, and countless voices rose in his mind. It was as if he could see countless figures, and every one of them belonged to a Body Replicator Devil.
Everything in his vision vanished, but for the forest formed from the figures of the devils. It grew larger and larger as the figures of millions of devils formed while continuing to spread out!
The mind and consciousness of the devils flooded Qin Mu's mind as they tried to assimilate him.
He executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and his spirit embryo fused with his soul. A huge sun instantly appeared in his mind which surrounded the spirit embryo and protected the spirit platform, burning all the consciousness that was flooding over into ashes.
There were more and more figures in the darkness, and it made his heart palpitate. With the minds of so many devils converging together, his spirit platform was about to be drowned out.
Once that happened, it wouldn't take long for his spirit embryo to be assimilated by the devils. That was why he had to find the location of the devil god before his spirit platform was invaded!
At that moment, his gaze seemed to cross numerous sights, and he saw a devil god that was creeping among mountains and rivers.
He was situated between two mountains which he was holding with his four limbs. Between them was a river while behind a door.
From it, Body Replicator Devils poured out like flood and surged over continuously!
Countless devils were sprinting through the river surface and flying in the sky. They swallowed each other over and over again to transform into the large devils.
The instant Qin Mu 'saw' the devil god, the devil god also 'saw' him. He raised his head and his huge eye filled with bafflement as though he was puzzled.
What followed afterward was that devil god who was creeping between the two mountains saw a bright light shining in the darkness. It was becoming brighter and brighter. A ball of light was rushing over, and it was becoming larger and larger as its speed became faster and faster. It soon became a huge sun that slid down at an angle from the sky, appearing above the river channel.
Wherever the huge sun passed, the river water would be evaporated instantly, and all the devils on the way would be turned to ashes or vaporized!
The huge sun distorted the space in the surroundings and caused the mountains to shake. It looked as though it had become a giant who was doing a strange dance.
Devil language came from the mouth of the devil god and was transmitted into Qin Mu's mind by waves of consciousness. "Little child who only likes to smash thing on a whim..."
His body trembled violently, and the bone wings behind his back rattled. They flew off from his body as though they were devil god weapons, their shape similar to that of the broken halberd on Sun Ship. They shot toward the huge sun!
Chi, chi, chi.
The halberds shot into the huge sun. It became slower and slower, until finally landing in the river valley and sliding thousands of yards forward before coming to a halt.
Ka-cha.
Sun Ship's sun split into two, and a smile broke out on the face of the devil god. However, at that moment, Sun Jade Eye rolled out from the broken sun and tumbled one round forward. The Sun Jade Eye which was several yards in height suddenly straighten its pupil and a snow white light shot out, slicing the huge eye of the devil god in half.
He gave a miserable, world-shaking shriek as he dodged the attack. The beam of light sliced the skin next to his eye, so deep that the bone could be seen.
Behind the broken sun, Carefree Sword transformed into a trail of light which went into his mouth and came out the other side after having pierced his brain. The sword then turned around and returned through the back of the head and came out at the front.
Carefree Sword was like a needle, threading to and fro through the devil god's head over a thousand times. It was also like a cold light swirling rapidly around his neck!
When it was retracted back, the head of the devil god was filled with holes. The neck swayed, and the head which was the size of a mountain slid off. The body landed against the door that was behind the devil god's body, and the noise rang through the mountains.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The corpse of the headless devil god slumped down, and the claws that were gripping the two mountains loosened. The body fell into the river channel below.
The door behind was also blocked by it.
In the meantime on Sun Ship, the warriors of the Sun Herder Tribe were in a bitter struggle, since there were simply too many devils flooding over. Even if the sun herders were natural warriors, they still found it hard to withstand the attack. Many people died and were assimilated by the devils.
Yet suddenly, all of the devils froze on the spot in a daze. The next moment, all their faces distorted as though two souls inside were fighting over the control of the body. The eye on some of the devils' faces split into two before merging back together, which looked very strange.
Most of the strong and sturdy sun herders stopped their attacks, at a loss. Their enemies had been fighting back with ferocious a second ago, but the next, they had all fallen into a strange state.
After a moment, the devil who had been fighting with Sun Herder Chief crumbled and transformed back into a bunch of Body Replicator Devils. The face of the devil in the lead changed, and the devil markings on its body receded rapidly. After a moment, it transformed into a woman with transparent feather clothing made of scales. Her figure was elegant while her skin was fair and even a little translucent.
The woman looked around in a daze, completely unaware that her scales didn't cover her body well.
"What is this place?" Her eyes were filled with doubt. She didn't open her mouth to talk, but a message was sent out with brain waves so everyone could hear her voice and understand what she was saying. "Why am I here?"
Soon after, more devils changed.
All of them were dressed like the woman—the clothes on their bodies were not truly clothes. Instead, they were delicate wings formed from scales, and there was more than a single pair. Their whole bodies were full of wings of all sizes.
Their feathers were scaled, which was a very rare sight even among beasts. Only a few of such creatures existed in Great Ruins.
However, there were no humans with scaled feathers.
And they could actually even change. The woman who woke up first quickly noticed her clothes were not covering her body, and her scaled feathers changed according to what she wanted. They shimmered, and their color changed into black, making it seem like the woman was wearing a black gown.
The scaled feathers on the others also changed colors to cover their bodies. Once all of them were dressed, they looked around in a daze, having no idea where they were.
The sun herders on Sun Ship were also in a daze. They didn't know why the devils could have transformed like that.
Sun Herder Chief had a guess though. "They should be a foreign race which got assimilated by the Body Replicator Devil God. Now that the main consciousness died, the control over them has disappeared, and they have regained their freedom. This means, Body Replicator Devil God is dead!"
The elders beside him revealed looks of ecstasy. Suddenly, a rattling sound came from their backs, and they immediately turned around to take a look. Behind them, Qin Mu was holding onto the pillars with two hands while the other two were dragging the chains back.
They were embedded in the sun and were treasures that tied it down, so it was pretty exhausting to pull them back.
The old chief couldn't help becoming worried again. He immediately came to the pillars in the center and raised his head. "Your Highness, why have you thrown the sun out again?"
Qin Mu lowered his head and hesitated as he saw the man's hopeful gaze. "This…"
After a moment, the old chief saw the sun being dragged back. Two black lumps were there, looking like huge mountains in a hemisphere shape.
The old chief and the elders stared blankly. The other sun herders on Sun Ship also looked at the two black lumps in a daze.
Not only had their sun been extinguished, it was even split into two halves!
Rattle, rattle.
The sound of the chains being pulled was very painful to the ears.
Qin Mu pulled the two halves of the sun back and called his Carefree Sword. It lifted Sun Jade Eye and flew leisurely back toward him.
"Chief, two good news. The first one is that Body Replicator Devil God is really dead," Qin Mu said with a guilty conscience.
Stupefied, the old chief stared at him. When he spoke, his voice sounded like it came from a machine. "What about the other good news?"
"We can change a new sun now!"
The old chief turned his head to look at their highness, wanting to cry, but no tears came out. "Truly good, truly good…" he muttered.
Qin Mu pulled the two halves of the black sun back, and there were tens of thousands of scaled feather mutants following behind it, coming closer to Sun Ship.
Some of the people didn't manage to catch up to the sun and ended up dying in the darkness of Great Ruins. The remaining one knew how dangerous the darkness was and warned each other. More and more of them then caught up to the sun, and only then were they spared from death.
They didn't rely on voice to communicate, but instead relied on their brain waves. Without talking, they were still able to inform the others, which was very unusual.
Qin Mu dragged the two halves of the sun back onto Sun Ship when a voice rang out in his mind. "Heavenly Feather Clan, Yu Zhaoqing, pays her respects to the owner of this place."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned as he looked at the woman in the black gown that was walking toward him. Her actions were sincere, natural, and unrestrained. The black gown quickly changed to a light yellow color.
When she came to the side of the Sun Divine Pillars, not only were her clothes light yellow in color, their style was even similar to that of the old chief and the rest. The scaled feathers on her body had to be able to change in shape as well as color.
Qin Mu loosened his grip on the sun pillars, and the two arms under his armpits gradually shrunk back. The leg behind his buttocks also shrunk back into his body while the terrifying energy of Sun Ship receded continuously. After a moment, his body returned to its normal size.
Qin Mu hurriedly hid behind a pillar and took out a new set of clothes to replace his tattered ones. After some grooming, he came out from the back of the pillar.
When he was holding the sun pillars, his strength had risen tremendously and his corporeal body had become extremely gigantic, bursting open his shirt. Even though his shirt was a spirit weapon, Qin Mu had transformed into a three hundred yards giant at that time, and he was like a heavenly god. He had exceeded the limits of the clothes, and with the third leg growing out from his tailbone, they were ripped apart.
"Chief Yu," Qin Mu greeted.
Yu Zhaoqing of Heavenly Feathers Race looked at him with astonishment. Qin Mu had been a heavenly, god-like existence earlier, yet he had suddenly become a young man.
The woman's clothes spread out on the ground as she paid her respects earnestly. Qin Mu immediately pointed toward Sun Herder Chief and smiled. "I'm not the chief of this place; he is. I don't dare to exceed my place."
The old chief shook his head and said, "Under the whole heaven, every spot is the sovereign's ground. Sun Herder Tribe is also Your Highness's territory so Your Highness is naturally the owner of this place."
Qin Mu could only receive the respects of the woman from Heavenly Feathers Race. "Chief Yu, this place is not suitable for talking, have your clansmen come onboard and follow us to Sun Well to have a talk."
Yu Zhaoqing's consciousness sent out waves, and soon, all Heavenly Feather clansmen came onboard. Qin Mu activated Sun Ship once more and walked back into the area shrouded by Sun Well.
On the ship, the millions of Heavenly Feather clansmen looked around at the strange little world, the clothes on their body changing colors continuously.
Their figures were slightly taller and thinner than those of ordinary humans. Both the men and women were very beautiful, and their clothes changed according to their mood. When it was good, their clothes would become a garish display.
After letting go of the sun pillars, Qin Mu was slightly worried about touching the pillars again. The sun had been broke into half by him, and without it acting as the balance, the terrifying energy of Sun Ship had started to absorb his life force. In just a short while, his feet had already been swallowed. That was why he had taken the chance when he shrunk to jump out, but his legs were still sore and weak.
"Your Highness, you need to be more solemn about meeting the chief of Heavenly Feather Clan, you can't neglect her."
The old chief invited Qin Mu to enter Sun Shrine before inviting Yu Zhaoqing to come forth and meet him.
"Your Highness."
In Sun Shrine, Yu Zhaoqing walked forward and held Qin Mu's face, gently touching his forehead with hers.
"What are you doing?" Hu Ling'er was bringing Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang into Sun Shrine when she saw that scene. She shouted angrily, "How can you kiss…"
Yu Zhaoqing looked curiously at the little girl that was barely above her thigh. She bent down and clasped Hu Ling'er cheeks before touching her forehead with her own in a gentle manner.
Hu Ling'er instantly felt some stuff appear in her mind. It was the language of Heavenly Feather Clan. At the same time, she also felt that Yu Zhaoqing had used it to trade for the language of her world.
Hu Ling'er came to realization. "Oh, so it's not kissing, I thought you were taking advantage of my master…"
Yu Zhaoqing smiled and bent over to give her a peck on the lips. Hu Ling'er instantly blushed and her heart became restless. She swayed as though she was drunk and said embarrassedly, "A kiss is nothing much as well…"
Yu Zhaoqing walked over to Ling Yuxiu, and her heart became restless while she looked down at her chest. However, Yu Zhaoqing only touched foreheads with her and didn't kiss her. Once she noticed it, she let out a sigh of relief.
Si Yunxiang also touched foreheads with her and smiled. "So it's exchanging language, is this a gift of your Heavenly Feather Clan? Or is it a divine art?"
"It's a gift." Yu Zhaoqing opened her mouth and spoke their language. Even though it was still not as good as that of native speakers, she was getting better as she spoke. "Your Highness killed the Body Replicator Devil God and released our clansmen. We of Heavenly Feather Clan are unable to express the gratitude we feel."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I didn't do it to save all of you, just to protect myself, so there's no need to thank me. Does your Heavenly Feather Clan lives in Great Ruins as well?"
"We aren't situated here, but in another world," Yu Zhaoqing said. "The world we came from has been seized by Body Replicator Devil God and nearly all of our clansmen have been swallowed by him. Luckily for us, Your Highness rescued us from being wiped out. Even though Your Highness isn't forcing us to repay the favor, we can't just not do it."
"The world all of you are from should be the one behind the devil god's corpse, right? Why is it linked to Great Ruins?" Qin Mu asked with curiosity.
"About twenty thousand years ago, our world collided with another world, and the space between them overlapped. We would notice it above our heads at midnight, and it was a marvelous sight," Yu Zhaoqing said.
"The emperor of that world sent a god over and ordered our Heavenly Feather Clan to surrender and pay allegiance to him. Only after that did we learn that the other world we saw was called Founding Emperor Empire. However, one day, an abnormal change happened there and it turned into Great Ruins. Our Heavenly Feather World also suffered. When night came, our sky was no longer the starry one. Instead, it was covered with the blackest darkness. Sometime later, Body Replicator Devil God invaded our world…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu was in a daze. Heavenly Feather World had collided and overlapped the world in which Great Ruins existed, thus the sky of Heavenly Feather World was Great Ruins. It was an abnormal sight to behold.
It was a pity he probably couldn't see it anymore.
Heavenly Feather Word had been under the ancient Founding Emperor Empire, but because it had suffered a calamity, those under it lost all protection. Because of that, the devil god could find Heavenly Feather World and assimilate all of its people.
Founding Emperor Calamity had happened twenty thousand years ago. It was also at that time that it turned into Great Ruins.
'The territory of Founding Emperor Empire was not only in Great Ruins; it even had other worlds.'
He couldn't help getting lost in wild and fanciful thoughts. Founding Emperor Empire had conquered other worlds and administered such wonderful ones as Heavenly Feather Clan with all kinds of lifeforms. Living in that era had to have been interesting.
"I've heard that this place was known as Celestial Heavens," Yu Zhaoqing said. "The emperor is someone who ruled over all the various heavens.""
Qin Mu instantly thought of the time when he had brought Xiong Xiyu and her daughter through Great Ruins and the sight he'd seen when they passed by West Heaven Palace. Its ruins had a diagonal piece of land stabbed into it. All kinds of majestic buildings had crumbling fences and dilapidated walls. Pillars had collapsed and were sticking out in all directions while shattered pieces of huge machinery were hidden among the mountain rocks…
Qin Mu composed himself and immediately pushed away his peculiar thoughts. "Body Replicator Devil God is already dead, so you guys are safe now. Chief Yu, what's your plan?"
"Rebuild our country and return to our homeland."
Yu Zhaoqing's clothes gave off a gentle trembling sound, and they soon transformed into an armor. Her battle spirit mixed while a murderous aura and overflowed into the sky. "I want to lead my clansmen back to Heavenly Feather World! There are many other devil races there, the assistants of Body Replicator Devil God who had seized the treasured lands of my Heavenly Feather Clan. I need to seize them back and kill all the enemies so we can rebuild our homeland!"
"There are other devil races in Heavenly Feather World?" Astonished, Qin Mu calculated it for a moment. "Heavenly Feather Clan is only left with these few millions of people. Will you have the power to seize Heavenly Feather World back?"
Yu Zhaoqing was full of confidence. "Due to Body Replicator Devil God's death, the other clansmen should have also returned to their senses. We, the Heavenly Feather Clan, rely on brain waves to converse with each other. When we fight, it's as easy as commanding our arms, so it won't be hard to seize Heavenly Feather World back."
"Chief Yu, the paths, skills, and divine arts of the current era are different from those in the past. You guys have been controlled by Body Replicator Devil God for so many years, so you probably don't understand the current era. When on the battlefield, your brain waves can easily be intercepted. You had been controlled for so many years, so your enemies should have already learned everything there is to learn about you. In their eyes, all of you are lambs waiting to be slaughtered."
His vital qi burst forth and he executed a divine art. His vital qi transformed into all kinds of strange runes to form the shape of a huge upside down wok.
The runes trembled continuously while giving off sound waves that were hard for ordinary people to hear. However, in the ears of Yu Zhaoqing, it was like a loud and resonating bell was ringing continuously, disrupting her mind. The noise deafened her and made her unable to establish a connection with her clansmen.
Qin Mu dispersed his divine art and said, "Chief Yu, I feel you should take your time and not rush into things."
Yu Zhaoqing's heart was in a mess, and the clothes on her body went through various colors. Messy markings of all shades appeared, making it obvious that her mind was not steady.
Qin Mu had only interacted with Heavenly Feather Clan for the first time, but he had swiftly realized that the mental connection between them could be exploited. The strong practitioners of the devil race would definitely be aware of it after having studied them for a long time.
If Heavenly Feather Clan couldn't take out any new abilities, rebuilding their homeland would just be a joke. Returning to Heavenly Feather World was certain death!
"Eternal Peace Empire is currently in the middle of a reform, and all kinds of paths, skills, and divine arts are rapidly progressing," Qin Mu said. "Why don't you all settle down in Eternal Peace Empire first to learn new abilities. When you guys masted something new, you can then return to Heavenly Feather World to take back your land."
Yu Zhaoqing was slightly hesitant. As the chief, she wanted for more than anything to return to Heavenly Feather World and sweep away all the devils there. Yet as Qin Mu had said, returning was certain death so she had to take her time.
"Chief Yu probably still doesn't know, but this person beside you isn't any outsider. It's His Highness," Sun Herder Chief suddenly said.
"His Highness?" Yu Zhaoqing suppressed the conflict in her heart and asked suspiciously, "What highness?"
"The highness of our Sun Herder Tribe and also the highness of your Heavenly Feather Clan," Sun Herder Chief said deeply and meaningfully.
Yu Zhaoqin's heart trembled violently, and she immediately fell on her knee. Her clothes changed into the outfit of a subject and she greeted Qin Mu once more.
"Where are all these etiquettes coming from? Founding Emperor Empire is long gone, so I'm not your highness anymore. Sister Yu, please don't scare me." Qin Mu immediately helped her up and pinched the clothes on her body. He felt that the texture was smooth and humid. He asked with a smile, "What are the clothes on Sister Yu's body made of?"
Zhao Yuqing looked at Sun Herder Chief in doubt, and he also frowned. Qin Mu seemed to be unwilling to admit that he was the royal highness of Carefree Village. He didn't acknowledge his identity in front of him, and he also didn't acknowledge it in front of Yu Zhaoqing.
"Your Highness, the clothes on my body are actually my skin and wings," Yu Zhaoqing explained. "The structure of our Heavenly Feather Clan's body is different from yours. We have numerous thin wings, but we have no feathers. Instead, we have scales. When our mood changes, they will change in color as well. My Heavenly Feather clansmen have quite a way in dressing ourselves."
When Qin Mu heard her clothes were none other than skin, he couldn't help pinching it again. He discovered that the scales weren't hard. On the contrary, they were actually soft like skin.
Yu Zhaoqing's face blushed from his pinching. "Your Highness, you can't."
Qin Mu let go and couldn't help feeling that it was a great pity. He had wanted to ask Yu Zhaoqing for a few sets of clothes like that. However, her people grew them on their body as part of it, so they couldn't be taken off, and he could only drop the thought.
Si Yunxiang, Ling Yuxiu, and Hu Ling'er came over and touched the clothes on the woman's body while clicking their tongues in wonder. As they did that, Yu Zhaoqing's face became even redder. She didn't want to let them touch, but she was too embarrassed to refuse them. She could only stand there uncomfortably.
"The texture is truly wonderful, it's even smoother than Ling'er's fur."
The girls couldn't help sighing in admiration. Ling Yuxiu asked curiously, "Chief Yu, if winter comes and the world is freezing, won't you guys feel cold with just that?"
Yu Zhaoqing shook her head and said, "The four seasons in our Heavenly Feather World are all comfortably warm; there's no cold weather. Besides, if the weather gets freezing, our scales can be inflated with air to keep us warm. Take a look."
While she was saying that, the clothes on her body became thick and puffy, but the design was still very pleasing to the eyes.
Everyone exclaimed endlessly in admiration.
Sun Herder Chief stood to the side, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. They had come to Sun Shrine to discuss the important matters of their clan yet it had become a meeting to admire clothing.
After the commotion, Qin Mu said, "Chief Yu, you can bring your clansmen to stay in Great Ruins or follow me to Eternal Peace Empire. When the time is ripe, you can then lead your army back to Heavenly Feather World. What do you think?"
Yu Zhaoqing pondered it for a moment. "Your Highness, please wait a moment, let me discuss it with my clansmen before coming to a decision."
Qin Mu nodded and Yu Zhaoqing left to do as she had said.
"Chief, let us go and take a look at the sun that was split!"
Qin Mu rose and came with everyone to the center of the two halves of the sun. Numerous sun herders were trying to pull the chains out from the two lumps
They planned to use the chains of Sun Ship to bring up another sun from Sun Well.
Qin Mu had smashed the sun on Sun Ship into two halves, so they needed to get a new sun to be the energy source for Sun Ship. Otherwise, the new Sun Guardian would be absorbed by the huge ship.
Yet the chain was embedded in the sun. Even when it was split into half, it was still very difficult to pull the chains out.
Qin Mu walked toward the interior of the hemisphere and saw that the inside contained a complicated three-dimensional formation structure. Thousands of formations had to be activated for the sun that had once been a golden ball to radiate astonishing rays and firepower.
Because of what Qin Mu had done, numerous formations had gotten damaged. When the sun hit its target, numerous components were lost.
There were over a dozen sun herders who had entered the sun to undo the chains. However, no matter how much strength they exerted, they still couldn't pull them out.
"Is there anyone proficient in formation skills?" an elder asked loudly. "These chains are stuck in over a dozen formations, and they need to be undone for us to achieve anything…"
The numerous sun herders that were busy immediately stopped in their work and greeted Qin Mu.
He returned the greetings and examined the interior formations in detail. The chains that locked the sun went from the surface into the core, and there were over a dozen formations that were clasping tightly onto the four chains.
The old chief was also examining the structure of the formations. When he saw the complicated runes on the components, his eyes were dazzled. He shook his head and said, "There are no formation masters in our sun herders, so we won't be able to undo them."
Qin Mu pondered it before saying, "I finally understand why Zi Qing couldn't forge Sun Well and Moon Well even after a hundred years!"
Everyone looked at him, rather puzzled. They didn't know why he suddenly talked about Zi Qing forging the wells.
"The structure of the formations in this sun is actually that of divine eyes." Qin Mu walked between all the formations and differentiated the runes on top of them while speaking rapidly, "The emperor must have ordered Zi Qing to forge the wells because he had seen her abilities. She must have been the number one divine eyes back then! The attainments in her divine eyes had to have been matchless, so the emperor had ordered her to forge Sun and Moon Well."
He quickly browsed through the structures of the formations that were locking the chains once more. Coming out of the sun, he carefully examined the surface. It wasn't smooth, but with numerous markings like those of a tree's grains.
"The reason why Zi Qing did nothing for a hundred years was because she had already realized that to forge Sun and Moon Well, she would need to use her divine eyes as a sacrifice. When the wells were done, she would become blind. That was why she spent a hundred years to enjoy her life to the fullest."
Qin Mu felt around the surface of the sun, and after a moment, he found a circular marking that was jutting out at one spot. His vital qi flowed out, and he instantly saw the marking light up before starting to spin continuously.
At the same time, the dozen and more formations that were holding back the chains started to operate and slowly loosened.
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Only when the emperor got angry did she put in all her heart and will to forge the wells. She then dug out her eyes to light up Sun Well and Moon Well."
In front of them, the interior structure of the sun was changing continuously as the formations were being solved with resounding bangs. The surface of the sun and the complicated markings were also lighting up continuously. Huge pieces on the surface started moved backward layer by layer!
The half of the sun seemed to have come alive, and it frightened everyone into moving backward in alarm.
They only saw the formations of the sun changing continuously until it shrunk into a solid metal wall erected upright in front of them.
Qin Mu then came to the front of the other half of the sun and did the exact same thing. In the end, it also turned into a solid metal wall.
The two of them stood upright in front of everyone. They were golden in color, as simple and unadorned. The height was around three hundred yards, and they were several miles long.
"God Zi Qing knew that she had to sacrifice her divine eyes to the well in order to complete the emperor's mission, so she spent a hundred years to enjoy her life to the fullest before using another fifty years to complete the emperor's request. What an extraordinary woman!" Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration.
When he looked at the two walls, respect appeared on his face. He then said in a low voice, "She's called Zi Qing, Zi means big sister and Qing means green. It says that she was a big sister that liked wearing green in her family. What a pity I won't have the fate to meet such an extraordinary person… What happened to you guys?"
He looked back and saw everyone staring at him blankly. They were all flabbergasted.
Qin Mu couldn't help being bewildered. He explained, "Zi means sister and Qing is green. Zi Qing means a big sister wearing green."
"N-not this!" an elder stuttered. "Your Highness, you have solved the formations in the sun!"
Qin Mu realized what he meant and smiled. "It wasn't hard to solve it. I've done some research in regards to divine arts about the divine eyes. In Eternal Peace Empire, I even forged a divine eye that had a pretty similar structure. Of course, it isn't as intricate as this sun. Zi Qing was really remarkable!" He raised his head to look at the two walls. "I've learned quite a lot of stuff. I really want to go into the well to look at her eyes…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In regards to divine eyes, Qin Mu had seen much and was familiar with their structure. He had learned Blind's Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill and even forged Sunshot Divine Cannon as well as obtained Sun Jade Eye and Moon Jade Eye. No matter how complicated was the interior structure of the sun Zi Qing had forged, it had many surface changes, but no departure from the original standard.
When others saw such a complicated structure, they would usually be unable to find a solution. However, he was able to quickly find all the crucial points in all kinds of formations.
Zi Qing had forged the sun not to use it as a weapon. Instead, it was used for lighting up the surroundings, so her formations had no power and were not dangerous. He could try them out without any worry.
On top of that, Zi Qing also left behind a mechanism to put away the sun.
When it was activated, the sun would change into a metal wall. Because the sun had been smashed into half by Qin Mu, it had become two metal walls.
Numerous sun herders suppressed the shock in their hearts and pulled out the chains.
"Without a hook, how can we fish out another sun out from Sun Well?"
Everyone looked at Qin Mu with hope.
The old chief immediately shook his head. "His Highness's cultivation is not high enough. He can't go deep into Sun Well and bring up a sun."
The temperature in Sun Well was extremely high, to the point that anything that the sun herders forged would melt after being lowered inside. It would be even worse for Qin Mu who was only a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Chief, have you forgotten? After becoming the sun guardian, I can control the energy of Sun Ship, so won't I have the magic power of a heavenly god that way? As long as I can fish the sun out, I will be able to break free and won't need to fear being swallowed up by Sun Ship."
"What if you can't bring one up…" the old chief said with hesitation.
"There's no what if! Since I was the one to smash your sun, I have to be the one to get another one!"
Qin Mu made a prompt decision and stretched his hand out to grab onto a pillar. As his body expanded, he remembered something and transmitted his voice to the old chief. "Chief, help me prepare a set of clothes. My spare clothes are all used up."
The old chief didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Every time Qin Mu transformed into the sun guardian, he would rip apart his clothes and have to change to a spare set. The clothes in his reserves had all been used up; he was wearing the last set.
After fishing out the sun, if he didn't have new clothes, his buttocks would definitely be bare. That was because the complete form of the sun guardian had a third leg growing out from the buttocks which would rip the pants.
"Fetch our Heavenly Yang Young Golden Silk, weave it into fabric to make a set of clothes for His Highness!" After saying that, the old chief suddenly recalled something and hurriedly added, "Invite Chief Yu of Heavenly Feather Clan. Let her tailor the fabric for His Highness and make sure they are fitting and dignified."
A few sun herders immediately left to carry out the task.
Qin Mu controlled Sun Ship and its twelve legs took wide strides toward Sun Well.
Sun Ship had no sun, so it was started to absorb his life force, causing his body to slowly sink deeper and deeper into the deck. He was gradually fusing with the ship.
The speed of exhaustion was many times faster when compared to the time when the sun was just extinguished!
He had to fish out a sun as soon as possible! If the time was dragged out, it would become more and more dangerous.
Beside Sun Well, Qin Mu's violent magic power swept up the chains inside. They were like black dragons that slithered forward into the core of another galaxy.
That place was no other than Sun Well, a circular abyss that had countless suns that were like balls of light. In the meantime outside the well, stars were shining. They were of all forms and colors as they formed the Milky Way which was revolving around the two wells, circulating continuously.
Even though the chains of Sun Ship were thick, they were like a few thin strings when compared to Sun Well, so the sight was indeed like they were fishing. Qin Mu, who was at top of the well, looked like a real fisherman.
The chains went into Sun Well and Qin Mu's palms trembled. He frowned slightly. The chains had gone as far as they could, but they still didn't reach the suns.
"Chief, order everyone to leave the ship!" Qin Mu shouted loudly.
Sun Herd Chief immediately passed down his words, and everyone on the ship flew up in a hurry. Right after, they saw Sun Ship opening up its twelves legs and walking into the light pillar of Sun Well.
The huge ship slanted forward and walked into the well. In the center of the four pillars, Qin Mu's giant body which was like that of a heavenly god was shaking from the somewhat bumpy ride. He had the incomparably huge ship enter the Star Sea.
"Your Highness, Sun Ship has already swallowed your thighs!" the old chief shouted out. "Don't stay too long or you will be swallowed by Sun Ship!"
In Constellation Sea, a huge ship was walking straight down the light pillar. At its bow, there was a giant holding onto the chains to get to the abyss below. Around him were stars of different colors swirling continuously.
In the abyss, the huge suns radiated with dazzling rays which made it hard to open one's eyes.
Qin Mu's face and chest were turning red from the scorching heat as though he was going to melt. Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill had already been activated so he could withstand the intense rays to look at everything in the well.
Sun Ship was closing to the abyss while growing red hot, but luckily, it had been forged by ancient gods so it wasn't smelted that easily.
Finally, Qin Mu saw the chains touch one of the suns. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, he noticed that Sun Ship had already swallowed his waist.
"Crap! Without the sun as an energy source, the absorbing speed is way too fast!"
Qin Mu composed himself and gritted his teeth. With the four chains as his hands, he gently touched the surface of the sun and found where the mechanism located.
His body was sinking bit by bit into the ship, and soon, the ship went past his waist.
Without the sun, utilizing the energy of Sun Ship would cause him to suffer from the drawback. The speed of it surpassed Qin Mu's expectation!
"It's not this formation marking… Not this as well…"
Even if he had activated the nine heavens in his eyes, he still couldn't make out the markings on the surface of the sun. He could only rely on the four chains to touch and differentiate them.
The four chains were like four huge dragons that were moving slowly. His magic power leaked out from them to form vital qi threads which he used to differentiate the structure of the markings on the sun's surface.
"It's not this either…"
His body had already been swallowed to the neck, yet Qin Mu still hadn't found the location of the mechanism. Cold sweat formed on his forehead, but before it could even flow out from his pores, it evaporated. It then turned into hot air that floated around him.
Sun Ship swallowed Qin Mu up to the neck, and he raised his head so his mouth would stay outside. He tried his best to mobilize Sun Ship so its deck would face Sun Well
Qin Mu's eyes stared fiercely at it while his body kept on sinking downwards, covering his mouth.
His nose was about to be covered up too!
In the end, even his eyes were close to sinking into Sun Ship. His nose bridge was gradually covered. The instant his eyes was about to be gone too, he saw an eye in the sun.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. 'Zi Qing's divine eye!'
That eye was as dazzling as a sun, and it seemed to be staring back at him. It gave Qin Mu a kind of strange feeling. When watched by that eye, he instantly felt layers of formations appear in his eyes!
That feeling didn't last long, for Sun Ship had drowned out his eyes.
'Found it!'
Qin Mu's consciousness trembled, and he felt an abnormal touch coming from his own vital qi. He immediately gathered all his magic power, and the majestic vital qi flooded down the four chains to rush at the mechanism on the surface of the sun!
He could only hear cranking sounds as the formation on the sun's surface was activated. The four chains pierced through, led by the formation.
In Sun Ship, Qin Mu instantly felt the boundless strength coming from the sun flooding over. At that moment, Sun Ship had completely swallowed him up, to the point that only his nose tip could be seen!
Whoosh!
The four chains pulled a sun out from the well, and it floated up into the sky, pulling the chains taut.
Outside Sun Well, the old chief looked at the light pillar nervously. "Too much time has passed, too much. His Highness might not have been able to endure… Any later, he won't be able to escape from Sun Ship!"
Suddenly, light burst forth in Sun Well, and a sun slowly rose from the light pillar. Everyone was forced to move back as heat waves swept past them in all directions.
Afterward, Sun Ship's huge body came out from the well with its twelve legs slowly landing on the ground.
Thump.
The body of the ship descended, and the land shook, causing lava to flow into numerous canals.
Sun Ship was pretty stable.
The old chief hurriedly flew up and barged to the center of the four pillars. He saw Qin Mu lying there naked, unmoving.
Too much of his life force had been taken by Sun Ship. Even though he captured a sun and was saved, his life force couldn't be recovered.
"Move away, all move away!" Hu Ling'er sprinted over, her feet getting scalded by the scorching ground until green smoke came out. "I have medicine here!"
The old chief and the rest opened up a path, and Hu Ling'er flew to Qin Mu. She didn't care that her feet were blistering from the heat. In a hurry, she stuffed the spirit pills that Qin Mu had made for Yan Jingjing into his mouth. She used her vital qi to guide them into his abdomen and catalyzed the medicinal energy.
When it was finished, Qin Mu slowly woke up, feeling that his body was extremely weak. He didn't even have the energy to open his eyes and could only gasp for breath.
Hu Ling'er let out a sigh of relief and only then felt her feet hurting. She immediately jumped onto the old chief's head, her eyes tearing up from the pain.
The old chief hurriedly raised Qin Mu while shouting, "Quickly, to the lake!"
After a moment, on the small island at the center of Sun Ship, Qin Mu was placed in a hot spring that was at the heart of the island. Beside him was a frail little girl also soaking in the water.
"Little brother who herds cows." The frail girl smiled weakly.
Hu Ling'er sat on the old chief's head, not daring to let her feet touch the ground, so she requested boldly and confidently to soak in the hot spring as well. "My feet are also injured!"
The old chief was helpless and could only place her in the hot spring. "Little ancestor, this hot spring is not normal water, but condensed from the qi of pure yang. You can soak in it, but you can't piss in it."
"Bah, only you will piss inside!" Hu Ling'er sat down excitedly and felt waves of energy from the water flooding her body to nourish her limbs and bones. Her divine treasures, spirit embryo, souls, and spirits felt comfortable, without any being an exception. She looked at the frail girl beside and said in delight, "Sister Jing of Yan family, so you're here. Young master, why aren't you opening your eyes? That's right, when you were sprawled there earlier, your butt was seen by all!"
Qin Mu gradually opened his eyes, and white light blinded the two girls. It was like countless suns had burst forth with intense brightness, making their eyes tear from the sting!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu closed his eyes, and after a moment, Hu Ling'er and Yan Jingjing's slowly recovered.
"In Sun Well, I saw Zi Qing's divine eye." Qin Mu didn't dare to open his eyes again. "After that, many things appeared in my eyes. It was like her eyes had imprinted something in mine."
"Can you see anything now?" Yan Jingjing asked with nervousness.
"I can."
Yan Jingjing's eyes had been treated by Qin Mu and were more and less healed. She could see, but her body was still somewhat frail.
She immediately came to Qin Mu's side and pressed down on his shoulders while saying softly, "We, the Sun Herd Tribe, also have a technique to cultivate our eyes—it's called Pleiades Sun Star Hoops. Wait for me to execute it before opening your eyes so I can help you take a look."
Qin Mu waited for a moment, then Yan Jingjing said, "Done."
He opened his eyes, and the divine light in them burst forth, washing the surroundings in snow white light. He then took note of the frail girl moving to the front of his face and looking at his pupils seriously. Her eyes seemed to have star hoops that shrouded her pupils. The star hoops were circulating continuously and withstanding the power of his divine eyes.
Yan Jingjing examined him in detail and moved to the front of his eyes to differentiate the markings.
Qin Mu didn't dare to breathe as he was afraid of blowing his breath on her face.
"It's a kind of rune marking that has resulted in a formation."
Yan Jingjing breathed out, and he smelled orchids and iris as she pondered while examining his eyes. "The outer layer looks like Pleiades Sun Star Hoops of our Sun Herd Tribe, but there are other markings in the inner layers. There are a total of two, three, four layers…"
She inspected Qin Mu's pupils carefully and saw the layers of space inside. The runes formed a strange structure that was like layers of sun hoops that stretched back continuously. She couldn't see clearly how many of them there were.
"Inside your eye, in the centermost area of the layers of Pleiades Sun Star Hoops, there seems to be a sun. It could also be formed by the star hoops…" She finished her examination and said, "I shall teach you Pleiades Sun Star Hoops, my pupil divine art. Try and see if you can control the markings in your eyes with it."
Qin Mu nodded with difficulty.
Only then did Yan Jingjing notice that her face was so close to his that they almost came into contact. Qin Mu didn't dare to nod because he was afraid of hitting her. Their gazes met, and the stars hoops in their eyes flashed with brilliant rays.
However, at that moment, Hu Ling'er voice sounded out. "Young master, is the examination done yet? Why is there no sound now?"
Qin Mu immediately said, "Still not done yet?"
Yan Jingjing burst into laughter and her breath assaulted him in the face.
Hu Ling'er heard it and was slightly suspicious. With her arms and legs, she splashed around in the water to swim over with her tails floating on the surface.
Qin Mu's gaze was too bright, so she couldn't see him. However, she could head toward the sound and stop between the two of them. Half of her body popped out of the water, and she shook her tails, flinging water on the face of the boy and the girl.
Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing immediately split apart and suppressed the stray thoughts in their hearts. Qin Mu closed his eyes. Hu Ling'er sat in the center, separating them.
Yan Jingjing immediately said, "I shall teach you Pleiades Sun Star Hoopes, so listen carefully.
She then explained it to him.
Qin Mu asked whenever he was in doubt and soon mastered Pleiades Sun Star Hoops. He tried to execute it, and the layers of star hoops in his pupils extinguished one after another. However, there were still some runes that were swimming in his pupils.
He opened his eyes, and there was no longer any more astonishing rays shooting out. However, in the depths of his pupils, there would be a ray of light flashing from time to time.
Pleiades Sun Star Hoops didn't close the sun markings that were in the core.
Yan Jingjing swam over from the side and examined his pupils before pondering for a moment. "Pleiades Sun Star Hoops should be part of that divine eyes' technique. It isn't complete so the sun markings couldn't be completely closed…"
Hu Ling'er went to Qin Mu side and examined his right eye as though she knew what she was doing. "Young master, there are stars in your eyes!"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's Pleiades Sun Star Hoops, Sister Jing and I are currently discussing them, so don't create trouble. Sister Jing, the imprints in God Zi Qing's eyes were mirrored in mine, so we might just be able to master her divine eyes from them. Her divine eyes were definitely the number one divine eyes in Founding Emperor Era. If we could master them, it will be extraordinary!"
Yan Jingjing pondered over it and said, "It's impossible to master the number one divine eyes just from the imprints alone. Even though I've learned Pleiades Sun Star Hoops, I can't rely on it to deduce the technique of the number one divine eyes. It's simply too difficult…"
"Someone can do it!" Qin Mu's eyes lit up as he was filled with confidence. "Grandpa Blind from my family, he could definitely restore God Zi Qing's technique just from these imprints!"
"Grandpa Blind?" Yan Jingjing asked curiously. "Isn't he someone whose eyes can't see anymore?"
Qin Mu was fully confident in Blind's abilities. "Even though he's blind, his eyesight is very good. He's the person with the highest attainments in divine eyes that I've met!"
Yan Jingjing was even more bewildered. Puzzled, she asked, "He's blind so how can his eyesight be very good?"
"Grandpa Blind has the best eyesight; Grandpa Mute doesn't have many words, but he scolds people fiercely; Grandpa Cripple runs the fastest; one-armed Old Ma has the best fist skills; Grandpa Butcher who only has half a body is the fiercest in fights; and even though Grandpa Deaf can't hear, he's the best in understanding others."
Qin Mu smiled. "There's also the most beautiful Granny Si, the cutest Grandpa Apothecary who's number one in both curing and poisoning others. However, the most powerful of them all is still Village Chief who has no arms or legs. His sword skills are the best in this world!"
Yan Jingjing was at a loss, then she said with excitement, "I want to go out and take a look!"
"When your sickness is cured, I'll bring you out!" Qin Mu said. "It's almost New Years, I reckon we'll be eating at granny's house this time. Do you want to go together?"
"Sure!" Yan Jingjing was indescribably excited, but her face turned dull soon. She shook her head and said, "I need to stay in the tribe; there can't be no one looking after Sun Ship. If the devils come again…"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "It's fine, I have caught a new sun and killed Body Replicator Devil God, so there shouldn't be any enemy attacks for a little while. I'll send you back after New Years."
Yan Jingjing was delighted yet nervous. "I have never left my tribesmen and went out alone before…"
"With me around, you can be at ease!"
…
Hu Ling'er couldn't join in the conversation so she could only grumble in her heart. After a moment, some women of the sun herders walked over and placed down a stack of clothes while saying respectfully, "Your Highness, the new clothes are done."
Qin Mu stood up and suddenly felt a chill on his buttocks. He hurriedly sat back down and said, "Ling'er, Sister Jing, turn around, I would like to change my clothes."
Yan Jingjing and Hu Ling'er listened and turned around, so he immediately climbed out of the pool.
Hu Ling'er turned her head to peep, but Yan Jingjing immediately said, "Don't peep!"
"I was seeing if young master had any tails," she whispered back.
"Did you see any tails?" Yan Jingjing asked with curiosity.
"Nope, his butt was bare." Hu Ling'er's voice held disappointment.
Qin Mu donned the clothes and saw that they were cerulean blue in color. The overlap of the gown was embroidered with the markings of sun and moon while the hemline was embroidered with the markings of dragons and phoenixes. The style and tailoring were very fitting. It had certain points that looked luxurious, but not too eye-catching. It was simple, elegant, and reserved.
"These clothes aren't bad."
Qin Mu was astonished at how comfortable he felt. When he tried to execute Nine Dragons Monarch Technique and his muscles expanded like dragons, his clothes also grew. They were still very fitting.
"Truly well made!"
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. He could feel the vital qi surging through his body moving along with the clothes as well as though they were his skin. On top of that, the clothes could automatically adjust to any changes.
"It's the work of Heavenly Feather Clan!" Qin Mu smiled and said, "If Heavenly Feather Clan reaches Eternal Peace, they'll be able to survive by relying on their handicraft in tailoring."
He jumped back into the pool to soak. Even though the clothes entered the water, they didn't get wet. When he left the water, they were still dry. This made Qin Mu click his tongue in wonder.
The pool water was condensed from the qi of pure yang and by soaking inside, it could replenish exhausted life force. Yan Jingjing was the body of pure yang, so it had the most effect on her. Qin Mu could also absorb the qi of pure yang in the pool water by executing Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Not only did he feel his life force recovering continuously, his cultivation was also rising. His vital qi was becoming purer as well. The two of them soaked in the water for several days, and their bodies mostly recovered.
Hu Ling'er injuries were long gone, but she had still stuck around, not wanting to leave, so Qin Mu used that time to teach her divine arts, paths, and skills as well as how to use a sword. He also exchanged pointers with Yan Jingjing in regards to the knowledge on divine eyes, so the couple days passed in no time.
Even though Yan Jingjing's life force had recovered, she was still very frail. When she stretched her arm out, her skin clung to her bones in a pity-attracting manner. Sun Ship had absorbed her corporeal body for far too long for her to recover in a short while.
Qin Mu carried Hu Ling'er out from the water, while Yan Jingjing climbed out herself. "Chief most likely won't be willing to let me leave. I've never been away from Sun Ship before…" she said with some hesitation.
"In that case, let's not tell him. We shall sneak away." Qin Mu smiled.
Yan Jingjing was so excited that her face flushed red. Her fingers curled into tight fists. "Wouldn't this be not good?"
Qin Mu had them wait nearby while he went to find Sun Herder Chief and Yu Zhaoqing. Yu Zhaoqing had already settled the discussion with her clansmen and decided to temporarily go to Eternal Peace Empire and settle down there. They were just waiting for Qin Mu's order.
He brought Si Yunxiang, Ling Yuxiu, and called the dragon qilin and the flood dragons that were playing around in the lake back. He bade farewell to Sun Herder Chief while Hu Ling'er brought Yan Jingjing to mix among people of Heavenly Feather Clan.
Sun Herder Chief led everyone to see them off, then said, "Your Highness, Sun Guardian's body isn't well, so may Your Highness look after her well."
Qin Mu was stunned. The old chief waved his hand and saw them off.
When they were far from Sun Well, Yan Jingjing came to Qin Mu's side and said excitedly, "Chief didn't notice me!"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'How could that old fox not notice you…'
Ling Yuxiu was shocked and cried out, "The one who herds cows, you kidnapped Sun Guardian? How daring of you!"
Si Yunxiang sneered and said, "He even kidnapped the princess of Eternal Peace Empire." She then looked around at the majestic sight of millions of beautiful people of Heavenly Feather Clan following Qin Mu to Eternal Peace Empire and muttered, "Cult Master even kidnapped Heavenly Feather Clan… as well as over a dozen flood dragons. He indeed has the natural qualities of being Heavenly Devil Cult Master. Patriarch's judgment was right. If it was me, I wouldn't have been able to kidnap so many followers… As for Li Tianxing, he isn't even worthy to wipe his ass!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
On the way back, Qin Mu first returned to Disabled Elderly Village and discovered that it was the world of hen dragons. They clucked noisily and looked fiendish as though they were about to wage a war with the millions of Heavenly Feather Clansmen.
Qin Mu slaughtered the fiercest hen dragon. After it was roasted, the hen dragons finally knew their place and didn't dare to be impudent.
There were no other people in the village, which meant that Apothecary hadn't yet returned. Qin Mu left behind a note to let everyone who returned to know to head to Granny Si's manor for New Years before continuing on his journey.
In the majestic Secret Waters Pass, the army looked at millions of people closing in on them. There were only tens of thousands of soldiers guarding the city, so when had they ever seen such a spectacle before.
Luckily, Ling Yuxiu walked over and explained their intentions. Only then did the general guarding the city opened the city gate and let them in.
The amount of food required for so many people was a problem. Heavenly Feather clansmen were vegetarians, so they didn't eat meat or fish. On the journey, they only ate some fruits, honey, and the rhizomes of flowers, living on little.
Even so, the food consumed by millions of people was still a huge problem.
Qin Mu asked Yu Zhaoqing about the fruits that Heavenly Feather Clan ate from the pill trees in Heavenly Feather World. Those fruits were spirit pills, but they were rich in moisture, looking sparkling and transparent like crystals. At the same time, they had the benefits of spirit pills, allowing them to have no need for food or drink after a single one.
Eating normal fruits could also satisfy their hunger. It was just that the taste wasn't as good.
"Pill trees… There are no plants that could bear spirit pills in Great Ruins or Eternal Peace Empire."
Qin Mu asked about the effect of the fruits bore by the pill tree, and Yu Zhaoqing explained it to him in detail. Qin Mu then tried to refine such a spirit pill a few times, but she would shake her head every time he did.
Finally, Qin Mu refined a furnace of pills the color of sky heavy with rainwater. He had spent quite a great deal of effort on it.
After Yu Zhaoqing tasted it, she praised, "The taste is already fifty to sixty percent there."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and imparted the recipe to Yu Zhaoqing so she could find the apothecaries of their Heavenly Feather Clan to refine the pills themselves. That way, they wouldn't have to pluck wild fruits from all around to eat.
'These Heavenly Feather Clansmen are only suited to live in the south where it's warm, that place is the only one suitable."
Qin Mu was getting a headache while thinking about where to settle so many people. In the end, he decided to hand this headache over to Emperor Yanfeng and have his head ache.
A flying ship in Secret Waters Pass rose into the air and brought Qin Mu's memorial to the capital city at a lightning-fast speed.
In the meantime, Qin Mu summoned Dragon Rearing Sovereign who revealed his true form to carry the millions of people on his humongous body. It was truly a spectacular sight to behold.
Yan Jingjing clicked her tongue in wonder. She had never seen such a huge lifeform like Dragon Rearing Sovereign in Sun Well, so she couldn't help being curious.
When they came to the south of Relax Prefecture, Qin Mu asked Heavenly Feather Clansmen to station themselves in the forest nearby. He brought the girls to Granny Si's manor and Yu Zhaoqing also followed him here as they waited for Emperor Yanfeng's decree.
Everyone who came to Granny Si's manor couldn't help being astonished. The place was like a sacred ground in the mortal realm, like a paradise. The spirit qi and energy were so dense that they almost formed droplets of water.
The place was also abnormally bustling as numerous palace maids hurried here and there to clean this and that up. Ling Yuxiu was astonished and called two of them over. "Jian Qi, Qin Qi, aren't the both of you suppose to serve Empress Dowager? Why are you here?"
The palace maids were none other than the two girls who had once escorted Qin Mu to prevent him from being assassinated by Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing. They immediately greeted her and Qin Mu. Each of them had a dimple on one side of their faces, one the left and one on the right, complimenting each other well.
Jian Qi smiled and said, "Empress Dowager is here so we are naturally here as well."
Ling Yuxiu was astonished. "Empress Dowager is also here? Why is she here?"
Jian Qi and Qin Qi looked at each other and revealed troubled looks. Qin Qi hesitated for a moment before saying, "She chased Playboy Yu to this place… Princess, hush or else Empress Dowager will take our heads off if she learns about this!"
Jian Qi whispered closely beside Ling Yuxiu's ear, "There are many women chasing after Playboy Yu, so when he revealed his true face, they were all shocked to see that it had been carved off. However, none of them left. These women are all very fierce and famous in the martial world. Some of them are even sect leaders. In the end, Empress Dowager couldn't take it anymore and fought fiercely with all of them, but she still couldn't suppress them, so they ended up all staying here…"
Ling Yuxiu looked troubled as she shifted her gaze to Qin Mu. "Is Playboy Yu part of the village?"
"He's Grandpa Apothecary, also known as Jade Face Poison King." Qin Mu was greatly delighted by the news. "In that case, Grandpa Apothecary must also be here! He got cornered by all the women and can't run!"
Yan Jingjing looked around and, besides the palace maids that were coming to and fro, she saw some weird life forms all around. One was a fierce merman with a human head and a fish's body while another was a terrifying merman with fish's head and human body. They were all hurrying to and fro in the manor, preparing for New Years.
There were also tree demons, flower demons as well as strange demons that filled the mountains and wilderness. The tree demons had heads full of branches that held few leaves. Their temper was violent, and they would fight with deer demons frequently.
"Rascal, you brought so many maidens back for New Years?"
Just as they were looking around, a fragrance assaulted their nostrils, and everyone looked toward the source of the voice. They couldn't help being stunned when they saw a beautiful woman walking over. She didn't look like a person from the mortal realm, but instead like she had come out from legends. She had a divine beauty, one without any flaw.
The girls were all stunned, feeling their inferiority. However, they couldn't help feeling adoration and wanting to get close to her.
"Aunt!" Si Yunxiang went forward and said excitedly, "You're also here!"
Granny Si chuckled and said, "Lassie Xiang, stay further away from my Mu'er."
"We are family, so how could aunt take his side?" Si Yunxiang retorted angrily with a black face.
Granny Si threw her to the side and walked toward the other girls. She examined them and smiled. "I've raised Mu'er up and I'm much closer to him than you. Lassie Xiang, I had never carried you. Mu'er, she is a vixen and full of naughty thoughts, so you need to be careful with her."
Hu Ling'er jumped up and shouted, "I knew she's a vixen! Granny, I have looked after young master properly and didn't give any chance for all the little vixen to get close to him!"
Granny Si came to Qin Mu's side and raised her hand, about to caress his head, but then couldn't help scolding angrily, "You've grown taller! Why aren't you bending down?"
Qin Mu immediately bent down and Granny Si caressed his head while sighing. "Your height has almost caught up to that of Butcher. How did you grow so fast, to even know how to flirt around and bring girls back to see me…" Her eyes grew red, about to fill with tears. "Just a year or two away from home and you're already starting your family…"
"Granny, I'm not starting my family; it's Grandpa Blind who forced me to! You have met Yuxiu, and this is the sun guardian of the sun herders, the one who drove Sun Ship to chase off Imperial Preceptor. She's called Yan Jingjing! This is the chief of Heavenly Feather Clan from Heavenly Feather World, Yu Zhaoqing. I said I'm coming over for New Years, and they all decided to follow."
Granny Si's tears turned into laughter, and she said, "It's good that these maidens are here to meet their in-laws. Quick, come in and have a seat!"
The girls' faces were all red.
Yu Zhaoqing, however, was the chief of a clan and her cultivation was powerful. She was a top existence in Heavenly Feather World, so she said, "Senior Sister, please don't be mistaken, I'm not one of His Highness's concubine."
Granny Si felt fonder and fonder as she looked at her pure and attractive appearance which made her smile. "Calling me granny will do. There's no need for Senior Sister, it's too polite."
Yu Zhaoqing hesitated for a moment. Since she didn't yet fully grasp how people addressed each other in this world, she could only call her granny.
"Aye!" Granny Si gave a sweet acknowledgment, overjoyed.
Si Yunxiang came forward and said, "Granny…"
Granny Si immediately put on a straight face. "Call me aunt!"
Si Yunxiang felt extremely wronged and could only lower her head to call her aunt. Granny Si then brought them to her palace and ousted Qin Mu while saying, "Go to the halls nearby to find Cripple. That old fellow suffered losses and is now crying miserably."
"Which hall?" Qin Mu immediately asked.
"The layout here is the same as in the village, so he's in his house."
Qin Mu immediately went out to search, and Granny Si turned to the girls, growing happier and happier. She said to Yan Jingjing, "Sun Guardian is a little thin, you need to eat more. Yuxiu's body is pretty sturdy, very firm, though. I've met your father before, but I didn't talk to him. When will you be inviting the in-laws over…"
Qin Mu found Cripple's hall and saw that Blind, Mute, Deaf, and Butcher were all there. There was also two Village Chiefs. He then noticed that it wasn't exactly right to say that. On one of the recliners was the limbless Village Chief, while the other one held Cripple who had no legs!
Qin Mu immediately rushed forward and cried out, "Grandpa Cripple, this is…"
Cripple's face was full of tears as he complained, "Mu'er, you're back? Your Grandpa Cripple has fallen!"
Qin Mu composed himself and looked around, silently inquiring others about what happened. "The person who dug out my eyes reappeared and took Cripple's divine legs. Mute already went to Great Thunderclap Monastery to tell Old Ma to be careful. That person will most likely find him for his divine fists!"
Qin Mu's heart shook, and he took in a deep breath before asking solemnly. "Village Chief, who is that person?"
Before Village Chief could even answer, Apothecary who had a tall and sturdy figure walked in and said, "When I was running for my life, I met Daoist Ling Jing and he said there was a god-like existence chasing after his life, wanting to take away his divine blood, so he had pleaded me to change his divine blood to protect his life. I asked Daoist Ling Jing about that person, and he said that he was an existence on par with Village Chief back then, and he called himself god."
Village Chief let out a shaky breath and said, "His name is only a single word, An. His surname is very weird—Xing. He's a very egotistical person. But according to logic, his age should be around the same as mine, so his lifespan should be ending in two years."
"Yet Daoist Ling Jing said he looked very young, just like a youngster." Worried entered Apothecary's face and he said, "With your understanding of him, will he find Old Ma? Old Ma is Rulai now, the four elements are vanity, so he won't come for New Years and will be in danger staying alone in Mount Meru!"
Qin Mu couldn't resist asking, "This person that's called Xing An, is he really that strong? To be able to fight his way into Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
"I've no idea how strong he is now. However, I know that a person can spend all their energy into cultivating one part of their body to the god realm. That way, they can be a match for the fake gods. If one cultivated all their parts to the god realm, they would not be far from becoming a real god. So he will definitely go to find Old Ma," Village Chief said.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Other than Granny Si, everyone else in Disabled Elder Village had one thing they were great at, which could also be said to be their unique point. All of them had cultivated it to the god realm.
Since their path to the divine bridge was broken and they couldn't advance into an even higher realm, they spent all their efforts in one area of research. This had made their abilities able to match those of the gods of High Heavens, and they weren't weak like Dragon Rearing Sovereign, that kind of fake god.
Reaching god realm in one area alone allowed them to fight against the strong practitioners of High Heavens, so what would happen if one could reach god realm in all areas?
Wouldn't they become a real god?
It was obvious that the strong practitioner called Xing An walked such a path, but the strategy he took was not of researching things himself. Instead, he wanted to take what was already from other people's bodies.
After all, a person's energy was limited, and without repairing the divine bridge, their lifespan was also limited. They could only live to eight hundred years. If Xing An focused on cultivating and researching diligently, he could at most reach the god realm in two areas. On the other hand, by taking them off other people's bodies, he could gather a body on the god realm, making him like a true god!
He was a strong practitioner that was on par with Village Chief, so accordingly to logic, he should be as old as Village Chief, yet he was still a youth. It meant that he had taken more than just Cripple's legs and Blind's eyes. There were definitely other strong practitioners that had suffered at his lethal hands!
No one could clearly say which step his abilities had reached.
Blind's eyes were the strongest divine eyes, and Cripple's legs were the strongest divine legs. Just these two things could allow him to rise to the top among the strong practitioners in their world.
Yet he had definitely taken more god realm body parts from other people.
With such a strong practitioner aiming for Old Ma's arms, Old Ma might not be his opponent even though he was Rulai.
Butcher stood up and said, "I shall go find Old Ma."
"Butcher, are your knives the strongest thing about you?" Village Chief suddenly asked.
Butcher stopped in his footsteps. "No. The strongest part of me is actually my heart."
Rumbles came from his body like the vibrations of heavenly thunder. It sounded like a giant beating drum on the battlefield, but it was just his heartbeat's rumble that made everyone's eardrum rang.
He roused his qi and blood, and the sound of his heartbeat gave everyone a feeling that the thickest and heaviest heavenly knife had come out of its sheath. That knife was copious, sharp, and able to conquer every obstacle!
Heaven Knife's knife wasn't the Pig Slaughtering Knives in his hands, but he himself.
The Heaven Knife required a strong energy source to execute it, and that energy source was his heart.
Qin Mu opened his Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes and looked at Butcher. What he saw wasn't a person, but a knife!
In the center of it was a beating heart. Blood vessels stretched out from it like dragons, connecting to all parts of the knife like a network.
With every beat, the heart sent matchless qi and blood to all parts of Heaven Knife!
Butcher had cultivated his heart into a divine heart.
Village Chief said, "He needs your heart, a divine heart."
Butcher shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid of him."
"He's also not afraid of you. Even if you fight him, your chances of victory are slim. If you go to find Old Ma by yourself, you will definitely be intercepted midway. Mute, what's your strongest part?"
Mute was sitting while smoking his water pipe. When he heard Village Chief's words, he knocked the water paper out and put the pipe back on his waist.
The furnace on his back suddenly ignited without fire, but everyone soon noticed that what had ignited it wasn't vital qi. What was overflowing with heat wasn't his furnace either, but his body.
His vital qi became incomparably scorching as though there was a furnace burning furiously in his abdominal cavity. It was like a small sun spinning frantically as it grew more powerful!
It looked like a sun was continuously accumulating power for a world-shaking explosion!
"Mute, your dantian has been refined into a divine furnace, so Xing An will also need it." Village Chief then looked at Deaf and shook his head. "Deaf, even though your painting path has reached its extreme, Xing An won't need what's on your body. He can't take away your skill."
Deaf raised his head and took a glance at Apothecary. "The quack shouldn't be in his eyes as well. His cultivation is too low; he's only at Celestia Being Realm.
Apothecary smiled and said, "At least I won't starve to death no matter where I walk to in the martial world, unlike a certain painter."
Deaf did not care about his words, feeling proud about himself. "The earnings from one painting of mine can buy a couple of mansions in the capital, while you can swiftly go bankrupt if you cause someone to die from your treatment."
"Xing An needs Apothecary," Village Chief suddenly said. Everyone was slightly stunned, so he continued, "He needs Apothecary's skill to help him change his body."
Apothecary shuddered.
"You guys don't need to worry. Butcher, Mute, Apothecary, follow me, we shall head to Great Thunderclap Monastery together. Deaf, Cripple, Blind, you guys shall stay. Xing An's target is us so he won't come for you guys. We shall be on our way then. Mu'er, you shall also stay and celebrate New Years here. We'll go to Great Thunderclap Monastery to eat vegetarian meals. Let's go!"
Blind's expression was calm when he said, "My Long Tuo would like to meet him again. The divine spear was defeated under his hand, and the long-awaited revenge is due."
Village Chief shook his head and said, "This isn't just about you. An expert is also needed here, since Cripple won't do. When he had one leg, he could still run, but now both are gone. It's best if you stay."
Blind frowned, but didn't say anything.
Apothecary fetched a herb basket and placed Village Chief in it. They left with Butcher and Mute. Numerous women came, planning to leave with Apothecary, but he begged for mercy. "Good sisters, I will be back in a few days. I won't run away, don't worry!"
After that, the women let him leave.
When only Cripple, Blind, Deaf, and Qin Mu were left in the hall, Cripple started to bawl again. "Mu'er is now the fastest in our village, I couldn't run even if I wanted to…"
Qin Mu immediately consoled him, and Cripple's emotions gradually stabilized. But then he saw that there was nothing below his waist again, and sorrow couldn't help flooding out from his heart. He cried again, "I could still hop around on one leg in the past, I could still run extremely fast, but now I can't hop even if I wanted to!"
"Grandpa Cripple, I can attach two deer legs for you. I see that there are quite a number of deer demons in the mountains. With my skill, it won't be hard to make the change." Qin Mu suggested.
"Deer's legs are crooked, I will have to kneel down after just walking a few steps. Don't want!"
Qin Mu could only leave it. Deaf found Cripple too noisy and went back to his own hall.
Cripple was full of tears as he muttered about how Deaf was avoiding him. Blind also planned to go, but Qin Mu stopped him. "Grandpa Blind, I met the number one divine eyes of Founding Emperor Era, the eyes of Zi Qing. They had imprinted some runes in my eyes, but there's only the imprints, no technique, so I don't understand how to activate them."
"When you came in, I saw that your eyes were very peculiar. I can feel a strange energy brewing in your eyes, but it's unstable." Blind put away his thoughts to find Xing An, full of interest in regards to Founding Emperor Era's number one divine eyes. "Can you light up those runes again. I would like to check their pattern."
Cripple whined, "My legs…"
Blind frowned and said, "Cripple keeps whining, so let's go discuss this elsewhere until he runs out of words."
Qin Mu immediately took leave from Cripple, and the two of them came to the lake beside the hall. Some mermaids with fish heads and human bodies ran over with fruits plucked from the mountains. "Old Master, eat some fruits."
Qin Mu picked up a red fruit, but it screamed, "Don't eat me!"
Qin Mu immediately placed the fruit down and saw over a dozen fruits rolling around in the plate. "Ow, ow! I'm bleeding!"
"Stop looking. When the god's blood was scattered on the mountain, all the fruits and trees became strange." Blind shook his head and said, "All of the fruits have become demons."
As they were talking, a bright red fruit grew arms and touched the red juice that had leaked out from its body. "I'm bleeding, I'm dying!" After saying that, it fainted.
The other fruits immediately rolled over and cried miserably.
Qin Mu's scalp crawled, and he hurriedly poured the fruits on the plate away. They became delighted and even the fruit that had fainted also woke up. The demons rapidly rolled away, to the body of a tree demon that was passing by. They went to hang on the head of the tree demon and only then let out sighs of relief.
Suddenly, a deer demon that was beside the tree demon sneakily took a bite from a fruit. The fruit demons exclaimed and cried miserably again, cursing the deer demon. The tree demon was furious and fought with the deer demon.
Qin Mu was astonished. He looked at the two demons that were fighting with a blank gaze. The mermaids ran over and plucked the fruits off the tree demon again, sending them right to Qin Mu and Blind's face.
"I'm already used to the sight of strange things." Blind shook his head. "You haven't gone up the mountain, that's where the really weird stuff exists. The grass and vines there can really annoy one to death. Ignore them. Mu'er, activate the imprints in your divine eyes and show them to me!"
Qin Mu did as asked and executed Pleiades Sun Star Hoops that Yan Jingjing had imparted to him. Star hoops instantly lighted up in his eyes, and the sun that was in the center of the star hoops instantly exploded with dazzling sunlight. The demons that were creating a commotion were frightened into crouching on the ground and not daring to move.
Blind was astonished and calculated for a moment. "This Zi Qing is indeed remarkable. Her divine art is even stronger than mine. However, you only executed the light of her divine eyes, so there's no power at all… Execute it again."
Qin Mu executed Pleiades Sun Star Hoops again, and Blind smiled. "That's it, there's a pupil skill; however, the power of the runes was not activated. They are a little interesting, though. If my eyes were still around, I could take another step forward. What a pity… Mu'er, let me try to merge Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill with these runes, though it might take a few days. After I finish, I'll teach it to you."
Qin Mu nodded.
Blind memorized the runes in his divine eyes while smiling. "Go spend some time with your lovely wives; there's no need to keep following an old geezer like me. I won't go and find Xing An, so you can be at ease.
Qin Mu was still worried he would go look for Xing An for revenge, so there was unease in his heart.
Ling Yuxiu shouted at him from afar, "The one who herds cows, we are going up the mountain to gather some fruits to prepare as New Year's goods! Are you coming?"
"Go ahead." Blind smiled.
Qin Mu could only run over and say to Ling Yuxiu, "The fruits on the mountain have become demons, so they will bite."
"Granny said that there are some fruits on the mountain that had not become demons yet and they can be eaten. It's just that those mermaids don't recognize the difference," Hu Ling'er said.
When they came up the mountain, they saw many fruit trees, but when the fruits heard that they had come up to gather them, they immediately pulled up their roots and ran away, making everyone stare after them blankly.
"You're stepping on me!" a small grass shouted angrily. "Where are my brothers?"
Everyone immediately escaped for their lives while chased by a bunch of grass men pursuing them relentlessly. After the commotion, they found the fruit garden mentioned by Granny Si, where the fruits had not turned into demons. Qin Mu took a bite, and the fruit was very sweet and fragrant.
Yan Jingjing, Ling Yuxiu, and Si Yunxiang carried baskets to pluck the fruits while Hu Ling'er sat on the branches of the tree to eat. Soon, her tummy bulged, and she laid down with her tails drooping.
"What a fragrant fruit!"
Suddenly, a voice spoke, and Qin Mu looked toward it. He saw a youth in white walking out from the mountains while carrying a huge chest.
Qin Mu took a couple fruits from a basket and smiled. "Where's brother from? Where are you going?"
The youth gave his thanks and praised the fruits endlessly after he tasted one. "There's the flavor of god's blood, so it's truly delicious. I don't have a fixed residence, so I'm usually wandering around. I'm here to meet Divine Physician Qin to ask him for help in curing my illness."
Qin Mu blinked and asked, "Divine Physician Qin? Cure illness? What illness has brother contracted?"
The youth let out a sigh and said, "Terminal illness."
Qin Mu's gaze flashed. "How can I address brother?"
The youth buried the fruit in the earth and carefully covered it with dirt. "Xing An."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Xing An?" Qin Mu looked at the youth with a blank look, thinking carefully. He then asked Ling Yuxiu and the rest, "Have you heard of the name Xing An?"
The girls shook their heads and replied, "We have not heard of this name. However, the surname Xing is quite rare."
"Cowherd, ask which Divine Physician Qin is he looking for? We might know who he is," Si Yunxiang said.
Qin Mu agreed and said to Xing An, "My junior sister wants me to ask which Divine Physician Qin are you looking for."
Xing An smiled and said, "This person is famous. He's the most renowned young physician in the capital, and his name is Qin Mu. He's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, but he also has a reputation as a divine physician.
"My medicinal expertise isn't ordinary as well, but after treating myself for years, I keep feeling like there is something wrong. The more I treat myself, the more I feel that something is wrong. The body parts have started to reject one another, making it difficult to house them together. Not long ago, I met the grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace who's an old friend of mine, and he recommended a person. He said that Divine Physician Qin has remarkable abilities in the art of healing, so I should go find him."
Qin Mu was furious. 'It's Pangong Tso, that wretch again! He keeps giving me problems! Why didn't Imperial Preceptor kill him when he took down Rolan's Golden Palace and let him escape in advance instead?"
"So it's Heavenly Devil Cult Master," Qin Mu said with realization in his voice. "I've heard of his name; he's pretty extraordinary."
Xing An was smiling. "I've heard Heavenly Devil Cult Master had the means to help Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to rebuild flying ships and warships, so he could wipe out the prairie in one go, subduing all the Khans and razing Rolan's Golden Palace. He even helped Emperor Yanfeng forge a divine cannon that shot down the god of High Heavens which is truly remarkable. Such a dangerous person, yet I have no choice but to find him, because Jade Face Poison King is even more dangerous than him."
He then added after a moment, "The cultivation of this Heavenly Devil Cult Master is only of Six Directions Realm, after all, so is easy to control. Jade Face Poison King, however, is ruthless and would be much harder to control. That's right, they called you cowherd, is that your name?"
Qin Mu immediately smiled and said, "Nope. I'm a person who herded cows, so my senior and junior sisters call me cowherd boy."
"So I see." Xing An looked around and said, "In the battle when the god was slain here, I've heard that Heavenly Devil Cult Master had made an appearance, so I came here to look for him. I've eaten your fruits, so I can't leave without giving anything in return. Rise!"
He stretched out a finger, and the core of the fruit which he had buried in the earth earlier grew rapidly, transforming into a huge tree which bore fruit after a moment. The tree was filled with them.
"Creation technique!" Si Yunxiang hissed under her breath.
Xing An took a look at her and waved his hands. The fruits all dropped on the ground and rolled everywhere. They landed on the ground and grew roots. After a moment, the whole mountain was covered in fruit trees. Flowers bloomed and withered, green fruits grew quickly and soon ripened on the branches.
"Try it, see if the taste is similar?" Xing An smiled.
Yan Jingjing was about to pluck one fruit to taste it when Qin Mu shook his head. "Sister Jing, don't pluck it. It won't be good to eat."
Yan Jingjing let go of the fruit and looked at it. She examined it carefully, but saw only that the fruit was bright red, similar to the ones they had plucked. There was nothing special about it.
"Cowherd is extraordinary, you have seen through it." Xing An smiled and said, "Creation technique can change the process of the plant's growth and also change the taste of the plant. It can even make the plant poisonous and change its structure, changing the species of the plant. You can even make the plant able to control the actions of others."
He raised his hand to pluck a bright red fruit, and it stretched its body to become a little red snake that went to coil around his wrist. The flat head of the snake was raised over his palm, while the forked was outstretched as the snake hissed at the group.
Everyone jumped in shock, and a hissing came from all directions. Tens of thousands of fruits hung on the fruit trees that were all around the mountain. At that moment, all of them stretched and turned into small red snakes that were dangling from the trees and staring at them!
"The creation technique of Heavenly Devil Cult isn't bad, right?" Xing An smiled and said, "I learned it from Rolan's Golden Palace's grandmaster. It's a pity that even Grandmaster himself didn't manage to comprehend the essence of it, disappointing me. Heavenly Devil Cult, however, is an even bigger disappointment, since no one there could actually comprehend the marvel of this technique. However, little girl is not bad, you recognized the technique, and Cult Master Qin is extraordinary as well, able to see how I used it to change the form of the object."
"You recognized us?" Si Yunxiang cried out.
Xing An smiled and said, "I didn't recognize you girls. However, Grandmaster had drawn me a portrait of Cult Master Qin, as though he was scared I would be mistaken."
Qin Mu looked at the mountain filled with red snakes and his expression changed slightly. He knew the creation techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were extraordinary, and he had used Earth Aeon Technique to mature a tree and grow yellow pears. However, the extent to which Xing An had cultivated the creation techniques made them have no hope of catching up!"
'What the young patriarch cultivates is the creation techniques. I wonder if he can achieve such a feat."
The corner of Qin Mu's eyes twitched. Even though the young patriarch was very strong, he might not have this kind of ability. Xing An was simply like a god who could do everything!
Planting a tree, making the tree bear fruit, then turning it into venomous snakes was the actions of a god!
The red snakes swayed their flat triangle heads on top of the trees as though they were dancing to the music. Yet how could all of them move in unison?
Xing An had just said that eating the 'fruits' could make a person lose control over their body, and it turned out it hadn't been just empty talk!
The idea was bone chilling!
Qin Mu took in a long and deep breath before saying solemnly, "Why does Senior Brother Xing An wants to find me? For me to help you?"
Xing An sighed and raised his hand to look at it over and over again. "Because this body sometimes isn't willing to listen to me and even rejects me. I know there are numerous experts by your side, and I recognize some of those old fellows, for example, Sword God. He poses some threat to me, so even though that threat isn't strong, his abilities are still not weak. Luckily he's headed for Great Thunderclap Monastery. What a joke…"
Qin Mu's heart sunk. Xing An was even harder to deal with than he'd thought. Old Ma was only a distraction, while his main aim was to lure the tigers out of the mountain. He just wanted Village Chief and the rest to head to Great Thunderclap Monastery.
He didn't need Old Ma's arms, for he seemed to have already received god-like arms!
He had only one goal, and that was Qin Mu!
"How humorous is that a person can unknowingly shed one's dead skin, switch one's bones, hair, flesh, and blood. In just seven years, all the organs in the body would undergo a change."
Xing An had a peculiar gaze, and strange lights came from his pupils. Nine layers of rings appeared in his eyes, which were the nine heavens!
Blind's divine eyes.
"This means that the you seven years ago and the you now are two completely different people. Has your way of thinking when compared to seven years ago change? You think you are still you, but you don't know if you have been influenced secretly during those seven years and have already changed into another you."
Xing An smiled. "In that case, why can't one take the initiative in the change? To attach other people's body parts to our own body? What's the difference between taking the initiative to change our weaker body parts with the body parts of those from strong practitioners and the change that happens once every seven years? That's why I tried to change into a god!"
His divine eyes revealed a fervent look which was filled with fanaticism. "I started to research the skill of changing bodies, and I soon had some accomplishments. My master was almost a top-notch existence, so I cut off his head when he let his guard down and replaced it with my own. It was a success. However, my master was too weak and couldn't satisfy me. Thus, I started to look for other experts. Over the years…"
He placed the huge chest which he'd carried on his back down, and it opened up. Qin Mu, Yan Jingjing, Ling Yuxiu, and the rest all knew what would be in it, but they still couldn't resist looking inside.
The faces of the girls instantly turned pale white, and they turned away to puke. Hu Ling'er who had hidden herself on the tree and observing also puked messily.
The chest was constructed with taotie's bone and on the outside was wrapped with a layer of taotie's skin, so the space inside was huge, three hundred yards in length and breadth. There were shelves inside it, and all of them were filled with body parts!
Just of the arms alone, there were over a dozen!
There were also hearts, eyes, bones, legs, and even heads!
Other than that, there was also all kinds of blood, human skin, as well as all kinds of scattered organs. There were even quite a few types of hair!
Xing An looked at his chest with a feverish look. "Take a look. How many works of art have I collected? I have treated my body as an art piece that can be rearranged, creating all kinds of me. I even changed my brain before! However…"
Puzzlement entered his expression. "I still notice some incompatibility between the body parts. At times they even reject one another, and my medical expertise can no longer solve it. Sword God thinks that my target is Rulai's divine fists, but he didn't know that I don't need them at all. I only need Cult Master Qin, which was why I let slip the news that I was looking for Rulai."
He closed the chest and returned it to his back. He then turned around and looked down the mountain with a slight smile. "A human body changes once every seven years, and the way one thinks and feels is also different. So why are you insisting on finding your own divine eyes, Spear God?"
Qin Mu looked over to that side and saw Blind standing there with a huge black-colored dragon skeleton circling around him while growling in a deep voice.
"It matters to me," Blind said easily. "A friend from far away has come, so even though it's a long distance, I still must kill. Xing An, I've been looking for you for a long time."
Xing An had a smile on his face as he walked down the mountain. "Cult Master Qin, wait a moment, let me meet an old friend."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and he threw a glance to Ling Yuxiu and the rest, signaling for them to follow up. He executed Secrets of Dragon Control to awaken the flood dragons.
At the same time, Deaf who was recuperating in the hall took in a long breath. He spread out the pieces of white paper around him and raised his brush to start painting.
In the hall nearby, Cripple used his hands to push his wheelchair out. In the other hall, Granny Si said with a cold and grim face, "Husbands, it's time for you to make a move!"
Experts walked out of the halls solemnly.
Suddenly, a loud and resounding voice rang out. "Minister Qin, I'm here! Where's my precious daughter? Minister Qin, come out now! Off with your head!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Father-in-law is here to kill the son-in-law!" Si Yunxiang's face was red from excitement. "Cult Master, Emperor wants your head off, so you have no choice but to retaliate, gathering the power of our Heavenly Devil Cult to get rid of the emperor and taking his position yourself.
"Princess Xiu is married to you, so she would become part of your chamber of imperial concubines. You're lovers, but she needs to take revenge for her father's death, and so her heart would be in a struggle. If that wasn't enough, she would also have to defend against the other imperial concubines.
"There would also be Saintess Xiang, which is me, planning to kill Cult Master to become the emperor. Princess Xiu would have to face my evil schemes while protecting you Cult Master as she thinks of ways to kill you herself. What true sadomasochism!"
Ling Yuxiu rolled her eyes at her. "Lassie Xiang, you're thinking too much. My father is here for the matters of Chief Yu Zhaoqing. He needs to personally attend the settling of so many people of Heavenly Feather Clan. Besides, Chief Yu is the owner of Heavenly Feather World, so he has to come personally no matter what. He's not here to kill the one who herds cows."
Qin Mu's flute sounded out, and flood dragons slithered in front of them.
At that moment, a dragon's roar rang out as dragon qi ran unhindered across the whole country—Emperor Yanfeng descended from the sky.
Emperor Yanfeng's reason for coming wasn't entirely like what Ling Yuxiu had said. He had not come just for Heavenly Feather Clan and Yu Zhaoqing, but also for Ling Yuxiu. Blind had kidnapped her and lured him to Great Thunderclap Monastery, entrapping him in discussing buddhism with Rulai for a few days before he could break free.
Not long after that, Qin Mu had sent a memorial to him. When he received it, he rushed over in a hurry, abandoning the Feathered Forest Guards far behind by him. All of that was just to find Qin Mu for an answer.
In his eyes, that youth was truly daring, even snatching his daughter by force. Even though it hadn't been him that had snatched her by force, Ling Yuxiu had left without a word from him, so it was still definitely taking her away without his permission!
If that wasn't enough, the old blind man had even stuffed a chicken in his hands and said he was treating his in-law to a feast. It gave him a bad feeling that his cabbage had been ruined by a pig, which hurt his heart.
However, when Emperor Yanfeng landed in the manor, he felt that something was slightly wrong.
The atmosphere seemed to be wrong. The old blind man who had kidnapped his daughter might have had a short stature, but his aura was extremely towering. Black dragon bones danced around him with cold murderous intent.
Meanwhile, in front of the huge hall, female experts stood with overflowing murderous intents, and the corners of Emperor Yanfeng's eyes twitched. Among those women, he also saw his mother, Empress Dowager!
'After she left the palace, I ordered people to investigate it, but all I learned was that she received news of Jade Face Poison King and going off to chase after him.'
Emperor Yanfeng's face turned black, and he thought to himself, 'How could I let something that would shame the royal family happen? I ordered for news of Jade Face Poison King to be leaked so as to lure out the lovers of Jade Face Poison King to go after him together. I planned to use their hand to force Empress Dowager back, so why does it seem like she made peace with those old loggerheads. Is she planning on staying here with them?"
He wanted to cry, but had no tears. The women of Ling family were fearless, unlike the pretty daughters in other humble families. They dared to chase after their own happiness. However, family shame could not be spread abroad; the emperor's face had to be preserved.
Emperor Yanfeng then noticed Granny Si, and his mind blanked out. His throat grew parched, and the three thousand beauties of his chamber of concubines paled in his eyes.
When Qin Mu had saved him from the hands of Old Dao Master and Old Rulai, he had once settled here. He had recollection of the place, but he had never seen his caretaker's true appearance before. Granny Si had always used a pole to bring the meal to him in a basket.
When Emperor Yanfeng saw Granny Si's true appearance, he was stunned and got distracted.
"Your Majesty, do you still want your empire? That's Cult Master Li!" Qin Mu said loudly.
Emperor Yanfeng suppressed the astonishment and pulled away his gaze, not daring to look anymore. Granny Si chuckled. "Rascal, spoiling my plans. Otherwise, this empire would be our Heavenly Saint Cult's already! Emperor, are your injuries healed? Has your cultivation returned to its peak? If it's not back, you are going to be a goner!"
Emperor Yanfeng's gaze moved around and landed on Yu Zhaoqing. He saw that she looked like she was from a foreign territory so he thought to himself, 'Is she Heavenly Feather Chief that Minister Qin mentioned? Her cultivation is extremely strong… so who is she guarding against?'
Just as he thought that, he saw Cripple who was sitting on a wheelchair, Deaf who was swinging his brush rapidly, and his gaze then inadvertently turned to the youth who was coming down the mountain.
Emperor Yanfeng's heart trembled violently when he looked at the young man carrying the chest. That youth didn't look old, but he gave off an extremely powerful presence, one that was even stronger than that of the gods of High Heavens!
'I should have brought Sunshot Divine Cannon!'
Emperor Yanfeng gritted his teeth. His divine treasures had been too severely injured, so his cultivation hadn't yet completely recovered. However, Qin Mu had gathered all the algebra experts in the world and set up divine bridge's space algebra model which allowed him to figure out many tricks to repair his divine treasures. His cultivation had recovered up to ninety percent, and he was back to being one of the top experts in the world.
However, when faced with the youth, he had a feeling that he was a dragon held by his weak spot and about to have his skin stripped off. That person was extremely dangerous, much more so than Old Dao Master and Old Rulai together!
"Emperor's cultivation isn't bad." Xing An looked over and greeted him. "Wanderer of the Wild Xing An pays his respect to His Majesty. Your Majesty's magic power has already reached the level of god, and your divine treasures have been ruined before being molded back together, so they're stronger than other people's divine treasures. They're worthy of my collection!"
His eyes were Blind's eyes, and they seemed to have a kind of peculiar magic that could see through everything about everyone. One look at Emperor Yanfeng, and he knew his divine treasures had been destroyed and rebuilt, giving them a stability that was unmatched. This filled him with delight at seeing a prey.
Emperor Yanfeng felt as if he'd been marked by a predator, and his heart tightened.
Xing An then looked at Blind, and astonishment appeared on his face. He praised, "Dao friend's mind is actually so powerful. Since you had your eyes dug out, you chose to walk another path and reached the peak of another kind of divine eyes. Are they of the mind? Using your primordial spirit in place of your divine eyes. Mind eyes are unmatched in this world; I like your primordial spirit very much."
Blind gave a cold snort.
Xing An then looked at Yu Zhaoqing and his eyes lit up. "Your skin isn't bad. I'll need to set up another shelf in my chest to place your skin."
His gaze then landed on Cripple who was on the wheelchair. He then moved his gaze away from Cripple's body, which made the latter furious. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Old fart, return me my legs!"
Xing An ignored him, his gaze coming to rest on Deaf who was painting in the hall nearby. "There are boundless mountains and rivers, multitudinous ravines, gods, immortals, ghosts, and monsters in your brain, and only because of that you draw the boundless worlds. I like your brain."
Deaf stopped and looked at him.
Xing An's gaze moved past the bodies of the women, not paying them any attention. The women who were chasing Apothecary may have been strong practitioners who were reputable in the martial world, some being even on the cult master level, but most of them didn't reach a degree that would attract Xing An's attention.
Finally, his gaze landed on Granny Si, and astonishment appeared on his face once more. He wasn't smitten by Granny Si's beauty and just muttered, "How could a mortal actually have such beauty? This body, I want it too…"
"You are late!" Li Tianxing sneered. "Xing An, this body is mine!"
"Is that Cult Master Li?" Xing An smirked and said leisurely, "I've seen you before. You were a remarkable talent and full of ambition, so what had changed you to what you are now? That's right, it's this divine beauty that made you lose yourself. You planted your primordial spirit in the Dao heart of this body, wanting to take it over, to become the owner. However, this work of art has caught my eye, so you can only move aside."
Li Tianxing smiled flirtatiously, in a way that even girls would fall head over heels, but Xing An remained unmoved. He looked around and said in delight, "I had only come to find Divine Physician Qin to treat my injury, so I hadn't expected to meet so many works of art worth collecting, I'm truly fortunate! Everyone, everyone!" He greeted everyone, unable to contain his joy. "Thank you, everyone!"
Cripple couldn't hold it in any longer. He rolled his wheelchair forward and shouted, "I may be the divine legs, but I'm also the divine hands! Heavenly Pilfering Sun Switching Technique is not only a leg technique…"
Whoosh!
The wheelchair flew up and Cripple's hands had countless changes, dazzling everyone's eyes. Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Technique was separated into Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs and Sun Switching Divine Hands! The reason why Cripple could be known as God Thief was because the skill of his hands was also extremely terrifying, able to ignore all seals and restrictions, pilfering heaven and switching the sun!
Bang
The wheelchair shattered, and Cripple flew backward. He crashed into the hall and lay on the ground, unable to get up.
"Divine hands, you are still slightly lacking."
Xing An laughed out and turned around. A dragon roar rang out, and his palm clasped around the tip of Blind's spear. It was Divine Spear Long Tuo which was made of black dragon's bones. The spear came forward like a dragon and roared. Blind's footsteps were agile, and his weapon was like an illusion, stabbing towards Xing An like countless black dragons!
Blind's attainments in spear skills alone were already at the peak. He had closed in on Dragon Rearing Sovereign before the other could notice anything, ending the battle in an instant.
Even though he didn't have his eyes, mind divine eyes were even more powerful than divine eyes, so he could see through the flaws in all moves. Long Tuo moved as he willed, and its attacks were unmatched.
However, he had met an even more terrifying existence. Xing An's eyes were his eyes, and they were only slightly inferior to mind divine eyes. On top of that, Xing An's magic power was like that of god, so every blow he received caused Long Tuo to tremble non stop. Blind's small stature was also trembling continuously as he moved back to shake off the power, his hands turning numb.
"Ha!"
Blind's eyebrows drew together, and Black Tortoise Primordial Spirit appeared behind him. He used all his strength and moved together with Empress Dowager and all the other women that had come rushing forward. In an instant, all kinds of lights burst forth in the manor as broad and powerful divine arts surged forth.
Boom!
An astonished cry sounded out as Empress Dowager and numerous women puked blood while flying backward. Xing An smiled and said, "You guys don't even make me want to collect you, so there's no need for you to come to disgrace yourselves!
"You hit my mother? Off with your head! Maang—"
Emperor Yanfeng's body trembled, and vital qi burst forth. His divine treasures rumbled as they opened, and the roars of dragons and howls of tigers came from them. He stretched out his hand, and Nine Dragons Divine Fire descended from the sky.
Xing An smirked, and the top of his head suddenly opened up. It flew off like a huge golden alms bowl. The Nine Dragons Divine Fire was caught by it before it returned to his head,
Emperor Yanfeng was astonished, but right after, the heavenly dragons that coiled around him attacked in close quarters as he worked together with Blind against Xing An.
At the same time, Deaf's huge brush was like a beam which he flicked with strength. The painting he had just finished flew out from the hall. Wielding his brush, Deaf leaped up as though he was soaring. He suddenly sank down and entered a painting, his brush stabbing out from within to smear on Xing An's body, and the other couldn't help falling inside.
Paintings were erected in the air and fluttered around. There were tens of thousands of gods and devils within them that encircled and attacked Xing An. He moved through the paintings and killed all of them, turning them into pools of ink.
Suddenly, Deaf jumped out, and his huge brush smeared toward all of his paintings.
Loud world-shaking bangs rang out as the inner space of the painting collapsed and shrunk before exploding with terrifying power!
Deaf let out a sigh of relief when a palm rushed out from the center of the explosion, tapping the pit of his stomach. Blind hurriedly tossed out Long Tuo which transformed into a black dragon. The strength of both men exploded, and Deaf flew backward while puking blood.
He climbed to his feet from where he'd landed and spat out another mouthful of blood. His limbs went weak, and he sprawled out on the ground while hissing, "His magic power and corporeal body are too strong, I can't injure him; however, he's trapped in my painting now, so quickly, I can't trap him for much longer…"
Emperor Yanfeng rushed to the center of the explosion, and the dragons went for Xing An. At the same time, Blind's Black Spear Long Tuo also stabbed continuously, moving as quick as lightning, but not injuring Emperor Yanfeng. Every strike was aimed precisely at Xing An.
"It's my turn!"
Li Tianxing gave a long hiss and flew over!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Li Tianxing's clothes fluttered. As the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, her abilities were definitely top-notch, despite the slight change in the sex. The moment she moved, she exhibited extremely powerful battle prowess.
Granny Si's figure floated around, but whenever she landed, every step seemed to be extremely heavy. She had flawlessly merged heavy and light together.
Li Tianxing stretched out her hand, and the space seemed to collapse as it fell to her hand. The surrounding space treated the palm as the center of the circle and densely-packed, thread-like veins lines formed.
Every node of those thread-like vein lines represented a star. Several dozen stars formed a constellation, and the three hundred and sixty stars of all sizes formed a space and network of overarching heaven.
It was Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force!
If one looked in detail at the stars and constellations, one would notice that they formed different kinds of images. For example, the inner structure of Purple Star was a heavenly palace, since it represented royalty.
The seven mansions of the west sky had over seven hundred stars and fifty-four constellations, creating all kinds of images inside, like Wood Wolf of Kui, Metal Dog of Lou, and Pheasant of Wei. The power represented by each star was also different from one another.
Li Tianxing was the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and had received the teachings of Woodcutter, so she had also comprehended her own Unity Technique.
If she hadn't become perverted, her talent and learning would have been top notch in the world. Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force was the ultimate art that she had comprehended after mastering Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, and it was extremely powerful.
Granny Si attacked toward the center of the explosion and fought together with Emperor Yanfeng. Instantly, a violent pulse came from the epicenter which bombarded the surroundings, causing an unknown number of monsters in the manor to puke blood from the tremors. They all hurriedly hid in the hall to avoid the impact.
Halfway up the mountain, Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu had flood dragons standing in front of them to block the aftermath of the divine arts.
Qin Mu placed his hand on Carefree Sword, and the heavens in his eyes opened up as he stared closely at the battle in the manor.
His fingers were continuously tapping on the sword's hilt and all kinds of wuji, taiji, four symbols and eight diagrams runes appeared in front and behind him as he frantically calculated.
In the center of the explosion, the world in the painting that had collapsed slowly faded away. Emperor Yanfeng and Li Tianxing surrounded the place where it had been, attacking while sprinting around. The black spear in Blind's hand, in the meantime, had become longer and longer. With a jolt of it, his feet also moved continuously as he stabbed at the painting!
From within it, arms and legs attacked outwards to clash with the three experts, and they were not at no disadvantage.
Emperor Yanfeng's magic power was incomparably powerful. Even though his cultivation had yet to recover to its peak, his level of magic power could already make him stand above the whole world. It even surpassed that of Li Tianxing and Blind, with his moves being grand in scale and filled with strength while his blows were heavy, fierce, and overbearing.
Li Tianxing, on the other hand, was a notch higher in divine arts. Her Unity Technique may not have been the true teaching, but by uniting Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, she could execute all kinds of techniques, skills, and divine arts freely. On top of that, Qin Mu even saw something that he didn't possess.
It was the more profound divine art contained in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
However, it required the combination of all kinds of divine arts from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. For example, Li Tianxing's Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force combined over three hundred divine arts in a palm, and because of that had shocking power!
'Cult Master Li is no doubt a genius of our cult, but it's a pity that his thoughts have gone crooked.' Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration endlessly.
There was naturally no need to talk about Blind. The battle with Dragon Rearing Sovereign had already shown his power. However, Blind's performance now was even more powerful than the time he had fought Dragon Rearing Sovereign. His divine spear became longer and longer, but the power also became greater and greater. Any strike from him gave others a feeling that it was absolutely wonderful.
His most outstanding point, however, still lay in the fact that he could make up for the places where Li Tianxing and Emperor Yanfeng were lacking, saving them with his attacks.
He was the two's backup, allowing them to execute their moves as they will, not having to worry about themselves.
Even so, the three of them were gradually unable to hold back Xing An who was in the painting.
That painting floated to and fro. Not only could the fist and leg divine arts from within block their attacks, they could even retaliate!
The power of Xing An's divine arts was incomparably strong, and his magic power was also powerful. His corporeal body was even more ridiculous, causing blood to leak out from the mouths of the three opponents. Even the painting itself was continuously splitting open from the tremors!
He was about to escape!
Qin Mu frowned slightly as he saw the disadvantageous situation. He then shouted out, "Chief Yu!"
Yu Zhaoqing rushed out with a quick step, her feet moving as though she was flying. She put her two fingers together as she stabbed toward the painting.
Swoosh!
Her speed was extremely fast as she moved like flickering lights and passing shadows. Light flashed at the tip of her fingers, and it was like a sharp sword stabbing into the painting at a lightning fast speed!
Yu Zhaoqing succeeded in her strike and instantly felt an extremely powerful force countering from the painting, making her delicate body tremble before falling back.
Suddenly, the wings on Yu Zhaoqing's body opened up to raise her up. She paused in the sky, her dozens of wings flapping in a hurry. Countless runes appeared on the clothes of her body, and light circulated rapidly, shooting out from her scales and into the painting.
A trace of blood could be seen from within, which roused Emperor Yanfeng and Li Tianxing's spirits, causing their attacks to be even more concentrated.
Qin Mu had a nervous expression when he said to the girls behind him in a low voice, "Take this chance to hide in the hall."
Ling Yuxiu hurriedly brought Yan Jingjing and the rest down the mountain and hid in one of the halls.
Qin Mu then frowned slightly. The calculations that were both in front and behind him were still progressing frantically, but he soon felt that his wisdom was not enough. He could no longer calculate what were the odds of Blind and the resting achieving victory,
His feet moved as he calculated the angle and success rate of his attack. With the execution of Secrets of Dragon Control, the flood dragons coiled around his body and lent him their magic power.
Qin Mu's aura rose dramatically, and as the flood dragons lent their power to him, his body grew taller and taller. His magic power grew more and more powerful while dragon scales were also frantically growing out of his outer body, covering his skin.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
More nine heavens formation markings appeared in his pupils.
He had executed Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Technique to its extreme!
Not only was he using superior algebra attainments to calculate, he was also using his divine eyes to observe the battle and calculate.
'Xing An has a flaw! His body parts aren't adapting well and are starting to reject one another!'
His eyes suddenly lit up, and his mental strength burst forth to contact Yu Zhaoqing with his mind. She then immediately used her brainwaves to inform Blind, Li Tianxing, and Emperor Yanfeng.
At the halfway point of the mountain, Qin Mu stopped and bent his knees to squat down. The flood dragons on his body raged with magic power, causing his aura to suddenly become berserk as well.
Qin Mu's palm that was holding Carefree Sword's hilt moved, and sword light filled the heaven.
The strength in his legs burst forth, and he nearly replicated Cripple's speed when he was at his peak!
Boom!
Wherever Qin Mu passed by, there would be hundreds and thousands of afterimages overlapping each other, moving forward continuously toward the painting!
He reached it the moment when the sword light of Carefree Sword was the most scorching!
His speed reached its extreme, and the sword light of Carefree Sword was like a huge drill flashing by, piercing through the painting!
Xing An's chest was struck by the sword, and he got stabbed out through the painting, which was then shredded to pieces!
At the same time, Blind's attack arrived. Black Dragon Spear Long Tuo pierced Xing An's back and came out from his chest, avoiding his heart.
Emperor Yanfeng and Li Tianxing used Nine Dragon Mountain Breaking Palm and Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force to strike at the same time against Xing An's left and right temples, causing massive destructive force to rush into his brain!
At the same instant, the lights flowing through Yu Zhaoqing's body flew out to stab Xing An's legs, fixing his feet to the ground!
"Has it ended?"
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Yu Zhaoqing played the most important part in this battle. With her as the central administration, Li Tianxing, Emperor Yanfeng, and Blind could work together as one. Only then were they able to suddenly unleash their most ruthless moves, killing Xing An in one strike.
"Hehehe, you guys aren't bad."
Xing An who got hit by the sword and spear suddenly raised his face full of praise. Blood was flowing out from the corner of his mouth and various wounds, but it was only for a moment. As if it was alive, it is suddenly rushed back in, returning to his body.
"You guys are all not bad."
Xing An laughed loudly, and Qin Mu's face changed drastically. He hurriedly pulled out his sword, but at that moment, Xing An stretched out his hand to flick him away. Qin Mu's body trembled violently, and the flood dragons cried out mournfully as they fell off him.
His strength instantly declined. Blind shook his spear and flicked Xing An up into the air, saving Qin Mu. Xing An stretched his hand out to smack Divine Spear Long Tuo heavily, and sparks instantly flew around Blind's hands. The flesh and blood of his palms were all messed by the friction with Divine Spear Long Tuo which came smashing back at him. Once Divine Spear Long Tuo saw that it was about to stab him in the chest, it changed back into a black bone dragon to coil around him, trembling violently to shake off Xing An's power.
Divine Spear Long Tuo's bones rumbled with dragon roars. Only then was it able to shake off the power. The black bone dragon raised its head and coiled even tighter around Blind.
Xing An fell to the ground with a thump. There were two huge holes in his chest which were caused by Qin Mu's sword and Blind's spear.
His head was nearly squashed due to Li Tianxing and Emperor Yanfeng's palm divine arts. Meanwhile, there were over a dozen holes on his legs from Yu Zhaoqing's attack.
"You guys are really not bad!" Xing An's face was long and narrow from being squashed, and his face was warped. However, he was still smiling with sincerity. "You guys are worthy of me using my full strength"
Ka-cha.
The chest he always carried with him split open, and three heads flew out. Xing An raised his hands to pluck away his own that had been squashed, and the three new ones landed on his neck, each giving a shake.
The eyeballs in the squashed head then flew out to replace the eyeballs in one of the heads.
Four more arms then flew out of the chest and came to his sides, growing into his body.
Xing An moved them and stretched out one hand to pull out the divine heart that had been pierced, replacing it with another one. He then pulled out the ribs that had been sliced apart and shook his head. "Even if I kill all of you, I can only be said to not be making a loss. All of you aren't bad, worthy to be part of my collection."
Blind's expression changed as he stretched his hands to grab the air. Long Tuo flew into his hand and transformed back into a black spear. He shouted sternly, "We can't wait for him to finish changing his body!"
The huge spear in his hand stabbed forward. Emperor Yanfeng and Li Tianxing immediately went left and right to attack. Yu Zhaoqing also used all she could, but Xing An remained calm and composed as before, using two hands to continue changing his damaged body.
Bang!
Emperor Yanfeng suffered numerous punches and flew backward. The tip of Blind's Divine Spear Long Tuo was grabbed by Xing An's other hand which gave a forceful jolt to flick Blind high up into the sky.
Two heads opened wide to howl loudly. Their voices like thunder struck Yu Zhaoqing who was in midair, causing blood to leak out from the corner of her mouth. She lost control of her consciousness and fell from the sky!
Ling Tianxing's palm force burst forth, but what she saw next was Xing An finishing to replace his body parts, facing her with his three heads and six arms!
'How am I going to fight like this?' Her mind was blank.
"Cult Master Li, you've planted a devil in the Dao heart?" Xing An's three faces revealed peculiar smiles. Each face looked different, having a mixture of man and woman, young and old. "It's easy to break! After you die, I shall preserve this body carefully!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Li Tianxing's expression changed slightly, and Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force instantly changed. Her attainments in spell divine arts could be said to be number one in the world. The nodes of Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force were stars, and when they revolved, the attributes of the palm force would change and its power would also become different.
Her palm force may seem like corporeal body divine art, but at the root, it was a spell divine art. It had inner space, myriad of changes, and was close to boundless. As a matter of fact, after Li Tianxing had succeeded in cultivating Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force, she had lost her motivation to improve.
That kind of divine art was too perfect, so perfect that all the other divine arts created after that couldn't surpass it.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had Unity Technique, and she called Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force her Unity Technique that was able to control all divine arts in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures!
Yet no matter how many times her palm force transformed, Xing An paid no attention to it. He didn't even try to guess the transformations of her palm force or divine arts. No matter how many times her divine arts changed, Xing An broke them apart with brute force!
God's fist, god's strength, god's magic power—he was a god that disregarded all her changes and just crushed everything in his way!
Blood leaked out from the corner of Li Tianxing's mouth, and she felt a terrifying force coming out from Xing An's palm force. That power bombarded her vital qi and struck the devil seed!
Village Chief and Blind couldn't do anything back in the day to save Si Youyou. Old Rulai also didn't manage to enlighten Li Tianxing, yet Xing An went straight for the origin, wanting to destroy him!
Emperor Yanfeng and Blind attacked. Yu Zhaoqing also picked herself up and rose to fight. Four of Xing An's hands dealt with Emperor Yanfeng and Blind's attacks while vital qi rose from the top of his head to transform into a divine bridge. His primordial spirit stood on it and fought with Yu Zhaoqing, blocking the moves of the three people and even severely injuring them!
Too terrifying.
Emperor Yanfeng couldn't get through the three heads and six arms. Blind had the ability to break through Xing An's defense, but the other's power was just too strong. His magic power far surpassed that of Blind, which made his attacks have not lethality.
The battle between Yu Zhaoqing and Xing An on the divine bridge was filled with danger. Xing An's primordial spirit was extremely weird and terrifying. It was changing non-stop, sometimes becoming Green Dragon God, sometimes White Tiger God, and at others Black Tortoise or Vermillion Bird.
He had even seized the primordial spirits of experts who had cultivated them to the god realm!
"Invulnerable, invulnerable…"
Blood kept flowing out from Li Tianxing's mouth, and the devil seed was gradually shaken. Yet before that happened, the corporeal body might not be able to handle it.
After all, the body belonged to the disciple, Si Youyou. Li Tianxing had changed her primordial spirit into a heart devil, planting the devil in her Dao heart. She then had borrowed Si Youyou's body to continuously nourish herself and become stronger. Only recently did she try to fuse and take over the body. Because of that, Si Youyou's cultivation had risen drastically, breaking through Life and Death a year ago and the Divine Bridge just recently.
Yet Si Youyou's primordial spirit couldn't withstand Xing An's attacks. Before Li Tianxing's devil seed was killed, Si Youyou would probably die in Xing An's hands.
"Once Youyou is dead, this body will belong to me, I can escape, Xing An can't hold me back…"
Li Tianxing was overjoyed. She had always fought over the flawless body with Si Youyou yet there was always Blind, Village Chief, and also Old Rulai who got in the way, and now she would finally get her wish.
What she loved wasn't Si Youyou as a person, but her body. How good was it to be a woman with a beauty that even the gods would envy? So beautiful that one looks out of this world?
With such a body, Li Tianxing would attract the eyes of everyone no matter where she walked. Countless men would fall head over heels for her and go into a frenzy for her. Everyone would love her.
She could have everything!
Since she was the previous Heavenly Devil Cult Master, her abilities weren't just for great battle prowess. If she wanted to escape, not many people in the world could be able to stop her.
The cult followers of Heavenly Devil Cult were skilled in all kinds of escape skills, and she was even a great master in this field!
Now, she just needed to wait for Xing An to get rid of Si Youyou's primordial spirit, and she would be able to escape to live a happy and blessed life!
Yet Li Tianxing's heart suddenly became flustered for no reason. He thought of a bright and beautiful morning a hundred years ago when the young patriarch had brought a little girl of Si family to find him.
"This is Si Youyou, the Heavenly Saint Cult Saintess of this generation, but I can't teach her. Compared to me, you are still young and robust, so you can handle the torment."
The young patriarch had thrown the little girl over and turned to leave. He escaped as though the little girl was an extremely dangerous beast.
Back then, when Li Tianxing saw Si Youyou's face, he had still been a man.
At that time, Si Youyou was only thirteen years old, and he could still remember their first meeting. He'd felt a blow to his heart as though he was struck by the greatest happiness. It was like his heart was held by her warm hands, like the whole world was only left with that young girl in front of him.
Yet he knew he was her master and he couldn't have any evil thoughts toward his disciple.
For a long time, he always abided by a master's responsibility, teaching Si Youyou with all his heart, imparting all he had learned to her. Yet evil thoughts still kept climbing out from time to time, disrupting his thoughts and Dao heart.
Si Youyou was very mischievous and basically, all the people in Heavenly Saint Cult had been tormented by her, which resulted in a lot of trouble. Li Tianxing was always busy cleaning up the mess left by his young disciple, settling all the troubles caused by her.
However, that time was also when he'd been the happiest. Even though he was always busy cleaning up after her, he also got to enjoy spoiling her.
In front of him, Si Youyou was obedient and understanding. She improved very fast and was much to his liking. There were no dumb women in Si Family.
Back then, they had a very strong relationship as master and disciple, and he had gotten used to hiding the evil thoughts deep inside him.
When did he start to change?
Si Youyou had grown up. Her mischievous and puerile character gradually vanished and what replaced it was an astonishing charm. Every action, every word radiated with charm, to the point that he could only have eyes for her.
At that time, he had known that he was the master and shouldn't have evil thoughts toward his disciple, but he couldn't resist it any longer.
He peeked on Si Youyou bathing, collected clothes she had worn—he was infatuated with her to the extreme.
However, he was detected by Si Youyou, and she started to slowly drift away.
It should have been around then that his infatuation had become twisted, changed into greed.
The more he couldn't get it, the more he wanted to get it, and the more the thought, the more his heart became twisted. He felt that what he loved wasn't his disciple, but that most beautiful body.
He felt his own change, and he couldn't help being frightened.
The collapse, distortion, and deformation of his Dao heart terrified him. To save it, he had come up with a solution.
Since there was a rule which forbade master and disciple relationships, which limited the feelings between him and his disciple, he could become Si Youyou and live with that beautiful body.
He decided to use his power and prestige to settle all of it. All those who opposed him in the cult were exiled, or killed, or imprisoned. Finally, he had his wish and divorced his first wife to marry his disciple.
That night, Si Youyou fought vigorously to kill him, but that was within his expectations. He became a heart devil which lay low in her Dao heart, waiting for the day he could become her.
Li Tianxing recalled all of that, and his eyes grew blank.
'I've lost. Since that bright and beautiful morning when I saw her for the first time, my Dao heart has been defeated…"
Li Tianxing coughed up blood from Xing An's heavy attacks and moved back continuously.
That morning when the young patriarch had sent Si Youyou over, at that first look, he had already fallen in love with his disciple. What had crumbled his Dao heart wasn't Si Youyou, but him himself.
Because of the infatuation and the forbidden relationship between master and disciple, his Dao heart was twisted continuously, until it finally became what it was today, a joke in the eyes of others.
He didn't really want to attain her body, but had loved the person from the beginning to the end. It wasn't her body. It was only his twisted Dao heart which made him think that he had wanted to become Si Youyou.
"When I first met her, I was defeated. Patriarch, you harmed me…"
Li Tianxing roused his spirit and remembered what else the young patriarch had said during the morning he had sent Si Youyou over. "Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures contains the two words great educational, and they mean education, inheritance. As the sacred cult master, don't fail to live up to those two words."
At that time, there had been only the girl in his eyes, and that sentence had passed by his ears. However, it had become abnormally clear now.
"The two words, great educational, I have never followed them before!"
Li Tianxing hissed fiercely, and a terrifying devil light burst forth from Si Youyou's body, shooting out from her heart and stabbing Xing An's heart.
That black light was like a bridge for Li Tianxing's primordial spirit to rush at Xing An.
"My good disciple, go."
He entered Xing An's Dao heart, and he actually felt at peace, like he had never felt before.
Granny Si woke up and was stumped for words. Yu Zhaoqing fell from the sky while coughing blood, Blind's Divine Spear Long Tuo was bent and his arm was broken, Emperor Yanfeng was raised up high by Xing An before being thrown head first into the ground.
Empress Dowager and the rest were currently standing up with shaky legs. Cripple tried to crawl up with his hands. Blood flowed out from the corner of Deaf's mouth while he held his brush with trembling hands, unable to control it at all.
Qin Mu was refining spirit pills frantically, treating the injuries of the injured flood dragons.
Everyone had lost. They had suffered a crushing defeat.
Xing An's palm came at Granny Si, wanting to destroy her primordial spirit.
Suddenly, that palm stopped in front of her face and became somewhat gentle as it smoothed out her beautiful hair that was messed up at her temples.
One head of Xing An lowered to look at her with a gentle gaze as though it was the morning a hundred years ago. "Youyou, be a beautiful woman and live your life happily, quickly go—" Li Tianxing's voice said from Xing An's head. He then shouted sternly, "Xing An, follow me to death! Heavenly Devil Disintegration—"
"Cult Master Li, you are too presumptuous! Just a mere devil seed and you want to take over my corporeal body?"
Fierce shouts came from the other two heads of Xing An. There was a rumble, and a violent explosion came from Xing An's body. It trembled, the limbs going out of control.
Cripple forcibly pushed himself to fly out of the hall, his hands coming for Xing An's eyes.
Yu Zhaoqing exploded with the last of her strength, and multicolored rays held Xing An's body in place. Blind raised his spear with one arm and used all his strength to stab into Xing An's heart. Emperor Yanfeng snarled and soared into the air while being upside down. He lured over bolts of lightning that were as thick as dragons to strike his opponent frantically!
"A bunch of trash!" Xing An's body suddenly broke down, and heads, arms, a chest, a heart, and legs came flying out from his chest. All of the heads were fuming with anger. "You are all a bunch of trash, so what if you used Heavenly Devil Disintegration, what can you do to me?"
Everyone flew off in all directions and coughed up blood without stopping.
Qin Mu jumped up and flew over while the flood dragons chased after him frantically to coil around his body, raising his aura drastically. He raised his sword to stab at Xing An who was reassembling his body.
"Get lost!"
Xing An's arms fell off his body and tapped over a dozen times in a split second, severely injuring the flood dragons once more. They collapsed to the ground, unable to get up anymore.
Xing An pulled back his arms and continued to reattach new ones to his body. He flicked Qin Mu away with a finger and said coldly, "If it wasn't because you are still of use to me, I could blow you to death with just a breath… Hmm?"
The arm he had just connected suddenly fell off his armpit and dropped to the ground.
Xing An was stunned, He looked down at that arm, and one of his eyes suddenly dropped out from its eye socket, rolling two rounds on the ground.
'What's happening?' He couldn't help being stumped. An ear slid off then, but just as he was about to catch it, his arm also suddenly fell off his body.
He raised his head to look at Qin Mu in a hurry, but that head came tumbling down. He shouted over from the ground, "You poisoned me?"
Qin Mu climbed up and wiped away the blood on the corner of his mouth while saying ruthlessly, "I just refined a supplement for you! And it worked perfectly!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Supplement?"
Xing An was slightly stunned. His chest suddenly exploded open as ribs came out from his flesh and blood. The latter seemed to be rejecting his ribs, and it looked extremely scary.
The divine blood in his body was also flowing outwards. After that, a leg suddenly left the body without his control!
"What you gave me was really supplement? Not poison?"
Xing An's face finally became flustered when another head fell off. The eyeballs, ears, and nose all slid off.
The scattered eyeballs, nose, and tongue bounced around, trying to stick themselves back on the head, but once they managed that, they would fall off again. They couldn't join one another.
Emperor Yanfeng, Blind, and the rest saw a ray of hope and immediately attacked. Xing An raised his hand to grab Divine Spear Long Tuo that Blind stabbed toward him. Just as he took hold of it, his whole arm went flying with the spear.
He blocked the fist of Emperor Yanfeng, and his backbone suddenly slid out from his body. It wasn't his as well, but had come from a divine skeleton.
"It cannot be a supplement, it cannot be a supplement!"
Xing An was flustered. Granny Si suddenly smacked him in the chest with her palm, and what she used was Li Tianxing's Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force which penetrated his chest.
His heart jumped out and landed on the ground, bouncing twice.
"How can it be a supplement?"
Xing An was still not yet dead. He used all his strength to defend against the attacks of everyone, growing more and more terrified.
Supplements could only make him even stronger, so why would it make his body split up?
Bang, bang, bang!
His body suddenly exploded, and blood spilled out in all directions. It had come from another expert and wasn't from the same body as his heart and body, so it was rejecting all parts of the body.
"What poison did you give me?"
Xing An's head which had landed on the ground flew up again and pounced over. Qin Mu wasn't in time to dodge it, but at that moment, Cripple's hand moved at lightning fast speed, and he sprinted over. He suddenly leaped up and grabbed the head while shouting, "Return my legs!"
That head roared loudly, blowing Cripple away; however, he came flying back and fought with the head again.
A leg sprinted on the ground, rushing toward Qin Mu. Deaf tossed out the brush in his hand with force, and it swept pass Qin Mu, taking that leg into a painting.
Deaf collapsed on his back and gasped for breath. He had used up all his strength to draw a painting, Fierce Tiger Painting. Within it, a fierce tiger was holding that leg in its mouth and running away.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. What he gave Xing An was indeed a supplement, a true medicine.
Wanting to use poison against Xing An was nearly impossible. It was hard to say if even Apothecary had the ability to do it. It was clear then that it was impossible for Qin Mu to refine such a wonderful poison.
Xing An had beat up Blind, Deaf, Cripple, Li Tianxing, and Emperor Yanfeng—all these unmatched existences—to the point they had no means of retaliation. Empress Dowager and the rest of the experts hadn't even lasted a round before falling.
Xing An was definitely numerous times stronger than Dragon Rearing Sovereign. Qin Mu had used his Three Break Powder to poison Dragon Rearing Sovereign yet that had only troubled him without posing any threat to his life, so poisoning Xing An wasn't the best thing to do.
Besides that, Xing An was also skilled in medicine. His attainments in the art of healing could be matched by few in this world, so it would be easy for him to see through it if Qin Mu used poison.
To a divine physician that pursues a certain goal, poisoning an opponent was a kind of art. One that did not necessarily require the use of poison.
Xing An was unbelievably strong, but his flaws were also easy to see. His body parts were all taken from other strong practitioners and weren't one with his original body, thus they would easily reject one another.
Apothecary had once taught Qin Mu that the human body had a self-defense system (immune system). When transplanting organs, it was easy for the original body to recognize foreign ones as invaders that needed to be eradicated.
This was the reason why Xing An's body parts started to reject one another.
Apothecary had also taught Qin Mu that most diseases came from the deterioration of the self-defense system. For example, a flu epidemic could be eradicated by strengthening one's constitution and self-defense system.
With these two points, Qin Mu came up with a method to deal with Xing An, and it was by refining a great supplement. It would strengthen the sense of rejection between all his body parts, raising it to its maximum!
As the only youth in Disabled Elderly Village, Qin Mu had gone through the strictest teachings ever since he was young and had been devastated by the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village. The so-called strict family had made him deeply ingrain all their teachings and good traditions in his heart, which then became his personal standard of conduct.
Apothecary had noble character and unquestionable integrity. He felt that being an apothecary was an art. There was no fixed boundary between supplement and poison. Poison could be used as a medicine to save lives while supplement could also be a lethal poison.
When Qin Mu had refined pills to cure the flood dragons, what he refined was that great supplement. With the dragon qilin's saliva as a base ingredient, its potency was increased by all kinds of medicine for the flood dragons to consume.
After they ate the spirit pills, their wounds recovered rapidly, and their muscles regenerated. Their broken bones and snapped tendons also grew back quickly.
Qin Mu used Secrets of Dragon Control to bring the flood dragons to attack, and when Xing An's arms attacked came for them, the incomparably strong supplement took the chance to enter Xing An's arms. It then went into his heart, and from there into all other parts of his body.
Qin Mu had created the strongest dose which could even recover the body of injured flood dragons. When the supplement entered Xing An's body, the medicinal energy came into effect and amplified the rejection of his immune system countless times!
Poisoning him wouldn't be a lethal attack, but supplementing him could make him break up into pieces. This was then the art of healing that Apothecary had imparted to Qin Mu.
Yu Zhaoqing, Empress Dowager, and the rest suppressed their injuries to come to fight once more. Since Xing An's body had been split into pieces, the heads on the ground flew up and shouted, "Trying to kill me like this? You guys are too naive!"
His scattered body suddenly landed fatal blows on everyone, but because there was no support of the corporeal body, his magic power was way inferior to what he possessed before. His divine treasures were also seized by others, and even his divine treasures had separated from his body, causing his magic power to be scattered. Any attack he made didn't have the power it had previously.
Even so, his abilities were still extremely strong. Furthermore, the heads, legs, arms, and eyeballs floating around made everyone's hair stand on end.
Suddenly, a few legs sprinted over and attached themselves to the bottom of Xing An's chest. They legs exerted strength and raised him into the sky.
"He's trying to escape!" Cripple used his hands as feet to sprint over at a flying speed, shouting as he grabbed onto the two legs, "Return me my legs!"
The chest opened up, and other heads and eyes flew over to attack Cripple.
Emperor Yanfeng shouted fiercely and spat out a blood arrow from his mouth. That blood arrow transformed into a blood dragon which soared into the sky. Emperor Yanfeng jumped onto its back and went straight for the chest in the sky.
Blind pushed himself up with his huge spear and leaped into the sky. Divine Spear Long Tuo shook its body to drag him along the air as it rushed toward that chest above.
Granny Si, Yu Zhaoqing, Empress Dowager, and the rest all executed their moves to rush into the sky, intercepting the chest.
Bang.
Emperor Yanfeng fell down and crashed heavily onto the ground, coughing out blood continuously.
Cripple also fell right after, but he kept hugging the two legs tightly, not giving them up. Qin Mu sprinted over and stretched out his arms to catch, but his injuries all opened at that moment, and he stumbled. Cripple fell from his arms and crashed into the ground.
"Mu'er, you are unfilial…" Cripple bounced once before landing down again. His eyes rolled back and he fainted; however, he still hugged the two legs tightly, his grip not loosening in the slightest.
Qin Mu scratched his head and thought to himself, 'If I had used Secrets of Dragon Control to control those flood dragons, my speed could have been slightly faster…'
He immediately executed Secrets of Dragon Control and numerous flood dragons slithered to him while suppressing their injuries.
Bang, bang, bang.
Experts continuously fell from the sky while Emperor Yanfeng struggled to get up. When he saw Empress Dowager falling down as well, he struggled to run over and catch her. Blood spewed out from his mouth as he was crushed again.
When Qin Mu finally borrowed the power of the flood dragons, Yu Zhaoqing fell from the sky. He wanted to catch her, but saw her clothes transforming into scaled wings that flapped non-stop, stopping the momentum of her fall.
Qin Mu stopped, but then Yu Zhaoqin suddenly lost her strength, and her scaled wings fell limp. She crashed into the ground, since it was already too late for Qin Mu to go and catch her.
There was only Granny Si and Blind left out of those who were still attacking the chest. Qin Mu then immediately rose into the sky. The flood dragons that were on his body were heavily injured and couldn't last long before they would have to leave his body, so he needed to end the battle fast.
The battle in the sky was extremely strange. Granny Si and Blind were covered in heavy injuries while standing on top of a chest and defending against attacks that came from all directions.
What was attacking them were the body parts of Xing An. His divine eyes shot out divine lights, the top of his skulls flew up like alms bowls, his fists, legs, and even his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, as well as skin, were all attacking them.
Such a bizarre method of attacking had never been heard of before!
Blind's black dragon coiled and spun frantically to defend so Granny Si had instead become the one with the strongest battle power. She used Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force to strike back the divine body parts that came for them.
Qin Mu sprinted straight for the battlefield in the sky, his speed extremely fast as he passed by an eye.
Swoosh.
That eye disappeared, and a flood dragon left Qin Mu's body, moving away from the chest as fast as possible with the eye in its claw. The further it was, the weaker would Xing An's control become, and the harder it would be for him to collect back that body part.
Qin Mu turned back, and his Heaven Pilfering Divine Hands grabbed another eyeball that was shooting out divine light while flying in the sky. Another flood dragon then brought that second eyeball away.
As Qin Mu sprinted frantically through the sky, he 'stole' the various body parts that were surrounding the chest and had the flood dragons around him to bring them away.
There were fewer and fewer flood dragons, and his speed gradually slowed down. Suddenly, strands of hair filled the sky like a black rainstorm and came for him!
"Mu'er, watch out!"
Granny Si and Blind rushed over to his side to block that attack. Granny Si's palms faced the black rainstorm and pushed it back, causing countless black hair to fly back like black needles.
Blind's spear stabbed out and pierced the chest with a loud bang. Energy came bounding over from the inside, forcing Divine Spear Long Tuo back, and the body parts immediately swarmed back into the chest through the hole.
The chest then broke away and escaped!
Blind took a step to give chase, but he suddenly grunted. His wounds erupted, and he almost fell from the sky.
The speed of the chest was extremely fast, moving a thousand miles in an instant. At that moment, a resounding voice rang out, "Every cloud has..."— a horizontal and a vertical knife light shone in the sky before returning back into darkness—"a silver lining!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu executed Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill to look at the two vertical and horizontal knife lights. The chest was sliced into two, and it was hard to say how many limbs came falling out, scattering in all directions. Some flew into the sky, some went into the forest, and some escaped into the earth.
"Heaven Knife!" Xing An's voice came from all directions. "You will all become part of my collection sooner or later!"
A majestic figure rushed over and raised his hands with which the knives fell, mincing all the broken limbs that didn't escape in time.
"Grandpa Butcher, don't let go of Xing An!" Qin Mu shouted.
However, his cultivation wasn't strong enough for his voice to travel that far, so Granny Si immediately transmitted her voice, and Butcher exploded with a shout. A Pig Slaughter Knife fell from the sky and stabbed into the ground. Knife qi slashed in all directions underground, trying to force out Xing An's body parts that were escaping below. At the same time, another knife flew up and sliced through the air.
After a moment, two knives flew back, and Butcher grabbed hold of them while jumping away as though he was flying. On his way, he said, "He was struck by my knife qi and won't be able to escape from my sense! I'll come back in a bit!"
"Village Chief and the rest still haven't come back?"
"They are still guests at Old Ma's place. I was worried about here so I came back earlier!"
Qin Mu relaxed, but at that moment Blind, who was at his side, suddenly swayed and fell from the sky. Qin Mu immediately grabbed him, and his body suddenly became incomparably heavy. Blind's Divine Spear Long Tuo had lost its consciousness as well, since it had suffered severe damage just like its master.
It was just that the spear was from a black dragon's bones. It was a divine dragon, one who was both psychic and intelligent, as well as truly heavy, and it pressed down on Qin Mu with immense weight.
Granny Si stretched her hand out to grab him and was dragged down from the sky too. Only when they were about to hit the ground did they halt in the air.
The three people landed safely, and the final flood dragon on Qin Mu's body slid down and lay on the ground like a dead snake, gasping for breath. Bloody foam kept flowing out from its mouth.
Qin Mu forced himself to stand straight, even if his hands and legs were trembling uncontrollably. His injuries were also extremely heavy, barely not resulting in his death. If it wasn't for Blind, Cripple, and Deaf who had saved him in time, he would have been captured or killed by Xing An.
Even when he had borrowed the flood dragons' power to join the battle, he had shown a severe lack of battle power and experience. In a life-and-death fight with an existence like Xing An, he could only exhaust all his strength in turning the tables with some clever tricks.
Luckily, he still succeeded in that this time.
However, when he looked around and saw that the manor was covered with experts that were all heavily injured, he couldn't help being aghast.
Not to mention existences like Blind, Deaf, Cripple, Emperor Yanfeng, and Li Tianxing, even his flood dragons were all much stronger and terrifying than some existences of cult master level in the martial world!
Many strong practitioners, like Empress Dowager and various female heroes as well as existences such as Yu Zhaoqing, were actually all defeated. If it wasn't for that dose of supplement, everyone would have probably been killed by Xing An!
"Strong, he is really f*cking strong… Ow! Ow!"
Just as Qin Mu started speaking, his ears began to hurt as Granny Si pulled on his earlobes.
"Saying vulgarities again!" she said unpleasantly. "Who taught you that? Butcher, or is it Patriarch? Or is it some shady gang of scoundrels you have friended outside?"
"Ow! I will stop, granny let go, please!"
Granny Si let go, and Qin Mu sighed in relief. He rubbed his ear and probed, "Granny Si, now that Li Tianxing has left, you don't need to continue disguising yourself in ugly skins, right? Don't be sad…"
"Who's sad?" Granny Si walked forward while shaking her head. "Li Tianxing is dead, so I can finally be free of my burden. I should be happy instead." Even though she said that, she didn't show any smile, but instead had a sorrowful expression.
She avoided Qin Mu, for she didn't want him to see her when she was weak. She summoned the demons in the halls to carry everyone that was injured inside the buildings.
Qin Mu summoned the injured flood dragons over, and they brought all of Xing An's body parts they had snatched away, throwing all of them into the true dragon's nest.
The inner space within it could block any connection, but Qin Mu was still not at ease. He made the Emperor's Disk transform into the true dragon lord and had it enter the dragon's nest. Cripple was hugging his legs when he fainted, so Qin Mu had to waste quite some effort to pull them away. He then found Deaf's painting and threw it in the seal of the true dragon's nest as well.
After doing all of that, he let out a sigh of relief and walked into the hall to help treat everyone. However, there were some people whose injuries were too heavy and they could die at any moment. If he cured everyone one by one, it would take too much time, and before he could reach the end, a number of people would have already died.
Qin Mu could only call the dragon qilin over. "Fatty Dragon, I've reared you for a thousand days to be useful now, so go lick all of them."
The dragon qilin hesitated, whining, "Cult Master, where would I have that much drool?"
"Shhh, don't say drool." Hu Ling'er immediately jumped on the dragon qilin's ear and whispered, "Call it dragon's saliva. If you call it drool, we won't be able to sell it in the future. Lick them properly, and I'll ask young master to increase your meal."
The dragon qilin was instantly motivated and headed off for work. "Sister Ling'er, don't forget about increased meals."
Qin Mu picked out the people who had the most severe injuries and diagnosed them first. He fetched some silver needles to first seal their wounds and suppress their injuries. He then refined pills to treat them, but his hands were still trembling, and two furnaces of medicine were spoiled.
He composed himself and first treated his own injuries. Once his hands no longer trembled, he then started to diagnose others and refine pills for others.
There were a lot of casualties, and all their injuries were different. Qin Mu first treated them once just to prevent their injuries from erupting, so their lives wouldn't be in danger. Only after that did he start to carefully diagnose them.
His flood dragons were also injured pretty badly. They showed their wounds to the dragon qilin for him to lick, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, making those flood dragons curse him with 'ma ha ma ha'.
Ling Yuxiu, Yan Jingjing, Si Yunxiang, and Hu Ling'er also came to help. After treating everyone for half a day, Qin Mu was completely exhausted and simply couldn't hold on any longer. The injuries on his body were not yet healed yet, so he could only go and rest first.
Luckily, there were no more lethal injuries left. Most of the patients had already woken up, even if they still needed more attention to fully heal.
Qin Mu slept for the whole night. When he woke up, the sky was still not light yet, and he could hear Granny Si's voice. He walked out of the room to see her directing over a dozen mermaids to make breakfast.
He sat down on the stone stairs in front of the hall and looked at her back, his heart at peace.
It was Granny Si, not Li Tianxing.
The old Cult Master had really died.
What concerned that man, Qin Mu had no liking for him. Li Tianxing wasn't qualified for the title of cult master, making Heavenly Saint Cult miss out on forty years of development. If it wasn't for Patriarch, who acted as the stabilizing force, Heavenly Saint Cult would have long been annexed by Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng.
However, at the end, he had still managed to do what a master should do. He had understood the great educational part of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. He had comprehended it and passed it down. However, when one looked at his life, failures were still in the majority.
Granny Si turned back to look at him, and Qin Mu who was on the stone steps smiled at her. The east was suffused in white as though a huge fish had flipped over on its belly. The sun rose and roasted its skin into a reddish yellow color.
After breakfast, Qin Mu treated himself first, then when his injuries were somewhat better, he went to treat others.
The girls also came to help. After being busy for more than half a day, it was hard to say how many furnaces of pills Qin Mu had refined. He had almost exhausted himself to the brink again, and the spirit herbs in his taotie sack were more or less used up. Those in Dragon Rearing Sovereign's taotie sack were also nearly exhausted.
Qin Mu wanted to go bring more himself, but he truly didn't have the strength, so he could only write down the names of what he needed and let Hu Ling'er ride the dragon qilin to Relax Prefecture to bring them.
"The owner of the herb shop is from Heavenly Saint Cult, so Saintess Xiang, you shall follow and get them to prepare the herbs. If there's no one there, use a fast ship to transport them from where you can. Also, prepare twenty-six huge cauldrons and a steamer that could be used to cook humans. Some of these people's injuries are very complicated, so I'll have to boil and steam them."
Yan Jingjing was excited. "I want to go as well!"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "Good sister, I promised to bring you out to play, but I didn't expect to encounter something like that. I have no time to play with you now, so it'll be good for you to go to Relax Prefecture and take a walk there."
Si Yunxiang was delighted. "Even if it's the property of the cult, I will still have to charge for the herbs, mobilizing fast ships also requires quite a bit of great abundance coins."
Qin Mu waved his hand. "Ling'er has the money, don't worry."
Hu Ling'er and Si Yunxiang looked each other in the eye, and sparks flew between the demon and the human. There was an atmosphere like a huge battle was about to break out.
The two girls sat on the dragon qilin's back and went out of the manor. Hu Ling'er sneered. "Saintess Xiang, you can scam the young master, but you can't scam me. You can forget about taking advantage of me."
Si Yunxiang chuckled and said, "I naturally know how good Ling'er is, so I said those words to cult master. Think about it, most of the people injured are not from Heavenly Saint Cult. But since the cult master still wants the sacred cult to prepare the medicine, we naturally have to collect money, but from who? Not from the cult master, certainly. We will then collect it from the emperor! Sister Ling'er, stop haggling with me. Instead, you should raise the price as high as possible and let us ruthlessly earn money from the emperor!"
Hu Ling'er shook her head. "There's morality in trading. You can't scam the emperor either. You have to charge according to the prices of the spirit herbs."
Si Yunxiang argued with Hu Ling'er, but she didn't yield no matter what. The two girls settled on the prices, and Hu Ling'er thought to herself, 'After buying herbs from you, I shall give a false report to the emperor. That way, I will be able to earn a huge profit! If I wallow in the mire with you, I will have to split the loot with you, but if I cut you out of the equation, all of the loot will belong to me!'
Around ten days were required for the medicine shop in Relax Prefecture to prepare all the herbs. In the meantime, Qin Mu finished recuperating, but there were still some hidden injuries that were yet to heal. After doing nothing for a few days and not seeing Butcher returning, Qin Mu suddenly thought of something.
'Wang Muran's insight is extraordinary, and he had suggested Sister Yuxiu and I to work together to found the cultivation method of Six Directions Primordial Spirit which would benefit the future generations. I have been really busy these few days, so I had totally forgotten about it.'
He found Ling Yuxiu and told her about it. Astonished, she asked, "If the cultivation method of Six Directions Primordial Spirit was really founded by us, could we be considered masters?"
"Masters?"
Qin Mu burst out laughing. "Is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor considered a master?"
When Ling Yuxiu talked about Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, she was full of respect and said, "How could Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor be just a master? The three basic sword forms are enough for his name to go down in history and never be forgotten by the world!"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "The merit of his three basic sword forms is somewhat weaker than that of our Six Directions Primordial Spirit. As long as we can complete the technique and cultivation method of Six Directions Primordial Spirit, the paths, skills, and divine arts will all take a huge step ahead, benefitting billions of people!"
Ling Yuxiu's mind was blown; she found it hard to believe. "The Six Directions Primordial Spirit that we cultivated by accident is really that important? Then what are we waiting for?"
She immediately pulled Qin Mu's hand and walked out of the hall excitedly.
Emperor Yanfeng, Empress Dowager, and the rest of the patient had been brought out by the deer demons to bask in the sunshine. Emperor Yanfeng was injured pretty heavily and had been talking to Yu Zhaoqing when he saw the pair of youngsters running out excitedly. "Xiu'er, where are you going?"
"To cultivate Six Directions Primordial Spirit!"
Emperor Yanfeng stared at her blankly. "Six Directions Primordial Spirit? How to cultivate it?"
Ling Yuxiu held Qin Mu's hand as she ran into the distance, her voice coming from afar. "Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation! My brother said this is called Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Emperor Yanfeng instantly had a feeling that his white cabbage had been ravaged by a wild boar and that the wild boar had come back again to ravage it once more. He immediately began to struggle to get up, wanting to stop this pair of youths, but a few deer demons walked over. They pressed him down, giving him no choice but to remain in place.
A female deer demon held some flowers in her hands and signaled for the emperor to not move, then placed the beautiful flowers on his head.
Some mermaids walked over and presented him with red fruits that were making a fuss. A bunch of them clamored in the plate, giving him a shock.
The tree demons surveyed the sickbeds, and whoever was not well-behaved would be whipped on the buttocks. Soon, all the famous people of the martial world, the emperor and Empress Dowager included, were much quieter.
After the demons finished their patrol, the emperor wanted to hurry over to catch up to the youths, but Empress Dowager said lazily, "Emperor, save yourself the trouble. The younger generations will do all right on their own. If you worry so much, won't Xiu'er be unable to marry in the future?"
"Mother might not know, but the danger concealed in Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation is extremely huge; it should not be done if the two people aren't husband and wife. If Xiu'er cultivated Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation with him, their primordial spirits would resonate with each other and they would ascend to bliss together.
"If after that she married someone in the future, she wouldn't be able to resonate with my son-in-law in the future. And without resonance, there won't be any feeling! If the pleasure of their primordial spirit resonating together is not present, she will divorce even if she marries!"
Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Take him in as your son-in-law then. What's there to be alarmed about? What's more, who dares to divorce a princess of the royal family?"
Emperor Yanfeng was silent for a moment. "Mother, he's Heavenly Devil Cult Master and also Human Emperor, I'm not too at ease."
Empress Dowager also fell silent as she knew what he meant—Heavenly Devil Cult Master had an overpowering influence.
The emperor was the person with the highest influence in the imperial court while Heavenly Devil Cult Master was the person with the highest influence in the martial world. The influence of Heavenly Devil Cult had spread throughout it, and even to every corner of the imperial court. It was especially so when Qin Mu had become the Heavenly Devil Cult Master. Heavenly Devil Cult prospered more and more, surpassing their peak period in history.
No matter if it was Dao Sect or Great Thunderclap Monastery, they were all crippled by Qin Mu, and even the imperial court could no longer contend against it. After all, the imperial court was reforming, and it needed the help of Heavenly Devil Cult for many, so many experts from the cult had entered the imperial court.
Eternal Peace Empire, from the bottom to the top, was filled with the influence of Heavenly Devil Cult.
Besides that, Qin Mu was much more open-minded than Dao Master and Rulai. He had reformed Heavenly Devil Cult and set up school halls, learning from Imperial Preceptor's actions and grooming an endless supply of talents for Heavenly Devil Cult.
In just two years after Qin Mu had become the cult master, he had invoked a huge transformation, and this worried Emperor and Empress Dowager.
What was even more worrying was that Qin Mu had many experts around him and even the identity of the human emperor. If he took out his Human Emperor's Seal, even Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Little Jade Capital would have to listen to his commands!
That would be terrifying.
Looking from this point, Qin Mu was definitely not the best candidate for the emperor's son-in-law.
If he took up that role, it would be easy for him to seize power from him.
That was what Emperor Yanfeng was worried about. While he was still alive, Qin Mu wouldn't be able to seize his power, but once he was gone, the change of ownership could happen with a snap of his fingers!
Without anyone's notice, the simple and honest child that had come to Eternal Peace Empire two years ago had grown into a fierce tiger that could fight with dragons. It was truly terrifying.
Even if Qin Mu didn't have the thought to seize power, what about the next Heavenly Devil Cult Master?
Who could be certain that the next Heavenly Devil Cult Master who inherited the power left behind by Qin Mu would not stir at the thought of being an emperor?
"As the emperor, you indeed shouldn't entrust your power to the pity of others. You have done what was right," Empress Dowager said. "However, why do I still see hesitation in you? You are on guard against Cult Master Qin yet you still indulge him; this isn't the way you do things. In order to carry out the reform with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, you even allowed him to poison me, making me lie on the sickbed for so many years, unable to dabble in any political affairs. Such a ruthless man is the emperor of our Ling family."
Emperor Yanfeng was full of guilt. "Fu Yuanqing poisoning mother was indeed silently allowed by me. If I didn't do that, mother's influence in the imperial court would have simply been too huge, and it would have been very hard for Imperial Preceptor and I to control everything. I'm unfilial, but I could only let mother be quiet for a period of time. Even if there was no Minister Qin, I would still have had Fu Yuanqing remove the poison in mother's body after I took full control of the court."
Empress Dowager sighed and said, "You have done well. You are really my son, your ruthlessness surpasses even mine own back then. So why aren't you laying your hands on Cult Master Qin?"
Emperor Yanfeng was silent before saying tartly, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid Imperial Preceptor and I will fail, and once we fail, we will die miserably. The fate of the empire, the lives of the people can't be all pinned down on me and neither can they be pinned on our Ling family. I need a successor to continue the reform after Imperial Preceptor and I fail. There's no one like this in Ling family, but Heavenly Devil Cult Master is such a person."
Empress Dowager looked at his face carefully and sighed. "I never thought that my son would be such a person. I have looked at you superficially. Emperor, let Xiu'er go with Minister Qin. If you think he can succeed you, let Xiu'er be with him. Our Ling family won't be wiped out even if Imperial Preceptor and you fail."
Emperor Yanfeng's heart stirred slightly, and he carefully thought about the meaning of her words before nodding slowly.
"You are a good emperor, and Imperial Preceptor is also a good imperial preceptor." Empress Dowager looked at the mountains covered in fog with a peaceful face and said in a gentle voice, "I won't go against the both of you anymore. Feel free to change this world as you like, carry out the reform to your heart's content. I shall live in seclusion in this forest, to fight with these little hussies over my lover!"
Emperor Yanfeng's face turned black again and he muttered, "Mother, the face of the royal family."
Empress Dowager basked under the sun and said with a smile that was not a smile, "You're a filial son, so why won't you think about the happiness of your old mother? I have laid on the sickbed for so many years, and I clearly know it's Imperial Preceptor and your doing, but have I ever grumbled at you? I only have this wish right now, so let me go. Let me fight with these little hussies, to enjoy myself for the last bit."
Emperor Yanfeng was solemn when he nodded. "Does mother need my help to eliminate her competitors?"
"I had climbed to the current position after countless hardships in the chambers of concubines, and you think I still need your help? You're underestimating me."
…
At the lake beside the manor, Qin Mu took out a stick of incense and stabbed it on the shore ground, lighting it up. Ling Yuxiu sniffed the abnormal fragrance and asked curiously, "What's this incense for?"
"This is Soul Guide Incense," Qin Mu said with a smile. "I imprinted the runes of Soul Guide into this incense and added over a hundred perfumes into it. Even though there's no divine art of Soul Guide, it can still guide the way. If our primordial spirits get lost, when this incense finishes burning, the power of the runes will burst forth. When our corporeal bodies smell the fragrance, it will guide our primordial spirits back to our corporeal bodies. This way, there's no need for others to protect us."
Ling Yuxiu already held Qin Mu's right hand, so he raised his left one for her to take as well. The two of them held hands, their eyes locked on each other. They smiled, and their primordial spirit instantly left their bodies.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu both had the experience of their primordial spirit leaving their bodies to roam the void. After that, the two of them tried to cultivate them on their own, but the effect wasn't great.
They were trying to cultivate what they had comprehended, but it was the act of changing coincidence into certainty, so it was naturally difficult.
Back then, Qin Mu had met Xu Shenghua. He thought that the other was another Overlord Body, and his mind grew agitated. That had then led him to experience his primordial spirit leaving his body to roam the void with Ling Yuxiu by coincidence.
Once their primordial spirits left their bodies, the two of them realized what they had done. Their luck was out of the ordinary, but it was just a random occurrence.
How to change that coincidence into certainty was of utmost importance to them.
At that moment, their primordial spirits had left their bodies and roamed together, trying to find the law of behavior in themselves. They noticed that their primordial spirits were tangled with each other and were resonating. It was different from Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation they had experienced by accident the previous time.
Primordial spirit was formed by the spirit embryo and soul. When it left the body, the souls resonated with each other, and the primordial spirits were also resonating with each other. There was a numbing throb that spread to all corners.
Such a feeling was lasting and unforgettable.
As the two youths roamed in the void, they saw flowers as big as woven mats. They didn't know their names. There was also grass like sharp swords which they hadn't seen before. There were jellyfish in the sky, creating a magnificent scenery, which was very different from that of Eternal Peace.
The youths lingered around.
"Is this what we are really seeing or is it just a shared hallucination?" The two of them enjoyed themselves and forgot to go back.
But at that moment, they suddenly smelled a strong, abnormal fragrance and instantly felt that they were being guided back by an invisible force. Ling Yuxiu immediately grabbed a small fish while saying, "Whether it's real or a hallucination, we will know when we return back to our corporeal bodies!"
Swoosh!
The boundless scenery in front of their eyes changed, and the vision suddenly vanished. They returned back to their corporeal bodies where they stood with their hands together and eyes locked onto each other.
Ling Yuxiu let go of Qin Mu's palm and saw a small fish flipping around in her palm.
"It's real! How marvelous!"
She bent over and placed the little fish in her hands into the water. It swam and struggled, then flipped over and almost drowned.
Ling Yuxiu immediately ran over and fished it out. She saw the little fish coughing with all its might, spitting out the water in its stomach before flapping its unproportionate fins to fly into the sky.
While Ling Yuxiu stared at it in astonishment, the small fish flew back and spat a jet of water out of its mouth, spraying her face.
Ling Yuxiu was furious and stretched her hand out to grab the fish, but it flapped its fins to fly away.
"Stupid fish!" Ling Yuxiu washed her face and turned back to ask curiously, "The one who herds cows, where did we go?"
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment before saying, "It should be the east sea region in Great Ruins. That place has a huge sea which later became a basin. The seawater has vanished, but the lifeforms there survived. Many fish learned how to fly, as did the flowers."
"The east sea in Great Ruins? How far away is it?"
"Over seventy thousand miles."
Ling Yuxiu jumped in shock, crying out, "We went over seventy thousand miles in the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and returned?"
Qin Mu nodded and stared blankly into the distance. "Traveling seventy thousand miles in such a short time is indeed unbelievable. Why can't the corporeal body be that fast? If the corporeal body had the speed of the primordial spirit, how good would it be?"
Ling Yuxiu burst out laughing. "You are too childish. Primordial spirit has no weight, so it can naturally run faster. The corporeal body has weight, so it's naturally slower. Do you have more Soul Guide Incense? We only focused on playing and didn't think about the technique to cultivate primordial spirit. We need to try again."
Qin Mu reminiscenced about the marvel of their primordial spirits resonating together and got slightly greedy. He immediately nodded again. "We need to try again! We can't just focus on playing though, since this is an important matter!"
After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the primordial spirits returned to the bodies again and Qin Mu scratched his head. "Do you want to go another time?"
Ling Yuxiu nodded gravely. "This time, we'll definitely not play!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Young people know how to play." In front of the hall, Blind was basking in the sun and talking to Deaf. "Look at their sparkling youthfulness. They are brimming with enthusiasm and vigor, being so diligent with dual cultivating. Deaf, have you ever thought of finding a partner?"
Deaf ignored him and pointed at his ear holes, showing that he couldn't hear what he was talking about.
"Playing deaf!" Blind sneered and propped himself on his cane to stand up. He hobbled over to Emperor Yanfeng's side and said, "In-law, your daughter is currently dual cultivating with my Mu'er… Eh, why are you puking blood? You are still scolding me! How can an emperor be scolding people, where's the law? You still dare to hit me? You think I'm scared of you…"
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu tried over and over again. When they had played enough, they finally agreed that they weren't going to finish the cultivation method of Six Directions Primordial Spirit if they continued like that.
The two of them then became honest and started to analyze the cultivation method of Six Directions Primordial Spirit.
"I feel we can start from the resonation of souls and the primordial spirits!" Ling Yuxiu said seriously. "If the souls and primordial spirits of two people were to resonate together, they could lend each other strength to make their primordial spirits leave their body."
Qin Mu nodded and pondered it for a moment. "However, that's when the primordial spirit is already cultivated. What if it isn't? Before the resonation of primordial spirits, the main thing is to fuse the spirit embryo and the soul."
Ling Yuxiu was excited. "In that case, we shall start from the resonation of souls! Resonation of souls, using it to guide the spirit embryo, then fusing the soul and the spirit embryo to form the primordial spirit!"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up and he said, "The technique will need two people to cultivate together! I will use my soul to guide your spirit embryo, and you will use your soul to guide my spirit embryo. At the instant when the souls mix, we will both leave our bodies. Our souls will then swap and the primordial spirits will naturally be formed!"
The two of them looked at each other with extreme excitement.
The theory had been voiced by them. Qin Mu's soul would guide Ling Yuxiu's soul and vice versa. The next step would then be the most important one. Their souls and spirit embryos would fly out of their bodies, and by borrowing the resonation to call out to each other, the souls would fuse with the other's spirit embryo.
The resonation of primordial spirit would then assure that it wouldn't separate back into spirit embryo and soul.
That way, primordial spirit would be cultivated in Six Directions Realm!
Ling Yu suddenly became worried. "The trouble here will be how to make this theory into technique, to guide one another's soul and spirit embryo."
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely and walked two rounds. "This kind of technique needs one to mobilize their primordial spirit, soul, and spirit embryo at the same time. The most crucial thing is that both of them can't be on guard against each other, but must be the closest of kin, so close that they can't have any selfishness. Only then can they hand their own spirit and soul to each other without any reservation."
Ling Yuxiu nodded and felt a sweetness in her heart.
When Qin Mu said it like that, didn't it mean that she was his closest kin and he trusted her without any reserve?
"Don't ask how others can cultivate! Let's create the technique first!"
Qin Mu roused his spirit and he made a few more Soul Guide Incenses sticks. The two of them then used their souls to guide each other's spirit embryos, comprehending their own vital qi circulation method before recording it.
After trying it out a few times, they were slightly tired and could only stop to rest. They had played too many times earlier, which resulted in their vitality being somewhat lacking.
After six days, Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu tidied up the general idea of the technique and finally decided on the general principles. For everything else, they would have to make detailed corrections on the basis of the general principles.
Butcher had yet to return from chasing Xing An, which made Qin Mu, Granny Si, and the rest slightly worried. Xing An was too strong after all. If he solved the problem of the supplement and his corporeal body returned back to normal, Butcher might not be his opponent. Xing An's medical expertise was remarkable; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to swap his body parts however he liked, so solving the problem with the supplement shouldn't have been too difficult for him.
Si Yunxiang, Yan Jingjing, and Hu Ling'er sat on a fast ship which sailed over from Relax Prefecture, bringing various herbs, cauldrons, and steamers.
Qin Mu placed the matter of Butcher chasing Xing An aside and immediately became busy again. He raised the cauldrons and worked hard to brew the medicinal concoctions, cooking and steaming all the patients.
"Mu'er, those with low cultivation can't be steamed, they will get cooked!" Granny Si immediately said.
"I understand."
Qin Mu arranged everything properly and had the deer demons pay attention to the heat control while he went to the true dragon's nest. He took out five legs and asked Cripple, "Grandpa Cripple, look at these legs, which two of them are yours?"
Cripple differentiated them and chose two legs. "These two. Mu'er, why do you have so many legs here. What are they for?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "For spares. If Grandpa Cripple's legs go missing again, the other three legs can be used for replacement."
"Pah pah! Children's words carry no harm! Go knock on wood, knock on wood!"
Cripple spat twice, and Qin Mu immediately attended to him. He boiled a cauldron of medicinal concoction and prepared his Carefree Sword, ointment, and dragon's saliva to reattach Cripple's legs.
It was a walk in the park for him. After all, he had reattached Cripple and Butcher's body parts before, so attaching the two legs again was not difficult for him. It was even relaxing.
"Mu'er's craft is getting better and better!" Cripple praised.
On the side, Deaf raised his eyebrows and said, "That's because you got sliced apart by others too many times and he had many chances to train."
Cripple was furious, but Qin Mu was carrying him to soak in the medicinal concoction. "Pah, pah, old man's words carry no harm! Go knock on wood, knock on wood!"
Whiled the two of them squabbled, Qin Mu carried a Jade Dragon Bowl to find Blind. "Grandpa Blind, which of these divine eyes are yours?"
There were over ten eyeballs in the bowl, and every one of them was a divine eye collected by Xing An. If they weren't activated, he couldn't see which two of them had nine heavens hidden inside of them. The eyeballs were all similar from the outside.
Blind stretched his hand out to touch and picked out two eyeballs. He frowned and said, "It's been a long time since my eyes had been dug out, and the wounds have already healed completely. Is there still hope to reattach my eyes?"
Qin Mu threw the other eyes back into the true dragon's nest with the Jade Dragon Bowl before examining Blind's eyes in detail. He looked at them seriously.
Blind's expression was calm as he smiled. "It's okay if you can't reattach them. I'm already used to being like this."
"I can reattach them, but some of the nerves in the eyes have already withered. I need to nurse the eyes for a few days first, then I might just be able to use medicine to revive the activity of those nerves…" Qin Mu raised his head and smiled. "Grandpa Blind, don't worry, even though my medical expertise isn't as good as that of Grandpa Apothecary, I'm still number two in the world after all."
He pondered over the matter for a moment, then prepared herbs to refine medicine for Blind. The structure of the nerves in the eyes was even more complicated than in the heart. On top of that, the degree of delicateness was equivalent to the brain, so Qin Mu had no choice but to be careful in carrying things out. He made sure that all the herbs were pure and there wouldn't be any side effects. He used all he knew to ensure that the medicinal energy would be gentle yet able to activate the nerves.
It was one of the greatest tests for him.
Qin Mu prepared numerous methods to increase the activity of the nerves in the eyes. Other than what could be consumed orally and applied externally, he even made a small machine which contained a medicinal concoction. It was able to automatically heat up the medicine into steam to nourish Blind's eye sockets.
Other than that, a medicinal concoction which was refined over and over again was injected into the half-dead muscles of Blind's eyes using a hollow silver needle. This could be said to be applying all the methods together.
After several days of nursing, Blind felt his eye sockets burning, and there seemed to be many fine tentacles growing out in them. Only then did Qin Mu made his move to reconnect the nerves of the eyes for him. He used ribbons to wrap some crushed spirit pills around his head, covering his eyes.
"Grandpa Blind, after the muscles and nerves are completely healed, you can take off the ribbon," Qin Mu instructed, then summoned a tree demon over, reminding him to change medicine for Blind on time. That tree demon nodded repeatedly and just rooted himself in front of Blind to wait for the time to change medicine.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and checked on the dragon's nest. He thought to himself, 'If I put all of the body parts from Xing An together, I can also piece a body of a god. It's a pity I don't know what weird technique Xing An has cultivated. He had definitely kept some body part of his own, or his primordial spirit; otherwise, he wouldn't still be alive. Strange, which part of his body has he kept?'
When he was fighting with Xing An, he had changed his head, so his brain had naturally been changed as well. His divine blood, heart, and legs had all changed as well.
What was even more terrifying was that he had different primordial spirits, and he could change them!
When he was fighting with Yu Zhaoqing, he used his primordial spirits, using different ones to attack and injure her severely.
Yet there had to be a part of his original body remaining, something which wasn't changed. All the other parts could be given up, but not that one.
It was the gate to his vitality!
Only by eradicating it could he be killed!
'All his body parts were replaced, but his soul definitely can't be replaced.'
Qin Mu's eyes it up, and he found Granny Si to talk about it, since her study on souls was much more profound than his.
"Soul is separated into souls and spirits. The souls are the Heaven Soul at the heart of the brows, the Earth Soul at the tailbone and the Life Soul at the navel. The seven spirits are the Canine Corpse at the top of the head, the Concealed Sparrow at the ajna, the Yin of Sparrow at the laryngeal prominence, the Seizing Thief at the heart, the Not Toxic at the navel, the Remove Filth at the perineum, and the Smelly Lung at the lungs. According to logic, changing these parts would mean that his soul wouldn't be complete, yet he clearly had a complete soul."
Qin Mu racked his brains. According to Granny Si's deduction, Xing An's head, dantian, backbone, neck, lungs, heart, and intestines had to be preserved, or he would need his soul to live in the body he had seized.
However, when Blind and the rest destroyed Xing An's heart, squashed his head, and even made his backbone slid out of his body, Xing An's soul didn't receive any heavy injuries and could still repair his body.
"This means that the head, dantian, backbone, neck, lungs, heart, and intestines of Xing An's original body are still around. His soul is still in his original body and would only live in the body he had seized when necessary! In that case, his original body parts should be hidden in…"
He and Granny Si looked each other in the eyes and blinked. Xing An's chest!
The original body should be hidden in the chest.
Butcher had split it open, but the original body might have escaped the damage.
"He still has a weakness." Qin Mu composed himself. "Even if Grandpa Butcher can't kill him, as long as he still carries a chest the next time he appears, it will confirm my guess!"
Granny Si nodded. "As long as he shows up with the chest, it means his original body is hidden inside and he isn't invincible! Killing him then will be much easier!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In the manor, cauldrons were raised and each one had a deer demon guarding it and adding wood to the fire continuously. Within them, experts were being cooked, and a medicinal smell wafted out.
Besides the cauldrons, there were also huge steamers in which experts were put to be steamed. Qin Mu patrolled around them and checked on the medicinal concoctions, changing the herbs a few times and applying needles to the experts whose divine treasures had been damaged. The hollow silver needles directed steam into their bodies.
Emperor Yanfeng's body was covered in silver needles while he looked at Qin Mu with a black face. He was pressed down into the steamer by the youth, but then sat upright again to continue glaring.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Does Your Majesty have anything to say?"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression suddenly changed, and he said with a pleasant face, "Minister Qin has worked hard and his merits are high. Do you want a promotion?" Qin Mu was puzzled as Emperor Yanfeng's expression became even more pleasant. "You are still on the fifth rank now, but you have contributed so much: improved our flying ships, crafted True Origin Cannon, and Sunshot Divine Cannon, followed the crown prince to open irrigation works and transportation, and even saved me numerous times from danger.
"This time, you even brought Heavenly Feather Clansmen over. Your contributions are just too great, to the point I don't even know how to reward you. Tell me, what do you want?"
Qin Mu scratched his head, racking his brain. "Your Majesty, the amount of money required for all the herbs which are needed to heal everyone is quite high. I also spent quite a sum to buy cauldrons, steamers, and silver needles. All that money was paid in advance by me, so can Your Majesty…"
Emperor Yanfeng's face instantly turned black. "This is not considered a reward, Ministry of Finance has the money for it! The reward I want to give you is something Ministry of Finance can't give! What do you want?"
Qin Mu thought about it for a moment. Money? He never lacked money. Official position? He didn't really have an interest in that. Fame? Heavenly Devil Cult Master was known throughout the land so what fame did he need?
Treasure?
He had seized many treasures and even plundered Dragon Rearing Sovereign's pouches. Hu Ling'er even got him a hundred treasures from Rolan's Golden Palace. He also had Carefree Sword and his sword pellet, so he didn't lack treasures as well.
Precious herbs and materials, spirit pills, or miraculous medicines? He didn't need that as well because he was a divine physician himself.
Qin Mu shook his head and finally understood hoe Imperial Preceptor felt. The things that the emperor could reward him with didn't catch his eyes, so he didn't want any reward.
"Think again." Emperor Yanfeng slowly guided him. "There's definitely something you want that I possess. It doesn't have to be an item or an official position, but can also be a person…"
Qin Mu came to realization and smiled with understanding. "So Your Majesty is thinking of granting me some palace maids. I wander around most of the year, so I don't need any palace maids to serve me. However, granny stays here and there are just demons and monster who are all ugly around here. If Your Majesty can grant me some palace maids to tidy up the manor, I will definitely not reject! Two girls like Jian Qi and Qin Qi beside Empress Dowager would be just fine. They aren't bad-looking and are also gentle and understanding…"
Emperor Yanfeng was furious and lay down in the steamer. "Scram!"
"As you command." Qin Mu closed the steamer while muttering under his breath, "Acting all generous, saying he wants to reward me, and then he can't even bear to spare some palace maids. What miser…"
"What did you say? Say it once more!" Emperor Yanfeng who was in the steamer was furious. "Off with your head!"
Emperor Yanfeng then heard Qin Mu complaining outside. "Yuxiu, you came at the right time. Your father said he wanted to reward me, then he didn't want to reward me, and now he even wants my head."
"Why are you paying attention to him? He has been quite agitated these few years, wanting to off with this head and that head all the time. It's all from the stress of politics. In the end, even though he had said to off many heads, he actually didn't really kill many people. Ignore him, and he will calm down after creating a ruckus."
"Did you find me for dual cultivation?"
"That's right. Our technique is almost complete, but delayed it to come and treat everyone's injuries. We need to hurry and beat the metal while it's hot. Otherwise, once father's injuries are healed and he decides to bring me back to the capital, I don't know when the technique will be completed…"
...
The two of them walked away and Emperor Yanfeng who was in the steamer was disappointed as he thought to himself. 'Xiu'er, father can only help you this much. That brat is too dense, so you can only rely on yourself.'
After a couple of days working on it, Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu finished tidying up the complete technique of Six Directions Primordial Spirit. They were slightly anxious as they didn't know if that technique would really allow others to cultivate their primordial spirit on Six Directions Realm.
"Let me try! I'm on Six Directions Realm!" Si Yunxiang said excitedly.
Qin Mu shook his head. "This technique is actually two techniques used as a set. It's separated into male and female which have some slight differences. Because of that, two people must cultivate it together and they can't be on guard against each other. They also can't have crooked thoughts, or they won't be able to cultivate their primordial spirits. But once it succeeds, both of them will succeed together."
"Cult Master, train with me," Si Yunxiang said in a hurry.
Qin Mu's voice became more serious. "Saintess, we need to be so intimate that nothing can come between us. We need to share mutual trust and have no crooked thoughts!"
Si Yunxiang giggled and said, "You're the cult master, how can I harbor any crooked thoughts about you?"
Qin Mu rolled his eyes. No crooked thoughts? That little woman saw Granny Si as an example, always thinking of how to replace the cult master without learning any of Granny Si's good points.
However, Si Yunxiang still had a side that was similar to that of Granny Si, and that was whenever they met danger, she was always the first one to jump in and save people without hesitation. This showed that her nature wasn't bad, she just lacked a good upbringing.
'If she'd had such an excellent upbringing as I did, she wouldn't have ended up walking a crooked path.'
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. Si Yunxiang might have crooked thoughts, but he needed to confirm the technique that he and the princess had created worked. He nodded and said, "I can't do anything if you have crooked thoughts. I will believe you once, but only once. If it doesn't work, you can find another person you can trust."
Si Yunxiang rushed excitedly to Ling Yuxiu and asked for the technique for women. Ling Yuxiu taught her without holding back. Yan Jingjing also came over, and Ling Yuxiu smiled. "Sister Jing, do you want to cultivate your primordial spirit with the one who herds cows?"
Yan Jingjing shook her head. "I had cultivated my primordial spirit long ago. You two can cultivate, I will just look."
"Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation is very comfortable!" Ling Yuxiu said seriously.
Yan Jingjing's heart was moved, but she was also slightly embarrassed. Si Yunxiang then asked curiously, "Jingjing, what's your cultivation now? How did you cultivate primordial spirit this early?"
"It should be Divine Bridge Realm," Yan Jingjing said in a soft voice with some embarrassment. "I did not cultivate it, however; it's from Sun Ship. I'm a body of pure yang, and because I had control of Sun Ship and borrowed its energy for many years, I used it to open all my divine treasures. When I parted from Sun Ship before, my divine treasures would close back, but after using it many times, the divine treasures no longer closed."
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu were stunned. Qin Mu also stared with eyes wide open, hardly able to believe it.
Yan Jingjing's age was similar to theirs, but she was already an expert of the cult master level!
They still couldn't see it earlier that Yan Jingjing was then the strongest among them!
Qin Mu had also once driven Sun Ship and Moon Ship, but his divine treasures would close and seal up after he separated from the ships. Never would he have thought that after driving one numerous times, the divine treasures would remain open!
"In this case, does it mean that we can use Sun Ship to create a bunch of existences of the cult master level with Sun Ship?" Si Yunxiang suddenly suggested.
Ling Yuxiu shook her head. "Impossible. One needs to be the body of pure yang to become the sun guardian. Sun Herder Tribe can't even find a second body of pure yang, so what is there to talk about other places."
"Cult Master can!" Si Yunxiang immediately looked at Qin Mu. "Cult Master can control Sun Ship and can most likely borrow the power of Sun Ship to open all his divine treasures in one go!"
Qin Mu's heart was pretty moved, but Yan Jingjing immediately said, "By borrowing Sun Ship to open divine treasures, it's easy for the realms to become unstable. Grandpa said this was an opportune shortcut, but it's not as solid as cultivating step by step. My trip this time is also to take a look at how you guys cultivate and see if there's any remedy."
Qin Mu could only give up on that idea.
Cultivating step by step indeed contained more fun and surprises. If he hadn't done that, he would have never discovered the god transformations of Five Elements Realm or Six Directions Primordial Spirit.
Yan Jingjing, who had opened up all her divine treasures with Sun Ship, might still have to cultivate from the beginning again, comprehending the meaning of every realm in detail to comprehend the marvel within them.
Yet when the height one stood at was too high, it was hard to clearly see the bottom.
Si Yunxiang comprehended the female version of the technique, then asked Ling Yuxiu for guidance to make sure there were no problems with her cultivation of it. Only then did she start to cultivate her primordial spirit with Qin Mu.
Far away, Blind said to Emperor Yanfeng with his eyes blindfolded, "Emperor, your daughter is pretty generous, giving your son-in-law away for Lassie Xiang to enjoy."
Emperor Yanfeng snorted coldly. "Xiu'er clearly doesn't understand the meaning of Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation; she has no concept of that. If she knew Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation could only be done between husband and wife, she wouldn't be that generous."
"You are going to tell her?" Blind asked with interest.
"There's no need." Emperor Yanfeng shook his head. "Only one couple can do Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation. After their primordial spirits resonate with each other, there can't be a third person's primordial spirit resonating together. Minister Qin has already resonated with Xiu'er's primordial spirit, so even if Saintess Xiang cultivates with him, they won't be able to achieve resonation of primordial spirits and she won't be able to cultivate her primordial spirit. They are all just kids, so they don't know the real stuff."
He sighed. "Since ancient times, the emperor's chamber of imperial concubines has had three thousand beauties, but no one knows that the emperor also has imperial troubles. Only the empress can resonate her primordial spirit with the emperor, so even if the emperor goes to love his other concubines, they can't resonate together and it's hard to ascend to extreme happiness. This is why there are not many people in the royal family."
Blind smiled. "When together with the other concubines, the pleasure isn't as great, so the younger generation of the royal family is lacking in numbers."
Emperor Yanfeng nodded. "That's why I'm not worried about Xiu'er at all. She has already taken the opportunity, so even if Minister Qin has other women, he will still return to her side. That is because he cannot resonate with other wo—"
"My primordial spirit was cultivated!"
Si Yunxiang's cheers suddenly rang out, and Emperor Yanfeng's' eyes went blank as he listened to Si Yunxiang frolicking around in joy. Ling Yuxiu was also overjoyed and celebrating with her, and so was Qin Mu.
Emperor Yanfeng didn't come back to his senses even after a long while.
"You forgot that Mu'er is the Overlord Body. Primordial spirit of ordinary spirit body cannot resonate with others once they have a partner, but an Overlord Body can." Blind propped himself on his cane and said calmly, "Emperor, I admire your expression very much, but I'm not a painter; otherwise, I would draw it and admire it whenever I'm free."
"I have painted it," Deaf said from nearby.
The two old men chuckled, sounding very pleased with himself.
"Cult Master, Princess Xiu, what's the name of this technique that you two have founded?" Si Yunxiang asked.
"This kind of Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation Technique, let's call it Primordial Spirit Guide," Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu said in unison.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Primordial Spirit Guide was devised by Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu by combining the theory of the most basic technique of Overlord Body Three Elixir Body. Its basis rested in Daoyin Technique who was used to guide the vital qi.
Meanwhile, Primordial Spirit Guide guided one's spirit embryo to mix with another person's soul before flying out of their bodies. The soul and spirit would then swap back, taking the chance to merge into primordial spirit.
Therefore, the technique needed to have a 'guide' word in its name.
The reason why Qin Mu's primordial spirit could resonate with Si Yunxiang's primordial spirit was because of his spirit embryo. It had no attributes, which was unlike the spirit bodies of Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu who had their own attributes.
The resonance between spirit embryos came from primordial spirits fusing and producing a fixed frequency. Because everyone's attributes were different, there would be greater or lesser differences in everyone's primordial spirits, and the frequency would be different.
A couple dual cultivating their primordial spirits would resonate together and coordinate to be on the same frequency, forming a unique one for themselves. When they dual cultivated with other people's primordial spirits, they wouldn't be able to achieve resonation of the primordial spirits because they wouldn't be on the same frequency.
Qin Mu's primordial spirit and spirit embryo coincidentally had no attributes of any spirit body, so it was like a white sheet of paper. When it dual cultivated with Ling Yuxiu, the frequency was Ling Yuxiu's frequency, and when he dual cultivated with Si Yunxiang, it was Si Yunxiang's frequency.
Emperor Yanfeng had never experienced how weird Qin Mu's 'Overlord Body' was, so he hadn't paid any mind to it, and thus didn't tell Ling Yuxiu about the taboo of the resonation of primordial spirits. Now he was full of regrets.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu finished up the male and female techniques of Primordial Spirit Guide, writing down the cultivation method and the method of replacing souls in detail. They were both very happy.
Suddenly, they came to an indescribable comprehension. It not only concerned the Dao, but also their Dao heart.
By experiencing the process of founding the technique together, their Dao heart took a leap, a one-time qualitative leap!
It could be said to be sudden, but it actually wasn't sudden at all.
Creation was the hardest.
They had created a technique out of nothing and changed the cultivation system of Six Directions Realm and after, pulling primordial spirit to Six Directions Realm. This change far surpassed the three basic sword forms that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had founded!
It could even be said that if Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu could develop the marvel of Six Directions Primordial Spirit to the extreme, it was possible that this change could make people arrive at Celestial Being Realm much earlier, fusing it with Seven Stars Realm and changing the two realms into one!
Furthermore, this change would affect all the divine arts practitioners of the future generations!
Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realm were the realms of martial arts practitioners, the people who had yet to step into the door of divine arts.
People on Six Directions Realm could be called divine arts practitioners and be considered to have officially stepped through the door of divine arts.
After Six Directions Realm, there were Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, Divine Bridge. All of them were realms that divine arts practitioners had to stride forward step by step to the realm of gods in the legends. The four realms were four steps, but each one was much harder than the previous, so taking each step took an extremely long time.
What Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu had founded could possibly change four steps into three steps, allowing divine arts practitioners to reach the god realm in an even shorter time!
This was a huge achievement and a great virtue to take part in creating such a technique!
The world had no roads, so where many people walked, there would show up a road. The change in the cultivation system could cause the paths, skills, and divine arts to change. The great Dao of heaven and earth would also change according to it.
The huge change Primordial Spirit Guide would bring was something the two youths did not expect.
Founding a technique was difficult, so they had to comprehend a lot of matters. Their Dao heart topped those of great masters and both of them sunk into their own comprehensions.
The moment Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor founded the three basic sword forms was also the moment he became a great master. His frame of mind had also risen from technique to the realm of skill.
What Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were experiencing was the same kind of change.
They could be considered to have completed Primordial Spirit Guide, but how to strengthen their primordial spirits on Six Directions Realm was still a blank area to be explored.
Strengthening their primordial spirit by cultivating was actually a matter of Seven Stars Realm. No technique on Six Directions Realm had a method to strengthen the primordial spirit, which meant that as the founders, they could be a step ahead of others in comprehending cultivation techniques of Six Directions Realm, creating even more things.
"Emperor!" Blind suddenly kicked Emperor's Yanfeng's thigh, not looking like he was joking. He said with a solemn face, "Do you feel a change in the heaven and earth?"
Emperor Yanfeng wanted to blow up, but was too stunned by the words. He said in astonishment, "There's indeed an indiscernible change, so strange…"
"Deaf, Cripple, wake up, carefully sense the great Dao of heaven and earth!"
Blind summoned Deaf and Cripple over, and the two old men also felt an indiscernible motion as though the spring rain was joining with the wind into the night. The action was mild and slow.
"What happened?" Deaf asked in astonishment.
"When Mu'er and Princess Xiu founded Primordial Spirit Guide, this change happened. How bizarre," Blind said. "Sense carefully, the Great Dao of heaven and earth seem to be undergoing a marvelous change somewhere. This throbbing is very faint, but it can't escape my Dao heart!"
No matter if it was Cripple, Deaf, or even Emperor Yanfeng, they were all great masters. Cripple had comprehended the marvel of divine legs by himself to push his speed to the realm of god. What he used was the technique he had founded, so his Dao heart was also extremely strong.
Deaf had pushed his painting path to the extreme, transcending to the level of god and saint!
Emperor Yanfeng, in the meantime, relied on the not so outstanding Nine Dragons Monarch Technique to develop it to the highest level in one go, making it become on par with the ultimate arts of the three big sacred grounds. Furthermore, Nine Dragons Monarch Technique he had relied on was merely a few primitive dragon writings on the Emperor's Disk!
The other people in the manor, even if it were experts like Granny Si, Yu Zhaoqing, and Empress Dowager, hadn't reached that frame of mind of a great master, thus they naturally couldn't sense the throbbing and indescribable change in the great Dao of heaven and earth.
"Your Majesty, your daughter's accomplishments in the future are going to surpass yours by far," Deaf suddenly said. "Have you ever thought of making her the crown prince?"
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly stunned as he looked at Ling Yuxiu who had sunk into an ineffable realm.
Making Princess Xiu the crown prince?
He did have that kind of thought at that moment.
"Have Yuxiu head to the border army to train for a period of time. There is still some rebel army left in the snow plains in the north which haven't yet been eradicated. Let her and Yushi lead an army each."
Emperor Yanfeng's heart calmed down. It wasn't that there had never been a crown princess before, but just that their numbers weren't as high as those of princes. After all, there were plenty of female divine arts practitioners and some of the sects even had women as sect leaders. With that, it was easy to see that there could be empresses, it was just that they were in the minority.
'If Xiu'er could do better than Yushu…'
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu woke up from their comprehensions. During them, they had comprehended numerous marvels about the primordial spirit and it resulted in cultivation methods for it on Six Directions Realm. Some could be written down for others to learn while some could only be comprehended by oneself. They could be understood, but not taught with words.
"Xiu'er, my injuries are almost healed, so follow me back to the capital city," Emperor Yanfeng's said.
Ling Yuxiu acknowledged him as her gaze landed on Qin Mu's body. "The one who herds cows, are you going back to the capital with me? We can continue to dual cultivate there…"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "You go ahead first. I need to wait here for Grandpa Butcher to come back. I still have some stuff I need to ask him. He handed a complete version of the male technique of Primordial Spirit Guide to Ling Yuxiu and said, "Hand it to Imperial Preceptor so he will promote it."
Ling Yuxiu nodded, then hesitated for a moment. "Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that you improved, can I teach it to my father?"
"It was your Ling Family's to begin with, so just teach," Qin Mu said with a smile.
Ling Yuxiu suddenly moved forward to give a peck on his cheek and ran away like an alarmed sparrow.
Emperor Yanfeng shook his head and brought her to bid farewell to Empress Dowager. "I didn't let the officials who followed me to come over, but had them stay at Overlord Prefecture. It's best for them to not know about all that happened in this manor. Mother, take care of yourself."
Empress Dowager sighed and said solemnly, "You have to take care of yourself as well! What you and Imperial Preceptor want to do won't end with simple death, so you have to be careful. Even though you have already grown up, I'm still worried about you."
Emperor Yanfeng turned around to leave and Ling Yuxiu followed after him. "Father, the one who herds cows taught me Nine Dragons Monarch Technique which is different from what you taught me. I would like to teach it to father. Does father want to learn?"
Emperor Yanfeng laughed out loud and shook his head. "Even though your little lover is overflowing with talent and has extraordinary abilities, having accomplished an astonishing feat with you this time, which made even me feel ashamed for being inferior, it's not enough. When it comes to Nine Dragons Monarch Technique, your little lover is way inferior. The technique he learned was still taught by me."
"Are you learning or not?" Ling Yuxiu asked with anger in her voice.
"Okay, okay, tell me about it."
Ling Yuxiu told him about the Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that Qin Mu had taught her, and Emperor Yanfeng's expression became more and more solemn. When she finished, his face was black as he asked coldly, "He taught it to you?"
Ling Yuxiu could feel his overflowing murderous intent and couldn't help shuddering. "Father…"
"Emperor's Disk is on him!" Emperor Yanfeng's face was filled with fury as he laughed from extreme anger. "This is a technique comprehended from the Emperor's Disk! The treasure of our Ling Family was on your little lover all along! I shall now—"
He was about to fight his way back when he suddenly stopped in his footsteps and gazed at the snowy white manor. He stared blankly at it for a moment before shaking his head and saying to the flustered Ling Yuxiu, "Return to the capital."
"Emperor's Disk is with him, so I'll go ask him for it. Father, don't be angry."
Emperor Yanfeng shook his head. "I have examined that piece of Emperor's Disk for thousands of times yet I never comprehend anything out of it. The ancestors of Ling Family have also examined it countless times yet never found the marvel within it. The throne doesn't belong to Ling Family due to that Emperor's Disk. There's no need to completely fall out with Heavenly Saint Cult."
Ling Yuxiu sneaked a look at his face. Emperor Yanfeng looked calm, like water without any ripple. His true intentions were unknown.
"Xiu'er, never mention that Primordial Spirit Guide was founded by you and Minister Qin. This matter cannot be told to anyone," Emperor Yanfeng said solemnly. "If you say it, I won't be able to protect you."
Stunned, Ling Yuxiu still nodded silently.
In the manor, Qin Mu went to check Blind's eyes. The injuries on Blind's legs had already healed, but his eyes were still wrapped with ribbons which had to be removed from time to time to change medicine.
"Mu'er, regarding that matter of founding Primordial Spirit Guide, don't say you've done it," Blind suddenly said. "Everyone who saw it must keep their lips sealed, so no word would get out. Understood?"
Qin Mu was puzzled. "Why?"
The ribbon was undone, and Blind gradually opened his eyes. They had no spirit, but slowly, their black pupils filled with divine light. Layers and layers of formation markings swirled in them, and incomparably deep nine heavens took shape.
Blind's voice was abnormally calm when he spoke next. "The law has changed, the path has changed, and the heaven has also changed. The change of heaven will result in death. All the great masters in the world will sense a motion that's out of ordinary. A storm is brewing…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In the capital, Elder Fu went into Imperial Preceptor's manor in a fluster to report, "Old master, His Majesty is here to visit!"
Imperial Preceptor rose to welcome the guest, and the two heroes of Eternal Peace Empire met. Ling Yuxiu came after Emperor Yanfeng who gave his friend a deep look. Understanding his meaning, Imperial Preceptor waved his hand for Elder Fu to fall back.
"Your Majesty came to find me before even going to the palace, so something big must have happened." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked with inquiry at Ling Yuxiu. "There's only three of us here, so Your Majesty can speak."
"Did Imperial Preceptor felt it?" Emperor Yanfeng asked. "Five days ago, the fluctuation of heaven and earth."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. "It was a very marvelous fluctuation. The law changed and the path changed, and there was an abnormal change in the great Dao of heaven and earth as well. Someone created a reform and it touched me greatly."
Emperor Yanfeng took out the two version of the technique of Primordial Spirit Guide and handed it to him. "Imperial Preceptor, take a look."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor flipped through the pages in detail, his expression growing more and more solemn. After some time, he closed Primordial Spirit Guide and said, "It's princess and Cult Master Qin's handwriting. Six Directions's reform changed Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge, so no wonder there was such a huge motion. Princess Xiu is not bad, her achievements in the future won't be inferior to yours and mine."
He was extraordinary wise and didn't need Emperor Yanfeng to give him a hint to know that it was made by Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu. On top of that, he also guessed what consequences their work would bring.
Emperor Yanfeng nodded. "The source of the reform comes from these two scrolls. I came to find you without stopping for rest because the situation is grave. The effect is still very mild, so those who aren't great masters who had reached the level of skill won't be able to detect it. But for existences who had reached the level of the path, the effect is blatant. You said it touched you greatly, so looks like you entered the path a step earlier than I."
"I reached the path not long ago so it isn't clear yet. However, that fluctuation flooded in like waves from all direction, and I was standing among them, experiencing that fine change of the great Dao of heaven and earth."
Emperor Yanfeng listened carefully to his words and praised, "The realm of the path is truly marvelous. You've been affected this much, so how would the gods feel?"
"Even worse!" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes shone with hazy rays as he said, "Your Majesty wasn't in the capital these few days, so you don't know that memorials have been flying in like a flurry of snowballs. Your Majesty, please take a look."
He took out dozens of memorials which were from various country magistrates all over the empire.
Emperor Yanfeng opened one which was by the county magistrate of Initiate Peace County. It said that an earthquake had happened at Grandma Qi Yue Temple. Other places had no tremors, except for Grandma Temple which had collapsed, crushing over a dozen believers.
When Initiate Peace County Magistrate brought a group of people to clean up the debris, they saw that the mountain on which the temple had been built had split apart. In the huge crack, there was a god statue of a giant's upper body. It was the color of flesh, and the light of runes flowed across its body.
Emperor Yanfeng frowned slightly as he thought for a moment. He passed that memorial to Yuxiu and picked another one for himself.
It had been sent by the magistrate of Bent Prefecture and spoke about strange incidents happening at Great Bent Lake. When it was midnight, abnormal lights would burst into the sky from the lake, covering its whole surface. There was a huge lifeform rising from the lake with eyes like lanterns. It was said that it was Bent Lake Sovereign which wanted the people at the shore to offer virgin men and women as tribute. The magistrate sent his bailiff to investigate, and numerous divine arts practitioners had already died.
Emperor Yanfeng's brows tensed up as he flipped through the other memorials. Some were about shrines splitting apart, with extremely ancient god statues appearing and shattering the god statues that the people were worshiping. Some spoke of earth shakes and god statues rising in riverbeds. Some of those statues didn't move, but others demanded tribute from people living in their region.
There were also numerous places that burst forth with strange lights or had strange creatures appear in their territory. However, no one could take them away.
"There's no such gods in our Eternal Peace Empire." Ling Yuxiu looked through the memorials, then placed them down. She pondered over what she'd read before asking, "Where did those god statues come from? They definitely couldn't have just popped out from the ground. Also, the treasures mentioned in the memorials don't seem to have been left by someone, for they are treasures of gods."
"Not from underground," Emperor Yanfeng said. "If they had existed underground, they would have been found long ago. Those stone statues and treasures should have come from another world."
"It should not be just one world," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly. "Great Ruins have similar stone statues, and rumor says that they are gods who had petrified their bodies. They are in slumber, waiting for something, but they can transform back into their real bodies anytime. If these stone statues came from another world, the timing they chose is very peculiar."
"Princess and Cult Master Qin created Primordial Spirit Guide, changing the great Dao of heaven and earth, and the next moment, numerous stone statues and strange treasures appeared all around the world; there's definitely a connection between them," Emperor Yanfeng said. "Imperial Preceptor, the origin and aim of those stone statues have to be investigated."
"This reminds me of the incident two years ago when Dutian Devil King descended. Back then, he relied on Cult Master Qin's sacrifice and a sacrificial altar to be summoned into our world. Furthermore, only his consciousness and part of his power had come to Eternal Peace, since his body required even more deaths and live sacrifices."
Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu listened quietly without interfering. What Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wanted to say was extremely important, so they couldn't be careless.
"This means that traveling through different worlds requires an immense amount of energy. The stronger the existence that is traveling to another world, the greater the energy required.
"Since the great Dao of heaven and earth changed, the stone statues of those gods descended. Yet they should have only been able to send their stone statues over, while their power is unable to transfer for the time being. They need countless sacrifices of flesh and blood to call over their true bodies."
Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu's hearts stirred as a terrifying thought suddenly formed in their heads. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor helped them by saying it out loud. "They need to create a large-scale natural disaster for many people to die, for only then could their true bodies come to Eternal Peace!"
Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu's blood ran cold.
The previous natural disaster had already caused countless people to lose their lives, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had yet to recover from his encounter with the god. If another natural disaster was to happen, the empire was definitely going to fall into ruin, and countless living beings would fall into utter misery!
"According to my guess, the gods of High Heavens will soon receive an order to send disaster for our Eternal Peace," Imperial Preceptor said solemnly. "This natural disaster will definitely not be inferior to the snow disaster before. It can be an earthquake, eruption of volcanoes, tornadoes, floods, or even snow disaster or drought. As long as it's a disaster that can kill billions of people, anything is possible!"
Emperor Yanfeng croaked out in a hoarse voice, "What you mean is…"
"Eradicate High Heavens," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently. "We need to eradicate the gods of High Heavens, since if I didn't guess wrong, the ones in charge of sending disaster to this world is none other than High Heavens. If we get rid of it, all the stone statues around the world won't be able to transform into gods or devils, and the people will then be spared from death. We need to make a move first, eradicating all the gods of High Heavens!"
Emperor Yanfeng felt a splitting headache. He raised his hands to hold his head and gritted his teeth. "High Heavens is in West Earth and we don't know how many gods and devils they have, so how would we gain the ability to eradicate High Heavens? If we could wait a few more years, allowing more experts to patch their divine bridge and cultivate to the god realm…"
"Your Majesty, they won't give you the time. If what I guessed is correct, the treasures mentioned in those memorials are meteorological weapons!"
Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu's blood ran cold.
Meteorological weapon was an idea suggested by Qin Mu. By keeping meteorological phenomenons—for example, snowstorm, hails, tornados, floods, volcano eruptions, and earthquakes—in bottle gourds, they could adjust the weather during normal times.
If they were to attack enemy countries, they could also use the meteorological weapons to kill the enemy troops.
The time Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had attacked the prairie, Pangong Tso had made the great shamans poison all the water sources. To get rid of the shaman poison and save the herdsmen of the prairie, Imperial Preceptor had then used bottled storms to make it rain for ten days, which cleansed the land and washed away all of the poison.
However, quite a number of herdsmen had drowned in the flood. Because of that, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had been accused of misconduct by the contrarians which caused him some trouble.
If he wasn't wrong and those treasures of gods and devils were all meteorological weapons, the gods of High Heavens just needed to come over, and they would be able to activate them, releasing all kinds of meteorological phenomenon to cause grave casualties in Eternal Peace Empire!
With that many people dead, the stone statues would receive enough flesh and blood sacrifices for the power of those gods and devils to flow in like a long river. Once the stone statues regained their true forms, a massacre would begin, and they would wipe out the whole world!
"I shall immediately send orders and command people to guard the stone statues and treasures. I can't let those things fall into the hands of High Heavens!" Cold sweat started rolling down Emperor Yanfeng's forehead, and he started walking to and fro. "We definitely can't let them find them… Why are they doing this? Can't they just let the people of this world live better lives? I-I don't understand!"
"The reform touches the benefits of the gods and devils. It changes the Dao and the gods and devils won't be tolerated by it if they can't change accordingly," said Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "There is definitely an even deeper reason for it, but we are lacking too much information to deduce the truth. Your Majesty, I need Human Emperor to come personally."
Emperor Yanfeng looked at him.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked into the distance and muttered, "Only when Human Emperor calls for it would all the sacred grounds and strong practitioners listen and join hands to wipe out High Heavens! Only the human emperor that all the sects revere can make them follow him wholeheartedly!"
Ling Yuxiu was stupefied. Wasn't the current human emperor Qin Mu?
Wasn't Human Emperor's Seal in Qin Mu's hands?
Based on that logic, didn't it mean that Qin Mu also had to attack High Heavens?
"I'll go speak with Human Emperor!" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rose and left.
Qin Mu was cultivating his primordial spirit with Si Yunxiang at that moment, the two of them roaming around. When they came to a spot, a majestic mountain there suddenly split, and a huge stone statue rose from the depths of the crack.
"What's happening? Is this Great Ruins?"
The two of them were astonished. They suddenly smelled a fragrance, and their hearts couldn't help shaking. "We had just lighted Soul Guide Incense to come to play around, and it couldn't have finished that fast. Someone had to have blown the incense all the way to the bottom!"
Their primordial spirits were summoned back into their corporeal bodies. Qin Mu opened his eyes and saw Village Chief, Butcher, Mute, and even Old Ma!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu was astonished. Since Butcher had come back, Village Chief and the rest should know that Xing An had attacked and got severely injured. With the danger of Xing An solved, it was a surprise that Old Ma didn't remain in Great Thunderclap Monastery, but instead came with Village Chief and the rest.
"Village Chief, Xing An…"
Village Chief shook his head. "Xing An's matter is insignificant. I've called you back because there's something important. Are you able to contact Heavenly Devil Patriarch?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred as he said, "Did something big happen? Patriarch and Elder of Discipline left to roam the world and said that Elder of Discipline would bring his ashes back after he died. Village Chief, what exactly is going on? Saintess Xiang and I discovered something weird when roaming just now—a mountain split apart and a stone statue rose up. Are you here because of that?"
Si Yunxiang nodded repeatedly as she added, "That stone statue was very terrifying and seemed to be growing out from the mountain, rising upward quickly!"
"There's not only one stone statue." Old Ma gave others a feeling that his wisdom was smooth and round like a pearl. "Stone statues have appeared all around the world, and there is about a hundred of them. There are numerous strange treasures as well. These objects have all appeared suddenly and are things that are not from our world. Some stone statues had burst from under Mount Meru, hitting it, but they didn't split it. Instead, they were suppressed."
Qin Mu had a weird expression.
Mute's expression was grim as his fingers jumped rapidly to make weird gestures.
"This kind of stone statue is a sign that the gods and devils are descending." Deaf looked at his hands and said, "The gods and devils from the other world can't cross the world barrier easily, so they chose to petrify themselves into stone statues that have no energy to send themselves over. With this, their primordial spirit and magic power would remain in their respective worlds.
"If they wanted to regain their body of flesh and blood, they would need blood sacrifices to summon their primordial spirit from another world. We saw a few of the treasures on the way, and they are meteorological weapons used to draw great calamities for massacring the populace… Don't look at me, that's what Mute is saying."
Everyone looked at Mute and Village Chief couldn't resist asking, "How do you know so much? You understand all of it even better than I do."
Mute grinned, signaling with his hands. Deaf then said, "This guy is acting mute and deaf again, I didn't understand what he signaled."
"This matter is too terrifying. From what I see, there's no need to find Patriarch or anyone else. Let's return to Great Ruins immediately!" Granny Si said. "So many stone statues had appeared in Eternal Peace, and once they revive, who can defend against them? Old Ma, don't be a Rulai anymore, let whoever wants to take over. I also don't want this manor anymore, so let's just all return to Great Ruins immediately!"
Butcher shook his head and said, "Granny, it isn't good to just leave like this, right? Aren't we going to be cowards if we hide in Great Ruins? A man should have an indomitable spirit and fight a vigorous battle!"
Granny Si gave him a look and said coldly, "If you aren't leaving, do you want to die? Do you want to return to before, living miserably with your upper body alone?"
Butcher's face flushed red from anger. "I won't stoop myself to your level!"
Village Chief coughed and said, "Granny, Human Emperor needs to take on the responsibility…"
"Take on the responsibility?" Granny Si smiled with extreme anger. "Can you take on the responsibility? You couldn't yet you still pushed Mu'er into the pit! If you have the capability, take on the responsibility yourself! Look at you now, hiding in Great Ruins like a rod and acting dead, yet you still have the face to talk about responsibility!"
Village Chief was too angry to even form words. "You-you!"
"You, what you?" Granny Si asked ruthlessly. "There are over a hundred stone statues. If you have the ability, go cut down all of them. Otherwise, you shall also go back obediently to Great Ruins and act dead like me!"
Deaf coughed and said, "Granny, you're going overboard…"
"How is it related to you? I brought Qin Mu up, cleaning his pee and poop. All you did every day was hit his palm with a black face. If it was not because you could write well and taught Mu'er to read, I would have beaten you to death long ago!"
Deaf stuttered from his fury. "One can learn without a beating... You-you unreasonable woman! Only a lowly person would quar—"
Granny Si put a cowskin over his head, and Deaf instantly became a mooing bull.
"Granny, I think—" Apothecary started to say, but was cut off as well.
"Scram!" Granny Si said coldly. "Go back and serve those women of yours!"
"Alright," Apothecary replied frankly and turned to leave.
Mute knocked on his tobacco pipe and signaled. "Ah, ah…"
"Shut up, you bad egg, always full of mischievous ideas!"
Mute lowered his head, feeling extremely wronged. He stopped talking. Cripple opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Granny Si turned around to stare at him. Cripple then shuddered and laughed dryly. "Why are you so fierce? We can discuss this peacefully, haha. Everything is good… Old Ma, Old Ma, say something! I listen to your words the most, so if you say to return to the village, I will return. Old Ma says go and I will go!"
Granny Si glanced at Old Ma. "If you don't return to Great Ruins, I will go to your Great Thunderclap Monastery, and you can see how many monks will be left in your monastery!"
Old Ma didn't say a word.
"Blind, say something." Village Chief looked at Blind.
"If Mu'er wants to stay, then we shall stay. If Mu'er wants to return to Great Ruins, we shall also return." Granny Si looked at him coldly, and Blind closed his eyes. "Granny, if you want to take Mu'er away, they can't stop you, but I can. I brought Mu'er away once, so I know his resolve. We are all old, and if Village Chief won't manage to patch his divine bridge, he probably won't make it past next spring, so why do we have to strain our relationships? Just listen to what Mu'er has to say."
Granny Si's heart softened, and she looked at Qin Mu. In a gentle voice, she said, "Mu'er, you are already a grown up. The baddies of the village taught you to be like that, but you shouldn't learn bad from them. Follow granny back. You shall marry any girl you like, and granny will wait to carry her grandson…"
Qin Mu looked around in a daze before lowering his head.
Si Yunxiang looked around her surroundings, also slightly at a loss. She didn't know what was happening. 'Aunt is pretty awe-inspiring, scolding all these god-like existence into obedience. When can I become this impressive as well…"
After a moment, Qin Mu raised his head. "These stone statues are like the stone statues of Great Ruins, gods and devils who had petrified themselves, but they had suddenly appeared because Yuxiu and I founded Primordial Spirit Guide. Those stone statues have came to wipe out Eternal Peace, right? In that case, the trouble is caused by me, isn't it? They are here to kill me?"
"It might not have been caused by you, but Emperor Yanfeng killing Jade Sovereign of High Heavens with the cannon. Based on the timing, High Heavens should have reported that event to their masters. Besides, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng's reform would have brought this sooner or later, just probably several years later," Village Chief explained.
"This change doesn't rest solely on your shoulders, but also the reform. First, Emperor Yanfeng's cannon raised the attention of the masters of High Heavens. Then, Princess Xiu and you founded Primordial Spirit Guide which brought about some changes to the great Dao."
"In that case, part of the reason is still me." Qin Mu pondered it for a moment, then said to Granny Si, "Granny, I'm not going back. I still have many friends here, like Wei Yong, Chen Wanyun, Mu Qingdai, and Yue Qinghong. I don't want to hear news of their deaths a few years later. Didn't you guys say it before? I should clean up after myself."
Granny Si was slightly stunned. "Butcher taught you to be loyal, so you are really going to be loyal? What's loyalty going to do? Can it save your life?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "It won't, but it will put my heart at ease."
Granny Si was first stunned, then she sighed. "At ease? I don't know if you'll still be able to feel at ease when Eternal Peace Empire is wiped out by the fire of war. But you have grown up and have your own ideas. Fine then, I won't force you. Invite Patriarch back."
Qin Mu blinked and asked with curiosity, "Why do I have to invite Patriarch?"
"We old bones discussed and felt that High Heavens would come to activate the treasures which broke out from the earth and release various natural disasters, using the resulting deaths as sacrifices to bring over the gods whose stone statues have risen in Eternal Peace. To stop that, we discussed a plan to attack the High Heavens to prevent their actions."
"Since those statues are the bodies of gods and devils, why don't we just smash them?" Qin Mu asked in bewilderment.
"Once the gods and devils petrify themselves, they become incomparably tough, too hard to shatter," Blind said. "Have you ever seen shattered stone statues in Great Ruins?"
Qin Mu pondered over it, realizing that it was indeed the case. He had roamed around in Great Ruins numerous times, but rarely seen shattered stone statues. However, he had seen numerous dragon king's statues whose heads had been severed in the east sea.
That time, it should have been the heavenly king of Heavenly King Temple. He'd ridden the dragon qilin to quell the rebellion in the east sea, using Green Dragon Crescent Blade to sever the heads of dragon kings' stone statues.
"Can we move the stone statues to Great Ruins?" Qin Mu asked. "If we move them to Great Ruins and place them near the stone statues there, we wouldn't have to worry about them reviving and created a ruckus."
Cripple smiled and said, "Carrying a stone statue is like carrying a god. Who can carry a god and walk tens of thousands of miles to Great Ruins? Besides, it's not just one or two, but over a hundred!"
Qin Mu frowned. The god statues were indeed terrifyingly heavy. An existence like Old Ma would have to rest after walking just one thousand yards. On top of that, Old Ma was a person who had a strong corporeal body!
"Saintess Xiang, what method does the sacred cult have to contact Patriarch or Elder of Discipline?" Qin Mu turned his head to ask the girl.
"My Si Family has two Heart Inspection Mirrors which act as a pair. By mumbling the other person's name and imagining their voice and appearance, one is able to contact another person, seeing them and hearing their voice. Patriarch and Elder of Discipline have one such inspection mirror, so it's simple to contact them. I shall go inform elder lady and get her to contact Patriarch!"
"There's still a toy like Heart Inspection Mirror in the sacred cult?" Qin Mu said in astonishment.
Si Yunxiang rolled her eyes at him. "You became the sacred cult master two years ago and how many times have you gone to Saint Arrival Mountain? The sacred cult's Si Family, Yu Family, Shi Family, have you visited them? If you weren't a decent cult master, I would have long rebelled against you!"
Qin Mu smiled. "You won't, you don't have the ability."
Si Yunxiang was driven mad, but could only contact the great-grandmother of Si Family. She wanted to be as awe-inspiring as Granny Si, but the brat didn't give her face, giving her no chance to become impressive.
"Grandpa Butcher, the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, the Milky Way, and the constellations are all fake." Qin Mu came to Butcher's side and said, "Grandpa Butcher should know numerous secrets, right?
Butcher pulled out his Pig Slaughtering Knives and grinded the blades against each other. "When talking about this, I can't not talk about the martial art I founded, Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining. Back then, I was a great master of the battle techniques, and all I wanted to do was to create an ultimate art that had no comparison. Back then, I was overflowing with confidence and felt that I was invincible in this world, that any divine art could be destroyed with one knife strike. However, I had never fought with heaven before, so I wanted to split the sky and jump out to fight with heaven…"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Back then, Butcher was a maniac. He was overbearing, invincible, lonely, and full of ambition, instead of being rough like right now. Not only was his knife skills superb, he was also knowledgeable, and the poems he wrote were bold and unrestrained. He was also a gifted scholar that was renowned at that time.
His knife skills were called Heaven Knife, and he was also named after them. His every move was filled with poetic quality, speaking his mind and emotionally unrestrained.
If Disabled Elderly Village was ranked according to their literary talent, the first would be Deaf, but the second would be Butcher. Even though he'd grown crazy and spewed vulgarities, he was a famous literary giant back in the day.
At that time, he had challenged nearly all of the experts, including even Pangong Tso. The grandmaster of Rolan's Golden Palace could only hide, not daring to face him.
Butcher was enormously proud of his success, and besides an annoying disciple, his life was already complete. Of course, his disciple was also very remarkable. He was called Ba Shan and known as Hegemon Knife.
For over four or five decades, wind and rain clouded the sky. As transient as a fleeting cloud, every cloud had a silver lining
One should not think about boasting, for after the crisis comes hope. When looking at the sky and sea, a journey taken seems but a smoke!
Butcher created Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining, and the battle technique school was pushed to a height at which it had never been. At that time, many people learned the way of the knife in the martial world, and the battle technique school became mainstream, suppressing spell divine arts and sword technique divine arts.
It was at that moment that Butcher finally couldn't resist attacking the sky. He wasn't a person like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor with his reform, but a person who wanted to fight to his heart's content!
"After I founded that move, I immediately tested it, and the knife sliced the sky apart."
Butcher swung his knife, and the knife skill he executed was none other than Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining. He didn't unleash any power with this move, but only executed it once.
He then pulled back his knife, his expression weird. He composed himself, seeming to be reminiscing about the period when he had become deranged. "I saw a strange sight. The sky split open, but there were no stars behind it. I was very careful and didn't go up to check, instead, I found a few like-minded friends who were all proficient in algebra."
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. Butcher actually knew how to be careful? He was the one with the worst temper, the one who would go straight into things, slashing down as he swung his knives.
'This kind of personality should be a facade purposely created by Grandpa Butcher. Those who believe he is a boorish fellow should have all died,' Qin Mu thought to himself.
"Then, I slashed toward the sky with my knife again. My algebra friends should have calculated the thickness and height of the sky, but there was a problem that time.'
Butcher fell silent. After a moment, he said sorrowfully, "My friends died. In the tear that I had slashed open, an eye appeared. A huge eye. A weird eye. When it looked at us, I felt my soul throbbing as though it was going to be pulled out of my body. However, my corporeal body was extremely strong and my heart suppressed the throbbing along with my primordial spirit. However, my good friends didn't manage to do that. They…"
The corners of his eyes twitched, and he fell silent again.
"I didn't go up to the sky to find the owner of that eye immediately. Instead, I brought the corpses of my good friends back to their homes, letting their families arrange for their funerals and bury them." Butcher fell into a daze as he spoke. "I knelt down and begged for forgiveness, especially from the family of my sworn elder brother. Elder sister was a very nice person, but she gave me a slap. She then told me to get out and leave for as far as possible, instead of taking revenge. I knew the meaning of her words: If I went and take revenge, I would definitely die. But I still went."
He revealed a smile and said to Qin Mu, "My friends, my elder brother, all of them had died without knowing how it happened, and it happened because of me, so how could I not take revenge? A man eight feet tall, full of muscle, with heroism in his chest, and big knives in his hands, how could he not take revenge, not do what his heart said? Elder sister cherished me and didn't want me to die, but my knives and my heart were upright and plainspoken, so I had to take revenge! That was why I carried my knives up to the sky. Hehe, many people said I was a lunatic, right?"
Qin Mu nodded silently.
Too many people had said Heaven Knife who had raised his knives against the heaven was a lunatic, that he had fought with the gods of heaven in the dark sky filled with clouds and lightning strikes.
It was said that in that battle, Heaven Knife, the strongest practitioner of the battle technique school, had fallen to a devil's influence which made him challenge the heaven. His actions then became a legend carried down through the generations.
Heaven Knife was severed in half at the waist, and his blood sprayed on the mortal world. The battle technique school lost their strongest practitioner, but it was still prospering. It was so until the rise of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who, because the battle technique school was fierce and liked to kill people frequently, challenged it in its entirety, killing numerous famous people. From then on, battle technique school went down the slope.
"I fought against the sky, but it was only this thick…"
Butcher made a pinching motion with thumb and index finger, leaving the space of three inches between them at most.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The sky was ten thousand miles high and its thickness was one thousand yards, which was calculated by Xu Shenghua, Wang Muran, and Lin Xuan. But Butcher frequently talked drivel, wrote poems, and exaggerated, so three inches was only his metaphor.
"I fought my way up to the sky and saw numerous weird formations." Butcher looked at the sky in a daze. "The sky was only the thickness of a line, but there were numerous complicated formations that operated automatically, presenting the shapes of the sun, moon, stars, Milky Way, and constellations.
"I was furious at that time. The bullshit heaven was all fake, yet the stubborn mules of Dao Sect were still calculating heavenly cycles and constellations. Commoners even worshiped the sun and moon every day, paying their respects to those toys. I wanted to chop them up, to shatter them and see how they would then continue to fool people. But then…"
Then, Heaven Knife met gods, the gods that were protecting the fake astronomical phenomenon.
Heaven Knife and the gods fought, and he was severed at the waist, which resulted in him falling down.
His lower body was snatched by Grand Shaman, who had also snatched the severed hand of a god which was later stolen by Qin Mu. It was still with Butcher.
"I never met the owner of that eye and didn't manage to take revenge for my good friends. I was disabled, crippled." A crazed look appeared in Butcher's eyes but his mind was still stable. "I had no face to return to the families of those friends, to meet my elder sister, or to die. Those friends are still looking at me…"
With a cry that wasn't really a cry and a smile that wasn't really a smile, he said, "I can't let them raise the crippled me and I can't let Ba Shan see the crippled me. This world had Heaven Knife who died in battle, not Heaven Knife who struggled for years at death's door.
"At that time, I crawled and crawled through the rain and snow. I crawled until I reached Great Ruins, where cold mud covered the ground. It was Blind who picked me and brought me to the village. That damned Blind keeps using this against me…"
Butcher's face became sorrowful soon, however. "When I left Great Ruins with Blind last year, I couldn't resist going to visit elder sister. She has grown old, her eyes becoming blurry and her head not being as good as before. She couldn't recognize me anymore. Her grandchildren follow her, for she can no longer walk, just lay in the recliner. Her grandchildren said that the sentence she says the most is: I shouldn't have let second brother go back then."
Butcher wept manly tears, but his voice still remained calm. "When I spent the last moments of her life with her, she was still harping on about me, not knowing that I was right beside her. She said that she had harmed me…"
Qin Mu stayed silent.
Butcher raised his spirits and said, "Even though I didn't spend much time in the sky, I saw a lot of stuff. The sun, moon, and stars are actually formations created in a small space. It seemed like, seemed like…"
He looked at Deaf who had been turned into a bull and said, "It seemed like a painting. However, those sun, moon, and stars weren't things that were drawn. They truly existed and operated automatically, hidden in the painting. I had seen Deaf's paintings before, and they're extraordinary, but not to that extent."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. "There are formations in the picture which show us the magnificent sight of the sun, moon, and stars?"
"Moo!" A big black cow mooed angrily beside Qin Mu. Next to it were a couple female deer demons that were trying to pick it up.
Butcher chased the deer demons away and placed his Pig Slaughtering Knife on top of the bull's head. He swung it up and down, making the black bull shiver in fear.
Butcher stabbed the knife into the bull's neck and carefully peeled off the cowskin while the deer demons fled in a panic.
Deaf tumbled out from the cowskin and grumbled, "Butcher, you almost hurt me."
"The sky is like a painting, but it wasn't completely a painting. There were a sun, moon, and stars inside. They were all forged treasured. The painting instead covered the true sky and maintained the formations of the sun, moon, and stars for tens of thousands of years. You couldn't do that; your cultivation is too shallow."
Butcher pushed Pig Slaughtering Knife back into its sheath and said, "Those gods in the sky should be the dogs guarding the Astronomical Phenomenon Picture and not the real gods. They are very strong and no weaker than those guys in High Heavens. However, I didn't see the owner of that divine eye. He shouldn't be from this world. When I was investigating the astronomical phenomenon, he detected me and only then looked over."
There was a picture that covered the whole world. The sun, moon, stars, constellations, and Milky Way were all formations that could operate by themselves. The thickness of the picture material was only one thousand yards while its height was ten thousand miles.
Qin Mu had a headache. Was this something that humans could create?
"Back then, I didn't manage to see past the sky." Butcher's face became sorrowful again as he said, "My knife had only sliced apart the astronomical picture, but I didn't slice open what's behind it. Back then, my corporeal body was terrifyingly strong, so I didn't die; however, I went mad."
As a matter of fact, Butcher would still flare up from time to time, scolding the heaven, full of cynicism.
The people of Disabled Elderly Village were all people who didn't have a complete body from various setbacks while their hearts and corporeal bodies had suffered from psychological shock. They were more or less embittered.
"I could draw what I saw in the sky," Butcher said. "However, my drawing isn't as good as that of Deaf. Mu'er, give me a few days, I will draw down all the formations for you to take a look."
Qin Mu was astonished.
Butcher was rough and boorish, courageous and strong to the point he was like the reincarnation of a bull demon. On top of that, the stubble on his face was also incomparably robust, able to give off sparks when he shaved it with Pig Slaughtering Knife!
Such a boorish man was actually talented in both literature and painting. And he was even honored as Heaven Knife!
Deaf, on the other hand, wasn't astonished. "In our village, the one most lacking in culture is Blind. Butcher's literary works and paintings are all first-rated. It's just that he didn't put all his heart into them, or else he would have left his name in history as well."
Qin Mu looked at Blind, only to see him staring at Deaf with shining eyes.
The next couple of days, Butcher cooped himself up in his room and painted continuously. Qin Mu didn't go and disturb him. Si Yunxiang in the meantime managed to contact the young patriarch and came to report to him., "Patriarch had gone to West Earth, but he's on his way back."
Qin Mu was astonished. 'Patriarch went to West Earth? Could he be looking for his old lover?'
At that moment, he suddenly heard a voice. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor seeks an audience with Human Emperor!"
Qin Mu turned around and looked toward the source of the voice while laughing loudly. "Why is Heavenly King so polite? Just saying that you are here to meet the cult master will do! Calling me the human emperor is too formal!"
Si Yunxiang was full of admiration. 'Cult Master's level of thick skin is something I can never reach.'
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked into the manor and looked around in astonishment. He praised, "When I finally retire after the success of the reform, I would also like to find a pleasant scenery like this to enjoy domestic bliss with my wife and children."
Qin Mu welcomed him with a smile. "What has Heavenly King come here for?"
"I'm not here as Heavenly Saint Heavenly King to meet Cult Master, but as Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to meet Human Emperor. May Human Emperor assist us!"
Qin Mu's expression instantly became solemn. "Imperial Preceptor, please speak!"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked around before saying, "Where's Old Human Emperor? Can I invite him over for a talk too?"
"Village Chief is basking in the sun and drinking tea."
The two of them found Village Chief drinking tea with Apothecary. Numerous women surrounded them, holding the teacups to their lips, so the two didn't even need to stretch out their hands. The corners of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes twitched. Empress Dowager was among those girls.
He immediately covered his face and pretended not to see her.
He had always been at loggerheads with Empress Dowager, who had gone against him time and time again. On top of that, Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing poisoning her was also his idea.
However, he was still a subject of the empire, so when he saw Empress Dowager serving a man like that, he naturally had to avoid it.
Empress Dowager saw him and sneered, but didn't avoid him.
Apothecary saw the situation and smiled. "There are too many mortal affairs here, so let us go elsewhere. I know a place with an extremely beautiful scenery. Bring your musical instruments so we can go there and play."
The women danced and sang in delight as they left with him.
Only then did Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor move his sleeves away from his eyes and greet Village Chief. After Qin Mu sat down, he also followed.
"Abnormal events have been happening in Eternal Peace Empire one after another. Numerous treasures and a hundred stone statues had appeared, but this shouldn't have escaped from both of your ears, right? I'm sure I don't have to explain the danger of it to the two human emperors."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went straight to the main point and said, "My visit here is to ask Human Emperor to take out Human Emperor's Seal to command all the heroes of the world to wage war against High Heavens, to prevent the people from suffering again!"
Village Chief looked at him peculiarly and asked, "Has Imperial Preceptor ever been to High Heavens?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head.
"If you knew the true power of High Heavens, you wouldn't think this way. Back in the day, I took all the heroes under my command and planned a life-and-death struggle with High Heavens at West Earth, but it resulted in only me losing my arms and legs. High Heavens don't only have the four sovereigns of High Heavens, but other fake gods as well. The four sovereigns are nothing to be feared, but you will meet a real god, a true god."
His old face was filled with wrinkles that were very deep. There seemed to be an old farmer who had his back toward the sun in them, the wrinkles themselves being the land he plowed.
"A true god who is god realm in every aspect," Village Chief said calmly. "My sword skill lost to his sword skill, and he severed my legs and arms. Human Emperor? Chey! That was what he said before throwing me away like garbage."
He looked at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "At that time, you hadn't been born for long, so you wouldn't know about this. The strong practitioners who had followed me either died, escaped, or disbanded. I, this human emperor, had failed completely. I suffered an utter defeat. Your attainments in sword skill have already surpassed mine, even if your attainments in sword path are still slightly inferior to mine. However, if you go to High Heavens, your end will be the same as mine."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frowned. "In that case, what should we do?"
"Don't go to High Heavens, but intercept them," Village Chief said. "Whoever comes down has to be killed. One comes down, we kill one. All come down, we kill all. Don't worry about that true god. He needs a lot of flesh and blood sacrifices to come down. Back then, he managed to come only because a god of High Heavens was used as a sacrifice."
"In that case…" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at Qin Mu and asked solemnly, "May I ask for Human Emperor's Seal?"
Qin Mu took out the black lump which was a seal. It was not eye-catching at all, but it was made from all the best treasures in all the clans and sects. They were forged into one and represented the authority of the human emperor.
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows and took out the seal. This action would mean that he, the human emperor, would be walking from the backstage to the front, bringing a lot of danger to himself.
Like Village Chief back then, he had become the human emperor and had no choice but to deal with the life-and-death situation of the human race. There were many hidden arrows coming for it!
According to the teachings of the people in the village, things like Human Emperor's Seal had to be thrown as far away as possible, but the people in the village had also taught him to be responsible.
All the nine elders in the village taught him different things, which sometimes conflicted among themselves, so he had to choose and follow his heart.
Qin Mu took in a deep breath and asked, "Village Chief, how do I use this seal?"
"Pour your vital qi into it, then let us help you."
Qin Mu pushed his vital qi inside, and it poured into Human Emperor's Seal. The black lump seemed to have a kind of consciousness which activated and flowed out back to the owner.
Qin Mu instantly felt an explosion in his head as though unyielding strong practitioners and their unyielding spirits had been hidden inside and were now rushing out at him.
Dazzled, he thought he saw a bunch of people wearing ragged clothes walking toward him. Behind them were countless commoners of different races who belonged to every clan and sect of Eternal Peace Empire. They were the ancestors of the people of this land.
Their faces had an emaciated look and held traces of hardship and the fire of war along with knowledge of many casualties. Their gazes were filled with sorrow and fear. They carried a history which would make people despair as disaster went through the land. The gods and devils had spread havoc, and it had been Human Emperor who had brought them out of despair, bringing them to this new land.
Each of them had taken out their treasures and imprinted their consciousness inside them. The treasures were then smelted and forged into a huge seal before respectfully offered to that person.
"The one who wields this seal will be the human emperor!" Their consciousness transformed into voices which exploded in Qin Mu's mind. "With Human Emperor's Seal out, none will disobey!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled. At that moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Village Chief released their vital qi to help activate the Human Emperor's Seal. With a hum, it floated high up into the sky and gave off a radiant glow!
The unyielding consciousness transformed into physical substance, and the apparitions of the patriarchs and emperors who founded sects and countries shone, imprinting their majestic figures on the heaven and earth.
Terrifying consciousness rushed out in all directions, bringing to their successors of the same bloodline the summons, calling them to come forward.
That was their promise, the undying pledge they made to the Human Emperor for his deeds!
With Human Emperor's Seal out, none will disobey!
The promise the ancestors had made twenty thousand years ago had to obey even after that much time had passed!
After a moment, Village Chief and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pulled back their magic power. Qin Mu dispersed his vital qi with his mind was surging.
That was Human Emperor's Seal, the treasure that all clans and sects had offered to Human Emperor together. It clearly had no power in itself, but it had an immense ability to rally supporters!
"Let us wait here for a few days. What will come will come," Village Chief said indifferently.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor agreed. "May I ask how many experts will come? Strong practitioners of ordinary Divine Bridge Realm won't be too useful. They will only be able to give up their lives even if they come."
Village Chief smiled. "Those that dare and can come will naturally be experts."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still wasn't at ease. The experts of this world were usually in the sacred grounds, and those that could be on par with them were only Old Rulai, Old Dao Master, and the experts of Little Jade Capital. However, it stood aloof from worldly affairs while Old Rulai and Old Dao Master had retired. Those who could come were not that many in number.
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. "When I saw the apparitions just now, not all of them were humans. Some of them clearly belonged to others races."
"I also saw numerous strange races," Imperial Preceptor said as well.
"Back then, the clans that Human Emperor rescued didn't consist of only humans. Some of them gave up this land of Eternal Peace to find other homes, in other territories."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor expression filled with astonishment. "They went overseas?"
In East Sea, a huge island was moving slowly in the ocean. Within it lived a strange race. The men had horns on their heads and fished for a living while the women had no horns.
When the men jumped into the sea, their bodies would shake and transform into those of huge whales. Their head would still, however, retain the sharp drill-like horns which they used to travel through in the water as though they were flying. The monsters in the sea were simply not their opponents.
Every time there was a catch, the whales would jump back onto the islands, transforming back into men when they landed on the ground. They would then carry their catch to the village.
Suddenly, all the people on the island could sense an ineffable call from their bloodline. They all look toward a faraway land.
"The summon of Human Emperor's Seal!"
In the shrine that was at the center of the islands, the heart of the elders in white throbbed as they shouted out, "Quickly, wake Old Ancestor up!"
"Aaang—"
Melodious cries of a whale came from the bottom of the sea, and the island trembled, for it the back of a whale. When it was awoken, it spewed out a water pillar that was hundreds of yards tall.
Far away, there were a few more islands floating around, also belonging to the huge whales.
The people and palaces on one sea island flew up and left, coming to the other islands. That huge whale then gradually sunk to the bottom of the sea, and after a moment, a topless, long-haired, and sturdy man walked out from the sea and stepped onto the island.
In the Hall of Sea King, numerous elders in white were waiting. When they saw the sturdy man, they all bowed. "King Kun!"
"The ancestor of Kun race made a promise twenty thousand years ago and it still flows in our blood today. It is still within us!" King Kun surveyed the surroundings and said, "Human Emperor's Seal is summoning me, so I need to go personally. Call the sacred artifact!"
Numerous elders in white split into two rows before a sacrificial altar in their Hall of Sea King. Within it, was a long, spiral-shaped, golden horn which looked like a golden lance.
King Kun paid his respect and pulled out the long horn. Instantly, huge waves splashed into the sky around the island, and the elders in white sent him off respectfully.
King Kun held the golden lance as he sprinted over the sea, transforming back into a huge long-horned whale that surfed toward Eternal Peace. Just as King Kun leaped from the waves, a huge bird flew past him, its spread out wings covering an area of a few hectares.
When that huge bird saw him, its body did a sudden spin and flew over like an arrow. Countless feathers fluttered in the wind as it transformed into a woman who landed in front of King Kun. Her legs were talons, while on her head there was a victory headdress made from plumes.
King Kun smiled and said, "Queen Yi, you also came?"
"Human Emperor has summoned us again, and we need to come and fulfill the promise our ancestors made. How can I not come?"
Suddenly, the sea churned and a pitch black tortoiseshell ship broke out from the bottom, leaping off the sea surface before smashing back down again. It swayed for a moment before steadying itself.
"Raise the flags!" a voice called out on the ship.
Whoosh. A huge drenched flag rose, revealing a tortoise and a serpent painted on it.
In Little Jade Capital, Old Rulai frowned slightly and sighed. "I thought we could have some peace, yet here we are in need to leave the mountain so soon."
Old Dao Master smiled and said, "If we don't leave the mountain, our successors will have to, and won't they be just seeking death? Let's go."
Old Rulai nodded and sighed, rising to follow him out of Little Jade Capital.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The sea was foggy in the early morning in Eternal Peace River Prefecture. What happened next, the guards stationed at that time wouldn't be able to forget even after many years.
Grayish fog spread across the surface of the sea while a huge narwhal leaped out. Its body flew above them as though it was a cloud, covering the docks of River Prefecture.
The whale then became smaller and smaller as it fell into the city.
Before the soldiers could even come back to their senses, they saw another huge shadow sailing in from the fog on the sea. It was a tortoiseshell ship, with all kinds of shells crawling over its body. A black tortoise flag fluttered in the sea breeze.
The huge ship sailed straight toward the dock, and just as it looked like it was going to crash into the dock, it suddenly lifted dozens of yards off the ground with four legs. The ship then walked in the air above the ships and rumbled into the city.
Within it, the soldiers looked at the ship that was walking in front of them in a daze. They saw that it carried a flying serpent which had coiled around it and flapped its wings on the mast. If that wasn't enough, the soldiers on the ship also looked strange. They had a tortoise's shell on their backs as well as flying serpents coiling around them, forming a strange kind of symbiosis.
Pond Prefecture also encountered a strange incident. That area was known for its thousand deep ponds whose bottoms could not be seen. On that day, the thousand ponds suddenly dried up, and the water and fish within them vanished all at once. Numerous people looked into the deepest one and saw that at its bottom there was actually a bronze door.
Pond Prefecture Magistrate ordered people to head down to check on the pond, and they reported, "The bronze doors at the bottom of the pond are locked with seals; they can't be opened."
While the magistrate was baffled, the bronze door suddenly opened and a man covered in scales walked out. He turned around to lock the door, then shouted out, "I know, I know, annoying woman! Human Emperor has summoned me so I'm only helping to fulfill our ancestor's promise… I won't be fierce and pick fights. You know that my temper is the best among us Earth Travelers! See what see? See me shatter your knee with one punch… I wasn't talking about you, I'm saying those country bumpkin giants above… I know to lock the door. You're being naggier than my mother!"
Pond Prefecture Magistrate and the rest stood beside the pond while looking at a five foot tall dwarf with a face full of beard carefully locking the bronze door before coming ashore.
Pond Prefecture Magistrate went forward and asked curiously, "This senior brother…"
The dwarf covered in scales looked at him in alert. "Country bumpkin giant, don't lay your eyes on us Earth Travelers. We've made an agreement before that the surface belong to you country bumpkins and the underground is ours."
The magistrate of Pond Prefecture was flabbergasted when he heard the dwarf shouting into the pond right after. "Woman, release the water, prevent these giants from stealing our underground world!"
Water started to pour into the ponds, and soon, all the deep ponds were filled. The bluish jade ripples in the ponds were like scales, and there were many fishes in the water once more.
Just as Pond Prefecture Magistrate was about to ask about it, the dwarf suddenly tunneled into the ground and disappeared.
Pond Prefecture Magistrate and the rest were all stupefied. 'There are people living underground? How are they surviving there?'
Meanwhile in Willow Prefecture in the south which worshiped a lot of Willow Immortals witnessed a willow tree transforming into a green dragon and flying away.
Numerous weird incidents happened all around the world, causing quite a discussion among the commoners.
"Mu'er, these are the formations I saw that day in the sky. I didn't get to examine them in detail so I can only remember this much."
In the manor, Butcher passed all the sun, moon, and stars he had drawn during the two days to Qin Mu. The youth's scalp crawled when he saw what filled the hall. He picked up one picture Butcher had drawn which represented a star and saw that its structure was extremely complicated and looked rather mired in minor details.
The star was Chief Star, and the picture of the formation faintly showed the black face and tusks of a ghost god which held a brush in one hand and a golden seal in the other. Under his feet was a fish dragon sacrificial altar.
Qin Mu then picked up another star picture, and it was Greedy Wolf Star. The formation showed the picture of a dragon turtle and with a sacrificial altar below its feet.
He frowned and scanned the other pictures as well. Most of them had sacrificial altars formed by formations while the inside of the stars had the shape of gods and devils.
'What exactly are these god and devil formations and sacrificial altars used for? Is it to operate the astronomical phenomenon or something else?"
Uneasiness filled his heart. If it was just to maintain the operation of the fake astronomical phenomenon in the sky, there was no need for them to be so complicated. The formations just needed to glow and that was all.
Since it could be so simple, why were they so complicated?
'The sacrificial altar and the white bone sacrificial altar that I used to summon Dutian Devil King are slightly similar to these. It's just that the formation structure is different.'
Qin Mu felt his blood run cold. There were countless stars floating in the sky, and there were countless sacrificial altars hidden in them, ready to one summon gods and devils.
If there was a great blood sacrifice one day and those gods and devils descended, how terrifying would it be when tens of thousands of gods and devils came to the mortal realm?
Not to mention Eternal Peace, even Founding Emperor Era back in the day would have been destroyed, right?
'Eternal Peace Empire is absolutely not worth the effort to guard and supervise, so what exactly is this fake astronomical phenomenon guarding against?'
Qin Mu had numerous questions that he couldn't answer.
The formations in the star pictures Butcher had drawn were all incomplete. He didn't have time to study the fake astronomical phenomenon before he suffered an attack by the gods guarding them. However, he had still managed to draw a rough layout.
Qin Mu suppressed the astonishment in his heart and continued to examine the structure of the formations. His eyebrows scrunched up tighter and tighter, and he suddenly asked, "Grandpa Butcher, how are your attainments in formation?"
"So-so, I'm inferior to Blind," Butcher said honestly.
"I shall go and invite Grandpa Blind to take a look!"
Qin Mu went to find Blind and asked him to look through the pictures. "These formations are very weird, and I have never seen them before. Grandpa Blind, have you seen something similar before?"
Blind looked through the pictures one by one with his face becoming more and more solemn. He shook his head. "I've never seen formation structure like this before. Weird, this is truly weird. The formations in these star pictures are used to construct the bodies of gods and devils, but they can also give off rays like the sun, moon, and stars. This kind of formation structure isn't simple. It's a pity that none of these formations are complete... "
"The time was too short, I could only remember this much."
Blind examined them in detail again and calculated. "These formations construct the bodies of gods and devils, but they also break down the bodies of gods and devils. Butcher, do you understand what this means?"
Butcher pondered over it before saying, "What you mean is that if we have divine arts practitioners line up according to the structure of the formation, we can possess the power of gods and devils?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. Making the qi cultivators line up according to the formation structure and activating the formation would be equivalent to gaining the power of a god or devil?
If such a formation was activated, how astonishing would its power be?
"It's a pity the formations aren't complete." Blind shook his head and said, "You have drawn so much, but none of them are complete. Other than that, there's another possibility."
Astonishing rays burst forth from his eyes, and he walked out from the hall. He raised his head to look at the sky and muttered, "These formation structures may very well be the vital qi circulation of those gods and devils. The formation inside every star might be their complete technique! A huge treasure vault is up there in the sky, but it's a pity that I can't go there to take a look…"
Qin Mu's heart pounded heavily. A star represented a technique of gods and devils?
How many stars and constellations were there in the sky?
Didn't this mean that there were tens of thousands of techniques of gods and devils hidden in the sky picture?
The ultimate arts of the three big sacred grounds—Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Heavenly Saint Cult— were all revered as techniques that could turn one into a god, buddha, or a devil. For them to stand until now and not fall, their effects were extraordinary.
Yet in the sky, there were tens of thousands of techniques that were no inferior to the three ultimate arts. Just thinking about it made him excited!
Yet after the excitement, what Qin Mu felt was fear and terror.
Great fear, and great terror.
'Hope this sky will never be dyed red by blood. Or else…'
His bones started shivering. When the sky of Eternal Peace was dyed red by blood, the sun, moon, and stars in the sky would transform into terrifying gods and devils to descend on the world!
This would be the vision of doomsday, literally!
Suddenly, Qin Mu sensed something and looked toward the east. He saw a huge tortoiseshell ship walking among the mountains. It flapped its serpent wings while its huge flag fluttered in the wind.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also sensed some motion and looked toward the east. He saw a flood moving over like a huge wave upon which stood a topless, sturdy man holding a golden lance.
There was also a woman in the sky with wings on her back. When they moved, wind and lightning surged, accompanied by the sound of thunder.
"They came, they actually came…" Village Chief floated up and revealed an excited expression. "I'm old, but they have not aged. They are still alive…"
The tortoiseshell ship came next to the manor and suddenly stopped. A person with a tortoise shell on his back flew down. He belonged to the race of black tortoises.
A flying serpent danced around on the huge ship whose bow trembled as a dragon head popped out. Flames and thick smoke spewed out from its nose and mouth while its eyes rotated around. It shouted loudly, "Black Tortoise Xuan Shengwu is here to meet Human Emperor!"
The sturdy man controlling the huge wave lowered its speed and landed in front of the manor with a whoosh. The wave behind him then vanished. "King Kun of Kuns is here to meet Human Emperor!"
The woman in the sky stilled her wings, and the wind and lightning all hid under her feathers. She then landed on the ground. "Queen Yi of Wings is here on invitation!"
Qin Mu immediately took out Human Emperor's Seal and held it in his hand when he went forward to welcome them. "Fellow lords have come from afar, and I can't appreciate it enough. Please come into the manor to chat."
King Kun, King Xi, and Xuan Shengwu were astonished. The black tortoise tortoiseshell ship suddenly trembled and became smaller and smaller, transforming into a majestic man with a tortoise's shell on his back and a serpent coiling around him. "Human Emperor is becoming younger and younger. He was a middle-aged man in the past…" he said in a soft voice.
"Brother Shengwu, the human emperor you mentioned is most likely dead. Humans are not like us; they can't live that long," King Kun said.
Xuan Shengwu let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "That's good, that's good. That fellow looked for trouble for no reason. He was always embittered and called us to do this and that, what an annoyance."
Village Chief had wanted to meet his old friends, but he couldn't help freezing when he heard what they said. He seethed with anger.
Suddenly, a voice came from underground. "Earth Traveler Chief Tuxing… Aiya!"
The ground trembled, and a messy head popped out in front of the manor. There was a huge bump on it, and its owner roared in anger, "Which asshole refined the rock to be so hard?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The head was very huge, and the bump that had swelled wasn't small either. However, the person wasn't high when he tunneled out from underground. He was only five foot, and his face was covered with a scraggly beard that grew in all directions.
"Chief of Earth Travelers, this manor was constructed by the four sovereigns of High Heavens. They put much of their capital into its construction," Qin Mu explained right away.
"Those wretches again!" The dwarf jumped out and landed on the floor with a thump. Even though his body was short, he was astonishingly heavy. He raised his head and said, "Country… giant, are you the human emperor? Did that haughty human emperor die already?"
He didn't wait for Qin Mu to reply, unable to contain his joy. "That's good! Did he die miserably? He must have died miserably, right? Hahahaha, I knew that guy would die miserably, being so haughty every day, calling us frequently to counterattack. It would have been fine if it was just once or twice, but if one stands frequently beside the river, how can the shoes not get wet? The more he played, the sooner he should have lost. But now he's already dead, right?"
Qin Mu turned his head back around, but he didn't see Village Chief. 'Village Chief was here moments ago, so where did he run to now?'
"I'm Tuxing Feng of Earth Travelers, the current chief. My ancestor was Earth Lord from Founding Emperor Era, and our whole family was this short. You should have seen the Earth Shrine in Great Ruins before, right? What they worship is the ancestor of our family."
The dwarf was entertaining in conversation, and he also talked fast. "Our race is very good at giving birth, thus there were Earth Lords everywhere during Founding Emperor Era, and so were Earth Shrines. Every mountain had the gods of our Earth Travelers.
"However, among our people, the smaller you are the better. Ever since Founding Emperor Era ended, our bloodline has gotten mudded, and we've been growing taller and taller. At my height, I can be considered a giant among Earth Travelers, and I would be despised by my ancestors. That reminds me, I have twenty-eight brothers, but I'm the eldest. My second brother is called…"
Qin Mu coughed and said, "Everyone, please head inside."
Suddenly, a demon wind swept over. Five men and women with strange appearances stood on the pitch black devil wind. "Chiefs of the demon race, Five Immortal Elders are here on Human Emperor's invitation."
Qin Mu was astonished. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went to stand beside him and said, "These five people are all of the demon race, and their abilities are extremely strong."
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. Five immortals—Fox, Yellow, White, Willow, and Rat— was a saying of the mortal world. Fox Immortal was a fox, Yellow Immortal was a weasel, White Immortal was a hedgehog, Willow Immortal was a snake, and Rat Immortal was a rat. The five of them were the chiefs of the demon race and represented the five elite races among the demons.
The First Generation Human Emperor had even saved the demons when he was saving the people of the world back in the day, so even the chiefs of the demons offered their treasures when forging the Human Emperor's Seal together.
"Five guests, please!"
Qin Mu invited everyone into the manor and entered the main hall to take a seat. Village Chief also came, but as everyone looked at the old man who resembled a rod, they didn't recognize him at first.
Other than Village Chief, Butcher, Mute, Blind, Old Ma, Cripple, Deaf, Apothecary, and Granny Si also sat down in their respective seats. Tuxing Feng looked at Village Chief repeatedly, finding him quite familiar, making Village Chief slightly awkward.
After a moment, Hermit Qing You brought You He and You Yu over and greeted Qin Mu before greeting Village Chief with a smile. "We are late!"
"Little Qing'zi, Little You'zi, and Little You'zi!" Tuxing Feng couldn't contain his joy and jumped up to shout, "You guys are still alive? I thought you guys were dead! Little Qing'zi, your relationship with the previous human emperor was quite good. Has that scoundrel died?"
Hermit Qing You looked slightly awkward when he pointed to Village Chief. "Isn't Old Human Emperor still around?"
Village Chief was ashamed, wishing to hide somewhere. Tuxing Feng and the rest laughed out loud and went forward to greet him. "We long recognized you, but we just wanted to tease you."
"Even though you frequently called us over, we missed that time we spent with you!"
"To be able to fight with you during our years was our greatest honor!"
Village Chief was suddenly full of tears and choked on his words.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was deeply moved. The previous generation sword god had so many close friends, which was something he could not hope to reach.
Old Rulai and Old Dao Master arrived as well, and everyone was lively again.
"Humans are still prospering, as expected of the race that's able to rule the land." King Kun saw more and more human experts arriving and saw that the other races could only make claims as an equal when added together. This made him sigh ruefully in his heart.
Willow Immortal looked at Qin Mu. "Human Emperor took out Human Emperor's Seal, so what mission do we have this time?"
Willow Immortal was a woman, and from her name, it would seem like she was a willow tree that had turned into a demon, but as a matter of fact, she was a green snake who had the bloodline of the green dragon turned demon. It wasn't known how long she had lived, but even though she said herself to be old, she didn't look it.
Humans had at most the lifespan of eight hundred and years, but the lifespan of other races surpassed that limit. Qin Mu could not guess how long Willow Immortal had lived. However, since most of the strong practitioners had fought along with Village Chief before, they couldn't be too young.
The other immortals, White, Yellow, and Rat were all men, with Fox being the only other woman.
"Intercept High Heavens." Qin Mu surveyed his surroundings and said, "Fellow senior brothers and senior sisters, I guess you have already seen the stone statues and treasures in Eternal Peace, right? The gods of High Heavens will come forth to release natural disasters in the treasure and activate the astronomical phenomenon. Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and tempests will all rush through the land. It is certain that all of your clansmen will find it hard to survive through that as well."
Everyone scrunched their eyebrows. On their way, they had indeed noticed numerous stone statues, and if it truly was as Qin Mu said, when the disaster burst forth, their people would be unable avoid being wiped out as well.
"Before I came, I brought over a treasure that had appeared from underground. Ladies and gentlemen, please take a look," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said.
He took out a taotie sack and carefully opened it while circulating his magic power to lift up a red circular cauldron before carefully placing it on the ground.
Everyone surrounded and examined it in detail. The cauldron was vermillion red in color, and there were flames spilling out from inside it. Time and time again, balls of flame would burst forth and float around the cauldron. It had an area of six ares, and in the center, there was an opening which was sealed tightly by a huge cover. Sealing runes were all around it.
There seemed to be boundless terrifying power inside the cauldron that was continuously trembling. The hall was also trembling continuously while the glazed roof tiles on the roof were rattlings in a regular pattern.
The entire manor was trembling while the trees were shaking gently around it.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was extremely careful as though he was scared of activating the violent energy in the cauldron.
"This is Earthquake Cauldron." Tuxing Feng stood by the huge cauldron, then walked two rounds about it. His voice was like thunder when he said, "Earthquake Cauldron contains the power of an earthquake, and if it's unleashed, tens of thousands mountains in Eternal Peace Empire will be razed to the ground! My ancestor had once forged this kind of treasure on the emperor's order and used it to collect the energy of earthquakes everywhere."
He took out a sharp horn-shaped hammer. The front of the hammer's head was flat while the back was a sharp horn. He hit Earthquake Cauldron with a loud clank.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wanted to stop him, but it was too late.
The manor was fine, but the mountains in a radius of three hundred yards from it trembled violently and shook as though they were dancing. The mountain ranges shivered while the earth churned. Mountain rocks shattered and countless trees collapsed in an instant!
Hermit Qing You was furious and snatched the hammer away. He almost got squashed to the ground by its weight, so he immediately let go while shouting furiously, "Three Inch Nail, are you crazy?"
Tuxing Feng picked up his huge hammer and held it as though it was very light. "I'm extremely familiar with this kind of item, and it's fine giving it a knock. The area nearby is desolate and there's nobody… There's nobody nearby, right?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "There's no one living nearby. However, it's best if Chief Tuxing isn't so reckless."
"Let me try!" Black Tortoise Chief Xuan Shengwu went forward and said solemnly, "Three Inch Nail, knock the Earthquake Cauldron. I want to see if I can suppress the shockwaves."
Tuxing Feng's eyes lit up, and he smiled. "Black Tortoise Shield is known as the strongest defense, so you might just be able to suppress this Earthquake Cauldron! Alright. Let us try!"
Qin Mu was about to stop them when Granny Si stretched her hand out to stop him and shook her head gently. She said in a low voice, "Mu'er, what they respect is Human Emperor's Seal and not you, so they won't listen to you. Let them try. If they don't suffer, they won't fight High Heavens with you."
Qin Mu immediately stopped wanting to dissuade them. "Imperial Preceptor, bring this cauldron out and let them try."
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's magic power flooded out, and he carefully brought Earthquake Cauldron out of the hall.
Everyone went after it, and Xu Shengwu with a flying serpent coiled around him stepped forward. He gave a shout, and layers of tortoiseshell runes flew out to seal the area around Earthquake Cauldron, all of them locked together. This formed a system of seals with nearly a hundred layers shining with flowing light and overflowing color!
Tuxing Feng raised his sharp horned hammer and knocked heavily on Earthquake Cauldron, which resulted in a world-shaking boom as the energy inside instantly exploded out.
The destructive shockwave broke through all hundred layers of Xu Shengwu's defense, and his face changed instantly. The black tortoise and the flying serpent shouted in unison as the man revealed his true body, transforming into a huge black tortoise to suppress the shockwave with all his strength. It caused him to cough up blood while his huge body was blown into the sky!
Everyone's expression changed, and they each executed their strongest defensive methods to seal the rampant energy with all their strength. In a split second, numerous rumbles rang out as everyone's divine treasures were opened one after another. Their primordial spirits rose as the broken divine bridges stretched across the sky with them on top, and magic power burst forth at the same time, suppressing Earthquake Cauldron together!
The energy shockwave calmed down for a moment before erupting once more, blowing all the humongous figures in all directions, smashing them into the surroundings of the manor.
Everyone's face went pale white, and they stood up to look at the vermillion cauldron with disbelief
Even though the terrifying energy had been blocked by them, it had injured all of them as well.
"Three Inch Nail, how much power of this Earthquake Cauldron did your hammer activate?" Xu Shengwu asked loudly as he wiped away the blood on the corner of his mouth and returned to his human form.
Tuxing Feng shook his head and said, "It's not even one percent of Earthquake Cauldron's power…"
Everyone's heart sunk.
The strongest people of this world were all gathered here, and they couldn't block even one percent of Earthquake Cauldron's power. If the gods of High Heavens came down and activated the full power of such treasures…
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor feared that Tuxing Feng would want to fool around once again and quickly put away his Earthquake Cauldron. "There are still seventeen treasures that are similar to this. They are hard to move, and any carelessness would activate the power within them."
"One of them is enough to destroy Eternal Peace Empire, so eighteen is sure extravagant." King Kun's gaze flickered as he spoke. "This is no longer the matter of humans alone, but a common threat against all races that are living in this world. If the power of the eighteen treasures was to burst forth, my people in the sea would also find it hard to escape."
"All Earth Travelers underground would probably die from the tremors," Tuxing Feng said.
"When the tempest fills the sky, it'll be hard for my people to escape unscathed as well," Queen Yi echoed him.
"In that case…" Qin Mu surveyed his surroundings and said solemnly, "Let us set off now and intercept High Heavens!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
"Mu'er, intercepting High Heavens is no simple thing, so please don't go," Granny Si said in a low voice.
Qin Mu was refining spirit pills in a hurry to feed the flood dragons. Since he was leaving for a long trip, he needed to prepare some extra spirit pills. When he heard what Granny Si said, he was stunned for a moment before smiling up at her. "Granny, I'm the one who invited them, so how can I not go?"
Granny Si shook her head and said, "You are only on Six Directions Realm. If you don't go, they won't say anything. For this battle, High Heavens will probably mobilize their full force. There's not only the four sovereigns of High Heavens, but also other gods… If we are defeated, return to Great Ruins and never come out again."
Qin Mu's face dimmed, but when he was about to say something, Village Chief's voice came from the distance. "Old Woman Si, don't worry about him, let him follow!"
Granny saw Village Chief laughing with the old men and women and couldn't help becoming furious. "Mu'er's cultivation is still low, so he'll be useless even if he goes!"
"How is he useless?" Village Chief turned back to her with a smile. "There must always be someone to retrieve the corpses, ain't I right, granny?"
Granny Si was slightly stunned, her words drying out.
Someone had to retrieve the corpses. No matter if it was the enemy or their own people.
Laughter came from far away as a bunch of old men and women laughed loudly. Village Chief and his old friends had a wonderful chat. Tuxing Feng spoke about their embarrassing deeds back then, which made everyone burst out into loud laughter again and again, making their faces glow heartily.
There were many things to be said between them, about how they fought through life-and-death situations together, becoming comrades in arms. There was also a past to be reminiscent.
After all, ever since Village Chief was crippled, his magnificent aspirations had died, turning him into an old cripple that would just lay in Disabled Elderly Village under the rain and lightning. The traces of the human emperor faded away, and the willpower of all his comrades was also ground away. They no longer appeared in the world and no longer met one another.
Now, Village Chief was back, and they had also reconvened because of an invitation. Even if a lot of time had passed, the reunion seemed to return them back to the time when their passion had blazed furiously.
Qin Mu looked at them and saw how different all of them were. Some of them were not cheerful people, like Hermit Qing You who had a face like everyone owed him money all the time. Yet even he was full of smiles now.
The positions of everyone here were incomparably high. One was a chief of an underground race, some were immortals that stood high up in the world, some were great demons worshiped by their people, and another carried their people to roam freely in the sea,
People of completely different personalities had all gathered together because of Human Emperor's Seal.
"Let the blood in our hearts burn again, to relive our past and turn it upside down!" Village Chief said to everyone in high spirits
Hermit Qing You teared up from laughter. "Burn your ass! Ain't your lifespan ending next year? Can you still burn?"
"How can the immortals of Little Jade Capital say uncouth words? Say that in Little Jade Capital if you have the ability to! Qing You, you don't have many years left to burn as well, so you'll be a goner like me!"
The old folk laughed loud and stamped their feet. Willow Immortal's eyes narrowed into slits as she gasped for breath while saying, "Do you still remember? When we talked about fighting, Little Qing'zi would run the fastest, but not to fight - to hide!"
"You weren't any better than me. You always rolled up into a ball!"
The old people laughed more, poking fun at each other. "Little Qing'zi even liked Fairy Xue Qi, giving his all to chase after her!"
"That's right, that's right, I remember it, this guy's face is super thick! Pah!"
"When Fairy Xue Qi died in battle that day, Little Qing'zi cried like a man made out of tears."
No one laughed at those words, and suddenly, Hermit Qing You began to bawl loudly. Tuxing Feng who had made the atmosphere incomparably awkward scratched his messy hair. He then sighed and said, "I remember Daoist Lu Feng. We had a close relationship, and he died for me, blocking a sure-kill attack for me…"
Everyone fell silent. After a moment, they began laughing and chatting again, making the awkwardness earlier vanish.
Qin Mu shook his head and executed Secrets of Dragon Control. The flood dragons transformed into behemoths that were several miles long, and everyone boarded them.
The manor was left empty.
They rode the dragons toward Great Ruins. On the dragon's back, Butcher threw jars of wine, and the strong practitioners from the past generations hugged them to drink to their heart's content. Laughter rang from time to time, and Butcher raised his wine jar up high while laughing loudly. "Drink three hundred cupfuls of wine in glee!"
On another dragon's back, Cripple cried messily, "I ain't a hero like all of you, just a small-time thief, so why am I acting a hero with you guys?"
Old Rulai looked at Old Ma and said in a low voice, "Great Thunderclap Monastery still needs you, so go back. I'll be enough."
"You are Rulai, and I'm also Rulai. You know my thoughts," Old Ma said indifferently.
Old Rulai was slightly stunned. "If you and I don't come back, what's going to happen to Great Thunderclap Monastery? What's going to happen to buddhism?"
Old Ma put his palms together, and his face held twenty kinds of enlightenment. "Live up to buddhism, and it will never let you down."
Old Rulai understood his intentions immediately. "Excellent. No matter if there is a Rulai or not, the dharma is always there. It doesn't exist because of Rulai and it won't die because of Rulai. If they will comprehend, they will become rulai, and if they don't, they are fake monks."
Qin Mu was on the back of another dragon with Village Chief, at whom he couldn't stop looking. In the end, he was unable to hold back. "Village Chief, has your divine bridge been repaired?"
Village Chief's wrinkle-filled face revealed a smile, and he said, "How can it be that easy? There are three steps in repairing a divine bridge and each step is harder than the last one. The first step is Secrets of Magpie Bridge, the second step is Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and the third step is Secrets of Divine Crossing. I have cultivated to Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and that's already considered very fast. Qing You, has your divine bridge been repaired?"
Hermit Qing You shook his head. "I'm still on Secrets of Mysterious Guide."
Village Chief smiled with exultation as he made fun of him. "You might die trying to intercept High Heavens this time!"
"Old bastard, you only know how to curse me!" Hermit Qing You scolded him.
Village Chief laughed loudly. "Heavenly Devil Patriarch, this old youngster, is still hurrying here!" Everyone laughed again, and the atmosphere was very joyous.
The sun set in the west, and the sky gradually turned dark.
In High Heavens, cryptic and awkward-sounding voice came from the sky above a sacrificial altar. It was the god language, and the modulation didn't seem to be something a human was able to produce. Star Sovereign Qiao, Flower Sovereign, and Star Sovereign Yan listened respectfully. When the god's speech was over, the three sovereigns moved back a few steps and said respectfully in unison, "As you command."
Everything was calm on the sacrificial altar.
The three sovereigns under the altar had solemn faces. After a moment, Star Sovereign Yan couldn't resist saying, "Are we really doing this? If we do it, not many people are going to survive in the entire Eternal Peace Empire…"
"We have no choice but to do this," Star Sovereign Qiao said solemnly. "Eternal Peace Empire is developing, and Emperor Yanfeng has already forged a divine weapon that could kill Jade Sovereign. The change of the human emperor, the change of the law, and the change of the path have angered those above. If we don't do this, we won't be able to save ourselves. Compared to those lowly lifeforms in the mortal world, our lives are more important!"
"But those are countless lives…" Flower Sovereign said
"No need to speak further." Star Sovereign Qiao raised his hand and spoke in an inflectionless voice. "We just need to do our responsibility and not question whether it's right or wrong. Wake up the gods of High Heavens. There will be a battle."
Star Sovereign Yan and Flower Sovereign's expressions were grim. Star Sovereign Yan came to the bugle horn beside the sacrificial altar and blew it. Instantly, a heavy and drawn out sound from spread across High Heavens.
Duuuuu, duuuuu.
In High Heavens, the mountains were majestic, and numerous strange beasts wandered around them. However, the most eye-catching things were still the majestic sculptures.
They portrayed gods that appeared as fantastic oddities of every shape and form. At the sound of the bugle horn, the surface of the statues suddenly cracked, and the stone rapidly changed. Some of it transformed into dead skin that fell off while some turned into flesh and blood.
Suddenly, a stone statue that was half bent over and half kneeling smashed its fists on the floor while standing up.
What followed was all the stone statues reviving among the mountains. They opened their eyes, and the divine light within them burst into the horizon.
Star Sovereign Qiao's gaze was like lightning as he swept the surroundings before shouting, "Receiving Official, lay the bridge—"
In the sky above High Heavens, a dazzling golden bridge appeared, and the Receiving God Official stood upright there, turning a golden-colored compass in front of him which grew brighter and brighter. Instantly, a beam of light shot out, transforming into a golden bridge which penetrated through the barrier between High Heavens and the lower world.
The corners of Star Sovereign Qiao's eyes twitched, and he suddenly gritted his teeth. "All gods listen to my command - descend to the world of mortals!"
The gods rose and transformed into beams of light, following the bridge of light out of High Heavens. Instantly, above West Earth, radiants stars streaked across the sky.
It was nighttime, and there were eighteen shooting stars that dragged their long trails as they broke through the sky and headed toward the east.
At night in Great Ruins, heavy snow was falling from the sky as the young patriarch and Elder of Discipline sat in a ruin around a bonfire which lit up their surroundings.
"It's snowing." Elder of Discipline raised his head and saw snowflakes floating down from the darkness. "The winter this year seems to be especially long."
The young patriarch used a stick to poke at the firewood, making the fire burn more furiously. As the bonfire crackled, sparks floated up along with the smoke.
"It's still considered alright. New Years should already be over, right?" The young patriarch smiled. "After it, the weather slowly becomes warmer."
At that moment, a chuckle suddenly sounded out. "Make the fire bigger. I would also like to warm myself."
The two looked back and saw a man wearing a conical bamboo hat walking out from the darkness. He only had nine fingers, and vapor condensed into mist as he breathed out.
"Dao Friend Ling Jing." The young patriarch immediately got up to greet him.
Daoist Ling Jing returned his greeting and took off his bamboo hat before stretching his hands to the fire to keep warm. His gaze flickered. "Heavenly Devil Dao Friend is also answering the call of Human Emperor and going forward to meet him?"
The young patriarch shook his head. "I'm not meeting with them. I already know what happened so I'm just waiting here. Even if they don't arrive in time, I can intercept the gods of High Heavens first. Dao Friend Ling Jing, what about you?"
Daoist Ling Jing smiled. "I hesitated for a long time, since I'm not on good terms with many people, like Old Sword God. Look at this finger, it was chopped off by him. But after I thought through it, it all comes down to the promise the ancestor of the human race made. If I don't uphold it, I would fail as a human, so I decided to go and meet them."
"In that case, there's no need for you to go," the young patriarch said with a smile. "You can just wait here. If they don't arrive on time, we can drag it out together."
Daoist Ling Jing nodded, and the three of them didn't speak again.
When midnight came, the snow stopped, and trails of magnificent starlight appeared in the sky, heading east from the west.
The young patriarch smiled at Elder of Discipline. "Bring Dao Friend Ling Jing and my ashes back, if you can still find our corpses."
Elder of Discipline bowed. "Farewell to the both of you!"
When he raised his head, the young patriarch and Daoist Ling Jing had vanished, and in the sky, there were two more trails of light. They were rising diagonally to intercept the eighteen shooting stars.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The darkness in Great Ruins was silent yet bustling. The former was for people who had no abilities, hiding in the villages and ruins. If one was powerful enough, the night in Great Ruins was extraordinary bustling.
Walking at that time, one could see all kinds of strange sights and encounter countless supernatural incidents. If there was fate, they could even enter marvelous worlds. Of course, it was another matter regarding if they could come back alive.
The night in Great Ruins was exceptionally charming. Since a snowstorm had just ended, lumps of snow hung on the branches which shone when light landed on them It was as though the surroundings were adorned with silver clothing.
The sky suddenly became incomparably bright, and numerous lifeforms raised their heads in Great Ruins. The darkness was suddenly filled with numerous bright colors.
But they weren't formed from natural phenomenon. Instead, they were originated from the explosions of magnificent divine arts that burst out into balls of light, lighting up the world.
The darkness seemed to be a substance, however. It might get forced back by the lights, but it would flood back every time, filling up the void.
The rays of light changed, growing weirder and weirder. The lifeforms in Great Ruins saw the stars moving quickly, tussling and battling against one another.
The movement of the stars in the sky was very weird. There were eighteen at the front and two stars behind them. The stars at the front were rushing ahead while the other two were chasing and harassing them.
Every time the eighteen stars stopped and prepared to encircle their pursuers, the two stars would run to the west. The eighteen stars wouldn't chase, and the two stars would then catch up to harass them again. When the eighteen stars gave chase once more, the two stars would escape with all they had.
This happened over and over again, halting the progress of the eighteen stars, making it hard for them to unleash their full speed.
Beside the bonfire in a ruin, Elder of Discipline looked at that sight, and a slither of hope renewed in his heart. Heavenly Devil Patriarch and Daoist Ling Jing's motive was to delay the gods of High Heavens and not clash with them head-on. If they continued with that, there might still be hope of surviving.
Suddenly, the stars in the sky dimmed and disappeared
Elder of Discipline's heart sunk. The gods of High Heavens had decided to hide their traces, baiting Heavenly Devil Patriarch and Daoist Ling Jing to go search for them. As long as they came forward, they would be encircled.
"Don't go…"
Elder of Discipline grew nervous, and he grabbed his collar as though he was grabbing his heart. He stared relentlessly at the two stars that were moving in the sky.
"Don't go close, don't go close! Quickly run—"
The two stars moved about in what seemed like hesitation. Suddenly, they also dimmed and could no longer be seen.
The sky turned dark once again, once everyone hid their traces.
The corners of Elder of Discipline's eyes twitched, and his heart pounded heavily, each beat being more violent than the last one. He was extremely nervous.
Everyone had hidden their traces, and they had to fumble and seek each other in the dark. This period of time was the most dangerous. Heavenly Devil Patriarch and Daoist Ling Jing's options were much more limited than those of their opponents, who could wait or just leave. Heavenly Devil Patriarch and Daoist Ling Jing couldn't wait too long, since they had to ensure that the other party did not leave!
Finally, a star lit up. One star gave off light.
The next instant, the sky flared up when all kinds of strange divine arts burst forth, drowning out the star. There were dragons and phoenixes, clocks, buildings, cauldrons, and pagodas of all kinds of strange shapes, all of which were dazzling to the eyes.
The power of those divine arts erupted, and the dark sky was once again lit up with different colors, driving away all the darkness at once. Eighteen majestic gods and devils could be faintly seen flying above, their faces either solemn or malicious. Their limbs were sturdy, and as the rays of the divine arts fell on their bodies, runes of all colors floated up.
The one who was encircled by their attacks was Daoist Ling Jing; Heavenly Devil Patriarch was not with him.
"Daoist Ling Jing is the bait!"
Elder of Discipline's heart trembled violently. As the bait, Daoist Ling Jing would surely die. No one could survive after being surrounded by the attacks of eighteen gods and devils.
Daoist Ling Jing's aim was to use himself as a sacrifice to lure out the eighteen gods of High Heavens!
That would give Heavenly Devil Patriarch a chance to land a sneak attack!
Daoist Ling Jing's abilities were extremely powerful. He was also one of the strongest people back in the day, even daring to fight with Village Chief for the title of number one in the world. However, he was defeated and lost a finger.
Yet when it came to launching a sneak attack, he couldn't do much with that.
Heavenly Devil Cult's teleportation clothes and teleportation flag were the best methods to go about something like that. If someone lured out the eighteen gods out, Heavenly Devil Patriarch could easily launch a sneak attack, which would be their only chance to severely injure them!
"Ling Jing Eight Methods!" An inspiring shout came from the sky and shook the hearts of the people. "Cease to exist from now on!"
Elder of Discipline raised his head to look at the final sight of Daoist Ling Jing. Even though his Ling Jing Eight Methods were not inferior to Village Chief's Sword Picture, they were useless against the attacks of eighteen gods.
He was simply going to unleash his ultimate art of which he was the proudest. He was like an artist splashing ink as much as he liked to exhibit his talent, like a scholar using all he could to write an essay. He wanted to leave his mark in the world, his shadow.
At that moment, a huge flag swept open, and Heavenly Devil Patriarch appeared behind the devil gods, landing lethal attacks on them.
The flag swept over him, and his figure seemed to appear beside all the gods at the same time, attacking all of them at the same time. In just an instant, he injured over ten gods and devils.
Thunder rumbled in the sky. When the sounds of the explosion from the divine arts traveled outward, many new attacks had been made.
The shockwaves of the divine arts caused the air to be sometimes warm and sometimes freezing cold. Hurricanes swept down from the sky, and the snow melted before coming back just as quick.
Heavenly Devil Patriarch's teleportation flag was shredded. It was destroyed in the terrifying shockwave of divine arts, but he still had his teleportation clothing.
Elder of Discipline raised his head to look and saw blood raining down from above. It started with a drizzle before becoming heavier and heavier.
One of the twenty stars moving in the sky dimmed and wavered. Suddenly, it went out in a fierce collision, falling from the sky.
Daoist Ling Jing was dead.
Elder of Discpline's face dimmed. Only Heavenly Devil Patriarch was left. and he was still battling. Even if he was skilled in the Seven Writings of Creations in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, it would be hard for him to change the outcome of the battle.
In the ruin, Elder of Discipline didn't raise his head to look at the battle in the sky anymore. Instead, he stared at the flames of the bonfire, subconsciously adding more firewood to it.
The flames grew taller and taller, and the intensity of the heat also grew, yet he couldn't feel anything at all.
"Why is this winter so cold…"
He shivered from the cold and added more firewood. "What's wrong with this fire? No matter how fierce it is, it's still so cold. How is it still so cold when I added so much firewood…"
Another star dimmed in the sky, before bursting forth with light again. It was exceptionally gorgeous, lighting up the sky.
"A marvel of creation, the light and shade it dominates!"
A shout tore through the darkness, inspiring and shocking.
Dong.
The melodious sound of a bell came from the sky, rushing in all directions. It faded away soon after, and the marvel of creation ceased to exist.
The lights in the sky gradually dispersed, and the darkness slowly came back after the explosion.
A star had fallen.
Elder of Discipline buried his head in his hands and didn't say anything.
He was waiting for daybreak, to retrieve the corpses of the two old men.
In the sky, the eighteen stars paused for a moment before continuing to head east.
Great Ruins' God Broken Mountains were sharp as a blade, their peaks were covered in snow. In the sky, flood dragons were rushing toward them.
The wind was strong and blew their whiskers and mane backward.
Beside Qin Mu, Si Yunxiang was trying to use Heart Inspection Mirror to contact the young patriarch. Moments after, she fell into a daze. "Patriarch said that he won't be coming back. He said that you guys don't need to miss him."
Qin Mu was stunned, and Granny Si turned her face around to secretly wipe away her tears.
"That old guy actually left earlier than us." Village Chief was stumped for words and could only sigh. "He's as impatient as ever."
They came closer and closer to God Broken Mountain Range, and their eyes went past, looking into Great Ruins that were shrouded in darkness.
Over there, they could see stars moving in the sky, rushing in their direction.
"Mu'er, stop on the mountain!" Village Chief suddenly ordered.
Qin Mu gave a command, and the flood dragons lowered their speed. They stretched their bodies while their bladelike claws clasped onto the mountain peaks to stop themselves. With their fluttering whiskers and strong bodies, they crushed numerous Mysterious Pearl Crossbows.
The snow was white while the mountains were black. The flood dragons, however, were of all colors, like white, black, red, and even sapphire blue. Their bodies shone with light which came from the natural rune markings of their race. They shone upon the snow, giving it a colorful hue.
"Let's have the battle here." Village Chief looked around and asked, "What do you guys think about this place?"
King Kun examined his surroundings and said, "Very good, it's just a little cold."
Tuxing Feng jumped down from a dragon's back and pulled his clothes tighter around himself. He muttered, "This damned place is still so cold, being warm underground is still the best. Human Emperor Qin, if you go to the underground world of our Earth Travelers, your horizons will definitely expand.
"The whole underground world is covered in jade glass and thick crystals hanging from the ceiling. There are those with six and eight edges, all clustered together like brightly colored decorations. With the light from the magma reflecting off them, they are so pretty. There are also numerous plants that grow in the magma and taste amazing. They burn your throat like fine wine, but the taste lingers on—"
"Stop speaking." The serpent on Xu Shengwu's shoulder gulped down its saliva. "I'm getting hungry just from your descriptions."
Tuxing Feng raised his head to look at the stars that were closing in, and he grabbed his sharp horn-shaped hammer while muttering, "I wonder if I'll have the chance to return underground for another bite. Our underground world still has Flaming Fruit, which is born from the magnetic element force. That taste…"
Village Chief looked at Qin Mu and said, "Mu'er, bring the dragons and your little wives down the mountain. You are not needed here anymore, just remember to collect the corpses tomorrow."
Qin Mu nodded and called the dragons over. He then brought Si Yunxiang, Hu Ling'er, and Yan Jingjing down the mountain. In the sky, the stars were getting closer and closer.
"Are we just going to look at them fighting for Eternal Peace?" Si Yunxiang was not willing to just leave like that. "What can we do? Can we really not do anything?"
"We can go to Great Ruins!" Qin Mu's gaze flickered. "We can find Sun Ship and Moon Ship! But this darkness is blocking our path! However, we have a powerful bodyguard. Where's Surging River Dragon King?"
"Dragon King is here!"
Under God Broken Mountain Range, river water churned as a huge dragon rose from the darkness. Coiling himself, he lowered his huge head. "What's Your Majesty's command?"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Dragon Rearing Sovereign carried them through Surging River and leaped past Secret Waters Pass, swimming into Great Ruins. He swam close to Border Dragon City and behind them, the water churned as a flood dragon broke out through its surface.
"Your Majesty, I'm binded by the oath so I can't leave Surging River. The Pact of Earth Count ties me down, so I would die if I leave. You guys want to go to Star Sea, but I can't go there." Dragon Rearing Sovereign fell back into Surging River. "However, I can have divine flood dragon king bring you guys there."
That flood dragon who had showed up was almost the same color as the river water, and it was none other than divine flood dragon king. Its abilities were extremely powerful, and no inferior to those of Dragon Rearing Sovereign. With him carrying Qin Mu and the rest into Great Ruins, the darkness would be repelled.
Qin Mu brought Si Yunxiang and Yan Jingjing onto the back of the divine flood dragon king. Meanwhile, Hu Ling'er came to his shoulders. The flood dragons called out ma ha ma ha and climbed onto the divine flood dragon king's body, acting very intimate.
The dragon qilin also jumped over, acting very respectful.
The divine flood dragon king soared into the sky and went straight for Star Sea.
Qin Mu turned back to look, but could no longer see everyone on God Broken Mountain Range. Meanwhile in the sky, the stars were closing in rapidly.
Suddenly, it looked like someone had lit fire beacons on the mountains of God Broken Mountain Range, and they were extremely gorgeous. They linked up into a line, creating a very beautiful sight, decorating the monotonous night of Great Ruins with picturesque charm.
Divine flood dragon king carried the group into the abyss of Star Sea, where God Broken Mountain Range could no longer be seen.
"Why hasn't Patriarch arrived yet?" the dragon qilin asked in bewilderment. "He should be arriving soon, right?"
Si Yunxiang opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything. Qin Mu said, "The night of Great Ruins is very dangerous, so he might be a little late. Let's go to Sun Well first."
The dragon qilin nodded, then asked, "Why did Saintess say he wouldn't be coming?"
"The sky is dark so he naturally can't come. Fatty Dragon, stop asking."
On the peaks of God Broken Mountain Range, the furnace behind Mute was blazing furiously. Blind's eyes were like two stars while Butcher's clothes flapped in the wind as he held his knives in his hands. Village Chief floated in the air, his vital qi giving him a visible form, as if he'd grown back his hands and legs.
All of them stood upright on mountain peaks.
Cripple and Old Ma stood together. Granny Si, Deaf, and Apothecary shared one peak as well. Old Dao Master, Old Rulai, Hermit Qing You, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and Yu Zhaoqing who each took a mountain peak.
Tuxing Feng, Xuan Shengwu, Queen Yi, King Kun. and the five immortals of the demon race had extraordinary abilities, so they stood by themselves as well.
Everyone's primordial spirit took shape, almost materializing into a physical form. They were like gods and devils, standing behind them and waiting quietly for the battle to arrive.
The sky was shrouded by the darkness, yet eighteen stars were growing larger and larger as they closed in at a quick speed.
Village Chief's aura burst forth, and a trail of sword qi burst into the sky from the peak like a precipice that stretched from the heaven to earth, blocking the path of those stars.
"Sun on East Sea Thousand Layers Wave!"
Butcher shook his knives, and knife lights rose like a huge sun. At that moment, soundwaves went out, and their momentum was like the sea. The waves reflected the knife lights shot out from the sun and shone in the dark sky.
"Truly the number one knife skills! Heaven Knife lives up to his name!"
Old Ma's body grew larger while a vertical eye grew out at the heart of his brows. He was like a giant with a green dragon coiling around his body. Behind his head, a huge sun formed up, accompanied by the rumbling of the wind and thunder. "Kua Fu Chasing The Sun!"
"Aba!"
Mute placed his wooden chest down and raised his thumb at Old Ma. The chest opened, and silver pellets flowed and changed repeatedly. Venomous substances flowed out from Apothecary's herb basket and spread out in all directions around him like a flood. Suddenly, spiders jumped out and began to weave a web between the mountains. They moved in the air, working tirelessly.
The star image of Great Overarching Heavenly Stars suddenly appeared behind Granny Si, before growing smaller and smaller. It rapidly shrunk and landed into her palm.
Cripple, on the other hand, was nervous and looked around as though he was going to run away at any moment.
"Burn, underground fire!"
Tuxing Feng laughed loudly, and the God Broken Mountain Range below his feet suddenly erupted like a volcano. When he hit it with his hammer, the volcano became taller, growing spontaneously.
King Kun laughed and said, "Three Inch Nail is still full of heroic spirit. Look at my Water Breaking the Starry Sky!"
Behind him, a giant wave rose into the sky and erected itself between heaven and earth like a sea.
"King Kun, lend me your strength!" Xuan Shengwu laughed loudly and revealed his true form. He leaped into the sea and became a tortoiseshell ship sailing on the surface that was perpendicular to the land.
Queen Yi stretched out an arm and suddenly trembled. Feathers grew out of her arm and formed a wing. It clanked as the feathers rubbed against one another to make the shape of a goose wing knife.
The five immortals of the demon race brought out their weapons as well. Willow Immortal wielded a whip, White Immortal carried a ball of thread, Fox Immortal hugged her pipa, while Rat Immortal and Yellow Immortal carried a gray and yellow sack respectively.
"They're here!" Butcher shouted loudly. "They plan to barge through by force! Be decisive, we have to stop them at any cost, preventing them from crossing God Broken Mountain Range!"
The trails of starling came closer and closer, until they formed a straight line. They were like eighteen comets which aimed for the sea erected by King Kun, expecting to pierce it in one go.
Butcher's knife lights shifted and shone on the sea surface. In an instant, they reflected back to slash toward the stars.
Clank, clank, clank.
There was a loud clang when Butcher blocked the first star. The second star came straight after and destroyed Sun on East Sea Thousand Layers Wave, and Butcher couldn't help but grunt at it. He was blown into the deep sea, where he borrowed King Kun's power to disperse the attack.
Just as the second star crashed into the sea, it was tangled up by the webs shooting out from the butts of the spider sprinting over. The star crashed into the sea surface with the spider webs and got dragged back by them, unable to continue forward.
The third and fourth stars rushed over and smashed into the sea. Yet its surface suddenly split apart and revealed a sea of blood behind.
Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood!
It was too late for the two stars to stop their momentum, so they could only brace themselves for the incoming attack and try to break the move.
Boom, boom.
Two violent collisions rang out, and a bloodied god and devil brought their broken bodies out of the sea of blood, shrieking miserably.
However, they were incomparably powerful. Even though they had lost their momentum, they were still a god and a devil. They thus worked together to break Village Chief's move.
However, what welcomed them right after was still a sea of blood.
Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor trembled his sword, and what he executed was also Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood. It was the same move as what Village Chief had used. Yet the moves were slightly different and their concept was worlds apart.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had comprehended the move from Deaf's painting of the Sword God's back. It could be said that it was the inspiration for his sword skills.
The god and devil were terrified, but they had no way to retreat. They could only rush into the sword lights that were like the sea of blood.
Chi, chi, chi, chi.
There was a screeching noise, and divine blood poured out along with a few divine bones rolling out.
Other star rushed over and collided with Sword Picture. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed out blood as it was destroyed. Seeing that the other stars were about to cross God Broken Mountain Range, Rat Immortal opened up his sack and shook it in the wind. The sack expanded and turned into something like a huge cave, absorbing the stars inside it.
Rat Immortal hurriedly tightened the sack, about to land lethal blows on the gods and devils inside when the sack exploded, blowing Rat Immortal back. Willow Immortal hurriedly shook her arm, which seemed to be boneless as it swept Rat Immortal back.
Just as she caught him, she felt the terrifying power of the gods and devils coming from Rat Immortal's body. Her face twisted, and her arm distorted like twisted dough!
Willow Immortal flipped and tumbled, rolling frantically to shake off the terrifying energy. White Immortal saw the bad situation and immediately flew forward. The needles in his plate stabbed into Willow Immortal and Rat Immortal one after another, directing the terrifying energy out from their bodies. Only then were their lives preserved.
Pak, pak, pak.
Huge waves rose on the sea's surface, and majestic figures stood on them, pouring seawater in all directions. Star Sovereign Qiao, Flower Sovereign, and Star Sovereign Yan were in the lead, forming a triangular formation. The other thirteen gods and devils, in the meantime, were moving by themselves.
The sixteen gods and devils pressed down on King Kun until his arms were trembling, unable to hold the sea. He grunted repeatedly, then his arms suddenly cracked and broke.
The sixteen gods and devils were still pressing downwards, and King Kun couldn't help vomiting out blood. He immediately lowered the sea flat.
Mountain peaks broke through the sea surface, revealing everyone who stood on them while a sea churned around them.
The sea wasn't deep, only three hundred yards or so. The tortoiseshell ship which was Xuan Shengwu sailed upside beneath the surface. The eyes of the flying serpent and black tortoise flashed as they looked at the inverted image of the gods and devils, waiting for the chance to strike.
Village Chief looked at Star Sovereign Qiao, Flower Sovereign, and Star Sovereign Yan. "Star Sovereign, everyone, you should know the consequences of opening those treasures. Must you wipe out all the people in Eternal Peace Empire?"
Star Sovereign Qiao was expressionless when he said, "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. Since you angered High Heavens and those above, you can't blame us. Old Human Emperor, we are simply acting on orders."
"No room for discussion?"
Star Sovereign Qiao shook his head. "Even though I hate everyone here to the core, I don't hate the commoners of this world. I also don't want to do this, but when Emperor Yanfeng blew Jade Sovereign up with a cannon, the time for discussion was lost. There was even a change in the law and the path, which—"
Xu Shengwu used that time to come beneath Star Sovereign Qiao. With swiftness, the flying serpent pierced through the sea to bind its target. The black tortoise's attack then followed right after, attempting to kill him in one strike.
"—broke off all hopes of discussion."
Star Sovereign Qiao allowed the flying serpent to coil around his body, so the black tortoise attack. When he came out, he was suddenly faced with Flower Sovereign and Star Sovereign Yan stabbing a flower and a flute into his temples, crushing the brain.
The flying serpent hissed and wanted to save him, but Star Sovereign's Qiao's divine sword slashed at him, slicing him into chunks. "Only after wiping out all the commoners of this generation will the higher-ups be at ease."
"Xuan Shengwu!" King Kun shouted out, and the golden-horned lance in his hand shone with brilliant rays as he stabbed toward Star Sovereign Qiao. Tuxing Feng gritted his teeth and swung his sharp horn-shaped hammer to attack while the gods behind Star Sovereign Qiao moved to welcome them.
With their movement, Blind, Mute, the five immortals, and Queen Yi had no choice but to move as well. God Broken Mountain Range suddenly trembled and became a lot shorter when it got pressed down by everyone's divine arts.
In the meantime, Star Sea became brighter and brighter as chains rattled within it. A sun slowly rose from the abyss of Star Sea, repelling the surrounding darkness.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The sun rose in the west. Sunlight and fire spread at a great speed from the long chains to the whole of Sun Ship which repelled the darkness of Great Ruins, lighting up the surroundings. Numerous monsters in the darkness sizzled when they got hit by the sunlight, resulting in trails of black smoke.
In a village nearby, the abandoned people of Great Ruins were rudely awakened. They stared in a daze at the mountain-like Sun Ship which was striding with its twelve pillar-like legs. Sun Ship passed by the village, but there was no discomfort when the radiant sunlight shone on the villagers' bodies. Instead, they felt really warm, yet the monsters in the darkness were all fleeing for their lives.
Ever since Founding Emperor Era had ended, it was extremely rare to see this kind of sight.
At its end, the darkness had descended, and there were dozens of Sun Ships walking towards the west in Great Ruins, repelling the darkness and bringing light to people.
Yet after Founding Emperor Era, the last Sun Ship grew tattered and the sun was extinguished. Only Sun Guardian and the sun herders were left dragging a black sun, continuously protecting Great Ruins in secret. The former glory of the ship could no longer be seen.
Yet Sun Ship had revived and brought an intense blazing sun to pierce through the darkness. Wherever it passed, there was light.
On Sun Ship, there were giants bathed in the golden light. With the constant trembling of the huge ship, they were moving closer to God Broken Mountain Range.
"Sun Guardian, something seems to be moving ahead!"
On Sun Ship, Sun Herd Chief was extremely nervous when he sensed something humongous coming in their direction. He immediately reported it to Yan Jingjing who was controlling Sun Ship.
Yan Jingjing was majestic like a heavenly god at that point, and she looked into the darkness when she heard his words. She could sense a terrifying creature getting close. The newcomer was coming from behind Sun Ship and its speed was much faster.
The girl's gaze was like two incomparably thick light pillars which tore the darkness apart, showing her the truth hidden by it.
The fog parted, and towering mountains and precipitous ridges showed up. Yan Jingjing was slightly stunned. The incomparably tall mountains were formed by countless white bones, and when they were shined on by the divine light from her eyes, they squirmed and shrieked, trying to hide as though they were afraid of her gaze.
In the meantime, the fog behind the white bone mountain became even thicker. There was a sea of it with a continuous chain of mountains, two of which were like gates, leading to a hidden world.
They were Gates of Hell, leading to Fengdu.
The speed of Fengdu sweeping over was extremely fast, and it soon caught up to Sun Ship. The fog swept pass the surroundings of Sun Ship, and everyone on the ship realized that the law of heaven and earth had changed. The blood and flesh on their bodies disappeared, turning them into skeletons.
The white bones mountains in the fog passed through the people along with the ground and rivers. Even the sun of Sun Ship that was in the sky had also become dim, turning green and hazy.
Yan Jingjing stretched out her hand, and the law of Fengdu did not change her body. She was too powerful and no longer under the control of Fengdu.
She saw that Fengdu World didn't seem to have substance. It was in a different plane from theirs, and she couldn't touch anything from there.
Then, she saw Fengdu, the majestic ghost city. The indomitable hell gods were standing on the city walls and towers as though they were going to face a strong enemy.
Meanwhile, in the center of Fengdu, the cape of a devil god formed by darkness hung down and spread out in all directions. Its owner was even taller and more imposing than Sun Ship. It passed through their bodies, but Yan Jingjing didn't manage to see the person's face. She only saw two fire-red eyes in the darkness of the cape.
Swoosh!
Fengdu World flashed past, the fog continuing to surge forward, vanishing into the darkness. The sun gradually regained its brightness, and the people on the ship looked down at their bodies to see that their flesh and blood had returned. They didn't know what had happened.
'The fog of Fengdu World is heading towards God Broken Mountain Range…'
Yan Jingjing raised her head to look at God Broken Mountain Range. It was where Village Chief and the rest had stayed to intercept the gods of High Heavens, and their battle was quite intense now. The mountains of God Broken Mountain Range sometimes grew high and sometimes sank down into the ground. Sword lights and knife lights would slice the sky from time to time, shocking people. All kinds of voices rang out like the bellows of devils and the whispers of gods.
'Brother who herds cows rode divine flood dragon king to borrow Moon Ship, but he said that it is very far away from here and he needs to bring the ship from Moon Well to Star Sea so he wants me to defend his elders for a moment for him. I wonder if he can come back in time— What's that?'
Yan Jingjing hurried with all her might, stunned. From God Broken Mountain Range to Great Ruins, balls of will-o'-the-wisp surged forth. She had no idea from where they had come.
"Pleiades Sun Star Hoops!"
Layers of fire changed into star hoops, and she looked toward the will-o'-the-wisps. Paper boats were actually floating within them from the endless darkness. On the bows of the ghostly boats hung lanterns which shone in the darkness. There were also numerous paper men riding paper horses and sprinting frantically into the fog.
On the paper boats, elders wearing tattered black robes sat under the lanterns, sailing the boats into the fog. Imposing shapes that looked like gods and devils could be faintly seen in the fog, fighting with those elders in the boats.
Ghostly light would shine in the two worlds from time to time, but what was peculiar was that the shockwaves from the two worlds had never reached this world. The shockwaves didn't affect Great Ruins and didn't have any impact on reality.
'Those are… messengers of death from the legends!'
Yan Jingjing was astonished. Youdu's messengers of death started to fight with Fengdu?
What was going on?
She couldn't bother to think much more. Sun Ship continued forward with rumbles, rushing towards God Broken Mountain Range. It got closer and closer to the battle of Fengdu and Youdu.
Meanwhile, the battlefield above was one of Village Chief, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and the gods of High Heavens. It was also extremely intense, but it was still much inferior when compared to the battle of Fengdu and Youdu.
Everyone in the battle above the mountains was extremely powerful, and they were all equivalent to gods and devils, possessing remarkable abilities. Yet none of them had any idea that another battle was happening right beneath their feet, which was of an even larger scale and much more shocking.
Sun Ship sailed to the bottom of God Broken Mountain Range, but it was yet to get close when Yan Jingjing suddenly felt an ineffable palpitation.
Balls of will-o'-the-wisp floated over from the darkness and paper boats swarmed toward Fengdu World. Within them, all of the messengers of death seemed to look exactly the same. They were cold, silent, and examining them in detail with unseen faces. They were covered by a layer of fog which hid their true appearances. When looking at them, a person would only have a feeling that they had the most ordinary faces.
Countless paper boats shuttled forth like sharp arrows, while behind them Yan Jingjing saw an extremely terrifying sight. It was a pair of flaming bull's horns slowly rising from the darkness.
They were so huge that what formed them were pieces of land from destroyed worlds. Countless souls shrieked miserably and struggled, continuously falling off from the nine-bend bull horns!
"Earth Count!"
Yan Jingjing was extremely nervous. She clearly knew that the battle between the two worlds would be extremely dangerous, but the crucial point had been reached, so she had no choice but to brace herself and push Sun Ship to rush toward God Broken Mountain Range.
"Ba tu… si ba tu—"
Rumblings came from the darkness, and the sound seemed to be locked in the area. The strong practitioners that were fighting fiercely on the mountain didn't hear or detect any abnormalities. They could only see Sun Ship closing in.
Meanwhile, Sun Ship and Fengdu World brushed past each other. Yan Jingjing on the ship heard the cryptic Youdu language, but she didn't understand the meaning of the words.
In Fengdu, the clothes of King Yama who was under the cape of darkness fluttered. It swept around Fengdu Cit,y and the gods of all sizes looked tiny standing under it.
In the sea of fog, the paper men and paper horses were fighting with the gods and devils. The elders stood up and raised their lanterns. The light shone, and the skeletons that came rushing at them fell in waves, turning into black smoke.
King Yama raised his hand, and the whole of Fengdu seemed to stop. Everything seemed to become fixed in place, including time.
King Yama raised his hand, and a divine sword appeared, slashing towards the bull's horn of the other world. Wherever the black sword swept past, space was compressed into substance, causing layers of space to crumble.
Yan Jingjing's scalp crawled, but she couldn't care much more. She used all the power of Sun Ship to rush towards God Broken Mountain Range. Half of Sun Ship's body had already entered Fengdu and Youdu, making it extremely difficult for her to advance. But suddenly, she broke free of the restraint from the two worlds and escaped.
Yan Jingjing let out a sigh of relief and turned back to take a look once more. She then saw that Fengdu and Youdu, the two peculiar worlds, had disappeared. She could no longer see the sight of them fighting.
'Truly weird!'
On God Broken Mountain Range, Village Chief and the rest were fighting with the gods of High Heavens. The imposing gods all had four heads and eight arms or three heads and six arms, their whole bodies seeming to have been forged from gold. All kinds of treasures burst forth with boundless power, crumbling the heaven and rending the earth.
Everyone sank into a fierce battle, which was extremely exhausting for the Old Sword God who was covered in injuries.
Everyone's qi and blood were vigorous and surged into the sky with blood light, dying half of the sky red.
Bang!
A huge figure came crashing down from the air and landed in front of Sun Ship. It was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's primordial spirit which had been sent down. Even if he was the saint that was said to appear only once every five hundred years, he was still in a severely disadvantageous situation against absolute power!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rose into the sky and his sword light filled the heaven. His sword skill transformed unpredictably as he slashed toward a god with only one eye.
That god opened his eye and boundless divine light burst forth, flooding Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
Clank, clank, clank.
The sound of swords hitting each other rang out continuously as Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's sword light swirled and broke through the divine light of the eye, stabbing it and coming out on the other side of the head. However, the next instant, the one-eyed god's fist landed on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body. It squashed him and smashed him against a mountain peak, leveling it to the ground.
The head of the one-eyed god split open, and a huge eye tunneled out. Another fist then rose and smashed ruthlessly against Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
"So sinister…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed up blood and raised his head to look at the fist coming for him. The head of the one-eyed god actually twisted around, and he looked at him scornfully.
"However, I'm not bad as well…" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled. "First chapter of Sword World, Boundary."
That one-eyed god was slightly stunned. The sword light hidden in his head suddenly exploded!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Sword World was the sword skill founded by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor after he had entered the realm of sword path with Village Chief's guidance. It was different from his previous sword skills, for in the past, he had only come to the gate of sword path. He hadn't yet entered the sword path.
Even if his sword skills had been strong then and he was known as Sword God who had founded the three basic sword forms, without entering the sword path, he could never be on par with Village Chief. But after he entered the sword path, his battle power rose by a lot.
He had unmatched talent and his abilities had no shortcomings. The sword path he had comprehended was different from that of the person he admired.
Village Chief commemorated the martyrs and founded Sword Picture, which cherished the memories of the path. Imperial Preceptor, on the other hand, was opening up new horizons and pushing ahead with his reform, possessing a great spirit and broad mind.
That latter one determined his achievements. Village Chief's generation was already gone while he was just starting with his.
His Sword World had just been founded, so only the first chapter was finished, and it was Boundary.
It set the boundaries for the mountains and rivers, for the empire, quelled the chaos in the four seas, swept the disasters in the six directions and eight wildernesses, starting a world of peace and prosperity. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's will and ambition were hidden within his sword, and it was the most supreme sword skill he could found at that moment in time!
When the one-eyed god was stabbed in the eye by his sword, Boundary was actually hidden inside his head.
The one-eyed god had been scheming, for he didn't only have one eye. He had two, but since his techniques were special, he had extraordinary attainments on the path of creation. With the mysterious creation, he shifted one of his eyes to the center of his brows. In the meantime, the other eye was shifted to the back of his head. It was usually covered by his hair, so people would think he only had one eye.
No one knew he could see things in front and behind. He knew Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a formidable opponent and was also the main person in charge of Eternal Peace Empire's reform, thus even if he had to sacrifice an eye, he wanted to send him on his way!
Even though he was a sly old fox and sacrificed an eye, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a level higher than him in mind games.
Boundary, which was hidden in the wound, exploded, and cracks appeared on the head of the one-eyed god. Lines of snow white sword light spilled out from those cracks.
His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose suddenly became snow white in color, then sword lights came pouring out of his facial orifices. More and more cracks spread through his head and more sword lights came shining out from within them. In a split second, the snow white rays lighted up the snowy mountains as though it was daytime!
Thump.
The fist of the one-eyed god landed heavily onto Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body, and the ground instantly fissured. Cracks stretched in all directions, their distance too great to be counted.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor vomited blood as he heard the sound of his bones snapping.
Everything from the one-eyed god's neck upwards had completely vanished. His corpse swayed before collapsing onto the floor.
In the pit below, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor couldn't move at all. With his lingering breath, he pleaded, "Jade Face Poison King, save me…"
At that moment, Cripple was sprinting with Apothecary on his back, escaping frantically from the rings of battle. Apothecary was refining medicine without stop, at a speed that was much faster than that of Qin Mu. He constantly threw poison at the gods of High Heavens and medicines at Village Chief and the rest of his cohort. "Cripple, faster, faster! Go faster! Didn't you brag that your speed is the first in this world?"
"If I didn't carry you, I would be the first in the world!" Cripple was flustered and exasperated. "If you have the ability, why don't you try getting your legs chopped off and reattached? Twice, my legs got chopped off twice! They were just reattached again so I'm afraid if I run any faster, they will leave my upper body, abandoning me to run away by themselves!"
"It's fine. Mu'er's craft is very good; they won't break so easily. Run faster, the god behind us is almost catching up," Apothecary said in consolation.
Behind them, a three-headed god was running in a frenzy. Apothecary had long released the 'little babies' he had raised, and numerous venomous creatures pounced frantically toward the god like a flood.
The venomous creatures had been raised by Apothecary using spirit pills, miraculous medicines, and all kinds of poisons for many years. All of their abilities were strong, and they transformed as they ran. In just a few moments, their bodies expanded, causing their muscles and bones to bulge outward, turning them into fiendish behemoths that could swallow clouds and spit fog along with fire, water, and poison.
Even so, they could only slow the three-headed god.
He was extremely terrifying, smashing the venomous creatures into smithereens, turning them into lumps of colorful bug juice as their broken limbs flew in all directions. They were blown away by his roar before they could even get close.
Even if he got poisoned, one of the three heads would blaze furiously, alighting in flames. The god would burn from inside out, using divine fire to temper his body. The divine fire would flow through his body over and over again, incinerating the venom.
His other head in the meantime would turn sapphire blue. The rays of light from it would cleanse his body over and over again, discharging the toxin from his body instantly.
Apothecary's poison could be said to have met its nemesis.
Furthermore, without the venomous creatures, Apothecary's personal abilities could be said to be the weakest in the village. He was merely on Celestial Being Realm as all his time was spent on poison and his venomous creatures.
If one took his poison and venomous creatures into consideration, his battle power was impossible to judge. He could poison a god to death, but would also die from a slap.
When Cripple had to carry someone, his speed was inferior to that of his peak. He also had to avoid the possible sneak attacks from the other gods, so their situation was made even worse.
Even with Cripple's unmatched speed, it was extremely dangerous to travel through all the world-shaking divine arts. Any carelessness would result in both of their deaths.
"Imperial Preceptor has lost his power to fight. We need to save him first!"
Cripple carried Apothecary to where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had fallen. Yet at that moment, the three-headed god suddenly shook his body, and two heads flew across the sky, sweeping toward them with fire and water!
Cripple hurriedly avoided the attacks, but the land in front him suddenly became incomparably hit, turning into boiling lava instantly. The entire snow mountain sank continuously while a god stood on it with a clear mirror in his hand. The mirror floated up and hung in the sky, shining toward the lava with its wide surface.
The underground seemed to become a clear lake that could hide nothing.
That god had a goat's head with a pair of curved goat horns. His gaze was sharp as he scanned the underground.
Suddenly, the mirror light shone onto Tuxing Feng. He was running through the ground, but when he was caught by the mirror's light, his body instantly slowed. He had been traveling freely underground, but the mirror light could actually restrain him, limiting his speed.
"Die!"
The goat-headed god sneered, and the horns on his head left it to rush into the lava, aiming straight for Tuxing Feng.
At that moment, the lava suddenly rose up to form a huge face. It opened its mouth to swallow the goat-headed god. "I'll drag you down even if I die!"
Cripple and Apothecary looked underground and saw Tuxing Feng fixed in place by the shine of the clear mirror. The two horns had stabbed into him from the front and the back.
Tuxing Feng's divine art sank the goat-headed god into the ground, bringing him to the depths of the earth.
"Cripple, steal that mirror!" Apothecary shouted in a hurry.
Cripple sprinted over and executed Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hands. The clear mirror vanished without a trace, hidden away by him.
Tuxing Feng who was underground immediately could move and attacked the goat-headed god with all his strength. Yet without the mirror's light, Cripple and Apothecary couldn't see the situation underground.
Lava boiled and emanated with heat waves. Suddenly, it rose into the air and formed a huge palm which rapidly solidified. What followed after it was palms, fists, hammers, and legs bursting out from the lava. They were all fixed in the sky, shaken to the core.
Cripple hid behind Apothecary to avoid damage while shouting into the ground. "Three Inch Nail, stop fighting and come out quickly. Let Apothecary treat your injuries…"
Apothecary gently patted his shoulders and said in a low voice, "No need to call him out. Let him fight to his heart's content. When he was fixed in place earlier, the goat horns had nailed his primordial spirit. He's only left with his last breath now. Once it finishes, he will…"
He didn't continue.
Cripple was stunned for a moment, then gritted his teeth and sprinted to where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had fallen without looking back.
The sea of lava was still trembling non-stop, and all kinds of weird rocks rose from the ground. The desperate battle below was beyond what one could imagine. But suddenly, it calmed down. What was left was the strange rocks from the sea and the shapes of all kinds of palms and fists.
Whoosh.
The lava split into two, and the goat-headed god slowly walked out, his body growing taller and taller.
Thump, thump, thump.
He walked out of the sea of lava, and it flowed down his body, turning into pitch black rock when it landed on the ground. His eyes were blank and he looked extremely miserable. However, he was still full of astonishing fighting spirit.
Cripple and Apothecary were shocked. Yet at that moment, the goat-headed god collapsed onto the ground, a sharp horned hammer lodged in the back of his head. Tuxing Feng's short body fell while holding onto his hammer, the two goat's horn still stuck in his body.
The scarlet fire in the eyes of the chief of Earth Travelers was slowly dimming.
"The taste of Flaming Fruit of the underground is just like that of strong wine. When it flows down your mouth, your throat allows you to relive your life again." The scarlet fire in his eyes gradually went out as he muttered, "I feel that taste again, so I guess my life is coming to an end… I shouldn't have answered the summons of Human Emperor's Seal, but our ancestor made an oath, and Earth Travelers will never defy the oath of their ancestor…"
He closed his eyes and sank into the lava with the goat-headed god. They were both slowly swallowed by it.
Cripple carried Apothecary to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's side. Apothecary was doing emergency treatment when incomparably bright light burst forth from the darkness. They raised their heads and saw Sun Ship sailing in. A heavenly god-like figure was standing on the ship with her hands holding onto chains, guiding a sun over.
"It's the girl that Mu'er had brought over! She's Sun Guardian!" Apothecary immediately recognized Yan Jingjing and couldn't help being astonished. "Sun Guardian, come and help, quickly!"
Yan Jingjing shifted her gaze down and her arms pulled on the chains. The sun high up in the sky was immediately affected by the brute force, coming down from the sky.
On Sun Ship, the expressions of the tens of thousands of sun herders changed drastically. All of them shouted in unison, "Sun Guardian, no!"
"Little ancestor, you can't learn from His Highness—" Sun Herd Chief shouted out.
The sun faltered halfway, freezing in place. From below it, rays of extremely sharp golden light shot toward the gods of High Heavens!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The battlefield stretched for several hundred miles and was separated into a few areas; however, all of them were along the line of God Broken Mountain Range.
The five immortals of the demon race, King Kun, Queen Yi, Blind, Old Ma, Butcher, Mute, Deaf, Imperial Preceptor, Village Chief, Granny Si, Old Dao Master, Old Rulai, and Hermit Qing You were all engaged in their own battles. Since they were the strongest of their respective races, it was rare for them to meet a worthy match. However, when compared to the gods of High Heavens, they were still a level lower.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Tuxing Feng were already top-notch practitioners. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had struggled with all he had to kill the one-eyed god, yet he still suffered heavy injuries while Tuxing Feng's battle ended in mutual destruction. This showed the gap between their abilities.
The abilities of the five immortals and Granny Si were slightly inferior, but they had many tricks, so they relied on wandering around and fighting with divine arts. The opponents' abilities were too strong, however, tiring them out.
Yan Jingjing had come at just the right time. When the sun of Sun Ship landed, Yellow Immortal opened up the sack on his back. Yellow smoke which stank spewed out from inside, sickening his opponent until his liver and guts felt like they' been cut to pieces, making him vomit badly.
Yellow Immortal went forward to suck his souls and spirits, but he was pushed down by his opponent.
Elsewhere, Willow Immortal showed her true form of a huge green snake which was like a green dragon coiled around the top of a snowy mountain. Her opponent then also revealed his true form. He was the height of a mountain, covered in white fur, and with a gaze like sparks in the darkness. Willow Immortal vomited blood from the beating she received after, the blood flowing non-stop from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
White Immortal, Rat Immortal, and Fox Immortal suffered from injuries as well. Granny Si was the only one who could still hold on with teleportation flag and Great Overarching Heavenly Star Palm Force, avoiding the attacks from her opponent.
The five immortals would usually choose to work together to fight against one enemy, but due to a lack of manpower, they had to drag two gods back, and it was very exhausting for them. With Granny Si, the pressure was lessened a bit, but it still wasn't enough for them to contend with two gods.
On the other side, Old Dao Master's Dao Sword had already executed to the fourteenth writing. He had only cultivated half a move of the fourteenth writing which he used to contend against his opponents, splitting the mountains and cracking the earth. However, the flaw in his move was soon caught by his opponent. A trail of divine light shot through the layers of sword lights, nailing Old Dao Master to the cliff.
" Dao Sword… is only so-so!" The god's huge palm smashed toward Dao Master who was on the cliff!
Old Rulai executed all twenty heavens in his Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, and his body became like a huge buddha. Ten thousand buddhas surrounded him, and he clashed with his opponent with brute force. However, he also landed in a disadvantageous situation, and his twenty heavens went to ruin.
The three-headed and six-armed god that he was fighting was next to him, trading fist for fist. Soon, Old Rulai was covered in bloody splotches which dyed his white eyebrows red.
He was already old and his qi and blood weren't as vigorous as they had been before. His constitution wasn't as good either.
If it was in the past, with the power of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, he could have continued fighting without tiring out. His vigorous qi and blood could increase the power of his divine arts by leaps and bounds. But he was less capable now, ending up suppressed by his opponent.
From nearby, Old Ma had wanted to come forth and rescue him several times, but he was always hindered by his opponent, which prevented him from giving aid. His situation was almost the same, since he had also cultivated to the last realm of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, the Brahma realm. Gods and buddhas surrounded him with twenty layers of precious images.
Old Ma was strength lay in his youth; his body was strong and sturdy, while Old Rulai's qi and blood had withered so he couldn't last for a long time.
"Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form!"
Chantings came from Old Rulai's mouth, and his qi and blood suddenly became vigorous. The power of his moves became more and more terrifying, surpassing those of his opponent.
Old Ma's heart trembled and he shouted, "Master!"
Old Rulai turned back to look at him and smiled. "Buddhism is left to you, pass it down for me!"
"The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness!"
The buddha light shone brightly, drowning out Old Rulai and his opponent.
Unlike them, Blind flew around between all the battlefields, using his divine mind eyes to break through the enemies' flaws and land sneak attacks. However, he could only make the gods defend and save the lives of his people, not land any critical hits.
Butcher and his opponent, Star Sovereign Yan, could be said to be crazy. They were fighting with all they had. Once they drew their knives, there was no one else for them. One person - one knife. No matter how heavy their injuries were, no matter how strong the opponent's attacks became, they just wielded their knives to slash forward!
The great furnace on Mute's back overflowed with divine flames, and the silver pellets in the chest flowed out, changing without end, evolving into all kinds of divine weapons. There seemed to be a great furnace with boundless energy in his dantian, and with the two furnaces blazing, he possessed unmatched strength.
Deaf painted with ink, and it dyed the heaven and earth. He painted on the snow mountains and land, allowing his paintings to overlap with reality. They were hidden in the mountains and rivers which overlapped with his paintings, presenting a strange and elegant world. He brought his opponent to travel between reality and his painting yet he didn't fight with him.
He was definitely not his match in a head-on collision.
Right at that moment, his brush painted a hundred miles of mountains and rivers. There was a painting in a painting, a world in a world. It confused his opponent, stealing away their sense of direction and making them unable to find their way out.
Deaf jumped out of the painting into the world, thinking of destroying the mountains and rivers along with the world in the painting. But suddenly, a sword light flew out from the painting and pierced his chest.
Deaf was blown backward and used all his might to execute his brush. With a strong stroke, all the mountains in the area of a hundred miles crumbled one after another, disappearing inwards and exploding with extremely terrifying energy!
"A mere mortal shouldn't possess the power of gods and devils!"
Angry roars came from the explosion of the crumbling world, and a bloodied palm stretched out, grabbing for Deaf who was flying backward.
Queen Yi and King Kun had revealed their true forms and were traveling back and forth through the sea and sky. They were like two indomitable beast gods whose roars were deafening to the ears. Huge beasts and gods waged a battle against each other, splitting the heaven and rending the earth. Dark clouds concealed the moon, but they were split from time to time. Only then would moonlight shine down.
King Kun and Queen Yi were covered in injuries, but their fighting spirits were still overflowing. Queen Yi was in the form of a huge bird, flapping her wings to travel over the sea. Wherever she passed, the sea would be churned up, and whenever she spun rapidly, she would unleash her knife, splitting the air with it and slashing at thee god suppressing King Kun.
Her knife sliced open the sky, but fell down wasn't moonlight. Instead, a sun fell out from the slit she had sliced open.
Queen Yi didn't know what had happened. However, since her knife was already out, it was difficult to pull it back. She could only use all her might to slash at the god suppressing King Kun.
At that moment, the dark clouds split apart again, and another god popped out with a malicious face. His hand rose in Queen Yi's direction, and his five fingers were like mountains as they came for her!
The god hidden in the cloud then noticed the falling sun and was slightly stunned. It puzzled him.
"What's this divine art?"
At that moment, the sun burst forth, and from under it, rays of extremely sharp golden light rained on him!
Not only him, the other gods of High Heavens also suffered from the attack. The golden rays were incomparably sharp and pierced straight through the bodies of all the gods.
Yan Jingjing wasn't violent like Qin Mu. He had raised the sun of Sun Ship to use it to smash the opponent with astonishing destructive power, but it was a method which would easily damage the sun. The main reason why he did it though was because he didn't know how to control it, how to unleash its power, but as the sun guardian, Yan Jingjing had controlled Sun Ship many times in battle in the darkness, so she knew everything about the usage of Sun Ship and the sun, so she could control them freely.
Under her hand, Sun Ship could unleash the greatest power with the most minimal damage to the sun.
At that instant, thousands of miles around God Broken Mountain Range were lighted up. King Kun in the sea used his golden horn to pierce the lower body of a god that was stepping on him, nailing him to the sea surface. That god didn't have the time to avoid and shattered under the sunlight.
The hand that grabbed towards Deaf broke under the shine, and the palm which was about to slap Old Dao Master was also pierced by the rays. Under the sunlight, the face of the god was lit up.
Buddha rays were intense, but even they were driven away by the sunlight, revealing two figures that were standing straight within them. Old Rulai had taken the god down with him.
The rays continued to shine from the sun, lighting up the majestic snowy mountains. The one on which Willow Immortal stood was dyed red. The huge snake that was like a green dragon fell from the mountain while Yellow Immortal's sack was pierced with holes. Its owner who was under the god's leg was crushed into pulp while that god was covered with White Immortal's silver needles, looking like a huge porcupine.
The sunlight continued to shine into the distance, lighting up all the battlefield. Butcher and Star Sovereign Yan's body were lighted up in midair while Hermit Qing You and Flower Sovereign's bodies were stretched out as they fell down.
The rays of the sun shone into an even further distance, and the ninth move of Sword Picture could be seen. Star Sovereign Qiao and another god was being drowned out by it.
Below Sun Ship, the two heads of the three-headed god had just heavily injured Cripple and Apothecary. The two of them were blown high up. At that moment, a heavenly silkworm flew out from Apothecary's body, spitting silk with all its might to wrap Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor up, preventing him from dying from his injuries.
Boom!
Sun Ship trembled violently, and the three-headed god recalled his two heads before landing on the ship. He rushed toward Yan Jingjing who was in the center of the four pillars. The face of Sun Herd Chief and the rest changed drastically as they tried to stop him. Countless sun herders were blasted into smithereens yet they still couldn't even slow him down.
The appearance of Sun Ship had a huge impact on the battlefield, so if Yan Jingjing was left to continue her attacks, the gods of High Heavens might just suffer an utter defeat.
Yan Jingjing controlled the ancient divine weapon called Sun Ship whose power was fierce, strong enough to threaten everyone. However, because she was controlling it, her movement was limited, and it brought great danger to her. If anyone closed it on her, it was extremely unfavorable for her.
When Sun Ship came out, the three-headed god had been chasing after Cripple and Apothecary who were in the surroundings. He was the closest to Sun Ship, but no one had expected him to just jump to the ship, abandoning his original targets.
Sun Herder Chief raised his Sun Bell and rang it loud, but he still found it difficult to block the opponent's attack. By then, the god had already come near the divine pillars. Two heads from flew out once again and passed by Sun Herder Chief to attack the god's real target. On head spewed out a jet of water while the other blazing fire toward Yan Jingjing.
She vomited blood as she stretched out her hand to defend. The power of the sun was then instantly decreased.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the power of the ninth move of Sword Picture was completely unleashed. The dazzling sword lights lit up the world, overshadowing the rays of the sun. But they dimmed soon.
Where they had originated, Star Sovereign stood straight. He stared coldly at the other side where stood his old foe, the human emperor.
"You're old."
Star Sovereign Qiao looked at him with scorn as a crack spread on the heart of his brows. "If you were during your peak, I would have definitely died from this move. But now, your qi and blood are almost exhausted. This move actually couldn't take my life, it's just…"
His body swayed while blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. He chuckled and said, "You still destroyed my life force, though. But I ain't bad as well, at least I can drag you down with me."
The god fighting by his side against the old sword god suddenly split into pieces, turning into chunks of flesh that fell to the ground.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Bathump.
Star Sovereign knelt down and propped himself on his divine sword with a laugh while looking at the old foe that was walking toward him. "Old Human Emperor, you and I are just puppets on a string, toys of the true gods. So what if you struggle to block us here? There are two groups from High Heavens, and we are here just to hold your attention. The ones who are truly here to activate the meteorological divine weapons is the other group. Eternal Peace is bound to be destroyed…"
In front of him, the primordial spirit behind Village Chief was blazing fiercely as though he was a god burning with flames of light. However, this god was worn-out at that moment, finding it hard to keep itself up.
It gradually dimmed and almost went out before blazing vigorously again. This repeated over and over again, making it evident that the old sword god wanted to maintain his peak strength even at the cost of exhausting the last of his qi and blood.
"Star Sovereign Qiao, where's the other group?" Village Chief walked over, ignoring everyone else in the battlefield. His gaze stared intensely at him. "You and I are old foes, so now that we're both about to die, show kindness with your words. Do you really want to see countless lives in Eternal Peace Empire be wiped out?"
A crumbling noise came from inside of Star Sovereign Qiao's body. This handsome god was the color of death as he chuckled. "What do the lives of those lowly life forms have to do with me?" He raised his head to look at the sky and muttered, "The star that belongs to me is finally going to fall."
Kacha.
A soft crack came from his sword, and another soft crack followed right after, before becoming concentrated. The cracking became faster and faster, until the crumbling of his body became all that could be heard.
The primordial spirit behind Village Chief's back dimmed once more, and he roused his qi and blood again, wanting to recover his primordial spirit back to its peak, but he couldn't do it no matter what.
The him now was like a tattered bellows which was leaking air everywhere. He wanted to reignite his life force, but his body was too broken.
He had been crippled, lost all four of his limbs. This affected his corporeal body and also his battle power. However, the most crucial point was that he was old.
He was so old that his lifespan was coming to an end. He originally still had a year or more left, so if he had lived out his life peacefully and cultivated diligently, he might have been able to patch his divine bridge before he died, entering another realm and becoming a god.
However, this battle had made him exhaust the last of his qi and blood.
There was no longer any way for him to reignite his lifeforce.
"Tell me, where did the other group go?" Village Chief shouted. "Star Sovereign Qiao, where are you from? Were you not like these people in the past, a lowly life form as you put it?"
Star Sovereign Qiao had already closed his eyes to await his death, but his body suddenly shook, and he opened his eyes which were blank without any life in them. Sword wounds were opening one after another on his body.
They continued to grow deeper as though there was an invisible sword that was slowly slicing open his corporeal body.
Village Chief's last move had cut off his life force and his divine treasures were crumbling apart. His corporeal body was also torn apart, so he was destined to die there.
"What's the use?" Star Sovereign Qiao lowered his head and scorned him, "Do you still have the ability to stop them? You are also going to die, old friend, so know your place and sit down, follow me to the other side. We can accompany each other on the road to the Yellow Springs…"
"Tell me, which way did they go?" Village Chief said solemnly.
Star Sovereign Qiao raised his head to look at him before his blank eyes turned to look at the darkness of Great Ruins. His breaths suddenly became urgent. "They should be almost there… cough cough, if you still have the ability, then go and stop them."
His face changed drastically, and he suddenly grabbed Village Chief's clothes while shouting himself hoarse. "I see the fires of hell, the fires of the countless dead people from Eternal Peace, demanding their lives from me! Stop them! Don't let the deaths of those people become my sin… Don't come over, don't come over! It's not my fault, I was just following orders… For every grievance there is someone responsible, for every debt there is a debtor. I'm not the one that wanted all of you to die!"
Village Chief's struggled to break free from his grasp, then rushed off to leave.
Star Sovereign Qiao's pupils shrank more and more, as though he was seeing something abnormally frightening as he shouted crazily, "It's not my fault, I'm also helpless, don't demand your lives from me!
"I see countless paper boats, so many paper boats sailing from Eternal Peace into the darkness… My god, what's that? The horns of Earth Count… Hell! This is hell!
"Save me! True gods, where are the true gods overseeing me! Come and save me! You guys promised me to not let Earth Count take me away to judge me… Save me—"
After a moment, Star Sovereign Qiao stopped breathing with a look of endless terror frozen on his face.
Pak.
The divine sword in his hands suddenly turned into dust which scattered on the floor. The lifeless body of Star Sovereign Qiao collapsed forward, and his sword wounds erupted all together, tearing apart his corpse.
Village Chief rushed into the darkness of Great Ruins at top speed. His primordial spirit was sometimes bright and sometimes dim. He was doing his best to rouse the last of his blood to prevent his corporeal body from dying, to prevent his determination from fading away.
He could feel the call of death, and it was becoming harder and harder for his corporeal body to hold his soul. Death was closing in on him.
He felt something chasing him, but truth be told, he'd frequently had this feeling in the recent years. It had to be the call from the Youdu World. It was the law of heaven and earth in Youdu that was restricting him, wanting to take away his soul.
With the gradual death of his corporeal body, this kind of restraint was becoming stronger and stronger. The calling from the world of darkness was thus becoming stronger and stronger as well.
It was the Pact of Earth Count. The moment anyone was born, they would sign this kind of pact. The moment their corporeal body died, their soul would belong to Earth Count, living in silence in Youdu thereafter.
Keeping the corporeal body alive was the crux in jumping out of the pact. Gods cultivated their corporeal body to the god realm, and in the last divine treasure, a divine bridge was hidden. Their primordial spirits would cross it to become gods, and at that time, when their corporeal bodies became god-like, their primordial spirits would no longer be restrained by the Pact of Earth Count.
Village Chief had also had this possibility, but Star Sovereign Qiao had cut off that path before he had died.
Village Chief could only hope that he could find the other group of gods and devils from High Heavens that had gone forward to send the disaster. Yet even if he found them, he didn't know if he still had the strength to continue fighting.
"I'm really old…"
Village Chief felt his qi and blood fluctuating, and he could barely restrain his primordial spirit. It suddenly shook violently, wanting to leave his body, but he didn't stop to rest. It was likely that when stopped, he would collapse forever.
He continued forward frantically in the company of countless monsters that stirred in the darkness. They followed him along the foothills, waiting for the moment he died.
When he collapsed, they would swarm him and tear him to pieces.
He ran slower and slower, feeling his limbless body growing heavier and heavier. Sorrow suddenly welled up within him as he let out a bitter laugh, wishing to stop. "I guess I'm really dying…"
At that moment, he saw a huge bird flapping its wings through the darkness. It flew ahead of him and landed on a peak. After folding its wings, it transformed into a god with a bird's head and a human body. He used his beak to carefully prune his feathers.
"Time's up." A human voice came from its beak.
Village Chief continued to walk forward, his speed becoming slower and slower.
"Give me a moment more!" He heard his voice as though it was coming from tens of thousands of miles away, distant and hazy. "Give me a moment more, I still have unfinished business!"
The bird-headed god gave him a weird glance before repeating his words. "Time's up."
"Please wait." Village Chief heard a sob in his voice when he said, "Please wait a moment more. I don't want Eternal Peace to become hell. I can still fight. I'm the human emperor of this land, after all, I still have the responsibility and burden…"
Mocking came from the darkness as though the bird-headed god was laughing, and Village Chief seethed with anger. "You dare to laugh at me? Even though I'm old, my magnificent aspirations have never changed!"
The bird-headed god flapped his wings to fly up, chasing away the monsters in the darkness. He circled around, then suddenly landed on a branch nearby. "I'm laughing at a warrior in his decline, wallowing in pointless sorrow with persistence, for he has no more strength."
Village Chief ignored him and continued to stumble forward. After a moment, he saw the bird-headed god stop in front of him and call out, "Time to go. If you don't go, the messenger of death will come! There's still an old friend waiting for you in Fengdu."
"I can still fight…"
Village Chief saw that his face had already turned black and the aura of death had already spread to his head, moving his brain toward death.
His divine treasures started to crumble yet his primordial spirit still continued to stand on Magpie Bridge. Below it was boundless darkness without any bottom.
It was his Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, so there shouldn't be anything else from the outside world there, but something invading it from the darkness. It was another world, the world of Youdu.
His corporeal body had already entered the state of death, so Youdu World was entering him through his divine treasure.
From the boundless darkness inside, a paper boat floated over into his divine treasure, closing in on his primordial spirit.
He should go, for if he didn't, Earth Count would take away his primordial spirit.
It looked towards the opposite shore of Magpie Bridge which was Mysterious Guide Bridge. However, there was still a distance between the two bridges, and he needed to cultivate Secrets of Divine Crossing to be able to cross and enter the realm of legends.
Yet his qi and blood had completely withered, and his vital qi could no longer flow through his dead body. It was completely impossible for him to execute Secrets of Divine Crossing.
"As Human Emperor, I want to fight again!"
He let out an angry roar, but he could no longer even hear his own voice. At that moment, he saw a ship sailing through the darkness.
That ship was like a three-legged toad formed from mountains and rays of moonlight. On it, a giant was swinging half a broken moon to smash against a god, nearly crippling him with one strike!
Stunned, Village Chief stopped.
It was Moon Ship.
He had seen this ship once. When he went to find Carefree Village, Qin Mu had once driven it through the darkness to look for him.
Never had he expected to encounter it again.
What was currently fighting with the ship was a god from High Heavens. Compared to Yan Jingjing, Qin Mu was simply too violent. He swung the moon and just smashed it against his enemy, completely ignoring the consequences!
Other than him, the dragon qilin was on the ship too, and on its back were the little fox and Si Yunxiang. There was also a sapphire blue divine flood dragon king flying around to fight with another god of High Heavens.
"Mu'er…"
Tears flowed down Village Chief's eyes, and his heart was suddenly at ease. It gradually stopped beating.
The bird-headed god turned to look at him and said, "Now you can be at ease? Follow me, King Yama is waiting for you."
Village Chief's heart beat for the last time and he smiled, "I refuse to give in to old age."
His primordial spirit leaped up from Magpie Bridge as it rushed towards Celestial Heavens on the other shore.
"I was born as the god of war! I will never accept death!"
His primordial spirit laughed loudly, and his sword qi spread out unhindered, rushing towards Celestial Heavens that were shining radiantly. That moment seemed to last an eternity.
However, his white-haired corporeal body fell.
Qin Mu looked toward the sound and saw Village Chief gradually solidifying into a stone statue as he fell from the sky.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Thump.
Village Chief's stone statue landed in front of Moon Ship; it was missing its four limbs. It was a sculpture of an old man who had experienced many vicissitudes of life. The wrinkles on his face seemed to have been sculpted by hardships and formed by the erosion of time.
The stone statue was looking in Qin Mu's direction with a relieved smile. At the sight of it, Qin Mu couldn't help remembering the tender and loving smile of the elder who lay in his recliner while looking at him.
"Village Chief…" Qin Mu stared blankly at the stone statue as an indescribable sorrow suddenly poured out from his heart.
The darkness was around him and the ghostly glow given off from the stone statue didn't cover a wide range, but it reminded him of the slightly stubborn elder who wanted to stubbornly protect him even after he was gone.
"Grandpa Village Chief…"
Droplets of tears that were like moonlight fell from Qin Mu's eyes. They floated in the sky, glistening in the moonlight. Suddenly, divine flood dragon king's miserable cries rang out, and Qin Mu shut his eyes to squeeze the moonlight within them out.
He had entered deep into Great Ruins with the protection of divine flood dragon king, barging into the place he had once mistaken for Carefree Village, the place where was the huge land ship constructed by Ministry of Heavenly Works. He then took Moon Ship to return.
He was trying to enter Moon Well when he met the other group of gods who were hurrying over from High Heavens. There weren't many of them, just three.
Those three gods were not acting ostentatiously like Star Sovereign Qiao and the rest, transforming into starlight to hurry on their way. They were traveling on land with their dazzling divine light concealed, giving off only a faint glow to force back the monsters in the darkness.
When Qin Mu encountered them, one of the gods thought he was a peculiarity of the darkness and immediately said in the god language, "High Heavens is handling affairs, monsters be gone."
After that, he immediately suffered a destructive strike from Qin Mu. He was caught completely off guard and hit by the broken moon up that came smashing toward him and shattered all of his bones!
Only then did the other two gods realize that they had met a strong foe.
Qin Mu was different from Yan Jingjing. She had to be careful not to damage the sun, but he had nothing to worry about and no consequences to take into account. He fought the two gods for several thousand miles until he managed to cripple the second god with brute force alone.
The reason why he had needed such a long time for it was mainly because Moon Ship's moon was broken and inferior to Sun Ship's son.
Sun Ship possessed a complete sun while the moon of Moon Ship had already extinguished and was even cracked. After battling for so long, Moon Ship was also was in a rather bad condition while the two chains holding onto the moon simply broke off.
However, at the instant Qin Mu saw Village Chief, he still fell into a daze. The sight of his elder turning into a stone statue and falling from the sky stirred up his emotions, causing a kind of indescribable sorrow to pour out.
The battle power of divine flood dragon king was similar to that of Dragon Rearing Sovereign whose abilities were inferior to the other gods of High Heavens. The instant Qin Mu lost focus, he was severely injured.
Qin Mu opened his eyes and raised his hand to loosen his grip on the divine pillars, wanting to touch that limbless stone statue that was smiling at him. His huge palm streaked past the front of the stone statue, but it didn't land on it.
Whoosh!
His palm grabbed a chain that was hanging down and his hair fluttered with his anger. The chain whooshed through the darkness to bind the god of High Heavens who had severely injured the divine flood dragon king, coiling around him tightly.
Qin Mu's other arms pulled the broken moon over and smashed it right on the god. The divine flood dragon king cried out in astonishment. He was right next to them, so if he was hit as well, he would either die or end up really close to that state!
He rolled and tumbled away in a hurry to avoid the strike, but the half moon still brushed past his body, scraping off a huge dragon scale. The divine flood dragon king gritted his teeth from the searing pain while tears rolled down his cheeks.
Kaboom!
The broken moon smashed onto the body of the god of High Heavens, and the mountains shook. The monsters in the surrounding darkness cried out in astonishment and fled in all directions.
Boom!
Qin Mu didn't say a word and swung the broken moon up to smash it down again, and again, and again, and again. Chunks of rocks that were the size of a mountain broke off from the moon before being crushed to powder.
The god who had just been crippled by Qin Mu looked over with fear. He hurriedly ignored his pain and quickly hobbled away. His heart was flustered, and he could only hear the hammering coming behind him, knocking heavily on his heart. It made his scalp crawl.
'This brat is crazy. He must be crazy… It isn't worth it to pit my life against his! I'm just here to complete the mission assigned by the higher-ups; I don't have to fight to the death!'
He hurried off into the distance when a loud crack suddenly came from behind him. The moon shattered from Qin Mu's smashing, and chunks of rocks filled the sky.
Without the moon, Qin Mu instantly felt all his strength fading away as he returned to being a divine arts practitioner of Six Directions Realm.
If the crippled god turned back to look, he could easily kill the weak him with the raising of a hand, but that god was frightened out of his wits and never turned back.
Qin Mu sat on the worn out Moon Ship and gasped heavily for breath. The dragon qilin looked at him in fear while the other flood dragons were shivering as they hid behind him. All their gazes were filled with terror as they looked at Qin Mu.
Thick chains hung from the ship, but Moon Ship no longer had the terrifying aura from before. The rings of flowing moonlight had also vanished without a trace.
Darkness poured forth and soon drowned them out, but the monsters stayed far away, not daring to come near.
Qin Mu looked at the smiling stone statue in front of Moon Ship. It was a satisfied smile.
"You are still alive, you must be still alive! Divine flood dragon king!" Qin Mu struggled to get up and shouted, "Go lift that stone statue!"
The divine flood dragon king was covered in injuries, and it was a struggle for him to fly over. He exerted himself and lifted the stone statue. Qin Mu was extremely nervous and shouted, "Is it heavy?"
The divine flood dragon king quickly placed the stone statue down and replied truthfully, "Extremely!"
"Carrying a stone statue is equivalent to carrying a god, Grandpa Blind wouldn't have lied to me… You are really still alive. You are living in some place, it's just not this world! You are like the other stone statues in Great Ruins and will sometimes wake up in the darkness."
Qin Mu laughed loudly, but as he did so, he suddenly began to wipe tears from his eyes. "I have seen a stone statue come back to life and ride the dragon qilin to quell the rebellion, so you must be able to do it as well! Right?"
Si Yunxiang looked at the young sacred cult master and suddenly felt that the heart of the incomparably crafty big boy that was acclaimed as the great devil king was actually pure. Not only that, it was also fragile. Or it could be said that underneath his firm and persistent cover hid a soft heart.
Qin Mu wiped his tears dry and shouted loudly, "You will come back, won't you? If I cry, you will laugh at me, you will say I'm still a wimpy kid!"
He called the divine flood dragon king over and climbed on his back with the others. All the sorrow and joy on his face had vanished, leaving only an emptiness behind. "Let's go! Go after that god who escaped. We definitely cannot let him enter Eternal Peace alive!"
The divine flood dragon king answered him and chased after the traces left behind by the crippled god.
Qin Mu turned back to look and Village Chief's stone statue gradually disappearing into the darkness. He recorded the place in his memories.
"No matter where your soul goes, I will go and find you. You are my family, my kin…" He raised his head to look at the boundless darkness. "Even if you land in the hands of Earth Count, I will fight my way there and ask for it back!"
"Your Majesty, my injuries are very heavy right now, so even if we catch up to that god, we might not be his opponent," the divine flood dragon king said carefully.
The corners of Qin Mu's eyes wrinkled and he said, "I will refine pills to heal your injuries so you can be at ease. Besides, there are so many flood dragons around—he won't be able to escape from my grasp."
The divine flood dragon king was still slightly worried. 'Hopefully, this god will pass by Surging River…'
.
In Fengdu, the living realm of the dead, the bird-headed god brought Village Chief past the stone tablet, and the old man lowered his head to see his body slowly recovering. His heart grew, followed by his head, body, and even his limbs.
Over there, he felt that he was still alive.
"The living realm of the dead, truly a wonderful world." He looked at the bird-headed god and asked, "If I leave here, will I be dead or alive?"
The bird-headed god shook his head and said, "Of course you will be dead. But your luck isn't bad, since you actually managed to leave a breath behind before your corporeal body died. But stop thinking about your old body. If you go past this boundary stone, your flesh and bones will melt. You no longer belong to the real world. Let's go, there's an old friend waiting for you."
Village Chief followed him with his sleeves fluttering. He suddenly stopped again and said with a bitter smile, "I'm not used to having my arms and legs, too used to being crippled…"
He passed through Fengdu's gates of hell and came to the first big city. It was one of many in Fengdu.
The place they entered seemed to have just undergone a huge battle as there were traces of war everywhere.
"Your old friend is waiting on the Bridge of Helplessness right in front!" The bird-headed god stopped and raised his talon while pushing his beak forward in a motioning gesture.
"You still hate me?" Village Chief asked with a smile.
"I hate the smell of a living person." The bird-headed god flapped his wings to leave. "You still have a breath left in your corporeal body which makes your smell vile for me."
Village Chief walked forward, and after a moment, he saw the Bridge of Helplessness. A tall and sturdy person was standing on it with his back facing him.
Under the bridge, everything was hazy, lacking clarity.
Village Chief was slightly stunned, feeling that the back was somewhat familiar.
He suddenly became excited and quickly walked to the Bridge of Helplessness. His footsteps became faster and faster as he hurried toward the person. "You…"
The tall and sturdy figure turned around and smiled. "You finally came. I've waited a long time for you. It's been hard on you these years…"
Village Chief kicked the tall and sturdy man off the bridge while scolding him furiously, "You old bastard, tricked me to become the human emperor, to carry a burden I couldn't carry at all while you hid here, living a free and happy life! Stop acting dead and climb up the bridge so I can beat you to death! Master, master? Are you still alive?"
The fog churned under the bridge, and there was a monster which tried to grab the tall and sturdy man to drag him down.
Shocked, Village Chief wanted to save him, but then stopped mid-action. After waiting for a moment, the man fought back the monster and climbed back onto the Bridge of Helplessness while panting heavily.
Village Chief raised his leg, wanting to kick him back in again, but the man immediately raised his hands. "Stop, stop. I'm really dead or else I wouldn't have passed the Human Emperor's Seal to you. My corpse and bones have already decomposed into mud, having been buried outside Hall of Human Emperors. If you don't believe me, you can go and dig them up!"
Village Chief's scalp crawled as he asked suspiciously, "You aren't lying to me again?"
"What for? Those that come here are all basically dead," the man said while smiling. "Let me bring you to meet your grandmaster. He died sometime before me."
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Village Chief followed that man and saw traces of battle in Fengdu City. Some gods and devils could still be seen encircling paper men and paper horses, which bewildered him.
"Fengdu just went through a huge battle. King Yama had personally led us to fight against Youdu," the man said. "This isn't the first time, though. We've fought quite a lot of times in the past. This time it was because of Youdu's invasion. Youdu is always observing the world outside Great Ruins and they felt that Eternal Peace Calamity was about to erupt so they got ready to collect their souls, but they were forced back by us."
Village Chief was dumbstruck. War between Fengdu World and Youdu World?
He had no idea that such a thing had actually happened in Great Ruins which were shrouded in darkness!
There had been a war between two worlds yet Great Ruins was still calm and peaceful. No traces of anything happening could be detected, which was simply inconceivable!
As for 'Eternal Peace Calamity' and 'collecting the souls' that his master had mentioned, it was even more terrifying. He shuddered not from the cold. Just the couple words from his master contained enough information for him to lose himself in deep thought.
If that wasn't enough, he learned that Fengdu had fought with Youdu numerous times in the past, which meant that were numerous other secrets about which people didn't know.
They came to a mansion and the man knocked on the door, smiling at the elder who opened it. "Old fart, I've brought your disciple's disciple to see you! Good disciple, come and greet your grandmaster!"
Village Chief aimed a kick at his butt and balls before saying angrily, "How could you speak like that to my grandmaster? My grandmaster is still your master yet you show no etiquette at all!"
His master grew furious. "He tricked me to take up this role, and can you imagine how much hardship I suffered for it? A family wrenched apart, friends dying one by one, so calling him old fart is already letting him off lightly! Besides, I'm your master, so where's your etiquette? Your temper has grown eh, you need a beating!"
"Stop quarreling!" The elder was also furious. "We are all human emperors, so how can we quarrel every time we meet? I'll bring you to meet my master. That old scumbag will definitely be happy seeing you guys dead as well!"
Village Chief and the tall and sturdy old man were both slightly unhappy. Village Chief said, "Grandmaster, even though he's your master, he's also my great-grandmaster, so isn't it slightly disrespectful to call him old scumbag?"
The elder sneered at him. "That old scumbag tricked me to become the human emperor and made my life hard, taking away all the fun from it. If he wasn't already dead, I wouldn't want anything more than to beat him to death! Let's go, I will bring you guys to meet him!"
Village Chief and the tall and sturdy man looked at each other in dismay. The master dusted off his clothes and asked in a low voice, "Good disciple, have you passed down the position of the human emperor?"
Village Chief nodded.
The tall and sturdy man let out a shaky breath and said, "After your disciple dies, he will definitely find this place to scold and beat you, saying that you have ruined his life."
Village Chief became nervous and shook his head. "Mu'er is a good child and wouldn't do this. Mu'er is the most filial…"
The tall and sturdy man sneered at him. "I thought you would hug me with a face full of tears after you died, yet you ended up giving me a kick! If you are like this, then what could be said about your disciple? Just wait for him to beat you up after he dies! That's right, have you lied to him before?"
Village Chief's face instantly blackened as he muttered, "I lied to him, saying that he's an Overlord Body, and he ended up pretty hardworking."
"What Overlord Body?" The elder turned his head back, looking rather curious.
Village Chief told them the whole story, and the two devils were dumbfounded. They were speechless for a long time and could only raise their thumbs up at Village Chief.
"You are definitely dead!" the two of them said over and over again. "Your lie is the most ruthless; you're definitely going to die! Even though we also lied to our disciples, we didn't lie this horribly. You are good, making him live his whole life in a huge lie. After he dies, he won't just stop at kicking you and calling you an old fart!"
Village Chief's face grew black as charcoal. He consoled himself, "Mu'er won't do that, he won't do that, Mu'er is the most filial…"
"You were also very filial back then. You were the most filial to me, but didn't you kick me down the bridge the moment you saw me?"
"Shut up, old bastard!"
…
The divine flood dragon king chased after the traces of the injured god, all the way to God Broken Mountain Range. Qin Mu suppressed his feebleness and refined spirit pills to heal the divine flood dragon king's injuries.
Driving Moon Ship had exhausted him greatly. The moon was a treasure forged by God Zi Qing, but it was already extinguished, so it wasn't able to supply the humongous energy that Moon Ship required. To drive it then, Qin Mu had to sacrifice his lifeforce.
When he had fished out a new sun for the sun herders, he had exhausted a huge amount of life force and could only barely recover by soaking in the pond of pure yang. Controlling Moon Ship had also exhausted him greatly. It was a pity that the degree of damage to Moon Ship was much more severe than that to Sun Ship, and the pond of pure yin had also dried up, so he was unable to replenish his life force. He could only rely on himself to slowly recover.
However, since he had to chase after the injured god so he wouldn't be able to reach Eternal Peace, Qin Mu had no time to treat himself.
"This god of High Heavens didn't go by Surging River…"
The corners of Qin Mu's eyes wrinkled and his heart sank.
If the god of High Heavens had taken the path of Surging River, he could use Dragon King to block him. With his battle power added to that of the divine flood dragon king, they should have been able to take him down.
But since he didn't walk by Surging River, even if the divine flood dragon king caught up, it was unknown if he was strong enough to take down that god.
"If I use Secrets of Dragon Control by Dragon Rearing Sovereign to borrow the power of the flood dragons, I might be able to fight."
Qin Mu turned back to have a look at the flood dragons beside the dragon qilin. He was slightly reluctant since a life-and-death battle would mean that the flood dragons would either end up dead or injured. Once that happened, he would be powerless to defend even himself.
God Broken Mountain Range at the border of Great Ruins was three to four thousand miles away from them, but they could already see the fierce battle there. Qin Mu could feel terrifying shockwaves pulsing from time to time, formed by the clashing weapons and divine arts.
He could even faintly see Butcher's knife lights. Mute's great furnace was burning the sky, giving it a scarlet red color.
Without Village Chief powerful existence, Butcher, King Yi, and Mute, how many of them could still survive?
"Village Chief…"
Qin Mu felt a sharp pain in his heart and immediately discarded his distracting thoughts, refocusing on refining spirit pills to heal the divine flood dragon king's injuries.
The sky was white in front of them, then the sun rose in the horizon, its first rays shining on the battlefield.
Qin Mu's heart sank. The god had already stepped into the territory of Eternal Peace Empire.
The meteorological weapons were all over Eternal Peace Empire, and if the god managed to find even one of them, he could cause catastrophic damage. The casualties would be in hundreds of millions!
The divine flood dragon king's injuries got much better, and their speed gradually increased. As he checked on the footprints of the god, the dragon king suddenly said in delight, "Your Majesty, the god's injuries has erupted and his speed is gradually slowing down! We will be able to catch up to him in no time!"
Qin Mu relaxed. "Just be at ease and give chase boldly. His injuries are extremely heavy, otherwise, he would have left without leaving a trace."
The divine flood dragon king felt much better. Even though his abilities were extremely powerful, his guts were inferior to even those of the dragon qilin. He did things with constant fear and nervousness.
As they covered three thousand miles of Eternal Peace Empire, they saw the speed of the god growing slower and slower. They got closer with the sight of the blood left behind in the god's footsteps forcing the grass and flowers in the surroundings to grow crazily. It was evident that his injuries had erupted and he couldn't control the divine blood in his body anymore.
But suddenly, the divine blood vanished along with any other traces.
"He detected that we are chasing him so he hid his trail!"
The divine flood dragon king sniffed the surroundings, but didn't discover any traces of the god. His body suddenly trembled, and he spread out like flood, changing into water flood dragons which flew off in all directions.
Si Yunxiang flew into midair and looked around. She could see a city in front of them, so she said, "Cult Master, it should be Purple Chaste City to the south of us. Would the god have gone there?"
Qin Mu wanted to get up from the back of the dragon, but his legs wobbled and he almost knelt down. He gasped for breath before saying, "Purple Chaste City? Does our sacred cult have any power there?"
"Yes. The border area situated at Purple Chaste City which faces Great Ruins is warm like spring for all four seasons. It is suitable to feed strange beasts, so the hall master of Ten Thousand Beasts Hall is there. It's a huge industry and the mountains in the surroundings are all used for feeding strange beasts. After being raised, they are sold to the imperial court for the military." Si Yunxiang was in the Si family which controlled all the money of Heavenly Saint Cult, so she was rather knowledgeable about it. "Ten Thousand Beasts Hall is a very important source of wealth for our sacred cult."
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Let's go to Purple Chaste City then, and call Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master to meet me. The god entered our Eternal Peace, which means he entered the territory of our sacred cult. Even if he wants to hide, how can he hide from my eyes and ears?"
Si Yunxiang rode the dragon qilin to rush to Purple Chaste City. Qin Mu, in the meantime, had the dragons search everywhere, so he was slightly slower. Yet he still couldn't find any traces of the god.
After some time, they came to the outskirts of Purple Chaste City, and before Qin Mu could even enter the city, he saw a burly man following Si Yunxiang in a hurry. He bowed in greeting, and Qin Mu waved his hand. "Does Hall Master have any method to find the location of an injured god?"
"Does Cult Master have any of his clothes?" Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master asked.
"Nope. However, I did get hold of some of his divine blood." Qin Mu took out a small bottle of divine blood and asked, "Can this be used?"
Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master let out a sigh of relief and whistled. Suddenly, a bunch of big black dogs sprinted over. They had slim waists, necks, and legs, which resulted in their speed being extremely fast.
"These are hybrids between Great Ruins' Heavenly Dog and a native dog; they are the best at tracking."
Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master received the jade bottle and let the big black dogs take a sniff. They bunch of them leaped up as though they were flying, then rushed away. After a moment, the ground trembled and a few behemoths dug out. They were big rats that looked like porcupines, but they were much bigger than wild boars. Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master let them take a sniff of the divine blood, and they tunneled back underground to start their search.
Lonely cries of eagles came from the sky and a few huge birds came diving down. Before they even landed on the ground, dust rose into the sky. The next moment, a bunch of golden eagles with the wingspan of several yards landed. Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master let them sniff the divine blood and they flapped their wings to leave.
"Cult Master, I still have to let the Blood Dragon Eels in the river take a whiff." Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master said. "They are skilled in tracking in water."
"Hall Master sure is attentive," Qin Mu praised.
They walked into Purple Chaste City and Qin Mu asked, "Were there any abnormal sights in the surroundings recently? For example, stone statues popping out from underground or some treasure?"
"It's right in the city. Over ten days ago, the most famous Fragrance Well suddenly stopped producing water. The land trembled, and a huge gourd came from inside. It's fifteen yards tall and is plated with gold. There are many runes on it, but I didn't understand them at all," Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master explained. "The magistrate ordered to lock the area around Fragrance Well, forbidding anyone from getting close. He said it was the emperor's order."
Qin Mu's heart picked up in speed, and he said, "Let's go over!"
As they walked quickly to Fragrance Well, Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master smiled and asked, "In front is Fragrance Well… Eh?"
The golden eagles circled in the sky above them while big black dogs sprinted through the land, heading straight for Fragrance Well. Trembles even came from underground, big rats popping out from time to time to look around.
Qin Mu's heart instantly jumped into his throat—the god of High Heavens was right in the city and was near Fragrance Well!
"Have everyone leave Purple Chaste City immediately!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master's heart tightened and he went to inform the magistrate. Qin Mu stopped him as he tilted his head. "Wait a moment, there's no need to have everyone leave."
Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master was slightly stunned, but Hu Ling'er and Si Yunxiang instantly understood what Qin Mu meant. "There's no point in them leaving. If the meteorological weapon gets activated, no one will be able to run away. Even if they run to the capital, they still won't be able to avoid the explosion. This kind of weapon can travel thousands of miles in an instant. If it's power was completely unleashed, it could probably shroud the entire Eternal Peace Empire."
A chill ran down the back of Ten Thousand Beasts Hall Master.
They were tens of thousands of miles away from the capital, but they couldn't escape even after running all that distance?
What kind of weapon was that huge bottle gourd in Fragrance Well?
Qin Mu straightened his shirt and walked toward Fragrance Well with unhurried steps. He'd been in a rush earlier, but now he was quite relaxed. "Don't let the people in the city leave."
Si Yunxiang was slightly stunned.
"The people in this city are the god's hostages. If we let them go, he will have no hostages and will immediately activate the bottle gourd, starting the natural disaster!" Qin Mu whispered.
Si Yunxiang couldn't help shuddering as she looked at him.
The power of the meteorological weapons was too strong; they had tested it in Granny Si's manor and knew it full well. Not even one percent of Earthquake Cauldron's power had been unleashed, yet it had injured Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Village Chief, and the rest of the experts with its tremors. The residue power had even traveled several hundred miles and shaken the mountains!
If the people in the city stayed, they'd be located at the center of the explosion. This way, if they died, they would feel much less pain.
Cough, cough.
The god coughed twice, but it wasn't an act; his body was truly weak. His coughing came from near Fragrance Well, as did the sneering voice right after. "Little thing, you chased me all the way here, but aren't you afraid I will activate this Five Thunder Pot?"
"Five Thunder Pot?" Qin Mu walked toward Fragrance Well, going up the steps. He had the divine flood dragon king follow beside him as he smiled. "This treasure is called Five Thunder Pot? May I ask which five thunders are within it?"
The divine flood dragon king looked at the courtyard in front and frowned slightly. He shook his body, and it instantly became smaller, taking the form of a youth wearing a sapphire blue robe. He looked somewhat fierce, but wasn't bad-looking.
The dragon qilin also shook his body and sucked in his tummy, but it popped out again with a boing. Hu Ling'er immediately covered her face and said with embarrassment, "Fatty Dragon, don't call me Sister Ling'er anymore. This is so embarrassing…"
Other flood dragons bared their fangs and brandished their claws while shouting ma ha ma ha. They shook the bodies as well, but none of them transformed into humans. Instead, they all sucked their tummy in before releasing them with a boing.
'These guys have all gotten pretty fat after following young master. Their little tummies are all bulging out!' Hu Ling'er surveyed the dragons with a serious face and thought to herself, 'I should tell young master to take note of their diet from now on!'
The flood dragons had not learned the art of morphing before since Dragon Rearing Sovereign had only raised them for battle. He had never treated them as his disciples, so he didn't teach them the human language either.
Qin Mu brought everyone to ascend up the steps. The courtyard before them showed up to be huge, like that of a large manor. In the center of it was the famous Fragrance Well of Purple Chaste City.
It was a famous historical site. Rumors said that the land had once been barren, so when a bunch of escapees running from soldiers came to it, they had no water to drink and died from thirst. The survivors then prayed to the heaven, and a miracle happened. The ground swirled and cracked up, revealing a deep well whose water had a lovely fragrance. Because of that, it was named Fragrance Well.
Around it was a courtyard built of bricks. It had a tight guard, plenty of which were divine arts practitioners. There were three layers of defense inside and three layers outside. But at that moment, all of those divine arts practitioners were sleeping on the ground, without a single one being awake. It was obvious that it was the doing of the god.
"Five thunder are actually classified with directions - north, south, east, west, and middle, and they form five great thunderclouds."
Qin Mu walked into the courtyard and saw that Fragrance Well was gone. It had cracked from being burst apart from inside by a huge treasure. It didn't really look like it was a bottle gourd, but like it was made out of green jade in that shape. It was roughly fifteen yards tall, and the runes that appeared on it looked like clouds yet not clouds, like dragon yet not dragons, like lightning yet not lightning.
Under the bottle gourd sat a man with a horn who looked rather miserable. He was covered in injuries, and there were even a few broken bones sticking out from his skin. They looked quite horrifying.
His leg was also broken, resulting in a bloody mess. His bones there were shattered and much of his sole had already rotted.
Qin Mu couldn't help feeling sorrowful and asked in concern, "How are brother's injuries?"
"You are the one who smashed it, so what do you think?"
The one-horned man took a glance at him, his voice lacking politeness. His injuries had been caused by Qin Mu smashing him with a broken moon, which crippled him. If that wasn't enough, he even chased him all the way to the city and then dared to act courteously by asking him how were his injuries.
Qin Mu blushed with shame and revealed an apologetic smile. "A doctor treats a patient like the parents a child. Truth be told, this little brother has learned the art of healing and is known as a divine physician with sacred hands. I'm the most merciful, frequently treating people and saving them. I can't bear to see people injured thus when I saw brother's injuries, my compassion couldn't help stirring. If brother can believe me…"
"I can't!" The one-horned god sneered at him. "No need to say more. This Five Thunder Pot contains five thunderclouds which aren't very big, so they can at most cover the territory of Eternal Peace Empire. There are fire bell divine weapons in the clouds, so with a single ring, the entire empire will be buried by lightning! You chased me this far, but aren't you scared I will activate Five Thunder Pot?"
Qin Mu went forward and supported himself on the Five Thunder Pot. He said with a smile, "How can I not be scared? But if I don't chase after you, won't you still activate Five Thunder Pot? Not only will you activate it, you will even activate all the other meteorological weapons. Just Five Thunder Pot alone isn't enough to kill all of Eternal Peace's people, but if you activate all the other meteorological weapons as well, that would then be a fatal disaster. Wait, how should I address senior brother?"
The one-horned god looked at the youth who was the divine flood dragon king who opened his mouth to speak. "Your Majesty, he's God Bai Xi of High Heavens."
"Senior Brother Bai Xi," Qin Mu said solemnly. "The fact that you didn't activate Five Thunder Pot immediately means that there's room for discussion. In that case, why don't we discuss?"
The eyes of God Bai Xi were slightly farther apart than normal, but even though they were small, they were round. "What do you suggest?"
"You go to Great Ruins and turn into a stone statue, and you will live," Qin Mu said with a smile.
God Bai Xi laughed loudly, his voice sounding like a huge bell. He sneered and said, "Just a brat like you expects me to turn myself into a stone statue willingly? I'm a god of High Heavens! if I came to this kind of agreement with you, wouldn't I become a laughing stock to all the people in the world?"
Qin Mu refined a furnace of spirit pills to treat himself and replenish his life force. "What does senior brother suggests?"
"I'll activate Five Thunder Pot and you will let me off, then I won't touch the rest of the meteorological weapons!"
Qin Mu consumed the spirit pills and said weakly, "No can do."
God Bai Xi's tiny eyes shrank. "Don't force me into the path of no return! If I can't complete this mission given to me by the high gods, I won't be able to live. Either you let me activate Five Thunder Pot and let me go, or I'll activate it and fight you to the death! Even if I die, I'll pull you guys down as well!"
Qin Mu shook his head. "You can't pull any of us down."
Bai Xi laughed loudly while Qin Mu took out the true dragon's nest to fetch out the gods' limbs which he had stolen from Xing An. He then pieced these limbs into the shape of a four-headed and many-armed devil god. "Senior Brother Bai Xi, I have ways to protect myself. I'm skilled in the art of teleportation and also know the art of summoning. This body is prepared for an old friend of mine. If you don't come to an agreement with me, I will summon him from Dutian World, and there won't even be a need to mention protecting me, since killing you will be a breeze for him."
God Bai Xi's gaze landed on the four-headed and many-armed body, and his eyes became even smaller. "You're trying to scare me? How could you know any devil god?"
Qin Mu smiled and took out a white bone altar as well as a wooden sculpture of a devil god. He executed Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command and cast his spell on the altar. After a moment, evil wind blew in waves while devil qi churned. All kinds of runes began lighting up on the wooden devil god sculpture.
God Bai Xi's face changed slightly, and he immediately said, "Stop! You can stop summoning. I believe you!"
Qin Mu immediately stopped and secretly sighed in relief. If he continued to summon, even if he managed to contact Dutian Devil King, the other might not pay any attention to him.
Dutian Devil King carried a heavy burden and his guts were small. Ever since he had left back then, he had never contacted Qin Mu again. He had also said that he would definitely not come back to his world again.
If Dutian Devil King knew that a hundred god statues had appeared in Eternal Peace Empire along with meteorological weapons of immeasurable power, he definitely wouldn't dare to show himself.
Qin Mu took away the wooden sculpture and placed the body he had pieced together on the altar with a smile. "Now can we talk?"
God Bai Xi's face flickered between clarity and grimness. After calculating for a moment, he gritted his teeth. "I have young and old in High Heavens, and if I can't complete this mission, my whole race is going to be exterminated! I need to return to High Heavens to bring them out!"
"Your Majesty, don't believe him," the divine flood dragon king said in a low voice. "He indeed has a race in High Heavens, but High Heavens aren't a place in which he can just come and go as he pleases. There's a Receiving Official in High Heavens, and without his permission, no one can enter or leave!"
Qin Mu smiled.
God Bai Xi's expression changed drastically and he sneered. "How did Dragon Rearing Sovereign raise a traitor like you?"
The divine flood dragon king sneered back at him. "If Dragon Sovereign wasn't subdued by His Majesty, why would have I turned traitor?"
Dumbfounded, God Bai Xi he cried out, "Dragon Rearing Sovereign was subdued by him?"
"Similar to you, Dragon Rearing Sovereign was severely injured by me and had no choice but to submit to me in the end," Qin Mu said with a warm smile. "My terms to him were extremely generous—to become the dragon king of Surging River! Every year, the people who commit suicide in the river and those that drown in shipwrecks are all his rations, so his meals are definitely good. On top of that, there are over a hundred Dragon King Temples of all sizes beside the river, and they all worship him. Dragon Rearing Sovereign enjoys his incenses and offerings, living his days out in unmatched comfort."
God Bai Xi smiled from anger. "Yet you want me to turn myself into a stone statue. I dare not accept it! Could it be that I'm inferior to that scumbag who raises dragons?"
"Senior Brother Bai Xi, what requests do you have? Just name them, and if I can satisfy you, I will definitely not be stingy. It's just that the matter of activating Five Thunder Pot is too delicate. If you activate the treasure, either you or I will have to die!" Qin Mu said with utter sincerity.
God Bai Xi muttered irresolutely, unable to make up his mind.
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, and he took a glance at Five Thunder Pot. He was truly afraid of the huge bottle gourd, so he probed, "How about this, can you wait a few days? If the gods of your High Heavens achieve victory and activate the other meteorological weapons, I will turn around and leave, allowing you to activate this Five Thunder Pot. I will return to Great Ruins and not dabble in the worldly affairs anymore, allowing the true gods to descend and erase the world. If you don't receive any news of the gods of High Heavens activating other meteorological weapons, you and I will talk again. What do you think?"
God Bai Xi gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Alright!"
Qin Mu laughed loudly, then coughed a few times while gasping for breath. "Senior brother, little brother's body isn't in a good condition so I'll take my leave now."
Astonished, God Bai Xi thought to himself, 'This brat sure is naive, leaving me here… If the senior brothers of High Heavens are able to activate the other meteorological weapons, it wouldn't matter if I activate Five Thunder Pot or not. But if they don't activate them, it would mean that they had all died, and there would be nothing wrong with me submitting.'
As Qin Mu walked out of the courtyard, his face turned dark, scaring Si Yunxiang and the rest. His expression had changed way too fast.
"Saintess Xiang, inform the emperor to have Sunshot Divine Cannon brought over here!" Qin Mu said ruthlessly. "Also, I will write down a prescription, for which Saintess you will have to help me grab the herbs. I want to refine a poison. Next, have all the experts who are skilled in Five Demons Transferring Technique to come over so we can send Five Thunder Pot as far away as possible!"
Si Yunxiang hesitated for a moment, then probed, "Cult Master, it isn't good to do this, is it?"
"We need to be prepared, just in case! If things go sour, we can move Five Thunder Pot away and kill him!"
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu raised his brush and wrote down the spirit herbs and poisonous herbs he needed. The magistrate of Purple Chaste City came to visit him, but was held off by Hu Ling’er. “Young master is not seeing any visitors for the next couple days.”
The magistrate was helpless and could only leave.
Si Yunxiang hurriedly contracted Si Family, asking it to inform the brothers of the cult to report to the emperor as soon as possible. She also had the elders in the cult to strictly choose the best experts of Five Demons Transferring Technique and send them over as soon as possible.
When Qin Mu handed over the prescription, Si Yunxiang realized that there were over a hundred types of herbs in it, and she had never seen or heard about many of them. “These spirit herbs will probably be very difficult to find, so you will need to flip through all the medicine shops in the cities all over the empire in order to find them. It’s going to take quite some time.”
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and smiled. “I gave God Bai Xi those couple days for us to find the herbs, and also to wait for the experts of the cult and the emperor to come. Otherwise, why would I have let him consider it for so long?”
Si Yunxiang sighed. “As your enemy, they have to be careful not to choke on even rice when eating. I’ve already informed the sacred cult. Besides a few elders that who skilled in Five Demons Transferring Technique, the rest will come from Light Fingers Hall.”
“Light Fingers Hall?” Qin Mu stared blankly at her with a look of inquiry.
“Light fingers mean that they are thieves.” Si Yunxiang smiled and said, “Thieves hold the majority in Light Fingers Hall. They usually steal from the rich, taking away the riches from the wealthy families over to us. However, they are usually working on small-scale things. Lately though, the emperor recruited them into the army to grab the enemy’s rations, and many of them achieved meritorious services, so their official positions aren’t shabby.”
“I see.” Qin Mu suddenly understood it and praised them, “In every trade, a master will always appear. Even a thief can be promoted and gain wealth; I must tell this to Grandpa Cripple.”
Yet he was also worried. He didn’t know what the situation was like on God Broken Mountain Range, where Cripple and the rest had intercepted the gods of High Heavens.
‘With Grandpa Apothecary there, they should be fine.’
Even though he thought so, he still couldn’t help worrying. Even though Apothecary could save the injured, it was still a battlefield of gods and devils. If they got killed, even Apothecary wouldn’t be able to save them.
Si Yunxiang ordered the disciples of the cult to prepare the herbs while Qin Mu wrote down prescriptions to treat his own injuries. Hu Ling’er grabbed the herbs from the medicine shops in the city so his body could be nursed properly. After all, the life force exhausted by using Moon Ship was no small matter. If there was a way to replenish it, he would do all he could to do so.
After two-three days, Qin Mu felt much better. He then brought the divine flood dragon king and the bunch of flood dragons into the courtyard of Fragrance Well to ask, “Senior Brother Bai Xi, would you like me to treat your injuries?”
“No need!” God Bai Xi said with alertness. “A person who’s skilled in medicine is naturally skilled in poison. If I consumed your medicine, I’m worried I wouldn’t even know how I died!”
Qin Mu took a glance at his wounds and saw that they were no longer bleeding. However, there were many broken bones that made his appearance pretty miserable. “If your leg is not treated soon, it will go lame and you will only be able to use one leg to walk. After two more days, the lame one will have to be sawed off. On top of that, the rot from your injury will slowly spread through the rest of your body which is fine for now. You will start to rot alive.”
God Bai Xi sneered at him. “You are trying to scare me? I am a god, so how will my flesh and blood spoil? You used a moon to strike me and not a divine art. My flesh and blood won’t spoil from an attack of brute strength!”
Qin Mu sighed. “That moon is a treasure forged by a god during Founding Emperor Era, so how could it not have any divine art? That moon is also the supreme yin whose qi is the best at spoiling a person’s corporeal body. Hiding a sickness for fear of treatment, never did I expect a magnificent god to be like this as well.” After he said that, he shook his sleeves and left.
God Bai Xi sneered over and over again.
Qin Mu walked out of the courtyard of Fragrance Well where Si Yunxiang had already prepared a portion of the spirit herbs. “There are still some spirit herbs that haven’t been found yet, but I have told the brothers of the cult to locate them as soon as possible. Once they are found, they will send them over on a fast ship.”
Qin Mu examined the spirit herbs and said, “The herbs now still can’t take his life, only one leg at most.”
Si Yunxiang jumped in shock and immediately asked in a whisper, “What are you going to do with his leg?”
Qin Mu smiled and instructed her, “Have everyone if the surroundings who has even the slightest external injury, even if it’s just a prick from a needle, to leave. They have to get at least one mile away from Fragrance Well.”
“What if someone who got pricked by a needle doesn’t leave?”
“That would be bad.” Qin Mu chose his herbs, his eyes focused solely on them. “The place where they got pricked will first become a small hole which will slowly expand. In just four to six hours, the rot will spread throughout their whole body and their bones will suffer from necrosis.”
Si Yunxiang felt a chill run down her spine and hurried away.
Fragrance Well was a historical site so there weren’t many people living around it. Si Yunxiang instructed the magistrate to just move all them away.
Qin Mu refined and brewed a medicine that was colorless and odorless, so it was extremely difficult to notice. After two days, God Bai Xi instructed someone to invite him over. Qin Mu sealed and put away the medicine he had refined into his taotie sack as backup. He returned to the courtyard of Fragrance Well and saw God Bai Xi sitting on the floor. The wound on his leg had already started to rot, and it was spreading upwards to the flesh which had been fine before.
“You laid your hands on me?” God Bai Xi stared intensely at him with his bright eyes and croaked, “It must be something you did in the dark that my leg is spoiling so fast!”
Qin Mu went over to carefully examine it and shook his head. “I said you were hiding a sickness for fear of treatment yet you didn’t believe me. How could the moon of that Moon Ship be ordinary? You were injured by it, and if you had let me treat you earlier, you could have kept your leg, but now it’s gone. The flesh and blood have already rotted, and the bone marrow is also dead. I can only saw this leg off to prevent it from continuing to spread the rot.”
The corners of God Bai Xi’s eyes twitched as he stared at him ruthlessly. Yet when he saw his expression wasn’t faked, he said dejectedly, “If I saw it off, I will only be left with one leg. I will lose a lot of my bargaining power.”
“My medical expertise is astounding and I can attach another person’s leg to you. I have three legs here, and you can choose the one that you like. After cutting off your leg, you’ll have to nurse yourself for two days before I will be able to replace it for you,” Qin Mu said seriously.
God Bai Xi’s face flickered between dark and clear as he hesitated in making up his mind. “Do you know why I’m called Bai Xi?” he suddenly asked.
Qin Mu shook his head.
“When a white steed flits past a crack, it lasts but an instant,” God Bai Xi said with an indifferent tone. “This is talking about my speed. It is the number one in the world, and you can’t even see my silhouette before I’m already a thousand miles away. With my leg injured, how will I be able to exhibit my speed?”
Qin Mu nodded. When he had met the three gods of High Heavens, he had caught one off guard and got rid of him while God Bai Xi was the most difficult to deal with. His speed was extremely fast, and he moved to and fro like lightning. Even when Qin Mu had opened Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill to the ninth layer, he still could only catch his silhouette. This was why their fight covered several thousand miles before the other’s leg got injured, crippling him.
“You can also run very fast with one leg,” Qin Mu consoled him. “Grandpa Cripple of my village also had one leg, but his speed was still unmatched in this world. Look at your spoiled leg, should I saw it off for you?”
God Bai Xi’s body trembled and he asked in a hoarse voice, “Aren’t you a divine physician? Don’t you have any methods to treat it?”
Qin Mu expression dimmed. “If it was two days ago… If I saw it off now, you will still have one leg left, but if you continue to delay, I’ll be forced to cut off everything from the waist down. But don’t you worry, Grandpa Butcher of my village was also like that when I grew up, yet he also lived pretty well. He could run very fast with his arms, and it was pretty convenient not having to pee.”
The muscles on God Bai Xi’s face twitched randomly before he gritted his teeth. “In that case, cut it off!”
Qin Mu took out Carefree Sword and passed it to him while saying apologetically. “You are a god, so I don’t have the ability to cut off your leg. It’s best you do it yourself.”
God Bai Xi gripped the hilt of the sword and wanted to make his move, but tears began to flow down from his eyes.
Qin Mu couldn’t bear to see it and was about to say something when God Bai Xi gave a loud shout and slashed down, severing his leg just below the chip!
Qin Mu was stunned. He immediately went forward to help him stop bleeding. He put away Carefree Sword and took out three legs before saying with utter sincerity, “You can choose one leg. I’m sincere in wanting to save this world from disaster, so I will definitely do all I can to attach your leg back, for you to continue to be able to flit past a crack in but an instant. Don’t worry, these three legs are all from Xing An’s collection, so they are legs of the highest quality and won’t be any inferior to your original leg. You know who Xing An is, right? A madman who loves collecting; he won’t collect any body parts that are not on the god level.”
God Bai Xi endured the pain as beads of sweat continued to roll down his forehead. His gaze fell on the three legs and he said in a hoarse voice, “How do I know if you had done anything to them? A person who is skilled in healing is also skilled in poison. If you’ve tampered with them, won’t I be tricked?”
Qin Mu looked at him with a sincere gaze.
When God Bai Xi saw it and expression, he felt slightly ashamed in his heart, but he still didn’t dare to believe. His gaze flickered before he pointed at a slightly shorter leg. “I choose that one.”
Qin Mu smiled and handed him that leg while putting away the other two. “Don’t worry, you can keep this leg. When your complexion is better two days later, I’ll come and help attack it. If I leave this leg with you, you won’t worry about me doing anything to it, right?”
God Bai Xi nodded and sighed. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I now trust that you are a doctor who treats his patient like the parents treat their children. But I don’t need you to prescribe me any medicine to recuperate; I’ll do it myself!”
Qin Mu sneered at him. “You still don’t trust me. Oh well, if you need any spirit herbs, just instruct the divine arts practitioners outside the courtyard to fetch them. I won’t interfere.” When he was finished, he turned around to leave.
God Baixi summoned a divine arts practitioners over and wrote down a prescription for the medicine he wanted.
Outside the courtyard, Si Yunxiang’s gaze flickered, and she asked in a low voice, “Cult Master, do you want to do something to his herbs?”
“No need. Are all the spirit herbs I need here?”
“There are still a few left.”
Qin Mu went over to check and after calculating for a moment said, “These are about enough.” He took out the other two divine legs and prepared to refine poison for them.
“Cult Master, you…” Si Yunxiang cried out.
“Even if I let him keep that divine leg, he definitely won’t use it. After a few days, he will definitely make me take out these two divine legs and choose one of them.”
Qin Mu refined his poison seriously, planning to hide it in the legs. His serious expression was actually pretty terrifying. “I don’t know which leg he will use, so I might I need to prepare both of them. The poison that’s left, I plan to…”
He executed his vital qi and his hand techniques changed without end. “Find a chance to return it to Xing An! What do you think of this idea?”
Si Yunxiang shuddered, her face ashen. “Cult Master, I don’t dare to covet after the position of cult master anymore!” she said in a trembling voice.
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Qin Mu turned his head back and smiled at her. His smile of a big boy was very radiant, like sunshine, and brimming with youth.
Si Yunxiang felt her blood run cold.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu used a lot of time and effort to refine the poison. It was multi-composite, requiring him to refine it numerous times. He had no first make hundreds of basic poison pills, then use them to feed venomous creatures, for example, venomous worms, toads, and various insects. Once they were ready, he used them as fertilizer for poisonous mushrooms and grass.
He did it numerous times, until he managed to refine a couple poisonous eggs which he planted into the bone marrow of the two legs. Those poisonous eggs would not dissolve on their own, but when bone marrow began producing blood again, their shells would break, and the poison inside would flow into all parts of the body through the bloodstream, spoiling the person’s divine treasures, breaking his primordial spirit, and wiping out his soul.
Qin Mu had just finished refining the strange poison and saving some poisonous eggs for backup when Si Yunxiang brought him news. “The elders and experts skilled in Five Demons Transferring Technique have arrived.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said solemnly, “Please invite them.”
Si Yunxiang invited the people of Heavenly Devil Cult over, and Qin Mu surveyed them. He saw that numerous people of Heavenly Devil Cult were indeed generals in the army, for they had rushed to him without even wasting time to take off their armor.
Five Demons Transferring Technique wasn’t an extremely powerful spell, and it wasn’t mainstream. It was a spell of the lowest professions, but in reality, even the weakest spells contained unimaginable power.
There were no good and bad spells. The crucial point lay in only how one used them.
If Qin Mu wanted to fight his way into the courtyard of Fragrance Well, then even if his people had learned the most powerful spell divine arts, even if they were on Divine Bridge Realm and ready to make sacrifices, they might not be able to stop God Bai Xi from activating Five Thunder Pot.
Yet the lowest Five Demons Transferring Technique could move Five Thunder Pot away without anyone having to die.
“Gentlemen!” Qin Mu bowed and greeted them. “We can only succeed this time; no failure is allowed. Otherwise, once the lightning covers Eternal Peace, I don’t know how many people will die miserably! Whether or not we succeed, we will have to see everyone’s abilities!
The cult member hurried to return the greeting. “All part of our duty. We don’t dare to accept Cult Master’s greeting!”
Qin Mu straightened his back and said solemnly, “North, south, east, west, and middle—five great thunderclouds are in Five Thunder Pot, and there are fire bell divine weapons in the thunderclouds. Even if it’s just simply moving this divine treasure, we have to be extremely careful not to activate the power within it. Does anyone have any understanding of the five great thunderclouds?”
Everyone looked at one another in dismay. An elder stepped out of the ranks and said, “Cult Master, I have some understanding in regards to the five great thunderclouds and the fire bell divine weapons. I have wandered around in my early years and come across a strange book in the Black Tortoise Temple of Great Ruins. On it was recorded some anecdotes about North Deity.”
Qin Mu’s expression changed slightly. Great Ruins again.
“The five great thunderclouds and fire bell divine weapons are treasures forged by North Deity,” the elder who spoke was Elder Si Gong of Heavenly Devil Cult. “North Deity is also known as Black Tortoise Great Deity and is skilled in thunder spell divine arts. The five great thunderclouds and fire bell divine weapons are his masterpieces and possess extreme power.
“In Black Tortoise Temple of Great Ruins, that strange book was carved on the back of a black turtle. Its whole body was made out of foundry iron, and it was extremely difficult to flip through it. I had managed to open two pages and read some records. Founding Emperor had once held a banquet and invited North Deity, who called thunderclouds to run through all the worlds, and Founding Emperor couldn’t help exclaiming endlessly about it. As for what that strange book means, I don’t know.”
Qin Mu was astonished. North Deity and Founding Emperor? There was a connection between them? North Deity had once been invited by Founding Emperor as a guest?
“In the book, some of the marvels of North Deity’s five great thunderclouds were mentioned, and I had researched some thunder spells after that.”
Elder Si Gong took a breath and then continued, “Great Thundercloud Spell has been long lost, but there’s Little Thundercloud Spell in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, and it is what I cultivate. Even though I only saw two pages of that strange book, it allowed the cultivation of my Little Thundercloud Spell to improve greatly, so I reaped quite the benefit. If Cult Master can believe me, let me be in charge of this five demons transfer!”
Qin Mu nodded and said, “The power of Little Thundercloud Spell is not insignificant, and since Elder Si Gong cultivates this spell, why don’t you exchange some pointers with me? Tell me about your understanding in regards to Little Thundercloud Spell.”
Elder Si Gong told him about the art which he had comprehended in front of everyone, and Qin Mu listened to it carefully, corroborating it with his own Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. When Elder Si Gong finished talking about that did he talk about his understanding regarding it.
Ever since he was young, Qin Mu had received pointers from the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village. The height of his horizons had long ago reached a height that ordinary people couldn’t hope to reach.
On top of that, he’d had other opportunities, like Woodcutter’s imparting scriptures, the grooming of Qin Hanzhen on the treasure ship, comprehension in Great Thunderclap Monastery, comprehension of Dao Sword on the stone tablet, comprehension in Little Jade Capital, and peeking into Imperial Preceptor comprehending Dao in Qingmen Pass. Even though his horizons couldn’t be said to be number one in the world, there were not many who could surpass him.
Little Thundercloud Spell was one of the spells in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, and the rock on which Woodcutter had imparted his teachings already had a deep explanation of this spell. With the pointers of Deaf, this great scholar, and his own understanding, that of someone who was the great master who founded Six Directions Primordial Spirit, giving pointers to Elder Si Gong on thunder spells was no problem for him.
Qin Mu lectured and everyone looked as though they were intoxicated. They gained their own comprehension.
After Elder Si Gong heard everything, he couldn’t help admiring Qin Mu. He was completely won over and praised, “Cult Master is a genius, a natural born sacred cult master.”
Even though Qin Mu was young, had just hit sixteen years old and his cultivation was still on Six Directions Realm, his knowledge was great, and the depth of his understanding could already win over a divine bridge practitioner like him.
“Comprehend in detail. We will have to move Five Thunder Pot in a few days.” Turning around then, Qin Mu asked Si Yunxiang, “Where is the emperor now?”
“He just reached Serene Prefecture, which is still over ten days of journey from here,” Si Yunxiang said. “His Majesty’s plan is for Cult Master to delay for ten days. If you can’t do that, you need to at least get him eight days. At that time, he will fire the cannon from five thousand miles away and kill Bai Xi.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “Bai Xi won’t give us eight days. He will make a decision in three to five days’ time. How’s the battle in God Broken Mountain Range?”
Si Yunxiang frowned. “That place is already destroyed, and the aftermath of the divine arts can be seen everywhere. Even so, experts of Celestial Being Realm still can’t go inside. The emperor has ordered the soldiers at Eternal Border and Secret Waters to retreat, abandoning Secret Waters Pass to prevent them from being dragged into the fray. As for the outcome of the battle…” She shook her head. “The emperor has ordered the generals of the two passes to go forward and investigate, but there are still no news. No one… has walked out as of now.”
Qin Mu’s heart squeezed, and he let out a shaky breath. His gaze became sharp. “In that case, after solving this matter with God Bai Xi, I will go over there personally. I want to see them if they are alive or their bodies if they are dead! Elder Si Gong, I’ll give you guys two days. Prepare as soon as possible. We won’t wait for the emperor anymore!”
Elder Si Gong and the rest were awed. They immediately went to practice how to cast the spell with a hundred people. To make a hundred people cooperate seamlessly and execute the same technique without messing up and activating the power of Five Thunder Pot in two days was very difficult. However, time was running out, so they had no choice but to practice more.
Suddenly, the divine arts practitioner guarding the courtyard of Fragrance Well came to report. “Cult Master Qin, the god has invited you!”
Qin Mu’s spirit moved slightly and he rose to head over to the courtyard of Fragrance Well. God Bai Xi’s complexion was much better; it was evident that he had refined pills to treat his own injuries, so they were much lighter. His cultivation had also become a lot healthier.
However, he had chopped off one of his legs, so it was impossible for him to escape. Because of that, Qin Mu was afraid he would fall into depression and active Five Thunder Pot, beside which he spent all of his time.
“Little friend, there have been many guests recently, eh.” The horn on God Bai Xi’s head glowed and rings of light slid down from the tip of it, flowing through his whole body.
Qin Mu examined the light, and his heart moved slightly. It was shaking up the god’s corporeal body, forcing the spoiled blood out. It had to be a kind of body refinement technique which could make the body recover quicker.
Before that, God Bai Xi had been beaten up quite miserably so he didn’t even have the possibility to escape for his life. But now that some of his cultivation had started to recover, he was trying to recover the strength of his corporeal body as well.
“Those that came are all just small figures and can’t threaten a god like you. Is that true?” Qin Mu said with a smile, “I can see that your abilities are recovering quite fast, and it makes me worried. I’m afraid that you will go back on your promise. I’ve already waited for some seven days, and I don’t think there’s a point to wait for much more. It’d be best if we signed the Pact of Earth Count, and there’s no better time than now, so why don’t we do it today?”
“What promise? Did I have a promise with you? Hahaha!” God Bai Xi laughed, and his voice was like thunder, ringing throughout the entire city. “I’m joking. Look at your pale face, it’s completely white. Since you have already waited for some seven days, why don’t you wait some more? Didn’t you say you wanted to attach a divine leg for me? I haven’t connected it yet, so when I have both legs again, we shall sign the Pact of Earth Count!”
Qin Mu’s face changed slightly, and he said coldly, “Your abilities have already recovered so much, so if I attach your leg and you activate Five Thunder Pot and run, won’t I have to bear the sin of having allowed you to wipe out countless people in Eternal Peace? Your leg can wait. Let’s do it after we sign the Pact of Earth Count!”
God Bai Xi placed his palm on Five Thunder Pot and beamed at him. “You are called Qin Mu, right? I asked the divine arts practitioners around here, Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu. But you are also Human Emperor, someone truly powerful to have broken one of my legs. Xu Shenghua went to find you, but he never returned, so you should have gotten rid of him. This is no wonder though, how could he fight against you? Come over, attach my leg, and we can talk then. Otherwise, I will activate this Five Thunder Pot immediately!”
Qin Mu’s face changed drastically and he shouted, “Divine flood dragon king!”
Watery light pulsed behind him, and the divine flood dragon king appeared with a bow, “Divine flood dragon king is right here. What do you command, Your Majesty?”
God Bai Xi sneered. “Don’t fool around, Cult Master Qin. My hand is still on Five Thunder Pot.”
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes crinkled, then like spring wind and rain, the stern expression on his face vanished and he laughed loudly. “Senior Brother Bai Xi is indeed powerful, I’ll help you attach your leg back. Divine flood dragon king, there’s no need to be nervous. Come man, bring up the medicine I refined! Senior Brother Bai Xi, where’s the leg you have chosen? Take it out.”
God Bai Xi threw the shorter leg over and said with a smile, “The length of this leg is not suitable. Take out the other two legs, and I’ll choose again.”
The smile of Qin Mu’s face froze, frowning a little.
God Bai Xi stood on one leg with a smile on his face as he said leisurely, “Does Cult Master Qin have any opinion?”
Qin Mu took in a long, deep breath, then took out the other two divine legs while gritting his teeth tightly. “No, I don’t. Senior Brother Bai Xi, please choose!”
God Bai Xi took a look at him and laughed when he saw that Qin Mu’s face was black. “Young man still can’t remain calm.” His magic power poured out and he swept up the two divine legs. He examined them in detail, but didn’t discover Qin Mu doing anything to them. “I’ll choose this one. Divine Physician Qin, help me attach it.”
“May senior brother lie down,” Qin Mu said with barely held back anger.
God Bai Xi lay down with his palm still on Five Thunder Pot. He said leisurely, “Don’t try to play any tricks. If my hand just makes a slight move, Five Thunder Pot will explode, and it’ll be even easier for the thunderclouds to destroy the world. The treasure of North Deity could turn even Founding Emperor’s empire into Great Ruins, so what chance does Eternal Peace stand… hehe!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
God Bai Xi kept staring at Qin Mu who cautious and conscientious, attaching the other’s leg seriously without any complaint. He sutured the root of the leg with the leg chosen by the god.
“Senior Brother Bai Xi is not a human, right?” Qin Mu examined the nerves and activated the nerve system of the broken section, nursing it with medicine. “I see the structure of your body is different that of humans. What is your race?”
Light poured out from the heart of God Bai Xi’s brows and a primordial spirit soared out. It was a dragon horse which had wings on its back and a long horn on its head. Its mane fluttered in the wind as its body shone from its snow white color. The dragon horse was lively and full of enthusiasm, truly having the vitality attributed to its name bearers!”
Qin Mu raised his head to take a look before praising, “You are a divine steed! This kind of primordial spirit is rare!”
“Using the term divine steed to describe me is also according to the times.” God Bai Xi’s primordial spirit stared at his actions. “However, I rarely show my true form. During Founding Emper… Cough, cough. In the past, of course, before you were born, divine steeds like me could only deliver letters to people and be their mounts. It was truly a waste of our talents.”
Qin My’s expression changed slightly and he asked, “In that case, how did Senior Brother Bai Xi go to High Heavens?”
The god sighed. “The heaven changed, the earth changed, even lowly gods like my kind received our day to shine. Not long after the calamity, I surrendered. After that, Great Ruins appeared. Back then, many of those who had surrendered with me shone brighter and were all better at currying favor than me, so they left this world to enjoy their lives, leaving only a few of us behind. Those fellows were all good at boot-licking, but I was not. It was fine anyway though—better be a chicken’s beak than a cow’s rump.
He smiled. “Even though those fellows knew how to boot-lick, the moment they reached the upper realm, they became the lowest of the low there. Because of that, they are worse off than us who stay at the lower realm, riding roughshod over people and staying high up at the top, enjoying people’s worship and sacrifices.”
“Yet, you are still no more than a runner until now,” Qin Mu said with a smile.
God Bai Xi was furious and his god’s aura burst forth. “What did you say?”
Qin Mu smiled. “Don’t get agitated and make me connect the wrong nerve, or you’ll be limping even after I attach your leg back.”
God Bai Xi sighed. “You are right, I’m indeed a runner. I had run to deliver letters in the past and I’m now running to bring disaster to this land. All the dirty works are thrown at me, and I’m even dirtier than I was in the past. But it can’t be helped. If I don’t do what they ask, it will be hard for me to escape death. How strong are the four sovereigns of High Heavens? Their abilities are greater than mine, but they can still only be runners. Not only that, we also have to risk our lives! Who can say how many of us will make it through this?”
His eyes narrowed from worry. Up till then, the other meteorological weapons had not been activated. It meant that Star Sovereign Qiao and the rest were most likely dead.
“If you were to surrender to me, I could make you a mountain god and you enjoy your sacrifices. Why don’t you be a mountain god beside Surging River so you can accompany Dragon Rearing Sovereign? All the people who hang themselves on the mountain and jump off the cliffs would be your food. I have a good place, there’s a mountain beside Deer County called Hundred Years Mountain. Its scenery is beautiful and the mountain is over three hundred thousand feet tall. If you became a mountain god there, it wouldn’t be an insult to you.”
“Bah!” God Bai Xi smiled at him. “I’m not a shameless person like Dragon Rearing Sovereign. I’ve already surrendered once so how can I surrender again? Do I still want my face? What’s more, I’m a vegetarian, I don’t eat humans. I had wanted to be a mountain god in the past, but it was a pity I was too fast, so I had to deliver letters as a runner. If I had run slightly slower, I might have just landed myself an official position.”
Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “This is your abilities being detrimental to you.”
God Bai Xi smiled. “You are quite a good person and also kind; I admire you very much. After you attach my leg, we can sit down for a talk. Even if Eternal Peace Empire is wiped out, you can follow me to High Heavens. I can’t promise anything, but I can at least protect you and your whole family.
Qin Mu gave his thanks. “It’s good to leave a way out for myself too. I’ve long wanted to go to High Heavens, but I don’t have divine incense so I can’t contact them.
“This is easy, I have some.” God Bai Xi’s gaze flickered as he said, “As long as you treat my injuries and let me successfully call on this disaster, I’ll bring you to High Heavens.
Qin Mu scattered some powder on the broken section of the leg and saw nerves growing rapidly, waving their tentacles like earthworms. “I had planned to sign the Pact of Earth Count with you to prevent you from bringing the disaster, yet you advise me to surrender. Senior brother, after your leg is attached, let us sign the Pact of Earth Count immediately. You can’t go back on your word this time!”
God Bai Xi looked at his hand techniques and saw his fingers moving up and down quickly. The speed of his fingers was too much for the eyes to take in yet they moved exquisitely, as though he was threading a needle and also manipulating the needle for the art of healing. “You’ve learned sewing before? Your hands move like those of a tailor,” the god said in bewilderment.
“Somewhat.” Qin Mu’s vital qi transformed into thread and connected the nerves. “I have learned it for a few years.”
God Bai Xi was curious. “What else have you learned?”
Qin Mu’s fingers moved faster and faster as he spoke. “Formation skills, fist skills, pupil skills, knife skills, body techniques, forging, painting and calligraphy, carpentry, poems and songs. I know a little about all of them.”
The nerves in God Bai Xi’s broken leg connected with the divine leg, and he could instantly feel it, which filled him with delighted surprise. He took a glance at Qin Mu and thought to himself, ‘This brat’s abilities ain’t bad and his heart isn’t bad as well. I really don’t want to kill him just like this… What a pity.’
Qin Mu went to connect his blood vessels and used the dragon qilin’s dragon saliva to grow the flesh and blood. “The bone marrow has still not fused. This part is the most difficult. Senior brother, bone marrow is used for creating blood and its impact is extremely large. I need to first cultivate it with medicine, then nourish it so it would be able to produce blood. Now, after your bone marrow starts working, you and I shall sign the Pact of Earth Count. You won’t call upon the disaster and I will let you return to High Heavens.”
God Bai Xi examined all the herbs, ensuring the youth didn’t play any tricks, then smiled. “Not a problem.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and ordered people to bring in a huge pot. After soaking the herbs in the water, he had people to light a fire and said, “In about two days, the bone marrow will be able to start producing blood again.”
“Move the huge pot closer, my hand can’t leave Five Thunder Pot,” God Bai Xi immediately said.
Qin Mu smiled at him. “Senior Brother Bai Xi sure does things seamlessly. Are you still scared I will do anything? The pot is right here, and you know I can’t move it. If your hand is always on Five Thunder Pot, I’m scared you may accidentally activate it.”
God Bai Xi looked at him and their gazes locked onto each other. Qin Mu didn’t back down.
God Bai Xi felt refreshed and full of vigor. He laughed loudly and said, “Fine, as you wish.”
Qin Mu sat down nearby and waited quietly. The divine flood dragon king guarded him by the side. God Bai Xi’s primordial spirit guarded the sky, prepared to activate Five Thunder Pot anytime while he soaked in the pot, slowly feeling the medicinal energy seeping into his wounded leg, nourishing his flesh. The medicinal energy gradually reached his bones, bringing life to his bone marrow.
“Comfortable.” God Bai Xi was utterly bored so he asked for fun, “Is Cult Master Qin married?”
“I’m married.” Qin Mu fetch a sundial and observed the time. The sundial had many marked scales and was very detailed. “I married twice.”
“What a pity. I planned to introduce a few beauties of my race when you came to High Heavens.” God Bai Xi chuckled. “Your kids would’ve been half-human and half-horse. Just thinking about it makes me want to laugh. Hahahaha!”
Qin Mu didn’t reply to him and continued to look at the sundial.
God Bai Xi seemed to be in a good mood and kept talking nonsense, laughing from time to time. He seemed to be very pleased with himself.
Without his notice, a day and a half passed while God Bai Xi’s laughter grew louder and louder. His gaze towards Qin Mu was also becoming more and more unpleasant.
“Cult Master Qin, let me tell you a joke. In the past, there was a person who decided to cook a duck. When it was cooked and he was about to eat it, the duck flew away. Hahahaha, why aren’t you laughing? Let me tell you another joke, that cooked duck flew back later on and ate that idiot! Hahahaha…”
Qin Mu remained motionless and continued to stare at the sundial.
God Bai Xi looked at him fiercely and sneered, “You don’t laugh and you don’t talk, are you discriminating against me? You are discriminating against me! I’m going to kill you!”
Qin Mu raised his head and smiled. “Time’s out, action.”
As he said that, there was a sudden tremor as five demons with green faces and tusks appeared around Fragrance Well. They whirled around Five Thunder Pot and it vanished into thin air!
God Bai Xi’s primordial spirit stretched out to grab it, but he grabbed nothing. He only managed to grab one of the demons while roaring in anger. Thunder rumbled and the entire Purple Chaste City shook violently!
Behind Qin Mu, the divine flood dragon king roared and revealed his true form, coiling around the courtyard of Fragrance Well. He stared at the primordial spirit of his enemy.
God Bai Xi crushed the huge demon and immediately summoned his primordial spirit back. The moment it entered his body, he instantly felt evil qi pouring out from his wounded leg, invading all parts of his body, wandering between his primordial spirit and divine treasures. His blood couldn’t help running cold as he hurried to execute his magic power to suppress it!
‘Crap! After all that guarding, I still didn’t manage to protect myself!’
The divine flood dragon king took the chance to pounce on him, and his body locked God Bai Xi tightly, making him unable to move. The grip was so tight that veins were bursting out on his forehead.
Qin Mu stood up and pulled out Carefree Sword to throw it on the ground. Smiling, he said, “Senior Brother Bai Xi, the ducks I cook can never fly away. Take the sword, you can cut off the poisoned parts yourself. Divine flood dragon king, let him go. When I cook ducks, I like them to cut themselves in pieces without my help. Now that you’ve been poisoned by me, Senior Brother Bai Xi, you can only sever yourself from the neck down. Nothing below it can be kept.”
The divine flood dragon king hesitated for a moment, but still let go.
God Bai Xi roared loudly and his god’s aura rolled out in waves, exploding the pot of medicinal liquid. He walked toward Qin Mu with his murderous intent overflowing into the sky.
The divine flood dragon king was extremely nervous. He was about to make a move when God Bai Xi suddenly dispersed his god’s aura and knelt down on one knee with a sigh. “I’ve already surrendered once in the past, so what if I surrender again? I’m willing to submit.”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “Don’t worry, the scenery at Hundred Years Mountain is very nice, and you are very suitable to stay there. Make an oath to Earth Count. Once you do it, I’ll let you be the mountain god of Hundred Years Mountain and you’ll be able to enjoy your sacrifices.”
After half a day, God Bai Xi’s face was very dark. He had ridden the wind and clouds to hurry to Deer County, which was beside Surging River, with a frown. All around Deer County were barren hills of three thousand feet and wild rivers. Where was the three hundred thousand feet mountain with beautiful scenery?
God Bai Xi descend to the ground and asked a farmer, “Where’s Hundred Years Mountain?”
“That’s the one!” God Bai Xi followed the direction of his finger and saw that Hundred Years Mountain was actually a small hill which was saturated with the atmosphere of death. At the sight of it, he couldn’t help shouting angrily, “That place is clearly a burial mound, a place to bury corpses! Why is it called Hundred Years Mountain?”
The farmer smiled at him. “What happens to an ordinary person after a hundred years? Of course, it’s death! Therefore it’s named Hundred Years Mountain. Everyone is buried there after reached a hundred years.”
God Bai Xi was stunned, not understanding. “Isn’t Hundred Years Mountain supposed to be three hundred thousand feet high?”
“You fool with the horn!” The farmer couldn’t resist himself as he scolded him. “When a dead person lies down, they are merely a few inches high. So to a dead person, isn’t Hundred Years Mountain three hundred thousand feet high?”
God Bai Xi was furious and flew to Hundred Years Mountain angrily. “Damn you, Qin brat!”
Suddenly, Surging River split apart and a huge head popped out from the center of the river, sizing him up curiously while laughing. “I was thinking who had such an aura of a god, and I see it’s Dao Friend Bai Xi. Why are you here as well? You were just cursing Qin brat, so what happened?”
“So it’s Dragon Rearing Sovereign!” God Bai Xi hurriedly greeted him while standing on the mountain peak. “I came to bring disaster to Eternal Peace, but I met Heavenly Devil Cult Master—”
“There’s no need for you to explain anymore, I get it!” The huge dragon in the center of the river shook his body and changed into the human-shaped Dragon Rearing Sovereign. He said with a solemn face, “He has a very honest face and looks easy to bully, right?”
“How did you know?” God Bai Xi asked him with a strange look.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign stamped his feet. “Because of his honest-looking face, I became Surging River Dragon King!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
One god stood on the river and the other stood on Hundred Years Mountain, looking speechlessly at each other in dismay.
The river breeze whistled and the mountain wind howled. In early spring, both of them were bone-chilling.
After a moment, Dragon Rearing Sovereign gradually sunk into the water as he said, “Tidy your Hundred Years Mountain first, then build a mountain god temple. I will hold a banquet later to welcome you. Your mountain is too quiet, people will only go there during Pure Brightness Festival or Ghost Festival. The incense is very little. If you can’t survive on it, I’ll share some with you.”
God Bai Xi felt desolate. Dragon Rearing Sovereign ate meat so what he would share with him would also be people who had committed suicide in the river. Yet he was a vegetarian who had no fruit or trees on his mountain. There were quite a number of corpses though.
‘I think I should first construct a temple. Once it is done, there might be believers who will bring me some fruits when they come to offer incense. As long as they are not spoiled, I can eat them…’
In Purple Chaste City, Qin Mu looked at the fifteen yards tall Five Thunder Pot in front of him and his head started to ache slightly. Such a huge bottle gourd contained energy to wipe out the world. If the five great thunderclouds were accidentally released, it would be a huge disaster which would wipe the world!
“Cult Master, what about this Five Thunder Pot? Should we hide it?”
Everyone in Heavenly Devil Cult surrounded this bottle gourd and examined it, their hearts filled with terror. Qin Mu shook his head. “This bottle gourd isn’t safe anywhere. Any carelessness, and the power inside will be activated. The heavenly lightning will strike, killing I don’t know how many people.”
He circled around the bottle gourd, finding it a thorny problem. The worst part was that Eternal Peace Empire didn’t simply have a Five Thunder Pot—there were over a dozen more meteorological weapons like it which could destroy Eternal Peace Empire ten times over.
Qin Mu suddenly flicked a finger against Five Thunder Pot, and everyone felt their hair stand on ends. In an instant, heavenly thunderclouds gathered over an area of dozens of yards, and five directions divine lightning struck down!
After the wave of lightning, everyone was charred on the outside and their faces were black like charcoal. The courtyard in which they had been standing was destroyed by lightning in its entirety. In an instant, thousand bolts of lightning had struck down and the buildings collapsed, and even the land had melted!
Qin Mu spewed out a mouthful of black smoke while pondering over it.’This thing is not bad for tempering the corporeal body. Borrowing the power of the five great thunderclouds to cultivate can allow one to quickly cultivate the corporeal body. Let us carry it back home… back to the sacred cult.”
“Cult Master!” Everyone’s expressions changed drastically, and Elder Si Gong nearly cried out, “If we carried it back to the sacred cult, it would be finished if the gourd accidentally exploded!”
Qin Mu was troubled. “If this treasure can’t be used by the sacred cult, won’t it be wasted?”
“Not at all, not at all!” Elder Si Gong immediately said.
Qin Mu frowned and sighed ruefully. “This thing has many uses yet you guys don’t know how good it is. Oh well, I’ll just keep it. You guys can transfer it into my true dragon’s nest. I have a use for it.”
Everyone looked at one another in dismay. Five Thunder Pot was clearly an extremely dangerous thing, so how was it useful? It was clearly a ticking time bomb that could take one’s life anytime!
If he put it in the dragon’s nest, lightning would be unable to discharge in such a huge space, so if the power of Five Thunder Pot burst forth, even gods would be struck to death by the five great thunderclouds!
‘Other than using Five Thunder Pot to refine the body, it can also be used to wipe out a sect. If I meet anyone I can’t defeat, I can just give it a slap and drag them down with me!’ Qin Mu thought to himself.
Everyone worked together to execute Five Demons Transfer Technique, sending Five Thunder Pot into the true dragon’s nest. As they did, not one of them considered that their cult master might have such a dangerous idea.
Qin Mu thanked everyone and summoned the divine flood dragon king and the dragon qilin. They were about to hurry to God Broken Mountain Range to check on the situation when Si Yunxiang said, “Cult Master, the emperor is currently on his way here and will reach Purple Chaste City in seven days. Aren’t you going to wait for him?”
Qin Mu stared at her with his eyes wide-open. He cried out, “You didn’t tell him not to come?”
Si Yunxiang shook her head. “You only said there’s no need to wait for him and didn’t say to tell him to turn back. The emperor is driving Sunshot Divine Cannon over, and the exhaustion of medicinal stones is staggering as they hurry over with desperation…”
Qin Mu’s scalp crawled and he could almost see Emperor Yanfeng sharpening his knife in preparation to chop off his head.
“Quickly inform him that he doesn’t have to come anymore!” Qin Mu turned and jumped on the back of the divine flood dragon king.
“The emperor won’t execute you, but he will definitely dare to execute me!” Si Yunxiang immediately complained.
“Don’t you know how to praise a bad thing?” Qin Mu rode the dragon into the distance, and his voice came from afar. “Change the way to break the news to him, and he will even reward you!”
“Praise a bad thing?”
Si Yunxiang was first stunned, then came to a realization. She immediately asked Elder Si Gong to bring her to find Emperor Yanfeng who was on the cannon battery with the civil and military officials following him. They were surrounded by imperial guards that had an awe-inspiring presence. The fifty-six furnaces on the huge cannon burned non-stop, using up countless medicinal stones. They were still hurrying to Purple Chaste City.
When Si Yunxiang reached them, Emperor Yanfeng was ordering his people to fetch the medicinal stones from the city in front of them. The medicinal stones on the cannon battery had long run out so he could only replenish them from the cities on the way.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty!” Si Yunxiang came forth to report. “God Bai Xi of High Heavens remembered Your Majesty’s broad and powerful might so he didn’t dare to create a ruckus and submitted. Now, he will belong to Eternal Peace and be the mountain god of Deer County’s Hundred Years Mountain. He will guard Your Majesty’s empire so it would last through the ages!”
Emperor Yanfeng was pleased when he looked around at the civil and military officials on his left and right while laughing loudly. “That rebellious God Bai Xi actually knew when to fall back. He knew that I’m coming personally and he wouldn’t be a match for me, so he might as well surrender. This is truly making me punch the air.”
“How would he dare to offend Your Majesty’s heavenly might? He could only surrender or else he would die a miserable death!” Lord Yan immediately said.
All the ministers congratulated Emperor Yanfeng, and he smiled from ear to ear. “All of you have followed me so you gain the credit as well. Everyone will be rewarded.”
All the ministers were delighted.
After the commotion, Sunshot Divine Cannon stopped for a moment as they prepared to return to the capital. Emperor Yanfeng summoned Si Yunxiang then, his face instantly sinking. He sneered at her, “Little Saintess of Si Family, your cult master told you to say that? Why doesn’t he dare to come to meet me?”
“Cult Master used Human Emperor’s Seal to summon the heroes from all parts of the country to defend against the invasion of High Heavens, holding them outside God Broken Mountain Range, preventing the enemies from invading, protecting the safety of Eternal Peace…”
“Alright, alright, no need to talk officiously!” Emperor Yanfeng sighed. “I know he put in much effort and has high achievements. It’s also because of him this time that Eternal Peace wasn’t wipe out and all of its people killed. I don’t have any intention to blame him. Furthermore, he also saved my face by letting you come here. How did he subdue Bai Xi of High Heavens?”
“By making threats and promises, showing the enemy he’s weak, using hundreds of different methods.”
Si Yunxiang told him how Qin Mu had subdued God Bai Xi, and Emperor Yanfeng was stunned. “Minister Qin helped Eternal Peace subdue two gods at such a young age, forcing them to guard mountains and rivers. With these kinds of things, even I am inferior. I was worried about the battle at God Broken Mountain Range so I had ordered people to head to investigate, and there is already news.”
Si Yunxiang’s heart tightened when Emperor Yanfeng said, “General of the Borders said that there are continuous earthquakes along some twenty thousand miles of God Broken Mountain Range. All the mountains had sunk, and the earthquakes have raised fog and darkness which is invading the God Broken Mountains. Ghost gods can be seen in the fog, but no traces of Imperial Preceptor and the rest could be found.
“I want to go over to see it personally, but the politics can’t be messed up. The empire also can’t be messed up… General of the Borders said that the place has signs of becoming part of Great Ruins. They are currently invading Eternal Peace…”
A private worry took root in Si Yunxiang, and she looked toward the west. ‘Cult Master is currently heading there! What exactly is happening there for Great Ruins to start expanding?”
Qin Mu rode the dragon until it was evening and they finally came to the surroundings of God Broken Mountain Range. He raised his head to look at it, and his heart suddenly jumped. He could only see gray fog covering the place in layer after layer. When the sun set in the west, it was soon drowned out.
“Something is wrong…”
God Broken Mountain Range was very long and the width of the mountains was also very great. The mountain range separated Great Ruins and Eternal Peace, taking up a hundred miles. Now it had sunk down, what replaced it was thick gray fog. Dull tremors came from it from time to time.
“Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor activated Earthquake Cauldron and broke this piece of mountain range, sinking the mountains down into the ground!”
Qin Mu could sense the tremors from the gray fog and a bad feeling arose in his heart. Since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had used Earthquake Cauldron, it showed that he’d felt powerless to defend himself. He then didn’t hesitate to take all of them down with him just to block them from crossing over God Broken Mountains!
When the sun set, darkness invaded from the west, and it was like a black flood had covered the sky, swallowing everything on the way. Every place it passed by vanished without a trace.
The darkness seemed to have substance and actually came to God Broken Mountain Range, drowning it. The darkness flooded to the front of Qin Mu’s face before suddenly stopping!
Qin Mu raised his head and saw that the darkness was like a straight cliff whose top couldn’t be seen. It separated the night of Eternal Peace from that of his home!
“Great Ruins has swallowed God Broken Mountain Range and spread toward Eternal Peace Empire. The darkness just swallowed up a hundred miles.”
Qin Mu bent over and took out a flag to stab it where the darkness of Great Ruins touched the night of Eternal Peace. He said in a low voice, “In a few more days, we will know if the darkness is truly spreading or it has stopped. If the darkness of Great Ruins is expanding, it would probably be a catastrophic disaster to Eternal Peace Empire. Divine flood dragon king, let’s go in!”
Divine flood dragon king acknowledged and transformed into the youth. Divine light shone around his body, and he brought Qin Mu and the dragon qilin into the ruins of God Broken Mountain Range.
“Flood dragons, come onto me!”
Qin Mu gave a low shout and executed Secrets of Dragon Control. The flood dragons flew toward him and coiled around his body. Two of them hung themselves from his ears like earrings.
Instantly, the magic power of the flood dragons fused with his, causing Qin Mu’s abilities to soar frantically.
“Nine Heavens, awaken!”
Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eyes, and he opened his Nine Heavens Eyes. Divine lights shot out from his eyes and through the darkness. Wherever his gaze passed, it was like a light hole had pierced the darkness and the gray fog.
The divine flood dragon king didn’t have such an ability and was pretty envious.
Qin Mu let him follow close to him as they slowly went deeper into the ruins of God Broken Mountains. Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped, and the divine flood dragon king also did so. What they saw in front of them were pieces of a tattered painting floating past silently.
It was Deaf’s painting, but the things within it had already shattered. Something seemed to have jumped out of it, tearing it apart. However, there was still a remnant of terrifying power within it. If they accidentally touched it, they would face great danger.
Qin Mu avoided the painting and started walking again. He then suddenly stopped once more, for he saw hundreds of tattered paintings of all sizes floating silently in the gray fog. There were also chunks of large mountain rocks mixed among them.
Qin Mu frowned. They should be in Deaf’s battlefield, since he was skilled in painting. His world in painting had thousands of different sights that were grand and magnificent. Even experts like Xing An would be sealed if they weren’t careful and find it difficult to break free.
For Deaf to have so many tattered paintings at this place, one could imagine how fierce the battle had been!
“Your Majesty, be careful!”
The divine flood dragon hurriedly jumped in front of Qin Mu, defending him. “Don’t touch these rocks. They contain a god’s aura and has their divine arts left inside!”
Qin Mu hurriedly pulled away, but then he saw a huge body slowly moving in the darkness and gray fog. It was walking over to them.
They saw that the body was indomitable when it got closer to them. They could only see an incomparably thick leg obstructing their vision, but no upper body. Qin Mu raised his head and shone the divine light from his eyes upwards to gradually see a wide chest high above them. Looking upwards some more, he saw an imposing face of a god.
‘A stone statue!’
Qin Mu’s scalp crawled. A stone statue was walking in the darkness and the gray fog!
The divine flood dragon king also felt his blood running cold. In front of them was an incomparably tall and sturdy stone statue whose size was beyond their imagination!
Not only that, that stone statue was even walking in the darkness!
Ma ha… The flood dragons on Qin Mu’s body were frightened and pulled back their heads.
“Don’t cry.”The dragon qilin’s face was ashen as he spoke softly. “If you wake him up, he will ride you to kill people. I was ridden the whole night…”
Suddenly, the stone statue bent down as if having heard something. A huge face pushed through the darkness and appeared in front of Qin Mu and the rest.
Hu ling’er rolled her eyes and collapsed on the floor as though she had fainted. Her legs were held upwards stiffly while her tail was straight.
When the flood dragons and the dragon qilin saw the situation, they immediately learned from her example and lay down on the ground to play dead.
“Young master…” Hu Ling’er squinted her eyes and poked Qin Mu.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before collapsing on his back and sticking out his tongue. His body was stiff, his face black, making it look like he had died very miserably.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Updated by NovelFull.Com
When the divine flood dragon king saw Qin Mu also lying on the floor and acting dead, he was at a loss. He was a god, the divine flood dragon king, the esteemed god of the flood dragons, so how could he escape from trouble by shamelessly playing dead like Hu Ling’er and the rest?
Thump.
The divine flood dragon king collapsed onto the floor, his limbs distorting. His death seemed to be even more miserable than that of Qin Mu, which made it evident it wasn’t his first time playing dead.
The huge head came down, but its eyes seemed to be bad. The giant face literally brushed across everyone’s bodies as they held their breaths and remained motionless.
Issh.
The stone statue let out a long hiss before slowly straightening up to walk into the darkness. The thumping footsteps gradually went away.
“This stone statue seems to be looking for something.” Qin Mu jumped up and pondered over it. “Where did it come from? Great Ruins? Or another world? What is it looking for?”
Hu Ling’er and all of the flood dragons crawled up while the divine flood dragon king patted the dust off his body. Hu Ling’er praised him, “Divine flood dragon king, among all of us, you’re the best at playing dead. You must have practiced it many times! When you are free, you must teach me more!”
The divine flood dragon king’s face flushed and he muttered, “I did not, don’t talk nonsense! Playing dead is all about talent…”
Qin Mu walked away while saying, “Let’s continue our search. Everyone be careful, since we don’t know if there are other stone statues here! Divine flood dragon king, what’s your opinion of the one we saw earlier?”
The divine flood dragon king thought for a moment before saying, “That stone statue is most likely not from Great Ruins.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. “Not from Great Ruins? Why do you say so?”
“The stone statues in Great Ruins brave the wind and rain, frost and cold, so all of them are very old and worn down. But this stone statue was quite clean and fresh, as though it had just become a stone statue.”
But the divine flood dragon king couldn’t be sure. “However, there are also stone statues in Great Ruins that are most peculiar, so it could be one which hides in some sealed space where the elements cannot reach it.”
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely as he pondered over it. “Could there have been numerous stone statues hidden under God Broken Mountain Range? When it was destroyed, could they have risen up”
“It’s a possibility,” the divine flood dragon king said. “Your Majesty, Dragon Rearing Sovereign had once said that the origin of God Broken Mountain Range was very fishy. It surrounded Great Ruins, separating it and Eternal Peace. Great Ruins was in a piece of chaos yet it was peaceful outside it, so there definitely had to be something wrong with God Broken Mountain Range.”
As they entered deeper into the strange place, the gray fog and the darkness grew thicker and thicker. The air was filled with a dullness that could make one go crazy, and from time to time, trembling from Earthquake Cauldron would come from afar.
Qin Mu headed toward the tremors, and not long after, they encountered a second stone statue. It also seemed to be searching for something.
‘Divine flood dragon king’s words make sense’ Qin Mu avoided the stone statue and thought to himself, ‘These stone statues are most likely from under the God Broken Mountain Range!’
A mountain range being able to hold back the peculiarity of Great Ruins was strange by itself. On what did it rely on to block the darkness of Great Ruins?
Since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had used Earthquake Cauldron to shatter God Broken Mountain Range, the darkness of Great Ruins had expanded by a hundred miles. Just from this point, it could be seen that God Broken Mountain Range had really possessed the ability to block the darkness.
The mountain range should have appeared after Founding Emperor Empire was wiped out and become Great Ruins. Qin Mu had once heard people saying that some god had created God Broken Mountain Range to separate Eternal Peace and Great Ruins and prevent people from Great Ruins to come in. When they created the mountains, they reached Mount Meru’s area, but because there was someone on top of Great Thunderclap Monastery, they took a detour.
It couldn’t be said for sure, but the god who had created the mountain range might have also buried numerous stone statues underneath it.
“Young master, could this stone statue be one of those that popped up in Eternal Peace Empire?” Hu Ling’er asked. As Qin Mu froze, stunned, she added, “It might be the god statues from near God Broken Mountain Range. Because many gods of High Heavens and other strong practitioners had died here, the stone statues could use them as sacrificial offerings to come back to life. However, because the sacrifices weren’t enough, they couldn’t revive completely and can only move around.”
“There’s this possibility as well,” Qin Mu said with some suspicion. “If that’s the case, what are the stone statues looking for?”
“Of course it’s the Earthquake Cauldron that shattered God Broken Mountain Range!” Hu Ling’er said as though it was expected. “Earthquake Cauldron is their weapon and they need to find it to release all of its power. Although Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shattered God Broken Mountain Range, he definitely didn’t release everything that was inside the cauldron.”
“Ling’er is really smart!” Qin Mu praised.
The little fox was proud of herself.
“It’s just that since the stone statues can move, why don’t they look for other meteorological weapons?” Qin Mu shook his head. “Finding other weapons would be much easier. On top of that, this place is still trembling, so it’s evident that Earthquake Cauldron is still releasing its power continuously. With that, it shouldn’t be too difficult for the stone statues to find it from the direction of the tremors. Because of that, what you guessed should be wrong. Divine flood dragon king’s guess is more logical.”
Hu Ling’er’s proudness vanished without a trace.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and collapsed to the floor to play dead again. Incomparably heavy footsteps came from in front of them as a tall stone statue walked toward them. Qin Mu narrowed his eyes and saw that the back of that stone statue was filled with flags. They had also petrified, but there was a huge eye on each and every flag, which looked very strange.
Lumps of black qi poured into the flags behind the stone statue. With it, one of the eyes on a flag gradually transformed from rock into flesh and blood. The eye slowly became a true eye.
It rolled around in the flag, looking very rough. It was obvious that the energy wasn’t enough for it to completely break free of its petrified state.
‘Devil eye! The stone statue is a devil!’
Qin Mu’s scalp crawled and he almost jumped up. Since it was a devil, it definitely couldn’t be a stone statue from under God Broken Mountain Range. What walked in Great Ruins in the darkness were the monsters of the devil race. They weren’t afraid of the strangeness because they were the peculiarity themselves!
Qin Mu once met a devil god in the darkness, and he had lured them forward, making him mistake the outskirts of Fengdu as Carefree Village. Village Chief had even fought with him!
‘That’s not right. If these stone statues are devil gods, why did they become stone statues? The devil gods I saw in the past were all full of vigor!’
All kinds of thoughts jumped around in his head, and he suddenly thought of a possibility. The world of the stone statues wasn’t the one overlapping with Great Ruins and Eternal Peace. They weren’t the devil gods from Great Ruins, but had come from another world. Because they traversed into another world, their corporeal bodies turned into stone and their power still remained outside!
‘What exactly is going on in this place?’
Qin Mu’s mind was groggy. At night in Great Ruins, there were three to five different worlds, but now that God Broken Mountain Range had crumbled, a new world had shown up!
‘Is that new world going to overlap with Eternal Peace? Why did such an unimaginable thing happen?’
Just as he thought this far, the devil eye on the flag rolled to survey the surroundings. Suddenly, its gaze landed on Qin Mu and the rest who were playing dead on the ground, and playfulness appeared in it.
Fear struck Qin Mu’s heart.
The flag suddenly fell off the back of the stone statue and landed right in front of them. Qin Mu abandoned his plans to play dead and immediately rose while shouting, “Divine flood dragon king!”
The divine flood dragon king instantly transformed back into his original form when he heard him. Qin Mu brought Hu Ling’er to jump onto its while the dragon qilin led the other flood dragons to climb up the dragon’s back. The divine flood dragon then whooshed and rushed away!
Behind them, the stone statue turned around and its hand slammed down at an extremely fast speed!
The divine flood dragon king roared, and all his vital qi exploded, turning into a torrenting flood. It transformed into a long river which quickly coiled around the arm of the stone statue, trying to crush it.
The arm of that stone statue bent and straightened, and with that, the divine art of the divine flood dragon king was shattered.
He felt his blood ran cold and shouted, “Your Majesty, it’s a true god!”
“It should be a true devil!” Qin Mu corrected him.
The stone statue raised its feet and caught up to them in a few steps. The other hand came slamming down, and the divine flood dragon king avoided the strike. In the meantime, the flag soared into the sky before landed on the ground. The devil eye on it continued to stare at the group.
When the divine flood dragon king escaped a certain distance away, the petrified flag would soar up once again and land close to them. It was like a hopping flag.
“The stone statue is relying on that eye to see! Without it, the devil god won’t be able to locate us!”
Qin Mu instantly came to a realization and took out Sun Jade Eye from his taotie sack. He immediately placed it eye on the dragon’s back and activated it without a word.
Hmmmm!
A beam of sun divine ray tore apart the darkness and the fog, slicing at the eye on the flag. A black ray instantly shot out from the devil eye as well, blocking the sun divine ray.
Qin Mu grabbed Moon Jade Eye with his other hand and adjusted its direction. A thin light blade shot out from Moon Jade Eye, and wherever it passed by, space would literally solidify into substance!
The rays from one a and a moon instantly tore apart the black ray from the devil eye and shattered the eye. The petrified flag was left with only a broken hole!
‘Using Moon Jade Eye and Sun Jade Eye together seems to result in an even greater power!”
Qin Mu suppressed the astonishment in his heart and raised his head to look at the stone statue. Its movements suddenly stopped, and it tilted its ears as though it was trying to hear something.
“Don’t move.” Qin Mu whispered under his breath. The divine flood dragon king immediately stopped and Qin Mu said softly, “Slowly walk, don’t hurry…”
The divine flood dragon king slowly crept forward in fear of making any sound while Qin Mu stared intensely at the stone statue. It seemed to be looking around, smashing here and kicking there, but it didn’t notice them.
Suddenly, the divine flood dragon king’s body paused and he said in a trembling voice, “Your Majesty…”
“Continue walking!” Qin Mu didn’t turn back his head.
“Your Majesty, look ahead!” the divine flood dragon king croaked.
Hu Ling’er’s voice was also trembling. “Young master, look ahead…”
“Ahead?”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and turned back to look before them. As his eyes caught sight of what the others were referring to, he couldn’t help staring blankly, all his sense having flown out. Behind them, the stone statue pummeled everything and shattered the whole place, slowly closing in on them.
Yet Qin Mu seemed to feel nothing. After some time, he muttered, “Imperial Preceptor, what have you done…”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In front of them, the sky and the land seemed to be connected together. The already strange sight was made even more shocking by a huge hole blown between them.
It was difficult to describe it since the sky was empty before, so how could a hole be blown through it?
The land was incomparably thick. It couldn’t be penetrated even if a huge hole had been drilled through it, which presented another kind of inconceivable and impressive sight.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had to have used Earthquake Cauldron at the crucial moment, borrowing the divine art of the meteorological weapon to pierce through the land and the sky of this world and another world, creating the magnificent sight of the two coming together!
Furthermore, the power of Earthquake Cauldron was extremely great, to the extent that the wound between two worlds still hadn’t recovered. The barriers of the two worlds couldn’t heal themselves!
In front of the huge hole, Great Ruins and Eternal Peace were at night while behind the hole, there was a sun rising, shining on a black and tall devil castle.
The sky of the other world was situated under the horizon of God Broken Mountain Range while the land was in the sky above God Broken Mountain Range. From Qin Mu’s angle, he could see the land of that world, and there were all kinds of sharp buildings which looked like long knives, long swords, and spears. Those buildings were ten thousand feet tall and were built with great denseness.
It was a completely different style of construction compared to that in Eternal Peace. Grand and sinister devil castles were situated up and down huge mountains extending without end into the distance. Some of them were even floating in the sky. Sunlight shone on them, casting shadows on God Broken Mountain Range.
The trees and mountains of that world had abnormal shapes. They were twisted and terrifying.
Sunlight from the other world shone over from the ground and hit the bodies of Qin Mu and the rest. Standing in front of the incomparably huge circular hole, they were miniature like ants.
The sunlight from the other world lengthened their shadows, but compared to the hole, the shadows were incomparably fine.
Under their feet was the sun and the land was above their heads. It was like they were standing in front of a mirror which reflected things upside down.
On top of that, the hole was still trembling gently, making the rocks in the surroundings of God Broken Mountain Range rise in the air from the continuous shakes.
The bodies of Qin Mu and the rest turned numb from the tremors, and their primordial spirits grew unstable.
One could only imagine what terrifying energy had been unleashed when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had used Earthquake Cauldron!
“The earthquakes here are coming from the hole. It isn’t Imperial Preceptor who’s still using Earthquake Cauldron.”
Qin Mu’s heart sank. After going into God Broken Mountain Range, he sensed tremors from time to time and thought that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was still using Earthquake Cauldron. Never did he expect them to be coming from the hole that connected two worlds.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor wasn’t there, and his life and death were unknown.
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the land floating in the sky. A powerful devil god stood there, sending out his primordial spirit as his corporeal body petrified.
There were numerous strangely-shaped devils that were like hard working ants surrounding the devil god’s petrified body to construct a large sacrificial altar. Tens of thousands of slaves were led up them to be executed, creating the blood sacrifice to send the devil god’s stone statue over.
A wizard wearing white bones and feathers on his head was casting a spell on the large sacrificial altar. The sight of blood flowing around it was captured in the eyes of Qin Mu and the rest. It was a kind of cruel beauty.
The sight was shocking, cruel, and terrifying.
That world was still in a barbaric and bloody era. Their divine arts were very primitive and reeked of blood.
“Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor can be said to have brought huge trouble!”
Qin Mu’s scalp crawled. Earthquake Cauldron had opened a passageway to another world, and there seemed to be numerous devil gods in that world. When they saw the world of Eternal Peace Empire, they were naturally happy at seeing a new prey. Desire to conquer rose in their hearts, and they didn’t hesitate to even petrify their bodies to send themselves to Eternal Peace!
However, what was weird was that after the stone statues of the devil gods passed through, they didn’t try to execute an even larger sacrifice to open up the hole created by Earthquake Cauldron. Instead, they were searching around for something.
“Besides, it’s such a huge hole, so why can’t we see any devils coming through it?” Qin Mu was puzzled.
The divine flood dragon king seemed to have discovered something, for he said, “Your Majesty, the army of the devils is on the sacrificial altar over there!”
Qin Mu looked in the direction, and his heart filled with fear.
The slaves of the devil world were constructing a large sacrificial altar that was numerous times larger than the one he’d seen earlier. Its body was like a huge mountain shaved flat, and tens of thousands of devil wizards were floating around, using the blood of the slaves to paint various runes.
Meanwhile, at the border of the sacrificial altar, the devil army was walking with grandeur toward the center. They had to be preparing to use the opportunity presented to them to send their army into Eternal Peace!
“Could it be that they can’t cross this hole and have to rely on the power of blood sacrifice for their warriors to pass?”
Qin Mu stared blankly. He stretched his hand out to try to cross into the other world, but he met an invisible barrier. There was clearly another world in front of him, but he couldn’t enter it.
The divine flood dragon king and the dragon qilin also tried it. The stronger they were, the stronger the resistance. They couldn’t enter another’s time and space.
Suddenly, they heard a loud sound as though a heavy object had landed on the ground. It startled Qin Mu and the rest back to their senses.
A devil god’s stone statue had been sent over from the world on the other side. The three hundred yards tall stone statue stood quietly to their right, about three hundred yards away.
On its surface, runes formed by fresh blood moved continuously and changed shape, gradually sinking into the stone.
The statue suddenly twitched and slowly moved its body. It was evident that the wizards in the other world had used the slaves as blood sacrifices to give it the ability to move by itself.
It’s just that the devil gods still couldn’t transfer their massive energy over, so the stone statues couldn’t change back to their corporeal bodies.
“Quickly, go!”
The divine flood dragon king immediately sprinted into the distance, circling the huge hole
Qin Mu stood on its back and looked behind them. He saw the stone statue bend down and crawl toward the earth. Its arms pushed into the earth like drills, and soon the whole stone statue went head first into the earth. In no time, there was no longer any sign of it having ever been there.
‘This stone statue seems to be searching for something too! What is it exactly? Imperial Preceptor, Grandpa Blind, are they still all alive? If they are alive, where are they hiding?’
Qin Mu executed Nine Heavens Divine Eyes and carefully searched for traces of Imperial Preceptor and the rest. As they continued to head north, he saw more signs of battle. There were marks left behind by Butcher and Blind as they fought the gods of High Heavens.
“Divine flood dragon king, be careful!”
Qin Mu saw a black line that was staying still in the air, and the divine flood dragon king stopped. He was slightly stunned as he also saw something wrong.
He went around the black line. When his line of sight shifted, he saw the black line become wider. It was a knife light that had paused in the air. It had sliced apart space, but then got stuck. However, the power of the divine art in the knife didn’t fade away, so the space couldn’t heal!
“What a terrifying knife skill!”
The divine flood dragon king couldn’t help shivering. Such a knife skill could be known as a divine knife. When it reached the realm of Dao, it was invulnerable and extremely terrifying.
“Grandpa Butcher is Heaven Knife, and this is Pig Slaughtering Knife Skills!”
Qin Mu couldn’t help exclaiming in astonishment. He had also learned Pig Slaughtering Knife Skills before, but he could never match Butcher’s level.
Butcher’s knife was too wild. Even if other people learned his skills, it would be difficult for them to unleash their power. Only by becoming as crazy as Butcher could they unleash the power of his knife skills.
Next, the group saw a sea of scorching flames smelting the mountains. Even the darkness found it difficult to consume that sea of flames.
‘Grandpa Mute’s furnace has been shattered!’
Qin Mu was astonished. The reason for the sea of flames was Mute’s furnace. Once it shattered, the flames inside spilled out in all directions.
‘Could Grandpa Mute have died?’
They crossed the sea of flames and Qin Mu suddenly saw Old Rulai.
He was sitting in a lotus position, with twenty heavens surrounding him. Gods and buddhas of all sizes sat in his surroundings.
Beside them was a god of High Heavens, and the two men were facing each other.
For a moment, Qin Mu was stunned, then sighed. He bowed at Old Rulai and picked him up to bring him to the divine flood dragon king’s back. They then continued on their way.
Hu Ling’er turned her head back to ask curiously, “Young master, why is that old monk not moving and even need you to carry him?”
Qin Mu shook his head and said, “He has already taken that god down with him.”
Hu Ling’er was stunned.
Not long later, Qin Mu saw Old Dao Master. The old Daoist was clutching a sword technique with one hand and holding a sword with another. There was a celestial air to him as he stood with his head raised to look at the god who had pulled half of his body out from the mountain he had possessed. The was a smile on Old Dao Master’s face.
Divine lights shot off from Qin Mu’s eyes, and he saw that the heart of the god’s brows had been pierced by a sword. The wound left behind was very fine and hard to notice.
He looked at Old Dao Master and saw that his body was tattered. There were injuries everywhere, but they were no longer bleeding.
“Is the old Daoist still alive?” Hu Ling’er asked.
Qin Mu shook his head and walked down to bring Old Dao Master up while saying softly, “His blood ran out. His last attack much have changed his primordial spirit into a sword which he stabbed into the heart of that god’s brows. His primordial spirit transformed into Dao after the stab and exploded with power, destroying itself as well. Once the power of the move was exhausted, the primordial spirit also dispersed.”
People who walk different paths cannot make plans together. Even though Heavenly Devil Cult and Dao Sect’s paths were different, Qin Mu was still extremely respectful to this Old Dao Master.
Hu Ling’er became solemn and straightened her clothes. She then bowed respectfully to Old Dao Master. “A high-minded and righteous person in his old age, one with heart full of fierce passion. Salute!”
When the flood dragons saw this, they all stood up on their hind legs and cupped their claws together. “Ma ha!”
They continued to walk forward until they saw a huge snake lying on the ground. It was Willow Immortal.
The group saw less and less of the stone statues from the other world, but the atmosphere became more and more somber. The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes wrinkled in fear of seeing the corpses of Cripple, Granny Si, and the rest.
He dragged Willow Immortal on the divine flood dragon king’s back as well.”Village Chief said that there needed to be a person to collect the corpses. Senior Sister Willow Immortal, I’m here. Follow me home…”
They then saw White Immortal who was covered in silver-colored spikes upon which a ball of thread was tangled. He held a plate with silver needles in his hand.
There was a huge hole in his chest, a hand still sticking out from it. He had to have killed his opponent and not expected him to still manage to take his life before succumbing to death.
The surroundings were completely silent, with only mountain rocks floating in the darkness and fog.
Qin Mu and the rest walked over, and a magnetic force under their feet seemed to vanish. There was a strange force field there, and Qin Mu raised his head to look at the stars.
“Great Overarching Heavenly Stars!”
‘Granny…’ His heart couldn’t help skipping a beat.
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Above them was the starry sky formed by Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force, and he saw Granny Si sitting motionlessly in the starry sky. The beautiful woman had her palm stretched out as if she had just used her art.
She looked magnificent.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu suppressed the unease in his heart and shifted his gaze from Granny Si’s body. He then saw Butcher with his knife standing on a heavenly star.
His body was tall and sturdy. The two knives were side by side, but he didn’t move as well.
Qin Mu then saw Hermit Qing You. He was wielding a horsetail whisk, which at that moment was placed next to his elbow. He sat in a lotus position, and the thing upon which he was sitting was also a star.
Next, Qin Mu saw Mute standing on a fire star of Great Overarching Heavenly Stars.
Qin Mu’s heart shook violently, and he nearly vomited blood. He shifted his gaze with difficulty and saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
The man sat on Earthquake Cauldron below which was one of the stars of Great Overarching Heavenly Stars.
Qin Mu shifted his gaze from his body and saw Rat Immortal, Fox Immortal, and the other people. Cripple had brought Apothecary, who was still bleeding, to sit on one of the stars as well. Blind had his head lowered while leaning on his bamboo cane. There was also a star under his feet.
Old Ma was like a buddha, Deaf was holding onto a brush, Queen Yi held her wing knife, and King Kun still possessed the horn on his head. They were also within Great Overarching Heavenly Stars that had burst forth from Granny Si’s palm. Each and every one of them was standing on a star.
“Where’s Sister Jing? Why is she not here?”
Qin Mu hurriedly looked around, trying to find traces of Yan Jingjing.
“Even if it was Sun Ship, it couldn’t block the gods of High Heavens, right?”
Suddenly, a beam of bright light swept past them, and Qin Mu saw a sun. It was half black, so only when it turned over were they basked in its bright rays.
Sun Ship was extremely huge, so even if its body was blocked by a mountain peak, the sunlight could still be faintly seen coming from the other side.
Yet Sun Ship showed no movement. Its aura could not be felt.
Qin Mu’s heart suddenly sank. Hu Ling’er at that moment said, “Young master, I don’t see Yellow Immortal and Tuxing Feng…”
Qin Mu composed himself and continued to look around with the two divine rays shooting out from his eyes. He saw a god standing behind Granny Si with his fingers put together like a sword, pointing at the back of her head.
Yet that god was frozen in place and couldn’t move.
Next, Qin Mu saw Flower Sovereign of High Heavens. She was a woman with flowers blooming under her feet, filling the sky as though they had grown from the sky. She stood upside down on one of the flowers as though she was walking on the sky to attack Great Overarching Heavenly Star Force Field.
Yet she also was frozen, not moving at all.
Qin Mu then saw a third god which was in the sky above Sun Ship. He was stretching his claws out as though to attack someone on the ship. Yet he was also frozen in the air.
Qin Mu looked farther back and saw other gods of High Heavens. They were in different poses, like they had been caught in the middle of battle. Not one god was still able to move.
“Are they dead?”
Qin Mu wanted to stabilize his mind, but he kept finding it hard to do so. This sight was simply too peculiar. Everyone was standing motionless as though time had stopped. But if the time had truly stopped, how were Qin Mu and the rest not affected?
“Your Majesty, they should still be alive,” the divine flood dragon king suddenly said. “I can still feel their aura. Their breaths are long and drawn out. Only a few of them don’t have any breath left. What’s weird is that their primordial spirits are not in their bodies. It’s as if they had been pulled out from within them…”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. “Primordial spirits were pulled out of their bodies?”
The divine flood dragon king nodded and said, “There are no primordial spirits in these bodies. I can guess from Granny Si and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s positions that it should be some sort of primordial spirit formation. When their divine arts suddenly burst forth, everyone’s primordial spirits were forcefully dragged out of their bodies. If I were to continue with this guess, their injuries had to have been so severe that they could only decide to use primordial spirits to fight.”
Qin Mu left out a sigh of relief, and his heart relaxed a little. “They aren’t dead, they’re just fighting with their primordial spirits… Divine flood dragon king, you are more knowledgeable in this, do you know where their primordial spirits go?”
“The speed of a primordial spirit is very fast; it can travel tens of thousands of miles in a flash, moving through the boundless void. So their primordial spirits shouldn’t be here. Their destination is not something I could know.”
Qin Mu was stumped for words. The next moment though, he asked in an astringent voice, “Which of them have no more breath left?”
The divine flood dragon king pointed at Apothecary, then Cripple, Deaf, King Kun, and Rat Immortal.
Qin Mu’s heart became heavier and heavier.
“There are also some gods of High Heavens who have no more breath left. Their primordial spirits must have lost the battle…” the divine flood dragon king said in a low voice.
Qin Mu’s face darkened, and he rose to reach Sun Ship. He saw that everyone on it was frozen. From that, it was obvious that when Granny Si and the rest have executed the primordial spirit formation, the primordial spirits of everyone in the surroundings were brought away, no matter if the were mortals or gods!
“Young master…” Hu Ling’er saw Qin Mu’s face, and her heart grew uneasy. “Young master, they…”
“They won’t die.” Qin Mu closed his eyes before opening them up again with determination. “Divine flood dragon king, come and lend me your power! I want to use the magic power of god to execute Soul Guide! As long as their souls aren’t extinguished, I’ll be able to summon them back!”
The divine flood dragon king hesitated for a moment before saying, “Young master, your corporeal body might not be able to handle my magic power. I’m different from these flood dragons—I’m a god and they aren’t. You can withstand with your Divine Bridge Divine Treasure the borrowing of their power, but if you borrow my magic power, you will only burst your Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, since the bridge itself is broken…”
“I tell you to lend me so just lend me!” Qin Mu said firmly.
The divine flood dragon king was helpless and could only place the corpses of Old Dao Master, Old Rulai, and the rest down. “Your Majesty, I will transform into a huge dragon which will lie on your backbone to support your corporeal body so it won’t be blown into pieces. However, I can’t protect the divine treasures. If Your Majesty can’t endure it, just give me the word and I will take back my magic power.”
“Do it!”
The form of the divine flood dragon king rapidly shrunk and transformed into a three yards long sapphire blue flood dragon which stuck itself to Qin Mu’s back. It then gradually faded out, transforming into a sapphire blue marking of a flood dragon on Qin Mu’s back. It was like a tattoo.
Qin Mu executed Secrets of Dragon Control and instantly borrowed the magic power of the flood dragons. Explosions could be heard coming from his body as his Seven Stars Divine Treasure, Celestial Being Divine Treasure, Life and Death Divine Treasure, and Divine Bridge Divine Treasures were all awakened!
The magic power of the flood dragons was already extremely dense and filled his divine bridge to the brim. Next, he directed the magic power of the divine flood dragon king, and instantly, his vigorous magic power broke through Divine Bridge Divine Treasure and went straight to Celestial Heavens!
Qin Mu’s primordial spirit was struck by all that magic power and crossed over to the other shore, past the divine bridge. He was lifted by the violent magic power toward the celestial palaces.
However, the magic power of the divine flood dragon king wasn’t enough to bring him all the way to Celestial Heavens. He was forced to stop at the Southern Heavenly Gates, which was considered just having entered the realm.
‘Your Majesty’s divine bridge is not broken!’
The divine flood dragon king was ineffably shocked, but at that moment, Qin Mu roused his incomparably vigorous magic power and cryptic devil language came out from his mouth as he executed Soul Guide!
It was the spell of Nine Spectres Sect and no remarkable divine art in Eternal Peace Empire, but it was something which had once caused turmoil in the land.
When Qin Mu had first entered Imperial College to learn techniques and divine arts, he didn’t choose any with astonishing power. Instead, he found Soul Guide and Ghost Transferring Gods Dispatching Runes Command as he felt that these two spells were exotic and able to unleash power beyond one’s imagination.
Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command was a spell left behind in Eternal Peace Empire by Dutian Devil King who had schemed to use it to seize land for his people’s new home.
The origin of Soul Guide should not rest with Nine Spectres Sect either. It was not something they could have founded. This spell seemed to have a connection with Youdu, and Qin Mu even suspected at one point that it was probably from there. It was a spell which belonged to the soul category of Youdu.
It was just that his knowledge of Youdu language was still lacking and he didn’t know much about the mysterious Youdu World, so he couldn’t develop the spell to its extreme.
Even so, his attainments in Soul Guide had already far surpassed what Nine Spectres Sect had shown back then!
“Gate of Heaven Influence, open!” Qin Mu shouted out, and a terrifying door suddenly opened up behind him.
His magic power was violent, and the Gate of Heaven Influence also became abnormally huge and tall. The two doors of the several hundred yards gate opened up, and Youdu World instantly appeared in the darkness. Devil qi rolled out and invaded the darkness of Great Ruins, giving off an aura that made the hearts of ghost gods pound!
Nine Spectres Sect’s divine arts practitioners couldn’t cultivate Gate of Heaven Influence. They could only borrow Soul Guide to form gates that connected to Youdu’s gate, but Qin Mu could. The Gate of Heaven Influence that he had cultivated was authentic.
After the gate opened up, the power of the spell of Soul Guide instantly burst forth, and runes emanating with faint glow rushed into Youdu. They lit up a path in the darkness which looked like a floating bridge stretching non-stop into the depths!
After a moment, the mountain rocks suddenly overturned as skeletons tunneled out from underground, dancing and gesticulating in joy.
In Eternal Peace Empire and Great Ruins, the land bulged up continuously. All kinds of corpses and skeletons flooded out from the ground. Their mouths opened and closed, but no sounds came out.
Qin Mu frowned. More and more souls were being guided over by him out of Youdu. But even though they belonged to various lifeforms which had died nearby, he didn’t manage to call over the souls of Apothecary, Cripple, and the rest!
“They are not in Youdu? No matter who took you guys away, I will find you!” Qin Mu gritted his teeth and gave an angry roar. Gate of Heaven Influence suddenly expanded and the power of Soul Guide increased drastically. “Grandpa Apothecary, bring your soul back here—”
“Fengdu is right in front.” In the living realm of the dead, a bird-headed mutant was leading a group of people. He said to Apothecary, Cripple, and Deaf, “Your old friend is waiting for you on the Bridge of Helplessness.”
“Old friend?” Apothecary was at a loss. “Which old friend?”
That bird-headed god smiled. “You will know when you get there.”
When they came to the Bridge of Helplessness, Apothecary, Cripple, and the rest were stunned when they saw an able-bodied Village Chief standing at the center of the bridge. “Everyone, we meet again on the Bridge of Helplessness, you guys are still—”
Before he could finish his sentence, black fog churned under the Bridge of Helplessness and a huge whirlpool formed up. From it, an angry roar rang out, “Grandpa Apothecary, bring your soul back here!
Apothecary, Cripple, and the rest on the bridge suddenly felt their world start spinning as they got dragged into the whirlpool by the bizarre power. They fell into the depths without any ability to resist!
An imposing shout of anger came from Fengdu. “Which demon dares to create a ruckus in my Fengdu?”
King Yama’s body gradually rose, and he looked down into the whirlpool in the depths of which he saw Qin Mu’s face
King Yama was slightly stunned.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In Fengdu City, gods and devils flew over to surround King Yama and looked down at the bridge. When they saw the whirlpool, their faces changed drastically. They were about to make a move, but King Yama raised his hand and said solemnly, “No need for that, let him go.”
The gods and devils of Fengdu City were all rather puzzled.
“The divine art below the bridge is of Youdu. That place has come to our Fengdu to steal our people, so how can we tolerate them?”
Another god then added, “If Youdu continues to create a ruckus, we will be unable to keep our Fengdu for long! King Yama, let’s attack Youdu!”
King Yama shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was slightly strange. “The person who used the divine art of Youdu is neither a god nor devil of Youdu, but a guest from Carefree Village. I’ve seen this face before, it’s very similar to that person… There’s no need to delve into this.”
Under the cape of darkness, his gaze was like candlelight, burning with a ghostly glow. “A person of Carefree Village has shown up. I was waiting for the old swallow of the previous dynasty and old dreams to return to rebuild its nest, but what can I do when a new swallow comes instead of the old one.”
“It’s time for the return of swallows that I’ve met before. Old or new, it’s hard to distinguish,” Village Chief said
King Yama lowered his head to look at him. His cape fluttered in the sky above Fengdu City, and his figure left into the distance.
Village Chief looked down the bridge and sighed. “I thought I was going to have a reunion with Apothecary and the rest, but Qin Mu went and summoned them back. I wonder if their corporeal bodies are dead or not. If they are, we will still have to reunite in Fengdu… Master, what’s the river below the Bridge of Helplessness?”
“Legends say that it originates in Youdu. We call it the River of Forgetfulness.” The human emperor before his master came to his side and looked down the river. “There are many stories here and it’d be hard to tell you all of them in a short while. There are plenty of monsters in the river. They come from Youdu and are extremely terrifying.
“The strong practitioner who had executed the divine art of Youdu to snatch the people had found his way here through the River of Forgetfulness. You should be very familiar with that person, right?”
He looked at Village Chief’s face, and his gaze flickered. “You were the closest, but when you heard his voice, you didn’t make a move to stop him.”
Village Chief nodded, and with a hint of pride in his voice, he said, “He’s my disciple, the current human emperor! How’s that, old bastard? The disciple I’ve chosen is better than the disciple you chose, right?”
“Bah! Isn’t the disciple I’ve chosen you, dumbass?”
“Old bastard, die!”
…
In Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Force Field, Apothecary, Cripple, King Kun, and the rest suddenly opened their eyes.
“Crap, my corporeal body has already died. I can’t protect my primordial spirit anymore!” Deaf suddenly said.
King Kun and Rat Immortal also woke up, and their expressions changed drastically. Their primordial spirits had left their corporeal bodies for too long, and as a result, their bodies had started to decay!
The reason why the divine flood dragon king had noticed they had no breath was because of the death of their corporeal bodies.
“Mu’er, how long can you hold on for?” Apothecary rose in a hurry and took out all kinds of herbs and silver needles. “If you can hold on for a bit longer, I can extend our lives and revive our corporeal bodies!” he said with nervousness on his face.
Qin Mu stood in front of Gate of Heaven Influence, continuing to borrow the power of the flood dragons and the divine flood dragon king to maintain Soul Guide. “Grandpa Apothecary, don’t worry, I can hold on for several days and nights!”
“No need for that long.” Apothecary took out a beehive and said, “I shall first use Soul Termites to link our corporeal bodies and primordial spirits before using poison to nourish the former. The poison will cut off the connection between our primordial spirit and Fengdu and Youdu. I will then raise Life Substitution Insects to die in our place.”
He tossed the beehive up, and it began to float as it grew bigger rapidly. Inside it, there were insect eggs and strange seeds of all sizes. The insects in the milky white eggs were all different from one another.
Apothecary rapidly cultivated poison and refined medicine. He tapped on everyone’s bodies with all kinds of unpredictable hand techniques and soon the sound of hearts beating came from their bodies.
Apothecary quickly used silver needles to stab them all over their bodies. Deaf looked at the insect egg nervously, but the next moment, his mouth was pinched open by Apothecary to stuff in the egg.
Deaf’s face turned ashen.
Apothecary quickly dug up holes and planted a few seeds. After a moment, they germinated and huge buds grew out. The flowers swirled, and their petals spread outwards.
“Everyone, enter the flowers!”
Everyone did as told, and Cripple asked, “Doctor of the martial world, what’s this flower of yours? It’s fleshy to the touch.”
Apothecary had a nervous expression. “They’re not flowers, but Life Substitution Insects. Don’t move, let them swallow you guys.”
“Life Substitution Insects?”
Everyone was slightly stunned. The huge flowers then pulled back and their petals closed up, wrapping everyone tightly inside.
Those flowers were indeed not flowers, but a kind of bizarre insect. After swallowing everyone, they started to distort and gradually grew a head, four limbs, and a body. Their appearances were identical to the people they had swallowed.
Qin Mu was stunned. He recognized King Kun, Apothecary, and the rest, and could find no fault. However, what was weird was that the insects actually had everyone’s auras. They even imitated their souls and primordial spirits with an uncanny resemblance, so that others couldn’t see any difference!
What was even weirder was that ‘Apothecary’ and the rest rapidly aged and grew white hair in an instant. In the blink of an eye, they aged from their middle years to their late years, before aging from their late years to their end.
After a moment, ‘Apothecary’ and the rest had exhausted their lifespans. They collapsed onto the ground without any breath left, covering the ground with corpses.
Qin Mu dispersed Soul Guide, and peculiar auras surged from places unknown. From the depths of space, darkness surged out and lamps lighted up in the darkness as paper boats floated over. Elders stood up on them and raised their lamps at the corpses of ‘Apothecary’ and the rest. Their ‘souls’ floated out without any obvious awareness at all. They walked onto the paper boats with stupefied expressions, following the light of the elders’ lamps.
The paper boats turned away, and the messengers of death hung their lamps back onto the boats. They then sailed into darkness, and the bizarre auras vanished.
“That’s good, the messengers of death have been tricked!”
Apothecary’s voice came from underground, and the earth suddenly bulged as fleshy insect sacs popped out. Apothecary, Cripple, and the rest made their way, covered in sticky liquid.
Apothecary pulled out the needles from everyone who was still very weak. Their primordial spirits were still slightly unstable. Apothecary checked and said, “Half of the Soul Termite is in the soul and the other half is in the corporeal body. I first need to adjust your corporeal bodies, allowing them to recover, before I can fully revive you guys. But I’ve already exhausted all the spirit herbs I had on me…
“There’s a pond of pure yang on Sun Ship which can recover life force rapidly,” Qin Mu immediately said.
“That would be a great help!” Apothecary let out a sigh of relief and said, “Let’s go soak in that pond of pure yang and recuperate our bodies. Those Life Substitution Insects won’t be able to trick the messengers of death for long.”
Everyone hurried over to Sun Ship, and since Qin Mu was familiar with the place, he quickly brought them to the pond of pure yang. Everyone went into it, and their corporeal bodies gradually recovered. However, the water in the pool also gradually lessened.
When Qin Mu saw that everyone was no longer in danger, he asked, “Everyone, where had your primordial spirits went?”
Rat Immortal let out a sigh of relief and said, “During the battle, Sun Guardian brought her ship to assist us, but the gods of High Heavens were truly powerful. They had all kinds of divine arts and god treasures with immense power. Big sister and second brother died in battle one after another. Sun Guardian was also forced back, which left everyone on the brink of crisis. Imperial Preceptor activated Earthquake Cauldron, having chosen to bring everyone down together. He injured all the gods with the tremors, but something weird happened…”
Qin Mu looked at him with puzzlement, then suddenly came to realization. He cried out, “Earthquake Cauldron pierced the barrier between another world and Eternal Peace?”
“No.” Cripple shook his head and said, “The power of Earthquake Cauldron was absorbed by God Broken Mountain Range.”
Qin Mu was stunned.
“When I saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor that scoundrel taking out Earthquake Cauldron, I immediately knew something was wrong, so I brought Apothecary to run for our lives. That’s why we were slightly farther away. Deaf, you were much closer, so you tell him.”
Deaf plucked out his two iron ears and washed them in the pond of pure yang before stabbing them back into his ear holes. “When the power of Earthquake Cauldron exploded, I also knew it was bad and planned to hide in the world in the painting to escape unscathed. But never did I expect that the power of Earthquake Cauldron would simply be too terrifying. I didn’t manage to escape in time, and the world in the painting was eradicated.
“At that moment, an unimaginable power suddenly came from God Broken Mountain Range to absorb the power of Earthquake Cauldron. Next, a huge hole formed in the heaven and earth, and on its other side was another world.”
Back then, they had been in a fierce battle and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hadn’t cared about the consequences and frightened everyone out of their wits. Yet the huge change in God Broken Mountain Range had allowed everyone to escape unscathed.
They didn’t have time to check on the situation of the other world before entering into a fierce battle again. The abilities of Flower Sovereign and Star Sovereign Qiao were simply too strong. No one could match them, so Flower Sovereign went to attack Sun Ship, planning to kill Yan Jingjing, and the situation grew grim.
Granny Si saw that it was bad and gathered everyone to lay down Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Formation, executing it by force and pulling everyone’s primordial spirit out of their bodies. She planned to launch a big battle with primordial spirits.
“Then, we entered a strange world.” Deaf was slightly in a daze as he said, “Under God Broken Mountain Range, there was a strange world. It should be, it should be…”
King Kun had more experience so he explained, “The inner world of a god’s treasure!”
Deaf nodded. “At that place, we were trapped and had to kill non-stop. In the end, we were killed and after we died, we noticed a strange energy invading that world, then we saw a bird-headed god flying over. He led us to Fengdu, saying that we’ll meet an old friend there. But just as we saw Village Chief, we got dragged back by you Mu’er.”
“Village Chief is in Fengdu?”
Qin Mu was astonished, then felt a pain in his heart. He gripped his fist tightly. ‘Village Chief, I will definitely save you from Fengdu!’
But what was truly astonishing was that there had been an unknown energy blocking the power of Earthquake Cauldron under God Broken Mountain Range. It had even pulled everyone’s primordial spirits into it. What was that treasure exactly? Why was it buried there? Who was the one who had forged it and who was it that had buried it?
‘What the stone statues of the devil gods from the other world are searching for is probably that treasure! Also, the primordial spirits of Granny Si and the others should still be in that treasure!’
Just as Qin Mu thought that, the ground suddenly trembled, and mountain rocks rumbled down in the distance as a stone statue swirled while breaking through the earth to rise up. The devil god from before had found them from underground.
At the same time, tremors came from the darkness, and Qin Mu looked over there. In the fog were numerous stone statues walking in their direction.
‘They found that treasure!’
Qin Mu’s expression changed abruptly.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Giant stone statues came close to the which had come out from the ground and all of them began to dig frantically. Their arms were throwing earth upwards like whirlwinds, and huge rocks were unearthed by them.
Qin Mu and the rest on Sun Ship were astonished. The devil god stone statues dug the ground at an extremely fast speed, even if they didn’t look too good. Soon, they dug out a huge pit and gradually sunk into the ground. But there were still mountain rocks that were thrown out of the pit continuously.
“These guys dig faster than dogs!” Cripple muttered.
King Kun looked at Rat Immortal and asked, “Talking about digging holes, other than Tuxing Feng, Rat Immortal is the next person in terms of ability.”
Rat Immortal stood up and said, “Let me see what they are trying to do.” After he said that, he shook his body and transformed into a huge gray rat. He leaped forward as though he was flying and ran down Sun Ship. In a few breaths’ time, he reached the ground and tunneled into it, vanishing without a trace.
“Rat Immortal is skilled in finding treasures and is called Treasure Uncle Rat. He can travel underground without any obstruction, so he will definitely find something,” King Kun explained
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at luxurious flowers filling the sky above their heads. They bloomed as they shrouded Sun Ship. Meanwhile, Flower Sovereign stood in the center of one flower as if she had grown out from it.
“We need to dispose of the gods of High Heavens!”
Qin Mu looked at Apothecary and the rest. “Do you have any ideas?”
Apothecary smiled. “We didn’t have any ideas before, but now we have.”
King Kun pulled out his golden horn and said, “Let me do it.” After he said that, he rose from the pond and paid his respects to the golden horn.
It was his sacred artifact which had been refined into a golden spear. After he paid his respects, the golden horn flew out with a whoosh, and piercing sounds could be heard as a golden line rushed through the air. It was the trace left behind by the artifact.
The golden line pierced through the heart of Flower Sovereign’s brows and came out from the back of her head. It then rushed toward another god and pierced him the same way.
The golden horn changed its direction once more at an extremely fast speed. After a moment, all the gods, including Star Sovereign Yan, had been visited by it.
A melodious whistling could be heard, and the golden horn landed back in King Kun’s hands.
The golden line in the sky gradually dimmed and slowly vanished.
Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly as he looked at the golden horn. There was not even a drop of blood on it even if it had killed numerous gods, like Flower Sovereign and Star Sovereign Qiao of the four sovereigns of High Heavens. It was also undamaged.
One had to know that the corporeal bodies of the gods of High Heavens were incomparably strong and even cult legacy treasures couldn’t harm them in the slightest. Trying to attack their corporeal bodies by force was like smashing an egg against a rock and expecting it to shatter.
But the sacred artifact of East Sea’s Kun people wasn’t damage in the slightest. This showed just how powerful was the treasure.
However, even though the sacred artifact was strong, one had to also look at the person using it. When King Kun had fought with the gods of High Heavens earlier, the reason he couldn’t win should have been because his abilities were not strong enough.
“King Kun, the three bridges method to fix the divine bridge have already been made public to everyone by me, so why don’t you come ashore and learn them?” Qin Mu asked.
Astonished, King Kun said, “So those methods to fix the divine bridge were spread by Human Emperor? I’ve already obtained the technique. Truth be told, our Kun people often come ashore to do business with Eternal Peace Empire, exchanging what we have for what we have not.”
Qin Mu relaxed upon hearing those words. “I see.”
Suddenly, a huge rat sprinted onto Sun Ship. Upon nearing them, it transformed into a gray-robed elder. He came to everyone’s side and gasped for breath. “There’s indeed something underground! I saw empty space with a piece of temporary imperial residence, a god statue that’s outrageously large, and a huge knife!”
Apothecary immediately brought him to soak in the pond of pure yang before saying, “Your injuries have yet to heal, talk slowly.”
Rat Immortal took in a few more breaths. “There’s a passageway underground, and the stone statues have already dug until it. Heading down, there’s the earth’s core which is a piece of vast land. In the center of that space is a god statue that seems to have popped out from the underground. There are chains everywhere, and they are tethered to various palaces. I’ve no idea how that god statue had gotten itself into the chains, but they are even thicker than the chains pulling the sun behind Sun Ship!”
Astonished, everyone looked at each other.
The chains that held the sun were made in Founding Emperor Period. Such a divine artifact could no longer be forged.
Yet the chains beneath God Broken Mountain Range were actually even thicker than them. Could it be then they were also remnants of Founding Emperor Period?
“If the chains of Sun Ship are to tie down the sun, could the chains underground be meant to tie down that god statue?” Deaf suddenly said.
Everyone’s heart trembled. Why would a god statue need to be chained down?
Rat Immortal shook his head. “No, you guys have guessed it wrong. The chains are connected to the palaces, passing through the underground. While following the digging stone statues, I saw the palaces floating around that god statue. It didn’t seem to have been there from there from the start, but like it had just popped out.
“It was also quite similar to the god statues in Eternal Peace Empire. It should have shown up along with them, just that it was slightly unlucky and found itself at the bottom of God Broken Mountain Range. It hit the chains and became unable to push itself to the surface.”
“There will definitely be quite a number of treasures in the palace, so let’s go steal… Bah! Let’s go pick up some treasure!” Cripple suggested with excitement.
“You have just gotten your life back, so stop running around and be careful of losing your life again! Rat Immortal, what else did you see?” Apothecary said with a frown.
“There’s a floating bridge in the air, and it’s connected to the palaces around the god statue…”
“There’s already chains so what’s the floating bridge for? What do either of them do?” King Kun asked in bewilderment.
Rat Immortal’s face became weird as he wanted to say something yet did not dare. “There was also a huge knife above the god statue’s head. The chains were used to chain down that knife… When the god statue tunneled out from the ground, it might have knocked its head on the knife which resulted in it being sliced…”
“What knife?” Apothecary asked in bewilderment.
“Huge knife, a very huge knife.” Rat Immortal revealed two long front teeth, and his whiskers twitched. “Heaven Knife’s knife is already not small, but in front of that knife, it’s pitifully little. That knife stretches from the north to south and is now embedded in the head of a god statue. It’s very very long. But when I saw that knife, I noticed something weird…”
He composed himself and said, “Granny Si, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and the gods of High Heavens seemed to be in that clear knife. Its blade was like a mirror, and their primordial spirits were battling within it without finding anything wrong.”
Qin Mu and the rest carefully imagined that sight and couldn’t help shivering even without feeling cold. Granny Si and the rest had executed Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Formation to pull out all the primordial spirits of the gods of High Heavens, but they had all landed in the internal space of a knife?
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had planned to die with the gods of High Heavens, but the power of Earthquake Cauldron had been absorbed by a terrifying energy from underground. Could it be the doing of that knife as well?
King Kun looked at him with a blank face. “We had landed in a strange space that was boundless and completely empty, but I would have never thought that it might be inside the blade of a knife… We had battled for so long, but we actually didn’t notice anything!” He was in slight disbelief.
Rat Immortal then added, “The stone statues had reached there a step ahead of me, and a few of them seemed to be building a sacrificial altar, a very big one. I’ve no idea what they are going to use it for.”
Qin Mu’s heart shook slightly and he asked, “Could Rat Immortal draw the appearance of that sacrificial altar?”
Rat Immortal used his vital qi as a brush to draw in the air. After a moment, a sacrificial altar showed up before him. It was similar to the one Qin Mu had seen in front of the hole to the other world which would be used for the whole devil army to pass through the barriers of the worlds and enter Eternal Peace.
The sacrificial altar Rat Immortal had drawn had similar runes to that sacrificial altar, but there were slight differences.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and his curiosity was aroused. He asked, “Who has mirrors?”
Cripple smiled and said, “Deaf loves to show off his good looks shamelessly, so others might not have but he surely will.”
Deaf snorted and took out a mirror. Qin Mu immediately said, “I need two mirrors, so who else has one?”
“I have one,” Apothecary muttered.
Deaf stared at him. “You don’t even have a face so why do you need a mirror?”
“Tidy my clothes,” Apothecary said with righteousness.
Qin Mu took the two mirrors and placed them on the left side of the sacrificial altar that Rat Immortal had drawn and on the right. He then said, “Rat Immortal, can you push this sacrificial altar into the mirror?”
Rat Immortal’s heart shook slightly, but the sacrificial altar formed from vital qi flew into the mirror. Qin Mu looked at it and was enlightened.
“These two sacrificial altars mirror each other! The one those stone statues are constructing mirrors the one in the other world. They should be planning to transfer their devil army directly to the sacrificial altar underground. The sacrificial altar should be a kind of teleportation formation, but it’s different from my Heavenly Saint Cult’s one. Their teleportation is much more primitive and requires blood sacrifices.”
Cripple laughed. “Why are those fellows trying to send over their army? Are they planning to sacrifice it to wake up the god underground?”
Nobody laughed along with him, and Cripple soon couldn’t continue laughing either.
If a devil army came over and sacrificed themselves to awaken the god statue with blood sacrifice, who knew what would happen?
“That god statue is most likely not a god, but the ancestor of their devil race. The stone statues had run over to save their ancestor,” Deaf said. “After sacrificing the army, the god statue would revive. Hehe, no matter how hard we fought, it will all be for naught! The sons and grandsons of the god statue will end up reviving him!”
Everyone was silent. Village Chief was dead, Old Rulai was dead, Old Dao Master was dead, and even Xuan Shengwu, White Immortal, Yellow Immortal, and the rest were lost. Yet in the end, they still couldn’t stop the descent of the true gods and devils.
They could no longer fight. After the true devil awakened, they were all going to die.
Qin Mu continued to examine the two mirrors, then suddenly said, “Anyone else has a mirror? Give me two more.”
Apothecary flipped through his herb basket and took out two more mirrors, throwing them to him. Deaf raised his eyebrows and snorted coldly. “Flirty!”
Qin Mu placed a mirror between the two original ones to reflect the light. He then used the fourth one to bounce the light once again. After a number of reflections, the sacrificial altar in the last mirror was a mirror image. Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, “What if the devil army couldn’t be transferred? Could the stone statues wake up that god statue underground by themselves?”
“What does Little Human Emperor plan to do?” Apothecary asked curiously.
Qin Mu revealed a bashful smile. “Grandpa Apothecary, don’t joke with me… I just plan to forge two more teleportation sacrificial altars to interfere with their teleportation. After it, the devil army might not be able to come here. It’s just like these two mirrors. If I adjusted the direction slightly in the middle mirror, the image wouldn’t be able to transfer to the last mirror.”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
What Qin Mu cultivated was the teleportation divine art of Heavenly Devil Cult, and it was very different from the blood sacrifices used by the devil gods of the other world. Their blood sacrifice was more primitive and ancient while the teleportation divine art of Heavenly Devil Cult was built on space algebra. It required extremely high attainments in algebra in order to achieve it.
The biggest difference in the two kinds of divine arts was that the teleportation divine art of Heavenly Devil Cult knew what it was and the reason why, seeking a solution and reaching it. However, blood sacrifice teleportation knew what it was but did not know the reason why. It did not seek to understand, but to be convenient.
This gave Qin Mu and the rest the possibility to interfere with it.
“Rat Immortal, bring me and Grandpa Deaf underground. I need to see the rune layout on their sacrificial altar, then I will execute teleportation divine art and Grandpa Deaf will paint it. Divine flood dragon king, follow me, I will need your magic power,” Qin Mu quickly ordered. “Grandpa Apothecary, you guys shall stay here and guard Granny Si and Imperial Preceptor’s corporeal bodies.”
The plan was set, and Rat Immortal immediately brought them out of Sun Ship. “Don’t move, I’ll bring you guys underground.” After he said that, he shook and transformed into a huge rat. A lump of demon wind swept Qin Mu, Deaf, and the divine flood dragon king up, pulling them down into the earth.
Qin Mu only felt himself traveling quickly through the ground, and not much later, his body suddenly paused. The space in front of his eyes became incomparably vast. When he looked around, he saw the majestic sight that Rat Immortal had described.
A huge god statue had risen from the ground and got trapped. Wherever the incomparably thick chains converged, there were palaces holding onto them, and below, there were even more chains wrapped around a long knife stretching from the north to the south.
The long knife was incomparably bright and chained down by as if someone was afraid that it would fly away.
Its length was too great though, to the point that Qin Mu couldn’t imagine who could control it.
When the unlucky god statue had risen, it had knocked against the blade, and its incomparably sturdy head was sliced at the heart of its brows.
On the raised palm of that god statue, there were over ten tall and sturdy stone statues hurrying to and fro to construct a huge sacrificial altar. Both they and their project were huge, but when compared to the god statue, they seemed extremely small.
Of course, Qin Mu, Deaf, and the rest were even more insignificant.
Qin Mu executed Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill to carefully examine the runes on the sacrificial altar and memorized them. Rat Immortal brought him back and forth through the surroundings to observe it from all sides. After some time, he finally memorized all the runes.
“Rat Immortal, enough,” Qin Mu muttered irresolutely. “Let’s go to that palace, I will take a break there to calculate.”
Rat Immortal brought them to one of the palaces which was connected to a long floating bridge that connected to the cliffs in the distance. It seemed like there had been people living there in the past, looking after the underground space.
Qin Mu stepped on firm ground and looked around. He saw that the door to the vermillion red hall was tightly locked. With his divine eyes, he saw an extremely complicated seal which made it hard to enter.
“Right here then.”
Qin Mu took out a taotie sack and rummaged through it. He brought out all kinds of calculation tools like wuji plate, taiji plate, five elements beads, eight trigrams plate, which made for a dazzling lineup. Even if it was the same old eight trigrams plate, there were different structures. All the kinds of solid and broken lines could be shifted, so different structures required different tools of calculation, so he took out an extremely large number of them.
He used vital qi to lift these tools of calculation up and instantly, countless calculation tools split apart in the air and reassembled themselves. The complication of the calculation made Rat Immortal and Deaf dumbfounded, dazzling their eyes.
After a moment, an incomparably complicated tool of calculation that took up a radius of numerous yards appeared in the air. Binary, quaternary, senary, octal, novenary, decimal, hexadecimal. and base64—it had countless strange components moving along with his vital qi as crunching sounds rang out non stop.
All kind of calculus beads appeared in the sky and jumped up and down continuously.
There were also cubes and cube pillars. They were sometimes long and sometimes short as they constantly progressed forward.
“Can you understand it?” Rat Immortal secretly asked Deaf.
Deaf waved his hand. “I can’t hear you.”
Rat Immortal didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Suddenly, Qin Mu shook his taotie sack, and all the tools of calculation flew back inside, vanishing without a trace.
“The calculation is done! Grandpa Deaf, it’s up to you now!”
Qin Mu roused his spirit and executed his vital qi. Suddenly, a set of teleportation divine art formation appeared in the sky, and all kinds of runes lighted up.
Deaf raised his eyes to take a look and painted in the air. The brush moved like a dragon and snake as he quickly laid down the formation. All the rune markings were no different from Qin Mu’s teleportation divine art.
What he used was the technique of the painting path, and it was none other than the world in the painting technique Qin Mu had once mentioned to him. In the past, his painting path was from inside out. When he drew wind, wind would appear, and when he drew lightning, lightning would appear. But now, his painting was outside in, having a world hidden inside it.
Qin Mu dispersed his teleportation divine art and executed his vital qi again. Another kind of teleportation formation then appeared in the air.
Deaf painted the second teleportation formation as well. When Rat Immortal looked toward the painting, he couldn’t help becoming stumped for words. Deaf had clearly painted on a flat surface, but looking in, he could see the space inside, and there was no difference from the teleportation divine art that Qin Mu had executed!
Because of limitations in cultivation, the area covered by the divine art wasn’t huge and the power wasn’t strong. Yet even though the painting that Deaf drew didn’t look huge, Rat Immortal was shocked when he looked inside it. The space in the painting was extremely vast, covering the area with a radius of a mile!
Qin Mu executed the teleportation divine art again, and Deaf drew the third painting. After he was done, Qin Mu asked him to paste the third painting under his feet.
Deaf was slightly stunned, not understanding the meaning of it. However, he still did it.
A beam shot out from Qin Mu’s eyes and went for the space above the huge knife. “Grandpa Deaf, place the first painting there.”
Deaf flicked his brush, and the first picture flew out, landing where his gaze had fallen. It then gradually vanished without a trace.
Qin Mu calculated silently for a moment and a beam of light shot out from his eyes again, landing at the abdomen of the god statue. “The second painting shall be placed there.”
Deaf gave a huge stroke, and the second painting flew out without the slightest delay. It then also vanished without a trace.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “This way, the devil army will be unable to teleport here with the help of the blood sacrifice sacrificial altar.”
Rat Immortal frowned slightly. “It’s going to be fine with just this?” Qin Mu nodded, but Rat Immortal still wasn’t at ease. “Are you sure? If the devil army gets teleported and sacrifices themselves for this god statue revive, it will be an unstoppable disaster! Are you sure these two kinds of teleportation divine art of yours will be able to disrupt their blood sacrifice sacrificial altar?”
Deaf also wasn’t too at ease. He asked with nervousness, “Mu’er, where will these three paintings of yours send the devil army?”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before saying, “I can’t alter their teleportation, just disrupt it…”
Rat Immortal sighed. “Since it’s only disruption, doesn’t it mean that that army will still be transferred?”
Qin Mu nodded and explained, “Teleportation involves a shift in space, which requires very precise algebra calculations. I used two kinds of teleportation formations to disrupt the mirror images of the two sacrificial altars. Even though the extent of the disruption won’t be big, but to an incomparably precise algebra calculation, even an inch of difference can be a difference of a thousand miles. No mistake can be allowed there. As long as they activate the two sacrificial altars, they will—”
“Human Emperor Qin, this is a no go!” Rat Immortal said resolutely. “This is a huge matter regarding everyone’s survival and destruction. We can’t rely on just an inch of difference! I need to find Poison King to poison all the devils that are teleporting over! Follow me out of here!”
His demon wind swept the three people and was about to leave the underground space when an imposing energy crossed time and space and bombarded them from the other world!
The space around them warped, and above their heads, the vast stone ceiling warped and distorted, forming a huge whirlpool. Everything in it distorted and gradually turned into a void.
Hmmm…
Incomparably bright teleportation light shone over from that whirlpool, lighting up the grand sacrificial altar that was on the god statue’s palm.
That light shone from the deep sky of another world, passing through Deaf’s first painting and landing on the sacrificial altar!
On that palm, stone statues stood upright. They half knelt in the surroundings of the sacrificial altar, chanting in resounding and profound devil language as if they were speaking some incantation.
At that moment, the second teleportation formation lighted up and the incomparably bright teleportation light had a slight change. It was so small that it was hard to notice.
Suddenly, countless troops of the devils appeared in the teleportation light, and tens of thousands of soldiers hurried over from the other world!
“It’s too late…” Rat Immortal felt a chill in his heart.
But just as he thought that, an abnormal change happened. In the teleportation light, the bodies of countless soldiers suddenly warped and broke into pieces in the flowing light. All of those people became corpses!
The teleportation light pillar became blood-red, and countless lifeforms were screaming in agony within it, but all their actions were completely useless!
While Rat Immortal was astonished, Qin Mu said, “Divine flood dragon king, join me!”
Rat Immortal immediately looked at Qin Mu and saw him standing in the center of the third painting. The divine flood dragon king attached himself to Qin Mu’s back and transformed into a dragon-shaped tattoo.
Qin Mu’s aura rose exponentially and his face slightly dimmed. “Gate of Heaven Influence.”
A majestic gate appeared behind him, and the teleportation light pillars warped in his direction. The countless soldiers of the devil race passed through the gate one after another.
Suddenly, a corpse flew out from the gate and landed beside his feet. It was the corpse of a devil that had transferred over. Its limbs were twisted and his head had become part of his chest. It had to be a mishap which happened during the space teleportation. It had reassembled his body and primordial spirit, but due to the error in calculation, they were in disorder!
The corporeal body had died unnaturally while his primordial spirit was left in Youdu!
Bang, bang, bang!
Suddenly, countless corpses poured out from Gate of Heaven Influence, and in an instant, there was a corpse mountain around Qin Mu!
It piled up higher and higher, filling up the hall.
“Everyone, please don’t blame me…”
Suddenly, the third painting was activated, and the huge teleportation formation burst forth. Light dazzled the eyes and swept in everything around the palace.
Rat Immortal and Deaf were teleported out, and their bodies appeared in midair. Before they could land on the ground, numerous broken limbs appeared in the sky alongside them, and a corpse rain fell on Great Ruins.
They raised their heads, and on the other side of the teleportation light, Gate of Heaven Influence towered aloft. The eyes of the youth in front of the door were moist as he buried tens of thousands of soldiers from another world.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
This corpse rain lasted for an hour, and nobody could tell how many corpses had fallen. It was truly a horrifying sight!
When the corpse rain stopped, Rat Immortal hurriedly brought Deaf back underground. There, they saw the stone statues standing motionlessly around the sacrificial altar. However, the teleportation light had already extinguished.
They looked toward the palace and saw a sapphire blue flood dragon coiling around the roof of it with his head raised up. His long whiskers fluttered in the wind while Qin Mu stood on his head. He was currently looking at the sacrificial altar on the god statue’s palm.
The two of old men hurriedly passed through a long bridge to reach the palace and ascended to the roof. Deaf looked down and was slightly stunned.
Below, even though the stone statues around the sacrificial altar were not moving, they had all raised their heads to look over with their stone eyes.
“Mu’er, what happened?” Deaf asked nervously.
“They are looking at me,” Qin Mu said softly. “Do you think they blame me for killing their clansmen?”
Deaf shook his head. “In their hearts, the army was meant for sacrifice, so even if they hadn’t died at your hands, they would have been sacrificed, so you don’t have to trouble yourself with that. On the contrary, you stopped them from awakening the god statue, and that’s a good thing. It saved the people of Eternal Peace Empire.”
Qin Mu looked straight at him. “Grandpa Deaf, I have never killed so many people before. Maybe many people had died because of me, but to kill so many of them personally, I’m still a little shaken. When the devil soldiers were teleported, some of them were already dead. There were some that weren’t, but after entering Gate of Heaven Influence, they were.
“I counted and there were over ten thousand people. I have never personally killed so many people before… In Gate of Heaven Influence, I saw numerous paper boats floating in the darkness. The messengers of death sat on them to guide the primordial spirits of all the people I had just killed…”
Deaf was stumped for words and didn’t know how to console him. After a moment, he said, “When I was still the crown prince of Heavenly Painting Country, I woke up from seclusion to see my country having been wiped out. I walked alone through the palace and saw the streets littered with corpses. Because the resistance was too intense, the invading country, Military Wolf Country, had suffered great losses. To vent his anger, their ruler ordered to massacre the city.”
He stared blankly ahead, as if he had yet to walk out from the shadow that event had cast. He stayed silent for a moment before continuing. “I saw father and mother’s heads hanging on the palace doors, saw the corpses of the concubines and elderly ladies. Some soldiers even plucked father’s head down to lift it up with spears, showing it off everywhere.
“I ran onto the street and saw the soldiers of Military Wolf Country pillaging everywhere, beheading anyone they liked and raping the women. I came to my Crown Prince Manor to find my wife and children dead, my daughter trampled by a war horse…”
He stared with eyes wide open, seeming to have come back to that dark period of time. In the depths of his eyes, the sight of Heavenly Painting Country being destroyed seemed to remain, and it was hell in the mortal world.
“I was drunk on calligraphy and painting, drunk on the painting path, and didn’t care about the country affairs. I tore my ears off then. Since I didn’t listen to the affairs of the world, what good were those ears?
“I used the corpses of the people as brush and the blood that filled the street as paint. I turned that place into hell. Hehe, the army of Military Wolf Country was dragged into hell, their army of million people was buried there by me… But so what? My homeland will never return, the dead will not revive. And so I went to hide in Great Ruins.”
Deaf raised his head and looked at Qin Mu. He lifted a finger and tapped him on his heart. “Mu’er, steel your heart and don’t be like me, only becoming ruthless after your home is destroyed. By then, it’s too late. This is a battlefield, and there’s no right or wrong. On the battlefield, your heart is hell, your heart is Youdu!”
Qin Mu’s head suddenly became clear and he bowed. “I’ve benefited from your advice.”
Deaf smiled and said, “This sin that plagues you, let Earth Count take care of those people after they die. Our mission is to send more enemies to see him!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly. “Send them to see Earth Count!”
Rat Immortal looked at the stone statue below and asked, “What happened to the stone statues?”
“I don’t know, they suddenly stopped moving.”
Qin Mu was also somewhat puzzled. “They’re very strong. Because their bodies petrified, they became abnormally hard. Since their sacrifice failed, they will most likely do something again; they won’t give up so easily.”
Suddenly, the stone statues around the sacrificial altar jumped into the abyss below. Qin Mu hurriedly looked down and saw them tunneling into the ground, disappearing from his sight.
“This…”
The three of them looked at each other in dismay, then Qin Mu moved his gaze to the knife above the god statue’s head. It was incomparably bright and seemed like to have sliced the statue’s head off without any effort, almost splitting the god statue apart.
The surface of the divine knife was incomparably smooth, without any veins to be seen. It was brighter and purer than the brightest mirror in the world. The primordial spirit of Granny Si, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Mute, Butcher, and the rest seemed to be on its flat surface, fighting with the gods of High Heavens, but unable to see the sight outside.
Suddenly, gray fog poured over and filled the entire underground space. The group watched it become denser and denser. Mountains and rivers flooded over in the fog and drowned them out.
Not only that, even the god statue which had popped out from underground and the bright long knife was drowned out as well. Only the chains were faintly discernible.
After a moment, the fog stopped flowing in, and white bone mountains appeared. They were incomparably majestic, and the underground space filled with the white bones crawling all over them. It looked sinister and terrifying.
“The living realm of the dead!”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he looked into the depths of the fog. At the deepest part of the fog, there was a dock which was the only path into the living realm of the dead!
It and Fengdu had come to the underground of God Broken Mountain Range, overlapping with the strange underground space!
“Who has Fengdu coins?” Qin Mu asked in a hurry.
Rat Immortal and Deaf had never seen this sight before and shook their heads. The divine flood dragon king was a god of High Heavens so he naturally wouldn’t have Fengdu coins, either.
At this moment, a tattered ship sailed over through the sea of fog and Qin Mu raised his hand to wave while shouting, “Boatman, can you give us a lift?”
The oar creaked as the boat sailed over from the skeleton mountains. Qin Mu was beyond excited while Rat Immortal and Deaf looked as though they were going to face a great enemy as they stared nervously at the tattered boat.
After a moment, it came to the front of the palace and floated in front of the divine flood dragon king’s huge head, looking to be very small. The boatman wore a woven rush raincoat and a bamboo hat which covered his face.
The divine flood dragon king hung his head down and Qin Mu was about to jump into the boat when a white boney palm stretched out from under the woven rush raincoat. A sinister voice came from under the bamboo hat. “Little friend, do you have money?”
Qin Mu shook his head.
“The treasured boat doesn’t ferry guests with no money,” the boatman said. “I’m just doing a small business. When you have the money, it won’t be late for you to enter Fengdu.”
Qin Mu was disappointed. Suddenly, he saw that the white boney palm only had four fingers. One of its fingers had been chopped off, and it was most likely a sword wound.
His body trembled violently as he followed the boatman leaving into the distance with his eyes until he vanished into the depths of the sea of fog.
“When did Fengdu change their boatman?” Qin Mu asked in a shout.
A sinister voice came from the sea of fog, but what was weird was it actually held a hint of happiness. “The day I died, it changed the boatman!”
“Have you seen Heavenly Devil Patriarch?”
“Hehe, when you have the money, why don’t you come over to take a look…”
Qin Mu stared blankly into the distance. Rat Immortal was beyond bewildered and asked, “Human Emperor Qin, you recognize that ghost?”
Qin Mu nodded. “He seems to be an old friend which only had nine fingers. That missing one had been chopped off by Village Chief.”
“You’re saying he’s Ling Jing?” Rat Immortal instantly came to realization, becoming delighted and surprised. He also shouted loudly, “Senior Brother Ling Jing, do you still remember me?”
No reply came from the sea of fog.
Rat Immortal called out a few more times, but there was no reply. It left him disappointed and frustrated.
Suddenly, the fog moved once more and flowed away to the west where it quickly vanished without a trace. Qin Mu raised his head and saw that the divine blade was still on the head of the god statue. It was still incomparably bright, but there was no Granny Si and the rest within it.
“Granny Si and the rest were snatched away by Fengdu?”
Qin Mu was astonished, but he immediately rushed out of the earth’s surface with Rat Immortal and Deaf. Suddenly, the bright light shone into their eyes, stinging them. The sun was rising in the east, and its first rays had shone onto their faces. Behind them, the darkness of Great Ruins was rapidly retreating.
“That’s where the corpses of over ten thousands soldiers fell.” Deaf pointed to some place in Great Ruins and said to Qin Mu, “You teleported them a hundred miles or so.”
Qin Mu activated Fire Heaven’s Eyes to look over and saw a mountain of white bones. The ten thousand or so soldiers of the devil race only had their bones left. Both their flesh and blood were gone, having already been swallowed by the monsters of Great Ruins.
The white bone mountain was also shined on by sunlight and looked very strange.
Qin Mu turned around and walked toward Sun Ship. “My heart is hell, who cares about the overflowing sins!”
Deaf smiled and walked after him. Near Sun Ship, the sky full of stars formed by Great Overarching Heavenly Stars was starting to rapidly dim. The woman who had laid it out her eyes and fell from midair.
Qin Mu immediately increased his speed, planning to catch that woman.
Another person fell from the air while crying out in a weak voice, “Aba, aba…”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, his arms going left and right. But at that moment, Blind also began falling down head first, so Qin Mu rushed toward him in a hurry.
“Mu’er, are you going to see me and Old Ma fall to our deaths?” Butcher asked loudly.
Qin Mu looked over and saw the two grandpas also falling from the sky. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead; he really didn’t know who to catch.
As for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Queen Yi who was falling down as well, Qin Mu didn’t have any plans to catch them.
Hu Ling’er rushed out from Sun Ship and shouted, “Ma ha!”
“Ma ha! Ma ha! Ma ha!”
A bunch of flood dragons rushed out from her side like wind and caught everyone who was falling down.
Qin Mu finally let out a sigh of relief and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead.
Thump!
In the distance, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor crashed on the ground, and Qin Mu jumped in shock. He hurriedly looked at the flood dragon who was supposed to catch him and couldn’t help becoming stunned. That flood dragon was carrying Earthquake Cauldron and crying out ma ha ma ha while happily running back to Sun Ship with the other flood dragons. It had absolutely no idea that it had caught the wrong thing.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
In Eternal Peace Capital City, Qin Mu was examining the true god stone statue which had tunneled out from underground. Three months had passed since the crisis of High Heavens. During that time, everyone who had been injured had undergone treatment. With Apothecary taking care of them personally, everyone recovered pretty fast.
Hermit Qing You returned to Little Jade Capital, but he would come back from time to time to visit everyone. Rat Immortal and Fox Immortal brought Willow Immortal, Yellow Immortal, and White Immortal’s ashes back to Willow Prefecture. King Kun and Queen Yi brought Xuan Shengwu’s tortoiseshell to the Black Tortoise people overseas, sending him back to his clan.
Elder of Discipline also brought over young patriarch’s ashes, burying them under the sacred tree.
Qin Mu had personally sent Old Dao Master’s corpse to Dao Sect while Old Ma welcomed Old Rulai’s corporeal body back to Great Thunderclap Monastery, inviting him into Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda.
Tuxing Feng was also among the casualties, but he had buried himself and his opponent deep in the magma underground. Hermit Qing You took a trip underground and saw a woman that was almost as tall as Tuxing Feng and who was his widow. She paid her respects at where Tuxing Feng had died in battle and said to Qin Mu, “Earth Travelers will never go back on the promise made back then. When Human Emperor summons us again, there will still be men to come and join you.”
After the battle, God Broken Mountain Range had vanished and the darkness had invaded Eternal Peace Empire. Qin Mu went to check on the flag he had stabbed into the ground and saw that the darkness was not spreading. That made him more or less at ease.
As for the huge hole that was blown in God Broken Mountain Range by Earthquake Cauldron, it had still not vanished. The situation in the other world could still be seen.
The devils in that world were busy preparing something once more.
The stone statues moving around the ruins of God Broken Mountain Range would show up from time to time, and there were devils frequently popping out from somewhere.
Imperial Preceptor had ordered the college scholars of all lands to go there for experience. They were to get rid of the scattered devils that popped out, which resulted in many adventurers there every day. The devils from the other world found it very hard to regain their power.
Everything in Eternal Peace Empire returned back to normal, and the commotion caused by the stone statues and abnormal treasures slowly died down. However, the huge and majestic true god statues still stood upright like mountains. They didn’t vanish.
The stone statue in front of Qin Mu was one of them. It stood tall and upright, overlooking the capital city in front of it. The stone statue was so tall that even if it couldn’t move, it still attracted many foolish people to pay respect to it and offer incense.
Qin Mu raised his head to examine it. His thoughts were like the clouds in the sky, gathering and dispersing.
“You know it, these stone statues will revive and destroy the world sooner or later, ” said Xu Shenghua, and Qin Mu turned around. He saw the youth who was about his age carrying his luggage. Jing Yan followed beside him, and she also carried a tiny bag.
Xu Shenghua came to his side and examined the stone statue. “The natural disaster did not come and the fate of humankind will continue. There will still be war. Even if you prevented High Heavens from doing their task, there will still be numerous people dying every day, and they will be used as sacrifices by the god statues. One day, they will accumulate enough power to awaken, destroying this world.”
Qin Mu continued to examine the stone statue with a calm expression. “I know, Imperial Preceptor knows, and Village Chief also knew it, but we had no choice but to do that. The longer we drag this out, the stronger Eternal Peace will become. In the past, we didn’t have the power to fight back so it was easy for them to crush us, but given enough time, we can grow until the difference between us won’t be so vast. Village Chief felt this way, and Imperial Preceptor felt that way too.” He looked toward Xu Shenghua and revealed a pure smile. “As long as we live, there’s hope, isn’t there?”
His smile was very infectious, and Xu Shenghua couldn’t help smiling as well.
Jing Yan felt a weird feeling rising in her heart. Xu Shenghua was an abnormally serious person and rarely smiled, yet every time he met Qin Mu, he would be infected by him.
Heavenly Devil Cult Master really possessed abnormal magic.
Xu Shenghua took out a bag of money and smiled. “I’ve come here to pay back the debt and also to take my leave. This is the money I owe you. As I return it to you, I’m also saying my farewell.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He took the money bag and said, “Brother Xu earns money pretty fast, eh.”
Xu Shenghua smiled. “I had taken a big job. The spirit weapons I forged gained some reputation, so when the emperor summoned all the able craftsmen in the world to restore Mysterious Pearl Crossbows, I had gone as well. At that time, only I was able to restore it and offer a blueprint to the army, thus the emperor rewarded me with a big sum of money.
“When do you plan to go?” Qin Mu asked.
Xu Shenghua tightened the strap of his luggage and walked away with Jing Yan toward the dock. “I came to Eternal Peace to kill you. After that, I was supposed to return to High Heavens to continue cultivating in silence. However, after meeting you, I felt that journeying through Eternal Peace was a better training for my frame of mind.”
Qin Mu followed him. The dock was very far, and the two of them were starting to walk differently. They were contesting in secret again.
“After improving my Dao heart, I have obtained numerous comprehensions I have never thought possible before. However, my training has ended; it’s time for me to leave Eternal Peace.”
Xu Shenghua raised his head to look at the sky and said, “There are still many unsolved mysteries in my heart waiting for my attention. I need to find the answers to those mysteries.”
“The gods of High Heavens have practically all died, so why aren’t you returning to High Heavens? Now that there’s no leader, you should go back to take charge of the general situation.”
“I’m not going back,” Xu Shenghua said. “High Heavens is known under such a name, but it’s merely a void. The people there can’t make their own decisions and can’t lead their own lives; they are just the dogs of true gods. As a flower blooming from the void, I need to find my own path. Brother Qin, my training in Eternal Peace has ended, and I want to go to Great Ruins to find the answers to the secrets that still elude me. What about your training?”
Qin Mu was stunned, but he suddenly smiled. “My training has just begun.”
They walked more and more weirdly, and stumbled all the way to the dock. When they reached it, the two of them smacked their palms out and the waves in the river suddenly overflowed into the sky. Wind rose and clouds surged as lightning criss-crossed in the surroundings!
Qin Mu laughed loudly and grabbed the other’s palm tightly. Their shoulders collided.
The two of them let go, and Xu Shenghua brought Jing Yan aboard the ship. He turned his head back and smiled. “I’ve lost to you the previous time, and it’s going to stay with me all the time. When I return, let’s see who is the alpha and beta Overlord Bodies!”
Qin Mu smiled. “You are definitely the beta and I’m the alpha!”
Xu Shenghua laughed loudly and waved his hand before leading Jing Yan into the hold of the ship.
Qin Mu raised his head as the flying ship gradually rose, bringing them far away and vanishing into the clouds.
The radiant sun was dazzling and Qin Mu looked away, his gaze returning to the stone statue that overlooked the capital. There were numerous foolish people offering incense and prayers to it, hoping that it would bless them.
No one knew the deeds of the benevolent; they were nameless. Village Chief, Tuxing Feng, and the rest had died to save these people yet no one knew and no one offered them incense and prayers. On the other hand, the stone statues which had come to destroy the world were surrounded by incenses. How ironic.
‘Xu Shenghua was right, the people of Eternal Peace Empire will be born, will grow old, will get sick, and will die. They will all become sacrifices to the stone statues and allow the true gods to accumulate power until they can revive themselves.’
Qin Mu walked toward the capital. The fierce fight over God Broken Mountain Range and the lives of numerous strong practitioners were merely just to drag out the time. Sooner or later, the stone statues would awaken from the sacrifices of the foolish people and use their power to wipe out the whole mortal realm!
‘What I need to do is to make Imperial Preceptor’s reform become even more spread. The fire has to burn even more fiercely in the hot oil. We shall await the day these stone statues awaken!”
It was time for Imperial College to choose imperial scholars again. The selection was very great in scale. Tens of thousand scholars from the whole world had hurried to the capital. The emperor and Imperial Preceptor had personally come to Imperial College. There was also Daoist Lin Xuan of Dao Sect, Rulai Ma of Great Thunderclap Monastery, Hermit Qing You of Little Jade Capital, and Qin Mu as Heavenly Devil Cult Master as well.
Emperor Yanfeng saw that there were too many scholars flooding into Imperial College and suggested to open other academies to split the responsibility of Imperial College. He founded River Tomb Academy, Surging River Academy, Li River Academy, and Heavenly Saint Academy. The scholars from all lands could take examinations for the four big academies.
They choose their people to learn paths, skills, and divine arts, and those who succeeded in their studies would later be able to enter the imperial court or become officials.
Heavenly Devil Cult had taken the name Heavenly Saint Academy, and as the cult master, Qin Mu became the first grand chancellor, which promoted him to the fourth rank.
For such a matter, Qin Mu worked hard for a time to set Heavenly Saint Academy at the manor where Granny Si lived. Only when it was scorching summertime was Heavenly Saint Academy prepared. All kinds of educational establishments were built and talents from all over the land attracted. The disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult’s School Hall became the first batch of Heavenly Saint Scholars.
Qin Mu also invited Xiong Xiyu and Yu Zhaoqing to come and teach. He also asked Dao Master Lin Xuan, Rulai Ma, Hermit Qing You, and Fox Immortal to come to hold lectures from time to time, which made Heavenly Saint Academy truly extraordinary,
On that day, Imperial Preceptor came to visit and asked, “Grand Chancellor’s Heavenly Saint Academy is pretty bustling and energetic.”
Qin Mu smiled. “Heavenly King doesn’t visit me without a cause, so what are you here for this time?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor paused for a moment before saying, “I’m preparing to wipe out High Heavens, but I need to scout the roads of West Earth first. I need a person who is familiar with West Earth.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, but he soon called Xiong Xiyu.
“Does Palace Master want to reclaim True Heaven Palace of West Earth?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor went straight to the point.
Xiong Xiyu was surprised and delighted. “True Heaven Palace has been seized by traitors so does Imperial Preceptor have confidence in assisting me in snatching it back?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded and said, “I want to take a trip to High Heavens to prevent future troubles. High Heavens is in West Earth so I can help you reclaim True Heaven Palace on the way.”
Qin Mu’s heart moved slightly as he looked towards Xiong Xiyu. She gritted her teeth and said, “After Eternal Peace razes the snow plains and the prairie, he will launch his army on West Earth sooner or later. For there to be fewer wars, I’m willing to submit to Eternal Peace!”
“In that case, Palace Master can go prepare, we will set off in the next few days. Does Cult Master want to go? We’ll be going to West Earth not for war, but to scout the way, and Cult Master can help.”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment as Xiong Xiyu looked at him pleadingly. He then smiled and said, “It’s good to go to West Earth as well. I have a promise with Poisoner Mu Yingxue, who had asked me to find her. However, before that, I need to summon some souls in Great Ruins.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned, then nodded. “In that case, Palace Master and I will set off first. If you meet that person, thank him for me and do pay half of the respect owed a master.”
Qin Mu nodded.
Chapter 441: Flaming Desert
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu was the grand chancellor of Heavenly Saint Academy, so before he left, he handed over his duties to another person. Most of the scholars of Heavenly Saint Academy were from Heavenly Devil Cult as well as numerous directorates. Even if Qin Mu wasn’t there, there would be no problem, so he had no worries.
He passed Dragon Rearing Scriptures to Si Yunxiang to find people to take care of the flood dragons.
“They only eat spirit pills, but different breeds want different kinds of spirit pills,” Qin Mu instructed. “I have written down the types and the amount needed, Saintess, don’t forget, if they don’t listen to you, find Ling’er. She can subdue these flood dragons.”
Si Yunxiang smiled. “With Dragon Rearing Scriptures, how can I be inferior to the little fox? Aren’t you going to bring a few flood dragons to protect yourself? Isn’t the little fox following you too?”
“Ling’er went to learn spells from Fox Immortal so she won’t be going with me. I’m just going to West Earth to scout the land so there won’t be any danger.”
Qin Mu gave a few more instructions and took leave from Granny Si and the rest. Just as he was prepared to have the dragon qilin start on the journey, he saw a five to six years old girl sitting beside it.
“Sister Qi’er, aren’t you going to West Earth with Nai Kui?” Qin Mu asked with puzzlement.
Xiong Qi’er shook her head. “Mother told me to follow you. She that she doesn’t really trust Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, that he doesn’t have a human touch. He can sacrifice everything just to achieve his goal, and his made it hard for her to trust him.”
“Your mother sure is thoughtful. It’s good to follow me as well. Imperial Preceptor and her objective this time are quite great, so it’ll be much safer for you to follow me instead.”
Qin Mu picked Xiong Qi’er up and jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back. “Fatty Dragon, set off!”
The dragon qilin immediately sprung forward and rose into the air with the fire clouds. “Cult Master, I keep feeling that the taste of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills is wrong these days. Did you change them?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “Fatty Dragon, stop being paranoid. If I changed the spirit pills, could you not taste the difference?”
The dragon qilin was skeptical while Xiong Qi’er said in astonishment, “Fatty Dragon is much faster compared to last time. Your tummy isn’t as big as before too.”
Her suspicion increased the suspicion in the dragon qilin’s heart. Although he had peeled open the spirit pills every time he ate them to see if Qin Mu had done something, he hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary.
Qin Mu smiled. He had improved Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills. The taste was almost the same as that of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, just a little bit spicier. The dragon qilin could taste something wrong, but he couldn’t tell what it was. ( Updated by NovelFull.Com)
The dragon qilin’s speed was much faster than it was in the past, and his endurance was much greater as well. After two-three days, they reached Great Ruins. Qin Mu found Moon Ship according to his memory and Village Chief’s stone statue was not far from it.
Qin Mu couldn’t help being astonished when he saw two families actually having built themselves homes there. The two families had to have noticed the stone statue that could withstand the darkness and had come to live by its side.
When they saw Qin Mu riding a monster that looked like a dragon but was not a dragon, a qilin that was not a qilin, they couldn’t help becoming nervous. Two young hunters took up military pitchforks and stood guard outside the door while their young wives looked out from behind them.
Qin Mu stopped and brought Xiong Qi’er off the dragon qilin’s back. He greeted the two people and the two hunters returned it. “Are you a mountain bandit or a robber?”
“I’m just a passerby, coming to see my old friend. Don’t worry, I mean no harm.” Qin Mu came to stand in front of Village Chief’s stone statue and placed a livestock offering. “This is the elder of my family and I’m here to pay my respects to him. If he saw that his broken body could still protect you guys, he would definitely be very happy.”
He paid his respects and executed Soul Guide. The clouds instantly turned dark and gloomy while the darkness surged. Soul Guide worked for a moment and numerous skeletons appeared outside the village, but Village Chief’s stone statue did not come to life.
Not long later, Qin Mu’s magic power was nearly exhausted. He was about to disperse Soul Guide when Village Chief’s stone statue suddenly moved and spat out a few gold coins while speaking, “Mu’er, on Ghost Festival, the night of the full moon, I’ll be waiting for you at the Gates of Hell!” When he finished talking, he returned back to stone.
Qin Mu picked up the golden coins which were eight Fengdu coins.
The villagers in the surroundings were bewildered.
Qin Mu turned around to thank the people and left them some money. “May everyone here help me clean the stone statue frequently so it wouldn’t get dirty.” When he was done, he turned around to leave.
The people looked at his back, and a young woman suddenly woke up from her daze. She suddenly cried out, “Look at the appearance of that youth, doesn’t he look like that heavenly god who drove the ship that night?”
“He indeed looks alike! When that huge ship passed by our village that night, I saw that heavenly god on the ship, and it looked exactly like him!” another woman cried out in astonishment.
“Don’t talk nonsense! He’s merely a youth and is even younger than us so how could he be the heavenly god of that ship?” a hunter said.
…
Qin Mu brought Xiong Qi’er to the dragon qilin and they rode to the west, resting only during night time.
They passed by the basin of West Heaven Palace and observed its ruins before leaving. After ten or so, they finally came to the most western part of Great Ruins. There was also a mountain range, its snowy white peaks cutting off Great Ruins, in that direction.
“There’s also a God Broken Mountain Range here?”
Qin Mu rode the dragon qilin to one peak, and a thick arrow that was like a beam suddenly came from a Mysterious Pearl Crossbow, raising the wind and snow in a split second. The dragon qilin raised his claws and caught that arrow. At that, he couldn’t help jumping in shock and crying out, “Cult Master, I’ve become stronger!”
Qin Mu looked at the surroundings and saw huge Mysterious Pearl Crossbows operating automatically, adjusting their direction. He then immediately shouted, “Fatty Dragon, run quickly!”
Twang!
The power of the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows burst forth, and heavy snow came incessantly along with the bolts. The dragon qilin immediately leaped as though he was flying, sprinting to the other side of the mountain.
Incomparably thick bolts whisked behind them and transformed into pillars of ice while more of them came shooting over. The dragon qilin gave a loud roar and the flames behind him overflowed into the sky. With the dense fire clouds, the flames burned the bolts. However, there were still numerous ice bolts that had not melted and rushed straight for them!
While clutching a sword technique in his hand, Qin Mu jolted, and eight thousand swords flew into the sky, slicing countless ice bolts apart.
The dragon qilin sprinted down the mountain, and bolts behind him were like the rain. Only when he rushed down the mountain did the onslaught stop.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief before heat waves assaulted him in the face. He looked forward and saw a vast desert which went as far as his eyes could see. The flames in the desert were blazing, burning the sky till ti turned fire-red.
Qin Mu turned back, seeing the snowy mountains behind himself.
“After crossing this flaming desert, we will reach West Earth,” Xiong Qi’er said in a loud and clear voice. “West Earth is right behind it.”
Qin Mu was puzzled. “Why is there such a flaming desert between West Earth and Great Ruins? Where does the fire come from?”
“My mother said that these flames were lit up by gods to block the abandoned people of Great Ruins from running out.” Xiong Qi’er suddenly jumped into the flames, shocking Qin Mu. She ran around them with a smile.”The flames here won’t hurt me, for they will only burn the abandoned people of Great Ruins. To us, the flames aren’t hot at all; however, to the abandoned people of Great Ruins, the fire is extremely dangerous!
“I’ve heard my mother say that if the abandoned people of Great Ruins were to enter the desert, flame markings would appear on the heart of their brows, showing their identity as an abandoned person. The higher the status of the abandoned person, the more flames would show up.”
Qin Mu stretched out his hand to touch the flames and he felt a sharp pain. He immediately pulled his hand back, but his fingertips were still burning.
He hurriedly extinguished the fire and frowned.
The flaming desert was indeed an incomparably dangerous place to the people of Great Ruins. If they went in, they would definitely be burned to death.
“Qi’er, come up!” Qin Mu’s vital qi flew out and swept up the girl which was running around, throwing her onto the dragon qilin’s back. “Imperial Preceptor and Palace Master left a few days earlier than us so we can’t stay around here for long, Fatty Dragon—”
“Big brother, what happened to your face?” Xiong Qi’er suddenly asked.
Qin Mu looked at her with bewilderment. “What’s wrong with my face?”
“There are many markings on your face!” Xiong Qi’er cried out in astonishment. “The markings are even wiggling and more and more of them are coming out! Are you sick? That’s right, big brother is an abandoned person of Great Ruins, but there are just too many flame markings on your face!”
In disbelief, Qin Mu located the mirror Apothecary had given to him in a hurry. He took a look at and saw that there were indeed numerous green and red markings on his face. They were twisted but distributed evenly across his face!
He ripped open his collar and saw numerous green and red markings on his chest as well!
He stretched out his palm and saw that the markings were even on his wrist, slowly spreading to the back and front of his palm.
Qin Mu threw open his shirt and more mirrors flew out from his taotie sack. He looked at them and saw numerous markings spreading all over him. His whole body was covered in green and red flames!
Xiong Qi’er looked at him in a daze, staring at his bare torso as he stood on the back of the dragon qilin. The flames had nearly covered his whole body!
‘Mother said that the higher the status of the abandoned person, the more flames will appear on their body. Normal abandoned people will only receive one flame marking at the heart of their brows, but big brother has flame markings all over his body.’ The little girl was stunned. ‘What is his status…”
“Could this be the effect of the fire?” Qin Mu pondered over it and said, “I touched the flames just now and they had entered my body to form these strange markings… Fatty Dragon, retreat back to the snowy mountains!”
The dragon qilin didn’t understand what he meant, but he still carefully retreated out of the flaming desert. Back under the snowy mountains, Qin Mu looked at the mirrors and saw that the markings were gradually dimming. When he reached the foot of one mountain, the markings vanished completely.
While keeping the mirrors at hand, he put on his shirt back. He said indifferently, “Fatty Dragon, continue on your way. It’s fine. These markings should be just to identify abandoned people.”
The dragon qilin immediately rushed into the flaming desert, and the markings on Qin Mu’s body started to appear again. They grew frantically, but the youth didn’t pay attention to them.
The sight of the flaming desert was unique. There were flaming tornadoes everywhere, and they whooshed as they swept by the group. The dragon qilin’s nature was that of fire so he loved to control fire the most and often rushed happily into the tornadoes. However, Qin Mu was nearly burned to death once and ordered for him to stop.
The dragon qilin saw his face turning black from the burns and jumped back in shock. Only then did he obediently start to hurry to their destination. The fire had no effect on him, but it possessed lethal power against Qin Mu.
“Big brother, there’s an oasis in front!” Xiong Qi’er said excitedly. “There’s water there!”
Astonished, Qin Mu cried out. “There is water in such a place?”
He then saw the oasis in the flaming desert. Numerous olive trees were growing beside a beautiful lake, and there were also a few snow white goatskin tents beside it.
The dragon qilin immediately ran over to the side of the lake. Qin Mu jumped down and said, “Visitors have come from afar, sorry for disturbing everyone.”
One of the goatskin tents opened up and a youth walked out with a smile, “You’re not disturbing. I’m currently cultivating unique spells and need someone as a sacrifice… It’s you, brat!”
The expression of the youth changed drastically, and Qin Mu pulled out his sword without any explanation. Eight thousand swords flew up together and drowned out the youth!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
That youth’s reaction was extremely fast. He moved back the instant Qin Mu executed his swords, falling back into the goatskin tent.
It was cut to pieces when countless sword lights shot out into it from all directions. Suddenly, they paused and tunneled into the ground like a long dragon, for the youth had escaped into the ground after falling back into the tent.
Bang!
About a mile away in the flaming desert, eight thousand flying swords flew out of the underground cave, chasing after the figure of the youth.
He leaped into midair and opened up his arms. Two golden wings spread out on his back and flapped frantically, causing countless yellow golden feather swords to face Qin Mu’s sword lights. With the continuous collisions and sparks in midair, flying swords flew in all directions.
Qin Mu’s hand grabbed forward, and the randomly flying swords suddenly paused in midair. They converged towards the center and clanked as they collided, transforming into a three yards metal ball that was whirling non-stop.
It was none other than Qin Mu’s sword pellet!
It was huge and whirled non-stop in midair. The feel of metal was abundant.
A fire tornado swept over and swept up the youth, swallowing him whole. Yet the next moment, he appeared above that tornado and stood there while laughing. “Cult Master Qin! Human Emperor Qin! You really can’t stop haunting me! Do you think I’ll be afraid of your body covered whole by a tattoo? Receive one of my bow—”
That youth was none other than Pangong Tso, and he stood atop the tornado, paying his respects by bowing towards Qin Mu.
When he bowed, a sinister sacrificial altar appeared behind him and a devil god showed up on it, ready to bow and pay his respects as well!
Qin Mu’s five fingers spread open and he pressed down with them. The ground under the fire tornado instantly warped, the sand and rocks swirling and swallowing everything above them into the ground.
Pangong Tso’s footing became unstable and his bow became misshapen. When he raised his head, he saw that the sword pellet had separated at some point and the eight thousand swords were spinning crazily. They were like a huge mouth that was covered with sword tips that came with an open mouth toward him.
It was Spiral Sword Form.
“Stabilizing Mountains and Rivers with a Finger!”
Four continuous explosions rang out within Pangong Tso’s body as his divine treasures opened and his magic power rose exponentially. When his left hand pointed toward the ground, a fire lotus bloomed underground, stabilizing it.
His right hand pointed toward the huge mouth that was going to swallow him and flaming lotuses instantly appeared in it as well. Those flaming lotuses collided with the spiraling swords and blocked Qin Mu’s move.
Pangong Tso revealed a scornful look. “Cult Master Qin, I’m already on Seven Stars Realm. I’m a realm higher, which might as well be a heaven higher, I can totally overwhelm you! Do you feel my magic power making you despair?”
Suddenly, the fire lotuses shattered and Pangong Tso was astonished. ‘His magic power doesn’t lose out to mine at all! I’m already on Seven Stars Realm… How could he have polished his magic power to such a level?’
As an existence that had reincarnated over ten times, Pangong Tso might not dare to say he was number one in polishing his magic power on the same realm, but he was certainly one of the best in the world. There were not many people who could surpass the density of his magic power in the same realm. Even when Qin Mu did it, he hadn’t surpassed him by much.
He had fought with Qin Mu numerous times in the past. The first time, both of their realms were the same. They were both on Six Directions Realm and their magic power had been nearly the same.
Qin Mu relied on the transformation of paths, skills, and divine arts to lead him along the way, adapting accordingly. This let him take the decisive opportunity which was why Pangong Tso had lost.
However, when they had faced off the second time, he had raised his cultivation realm faster than Qin Mu, and his magic power had also surpassed him by much. Qin Mu had then relied on his sickeningly huge sword pellet and eight thousand swords to be a match for him.
Yet now, he was already a divine arts practitioner of Seven Stars Realm while Qin Mu was still on Six Directions Realm. By right, Qin Mu should have been overwhelmed by his magic power, unable to even come close to breaking his divine art!
Even though it was just their first face-off right then, Qin Mu’s flying swords had still destroyed Pangong Tso’s divine art. He might have relied on the sharpness of his flying swords, but it also meant that Qin Mu’s magic power wasn’t much inferior to his.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had attacked Rolan’s Golden Palace, Pangong Tso had known that it was finished when Khan Ruandi surrendered. That was why had hadn’t waited for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to attack and escaped, leaving behind all the great shamans, shaman kings, and even the Grand Shaman who didn’t know he had escaped under the cover of the night.
Rolan’s Golden Palace was wiped out and Grand Shaman was also slain by Imperial Preceptor. Pangong Tso pondered about the painful experience and knew that he could no longer stay in the prairie. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor would definitely order his subordinates to search everywhere for his trail, so he decided to hide in the flaming desert.
He was a reincarnated person so his cultivation advanced at a crazy speed. He had an advantage that no other divine arts practitioner could rival, and by hiding in the oasis, he could capture the people of West Earth at night and bring them over for cultivation. Like that, in just half a year, he broke through into Seven Stars Realm.
He planned to recover the cultivation of his previous lives and fight his way back to Eternal Peace to take revenge. When that time came, who would be able to block his bow?
Yet meeting Qin Mu made him somewhat flustered. He had raised his cultivation to Seven Stars Realm and should have overwhelmed him, but the other’s abilities seemed to have advanced by leaps and bounds as well. He actually didn’t manage to gain any advantage!
“Pangong Tso, you have already fallen behind times!”
Qin Mu suddenly rushed out of the oasis into the flaming desert and his body moved horizontally as he crossed a mile. It looked like he was controlling the wind. The muscles on his body moved like flood dragons coiling and his corporeal body was incomparably powerful.
“You’ve been hiding here so you might not know. After your Rolan’s Golden Palace was wiped out, the paths, skills, and divine arts have advanced rapidly. We can already cultivate the primordial spirit on the Six Directions Realm so aside from a divine treasure in Seven Stars Realm, there’s literally no difference. In terms of cultivation realm, you aren’t any higher than me!”
Pangong Tso’s body, which was like a golden buddha, collided with Qin Mu. Dragon roars and buddha voices rang out endlessly, and Pangong Tso’s face instantly turned snow-white. His arm cracked and broke as he flew backward.
“You, this isn’t Nine Dragons Monarch Technique!” he shouted fiercely.
Nine Dragon Monarch Technique had extremely high attainments of the corporeal body and was the ultimate art of Emperor Yanfeng. Even though Pangong Tso had not received it, he had exchanged blows with Qin Mu who used Nine Dragons Monarch Technique.
Even though it had been powerful then, there was still quite a number of divine techniques that could rival it, so Pangong Tso wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of it.
However, he suffered a huge loss at that ‘Nine Dragons Monarch Technique’ right then. The moves Qin Mu had executed were extremely overbearing. The strength of his corporeal body was incomparably powerful as though he was a human-shaped true dragon. When its strength burst forth, his muscles, tendons, and bones were like brute dragons exerting their strength all at once!
Facing such brute strength, Pangong Tso’s golden buddha body crumbled and his arm broke. A bone shard stuck out of his elbow.
“Sword explosion!”
Qin Mu pressed his palm downwards. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. Countless flying swords fell from midair like rain, and sword lights fell forward like a tidal wave raised by an explosion, drowning out Pangong Tso.
He endured the sharp pain, and his body sank downwards, escaping into the desert before the sword light could touch him.
Eight thousand swords landed, and the desert nearly boiled. Between the particles of sand, fine sword lights were shuttling to and fro!
Qin Mu landed on the ground and his clothes fluttered. He raised a huge wind to forcefully suppress the flames of the desert. The tip of his foot tapped on the ground, then he raised again. Everywhere he passed, the flames would automatically split to two sides.
Several miles away, the desert was boiling. Countless sword lights rushed into the sky, and Qin Mu let out a roar while his vital qi went berserk, rushing forward while staying close to the red colored sand and rocks. Instantly, there were trails of red sand dragons in the desert.
Dozens of them were shuttling to and fro in the red sand, popping in and out. In no time, they came to where the sword light was overflowing into the sky. The power of his divine art suddenly exploded, resulting in a powerful dragon roar which reverberated through the air and sand being blasted into the air!
In the sandstorm, flying swords were flashing while Pangong Tso’s figure could be faintly discerned as well. He stood on a huge cauldron which was trembling. Its soundwaves materialized and flicked the flying swords away.
The huge cauldron suddenly escaped into the ground and left through the sand.
Qin Mu quickly gave chase and shouted, “Qingqing, go fetch some water and hurry over with Fatty Dragon!”
Bewildered, Xiong Qi’er said to the dragon qilin, “Big brother is muddle-headed. He called me Qingqing.”
The dragon qilin shook his head. “You don’t know the ability of that Pangong Tso. If he knows your name, he can kill you by paying his respects to you from a thousand mile away, so Cult Master didn’t call out your real name.
“It should be because Cult Master doesn’t have absolute confidence in killing him, so he asked us to fetch some water and follow after him. Cult Master is an abandoned person so he can’t stay long in the flaming desert. There’s also no water vapor in the flaming desert so he can’t use water attribute divine arts as well. Let’s quickly fetch some water and hurry after him!”
Xiong Qi’er understood his words and was about to fetch the water from the lake when she cried out in astonishment.
The dragon qilin immediately went over and saw that there were white bones all over the lake’s bottom. It was hard to count how many corpses had been thrown inside it!
Pangong Tso relied on the spirit and soul of other people to cultivate. For that, he had killed countless experts of West Earth and thrown their corpses in the lake.
“Do we still fetch water?” Xiong Qi’er’s face was pale white.
The dragon qilin bit his tongue and spat a small mouthful of blood into the lake. Its surface instantly churned. Countless soul bugs splashed around the lake, fighting over the blood.
The dragon qilin immediately bit onto Xiong Qi’er’s collar to lift her up and retreated, preventing any water from touching either of them both.
“This lake has been poisoned and can’t be drunk.” The dragon qilin placed the little girl down a bit farther away and said, “Climb to the tip of my tail, sit down properly, and lean back.”
He lowered his tail, and Xiong Qi’er immediately climbed on. She sat down properly, not forgetting to lean back.
The dragon qilin raised his tail and Xiong Qi’er slid down from the tip to his back. The little girl squealed in delight. “One more time!”
“We can’t play anymore. Grab tight onto the mane around my neck. I’m going to chase after Cult Master,” the dragon qilin instructed.
Xiong Qi’er climbed over to his long long mane, and her tiny hands grabbed tightly onto two tufts. Suddenly, a dragon’s scale rose on the side and covered her. The dragon qilin did it since he was afraid it would be easy for her to slip off if he ran too fast.
Before, there was Qin Mu protecting Xiong Qi’er so the dragon qilin didn’t need to worry, but when Qin Mu wasn’t around, he had to care for Xiong Qi’er himself.
The dragon qilin also used magic power to form a barrier around Xiong Qi’er and gave her a warning to be careful before taking the first step to rush after Qin Mu. His speed gradually grew faster as he didn’t dare to suddenly increase his speed. He ran faster and faster, soon surpassing the speed of sound. The flaming dunes passed by them like flickering lights and shadows.
“Fatty Dragon, your speed is even faster than last time!” Xiong Qi’er cried out. “Why didn’t you run so fast in front of big brother?”
“What does a little girl like you know? If you want a horse to run faster, you need to feed the horse well.” The dragon qilin was pleased with himself and smiled. “I purposely run slower so Cult Master will give me better spirit pills in hopes of me getting faster from good food. If I slowly increase my speed, he will know it’s the effect of the better spirit pills, in that way he will work harder to improve the spirit pills.
“On top of that, he will still take care of how the pills feel in my mouth. If I suddenly raise my speed drastically, he won’t improve the spirit pills and will just feed me the substandard product of Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills. Don’t tell Cult Master that though, or he will become lazy.”
Xiong Qi’er didn’t understand what he was saying, but she still nodded repeatedly.
The dragon qilin ran for a long while, but he still didn’t catch up to Qin Mu. On the way, he was aghast when he saw the sight of the exploded dunes. It was evident that Qin Mu and Pangong Tso had clashed nearby.
Not long later, the dragon qilin saw a dune in the distance transforming into a red sand giant which punched the ground ruthlessly.
“That’s the technique of my West Earth’s True Heaven Palace!” Xiong Qi’er cried out in astonishment. “Is that big brother?”
The dragon qilin shook his head, a little worried. “Cult Master doesn’t have magic power that is that dense. Let’s take a detour.”/ NovelFull.Com
He took a roundabout way and couldn’t help being stunned when he saw the sand giant.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
There was a ruin in the desert. More than half of the earth yellow palaces had collapsed and only some crumbling fences and dilapidated walls were left. Flames were burning a bit more furiously over there than in other places.
The space that the ruins occupied was very vast, the size of several thousand fields. Flames blazed around the sand giant, and its body was scarlet from them. The giant had no legs, but it could still travel extremely fast along the great streets and small alleys of the ruin.
Below the body of the sand giant was violent sand that kept spinning upwards, thus even though it had no legs, its speed was still very fast.
At that moment, the sand giant was chasing after Qin Mu and Pangong Tso. The two of them were being attacked often, and loud thumps rang out continuously. Every strike from the sand dune giant was incomparably heavy, and when they landed on the desert, sandstone would shoot out like swords!
Yet the sand giant didn’t damage the ruin at all. When it encountered broken fences and dilapidated walls, it would flood over. After it flowed past, the ruin would be left perfectly fine.
The divine arts of West Earth was different from those of Eternal Peace, and the path they took was that of all things having soul. Even sandstone could be changed into a giant to fight, and one strike from a sand giant could split mountains. Its power was unblockable.
If Qin Mu and Pangong Tso got struck, just the terrifying energy alone would be enough to heavily injure the two of them!
Even so, they were still trying to kill each other while doing their best to avoid the attacks of the sand giant.
Pangong Tso’s broken arm impaired his movements. Qin Mu could control eight thousand swords, but no matter how intricate his sword skill was, it was still hard for him to injure the sand giant. Even if he sliced one of its arms into pieces, this giant would return back to normal in a few moments, retaining no injury.
Its body technique was extraordinary, and the attacks of the sand giant were incomparably overbearing. However, since it only used its fists to attack and not spells or divine arts, it wasn’t much of a threat to them.
However, what was weird was that the sand giant seemed to only be attacking Qin Mu. It paid no attention to Pangong Tso.
“Spell of True Heaven Palace!” The dragon qilin looked around and asked, “Where is the spellcaster hiding?”
“That’s a guardian of the desert. It’s not a divine art.” Xiong Qi’er climbed onto his head while pulling on his mane. She took a look at the situation and said, “My mom said that there are many ancient ruins in the desert, and they are places where the gods who guarded the desert lived. When they had to go, they left behind some guardians to look after the desert. Any person from Great Ruins will be attacked by the guardians.
Suddenly, red sand churned in the ruin and another sand giant stood up, rushing quickly at the youth.
Qin Mu stretched his hands out and numerous scarlet red sand dragons whizzed forward, rushing at the sand giants. While chasing after Pangong Tso, his vital qi had been circulating more and more furiously, and the power of his divine art becoming stronger and stronger. At that moment, his battle power was at its strongest!
The dozens of scarlet sand dragons tore apart the sand giants.
“Eh?”
Qin Mu was astonished, for he felt the magic power in his divine art being absorbed. When the sand dragons passed through the bodies of the sand giants, the magic power inside them completely vanished!
Pangong Tso saw a good moment and rushed over with the huge cauldron on his head. The two sand giants behind him who had absorbed the magic power the divine art as well as the dozens of sand dragons grew drastically and attacked Qin Mu as well.
Qin Mu formed firsts and straightened his thumb, using a punch to fight against Pangong Tso’s punch. Pangong Tso immediately felt that his attack had no power, but that there was a concaving power in the fist that was pulling him in.
The straightened thumb made Pangong Tso shudder.
‘The power in that punch of his lies in that thumb!’
He struggled to break free, having just realized that Qin Mu’s move was not a fist skill at all. Instead, it was a sword skill in which his thumb was the sword. If Pangong Tso didn’t break free and the thumb pressed down on him, the sword power would definitely slice him in half!
‘How did this fellows battle technique improve so fast and become so terrifying? It hasn’t even been a year since the last time we fought, so how did his abilities improve so fast?’
Pangong Tso used all his strength to break free from Qin Mu’s fist. The moment he did so, the sword light in Qin Mu’s thumb increased exponentially. His vital qi transformed into a thread which was like fine swords coiling together. The sword light sliced down when Qin Mu pressed his thumb down!
Pangong Tso suddenly changed into a black shadow which fell and stuck to the sandy ground. He then quickly left into the distance.
Qin Mu raised his hand and pressed down, causing a huge handprint to appear on the ground. Pangong Tso let out a sigh of relief. ‘This guy missed.’
Yet the next moment, the sword lights that were hiding in the sky and covering the earth hummed and shot down altogether. The area they covered was extremely vast and made it impossible for him to avoid them.
Suddenly, a third sand giant stood up from beneath Qin Mu’s feet, and the sword rain falling from midair grew disordered. Pangong Tso broke out from his shadow and transformed into a human to leap out from the desert. He flashed along the way to avoid the sword lights, escaping out of the ruin.
He turned back to take a look, only to see Qin Mu being drowned out by the three sand giants. His life and death could not be determined.
‘When this guy gets severely injured, it would be the best time for me to kill him!’ Just as Pangong Tso thought that, he saw the dragon qilin sprinting over and sneered. ‘Even an animal like you dares to make a move on me?’
He then bowed and shouted sternly, “Fatty Dragon!” / update by NovelFull.Com
A huge sacrificial altar appeared behind him and the devil god on the sacrificial also bowed.
The dragon qilin ignored him, and Pangong Tso grew slightly flustered. He bowed once more in a hurry. “Dragon Qilin!”
The dragon qilin was already near him, flames spreading out from his mouth.
Pangong Tso vomited blood. His injuries were not light, and the divine art which paid respect to the soul was extremely exhausting to his vitality. Paying his respects twice drained a lot of his vitality.
“Qingqing!” Pangong Tso gritted his teeth and paid his respects once more.
Xiong Qi’er grabbed the mane of the dragon qilin and climbed onto the head of the fat behemoth to look curiously at the youth before them.
Pangong Tso spat out a mouthful of blood as a beam of fire from the dragon qilin’s mouth emanated with blazing flames, sweeping at him across a dozen miles. Everywhere the beam passed, the dunes were razed to the ground!
Pangong Tso hurriedly hid in the great cauldron and listened as the loud banging sounds went into the distance. The cauldron was then swept into the air and tumbled dozens of miles away.
The dragon qilin sprinted over where the cauldron had landed, but only saw a sand pit with bloodstains. It was obvious that Pangong Tso had escaped into the ground.
“My abilities actually couldn’t stop him? Those who can live for ten thousand years are indeed all remarkable. His ability to escape is even superior to that of Cult Master!” the dragon qilin exclaimed in admiration.
A loud explosion suddenly came from the ruin, and the dragon qilin turned back to look. Over there, he saw a fourth sand giant rising from the ground. It was a hundred yards tall and comparable to Great Thunderclap Monastery’s Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda. It moved incomparably fast and chased relentlessly after Qin Mu.
“I can’t let Cult Master be harmed!”
The dragon qilin immediately sprinted over, and he saw Qin Mu’s body suddenly vanish. The next moment, he appeared in front of him and floated in midair. His whole body was covered in strange flames and teleportation runes circulating rapidly.
Qin Mu hurriedly extinguished the flames on his body, his face already black from the burns. Luckily, his clothes were tailored by Yu Zhaoqing and other strong practitioners of Heavenly Feather Race, so they weren’t destroyed in the flames.
Various sounds rang out behind him, and Qin Mu turned back to take a look. The sand giants actually flew out of the ruin and rushed over aggressively.
“Fatty Dragon, fall back!” Qin Mu waved his hand and stopped the dragon qilin who was rushing over.
The sand giants were extremely fast and soon rushed in front of Qin Mu. They then swayed and separated into two groups, launching a pincer attack on him from the right and left.
Just as they were about to pounce on him, the teleportation runes around Qin Mu’s body lighted up and his body vanished once more!
The sand dune giants collided and sand filled the air. Soon though, they took shape once more and hurried back toward the ruin in a frantic rush. Before they could return, however, they suddenly crumbled and transformed back into dunes that piled one onto another.
The dragon qilin hurriedly ran over to where Qin Mu was floating in midair. Below him was a palace that was more than half collapsed. Inside it was a shrine with a wooden god statue that was covered in strange markings. Its head was on the floor.
Qin Mu raised his hand, and Carefree Sword flew into it. He looked at the head of the wooden god statue with a grim face.
When he had lured the sand giants out just then, he had returned back to the ruin and surveyed it with Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes. He discovered then that there were strange markings flowing continuously on the wooden god statue, so he had sliced off its head in one strike!
Once he did that, the markings which were originally glowing slowly dimmed.
A terrifying brainwave had rushed out from the god statue toward Qin Mu. However, it was blocked by the jade pendant hanging from his neck.
“How strange…” Qin Mu turned his head back and asked, “Qi’er, are there gods in your West Earth’s West Heaven Palace?”
Xiong Qi’er shook her head and replied, “I’ve never heard about that before.”
Qin Mu gripped the jade pendant and said in a low voice, “There’s a consciousness hidden in this god statue, and it even attacked me when I cut off its head. The owner of this god statue should still be alive.”
“Cult Master, Pangong Tso escaped,” the dragon qilin said.
Qin Mu didn’t mind it. “He has been escaping for ten thousand years and has long perfected the art of it, so it won’t be easy to get rid of him in one go. Didn’t he also escape when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor surrounded Rolan’s Golden Palace? What makes my heart throb is that there might be a living god in West Earth’s True Heaven Palace…”
He raised his head to look to the west. The wooden statue could actually gather sand to form giants. This showed that it was using the ultimate art of True Heaven Palace.
It was called Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique and was suitable for women to cultivate. Even though Xiong Xiyu had imparted it to Qin Mu, his gains weren’t great.
‘Imperial Preceptor went to True Heaven Palace, so he’s probably going to be out of luck. ‘Qin Mu pulled away his gaze and thought to himself, ‘I hope that god’s ability isn’t too great, for otherwise…’
He shook his head.
“What worries me even more is why did this god of True Heaven Palace leave behind this ruined palace? The sand giants are clearly for killing the abandoned people of Great Ruins. How exactly did True Heaven Palace look like originally?’
He jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back who rushed toward the west. Soon, they covered over ten miles.
The ruin was silent, but after a moment, a rustling could be heard, and the markings on the two pieces of wood gradually lighted up. The head suddenly flew up and landed on the neck of the wooden statue.
Its markings grew brighter and brighter. The sculpture actually slowly began to change, its wooden body turning into flesh and blood!
What was even more terrifying was that the statue actually twisted its head to the back of its body. Its eyes slowly opened and looked in the direction of Qin Mu.
The wooden statue opened its mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice. “A noble of the abandoned people, I…”
Swoosh!
A sword light broke through the air after having stayed close to the ground, piercing the head of the wooden statue that was changing into flesh and blood. The sword light then flashed, slicing the wooden god statue into countless pieces!
Sometime later and twenty miles away, the sword light returned to Qin Mu’s sheath.
“God, I’ve also killed some of your kind before.” Qin Mu folded his arms as he stood on the dragon qilin’s head. His body rose and lowered along with its movement.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
As the sun set in the west, the flaming desert was colored fiery red. Qin Mu rode on the dragon qilin’s head, having transformed his vital qi into Vermillion Bird Vital Qi to refine each and every one of his flying swords. He was deepening the rune markings on them.
He lowered his head and saw that Xiong Qi’er had already fallen asleep in the dragon qilin’s ear. There was no wind there, and the dragon qilin also used his ear to cover its inside to protect the little girl with utmost care.
‘Fatty Dragon is really not bad,’ Qin Mu praised in his heart. ‘This fatty is actually quite meticulous. The taste of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills is indeed not that good; I should improve it for him once we find a place to land.’
“Cult Master, there’s an oasis ahead!” the dragon qilin suddenly said
Qin Mu looked ahead of them, and he indeed saw an oasis. “I wonder if there’s water there. I can endure another day without water, but I’m afraid for Qi’er.”
The flaming desert was incomparably scorching, and there was no moisture in the air. Qin Mu couldn’t get any water even when he changed to Black Tortoise Vital Qi. He had never had to worry about the problem of water supply before, but now with Xiong Qi’er by his side, he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
After a moment, the dragon qilin reached the oasis, and they saw a couple snow white goatskin tents built beside the lake. People wearing West Earth’s clothing were raising fire to cook their meals. The dragon qilin looked around cautiously and said, “I wonder if Pangong Tso escaped here. Cult Master be careful. He’s severely injured so he couldn’t have run far.”
Qin Mu jumped down and opened up the dragon qilin’s ear, from which he took out the sleeping Xiong Qi’er with a smile. “Don’t worry. Since I’m here, even if he’s nearby, he won’t dare to come out. If he decides to show up, it will just make it more convenient for me to get rid of him.”
The tribesmen of West Earth wore embroidered headbands. When they saw the newcomers, their faces changed drastically, but they didn’t dare to make a sound.
Qin Mu looked around and saw that there were a lot more men than women in the camp, and under the daily hardships, their faces were red from the sun. There were also some two-legged yellow gazelles in the oasis along with some commodities. The group was most likely traveling merchants.
Even though the speed of the two-legged gazelles was fast and their ability to carry weight was also great, riding them was a very bumpy experience. Because of that, only merchants chose to use this kind of strange beast.
Even it was bumpy riding the two-legged gazelles, they could deliver more goods.
Qin Mu came to an elderly merchant and said, “Elder, my little sister is asleep. Could I borrow a tent?”
The elderly merchant immediately nodded and said, “Help yourself.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks and sent the girl into a tent. The night in the desert was very cold, so it was lucky to get a goatskin tent to keep her warm. On top of that, there were some thick goat fur blankets inside. Qin Mu tucked in Xiong Qi’er who was still in a daze. Her tiny hands grabbed onto the blanket and she smacked her lips twice. She had to be hungry, but she didn’t wake up.
Qin Mu walked out of the tent to see that the sun had already set.
With the crackle of the bonfire beside him, he asked, “Elder, you guys are merchants from West Earth?”
Everyone looked at Qin Mu’s face and didn’t dare to speak. Only the elderly merchant in charge dared to open his mouth. “We are from West Earth and are going to Great Ruins to do business. Is big brother from Great Ruins?”
Qin Mu was speechless at first, then broke into laughter. Even though he had grown quite tall, it wasn’t even close to him being worthy to be called big brother. The fearfulness of the merchants had to be because of the flame markings on his face.
From them, they could deduce that he came from Great Ruins.
“I’m indeed from Great Ruins and I plan to go to West Earth.” Qin Mu took out some fresh beef and fruit from his taotie sack and gifted it to the other party with a smile. “Elder, thank you for letting my little sister have a place to rest. If elder doesn’t mind, you can just call me Little Qin.”
The elder couldn’t reject and had to accept. “I don’t dare to be called elder. The position of us men in West Earth is slightly lower, only senior women are deserved to be called elders. Brother Qin, you are a person of Great Ruins so it is not really good for you to go to West Earth. This flame desert stretches for tens of thousands of miles and there is blazing fire all along the way. Also, this fire poses numerous dangers to the people of Great Ruins, so it’d be best for you to return.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I’ve made a promise to go to West Earth so how can I break it? Women are the ones who call the shots in West Earth? Eternal Peace Empire also has women generals and officials. Back when Imperial Preceptor was pushing for equality between men and women, he met quite some opposition, so I would have never expected you guys to be even more open than Eternal Peace.”
The old merchant’s face changed and he immediately said, “Shush! You can’t say equality between men and women or you will be executed! How can men and women be equal? Women can give birth, men can’t give birth, so of course, the men are a class lower!”
Qin Mu was stunned.
The old merchant glanced around and said softly, “When you reach West Earth don’t say this kind of muddle-headed words. Of course, that’s if you can survive your journey there…”
Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“When you reach West Earth, don’t say you are from Great Ruins,” the old merchant also added solemnly. “If you say you are from Great Ruins, you will soon be removed.”
Qin Mu frowned and asked, “Why so?”
The old merchant wasn’t willing to go into detail, and Qin Mu didn’t force him. He continued to use his vital qi to refine his flying swords. When his cultivation got half-exhausted, he would consume a few spirit pills. The flying swords became smaller and smaller from his refinement.
“I’m still lacking compared to Grandpa Mute, able to refine swords into flowing water.”
Qin Mu grabbed a flying sword and rubbed it with his hands. It became a small sword pellet, but there were still some protrusions. He executed Carefree Sword and eight thousand swords collided, transforming into a sword pellet. Even though it was much smaller than before, it was still a square of two feet.
Only when he refined the sword pellet to the size of a thumb could his refinement technique be considered improved. At that point, he could refine swords into flowing water.
Qin Mu dispersed his sword pellet and grabbed Carefree Sword. Nearly eight thousand flying swords came swooshing over one after another, fusing with the mother sword.
Carefree Sword became heavier and heavier, and when the last one fused into it, Qin Mu’s hand trembled. The sword was way too heavy, but he could at least lift it.
He tried to swing it, and even though it moved very slowly, crackling sounds from an explosion and humming from tremors came from the sky. It was like the descent of a huge mountain!
The explosion noise came from the heaviness of the sword due to the compressed space!
Qin Mu swung Carefree Sword twice and his arms were already sore. He immediately dispersed the child swords and no longer tormented himself with it. ‘Those dragon language writings on Emperor’s Disk and the true dragon’s nest are really not bad. The Nine Dragons Monarch Technique on them is improving my corporeal body at an extremely fast speed! I’d had no chance to lift this sword in the past! What a pity I still can’t figure out many parts of the dragon language on them.’
In the last couple days, he’d been trying to fuse Nine Dragons Monarch Technique with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and his corporeal body was improving at a godly speed. In the past, he had only cultivated the body refinement techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures so just the pure power his corporeal body alone was stronger than the divine arts of most divine arts practitioners.
If he executed battle techniques like Thunderclap Eight Strikes and Pig Slaughter Knife, their power would be multiplied several times!
The power of the corporeal body had an extraordinary impact on battle techniques!
The merchants of West Earth went into their tents to sleep while Qin Mu sat beside the lake. The dragon qilin had shrunk his size and asked Qin Mu for Dragon Rearing Scriptures. He lay down beside him and used the flames of the desert to read.
‘Fatty Dragon, this fellow has started to put in effort like Ling’er!’ Qin Mu was glad.
The dragon qilin licked his claws and flipped open Dragon Rearing Scriptures to read through it carefully. He thought to himself, ‘Dragon Rearing Sovereign wrote Dragon Rearing Scriptures so I also want to write my own Human Rearing Scriptures…’
Not long later, Qin Mu lay down on the dragon qilin and fell asleep. The dragon qilin also put his head down to rest. Even though the desert was filled with flames at night, the temperature was very low. The surface of the lake had frozen up, but the dragon qilin’s body was very warm. Flames would puff out from his nostrils from time to time.
Near midnight, among the flames outside the oasis, Pangong Tso dug out from underground. He looked at the sleeping Qin Mu and hesitated for a moment. He wondered if he should close in to kill that fellow now.
Qin Mu breathed calmly, having no idea what was happening around him.
Pangong Tso hesitated one last time before deciding to land a fatal blow when he saw dragon qi flying out from taotie sack as Qin Mu breathed. They were like fine slithering dragons around him.
Pangong Tso saw Qin Mu’s hand in the taotie sack, and his heart trembled. He suddenly changed his mind and turned around to sink back into the ground.
“He noticed?”
Qin Mu opened one eye and looked around before shutting it again. He took out the hand he had placed in his taotie sack and continued to guide the dragon in the true dragon’s nest while he snored. This time he had really fallen asleep.
Traces of true dragon qi were absorbed by his body, improving his vital qi and raising his cultivation.
Qin Mu had relied on the true dragon’s nest and Emperor’s Disk to cultivate the last few months, because of which his cultivation had been able to raise that fast. Even Pangong Tso who had reincarnated over ten times couldn’t get ahead of him.
Of course, the most crucial point was still his frequent dual cultivation of primordial spirit with Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang. It benefitted him a lot, and his cultivation didn’t fall behind that of Pangong Tso who had entered Seven Stars Realm.
When day broke, Xiong Qi’er woke up and whined that she was starving. Qin Mu used some minced lean meat and vegetables to cook her porridge. He also made some pastries before refining a few improve spirit pills for the dragon qilin.
‘My Human Rearing Scriptures will definitely succeed!’ The dragon qilin was full of confidence. “Cult Master thought he succeeded in cultivating Dragon Rearing Scriptures, but he has no idea that he’s in the grasp of my Human Rearing Scriptures!’
When the caravan was ready to set off, the old merchant bade farewell to Qin Mu and warned him again, “Brother Qin must never say that you are from Great Ruins; otherwise, there will be great trouble!”
Qin Mu thanked him and got on the dragon qilin’s forehead to rush towards the west. Behind him came the bells ringing on the gazelles’ necks as they carried the goods to toward Great Ruins in the east.
The dragon qilin’s speed was fast, but they still couldn’t reach West Earth even running all the way to the evening.
When they passed by a huge mountain, Qin Mu took a few glances at it, but the dragon qilin ran past it the next moment. Qin Mu then said, “Fatty Dragon, go back!”
The dragon qilin was puzzled, but immediately did as asked.
Qin Mu examined the mountain and saw that it was extremely majestic. There were no flames on it, so Qin Mu quickly went to its peak. It was vast and covered in broken fences and dilapidated walls. Qin Mu could imagine the majestic sight back when everything was still standing.
There were some dried up corpses buried in the sand, and Qin Mu examined them. They showed up to be giants that had abnormally tall and sturdy bodies.
He came to a pillar and touched it. Beside it lay some thick chains.
“Cult Master, what’s with this mountain?” The dragon qilin flew over on fire clouds.
Qin Mu raised his finger to point at the desert far away. “Look over there.”
The dragon qilin looked in the pointed direction and saw a pitch black ball which let the wind and sand caress it.
“It’s Sun Ship, a dead Sun Ship.” Qin Mu disembarked from the ship, expressionless. “Let’s go.”
The dragon qilin looked at his face and didn’t dare to say anything more. Instead, he continued to carry him to the west. Soon after, they encountered a second huge ship. It was a shattered Moon Ship.
After that, they encountered a third huge ship buried in the desert. That Moon Ship had suffered in an extremely fierce battle and was exceptionally ruined.
Qin Mu suddenly came to realization. “Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique is the bane of Sun Ship and Moon Ship!”
Chapter 445: Night Attack
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When the meteorological phenomenon changed drastically at the end of Founding Emperor Era, Sun Ship and Moon Ship crafted by the gods of Founding Emperor Period were used to drive away the darkness. It allowed things to grow, and the people were able to survive.
However, the two types of ships were sharp weapons in battle as well. Sun Guardian of Sun Ship and Moon Guardian of Moon Ship could mobilize the energy of the majestic ship so that their own energy would reach the level of heavenly gods. They would gain the mighty force to change heaven and earth.
Qin Mu had once used Sun Ship and also borrowed Moon Ship, so he knew the powerful and extraordinary points of the two ships.
With Secrets of Dragon Control from Dragon Rearing Scriptures to borrow the power of the divine flood dragon king and the flood dragons, he could open his Divine Bridge so his primordial spirit would reach the celestial heavens. However, he could only enter the Southern Heavenly Gates and had no way to enter the depths of celestial heavens. In comparison, borrowing the power of Sun Ship or Moon Ship would allow him to reach Jade Pavilion which stood beside Jade Lake!
Yet Sun Ship and Moon Ship had their bane, and it was Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique.
Sun Ships lent power to Sun Guardians and Moon Ships lent power to Moon Guardians. That power came from the bodies of the two ships, not their wielders. The two ships possessed boundless terrifying energy, and with the sun or moon forged by gods as an energy source, they were able to drive away the darkness.
Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique had the ideology of all things having spirit and all things having soul. It relied on practitioners’ sense of nature to create spirits, awakening all things in heaven and earth, and calling them to fight.
A god who cultivated Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique could wake the spirit in Sun Ship and Moon Ship to fight for them.
In that case, what awaited Sun and Moon Guardians as well as the Sun Herders and Moon Herders would only be a bloody massacre and death. Even the guardians themselves wouldn’t be able to escape!
“Many years ago, there must have been a terrifying battle here. Sun Ships and Moon Ships encountered a god that cultivated Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique, which resulted in them being destroyed, one by one. Meanwhile this…” Qin Mu looked to the west, and his gaze was like candlelight flickering in the wind. “West Earth’s True Heaven Palace must have some relation with this.”
He always felt that West Earth’s True Heaven Palace was a sacred ground like Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect, but even though Palace Master had remarkable divine arts, she was merely a strong practitioner trapped in Divine Bridge Realm. Her sacred ground was no different from the other sacred grounds.
However, from the looks of it, West Earth’s True Heaven Palace was probably hiding numerous secrets and even a terrifying existence!
Not only that, just the name True Heaven Palace gave rise to some possible considerations.
Heavenly Saint Cult got its name because of Woodcutter imparting his teachings being revered as a saint. Great Thunderclap Monastery was named that because of Mount Meru’s height, its top being located at the layer of thunderclouds. When thunder and buddha voice resonated together, it was so loud that even the deaf could hear.
Dao Sect was famous because of Dao Sword and Kunlun Mountain while Little Jade Capital was a fragment of Founding Emperor Era’s Jade Capital. The names of the sacred grounds revealed their origin in a way.
So what was the origin of True Heaven Palace?
Why did the god of True Heaven Palace destroy Sun and Moon Ships?
The ruin of the divine palace in the desert and the strange sand giants were probably the doing of that same god as well. The desert covered in strange flames which made flame markings appear on the abandoned people and attempted to burn them to death, was it also related to True Heaven Palace?
Why would flame markings appear on the abandoned people that stepped onto the land, though? Why would only the abandoned people of Great Ruins be burned to death while the others felt nothing when they touch the flames?
How many secrets were hidden in West Earth?
The flaming desert blazed furiously, feeling extremely scorching to Qin Mu. Suddenly, another ruin appeared in front of them, and before the dragon qilin could close in, they saw violent gusts of sand gathering in there. A sand giant gradually took shape and another was also forming next to it. Violent sand was swirling all around their feet.
The dragon qilin was about to take a detour when Qin Mu said, “No need, continue on the way.”
The dragon qilin could only rush toward the sand giants that were overflowing with murderous intent. Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eyes as he surveyed the ruin from afar.
The sand giants rushed over and came closer and closer. Suddenly there was a sword hum as Carefree Sword swooshed along the desert floor. It raised a whirlwind which swept up the sand!
The sand giants came to a hundred miles away from the dragon qilin before suddenly collapsing. Rolling sand surged forth, and the dragon qilin immediately gave a loud roar, dispersing the crumbling dunes.
Qin Mu called back Carefree Sword while the dragon qilin carried him into the ruin. There, he saw a god statue which was sliced into some eight pieces lying around the shrine.
The dragon qilin floated away.
“We should be able to enter West Earth by tomorrow afternoon.”
On a broken Sun Ship, Qin Mu lighted a bonfire and let the dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er rest. He could still endure, but the dragon qilin needed to rest after running for so long. It was also hard for Xiong Qi’er to endure the journey at a young age.
Qin Mu looked toward the west, and his gaze passed through the weird flames of the desert. In them, a figure appeared in the distance.
Qin Mu smiled and waved his hand. It startled the figure, and it hurriedly escaped.
“Grandmaster’s guts are becoming smaller and smaller.” Qin Mu burst out laughing.
Pangong Tso left the broken Sun Ship, his face was flickering between clear and dark. He had already reattached his broken arm, and the injuries he’d suffered were all basically healed. However, he still couldn’t manage to sneak up on Qin Mu.
It was not that he had never thought of sneak attacking or even facing off with Qin Mu, just that when he realized that his chances of victory weren’t high, he could only banish the thoughts.
He wanted to leave, but he suddenly saw sand flowing silently in the surroundings, and his heart couldn’t help throbbing slightly. He hurriedly looked at the flames.
The desert at night wasn’t in complete darkness. The flames lighted it up, but by a lot. In the distance, Pangong Tso saw a strange human figure which looked like a wooden puppet walking over. Its joints warped as it walked in a strange manner.
The flowing sand in the desert moved with the puppet’s footsteps, and the strange thing was that the sand actually didn’t make any sound.
Pangong Tso’s heart leaped into his throat when he saw the figure of another wooden puppet followed by the third and the fourth…
When they got close, he realized that the strange figures were actually wooden god statues. But their eyes were actually real and not wood. At that moment, they were closing in on the Sun Ship silently.
As Pangong Tso’s heart throbbed, one of the wooden god statues turned to look at him, revealing a peculiar smile. It stretched out a wooden finger and placed it by its mouth to make a shush action.
Pangong Tso blinked, but didn’t move, watching the god statues moving toward the Sun Ship.
The flowing sand surged, carrying the wooden sculptures into the air. The sand mass beneath them became larger and larger.
Pangong Tso grew nervous, his hands forming into firsts in a certain excitement. The surroundings of Sun Ship were already sealed off by sand giants. They raised their huge fists high up and prepared to smash down on the Sun Ship in which Qin Mu rested!
‘That Qin brat is a goner!’ Pangong Tso was so excited he nearly began shouting in joy.
At that moment, a silver sword light swooshed and pierced the head of a wooden god statue. It exploded and was then followed by a second, third, and fourth one.
After the explosions, the arms of the sand giants froze in midair before crumbling like flowing sand, burying half of the Sun Ship.
“Fight with me?” A sneer came from the ship.
Pangong Tso no longer hesitated and turned to leave. ‘There’s no chance to succeed when scheming against this brat! However, why is an abandoned person like him coming to West Earth? Is he seeking death? The owner of these wooden god statue, I know her, we’ve met once, but it wasn’t something I like to recall. Hehe, Qin brat, even if I want to kill you, why would I need to make my move personally?’
He smiled. ‘Then again, even if I didn’t borrow her power, I still have a few old friends in West Earth, so killing you is simply too easy! Rascal, you dare to oppose me? After you die, I’ll make your corpse grovel before me!’
The next afternoon, the dragon qilin finally walked out of the desert and the flame markings gradually faded from Qin Mu’s body.
They came to the border town of West Earth where there were many men and women wearing embroidered headbands. Their clothes were gorgeous, full of gold and silver. Those with a higher status wore silver headdress that was sculpted as phoenixes and vermillion birds. The clothes on their bodies were usually red or black and looked dazzling to the eyes.
There was an extremely high number of pretty girls while the men looked somewhat plain and simple.
When the trio just entered the little town, Xiong Qi’er whined about wanting to eat sour fish, chili bones, rice-flour noodles and drink bug poop tea. She had left her hometown for more than half a year and couldn’t hold back her excitement at the thought of being able to eat the delicacies of her hometown. She wanted to eat everything at once.
West Earth used gold and silver to settle payment so Qin Mu had brought some and let the girl eat to her content.
Qin Mu also got a taste. The food of West Earth tended to be more spicy and sour, having a different taste. However, he didn’t dare to try bug poop tea. It was made from the feces of the bug which ate tea leaves so even though the tea was unusually fragrant, he was still slightly terrified.
‘Grandpa Apothecary likes to drink tea so I should bring some for him to try,’ Qin Mu thought to himself.
He then examined his surroundings. The architecture of West Earth was quite different from that of Eternal Peace. The local conditions and customs were all different, but the strangest things were the houses. They were constructed from wood and were circular. Many buildings had an inscribed board on which hung a god statue.
After inquiring about it, Qin Mu learned that those god statues were used to prevent people from using spells to awaken spirits.
Because the spells of West Earth took the path of all things having spirit and all things having soul, if a divine art practitioner executed a spell and a house suddenly stood up and ran away, wouldn’t the whole family be left cold and hungry?
Only if a god statue was worshiped in the house would it not be summoned away by divine art practitioners.
Qin Mu blinked at such an explanation. The sight of a huge cluster of houses standing up to battle was truly something fresh.
However, could the god statue really prevent the houses from being taken away by divine arts practitioners?
“There are also numerous shrines on the mountains used to suppress the mountain spirits. There’s also a divine shrine in every river to prevent divine arts practitioners from taking them away. However, those mountains and rivers all have owners,” an elder explained.
Qin Mu looked around and clicked his tongue in wonder. When looking at the mountains stretching into the distance, he finally understood why the mountain range of West Earth was hadn’t yet been razed to the ground. The land still had verdant hills and limpid water which was a pleasant scenery.
“Why do all the mountains and rivers here have owners?” Qin Mu asked. “Who are they?”
They, of course, belong to the masters of True Heaven Palace. There are also some that belong to divine arts practitioners of some place or some sect,” the elder said. “Not only do the mountains and rivers have owners, even flowers, grass, and trees all have owners. They can’t be carelessly touched; otherwise, even selling oneself won’t be enough to pay up!”
As he was saying that, the ground gently trembled, and the people around became flustered. They hurriedly dodged to the side, and Qin Mu looked toward the origin of the sound where he saw a tree walking over. On it stood a woman who was holding a painted scroll. She shouted loudly, “An escapee from Great Ruins entered our West Earth today. True Heaven Palace has ordered to capture this fugitive! Come, hang this portrait up!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The woman wore a black top and black skirt while silver accessories adorned her head. There were also over a dozen silver bracelets with bells on her wrists. Her appearance was impressive, and soon a person walked over to take the portrait from her hands to hang it on the announcement board.
The woman of True Heaven Palace looked down at them from high above and said, “This fugitive from Great Ruins is extremely important and will come from the flaming desert in the next few days so you guys have to be alert. If you see him, don’t make a commotion so he won’t be alerted.”
Xiong Qi’er wanted to run over to look, but Qin Mu grabbed her tiny hand to prevent her from getting lost.
There was a large crowd in front of the announcement board, and it was impenetrable. However, Xiong Qi’er still managed to squeeze all the way forward while pulling Qin Mu behind her. He then raised his head to see himself on the painting. On top of it were written—Great Ruins’ Fugitive Qin Mu.
Xiong Qi’er was both surprised and delighted. “Fatty Dragon, you are also beside big brother! Only I’m missing” Up.dated b.y B o x Novel. com
The surroundings had been full of noise moments ago, but everyone fell silent at that moment. They looked at Qin Mu.
He seemed to not notice anything as he looked at the announcement board with a smile. “This is the work of Pangong Tso; he painted it personally. Xing An also had a portrait of me which was drawn by him, so I can recognize his strokes.”
Whoosh!
The surroundings instantly emptied as the crowd dispersed, moving as far away from him as possible.
Qin Mu paid no mind to it and continued to smile. “Grandmaster still has a wide circle of friends and knows quite a lot of people. It’s a pity he ran too fast and I didn’t manage to kill him.”
“Great Ruins’ fugitive, die!”
An angry shout came from behind him followed by a whoosh as the tree man raised its gigantic feet to step on him. The tree man was incomparably heavy and its power was immense. Since there were a lot of trees and their prices weren’t high, divine arts practitioners of West Earth would usually choose them as their main transportation and weapon in battle.
The tree man that the female disciple of True Heaven Palace had chosen was of a different breed, though. Its branches, trunk, and leaves were crimson like blood, and based on its appearance, it seemed to have gone through numerous battles, gaining quite an awe-inspiring air about itself.
Qin Mu stretched out his hand in a grabbing motion, and a ball of green light flew out from the tree man’s body which froze it in place. Qin Mu had taken out the soul of the tree. Xiong Xiyu had imparted Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to him so even though he felt that it wasn’t as easy for men to cultivate as to women, he had still put in quite some effort into it.
The disciple of True Heaven Palace was astonished, and the silver accessories on her head suddenly flew up, transforming into a silver phoenix that rushed at Qin Mu. The silver bracelets on her arms also flew out to encase his head.
Flames blazed around Qin Mu’s body and before the silver phoenix and silver bracelets could even reach him, they turned into a puddle of molten metal.
The female disciple of True Heaven Palace saw that her situation was bad and immediately turned to leave. Her clothes fluttered and brought her to soar into the sky. She didn’t even have to use any flying spells.
“Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique is really miraculous, even the clothes can allow one to fly,” Qin Mu exclaimed with admiration. “Seems like I have still underestimated this technique.”
The woman grunted and fell from the sky.
“Big trouble!” The crowd in the surroundings fled in all directions while shouting among themselves. “A lowly man is going to kill a female master!”
Qin Mu looked around and saw that the street was already empty. The doors and windows of all the houses were shut, and there wasn’t a soul in the surroundings. Only the dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er were still standing beside him while the female disciple of True Heaven Palace was sprawled on the ground. The fall had stunned her.
“Do you know how to reach True Heaven Palace?” Qin Mu asked with a friendly expression
That female disciple of True Heaven Palace suddenly flipped forward and the hairpins in her head shot toward his eyes like swords. She quickly moved to a house beside the street and she raised her hand to pluck down the god statue on the inscribed board.
Boom!
The house suddenly stood up and transformed into a giant. The two small rooms became the fists which smashed down on Qin Mu!
The hairpins froze in place when they got near Qin Mu’s eyes. The formations in them swirled, and the hairpins melted into droplets of molten silver.
Qin Mu raised his head, and the star lights shone in his eyes, sweeping toward the house giant. Through a window, he could see a family shivering inside and not daring to move.
“I knew these god statues had no use.” Two beams of light shot out from his eyes and swept past the female disciple of True Heaven Palace. He said indifferently, “As divine arts practitioners, you care nothing about these ordinary people. I despise you.”
The two beams became shorter and shorter, returning back into his eyes. The formations that were swirling crazily vanished and the stars gradually dimmed.
The house giant landed down with a crash and transformed back into a circular house.
Qin Mu turned to leave as the woman on the roof froze. She didn’t dare to move.
When Qin Mu picked Xiong Qi’er and jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back, the sound of the door opening came from below. The female disciple of True Heaven Palace revealed a look of terror and lowered her voice. “Don’t open the door…”
Creak.
The door slowly opened more, and the woman screamed, “Don’t open the doo—”
Her vital qi couldn’t stabilize her body anymore and blood lines appeared on her neck and waist. Two chunks of flesh then slid off from her waist and tumbled down to the street. Her two legs fell off the roof afterward.
“Cult Master is really benevolent.” Outside the small town, the dragon qilin couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration. “That woman was so ruthless yet Cult Master—”
Just as he said that, he heard the screams of the woman behind him, so he turned back to look. He was just in time to see the sight of her lower body falling off. This made him unable to resist a shiver.
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. “I’m not benevolent. For divine arts practitioners to put their hands on ordinary people is already considered a taboo. We are all human so how can we recklessly take the lives of others just because we’re stronger? When I was in Eternal Peace Empire and Great Ruins, the battles between divine arts practitioners rarely involved the innocent. Even when I fought with Pangong Tso, we also fought outside the city. When Granny Si fought with Border Dragon City Lord, she had also done so in the sky above the city instead of recklessly going at each other among the common folk in the streets.”
The dragon qilin shut his mouth and didn’t continue the conversation.
He had originally planned on praising Qin Mu’s benevolence for not taking the life of that female disciple of True Heaven Palace, but he hadn’t expected she would still end up killed by him. The benevolence that Qin Mu mentioned was only targeted at the ordinary people.
Ever since he was young, Qin Mu had been taught by the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village, learning from their words and examples. Even though he carried the title of Heavenly Devil Cult Master, he could still clearly differentiate between right and wrong.
Based on that point alone, he had surpassed many of the righteous people in most of the reputable sects.
“Qi’er should know the direction of True Heaven Palace, right?” Qin Mu asked.
Xiong Qi’er shook her head. “My mother brought me out to avoid pursuit so we walked through many desolate places and I don’t remember the path back.”
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment before saying, “Fatty Dragon, let’s head along the official road. We can ask for the way once we reach a big city. The people there should know the direction of True Heaven Palace.”
The dragon qilin followed the official road and covered dozens of miles. Gradually, there were more and more people traveling on land. The road was very wide and flat, much better than in Eternal Peace.
The river beside the road was also so clear that the bottom could be seen. There were fish, turtles, and snakes, and they were all not small. There was also divine arts practitioners and martial arts practitioners hurrying on their way over the water. The women were in the majority, but there was also quite some men.
The technique that those people cultivated most likely also followed the path of all things having spirits and all things having soul. Some of the women and men would stop on the river’s surface and call out to it. Waves would instantly rise up high, speeding them forward.
There were also passers-by on the road, and many of them were hurrying on their way on tree men. There were also vine men, but their speed was slower.
There were also divine arts practitioners riding all kinds of flying beasts in the sky. Their multicolored wings reflected light, making them very eye-catching.
“Seems like we are close to the city.” Qin Mu let out a sigh after seeing the increasing number of people.
Suddenly, clattering sounds rang out, and Qin Mu instantly saw a strange sight. Numerous maidens rushed out from a col and flipped many small mountains in a rush to the main road.
What was carrying those maidens was a huge chest which was over a dozen feet large. It took wide strides and ran very quickly.
Some more girls rushed out from a village nearby, but what they were riding was a wooden boat. It had also grown feet and was running on land.
Qin Mu was dumbfounded. It was as though the chest and wooden boat had turned into spirits, able to sprint like the dragon qilin. It was truly weird.
‘There’s anything and everything in the boundless world, and the spells and divine arts of other places can also be used by Eternal Peace. If this kind of spell was promoted to Eternal Peace Empire, wouldn’t that be wonderful?’
Qin Mu blinked and thought to himself, ‘However, it would cause some confusion, wouldn’t it? I reckon those with strong magic power would probably ride mountains to show off.’
The girls were very curious about the dragon qilin he was riding, and the huge chest with over a dozen legs came over. It was very big and numerous yards in length and width. There were also silk cushions that were like clouds laid out on the top. Seven girls sat on them as they examined the dragon qilin and Qin Mu.
The girl in the lead should have been their leader, and it was her who was using her magic power to control the chest, making it carry them forward.
She looked very pretty when she smiled, and the huge eyes under the tassels weaved by silver pendants were like crescents. Her voice had a unique accent of West Earth, but before she even spoke, she already started giggling. “Little bubba, your big pig runs really fast. Where did you get it?”
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then came to realization that little bubba was probably little brother. He smiled and said, “This is a dragon qilin, a mixed breed between a dragon and a qilin.”
Xiong Qi’er popped out from the dragon qilin’s fur and revealed her small head that looked around with curiosity. The girls were surprised and found the little girl to their liking, wanting to kiss and hug her. Qin Mu was helpless and could only let the dragon qilin move closer to them. He brought Xiong Qi’er up and sent her onto the chest.
He started chatting with the girls and found out that the reason they were surprised was because he was bringing Xiong Qi’er along. West Earth’s social customs were different from what he was familiar with. After a man and a woman went through visiting marriage, if a child was born, the son would be sent to the man’s house while the daughter would be kept by the woman.
This social custom resulted in a strange situation in West Earth. The families were either all female or all male, and numerous villages were made up of solely men or women.
When the girls saw Qin Mu bringing Xiong Qi’er, they thought she was his daughter. However, looking at how Qin Mu wasn’t that old and looked like a sunshine-bright boy, they changed their minds. He didn’t look too young to have kids, so they couldn’t help becoming astonished.
“Little sisters, can I ask you girls about something?” Qin Mu was puzzled by the social customs there and probed, “I’ve met a girl once, and she invited me to her house, but she told me not to walk through the main door but flip through her window instead. What etiquette is this?”
The girls all started to giggle, and the eyes of the girl in the lead curved into crescents again. “Perhaps little bubba isn’t silly. When a girl asks you to flip through the window, it means she wants to smooch with you, just like how the necks of the mandarin ducks coil together, rubbing against each other.”
Qin Mu scratched his head in puzzlement. “What mandarin duck coiling?”
The girl in the lead jumped onto the dragon qilin’s head and smiled. “Don’t move.” After she said that, she leaned into his chest and grabbed his hands to put on her chest. She moved her face over and her long neck went into his embrace. She rubbed her face against his, and her earlobes touched with his, giving him a smooth and intimate feeling that was indescribably soft and charming.
Qin Mu’s face flushed as he was left at a loss. All he could smell was the fragrance of the girl.
She chuckled and returned back to her chest. The other girls looked at his intoxicated look and all laughed loudly in delight.
“Big sister, was your heart moved? Why don’t you take him for visiting marriage?” one girl even teased.
She took a glance at Qin Mu, and her heart was pretty moved. She said hesitantly, “It’s just if he is willing or not…”
The other girls also nudged her, and she took a fragrance pouch out, throwing it to Qin Mu with a giggle. “Little bubba, you can climb through my window tonight, I’ll teach you how the mandarin ducks do it.”
The women in West Earth were daring and much more fiery than the girls in Eternal Peace Capital. Qin Mu felt that he couldn’t digest all that was happening and immediately changed the topic. “Do you know how to reach True Heaven Palace?”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Even though the girls had cultivated some spells of West Earth and knew there was a place called True Heaven Palace, they didn’t know its exact place.
West Earth was vast, no smaller than Eternal Peace or Great Ruins. Most of the people living in the latter knew about Dao Sect, but most of them also didn’t know where it was located.
The people of West Earth were the same.
Qin Mu was slightly regretting killing that female disciple of True Heaven Palace.
In front, a magnificent city appeared in his eyes, and the maidens said that they were there for the fair. The city was called Fragrant Bloom City and was full of fresh flowers blossoming. Green vines crept over the city walls, and huge blooms rested on the wall. The tower was also draped with fresh flowers that bloomed in beautiful purples and brilliant reds. They were very eye-catching.
Upon coming closer, Qin Mu saw that those flowers were spirit-like, since beautiful maidens came out from within them. They gently sang folk songs that he didn’t understand after having been awakened by spells of the people in the city. They adorned the scenery of Fragrant Bloom City.
There were scindapsus maidens wearing green dresses, and begonia maidens carrying brilliant red flowers among the tall buildings. U.p.dated by Box n o v e l. com
There were also giants formed by rocks knocking on drums and unknown flowers floating in the sky. Their spirits played flutes and pipas as they accompanied the giants.
Qin Mu felt like a country bumpkin. Humongous objects were walking on the streets, and they were houses which had grown feet. Boys and girls stood at the windows, looking around and giggling loud and clear. There were also streamers fluttering in the wind, flying out from one window to another, forming bridges. Girls wearing all kinds of splendid clothes stepped on the streamers to cross the distance and meet their loved ones.
“It’s Flowery Mountain Festival!” Xiong Qi’er said excitedly. “My mother brought me to play here before! True Heaven Palace’s Flowery Mountain Festival is even more bustling than this!”
Qin Mu parted ways with the maidens on the chest. The dragon qilin carried them down the magnificent street. The flourishing sight of West Earth was unimaginable. It was worlds apart from Eternal Peace, but it also had an unusual appeal.
They walked through the city which was filled with numerous girls throwing fragrance pouches at Qin Mu. There was even a daring one who stepped on a streamer and came over to pull his hand to rendezvous in the building giant.
Qin Mu let go of the girl’s hand, and she was like a fairy when she floated back into the building, going off to look for other handsome men.
The disciple of True Heaven Palace he had met in West Earth was extremely fierce, and he didn’t have a good impression of the woman of West Earth, but after coming to Fragrant Bloom City, he was attracted by the local conditions and customs.
Flowery Mountain Festival that happened once every year was extraordinary bustling.
Qin Mu passed through the crowd, building giants, and house giants until he finally reached the center of the city. It was much quieter and less lively.
“One of the people living here should be the landlord of Fragrant Bloom City. I should be able to get news of True Heaven Palace from him or other important personas.”
At that moment, a green vine grew rapidly and floated to Qin Mu’s face. There was a huge flower on the tip of the vine which suddenly bloomed. A girl in pink popped out from the flower and smiled sweetly. “Are you Young Master Qin?”
Qin Mu nodded.
That woman walked out of the flower, but there was a stamen connected to her back. She smiled. “Young Master, my owner has an invitation for you. Please follow me.”
“There’s someone here who knows me?” Astonished, Qin Mu climbed down from the dragon qilin’s back. “Lady, please lead the way.”
The woman also landed on the ground and led them to a huge house that was like a manor, looking pretty imposing in style. The two stone lions stood up and turned around to look at Qin Mu and the dragon qilin before squatting back down on the stone platform.
Qin Mu followed the lady in the flower into the house and saw numerous young men and women coming to and fro. It was very bustling, but they were mostly people changed from flowers, grass, trees, and jade. There were even some that were of black gold and black copper.
“This manor isn’t in the style of West Earth, but that of Eternal Peace… Wait a moment, these black gold and black copper…”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned when his gaze fell on a walking cauldron with food inside. It jumped onto the head of a man of fire to cook the food inside itself.
“This huge cauldron is a spirit weapon! Even spirit weapon can transform into spirit?”
Qin Mu suddenly felt like everything had become clear. He couldn’t help slowing down and entering into a daze.
He could sense another shortcut for the reform! It was bringing the ideology of all things having spirits and all things having souls into Eternal Peace, which would raise another wave of reform!
If the spirit weapons of Eternal Peace’s divine arts practitioners could gain spirit, everyone’s ability could be raised tremendously! Not only that, with the merge of the two kinds of systems, more spells and divine arts could be created and could become even more versatile!
The spirit weapons of the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire weren’t truly spirit weapons, for they were merely born and nurtured in the divine treasure. But if they absorbed the ideology of West Earth, they could become spirit weapons in the truest sense!
‘The spells of Eternal Peace place importance on attack power, and there are all kind of strange techniques and miraculous skills. The spells of West Earth are inferior in attack power and they also lack offensive methods; however, the method of all things having spirit could allow spirit weapons to become true spirit weapons! With two kinds of systems, we could complement each other! The most difficult problem was only how to merge the spells of all things having spirit from West Earth with the techniques of Eternal Peace Empire, allowing the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire to sense the spirits and awaken them inside the spirit weapons.’
‘It’s a man!’
Qin Mu was puzzled. Fragrant Bloom City was obviously an extremely flourishing city, so by right, it should have been a woman who was in charge of the household. Why was there then a situation in which a man was situated at a high position?
He looked once more at a handsome young man welcoming him. The youth gave him a familiar feeling, and he felt like he’d seen him somewhere before, even if he was sure he had never met him before.
The dragon qilin suddenly became excited and said in a low voice, “Cult Master, do you think he looks slightly similar to Patriarch?”
Qin Mu was stunned. He indeed felt that the two looked similar and couldn’t help having a favorable impression of him. He greeted, “Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu pays his respects to the owner of this place.”
The youth returned his greeting and his etiquette was that of Eternal Peace Empire. “Cult Master Qin, Ge Ke pays his respect to you. Not long ago, Cult Master’s portrait has been spread throughout the whole of West Earth and your reputation rose and gave rise to a commotion. Many young talents are planning on meeting Cult Master Qin. Over here please, Cult Master Qin.”
Qin Mu’s face darkened. Since he’d brought Xiong Qi’er with him, he had planned to have Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Xiong Xiyu to be the vanguard. Their reputations were much far spread than his as one was the reputable Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace Empire while the other one was the former palace master of True Heaven Palace. They would naturally catch West Earth’s attention, and in that case, no one would notice him and Xiong Qi’er, which would make their journey much safer.
His motive for coming was to familiarize himself with the social customs of West Earth. In the future, Eternal Peace Empire would definitely move their troops here and annex this place, adding it to its territory.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s goal was a top-down approach. By getting True Heaven Palace into their hands before calling war and having it surrender and pay allegiance to Eternal Peace could minimize the casualties by a lot.
But Qin Mu hadn’t expected that because of Pangong Tso, that scoundrel’s meddling, his presence in West Earth would be known by the whole world while his wanted posters would fill every city and town in West Earth.
“Brother Ge Ke is courteous.”
Qin Mu walked with him and saw that the men and women around Ge Ke were all not weak, possessing quite remarkable abilities. However, they were all throwing unpleasant looks at him, unable to wait for a fight. But with Ge Ke as the landowner, they didn’t make a move directly.
Qin Mu looked at Ge Ke and was slightly suspicious. The young man looked somewhat similar to the young patriarch and the manor was also in the style of Eternal Peace Empire and not West Earth’s circular construction. Ge Ke’s etiquette was also the familiar one, so could he really be the result of Patriarch going to West Earth for a visiting marriage?
‘That’s not right! He doesn’t look too old, but some sixteen-seventeen years old. Even though Patriarch is slightly charismatic and flirtatious, he was still just a bunch of old bones seventeen years ago, so how could he still run over to West Earth for a visiting marriage? Then again, Patriarch also looked like a youth, so Ge Ke might have also cultivated the creation techniques in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and thus halted his aging.’
Ge Ke led everyone to a tall building, and there were vehicles arriving from everywhere. The people coming had to have extraordinary status. Qin Mu saw some which rode on clouds which were tied to an ancient tree. There were all kinds of strange beasts and even a small mountain!
The people who could enter the manor could only be those who had quite a reputation. They all looked young and were probably various important figures coming to attend Flowery Mountain Festival. After all, no one would choose an old man or old woman as their partner for Flowery Mountain Festival.
Ge Ke invited them to take their seats, and Qin Mu suppressed the doubt in his heart while sitting down. Ge Ke clapped his hands and a servant fetched a painting.
The young host unscrolled it, and it portrayed none other the Devil Cult Master. He then said with a smile, “True Heaven Palace sent Cult Master Qin’s painting over and said that you are a fugitive from Great Ruins. I wondered if this daring Cult Master Qin would enter my Fragrant Bloom City, but I never thought that he would really do it. Cult Master Qin has remarkable skills and huge guts, so come and take a look at the elites of my West Earth. The female hero here is our Fragrant Bloom City’s Yu Jingfang with a deep family background. The reason why Sister Yu’s surname is Yu is because her ancestor is from the branch of West Earth’s Yu Family. YCult Master Qin should know it, right?”
Qin Mu nodded and said, “The palace master of True Heaven Palace today belongs to Yu Family.”
Ge Ke smiled and said, “Sister Yu has ten thousand grand fields, eighteen mountain ranges, and is the successor of Yu Family. Her cultivation is on Seven Stars Realm.”
Qin Mu nodded at Yu Jingfang with a smile.
She gave a slight smile in return.
Ge Ke then spoke again. “There are also men who are in charge of households in West Earth. This is the young master of West Earth’s Heavenly Province Sect, Yue Qingshan. Heavenly Province Sect is led by men and their cultivation methods are similar to those of Eternal Peace Empire. They are quite well known in West Earth. Brother Yue Qingshan’s cultivation is on Six Directions Realm.”
Qin Mu greeted him.
Yue Qingshan was rather conceited and said, “Even though I’m on Six Directions Realm, the spells and divine arts of my Heavenly Province Sect have ancient origins. They were imparted to us by gods.”
Qin Mu’s interest was aroused and he said with a smile, “I’ve seen a lot of techniques of gods. They are indeed not bad.”
“Now this lady is extraordinary, but she’s not from our Fragrant Bloom City. She’s from True Heaven Palace, Senior Sister Ting Fang,” Ge Ke said.
Qin Mu looked at that woman and saw that she was coming forward in splendid clothes. She had extraordinary good looks and he praised, “A garden full of blossoms, Senior Sister Ting Fang has a nice name.”
Ting Fang smiled and said, “Cult Master Qin, the elders in the palace want to bring you to justice. It’s not me who’s against you, so please pardon me.”
Ge Ke then introduced everyone else, and that had quite the backgrounds.
Qin Mu smiled at everyone single one of them. The cultivations of those people were high, and they were considered quite impressive in the younger generation.
Once the introduction was concluded, Qin Mu smiled and asked, “Brother Ge Ke has introduced so many people, so why don’t you introduce yourself?”
Ge Ke laughed and said, “I’m just the landowner of this place; Fragrant Bloom City is a property that my parents left for me and is nothing worth mentioning. Cult Master Qin, with all the elites coming forth and wanting to take you down, how will you react?”
Qin Mu looked around and said sincerely, “Brothers and sisters, you all look like talented people, so why did you come to die?”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Once Ge Ke said that, everyone in the building sneered endlessly.
Qin Mu paid no attention to it and smiled. “If it wasn’t Great Ruins separating West Earth and Eternal Peace, West Earth would have been long ago wiped out by Eternal Peace. Truth be told, your paths, skills, and divine arts have already fallen behind times compared to those of Eternal Peace whose spells and divine arts are slightly behind times too in my eyes, so I’m seeking change. Brothers and sisters of West Earth, it’s too dangerous to be this close to me. Not to mention those of Six Directions Realm, even the brothers and sisters of Seven Stars Realm, you, you, and you. When you are so close to me, in my eyes…” Updated by boxnovel. com
He pointed at the experts of Seven Stars Realm present and shook his head. “You guys are all merely corpses that can move and talk. The only question is when you guys will become corpses.”
Everyone was overflowing with murderous intent. Yue Qingshan suddenly stood up and sneered. “Cult Master Qin, how arrogant of you! City Lord Ge Ke, you are the owner of this place, and I would very much like to meet this Cult Master Qin. Is it possible?”
Ge Ke laughed and said, “Everyone here is guests attending Flowery Mountain Festival of Fragrant Bloom City so why do we need to draw our daggers? Everyone should find a lover they admire and have a fun night, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Of course, if everyone is insistent on fighting, I won’t be able to stop you guys, will I?”
It was clear that he wanted to watch a show.
Yue Qingshan walked out of the building while sneering. “Cult Master Qin, come out, I want to profit from True Heaven Palace.”
Qin Mu revealed a smile and took out a two feet metal ball while shaking his head. “No need to go down, it’s pretty good here.”
He lifted the metal ball in his hand, and the building instantly shook slightly, gradually sinking into the ground. The building started to creak, and its first level sunk into the ground, followed by the second level, then the third level. Only then did it stop.
Everyone was astonished and Ge Ke praised. “What a heavy ball!”
“Everyone, please take a look.” Qin Mu’s left hand gently stirred the metal ball as he said, “This is my sword pellet.”
Kacha!
The sword pellet split open and eight thousand swords as fine as thread spilled out. Their tips were pointed at the center of the ball. To be able to forge something so exquisite, one not only needed to have extreme craftsmanship, they also needed calculation techniques of the same level.
Cold lights reflected off the eight thousand swords, and the four walls of the building flowed continuously with lights. They even shone on everyone’s faces.
Every sword was like the most perfect work of art.
Qin Mu lifted the sword pellet up, and it slowly floated up to spin slowly, allowing everyone to see its interior structure. “Everyone, without improvement, paths, skills, and divine arts would fall behind times in a hundred years, let alone a thousand. Your West Earth’s paths, skills, and divine arts were imparted to your ancestors twenty thousand years ago to awaken the soul or spirit of all things so they could battle by themselves.
“However, the activation speed of your divine arts is too slow and even experts of Celestial Being Realm require a fixed time to activate them. However, divine arts have myriad changes in an instant, so who would give you the time? Let me execute a sword skill so everyone here can give me pointers. Don’t move.”
True Heaven Palace’s Ting Fang sneered. “If we don’t move, aren’t we just going to let you kill us?”
Qin Mu smiled slightly and said, “If you want to move, you’ll have to pay the consequences. Sword of Founding Emperor…”
The sword pellet in his hand suddenly split open and swords filled the entire building!
When eight thousand swords moved, almost everyone couldn’t resist standing up to defend themselves. At that moment, all of the sword lights suddenly vanished, and along with them, even the building seemed to have vanished as well. What replaced it was a sea of blood that covered both heaven and earth!
The second move of Sword Picture, Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood.
Once this move was executed, the vast and mournful feeling came sweeping over. Everyone felt like they could see countless gods and devils struggling in the sea of blood and yelling. Next, they became corpses in the sword lights and sunk into the sea of blood!
Sword of Founding Emperor sea of blood, mountains and rivers exist, vast and obscure heart, looking around left and right, no more people donning the clothes of homeland.
At that moment, they heard someone slamming the table and someone shouting angrily. There was also the sound of divine arts colliding and a brief period of clashing.
Suddenly, the color of the sea of blood faded away like fleeting time and they could see the back view of a man carrying a divine sword and turning his head back. Loneliness and decrepitness plucked on their heartstrings.
The back view vanished and the building appeared once again. Qin Mu’s hand was still lifted up and in his palm was a sword pellet which was swirling non-stop.
All the plates and bowls, as well as the dishes in front of the guests, remained the same as earlier, untouched.
Cold sweat broke out on everyone’s foreheads, and they hurriedly looked around with frightened eyes. They saw Yu Jinfang’s corpse and that Ting Fang had collapsed on her seat with a red bloodstain at the heart of her brows. There was also two corpses of the servants.
They had slammed the table in Qin Mu’s sword light and tried to contend with his sword light. The only result of that was their deaths. The other people had not moved, and so they were safe.
Yue Qingshan’s face was pale white, but he hadn’t moved. It wasn’t because he couldn’t see Qin Mu’s terrifying sword will; on the contrary, he had clearly felt it which was why he didn’t dare to move.
Ge Ke waved his hand and there were people who immediately went forward to drag the corpses out.
On the seats, everyone’s faces were pale white and some were even ashen.
The astonishment brought by Qin Mu’s move was simply too strong. The sword skill was too fast and made them unable to react. They could only sit there, and this kind of helplessness while awaiting death was not pleasant.
It was especially so for the experts of Seven Stars Realm. Even though they could let their primordial spirits leave their bodies, the battle power of the primordial spirit was too strong and the building was too cramped up. Qin Mu’s sword was extremely fast, and the sword lights had drowned them before they could even react.
Qin Mu’s move had an immense power, and every sword had been made using the best materials, thus everyone’s lives were on the line!
On top of that, their divine arts of all things having spirits and all things having souls were indeed much slower than Qin Mu’s sword in activation speed. If they were to fight, they could only try to pull a distance away from him before trying to execute their arts.
Because of that, in a building, they didn’t have any chance at all.
Qin Mu put away his sword pellet and apologized. “Brother Ge Ke, I hope you will pardon me for dirtying your building.”
“The exquisiteness of Cult Master Qin’s sword skill is unmatched, opening my horizons. Even though you struck with countless swords, you didn’t damage my building at all—this is then true ability. May I ask if this move is a sword move which was founded after Eternal Peace Empire’s reform?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “This move isn’t a divine art from after the reform, but was founded four to five hundred years ago. This move has also fallen behind times, but in West Earth, I can use it to kill all Six Directions and Seven Stars practitioners. No one is my match. Even though everyone here is very strong, you are all still inferior to Pangong Tso. He is much stronger than all of you, able to take this move of mine. At most he will only be heavily injured.”
Everyone snorted coldly and wanted to say something, but their throats were all hoarse. Their voices were also trembling, and they immediately coughed to cover it up.
“City Lord Ge Ke, I have no face to remain here, farewell!” Yue Qingshan suddenly cupped his hands and turned to leave.
The moment he did so, other people also rose to bid farewell. Soon, the building was only left with Qin Mu and his host.
“Cult Master Qin, you didn’t bring many experts with you this time, only a dragon qilin on Celestial Being Realm. On the other hand, my West Earth is full of experts, so aren’t you afraid of dying here?”Ge Ke asked curiously.
Qin Mu smiled in a way that wasn’t exactly smiling. “Brother Ge Ke knows the dragon qilin?” Ge Ke didn’t reply and Qin Mu smiled. “There are many people who want to kill me, but as of yet, no one has ever succeeded. My journey this time wasn’t to challenge all the elites in the world, but to tour the place and explore it. Does Brother Ge Ke know where’s True Heaven Palace?”
“True Heaven Palace is the sacred ground of our West Earth and everyone knows it.” Ge Ke smiled and said, “If Cult Master Qin wants to go there, I can point the way for you.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks and smiled. “True Heaven Palace is after me yet Brother Ge Ke treats me like a guest of honor. Aren’t you afraid True Heaven Palace might cause trouble for you?”
Ge Ke laughed loudly and shook his head. “Even though True Heaven Palace is strong, they are not at the point of behaving unscrupulously. Even though there’s only this sacred ground in the whole of West Earth, it’s not True Heaven Palace that’s ruling West Earth, but High Heavens. True Heaven Palace won’t alarm High Heavens just for this small matter. Come, my man, gift a copy of our West Earth’s geographic map to Cult Master Qin!”
Qin Mu grew solemn. Ge Ke words had revealed an important piece of information—True Heaven Palace and High Heavens seemed to have some sort of relationship.
A servant came forward and offered the geographic map of West Earth to Qin Mu. As he took it, he couldn’t resist asking, “City Lord Ge Ke, your manor seems to have been built in the style of Eternal Peace.”
Ge Ke smiled. “Cult Master Qin, you should go. Killing Ting Fang of True Heaven Palace and Yu Jinfang of Yu Family is a huge trouble by itself. Those people who left in a hurry aren’t going to attend Flowery Mountain Festival, but will report and call for reinforcements. If you don’t go, you won’t be able to leave anymore.”
Qin Mu looked him deeply in the eyes and asked, “How long did Patriarch stay here?”
Ge Ke fell silent, then after a moment, he said, “Not for long. He would come once a year and teach me a lot of stuff. The last time he left, he told me he might never come again. Cult Master Qin, is he gone?”
Qin Mu was silent for a moment, then came to a window to look at the dragon qilin below. At this moment, the behemoth had straightened his ears and it was obvious that he was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation above.
“No.” Qin Mu revealed a smiled and said, “Patriarch has probably become a god.”
Below, the dragon qilin’s ear lowered once again, and he just lay down on the ground with its tail spread out.
Ge Ke came to his side and looked down. He saw Xiong Qi’er climbing onto the tip of the dragon qilin’s tail. The big fellow then raised it to let Xiong Qi’er slide down, causing this little girl to giggle non-stop with joy.
“I’ve met the dragon qilin when I was young, but he doesn’t seem to remember me.” Ge Ke shook his head. “You are bringing the little princess of True Heaven Palace and you still plan to reach that place alive? No wonder True Heaven Palace wants you to be captured so bad. Do you really don’t need my help? For me to become the lord of a city, I naturally have some abilities and tricks! Father had taught me quite a lot of stuff!”
Qin Mu walked out of the building while shaking his head. “You have your own family, and I won’t implicate you. Fatty Dragon, Qi’er, let’s go.”
Ge Ke saw them out of the manor and waved. Qin Mu seemed to notice it and turned back to wave back at him.
Ge Ke couldn’t resist to asking one last question, “Can I meet him again?”
“After you become a god, you will probably see him,” Qin Mu shouted back loudly.
Ge Ke smiled while seeing them off, but his expression dimmed when they were out of sight. ‘Every time he mentions father, he says probably. Father really is gone…”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin, on the other hand, was very happy. He became more hardworking as he ran while carrying Qin Mu. He was as fast as lightning, much faster than he was in the desert.
Even though his thoughts were far-reaching at times, he still wasn’t someone like Ge Ke. When he heard Qin Mu saying that Patriarch had not yet died to Patriarch’s son but that he had become a god, the big fatty couldn’t help celebrating and deciding to work much harder.
Qin Mu found it hard to lie to him.
‘In the sea of fog in the living realm of the dead, Daoist Ling Jing was the boatman,’ Qin Mu thought to himself. ‘Based on that, Patriarch should be in the living realm of the dead as well. Village Chief gave me eight Fengdu coins, so I must go there once more and find the answer for myself!”
He took out the geographical map that Ge Ke had gifted him and unfolded it to look around. After a moment, he found the location of True Heaven Palace and Fragrant Bloom City. He then raised his head to determine his location and immediately told the dragon qilin to sprint in the southwest direction.
Right in front of them, a huge mountain stretched across the horizon, but it was somewhat strange. It was like a giant standing with two mountain peak hanging downwards from its shoulders. But what was weird was that when the two mountain peaks came to the bottom, they became thick and circular, like two huge bells hanging above ground.
While riding toward there, Qin Mu had two choices. He could cross between the two bells or take a detour around the strange body of the huge mountain.
When the dragon qilin sprinted over, Qin Mu raised his head and saw an elegant woman in black floating up the mountain.
She landed on its top, and there was a golden paper that looked like a seal near her.
Qin Mu’s pupil contracted and he saw that the woman was tearing off that paper on the mountain!
“Not good! Fatty Dragon, rush through!”
Just as he said that, the huge mountain suddenly rumbled, and it raised its feet. The incomparably heavy mountain uprooted itself from the ground!
Qin Mu knew that it was bad, and Carefree Sword immediately flew out of the sheath behind him. The sword whizzed through the air and went straight for the woman on the mountain peak!
To catch bandits, first catch the ringleader. The mountain giant definitely required the magic power of a strong practitioner to sustain it. As long as the woman was killed, Qin Mu should be able to stop the transformation process!
The woman turned back to take a look at him and sneered. “Since you dared to kill a disciple of my Yu Family, even if you are the father of the emperor, who cares! I’ll send you to follow her!”
The mountain giant pulled out a leg and stomped on the ground, splattering mud in all directions. It then pulled out the other leg, slowly standing up.
When the mountain giant stood up, the clouds were at its waist, and the two bell-shaped peaks were also raised. Rocks rolled down the secondary peaks, and when the huge chunks crashed down from the sky, they soon piled up on the road.
The woman remained standing on the giant’s head. Carefree Sword instantly spun and transformed into Drill Sword Form to rush into the clouds.
The woman from Yu Family knew that her situation was also bad. She immediately shouted and flying hoops flew out. They went to bind Carefree Sword which was rushing at her from below!
Ding, ding, din,g ding.
Concentrated explosions rang out like rain. The flying hoops bound up Carefree Sword and rapidly shrunk; however, they were immediately shredded into pieces by the spinning sword.
The woman’s cultivation wasn’t weak, but the techniques of West Earth didn’t take the path of strengthening themselves. Instead, they borrowed all things in the heaven and earth to fight, so their own battle power was much weaker when compared to that of divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire on the same realm. When compared to Qin Mu, this Heavenly Devil Cult Master who had made his way by killing everything on the way, the woman was much inferior.
Carefree Sword was a divine sword and its sharpness was unmatched. After shredding all the hoops, its momentum didn’t slow down at all. The sword pierced the woman’s mandible and came out from the other side of her head.
A trail of blood appeared on the mountain peak.
Qin Mu called back his Carefree Sword back, but before he could let out a sigh of relief, he saw that when the mountain rocks fell from the two secondary peaks, they revealed the bodies of brass bells. The two peaks had really been bells and not mountains. They had only been covered by a layer of rocks!
Even though Qin Mu had seen quite a number of such huge spirit weapons before, they were all cult legacy treasures!
Even though the spirit weapons of West Earth weren’t as exquisite as the spirit weapons in Eternal Peace Empire, cult legacy treasures were still extraordinary. They were treasures that contained the meticulous care of a strong practitioner throughout their entire life.
‘That paper on the mountain peak should have been sealing this mountain giant! It should have been awakened long ago and then sealed by its owner to suppress the precious treasure of the family!’
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched, for he realized that their situation had just turned for the worse. The mountain giant raised the two huge bells and swung them without explanation. They collided with each other, and their openings were right toward Qin Mu!
The mountain giant wasn’t awakened but simply sealed before. It always had spirit, which was why Yu Family had sealed it here. When it was needed, they just had to peel away the seal and could mobilize the terrifying giant!
Bang!
The two huge bells collided, and a sound wave came rushing forward. Wherever it passed, the road would rise up and churn toward the dragon qilin.
However, the greatest threat wasn’t the raised road, but the ringing of the bells. It was created by the collision of two cult legacy treasures hitting each other!
“The aristocratic family of West Earth is so fierce! Fatty Dragon, don’t move!”
Qin Mu couldn’t resist praising the enemy as his vital qi burst forth. Countless runes flew around his body, then swept forward to surround the dragon qilin. The devastating soundwave charged over, but before its destructive energy could reach the dragon qilin, the rune markings formed a teleportation formation. With the teleportation divine art activated, Qin Mu disappeared along with the dragon qilin.
The next moment, they appeared a mile away. If it was just Qin Mu himself, he could teleport twenty to thirty miles away. If he brought a person along, he could still teleport ten miles. However, when bringing along a behemoth like the dragon qilin, a mile was already his limit.
But the distance of a mile was simply too short for the mountain giant. With just one stride, it could probably travel over ten miles!
Qin Mu turned back to look and saw that the place where they had been at had flown up, trembling violently like streamers in the wind. Next, the road shattered into pieces from the violent soundwave.
It actually destroyed over twenty miles of road, leaving nothing in its path!
“The mountain giant doesn’t have magic power, but just by smacking the two huge bells together, he unleashed such a terrifying power. It’s truly amazing!”
Qin Mu couldn’t resist praising the enemy. The dragon qilin immediately began to while behind them the incomparably humongous mountain giant turned to take its first step. Qin Mu suddenly saw darkness over his head, and when he looked up, the huge foot of the mountain giant was already above them.
The dragon qilin’s speed instantly increased drastically, surpassing the speed of sound with a few ups and downs. The fatty’s improvement shocked Qin Mu. He didn’t know what kind of spirit pills Fatty Dragon had eaten for his speed to surpass what it was in the past by so much!
At such a dangerous situation, the dragon qilin couldn’t be bothered about tricking his meal owner to improve his meals. He only cared about escaping with his life, and the speed he unleashed was simply astounding.
Boom!
Behind them, the huge foot of the mountain giant landed on the ground, creating a lake underneath itself. The next moment, he raised his hand to smash down a huge brass bell.
The dragon qilin sprinted frantically, and the huge bell landed behind him. However, the power of that huge bell was extremely terrifying. When the soundwave entered the ground, its speed was three to five times faster than in the air.
Behind the dragon qilin, the ground exploded, and it was a horrendous sight. The soundwave even reached the dragon qilin and blew him up in the air.
Fire clouds immediately grew under the dragon qilin’s feet, and he began sprinting again. Behind him, the mountain giant swung the other huge brass bell while the other one was raised upwards so they would hit each other again.
Bang!
The bells rang out, and where the two collided, ripples from the soundwave compressed =space into physical substance. When the soundwave moved along it, its speed got even faster.
Qin Mu’s hair stood up on ends as he hurriedly flipped backward and took out Moon Jade Eye. it lit up, and a beam of light went straight at the soundwave.
Weng.
The destructive soundwave was split into two halves by the beam, and two waves of terrifying energy brushed past the dragon qilin. The tremors made Qin Mu’s scalp crawl, and he shivered not from the cold.
If they had been struck by that soundwave, he, Xiong Qi’er and even the dragon qilin would have been shaken into countless shattered pieces and ceased to exist.
“West Earth still has its own knowledge, but this kind of knowledge is not good for cultivation.”
Qin Mu looked back and saw that mountain giant had been sliced by the beam of Moon Jade Eye. Half of its left shoulder had collapsed, and the dragon qilin moved farther and farther away it. With the abilities of the mountain giant, it could no longer hit them with the soundwaves.
At that moment, the mountain giant suddenly squatted down. When Qin Mu saw that, his heart trembled violently. The mountain giant suddenly started to sprint, and its speed was simply unbelievable!
“My god… That’s not right, there must be someone controlling this mountain giant. Otherwise, it couldn’t so set on me and the dragon qilin, chasing us like mad!”
Qin Mu came to realization. The woman of Yu Family that had removed the seal had already been killed, so it couldn’t be her. It meant that another person had to have hidden close by and their cultivation had to be extremely high as well; otherwise, how could they control such a huge mountain giant?
Just as he thought that, a sword light suddenly flew through the sky, and a human head fell from midair, followed by a few sections of a corpse. It was a silver-haired old woman who had been holding a cane in her hands. That cane had also been severed into two.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He looked at the mountain giant again and saw that it suddenly froze in place, giving up on his chase.
It thus should have been the white-haired old lady who had controlled the mountain giant in the dark to attack them. Otherwise, how would the mountain giant have immediately attacked Qin Mu the moment it awakened?
“Fatty Dragon, stop!”
The dragon qilin immediately stopped, even if he didn’t understand why. Qin Mu opened Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes to look at the mountain giant and saw a figure standing on its head. It was Ge Ke.
The sword light flew back from the clouds and swirled two rounds around him.
Ge Ke bowed and bade them farewell. “Have a safe journey!”
Qin Mu also bowed as a parting. “Thanks for your auspicious words.”
The figure then raised a flag to cover himself and vanished from the top of the mountain.
“Teleportation flag. Patriarch also gave him one.” Qin Mu smiled. “He’s like Patriarch. They both look indifferent to worldly rewards, but actually, they are both very warm-hearted. Ge Ke is no doubt Patriarch’s son. Fatty Dragon, Patriarch has a successor.”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin stepped on fire clouds while heading southwest. Heavenly Province Sect was right in front of them, and its two mountains were like a heavenly gate. There were all kinds of palaces on them.
Yue Qingshan was heading to Heavenly Province Sect when he suddenly sensed something and turned back to see the dragon qilin carrying Qin Mu on his back.
Yue Qingshan jumped in shock and immediately stopped. ‘His speed is so fast! If I go back to the sect and snitch on him, he might just kill me right there!’
The dragon qilin stopped and Qin Mu greeted him. Yue Qingshan returned the greeting.
“Why isn’t Brother Yue attending Flowery Mountain Festival and is returning back to Heavenly Province Sect?” Qin Mu asked with a friendly expression.
Yue Qingshen immediately smiled at him. “I’m ugly and it’s hard for me to please a beauty, so there’s no point in participating in Flowery Mountain Festival.”
Qin Mu smile grew warm. “How is Brother Yue ugly? You have the look of a talent and would definitely win a beauty’s heart. It’s best if you go back to attend Flowery Mountain Festival.”
Yue Qingshan’s hair stood up on ends. The last time Qin Mu had said a similar phrase was when he had executed Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood and killed four experts on the spot!
Now he repeated it, if Yue Qingshan wasn’t tactful and insisted on returning to the mountain, what awaited him was probably a sword to end his life!
“Much thanks to Cult Master Qin’s auspicious words.”
Yue Qingshan gave his thanks and turned to return to Fragrant Bloom City.
Qin Mu saw him off before letting the dragon qilin hurry up on their way, taking a detour around Heavenly Province Sect.
Yue Qingshan saw Fragrant Bloom City from far away and turned back to take a look, thinking to himself, ‘True Heaven Palace ordered his arrest so if my sect could take him down and make our relationship with True Heaven Palace closer, my position in the sect would definitely rise greatly!’
He planned to return when he saw a huge giant-shaped mountain in the barren plains. It left him stunned. He then saw the shattered roads and the destruction caused by the sound waves.
Numerous experts of Yu Family were flying over the limbs of Yu Family’s old grandmother while bawling loudly.
‘Yu family’s old grandmother is also dead?’
Yue Qingshan was stunned for a time, then went straight to Fragrant Bloom City. ‘Even the old grandmother of Yu Family couldn’t stop him with a huge mountain, so it would definitely be difficult for our Heavenly Province Sect to catch him. It is better to avoid unnecessary trouble so why don’t I just meet with the beauties.’
“Bamboo City is right ahead.”
Two days later, Qin Mu stood on the head of the dragon qilin with the geographical map of West Earth in his hands. He carefully checked and matched the astronomical phenomenon and said happily, “After reaching Bamboo City, we won’t be far from True Heaven Palace. Fatty Dragon, you have been hard working lately, running very quickly this time.”
The last two days, the dragon qilin didn’t become lazy and worked very hard. With his leg power, traveling twenty thousand miles a day, they would take half a day at most to reach True Heaven Palace.
Along the way, they had met quite a lot of trouble. With the order of arrest from True Heaven Palace, there were numerous divine arts practitioners searching for his traces, and there had been quite a few fierce battles.
However, a battle as fierce as Yu Family’s bell swinging mountain giant did not repeat. The battle power of the bell swinging mountain giant was simply too terrifying and those who could possess such treasures were usually influential families. The preparation time for this kind of weapon was too long so they had to have an awakened mountain giant in advance or something under a seal.
The dragon qilin’s speed was very fast, so unless someone knew where he was going, it was impossible for them to prepare in advance to intercept him.
On the journey, Qin Mu had experienced the strangeness of West Earth’s paths, skills and, divine arts. Other than using mountains and rivers as weapons, the divine arts practitioners of West Earth would also raise some monsters.
They would enlighten some strange beasts and awaken the spirits. By rising them since they were young, they would make them extremely loyal. On top of that, strange beasts were also their spirit weapons. They would be used as such, and when compared to mountain spirits and earth spirits, they were much more nimble and versatile.
West Earth’s paths, skills and divine arts of all things having spirits was truly an eye-opener.
The dragon qilin sprinted, and they got closer and closer to Bamboo City. It was mostly a mountainous land before it, and they would meet divine arts practitioners rushing through the sky from time to time. Most of them were riding flying strange beasts.
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows at many divine arts practitioners of West Earth monitoring his movements.
‘We are being monitored again, looks like we can’t enter Bamboo City. There will definitely be traps laid there! We can only go through the wilderness.”
Qin Mu’s consciousness pulsed as he used the communication method of Heavenly Feathers to alert the dragon qilin. He then took in a long breath which filled his whole chest.
Whoosh.
He spewed out all that air and instantly, fog spread in all directions, covering over ten miles of the sky.
The dragon qilin immediately sank into the woods. The divine arts practitioners rushed into the fog to search, but when the fog dispersed, Qin Mu and the rest were long gone.
“Young master is here!” a divine arts practitioners suddenly announced nervously.
A precious carriage flew over, with phoenixes pulling it along. In the carriage was a youth who looked stout but not fat. Beside him were numerous women accompanying him.
What was strange was that in West Earth women were clearly in a higher social position, but in front of that youth, the women of True Heaven Palace could only act servile and not be reckless.
Numerous divine arts practitioners greeted the newcomer. “Young Master Yu!”
Young Master Yu surveyed the surroundings and smiled. “He still managed to escape? It’s no wonder. Back when I led everyone to chase after Nai Kui, he also interfered and let Nai Kui escape. That was in Great Ruins and not West Earth so I couldn’t be reckless. Now that we’re in my land, it’s slightly childish if he still thinks he can escape from my grasp.”
The youth was none other than Yu Bochuan who had chased after Xiong Xiyu and her daughter. He was the son of the palace master of True Heaven Palace, and even though he was young, his methods were ruthless and he was deceitful in many ways.
Xiong Xiyu had been the palace master of True Heaven Palace until she was overthrown by Yu Family. Yu Bochuan’s cultivation wasn’t considered great, but he could lead a crowd to chase after her, who was a cult master level existence, and nearly sent her to death after killing the strong practitioners beside her one by one. It showed Yu Bochuan’s abilities.
His schemes were deep and extraordinary.
Yu Bochaun gently nodded, and a female of True Heaven Palace flew up to execute her divine art. Suddenly, the white clouds in the sky wiggled and transformed into an arrow shape that pointed downward.
The carriage drove into the forest below, and another woman stomped her foot. Numerous rocks started to roll together and formed a rock giant which pointed in the direction Qin Mu had left while saying, “The person riding a huge beast went that way.”
The woman then dispersed her divine art, and the stone giant crumbled back into a pile of rocks.
Phoenixes pulled the carriage forward while Yu Bochuan sat in it with a smile. “In West Earth, no one can escape the tracking of our True Heaven Palace. The previous Nai Kui couldn’t, and it’s even more impossible for this Cult Master Qin.”
“Young master, this time it was the grandmaster of the golden palace who came to inform us, asking Elder Bi of our True Heaven Palace to arrest this Cult Master Qin.”
A woman of True Heaven Palace smiled in a charming way. “Elder Bi and the grandmaster of the golden palace have old ties, so ordering the arrest was expected. That grandmaster borrowed the power of our True Heaven Palace to get rid of a strong enemy so he will owe a favor to our True Heaven Palace. But why is young master helping him personally?”
Yu Bochuan smiled. “I’m not helping Grandmaster, instead, I’m meeting Cult Master Qin. I had suffered a loss under his hand the previous time and let him snatch Green Dragon Bead away, which is a precious treasure. Since he dared to barge into our West Earth again, I naturally have to teach him a lesson.
“Besides, coming to West Earth this time, he must have ill intentions. I suspect his motive isn’t just simply touring around. Since he saved the previous Nai Kui and the little princess, I’m afraid he is going to try to help her snatch back the seat of the princess. With him around, Nai Kui is definitely not too far away!”
His gaze became cold and he said indifferently, “Even though my mother has become the master of True Heaven Palace, as long as she doesn’t give birth to a little princess, her seat of palace master won’t be firm. Nai Kui’s motive for coming back is nothing unexpected. However, this Cult Master Qin and the previous Nai Kui will never expect how great my strength can be!”
He raised his head to look in the direction in which Qin Mu had left and said coldly, “Let me give them a big surprise!”
The dragon qilin sprinted among the mountains as though he was flying and passed numerous mountainous ridges. His speed was inferior to before, but it was still considered fast. Qin Mu surveyed the surroundings and frowned slightly. The terrain here was slightly different from the topology on West Earth’s geographic map that Ge Ke had given him.
‘The divine arts practitioners of West Earth like to fight around with mountains and I reckon they don’t place them back after fighting. Using the terrain to determine my location is not a certain thing, I still require the astronomical observations.’
He raised his head and formation markings swirled in his eyes. He raised his head up to look at the sky and the stars and constellations that were blocked by the sunlight gradually appeared. He determined his location and let out a sigh of relief before smiling. “We have already passed Bamboo City…”
When he said that, rumbling suddenly came from the front, and Qin Mu frowned slightly. He raised his head to look ahead and saw dust permeating the sky, transforming into fog to shroud the mountain ranges. He couldn’t see what had caused the world-shaking movements in front.
The dragon qilin also immediately stopped in his footsteps and looked nervously ahead. The dust became denser and denser as it rolled forward, swallowing forests and mountains.
“Cult Master, what’s that ?” The dragon qilin gave an astonished cry.
The ground was trembling continuously, and the trees around them were also shaking. The rocks were jumping up and down on the ground like there was an earthquake. However, it wasn’t what was happening.
Qin Mu opened Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes and looked at the dust surging forward, and his eyes went wide in disbelief. “There is a city in the dust…”
“A city?” the dragon qilin asked in bewilderment. “How can a city create such a big commotion?”
“Because this city is currently running through the forest!” Qin Mu’s scalp almost exploded from his surprise, and he said sternly, “That city is running toward us! Fatty Dragon, let’s go!”
The dust surged forth, and a magnificent city entered their eyes. It was running straight at them.
Below the city walls that were over numerous yards tall were incomparably thick legs. Behind the wall, huge houses had already become giants overflowing with murderous intent. Some were beating drums while others were carrying huge treasures. The gates of the city in the meantime opened and razor-sharp teeth grew out from them as well as the city walls. They opened and closed continuously, and everything that passed through them was chewed into bits and pieces, including mountain peaks!
All that couldn’t be chewed into bits and pieces entered the city and were smashed into smithereens by the monster-like giants in the city.
The city kept on sprinting toward them, and on its gates, there were two words—Bamboo City.
The divine arts practitioners of West Earth had actually awakened an entire city!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin immediately turned and ran while shouting in exasperation, “The divine arts practitioners of West Earth are crazy! Cult Master, they must be crazy! Who awakens an entire city and use it as a weapon?”
Behind them, everything Bamboo City passed over was razed to flat ground.
The big city was like a fresh life form taking big strides to chase them. It flipped over the mountain ridges at an extremely fast speed. Everything it passed over was flattened.
The city was like a terrifying mouth that could swallow and crush everything. Not only that, the thousands of giants in the city swung their bodies like huge hammers, and all that couldn’t be chewed into bits and pieces by the city was smashed into smithereens by the giants.
On top of that, behind the city was a rolling dust cloud of all the things that had been broken down into pieces.
The dust spread in a hundred miles radius, obscuring everything in sight.
The city swallowed with its front and spat out what was left behind itself. One could well imagine what the consequences would be like if they were to be caught up in its mouth.
Qin Mu hurried non-stop, and the dragon qilin was putting his utmost effort into sprinting. At that moment though, a huge river suddenly lashed out from within Bamboo City like a long whip.
The dragon qilin immediately dodged, but the huge river was extremely nimble. It moved right and left, forcing the dragon qilin to dodge in all directions. His speed decreased, and Bamboo City gradually caught up with him.
“Big brother…”
Xiong Qi’er’s voice was trembling when she looked back in fear. The ground trembled and stones that were the height of humans were thrown midair. Bamboo City opened its gate wide and started crunching with sharp teeth in preparation.
“No worries, Sister Qi’er, don’t be afraid.”
Qin Mu turned around and his sword pellet floated into the air, moving in front of his body. The dragon qilin had been forced by the huge river to dodge right and left, and if it continued, they would soon be swallowed by Bamboo City.
“Who is blocking us?”
Qin Mu looked at the approaching thing. The city gate and wall constantly moved up and down, making the thick and sharp spears look like teeth. It sowed doubt in the youth’s heart.
‘Is there a need to have such a grand parade to kill a divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm? Pangong Tso’s with his relations shouldn’t have been able to mobilize such a huge treasure like Bamboo City, so who is it that wants to get rid of me?’
He suddenly thought of a person and smiled while muttered to himself. “It must be him. The young master of True Heaven Palace. His prey was snatched right under his eyes when I saved Xiong Xiyu and her daughter, so he and I can be considered as old friends. Is he planning to give me an unexpected surprise?”
At that moment, the dragon qilin howled. “Cult Master, this definitely isn’t a surprise! This is a shock! Crap…”
Another huge river lashed out from the mouth of Bamboo City and wrapped itself around dragon qilin’s tail before pulling him toward the huge mouth. The dragon qilin clawed furiously with his four feet, but he still couldn’t prevent himself from being dragged closer to his doom.
“Fatty Dragon, cut off your tail like a brave warrior!” Xiong Qi’er said with a solemn face and clear voice.
Tears flew down dragon qilin’s cheeks. “Sister Qi’er, we won’t be able to escape even if I cut off my tail, so let me die with an intact corpse… Although I don’t think that’s possible either…”
The gate was like a huge mouth, opening and closing, crunching on anything that came close. Whatever survived it went through the giants transformed from buildings that were smashing around as they wished, so preserving an intact corpse was something nearly impossible!
Cold light flashed on every spear tip which was as thick as the opening of a bottle. They were like iron bars on top of the city wall. The tips were sharp as swords while the flat sides were filled with strange markings. It was obvious that every spear was a spirit weapon!
If one got next to the gates, it would be equivalent to dozens of spirit weapons piercing through their corporeal body and leaving dozens of bowl-sized blood holes in the body.
Combining that with the explosive power of the city gate and wall opening and closing, one would most likely become a bloody mess instantly.
Still in a daze, Qin Mu said, “As expected of the young master of True Heaven Palace. But he shouldn’t have the ability to awaken Bamboo City’s spirit, right? His cultivation may be higher than mine, but he’s at most on Seven Stars Realm…”
“Cult Master!” The dragon qilin was still being dragged toward the mouth of Bamboo City.
Qin Mu shook off his surprise. His sword pellet suddenly burst forth, and countless sword lights flew out. The eight thousand swords executed Wave Sword Form at the same time. It was an incomparably majestic sight.
With treasure swords like clouds circling past the sharp spears of the city, countless teeth of Bamboo City’s mouth were instantly sliced apart.
The city gate still chomped down heavily, and just with its astonishing biting strength was able to squash the art into a pulp.
Qin Mu stretched out his hand to grab his sword. He might not be able to unleash Carefree Sword’s divine power, but its sharpness alone could allow him to slice everything apart!
Carefree Sword lit up in his hands. Dot Threading the Vast Movements, Yin and Yang Come and Go within Two Modes!
The power from the first form of Dao Sword exploded, and the sword light separated in black and white as yin and yang stirred up, swirling around each other to form the shape of taiji. However, it was just the vision caused by the sword skill.
The sword skill was actually executing extremely high algebra attainments. What formed every dot and every line of the taiji diagram had gone through incomparably detailed calculations, and the movement of every sword light contained incomparably complicated algebra calculations. It was the marvel of Dao Sect explaining the universe.
Bamboo City bit down on it forcefully, and a section of the city wall vanished with the sword light that had black and white replacing each other.
Qin Mu rose into the sky and raised Carefree Sword above himself. He used his magic power to hold the sword back as eight thousand swords flew back, overlapping with it. With the child swords fusing into the mother sword, the eight thousand swords combined into one, and Qin Mu instantly felt the sword in his hand becoming incomparably heavy.
It was the second form of his sword pellet.
It had two forms. One was the pellet, and the other was the fusion with the mother sword.
The weight after fusing made Carefree Sword so heavy that he could no longer use magic power to execute any power of this sword.
Qin Mu raised this sword even high, and at that moment, he could only do one move.
Hack!
Hacking forward!
In front of him, behind the dragon qilin’s butt, was Bamboo City. It had already dragged them past its mouth and was then pulling the dragon qilin to the street.
On both sides of it, the giants of awakened buildings were lined up in preparation to smash them into meat paste.
In the center of Bamboo City, even magnificent palaces had stood up. They weren’t made out of wood or stone, but had been meticulously constructed from black gold, black iron, and black copper.
The divine arts practitioners of West Earth didn’t seek to be strong themselves. They borrowed power from the heaven and earth and changed nature itself, gathering black gold and black copper to forge their spirit weapons. The better spirit weapons were forged, the stronger they would be when they awakened.
The palaces in Bamboo City were spirit weapons forged by the strongest divine arts practitioners, so their power was on an entirely different league when compared to the wooden and stone houses.
The palace giants had stood up to block the end of the street and were overflowing with murderous intent.
Such a sight was never before seen or heard!
Qin Mu hacked down with this sword, and the tremor that came out from the incomparably heavy Carefree Sword immediately shattered the huge river which had coiled around the dragon qilin’s tail.
It was like a huge snake whose tail got severed, and it twisted about, wiggling around in the city.
When the sword tip of Carefree Sword touched the street, its incomparably terrifying strength exploded, and the limestone slabs on the street overturned one after another while rising up into midair. An astonishing crack appeared on the street, and it exploded and frantically spread forward. More limestone slabs were flipped up and exploded into pieces in midair!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Flying swords flew out from the tip of Carefree Sword, and Qin Mu’s violent vital qi surged into them. They swirled and slashed all around the street. With eight thousand flying swords slicing and cutting everything in their way, everywhere they passed, the giants were left in pieces.
When eight thousand swords combined into one, Qin Mu couldn’t execute the power of each and every one of them, but when they separated, he could instantly do so.
Countless sword lights were circling in wheel-like motion while rushing toward the end of the street among pieces of wood and stone. In an instant, they cut deeply into the palace giants and pierced them!
Qin Mu’s arms were trembling, for the sword had nearly torn apart all of his muscles. Nearly all of his bones had shattered, and his tendons had nearly snapped. His magic power was also already half depleted!
The reason why he had used the first form of Dao Sword and not the first form of Sword Picture when Bamboo City was about to swallow them was because he wanted to save magic power. The amount required by Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers was much higher.
Yet his slashing motion had instantly depleted close to half of his magic power!
However, the result was also brilliant; he razed an entire street with just one slash. He had never expected he could achieve such a powerful force of destruction.
Qin Mu let go of Carefree Sword and used his remaining vital qi. Carefree Sword trembled, and the other flying swords flew over from the end of the street.
This time, Qin Mu didn’t dare to use the second form of the sword pellet. Instead, he collected the eight thousand swords into a circular metal ball.
He opened his taotie sack and put the sword pellet away. He then went into a daze again. ‘I seemed to have found a basic sword form that is unprecedented. This sword move isn’t in the seventeen basic sword moves…”
The move with which he had slashed downwards earlier had caused countless swords to spin like a wheel as they swooshed out from Carefree Sword with about half of his magic power in an instant. This kind of sword form that spun like a wheel was different from all of the seventeen basic sword forms. The most similar one to it was Wave Sword Form, but that one was using the wrist to draw out a circle with the tip of the sword.
The sword form that Qin Mu had unintentionally executed, however, could spin like a wheel and had the power of hacking, the technique of pare, and the agility of wave.
This was the eighteenth basic sword form!
Within Bamboo City, wooden giants were rushing over, and at the end of the street, the tattered palace giants were raising their circular and yellowish palaces as ‘hammers’ to smash them against the intruders.
The huge rivers in the city surged forth and gathered together, transforming into a huge giant with a water dragon coiled around it. Raising its fists, it came with fists raised as well.
Qin Mu was in a daze again. ‘It’s just that this basic sword form seems to be too crazy in regards to consumption of magic power. Not only that, it also seems to require a lot of money, for only with plenty of money can one forge these many flying swords. The most crucial point is that the flying swords need to have tips on both ends to maximize the power even more.’
The dragon qilin roared fiercely and spewed fire from its mouth. The flame pillars set the street of Bamboo City ablaze, and the wooden giants began to burn. The water giant hurriedly extinguished the fire everywhere, and the water fizzled from the heat. This led to the water giant shrinking down.
Qin Mu remained in a daze. ‘But come to think of it, what I have is money.’
The dragon qilin grew merciless. He spewed fire in all directions and set the whole city ablaze. He had been chased until he had no place to escape and was dragged into the city, so now his power doubled when paying back his oppressor.
Suddenly, Bamboo City gave a strong jerk and became motionless. The house giants, building giants, and palace giants also ceased moving instantly, returning to the ground and transforming back into buildings and palaces. The water giant also collapsed back into the river, becoming running water.
Bamboo City quieted down instantly. In the messy street, only Qin Mu, Xiong Qi’er, and the dragon qilin were left.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The dragon qilin looked around with nervousness, afraid that the buildings, houses, and palaces would revive once again.
But Bamboo City was silent, with no other people to be seen in the whole place. Bamboo City should have been a big city with over a hundred thousand people, but all of them seemed to have vanished without a trace.
To make an entire city leave their homes, a person had to possess unimaginable authority.
Bamboo City was empty, but for Qin Mu and his group. The city that was more than lively earlier seemed to have suddenly died.
But the quieter it was, the more terrifying it felt.
Suddenly, the entire city started to tremble violently, and the ground under their feet rose up. The buildings, houses, and palaces sunk downward, and Bamboo City instantly turned into a piece of empty land.
The dragon qilin hurriedly rose into the sky while stepping on fire clouds. Xiong Qi’er held tightly onto his mane, looking nervously downward.
The city below suddenly split apart, and square stones started to rise from the ground. They overlapped layer by layer to form a square-shaped obelisk which rose up extremely quickly. Within the timespan of a breath, a forest of square pillars appeared around Qin Mu and his group!
They seemed incomparably small when compared to their surroundings.
The pillars were actually moving rapidly, but the changes in formation were hidden. Every time the pillars moved, they would either increase in height or shrink. The square stones would automatically move horizontally or upwards, entering other pillars.
There were also some horizontal pillars which hung on the other pillars like beams. Yet the length of those beams was also constantly changing, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing. There were clearly roads in front of the group, but the next instant the stone pillars would join together and become an incomparably thick wall.
Bamboo City seemed to have revived once again, but it was completely different from the moving city that could swallow all things. Now it was like a three-dimensional space that was constantly changing.
Before, Bamboo City had been a huge object that could swallow everything and looked to be extremely dangerous, but it was all bark and no bite, posing no strong threat. However, after it had become three dimensional and began to operate with the pattern of formations, its threat level had risen drastically!
The six sides of the squares were imprinted with different rune markings. Even with the shifting and reassembly of the stones, the runes always connected perfectly with the ones in their surroundings.
It was the strangest point. The reassembly of the stones was only the outer appearance while the true danger lay in the runes that were constantly splitting up and merging back.
Different patterns created with the runes meant different formations. There were countless stones in the city and the runes on the stones were different from each other, so there were countless methods to merge them, and the changes in the formation were boundless!
Qin Mu immediately saw through it. If they stood still instead of moving, they wouldn’t activate the power of the formation, but if they moved the least bit, the power of the formation would be activated!
‘Divine arts of West Earth are incomparably magnificent!’ Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration to himself. The divine arts of West Earth might not put importance on power like those of Eternal Peace Empire, but their strangeness and wildness made him admire them deeply!
He had learned Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique, but he had never put in effort in exploring it. Now, however, Bamboo City had shown him the wisdom of countless divine arts practitioners of West Earth.
The free space became smaller and smaller. It was continuously being compressed, and if the city continued like that, it was probably going to become a huge three-dimensional cube. If Qin Mu, Xiong’er, and the dragon qilin didn’t manage to get out, they would naturally be squashed within it.
The dragon qilin could also see the terrifying points of Bamboo City and immediately began to calculate a path to survival. Since they were facing a formation, there had to be a certain execution process, and within it lay their chance for survival.
The transformation of Bamboo City relied on the shifting of stones, so it was where the group’s only chance rested.
However, it was incomparably difficult to solve the formation. The paths that looked like they would lead to escape soon showed up to be dead ends. If the group had taken them, what awaited them would only be miserable death!
“The cubic cage of Bamboo City contains an extremely complicated algebra transformation!”
The dragon qilin looked around and his eyeballs continuously rotated like a lantern with a carousel of paper horses while he tried to calculate the movement of all the cubes in the huge formation. He soon started to foam at the mouth from exhaustion, though. He quickly said, “If I was given enough time, I could calculate a path to survival! However, I’m afraid that before I calculate it, we will be squashed to death! Cult Master, do you have any method to calculate a way out?”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered, and he said in delight, “I suddenly thought of an idea to deal with Xing An! If spirits could wake up in his limbs, wouldn’t they go out of control? That would make it much easier to kill him!”
The dragon qilin was flustered and exasperated. “Cult Master, we are about to die, but you still have time to think of this?”
Qin Mu smiled. “The person controlling Bamboo City has extremely high attainments in algebra and is not inferior to me. If it was a fair fight, I could still defeat him. However, since they schemed against me and took the first move when an opportunity arose, it’s very hard for me to solve their formation. By the time I would do it, we would have already been squashed to death.”
The dragon qilin despaired, but Qin Mu didn’t seem to share his feelings. He suddenly shouted out, “Senior Brother Yu, long time no see. Don’t you want to chat with me before I die?”
“I don’t. I’m scared I will die if I talk too much.” Qin Mu could not tell from where Yu Bochuan’s voice was coming, but it sounded quite delighted. “When dealing with a person like Cult Master Qin, it’s best if you die as soon as possible. I can’t risk you dying a moment later. Only dead Cult Master Qin is Cult Master Qin that people can trust.”
Qin Mu’s face turned black like charcoal.
“But Brother Qin can be at ease. If I meet your corpse, I will definitely sit down and tell you about myself.” Yu Bochuan laughed happily. “Little brother I have a bad habit, and that’s trying my best to get rid of the opponent when I fight them. Only when the opponent dies do I become talkative and have a good chat with their corpse, telling them the reason why they lost to me. I won’t make an exemption for Cult Master Qin.”
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. “What a good habit. I’m trapped here and am destined to die under your hand yet you are still so careful. Truly a wonderful opponent. So this is called meeting your match. I want to do a painting for you in consideration of our friendship that started with appreciating each other’s talents.”
The movements of the stone walls became more and more concentrated, and the cubic cage formed by Bamboo City was also changing extremely fast. Every move contained profound mathematical structure.
They became formation structures, and the stone cubes that no longer moved on the outer layer had already become a killing formation, trapping those inside. Slowly, the stone cubes in the inner layers also started to stop moving, becoming killing formations as well.
As one layer wrapped around another, it became more and more unlikely that the trio would escape. When the final killing formation was laid out, there would no longer be any way out.
If Qin Mu and the rest moved, they would die. If they didn’t move, they would also die.
Qin Mu chose to stand in his stop. He raised his brush and splashed some ink, then began painting with quick strokes.
Stone pillars continuously closed in on them, and the formation changed continuously. Finally, it came right to where they were.
When it evolved until its final stage, it became six walls which came squeezing toward the center. The six-sided stone walls continuously pushed forward while giving off loud booms.
Finally, the six walls collided and immense power burst forth. The formations on the outer layer activated, and the runes on the countless stone cubes lighted up, giving the six walls terrifying crushing force. The whole cubic Bamboo City trembled from the collision!
Such a strike would it make it hard even for experts of Divine Bridge Realm to escape death, let alone someone like Qin Mu or the dragon qilin!
“Great, truly superb!” Yu Bochuan clapped his hands and laughed. “Formation Master is still Formation Master after all. This formation is truly unrivaled in the world and no one is a match for it. Despite Heavenly Devil Cult Master being full of tricks, he could do nothing against Formation Master’s formations. He died without any grudge.”
A woman’s voice answered him with insipidness. “Young Master Yu flatters me. I’ve heard that this Cult Master Qin had once fought with Poison Master Mu Yingxue who is quite arrogant but had lost to him. This shows that there’s something extraordinary about him, but he focused too much on poison and his attainments in algebra and formations are far inferior to mine. I was matching against someone who was inferior to me, so I was able to trap them. Cult Master had no choice but to offer up his head and be executed.”
Yu Bochuan laughed loudly. “He thought Bamboo City could only defeat him with brute force, so he rushed in to show off his impressive skills, but he didn’t expect that it was merely a bait set up by Formation Master and ended up in the trap. Formation Master, Poison Master, and Sword Master are the three absolutes of our West Earth, and you are all truly extraordinary. Formation Master, please undo this formation. I want to take a look at the painting Cult Master Qin left for me.”
The sound of swords clashing rang out, and the huge formation of Bamboo City gradually unwound itself. Chunks of huge stone sank into the ground, and the houses and palaces slowly rose from the ground. Not long later, Bamboo City recovered back to normal and a wall stood where Qin Mu and the rest had been stuck. A painting was hanging there.
Yu Bochuan had a smile on his face as he sat on the carriage which drove toward the wall. Behind him followed a crowd of experts from West Earth. There were about a hundred of them, and in the lead was a woman. She had a delicate and pretty appearance, and there was a metal cube in her hands.
It broke down and turned into metal cubes of all sizes. They then rattled and merged together.
The woman was Formation Master He Yiyi of West Earth, a person who was as famous as Poison Master Mu Yingxue and Sword Master Luo Yinyu.
The three masters of West Earth were all girls, and they all had their unique ultimate arts which allowed them to set up an independent regime.
Formation Master He Yiyi ruled Bamboo City and had become famous with her formation skills, which were unrivaled in West Earth. No one was a match for her in formation skills.
Even though True Heaven Palace was the sacred ground of West Earth, the three masters had their strong point and weren’t subordinate to anyone. However, due to the power of True Heaven Palace, the three masters were slightly fearful of it. If the sacred ground had any requests, they would help.
Behind He Yiyi were the experts of Bamboo City. They were the heads of all the influential families in Bamboo City, and their abilities were strong, much stronger than those of people in Fragrant Bloom City. To be able to set up an independent regime, they were naturally no small fries.
Yu Bochuan drove the carriage next to the stone wall. He examined the painting and saw within it were Qin Mu, the dragon qilin, and Xiong Qi’er. They looked remarkably realistic.
“Vivid and lifelike!” Yu Bochuan was full of smiles as he laughed to the female disciples of True Heaven Palace. “Truly vivid and lifelike! Cult Master Qin’s painting is really superb. If he sold paintings, he could be adequately provided! Hahahaha!”
The women in the carriage laughed. “It’s a pity he’s dead. Young Master, take a look, Cult Master Qin is still smiling in the painting!”
Another female of True Heaven Palace smiled and said, “To die in the hands of Formation Master after seeing her perfect formation, this should deserve a smile of no regrets, right?”
Yu Bochuan laughed loudly and got out of the carriage. With his hands behind his back, he examined the painting on the stone wall. He then said leisurely, “Cult Master Qin, let’s chat for a bit.”
“Great!” Qin Mu in the painting suddenly turned his head around and grinned. “I was also thinking of chatting with Senior Brother Yu! Sword Treading Mountains and River—”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Yu Bochuan’s expression changed drastically, and he retreated in a hurry while shouting. “This guy cheated death! Disciples of True Heaven Palace, we can get rid of him by destroying this painting!”
Numerous women around him immediately went forward and attacked the painting. At the same time, sword light burst forth. It trembled, and a marvelous transformation was witnessed by the crowd. It was no longer sword light, but mountains and rivers flying at their faces.
The ten or so female disciples of True Heaven Palace were instantly drowned out by them. Their elegant bodies seemed to have been frozen in place before scattering like sand.
The speed at which the mountains and rivers surged forth was extremely fast and drowned out the carriage in an instant, swallowing Yu Bochuan who was behind it.
Formation Master He Yiyi didn’t move, but astonishment could be seen on her face. “Truly superb sword skill. He’s not much inferior to Sword Master Luo Yinyu.”
Behind her, most of the experts of influential families in Bamboo City were stirring, ready to kill Qin Mu, but He Yiyi raised her hand. “No need to help. Young Master Yu has only invited us to lay a formation to hold Cult Master Qin of Middle Earth back. He only asked this from us, so we have no obligation to help him again.”
Everyone was forced to remain in place.
Qin Mu’s Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers didn’t surge toward them, and He Yiyi said in a low voice, “He also shows proper restraint…”
The power of Sword Treading Mountain and Rivers had killed over ten beauties of True Heaven Palace. Yu Bochuan couldn’t help shivering and shouted loudly, “Cult Master Qin, why don’t we have a chat?”
His clothes fluttered. Even though he was a man, there were numerous accessories on his body. There were things like silver, jade, and chain bracelets, jade pendants, rings, necklaces, hairpins, and even longevity pendants that all came flying out.
They were his spirit weapons, and their power was extremely great. In the end, they weren’t made by Yu Bochuan, but were treasures given to him by his elders to stay safe.
The spirit weapons had extremely terrifying power. A green dragon hairpin gently trembled and transformed into a green dragon. Its roar reverberated in the air, and, a huge hole was blown in the mountains and rivers.
Yu Bochuan was delighted and jumped out through the opening. But suddenly, he lost connection with the green dragon hairpin.
Next, he lost his sense of the other treasure, and terror filled him. Qin Mu’s incomparably intricate sword skill had severed the vital qi connections between him and his treasures. This made him unable to use any treasures even though he had so many of them.
Such wondrous sword skill was truly terrifying!
Just as he jumped out of Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, he saw the dragon qilin coming at him with his huge claws. He immediately took off his outer clothes and they floated up against the wind. They grew larger and larger as though they were a piece of cloud.
The dragon qilin’s claw struck the clothes, but they were soft and seemed to be empty, and the dragon qilin sank deeper and deeper into them.
Yu Bochuan turned to leave while topless, but he heard a loud roar coming from the dragon qilin behind him. Fire blazed, and the clothing was burned to ashes in an instant.
“Formation Master, save me!” Yu Bochuan shouted out. “If I die in your Bamboo City, you guys won’t be able to escape responsibility!”
When he voiced his plea, the hundred experts behind Formation Master all frowned.
A woman whispered, “Young Master Yu is the son of True Heaven Palace Master, after all. If he dies here, we indeed won’t escape responsibility. No matter if it’s True Heaven Palace Master or Ba Gou, they both aren’t easy to deal with! Formation Master, think thrice.”
He Yiyi shook her head. “Don’t save.”
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, not understanding why she was acting like that.
“I can’t kill Heavenly Devil Cult Master of Middle Earth, but I have already attempted to lay my hands on him and formed a grudge. If I interfere and save Young Master Yu, the grudge between Cult Master Qin and me will never be able to be resolved,” He Yiyi said indifferently.
“I have long heard about Middle Earth’s Eternal Peace undergoing reforms. They are becoming stronger day by day and have already annexed everything in the six directions and swept the eight wildernesses. The prairie and the snow plains have all been entered into Eternal Peace. The next target, however, is not Great Ruins, but our West Earth. If True Heaven Palace loses against Eternal Peace, Heavenly Devil Cult will enter West Earth and it will be our end.”
Everyone’s blood ran cold.
But He Yiyi wasn’t done yet. “On top of that, as the young master of True Heaven Palace, how could Yu Bochuan not have any methods to protect his life? Young Master Yu had chased Nai Kui to the brink of death, which is not something an ordinary person could achieve.’
Just as she said that, a jade belt flew out from Yu Bochuan’s waist and transformed into a huge snake that bound the dragon qilin that was pouncing on him.
Yu Bochuan escaped in a panic, but sword light suddenly flashed thrice. Yu Bochuan’s body separated into four sections in midair. His legs were still sprinting forward, but the head froze in a daze.
His chest also separated into two.
Qin Mu pulled back his sword. At that moment, Yu Bochuan who had been severed into four sections fell from the air as four chunks of wood.
“To substitute one thing for another?”
Qin Mu was astonished. He raised his hand to catch the sword pellet flying out from his taotie sack, then flung it out forcefully.
The two feet sword pellet whizzed forward while spinning. The flying swords within it into cold lights that shot into the ground and rushed through it!
A human figure burst out from underground, and it was none other than Yu Bochuan. Behind him were the sword lights which had entered the ground to force him out and were chasing him relentlessly.
Yu Bochuan raised his head to see the sword pellet coming at his head, and his expression shifted. If he was hit by that unimaginably huge sword pellet, his face would sink into his brain or even his whole head might sink into his chest.
Suddenly, his body transformed into earth and fell from the sky.
Layers of formation markings appeared in his eyes as he stared at the ground. His gaze was moving quickly when his arms suddenly trembled. He flew horizontally out of Bamboo City and hit a pile of mountain rocks in front of the city. The pile suddenly exploded and Yu Bochuan’s body appeared among the scattered rocks!
“Formation Master, I will kill him outside the city, consider this giving you room for maneuver!”
When Qin Mu’s voice rang out through the city, He Yiyi frowned. She raised her head to look into the distance and saw Qin Mu stretching his hand for his knife. Pig Slaughtering Knife automatically flew up, and he caught it in a reverse grip.
The bodies of the two youths crossed in midair like two spinning tops, exchanging strikes back and forth.
Chii…
Blood light shone, and Qin Mu landed with a head in his hand. Blood was still dripping from the huge knife in his other hand.
Thump.
Behind him, Yu Bochuan’s corpse landed on the ground and bounced twice.
Within the city, the faces of Formation Master He Yiyi and the rest of the experts grew dazed when they looked at the youth carrying the head.
Raise the forbidden knife, and the emperor’s head is in his hand!
Butcher’s knife skills were as bold and haughty as his poems!
At that moment, Qin Mu was also haughty and unruly. He had killed Yu Bochuan who He Yiyi thought wouldn’t die!
“The young master of True Heaven Palace is dead…”
The corners of everyone’s eyes twitched, and their emotions were incomparably heavy.
Cult Master Qin had only brought a dragon qilin and a little princess, but dare to barge his way into West Earth while killing anyone that blocked his path. After he raised his knife and killed even the son of True Heaven Palace Master, he was truly like a starving tiger overflowing with haughtiness, living up to the reputation of Heavenly Devil Cult Master!
It is said that turbulent wind precedes a mountain storm.
True Heaven Palace Master and Ba Gou had Young Master Yu as their only son, but he died outside Bamboo City. Heavenly Devil Cult Master from Middle Earth’s Eternal Peace was truly ruthless and decisive. As long as he found the smallest opportunity, he would not let it escape and give any hope for his enemies!
Wanting to escape alive from his hands was beyond difficult. Only the slippery beings on the level of Rolan Golden Palace’s Grandmaster could slip through his fingers over and over again.
Yu Bochuan’s ability to escape was obviously much inferior when compared to that of an old monster who had lived ten thousand years, even if he was the son of True Heaven Palace Master and Ba Gou.
He Yiyi walked out of the city and saw Qin Mu placing Yu Bochuan’s head down. He took out a wine jar and poured a cup of wine to put beside his opponent’s corpse.
“You liked to chat with a corpse after you killed them.” Qin Mu raised his head and gulped down a big mouthful of wine, then placed the wine jar beside Yu Bochuan’s head while saying leisurely, “But I don’t like it. Not chatting, farewell.” After he said that, he stood up and walked over to He Yiyi.
“Cult Master Qin,” He Yiyi greeted.
Qin Mu returned her greeting with a pleasant expression. “Sister Formation Master, how may I address you?”
He Yiyi looked at him strangely, then asked curiously, “Cult Master doesn’t know my name? My surname is He and my name is Yiyi. He is a big surname is West Earth and I have become erudite through paternal teaching and influence.”
“So I see,” Qin Mu said. “Sister Yiyi’s attainments in formation skills aren’t bad and even I couldn’t solve them in a short time, so I had no choice but to use the world in the painting to escape. So Sister Yiyi received inheritance from her influential family. Your He Family is truly extraordinary in formation skills, so you can be said to be number three in the world.”
Behind He Yiyi, everyone grew somewhat angry. He Family’s formation skills were number one in the world, which was something everyone knew. Yet when it came to Qin Mu, they became number three, so how could they not be angry?
He Yiyi looked at Xiong Qi’er and seemed to recognize the little girl. She smiled and asked, “I don’t care if I’m number three or number one. Cult Master bringing Little Princess to True Heaven Palace is quite a conspiracy. In my eyes, though, Cult Master is just throwing his life away by going to True Heaven Palace, but you don’t look like someone who will just throw away their life. Can you solve this mystery for me?”
“Sister Yiyi, do you want to talk here?”
He Yiyi then invited him into the city and to the main hall. Qin Mu sat down there and said in a solemn face, “Formation Master should know why I’m here, right?”
He Yiyi’s heart trembled slightly, and she cried out, “You are planning to help Nai Kui snatch back her position of the palace master! Nai Kui is also here! She’s hiding somewhere!”
Qin Mu laughed softly before shaking his head. “Sister Yiyi is holding me under some contempt. My journey this time is under the emperor’s order to enlist West Earth!”
In the hall, all the masters of the influential families of Bamboo City looked at one another. Under the orders of the emperor to enlist West Earth?
Just Qin Mu alone?
He Yiyi’s gaze flickered. “Isn’t Cult Master Qin’s tone too overbearing. What qualifications do you have to annex West Earth?”
Qin Mu smiled. “I’m Heavenly Devil Cult Master and that itself is a qualification. My Heavenly Devil Cult has a million divine arts practitioners, and with a wave of my arm, that million would gather together. With a pointing of my finger, that army of practitioners would raze everything down in their path.
“Your West Earth has been at peace for far too long, and all your cities and lands do things in their own way. Not to mention the emperor’s martial prowess, even my Heavenly Devil Cult’s million divine arts practitioners would see you as merely chickens and dogs that can’t withstand a single blow!”
He stood up with his hands behind his back. “I’ve forged Sunshot Divine Cannon that shot down Jade Sovereign of High Heavens. I’ve subdued Dragon Rearing Sovereign and ordered him to guard Surging River before subduing Bai Xi of High Heavens and ordering him to guard Hundred Years Mountains.
“My Eternal Peace fought at God Broken Mountain and eradicated all the gods of High Heavens!” His gaze was like lightning when he swept it through everyone. “If I wanted to wipe out your West Earth, it’d be as easy as snapping my fingers!”
Everyone’s faces went paper white.
Qin Mu smiled then. “However, I don’t wish for the people of West Earth to be wiped out or even spoil the peace here. If Nai Kui was to retake the position of palace master, she would lead True Heaven Palace to submit to Eternal Peace. Not a soldier would be mobilized and no lives would be harmed, so what’s the harm in putting myself in danger? My safety is not as important as the lives of the people of West Earth after all. Sister Yiyi, will you lend me a helping hand?”
He Yiyi looked the masters of Bamboo City’s influential families and saw that all of them were terrified.
She frowned, then a smile blossomed on her lips. “Cult Master Qin said that my formation skills are number three in the world, so may I ask who is number one? And who is number two as well? Yiyi would like to know about it.”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Even though He Yiyi said she didn’t care about being first or third, she couldn’t deny her own curiosity. In West Earth, she was known as Formation Master, the number one in formation skills. However, she didn’t dare to insist that she was number one in the whole world.
However, being the number one for so many years, she still had her competitive side.
As the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, Qin Mu was more experienced and knowledgeable, so she wanted to learn who were the number one and number two in his eyes.
“Sister Yiyi may not know it, but I’m from Great Ruins’ number one family in formation skills.” Qin Mu’s expression was sincere when he said that. “The number one in formation skills in the whole world is none other than my Grandpa Blind.”
He Yiyi stared at him with black eyes. He was from Great Ruins’ number one family in formation skills?
The number one in formations was a blind man?
“Does Cult Master Qin have some misunderstandings regarding formation skills?” He Yiyi asked calmly. “Formation skills walk the path of algebra, and the simplest is the Palace of Nine Halls. Kan, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Zhong, Qian, Dui, Gen, and Li represent the nine numbers which are not repeated, and their sum is forty-five.
“Slightly harder than this would be the eight trigrams, changing from octal system to base64 one, which results in endless transformations. Beyond that would be the five elements. Five Elements Eight Trigrams have the quinary system, octal system, and base64.
“The even harder taiji and wuji diagrams have no end to their circumference, but no matter how exquisite the calculations are, there will still be flaws. So what attainments can a blind man have in algebra?”
“Sister, look into my eyes,” Qin Mu said solemnly
He Yiyi didn’t know what he meant, but carefully observed his pupils. Her mind trembled when she did it.
She saw formation markings gradually forming in the eyes of the boy before her, transforming into the first heaven. The mathematical transformation within its formations intoxicated her.
But before she could even comprehend it, the second heaven formed, and its mathematical transformation was even more complicated and profound.
Next, it was the third heaven, fourth heaven, and only when it came to the fifth heaven, Bright Heaven’s Eyes, did the formation skills in Qin Mu’s eyes paused.
The first heaven of the first layer alone contained attainments in algebra that could be acclaimed as the peak of perfection!
Qin Mu’s current cultivation was only able to execute Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill, but the transformations in his eyes had not yet stopped. A sun and stars were born within them. The stars formed into the Milky Way, revolving around the sun at the back.
In the main hall, the hundred heads of the influential families looked at each other in dismay.
He Yiyi had almost stuck her face to that of Qin Mu. The two of them looked each other in the eyes as though they were lovers that could not turn their passionate gazes away from one another.
“Cough cough!”
A white-haired old woman finally gave a few coughs to remind their city lord of her decorum.
He Yiyi came back to her senses at that moment, and her face went beet red. She immediately stepped back and said firmly, “This Grandpa Blind can indeed be known as the number one formation expert in this world. I’m ashamed for being inferior.”
Qin Mu’s face was also slightly red. He Yiyi closeness had made his heart race.
“In the past, when I learned eye awakening skills from Grandpa Blind, I didn’t seek to understand the transformation of the formations. Grandpa Blind’s divine eyes can see through all fabrications, space, formations, and transformations in techniques. Only after I learned Dao Sect’s algebra did I understand the mathematical transformation within them.
“Dao Sect uses algebra to understand all things in the world and how the universe operates, so the reason why Grandpa Blind’s divine eyes can see through everything is because algebra is the truth of this universe. Thus, I came to understand that Grandpa Blind was the number one person in formation skills.”
He Yiyi suppressed all other thoughts and said firmly, “If he wanted to break the formation of my Bamboo City, it’d be easy for him; he deserves the reputation of number one. Then who is the number two expert in the world?”
Qin Mu smiled at her with some embarrassment.
He Yiyi stared at him with her black eyes wide open, then cried out, “You are the number two formation expert?”
Qin Mu blushed as he said, “I didn’t dare to call myself number two at first, but after seeing Sister Yiyi’s formation skills, I feel I can still be number two.”
Rage boiled in He Yiyi’s heart, but she gritted her teeth. With a smile, she said, “I don’t dare to fight for number one spot, but I’m not willing to accept being relegated to number three. Cult Master Qin proclaimed that he is number three in poisoning and defeated Mu Yingxue, making that girl personally admit that her poison is only number four in the world.
“Now that you proclaim your formation skills to be number two as well, isn’t that a little weird? Let us have a duel.”
“What kind of duel?” Qin Mu asked with interest.
He Yiyi muttered to herself irresolutely for a moment before smiling at him. “It’ll still be about this Bamboo City. You will be outside and I will be inside, standing here motionless. If you will be able to enter the city and find me, I will admit that I’m lower than you and accept being number three.
“Not only that, from today onward, He Family and its people will take you as our only guide. If you’ll want to support Nai Kui to retake her position of the palace master, my He Family will give all of its support to you!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and turned around to walk out of the city.
In the hall, the hundred strongest practitioners of Bamboo City looked at one another in dismay. An old woman was about to say something, but He Yiyi waved a hand at her. “No need to say anything else. I will take this chance to observe Eternal Peace’s attainments in formation skills.
“If my formation is broken, Bamboo City will also fall when Eternal Peace invades later on, so why don’t we submit to it in advance. If Cult Master Qin can’t break my formation skill, we can still fight when the day of reckoning comes. Fall back. Cult Master Qin and I will have a duel to determine the fate of Bamboo City, and maybe even the fate of West Earth!”
Everyone could only retread from Bamboo City.
The city gate was left wide open.
Qin Mu had the dragon qilin bring out Xiong Qi’er. He then walked into the city, and it suddenly changed. All the buildings sank into the ground and vanished without a trace. Chunks of rocks rose into midair, evolving into formations.
The appearance of Bamboo City changed tremendously, and in the other people’s eyes, it was just weird things happening as rocks began shifting in the air. Most people would find it hard to understand the changes in formation from the moving rocks, but Qin Mu understood them, and in his eyes, they were magnificent and diverse.
Every movement of the rocks gave him an incomparably pleasant impression. Each and every rune was linked, and the infrastructure intertwined, presenting a pleasant sight to him.
No matter if it were barriers or killing formations, they were all mathematical reasonings.
Formation markings appeared in Qin Mu’s pupils, and he walked swiftly forward. Sometimes he would stop and raise his brush to change the formation markings, while at other times, he would move a step forward or stumble three steps back like a drunkard. There were also times when springs seemed to have been attached to the bottom of his feet, allowing him to jump here and there among the moving stones.
He seemed to be flying gracefully as he passed through some barriers and like he was barging through with brute force at others. Just as it looked like he was risking his life to hit a barrier, the stone wall would suddenly split open before he crashed into it, allowing him to pass.
As he wandered unhurriedly while solving the difficult algebra questions, he got closer and closer to the center of Bamboo City.
Everything within it was transforming, and even the main hall they were in had broken down and vanished. The only thing that didn’t change was He Yiyi’s location.
She stood quietly on a stone pillar and didn’t move. She was executing various transformations of Bamboo City and changing all kinds of formations to stop Qin Mu.
However, their situation was different from the previous time. Qin Mu had been ambushed at that time and trapped in the city, so it wasn’t considered fair.
Now that he was barging through the formation at his own speed, it tested whose attainments in formation skills were superior.
After some time, He Yiyi saw Qin Mu’s figure getting close and couldn’t help growing nervous. She frantically mobilized the huge stones to lay out a new formation, but Qin Mu was still closing in at a steady pace.
Where He Yiyi stood was the center of Bamboo City, and it was also the eye of the formation in Bamboo City. Qin Mu was only thirty yards away from it, and the last layer of formation might not be able to block him.
He Yiyi suddenly gritted her teeth, and Bamboo City suddenly trembled. The formation skills before her were activated, and it became an absolutely fatal situation. The killing formations linked together and their power multiplied like crazy as they rushed toward He Yiyi’s location!
She activated the last resort formation which disregarded the concepts of friend and foe. No matter if it was Qin Mu or her, both of them would be swallowed by the killing formation!
As Formation Master of West Earth, He Yiyi had inherited the honor of He Family and couldn’t allow her family’s reputation to be harmed. With the title of number one in formation skills lost, no matter if it was death that would welcome her, she had to protect the honor of He Family!
Qin Mu’s expression changed slightly, and he came to He Yiyi’s side before the fatal formation could reach them. Grabbing her waist with one hand, he raised a brush and painted in the air with the other hand.
He Yiyi closed her eyes as the killing formation came rushing over to swallow both of them!
When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and saw that they were not in Bamboo City anymore. Instead, they were hidden in the depths of its space. However, when the absolutely fatal formation skills exploded, they tore through the world in the painting and rushed over toward them.
The world in the painting in which the two resided at that moment was about to crumble and be destroyed.
With a solemn face, Qin Mu’s brush moved like dragons and snakes, possessing myriads of changes. Suddenly, He Yiyi felt a force around her waist, and she was pulled into another painting.
They rushed inside it, and He Yiyi saw beautiful mountains and rivers with flowers blooming romantically. The scenery was extremely pleasant to the eye.
Yet the next moment, the killing formation of Bamboo City crushed that world, and power that could destroy everything rolled toward them.
“You aren’t using formation skills to solve my formation skills.” He Yiyi looked sternly and seriously at this boy beside her. “Even if you escape the killing formation of Bamboo City, I won’t admit defeat.”
“You are number two in formation skills, and I’ll just not fight with you. Will that do?”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and splashed his ink like a scholar indulging himself, writing words everywhere. Before Bamboo City’s deadliest formation skill could destroy their world in the painting, he brought He Yiyi into the next world.
Resplendent stars occupied the sky there. They were like glowing gems, lighting up the darkness.
Qin Mu brought He Yiyi onto the stars and began sprinting through the starry sky. His brush didn’t stop for a moment, and he drew the Milky Way. Behind them was the absolutely fatal formation skill, but ignoring it they jumped into the river and floated far away.
The Milky Way went downstream, and Qin Mu held onto He Yiyi’s waist tightly to prevent her from being washed away.
When she finally managed to find her feet, she was still in a daze. She saw Qin Mu swinging his brush around and pulling her closer as he jumped onto a newly drawn celestial horse.
It sprinted out from the painting and became a reality. It galloped while its wings flapped to increase its speed, and they left the killing formation quite a distance away.
Qin Mu raised his brush once again and splashed the ink as much as he liked. A door appeared in front of them, and when it opened, bright rays shone from the other place. The celestial horse carried rushed to the door. He Yiyi was stunned when she realized that they were on a mountain peak outside of Bamboo City.
While still holding her by the waist, Qin Mu jumped off the celestial horse. It flapped its wings and raised its front legs to give a cry before transforming back into ink that fell onto the ground.
From the distance, numerous heads of the influential families of Bamboo City hurried over to their side.
An elder was about to say something when He Yiyi smiled and spoke in a gentle tone. “I lost; Cult Master Qin’s formation skills are number two in the world. My He Family and everyone in Bamboo City will follow him with all our hearts!”
Qin Mu looked at her with bewilderment.
In He Yiyi’s eyes, a trace of tender emotions could be seen brewing, and her gaze was like clear autumn water.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Rumble, rumble.
The huge Bamboo City moved forward while Qin Mu and He Yiyi stood side by side on its tower. Even though he had seen the strange sight of the city moving by itself, Qin Mu still found it inconceivable.
Even though the divine arts of West Earth had not improved in ten thousand years, the ideology of all things having spirit and all things having soul was still extraordinary.
When he looked back and saw people walking to and fro through the city, he couldn’t help clicking his tongue in wonder.
After Formation Master He Yiyi admitted defeat, she summoned the people of Bamboo City and about a hundred thousand people returned. The sight of a city bringing so many people across the mountains was unimaginable yet it was right in front of his eyes.
“Trying to overthrow Palace Master Yu of True Heaven Palace isn’t going to be easy,” He Yiyi said. “Besides my He Family, we also need the support of other influential families. In West Earth, Xiong and Yu Families were the two most influential families, and their abilities were also the strongest. But Xiong Family has already fallen and their position of True Heaven Palace Master was snatched by Yu Family.
“However, there’s still Poison Master Mu Yingxue’s Mu Family, Sword Master Luo Yinyu’s Luo Family, Fang Family, Liu Family, Gong Family, Xi Family, Fu Family—a total of ten influential families. Other than that, there’s also influential families like those who belong to Ge Ke, Mao Chi, Ka Xiang Ka whose abilities aren’t weak as well.”
Qin Mu pondered over it before asking, “Why did Xiong Family inherit the position of True Heaven Palace Master? Do other influential families also have this right?”
“Xiong Family could inherit the position of True Heaven Palace Master because the first generation True Heaven Palace Master’s surname was Xion,” He Yiyi said. “The successive palace masters because of that were usually Xiong. Even though there were situations where other surnames had become palace masters, Xiong Family would still return back to the position of the palace master not long after. It is said that…”
The girl looked at Xiong Qi’er who was beside Qin Mu. “It is said that the ancestor of Xiong Family had the support of a god so they could always remain on the seat of the palace master. However, this time it’s different. It is said that the god was unsatisfied with Nai Kui, so Yu Family was contacted, and that is why it was so easy for them to uproot Xiong Family.”
‘God? Could it be the owner of that wooden god statue I met in the flaming desert?’
Qin Mu was still somewhat puzzled, so he asked, “Since this god always supported Xiong Family, why did he suddenly change to Yu Family?”
“That will be because of Ba Gou,” He Yiyi answered. “Ba Gou’s origin is not ordinary, and rumors say that he is a strong practitioner who came down from the upper bound. It is believed that he brought Yu Family in contact with that god.”
“Ba Gou?”
Qin Mu blinked. Ba Gou was a term of respect like Nai Kui. The latter was the mother of the princess while Ba Gou was the father of the princess. However, according to his understanding, even though the princess of True Heaven Palace was Xiong Qi’er, her father had died in battle, so the Ba Gou He Yiyi mentioned could only be the husband of Yu Family’s True Heaven Palace Master.
However, True Heaven Palace Master had not given birth to a daughter so it shouldn’t be proper to address him as Ba Gou.
“This Ba Gou needed an extraordinary position to be able to contact that god,” He Yiyi said. “He’s extremely mysterious and rumors say that he came from the upper bound and is the guest of High Heavens. He had already been with True Heaven Palace Master and it is said that she’s already pregnant with a child. Ba Gou let it spread that the child within her is definitely a girl who is the princess of True Heaven Palace!”
Giving birth to a girl would secure one the position of True Heaven Palace Master, which was a rule Qin Mu had never heard about before. However, West Earth honored women and their social customs were quite different from those of Eternal Peace.
Besides, as long as one cultivated divine eyes, it wasn’t troublesome to see if the unborn child was male or female.
Since Ba Gou had confirmed that the child in True Heaven Palace Master’s womb was a girl, he would not be wrong. True Heaven Palace Master would definitely give birth to a little princess and sit firmly on her seat.
“What’s the surname of this Ba Gou?”
“Yu.”
Qin Mu was stunned. “He’s also Yu? What’s his relationship with Yu Family?”
He Yiyi smiled, but it was an expression lacking warmth. “All of us would also like to know what’s Ba Gou’s relationship with Yu Family. There are many rumors in West Earth. Some say Ba Gou is the ancestor of Yu Family, others that he is the son of High Heaven’s Jade Sovereign and that Yu Family originate from there as well. There are many rumors, but the truth is elusive.”
Qin Mu looked at her with a weird expression.
“Some say that it was because Xiong Xiyu’s talent was lacking and she wasn’t a strong enough benevolent ruler that her position as palace master was snatched by Yu Family. Yet in my eyes, even though Palace Master Xiong really lacked talent, the true mastermind behind this is still this Ba Gou.”
Qin Mu nodded.
Xiong Qi’er was right beside him, but he had no choice but to admit that what He Yiyi said was right. No matter if it was ability or scheming, the girl’s mother wasn’t like what a master of a sacred ground should be.
She hadn’t experienced a lot of scheming and bloody battles before ascending to the position of the palace master at a young age, so it was natural that she couldn’t fight against Yu Family and Ba Gou.
Even though Qin Mu had also ascended to the position of Heavenly Devil Cult Master at a young age, the people who had taught him were the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village. Ever since he was young, he had been taught all kinds of crafty plots and machinations, making him sinister and cunning. However, the nine elders still found him too honest.
Because of all that teaching, Qin Mu was able to sit firmly in the position of cult master, with everyone in the village accepting him wholeheartedly.
Bamboo City sprinted among the mountains and wilderness, heading toward the west. It didn’t head straight for True Heaven Palace, though.
They were going to the ancestor ground of He Family, Sword River Valley, where their headquarters were located.
As an influential family, He Family had their own power. Even though it was inferior to that of Yu or Xiong Families, it was still a strength that was not to be underestimated.
After Bamboo City had sprinted for half a day, they finally came to Sword River Valley when the sun was about to set. Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw a huge river stretching straight ahead like a sword. On its hilts, a city was constructed. There were mountains on two sides while walls were arranged along the sword river to protect the two other sides.
The city was very intriguing and astonishing to Qin Mu. When Bamboo City reached it, a huge mountain stood up to reveal a path. A long bridge made of stone rose from the bottom of the river as well. And it was stone giants bending over to let Bamboo City step on their backs to cross Sword River.
“Too marvelous, the world of West Earth is truly a place full of wonderful imagination.” Qin Mu couldn’t resist exclaiming in admiration.
He Yiyi’s gaze was like limpid autumn waters as she smiled gently. “If Cult Master Qin likes this place, you don’t need to go back. You can always stay here, and Yiyi will accompany you on scenic tours to visit all the wonders of the world.”
Qin Mu was delighted. “If there was a beauty like Sister Yiyi to accompany me, how joyful would that be. However, I’ve too many worldly affairs tying me down. After solving the matter with West Earth, I will have to lay my hands on High Heavens to get rid of this future danger. On top of that, there are still a lot of stuff to be done in Eternal Peace… Why don’t we do this!”
With excitement, he said, “After playing in West Earth for some time, why don’t you come with me to Eternal Peace and I’ll show you around there, to see the extraordinary points of Eternal Peace. You might just fall in love with it!”
He Yiyi’s expression showed interest, but she shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s not possible. He Family still needs me. I can’t abandon them.”
Bamboo City entered Sword River Valley and stopped.
At that moment, the lights in all cities and towns of Sword River Valley shone brightly and looked very gorgeous. Even the mountains and the river were lit up.
“Let’s go to the main palace hall.” A huge stone floated up to He Yiyi’s feet and picked the three of them to bring them to the main palace hall. “The heads of my He Family will soon come to visit, and I need to prepare.”
Not long after that, numerous higher-ups of He Family came. There were both men and women among then, but the latter were in the majority as they came to pay their respects to He Yiyi.
She invited the numerous higher-ups of the influential families to take a seat while Qin Mu accompanied her. “Everyone, this is Cult Master Qin of Heavenly Devil Cult, a sacred ground of Middle Earth’s Eternal Peace Empire.”
Everyone in the hall went into an uproar, and an old woman praised her in a trembling voice, “Formation Master is truly extraordinary, to have taken down this devil cult master. Now we can ask True Heaven Palace for our reward!”
“Ask for reward?” He Yiyi burst into laughter and shook her head. “Palace Master Yu is merely a little slut that schemed and seized the throne, so is she even worthy of taking down Cult Master Qin? Pardon my honest words, if not for Ba Gou supporting her, could she have ever gained the position of the palace master? Her womb failed to live up to expectations and could only give birth to a son. She can’t even give birth to a daughter, so how good could she be?”
Everyone in the hall looked at each other in dismay.
He Yiyi glanced at Qin Mu, and he smiled. Holding Xiong Qi’er’s hand, he said loudly, “Senior sisters of He Family, this is the little princess of True Heaven Palace!”
He Yiyi smiled and added, “The little princess of True Heaven Palace is right here, so Palace Master Xiong is not far away. If my He Family can assist Palace Master Xiong in getting rid of the little slut of Yu family and helping her reclaim the position of the palace master, wouldn’t that surpass the reward of turning Cult Master Qin in by a hundred times? Everyone, you are the elders of the clan, what do you think?”
Everyone in the hall became silent. The men of He Family didn’t dare to speak, but the women were very daring. One started to protest, “Formation Master, think thrice! Yu Family is at its peak right now so how can we He Family be its opponent? What’s more, Ba Gou is supporting her!”
“Well said.” He Yiyi chuckled. “That’s why, we will be allying ourselves with Heavenly Devil Cult. With its assistance, why should we be scared of Yu Family? If you think this is not enough, we’ll ally ourselves with Mu and Luo Families. I believe that they also have the sense of propriety, justice, integrity, and honor, and won’t accept Yu Family for long!”
Another middle-aged woman suddenly rose and said angrily, “Now that Yu Family is in control of True Heaven Palace, how great is their power? Formation Master, even though you are the head of this household, I see that you have truly gone crazy!”
“Formation Master, think thrice before acting.” Another old woman stood up and propped herself on her cane. “Don’t gamble the fate of our He Family on the table.”
After her, another said righteously, “The ten thousand years of our He Family’s foundation can’t be destroyed in an instant! If Formation Master insists on this, then hand over the position of the head of the household!”
“That’s right, hand over the position of the head of the household!”
…
He Yiyi looked around and said with a pleasant expression, “Which other elders have opinions? Feel free to speak since this is an internal affair of our clan, and you are all my aunts, grannies and great grandmothers. I’m of a younger generation so we should discuss this.”
A couple more elders stood up to criticize her then.
He Yiyi waited for a moment, to make sure that no one else would come out to object, then smiled. “Seems like everyone has forgotten how I became Formation Master, the head of this household.”
The faces of everyone who had stood up changed. Before they could rush out of the main hall, cages popped out from the ground of Bamboo City, capturing all who had spoken against He Yiyi. The cages then sank back into the ground.
He Yiyi patted her hands and smiled. “After I get rid of Yu Family, I’ll let all of you out. Do the other elders have any opinions?”
Everyone in the hall stood up and bowed while saying in unison, “We’ll take Formation Master as our only guide!”
He Yiyi looked at Qin Mu and smiled. “How are my methods, Cult Master Qin?”
He smiled back at her. “Sister Yiyi is an unusual woman.”
He Yiyi’s gaze wandered and there was a hint of bashfulness in her voice when she said softly, “Tonight, my window won’t be closed. If you climb in, we can talk about formation skills the whole night and delve deeper…”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
On that night, when it was silent, He Yiyi heard knocking on the window and grew flustered. She hurriedly opened the window and saw Qin Mu behind it with a smile. “Sister Yiyi, I climbed here only after making sure that no one was around.”
He Yiyi’s heart throbbed violently at the sight of her lover under the candlelight. Her heart became like a frisky monkey, and mind like a cantering horse.
And then, both of them talked about formation skills the whole night.
Before the sun was about to rise, Qin Mu secretly slipped out through the window, since he knew it was the rule of West Earth. Those who went for visiting marriage couldn’t meet the woman’s family.
But Qin Mu didn’t even manage to get downstairs before meeting a couple women who had woken up early. They immediately turned their heads away and acted as if they didn’t see anything. Only after Qin Mu had walked a distance away, did they laugh softly.
When the sun was high up in the sky, He Yiyi was reluctant to part with Qin Mu and send him out of Sword River Valley. “Just our He Family alone is not enough to do anything against True Heaven Palace, so Cult Master should go and see Poison Master. I’ll meet the other heads of influential families in West Earth to discuss this major event together.”
Qin Mu bade her farewell and left.
He Yiyi saw him off with some disappointment.
A girl at her side laughed softly. “Did sister do it with Brother-in-Law Qin? Quite a few people saw him climbing through the window and some also saw him climbing downstairs in the morning.”
He Yiyi was sleepy-eyed and her vigor seemed to be lacking. She said angrily, “Do what? We talked about formation skills the whole night.”
Other girls came up and chattered with smiles. “Talk about formation skills, is that your excuse? The night was long yesterday and you were naturally like a pair of mandarin ducks flying together!”
He Yiyi ground her teeth so much they made a noise.
The girls jumped in shock. “You really talked about formation skills the whole night with brother-in-law?”
He Yiyi looked at them helplessly. “He was so excited, so what could I do? Force him? Does He Family still want face? If I really used force, wouldn’t we wreck the whole place with our fight and tear down this Bamboo City?
“I could only talk the whole night with him about formation skills, but luckily his knowledge and experience were extremely extraordinary. We sank into exploring the formation skills to the point that I forgot to show affection and simply thought that the night was too short. Thinking about it now, I feel we could have done something first before exploring the path of formations and exchanged pointers.”
The girls looked at one another in dismay. A man and a woman spent the night in one room and they really talked about formation skills the whole night? “Truly horrible… worse than a beast!”
“Then why is sister allowing Brother-in-Law Qin to go look for Poison Master, that little hussy?” one girl asked daringly. “If Mu Yingxue isn’t reserved like sister and snatches brother-in-law, what will you do?”
He Yiyi sneered at her. “Unless Lassie Mu uses force, everyone can forget about taking advantage of him. Ever since Lassie Mu lost to him, she couldn’t forget about him and her amorous feelings kept undulating. She always fights with me, so if she found out that I lost, she would definitely make fun of me. So why don’t I let her suffer a setback as well so it shuts her mouth?”
The girls greatly admired her words. “Sister is wise!”
Qin Mu brought Xiong Qi’er to the dragon qilin’s back, and they headed to Thunder Mountain City where Poison Master Mu Yingxue lived.
“Big brother, are we not going to True Heaven Palace?” Xiong Qi’er asked curiously.
“I planned to go there, but so far there has been no news of Imperial Preceptor and your mother. I suspect…” The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched and he sneered. “Imperial Preceptor, that old schemer, hasn’t shown his face from beginning to the end, and now I see what he wants to do! He is definitely waiting for me to create a huge ruckus and attract the attention an the main force of True Heaven Palace.
“Then he will achieve victory amid the disorder! That old schemer… I knew there was something wrong about him personally running over to my Heavenly Saint Academy to invite your mother to West Earth before asking me to join as well.”
He raised his head and examined the surroundings. There were a couple of white clouds following them in the sky, and he immediately said to the dragon qilin. “Fatty Dragon, we are being watched again.”
The dragon qilin was frightened and immediately began to run faster.
The speed of the white clouds also suddenly increased, but after a moment, the dragon qilin left them in the dust.
Qin Mu noticed that not only were the white clouds chasing them, even the water of Sword River suddenly flowed in reverse. The waves moved like dragons, but they still couldn’t catch up to them.
Qin Mu looked with puzzlement at it. The divine arts practitioners were probably the strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace. Its tracking methods were indeed unmatched, and if they got seen, it would be hard for them to shake them off.
Yet how did Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, that old schemer, had known that he would attract a lot of attention after he entered West Earth? Even pulling out True Heaven Palace’s forces?
He was clearly very low key and knew his place, so how did that schemer had known that he would become the biggest target of True Heaven Palace?
“Imperial Preceptor is an old fox…”
Qin Mu took a look at Xiong Qi’er and instantly knew who was the real target.
According to his understanding gained in the past couple of days, West Earth placed great importance on the little princess, and True Heaven Palace needed to have one to sit firmly in its seat. Since Qin Mu was bringing along Xiong Qi’er, the little princess, with him, how could it not make him the biggest target?
Xiong Xiyu was nothing to worry about while Xiong Qi’er was the target of True Heaven Palace Master!
In the past, the target Yu Bochuan had pursued wasn’t Xiong Xiyu, but Xiong Qi’er!
Qin Mu still remembered why he had saved Xiong Xiyu and her daughter. It was because when he saw Yu Bochuan bullying a four-five-year-old girl like Xiong Qi’er, he really couldn’t bear to watch it and risked his life to save them.
But when he thought of it now, Yu Bochuan had wanted to kill Xiong Qi’er not without a reason.
‘Why does True Heaven Palace place such importance on a little princess?’
He couldn’t help feeling bewildered and squatted down. He grabbed Xiong Qi’er’s shoulders and flipped her around a few times, but he didn’t see anything special about her. This made him even more puzzled.
Nai Kui was True Heaven Palace Master, and the title’s meaning was the mother of the princess, while the father was called Ba Gou. These two names originated from the little princess, which showed how high True Heaven Palace valued the little princess. There had to be a reason for that!
Xiong Qi’er looked at him with her big eyes blinking innocently. She didn’t look like she had any special ability.
Suddenly, Qin Mu focused on her little backpack and was stunned for a moment. Xiong Qi’er had always carried it with her, all the way from Heavenly Saint Academy to there. He had always thought that it held her clothes and didn’t pay any attention to it.
Now, he was curious about that small backpack.
“Qi’er, what do you have in that backpack of yours?” Qin Mu asked.
Xiong Qi’er took it down and opened it up, causing green light to shower Qin Mu’s face.
He sighed. “As expected. Imperial Preceptor, that old schemer…”
The Green Dragon Bead lay quietly in the girl’s backpack. It was green like jade as well as sparkling and translucent. A dragon soul gently swam inside it.
When Qin Mu grabbed the dragon bead, the dragon’s soul looked at him with disdain, but when he let Xiong Qi’er touch it, the green dragon’s soul looked at her with friendliness. It gently touched her hand from within the bead.
“The innocence of the child is the best material to cultivate Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique.”
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. The reason why True Heaven Palace needed a little princess was mainly because of her innocence. Without any impure thoughts, she would be able to control a treasure like Green Dragon Bead and unleash its power to the extreme.
In True Heaven Palace, there were three more treasures which represented Black Tortoise, Vermillion Bird, and White Tiger. The person who could unleash the power of all those treasures would only be the little princess of True Heaven Palace!
The most powerful person in that sacred ground was never Nai Kui or the other strong practitioners. It was the little princess which was without the strength to truss a chicken.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Xiong Xiyu had gone first to West Earth, but leaving Green Dragon Bead to Xiong Qi’er would have definitely not been Xiong Xiyu’s idea, but that of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Xiong Xiyu felt that Imperial Preceptor was unreliable, so she asked Qin Mu to bring Xiong Qi’er with him. Never would she have expected that she would fall for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s scheme and let Qin Mu and Xiong Qi’er become the targets of True Heaven Palace. Meanwhile, Imperial Preceptor and her could borrow the cover provided by them and execute their plans in secret.
‘Imperial Preceptor needs a smack on the ass. He is a heavenly king of my Heavenly Saint Cult, so how does he dare to scheme even against his own cult master.’
Qin Mu sighed and roused his spirit. At that moment, the dragon qilin suddenly stopped and said, “Cult Master, there’s something.”
Qin Mu looked forward and saw mountains stretching into the distance. Black coffins hung off the cliffs. They nearly covered them whole, making the whole mountain body black.
He quickly counted the coffins and realized that they numbered somewhere around three to five thousand.
“This is… a corpse raising ground!”
He opened Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes to look and instantly saw sinister wind blowing in waves while dark clouds shrouded the mountains.
The place was indeed suitable to raise corpses.
According to the geographic map of West Earth, they were in Lower County which was about eight hundred miles from Thunder Mountain City. Lower County was the territory of West Earth’s Liu Family.
‘This corpse raising ground is in the territory of Liu Family? Does that means they’re its owners?’
Qin Mu suddenly remembered that corpses had no spirit nor soul, so wouldn’t they be a good material for West Earth’s divine arts practitioner to awaken spirit? The bodies of divine arts practitioners had been through the vicissitudes of life and far surpassed spirit weapons in power. On top of that, they had four limbs and may even be able to execute divine arts in battle, so they might be even more useful than spirit weapons.
“Rise and get rich!”
Suddenly, a shout could be heard, and Qin Mu looked toward the source of it. He saw a few men with embroidered headbands chanting phrases while executing divine arts of West Earth. A black coffin suddenly grew legs and pushed itself off the cliff as though it was flying, then laded with a thump.
Creak.
The coffin opened up and a woman hopped out. Her neck turned around stiffly, and she looked at Qin Mu. “Are you perhaps Heavenly Devil Cult Master from Middle Earth?”
Qin Mu was astonished. He actually couldn’t tell if the woman from the coffin was dead or alive. “That’s me. May I ask who you are?”
“Liu Ruyin of Liu Family.”
The woman landed on the ground. “I’ve heard that Cult Master has brought the little princess to West Earth. Where is she?”
Qin Mu raised Xiong Qi’er’s hand and smiled. “The little princess is right here.”
Liu Ruyin looked at Xiong Qi’er, and the light in her eyes shone brightly. The smell of decay instantly torrented into the sky, and numerous black coffins grew legs to sprint down the cliffs. There were even coffins floating in the sky which creaked loudly as they opened up. Numerous ‘corpses’ whose state of being Qin Mu couldn’t determine sat up and rushed at Xiong Qi’er!
Qin Mu stretched his hand and took out Green Dragon Bead from the girl’s small backpack and stuff it into her hands while saying indifferently, “Liu Ruyin, your Liu Family seems to have ill intentions eh.”
When Liu Ruyin saw the Green Dragon Bead, she couldn’t help covering her face and giving off a miserable shriek which was filled with terror. “Don’t be reckless!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Xiong Qi’er hugged Green Dragon Bead, since it was quite big. It was the size of an adult’s fist. She was too young and it took her some effort to carry it.
Qin Mu saw Liu Ruyin’s actions and instantly knew that his guess was right. The Green Dragon Bead truly needed a pure and innocent little girl to unleash its full power.
It was no wonder then that West Earth placed so much importance on the little princess.
Liu Ruyin covered her face with a sleeve so only one eye was showing. It was ghastly white and only had a black pupil the size of a soybean; it was truly strange.
“Cult Master, don’t be mistaken.”
Behind Liu Ruyin, explosions rang out without end as the ‘corpses’ that were possibly dead or alive fell back into the coffins which closed automatically.
Liu Ruyin also jumped back into her coffin and lay down with a chuckle. “We just wanted to see if the little princess was fine. Now that we see the little princess is safe, Ruyin is at ease. Farewell!”
The coffins grew legs once again and were running up the cliffs.
“Master of the House Liu, please wait a minute,” Qin Mu suddenly said.
Liu Ruyin, who had been about to close her coffin, stopped when she heard his words. She straightened her body and forced out a smile. “Cult Master, give us a way out and don’t be ruthless.”
Her voice was trembling, and it seemed like she was extremely terrified.
Qin Mu was bewildered. Wasn’t it just the Green Dragon Bead?
Xiong Qi’er was holding onto, but even though she could unleash its power, it should not be too terrifying… Did Liu Ruyin and the rest really need to be that terrified?
“Master of the House Liu, you guys have come on the orders of True Heaven Palace?” Qin Mu asked with a pleasant expression. “Since it’s on orders, there should be experts of True Heaven Palace in your clan, right? I would like to meet them, so could Master introduce them to me?”
Liu Ruyin was slightly stunned. Qin Mu’s face was warm like the spring wind when he smiled. “Master of the House Liu might not know, but I’ve no ill intentions for West Earth. I’m just here to see the local situation and customs. The reason I brought the little princess is simply because she’s a person of West Earth and is more familiar with the geography.”
“Familiar with the geography of West Earth?” Liu Ruyin blinked at him.
Xiong Qi’er was around six years old and had lived in True Heaven Palace ever since she was young. The only thing she might be familiar with would only be the geography of her home, so how could she have any memory of West Earth’s geography? Letting Xiong Qi’er lead the way was no different from a blind man touching an elephant.
‘This Cult Master Qin from Middle Earth sure has a way with lies.’
Liu Ruyin’s next words were chosen carefully. “Cult Master Qin, a strong dragon cannot suppress a snake. Even though your background is enormous, my Liu Family is not to be trifled with as well. Be careful of a life and death struggle.”
Qin Mu looked at her with astonishment. “What is Master of the House Liu saying? I just want to see the senior sister of True Heaven Palace and resolve the misunderstanding between us. I have no ill intentions. If I really was thinking like that, I would have already asked the little princess to activate Green Dragon Bead, and do you think you guys would have been able to escape?”
Liu Ruyin’s face flickered between dark and clear. However, Qin Mu’s patience was extremely good. He just stood there and waited for her reply.
He didn’t speak a word, and the ‘corpses’ in the coffins also didn’t dare to move.
After a moment, Liu Ruyin chuckled and said, “Since Cult Master Qin had said so, how can I go against it? Cult Master, please enter my coffin and let me bring you to Liu Family to meet the senior sisters of True Heaven Palace. I wonder if Cult Master will have the courage?”
Qin Mu smiled at her. “What’s the problem?” After saying so, he picked up Xiong Qi’er and jumped off the dragon qilin’s back before coming next to Liu Ruyin’s coffin.
When he looked inside, he couldn’t help becoming stunned. The coffin didn’t look big from the outside, but the internal space was astonishing. Its length and width were over thirty yards, and even the height was fifteen-eighteen yards. It was like a huge house.
On top of that, there were also tables, chairs, and even a jade bed. It was split into a few rooms, and there were dining and living spaces. There was even a place for a servant to live, which made it no different from a small and delicate palace.
Qin Mu clicked his tongue in wonder. When Liu Ruyin had jumped out of the coffin, he had risen in shock. He thought that a zombie had jumped out, never having expected that it would actually be her living space.
He looked at the other black coffins and wondered, ‘Could all of them be like that? All places where the disciples of Liu Family live?’ These coffins that grew legs to walk by themselves seem to be as wonderful even if they’re using different methods which lead to the same result as Sister Yiyi’s moving city.’
“Fatty Dragon, you can also come in!” Qin Mu turned back to smile at him.
The dragon qilin seemed slightly hesitant and shook his head. “Cult Master, I’m a bit superstitious, so I won’t go in.”
Qin Mu scolded him with a laugh, then brought Xiong Qi’er into the coffin, leaving the dragon qilin outside.
Liu Ruyin closed the coffin with a bang, and they immediately left with the coffins striding forward. Some of them even floated into the sky, escorting Liu Ruyin’s coffin across the mountains.
The dragon qilin followed after them, and after crossing a few mountains, he saw a huge mausoleum among the mountains. Numerous black coffins of Liu Family were floating around it like black boats in the sky. They formed a line to enter the huge mouth of the mausoleum.
The dragon qilin shuddered as he complained in his heart. However, he still braced himself to enter the mausoleum with the coffins.
In the coffin, Q
in Mu sat with Xiong Qi’er in his arms. Liu Ruyin sat opposite of him, and the two of them looked at each other silently. The atmosphere was solemn.
Suddenly, Qin Mu smiled and said, “Master of the House Liu, who is the chief of your Liu Family?”
The black pupils that were the size of soybeans in Liu Ruyin’s eyes swirled and returned back to ordinary size. She smiled back at him., “Cult Master Qin is an outsider, so you don’t know about my Liu Family. I’m its head.”
Qin Mu was astonished. “In that case, it was correct of me to call you Master of the House Liu just now. Sister Ruyin, your Liu Family’s technique is very strange. When I saw you guys just now, I thought you were all corpses! Can you tell me the reason why you’re doing this?”
Liu Ruyin couldn’t help feeling a warmth well in her heart and threw a glance at him with joy she couldn’t contain. “Your mouth is really sweet. The people of other clans, especially the men, which of them would dare to be so sweet when they see me? It’s already fortunate if they aren’t scared to death! Some of those stinky men piss their pants in terror while the souls of some scatter into nothingness. Cult Master, on the other hand, can still have a pleasant chat and call me sister.”
Xiong Qi’er was bewildered and thought to herself, ‘Big brother seems to call every woman he meets sister…’
The corpse air around Liu Ruyin’s body became fainter, and she smiled. “The technique of our Liu Family is different from the basic one. None of us actually had the surname Liu when we were alive, and only after we died did we become Liu.”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled and he cried out, “You’re all!”
“My West Earth’s Liu Family has an extremely ancient background, which started when a spirit was born from a corpse. Rumor says that Liu Family’s ancestor was buried under a willow tree, but soon, spirituality was born in the corpse, and he took the surname Liu.
“Because we are born from corpses, our corporeal bodies are dead and we can’t give birth. However, we have a lifespan, and once our spirits’ time is up, our souls scatter. The people outside say that our Liu Family is weird and don’t interact with outsiders, but they are mistaken. It’s not that we aren’t willing to interact with the outside, but that we are all spirits born from corpses so we are scared of being captured to be turned into spirit weapons.”
“When the experts of True Heaven Palace asked you to deal with me, you guys agreed. Could True Heaven Palace have the ability to take down your Liu Family and refine you guys into spirit weapons?” Qin Mu asked in a cold voice.
Liu Ruyin’s face changed slightly.
Qin Mu laughed loudly and his expression became pleasant again. He smiled. “Sister Ruyin, for you to be able to become the chief of Liu Family, your cultivation surpasses mine by far, so how can you still be scared of me? Little brother is really just bragging and only knows how to scare people. I’m actually not confident at all.”
Liu Ruyin let out a sigh of relief and smiled back at me. “You really gave sister a scare. What’s Cult Master Qin’s cultivation?”
“I’m only on Six Directions Realm. Can sister be at ease now?” Qin Mu said honestly.
Liu Ruyin was indeed at ease, but she was still worried about the Green Dragon Bead in Xiong Qi’er’s hands.
That item was the biggest nemesis of Liu Family. When the power of this dragon bead was executed, no matter how strong the experts of Liu Family were, they wouldn’t be able to contend against it!
The reason why Liu Family had submitted to True Heaven Palace was because of Green Dragon Bead.
“Sister Ruyin, who are the ones that came from True Heaven Palace? What’s their cultivation?”
“The person that came is the elder of True Heaven Palace’s Yu Family, Yu Ruyi,” Liu Ruyin said. “The experts of Yu Family are on Life and Death Realm, and they are all extraordinary.”
Qin Mu nodded gently. The people in West Earth didn’t really see cultivation realm as important since Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique didn’t rely on cultivation to achieve victory. It instead relied on comprehending nature and heaven and earth. The purer were one’s thoughts, the stronger their senses would be, and then they would be even more likely to communicate with the heaven and earth.
Of course, the higher the cultivation, the stronger the creation divine arts would be. Cultivation was also extremely important to one’s ability, but to the people of West Earth, the senses and comprehensions in regards to nature were the most important.
“Sister Ruyin should be at ease now, right?” Qin Mu smiled. “That Sister is on Life and Death Realm while I’m only on Six Directions Realm. Sister Ruyin, if Sister Ruyi wants to kill me, you will have to protect me.”
Liu Ruyin gave a troubled expression and said reluctantly, “Yu Ruyi and I are friends and I can only assure you that she won’t touch you in God Burial Valley. As for outside it, I can’t guarantee the safety of Cult Master.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said his thanks. “Thanks for the trouble, sister. What kind of place is God Burial Valley in which you guys live?”
Liu Ruyin smiled. “We are at God Burial Valley now. Cult Master Qin, please go out of the coffin!”
The coffin opened, and Liu Ruyin brought him out to look around. They were in an underground world that stretched in all directions. There were sun, moon, and stars in the sky of the mausoleum, and in the surroundings, there were passageways leading to tombs of all sizes. There were numerous coffins entering and exiting them.
A small coffin floated over, and its lids flipped open to reveal a little girl inside. While sitting on the coffin’s edge, she said, “Mother, who is this?”
Qin Mu looked over with doubt at Liu Ruyin. The woman looked at the child with sadness, then said softly, “This is my little darling. She died with me, and we were both awakened by an elder, so we came to live here… Let’s not talk about this. Didn’t you say that you want to meet Yu Ruyi? Let me call her over and introduce her to you, I might just be able to resolve the misunderstanding between you. Little darling, stay here to accompany big brother.”
The girl acknowledged her words sweetly and examined Qin Mu with curiosity.
Qin Mu didn’t dare to underestimate her. Even though the little girl was the daughter of Liu Ruyin, their spirits were awakened at the same time, so her cultivation realm was probably the same as that of Liu Ruyin. They were both great experts on Life and Death Realm or Divine Bridge Realm!
He looked toward the center of God Burial Valley and saw a golden coffin standing upright there. It was heavily covered in thick chains and full of yellow joss papers. All kinds of runes were written on them
“Who is in this coffin? Why is it locked?” Qin Mu asked curiously.
“Mother said that a god whose corpse has already become a spirit lies there. However, everyone is afraid of them committing evil so they locked them up.
“I see.” Qin Mu smiled and looked down. “Little darling, let me perform some magic for you.” After saying that, he took out a huge jade eye. “This eye of mine can shine.”
The little girl looked up at him with excitement. “How will it shine?”
At that moment, Liu Ruyin’s voice reached them. “Ruyi, that is Cult Master Qin. If you have any misunderstandings, I don’t mind being the peacemaker…”
The voice of another girl came followed by chuckles. “Resolve our grudges? That’s good. He just needs to hand the princess over and the grudge will be resolved.”
At that moment, snow white light suddenly tore through the dimness of God Burial Valley before disappearing in a flash.
Qin Mu’s laughter rang through the underground world. “How was it? It shines, right?”
Liu Ruyin was stunned for an instant. She then saw Yu Ruyi beside her with a horizontal mark over her stomach which split her into two the next moment.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“Bastard!”
The moment Yu Ruyi died, the whole Liu Family was alarmed, and the black coffins opened with continuous bangs. Strong figures rose into the air one after another!
There were even a few coffins that opened up without anyone being inside them. Instead, terrifying pulses came from within them while divine lights churned inside. Even if no strong practitioners showed their faces, it was still very shocking!
Even though Liu Family didn’t reveal its full strength, it was still one of the ten most influential families in West Earth, and so its abilities were no small matter!
God Burial Valley was Liu Family’s sacred ground, so once Qin Mu got rid of Yu Ruyi within it, the event touched upon Liu Family’s taboo. In addition to that, the one that had died was a strong practitioner of True Heaven Palace, which would of course anger the host family.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Figures surrounded Qin Mu, and the wind instantly became full of sinister cold. The figures flickered as they stood in the dark clouds, their faces impossible to see. It was hard to say if they were human or ghost.
Just as one figure was about to tear the arrogant youth apart, it saw the Green Dragon Bead in Xiong Qi’er’s hands and stopped, not daring to go forward.
“Everyone stop!” Liu Ruyin ordered in flustered exasperation. “All of you stop moving!”
She turned her head to look at Qin Mu and saw him stuffing a huge jade eye into his taotie sack like nothing of concern had happened.
Her daughter was clapping her hands in delight, wanting Qin Mu to do it again.
Liu Ruyin felt a splitting headache. When she looked at Yu Ruyi’s body next to her, her head ached even more.
Her original intention was to let Qin Mu and Yu Ruyi meet and that’s it. No matter if they could come to peace or if they insisted on fighting, they would have to do it outside Liu Family’s grounds.
She only needed to be careful of Yu Ruyi and not let her kill the youth. As for Qin Mu, the big boy who was only a divine arts practitioners of Six Direction Realm, she didn’t need to mind him at all.
She would have never expected that such a simple plan could have such a hiccup!
Just as Yu Ruyi showed herself, she was sliced apart by Qin Mu this scoundrel, and he still acted like he knew nothing. It was truly hateful!
Cutting Yu Ruyi apart was fine, but the crucial point was that it had been done in God Burial Valley which would make Liu Family look disloyal.
If True Heaven Palace decided to punish it, could Liu Family take it?
‘However, sending this Scoundrel Qin to True Heaven Palace can still redeem us of our crimes.’ Liu Ruyin blinked while looking ahead. ‘However, Green Dragon Bead is in the little princess’s hands, so she can’t be offended…’
At that moment, a fragrant wind blew over, and the other women of True Heaven Palace floated over. When they saw Yu Ruyi’s corpse on the ground, they couldn’t help growing furious and shouting sternly, “Liu Ruyin, what’s this?”
Liu Ruyin’s head began to ache even more. “This was done by Cult Master Qin from Middle Earth. It had nothing to do with my Liu Family…”
One of the women shouted at her sternly, “Nothing to do with your Liu Family? Liu Ruyin, it’s easy for you to say that, but the one who died is the elder of my True Heaven Palace. Your Liu Family can forget about shirking responsibility!”
Another woman stepped forward with fierceness. “Chief Liu, if your Liu Family still wants to live, quickly take down that Qin boy and hand him over to True Heaven Palace. Palace Master can then consider old affections and not give too much trouble to you. Otherwise, the entire Liu Family is probably going to be eradicated and removed from the books forever!”
As Liu Ruyin ground her teeth, Qin Mu’s voice reached her ears. It was filled with curiosity. “Sister Ruyin, didn’t you say that only Yu Ruyi had come from True Heaven Palace? I thought she was alone. Who are these sisters?”
Liu Ruyin gave him a harsh stare and sneered. “I said someone called Yu Ruyi came from True Heaven Palace, but I didn’t say that she was alone. I had also told you that a few senior sisters had come from True Heaven Palace, didn’t I?”
Qin Mu quickly came to a realization and smiled. “I was reckless, I thought killing one sister would be enough.”
Liu Ruyin was furious and said coldly, “Cult Master Qin, now that you have killed the elder of True Heaven Palace and spoiled the relationship between my Liu Family and True Heaven Palace, come teach me. What should I do?”
Qin Mu rose and smiled at her. “Sister Ruyin, I just came from He Family and Sister Yiyi is currently planning to gather all the influential families to discuss how to overthrow the True Heaven Palace Master who only managed to ascend to the throne by relying on a rebellion. She keeps doing things all wrong, angering the heavens and the people.
“Once Yu Family grows strong, your Liu Family will be only food for its table. Just Yu Ruyi and these couple sisters can make your entire Liu Family become docile. Since Yu Family could kill the whole Xiong Family, barely leaving one mother and daughter, aren’t you guys worried?”
Liu Ruyin was frightened. Qin Mu’s words were logical. Once Yu Ruyi had died in Liu Family’s grounds, True Heaven Palace wouldn’t let it go easily. Liu Family would definitely be implicated and even if they didn’t die, they would still have to offer numerous treasures to True Heaven Palace as offerings.
And Liu Family’s greatest treasure was their corpses.
However, Qin Mu that scoundrel clearly had bad intentions and purposely dragged Liu Family down with him to fight True Heaven Palace together.
However, he said that He Yiyi was gathering all the influential families for discussion, and this moved Liu Ruyin’s heart.
Yu Family held no affection from anyone and had been ruthless when dealing with Xiong Family, nearly killing every single person within it.
Even though Xiong Family had always taken the position of palace master and attracted other influential families’ envy, it was still considered fair in handling matters.
However, Yu Family was different. Xiong Family had a population of a million people and possessed great power, but Yu Family had actually eliminated them completely, with only Xiong Xiyu and her daughter being able to escape West Earth. The others were all gone.
This wasn’t as simple as being ruthless.
‘If we could make use of this chance to overthrow Yu Family…’
Liu Ruyin looked at Qin Mu and hesitated. The other experts of Liu Family were furious, but there was also quite a number who were thinking about Qin Mu’s suggestion.
He smiled and said, “Sister Ruyin, Xiong Family is only left with an orphan and a widow. Even if Xiong Xiyu retakes the position of the palace master, how can they rule West Earth with just the two of them? Won’t she have to borrow the power of your influential families?
“If Yu Family remains as the head of True Heaven Palace, you guys won’t have any say in its dealings. However, the day Xiong Family retakes its seat, it will be the day when all of you influential families will become part of True Heaven Palace.”
Liu Ruyin made her decision and looked at the little girl beside Qin Mu. “Little darling, what’s your opinion?”
The little girl smiled and said, “Since mother has already decided, why are you asking me? Mother can make the decision.”
Qin Mu looked at the little girl who looked almost the same age as Xiong Qi’er and was extremely astonished. He immediately pulled Xiong Qi’er into his arms and moved a distance away.
The little girl was definitely not simple. Liu Ruyin hadn’t asked the opinion of the elders of Liu Family or the coffins who were giving off divine lights but had instead inquired about the little girl’s thoughts. This showed that the little girl was definitely a crafty and sinister person who was probably the brains of Liu Family!
She smiled at him sweetly. “I was originally stuck between whether to rebel against the Yu Family or not, and Cult Master was a great help in helping me decide.”
To the side, Liu Ruyin looked at the women of True Heaven palace and burst out laughing. “Senior sisters, don’t worry, after all of you die, we will awaken the spirits inside you. As for whether you will be the ones to wake up, I can tell you for certain, it will definitely not be you. Everyone, send these senior sisters of True Heaven Palace on their way!”
The women of True Heaven Palace cussed and tried to fight back, but even if their abilities were extraordinary, it was difficult for them to escape death in God Burial Valley. An elder of True Heaven Palace tried to undo the sealed golden god’s coffin, wanting to use the corpse within it to deal with the experts of Liu Family, but just as she undid one seal, divine light suddenly burst forth from one coffin and poured into her orifices. Her primordial spirit was instantly dissolved and only a corpse remained.
Qin Mu couldn’t help shivering.
The abilities of Liu Family were extremely terrifying. If it wasn’t for Xiong Qi’er hugging Green Dragon Bead, it would have been hard to suppress them.
What was even more bone-chilling to him was the girl that had looked harmless. Liu Ruyin had asked her to stay with him which had seemed a spur of the moment, but was actually full of preplanning. If the little girl had suddenly landed a fatal blow, Qin Mu and Xiong Qi’er could have already been dead.
The reason Liu Ruyin was able to sit on the seat of the chief was probably related to the little girl.
Qin Mu paid no attention to the situation and asked with a smile, “Little darling, what’s your name?”
The little girl raised her head and smiled sweetly at him. “Cult Master Qin, my name is Liu Zhenqing.”
“Liu Zhenqing.”
Qin Mu nodded. The little girl’s pure smile could fight with his honest smile. Both could easily make people put their guard down, and so he knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea to trifle with her.
‘The little girls of West Earth can’t be underestimated.’
After a moment, the women from True Heaven Palace were killed by the experts of Liu Family while Qin Mu brought Liu Zhenqing and Xiong Qi’er to the side. He saw an elder of Liu Family taking a root and tapping it on the corpses of the experts of True Heaven Palace. Their corpses then stood up.
It was due to the spell of Liu Family which had awakened their spirits, and there were spells of this field in Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique that Qin Mu had cultivated. However, seeing how the spirits were awakened in the corpses was still somewhat shocking.
“Cult Master Qin, the spirit revived from the corpse isn’t the soul of the original host.” Liu Zhenqing looked at Liu Ruyin who was not far away and whispered, “She’s not Liu Ruyin and I’m also not her daughter.”
Qin Mu was stunned and puzzled. “Yet you still call her mother and she calls you little darling.”
“Liu Family has no familial bonds and no blood relations. Our blood is cold,” Liu Zhengqing said with a dim expression. “When I call her mother, I feel a little warmth in my corpse body as though I’m still alive. She also feels the same way.”
Qin Mu looked at Liu Ruyin who was walking over to them and smiled.
The spirits transformed from corpses might have cold blood, but they had human feelings. It was a great contrast to some people who might have warm blood, but who didn’t have a hint of human affection.
“Cult Master Qin, are you satisfied?” Liu Ruyin looked at him with a smile that was not really a smile.
Qin Mu laughed loudly and bowed to the ground. “Sister Ruyin, forgive me. However, wasn’t sister also scheming against me by leaving Zhenqing beside me?”
Liu Ruyin returned his bow and sighed. “Yet I ain’t as ruthless as you.”
“I have no choice; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to ally myself with sister.” Qin Mu examined the god’s coffin and asked with curiosity, “Who is that in the god’s coffin? Why is he sealed? I also saw divine light coming out from a few coffins. Were they gods and devils as well?”
Liu Ruyin shook her head. “The elders who had died and were revived over a dozen times have refined their corporeal bodies into those of gods, but they are different from the god in the golden coffin. The god’s corpse within it is that of a true god.”
Qin Mu jumped in shock and couldn’t help taking a few more glances at it.
Liu Zhenqing suddenly coughed, and Liu Ruyin understood. She said meaningfully, “The sky is already turning dark, so why doesn’t Cult Master Qin stay for the night before hurrying on his way tomorrow. Cult Master can rest here tonight, my coffin… will be slightly ajar.”
Qin Mu’s scalp crawled, and he felt a chill go down his bones. He immediately said righteously, “I have already promised Poison Master Mu Yingxue to meet her and I’ve delayed the meeting for almost a year. Time is running out, so Qi’er and I have to hurry on our way! Farewell! No need to send me off!” After he finished saying that, he took Xiong Qi’er’s small hand and called the dragon qilin over. They fled God Burial Valley through the darkness outside.
Qin Mu smacked the dragon qilin’s butt fiercely, and they left in a panic.
Liu Ruyin brought her daughter out to see them rushing into the distance, and they couldn’t help being disappointed and frustrated.
“Why is it so hard to find a father with human affection…” Liu Zhenqing said dejectedly.
“Don’t worry, mother will find a good father for you,” Liu Ruyin consoled her.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Early in the morning, Thunder Mountain City was already emanating with medicinal fragrance. Qin Mu sniffed the air and knew that it was poisonous fog given off by numerous toxic substances. He immediately refined a few Poison Avoiding Pills for dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er to hold in their mouths.
Poison Master Mu Yingxue’s city was different from the ordinary cities. All kinds of poisonous grass and flowers, as well as venomous insects, could be seen everywhere. They were raised by the people of Thunder Mountain City in their gardens while the insects crawled everywhere on the ground. Some of the people even reared venomous birds and beasts which roamed everywhere. The houses were covered with poisonous vines from which green snakes would pop their heads out at times to hiss at passers-by.
A bunch of big-eared opossums with scales ran past the dragon chilling, chasing a couple big centipedes that were roughly three feet long.
The morning time in Thunder Mountain City was very bustling, and shouting could be heard coming from the streets from time to time.
“God damn it, whose venomous wasp is this? My face is all swollen, bring the antidote quickly!”
“Which utterly heartless person poured the medicinal dregs on the street? My leg is numb and black… It’s almost rotting! Who poured those medicinal dregs? Son of a b*tch, I’ll poison you to death!”
…
Qin Mu walked through the street of Thunder Mountain City, and there were quite a number of merchants selling the poison they had refined in the open. Their clamoring voices filled the air endlessly.
“Sister Mu’s Thunder Mountain City is pretty flourishing.”
When Qin Mu examined his surroundings, he saw numerous precious herbs, some which he bought. A number of the poison pills that the peddlers sold were also of good quality and could be used as basic poisons to refine even stronger toxins so he also got some.
Without paying attention to it, he came to the center of Thunder Mountain City which was the most bustling place. There were numerous circular arenas, and divine arts practitioners who refined poison were fighting in them.
Qin Mu stopped to look for a moment and saw that the divine arts practitioners were fighting differently from how it was normally done. There were numerous jars around them and also all kinds of green leaves, flowers, and grass.
The two divine arts practitioners would execute their spells and force the venomous insects or other creatures to kill each other in the jars. The winner would then crawl out of the jar to nibble on the green leaves and evolve. The two divine arts practitioners would then quickly plant seeds within it and catalyze them with strange spells so they would grow quickly and bear fruit.
The divine arts practitioners on both sides used rhizomes or fruits to feed venomous insects and the divine arts of all things having spirit to make them grow rapidly, spewing poisonous fog or poisonous fire at the opponent. The two venomous insects would then fight fiercely while the divine arts practitioners would avoid each other’s attacks and prepare antidotes.
‘Fighting in arena forces them to refine poison on the spot, and the same goes for the venomous insect and poisonous herb growing, but that is only fair. However, the abilities of these divine arts practitioners are poor and there’s not much to see.’
Qin Mu continued to head forward until he suddenly heard a loud explosion when an arena split apart. A huge creature popped out and took up almost half of the arena. It was a huge spider whose upper body was that of a beautiful woman. It shrieked and shook its body, swallowing clouds and spitting out fog to force all the people who were standing around and watching to move back.
Qin Mu looked at it with astonishment. “To be able to use of the numerous poisonous grass, flowers, and venomous insect to raise such a venomous creature, the ability of this divine arts practitioner is no small matter!”
A woman in black rose from the body of the venomous spider, but a black veil covered her face. However, from the skin that could be seen, she definitely had poisonous warts like a toad all over her face. She shouted sternly, “Mu Yingxue, I’m back once more! Get your ass out here, for I want to settle who’s truly better!”
Qin Mu instantly became excited and came to the bottom of the arena to spectate the battle. The other divine arts practitioners of Thunder Mountain City also flooded over and created an impenetrable crowd around the arena.
A woman said excitedly, “Poison Master is going to make a move!”
Another woman was also in high spirits. “It’s been a long time since Poison Master made a move! Rumors say that ever since Poison Master met Middle Earth’s Heavenly Devil Cult Master who is also a great expert on the poison path, the two of them had their first awakening of love, catching the eyes of each other. They even had an indescribable love affair. After Poison Master came back, her abilities in the poison path increased tremendously and advanced even further on the poison path, entering the realm that was so mysterious that even gods and spirits could not predict it! Who would dare to challenge her?”
“You don’t recognize this woman? She’s none other than the poison expert of True Heaven Palace with the name Yu Qingchan. She’s also one of the top-notch figures of the poison path. She had once fought with our Poison Master for the title and lost. Her face was then ruined by Poison Master!”
…
Qin Mu blinked. When had he and Mu Yingxue had an indescribable love affair?
He had clearly fought against her with poison, and both of them had sent one another all they had, changing one another into ugly and deformed beings. That wasn’t romantic, but it could be seen as an appreciation of one another’s talents.
‘She did give me a kiss though.’
When the youth remembered this, his heart pounded violently, and a different kind of feeling and emotion rose within him. He suddenly woke up with a start. ‘Crap! My heartbeat is increasing and blood is rushing to my face. My breathing is also becoming ragged and there’s a warm feeling in my heart when I think of her. Could it be the Yearning Poison that Sister Mu had placed on me that’s acting up? However, this poison doesn’t seem to be dangerous, yea, there’s no need to worry…’
He moved his thoughts to Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, He Yiyi, and the other girls, and that warm feeling instantly vanished.
‘Seems like Yearning Poison isn’t hard to deal with.’ The youth composed himself.
“Mu Yingxue, you don’t dare to show yourself?” the woman in black on the arena sneered. “You aren’t a man, tucking your tail between your legs isn’t how you do things!”
At that moment, a soft laugh could be heard, and green vines began to grow rapidly in the distance. They started at a mansion in the center of the city and were getting thicker and thicker, like green dragons. Large green leaves quickly shot out, and the vines grew even longer.
In just a short moment, the covered three to four miles and came to the top of the arena.
Pop.
A soft pop sounded out as a huge flower bud grew out from a green vine which hung above the arena. It bloomed and a maiden with snow white skin jumped out. Before she even landed on the ground, seeds on the arena sprouted and another huge flower bloomed.
Mu Yingxue stepped on its stamens with bare feet instead of landing on the ground. With a smile, she said, “Yu Qingchan, you lost to me the previous time and haven’t even undone the remnant of the poison I left in your body. The once charming face of yours is still filled with warts. Aren’t you just seeking death by coming this time?”
Yu Qingchan laughed softly. “Hehehe, do you think I didn’t improve at all during these years? After I lost to you and got disfigured, which man dared to look at my face? All of my visiting marriage partners were gone.”
Mu Yingxue felt some of her sorrow. “We who refine poison indeed do not have any men that would dare to come close to us. After all, at the slightest misstep, they would be poisoned to death. Sister Qingchan, we are fellow sufferers that empathize with each other. However…”
She smiled and her expression became cheerful once more. “I already have my one true love! And he is also a poison expert, the number three in the world! My one true love has already entered West Earth to look for me, so Sister Qingchan, do forgive this little sister for not being able to accompany you in singledom!”
Qin Mu couldn’t restrain his smile. Mu Yingxue was always this clever and queer. However, he hadn’t come to West Earth just to find her.
Yu Qingchan chuckled and said, “You have a close friend, and luckily, I also have one. My close friend is a hundred times better than yours, and he’s none other than the grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace who has remarkable abilities in the poison path! With his guidance, I have cultivated my poison path to the realm of the soul. Mu Yingxue you little slut, I will not only make you give up the title of the poison master, but also make you die a miserable death!”
Mu Yingxue’s expression changed slightly. “Grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace? That Grandmaster who is known for his shaman poison and soul poison? No wonder sister dared to come find me in Thunder Mountain City. That Grandmaster sure has some abilities.”
Yu Qingchan sneered at her. “Now you are scared? Little slut, I’ll gamble with you today!”
Mu Yingxue smiled and said, “Not to the extent of being scared. Ever since I fought with my little lover, my poison path has improved by leaps and bounds, and I’m no longer what I was before. Not to mention you, even if Grandmaster came to find me, I could still poison him to death with a flick of the finger. However, since you have come to challenge me, it wouldn’t be right not to take up the challenge. On what would you like to gamble?”
“We’ll gamble on your man!” Yu Qingchan suddenly raised her hand to point below the arena, straight at Qin Mu, while chuckling. “The life of your man!”
Qin Mu’s surroundings instantly emptied out as everyone scattered to prevent themselves from being implicated. He alone stood in his original place. Even Xiong Qi’er had been brought away by the dragon qilin.
Qin Mu was pretty surprised as he looked at the stage and smiled helplessly at the young woman on the stage while thinking to himself, ‘West Earth’s tracking is simply too masterful. I had never truly escape it.’
Mu Yingxue’s spirits rose and she wanted to jump down from the stage, but she suddenly stopped.
Since she was already standing on the arena, jumping down would mean that she admitted defeat and gave up on the title of poison master. It would be losing without a fight.
“Alright, we’ll bet on my man!” Excited, Mu Yingxue turned her head back to smile at her opponent. “You merged soul poison and our West Earth’s spell of awakening spirit, and used the poisonous substances on the arena to refine such a huge creature, which is truly extraordinary. Your abilities have improved a lot compared to before, but I can also use the poisonous substances on the arena to deal with it.”
Her bare feet gently touched the stamens, and poisonous flowers and grass bloomed along with the venomous insects and toads. “Sister Qingchan, you are only on poison technique while I’m already entering the path, understanding all kinds of inconceivable things of the poison path. You thought you had made your move one step earlier than me and achieved the upper hand, but you didn’t expect that you had never had the upper hand in the first place.”
Wonderful things happened, and the poisonous flowers and grass as well as venomous insects and toads started to change form, transforming from one object into another, evolving from one kind of toxin to another. Her spell of creation could be said to be strange and mysterious.
Qin Mu exclaimed endlessly in admiration. Ever since Mu Yingxue had lost to him, her attainments in all things having spirits had grown without end. Even her technique of creation had become mysterious and strange.
Yu Qingchan shouted out sternly, and the huge spider under her feet waved its claws. The arena wasn’t huge, so when the venomous spider that took up half of it started moving, there was little space for Mu Yingxue to dodge!
Venomous eggs under the venomous spider’s abdomen split open and transformed into tens of thousands of little spiders that covered the whole arena and swarmed toward Mu Yingxue.
Yet before the venomous creatures could reach her side, they suddenly froze and shattered. The huge spider also gave off a miserable shriek before shattering into pieces.
Yu Qingchan rose into the air in a hurry while shouting sternly, “I will still come back to find you!”
“Sister, in your next life.”
Mu Yingxue flicked her sleeve, and Yu Qingchan collapsed into a pile of blood water.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
‘Sister Mu’s poison technique has already joined the pieces together, entering a realm that’s so mysterious that even gods and spirits could not predict it.’
Qin Mu couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration. Mu Yingxue’s attainments in the poison path had already surpassed his, and he had to admit that she really had outstanding comprehension in this field. She had a really unique thought process which was really suited to comprehending the poison path.
After that battle with him, she had to have absorbed part of Apothecary’s ideology and found her own path, so she could easily defeat Yu Qingchan.
Apothecary’s attainments in the poison path were extraordinary, but Qin Mu mainly specialized in treating and saving people. He didn’t research much into poison techniques, so it was natural for him to be surpassed by Mu Yingxue.
If it was him fighting with Yu Qingchan in the arena with just with the poisonous substances on the arena, he would have needed to use the creation techniques from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to change the toxicity. Even though it was similar to Mu Yingxue’s ideology, he would have needed to spend quite some time to achieve the same result.
He could defeat Yu Qingchan, but it wouldn’t be as easy as it was for Mu Yingxue.
Of course, Qin Mu cultivated medicine and poison together, using medicine to supplement poison, which had an unexpected effect. If it was truly a life and death struggle, it would be hard to say which of them would come out superior.
Mu Yingxue jumped down from the arena, but she still didn’t touch the ground. A vine automatically grew out from the ground and huge leaves lifted her up.
She stretched her hand out toward Qin Mu who took it and got pulled onto the leaf.
The green vine under their feet grew higher and higher, lifting them up. Mu Yingxue waved toward everyone below the arena, full of delight and pride. “Look, even we who refine poison can still find our ideal husbands. My little man, Middle Earth’s Heavenly Devil Cult Master, he’s very powerful!”
Cheers erupted below.
Some girl laughed loudly. “Poison Master, you have found your ideal husband after one trip to Middle Earth, so when will you bring all of us to Middle Earth?”
Mu Yingxue looked down at them with excitement. “After my little man’s matters are finished, I’ll bring you to Middle Earth to bring misfortune to Middle Earth’s men!”
“I’ve heard it’s men who are superior in Middle Earth, what a truly backward region. Let’s go correct them!”
“That’s right! Correct them!”
Another girl smiled and said, “It’s not easy for Poison Master to find a person she likes, so we have to celebrate!”
The laughter of numerous girls was still echoing in the streets when a group rushed out from somewhere. They slapped their waist drums and tapped their feet to the beat, dancing and singing.
Thunder Mountain City instantly became bustling, and numerous young men and women took each other hands, singing the folk songs of West Earth shoulder to shoulder.
Some divine arts practitioner executed the divine arts of West Earth, and the green vines, poisonous flowers, as well as grass, grew frantically. The men and women who cultivated poison techniques wandered through the flowers and sang songs to each other. Some even stood on rising vine leaves to dance with the partners they admired.
Gongs and drums rang out, and loud and clear song pierced the air.
Qin Mu, who stood on the leaf, looked down and saw a huge green toad with white belly walking over from the end of the street, taking up most of it. A bunch of big-eared opossums followed behind it, showing off their glossy metal scales. Beside them were numerous toad spirits that were croaking in accompaniment.
The toad spirits rapidly stuck out their tongues to hit the scales of the opossums, giving off clear clangs.
There were also numerous toad spirits dancing and beating gongs and drums while some played the short flutes with their four fingers. A few big centipedes tapped to the rhythm as they wiggled their bodies.
From time to time, there would be centipedes flying up and kicking onto the bulging cheeks of the toad spirits, making them croak.
On the head of the big green toad, a pretty young woman slowly stood up. Her black dress swirled as she sang.
…
Qin Mu was very engrossed in the song. Even though the green vine had already risen very high, the magnificent sight of the city in celebration was still in his eyes. The melodious singing voices all reached his ears.
The passionate feelings of the maidens of West Earth flooded him like waves, wrapping him up layer by layers as they poured into his heart.
The green vine suddenly lowered him and Mu Yingxue, bringing them through one street after another. There were people dancing everywhere with strange and weird spirits and venomous creatures. Everyone did flamboyant dance poses and messy dance moves before raising their hands up to touch those of his and Mu Yingxue that was stretched out.
The tune that resonated throughout the whole Thunder Mountain City suddenly became reverberating and impassionate, happy and noisy. Qin My felt like he had come to a kingdom of the legends, where giant green vines carried him and a young maiden beside him to pass through all the streets filled with joyful people.
The green vine brought them back, raising them up and down along the way. Girls on the various trees stepped on the leaves to hang flower garlands on their necks.
There were also young girls lying on the treetops, swinging their little legs and looking at the both of them who were rising up. With their hands cupped around their mouths, they sang love songs that tugged at people’s heartstrings while a swarm of locusts tapped on small gongs with their hind legs in accompaniment.
Green vines stretched toward the center of the city and went over the incomparably bustling streets, stretching above the circular houses and coming to Mu Yingxue’s palace hall.
The loft of the palace had its windows open, and the green vine sent the young man and woman on the leaf into the room.
Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue stood in front of the window and watched the bustling crowd moving through the street below, continuing with their songs and dances.
They were still celebrating the happy occasion, Poison Master Mu Yingxue finding her ideal husband.
“So embarrassing.” Mu Yingxue covered her face and grumbled, “They’re celebrating like this as though I shouldn’t have been able to find my ideal husband. They can’t wait to send me off for visiting marriage!”
Qin Mu looked at her and saw that the girl before him who was number one in West Earth’s poison path didn’t have any hint of bashfulness. Instead, she was very daring and hot, diluting the bashfulness with her burning passion.
The passion of West Earth’s maiden was slightly hard for Qin Mu to stomach, and the intoxicating morning of Thunder Mountain City had left him slightly bewitched.
His thoughts scattered, and he got lost in his emotions.
The celebration was only the first thing. When afternoon came, Mu Yingxue couldn’t conceal her excitement. She lay her head on Qin Mu’s shoulder and looked quite blissful.
The dragon qilin carefully walked among the poisonous flowers while looking at the young men and young women that were still standing at the windows while grumbling softly, “Back then, Patriarch had also degenerated this way. Every year, that dirty old man would abandon me to come to West Earth…”
Qin Mu finally woke up from the dream and said, “Sister Mu, we still have important matters to settle.”
Mu Yingxue’s face grew slightly red and she tugged at the corner of his shirt. “Visiting marriage is at night. Why are you so impatient? Can’t you endure a bit more? However, if you are really urgent, I… even so I can’t! I can’t yield to you, over here, women are the ones in charge. Men have to accommodate the women!”
Qin Mu blinked and patiently waited for her to finish talking. “Sister, the reason I came to West Earth this time is because I’m trying to help Xiong Xiyu and her daughter take back the position of True Heaven Palace Master, and that’s why I created such a big ruckus. This should be the family matters of your West Earth, but back when Xiong Family was overthrown by Yu Family and numerous people died, you had already gotten related.”
Mu Yingxue nodded and ordered for the dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er to be invited inside while she continued to be intimate with Qin Mu. “Back when Yu Family made their move on Xiong Family, I had indeed been of great help. Yu Family had a Ba Gou whose origin is very terrifying, so I was forced to agree to help Yu Family poison Xiong Family. My poison didn’t take their lives, but you know that.”
Qin Mu nodded. Mu Yingxue’s poison was Coiling Silk which destroyed a person’s cultivation but didn’t harm the person otherwise. When Qin Mu had met Xiong Xiyu, what she was suffering from was Coiling Silk Poison which had severely damaged her cultivation. It was because of that she had been chased down by Yu Bochuan until she was in an extremely miserable state.
Mu Yingxue’s face darkened when she said, “I never expected Yu Family to be so ruthless, eliminating all of the Xiong Family… However, even if I had known that Yu Family would do so, I would have still helped them.”
Qin Mu looked at her with puzzlement.
Mu Yingxue sighed. “The lives of everyone in my Mu Family and Thunder Mountain City rest on my shoulders, and if I hadn’t listened, Yu Family would have laid their hands on my people. As Poison Master, I need to think of my Mu Family. Nai Kui hates me very much, right?”
Shame showed up on her face, but she quickly concealed it. She returned back to her usual cold look and said, “There’s nothing I can do even if she hates me. I couldn’t gamble the lives of my family for her.”
“Sister should know my aim for coming, right?”
Mu Yingxue was the chief of Mu Family, and her networks were fast and abundant. She nodded and said, “I know. From the moment you stepped into West Earth and True Heaven Palace ordered your arrest, I knew what you had come here for. Heavenly Devil Cult Master, you have great ambition and you won’t risk your life to come here just for the love between a man and a woman. You aren’t here for me, and not here for the visiting marriage. You are here to pull off a grand scheme.”
The air around her suddenly changed and became chilly. “You want to flip West Earth upside down and change it completely! Your ambition lies in annexing West Earth into Eternal Peace Empire’s rule! And the fastest way to achieve this is by supporting Xiong Xiyu in becoming the palace master of True Heaven Palace! She has nothing left and is burdened with revenge, so she has no choice but to agree with you and the terms of Eternal Peace Emperor. Once she becomes the palace master again, True Heaven Palace will announce their merger with Eternal Peace.”
Qin Mu couldn’t help sighing ruefully. After coming to West Earth, he had met numerous unusual women. There was He Yiyi who was natural yet wise and Liu Family’s mother and daughter who were very cunning—all of them were extremely outstanding, and their vision was far-reaching
Mu Yingxue who was in front of him was also outstanding.
“I’ve owed Xiong Family too much, but I can’t throw away the lives of my family just because I owe them! You have not met Ba Gou and don’t know his prowess, but I do. I know how terrifying he is, and I also know that there’s a god living in True Heaven Palace. No matter how strong your forces are and how many experts of West Earth you gather, you can’t win. You will just send yourselves to your deaths!”
“I shouldn’t have come,” Qin Mu said sadly, standing up.
Mu Yingxue’s heart trembled and she rose as well. “I want you to stay and not die. If you want to go, I won’t stop you. The women of my West Earth won’t hold back a man who’s insistent on leaving!”
Qin Mu bowed. “Sister Mu, farewell.” After he said so, he turned around to walk out of the building.
“You!” Mu Yingxue gritted her teeth and shouted after him, “You will die, do you know that?”
Qin Mu turned back to smile at her. “Back when I rescued them, I knew I might die if I lent a helping hand, but I still did it. Sister, I won’t force you to do anything for me.”
Mu Yingxue was anxious and stamped her feet. “Even if you die, I won’t think of you!”
Qin Mu laughed and came face to face with the dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er who were coming up.
“This town of warmth, I’ve seen it. Fatty Dragon, let’s go!”
The dragon qilin was puzzled, but he still sprinted down the building, carrying them out of the city.
“Brother-in-law?” In one street, a girl raised her head and looked at Qin Mu’s back that was rushing away.
Qin Mu threw a fragrance pouch toward the girl and recited loudly, “Busy days have ways to get through them too, my nature is stupid and that’s hard to change! Sister, treat it as I’ve never come!”
Mu Yingxue looked at him who was leaving Thunder Mountain City until he completely vanished.
She walked out of the building and saw Thunder Mountain City in a mess. Everywhere there were traces left behind by the celebration in the morning. Toad spirits were cleaning up slowly, dragging the drunk people away.
At one corner of the street, a few girls looked at her, and one pushed herself to say, “Sister, brother-in-law, he…”
“He’s gone,” Mu Yingxue heard herself say in a voice that was unfamiliar to her. “He probably won’t come back anymore…”
She touched her face and realized that it had become wet at some point.
“Brother-in-law just passed this to me, it should be sister’s.” The girl Qin Mu had met walked over and in her hands was a fragrance pouch with embroidered golden mandarin ducks.
Mu Yingxue opened the fragrance pouch and took out the red beans of yearning.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Mu Yingxue, dressed in a black dress, was stunned as she gripped the fragrance pouch in her hands tightly. She then suddenly burst into tears.
She and Qin Mu were strangers who’d come together by chance so talking about any deep feeling was naturally random nonsense. At that time, she had merely had a good impression of him and felt that he didn’t look bad. He also had elegance and personality that matched her taste in men.
For a Poison Master, it was very difficult to find a man that had an affinity with her. Most were either scared to death or got poisoned to death by her.
But Qin Mu was a person who could accept her.
The people of West Earth respected poison masters, but no one dared to love them.
There were quite a number of previous poison masters who had died alone. They were temperamental people, and their methods were ruthless, so it was only natural that no one dared to love them.
Qin Mu had kept the fragrance pouch she had given him, that handful of red beans, and brought it along when coming to Thunder Mountain City in West Earth to find her. Mu Yingxue had said that she knew he had not come for her, but when she looked at the pouch of red beans, the weak side of her inner heart was touched.
Strangers may come together by chance, having yearned for it unknowingly.
Qin Mu hadn’t come to West Earth just because of the emperor and Imperial Preceptor’s stratagem, but also because he still had her in his heart.
‘Silly boy, is it worth it to travel ten thousand miles for a stranger?’
However, Qin Mu seemed to be such a person. He and Xiong Xiyu were also strangers who’d met by chance, but he still pursued justice for her with no second thoughts. He saved the mother and daughter without hesitating to put himself in danger.
The affairs of Xiong Xiyu and her daughter were not related to him, but he had still done it. He even brought Xiong Qi’er back to West Earth to take justice for them.
Even though there was definitely the emperor and Imperial Preceptor’s idea somewhere along with it, Mu Yingxue was certain that the aim of the silly boy was to take justice for the mother and daughter.
The dim-witted decision in other people’s eyes was the big boy’s code of conduct and an irreversible principle.
To study the underlying principle to acquire knowledge is to know and act as one.
By studying something or some profession to the end was studying the underlying principle to acquire knowledge.
However, it didn’t necessarily have to come from one’s heart.
Heart and mind as one was not necessarily a different kind of knowing and acting as one.
It was the sign of a great master.
Mu Yingxue was stunned.
The first time they met, they were enemies who appreciated each other’s talents. She had lost then. Her poison techniques had lost to his, and she admired that big boy very much. Even though she had gifted him red beans and stolen a kiss, it still hadn’t been love.
But in the meeting just then, it wasn’t his poison technique that she saw, but his personality.
Qin Mu’s personality had won her over.
Xiong Family’s matter had been caused by her. It was her poison which had felled numerous experts of True Heaven Palace and spoiled all of their cultivation. Only then was Yu Family able to successfully seize True Heaven Palace in one strike.
Without the backbone of Xiong Family, they were defeated. The miserable deaths of many people at that time were all related to her.
‘Xiong Family’s matter was caused by me, so I can’t let my little man assume the responsibility for me!’
Mu Yingxue raised her head, and confidence flooded into her back once again as she smiled. “In our West Earth, women are in charge so how can I let my little man face the disaster I caused? Sisters of Thunder Mountain City!” Her voice resonated with svelte and high spirits. “Pack your bags and prepare for war!”
In Thunder Mountain City, countless divine arts practitioners skilled in poison techniques packed their luggage and soon gathered together. They looked at that chief of theirs and saw that she was glowing with vigor like never before. Her pretty face was shining with a luster like that of pearls and she looked very charming.
“Sister, where are we going?” a young girl asked.
Mu Yingxue jumped and green vines slithered over from midair, landing under her feet to lift her up. Her voice was filled with a charm and laughter when she spoke next. “Of course we are going to chase after your brother-in-law and stuff this pouch of yearning red beans back into his hands. We have to make sure he holds onto it properly and never forgets this yearning, or me, Mu Yingxue!”
“Alright!” The other girls roared with laughter. “Let’s quickly head out! Such a good brother-in-law, we can’t let any hussy snatch him away! Let’s seize brother-in-law back!”
“Seize brother-in-law back!”
Qin Mu returned to God Burial Valley of Liu Family. The pitch black coffins joined him, growing legs to run right after.
In the sky, there were more black coffins, forming a dark cloud.
Among them, there were chains holding a golden coffin that was really large and extremely eye-catching. Numerous black coffins escorted it in the sky, and Qin Mu was very bewildered why Liu Ruyin was insistent on bringing such a dangerous thing along. However, when he heard it was her daughter’s idea, he didn’t question it anymore.
The little girl, Liu Zhenqing, was a clever and cunning person. Since she wanted to bring along the golden coffin, there was definitely some use for it.
As Qin Mu brought the forces of Liu Family toward Sword River Valley, preparing to group up with He Yiyi and the rest, he suddenly heard a loud and clear voice coming from behind him. “Little man, wait for me!”
Qin Mu turned his head back and couldn’t help being stunned. The divine arts practitioners of Thunder Mountain City were sitting on all kinds of venomous beasts and venomous insects hurrying over while bustling with activity. There were spiders, centipedes, toads, snakes, venomous birds, beasts, wasps, and they were all over the sky.
There were also numerous toxic plants that had been awakened by those divine arts practitioners and highly toxic tree men were striking forward. There were also slender vines with flower maidens from poisonous flowers flapping their petals. There were even some venomous fish that had grown legs to sprint quickly on land.
In the lead was Mu Yingxue who looked to be in high spirits as she rushed toward him through the path opened up by the coffin army. Without any explanation, she jumped onto the dragon qilin’s head and stuffed the fragrance pouch into his hand before hugging him to plant a heavy kiss on his cheek.
Qin Mu was at a loss while the girl was very proud of herself as she said loudly, “I want you to keep this yearning pouch with you forever and never throw it away, never forget about me in your whole life. Can you do it?”
With heroism filling up his chest, Qin Mu loudly stated, “Can!”
Mu Yingxue turned her head back and waved at the sisters of Thunder Mountain City. “He said can! Sisters, aunts, let’s take down True Heaven Palace and change the world!”
Cheers erupted from behind them.
Beside the dragon qilin, a small black coffin flipped over and Liu Zhenqing popped her head out. Her hands were crossed in front of her chest, and she was pouting unhappily.
“Little hussy,” she grumbled when she took a glance at Mu Yingxue.
Liu Ruyin’s coffin flew to her side and this chief of Liu Family whispered, “Don’t mind this little hussy who is so proud now. When she dies, let’s make her a Liu!”
“Mmm!”
Banners were fluttering In Sword River Valley, and Qin Mu was astonished by the number of influential families of West Earth that had gathered and set up their camps.
It should be the first time that West Earth had become so bustling. The flags of He Family, Fang Family, Gong Family, Xi Family, and Fu Family were all raised up high, and there were, but there weren’t the only ones. There were many others who’d come as well.
All of the influential families specialized in different abilities. He Family was skilled in formations. Fang Family was skilled in controlling mountains, Gong Family was skilled in controlling the river flow, Xi Family was skilled in controlling grass and trees, while Fu Family was skilled in controlling meteorological phenomenon.
The other influential families also had their own specialties.
The gathered people were mostly women. The number of them was still simply astounding.
The woman army of hundreds of thousands stunned Qin Mu.
Even though Eternal Peace Empire was very open and women could also be officials and join the army, they took up only twenty percent of the whole. Men were still in the majority. Yet in West Earth, the women took up eighty percent while the men were only twenty percent. On top of that, what the men did was usually running errands.
‘This is a rare chance for the influential families of West Earth. If Yu Family could be overthrown, Xiong Family’s decline would mean that they could receive greater freedom from True Heaven Palace. This is why they came here for an uprising.’
Qin Mu sucked in a deep breath and formed a fist when he looked in the direction of True Heaven Palace.
On the journey to West Earth, he had only brought the dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er. It just him, a mount, and a weak girl, with no soldiers at all. Yet he had amassed a several hundred thousand women army that was prepared to attack West Earth’s strongest True Heaven Palace!
When he thought about it, he couldn’t help growing so excited that his bones started trembling and his primordial spirit was about to fly out!
Holding Xiong Qi’er’s hand, he entered Bamboo City with Mu Yingxue, Liu Ruyin, and her daughter. The heads of all the influential families were gathered there and were anxiously awaiting his arrival!
Qin Mu bowed low to the ground and said loudly, “Middle Earth’s Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu pays his respects to all the sisters!”
Numerous women hurriedly returned the greeting. “Cult Master Qin, no need for formalities.”
Qin Mu tugged on Xiong Qi’er, and she immediately bowed to pay her respects as well. “Qi’er pays her respect to all the aunts!”
Everyone hurriedly returned her greeting to. “We dare not. Little princess, quickly get up!”
Qin Mu straightened up and smiled wide at them. “Many women strengthen one’s resolve, which dares to make sun and moon shine in new skies! Sisters, this little brother has come all the way from Middle Earth and hopes to see sisters’ abilities in True Heaven Palace! Sister Yiyi, can we begin our journey?”
He Yiyi called on Bamboo City, and it uprooted itself. At the same time, all the heads of the influential families sent out their commands, and the land trembled while the clouds rushed forward. The women army of several hundred thousand marched toward True Heavenly Palace.
The dragon qilin turned his head back to take a look, and he couldn’t help sighing ruefully. ‘Patriarch wasn’t this awe-inspiring back then. Cult Master is Cult Master after all. He came to West Earth for a bit and has already hooked up with hundreds of thousands of girls…’
Far away in the sky, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Xiong Xiyu stood on top of a cloud and looked at the majestic sight from afar.
Xiong Xiyu was dumbfounded, unable to say anything.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also speechless.
“Imperial Preceptor, did you expect this result from the start?” Xiong Xiyu finally returned to her senses and curiously examined the middle-aged man beside her. “Even I, the previous Nai Kui, wouldn’t have such ability and power like Cult Master Qin. He could actually gather hundreds of thousands of people with a single summon. Isn’t Cult Master Qin a little too scary!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor let out a shaky breath and muttered, “I knew he would cause trouble and definitely attract the attention of True Heaven Palace, but I didn’t know he would be this good at it. True Heaven Palace will certainly feel threatened by this, and what is even better is that Ba Gou will have no choice but to show himself. Once he suffers a setback, the god hidden in True Heaven Palace will have to show himself and let me have the chance to deal a fatal blow to him…”
He looked at the majestic women army and couldn’t help shivering while shaking his head. “Too terrifying, such cohesiveness is simply too terrifying. However, Cult Master Qin’s talents lie in this, after all. Even I was tricked by him into joining Heavenly Saint Cult. If this little rascal ever decided to rebel…”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“We shall just follow from afar and hide properly.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor saw Qin Mu’s women army off and said leisurely, “Wait for Ba Gou and that god to make their move. Cult Master Qin will help us settle everything.”
Xiong Xiyu was deeply moved. Back then when she had asked for Qin Mu’s help in Great Ruins, she hadn’t thought that the big boy that saved them actually had such terrifying capabilities. He was able to stir up such a huge storm in West Earth.
She had thought that he was only a disciple of an influential family who had some abilities. However, the more she understood him, the more she was moved by his extraordinariness.
The huge Bamboo City sprinted through the vast land while Qin Mu and the heads of West Earth’s influential families stood at the top of the city tower, managing their army to prevent the situation of the groups trampling over one another.
The disciples of all the influential families in West Earth were not troops that were trained so they had to spend quite some effort in managing them.
Luckily there was He Yiyi, the formation expert who used formation skills to manage the disciples of the influential families. With her assistance, everything gradually became smooth and simple.
“West Earth’s Sword Master Luo Yinyu pays his respects to Middle Earth’s Cult Master Qin.”
Qin Mu looked at the long-haired girl that was walking over to him, and astonishment appeared on his face. He returned the greeting in a hurry.
West Earth had three masters: Poison Master Mu Yingxue, Formation Master He Yiyi, and Sword Master Luo Yinyu. Qin Mu was very familiar with Mu Yingxue and He Yiyi, so only the Sword Master Luo Yinyu was a new face to him.
She was different from the other women of West Earth. They liked to wear gold and silver, like crowns, necklaces, and numerous bracelets on their hands and legs, but there was not an accessory to be found on Sword Master.
Her clothes were also extremely simple. She wore only an ordinary robe that was simple yet elegant. It had no extra colors.
Her hair was also unadorned. A simple string was used to tie it, ensuring that it wouldn’t become messed up.
Her black hair was reached her waist, like that of other women, and created a great contrast to her white clothing.
The reason why she dressed so simply was because she was like a sword that couldn’t contain any impurities. Any accessories would be impurities to her.
She was a woman who had no other joys but for her sword, to which she was probably already married.
When Qin Mu saw her, he felt as if there was a sword aimed at him. When she bowed, sword light shone intensely. It was incomparably sharp and stab straight at his Dao heart!
Qin Mu bowed to return the greeting while easily blocking her sword will.
Sword Master Luo Yinyu rose with a strange look in her eyes. “Cult Master Qin is also a sword skill expert?”
Qin Mu inclined his head in a humble manner. “I dare not say so. How many sword skill experts are there in the world? In terms of ability, there are countless that surpass me. However, in terms of attainments in sword skills, I can most likely be ranked as well.”
Sword Master Luo Yinyu grew even more curious and said, “I had long wanted to go to Middle Earth to see the degree of swords there. Since Cult Master Qin is a sword expert from Middle Earth, can you introduce me to who are the ones that surpass you in sword skill?”
Qin Mu gave it some thought and shook his head. “There should be no more people that surpass me in sword skills, but there are some who have already entered the realm of sword path and I don’t dare say how many of them there are. However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is definitely above me. There’s also my family’s Village Chief. He taught me three sword skills and his attainments on the sword path are extraordinary. As for the other experts on the sword path, I don’t know much about them so I dare not speak of them.”
“Sword path of sword skills?” Luo Yinyu’s face fell in disappointment as she muttered, “Is there really someone who entered the sword path? I’ve concentrated on chasing after the end of sword skills for so many years yet I never reached the sword path. There are actually people able to enter that kind of marvelous realm?”
Qin Mu could understand her disappointment. Luo Yinyu was at the stage of pursuing knowledge to the end, seeking the extreme comprehension of the sword skill. She most likely had already achieved the extremes in it, but she didn’t have any idea about the sword path, which made her unable to enter it.
Qin Mu telling her that there were numerous experts on the sword path in Middle Earth was a huge setback to her.
Sword skills and sword path might only differ by a single word, but the difference between them was that of heaven and earth.
No matter how good one’s sword skill was, they would be insignificant in front of sword path experts.
Qin Mu’s curiosity was stirred and he said, “I’ve not seen the sword skills of your West Earth before, so I wonder how they differ from those of my Middle Earth. We had fourteen forms before, but then Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor added three more forms, making the count reach seventeen forms. Not long ago, I also added another form, making pushing the number to eighteen forms of basic sword skills. How many forms does West Earth’s sword skills have?”
Luo Yinyu’s eyes went wide in astonishment. “There are already eighteen forms in Middle Earth’s sword skills? My West Earth only has fourteen forms; however, our sword skills rely on the sword spirit and emphasize on power. What we use might be different from your sword skills.”
Qin Mu instantly became excited. He had been researching about sword spirits the last few days, but he hadn’t advanced by much. He kept on feeling that there was a lot to learn and not enough time. It was rare for him to meet a sword skill expert like Luo Yinyu from West Earth, so he naturally had to ask her for advice.
The two of them discussed his problems in detail, and both of them reaped great benefits.
West Earth’s sword skills used spirits to wield their swords, which increased their power drastically, nearly doubling it. In Qin Mu’s eyes, the sword skills of West Earth were somewhat lacking in excitement and far less intricate compared to those of Eternal Peace Empire. Even Luo Yinyu, the sword skill expert, was inferior when compared to the attainments of sword skills of numerous sects in Middle Earth.
Yet the sword spirit could raise the power of her sword moves to a level that the experts of Middle Earth could only yearn for. When she executed basic sword skills, every move and every form overflowed with awe-inspiring power which had been raised drastically. There was a heroic air that made others not dare to face it directly.
Luo Yinyu saw the extraordinary points that the reform in Middle Earth had brought. The sword skills there were treacherous and had numerous variations. She was especially wary of them after seeing the four basic sword forms founded by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and the one by Qin Mu. They gave the sword skills even more changes and variation, providing them with countless possibilities!
Luo Yinyu tried using Spiral Sword Form, Coil Sword Form, Drill Sword Form, and the eighteenth form Qin Mu had founded. She pondered over them, then said, “Something is strange. The first fourteen basic sword forms of Middle Earth are no different from my West Earth; however, what concerns these four moves, even though they are also basic sword skills, the further one cultivates them, the more magic power they would require. It’s especially obvious with the basic sword form founded by Cult Master Qin, since executing it one time will nearly exhaust half of my cultivation! If the nineteenth form is founded, won’t it completely exhaust the cultivation of sword skill divine arts practitioners? When you reach the twentieth sword form, will anyone even be able to execute it?”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he had the feeling of having found his soulmate. His gaze became fervent. “You can also feel the nineteenth sword form?”
Luo Yinyu looked at him with delight. “You too feel it?”
The two of them looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
“After I founded the eighteenth form, I felt a wish to continue.” Qin Mu became perturbed, and he said everything on his mind, “At that time, I could still feel that there was a nineteenth form. At that time, I felt that there could very well be a nineteenth sword form. However, I was fighting with Sister Yiyi then so I didn’t dare to be distracted, so I didn’t perform an in-depth investigation to the source of this feeling. However, the nineteenth sword form definitely exists. You also felt a nineteenth sword form, so that means that my feeling wasn’t wrong.”
Luo Yinyu nodded. “The nineteenth sword form could be the crux for us to enter the sword path directly!”
The two of them grew excited.
“That reminds me, Eternal Peace Empire is clearly close to the sea, so why do you refer to it as Middle Earth?” Qin Mu inquired.
Luo Yinyu shook her head. “I don’t understand much about the stuff outside since most of the time I’m concentrating on comprehending the sword.”
At the side, Chief Fang Caidie of Fang Family smiled and said, “Cult Master Qin, the name Middle Earth had always been around. It’s to address the land of Great Ruins and the east. The east sea near your Eternal Peace Empire is then called East Earth.”
The two youths stayed together to research sword skills and exchange ideas, attracting quite a number of people to observe. Qin Mu and Luo Yinyu were great masters in sword skills and even though there were people whose cultivation realm surpassed them, they could only exclaim in admiration on the side.
Qin Mu was quite puzzled by the words. “East Sea has no land so why is it addressed as East Earth?”
Fang Caidie hadn’t looked deep into this marvel and thus could only shake her head. “This I do not know.”
“East Sea was once land so it was addressed as East Earth,” Chief Fu Yunxi of Fu Family said. “In the Cloud Book of our Fu Family, we have recorded matters regarding East and Middle Earths. It was written there that Middle Earth and East Earth are not divided by the current geography, but accordingly to the geography of long long ago.”
Qin Mu’s heart beat an extra time, and he suddenly thought of Bent Mountain Shrine. It had been erected on a majestic mountain which had sunk into the bottom of East Sea. The shrine was five thousand yards below the sea surface.
The bottom of the mountain was even farther from the sea surface.
This meant that the East Sea had originally been a land that was known as East Earth!
However, Fu Yunxi said that East Earth and Middle Earth were divided by the geography from a long time ago. That should have been even before Founding Emperor Era, when it was High Emperor Era!
‘High Emperor Era should have belonged to East Earth, right? It is the East Sea now. The third move of Sword Picture is Calamity of High Emperor. It should probably be related to High Emperor Era.’
Qin Mu sunk into deep thoughts. Sword Picture had moves that Village Chief had founded and Calamity of High Emperor was the third move of Sword Picture. In that case, Village Chief should have understood a part of High Emperor Era’s history.
‘Village Chief, I will definitely go to Fengdu to save you!’ The youth secretly made a firm resolution.
Suddenly, He Yiyi’s loud voice reached him. “We are almost at True Heaven Palace! Everyone, on guard!”
Sword Master Luo Yinyu immediately got up and walked toward Luo Family. Fu Yuxi, Fang Caidie, Mu Yingxue, and Liu Ruyin all returned to the armies of their family.
Qin Mu stood at the city tower, looking ahead with a trembling heart. He saw magnificent mountains standing in great numbers like silent three thousand yards tall giants which existed between the heaven and earth.
The mountains were similar to the giant Qin Mu had encountered near Fragrant Bloom City, just even larger and even more dangerous. Beside them were also sword peaks that were mountain peaks like swords!
There were also bell peaks that resembled bells
Cauldron peaks that were shaped like cauldrons.
Pagoda peaks that were shaped like pagodas.
Building peaks that were like multi-storied buildings.
All those mountain peaks were spirit weapons of all kinds and forms!
Besides them, there was a long river under the mountain that surged at a great speed through nine bends and eighteen curves. There was also a rainbow waterfall pouring down ten thousand yards. A sea of clouds could be faintly discernible in the sky, in which thunder and lightning flashed together.
In the sea of clouds, a cluster of palaces seemed to be bathed in golden light.
They were West Earth’s True Heaven Palace!
The sacred ground of West Earth was much harder to deal with than Qin Mu had imagined.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu raised his head to look at the palaces in the sky from which many women flying out. They landed on the mountain peaks. True Heaven Palace should have long ago received news that Qin Mu had gathered some of the big influential families and gotten ready for their approach.
Bang!
A huge mountain peak suddenly exploded and countless rocks flew in all directions while others rolled down its sides. The mountain peak had suddenly changed into a majestic giant.
It squatted down and pulled out his huge legs from the ground, shaking it endlessly.
He Yiyi raised her hand, and the huge Bamboo City came to a stop.
The mountain giant before them gradually stood. Its huge palm was the size of a hundred fields, and as it streaked across the sky, violent wind howled. The palm then suddenly grabbed a sword-shaped mountain peak.
Piercing sounds rang out when the sword-shaped mountain peak was actually pulled out from the ground by the mountain giant!
Rocks rolled and fell in directions when he did that. By the time the mountain giant raised the sword, the earth and rocks over it had already completely fallen off, revealing a rusty item inside.
It was a huge mountain peak sword!
Qin Mu’s face became solemn when he looked at the huge sword and mountain giant through the barely discernible fog.
True Heaven Palace’s background was too immense and even surpassed that of the sacred grounds of Middle Earth. No matter if it was Dao Sect or Great Thunderclap Monastery, or even Heavenly Devil Cult, they didn’t have such terrifying backgrounds.
Bang, bang.
Huge explosions rang out, and mountains changed while forests became giants that were thousands of yards tall. They grabbed weapons of unimaginable size!
They were the guardians of True Heaven Palace.
Numerous disciples of True Heaven Palace stood on the shoulders or the heads of the mountain giants, raising up and down with the movement of their creatures while overflowing with murderous intent.
Qin Mu took a look at Mu Yingxue. If she hadn’t poisoned Xiong Family, Yu Family would have found it very difficult to seize True Heaven Palace and snatch the authority of Xiong Family.
Just the mountain giants alone were an incomparably terrifying power that surpassed an army of a million!
“Get into formation!” He Yiyi shouted loudly, and the women of He Family in the city walked out. Each of them took out a formation flag which swayed in the wind. Instantly, numerous spirit weapons for formation skills fell out from the formation flags.
The women of He Family quickly assembled them, and Qin Mu saw an extremely shocking sight. The divine arts practitioners of He Family were actually using spirit weapons for formation skills to assemble catapults that were three hundred yards high. They were erected upright behind Bamboo City, and the winches whirled to tighten!
The divine arts practitioners of Fang Family executed their divine arts, and rocks rolled down non-stop from the mountain giants behind them. They combined into huge rock lumps that automatically rolled into the huge frames of the catapults.
Countless female divine arts practitioners of Xi Family scattered seeds which grew frantically throughout the mountain, forming a sea of green. It surged continuously as tree giants rose and strode forth
Sword Master Luo Yinyu raised her swords, and swooshing sounds rang in the air as tens of thousands of women of Luo Family pulled out their swords as well. All of them were filled with heroism.
“Fu Family’s sister!” Mu Yingxue suddenly shouted.
Fu Yunxi gave an order, and the divine arts practitioners of Fu Family summoned dark clouds. They formed a sea of clouds, covering an area of a thousand miles. As lightning flashed and thunder boomed, incomparably thick tornadoes formed up. However, they twisted their bodies but didn’t advance as they were controlled by the divine arts practitioners of Fu Family.
Mu Yingxue advanced with the divine arts practitioners of Mu Family and threw all the highly toxic poisons they had into the wind. The tornadoes sucked them into the dark clouds and changed in color, becoming a bewitching green.
Even the flashing lightning had a touch of green to its light.
The entire cloud layer was filled with Mu Family’s deadliest poison.
Violent wind surged from behind a youth at the city tower, fluttering his clothes.
The wind was chilly, bringing away the excess heat from his body.
His blood was running too hot.
The female divine arts practitioners created a totally different atmosphere on the battlefield compared to the men of Eternal Peace, but it made his blood boil just the same!
Women were a match for the men. Even though they were charming beauties, they were also strong warriors on the battlefield!
The atmosphere was somber and desolate.
The front of True Heaven Palace was overflowing with austere air. The black clouds that wanted to ravage the city were kept under control, with only the sound of the wind being audible. That kind of pressure could make one go mad.
At that moment, a figure flew out from the palaces in the sea of clouds and passed the mountain giants who ignored it.
“Ba Gou!”
The faces of He Yiyi, Mu Yingxue, Fu Yunyi and the rest changed slightly. They didn’t show any cowardness when facing the mountain giants of True Heaven Palace, but when they caught sight of the figure flying at them, their expressions changed
He Yiyi gave a soft shout, and Bamboo City split apart. Countless rocks floated into the air and quickly formed a defensive formation to protect the disciples of He Family behind her.
She herself was lifted up by one rock to float before her formation.
Suddenly, there was one more person beside her; it was Qin Mu. Warmth flooding He Yiyi’s heart.
“Sword Spirits Celestial Soldiers!” Luo Yinyu shouted out, and the tens of thousands of female divine arts practitioners of Luo Family raised their weapons with qi. Countless flying swords clanked and floated into the sky, transforming into a huge sword formation. Although the blades were numerous in numbers and seemed to be flying here and there, they were not messy at all.
“Eight Pillars Heaven!” Fang Caidie shouted out, and the mountain giants behind her suddenly formed huge circular pillars that were able to support both heaven and earth. Eight mountain giants went forward and pulled the pillars out to carry on their shoulders while overflowing with murderous intent.
Other families also executed their moves while watching the figure coming closer with nervousness. Even Liu Ruyin and Liu Zhenqing were full of worry. They came to the front of the golden god coffin, ready to release the corpse within it anytime.
Qin Mu’s heart trembled. Just Ba Gou alone had pushed all of the influential families in West Earth to the brink of taking out all of their trump cards. At the sight of it, he couldn’t help admitting that Ba Gou was indeed awe-inspiring!
‘How can this man with the surname Yu from High Heavens make all the families in West Earth worry so, as if they are about to face a great enemy?’
Qin Mu couldn’t help being bewildered. There weren’t as many sects in West Earth as in Eternal Peace, and they were mainly ruled by influential families. The abilities of the ten at the top were no small matter, and all of them were extraordinary in some way. Not to mention if a guest of High Heavens, even if a god came down, the families shouldn’t have to be so careful.
Ba Gou was definitely not just simply a guest of High Heavens.
Yet when the figure got close enough, Qin Mu realized that Ba Gou wasn’t fiendish looking like he had imagined. Instead, he was a man with an unordinary appearance. His build was tall and sturdy while his features were very handsome.
The clothes he wore were made from an unknown material that draped. Every strand seemed to have been weaved by runes, and from time to time, an indiscernible light would emerge from the strands.
His clothes were very fitting and showed that he didn’t have any excess flesh.
His dressing was that of a man from West Earth, with a white cloth wrapped around his head and golden chains crisscrossing over it. However, unlike other men, he had few other accessories.
His nose bridge was high, but his gaze was gentle, giving a pleasant feeling to people who saw him for the first time.
When Qin Mu laid eyes on him, he felt that the man looked pretty similar to Jade Sovereign of High Heavens. Qin Mu had once taken a look at the corpse of that man who was said to be a perfect man. Even though he had been killed by Emperor Yanfeng, his appearance had remained extraordinary.
‘His temperament seems to be similar to that of Xu Shenghua.’
Qin Mu examined him and was quite shocked. He actually felt that Ba Gou’s bearing was also somewhat similar to that of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
Xu Shenghua’s bearing was of everything in the world having nothing to do with him. He had entered the mortal realm from above and worldly affairs couldn’t taint him. This was also related to the technique he cultivated. Even though Qin Mu had pulled Xu Shenghua down to the mortal realm, the worldly affairs still found it difficult to change that outstanding youth. He still looked like he could abandon them anytime and leave.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, on the other hand, looked cold and was serious in speech and manner. It was a kind of invincible attitude of looking at all the smaller mountains down below after having ascended the highest one.
He was a great master who had extraordinary achievements and who only had change and reform in his heart. All other ways of the world had been thrown away and any hindrance to his reform was only stumbling blocks. He would execute lightning-fast methods to get rid of each one of them.
Ba Gou from High Heavens actually had Xu Shenghua’s temperament and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s bearing at the same time.
“Chief He.” The man with the embroidered headband flew over and greeted He Yiyi and the rest. “Chief Mu, Chief Liu, Chief Fang…”
Even though they were enemies, everyone returned his greeting. “Ba Gou.”
The man in the embroidered headband looked at Qin Mu, revealing his teeth as he smiled before greeting him. “Human Emperor Qin.”
Qin Mu’s heart shook as he returned the greeting. “Ba Gou. May I ask how does Ba Gou know about such a small and negligible existence as I?”
“Human Emperor Qin, there’s no need for you to be unduly humble,” the man in the embroidered headband said. “I’m always paying attention to the human emperors of the successive generations. For the previous human emperor, I even personally came down to the lower bound. You should have seen how his four limbs look like, right?”
He stretched out his hand in a grabbing motion, and a woman of Mu Family couldn’t prevent herself from flying in front of him. She tried to struggle, but it was in vain.
The man in the embroidered headband pulled out his sword, and a severed arm fell off. He gently waved his hand with a smile, and the severed arm flew toward Qin Mu. “Cult Master Qin, please take a look.”
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched as his vital qi flooded out to examine the wound in detail. His brow wrinkled, and he croaked, “The exact same sword wound.”
“It was me.” The man in the embroidered headband smiled warmly at him. “Looks like he didn’t hide the sword wounds from you.”
Behind the killing formations of all the influential families, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Xiong Xiyu were hiding, not getting close. However, when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor saw the sword light of the man in the embroidered headband, his expression changed drastically and he lost his composure. “Crap! I know the origin of this Ba Gou! Quickly, all the influential families of West Earth should retreat!”
Xiong Xiyu shook her head. “The arrow is already in the bowstring, and there’s no choice but to release it. We couldn’t retreat now even if we wanted. Why did Imperial Preceptor suddenly lose his composure?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took in a long breath as his eyes flashed. “I recognize this sword skill, this sword path! It’s the sword skill that cut off Old Human Emperor’s four limbs. That man is not from High Heavens’ Yu Family, but a true god from the upper bound!”
In front of the formation, Qin Mu suddenly relaxed and smiled without any sign of hiding any kind of nervousness. “Your true body can’t come down to the lower bound, can it? If it could, would you still be hiding like a fly in West Earth? Then since it isn’t your true body…” He stretched his hand forward, and his expression grew savage. “Beating you to death isn’t going to be any trouble!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The man in the embroidered headband dispersed his magic power, and the corpse of the female divine arts practitioner of Mu Family fell from the sky. “Such a small child, yet already possess the same unrealistic fantasy as the previous human emperor.”
Even though his sword had only cut off the arm of the female divine arts practitioner of Mu Family, his sword will had passed through her whole body, dissolving and wiping out her primordial spirit.
With his attainments in sword path, he didn’t even need to hurt the opponent directly. Just his sword will alone was enough to crush the opponent’s primordial spirit.
Mu Yingxue formed her hands into fists but forced herself to restrain her anger. She didn’t blow up.
The one dead was her clansman, but against the mysterious Ba Gou, she didn’t dare to make a rash move.
The man with the embroidered headband looked over at all the chiefs while behind him were the majestic mountains and True Heaven Palace that had an extraordinary air. He said leisurely, “Chiefs of West Earth, you guys chose to rebel for the True Heaven Palace’s authority, but you have no idea that its authority comes fro me. I’ll give you guys a way out: If you return now and chop this Human Emperor Qin’s head off for me before sending it to True Heaven Palace, I’ll let bygones be bygones.”
Qin Mu shivered when he saw that quite a number of the chiefs were swayed.
The army of West Earth he had pulled over wasn’t a piece of iron board, but was strung together by benefits. Even though most of the female chiefs were beautiful like flowers and Qin Mu even had quite some deep relationships with them, they were still akin to sect and cult masters of Eternal Peace. The beautiful women placed the benefit of their clan atop everything else.
Personal emotions wouldn’t warp the logical minds of those women.
If they backed out because of the man’s words, Qin Mu wouldn’t be too surprised.
Suddenly, Mu Yingxue shook the bells on her wrist which rang in the silence with a crisp sound and smiled. “All of you can withdraw, but my Mu Family can’t. What my Mu Family owes to Xiong Family has to be returned; otherwise, my conscience will never be at ease!”
He Yiyi looked at the others indifferently. “Yu Bochuan died in my Bamboo City which will make it hard for me to escape censure so why don’t I just overthrow the rule of Yu Family. My He Family is not backing out as well.”
Liu Ruyin hesitated for a moment, then looked at Liu Zhenqing who was on the small coffin beside her and licking it seriously. Noticing the attention, she suddenly raised her head to smile sweetly. “Just like Cult Master Qin said, he’s just a clone of a true god and not difficult to kill. Only if the true god came down to the lower bound would it be too difficult. Mother, I have already accepted Sister Qi’er’s hawthorn candy so I have to do something for Xiong Family. On top of that…”
Her smile became even sweeter. “Who can ensure that Yu Family won’t find trouble with us after this? They are very petty, but if we get rid of them, Xiong Family’s mother and daughter will rule True Heaven Palace and even rely on our Liu Family. The gain is bigger than the risk, so why not?”
Qin Mu became at ease.
Even though Liu Zhenqing looked like a little girl, she was actually an old fox. Her words sounded harmless, but she had mentioned what was on everyone’s minds.
With her sentence, the other influential families ascertained their decision, and Ba Gou wouldn’t be able to change their thoughts anymore!
Among all the chiefs, maybe only Mu Yingxue was truly sincere about wanting to help Xiong Xiyu and Xiong Qi’er, since she was redeeming herself. The others were more or less only concerned about their own benefits, but to Qin Mu, that was enough.
The man with the embroidered headband smiled. “Human beings will die for riches, just as birds die for food. Even lucid, elegant, and refined women like you are also foolish and fail to live up to their bodies. Fine, since you guys want to die, I can only send all of you on your way.”
He was about to turn and leave, but He Yiyi suddenly smiled and said, “Since Ba Gou is already here, there’s no need for you to leave!”
Countless huge rocks from behind her surged forward, toward the man.
At the same time, almost all the chiefs also executed their own abilities. The mountain giants behind Fang Caidie raised huge mountain pillars, using mountain peaks as weapons to crash against the man with the embroidered headband.
Luo Yinyu pulled out her sword to stab out, and countless flying swords followed closely after her sharp blade which was sticking close to the mountain peak that was about to attack the man.
Mu Yingxue flicked her finger, and Fu Yunxi pressed down heavily. Lightning burst forth, and the storm swept the poison Mu Yingxue had thrown toward the man!
Liu Ruyin and Liu Zhenqing undid the chains on the golden coffin, and they rose up like black flood dragons toward the man.
The heads of West Earth’s influential families held no regard for the rules of the martial world. They swarmed forward without any warning, wishing to prevent Ba Gou from returning behind his army no matter what!
Qin Mu nodded silently. “Well done.”
The man with the embroidered headband walked toward True Heaven Palace as sword light flashed behind him, slicing apart everyone’s attacks.
Before He Yiyi’s formation could close, a path was sliced open by his sword. The mountain pillars were sliced apart by the perfect sword light, and the storm was intercepted by the sword that cut across the sky. Chains were touched by the tip of the sword and sent back.
“Good sword skills! Based on sword skills, no one in West Earth is his opponent! He indeed has some good sword skills!”
Qin Mu’s expression was solemn. The sword skill of the man with the embroidered headband had reached perfection and a realm so mysterious that even gods and spirits could not predict his moves.
“Qi’er, quickly activate the Green Dragon Bead!”
Xiong Qi’er executed Green Dragon Bead, and green light instantly shone brightly. Dragon roars rang out, and the sky filled with green light that rushed toward True Heaven Palace.
Wherever it passed, everything was lignified, and even the mountain giants surrounding True Heaven Palace suddenly became stiff. Green light emanated from their bodies as countless green vines grew rapidly around them.
The women on the top of those mountain giants went under the control of the Green Dragon Bead at that instant. Pop, pop, pop. Tender sprouts and flowers grew out from their faces!
Green Dragon Bead, one of the four spirit treasures of True Heaven Palace, had burst forth with astonishing power in the hands of the little girl. The man with the embroidered headband also suddenly froze when the green light shone on him. His body seemed to be lignifying as well!
The power of Green Dragon Bead was beyond imagination!
At that moment, from the palaces in the sea of clouds, a few women of True Heaven Palace walked out. From each of their hands, a precious bead rose up.
The three precious beads rose into the air, growing brighter and brighter. One of the beads had the soul of a tortoise and a snake, another the soul of a white tiger, while the last one glowed with flame. There was a divine bird roaming inside it.
The three precious beads shone, and their lights clashed with the light of the Green Dragon Bead. Dragon roars instantly reverberated as the green dragon flew out from the precious bead. The moment it did so, it grew incomparably huge. The dragon then flew to coil around the majestic mountains, creating an incomparably astonishing sight.
In front of True Heaven Palace, the light of the three spirit treasures also became more and more vigorous. The white tiger, black tortoise, flying serpent, and vermillion bird flew out from the precious beads, too. The white tiger crouched down on a mountaintop and roared toward the sky. The vermillion bird gave a long cry and flapped its wings to spread a sea of fire. The black tortoise stepped on the sea, and it rumbled under its feet before rising into the sky while the flying serpent shuttled to and fro within it.
The three women of True Heaven Palace had activated the other three spirit treasures to fight against Xiong Qi’er. They worked together to suppress the power of Green Dragon Bead.
The traces of lignification on the man rapidly faded away, and he gave a slight smile. The flying sword behind his back flew back into his sheath, and the man retreated back into True Heaven Palace.
“Get rid of them,” he said from inside.
The lignification of the women on the head of the mountain giants wore off when Green Dragon Bead’s power was suppressed. Thus, they also escaped.
The green light on the mountain giants’ bodies also faded away. They moved their huge bodies and swung mountain-shaped sharp swords to attack the influential families of West Earth.
He Yiyi shouted sternly, and the huge catapult automatically released. They swung their long arms and sent the rock humans flying. They were pitifully small compared to the mountain giants, but they still stretched out when they were thrown and pounced on their larger counterparts.
Flames burst forth in midair, and the rock humans were shattered before they could land. They were destroyed under the attacks of the mountain giants’ huge weapons.
Cult legacy treasures had burst forth with terrifying power in the hands of the mountain giants, turning the rock humans into powder. They covered the ground in a layer of dust
Yet there were still quite a number of rock humans who had landed on the mountain giants’ bodies and scaled up to their heads.
The disciples of True Heaven Palace executed their divine arts to their limits as though they were facing great enemies when faced with such an attack. They pulled out the spirits from their opponent’s bodies, making many of them return to a pile of rocks that rolled down to the ground.
Whoosh!
Heavy rain began to fall, and green-colored droplets landed as lightning and thunder scoured the sky. It was the poison storm created by the divine arts practitioners of Mu and Fu Families.
Within it, even the crackling lightning was green in color and contained poison. The lightning mixed with the rain and struck down on the mountaintop of every one of the mountain giants!
More women of True Heaven Palace flew out, and countless spirit weapons flew forth. They were golden and silver bracelets of all sizes that spread among the mountains.
The spinning golden and silver bracelets attracted lightning and rainwater, binding them inside themselves before sending them down the mountainsides.
The dark clouds in the sky shook and tornadoes descended, twisting their bodies as they swept toward the gold and silver bracelets.
The woman who was controlling Black Tortoise Bead activated it, and the sea poured down on the dark clouds, swallowing them whole along with the lightning and tornadoes!
“Kill!”
Shouts came from Qin Mu’s side, and the huge catapults strode several miles forward before squatting down. Numerous women jumped into their huge frames and were slung into the fight by them.
Numerous mountains giants went forth to clash with the mountain giants that guarded True Heaven Palace. Tens of thousands of disciples stood on them and countless spirit weapons flew out to fight with the disciples of True Heaven Palace.
Many vines stretched out from the sky and swept toward the mountain giants. The women of Xi Family stepped on the vines to travel past the mountains, attacking the women of True Heaven Palace while the vines coiled around the mountains.
Rumble…
A pagoda-shaped mountain pressed down and crushed countless women of Xi Family. However, no one had the time to feel sorrow. Those still alive took control of the long rivers that were like flood dragons and sent them at the mountains. They clashed with the waterfall and long river that came down from the mountaintop. There were countless water giants standing up from the big river as well, wielding knives and blades made from mysterious ice. The group pounced on the women before them.
The land before True Heaven Palace had become a huge Asura’s battlefield, and the warriors in it were the charming women.
“Fatty Dragon, protect Qi’er!”
Qin Mu jumped onto He Yiyi’s stone that was floating in midair. The huge Bamboo City had already separated into pieces and become a flood of huge rocks that rose into the sky.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The huge stone formation changed continuously as countless cubes arranged and assembled themselves properly, forming a floating stone formation that frantically rushed into the battlefield.
Qin Mu stood on one huge stone that rose up and down. He watched the cubes of all sizes moving about continuously. They sometimes formed a wall and sometimes dispersed like smoke.
He Yiyi’s attainments in formation skills were extremely high. Bamboo City entered the battle under her control and opened up a path for the divine arts practitioners of He Family behind.
Rumble.
A mountain giant rushed over with a weapon which was extremely strange. It was a thick club that was the shape of a mountain and had brass bells of all sizes. However, even the smallest of them was terrifyingly huge.
The mountain giant smashed the club at Bamboo City’s formation. Instantly, the brass bells hanging on it rang, and a terrifying sound wave bombarded Bamboo City, shattering many stones into pieces.
He Yiyi immediately changed her formation, and countless huge rocks attached themselves to the club. In an instant, the terrifying weapon was completely covered up and the ringings of the bells were muted.
The mountain spent a great deal of effort to raise the club, but before it could swing it, it saw numerous huge rock rolling down the club and onto his arm.
He Yiyi executed the formation, and its power burst forth, breaking the mountain giant’s arm.
The mountain giant seemed to have not felt anything for it outstretched its other hand in a grabbing motion as if nothing had happened. Upon entering the huge stone formation, it tried to catch He Yiyi, but his other arm was soon also covered by huge rocks. Its palm became denser and denser, heavier and heavier.
“He Family’s formation skills are indeed extraordinary!” Qin Mu praised and suddenly jumped out of Bamboo City’s formation. He landed onto the arm of the mountain giant and leaped around as though he was flying, rushing toward its head.
On the mountaintop, there was another battlefield, where numerous divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace welcomed the divine arts practitioners of Gong Family. The two sides were fighting fiercely on the mountaintop, but were stuck in a stalemate.
Qin Mu rushed over, and a ball of silver light exploded with a wave of his hand. It was his sword pellet that was two feet in radius. It rose into the sky and spun rapidly. Countless swords burst forth from within it. They became sword lights and passed through the fighting crowd.
All seventeen sword forms were unleashed, and all of them had myriads of transformations. Eight thousand swords and seventeen kinds of transformations drowned out every woman on the mountaintop.
Qin Mu leaped down from the mountain. The eight thousand swords behind him were like wind blowing the clouds, sticking closely to him. They clanked as they returned back into the sword pellet above his head.
On the mountaintop, the divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace collapsed and died. Only the female divine arts practitioners of Gong Family were left.
Halfway down the mountain, a grass dragon flew out and caught Qin Mu. Chief Xi Yuting of Xi Family stood on its head, and beside her, green vines surged forward like flood dragons.
They grew frantically, blooming and bearing fruit. The countless green vines carried the female divine arts practitioners of Xi Family up the bodies of the mountain giants while planting their roots between the mountain rocks.
The practitioners executed their divine arts to make grasses, trees, and vines grow on the bodies of the mountain giants and dismember them.
Suddenly, terrifying pulses came from Vermillion Bird Bead, and a huge vermillion bird flapped its wings. A blazing sea of fire rushed toward Xi Yuting who was among the mountains.
She stood on the head of the grass dragon as she cast her spell. Green light shrouded her and formed into a huge ball of grass to face the sea of fire.
The next instant, it was ignited by the blazing fire. By the time the sea of fire passed through, there was little of the grass ball left but for its shape.
It then split open, and Xi Yuting brought Qin Mu higher and higher into the sky with help of the green vine on which she was standing.
Qin Mu leaped down from it and streaked diagonally through the air. He stretched out his hand to grab at what was above him and pulled out Carefree Sword from the sword pellet.
Carefree Sword grew in size, and the thousands of swords entered it one after another.
Qin Mu’s falling speed grew faster and faster, and his aura grew stronger and stronger too. The next instant, an explosion rang out when his body crashed onto a mountain peak. The incomparably huge mountain giant to which it belonged stumbled from the impact.
When Qin Mu landed, the terrifying impact raised a ring of pressure which blew away most of the female disciples of True Heaven Palace. Only a few who were on Seven Stars Realm and Celestial Being Realm could barely keep their footing.
But the noise after the explosion didn’t disappear, the space hummed and trembled. It was due to Carefree Sword slicing straight down through the giant.
Boom!
The next moment, cracking sounds came from the head of the mountain giant. A huge crack spread through the middle of it. Even though Qin Mu hadn’t managed to split the head apart, the power of his sword was no small matter.
When Carefree Sword slashed down again, countless flying swords swirled out from it and sliced forward. In an instant, eight thousand flying swords sliced through the air from one end of the mountaintop to the other.
Severed limbs rained down. Before they could even touch the ground, Qin Mu had already rushed forward. Sword lights flashed and sliced among two strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace that were of Celestial Being Realm.
The two women had been caught off guard and had already suffered numerous injuries. When he came close, the three of them fluttered around like butterflies.
The two women were experts of True Heaven Palace after all. Even though they weren’t proficient in close combat and had been injured by Qin Mu, they won in the density of their cultivation, which far surpassed that of Qin Mu. Soon, they regained their balance.
The primordial spirits of the two women flew out. When they were about to raise in midair, ready to jump at Qin Mu, grass dragons suddenly came from below and grew under their feet, quickly binding them.
While Chief Xi Yuting landed on the head of the mountain giant, Qin Mu leaped up. The hearts of the practitioners’ brows had a red mark each. Their corporeal bodies had been stabbed by Carefree Sword, and their brains were destroyed.
Xi Yuting was only a step later than Qin Mu to come down, but he had already wiped out all the divine arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace on the mountaintop. Only the two experts of Celestial Being Realm were left.
She knew that if the two experts released their primordial spirits that Qin Mu was definitely no match for them and might get killed instead, so she chose to first bind their corporeal bodies.
However, she hadn’t expected that Qin Mu would end the battle so quickly. She had just managed to land on the mountaintop when Qin Mu had already killed the two experts of Celestial Being Realm.
Xi Yuting looked over and saw him sprinting through the sky. Countless flying swords swooshed as they rushed forward, lying down a path under the youth’s feet to carry him into the distance.
“Heavenly Devil Cult Master is truly extraordinary!” Xi Yuting exclaimed.
Qin Mu was rushing toward another mountain giant when terrifying aura wafted off True Heaven Palace. Its experts flew out and entered the battlefield.
‘The number of experts in True Heaven Palace isn’t little. It should be the elders who made the move, right? Their targets should be the heads of each influential family!’
Just as Qin Mu thought that, he saw Mu Yingxue on a white cloud face the experts of True Heaven Palace. Behind her was Fu Yunxi executing her divine arts to move the clouds from right behind her.
Qin Mu put away his sword and executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs to sprint over frantically. He caught up with Mu Yingxue in a few breaths’ time and landed by her side on the cloud.
“You poison! I supplement!”
The two of them looked at each other with smiles.
They faced the strong practitioners of True Heaven Palace, the elders on Life and Death Realm who released their primordial spirits. They took the god forms of the four great spirit bodies and rushed toward Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue.
They flicked their fingers as one poisoned while the other supplemented. The latter assisted in raising the toxicity, and as they executed their methods, the sea of clouds passed by them, bringing the poison toward the elders of True Heaven Palace. It was Fu Yunxi’s attack.
The sea of clouds churned and drowned out the elders of True Heaven Palace along with their primordial spirits.
They were extraordinary and executed all kinds of moves to break the sea of clouds. But suddenly, the expressions of the women changed drastically as their flesh started melting and their primordial spirits started disintegrating. Before long, they turned into piles of dried up bones that fell to the ground.
With the third and fourth ranking experts of the poison path working together, even gods wouldn’t be able to handle them, much less some elders!
Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue separated and rushed toward the other mountain giants.
Rumble.
A mountain giant collapsed, and its huge body dropped to the ground, causing terrifying tremors. Cheers erupted from the divine arts practitioners of He Family, and they were followed by another loud rumble. One more mountain giant fell.
The influential families worked together, and their eyes had turned red from the slaughter. After overthrowing the mountain giants, Fang Family dismembered them to change them into hundreds of smaller hill giants to continue fighting in the battle. When combined with the formation of He Family, the meteorological attacks of Fu Family, the grass and trees of Xi Family, the long and wide rivers of Gong Family, the poisons of Mu Family, and the sword skills of Luo Family, the strength of the rebellion was continuously growing.
Gradually, the battle quietened down, for there were only a couple thousand hill giants left. Countless divine arts practitioners from all the families were gasping for air as they stood among blocks of rock. The mountain giants of True Heaven Palace had finally been wiped out by them.
Tens of thousands of female divine arts practitioners raised their heads and looked at True Heaven Palace that was high above them.
They had finally achieved the first step of their plan. They had faced off against the sacred ground and were about to walk into the place which represented the divine right of West Earth!
Even though they had sacrificed countless sisters, the overthrow of True Heaven Palace was an immense achievement for which any sacrifice was worth it!
True Heaven Palace was silent. Suddenly, the sound of gold and metal clanking rang out. God’s aura slowly spread out, growing stronger and stronger. With True Heaven Palace as the center, the god’s aura flooded out in all directions, suppressing the divine arts practitioners of all the influential families. They found it hard even to breathe.
The clanking of metal became louder and louder. Finally, a golden sculpture walked out of the palace gate with its eyes closed. Its body was tall, sturdy, and over thirty yards tall. The runes on its body blinked with light.
The god statue opened its eyes, and divine light shone in the sky before sweeping toward the ground. The statues were like true living gods!
Moments later, another god statue walked out, followed by the third, fourth, fifth…
Seven God Statues walked out of True Heaven Palace and stood in front of the gate. The divine light from their eyes lit up the whole place.
They were god statues that had been awakened by the technique to awaken spirits. They had experienced who knew how many years of baptism to become abnormally strong, like gods.
Rattling sounds came from True Heaven Palace, and tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners from Yu Family walked out one after another. True Heaven Palace Master appeared under the palace gate and looked down at the warriors that were ready to attack her place, and scorned appeared on her face.
Everyone’s blood ran cold. Over ten thousand people had died or suffered injuries just to wipe out the mountain giants that served as guards. Yet they were merely the outer strength of True Heaven Palace. The core had been preserved and was even more terrifying!
The seven god statues were probably enough to wipe out all of the influential families!
With tens of thousands of strong practitioners of Yu Family in addition, what awaited the rebels was a complete and utter defeat!
Qin Mu looked around and saw despair written on the faces of even He Yiyi, Fang Caidie, and Luo Yinyu.
He went to Fu Yunxi’s side and asked her, “Sister Yunxi, you can control meteorological phenomenon so can you control lightning?”
Fu Yunxi nodded and said with some sadness, “My Fu Family is skilled in controlling the meteorological phenomenon, and lightning is also part of it. However, after this battle, the technique of meteorological phenomenon in West Earth is probably going to be lost…”
Qin Mu smiled. “How much lightning can you guys control?”
Fu Yunxi was slightly stunned by his words and took a look at him.
Qin Mu took out the true dragon’s nest and said solemnly, “Fatty Dragon, come over!”
The dragon qilin immediately ran over, and Qin Mu landed on his back. He took out Five Thunder Pot and placed it on the dragon qilin’s head.
He felt a chill down his bones and immediately laughed. “Cult Master, Human Emperor, Old Master Qin! Why are you doing this? This little beast’s constitution is weak and bones frail. How can I withstand being blown to death by ten thousand lightning bolts?”
“With the experts of Fu Family, you won’t be hurt at all. Get up and fly forward, “Qin Mu said in consolation.
While shivering uncontrollably, the dragon qilin stepped on the fire clouds to fly up.
Qin Mu said solemnly, “Sister Yunxi, have all of the disciples of Fu Family follow me!”
True Heaven Palace Master smiled when she saw the dragon qilin carrying Qin Mu over. He grinned back at her, then suddenly threw his sword pellet up. It split open, and eight thousand swords stabbed Five Thunder Cauldron in unison!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The moment eight thousand flying swords stabbed Five Thunder Pot, the world became incomparably silent, without any sound to be heard. Even the flying swords made no sound.
Then, the space above Five Thunder Pot exploded as a trace of lightning shot out.
The black lightning stretched upward and exploded, pouring toward the sky.
Standing in front of the palace gate, True Heaven Palace Master saw the black lightning which looked like a flood dragon baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. It then split up, and the incomparably bright lightning seemed like a bunch of flood dragons scuttling upward.
In an instant, there were more than ten thousand bolts that were rushing up into the sky. Yet the next instant, they once again split up into a hundred million flood dragons.
An incomparably bright cloud formed in front of True Heaven Palace and Five Thunder Pot floated into the sky, releasing lightning bolts that continuously scuttled upward into the thundercloud.
Meanwhile, behind the thundercloud, Fu Yunxi had tens of thousands of women of Fu Family to execute their divine arts, prodding the thundercloud to rush at True Heaven Palace.
The Palace Master’s expression changed drastically, and she grabbed for the Black Tortoise Bead that one of the elders of Yu Family was using.
Before her fingers could wrap around it, however, the terrifying thundercloud had already reached True Heaven Palace. Wherever it passed, the visions formed by White Tiger Bead, Vermillion Bird Bead, and Black Tortoise Bead were all disintegrated. The sea vaporized, the fire was extinguished, and the golden mountain crumbled.
Boom!
The first lightning struck and went straight for True Heaven Palace. An explosion rang out when it hit a god statue.
The first bolt of lightning was like a spark falling into a boiling pot of oil, instantly igniting everything inside. It was also like the first raindrop from a heavy rain cloud, and what followed was billions and billions of lightning bolts streaking across the sky and drowning out True Heaven Palace!
“Black Tortoise Divine Shield!” True Heaven Palace Master shouted out while struggling for her life to activate Black Tortoise Bead. A huge black tortoise’s shield then expanded outward, covering the front of True Heaven Palace.
Boom!
Countless bolts of lightning exploded upon striking the black tortoise’s shield, and the surface of the divine shield continuously shrunk from being compressed. True Heaven Palace Matter coughed out blood as she struggled to defend her people.
Black Tortoise Divine Shield soon was no longer able to protect all of the disciples of True Heaven Palace. The sea of thunderstorm swept in, and countless women vanished in a puff of smoke!
Even the eight god statues whose auras were close to those of gods also couldn’t endure the thunderstorm. When they rushed to fight it, their limbs actually melted, turning them into molten gold and copper!
When Xiong Qi’er looked at True Heaven Palace from afar, she saw it had been transformed into a sea of lightning. Countless bolts burst, making the place incomparably bright.
Earlier, the girl’s Green Dragon Bead had to fight with the other three great spirit treasures, but once the thundercloud destroyed their power, the pressure on her was greatly reduced. She could finally take a breather.
“Qi’er, the green dragon’s attribute is lightning.” Xiong Xiyu suddenly appeared behind her and said gently, “Let’s use this Green Dragon Bead to send our enemies on their way.”
“Mother!” Xiong Qi’er was both surprised and delighted. Xiong Xiyu revealed a smile and covered her daughter’s small hands with her own. They held the Green Dragon Bead together and said in a low voice, “Xiong Family’s deaths need to be avenged with their enemies’ deaths!”
Boundless green light poured out from Green Dragon Bead and transformed into a green dragon that rushed into the thundercloud. The power of the lightning instantly rose dramatically.
True Heaven Palace Master saw this, and her heart fell into despair. ‘Yu Family is finished…’
Black Tortoise Divine Shield exploded into pieces, and the boundless thunderstorm drowned out her and the disciples of Yu Family behind her.
At that moment, a sword light pierced through the boundless thunderstorm. Ba Gou broke through it and went straight for Xiong Xiyu. His sword light seemed to be perfected, sweeping away everything before it. Even the thunderstorm was sliced apart!
His sword skills and sword path had reached perfection and even the thunderstorm couldn’t hurt him.
The sword light was incomparably quick and looked as though it had come from outer space. Lightning turned into fine powder and even the brightest flash of it couldn’t mask the light bursting from the sword!
Before it reached Xiong Xiyu and her daughter’s face, however, a sword light suddenly appeared and blocked that sword with a clink.
“Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor?” Ba Gou smiled. “I’ve long known you were in West Earth, but you have a vulgar natural disposition, always hiding in the dark. However, you could never find a chance to attack me, right? In the end, it was still I who forced you out.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked over, stepping on the air like it was flat ground. He had no expression and wore green clothing. A sword was in his right hand while his left was behind his back, clutching sword secrets.
Ba Gou wore white, but he also had a hand behind his back clutching sword secrets.
The two figures moved up and down through the thunderstorm. Even though the sound of thunder was world-shaking, it still couldn’t cover the clash of the swords. The clinks were like beads falling on a jade plate, ringing out continuously.
Under the Five Thunder Pot, Qin Mu was being pulled in by the intense lightning energy. Its force of attraction sucked him and the dragon qilin toward the bolts of lightning. Even the fat dragon qilin seemed to only weigh as much as paper, being drawn by the electric current. He flailed helplessly, but there was nothing on which he could grab.
Qin Mu also felt that he had become incomparably light, and his hair flew in all directions. Among his strands, lightning crisscrossed and shuttled randomly while crackling!
He even felt all the hair on his body filling with fine bolts of lightning as the terrifying power hit his body.
It felt as if he had been stabbed all over by White Immortal’s needles; there was no place that wasn’t in pain.
Qin Mu exhausted all of his energy to execute Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill, and the rays of lightning also filled his eyes.
He could barely see the dragon qilin, even if the beast’s mane had risen up and even the scales were standing upright. Lightning rolled across them, bouncing back and forth.
Qin Mu took out the true dragon’s nest. Its weight pressed him down, and he couldn’t help grunting. However, he finally suppressed the pull of the lightning, and his body finally fell from the sky. On his way, he crashed into the dragon qilin and brought him down as well.
With both hands hugging the dragon’s nest, he used its weight to escape from the lightning’s pull. When he was a good distance away, he raised his head to look up at the sky.
Five Thunder Pot floated there, raising higher and higher. His eight thousand swords seemed to be frozen in time and floated around the Five Thunder Pot. Lightning passed through them as if they were lightning rods, attracting it on purpose.
The flying swords turned red hot from the terrifying energy, and Qin Mu worried if they could even withstand the impact of the divine lightning from Five Thunder Pot.
He broke free of the lightning pull when green light shone in the sky. He raised his head and saw the Green Dragon Bead detonating the thundercloud.
“Yu Family is finished…” he murmured.
The thunder was so loud that even he himself couldn’t hear his words.
He then saw Ba Gou flying over and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor intercepting him. A green and a white figure fought each other in the thundercloud.
“Old schemer!” Qin Mu spat out and observed the battle of the two great experts. He saw that they did not use sword skill divine arts, but instead held the swords in their right hands while clutching sword secrets in their left behind their backs.
Their movements were extremely fast and hard to discern, The sword secrets behind their backs were changing continuously as though they were calculating something.
Qin Mu was quite surprised. The changes in both of their sword secrets were simply too fast for him to see them clearly. He could only struggle to memorize the changes of the hand signs as he faintly felt that their sword secrets were extremely important.
As for the fight between Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, it had already reached a degree of simplicity. There were completely no changes in their sword skills, and there were only a few basic sword forms. However, every attack would cause the space around the swords to vibrate. Their divine arts could be faintly seen to be hiding behind that vibration. The sword path hidden within was not something that Qin Mu could comprehend.
‘As expected of the big sicko that appears once every five hundred years. His attainments in sword path have actually risen so fast!’
Qin Mu tried his best to remember a few sword secrets when the god statues braced against countless bolts of divine lightning and rushed into the thunderstorm. They exploded with terrifying god aura and worked together to disperse the thundercloud in one strike. Countless bolts of lightning instantly poured down and struck everywhere.
The eight god statues grew tattered, with not one of them remaining in a good condition, but they were still overflowing with battle power and tried to reach Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
The man seemed to be completely unaware of it and continued to fight with Ba Gou while Xiong Xiyu brought Xiong Qi’er closer. They raised the Green Dragon Bead from which green light was bursting forth. It lignified the bodies of the eight god statues and froze them in the air.
Suddenly, a lignified statue twisted its neck around, and a strange smile appeared on the god statue’s face. It stretched its hand out, and the Green Dragon Bead in Xiong Qi’er’s hands flew out against her will, rushing over toward the hand of the god statue. “Little girl, thank you!”
Xiong Qi’er was stunned and lost all control of the Green Dragon Bead while Xiong Xiyu felt a chill run down her spine. “Be careful! That’s the god of True Heaven Pa—”
Before she could finish her sentence, multicolored lights emanated from Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s head. A flying bridge broke through the air, and it seemed to be able to reach inconceivable places. The boundless divine light seemed to be coming from the end of time and space as it filled the nine heavens. At the end of the bridge was a cluster of celestial palaces that could be seen faintly, but which weren’t clear.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s primordial spirit rushed out from that hazy celestial palace and stepped onto the divine bridge. His sword flew over, seemingly disregarding space. The sword light passed through time, and the instant that god statue took hold of the Green Dragon Bead, the primordial spirit penetrated its brow. The blade pierced to the back of its head.
Blood dripped down the ‘god statue’s’ forehead, and there were blood and brain matter flowing out from the back of the head as well. The damage didn’t seem like it had been done to a god statue, but a living form!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s expressionless face finally broke into a smile as his primordial spirit soared back into the air. With a hand behind his back and a hand holding a sword, he circled around Ba Gou. “You were never my target.”
Chi, chi, chi!
He attacked with his primordial spirit from two sides, and the sword lights flashed as they severed Ba Gou’s limbs. He then raised his sword to cut off Ba Gou’s head.
“Divine bridge!” Qin Mu cried out in alarm, and his nervousness finally settled down.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was no doubt the saint that appears once every five hundred years. Only half a year had passed since Qin Mu and the rest had established the space algebra model of the divine bridge, and he had actually managed to cultivate the divine bridge!
‘Old schemer, you finished patching your divine bridge and entered the celestial palace so you are already a god, yet you still hide in the corner and scheme against people…’
Qin Mu cursed him silently while shouts of countless women rang out behind him. Under the leadership of the heads of all clans, the divine arts practitioners of all the influential families attacked True Heaven Palace.
Mu Yingxue passed by Qin Mu’s side and said in a low voice, “Little man, while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is still alive, never rebel. You can’t outsmart him!”
He Yiyi also passed by his side and whispered, “If you rebel, you’ll die a swift death! Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is too cunning!”
Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he thought to himself, ‘I’ve never even considered rebelling. However, Imperial Preceptor, this guy is really cunning…’
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu soared into the sky and saw that the vibrations of Five Thunder Pot were slowly stopping. Fu Yunxi with numerous women of Fu Family were guiding the lightning in their surroundings away.
“Cult Master Qin, your swords!” Fu Yunxi shouted out.
Qin Mu summoned his flying swords, and the eight thousand of them gathered together into a sword pellet that was the size of a tangerine.
“How did the sword pellet shrink so much?”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He was about to grab his sword pellet when a few girls from Fu Family flew over with nervous expressions. “Cult Master Qin, don’t move!”
Qin Mu stayed motionless while the girls muttered something under their breaths. Bolts of lightning flew out from his body, pulled out by the girls.
“There was still some lightning in your body. Because you haven’t come into contact with anyone, it hasn’t burst forth,” one of the girls said. “If you had touched something, the power would have burst forth. The lightning in the big bottle gourd is divine lightning that has terrifying power. Now that we have taken away the lightning, you can move as you wish.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks when he heard a rumbling. He looked toward the source of the sound and saw that the dragon qilin was trying to step on fire clouds to slow his landing. However, before he could do that, the power of lightning in his body suddenly burst forth.
The lightning escaped from the dragon qilin’s body crackled and struck everything around him. The huge fatty was like a lightning ball, bouncing up and down. In an instant, the dragon qilin was charred.
The girls of Fu Family hurriedly rushed over while Qin Mu pretended not to see anything. He instead stretched his hand to grab the sword pellet. Its weight the same, but it was much smaller. It could fit in his palm and was much easier to control than before.
He couldn’t hold back his delight. ‘By borrowing Five Thunder Pot’s power to refine my sword pellet to such a step, I’m not far from cultivating sword into water!’
“Cult Master, didn’t you say that I wouldn’t get harmed?” Smoke billowed out from the dragon qilin’s mouth when he spoke.
Qin Mu pretended not to hear anything and put back Five Thunder Pot back into the true dragon’s nest before rushing to True Heaven Palace.
“Cult Master!”
The dragon qilin wanted to rush after him, but more women of Fu Family surrounded him. “Stop moving around, you fatty. Your body is so big and you even held that huge bottle gourd, so you have the most lightning in your body. Be careful of being electrocuted to death if you run around more!”
The dragon qilin immediately went still and smiled. “Sisters, I’m not disfigured, am I? My dragon scales are the most beautiful and majestic, so they can’t be destroyed!”
“This…” The girls looked at him, troubled.
The dragon qilin was suspicious and wanted to twist his head around to look at his body. However, because he was too fat and his neck was too thick, he couldn’t achieve that.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was the first to land in front of True Heaven Palace’s gate. There were charred bodies and huge pits made by the lightning strikes everywhere around it. They were still emitting black smoke, and there were some places that were still in flames.
True Heaven Palace Master was collapsed on the floor, from where she looked at the middle-aged man that was walking toward her. She pleaded in a soft voice, “I’m pregnant. Consider the baby in my stomach, please don’t kill me…”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked to her side and said indifferently, “Whether you are pregnant or not has nothing to do with me. I have no grudge with you so I won’t purposely harm you. I just want this True Heaven Palace, this West Earth.”
True Heaven Palace Master was slightly stunned.
Xiong Xiyu brought Xiong Qi’er to the front of the palace, and the corners of True Heaven Palace Master’s eyes twitched. “Nai Kui, I’m pregnant…”
“Many of the women in my Xiong Family were also pregnant when you executed them.”
Intense hatred could be seen in Xiong Xiyu’s eyes when she snatched the Black Tortoise Bead from the prone woman’s hands before taking Xiong Qi’er’s Green Dragon Bead too. She lowered her voice then and said, “Have you ever pitied them?”
The Green Dragon Bead shined on True Heaven Palace Master. She wanted to escape, but her body and primordial spirit swiftly lignified. In the blink of an eye, she turned into a wooden sculpture that seemed in the middle of a struggle.
Xiong Xiyu let out a shaky breath and brought Xiong Qi’er out of True Heaven Palace while saying coldly, “I won’t kill you, but I won’t let you off just because you’re pregnant. Become a wooden sculpture in front of the palace gate and kneel here forever!”
The women of the influential families rushed into True Heaven Palace to kill the remaining members of Yu Family.
Qin Mu also came over and saw that the palace was extremely wide and had many alleys. There were many members of Yu Family hidden all throughout it.
Some of the strong practitioners of Yu Family used Vermillion Bird Bead and White Tiger Bead to continue fighting back. The power of those two beads was strangely powerful, because even though the cultivation of the people controlling those two spirit treasures wasn’t very high, they could still unleash astonishing power.
Qin Mu slaughtered his way into the palace with everyone while thinking, ‘Pangong Tso should still be in the palace, right? No matter what, I can’t let him off this time!’
Suddenly, golden light shone when a woman raised a golden, translucent bead. Inside it was the soul of a white tiger. When golden light burst forth from the bead, people who got caught by it instantly broke into pieces!
Qin Mu executed his sword pellet in a hurry, and eight thousand swords surrounded him. The noise of battle could be heard in the distance, but he got blown backward by the golden light, along with his swords.
Qin Mu tumbled several times before coming to a stop. He then saw that he had flown dozens of yards.
“White Tiger Bead!”
He dodged into a huge hall when the golden light came pouring in like a flood through the one he’d been in moments ago. Qin Mu focused his gaze to look at it and saw that wherever the golden light passed, gold qi seemed to scatter. The women who had died under the golden light had been injured by the incomparably sharp gold qi!
Qin Mu hugged a huge pillar and exerted force from his waist, planning to lift it up and use it to squash the expert of Yu Family which was controlling the White Tiger Bead.
The pillar didn’t budge at all.
Qin Mu gave a grunt and exerted more force; however, the pillar still didn’t budge.
“Cult Master Qin, this is True Heaven Palace.” Suddenly, Qin Mu heard Liu Zhenqing’s voice. He was slightly stunned when he saw a bunch of black coffins escorting the golden god coffin inside. Liu Family’s mother and daughter were sitting on their own coffins. The little girl put down her hawthorn candy with a smile and said, “True, Heaven Palace! A real celestial palace!”
Astonished, Qin Mu cried out, “Your meaning?”
“This celestial palace fell from the heavens; it’s not a fake.”
Liu Zhenqing jumped out of her coffin after stabbing the hawthorn candy into it. She climbed onto the golden coffin and peeled off one talisman after another. “Quickly move aside, the old thing is coming out! Keep the chain properly!”
While she spoke, the golden coffin suddenly opened up and a god’s aura burst forth with a heart-gripping shout. A majestic figure rushed out toward the golden light.
Boom!
A loud explosion came from the back of the palace, and a chewing sound could be heard.
Liu Zhenqing was extremely nervous and instructed the people of Liu Family, “Quickly pull the chains back. Faster, drag that old thing back! Don’t be scared, the White Tiger Bead is in his mouth so he’ll be suppressed by it! Faster! Faster!”
Chains rattled as the experts of Liu Family quickly pulled them back from their numerous black coffins. After a moment, a tall and sturdy corpse of a god was dragged back.
It was struggling with all its might, trying to break free. Liu Zhenqing and Liu Ruyin went forward and exerted all their strength to pull the god’s corpse back into the coffin.
Liu Zhengqing climbed onto the head of the god’s corpse and punched its nose furiously with her small fists while shouting, “Spit it out, quickly spit it out!”
The cheeks of the god’s corpse were bulging, so it was obvious that something was hidden inside them.
The god’s corpse looked at the daring little girl as though it wanted to eat her up. However, its four limbs were chained so it couldn’t move.
The item in the corpse’s mouth was the White Tiger Bead which had been swallowed along with the expert of True Heaven Palace that had held it. But once the White Tiger Bead had gone into its mouth, it realized how terrifying it was. The White Tiger Bead not only didn’t go down its throat, but even almost assimilated the god’s corpse.
Liu Zhenqing beat the nose of the god’s corpse until it was all bloody. The god’s corpse finally couldn’t resist any longer and opened its mouth to spit out the White Tiger Bead along with a puff of corpse poison toward Liu Zhenqing.
Bang.
The coffin closed, and Liu Zhenqing quickly pasted the sealing talismans back before picking up the White Tiger Bead from the floor. She beamed with joy before jumping back onto her own small coffin and pulling out the hawthorn candy for another lick. She smiled at Qin Mu and said, “Brother Qin, we are going back. Come find us at God Burial Valley to play with us when you’re free!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and waved at them.
“Let’s go!”The coffin flipped over with a bang and covered the little girl inside. Liu Zhenqing’s dull voice, however, still reached the outside, and it sounded full of pride. “No more fighting, return to God Burial Valley! Our Liu Family is not here to shatter the authority of True Heaven Palace. With the White Tiger Bead, our Liu Family’s God Burial Valley can also become a sacred ground of West Earth!”
Numerous black coffins escorted the golden coffin in their withdrawal from True Heaven Palace.
‘Little Sister Liu Zhenqing is extraordinary and might just be able to create a corpse sacred ground.’ Qin Mu continued to head further into True Heaven Palace while thinking to himself, ‘However, I shouldn’t call her little sister since her age should be similar to that of her mother Liu Ruyin. They should both be four to five hundred years old.”
In the depths of True Heaven Palace, there was a spirit treasure that had an astonishing power. Vermillion Bird Bead incinerated everything through which its true fire passed. Only the palace of True Heaven Palace itself was left untouched.
There were people from the influential families pouring forth towards the power of Vermillion Bird Bead. It was evident that they planned to take hold of it before Xiong Xiyu and her daughter could take it for themselves.
“So it’s Cult Master Qin.”
From another huge hall, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked out with a rare smile. He nodded to Qin Mu in acknowledgment.
Qin Mu walked forward and asked in doubt, “Imperial Preceptor, with your current abilities, stealing the three great spirit beads isn’t difficult yet you disregard the treasures of True Heaven Palace. What exactly are you searching for?”
“The history.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked to another palace while saying leisurely, “The treasures of True Heaven Palace belong to West Earth and I won’t fight over them. To me, even though the treasures are tempting, the history of True Heaven Palace is the true wealth. Cult Master Qin, there’s no need to fight over those things and struggle for power. Follow me and let’s witness the history of True Heaven Palace.”
His intention was for the youth to come with him.
“Imperial Preceptor’s setup is extraordinary. If I was greedy for the treasures of True Heaven Palace, wouldn’t you despise me?” Qin Mu said.
He followed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to the other palace.
True Heaven Palace’s palaces were grand and majestic. Even though the war was still ongoing with all kinds of divine arts and spirit weapons flying in the sky, the ground level was perfectly fine.
“Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, Little Jade Capital were all losers. But even they recorded their history, so how could the winner not immortalize their own victorious history?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked into a hall where numerous disciples of Yu Family hid. They immediately attacked, but Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor just waved his hand and their abundant strength seemed to have lost meaning. They crashed against the four walls of the palace, unable to move.
“I have already seen the history recorded by Dao Sect, Little Jade Capital, and Great Thunderclap Monastery. Now I would like to see the history written by the winner.”
Imperial Preceptor waved his hand again, and the numerous women of Yu Family that were pressed against the walls couldn’t stop themselves from moving to the sides so the murals behind them were revealed.
Qin Mu looked at the murals and saw a painting with a god descending from the sky on a cluster of palaces. The god looked somewhat similar to Ba Gou.
In the second painting, Ba Gou came to meet a female god which was on equal footing with him and functioned as his rival.
“She’s none other than the founder of True Heaven Palace, True Heaven Old Mother.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor expression became one of deep thought. “Since she was able to stand on an equal footing with Ba Gou, she shouldn’t have been killed by a single strike from me… It’s a little strange.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned when he recalled the wooden god statue he had seen in the desert. Its face was similar to the appearance of True Heaven Old Mother.
He looked to the next painting, but Ba Gou’s figure was no longer there. The third painting was of True Heaven Old Mother using Vermillion Bird Bead to transform the ground into a barren desert filled with fierce flames.
“The flaming desert!”
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. The amount of magic power required to change an area of tens of thousands of miles into a flaming desert was simply terrifying!
“Cult Master, do you think someone with her abilities would be killed by me in one strike?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked.
Qin Mu shivered. “She’s still alive!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. “The True Heaven Old Mother I killed in one strike was most probably just a god’s statue. Her path of nature creation has myriads of changes and she could even awaken mountains and rivers to become moving lifeforms, so creating a fake body couldn’t be considered hard for her. Could she be somewhere around here?”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu had an eerie feeling. If True Heaven Old Mother really still hid in True Heaven Palace, she was hiding while they were standing right under the spotlight. If True Heaven Old Mother was to land a sneak attack on them, who could block her?
Qin Mu didn’t know if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could block her, but he himself definitely couldn’t!
Even if True Heaven Old Mother couldn’t kill Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, she could definitely kill him.
‘Is she targeting him or me?’
Qin Mu blinked. The threat Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor posed was even bigger when before as he had cultivated divine bridge. He had gotten rid of Ba Gou and her fake body, so by right, he should be her target.
But in the flaming desert, True Heaven Old Mother’s god statues had already laid their hands on Qin Mu numerous times. On top of that, the invasion of True Heaven Palace had a lot to do with him. Compared to Imperial Preceptor, True Heaven Old Mother’s hatred for Qin Mu should be even deeper!
‘No matter what, I need to be by Imperial Preceptor’s side. I can’t take a step away from him!’
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stretched his hand out and moved it to the side. Numerous women on the wall slid to the side and revealed the fourth mural.
It recorded a battle between True Heaven Old Mother, Sun Ship, and Moon Ship.
That battle had been initiated by True Heaven Old Mother when she attacked Great Ruins. It attracted the Moon and Sun Ships, then retreated toward the flaming desert where she managed to destroy them.
The sight of the battle on the mural was extremely majestic. The huge land ships brought the suns and moons that flew in the sky. Sun and Moon Guardians stood on the huge ships with towering physiques, but their faces were wretched. It was clear from one glance that they were evil people.
Yet it wasn’t only True Heaven Old Mother that fought against them—there were also some other gods in the sky. However, on the mural, those gods were drawn very tiny, while True Heaven Old Mother was valiant and strong, with an indomitable spirit. The other gods were simply infants in front of her!
“Is True Heaven Old Mother really so strong?” Qin Mu couldn’t help doubting what he saw.
“Let me tell you a story so you will understand why True Heaven Old Mother isn’t strong at all. One day, the emperor brought me and the ministers out for a hunt. When we caught our prey, the emperor ordered a painter to do a painting, and that painter had also drawn the emperor to be that large,” said Imperial Preceptor.
He raised his right hand and made a gesture of extending two fingers to show the size of himself in the painting. “And I was this small. The emperor was indomitable while the ministers and I were all very tiny. Among them, I was the tiniest. On top of that, when the painter drew me, he drew me to be very wretched and fiendish, with a cunning and sinister expression. The emperor wasn’t satisfied so he ordered the painter to redraw it, but it ended up the same. Thus, the emperor dismissed him, telling him to scram back home.”
Qin Mu understood what he meant and smiled. “The person who painted this mural was bootlicking True Heaven Old Mother. She shouldn’t be stronger than you; otherwise, she wouldn’t have resorted to using fake bodies to attack you.”
“True Heaven Old Mother’s abilities should be very strong, but her battle power should have a big flaw. Her magic power is extremely strong, but her spells are also in the path of all things having spirit and all things having soul. If she doesn’t show herself, I can’t do anything to her. But if she shows herself, she’s dead.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a lot of confidence, but he suddenly changed the topic. He seemed to be warning Qin Mu when he said, “There are bootlickers beside the emperor so how can there be none beside others with power? However, these kind of people aren’t scary; it’s their thoughts that are scary.
“The painter drew me and the ministers as tiny figures and it is understandable, but he shouldn’t have drawn me to be sinister and cunning, since it involved his personal loathing. He wanted to use the chance to bootlick and influence the emperor’s view toward me, to make the emperor think that I’m sinister and cunning. He wanted to use it to get rid of me and stop the reform. Putting bootlicking and a stab in the back together was too much.”
He looked at Qin Mu with a smile that was not really a smile. “Cult Master has an important position, and even the emperor can’t match up to your authority sometimes. You need to be careful of people who hide daggers behind their farts.”
Qin Mu was between laughter and tears. Hiding daggers behind their farts… Imperial Preceptor was both refined and vulgar at the same time.
When he was refined, he could harangue with Deaf and Butcher, but when he was vulgar, he could even say phrases like hiding daggers behind farts.
However, he was speaking the truth. It was indeed not hard to encounter such people in life that would stab their competitors in the back with flattery while harboring unfathomable motives. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s warning was very right.
“On the mural, True Heaven Old Mother is assisted by other gods, but where did they come from?”
Qin Mu examined the mural and inspected the pictures of the other gods in it, trying to recognize their faces. He suddenly saw one person which looked familiar. “That’s Jade Sovereign! Could the others also be the gods of High Heavens? No, they shouldn’t all be gods of High Heavens!”
He recognized another face!
He took out a scroll from his taotie sack and gently unfolded it. He placed it side by side for comparison and checked the god in the painting again.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned. “Isn’t this the painting of paying respect to the soul that Cult Master drew?”
“It is.” Qin Mu raised his head to examine the mural. “The divine art of paying respect to the soul that Pangong Tso uses is extremely strange. When he pays respect to a soul, an apparition of a god appears behind him. I painted it here. Imperial Preceptor, please take a look, doesn’t this god in my painting looks similar to that god?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked back and forth a few times, then nodded.
Doubt appeared on Qin Mu’s face, and he went into deep thought. “That god of Pangong Tso had once appeared in this world and was the same as True Heaven Old Mother. One of them founded True Heaven Palace and the other one founded Rolan’s Golden Palace. In that case, is he still in this world? If he is still alive…”
Chills ran down his back even though he wasn’t cold.
Pangong Tso’s divine art killed to whoever he paid respect. If the god himself was to execute it, who could withstand him paying his respect?
“The mural here only records the history of True Heaven Old Mother and not what I wanted.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head and walked out of the hall. “If True Heaven Palace is really part of the celestial palaces, there should be even more ancient history recorded on the murals and not just the history of True Heaven Palace! There must be another hall for older history!”
Qin Mu followed him out, and only then did the women of Yu Family fall to the ground, regaining their movement.
The battle outside was still continuing and the situation was extremely messy. All of the influential families were fighting over Vermillion Bird Bead. They were hindering each other and making dirty moves.
The power of Vermillion Bird Bead was unusually strong and not any inferior to that of Green Dragon Bead. It was one of the four great spirit treasures of True Heaven Palace so it naturally invoked quite a fight among people who wanted to obtain it.
Even though women held the authority in West Earth, their internal conflicts and power struggle were no inferior to those in Eternal Peace.
Qin Mu followed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to the main hall of True Heaven Palace and saw that the murals there were different from the other palaces.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood in front of one and looked at it calmly. The corners of his eyes suddenly twitched and fear spread across his face.
Qin Mu looked at the mural and saw the imposing celestial heavens. There was a person dressed like the heavenly emperor inviting gods for a banquet. There were countless of them who chose to attend!
“Earth Count!”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently when he saw Earth Count with horns on his head among the gods!
In the painting, Earth Count’s position was extremely high yet his face still couldn’t be distinguished. And he wasn’t the only one like that!
That meant that there were many existences that were like Earth Count.
In the painting, the gods were all frozen in different poses, drawn so vividly that they looked like they were about to step out and come to life. This showed that the painter who had painted the mural was exceptionally brilliant.
Qin Mu’s gaze swept through the gods, but he found no sign of True Heaven Old Mother or even Ba Gou. “Could it be that True Heaven Old Mother wasn’t even born back then?”
The corners of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s eyes were still trembling when he croaked out, “This is the true celestial palace, the true celestial palace… No wonder, it’s no wonder that even Founding Emperor Era was wiped out…”
Qin Mu grabbed his hand, and it was actually shaking. Fear and hesitation could be seen in the depths of the middle-aged man’s vacant eyes!
“Imperial Preceptor is scared by a painting?” Qin Mu laughed.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor struggled free, but his voice was still hoarse. “Aren’t you scared? Don’t you see how many gods there are in this celestial palace? Don’t you see Earth Count among them too? Don’t you understand that the destruction of Founding Emperor Era was probably due to the gods in this celestial palace?”
Despair appeared on his face and he laughed. “I thought I could abolish the degenerates and return the world a clear heaven and earth. I hoped to prevent people from being deceived anymore and break the gods in the temples and in their hearts so they would have the courage to fight the heavens, but isn’t all that just a joke? Cult Master Qin, you don’t understand anything! If I continue with the reform, Eternal Peace Empire will end up the same! Hehe, reform, hehe…”
He was completely disheartened and fell into a daze. He waved his hands while saying, “I’m not going to High Heavens anymore. When I return to Eternal Piece, I will bring my wife into seclusion. Cult Master you… continue being the cult master. As for the reform, don’t touch it again.”
He turned around to walk out of the hall with a bleak expression. He had lost all his courage to continue fighting.
“Heavenly King, you just now asked me if I understand or not. Let me answer you!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stopped in his tracks.
“I know.” Qin Mu’s smile was more radiant than ever before. “I’m even more deeply involved than you. The Founding Emperor also had the surname Qin, and the orphan of the eradicated Founding Emperor Empire is right in front of you.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor trembled. He turned around to look at him, his words coming out in a stutter. “You-you…”
Qin Mu showed him his white teeth as he smiled radiantly. “My name might be fake, but my surname isn’t. Founding Emperor’s Qin is my Qin. If I’m not scared, what should you be scared of? Heavenly King, I suddenly have an idea, help me grind my inkstone.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was still in shock from Qin Mu’s words and didn’t understand what he meant.
Qin Mu took out his brush and threw the inkstone at him. He looked with interest at the painting which had inflicted so much damage to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. After a moment, his eyes lit up and he found the crux of the matter. With a smile, he asked, “Is the ink ready?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was in a daze, barely having caught the inkstone. Qin Mu smiled and spoke once more. “Heavenly King, this isn’t like you. Where’s the saint that appears once every five hundred years?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took in a deep breath and threw out all the thoughts in his mind, focusing on grinding ink.
Qin Mu soaked the brush full of ink and placed a few strokes at the bottom right corner of the mural. After he was done, he smiled and said, “Help me wash my brush.”
“You!” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could barely hold back his anger. “Founding Emperor Era ended over twenty thousand years ago, and the hundredth heir of Founding Emperor might not be any more respected than a farmer! If you make a fool out of me, I’ll create trouble for you and make sure they haunt you forever.”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and said, “We will leave after you finish washing.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor washed the brush with dedication. He was serious in everything he did and was never careless.
Qin Mu put away his brush and inkstone before grabbing the middle-aged man’s hand. He dragged him toward the mural with a smile. “Let me bring you to a meeting, the banquet of the celestial heavens!”
The two of them hurled themselves against the mural and vanished as they entered the painting.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The scenery in front of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s eyes suddenly changed. When the light came back, they had come to the celestial palaces. They were majestic, and sacred mountains extended far into the distance. Divine light shone upon the boundless world.
“Is this the world in the painting?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was incomparably astonished. If they were in the world in the painting, wasn’t it a bit too vast?
He looked into the distance, but there was no end to the celestial palaces!
Gods filled the sky above. There were some that were imposing, some that were divine, and some that transcended worldliness. However, most of the gods were walking to and fro, searching and calling their friends while exchanging cups of wine and drinking together in a large group.
Qin Mu had brought Imperial Preceptor into the painting and the banquet of the celestial heavens. There were long corridors around them that were like bridges, flying rainbows, sun, and moon hanging above the pavilion, and lanterns with flaming divine birds inside that acted as candles and were giving off heat.
There were also goddesses playing strings and exotic wind instruments. Some women were dancing on the lotus leaves while a deluge of heavenly flowers fell around them.
Some of the gods that were drunk stumbled left and right, raising their wine jars while teasing goddesses that avoided them from shyness.
It was too much for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s eyes to take in. They were located at the center of the banquet, with countless gods in their surroundings. In the distance, light from the sacred mountain shone.
Earth Count was not far from them, and on his head were the horns of the nine bends. He sat motionlessly with flames circling under his body like an abyss.
There were a few more extremely imposing existences high above. Their faces were blurry, but the awe-inspiring feeling they gave off was no inferior.
“Imperial Preceptor, you are now like a country bumpkin, similar to me when I first entered Border Dragon City!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and suddenly took a pot of wine from a goddess beside him. He raised it to his mouth to take a hearty drink.
The goddess grew furious at him and shouted out, “Where is this brat from? This is the sacred wine for the high gods, so how can you touch it?”
“Pesky woman!”
Qin Mu raised a leg and kicked that goddess away. He grabbed another pot of wine that flew up from the plate and stuffed it into Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s hands. He then jumped onto a jade table in front of a god high above to drink heartily.
That god was furious and raised his palm to slap him, but Qin Mu raised his own hand and pulled out his sword, cutting off an arm.
He laughed loudly and flipped the jade table while shouting, “Poems of the sun and moon with wine of the immortals, hero of the land flying up the nine heavens!”
Chi!
The head of the god from high above was sliced off, and Qin Mu barged into another hall, creating a ruckus in the heavens. Countless gods were furious and attacked him. Sword lights flashed in Qin Mu’s hand, and he fought off all the high gods. He cut off their heads which rolled to Earth Count’s side.
Qin Mu hung them on Earth Count’s horn and laughed. “Banished from the highly respected registry of Penglai, adorning precious clothing in front of the jade hall of Fangzhang!”
Earth Count exploded with fury and his body shook, instantly changing into a divine body that was a hundred thousand feet tall. Sacred fire spread out beneath his feet.
Qin Mu executed his sword pellet, and eight thousand swords circled around Earth Count. They swirled to join into Spiral Sword Form and sliced the deity into countless pieces. Qin Mu rubbed his hands, and the flying swords swept out in all directions like long dragons. His excitement rose as he killed and recited loudly, “Meeting the dragon’s body of a thousand feet, yet still remaining in the layers of phoenix’s feathers!”
Countless gods swarmed toward him like a flood that threatened to drown him.
Divine light soared into the heavens, and Qin Mu rushed out from a sea of cut off limbs. He strummed on his swords and sang, abandoning all restraint. “A thousand men with nowhere to look, ten thousand gods won’t tolerate the force when looking back! Imperial Preceptor, let me break the gods in your heart!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor laughed loudly, and his earlier dispiritedness was washed away. His spirit rose up once more, and he shouted loudly, “The gods in my heart, why should you be the one to destroy them?”
He walked over with sword light scattering from his hand. His battle power was higher than that of Qin Mu, and everywhere he passed gods fell.
In Numinous Sky Hall, countless gods and devils swarmed forward to attack them.
Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood side by side, massacring everyone in front of the heavenly gate.
After a moment, the corpses of the gods and devils filled the entire mountain. Yet there were still endless gods rushing over at the two with shouts demanding slaughter.
“How many more of them do we have to kill?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked in a shout. “Guard the gate, I’ll kill Celestial Emperor!”
“You go!” Qin Mu agreed.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed into Numinous Sky Hall where gods’ corpses lay strewn all over the ground.
Boom!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor fell backward and smashed the wall of the hall beside Qin Mu, and the youth jumped in shock. The gods around them were clearly very weak, so the painter who had drawn them was clearly lacking in ability. It resulted in a reality where even Qin Mu was able to massacre the gods.
However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had been sent back by the celestial emperor!
Qin Mu blinked and realized that their situation was pretty bad. ‘This painter must have also been a bootlicker. He used all his best techniques on the celestial emperor, so he is much more powerful than the rest of the gods.’
Qin Mu was very clear how powerful a painting could be, since he had learned from Deaf.
The power of the painting came not only from the painter’s technique, but also where it had been used to the greatest effect.
The greater the painting technique, the stronger the painting would be. Of course, this depended on the hard work of the painter.
The one who had done the mural had painted the other gods and devils carelessly, not spending a lot of effort on them, so they weren’t strong at all. Even an existence such as Earth Count was only so-so.
But it was even more important to know who was the target.
For example, when Deaf had painted the young Village Chief, that picture of Sword God carrying his sword had held astonishing power!
When the mural’s painter had painted Celestial Emperor, he had to have put in a lot of effort to capture the grace of Celestial Emperor, so it was so strong that it was even able to blow Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor back!
Qin Mu was slightly worried. He had brought Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor into the painting to break his fear, but if he couldn’t even defeat the celestial emperor in the painting, it might completely crush his confidence in himself!
But at that moment, when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor slid down from the wall, he rushed to his feet blazing with fighting spirit that hadn’t diminished in the slightest!
After a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor flew backward once more. Qin Mu sent his eight thousand swords to massacre the gods swarming over and looked at Imperial Preceptor who was on the wall. He saw that his face was all swollen and bloodied.
‘Ughh, this is troublesome, the power of this celestial emperor in the painting is probably even higher than that of a normal god…’
Just as he thought that, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed back in again.
Bang.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was sent back once more.
This happened over and over again.
In front of Numinous Sky Hall’s heavenly gate, the corpses of the gods and devils had already piled up, yet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still rushed at the celestial emperor at the top of Numinous Sky Hall time after time. He was beaten back again and again, his appearance growing more miserable with each time he was sent back.
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered as he prepared Five Thunder Pot while thinking to himself, ‘Even if I have to risk my life to blow up this place, I can’t let the celestial emperor in the painting to completely defeat Imperial Preceptor…’
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed forward once more and all shouts of slaughter stopped. The expression of all the gods outside Numinous Sky Palace filled with terror, and they turned back to flee.
Qin Mu was stunned. He turned back to take a look and saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor standing behind him with Celestial Emperor’s head.
Even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was covered in injuries, his smile at that moment was very pure.
The two of them looked at each other and laughed loudly.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his arm and tossed Celestial Emperor’s head far out of Numinous Sky Hall. “Raising the knife against the forbidden, out with the emperor’s head in his hand. Heaven Knife is truly heroic; I have finally comprehended the concept of his knife skills and knife path!”
Qin Mu was sore all over, but walked out of the hall with a smile. “You are a big sicko, and your comprehension is too high. Grandpa Butcher had taught me for so many years before I comprehended the marvel of his knife skill. You walk the path of the sword yet you could grasp the concept of his knife path. My comprehension is inferior to yours.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned around and said seriously, “A person’s comprehension will only increase as their horizons and experience grow. It’s the same for wisdom as well. Your cultivation is still not high enough. When you reach my realm, you will be able to see through all profundities. In the future, you will not lose to me, but will only grow stronger. You could think of using the banquet of the celestial heavens to break the gods in my heart so I would be able to think straight, but I couldn’t think of that. Why is Cult Master undervaluing himself?”
Qin Mu came to the throne of Celestial Emperor and pushed his headless corpse to the side before sitting down on the throne. He asked in astonishment, “Does Imperial Preceptor think I can surpass him, this straight line?”
“You are the younger generation. If you can’t surpass your seniors, wouldn’t be this world be too sad? On top of that, you are still the Overlord Body.”
Qin Mu grew full of confidence and nodded. “That’s right too, I’m the Overlord Body so I’m definitely stronger than you.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s face blackened.
Qin Mu shifted his butt to free a portion of the seat. “Come, try this place where only the celestial emperor can sit.”
Imperial Preceptor hesitated. “This… isn’t good, is it?”
“Come, just sit. The sight from here is good!”
“Okay.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to sit by his side, and the two of them looked at the scenery outside Numinous Sky Hall. After a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, “The boundless world is under our eyes. In this position, one possesses boundless authority. The death of any world and any life lies with a single thought. Cult Master, have you ever had a desire for this kind of power?”
Qin Mu looked at him and asked in a leisurely manner, “If I say yes, will you immediately get rid of me and save the emperor from future trouble?”
Their gazes me, then Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked away. “I won’t. I will simply be on guard against you.”
He stood up and regained his calm expression. It was indifferent to the point that it looked like nothing could change it. And Qin Mu knew it. After experiencing the banquet at the celestial palace, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s Dao heart had entered a realm where not even gods and demons could predict his moves.
His Dao heart had become indestructible.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor no longer had any more flaw in his Dao heart.
Qin Mu stood up and walked out of the painting, seeming to have reaped his own gains. ‘Only by breaking the despair in one’s heart can one blaze with stronger hope and fighting spirit.’
The two of them walked out of the mural on the wall and stepped onto solid ground.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked back at the mural and saw that the palace was still standing. However, there were countless corpses of gods and devils everywhere. There were even some gods and devils shivering and hiding in corners with expressions of terror.
Qin Mu went forward to erase the few brushes he had drawn, and the painting returned back to normal.
He scratched his headband said in puzzlement, “The painter that drew this painting had extremely high attainments and was not inferior to me. However, why is his painting missing a corner? With his attainments, he could have given life to the people in the painting and let everyone in the banquet move and interact. However, with the corner missing, the world inside is dead.”
“It should have been chipped off,” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said while walking out of the hall. “The battle outside should have ended already, right? It’s time to let Xiong Xiyu reascend to her position of palace master and have West Earth come under Eternal Peace Empire.”
Qin Mu followed him out with a smile. “If you had the decree of the emperor and read it now, stating that Xiong Xiyu is the True Heaven Palace Master, the effect would be much better.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took out an imperial decree and said, “Before I left on this journey, I had asked the emperor to write the imperial decree.”
“The emperor is another old fox.” Qin Mu sighed ruefully.
After the two of them left the huge hall, a goddess suddenly moved in the painting. She looked around, and when she discovered that there was really no one around, she sneakily ran out of the painting.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The goddess who escaped was none other than the goddess whose wine had been snatched by Qin Mu and whom he had sent flying with a kick. She ran to the corner of the wall, past a screen, and out walked a woman who looked completely different from before.
She wore a circular silver accessory on her head and a short black gown while black, high-heeled, and pointy shoes adorned her feet. Her dressing was like that of an ordinary woman of West Earth.
‘So close. My true form was almost kicked out by that abandoned person! However, I had still given the game away. All the gods and devils could only say simple words like kill or evil creature while I said a complete sentence.’
The woman quickly rushed out of the main hall of True Heaven Palace. Sunlight shone on her pretty face, and she lowered her head while thinking to herself, ‘The two of them might not have realized it yet, but if they think back, they will definitely discover it! I need to leave immediately, or should I get the four spirit beads first…’
Her footsteps were light and fast. In front of her was Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, so she slowed down. She acted normal and smiled at them as if she was an ordinary female disciple of True Heaven Palace.
“Crap!” Suddenly, Qin Mu’s face changed slightly, and his fist smacked onto his palm as he cried out, “I know where True Heaven Old Mother is hiding!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also extremely clever and immediately thought of the crux of the problem. “Right, in that picture which was missing a corner! That goddess that was carrying the wine!”
He turned around and sprinted back to the main hall. He quickly said, “We killed the celestial emperor in the painting, but even he didn’t say a full sentence. Only that goddess alone had done that!” He, however, soon walked out of the hall while shaking his head. “The goddess that carried the wine is no longer in the painting.”
Qin Mu copied the tone of the goddess when he said his next words. “Where is this brat from? This is the sacred wine for the high gods, so how can you touch it? This sentence is too complicated for the people in the painting. Its painter hadn’t reached such skill yet, so the only goddess who could talk would be True Heaven Old Mother! How sinister of her, to actually hide in the painting. I’ve underestimated her.”
A woman came to the two people’s side and greeted Qin Mu, “Cult Master Qin.”
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, but he smiled at her. “Why isn’t sister greeting Imperial Preceptor?”
“Imperial Preceptor? I’ve never seen him before. Is he that strong practitioner that killed Ba Gou?”
The girl’s expression filled with excitement, and she hurriedly greeted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. She looked deeply into his eyes with tender feeling. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. “It’s not her. After I came to West Earth, I didn’t really show myself so most of the women of West Earth don’t recognize me. However, I killed True Heaven Old Mother’s fake body, so she would recognize me.”
Qin Mu nodded and said to that woman, “Have you seed anyone walking out from that hall?”
The woman shook her head. “I was going with Chief to snatch Vermillion Bird Bead and passed by here, but I didn’t see anyone.”
Qin Mu mumbled to himself as he waved her off. The woman took a look at Imperial Preceptor, then lowered her head to walk by them. But Qin Mu suddenly pulled on her sleeves, and True Heaven Old Mother’s scalp crawled. She almost couldn’t stop herself from attacking.
Qin Mu smiled at her. “How do I address this sister? Which family are you from? Who is your chief?”
True Heaven Old Mother’s face changed, and she knelt onto the floor while shivering. She kowtowed and said, “I’m a disciple of True Heaven Palace, Cult Master, please don’t kill me! If I get recognized, my life will be lost! Cult Master, please pardon me!”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. “I really thought she was True Heaven Old Mother. She’s a god after all, so how would she kneel and beg a mortal? She’s indeed a disciple of True Heaven Palace trying to escape with her life.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor waved his hand and said, “You shall deal with her.”
Qin Mu helped True Heaven Old Mother up and said with a pleasant expression, “Sister, don’t be scared, there’s no need to listen to others. They call me Heavenly Devil Cult Master, but that’s just words. I’m actually lacking in confidence so I called myself Heavenly Devil Cult Master to scare people since I came here alone, but I’m actually Heavenly Saint Cult Master. Our cult is the most kind and will never hurt people. I’m also a very kind person. Look, Imperial Preceptor is even one of the four great heavenly kings of my Heavenly Saint Cult. That’s right, what’s your name?”
True Heaven Old Master was somewhat in disbelief. “My name is Tian Siyu. You really won’t hand me over?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor seemed to have remembered something. “I’m going to announce the decree so I have no time to stay here.”
Qin Mu followed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor while holding True Heaven Old Mother’s hand. “I want to find someone, a youth called Pangong Tso and Grandmaster. He is the head of Rolan’s Golden Palace and had come to your True Heaven Palace once. Has Sister Siyu seen him before?”
True Heaven Old Mother was pulled along by him because whenever she looked at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, she didn’t dare to struggle. “I’ve seen him before. I only know that he’s called Grandmaster and is a good friend of Elder Yu Qingchan. However, he’s no longer in the palace. When he saw Cult Master Qin attacking True Heaven Palace, he ran.”
“As expected of Grandmaster.” Qin Mu sighed, then smiled once more. “Sister Siyu, follow beside me so you don’t get bullied. That’s right, the tracking of your West Earth is unrivaled in the world. Sister Siyu’s divine arts should be extraordinary so you must have a method to track Pangong Tso, right? I’ll protect you from harm and you will help me track Pangong Tso, how does that sound?”
True Heaven Old Mother was delighted. “Alright! Deal?”
Qin Mu laughed and said, “Why would I lie to you? Deal! Imperial Preceptor, read the imperial decree and come with me to chase after Pangong Tso.”
“Alright. I would also like to know who is the god behind Grandmaster and where is he hiding,” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said indifferently.
The expression of True Heaven Old Mother changed slightly. She had thought that Qin Mu would go with just her to pursue Pangong Tso. When the two of them were alone, it would be easy for her to kill this noble among the abandoned people. But the brat had actually invited Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
With him around, True Heaven Old Mother was in danger. Just a slight giveaway and she would be killed by the heartless fellow!
With them being next to each other, if Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor attacked, she would definitely be unable to defend herself!
‘But Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor following along is good as well, for it gives me more chances to get rid of him. I need the four spirits beads, though. Once I get them, the difficulty to get rid of Imperial Preceptor will greatly decrease…’
The influential families of West Earth finally pacified True Heaven Palace and slaughtered and captured all of Yu Family’s experts. The clans elected Xiong Xiyu as the palace master and Nai Kui once again. She held Xiong Qi’er’s hand and accepted everyone’s worship.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor read out Emperor Yanfeng’s imperial decree, and Xiong Xiyu immediately received it. In the meantime, Qin Mu pulled Xiong Qi’er over and asked for her Green Dragon Bead and Black Tortoise Bead so they could play with them.
True Heaven Old Mother looked at the two spirit treasures in his hands and fought against the urge to snatch them away.
The two kids didn’t listen to the decree. Instead, they played with the beads, flicking the two spirit treasures here and there, which made Xiong Qi’er giggle endlessly.
True Heaven Old Mother’s anger blazed, but she just turned around and pretended not to see so her irritation wouldn’t grow.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stuffed Green Dragon Bead into her hands with a smile. “Sister Siyu, play with Qi’er for a while.”
True Heaven Old Mother held the Green Dragon Bead while looking at the smiling Qin Mu in a daze. She had not the slightest idea what that youth was thinking!
‘Green Dragon Bead is in my hands now and it can explode with the strongest power. If I act now, everyone in True Heaven Palace will be frozen and lignified!’
Her gaze flashed, but just when she wanted to make a move, she saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s clothes moving without wind, and she couldn’t help feeling fear.
‘This brat and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor are both old foxes; they are testing me!’
True Heaven Old Mother felt a chill run down her spine, then sat down to obediently play beads with Xiong Qi’er.
In a bit, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor finished reading Emperor Yanfeng’s imperial decree and Qin Mu asked for Green Dragon Bead back to stuff it into Xiong Qi’er’s hands. After leading everyone to receive the decree, Xiong Xiyu called Xiong Qi’er over. She picked the two spirit beads and bowed. “I’m willing to offer these two spirit beads to His Majesty and never betray him.”
The expressions of He Yiyi, Mu Yingxue, and the rest changed slightly. Xiong Xiyu knew that it would be hard for her to rule West Earth and even two of the four spirit beads had been snatched away, so she just gave away the rest to Emperor Yanfeng. It was a simple method to hold back the methods of all the big families!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor only took the Black Tortoise Bead. “Palace Master also needs treasures to guard West Earth, so keep this Green Dragon Bead.”
Xiong Xiyu gave her thanks and pulled Xiong Qi’er up.
After the ceremony, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hurried Qin Mu. “You have left traces of your romantic endeavors all over the place, but you can’t devote yourself to any of them. Be careful of losing your reputation like Jade Face Poison King and have no choice but to slice your face off. Break it to them quickly and let’s go find Grandmaster.”
“I’m not flirtatious…” Qin Mu said while bracing himself to bid farewell to all the women.
He Yiyi looked at him with a deep gaze. “Cult Master ain’t going to stay for a few more days? There’s still some stuff that’s not done yet.”
Mu Yingxue was very straightforward. “Little man, feel free to leave, but wait for me to climb into your window when I go to Middle Earth!”
Xiong Xiyu brought Xiong Qi’er to part reluctantly. “If we didn’t meet Cult Master, we would have died long ago and our corpses would be drying out somewhere in the wild. Cult Master is a huge benefactor of my Xiong Family, so if there comes a day when you need something, True Heaven Palace won’t disobey.”
Qin Mu smiled at her. “There’s no need for you to remember it so deeply since I was just acting according to my beliefs, not wanting to go against my nature. Nai Kui, Qi’er, farewell.”
All sorts of feelings welled up in Xiong Xiyu’s heart as she saw him out of True Heaven Palace. She suddenly shouted loudly. “Righteous man!”
Qin Mu was stunned. He then turned back to smile and wave his hand.
Those words weren’t the reason why he had saved the mother and daughter. He just couldn’t bear to see Xiong Qi’er die under the hands of True Heaven Palace. However, now he was worthy of that title.
Qin Mu jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back and pulled True Heaven Old Mother up. “Imperial Preceptor, West Earth is a charming world. How will the emperor treat it?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor slowly strolled through the air while saying calmly, “He will treat them how he has treated you. He has this breadth of mind. I had clarified it with the emperor that I wanted to conquer West Earth, but not through force. The reason why I didn’t mobilize the army was because I was afraid that it would destroy the peace here.
“The women here are so beautiful, and I didn’t want any incidents like rape or pillage to happen. That’s why I said to the emperor that I won’t bring an army of a million. I recommended one man who was equivalent to a million masters and this man…” He turned his head back to look at Qin Mu with a smile. “Is you. Under the sun, only Cult Master Qin can sweep West Earth alone.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, then laughed at him. “Imperial Preceptor is flattering me! Sister Siyu, don’t you think so?”
True Heaven Old Mother had a smile on her face, but she didn’t say a word.
Qin Mu stuffed Black Tortoise Bead into her hands. “Sister Siyu, execute the spell. Let’s quickly find Pangong Tso, that brat.”
True Heaven Old Mother gripped the Black Tortoise Bead tightly, then glanced at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. The middle-aged man had a hand behind his back clutching sword secrets.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
True Heaven Old Mother’s head began to ache when Qin Mu stuffed the Black Tortoise Bead to her again. If it was to search for someone, why was there even a need for such a treasure to be given to her?
It was clearly another test!
‘Is this brat a fox? He has already tested me five-six times and he’s still testing!”
True Heaven Old Mother returned the Black Tortoise Bead to Qin Mu with a warm gaze and smile. “If it’s just searching for someone, there’s no need for such a treasure. Does Cult Master Qin have a painting of Grandmaster?”
Qin Mu was like a blind man, disregarding her charming and flirtatious smile. He quickly drew a portrait of Pangong Tso and handed it to her.
True Heaven Old Mother was very patient. She executed spirit awakening spells to awaken white clouds, mountains, trees, and after asking all of them, she found Pangong Tso’s whereabouts after a moment.
“The spells of True Heaven Palace aren’t bad at all. If a constable got its hands on them, that person would definitely become a top-notch professional.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pondered over it. “Maybe we could have disciples of True Heaven Palace enter Eternal Peace to be constables.”
“Imperial Preceptor’s view is extraordinary,” True Heaven Old Mother said gently.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had no expression. “These are just rough ideas. They aren’t worth mentioning.”
On the way, True Heaven Old Mother took care of Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s meals and accommodation. She poured tea for the two of them, washed their clothes, and cooked. A smile was always on her face, making her look very wise, kind, and considerate.
However, Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor only took it as if it was natural, and Qin Mu even sent her to feed the dragon qilin, that big fatty.
True Heaven Old Mother never said a word of complaint, keeping her gentle and considerate persona. However, she was uncertain.
Qin Mu looked like a natural romantic with his mouth smeared with honey, calling every woman he saw sister. However, he was a block of wood. No matter how she seduced him, he was ignorant and foolish, not reacting at all.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was even more remarkable. He seemed to have no emotions at all. He only knew what he had to do and was completely unmoved by her charms.
As for the dragon qilin, he was the most surprising. He always stared at his food basin and seriously counted every spirit pill in it. Even one less wasn’t acceptable.
When he wasn’t eating, he would worry about his skin and hair not growing back or his scales filled with tiny black holes from the lightning not returning to normal. He would grumble he wasn’t as handsome as before, then think of how to scam some more food from True Heaven Old Mother. He almost blew her head with his endless chattering.
‘I’ll definitely kill them!’
True Heaven Old Mother wanted to make a move, but when faced with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, she had no chance.
He never showed any flaw. Even when night came, he also didn’t sleep and just sat with open eyes.
After some time, True Heaven Old Mother realized something even more terrifying, which was that when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was eating, he was executing sword skills when he was picking food with his chopsticks. In the act of stretching his hand forward and pulling it back, that pervert actually executed several hundred types of sword skills!
What was even more terrifying was that the action of taking a vegetable even involved the coordination of his muscles and tendons throughout his body, as well as the transformation of his vital qi. He was always at his best state, and it was so perfect that no flaw could be found!
In comparison, Qin Mu was full of flaws, so she could kill him however miserably she wanted. It would require no effort on her part.
However, if she didn’t get rid of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor but went for Qin Mu first, the next one dead would be her.
True Heaven Old Mother didn’t dare to make a move and only patiently waited for a chance.
‘I don’t believe he can always be this perfect; he will definitely reveal a flaw! In this world, even gods can’t be without a flaw!’
On the journey, Qin Mu repeatedly consulted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor regarding sword skills, and True Heaven Old Mother listened attentively, hoping to find a flaw in his sword skills, but she soon discovered that she couldn’t understand what they were talking about at all.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s attainments in the sword path improved at a godly speed, and Qin Mu’s attainments in the sword skills were also extraordinary, so they were both specialists in that field. True Heaven Old Mother had extremely high attainments in the path of nature creation, but her comprehension of sword skills was far inferior.
The two frequently exchanged blows in midair. Qin Mu would attack Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who would always have a hand behind his back. With a sword in one hand, he easily blocked all of Qin Mu’s attacks.
They were extremely fierce and ever-changing, dazzling the eyes. In comparison, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s sword skills were extremely simple, and what he used were the most basic sword forms. Yet he could always break all the complicated sword skills.
Qin Mu got tired from the fighting so he stopped to rest. He buried himself in thinking about how to improve his sword skills. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn’t say anything, letting him think silently.
True Heaven Old Mother couldn’t help becoming curious. “Imperial Preceptor’s sword skills are godly, so why aren’t you giving him advice?”
“I can’t.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head. “He has already reached the extremes of sword skills, so for any new comprehensions he will have to rely on himself.”
True Heaven Old Mother jumped in shock. Even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor couldn’t give advice to Qin Mu anymore?
“Why didn’t Imperial Preceptor seal his divine treasures to fight on the same realm as him?” The eyes of True Heaven Old Mother asked then.
“I don’t dare,” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said honestly. “His cultivation is too strong. On the same realm, I could only rely on the power of my sword path to fight him to the death. The density of his magic power could kill me in one move.”
True Heaven Old Mother looked at Qin Mu and thought to herself, ‘To reach such heights at such a young age, this boy can’t be left alive! Otherwise, who will be able to keep him in place?”
Just as she thought that, she heard a world-shattering sound come from Qin Mu’s body, dispersing the white clouds in the surroundings. True Heaven Old Mother’s heart trembled violently, and her expression turned to one of disbelief.
It was the sound of a divine treasure’s wall breaking, but the intensity was like when breaking through Celestial Being Divine Treasure!
Bang, bang, bang.
Light burst forth from Qin Mu’s body and transformed into seven stars that circled around him. It consisted of qi of pure yang that was like a blazing sun, qi of pure yin that was like a clear and bright moon. There was a huge Mars, Saturn emanating with earthy yellow color, Venus flashing with white rays, Mercury overflowing with water vapor, and Jupiter giving off the qi of green dragon. All of them were surrounded by electricity.
Each of the Sevens Great Stars had a god standing above them. They were of all kinds of strange shapes: one had a cow’s head and human body, another had three legs and a bird’s head, while the third had a tiger’s head and a leopard’s tail. The Seven Great Star Sovereigns had all kinds of strange shapes.
Qin Mu’s body trembled violently, and a primordial spirit that was fifteen yards tall appeared behind him. His hands were raised without holding anything, but the seven stars floated above them.
True Heaven Old Mother cried out in astonishment. “Such a strong primordial spirit! He’s on Celestial Being Realm so why did the vision of Seven Stars appear?”
“Did you hear how terrifying the sounds of his breakthrough were?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor let out a shaky breath while his eyes turned bleak. “I always thought I was a straight line and didn’t have any shortcomings. Only now do I know that I am not. He is that straight line while I’m a triangle. Overlord Body, could it really be that strong?”
True Heaven Old Mother was bewildered. She was astonished by the alarming vision of Seven Stars Breakthrough, since the noise it produced shouldn’t have been so shocking.
However, what shocked her most was the Overlord Body.
She had never heard of such a constitution!
“Imperial Preceptor, what is the so-called Overlord Body?” True Heaven Old Mother asked sincerely to be enlightened.
“Overlord Body comes from an ancient legend.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s spirit was aroused. “This was told to me by a senior so let me tell you in detail. Legend says that there can only be one Overlord Body in the world…”
They chased after Pangong Tso for some five days which Qin Mu used to stabilize his Seven Stars Realm. His cultivation became denser and denser. At the same time, when he opened Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, and Seven Stars Divine Treasure, the power of his cultivation was almost at the level of the dragon qilin.
The fatty was nervous and felt greatly threatened. ‘Crap! If Cult Master’s cultivation catches up to mine, I will be useless! Where will I be able to find another high-quality meal master like Cult Master Qin?’
True Heaven Old Mother let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “We aren’t far from Grandmaster now.”
Qin Mu looked up and around them. He was surprised to find the flaming desert in front of them. “Pangong Tso must have run out of West Earth already. He’s indeed Grandmaster, and no one can match his ability to escape. If not for Sister Siyu, he would have escaped again.”
The flames before them blazed high. The moment they got close to them, all kinds of strange markings appeared on Qin Mu’s body, crawling all over him.
The corners of True Heaven Old Mother’s eyes twitched, and she asked in concern, “Cult Master Qin, these markings on your body…”
“I guess it’s a kind of curse.” Qin Mu paid no heed to it. “The last time I came here, these markings appeared all over my body. They went all the way to the bottom of my heart and no matter what, I couldn’t get rid of them. Only when I walked out of the flaming desert did they automatically vanish.”
“Even on the bottom of the feet?”
True Heaven Old Mother’s mind trembled violently, and she almost cried out in excitement. ‘Royalty! He’s royalty!”
She had killed countless nobles from the abandoned people of Great Ruins, but royals were only those with the bloodline of Founding Emperor. She had never killed a person like that before!
‘He is not a noble of Great Ruins; he is royalty!’
True Heaven Old Mother was delighted, and all her sense of humiliation from the past few days vanished without a trace. She had traveled far and wide looking for one, but it had come to her himself! The higher-ups were most worried about the royals. If she could get rid of him, she’d be able to achieve meteoric success and leave the shithole that was this world to enjoy life in the upper bound!
Her gaze flickered. ‘Even though this brat is easy to deal with, he’s the most important one! His life far surpasses the life of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in terms of worth! But before taking care of him, I need to get rid of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor! It’s difficult to deal with him normally, but after entering the desert, I will have a way to do it! Grandmaster, I will have to trouble you.’
She cast a spell to gather the sand, awakening sand giants to ask them about Pangong Tso’s location.
The dragon qilin increased his speed as he ran into the distance.
By next morning, the dragon qilin reached a well-preserved ruin in the desert. There was a huge Sun Ship as well as a sun that was half buried next to it.
True Heaven Old Mother smiled. “With this Sun Ship, Pangong Tso will find it hard to escape even if he wanted.”
Qin Mu’s spirit rose, and he smiled. “Imperial Preceptor, Sister Siyu, stay here to watch the grounds. Don’t let him run away again. I shall find Pangong Tso that brat!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at him. “You don’t need my help?”
“No need!” Qin Mu’s speed increased, and he soon landed in a collapsed hall in the ruins. He laughed loudly. “Pangong Tso, a friend from afar came to see you so why aren’t you coming out?”
“Qin brat, you really can’t stop haunting me!” A figure soared into the sky from the sand. With a thump, it landed on the other end of the hall. It was a youth, and it was none other than Pangong Tso. He was full of mettle and laughed loudly. “You have come right on time. My cultivation has increased greatly these days, and I can finally achieve my long-cherished wish, to cut you into pieces and make you kneel before me!”
True Heaven Old Mother was staring at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s back all the while, and at that moment, she finally saw a flaw in him!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at the ruin, seemingly worried about Qin Mu’s safety. His concern messed him up, and this made him finally reveal a flaw.
The flaw that True Heaven Old Mother had been looking for was right in front of her eyes!
“Eyaaaaaa—”
A weird screech came from True Heaven Old Mother’s mouth. It was sharp, drawn out, and ear-piercing. Magic power burst out from her body, and all her muscles swelled up. In an instant, her skin burst apart.
Her muscles expanded outwards furiously, and it showed up that Tian Siyu’s corporeal body was not her original form at all. Once she released all of her magic power, her god’s aura surged out and tore apart the body she had been inhabiting.
At the same time, the flaming desert seemed to come alive, and sand flowed in from around several hundred miles. The sand under Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s feet formed into a swirling huge mouth that threatened to suck him in!
The huge mouth was like an abyss with a terrifying suction force. Sand formed a line, then a sword which stabbed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who was being sucked into the ground.
True Heaven Old Mother kept on screeching as her corporeal body swelled up to be three hundred yards tall, as though she was an indomitable giant overflowing with god’s aura.
She had prepared for her sneak attack for a long time, and her actions were overflowing with aggressiveness. She looked a complete opposite of the warm and virtuous Tian Siyu that took care of the group during the journey.
Aggressiveness was usually an adjective used to describe men, but in West Earth, women were in charge of the household, so it was more suitable to describe them.
True Heaven Old Mother raised her hand, and the desert around her churned and rose, forming two incomparably thick walls which slammed toward Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
“Die!”
Just as True Heaven Old Mother said that word, a sword light pierced the back of her head and left through the heart of her brows.
True Heaven Old Mother was stunned, and the churning desert suddenly went still. The incomparably thick sand walls that were at least several hundred yards thick crumbled, turning back into flowing sand which was as astonishing as a flood.
Under Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s feet, the swirling mouth also stopped turning and returned to being calm sand. The sand swords around him fell from the sky.
“Where is this brat from? This is the sacred wine for the high gods, so how can you touch it?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned his head back and looked at the awe-inspiring True Heaven Old Mother. His voice was gentle when he spoke. “In the mural, the goddess that was kicked by Qin Mu had said this sentence which had a total of twenty words.
“Along the journey, Cult Master Qin had talked a lot with you, and you said each of those twenty words at least once. He’s very clever. He knew if he asked you to say that sentence, you would definitely change your tone and style. However, if he broke up those twenty words and put them in numerous sentences, you wouldn’t be on guard.”
“So you guys hadn’t believed me from the very beginning?” True Heaven Old Mother croaked.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked at her with a strange gaze as he shook his head. “Cult Master Qin was reckless to have stuffed Black Tortoise Bead into your hands. I was also shocked. If you had attacked then and executed the power of Black Tortoise Bead, I might not have been able to do anything to you. He had overestimated my abilities and I had no choice but to act natural. You thought that the two of us were testing you, but it was merely that bastard acting on his own. My heart was also palpitating then. You lost many chances.”
“That bastard again…” True Heaven Old Mother sighed, and the sword wound in the heart of her brows suddenly erupted with blood. She smiled and said, “However, if you think you can deal with me with just this, you are too simple-minded…”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s face changed slightly. It wasn’t blood that was flowing out of the heart of True Heaven Old Mother’s brows but sand.
True Heaven Old Mother smiled, and the wound became larger and larger as more and more sand flowed out. She chuckled. “Don’t you know, Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique was created by me. This desert is also created by me. Trying to kill me in the place I’ve created? Dream on!”
Her body collapsed, and her voice suddenly came from all directions. “I had fought over a dozen Sun Ships and Moon Ships here, killing many Sun and Moon Guardian. Do you think my reputation is undeserved?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed into the sky and sprinted straight for the Sun Ship that lay prone on the desert. With his hand on the sword, his sword light was like Perfect Night. When one saw the shadow, they couldn’t see the light. When one saw the light, they couldn’t see the form!
With shadow, there was no light. With light, there was no form!
Before he could even reach the Sun Ship, it seemed to come alive, raising its legs to stand up. Chains rattled, and the huge black sun actually jolted upward. The sand that had covered it flew into the sky.
The black sun rolled in the sky and created world-shaking rumbles as it compressed the space around it. Bolts of lightning struck everywhere in the desert!
Sun Ship rushed at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. As the huge thing sprinted through the desolate desert, it gave off an unbelievable and ridiculous feeling.
“This was the masterpiece of the Ministry of Heavenly Works during Founding Emperor Era! They created a weapon equal in power to heavenly gods through the power of man, allowing mortals to gain to stand on part with gods!”
In the center of Sun Ship, between the four pillars, a woman that was like a heavenly god slowly rose. Her four arms were outstretched toward the pillars. She laughed in delight. “Yet they were only making weapons for me! They were completely wiped out, all dying under my hands!”
Whoosh.
Flying snakes formed from sand rose from the desert. With their incomparably thick bodies, they tunneled here and there in the desert. They rushed at Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!
“Can you feel it? Can you feel my magic power rising?” True Heaven Old Mother ordered Sun Ship to sprint forward frantically and smashed the black sun against Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor while laughing. “Let me show you what’s true despair! Eyaaaaa—”
Piercing screeches reverberated in the desert. What accompanied them was a huge moving ship that swung the black sun and incomparably thick snakes that surrounded an incomparably small human.
The sight was astounding.
True Heaven Old Mother was extremely unreasonable, and her body was huge, much larger than Sun Ship. In comparison, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was insignificant. True Heaven Old Mother had chosen to use Sun Ship to overwhelm him, and every strike of hers was beyond imagination. Her attacks were everchanging, and the sea of sand boiled. The entire desert was her body, her weapon!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continuously moved back, breaking the attacks of True Heaven Old Mother repeatedly. As he retreated, however, the distance between him and Sun Ship was becoming smaller.
True Heaven Old Mother became nervous. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked to be at a disadvantage and Sun Ship which was closing in on him looked to have the advantage, but it wasn’t really the case. She didn’t have the upper hand and sensed great danger before her.
If she and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor got closer and closer, what awaited her when they got a certain distance from each other would be that middle-aged man’s fiercest attack. Closing in on him would definitely result in her demise!
But it was impossible for her to stop halfway. Only by borrowing the energy of Sun Ship could she possess enough magic power to subdue him, but there was a huge disadvantage to it, which was that she needed to stand between the four pillars and hold onto them.
It limited her own body’s movements. If Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor closed in on her, she could only offer her head.
But if she didn’t borrow the magic power of the ship and the four spirit beads, her battle power would be inferior to that of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
This meant that she had to stay a distance away from Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and kill him before he could get close!
The shorter the distance, the closer she got to her demise.
True Heaven Old Mother’s magic power became even more violent, and her attacks became even more concentrated. She closed in step by step while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was continuously forced backward, but not far enough. Every hair’s breadth closer was a hair closer to death.
True Heaven Old Mother’s screeches became louder and louder while sweat poured down her back in rivulets.
Sun Ship and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor left the ruin, leaving Qin Mu and Pangong Tso standing on the opposite ends of a worn down hall.
True Heaven Old Mother rose in revolt and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor killing her in one sword had raised quite a commotion. This had scared Pangong Tso, nearly making him choose to run away once more.
How powerful was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor?
The battle at True Heaven Palace had made Pangong Tso completely forget about his plans to fight with the heroes of the current times. Now he just wanted to cultivate the divine bridge and kill the other by paying respect to him.
However, when he saw True Heaven Old Mother escape when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stabbed only a sand giant, he let out a sigh of relief and forgot his thoughts of escape.
When he saw True Heaven Old Mother take hold of Sun Ship and suppress Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he was delighted.
Pangong Tso smiled and said leisurely. “Cult Master Qin’s calculations are truly brilliant. You’ve Imperial Preceptor and True Heaven Old Mother to find me. I know what you were thinking, it’s no less than killing two birds with one stone. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor will land a sneak attack and assassinate True Heaven Old Mother while you will take the chance while I was shocked to assassinate me. Truly a superb plan, but man’s plans lose to those of gods. You didn’t expect True Heaven Old Mother’s abilities to be simply too strong. This was your first mistake.”
With his hands behind his back, he said leisurely, “Your second mistake was thinking too low of me. You treat me as a normal divine arts practitioner, and that’s your biggest mistake. I’ve experienced over ten reincarnations, and the speed of my cultivation is beyond your imagination. The speed at which I improve is also beyond your imagination!”
His aura burst forth, and violent vital qi distorted the air in the surroundings, forming tornadoes in the worn down hall. They raised countless bricks and even swept up the thick pillars. The sight was astonishing!
“What abilities do you have to face me?” Pangong Tso asked in a shout. The power of his cultivation had improved tremendously compared to what it was when they had met at the desert. He could be said to have improved at godly speed!
Pangong Tso walked over in a stride, and apparitions of gods appeared behind his body, forming layers of paradise. His body was golden like that of a buddha when he executed Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra and reached Sarasvati Heaven!
Pangong Tso lifted his hand and raised wind and thunder. The latter boomed as the palm crashed toward Qin Mu like a deluge of heavenly flowers!
Qin Mu raised his hand.
Boom!
Half of the hall collapsed, and Pangong Tso went down with the collapsed part of the hall, sprawling onto the ground.
Qin Mu stomped on the ground. The rest of the hall collapsed, and a huge pit formed beneath him. Pangong Tso had fallen deep into the sand.
Qin Mu tilted his head and asked, “Grandmaster, what did you say?”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Suddenly, rocks flew in all directions. Pangong Tso rushed into the sky both embarrassed and angry and threw a huge cauldron above himself.
It hung in midair with the mouth facing down, and instantly, sand, rocks, broken pillars, crumbling fences, and dilapidated walls were all sucked in by it.
The huge cauldron was like a pot of boiling soup which actually true fire. There might not be much of it, true fire was like an extremely terrifying boiling sea. Anything that entered the cauldron would be burned to ashes.
This meant that it wasn’t a weapon that Pangong Tso could have created just then!
The huge cauldron had to have been forged in on of his previous lives. It was extremely strong since it was a cult legacy treasure forged by an existence close to the god realm. However, due to his low cultivation, Pangong Tso couldn’t unleash its complete power.
There were strong and weak spirit weapons, and they were classified according to realms. If one came in possession of a high-quality sword, it didn’t mean that their power could multiple. It still depended on how much power could be brought out.
For example, Qin Mu’s Carefree Sword was a divine sword with astonishing power. But for the time being, Qin Mu couldn’t unleash the power of the divine sword. He could only make use of its sharpness.
Pangong Tso was the same as well. With his current realm, he couldn’t unleash the power of the spirit weapons he had crafted in his previous lifetimes. Even so, with the standard of being at the peak of Seven Stars Realm, he could unleash ten percent or so of the huge cauldron.
Sand flew up in the ruin while more walls, pillars, and broken palace hall pieces got broken apart by the suction force and rose toward the cauldron.
The entire ruin was continuously disintegrating and rising into the sky.
“Qin brat, now you know how powerful am I, right? Abilities don’t rely just on cultivation!” Pangong Tso flipped over and landed on the huge cauldron with a sneer. “So what if your cultivation is much denser than mine? My treasure is better than yours so I can just smack you with it and have you die miserably!”
When he looked down though, he was stunned. He saw Qin Mu standing under the cauldron and not moving. No matter how hard the suction force tried to pull him in, his body didn’t lift up an inch.
“How is that possible?”
Pangong Tso stared with his eyes wide open until he realized that Qin Mu was holding onto a metal ball that was the size of a tangerine. That circular ball suddenly moved and flowed like water or sand.
“Sword pellet!”
Pangong Tso instantly understood why the huge cauldron couldn’t suck in Qin Mu. The weight of his sword pellet had to be extremely great, weighing him down so much that even the cauldron he had forged in his previous life couldn’t lift it up!
“Isn’t his sword pellet only two feet long? If I can’t capture you, I’ll just have to kill you!”
Pangong Tso suddenly dived down. When he smacked his palms against the huge cauldron, a clank rang out, and a sea of fire spewed out. Wherever it passed, everything was melted. Sand and stone were turned into boiling lava throughout the whole of the ruins.
Qin Mu caught the sword pellet. Countless fine flying swords came flying out, and with Carefree Sword as the master, they merged together.
With both hands on the sword, Qin Mu split apart the sea of fire that was pouncing at him!
Wherever his sword passed, the fire would instantly be extinguished. The two sides of the desert were melting from the heat, but the place where the power of the sword had brushed by was still covered in red sand.
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched. True fire was incomparably fierce, and its power was extremely strong. He didn’t know what kind of evil fire it was.
Pangong Tso shouted loudly, and an abnormal change happened to his corporeal body. Wings grew out from his axilla, and his legs turned into talons. Flames poured down to protect his body from the cauldron above him.
His wings were golden, and the feathers clanged when they collided against one another as his wings opened up. The gold feathers shot toward Qin Mu when his wings vibrated. With wind and thunder, sword-like feathers sliced through the air as though a storm was raging.
Qin Mu’s hands crisscrossed, and Carefree Sword instantly split into pieces, transforming into eight thousand flying swords that danced like a long river. The vast and mighty sword river rushed toward Pangong Tso.
Pangong Tso was unstable in the air when he attacked. His sword feathers flew to welcome the sword river, and crisp sounds of collision rang out endlessly. After the clash, Pangong Tso cried out in alarm as he stood naked with broken sword feathers all over the floor.
His feathers were all severed by Qin Mu, and only two naked wings flapped at his sides.
The flames which had gone down to protect him from his huge cauldron were pretty famous and were called Blazing Divine Fire Shroud. Its defensive power was astonishing and could continuously shift the enemies’ attacks toward the huge cauldron. Furthermore, the power of Blazing Divine Fire was also astonishing. Any weak spirit weapons would be turned into ashes.
Yet Qin Mu just broke Blazing Divine Fire Shroud and even severed all of his feathers!
‘This guy can even break my Blazing Divine Fire, so he’s indeed slightly stronger than me. I’m not his match!’
Once Pangong Tso realized that, he didn’t hesitate and leaped upwards. He picked the huge cauldron, pushing it to the ground and chose escaped through there.
But before he could tunnel into the sand, Qin Mu caught the leg of the cauldron and lifted it up with a smile. “Grandmaster, where are you going?”
Pangong Tso transformed into a black light to flee over the sand.
Qin Mu threw away the huge cauldron, and his body also suddenly changed into that of a shadow to move through the ground.
After a moment, sand filled the air as the two of them broke out three thousand yards away. Pangong Tso took two frantic steps as feathers fell into place after growing out on his body once more. He then flapped his wing to soar into the sky.
“Competing at speed with me?”
Qin Mu executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs, and he didn’t need to use any spells or divine arts to step into the air. A human and bird chased after each other in midair. After a moment, the huge bird got beaten into a naked chicken and fell from the sky.
Before Pangong Tso could land on the ground, an elephant’s trumpet sounded out from his mouth. The muscles on his head and face grew crazily while his neck cracked and two more heads grew out, turning him into a three-headed god statue that had elephant’s heads.
His corporeal body swelled up and reached the height of twenty yards. With boundless strength, he swung a punch straight at Qin Mu who was chasing him. With his three heads, he shouted, “Qin brat, die!”
Boom!
Their fists collided, and the force of corporeal body divine arts exploded. Blade-like whirlwind burst forth around them and swept up sand and stones into the air
The three-headed elephant man coughed up blood, and his body flew backward.
Qin Mu chased after, but before he could reach Pangong Tso, he saw him shaking to return to his original form.
Pangong Tso leaped into the air then, and a lotus bloomed beneath him. It was about three yards big. Pangong Tso jumped into it, and Qin Mu saw that lotus close its petals before vanishing with the person inside.
Qin Mu was astonished. “Teleportation method? Doesn’t look like it…”
Just as he thought that, a lotus suddenly popped out from the desert over a dozen miles away and bloomed quietly.
Qin Mu hurried over with his vital qi bursting forth. With a flick, his sword pellet swooshed forward.
As his finger swirled rapidly, he sword pellet in front of him broke apart, and eight thousand flying swords transformed into a powerful current which rushed forward crazily, reaching the lotus a step earlier than him!
Spiral Sword Form!
The speed of the sword light was extremely fast, even faster than Qin Mu sprinting at his full speed. It reached the lotus in an instant.
The lotus bloomed and Pangong Tso leaped out from the flower. He took out a piece of black cloth in a hurry, then after shaking it in the wind, he jumped into the cloth.
Countless flying swords shredded the lotus into pieces and drowned out the black cloth. But even though it was shredded to pieces, Pangong Tso had vanished once more.
Qin Mu landed on the ground and looked around. Above his head, eight thousand swords had lined up in a circle with their tips pointing outwards. No matter in which direction Pangong Tso came out, he would receive the fiercest attack!
Yet the desert was calm. After Pangong Tso went into the cloth, he seemed to have vanished from the world.
Far away, a sandstorm raged. Sun Ship and countless sand dragons hid among flashes of lightning and booms of thunder in it. The black sun was flung with world-shaking power through the sandstorm from time to time. The energy waves from it even reached Qin Mu from time to time and formed tornadoes which swept red sand into the sky. It was hard to see far.
In front of the sandstorm was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s tiny figure.
But Qin Mu paid no attention to the battle over there. He suddenly gave a heavy stomp on the ground, and the desert trembled. Small whirlwinds swept up the sand to form a sand ‘giant’ which was four to five feet tall.
Qin Mu had also learned Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique, but he wasn’t as skilled as the disciples of True Heaven Palace.
“Where is Pangong Tso hiding?” he asked.
The delicate sand ‘giant’ raised its hand to point. Qin Mu looked in that direction, but he didn’t see anything.
“Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes!”
Formation markings swirled in his eyes, and when he looked over again, he was slightly stunned. He could see an insignificant straight line in the air traveling with the wind at a speed that wasn’t too fast.
The surrounding wind and sand were very strong, but that fine line didn’t bend at all. It was slightly strange.
Qin Mu increased his speed and came to that fine line. He saw that it wasn’t a line, but a mirror that was so thin that it had no thickness. It was about as high as a human.
Pangong Tso had used Phantom Illusion Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture to transform into a black shadow to enter that mirror!
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. He grabbed a flying sword to stab at the mirror while praising, “Grandmaster, it’s no wonder you could survive until now.”
Pangong Tso saw him, and his expression changed tremendously. He threw out a rope from the mirror and climbed out with its help.
Qin Mu’s sword pierced through the mirror, shattering it into pieces. However, Pangong Tso had already climbed out with the rope and had vanished.
“What divine art is this?”
Qin Mu examined the surroundings with his Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes, but couldn’t find any traces of Pangong Tso. Suddenly, his heart shook, and he picked up a fragment of the mirror and moved it around. He then once again found Pangong Tso.
He saw Pangong Tso had already climbed up to midair. The end of his rope had a hook which had been caught on a cloud. From the looks of it, Pangong Tso seemed to be planning on hiding in the cloud.
Yet what was weird was that he and the rope seemed to be invisible and hidden in a strange space in the mirror which was somehow overlapping with the real world. The rope could hang in the space of the real world, but even Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes couldn’t see it!
“Grandmaster has truly become proficient in escaping for his life,” Qin Mu exclaimed. He held the mirror in one hand while flicking his finger with another. Carefree Sword flew out and rushed into the sky, slicing the invisible rope under the white cloud.
Qin Mu grabbed another mirror and threw it out, right where Pangong Tso was falling. With a thump, he landed in it, and when he raised his head, he saw Qin Mu who was outside the mirror.
“Grandmaster, can we talk now?” Qin Mu grabbed the mirror up with a smile.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Pangong Tso stood in the center of the mirror. He saw all the broken surfaces and the shattered pieces which were like broken up transparent land with an impassable distance between each part of it.
His mirror was an unusual treasure which he had received from Great Ruins. The world inside the mirror could overlap with the real world, and no one would discover it. The only flaw was that he couldn’t use any divine arts while inside.
In the past, Pangong Tso had always used this treasure as a tool for escaping, so he had never expected that a day would come when he would end up trapped in the mirror.
It was no longer possible for him to escape. Qin Mu had severed his rope so the only way out was to jump out of the mirror, but if he attempted that, he would be pierced through the heart where he stood.
“Cult Master Qin was not here to kill me, but to have a talk?” Pangong Tso gave up on the idea of escape and probed, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Qin Mu looked at Pangong Tso in the mirror and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “When did I have the chance? The moment you saw me, you wanted to act tough and even kill me, so I could only retaliate. Actually, when we met just now, didn’t I say a friend from afar came to see you and isn’t that a joy? You should have known I had come to reminiscence about the past with you and not to kill you. So what was all this for?”
Pangong Tso nearly vomited blood. The rascal had clearly said a friend from afar came to see you so why aren’t you coming out to die. When did he say isn’t that a joy?
However, now wasn’t the time to argue about word choices. Since his life had landed in the brat’s hands, it was best to follow his wishes.
“Cult Master Qin is noble, benevolent, and broadminded which I have always admired. This little brother was just joking with you earlier; I just wanted to see Cult Master’s skill and power. You are indeed extraordinary, I’m completely won over.” Pangong Tso wiped away the blood dripping from the corners of his mouth and sat down with a smile. “For Cult Master to travel so far here, I wonder what you want to discuss?”
“That god behind your back.” Qin Mu raised the mirror with a face full of smiles. “Imperial Preceptor and I would like to meet him and pay our respects to this sacred predecessor. I wonder if Grandmaster would give us the chance?”
Pangong Tso’s face changed slightly.
The god behind his back was none other than the god which appeared when he executed his shaman spell of paying respect to the soul!
Qin Mu asking him the location of that god was definitely not to pay respect to him. He was preparing to gather power to get rid of that god!
“Cult Master Qin, Human Emperor Qin, how would I know such an existence?” Pangong Tso immediately laughed. “You know what my abilities are like. Such a measly existence like me, Cult Master can beat two with one hand so how could I know any god? As for his location, that’s something a weakling like me wouldn’t be able to know. Cult Master, think please!”
Qin Mu held up the mirror and stabbed around in the sand with his sword. He said nonchalantly, “Grandmaster says he doesn’t know any gods, but that’s obviously a lie. If you didn’t know any gods, how could you invite people of High Heavens to deal with me? How could you lure Xu Shenghua out? If you didn’t know any gods, how would you recognize True Heaven Old Mother?
“Grandmaster, you and I are not kids, so let’s not beat around the bush. You indeed don’t have the right to know any gods, but the person behind you does, and you should be very close to him. The god apparition that appears behind your back when you pay your respects, that god should be your master or grandmaster, right?”
Pangong Tso looked at the sword with which he was stabbing the sand, and his face flickered between clear and dark. Suddenly, he stood up and paced to and fro in the mirror as he made a difficult decision.
Everyone said he was the founder of Rolan’s Golden Palace, but they didn’t know that there was someone else involved in it. Back then, when that god with whom Pangong Tso had a deep connection, founded Rolan’s Golden Palace, it was by chance that it had landed in his hands.
There were many disgraceful events in the past.
“He’s my master.” Pangong Tso stopped and raised his head to look at Qin Mu who was outside the mirror. “Your guess is right, the reason why I have connections with High Heavens and was able to recognize True Heaven Old Mother is indeed because of him. However, I would advise you not to provoke him; he’s too evil!”
The corners of his eyes trembled violently as he said in a low voice, “Cult Master should know that I’m considered evil, but compared to him, I pale into insignificance. I’m his disciple, but every time I execute the soul worship shaman spell, I need to borrow his power. You know that, right? Every time I use that shaman spell, I have to lose quite some lifespan! Hehe, if he’s treating even his disciple like this, what about others? This is why I wasn’t willing to use this kind of shaman divine art.”
Qin Mu’s expression couldn’t help changing. Pangong Tso would actually say someone was evil? This was truly a fantasy story which no one could believe!
In terms of evil in this world, who could be above Pangong Tso who had poisoned the entire prairie and killed countless of innocent herdsmen?
“I also don’t know his true name. I only know what he goes by,” Pangong Tso said. “Other people call him Shaman God Kui. I think his surname should be Kui, but people of our lineage rarely reveal their true names and surnames, so his surname might not be real either.”
“Shaman God Kui?”
Qin Mu was stunned. Kui was indeed a surname, but the Kui of Shaman God Kui could also not be a surname. Kui by itself could mean ear or ghost. Could it then be not a surname but the name of a race?
If that was the case, Shaman God Kui should be a ghost.
“However, it’s quite impossible for Cult Master to find him,” Pangong Tso said. “He came from another world and left early in my first lifetime.” Qin Mu carefully examined Pangong Tso’s face in the mirror, but the other didn’t look like he was faking it. “Cult Master Qin, there’s no need to doubt me. There’s no need for me to lie to you. I’m now in your hands and my life and death is within your grasp. I won’t gain anything by lying to you.”
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment and smiled. “Grandmaster, you are lying to me again.”
“When did I lie to you?”Pangong Tso asked helplessly.
“If he really left, why can you still execute the soul worship shaman spell? That apparition behind you, isn’t it the apparition of his primordial spirit?” Qin Mu smiled. “Do you think I’ll believe he has the ability to project his primordial spirit from another world? If he had this ability, the gods in the upper bound wouldn’t need to go through so much by first sending their petrified corporeal bodies with orders for the gods of High Heavens to activate the world-shattering divine artifacts.”
Pangong Tso’s expression instantly changed.
Qin Mu looked at the youth that was even younger than him and said leisurely, “Besides, he can also sense your summons and project his apparition over to help you kill others by paying respect to them. I don’t think a god would be that free and I don’t think a soul worship shaman spell would be executed like this. What if one day he was in a bad mood and decided not to project his apparition, wouldn’t you be harmed by him then? Grandmaster, we are all smart people, so tell me a truth and I’ll let you live.”
Pangong Tso’s expression flickered. He suddenly laughed out loudly and clapped his hands. “As expected of Cult Master Qin, the man who I view as my nemesis. It’s not easy to trick you. That’s right, he didn’t leave. He planned to leave, but I schemed against him and severely injured him before taking away his primordial spirit!”
Qin Mu stared at him with his eyes wide open in astonishment.
Pangong Tso’s smile was full of pride. “As the teacher, so the pupil. Whatever he taught me, I learned it all and even surpassed him! Yet that old thing never imparted the method of becoming a god to me. At that time, I was already old and about to die in a few years, but he never thought of our relationship as that of master and disciple.
“Hmph, since he wanted me to die, I chose for him to die first! So when he was finally ready to leave this world and the upper bound projected a divine ray to receive him, I made my move.”
Chill rose in Qin Mu’s heart.
Pangong Tso smiled and said, “I used the divine art he taught me to disrupt the receiving divine ray, splitting it into two! Cult Master Qi, you are proficient in teleportation divine art, so when your teleportation divine art gets split into two, what will your end be like?”
Qin Mu’s heart thunked against his ribcage. “I will also split into two.”
“Receiving divine ray is no different from teleportation divine art, with the only difference being in the separation of the corporeal body and the primordial spirit.”
Pangong Tso was immensely pleased with himself as he talked leisurely. “I used shaman spells to sacrifice my disciple and split the receiving divine ray into two. The corporeal body and primordial spirit of my master, Shaman God Kui, instantly separated and fell from the receiving divine light. It was killing two birds with one stone.
“My disciple had long anticipated my death so he could take over my position, so I got rid of them both at the same time. Without a corporeal body, Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit was easy to control when I planted a soul bug in him!”
Qin Mu felt his hair stand on ends, and he sighed. “Grandmaster, you said Shaman God Kui is evil, but in my eyes, he might not be as evil as you.”
Pangong Tso shook his head. “You are overestimating me. I can’t compare to him. He is the true evil. Even after having been trapped for so long, his corporeal body hasn’t died yet, and his primordial spirit is also fine. It even nearly broke through my seal a few times after I made use of it to found soul worship shaman spell.
“Cult Master didn’t expect it, right? In my first lifetime, I was one of the top existences in this world, a strong practitioner that was close to god level. Maybe I had reincarnated too many times, and my wish to improve has been worn down, but my demeanor back then wasn’t any inferior to that of Cult Master Qin.”
Qin Mu nodded. “That is true. Grandmaster’s abilities are extraordinary. Even though you learned the techniques of the other sects and sacred grounds, your shaman spells are your strongest skills. They were accumulated from your first lifetime and other techniques that you learned in your successive lifetimes are just decorating what’s already perfect; they are of little use to you. If you had focused on researching your shaman spells, your achievements today would not be what they are now.”
Pangong Tso’s expression grew bleak and his voice dim. “So what if I could cultivate my shaman spells to however strong they could get? I still couldn’t become a god. After realizing this, I started to walk other paths, trying to find the path to become a god in other sacred grounds and sects.
“What a pity that they also didn’t have it or even fully comprehended what I had learned in my lifetimes. In the end, it was Cult Master Qin, the man who I view as my greatest enemy that spread the method of becoming a god to the public, giving me hope to finally reach that stage. You really make me sigh endlessly, not knowing what to say.”
He fell into a daze, then suddenly said, “If I had met you in my first lifetime, we might not have been enemies. We might even have been friends.”
Qin Mu blushed and laughed. “Grandmaster, don’t joke around, I ain’t evil at all. Where did you hide Shaman God Kui’s corporeal body and where did you suppress his primordial spirit?”
“If I tell you, will you not kill me and let me go that way?”
“I can make an oath to Earth Count!” Qin Mu said firmly/
Pangong Tso shook his head. “Cult Master, don’t joke around.”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and waved his hand. “If you don’t want to make an oath to Earth Count, then let us make an oath to Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit. If you go against the oath and give me a fake location, you will die suddenly when you meet him! It will be the same for me, if I don’t let you go, I will die immediately when I meet him!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Pangong Tso muttered to himself irresolutely. Qin Mu’s suggestion was indeed sincere, but also very scheming. If Pangong Tso went against the oath, it would be equivalent to making his soul worship shaman spell useless.
If he executed it, he would die immediately.
When that art turned useless, his abilities would no longer be that terrifying. His divine art would also become extinct and no one would be able to use it again.
Pangong Tso’s threat level and existence would be enormously lowered.
In fact, the reason why Qin Mu could be a match for Pangong Tso and was able to beat him up miserably was because the soul worship shaman spell didn’t work on him.
If he was faced with anyone else, even if they were a realm or two higher than him, they would still die under his art. There was no other end result!
Only Qin Mu whose name was fake could withstand Pangong Tso’s strongest attack, forcing the other to fight him normally.
“Alright!” Pangong said without hesitation. “Let’s make an oath to Shaman God Kui!”
He immediately executed soul worship shaman spell, and an altar appeared behind him. On it was Shaman God Kui’s apparition.
The two immediately made an oath to Shaman God Kui, and each analyzed the other’s oath to see if there were any flaws. They instantly discovered that they were very clever and there weren’t many flaws left, and the few that remained were traps!
‘This old/little fox!’ the two of them cursed silently in their hearts.
Pangong Tso let out a shaky breath and said, “I hid Shaman God Kui’s corporeal body in Yang Mountain in the southernmost side of Great Ruins. His primordial spirit is suppressed at the northernmost side of Yin Mountain. If you go to those two places, you’ll find him.” He raised his head to look at Qin Mu outside the mirror. “Cult Master Qin, you should fulfill your promise.”
“You should have laid down some seal, right? Why don’t you talk about it?”
Pangong Tso smiled at him in a way that wasn’t really cheerful. “Cult Master, the oath between us did not mention this. What’s more, even if I say, would you believe me?”
Qin Mu yawned, still full of smiles. “I don’t dare to believe. But me saying that I won’t kill you does not mean that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor won’t kill you.”
Pangong Tso laughed loudly and suddenly transformed into a black shadow that tunneled out from the mirror and returned to his natural form. He smiled and said, “Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is in battle with True Heaven Old Mother, and the two of them are currently at the most important stage. Their abilities are on par with each other and victory is hard to determine.”
He walked two rounds around Qin Mu, then suddenly attacked him while chuckling. “Cult Master Qin, the oath between us was that you let me go and don’t kill me, but the oath didn’t say I can’t take this chance to attack you!”
Qin Mu’s expression suddenly changed, and he quickly moved back. Pangong Tso attacked frantically while laughing loudly. His moves and forms were all executed to his heart’s content, and the humiliation he’d felt before vanished.
Qin Mu found it difficult to defend. The difference between them wasn’t big, so if Pangong Tso continued attacking and he continued to defend, Pangong Tso would gain the upper hand and the advantage would keep increasing!
In the end, Qin Mu would probably die under his hand!
“Grandmaster.” Qin Mu suddenly pulled out his sword and retaliated with a smile. “My oath said not to kill you, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t sever an arm or a few legs! Don’t worry, little brother, I am proficient in the art of healing, so even if I cut off your head, I can ensure you will survive. At most I will connect your head to the body of a pig!”
Pangong Tso almost got his arm sliced off and immediately fell back, anger rushing to his heart. “You bastard!”
“You bastard!” Qin Mu was also furious. “Didn’t you also hide your plans, waiting to scheme against me?”
Pangong Tso dodged here and there in a hurry, then patted his taotie sack, and a sword case flew out. Flying swords soared into the sky and transformed into the sixth writing of Dao Sword.
Seven Unusual Looking Golden Lotuses, Fondness of the Generous Qing Dynasty!
This was the Seven Stars Realm’s sword skill of Dao Sect’s Dao Sword. The swords flew into seven stars, and they transformed into lotuses which harbored the five elements and accepted the sun and the moon. This art had strangely great power.
Qin Mu shouted and used the sixth writing of Dao Sword. The two sword skills collided, and Pangong Tso flew backward. He suddenly tunneled into the ground, and Qin Mu rushed forward while shouting loudly, “Fatty Dragon, I will injure him and you kill him!” After saying that, he tunneled into the ground as well.
Far away, the dragon qilin had always been watching without coming close. When he heard Qin Mu’s order, he rushed over in a panic.
Just as he came to where Qin Mu and Pangong Tso had vanished, the desert exploded ten miles away as two figures rushed into the sky. Just as the dragon qilin hurried over, the two of them flashed with teleportation runes and vanished.
When the both of them reappeared, they were over ten miles away once more. Sword lights clanked as they collided.
“These two fellows who are both proficient in escaping for their lives so how can I catch up to them?” the dragon qilin grumbled.
When he was about to chase after them again, Qin Mu and Pangong Tso’s figures vanished once more. Swords filled the sky with sparks, causing blood lights to scatter.
“Cult Master, stop running forward!” The dragon qilin looked forward, and his expression changed tremendously. He shouted out, “It’s the battlefield of Imperial Preceptor and True Heaven Old Mother!
Qin Mu chased after Pangong Tso who only thought to escape for his life. With gritted teeth, he rushed into the sandstorm.
Qin Mu also came where the wind blew violently, sweeping sand to form a terrifying sandstorm. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the sandstorm while sand, like countless small spirit weapons, almost broke his skin. It was very painful.
“True Dragon Overlord Body!” Qin Mu shouted out.
He showed the result of merging Nine Dragon Monarch Technique and Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His vital qi was like a dragon which coiled around his body. His blood vessels flowed at great speed ceaselessly. His muscles were exploding like lightning and thunder when they moved.
Sand in the wind hit his body and bounced against it. He didn’t feel much pain anymore.
Two rays of light shot out from his eyes, and before the sand could come into eyes, it was vaporized by the divine light.
Qin Mu looked around, but his gaze couldn’t see far. However, Pangong Tso was not far away. Qin Mu immediately went forth to attack him. Below Pangong Tso’s feet was a huge shield with tortoise markings. They glowed, and a magnificent tortoiseshell pattern appeared around his body, protecting him with layer after layer of defense.
The number of treasures he possessed was unimaginable.
When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor invaded the golden palace, Pangong Tso had to have taken most of the spirit treasures he had gathered over the ten thousand years. The tortoiseshell pattern shield was obviously an extremely strong unusual treasure.
The two men found it hard to stabilize themselves in such a fierce sandstorm, and their bodies were swept around by the terrifying wind. Even their spirit weapons couldn’t fly too far away or they would be swept away.
Lightning struck in the desert and landed around the two of them. Suddenly, a terrifying pulse came sweeping over, and the two trembled violently before being flicked upward. That was the fluctuation of the space that was sometimes high and sometimes low. Their bodies were also sometimes pulled out and sometimes squeeze in, changing from eighteen feet to only five feet in height. It was unbearable.
Whoosh!
A huge black sun rolled past by them, still surging with heat, igniting the sand and wind in the surroundings. The flames turned into fire tornado that was extremely quick and violent.
Qin Mu and Pangong Tso couldn’t stabilize their bodies and got swept into it. The incomparably thick fire tornado swirled rapidly and rushed them into the sky.
Ding, ding, ding.
The swords clashed over a hundred times until a horizontal slash suddenly sliced apart the fire tornado. Qin Mu and Pangong Tso’s bodies spun rapidly, but before they could stabilize themselves, a sand snake that was three hundred yards thick gave off a deafening roar before pouncing at them with its mouth wide open.
Qin Mu sprinted frantically while Pangong Tso was tumbling through the air on the other side. He barely avoided the incomparably thick sand snake and heard the rumblings from when the sand snake tunneled into the ground, causing the two of them to puke blood from the vibration.
True Heaven Old Mother and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s battle was simply too fierce. They couldn’t endure even the aftershock raised by the two gods and could die at any time in the sandstorm.
Pangong Tso rushed out of the sandstorm after avoiding the sand snake. However, at that moment, deafening footstep rang out. Qin Mu and Pangong Tso fell in a daze.
A huge land was moving in the desert. Wherever it passed, space would warp and create ripples from the vibrations.
Space couldn’t normally be seen but once it was crushed by Sun Ship, one could actually see its ripples!
“Run—” Pangong Tso screamed but his voice was drowned out in the sandstorm.
Qin Mu tried to sprint away, but even when he executed Cripple’s Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs, he couldn’t run fast. The wind was simply too strong.
Incomparably strong god’s aura rushed over, and the two of them puked blood from the impact. Even Qin Mu’s True Dragon Overlord Body and Pangong Tso’s tortoise shield couldn’t withstand it.
One has to know that both their cultivations were definitely at the peak of Seven Stars Realm. They were only one step away from Celestial Being Realm, but the god’s aura from the sandstorm was too strong.
Bang, bang.
Qin Mu stuck to a leg of Sun Ship and couldn’t move away. His face creased numerous times from the wind, and the ripple in space suddenly stretched his body to be over twenty feet long. Qin Mu felt his brain becoming fine and sharp. Even his sight became strange.
Beside him was Pangong Tso who was also pulled into a long noodle as he held onto the leg of Sun Ship with all his might.
After that wave, the power of the wind decreased, and their bodies bounced back. Qin Mu raised the sword with both his hands to swirl rapidly, slashing along the legs of Sun Ship toward his opponent.
Pangong Tso stepped on the tortoiseshell and raised his sword to defend. He then grunted, and a deep cut was opened in his leg.
Boom!
Ripples came from Sun Ship again and this ripple was bursting outwards, bouncing the two of them out and squeezing the two of them into a round ball.
At that moment, Qin Mu saw a sword light slicing apart the sandstorm. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked onto Sun Ship among the terrifying ripples, and his sword light split the head of True Heaven Old Mother who was between the four pillars. However, True Heaven Old Mother revealed a cruel smile at that moment, and the huge black sun came toward the back of Imperial Preceptor.
The black sun crushed nearly everything on Sun Ship and rolled off its end, flipping Sun Ship over to tumble a couple times before stopping.
Qin Mu was lifted off by the terrifying storm, which was still surging frantically, sweeping up and swallowing more of the flaming desert. Even the dragon qilin was swept up as he struggled helplessly. Soon though, he and Qin Mu resigned themselves to fate and let the storm blow them away.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
After the storm, Qin Mu crawled out from the tall sand dune and looked around. In his eyes was a silent and desolate desert. There were only sand dunes in the shape of scales left after the hurricane had swept past.
The huge Sun Ship was in pieces, completely broken down. It was clear that the power of True Heaven Old Mother’s last strike had been incredibly strong. She had the mentality of bringing Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor down with her when she had executed it. This had resulted in the Sun Ship being shattered as well.
The flames in the desert had vanished. Even though the sand was still red, the flames that burned the abandoned people of Great Ruins were no longer present.
Qin Mu looked into the distance, but didn’t see them anywhere.
The flaming desert had been extinguished.
He couldn’t help being stunned and hurriedly raised his hand. The flame markings on his skin had also vanished.
He took out a few mirrors and raised them up and down, but he still didn’t see any flame markings.
‘True Heaven Old Mother is dead!”
Qin Mu’s heart pounded furiously. True Heaven Old Mother had laid down flames that were specially targeted at the abandoned people of Great Ruins. Flame markings would appear on the faces of those who stepped into the desert, and the purer their bloodline, the more flame markings would appear.
For example, Qin Mu’s flame markings had crawled all over his body.
But True Heaven Old Mother had died, so the flames in the desert had vanished as well. The flame markings on the abandoned people also went away!
“Pfff, pfff!”
One of the sand dunes far away split open, and the dragon qilin crawled out from inside it while spitting out sand. Qin Mu greeted him from far away and hobbled over.
His injuries were very severe, but they weren’t from fighting against Pangong Tso. It was the terrifying impact from the last strike of True Heaven Old Mother that had heavily injured him.
The dragon qilin rushed in front of Qin Mu and lowered his tail. Qin Mu stepped on its tip, and the dragon qilin raised it for him to slide down to his back.
The dragon qilin sprinted to the side of Sun Ship.
Qin Mu sat down and shouted loudly, “Imperial Preceptor, are you still alive?”
“I’m over here.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s voice came from nearby, and Qin Mu looked toward its source. He saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor under the shade of a huge rock. Qin Mu slid down from the back of the dragon qilin with a smile. “You’re injured again?”
“Not too serious. The damage is much lighter than the last time.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor closed his eyes as though he was nodding off to sleep. He then opened one eye to glance backward while saying weakly, “True Heaven Old Mother was indeed strong. By borrowing the power of Sun Ship, she surpassed the gods of High Heavens.”
Qin Mu looked in the same direction as him, but he didn’t see anything. Bewildered, he first focused on treating his own injuries. Afterward, he wanted to move Imperial Preceptor, but he realized he couldn’t do so.
“Cult Master, you can’t lift a god,” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said with a smile that was not a smile.
Qin Mu understood what he meant and came over to treat him. “Imperial Preceptor still plans to go to High Heavens?”
Eternal Peace Imperial preceptor shook his head. “True Heaven Old Mother had the advantage of land when we exchanged blows just now, and I almost lost. If I go to High Heavens, there will still be gods there, and it’s their territory. It would be even more dangerous than what I faced now. I need to wait a moment for the emperor and other cult master level existences to become gods as well.”
There were numerous strong practitioners on Divine Bridge Realm in Eternal Peace Empire who had been stuck on that realm for numerous years. The spread of the space algebra model of repairing the divine bridge by Qin Mu had given them hope to become gods.
“You let Grandmaster go?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked.
Qin Mu spoke seriously while checking on his injury. “I had a deal with him to not take his life, but it’s very hard for me to hold him back without harming his life. Grandmaster’s ability to escape is unmatched in this world; I have never seen such a slippery person before. However, I was lucky enough to get half of his leg.”
“Him going free will only cause more trouble in the future. Even I can’t defend against his soul worship shaman spell. Very few people know my real name, but if he went to River Tomb to check, he could find it. The emperor’s name can also be discovered,” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly.
Qin Mu took out a lot of silver needles and turned him into a huge porcupine. Stabbing the last needle at the heart of his brows, he smiled and said, “To me, Grandmaster is no longer a worry. The god behind him is called Shaman God Kui. He was lost to Grandmaster who tore his spirit and body apart. Grandmaster hid his corporeal body in Great Ruins’ Yang Mountain and his primordial spirit in Yin Mountain. As long as we wipe out the primordial spirit of Shaman God Kui, we will be able to break Grandmaster’s soul worship shaman spell.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a glance at him with an indifferent expression. “What if Grandmaster is a step ahead of you and relocates the primordial spirit of Shaman God Kui?”
Qin Mu was stunned, then gave a slap to Imperial Preceptor’s thigh which made him tear up from pain. Qin Mu hurriedly pulled back his hand and quickly refined a couple furnaces of spirit pills. “Grandmaster’s medical expertise is great, only slightly inferior to mine He won’t die even if he lost half a leg. Stay here, I’ll make a trip to Yin Mountain! Remember to eat your medicine on time!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took out the Black Tortoise Bead and threw it to him. “Take it in case of anything!”
Qin Mu left a few bags of water and food before jumping onto the dragon qilin’s back and leaving quickly.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor leaned against the huge rock and thought to get to his feet, but he collapsed right after. Panting heavily, he smiled bitterly. “I’m injured to such a state again… Luckily, when Cult Master, this little scoundrel, stuffed the Black Tortoise Bead into True Heaven Old Mother’s hand, she didn’t make a move. Otherwise, I would have really been played to death by him…”
He couldn’t help feeling post-traumatic stress.
Qin Mu had pushed the Black Tortoise Bead and the Green Dragon Bead into the hands of True Heaven Old Mother time and again to test her. However, he didn’t consider that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor might not be as strong as he expected.
That fellow was full of confidence in Imperial Preceptor, more than even Imperial Preceptor had in himself. When walking beside Qin Mu, the danger only kept on multiplying.
‘Luckily the brat is gone. Yin Mountain is dangerous, but being around him is even more dangerous.’
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor laid down to recuperate. At that moment, behind the huge rock he was lying on, sand was swirling silently and slowly gathering to form a sand giant.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor seemed to not notice anything, and snores came from his throat. However, his eyes slowly opened.
He secretly raised his hand and pulled out the silver needle Qin Mu had stabbed in the heart of his brows.
It wasn’t a silver needle but a sword—Carefree Sword.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor held it with narrowed eyes, then suddenly stabbed into the rock behind him!
The sand giant was smiling at that moment, ready to pounce. Carefree Sword pierced its heart. With a bang, eight thousand sword lights shot out in all directions, bursting out from the sand giant’s body!
Carefree Sword trembled, and the eight thousand swords flew back while dripping with divine blood from their tips. They combined to form a sword pellet the size of a tangerine.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor leaned on the rock while the sword pellet went around the rock to come back to him.
“Thanks.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled and gave the pellet a flick. It whizzed away and vanished into the distance.
Behind the huge rock, the sand giant was slowly crumbling while divine blood poured out from it. More and more blood dyed the ground.
The dragon qilin was sprinting to the east when Qin Mu raised his hand and beckoned with it. The sword pellet whizzed over and landed in his hand. The dragon qilin suddenly sunk down and tumbled forward.
Qin Mu hid the sword pellet in the taotie sack and smiled. “True Heaven Old Mother is finally dead.”
Shocked, the dragon qilin cried out, “True Heaven Old Mother was still alive? Didn’t the flame markings on your body vanish and the flames of the desert go out? How could she still have been alive?”
“She’s cunning, and she did it for us to think that she’s already dead, so Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also acted as though he thought she was dead. However, he threw me a glance in warning, so when I was treating him, I transformed Carefree Sword into a needle and stabbed it into the heart of his brows.”
Qin Mu smiled. “The reason Imperial Preceptor handed me Black Tortoise Bead was also because he was afraid it would land in the hands of True Heaven Old Mother, making her even harder to deal with. Now, she is really dead. If you don’t believe me, look back.”
The dragon qilin hurriedly looked back and saw a scarlet red sea slowly spreading out at a great speed. It was formed from divine blood and was swallowing the desert, rushing toward them. The sight was extremely frightening!
The dragon qilin sprinted away. After over a hundred miles, the red sea no longer expanded.
The dragon qilin asked, “True Heaven Old Mother bled so much?”
“Her divine blood transformed back to mortal blood, so there naturally was more of it.”
Qin Mu also looked back and saw multicolored sunlight above the red sea. On the seashore, dense vegetation grew frantically; after all, even a desolate place like the desert had numerous tenacious lifeforms.
“It’s the same for humans as well. No matter how harsh the environment is, they will always find a way to survive!”
He opened Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes to look into the distance. The Sun Ship that was broken into pieces had become an island in the center of the red sea. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had climbed onto it and wasn’t drenched in blood.
“Remember to take your medicine on time.” Qin Mu waved his hand and had the dragon qilin quickly leave.
Pangong Tso stopped his bleeding while sitting on a bunch of cattail leaves that were rushing with a gale. When he came to Great Ruins, it was already three days later, and the sky was turning dark.
During the three days, he had treated his injuries. However, his right lower leg had been severed by Qin Mu, so his movement was impaired.
Pangong Tso looked around, and his eyes lit up. He followed a herd of strange beasts and arrived at a ruin before darkness descended.
Chii!
Pangong Tso raised his hand to sever a buck’s leg, and the strange beast growled, making threatening sounds.
Pangong Tso opened his taotie sack, and a swarm of soul bugs flew out. He sneered. “You guys also dare to bully me? A bunch of beasts. I can’t do anything to the Qin brat, but killing all of you is easy!”
The other strange beasts looked at the soul bugs flying around and didn’t dare to go forward recklessly,
“Grandmaster is truly assertive.” Suddenly, a voice came from the ruin, speaking in a leisurely manner. “For Grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace to end up in a state of having to bully strange beasts, how laughable.”
“Who is it?”
Pangong Tso immediately connected the buck’s leg to his broken leg, not caring about doing it properly. He quickly stood up as a chest flew out from the depths of the ruin.
Bang.
The chest opened up, and two legs ran out from inside it. They were followed by two arms and a torso which slowly pieced together into a headless body.
It went through the chest and took out a head to place on its neck.
“Grandmaster, don’t you recognize your old friend?” The strange body turned around, and it was a youth with red lips and white teeth. There was a bewitching smile on his face.
Pangong Tso’s face turned ashen.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“Xing An!” Pangong Tso shivered and forced out a smile. “Old Brother Xing An, long time no see. We are all old friends, and the last time you asked me about Qin Mu’s location, I even drew a painting for you. It was quite good, right? With our friendship, I believe you don’t have any ill intentions toward me, right?”
Xing An sat down on his chest and sneered. “Qin Mu! Qin Mu again!”
He clenched his teeth, and murderous intent swept through the ruins, scaring the strange beasts into cowering on the ground.
Pangong Tso’s heart fluttered violently, and he asked in a trembling voice, “Brother Xing An also suffered in his hands?”
“Suffered?” Xing An laughed. “How would I suffer at his hands? He has too many elders in his family. I miscalculated, and it resulted in an encirclement. I had no choice but to retreat and avoid the cutting edge.”
Pangong Tso rolled his eyes; it was obvious that Xing An had suffered a loss. He had been chased away by Qin Mu’s elders and had no choice but to escape and hide at a place near West Earth, not daring to show himself.
He didn’t know that Xing An wasn’t as weak as he imagined. The other was incomparably strong and had severely injured Blind, Deaf, Cripple, Granny Si, Emperor Yanfeng, and the rest of the great experts. Over ten people of cult master level had been heavily injured in just one move from him. If it wasn’t for Qin Mu poisoning him, they would have all been wiped out!
Even when he was poisoned and severely injured, he was still able to avoid Butcher, escaping all the way from Eternal Peace to where they were now. His toughness was even above the gods of High Heavens!
“As for the Grandmaster, I don’t have any interest.” Xing An took a glance at him and shook his head. “When you cultivate your corporeal body or primordial spirit to godhood, I might be a little interested in you. You and I are friends after all, and you have also given your two arms to me as a present. I won’t lay my hands on you. What happened to your leg? This sword wound…”
He suddenly caught Pangong Tso by the leg and gave a gently twist to it. The buck’s leg that was just attached was instantly removed.
Pangong Tso endured the pain, not daring to say anything.
Xing An looked carefully. “A sword wound left behind by the sword skill of that Qin! You must have met Great Divine Physician Qin Mu and got your leg cut off by him.”
Beads of sweat rolled down Pangong Tso’s forehead, and he croaked out with a forced smile, “I was chased by Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. When I was careless, the Qin brat managed to sever half of my leg. Old Brother Xing An, if you want to take revenge on the Qin brat, I got a good chance for you.”
“I need your help to take revenge on him?” Xing An shook his head. “If I wanted to kill him, there’s no one in the world who could protect him! Where is he? I’ve heard Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is also an expert, so I could take some things from his body on the way.”
Pangong Tso smiled. “I don’t know where the Qin brat is now, but I know where he’s going. He plans to go to Yin Mountain to find my master’s primordial spirit. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor follows him closely, so he will definitely come as well.”
Xing An was instantly interested. “The primordial spirit of your master? You once paid your respect to me and almost took my life. The apparition of that god is the primordial spirit of your master?”
Pangong Tso’s heart tightened, and he immediately said, “I was forced to do so; it was as the saying goes ‘ if you don’t fight, you won’t make friends’. If I hadn’t fought with Old Brother Xing An once, how would I have had the chance to know brother?”
Xing An smiled. “The primordial spirit of your master, I would like to collect it very much.”
Pangong Tso was thinking of baiting him into danger and making him fight with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor so both of them would suffer. “If Old Brother Xing An took a liking to it, feel free to take it. It’s just that… Old brother, this leg of mine, could you…”
Xing An jumped into his chest. “Great Divine Physician Qin snatched quite a bit of my collection so not much is left. Just use the buck’s leg for now. When I kill Divine Physician Qin and Imperial Preceptor, it won’t be a problem to give you a divine leg.”
Pangong Tso could only pick up the buck’s leg and reattach it again. This time, he did it more carefully to prevent any hidden ailments. ‘Xing An is petty and might not be willing to give me a divine leg when the time comes. However, when he and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor fight each other, his collection will be mine!’
The dragon qilin carried Qin Mu back to Great Ruins at a speed that was as fast as lightning. After two days, they saw the strange beasts in the surroundings gradually lessen, but there were more villages and monks walking to and fro.
When they saw him riding the dragon qilin overhead, they all stopped and looked at him with strange gazes.
“Cult Master, why are they looking at us?” The dragon qilin was puzzled.
Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eyes when he looked down at the monks. How were they monks? In his eyes, they were clearly fiendish great demons!
He looked at the villagers in the streets. They had a thriving population and were also great demons with all kinds of different faces.
Suddenly, Qin Mu heard a bell ringing from far away. It sounded very melodious.
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. “We are near Little Thunderclap Monastery.”
He jumped off the back of the dragon qilin and began to walk on his feet. The monks which had been staring at them then turned their heads away.
The dragon qilin was bewildered. “Cult Master, why aren’t they staring anymore?”
“All lives are equal,” Qin Mu said in a low voice
The dragon qilin was still puzzled. “I carry Cult Master to work for my meals. If all lives are equal, who is going to refine spirit pills for me to eat?”
Qin Mu burst out laughing. After a moment, they passed by Little Thunderclap Monastery, and Qin Mu exclaimed endlessly.
Little Thunderclap Monastery was built by Little Rulai who was a demon monk from Great Thunderclap Monastery, a disciple of Rulai of that time. His cultivation realm was extremely high and his abilities were remarkable. But he didn’t become Great Thunderclap Monastery’s Rulai, and he was indignant so he fought his way out to found Little Thunderclap Monastery in Great Ruins.
The lavishness of Little Thunderclap Monastery was actually no inferior to that of Great Thunderclap Monastery. As a matter of fact, it might even surpass it. There were strange peaks and lofty mountain ranges with precipitous cliffs. On the mountain peaks, stone statues pasted with gold stood upright. Temples and monasteries of all sizes were flourishing with incense, and there were practitioners of Buddhism coming forward to pay their respects to Buddha all over the place.
The smoke of the incenses lingered among the mountains, filling the sky as incense clouds.
It was Qin Mu’s first time there, and he knew he had once pushed down Little Rulai’s buddha statue so he planned to take a detour. But at that moment, he heard a familiar voice which cried out in astonishment. “Why is Cult Master Qin here?”
Qin Mu looked toward the speaker and couldn’t help being stunned. He smiled. “Brother Xu is also at this place? What a coincidence!”
Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan each carried a backpack and were following behind a big and fat monk. Qin Mu was astonished. The fat monk’s physique was extraordinarily tall and sturdy. He was none other than Little Thunderclap Monastery’s Little Rulai!
He had once seen Little Rulai in a village of Great Ruins when Little Rulai invited Daoist Ling Jing to a battle. They fought fiercely in the night, and Qin Mu had been right beside them!
Little Rulai had a plump head and big ears. His appearance was out of the ordinary, and he was very courteous to Xu Shenghua. He was invited both of them to be guests, and when he looked at Qin Mu, the latter only felt a snow white light which was Little Rulai’s gaze.
“So it’s Cult Master Qin.” Little Rulai’s voice boomed like thunder. “You are a guest from afar, so even though Cult Master Qin and I have grudges, I have to be hospitable to you. Cult Master, please come up the mountain to chat.”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. “Senior brother is too courteous. I have something urgent to do so I need to make a trip to Yin Mountain…”
Jing Yan smiled. “Young Master Qin is going to Yin Mountain? We are just coming back from it. Young master and eminent monk met in Yin Mountain and reaped big benefits.”
Qin Mu was astonished and looked at Xu Shenghua. The youth nodded and said, “Yan’zi and I roamed around until we came to Yin Mountain. We saw eminent monk there subduing the primordial spirit of a devil god. He was stuck in a stalemate so we went forward to assist and subdued it by a fluke. Why is Cult Master Qin going to Yin Mountain?”
Qin Mu’s mind trembled violently, and he cried out, “You guys subdued a primordial spirit of a devil god in Yin Mountain? Did this primordial spirit call itself Shaman God Kui?”
Little Rulai was astonished. “Cult Master Qin’s divine strategy and wonderful planning have already reached such an extent? Old monk encountered that devil trapped on Yin Mountain. When I saw countless damned souls lingering around him, I knew it was my task and my heart of enlightenment was moved, thus I made my move. But little did I know that even though that devil was suppressed by someone, he still had remarkable abilities, nearly absorbing me a few times. Luckily Young Master Xu came by and used the spell of High Heavens to assist me.”
Qin Mu suddenly laughed out loudly. “In that case, I have no need to go to Yin Mountain. Truth be told, I was also planning to subdue the primordial spirit of that devil god. Since Rulai invited me, l shall go and be a guest. Sorry to disturb!”
Little Rulai looked at him and asked, “Everyone calls me Little Rulai so why didn’t Cult Master Qin add little?”
Qin Mu smiled. “Rulai is a realm. Once you reach it, there’s no big or little.”
This eminent monk was pleased. “Cult Master has the heart of Buddha. If you convert to Buddhism, you will definitely become Rulai in the future. Please.”
Qin Mu followed them up the mountain. Looking at Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan, he smiled and said, “Husband and wife sure are living the life, roaming the world for scenic tours. Not like me, living a life of hard work, running here and there. Have you two cultivated Primordial Spirit Guide?”
Jing Yan’s face became slightly red, and she gently nodded.
Qin Mu laughed loudly.
“Primordial Spirit Guide was founded by Cult Master, right? It has indeed allowed me to advance tremendously. From Primordial Spirit Guide, I founded a complete Six Directions Realm’s technique and advanced another step further. Now, I have already paved a passage between Six Directions and Seven Stars, these two great divine treasures, turning them into one divine treasure, “Xu Shenghua said leisurely.
Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he looked at Xu Shenghua. After a moment, he let out a shaky breath and praised him, “As expected of the fake Overlord Body, you are just a little inferior to me.”
Xu Shenghua smiled. “The change in the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth from merging Seven Stars and Six Directions into one is no inferior to that of Primordial Spirit Guide, right? Cult Master, your Overlord Body might just be the beta.”
Qin Mu smiled lightly and said leisurely, “Even though I didn’t manage to merge the two great divine treasures, I created the eighteenth sword form during this time.”
Xu Shenghua’s pupils contracted.
Little Rulai looked at the two men, and his mind trembled. “Not long ago, old monk felt two changes in the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Could it be due to two benefactors?”
…
In Yin Mountain, a sword light flew over, and Pangong Tso dropped to the ground. He grabbed his left leg and rolled around in pain while sweat rolled down his brow like rain.
“This is the price for lying to me,” Xing An said indifferently. “Your master’s primordial spirit is not here. Grandmaster, get another buck’s leg for your other leg and walk like that from now onwards!”
Pangong Tso hissed through his teeth while enduring the pain, “My master’s primordial spirit has been seized by others! However, it is still around. As long as I execute my shaman spells, I will be able to sense its direction!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu examined his surroundings in Little Thunderclap Monastery and discovered that most of the decorations were similar to those of Great Thunderclap Monastery. After all, Little Thunderclap Monastery had only developed for a few hundred years. Without a foundation, they could only imitate.
However, there was a great number of demon monks, and they were no inferior to monks from Great Thunderclap Monastery. Little Thunderclap Monastery could be said to be the only sacred ground in Great Ruins. Without any competitors and an extremely high number of strange beasts, it was abnormally flourishing.
There were numerous demon monks walking to and fro. They were all immaculately dressed and polite. Qin Mu even saw a flood dragon coiled in a temple, passing on scriptures and preaching to demon beasts that had not yet transformed. In other temples, there were eminent monks of the demon race also preaching to numerous demon monks, teaching them divine arts and even imparting methods of forging treasures.
“This place looks like a civilization of the demon race.”
Qin Mu admired the place. Not taking Little Rulai’s behavior into consideration, to be able to develop Little Thunderclap Monastery to such an extent all on his own was already something to respect.
Little Rulai and Old Rulai were junior and senior brothers. Their age was about the same, but Old Rulai’s lifespan had come to an end and he had died in battle on God Broken Mountain Range. However, Little Rulai was a great demon who had achieved Dao, so his lifespan was very long.
With him around, Little Thunderclap Monastery was becoming more and more flourishing.
Suddenly, two great demons leaped over as though they were flying and fought each other. They sometimes soared into the clouds and sometimes dove into the valley. Their attacks were extremely fast and their moves were fierce. Both of them were extremely powerful.
“The abilities of the two senior brothers aren’t weak,” Xu Shenghua said in astonishment when he raised his head and took a look.
“Big fella!” Qin Mu shouted out in delight.
One of the great demons was a muscular demon monk with only some black hair on his face and hands. He wielded a monk staff in his fight. When he heard Qin Mu, he immediately knocked his opponent away and leaped over. Landing on the ground with a crash, he said in astonishment, “Young’un! Bald, where?”
The words were directed at Little Rulai who couldn’t help becoming furious and giving him a slap on the head. “Who calls their own master bald donkey? I’m not a donkey that achieved Dao!”
Devil Ape Zhan Kong immediately covered his head and muttered, “Little, where?”
Little Rulai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I met him at the bottom of the mountain so I invited him to come over
.”
The devil ape grinned and wanted to hug Qin Mu, but he realized that the youth was too short. Qin Mu had grown quite a bit and was at the same height as Butcher, only slightly shorter than Apothecary, but the devil ape’s body was extremely majestic. In the past, when he was still underage, he had already almost towered over the trees.
Now that he had grown, if he revealed his true body, he wouldn’t be much smaller than the dragon qilin.
Even when he transformed into a human his height was close to twenty feet.
The great demon with which he’d been fighting pounced over, wanting to continue fighting. He cried out, “Senior Brother Zhan Kong, let’s fight!”
The devil ape was furious and stretched his hand out to grab the neck of that demon monk. The man’s temper instantly cooled, and his four limbs hung down. The tail behind his butt also dropped and wagged as though he was currying favor.
The devil ape placed him down and put him in front of Qin Mu while saying loudly, “Meat, guest!”
Qin Mu looked at the bald demon monk who was shivering on the ground. He hurriedly shook his head. “Since he’s your junior brother, I can’t eat him even if you offer him to me.”
The devil ape scratched his head and looked at Little Rulai who was beside him. The fats on Little Rulai’s face twitched as he held back his anger. “Disciple, are you going to use even your master as dinner now that your good friend is here?”
The devil ape hurriedly shook his head.
Qin Mu smiled and said, “We have not met in a long time, but you don’t need to think about treating me to meat. When you enter a village, follow the local customs; I’ll just be a vegetarian. I also can’t eat someone as strong as Rulai.”
The devil ape was very happy. “Vegetarian, strong!”
“Why does Senior Brother Zhan Kong simplify his words when he talks?” Jing Yan asked curiously.
“Zhan Kong has great Buddha nature and cherishes his words like gold. Each one holds deep meaning. When I saw this quality in him, I took him in as my disciple,” Little Rulai said.
Jing Yan was puzzled. She had seen him cherish his words like gold, but she couldn’t see any Buddha nature.
What kind of Buddha nature required one to grab their junior brother as meat to treat guests?
The devil ape followed them up the mountain. When they came to the peak, Qin Mu looked down and saw that the place was similar to the golden peak of Great Thunderclap Monastery. However, there were a lot more stone statues, which were probably placed to defend the area from the darkness.
There were numerous Buddha pagodas on the peak, and many monks cultivating. Most of them had beast heads, and they were all draped in a yellow kasaya. Their expressions were all solemn and respectful.
Those monks were most likely the great demons that had achieved Dao in Great Ruins. Since they were able to cultivate that far, their positions had to be extraordinary.
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched. The cultivations of the great demons were all extremely strong, and the demon air around their bodies was also incomparably dense. It frightened him somewhat as some people were probably strong practitioners of the cult master level!
There was even blood light coming out from the demon air, which meant that those people had killed a lot in the past!
“I can’t endure it anymore! Abstaining from eating meat and praying to Buddha every day, what’s the f*cking point? When will this end?”
Suddenly, a bird-headed monk jumped up and tore apart his yellow kasaya. When he swayed his head, golden feathers grew from his neck at a crazy speed. His body expanded, and more bird heads came popping out from the feathers, reaching a total of nine. When he spread his wings, they had an area of several hectares!
“I did whatever I liked in Great Ruins and ate countless humans and beasts before. I’ve been long plagued by sins so why the f*ck do I have to abstain from eating meat and pray to Buddha?” The nine-headed bird who looked like a peacock flapped his wings to rise. “Those sins can’t be washed off so let me eat to my heart’s content!”
The other monks rose into the sky right after, and Qin Mu saw that a few of them were actually human. They worked together to suppress the nine-headed peacock while saying, “Senior Brother Ming, you are being controlled by your heart devil again, quickly wake up!”
“Don’t let your cultivation of a thousand years be destroyed by single false step!”
…
The monks worked together until they finally suppressed that nine-headed peacock. However, it was still arrogant and obstinate, crying out about wanting to cause a massacre.
Little Rulai walked forward and suddenly pulled open his monk robes. He took out a knife and sliced a piece of meat from the pit of his stomach and threw it to the nine-headed peacock. “You want to eat meat? Eat then!”
The nine-headed peacock emanated a fierce aura and opened its mouth to catch Little Rulai’s flesh, swallowing it down. The other eight heads then started shouting, “Rulai, you need to satisfy the desire of all of us, how can one piece of meat be enough? The other eight mouths still haven’t gotten to eat and are hungry!”
Little Rulai then sliced off another eight pieces of flesh and threw them over. Each of the eight heads grabbed a piece and swallowed them down.
The devil ape revealed a look of delight and said in a low voice, “Little, meat, guest.”
Little Rulai gave him a stare, and the devil ape scratched his head.
Even though the nine-headed peacock had eaten the nine pieces of meat, it couldn’t digest them and started coughing. After a moment, it opened its mouth to cough up a small peacock. Then, it coughed up another one.
The nine-headed peacock coughed nine times in a row, and nine peacocks left his stomach. They started running everywhere and stumbling around. Suddenly, they started merging with one another, transforming into a nine-headed peacock. When it sat down, the feathers on its butt spread open like a colorful fan.
The nine-headed peacock looked at the small peacock on the ground, and its heart couldn’t help trembling violently. Its devil nature instantly faded away, and it transformed back into a bird-headed monk. When he sat down in a lotus position, buddha rays shone from his face as he smiled. “Only today did I learn that all lives are like me. Senior Brother Rulai, thank you.”
“Excellent.” Little Rulai closed his monk robe and said, “Senior Brother Ming, sitting on the mountain has no benefits to cultivation, so bring your son down the mountain and enter the world to cultivate.”
The nine-headed peacock stood up and brought the little peacock down the mountain.
Qin Mu saw this pair of father and son leave and shook his head with a puzzled expression.
Little Rulai had sliced his flesh to feed the nine-headed peacock, so why would it cough up a small nine-headed peacock? Why was it its son?
Was it the technique of creation?
Or was it some other spell divine art?
Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan were also at a loss. Xu Shenghua then asked in a low voice, “The technique of Little Thunderclap Monastery is different from Great Thunderclap Monastery; they have most likely absorbed some strange techniques in Great Ruins.”
Qin Mu nodded. There were no such strange spells in Great Thunderclap Monastery. On top of that, the monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery were mostly strange beasts who’d gained intelligence so they naturally had extraordinary abilities.
Some of the strong strange beasts even had fortuitous encounters and cultivated some strange techniques of Great Ruins. After they joined Little Thunderclap Monastery with their strange techniques, they made Little Thunderclap Monastery’s techniques strange and gave it even more variation than there was in Great Thunderclap Monastery.
“The three of you please take a seat and look at us enlightening the devil god and achieving Buddhahood through our efforts and insight.”
On the golden peak, Little Rulai invited the three of them to take a seat. The yellow-robed monks sat down in their seats while Little Rulai took out a golden alms bowl. He swayed it gently, and the golden alms bowl grew larger. In the center of it was a sacrificial altar with the trapped primordial spirit of a devil god. It was currently struggling and shouting, rattling the chains of buddha rays.
The devil god on the altar was blood red as though he was a sea of blood with countless damned souls lingering around him.
The yellow-robed monks began to chant the scriptures loudly, and buddha voice reverberated as they prepared to enlighten the devil god.
“Even you blood-drinking beasts dare to think of purifying me?” That devil god was none other than Shaman God Kui, and he was not injured by the buddha voice at all. He continued struggling to break free of the chains while smiling. “When I slaughter my way out, all of you will become my food!”
Qin Mu’s expression changed slightly, and rose to warn the monks in a hurry. “Rulai, this devil god is from the ghost race, so his soul is incomparably strong. He’s the strongest evil god so you guys have no way of enlightening him! He’s borrowing your hands to purify the soul bugs in his body to break free of the seal left behind by Golden Palace’s Grandmaster!”
The monks were all at a loss and looked at Little Rulai who had also stopped chanting.
On the sacrificial altar, Shaman God Kui turned his head around to look at Qin Mu fiercely. “So it’s Cult Master Qin. My useless disciple tried to worship you a few times, but he couldn’t do it. You’re meddling again, but this time you are truly overestimating yourself!”
The expression of Little Rulai and the rest of the monks changed drastically, and they got up in a hurry. Shaman God Kui, who was inside that altar, opened his mouth and spat out squeaking soul bugs. When they met the buddha light, they dissolved into wisps of green smoke.
Once they were gone, Shaman God Kui’s fierce aura instantly overflowed. Terrifying awe spread out, and the vegetation on the mountain instantly withered. All living things lost their life, and numerous demon monks that had lower cultivation collapsed on their backs, dying unnatural deaths!
Little Rulai immediately pulled back the golden alms bowl and covered the sacrificial altar, trying to trap Shaman God Kui.
“Junior Brother Po Ying, suppress this devil god under Heavenly Seal Pagoda!”
A yellow-robed monk came forward and was about to take away the golden alms bowl when Shaman God Kui’s laugh suddenly rang out. “Your name is Po Ying? Take my worship!”
The yellow-robed monk collapsed on his back, his soul scattered!
For a moment, no one dared to go forward.
“Hehehe, I can sense my Life and Death Book nearby. You guys must have found and hidden it, right? Heaven is truly assisting me!”
Shaman God Kui laughed loudly, and a buddha pagoda suddenly trembled and shattered. A book flew out from it, going straight for the golden alms bowl!
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The expression of Little Rulai and the rest of the demon monks changed drastically. They stretched out their hands to grab the book.
It was an item that a monk on the mountain had found by chance. Because they didn’t know what kind of treasure it was and how to use it, they had given it to the sect. Little Rulai and the rest also didn’t know how to use it, just that it possessed extremely great power. Countless souls lingered around the book, so they had suppressed the book in the pagoda.
Never did they expect that it was Shaman God Kui’s item and had a name of Life and Death Book.
When a monk’s hand touched the Life and Death Book, it immediately started to rot. In an instant, it turned into white bones. While that monk hurriedly pulled back his hand, they other monks realized the situation. Each of them executed divine arts to intercept the book, but no one actually managed to hold it back. The book broke through the layers of divine arts on its way to the golden alms bowl.
Little Rulai lifted up the golden alms bowl while clutching a mudra in his other hand. With it, his five fingers were instantly like mountains formed by bolts of lightning which covered the golden alms bowl. Little Rulai planned to first kill Shaman God Kui.
Yet at that moment, Life and Death Book flew over and Little Rulai’s palm began to age rapidly.
Astonished, he threw the golden alms bowl away, and the Life and Death Book chased after it.
“Brother Xu!”
Qin Mu took a step and caught up to the golden alms bowl at an extremely fast speed. In midair, he tapped with his fingers and runes instantly flew out. They were formed by the vital qi and shone brightly in the air while flickering indefinitely.
At the same time, Xu Shenghua also rushed over, and his speed was no slower than that of Qin Mu. His hands moved quickly, and there was vital qi bursting and transforming into runes from his fingers as well. However, his were god writings.
Even though they were the same word, their method of writing was different.
Qin Mu took another step and pointed forward with the other hand. He tapped every four steps, and after the fourth tap, the teleportation runes strung together to form a teleportation divine art, sealing the golden alms bowl within them.
The Life and Death Book whizzed near the golden alms bowls and was swept up by the teleportation divine art which sent it twenty miles away.
On the other side, Xu Shenghua’s flipped his palm up, and hundreds of god writings covered the golden alms bowls. All the different writings spelled a single word: Seal.
That word was completely different from the words of the human race. It brought a strange power with it; after all, Xu Shenghua was the descendant of Jade Sovereign. That man was a god, so he naturally had marvelous techniques that the lower bound couldn’t get.
Xu Shenghua covered the golden alms bowl with nearly a hundred seals, cutting off the connection between Shaman God Kui and the Life and Death Book.
Qin Mu took out the brush from his taotie sack and pulled out a scroll, one side of which he threw to Xu Shenghua. The young man caught it, but it was a piece of white paper.
Qin Mu raised his brush, and its tip moved rapidly. He quickly painted wind and lightning, then threw the golden alms bowl inside.
It then floated around in the wind and lightning.
Next, Qin Mu handed the brush and ink to Xu Shenghua, who raised it to write on the painting. He wrote the seal word in god writing around the wind and lightning.
Qin Mu then took out his own seal from taotie sack and stamped it at the corner of the painting.
Xu Shenghua took out his personal seal too and stamped at the side.
Qin Mu swept up the scroll, and the two of them let out a sigh of relief. In the distance, the devil ape had flown over and snatched the treasure book called Life and Death Book back.
On the golden peak, Little Rulai and the other monks looked at each other in dismay. Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua’s cultivation were not considered high, but their cooperation was flawless.
One of them teleported Life and Death Book away while the other sealed the golden alms bowl to cut off the connection. Qin Mu then raised his brush to paint while Xu Shenghua helped to spread out the scroll. The latter then sealed it, and both of them stamped their seals on it.
This kind of cooperation was as though they had practiced those actions thousands of times. It was as smooth as flowing water.
“The one with the surname Qin, do you dare to report your real name?” Shaman God Kui asked from the painting.
Qin Mu ignored him and spoke to Little Rulai. “Shaman God Kui’s abilities are unpredictable. As long as he knows the name, he can worship your soul away. Rulai didn’t know his power so you suffered a loss. I had planned to get rid of this old devil by going to Yin Mountain, and he even almost escaped from Rulai’s suppression. We should quickly get rid of him to prevent future troubles! Getting rid of him is also huge merit!”
Little Rulai hesitated. “Shaman God Kui is plagued with countless damned souls. If I could enlighten them, it would definitely be supreme merit. If I just kill him, I’m afraid…”
Qin Mu frowned at him. “Now I know that there is a difference between big and little.”
Little Rulai raised his eyebrows. “Cult Master Qin, please return me the golden alms bowl. Old monk shall lead all the monks on the mountain to enlighten him; I don’t believe he will remain that stubborn.”
Qin Mu handed the scroll over to him. Xu Shenghua coughed, but Qin Mu shook his head. They didn’t have the ability to barge out of Little Thunderclap Monastery with the scroll. Trying to leave by force would only bring contempt upon them.
Xu Shenghua could only drop it and say, “Senior Brother Zhan Kong, pass me that Life and Death Book and let me take a look.”
The devil ape gave him the book, and Xu Shenghua was slightly stunned. Life and Death Book wasn’t a book, but an incomparably thin piece of paper. It was strange and glossy like metal. It was extremely bright, reflecting light.
Yet, what was even weirder was that Life and Death Book didn’t have any words or even pictures.
Xu Shenghua’s gaze landed on that blankness, and he could actually see people in front through the mirror-like paper.
“What is this weird book…”
Xu Shenghua’s heart suddenly trembled. Behind Life and Death Book was Jing Yan, and above her figure there was actually a line of words. They said Jing Yan.
Xu Shenghua’s hair stood on ends, and he immediately turned toward Qin Mu. Jing Yan disappeared, replaced by Qin Mu’s figure, and the name that showed up wasn’t Qin Mu, but Qin Fengqing!
“Cult Master Qin!”
Xu Shenghua’s face became solemn. He passed the Life and Death Book to Qin Mu who soon also discovered its use. His heart trembled violently.
His name wasn’t the only one that Life and Death Book could reveal. As long as one of the demon monks on the mountain had a name, it would be shown on the paper!
‘Who can defend against such an item?’
Qin Mu’s blood ran cold. The treasure showed a person’s birth name, the true name!
Little Thunderclap Monastery’s monks were mostly demons, so they usually didn’t have any names before their intelligence was awakened. But once it happened, they became monks and had to have a name.
Their name in religion then resulted in their real name.
What Life and Death Book showed then was their name in religion!
For example, when Qin Mu was young, his good friend the devil ape had no name and was only called the devil ape. Qin Mu and Hu Ling’er often called him big fella. After he joined Little Thunderclap Monastery, only then did he gain his name in religion, Zhan Kong.
In the Life and Death Book, the devil ape’s name was Zhan Kong.
Qin Mu pointed the book at Little Rulai, and he also had his name in religion. It was Yuan Ding.
“With this treasure, won’t Shaman God Kui be able to kill whoever he wants to kill? Not to say Shaman God Kui, even that scoundrel Pangong Tso would become invincible!”
Qin Mu’s heart shivered, and he shone the Life and Death Book on the dragon qilin. On the paper, two words above him—Long Pi.
‘Fatty Dragon actually has a name?’
Qin Mu was astonished. The dragon qilin had been picked up by Patriarch in Great Ruins after having he had starved for many days. Because Patriarch gave him something to eat, he clung to Patriarch. Yet the dragon qilin actually had a name as well. Qin Mu didn’t know if it was Patriarch or his mother who had given it to him.
‘This item has to be destroyed!’
Qin Mu tried to tear it apart without a word, but he couldn’t do it. Xu Shenghua went up and the two of them tugged onto the Life and Death Book, but they still couldn’t tear it apart.
“What are you two doing?” a yellow eyebrowed monk immediately shouted out.
Qin Mu took out his sword pellet and pulled Carefree Sword out. Yet even Carefree Sword couldn’t harm the treasure book. A string of concentrated runes appeared above the book and blocked the blade.
Those runes were extremely strange, and Qin Mu barely took a short glance before they disappeared.
‘They looked like Youdu’s writing! Could this treasure be from Youdu?”
His scalp crawled. Carefree Sword was the treasure of his father, Qin Hanzhen. How powerful was he? Even Saturn Sovereign was severely injured by him, but his sword actually couldn’t harm Life and Death Book!
This meant that it was at the least a treasure of gods and devils that was on the same level as Carefree Sword. It might even be higher!
In that case, it also said that the cultivation of Shaman God Kui was on par with that’s of Qin Hanzhen or even surpassed it!
His abilities were above even Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, this new god!
The yellow-eyebrowed monk went forward and stretched his hand to grab the Life and Death Book. “Cult Master Qin, this treasure is the treasure of our Little Thunderclap Monastery, so please return it to us.”
Qin Mu swept up the Life and Death Book and stuffed it into his taotie sack, secretly throwing it into the true dragon’s nest. He smiled and said, “Little Rulai, when you try to enlighten Shaman God Kui, aren’t you afraid that he will call for this Life and Death Book again? It’s best if you leave it with me for now.”
Little Rulai took a deep look at him and called the yellow- eyebrowed monk back. “Let Cult Master Qin keep it for a few days. Once we enlighten this devil god, we will achieve supreme merit and transcend this realm. There won’t be any birth, growing old, or dying; we will become buddhas. An important matter is at hand, so fellow junior brothers, follow me to enlighten senior brother!”
“Excellent!” all of the monks said in unison.
Little Rulai and the monks fetched all kinds of magic artifacts and hung them up. They first fixed Qin Mu’s painting in place before laying down layers of formations to block Shaman God Kui’s senses. They then started to chant to enlighten him.
Xu Shenghua’s gaze flickered, and he said in a low voice, “Cult Master Qin, should we leave?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I can’t leave. If Shaman God Kui is not enlightened, I won’t be at ease.”
The devil ape nodded, “Dead, ease.”
Qin Mu smiled. “Big fella is right! However, Little Rulai is insistent on enlightening him, but from what I see, it’s going to be very difficult.”
Xu Shenghua rose and said to Jing Yan, “Cult Master worries for the world, but we are floating clouds. There’s no need for us to remain here.”
Jing Yan nodded, and the two of them walked down the mountain.
“I cultivated the eighteenth sword form while you merged Six Directions and Seven Stars Divine Treasure into one. Don’t you want to learn my sword move? I want to learn how you merged Seven Stars and Six Directions into one,” Qin Mu said leisurely.
Xu Shenghua stopped and turned his head back with a smile. “I thought Cult Master won’t mention this since you are arrogant and conceited, not caring about fame and fortune. If you want to learn, I’ll teach you!”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “Don’t you want to learn my eighteenth sword form?”
“I don’t!” Xu Shenghua said bluntly. “My sword skills aren’t that high level, and my main offense isn’t based on them.”
Qin Mu’s face instantly turned black.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“Once I learned Cult Master’s Primordial Spirit Guide, I was greatly influenced. Primordial Spirit Guide is a marvelous technique that cannot be measured. It opens up numerous possibilities for the future!”
Xu Shenghua, Qin Mu, the devil ape, and the rest sat in a temple on the golden peak and talked about Primordial Spirit Guide which Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu had founded. Even this visitor from High Heavens couldn’t help smiling in exultation at it. He was in high spirits and clapped his hands in admiration.
“Primordial Spirit Guide pushed what can be done in Seven Stars Realm forward to Six Directions Realm. In regards to how to cultivate and unleash the power of the primordial spirit in Six Direction Realm, it’s still a blank piece of paper. There are many things that could be done inside, for example, creating all kinds of primordial spirit divine arts. Every kind of divine art created is a huge advancement in the paths, skills, and divine arts. This would then affect all of the realms beyond, like Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge! This is what I admire the most in Cult Master!”
After saying that, even he couldn’t help looking over with respect. “Cult Master and Princess Xiu’s Primordial Spirit Guide could make them teachers of the whole world! He definitely lives up to his reputation as Human Emperor! I revere you, yet at the same time, am frightened. You and I are Overlord Bodies, but you already achieved something like that, so what must I do to not fall behind you?”
Xu Shenghua smiled and said leisurely. “Your Primordial Spirit Guide has created countless possibilities for the paths, skills, and divine arts so I chose the biggest challenge, and it was to merge Seven Stars Realms and Six Directions Realm.”
“Merging two realms together involves too many things; it’s equivalent to destroying a realm. How did you do it?” Qin Mu asked solemnly.
“There are a total of seven treasures: Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge. Among them, Spirit Embryo awakens the spirituality, allowing spirit embryo to take shape as the core for opening up the heaven and earth.”
“When the spirit embryo is set on the spirit platform as the core, five elements are born. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, these five stars orbit around the spirit platform.
“Then, when it gives rise to land, there will be north, south, east, west, up, and down—these six directions.
“Once they come into existence, sun and moon is born, which increases the number of stars to seven.
“With seven stars and the spirit embryo complete, they become a celestial being.
“The primordial spirit of a celestial being is strong enough to connect life and death. Death is Youdu under the primordial spirit’s feet, hidden under the land of the spirit platform. When Youdu is formed, that’s life and death.
“Life is then the divine bridge which stretches above the primordial spirit and leads to the celestial palaces. After entering them, a person will leave the control of Youdu and no longer have a limited lifespan.”
While Xu Shenghua explained the marvel of the seven great realms, Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. His understanding of the realms that Xu Shenghua had explained was pretty similar. However, there was a slight difference on Seven Stars Realm.
The sun and moon in Qin Mu’s divine treasure were long formed, before Seven Stars Realm. This point had seemed different from ordinary cultivation, but Qin Mu treated it as a unique point of the Overlord Body and didn’t put it to heart.
“In that case, how did you merge Six Directions and Seven Stars into one?” he asked sincerely.
Xu Shenghua smiled and said, “Reverse deduction.”
Qin Mu’s body trembled and he let out a shaky breath. “Smart!”
“I imagined myself standing at the Southern Heavenly Gates of the celestial palaces, overlooking the seven great realms. From that height, the seven great realms were ultimately just one,” Xu Shenghua said leisurely.
“Seven Great Divine Treasures is actually only one divine treasure separated into seven. If a person was strong enough, they could turn seven divine treasures into one, opening all just by opening one and enter the celestial palaces directly! However, no one can possess that terrifying power when they are born. But the Primordial Spirit Guide that Cult Master and Princess Xiu founded makes it possible for Seven Stars and Six Directions to become one divine treasure.”
“It’s easy to say but hard to execute. Between different divine treasures lies a realm and a barrier separating them. Merging the divine treasures means to merge the realms and break the barrier. How did you manage to break the barrier between the two divine treasures and make them into one?” Qin Mu said.
“To merge the two great divine treasures into one and break the barrier in advance, one has to mainly rely on their primordial spirit to forcefully merge the two great divine treasures into one. For this, I founded Seven Stars Six Directions Primordial Spirit Technique on the foundation of Cult Master’s Primordial Spirit Guide.”
He executed his primordial spirit technique, and a violent aura instantly rushed into the sky. His vital qi formed visions.
A lotus was born under Xu Shenghua’s feet, and his spirit embryo appeared inside it. The lotus was the spirit platform. It swirled and bloomed, transforming into a lotus land in an instant.
At the same time, his five elements flew out, and the five stars orbited around the lotus land. Five gods stood on the five stars, and they all had different kinds of faces.
The qi of yin and yang then transformed into sun and moon to soar into the sky. When they joined the five elements, there were seven stars.
The spirit embryo became larger and larger while standing upright on the lotus land. Multicolored sunlight shone from the lotus and connected Five Elements with Seven Stars!
Qin Mu instantly felt his primordial spirit standing upright between the heaven and earth. With it as the hub, vital qi moved along bizarre trajectories, and the barrier between the divine treasures could no longer be seen!
What Xu Shenghua had opened was the connection between heaven and earth!
Seven Stars and Six Directions were two separate great divine treasures, but Seven Stars Six Directions Primordial Spirit Technique connected the heaven and earth and obliterated the barrier between the heaven and earth completely!
Qin Mu rose, and his vital qi raged as he shouted, “Brother Xu, let me see to which step your cultivation has risen after merging the two great realms!”
He executed Thunderclap Eight Strikes’s Spring Thunder on the Lonely East Sea and punched. Furious sea waves surged while spring thunder exploded and rang throughout the mountain range.
Xu Shenghua raised his hand to receive his move, and both of their bodies shook. Qin Mu took a step back with a look of astonishment.
The density of Xu Shenghua’s vital qi had been a line lower than his, but after merging the two great realms, he was actually a line higher than him!
The merger of the two great realms was indeed extraordinary!
Xu Shenghua dispersed the vision and explained the technique he had founded.
Qin Mu’s expression changed. Xu Shenghua’s Seven Stars Six Directions Primordial Spirit Technique mainly relied on the spirit embryo. Its fusion with the soul would transform it into the primordial spirit.
The primordial spirit would then become the center of the four great divine treasures and connect the hub of Seven Stars and Six Directions, mobilizing all of the energy in the four great divine treasures. It would refine the barrier between the heaven and earth, merging the two realms into one.
‘In that case, all of the barriers between the divine treasures can be broken. When it comes to Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, the seven great divine treasures would become one…’
Qin Mu was in a daze.
His Primordial Spirit Guide was a start, and Xu Shenghua’s Seven Stars Six Directions Primordial Spirit Technique was taking two to three steps from that point. What lay before them were countless possibilities, for Seven Stars and Six Directions were no the only ones who could merge. Even the barrier between Spirit Embryo and Five Elements could be removed!
Celestial Being, Life and Death, Divine Bridge—the barriers of these realms could also all be removed!
If one cultivated to Divine Bridge Realm and fused Celestial Being Realm to create access to Life and Death, the Seven Great Divine Treasures would all become one. There would no longer be any difference in realm!
If that was the case, it would definitely lead to a huge reform!
The abilities of all the divine arts practitioners in the world would rise by a lot!
And the change brought by the rise of the divine arts practitioners’ abilities would also be extraordinary.
“Wanting to break all of the barriers, that would probably take dozens or even a couple hundred years of hard work; however, now we’re seeing the dawn. Brother Xu, you have done a remarkable deed…” Qin Mu muttered.
“If it wasn’t for Cult Master’s Primordial Spirit Guide, I wouldn’t have been able to take this step. Cult Master, it was you and Princess Xiu who did a remarkable deed,” Xu Shenghua said humbly
Qin Mu laughed loudly. Xu Shenghua had no idea that the reason he was able to comprehend Primordial Spirit Guide was mainly because of the encounter on the pleasure boat. When the two of them had met for the first time, they had clashed to test the other. Only with his mind agitated from the encounter was Qin Mu able to cultivate the primordial spirit with Ling Yuxiu.
Based on that, Xu Shenghua had some indirect credit in Primordial Spirit Guide founding.
Suddenly, rumblings of thunder came from their side as the devil ape’s body expanded. He couldn’t help revealing his true form, changing into a pitch black violent ape that was as big as a small mountain!
After Xu Shenghua explained Seven Stars Six Directions Primordial Spirit Technique, the devil ape had executed his primordial spirit and operated it according to the technique.
Everyone jumped in shock and moved back, watching as the primordial spirit of the devil ape rumbled. Xu Shenghua’s technique was actually operated smoothly by him, and he was planning to merge Six Directions and Seven Stars!
Xu Shenghua’s heart trembled, and he took a look at Qin Mu. “Cult Master, isn’t the aptitude of Senior Brother Zhan Kong a little too good?”
Qin Mu suppressed the astonishment in his heart and raised his head to look at the abnormally huge body of the devil ape. “His thoughts are without any impurities. In the past, he had also learned Thunderclap Eight Strikes of Great Thunderclap Monastery much faster than me. Because his thoughts are focused, his advancement in cultivation is extremely fast and fierce.”
“Could he be Overlord Body as well?” Xu Shenghua asked suspiciously.
The physique of the devil ape was naturally strong, and his cultivation was dense. When executing the primordial spirit, he was brave and fierce as well as incomparably overbearing.
He had received Old Rulai’s teachings who taught him Rulai’s Mahayana Scriptures. He then followed Little Rulai to cultivate. He had received the teachings from the two supreme masters of Buddhism so the foundation of his cultivation was very deep.
However, even though his thoughts were pure, he was much inferior in breaking new ground compared to Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua. Qin Mu’s thoughts were complicated, but he could usually comprehend new things by analogy and found new cultivation methods.
Xu Shenghua’s thoughts were much more conforming, but what he learned was more heterogeneous. His unyielding spirit was also forced out by Qin Mu, so he was able to found his primordial spirit technique on Qin Mu’s foundation.
As for the devil ape, he didn’t have this kind of comprehension, but he learned other people’s techniques extremely fast.
The three of them cultivated in three different kinds of way.
The devil ape only learned and didn’t seek to understand. As long as he could cultivate, he would immediately cultivate. Xu Shenghua was fusion, seeking to understand and gain more understanding. Qin Mu, on the other hand, was a pathmaker: When there was no path ahead, he would open up one.
Qin Mu also has his weak points. After opening a path, he would usually go and do other things instead of continuing on that path. Because of that, the one who founded Seven Stars Six Directions Primordial Spirit Technique was Xu Shenghua and not him.
The techniques and divine arts that Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua founded, the devil ape was, however, the fastest to learn. Before Qin Mu could even start to cultivate the primordial spirit technique, Zhan Kong was already starting to break the barrier of the realms.
Qin Mu immediately abandoned other thoughts and focused on cultivating the primordial spirit technique, striving to break the barrier between Six Directions and Seven Stars Realm.
Two days later, he finally broke through, and only then did he open his eyes. He saw Xu Shenghua and the devil ape fighting among the mountains with abnormal fierceness. Beside them, there were demon monks of all sizes standing in a circle and cheering.
Qin Mu was about to rush over when he heard a familiar voice coming from the bottom of the mountain. “Little Thunderclap Monastery, what big guts you’ve got! How dare you steal the primordial spirit of my master? Listen up, bald donkeys on the mountain, hand the primordial spirit of my master over or I will wipe out your whole sect!”
Qin Mu looked down and saw Pangong Tso walking up the mountain with his legs bent backward. His half-crooked and half-squatting movement was extremely eye-catching when he walked.
‘This brat, didn’t I chop off just one of his legs? Why is his other leg changed as well?’
Qin Mu was overjoyed to see him and sent his sword flying without any warning. It whizzed past dozens of miles toward its target.
Pangong Tso had just attached his buck’s legs, so he couldn’t react in time. When he saw the sword light and wanted to avoid, it was already too late. After sprinting two steps, he saw that the sword light had already come to his front from the back.
He hurriedly looked back and saw his two buck’s legs sprinting frantically behind him.
“You motherf*cker!”
Pangong Tso’s body fell to the ground and became a huge chunk shorter. He raised his head to shout angrily, “Qin brat, you and I cannot exist together!”
“It’s a small world!” Qin Mu called his sword back where he stood on the golden peak with his arms on his waist. He laughed loudly and said, “Grandmaster is really courteous, even bringing two buck legs to treat me. How can little brother bear to reject you? I can only accept it!”
At that moment, a youth carrying a chest walked over from the mountain gate and raised his head to look at Qin Mu at the golden peak. There was a smile on his pure face.
“Great Divine Physician Qin, it really is a small world. We meet again.”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Xing An was carrying his chest as usual. He was still a youth in white, just like the Xing An that Qin Mu had met in the fruit forest. Yet the two of them looked completely different, like two people who had no connection with one another.
Qin Mu’s heart shook. The only person in the world that he might fear, besides Eternal Peace, was Xing An.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a saint and had his own principles when doing things. People who blocked his path would be gotten rid of, but as long as one didn’t get in his way, he would remain their good friend.
Xing An was different.
His only goal was to collect. It was the collecting of the corporeal body parts of strong practitioners that had reached god realm in a certain area that urged him on!
His hobby was to take things he wanted from other people, but he wouldn’t kill them. Instead, he would rear them in hopes for a second harvest.
He was unimaginably strong.
Heavenly Saint Cult was still not Heavenly Saint Cult of old, but all the strongest experts in the world were gathered there. It could be said that half of Eternal Peace Empire’s strong practitioners had gathered at that time, along with over a dozen flood dragons that were of Divine Bridge Realm. Yet all of them had suffered a miserable defeat under that man’s hand. In the end, they had to rely on the supplement Qin Mu refined to achieve victory.
Even so, Li Tianxing, the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, had still died in battle, leaving Granny Si alone.
After that battle, the people who were severely injured had to lie in beds for over ten days.
Xing An’s battle power was something Qin Mu had never seen before.
On top of that, Xing An was brimming with innate talent and had comprehended all kinds of paths, skills, and divine arts to extremely high realms. His creation technique was taught to him by Pangong Tso and even Qin Mu didn’t reach his height!
This kind of existence was too terrifying.
Qin Mu turned back to look at the golden peak and saw buddha rays rushing into the sky. The demon monks on the mountains nearby were in all kinds of poses. They all sat or crouched and some even stood on one leg, their wings spread. Most were in different poses and with different expressions. They were currently executing buddhist skills together with Little Rulai to enlighten Shaman God Kui.
In the sky above the golden peak, buddha rays condensed into physical substance, and like a golden flood, it gathered to form a golden lotus platform. On it, twenty heavens appeared with buddhas and gods of all sizes. They were all awe-inspiring and reserved. Dharma was widespread, the activity was astonishing, and the buddha voice vibrated endlessly!
‘Such glorious and imposing Dharma is completely useless in front of Xing An,’ Qin Mu thought to himself.
Since Little Thunderclap Monastery’s experts were all suppressing and enlightening Shaman God Kui, they didn’t have time to care about Xing An. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be his match.
‘Even though Little Thunderclap Monastery has a few great demons of cult master level, when faced with a terrifying character like Xing An, they could only delay for time. Based on Little Rulai’s character, he might not even help me.’ Qin Mu composed himself. ‘The only one I can rely on now is myself. Poison, Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique, I wonder if they could deal with him…’
He was not too confident.
Xu Shenghua and the devil ape also noticed what was happening and hurriedly flew over.
“Who’s the one carrying the chest?” Xu Shenghua was astonished and asked in a low voice, “How strong! Is he a god?”
Qin Mu’s expression became solemn. “He’s much harder to deal with than a god. Every part of his body is on the god realm, and that includes his blood, his primordial spirit, and his vital qi. Besides, I have yet to find his source…”
Xu Shenghua jumped in shock. “True God?”
“No, but close.” Qin Mu gritted his teeth.
Xing An walked up the mountain at a leisurely pace while carrying the chest. Pangong Tso had clamped the blood vessels in his legs and was sprinting frantically up on his hands to catch up with him.
As for the two buck legs, he didn’t go and pick them up.
“Old Brother Xing An, now you know I wasn’t lying to you, right?” Pangong Tso smiled and said, “I sensed its presence here, so the bald donkeys must have kidnapped my master’s primordial spirit. Look at those buddha rays, those lawless fellows must be trying to purify my master.”
Xing An shook his head. “They aren’t trying to purify him, but to enlighten him. Little Rulai is a divine arts practitioners with a decent cultivation, on par with Daoist Ling Jing. When I chased after that guy for his divine blood, he said that Little Rulai had already cultivated vital qi that’s equivalent to that of a god. I feel Little Rulai is worthy to be added to my collection as well; however, hidden symptoms had already shown up on my body by then so I didn’t lay my hands on him.”
Pangong Tso supported himself with his hands after him. Even though Xing An’s footsteps looked slow, his speed was very fast. This tired Pangong Tso out.
He smiled apologetically. “After you receive my master’s primordial spirit and kill Great Divine Physician Qin to take your revenge, will you fulfill your promise?”
“Don’t worry, I will definitely give you what I promised,” Xing An said indifferently. He had a strange gaze as he thought to himself, ‘After he attaches the two legs, I’ll chop them off again. This way, I won’t be breaking my promise.’
Buddha rays shone even brighter on the golden peak, and the lotus seemed to be lifted up by an immense strength. The buddha rays under the lotus throne flowed over in all direction like a flood, giving off deafening sounds of waves crashing against coastal cliffs!
“Bald donkey, a strong practitioner has come to the bottom of the mountain. I’m not going to play around with you guys anymore!”
Shaman God Kui’s voice was world-shaking, and his rolling devil qi rose into the air. The pitch black qi dispersed the buddha rays, and the lotus covering the golden peak shook from the impact. Above it, the twenty heavens were also shaking, and the apparitions of gods and buddhas in the heavens were flickering as though they could vanish anytime.
“Stabilize the formation!” Little Rulai’s ordered from below the lotus. The demon monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery chanted loudly with resounding buddha voice. Buddha rays surged out from the surroundings, becoming even more intense.
Buddha rays condensed into hoops and flowed toward the golden lotus. These trails of buddha rays were like the roots of the lotus, fluttering over from the golden peak and the other mountain peaks.
Shaman God Kui yelled angrily in a cryptic devil voice. It was extremely awkward-sounding yet had exotic prosody. This stunned Qin Mu. ‘This isn’t the devil language I learned before; its syllables are similar to the Youdu language! Is Shaman God Kui really from Youdu?’
He didn’t know much about Youdu language. He had only learned one sentence before, taught by Dutian Devil King. As for whether or not it was Youdu language that was coming from Shaman God Kui’s mouth, he wasn’t clear.
The devil voice from Shaman God Kui’s mouth became even more resounding and sinister. Suddenly, a door appeared beside the lotus throne. Traces of black light leaked out and fought against the twenty heavens.
Creak.
Piercing sounds rang out and a gap actually opened up. Then, buddha voice came bombarding over and shut the door.
Boom!
Shaman God Kui’s body suddenly expanded and rose up from the golden alms bowl. He lifted up the lotus throne and shouted angrily, “If not for my disciple scheming against me and separating my corporeal body and primordial spirit, how would I have been suppressed by you bald donkeys!”
The two sides were stuck in a deadlock. Little Rulai then shouted out, and a sarira flew out from the heart of his brows. It rushed into the apparition of the twenty heavens.
They were only apparitions, but the sarira seemed to fly for a very long distance inside.
In the apparition of the heavens, a buddha suddenly grabbed that sarira and held it in his hand. He then let go of it, and the sarira floated in the air. Under its shine, the lotus throne and the twenty heavens seemed to condense into physical substance.
The buddha voice from those twenty heavens instantly became resounding and made Shaman God Kui kneel down.
Xing An’s eyes became bright and his breath became hurried. He praised, “Grandmaster, your master is indeed remarkable. The quality of his primordial spirit is extremely high; I want it! The monks are not bad as well. Looks like Little Rulai’s vital qi is as that Daoist Ling Jing said and has reached god realm. His Dharma is so dense that he’s about to open the twenty heavens.”
Pangong Tso’s heart trembled slightly, and he cried out, “Senior Brother Xing An, what you mean is that Little Rulai is almost able to open up the buddha realm?”
“I had once barged into Great Thunderclap Monastery to hold Old Rulai captive while I snatched Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda which had numerous Rulai corporeal bodies that had reached god realm.”
Xing An walked to the golden peak, disregarding Qin Mu, Xu Shenghua, and the devil ape. He raised his head to look at the lotus throne and Shaman God Kui and said leisurely, “However, even though Old Rulai was not my match, with the resonation of Dharma which activated those corporeal bodies of the past rulais, he forced open the twenty heavens of Buddha Realm.
“Tsk tsk, it was truly strong and I barely managed to leave. Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect both are extraordinary and have a dense foundation, so it’s hard to barge in them. Even though Little Rulai’s cultivation is high, he doesn’t have Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda. With just a mountain full of demon monks, he can’t open the twenty heavens of Buddha Realm. However, he sent his sarira to Buddha Realm to guide the power of true buddha over, which is not easy.”
Qin Mu greeted Xing An and said in astonishment, “Great Thunderclap Monastery still has such methods?”
Xing An slowly stroked and severed the trails of buddha light under the lotus. The lotus instantly withered, and the twenty heavens also gradually faded and vanished.
Little Rulai and the rest of the monks jumped in shock and turned to look at Xing An. Little Rulai got up and signaled for the monks to not move recklessly while he walked over.
Xing An was unconcerned and turned his head over to greet Qin Mu. “That’s right, Great Divine Physician Qin.”
Even though he had a deep grudge with Qin Mu, he was still very polite and didn’t forget his etiquette. Qin Mu was full of admiration for him.
Pangong Tso also came to the golden peak. With his hands propping his body up, he smiled. “Old Brother Qin, I trust you have been well since we last met?”
“Thanks to your blessing, I’m very well,” Qin Mu said. “Grandmaster, your master, Shaman God Kui, is right here and most of the soul bugs in his body have been refined. When enemies come face to face, their eyes blaze with hate. Aren’t you afraid of your master worshiping you to death?”
Pangong Tso stood on the ground with his two broken legs and returned the greeting with a smile. “How would it make sense for a master to worship the disciple? Right, master?”
The sound of teeth grinding came from Shaman God Kui’s mouth.
Little Rulai walked over and Xing An greeted him. “Xing An pays his respects to Rulai Yuan Ding.”
Little Rulai’s face changed slightly, and he returned the greeting. “Is Senior Brother Xing An here to take my life?”
“I’m not. I’m here to take Divine Physician Qin’s life, Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit, and Rulai Yuan Ding’s vital qi cultivation. I rarely kill. Besides this little brat who needs to die, everyone else can live as long as they don’t retaliate,” Xing An said with delight.
Qin Mu kept quiet in anger.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Above the surrounding mountains, demon clouds surged and rose from the temples. The eminent demon monks all rode on their clouds toward the golden peak, overflowing with murderous intent.
Xing An’s aura was strong enough for nearly all the monks in Little Thunderclap Monastery to learn about his arrival, so they hurried over.
Xing An stood on the golden peak of Little Thunderclap Monastery as though he had come into an unmanned territory. He disregarded the numerous demon monks rushing over and smiled. “Why is everyone coming to die? The only one on this mountain that needs to die is only Great Divine Physician Qin. Let us settle our grudge first.”
Pangong Tso was delighted and took two steps forward with his hands. He raised his head and said ruthlessly, “Divine Physician Qin, Senior Brother Xing An is calling you, so why aren’t you coming up to die?”
Jing Yan looked at Xu Shenghua and in with a low voice, “Young Master…”
Xu Shenghua frowned. He had no good ideas in such a situation. Little Rulai couldn’t sacrifice all the experts of Little Thunderclap Monastery, so he definitely wouldn’t help. His own cultivation was also much inferior to that of Xing An, so he was completely helpless as well.
Qin Mu raised his hand and stopped the devil ape who was about to rush forward. He took a step forward and probed, “Senior Brother Xing An, if I free you of your hidden symptoms, could I escape death?”
Pangong Tso seemed to have heard the most ridiculous thing and burst out laughing. “Little Qin brat, you are daydrea—”
“Alright.” Xing An was delighted and said, “If you can free me of my hidden symptoms, it’s not a big deal to let you off.”
Pangong Tso was flabbergasted. He turned his head around and stuttered, “Senior Brother Xing An is joking, right?”
Xu Shenghua was also flabbergasted. It took him a moment to come back to his senses.
“I don’t really have to kill him. To me, it’s natural for a prey to fight back. The previous time, his partners had fought back and injured me, forcing me to have no choice but to retreat. As a matter of fact, I extremely admire them. However, if Divine Physician Qin doesn’t want to die, h will have to return all the body parts to me,” Xing An said leisurely.
“Alright! But some parts I have already returned to their owners.” After he said that, he took out the true dragon’s nest and took out all the body parts that he still possessed.
“That’s nothing. Since you returned them, I’ll just have to take them back.”
Xing An walked forward and checked all of them one by one. When he checked up to the leg that Qin Mu had poisoned, he hesitated for a moment. When he raised his head to look at Qin Mu, his gaze flickered. “This leg seems to be different compared to before. Divine Physician Qin, I’m also skilled in the art of healing, and this leg had definitely been touched.”
Qin Mu went forward to check it and scratched his head. “I had attached this leg to someone before. Look, I made an incision here.”
Xing An narrowed his eyes and examined his expression, but he simply couldn’t see any flaw. However, he was still fearful if Qin Mu’s expertise.
“Grandmaster, I still owe you a leg, so connect this one back first.” He threw the poisoned leg to Pangong Tso whose face turned yellow. “Qin brat, you poisoned the leg, right? Tell me honestly! Senior Brother Xing An, can I not accept this leg? I’ll definitely die if I attach it! Let’s not talk about the incision. I don’t want anything he even came close to!”
Xing An took the leg back and said indifferently, “I gave it to you, but you didn’t want it. Now I only owe one leg.”
Pangong Tso grunted, conflicted. He then said, “Give it to me still. Let me check if there’s poison first…”
Xing An threw the leg to him and opened his chest where he put away the rest of the body parts. His then looked at Qin Mu before going to Xu Shenghua and finally the devil ape. He was full of praises at the sight. “Everyone here is a talent, so if I came to reap harvest once you guys achieved success, wouldn’t that be fun? Grandmaster, you need to cultivate hard as well. Don’t let the younger generation ride over you.”
Pangong Tso’s chest was blazing with fury, but he had nowhere to vent. He gave a dull grunt and kept quiet.
Xing An looked at the golden alms bowl which had already been taken out of Qin Mu’s painting by Little Rulai and the other monks. It was hanging in the air with Shaman God Kui standing on a tiny devil cloud, his arms crossed. The lower half of his body was a dark cloud that was suppressed in the alms bowl.
Shaman God Kui looked at Xing An and sneered.
“Shaman God Kui, Grandmaster once used your primordial spirit to worship me,” Xing An said with a smile. “I shall give you another chance now, worship me again. Let me see if you can kill me by worshiping.”
“Your true name is already revealed, so it’s easy to worship you to death. However, I’m not in a hurry. I still want to see how you jump up and down and show all of your ugly sides. Everyone on this mountain will find it hard to escape death so why should I be impatient?”
Xing An smiled lightly and looked at Little Rulai. “The main dish should be eaten last. Shaman God Kui is the main dish while Rulai Yuan Ding is the appetizer. Rulai, are you going to fight back?”
Little Rulai put his palms together and said, “Senior Brother Xing An had said my name in religion in front of Shaman God Kui so I’m destined to head to heaven. Even if I don’t die under the hands of Senior Brother Xing An, I will still have to die under the worship of Shaman God Kui. To a monk, the four elements are vanity so it’s not a big deal if you take away my cultivation. It’s just that if I die, Little Thunderclap Monastery will probably be wiped out. I don’t bear to see my demon race getting wiped out, so Senior Brother Xing An, please.”
His aura suddenly became incomparably vigorous and his body trembled. The buddha rays behind him formed rings with the twenty heavens in them.
At that moment, the aura of Little Rulai was like that of a mountain covered with buddha treasures that were incomparably heavy. Behind him, a primordial spirit leaped out. It had a huge head and small body. Lumps covered its head with round glaring eyes whose gaze was incomparably bright. There was also a goat’s horn that was curving upwards on its forehead!
The primordial spirit had goat’s hooves yet its head looked like that of a qilin. It was solemn and dignified, with an extraordinary presence.
Upon meeting its gaze, everyone’s hearts filled with guilt and they didn’t dare to look at it directly.
The long horn was straight and incomparably sharp. When Pangong Tso saw it, his face changed tremendously and fear was born in his heart. He immediately avoided the primordial spirit’s gaze.
He had sinned too much and felt like he could be struck by that horn at any time.
“So eminent monk is a xiezhi who has achieved his path.” Xing An was delighted at seeing his prey and praised it. “No wonder your cultivation is so strong! You are even considered a sacred beast! Even though I have a large collection, I don’t possess such a sacred demon like you.”
Little Rulai shouted out, and his vital qi exploded. Lightning gathered in the sky and burst among the surging demon clouds, forming a divine bridge that shone with rays of light that lit up the mountain range.
His xiezhi primordial spirit leaped up and came to the end of the divine bridge to stand among the demon clouds. Lightning bathed its body, so it looked to be half buddha and half xiezhi as though it was a xiezhi god. The primordial spirit became larger and larger, its hand pressing down to cover half of Little Mount Meru.
Xing An’s body didn’t move as his own divine bridge stretched across the sky. His primordial spirit stepped on the divine bridge and rushed to the great buddha primordial spirit in midair.
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched. Xing An’s primordial spirit had changed again; it was completely different from one in the battle at Heavenly Saint Academy.
This time, his primordial spirit was a tortoise-backed Daoist that had a flying serpent coiled around him.
Boom!
Ten thousand lightning bolts burst forth, and the primordial spirits clashed in midair. Snow bright lighting struck in all directions. Every strike created nets of lightning, clearly distinguishing the between two attributes.
Dark was the shadow of the mountains, trees, and various hall, while white was the light of the lightning.
Little Rulai moved, and Xing An also didn’t stay still. The two divine bridges in the sky moved along with them, the primordial spirits also changing their location.
After a moment, a loud explosion rang out, and the xiezhi god fell from the divine bridge and crashed into the golden peak. Terrifying air currents burst forth in all directions and shook everyone.
Blood leaked out from the corner of Little Rulai’s mouth, and he shook his robes to pull the winds into his sleeves to prevent them from injuring the demon monks on the mountain.
“I’ve lost. Senior Brother Xing An, just take my cultivation.”
Little Rulai pulled his primordial spirit and divine bridge back. His face was pale white, and the demon monks in the temple hurriedly rose into the sky and rushed toward the golden peak with murderous intent.
Little Rulai sat down in the lotus position, and his corporeal body became large to restrain everyone. “Junior brothers, once my divine treasures are taken, it will be hard for me to escape death. After I die, go to Great Thunderclap Monastery. Rulai Ma of Great Thunderclap Monastery is my disciple’s nephew. He has a wide breadth of mind and will take you guys in.”
The demon monks felt grief and cried bitterly as they prostrated themselves on the ground.
Xing An pulled back his primordial spirit and divine bridge while saying leisurely, “Why is everyone griefing? I don’t like to kill. I’m only taking Rulai Yuan Ding’s cultivation and not his life, so there’s no need for grief. On top of that, I’m also taking away Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit. Don’t worry, your Rulai won’t die. Rulai Yuan Ding, please open up your divine treasures.”
Little Rulai was calm while his body trembled violently as loud rumbles burst forth. The divine treasures in his body opened one after another, and intense treasure light burst forth from his body, lighting up the entire mountain. He said solemnly, “Senior Brother Xing An, feel free to take it.”
As Xing An walked up, the sky turned black as the darkness flooded in from the west. It swamped the towering mountains and precipitous ridges, drowning out Great Ruins.
Xing An looked at the darkness above Little Mount Meru and said, “Great Ruins is truly mysterious.”
He walked forward with his hands gently pulled to the sides. Sword lights flew out from his palms and were about to slice Little Rulai’s divine treasures when Shaman God Kui laughed loudly. “Yuan Ding, take my worship!”
The tiny devil cloud above the golden alms bowl suddenly transformed into a sacrificial altar. Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit then bowed his head in worship.
Little Rulai’s face changed tremendously while Xing An sneered. “Trying to kill him in front of me? Dream on!”
The sword lights in his hand slashed down, and Little Rulai’s body was instantly wrapped by trails of mysterious light. It formed layers of seals, and countless runes transformed to trap Little Rulai.
When Shaman God Kui bowed on the sacrificial altar, Little Rulai gave a dull grunt. Even with Xing An’s seals, his primordial spirit was almost worshiped out of his body. His primordial spirit had split apart, and his soul nearly scattered.
Xing An’s expression changed. He pushed a palm forward and smacked the sacrificial altar.
Shaman God Kui laughed loudly and rose to worship him. Xing An’s primordial spirit trembled, and his soul instantly disintegrated. He collapsed to the ground without any breath left.
The golden alms bowl gave a loud crack and split into pieces. Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit jumped out while laughing loudly. “Mere mortals, just clay chickens and pottery dogs, unable to withstand a single blow. You thought I wanted to kill Yuan Ding to throw your face, but it was you I wanted to kill! Good disciple, come over!”
Pangong Tso hugged the leg he had been given and shivered.
At that moment, Xing An’s chest moved, and his eyes opened up. He sat up straight with a smile. “Superb shaman spells!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“That’s not right, I had clearly worshiped your soul to death. How are you still alive?” Shaman God Kui looked at Xing An who was sitting up and asked suspiciously, “Could your name not be Xing An? That’s not right, your soul had clearly disintegrated from my worship earlier. Since your soul disintegrated, you can’t be alive! What method did you use to make your dispersed soul gather back together once more? Your divine arts sure is…”
He circled around Xing An while pondering over it. “I felt your soul crumbling just now and another one coming out from your chest to enter your corpse, reviving you. But I have doubts. If your soul died, even if another one was put into your body, you would no longer be you. How did you preserve your consciousness?”
Xing An stood up and looked at Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit with an abnormal gaze while starting to move as well.
Shaman God Kui was circling around him, and he was also circling around Shaman God Kui. Their circles were one big and one small as though they were two stars orbiting around each other.
Xu Shenghua looked at Qin Mu and recalled how he had been defeated once. Back then, Qin Mu had used his qi to guide him, his aura to suppress him, and the changes in his body motion when moving to exhaust him.
That time, Xu Shenghua had suffered a miserable defeat, and before they could even exchange moves once, Xu Shenghua coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground. Afterward, it was that same Qin Mu who treated him and made him owe a large amount of money, so he would have to choice but to forge to earn money.
Now, the method that Shaman God Kui and Xing An were using was similar to Qin Mu’s method, but it was even more profound.
Xing An stared at Shaman God Kui full of praises. “Truly wonderful, Shaman God Kui, you are truly a wonderful piece of art! None of the primordial spirits I collected over these years are as strong as you. Shaman God Kui, you shall be the best piece in my collection!”
“Collect me?” The two of them had already walked into the air from the ground. Shaman God Kei sneered and said, “Do you think I’m a god statue made from mud? My magic power is incomparably vigorous and my battle power is unmatched. I’m a not a fake god from the fake celestial heavens, but a god from the true celestial heavens!
“I’ve wiped out the old dynasty of the fake celestial heavens and countless powerful beings. Wherever I passed by, corpses filled the ground, and the sea of blood has no end! You are merely a little thing that cultivated a strange technique and is going around acting ostentatiously and swindling people, just like a trickster walking the martial world.
“But I know your tricks. What had flown out from the chest earlier was only seven spirits, but no three souls. Your souls are still yours, but you have snatched other people’s seven spirits.”
Qin Mu’s expression changed slightly. ‘Xing An’s source is his three souls? He had cultivated his three souls to god? In that case, his three souls might not be hidden in the chest.’
Xing An’s expression changed slightly as well, and he praised, “Truly wonderful, Shaman God Kui. You are making me admire you more and more. When you worshiped me to death just now, the marvel of your ability was also seen through by me. The so-called soul worship shaman spell doesn’t disintegrate the soul of the opponent, but separates the seven spirits.
“The people who are worshipped to death still have their souls, just that they are controlled by you through force. Otherwise, why would there be so many damned souls lingering around your body? Your shaman spell is merely a kind of abnormally strong soul divine art!”
Little Rulai’s body trembled, and he said in a low voice, “I see.”
Numerous demon monks guarded him while suppressing his souls and spirits which could disintegrate at any time. When they heard what Xing An said, they were instantly enlightened as though they had seen the light.
The paths, skills, and divine arts of Buddhism were different from normal ones. Buddha eyes could allow them to see the damned souls, and they had long seen countless souls plaguing Shaman God Kui. Because of that, they felt that enlightening Shaman God Kui would be a huge merit which could be used to open the twenty heavens of Buddha Realm so they would turn into buddhas.
Just by knowing the name, Shaman God Kui could worship the opponent and scatter their spirits. His shaman spell was incomparably powerful, but they hadn’t managed to connect the souls lingering around him to his soul worship shaman spell.
Qin Mu’s mind throbbed. Xing An was indeed remarkable!
Shaman God Kui had worshiped him twice. The first time, it was Pangong Tso who had executed soul worship shaman spell and didn’t manage to worship him to death. The second time was the worship just now, which ‘killed’ Xing An straightaway.
After seeing Shaman God Kui’s divine art just twice, he managed to see through its marvel!
This kind of aptitude and comprehension was simply remarkable!
‘His aptitude and comprehension are no inferior to those of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor! A pity this person uses all his effort in searching for strong practitioners close to god level, gathering the corporeal body pieces of others. If he spent all his effort on cultivating… En, he would have died from old age; after all, the divine bridge is broken… Wait a minute!’
Qin Mu trembled, and a look of disbelief flashed through his eyes.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was an existence that had the strongest comprehension and aptitude he had seen. His boldness was unmatched, so he was famous throughout the world even before the reform. He was acclaimed as the saint that appears once every five hundred years by Old Rulai and Old Dao Master!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was currently in his prime, so there had to be someone with that title before him.
‘It couldn’t be…”
Qin Mu’s expression was weird. Xing An’s aptitude was so high that only Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could be on par with him. Didn’t that mean that the saint that appears once every five hundred years during Village Chief’s era was Xing An?
‘That’s very possible! Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also has the addiction of collecting other people’s body parts!”
Qin Mu formed fists. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had collected Cripple’s leg before!
In midair, Shaman God Kui suddenly began fighting with Xing An, and the sky above Mount Meru was torn apart by divine arts. Even though Shaman God Kui couldn’t worship him to death, he was the primordial spirit of a god. He had incomparably powerful cultivation and divine arts. They were mainly soul divine arts with some other spell type.
The power of his spell divine arts was incomparably powerful to even tear apart the darkness, revealing the strange faces within it.
For spell divine arts to reach such a level even without a corporeal body, his battle power far surpassed that of Little Rulai.
Yet none of his divine arts could touch Xing An.
That man’s speed was simply too fast. He was like flickering light and passing shadows, his speed equal to that of Cripple!
Facing such speed, even Shaman God Kui’s divine arts couldn’t catch up!
Cripple’s speed was number one in the world. If he tried to escape with all he had, no one could catch up to him. He had only failed twice in his life. The first time was when he was discovered by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor when stealing Emperor’s Disk. His leg had been cut off even before he could erupt with his speed.
The second time was when he met Xing An.
Even though Cripple’s speed was unbelievably fast, his cultivation wasn’t as dense as that of Xing An. He was chased for days until he finally exhausted his cultivation, and his both legs were cut off.
With such a speed, it was literally impossible for Shaman God Kui to hit him!
Boom!
In midair, Shaman God Kui received Xing An’s first strike, and his body trembled. His spirit embryo was almost smacked out of his primordial spirit, and he couldn’t help revealing a flustered expression.
A huge bang followed after as he suffered the second strike. Trails of true fire spewed out from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The degree of separation between his spirit embryo and his soul became even larger.
Bang, bang, bang.
Concentrated strikes rang out in midair, and the spirit embryo in Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit swayed in all directions. Illusions were formed, and the faces were distorted and flustered.
Shaman God Kui actually had no power to retaliate.
‘Imperial Preceptor, that sicko, might not even be a match for the current Xing An.’ Qin Mu was astonished as he looked at Xing An’s chest that was not far away.
Xing An had placed it on the ground, no longer carrying it with himself.
Beside the chest, Pangong Tso lay with his head shrunk back in while clutching the leg to his chest.
‘He’s a goner… My master is going to be finished. He isn’t the match for Xing An, this sicko. I planned to fish up some benefits, but from the looks of it, I won’t be able to gain anything at all…’
He took out his taotie sack and stuffed the leg inside. ‘Xing An is so smart and cunning; he will definitely force me to attach this leg. If it was poisoned by Cult Master Qin, I’ll definitely die. But even if the leg isn’t poisoned, Xing An will definitely cut it off and not leave it for me. In that case, why don’t I take the chance to slip away… However, darkness is outside so I can’t leave…’
While thinking that, he suddenly saw Qin Mu holding a bead the size of a fist. He seemed to be chanting and executing some kind of spell.
However, Xing An was busy beating Shaman God Kui so he couldn’t hear what the brat was saying.
“Black Tortoise Bead!”
Pangong Tso stared with his eyes wide open. He recognized the bead in Qin Mu’s hand. It was Black Tortoise Bead, one of the four great spirit treasures of True Heaven Palace. However, even in his previous lifetimes when he was Grandmaster, he had only seen the bead and never had the chance to personally touch it.
‘This scoundrel is truly a lucky bastard. He actually managed to steal Black Tortoise Bead from True Heaven Palace during the chaos!’
The gesture of Qin Mu’s left hand changed unpredictably. Mirages flashed across the sky above and finally transformed into a sword technique which gently tapped on Black Tortoise Bead.
‘A move of Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique!’
Pangong Tso’s heart jumped slightly. Suddenly, the chest beside him shook, and he felt his hair stand on ends. The bottom of the chest shifted twice, and suddenly a leg popped out from beneath it!
Pangong Tso almost cried out when a few more legs grew from the bottom of the chest, and it shook itself. The chest then actually stood up.
Before Pangong Tso could return to his senses, Qin Mu jumped onto the chest which began running down the mountain. Midway there, the dragon qilin shrunk himself as much as he could. When the chest went past him, he leaped up onto it and sat down.
Pangong Tso was stunned. When he looked at Xu Shenghua, he saw him holding Jing Yan’s hand while waving to Qin Mu who was on the chest. It was obvious that he also knew.
‘Cunning! This guy even dared to steal Xing An’s chest!’
Pangong Tso was going to call Xing An, but he suddenly changed his mind and quickly ran down the mountain on his hands.
The speed of that chest was extremely fast, but just as it was about to rush into the darkness, Pangong Tso leaped and grabbed onto its bottom edge. He was brought into the darkness by the sprinting chest as well.
The chest was filled with divine body parts, so the surrounding darkness was forced back, and the four legs ran quickly through the darkness.
“So it’s Grandmaster.”
Qin Mu turned back to look and saw Pangong Tso dangling under the chest. He grinned and pulled out his sword. Pangong Tso took out the poisoned leg to defend, and the two clanked from the strike.
“Cult Master Qin, hold it!” Pangong Tso immediately shouted out. “If you attack again, I’m going to scream! I’ll see how you escape!”
Qin Mu put away his sword, full of smiles. “What is Grandmaster talking about? We are old friends now, so how could I harm you? Grandmaster, you’re about to eat dirt under the chest, so why don’t I pull you up.”
He secretly gave dragon qilin a kick, and he understood what he meant. The dragon qilin then opened his mouth to gather true fire, preparing to blow Pangong Tso into the darkness after Qin Mu pulled him up. The darkness would then get rid of him for them.
Pangong Tso shrunk back and made himself comfortable under the chest. “I appreciate Cult Master’s concern, I like eating dirt so I’m fine staying here. You don’t have to pay attention to me.”
At that moment, Xing An’s furious voice rang out in the sky above Little Mount Meru. “Great Divine Physician Qin, I want to see if your heart is truly black!”
“Definitely black,” Pangong Tso’s grumbled softly under the chest.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Xing An’s voice came from the top of Mount Meru in one instant, but from much lower in the next. He was going to chase after them.
He didn’t care about all the other stuff like killing his enemies or not, but his own chest was a different matter.
The anger in his voice couldn’t be suppressed as he laughed. “How dare you!”
Beneath the chest, Pangong Tso muttered under his breath, “The brat’s guts are the biggest…”
“You actually dare to collude with the Qin to steal my chest! Grandmaster, how dare you!”
Xing An’s voice sometimes came from the left and sometimes right. It was obvious that he couldn’t find Qin Mu and the chest’s location under the invasion of the dark, so he had to run here and there. Even so, with his speed, searching a radius of a thousand miles was no problem for him.
Finding Qin Mu and the big chest was only a matter of time.
“Do you think I won’t kill you? You are too childish!” When Xing An started to speak, his voice came from a hundred miles west, but when he finished his sentence, his voice was coming from a hundred miles south.
Pangong Tso’s face turned green and he ground his teeth. “How is it my fault? I didn’t work with him to steal your chest. I just took the chance to run away!”
On the chest, Qin Mu was astonished. ‘Xing An managed to get rid of Shaman God Kui so quickly? Such abilities are truly terrifying!’
Below the chest, Pangong Tso grunted and muttered to himself, “My master really has lived these years for naught… However, Xing An won’t be able to refine his primordial spirit that easily to add to his collection. Cult Master Qin, I have a great idea. It can get rid of my master and Xing An at the same time!”
Qin Mu spoke from atop the chest. “I know what you mean. You plan to go to Yang Mountain in the south of Great Ruins to unseal Shaman God Kui’s corporeal body. Xing An is yet to refine the primordial spirit, and I reckon he separated his spirit embryo and soul to suppress them separately.
“Shaman God Kui is a god after all, so when he regains his corporeal body, he just might be able to break free from Xing An’s suppression. The complete Shaman God Kui will not be weaker than Xing An, but stronger. Is what I said right?”
Pangong Tso nodded repeatedly before realizing that Qin Mu couldn’t see him.
“Cult Master Qin is truly my greatest enemy!” he praised. “Cult Master, with an enemy like you, I will have nightmares when I sleep.”
“Cult Master, I think he’s scolding you,” the dragon qilin said.
“That’s a generous praise. However, if Xing An might not be able to fight against a complete Shaman God Kui, the danger to everyone else would be immense, and that will be extremely terrifying. But if…”
He couldn’t help worrying. If Xing An added Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit to his collection, that would be a great danger as well.
If Xing An could refine the primordial spirit of Shaman God Kui, wouldn’t he be able to kill whoever he wanted? Of course, Xing An had his own principles. He wouldn’t lay his hands on people that didn’t catch his eyes, like people who didn’t have an area in which they reached the realm of god!
With his hobby, all of the strong practitioners that reached god realm would probably be worshiped to death by him so he could peacefully cut off their divine limbs.
This would definitely be a catastrophe, and the impact on the paths, skills, and divine arts would be beyond measure.
“If these two guys could die together, that would be good…”
Qin Mu sighed and approved Pangong Tso’s idea. He urged the chest to hurry to the south.
“You guys can’t escape!”
Xing An’s voice was sometimes far and sometimes close. The darkness of Great Ruins at night was so dark that even with his remarkable abilities he couldn’t find any traces left behind by the group.
Not much later, Qin Mu saw the shadow of a heavenly moat in front of the chest. A crashing of water came from the darkness, and from the noise, he guessed that there was more than one waterfall.
They were before an extremely dangerous cliff.
“Eh, this is that broken cliff at the source of Surging River!”
Qin Mu had the chest come to the edge of the cliff so they could look down. From there, he saw bright light coming from the wall of the cliff. He didn’t know what was glowing.
His heart stirred slightly. The last time he had come there, he had brought Xiong Xiyu and her daughter. At that time, he had seen the heavenly moat splitting the west and east of Great Ruins into two halves. The height of the cliff had reached thousands of yards.
It was a cliff formed by a terrifying earthquake which tore the whole of Great Ruins apart, forming a huge fracture that stretched from the north to the south.
The source of Surging River were the waterfalls of the broken cliff. The waterfalls gathered together to form the majestic river that flowed for tens of thousands of miles, reaching even Eternal Peace where it was the river with the fastest current.
On top of that, Qin Mu had also encountered a strange incident.
When he and Xiong Xiyu encountered fog on the river, they saw a desert and numerous gods forging the palaces of deities. They were the gods of High Emperor Era who had received an order from High Emperor to transform the desert into plains. After that, they saw the gods of High Emperor Era cutting a canal for Surging River.
However, what was most weird was that when they saw High Emperor Era being buried, the gods of another era walked over from the fog.
They were Founding Emperor and his ministers encountering the bizarre fog when they were surveying the area, sighing at the demise of an era.
Their experience had become strangeness that Qin Mu encountered.
The echoes of two histories overlapped at the source of Surging River and formed an inconceivable sight.
At that time, Qin Mu had deduced that there might be entrances to other worlds in that area and even saw the time and space of five worlds overlapping!
‘I wonder, what strange things happen after night descends on Surging River?’
He was uneasy yet full of anticipation. He had Xing An’s chest walk down the cliff, and Pangong Tso, who was under the chest, hurriedly grabbed on one of the chest’s legs so that he wouldn’t fall off.
In the meantime on the golden peak of Little Thunderclap Monastery’s Little Mount Meru, Little Rulai was sitting in a lotus position while all the monks surrounded him with sorrow on their faces. The devil ape knelt with his eyes wide open. Suddenly, tears started rolling down his cheeks and crashed onto the ground.
“I rebelled and came out of Great Thunderclap Monastery because my master was unfair, choosing my senior brother to succeed as Rulai and not me. Since all lives are equal, why only humans can be Rulai and not demons? Since Dharma is equal, why can Rulai only be men and not women?”
Rays of light shone on Little Rulai’s face as he smiled. “My cultivation was no inferior to that of my senior brother and I didn’t really fancy the Dharma of the human race, so I was indignant. I wanted to build a sacred ground for the demon race, I fought my way out of Great Thunderclap Monastery to build Little Thunderclap Monastery. Great Thunderclap, Little Thunderclap—they are both thunderclaps.
“Even though they elaborated on Dharma differently, they are both Dharma. Shaman God Kui worshiped my soul to death, and I don’t have Xing An’s abilities so now my soul is about to scatter. Zhan Kong, fetch khakkhara over.”
The devil ape knelt down with the khakkhara staff held up with both hands.
“My senior brother imparted Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra to you because of khakkhara, and because of him, I’ve taken you in as my disciple. Great Thunderclap Monastery, Little Thunderclap monastery, because of you, they are going to be related once again.”
Little Rulai raised his hand, and the khakkhara staff floated into the air. “You are the junior brother of Great Thunderclap Monastery’s Rulai Ma. After I die, bring all the monks on the mountain to Great Thunderclap Monastery. Rulai Ma will take all of you in.”
He took out a kasaya and a scripture. After placing the scripture on top of the kasaya, he gave them to the devil ape. The khakkhara staff then landed down and pressed on the scripture.
“Tell Rulai Ma this, Dharma says all lives are equal, so why are demon sculptures in the temples always the mounts of Buddha and Bodhisattvas? Isn’t our demon race equal?”
Little Rulai’s souls and spirits started to break apart and drift away. “Then ask him, if the demon race is equal, why is Dharma only written by humans? Can’t demons write Dharma too?
“After that, ask him again, saving humans is an achievement and virtue, so shouldn’t saving demons be an achievements and virtue too?”
“Ask him, if eating humans is taking the life of a living creature, is eating demon taking the life of a living creature too? Plants, trees, they can all become demons, so is eating them taking the life of a living creature as well?”
“If he can’t answer those questions, hand him this scripture written by me, this demon rulai. He will then take all of you in.”
Little Rulai put his palms together and said with a smile on his face, “After I pass away, bring this mortal flesh of mine to Great Thunderclap Monastery. Ask Rulai Ma if I can enter Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda as well.” When he finished saying that, his soul scattered.
“Demon, master!”
The devil ape prostrated on the ground, and the monks all started reciting the Great Compassion Mantra in unison.
“Little Rulai founded Little Thunderclap Monastery with his own strength and made it into the only sacred ground in Great Ruins. It’s also the only sacred ground of the demon race,” Xu Shenghua said in a low voice. “There was no demon race in the Dharma yet he let the demon race have their own Dharma. How is his frame of mind not that of Rulai? Yan’zi, I would like to go take a look at the buddha of the humans and the buddha of the demons.”
“I”ll follow you to Great Thunderclap Monastery. Since big fella will be bringing all these demon monks through Great Ruins, their journey will probably be full of danger. We can also look after them,” Jing Yan said.
“There are numerous experts in Little Thunderclap Monastery, so it won’t be too dangerous for them to cross Great Ruins. The one in danger is probably Cult Master Qin. He stole Xing An’s chest and even brought Grandmaster with him. This Cult Master Qin…”
Veins started popping out on his forehead while Jing Yan only smiled. “You are very envious of him? Envious that he’s living an interesting life?”
Xu Shenghua nodded. “However, I’m not like him. Even though I envy him, I don’t wish to go through his kind of life. I hope he can make it through this.”
A huge chest was giving off a faint glow while many little things were glowing on the side of the cliff too. Darkness shrouded everything, but at that place, there was actually still light, and this made Qin Mu click his tongue in wonder.
The chest stopped on its way down the cliff when it came to a spot with light. Qin Mu examined it in detail, and he couldn’t help revealing the astonishment that appeared on his face.
The ball of light wasn’t given by any creatures or treasure. What was shining from the crack in the cliff was actually sunlight!
Qin Mu leaned against the crack and tried to look inside. He saw green plains, a clear sky, and a blazing sun hanging in the sky.
Pangong Tso also took a look at another crack. He was also incredibly astonished.
When the dragon qilin saw the situation, he also tried to take a look as well. He then said in bewilderment, “There’s another world hidden in the broken cliff?”
“It’s not a world that’s hidden, but this crack in the broken cliff that’s connected to another world.” Qin Mu tried different poses, but he couldn’t see more. “I knew this place was bizarre since there are five worlds overlapping… Shh!”
Suddenly, two incomparably thick beams of lights swept down from the top of the cliff, humming as they swept passed them. They didn’t notice them who were on the wall of the cliff.
‘Xing An’s eyes!’
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief when the two beams of light suddenly separated roughly a hundred miles away. The beams of light shone onto the cliff as they slowly searched bit by bit!
Qin Mu was stunned. “Xing An dug his eyes out and now they are flying in the sky in search of our location!”
His scalp started crawling, and he shivered when he thought about such a thing.
“Cult Master Qin, there’s a big crack over here!” Pangong Tso said.
Qin Mu hurriedly moved the chest to where he had pointed, and they all went inside the large crack.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The crack was three yards wide, and the chest carried Qin Mu and the rest inside it. Two steps in, they got stuck, and Qin Mu hurriedly pushed the dragon qilin’s tummy inward. However, the chest still couldn’t move. Pangong Tso, who was under the chest, was also groaning from the squeeze.
“Quiet!” Qin Mu shouted out in a low voice and made the chest go back a bit. One of Xing An’s divine arts came close at that moment, pillar-like divine light sweeping past the crack.
Qin Mu immediately had the big chest hide behind a huge rock that was jutting out. The speed of divine eyes was extremely fast, and their light flashed by in no time.
‘Luckily Xing An’s eyes aren’t Grandpa Blind’s eyes; otherwise, this huge rock couldn’t have hidden us.’
He let out a sigh of relief and opened up the chest. He grabbed the dragon qilin by his neck and stuffed this fatty inside.
“Cult Master…” The dragon qilin shivered in the chest. “There are all sorts of body parts in here, even heads! There are also hearts! And so many hands and fingers!”
Qin Mu closed the chest and sent it back into the crack. Without the fatty dragon qilin, it went much smoother. The chest continued to head deeper in while the light in front of them grew stronger and stronger.
Qin Mu leaned against the chest to look forward. At the end of the crack, he actually didn’t see green plains or blue sky. Instead, it was a golden-yellow desert. It was a completely different sight from before.
‘Could the world in this crack be different from the world in that crack earlier?’
Just as he thought that, divine light suddenly shone behind them, shocking Qin Mu. There was no place to hide this time so he could only rush the chest to crawl forward.
Luckily, they were not far from the world in the crack, and the chest quickly crawled through, tumbling down into the golden desert. After two tumbles, the chest stood up once again.
Qin Mu looked back and saw the beam of divine light shoot through the crack before disappearing. He didn’t know if it had seen them or not.
His heart shook, and he jumped down to look at the bottom of the chest in a hurry. Pangong Tso’s figure had vanished.
‘That guy truly slips away fast!’
Qin Mu burst out laughing. Pangong Tso had to have taken the chance to escape when they fell into the golden-yellow desert. It was to save himself from being assassinated by Qin Mu in cold blood.
They had been in the darkness of Great Ruins just then with Xing An chasing after them so they’d had to work together. But once there was no darkness in the surroundings, Pangong Tso naturally made his escape.
He had no legs and was no match for Qin Mu. If he had escaped just a little slower, he might not have had the chance to run away.
“Grandmaster is truly crafty,” Qin Mu praised.
He opened the chest, and the dragon qilin hurriedly jumped out with a horrified expression. He wasn’t willing to get close to the chest anymore.
Qin Mu looked into the chest, and it was still the same as before. Taotie’s bones formed its structure and its skin was wrapped around it. Inside, there were many cabinets like before, but the number of body parts was much lower.
He also saw the place where the chest had been sliced apart and sewn back together. It was Butcher’s two knives which had done the damage.
After Xing An had escaped from Butcher’s knives, he should have mended the chest.
‘If I could summon the spirit in these divine hands, legs, spirits, and heads and awaken these body parts, Xing An would not be impossible to deal with.’
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, and he closed the chest before starting to sprint through the golden-yellow desert. The chest ran after him as if it was flying, following steadily behind him. The dragon qilin also ran quickly while sneaking glances at the chest from time to time with fear in his eyes.
After a moment, the dragon qilin managed to overcome his fear and jumped onto the chest to squat so the chest would be doing the running.
‘Fatty Dragon has already reached a new realm of laziness!’ Qin Mu thought as he turned back to look at the fatty.
The desert in the distance connected to the sky, so Qin Mu with the chest kept on running ahead. Suddenly though, he stopped in front of a huge skeleton lying on a sand dune. Half of it was buried under the sand.
Qin Mu walked forward and instantly felt a god’s aura. He hurriedly stopped, and the chest behind him also stopped. The dragon qilin had fallen asleep, but was instantly jolted awake. He raised his head to look around and cried out, “Xing An has caught up?”
“No!”
Qin Mu examined the god’s skeleton that was buried under the yellow sand. The ribs were extremely large, bulging upwards. Under them was a thoracic cavity in which dozens of people could probably stand.
He carefully went forward, and the chest tiptoed after him.
Qin Mu stretched out his palm, but felt that something wasn’t right. He took out Pangong Tso’s huge cauldron and slowly went closer to the god’s skeleton.
Suddenly, he heard a clunk, and he gave a grunt. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger exploded, and his palm became all bloodied. One leg of the huge cauldron that had once belonged to Pangong Tso was also sliced off!
The huge cauldron had been refined by Pangong Tso in his previous life when he was a strong practitioner close to god level. His huge cauldron was definitely on the level of a cult legacy treasure!
Qin Mu couldn’t damage it even when he used his sword pellet. This was enough proof to show just how strong was the cauldron.
Yet in front of the god’s skeleton, it was like clay. Its leg had been sliced off just like that.
Qin Mu endured the pain and sealed the wound. He picked up the cauldron’s foot from the ground and saw that the broken surface was as flat as though an invisible sharp knife had sliced through it.
When touching the broken surface, he could feel a scorching heat.
“This is… the yang qi of yin-yang two qi. They had been refined by the owner of this corpse into divine vitality to protect his body.”
Qin Mu put away the huge cauldron and the broken leg while the dragon qilin stared forward carefully. He asked with curiosity, “Cult Master, what damaged the pot?”
“The divine treasures of this god.”
Qin Mu grabbed a handful of yellow sand and gently blew it forward. Once the particles got clause, something that couldn’t normally be seen with the naked eye happened!
Inside the body of the huge god’s skeleton which had collapsed in the sand, there were seven complete divine treasures!
They were originally invisible to the naked eye, but once the sand came close, divine lights of all colors were instantly shown, lighting up the divine treasures!
The god’s corpse was large, but the divine treasures were not. The Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure at the heart of the god’s skeleton’s brows was only the size of a square inch. The Five Elements Divine Treasure was only slightly bigger. The Six Directions Divine Treasure was located at the dantian while the Seven Stars Divine Treasure was located between the head, heart, and lungs.
Celestial Being Divine Treasure was on the backbone, and Life and Death Divine Treasure were below the waist. As for Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, it would fly out from the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure to transform into a flying bridge, stretching out of the head!
These divine treasure weren’t huge, but it was strange how if one looked closer, there seemed to be the space of millions of miles there. It was extremely vast. Qin Mu could even see a withered sun, moon, and stars, as well as broken Milky Way and constellations!
In the center of Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, there was the spirit embryo of the god. It should have been part of the primordial spirit, but the soul of the skeleton had long departed. However, the spirit embryo hadn’t yet withered.
‘He died from injuries to the primordial spirit.’
Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eyes as he focused his gaze on the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. The god’s spirit embryo had been stabbed through the chest. The sword even left a phantom behind, which showed just how terrifying the strike had been!
The broken sun and moon orbited around the spirit embryo, and bright rays of light shone down from them. They were the yin-yang two qi.
The thing that had severed one of the huge cauldron’s legs was one of the qi of pure yang.
“After he died, his blood and flesh wasted away, but he still managed to preserve his complete divine treasures. The spirit embryo is still here, and the remnants of his divine vitality are still so powerful, cutting apart a cult legacy treasure so easily.”
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely. An ordinary god couldn’t have such abilities after he died. He had once taken a look at the corpse of Xu Shenghua’s master, Jade Sovereign who had been blasted from the sky by Sunshot Divine Treasure he had forged and died miserably.
Even though Jade Sovereign’s corpse still carried a dense god’s aura, it was no match for the god’s skeleton.
On top of that, the divine treasures of Jade Sovereign had crumbled after he died.
‘This was a true god, a real god!’ Qin Mu’s expression was solemn as he flipped through his taotie sack and took out Black Tortoise Bead. He muttered, “Why would a true god die here?”
He took out Black Tortoise Bead and borrowed its power to execute a spell to awaken the spirit of the god’s skeleton.
Bones rattled.
The corpse suddenly twitched, and the dragon qilin jumped in shock. His scales rose, and even his tail trembled.
Qin Mu executed Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique which was best for women to cultivate. His thoughts were too complicated, and he couldn’t cultivate it to the extreme. However, he could still barely execute it with Black Tortoise Bead.
A huge white skeleton hand slowly rose up from the sand, and the skeleton gradually sat up. Its skull drooped down; it seeming to be observing Qin Mu and the dragon qilin. Yellow sand flowed down in a waterfall from its eye sockets and mouth.
“Fight!” The skeleton stood up and grabbed a tattered flag from the sand dune. He waved it with his jaw opening and closing. The remaining magic power in his divine treasures shook the air, so even though he didn’t have flesh and blood, he could still speak in a world-shaking voice. “Accepting the imperial edict! Behind is our homeland, so we have no way to retreat anymore! Fight! We can only fight!”
Qin Mu’s mouth fell open, and he scratched his head. The spirit he summoned should have been a new spirit, but from the looks of it, a part of the skeleton’s consciousness seemed to have lain dormant within it and had been awakened by Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique.
“The battle has already ended years ago, senior!” Qin Mu shouted out. “Where’s your hometown? Why have you died here? On whose order were you fighting for? Who is your enemy?”
The skeleton lowered his head to look at him, and his voice shook. “As subordinates of High Emperor, High Official of Fomalhaut, we have received the order to block this place. Junior, where are you from? This is a battlefield, quickly fall back! Where are my brothers?”
The god’s skeleton swung the huge flag and jumped up, rushing up to the high sand dune. He then froze, just standing there.
‘Founding Emperor Era? Isn’t that something from tens of thousands of years ago?’
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. He hurriedly rushed after with the chest. When he came to the top of the sand dune, he couldn’t help being stunned. Numerous skeletons lined the desert before them.
They were strewn across the golden-yellow sand. Some huge skeletons couldn’t be completely covered and parts of them stuck out from below.
Divine weapons were lying all across the desert, along with tattered battle chariots. There were also rushed motley battleships and metal disks that were three hundred yards tall.
Qin Mu was stunned. He was before what was once the battlefield of gods and devils. Thousands of them had died, but not one had been buried.
“What year is this?” Beside him, the god lowered his head and asked, “Where’s High Emperor? Why are my brother’s corpses left to air in the wild? Why weren’t these warriors given the due respect after they died…”
“Senior, High Emperor Era has long ended and become a legend. Not only High Emperor, even Founding Emperor Era ended…” Qin Mu said sorrowfully.
“Did High Emperor also die in battle?” The god hung his head down. He seemed to be crying, but no tears fell. He walked toward the battlefield and picked up a white bone. “My brother, my comrade in arms, High Emperor Era no longer exists, but I can’t let you lie here without a place to belong to… Little brother.”
He turned to ‘look’ at Qin Mu. “Can you awaken these brothers of mine? We will bury ourselves and rest in peace.”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“This…”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. The fact that he managed to awaken the god’s skeleton’s consciousness with the help of Black Tortoise Bead was a mere coincidence. It was because of the consciousness that had remained dormant that the skeleton could talk after awakening and even recover his memories.
The other skeletons might not have the consciousness still left in them. Even if he awakened them, they would just be a pile of walking bones.
On top of that, awakening the skeleton of a god required an extremely huge amount of magic power. Even with Black Tortoise Bead, Qin Mu might not be able to endure awakening so many gods’ skeletons.
With his comprehension of Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique, he could at most summon a sand ‘giant’ that was no higher than three yards. Any higher would be impossible for him.
With the Black Tortoise Bead, he could increase his comprehension of all things having spirit and all things having soul and heighten his senses. Yet awakening so many gods’ skeletons at the same time would exhaust him to no end, and it might even be dangerous.
The god’s skeleton ‘looked’ at him with faint flames in his eye sockets, full of anticipation. It was the anticipation of a warrior from ancient times about to meet his comrade in arms again. This made Qin Mu unable to bear rejecting him.
He smiled wide. “I can try.”
He took out Black Tortoise Bead and executed Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to use the awakening spell.
After a moment, a huge skeleton stood up unsteadily, and the true god couldn’t help being elated. He hugged the skeleton of his comrade in arms and burst in laughter and tears.
“General.” The skeleton was muddle-headed and seemed to not have much intelligence. He could only say a single word.
But even with just that word, the true god was moved. It was as though he had returned to the time of High Emperor Era.
The more skeletons Qin Mu had awakened, the paler his face became. There seemed to be countless voices squabbling in his head, which made it hard for him to concentrate.
The true god raised the sand with the awakened skeletons and used the last of his magic power to execute the fire of a true god, smelting the sand.
It transformed into boiling lava before solidifying into huge chunks of rock.
The true god constructed their mausoleum while the various skeleton used the rocks to construct their graves. One by one, they started to take shape.
When Qin Mu awakened the last skeleton, he collapsed from exhaustion.
On the desert, numerous tall skeletons finished up the last of the mausoleum. They stood upright in front of their own graves and waited for the final words from their general.
The true god burned the last bits of his magic power to prop up the tattered flag and looked at the comrades that had died with him.
Wind blew at the tattered flag.
It fluttered and flapped. It seemed to be reliving the time of blood and sweat.
“If there’s an afterlife.” The true god didn’t open his mouth, but there was a sound as though metal was colliding against metal and battle drums were beating. “If there’s an afterlife, let us gather together and fight the heaven and earth once more!”
His voice reverberated throughout the desert as he shouted to his own soldiers, his comrades in arms. “High Emperor will return and bring us to fight with our enemies once more! For now, soldiers, you can rest!”
“General, let’s meet again in the afterlife!” the skeletons shouted back.
The skeletons walked into their own graves and placed their tattered weapons at their sides before lying down. They seemed to be prepared to leap up once more when the bugle horn rang out and rush into another fight.
The flames in the true god’s eye sockets flickered, and huge stone tablets flew silently across the air, sealing shut the door to the mausoleum.
Runes flowed on the four walls, and with the closure of the stone tablets, the formation that was protecting the god mausoleum became complete.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and raised his head to look at the skeleton of the true god beside him. “Senior, you constructed a mausoleum for them so why are you not there as well?”
The tall god’s skeleton sat down while holding onto the flag. It stayed straight, same as his back, and they faced together the tall and desolate mausoleum.
“I’m their general yet I didn’t bring them back home. I don’t deserve to have my own grave.” The true god sat quietly while the flag fluttered in the wind. “I need to protect them and be their tomb guardian. I could see that none of them woke up; it was you who spoke for them.”
He lowered his head to look at Qin Mu. “Thank you.”
Qin Mu was stunned. “I didn’t want you to feel like you are the only one left. So I…”
The true god raised his head and smiled. “Even though it was you, I’ve felt warmth in my heart. I’ve no more regrets.”
From his empty eye sockets, two streams of lights flowed out like dragons and flew into Qin Mu’s eyes, settling down there.
It was the last of qi of pure yang and qi of pure yin in his divine treasures. They were a gift to him.
“Darkness is coming, go there!” The skeleton raised his hand and pointed into the distance.
Qin Mu turned back and saw the sun setting. It was about to sink into the desert.
“Senior, what do you mean the darkness is coming?” Qin Mu asked. “Could the night here also be faced with the invasion of darkness? Senior…”
The god’s skeleton fell silent and didn’t speak anymore. It had no more breath left. Its will was silenced and scattered away. What remained was only the skeleton with a raised arm pointing into the distance.
Qin Mu stood up silently and summoned the chest as well as the dragon qilin who was shivering on top of it. “Let’s go there.”
The chest followed him in the direction that the true god had pointed.
The dragon qilin collected his courage and asked, “Cult Master, what did the huge skeleton mean when he said that it was you?”
“My awakening spell couldn’t awaken the spirits of the gods who had died in battle. The skeletons I awakened had no consciousness and could only follow my commands. He could also see this, so he had said that.”
The dragon qilin was puzzled. “But I had heard those skeletons talking and calling him general.”
“They could talk because I spoke through their mouths. I didn’t want him to feel lonely and feel that only he was left from High Emperor Era.”
Qin Mu turned back and looked at the god’s skeleton that was sitting with the battle flag and guarding the mausoleum. He then looked away and said with a calm expression, “However, he noticed, though he didn’t expose it. Actually, in his heart, there should still be some hope that the ones talking were his comrades and not me.”
The dragon qilin couldn’t understand such feelings so he just laid down on the chest to sleep while muttering, “I’m afraid of these things the most. Back then at Liu Family, I had nightmares for a few days…”
The sky became darker and darker. Qin Mu quickened his footsteps while the sun set in the desert.
Darkness flooded over from the west and caught up to them in an instant, drowning them out.
Qin Mu was stunned. The world was swallowed by the darkness, just like another Great Ruins. The only difference was that when in Great Ruins it was daytime, it was nighttime here.
Suddenly. Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly. ‘I understand! I understand the source of the darkness!’
Slight noises came from the bottom of the chest, and Qin Mu stopped to look under the chest. He saw a youth without both legs hugging onto the leg of the chest.
“Grandmaster.” Qin Mu broke into a smile, “I trust you have been well?”
Pangong Tso’s face was ashen as he spat out, “Qin brat, this goddamn world is toying with me. Kill me, cut my flesh, just do whatever you want with me!”
Qin Mu smiled pleasantly. “Why would I cut your flesh? Stop fooling around. Killing is much simpler than cutting.”
A bright light shone in the darkness. It was a divine light that could pass through the darkness.
Qin Mu’s heart almost leaped out his throat, and he hurriedly jumped onto the chest. His body sank it down, sending it and Pangong Tso who was below into the yellow sand.
“What are you doing?” Pangong Tso cried out in a panic.
“Shut up. Xing An’s eyes have entered this place!” Qin Mu shouted back in a low voice.
A beam of light from an eyeball swept past the desert. Not finding anything, it flew forward.
Soon, another eyeball flew over, and the two big eyeballs met in the sky. They paused for a moment. Another faint glow then flew quickly from afar and paused in midair. It was the head of a youth.
It had no eyeballs, but the two floating ones soon entered the eye sockets.
“You guys are close by!” The head in the sky suddenly laughed coldly and said, “Divine Physician Qin, Grandmaster, you guys stole my chest and want to escape my pursuit? Aren’t you underestimating me too much!”
Suddenly, the yellow sand in the surroundings hardened, and Qin Mu felt it press tighter and tighter around him. He knew that things were bad and immediately executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His vital qi burst forth around his body, transforming into elegant runes that fell into a formation under the sand.
Pangong Tso’s blood ran cold, and he hissed, “You’re going to execute a teleportation divine art in such a place? You don’t want to live, but I want to…”
“Over here!” Xing An’s head which was in midair screeched, and his eyes shot out divine lights to sweep over the land!
Hum.
The place where Qin Mu was suddenly collapsed and became a huge pit. Next, the two divine lights shot into the huge pit and vaporized a huge portion of the yellow sand.
Pangong Tso’s scalp crawled as he was teleported away with the chest by Qin Mu. He then shouted out, “Cult Master Qin, your abilities are lacking. We didn’t teleport too far!”
“Shut up, it’s Fatty Dragon that’s too heavy!”
Qin Mu gritted his teeth and executed the teleportation divine art again. The runes shone brightly. Behind, a head was flying over with two beams of light going over the desert, vaporizing everything they passed!
Qin Mu executed his teleportation divine arts until he was out of magic power. He then pointed in a direction and said, “Grandmaster, head over there!”
Pangong Tso hurriedly took over. He brought out small flags from his taotie sack which were imprinted with teleportation runes. Once activated, the flags fluttered and covered them. They vanished before the divine lights from Xing An’s eyes could hit them.
Pangong Tso had entered Heavenly Devil Cult in one life and had almost become the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, so he was no stranger to the teleportation divine art of Heavenly Devil Cult.
He teleported them over and over again, and his magic power was also exhausted rapidly. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. “Cult Master Qin, I’ll be out of magic power soon! Are we there yet?”
He executed the last of his magic power and moved them once more. When the teleportation formation markings dispersed, light shone brightly in everyone’s eyes as they appeared in a city.
The walls were stunning, decorated with lanterns and colored banners. The two of them raised their heads to look and couldn’t help becoming flabbergasted. On top of the high buildings and towers of the city in darkness, there stood gods that were three hundred yards tall. They either had four heads and eight arms, or three heads and six arms. There was also those with bird heads and those with beast heads. Some of the gods looked like black tortoise, vermillion bird, white tiger, or green dragon.
They gave off intense divine light that forced back the darkness.
The city was incomparably bustling with people coming to and fro.
They looked as though they had suddenly appeared, squeezing past Qin Mu and the big chest while full of smiles.
“That’s not right, this isn’t right… This place was clearly a desert, so why is there a city? If there are really that many people here, why would no one have buried the skeletons of those gods? And why are there so many gods here?”
Qin Mu had a splitting headache, so he suddenly grabbed the hand of a girl passing by him. That girl saw that he didn’t look too bad and burst out laughing. “Lecher, what are you grabbing my hand for?”
“Good sister, what year is this?” Qin Mu asked with a pale face.
The girl smiled and said, “You sure have a way of flirting. The year now is without a doubt High Emperor Year 24000. Today is none other than the twenty-six thousandth birthday of High Emperor!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“The twenty-six thousandth birthday of High Emperor?”
Qin Mu was stunned. The year in which he was born was twenty thousand years after the fall of Founding Emperor Era which had lasted for some ten to twenty thousand years itself. Didn’t it then mean that they were thirty-forty thousand years back in time?
One teleportation from Pangong Tso had sent them that many years back?
Under the chest, Pangong Tso was also at a loss. An indescribably weird feeling took shape in his heart. He had merely executed his teleportation flags with the last of his magic power before it ran out, so how could he have teleported himself thirty-forty thousand years back?
It had to be a dream!
He was about to pinch himself when a sharp pain came from the place where his legs had been cut off, and he couldn’t help crying out in pain.
Qin Mu pulled out the long sword that he had stabbed into his broken leg and muttered, “It’s painful, so this isn’t a dream. Could we be experiencing another echo of history? We are currently in another of those things?”
The girl in front of him had seen him stab the youth with the broken legs under the chest and was angered. “You, how could you bully a handicapped person? What’s the point of having good looks if you’re like that? Cruel guy!” Once she said that, she turned to leave.
“Good sister, wait a minute!” Qin Mu said in a hurry to stop her.
When the girl heard him, she couldn’t bear to reject him. She stopped and turned around to see him coming close and raising his hand to cup her face.
The girl blushed and squirmed under his touch. “What are you doing? We just met for the first time so how can we be so intimate? And you are very weird. You have a weird chest and a huge pig, and you bully even a handicapped person. My father and my brother won’t like you… My father is very powerful, and my brother is also very powerful, so they will beat you to death. Don’t be like this…”
Qin Mu was dumbstruck. His mind was blown as though the lightning from heaven had struck his head. “It’s real! You are a living person, one of flesh and blood! This isn’t an echo of history! We have really returned to the past, back to High Emperor Era… Is time travel really possible?”
The girl was puzzled by his words and asked, “What are you saying? What’s an echo of history? What past? What’s time tra—”
Before she could voice all the questions she had, a young couple nestled against each other walked over. The young man of the pair cried out in astonishment, “Qu’er, this is?”
The young girl blushed and said in a low voice, “Brother, I think I have someone I like…”
Pangong Tso crawled out from under the chest, planning to bewitch the dragon qilin into licking the wound on his broken leg when he was struck by a thunderbolt from the girl’s worst. He spat on the ground. ‘Liking him just like this? So what if he’s attractive? He’s impressive-looking but useless…’
Qin Mu was in a daze. When the young man saw it, he couldn’t help shaking his head. He whispered to the young girl called Qu’er, “This person doesn’t look like he has any spirit. There are so many talented youths in the world so why should you like him?”
The girl beside him smiled and said, “Sister, don’t listen to your brother, he always likes to introduce those so-called talents and doesn’t care about who you like. That reminds me, how long have you known each other?”
The young girl lowered her head and said bashfully, “Only just…”
The woman covered her mouth with her sleeves, speechless.
“Just met and you already like him?”
The young man laughed from extreme anger and gave Qin Mu a dark look. “The daughter of our Bai Family should be a hero of the current times. Do you think you are worthy of my sister?” he shouted out.
His aura burst forth, and it was truly worldshaking. Bright rays of light shone behind him, and the primordial spirit of a human with a dragon’s head and a dragon’s tail gradually rose from them. It radiated a heart-gripping aura.
Pangong Tso opened his mouth wide and looked it in astonishment. “True Dragon Primordial Spirit! That’s not right, shouldn’t it be Green Dragon Primordial Spirit? He isn’t of the four great spirit bodies, how could it be…” he cried out.
Qin Mu woke up and also looked at the youth’s primordial spirit. His heart trembled as he thought, ‘Of course, this world doesn’t only have only the four great spirit bodies, there are also others.’
The youth stretched out his hand. which mixed with the dragon’s claws and shook, to grab Qin Mu. Lightning was twisting around his hand. “Come, let me test your abilities!”
As his claws moved, the texture of his corporeal body transformed as all kinds of rune markings appearing on it. In a single strike, a hundred types of divine art transformations were actually hidden between the moving fingers. His attack belonged to the extremely top notch corporeal body divine arts!
Qin Mu retreated in a hurry and avoided the strike. The youth gently touched his five fingers together, and the space next to Qin Mu exploded with claps of thunder, blowing him high up into the sky.
The youth leaped up and sprinted straight at Qin Mu.
Pangong Tso raised his head to look upwards in astonishment. ‘This person with the surname Bai is from the dragon race! Otherwise, he couldn’t have cultivated the corporeal body divine arts of the dragons to such an exquisite level! He isn’t old yet he has already cultivated to Celestial Being Realm. Were all the people of High Emperor Era so powerful?’
Pangong Tso was, after all, an old monster that had lived for ten thousand years. He had roamed overseas and met experts of the dragons. He knew how strong they were, and that for a person to cultivate to Celestial Being Realm at such a young age was truly rare.
The girl Qu’er panicked and said in a hurry, .”Brother, stop hurting him!”
Beside her, the woman stopped her and said with a smile. “Your brother is doing this for your own good, to see if this youth is worthy for you. Once your brother approves of him, your father won’t stop you guys. Think, if your father was the one making the move, your little lover here would end up with countless broken bones.”
Bai Qu’er came to that realization and smiled. “Sister-in-law is still the clever one. However…” She had a worried look. “Brother is so powerful. What if he hurts him…”
The woman smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Your brother has strong cultivation and knows how to act appropriately. He’ll use the same cultivation level as your little lover, so he won’t hurt him.”
In the air, Qin Mu sprinted here and there, but the young man’s abilities were simply so strong that it was terrifying. With the trembling of his fingers and palm, the corporeal body divine art that burst forth was way stronger than spell divine arts. The range of his attacks was up to three hundred yards, and they were also extremely fast, quickly forcing him to open all his divine treasures.
Bang, bang, bang!
Three consecutive explosions rang out in his body, and the young man revealed a disappointed expression as he shook his head. “Six Direction Realm? Your cultivation is too weak. Fine, I’ll fight with you on Six Direction Realm and see how’s your aptitude and comprehension!”
He sealed his Celestial Being Divines Treasure and his Seven Stars Divine Treasure. The primordial spirit behind him instantly vanished, but even so, his battle power was astonishing. The transformations between his fingers and palm were unpredictable as he attacked Qin Mu.
Pangong Tso watched it unfold with astonishment. ‘This young man of Bai Family has extremely great talent, and his corporeal body divine art is above mine. When fighting on the same realm, I wouldn’t be able to win… However, isn’t that rascal Qin on Seven Stars Realm?’
As he thought that, a world-shaking explosion rang out in midair, and the young man with the surname Bai was blown away by Qin Mu like a shooting star. A stream of light streaked across the sky above the majestic city.
The two girls below were stunned.
However, Pangong Tso looked as if he found it natural and thought resentfully, ‘Qin brat that rascal is on Seven Stars Realm, and I’m also on Seven Stars Realm. If I took a punch from him head-on, even my bones would break, yet you genius faced it with Six Directions Realm? See how tragic you are now?’
The young man came back at an even faster speed and shouted angrily, “Six Directions Realm can’t have such strong magic power and corporeal body! You are definitely on Seven Stars Realm, so I’ll fight you on Seven Stars Realm!”
Boom!
The young man was sent flying once more, and a god that was standing upright on a building stretched out his hand to catch him. With a smile, he said, “Young City Lord Qingfu was blown back again. Have you met your match?”
The young man Bai Qingfu laughed from anger as he flew away from the palm and rushed toward Qin Mu. “So what if your magic power is vigorous? See my divine arts!”
He sprinted all the way back, and his fist skill transformed unpredictably as he attacked Qin Mu with a sky full of dragon claws.
Gale and thunder came pouncing on Qin Mu’s face, and his clothes fluttered. There was a sense of something fierce about to pounce on him. He immediately threw aside his distracting thoughts and executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help becoming excited. “How are the paths, skills, and divine arts of High Emperor Era compared to the later generations? Let see the result once and for all! Tempest of the Nine Dragons!”
The two of them clashed, and ripples instantly spread out. The dragon-shaped streams of air flowed in all directions at great speed.
“Aang—”
Suddenly, dragon-shaped energy burst forth in all directions, and ten thousand dragons roared. The dragon energy scattered around in the air and fought one another.
The two stepped on the dragons and passed by the majestic gods in the city. Those gods watched while smiling at their fight, exclaiming endlessly in admiration.
In the city below, countless passersby stopped to raise their heads to see what was happening. There were also quite a number of people who flew into the sky to get a better look.
A god smiled and said, “The rest of you go down, don’t disturb them. Let me light them up and let you guys see more clearly.” Once he said that, his eyes shone, and two thick pillars of light shone onto Qin Mu and Bai Qingfu.
Suddenly, another god walked over. His features were might, and his eyes were those of a dragon, mighty and extraordinary.
“City Lord Bai,” most of the gods greeted.
That god waved his hand and looked at Qin Mu. “This youth is very remarkable, though his methods are from Buddhism. However, how is his magic power that vigorous? His technique also has the aura of my dragon race. Weird, truly weird…” he said with astonishment.
Bai Qingfu fought for a long period of time, but couldn’t gain any advantage. “Cross swords with spirit weapons!” he then shouted out.
Dragon-shaped vital qi flew out with a dragon bead swirling inside it. Countless sharp swords instantly flew out of the dragon bead and attacked Qin Mu like dragons!
The youth had held a portion of his magic power back as his intention was to see the paths, skills, and divine arts of High Emperor Era. Because of that, he hadn’t used his full strength. However, Bai Qingfu’s dragon swords were abnormally sharp, so he had no choice but to execute his full power.
‘Even though his sword skills are exquisite, there are only fourteen basic sword skills. He hasn’t jumped out of the marvel of the fourteen basic sword skills.’
Qin Mu took a glance and saw the real situation of Bai Qingfu. He smacked his taotie sack and his sword pellet flew out. He caught it, and eight thousand swords flowed out from the gap between his fingers like flowing sand!
In midair, sword skills clashed, and Bai Qingfu grunted. He suffered over a hundred sword wounds and fell from the sky.
Qin Mu straightened a finger, and countless flying swords flew back, gathering together in the air above his finger. They then transformed back into a spinning sword pellet.
“Superb sword skill!”
Cheers erupted from the surroundings, and Qin Mu looked around to see a hundred gods gathered around. Their majestic figures flickered against the contrast of the night sky.
Astonished, Qin Mu greeted his surroundings.
A loud laugh rang out as a middle-aged man took wide steps in the air as though he was walking on flat ground. He came right to Qin Mu who was forced to raise his head to look up at him.
“Truly a young talent!” The middle-aged man laughed loudly. “Whose disciple are you? Your abilities are truly impressive and you seem to be cultivating the abilities of my dragon race.”
Qin Mu’s thoughts ran through many options before he hurriedly said, “I’m Qin Mu and I came to this place by accident. I have received a dragon’s nest with some writings of the dragon race, so I have cultivated techniques of the dragon race.”
Bai Qingfu flew over and praised him sincerely. “Truly superb abilities. You could stand out as brilliant even in the celestial heavens. Old Brother Qin, this is my father, Bai Yuting, the city lord of this Hundred Prosperities City.”
Qin Mu immediately greeted him.
Suddenly, the sound of battle drums came from the darkness outside. Bai Yuting’s expression became grim, and he said solemnly. “It’s from Fomalhaut! The extraterritorial devils are invading again. Leave four men to guard the four gates while the rest follow me to face the enemy!”
He led all the gods into the distance.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. ‘Fomalhaut? Wasn’t that god’s skeleton that I awakened the high official of Fomalhaut?”
He looked in the direction where Bai Yuting and the rest had left and saw countless bright lanterns coming from the darkness, forming a silver line. It was Fomalhaut, a divine city in the sky.
“Ever since the sky turned dark, evil devils frequently invade, but there’s no need to bother,” Bai Qingfu said. “Old Brother Qin’s sword skills are even superior to my fist skills; I wonder if you can teach me?”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “I have some dragon writings that I don’t understand and would like Brother Bai to teach me as well.”
When they landed on the ground, Pangong Tso’s expression changed slightly when he heard what they were saying. He immediately shook his head at Qin Mu and transmitted his voice to him anxiously. “Be careful of changing history or we might not be able to get back!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu brought the chest after Bai Qingfu, Bai Qu’er, and the rest to the manor of Hundred Prosperities City. On the way, he kept thinking about Pangong Tso’s words, and his heart was uneasy.
Even though Pangong Tso was his arch nemesis, he was an old monster that had lived for ten thousand years. His knowledge was vast, and his words made a certain sense.
The era that they were in now had ended at least thirty thousand years ago. High Emperor Era was already on the verge of collapse, so it was a hopeless situation. They had come to this place on Xing An’s chest for some reason, but if they did something that changed the history, wouldn’t the whole history be rewritten?
If history was rewritten, would Founding Emperor Era have existed, would Eternal Peace still be around?
The most crucial point was, would they still be around?
Any change to a single strand of hair could result in a world-turning change to the ‘later generations’!
“Brother Qin, Brother Pan, don’t worry. Fomalhaut surrounds and protects the heaven, so their abilities are extremely strong, and the abilities of celestial heavens are even more terrifying. With High Emperor personally overseeing the fight, there will be no problems.”
Bai Qingfu invited them to take their seats, and the lanterns were lit up. Dragon beads hung in the sky and lighted the whole place as if it was the day.
Bai Qingfu saw that Qin Mu’s expression wasn’t too good and guessed that he was worried about the safety of the front lines. He thus consoled him. “Fomalhaut has fought against them numerous times, so they won’t let the enemy pass them. Even though the extraterritorial devils belong to a really strong power, our Hundred Prosperities City isn’t to be trifled with. Fomalhaut is very strong, one of the four great troops of the celestial heavens.”
Qin Mu recalled the skeletons of Fomalhaut’s gods in the golden desert and grew even more uneasy. Those gods of Fomalhaut had died in battle while protecting their homeland.
Who knew if that battle was the current one?
‘Maybe, we are already part of history, so no matter what we do, things that happened will happen.’
Qin Mu suddenly had a thought. ‘Maybe I’m currently situated in the strangeness of Great Ruins. I once experienced the echo of history, so could all this be the echo of time and space? Grandmaster’s teleportation divine art couldn’t be so powerful as to send us tens of thousands of years ago.
‘Maybe, this is merely the echo of time and space due to the strangeness of Great Ruins. The time and space reflected into the future, onto our bodies. After daybreak, everything will vanish and no matter what we do, the history will run its course.’
After deciding that, he calmed down, the boulder off his shoulders having been lifted. He chatted happily with the brother and sister, exchanging pointers on sword skills with them.
The siblings were ineffably astonished. Bai Qingfu cried out, “After the fourteen basic sword skills, there are four more basic sword skills? Who founded them? Who has such talent and passion?”
Qin Mu muttered irresolutely for a moment before telling the truth. “The one that founded fifteenth sword form, sixteenth sword form, and seventeenth sword form was a saint that appears once every five hundred years. His talent and passion are so great that even I admire him endlessly.”
“A saint that appears once every five hundred years?”
Bai Qu’er was bewildered and asked, “Brother Mu, is there perhaps a story behind saints that appears once every five hundred years?”
Qin Mu also didn’t know much about it. “I’ve heard that every five hundred years in this world, there will be a genius overflowing with innate talent. He will establish his virtue, merit, and ideas in writing, becoming the saint. That’s why he will be called the saint that appears once every five hundred years. As for where this saying comes from, I do not know.”
“I see.”
The brother and sister came to realization. The wife of Bai Qingfu smiled and said, “Our Hundred Prosperities City is small and doesn’t even enter the ranking of the divine cities, so we don’t know about such a saying. Old Brother Qin must have come from a big region and know a lot.”
Bai Qu’er became anxious and whispered, “Sister-in-law, will he despise me for being a person from a small region?”
Bai Qingfu’s wife gave a soft laugh. “Even though Hundred Prosperities City is a small region, you’re the little princess of Bai Family, after all, so your status is high enough. Don’t worry. What’s more, having an affinity with each other is more important than being well-matched in terms of social status.”
Only then did Bai Qu’er eased up.
Bai Qingfu was curious. “Old Brother Qin said that the three sword forms were founded by the saint. In that case, who founded the eighteenth sword form?”
Qin Mu blushed and said, “The eighteenth sword form was founded by me accidentally.”
Everyone’s heart trembled violently. and even Pangong Tso’s ashen face filled with astonishment. His heart was full of jealousy and admiration. ‘Qin brat is truly powerful, to actually found a basic sword form and change the path and skill of heaven and earth… We’re screwed, we’re screwed, this reckless brat is imparting the sword skills of the later generation to the predecessors and changing history. We are all going to vanish…’
Qin Mu and the rest talked with cheeriness and wit. Later, he took out the true dragon’s nest and invited Bai Qingfu and Bai Qu’er inside where he asked them to help him decode the writings. Even though he had decoded quite a number of them, there were still numerous dragon writings that he couldn’t figure out.
Bai Qingfu and Bai Qu’er were of the dragon race. When Bai Qingfu had exchanged blows with him, he had used the divine arts of a true dragon, making it clear that his bloodline was extremely high.
“This is a dragon vein of a true dragon lord?” The brother and sister entered the true dragon’s nest and were extremely astonished. Bai Qingfu said, “What a pity that this true dragon lord has been refined into a treasure by someone; otherwise, it could have become a true dragon king by absorbing the power of the other dragon veins! Being refined into a pendant is truly a pity.”
Bai Qu’er also said it was a pity. “The dragon ancestor of the celestial heavens was born from the dragon vein of a true dragon lord. His abilities are extremely powerful and he is one of the big shots in the celestial heavens. The power of his abilities is rare in this world and even High Emperor must be somewhat respectful to him…”
It wasn’t a treasure that Qin Mu could refine, so Bai Qingfu and Bai Qu’er didn’t think too much about it.
The brother and sister helped him clear up the writings of the dragon vein, and Bai Qingfu was ineffably excited from their work. “Old Brother Qin, we can be said to have benefited from you. When you look at it, our Bai Family has taken a huge advantage of you! We learned your sword skills and even learned the dragon writings from the true dragon’s nest of the true dragon lord. To you, the dragon language won’t make you improve buy much, but our gains are extraordinary!”
What he said was the truth. Qin Mu wasn’t of the dragon race, so couldn’t cultivate the technique of the true dragon lord as fast and as well as them. When Qin Mu invited them into the true dragon’s nest to decode the dragon writings, they gained benefits that even surpassed those gained by Qin Mu.
Bai Qu’er was also full of excitement as she thought to herself happily, ‘If he takes the dragon language of the true dragon’s nest as a betrothal gift, my father will definitely be overjoyed and promise me to him. I just wonder if he’s already married… However, that’s fine as well!’
Bai Qingfu and Bai Po’er decoded the dragon language in the dragon’s nest little by little and taught it to Qin Mu. However, there were still some writings they couldn’t understand.
“If only father was her. His bloodline is even higher, so he definitely could decode all of these dragon writings.” Bai Qu’er’s gaze flickered as she smiled sweetly. “Brother Mu, stay in Hundred Prosperities City for a few more days until my father returns.”
Qin Mu nodded. He was already very satisfied with his gains.
The siblings had decoded numerous marvels of the dragon writings, to the point that only ten percent were left unsolved. The technique of the true dragon lord took a huge step forward and became even stronger!
Bai Qingfu tried executing the true dragon technique, and he felt his cultivation improving rapidly. His foundation was also becoming more and more solid, patching what he was lacking before. This made him exclaim in joy. “Old Brother Qin, if I had cultivated the technique in the true dragon’s nest, you might not be able to defeat me on the same realm!”
As the three of them walked out of the true dragon’s nest, Qin Mu put it back into the taotie sack. He smiled and shook his head. “Even if Brother cultivated the technique of true dragon lord, you might not be able to defeat me. I’m the Overlord Body, I rarely have a match on the same realm.”
Bai Qu’er stared with her eyes wide open, and Bai Qingfu’s face was also blank.
“Overlord Body? Old Brother Qin, what’s Overlord Body?” Bai Qingfu sought knowledge humbly. “I’ve mostly moved around the areas surrounding Hundred Prosperities City, only going to the celestial heavens a few times in the past where I heard true god seniors imparting their paths, so I don’t know a lot of things. I’m clueless about this Overlord Body, so Old Brother Qin must have traveled wide to know this much. May I ask Old Brother Qin to teach me?”
Qin Mu was about to explain when he heard a loud laugh. “Qingfu, an esteemed guest has come to your Bai Family so why didn’t you inform us?”
“Qingfu, I saw you getting beaten! Who told you to be cocky daily? Now you got walloped right in front of the whole city.”
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voices and saw numerous young men and women walking over. They were all in high spirits and looked extraordinary attractive.
Bai Qingfu immediately said, “They are the young experts of my Hundred Prosperities City and are here to laugh at me. Old Brother Qin, let me introduce them to you.”
He then did as he said. Once it was finished, he talked about how Qin Mu had founded the eighteenth sword form and how he was the Overlord Body. Everyone was extremely astonished.
A youth stood up while blazing with fighting spirit and shouted loudly, “Overlord Body Qin, you said your Overlord Body is so powerful that can you suppress your peers and is invincible on the same realm, but I don’t believe you. Please enlighten me!”
Qin Mu rose with a smile. “I was also thinking of exchanging pointers with everyone here!”
The youth shook and transformed into a human with a bird’s head. He soared into the sky while flapping golden wings. Qin Mu rose into the air as well, and the two of them exchanged blows in the sky. The audience watching below were dazzled and erupted in cheers.
Just a moment later, the opposing youth’s sword skill was broken and he fell down.
“Let me meet Overlord Body Qin!”
A young woman couldn’t endure any longer and attacked. She was also of the dragon race, so the path she took was fierce and overbearing. She was proficient in spell divine arts of her kind, able to make divine arts explode with astonishing power between her fingers and palm.
Qin Mu executed Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture. With Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Force, over three hundred types of divine arts burst forth like a sky filled with stars, blowing the young woman back down.
“Superb divine art!”
Praises came from below, and another young man rushed into midair. After a few rounds of fighting, he was cut down by Qin Mu with a knife.
Everyone went forward, but they were all defeated.
Bai Qu’er was really excited and asked softly, “Sister-in-law, what do you think of him?”
“Outstanding, simply outstanding.” Bai Qingfu’s wife revealed a bitter smile and said softly, “I’m starting to worry about you now.”
Bai Qui’er was also troubled and slightly worried.
“Overlord Body Qin is no doubt the Overlord Body!”
Bai Qingfu laughed loudly and invited Qin Mu to take a seat once again. He surveyed the surroundings and asked loudly, “Do you guys feel like Old Brother Qin could fight his way up the celestial heavens and teach those arrogant talents a lesson?”
Everyone laughed in unison. “Could!”
One of the young women smiled and said, “I feel like Brother Qin’s techniques and divine arts are literally an era ahead. They are truly strange and wonderful, as well as thought-provoking. It is as though countless possibilities could be created from Old Brother Qin’s paths, skills, and divine arts, evolving those of our High Emperor Era to their extremes!”
The other people all nodded and smiled. “We also have this kind of feeling!”
Bai Qingfu then suggested, “Old Brother Qin, after the battle of Fomalhaut ends, let’s go to the celestial heavens together and wreck all of those arrogant fellows! Everyone, do you agree?”
“Yes!” The laughter of everyone rushed into the sky.
Qin Mu also laughed loudly and exchanged pointers on paths, skills, and divine arts. He had no thoughts that he might change history.
In the corner of a banquet, Pangong Tso’s face was completely ashen. He looked at the dragon qilin who had eaten his fill and the chest hiding in the darkness. He thought to himself ‘How is this just changing history? This is clearly stabbing a few holes in it! We are screwed, so screwed. We can’t go back anymore. We might even disappear right away…’
He felt extreme fear. ‘Even the eighteenth sword form was taught to them by this scoundrel. The sky and the earth are turning upside down! Goddamn Qin brat, I’m going to be sabotaged to death by you!’
In the banquet, everyone was talking and laughing, even becoming dead drunk, stumbling left and right. Bai Qu’er collected her courage and pulled Qin Mu to dance. His face was red, and he couldn’t break free of her hold, so he could only dance with her, making everyone laugh loudly.
At that moment, booming sounds came from afar as though the heaven was falling. Among the loud noise, darkness and air currents surged forward and bombarded Hundred Prosperities City, causing it to shake violently.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Everyone at the banquet was confused by the events. The impact from something was so fierce that buildings collapsed and even the roof of the palace behind them was lifted off and sent flying.
What flew away with the roof was also the entire banquet: plates, bowls, wine, and jade tables. Everything swept into midair by the terrifying air current!
Fwoosh!
A huge tree broke off at the waist and flew into the sky while spinning. A few people outside the manor were swept off their feet by the gale and flailed their limbs. They hugged the tree, and in the next moment, they vanished after being flung away by another even more terrifying pulse of energy.
The cultivation of Qin Mu and the rest was not simple, so they could stabilize themselves.
Bai Qingfu raised his hand, and dragon beads rose into the air. He shouted fiercely, “Fix!”
In the sky above Bai Manor, the items and people that were swept up got fixed in place. However, the houses and trees outside the manor were also uprooted and flying all over the place, so Bai Qingfu was unable to endure the pressure.
His face flushed and he stomped his feet, and True Dragon Primordial Spirit appeared behind him, which made the dragon beads shine brighter. However, he still couldn’t handle the pressure.
“Qingfu!” A woman carrying child led numerous experts of Bai Manor over. Each of them executed a dragon bead, and Bai Qingfu instantly felt the pressure on him lessen.
“Mother, uncles, aunts, and even great uncle, why are you all here?” he asked in a hurry.
“I’ve received news that Fomalhaut has been broken through!” the woman said. “The vanguard of the extraterritorial devils attacked, and Hundred Prosperities City cannot be guarded any longer, so quickly retreat out of the city and go to the celestial heavens! We, the older generation, will hold them off here! Follow the people in the city, and we will hurry over right after!”
The other young men and young women were stunned. “Fomalhaut has been broken through? What should we do? Let us quickly return to our manors and inform our lords!”
“No need for that!” the woman shouted at the flustered people to keep them under control. She stuffed the little boy into Bai Qu’er’s arms and took out another dragon bead for her while shouting sternly, “Your elders have already been informed so there’s no need for you guys to waste time on that! Leave the city immediately and go to the celestial heavens! There’s no need to pack anything, go immediately! The Dragon God Bead in Qu’er’s hands can assist you guys in repelling the darkness!”
Bai Qingfu understood the severity of the matter and immediately looked at Qin Mu. “Old Brother Qin, follow us too!”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly, and the chest stood up. Pangong Tso immediately jumped onto it. The dragon qilin was full of energy, and he jumped onto the chest as well.
They sprinted straight to the back door. When they reach there, they heard a quaking boom as a god that was guarding the southern gates got blown high into the air in their direction.
After he was blasted away, a bullheaded giant that had chains coiled around his body appeared outside the city. His huge body was even taller than the city towers. He pulled along the chains with a black iron ball the size of a mountain at their end. He sent it toward the fallen god!
Qin Mu’s blood ran cold. If the black iron ball came for that god, it would definitely land near them, so how would they survive?
At that moment, melodious roars of dragons came from Bai Manor as the woman from before and the experts of Bai Manor showed their true forms. They transformed into huge dragons that soared into the air, welcoming the iron ball.
At the same time, the other experts in Hundred Prosperities City also rushed out to attack one after another. All of them hurried to the southern city gate.
Tall and sturdy half beast and half human giants were bombarding the city walls which fell with loud rumbles. Countless ‘extraterritorial devils’ came flooding into the city and drowned building after building until charging into the resistance force!
“Quickly go!”
Qin Mu, Bai Qingfu, and the rest rushed to the northern city gate which was already crowded with people fleeing for their lives. They created an impenetrable crowd. People were stepping on each other, with few making any headway.
On the city tower, the god that was guarding the city transformed his magic power into a huge hand, grabbing people trying to squeeze through to send them out. While doing that, he shouted out loudly, “Stand in the light outside the city; do not walk out of the light!”
Qin Mu and the rest flew out of the city and saw quite a number of people rush into the darkness while shouting among themselves. All of them turned into skeletons, their flesh gone.
The god had shifted tens of thousands of people yet there were still countless people flooding over to the northern city gates, wailing incessantly. In the meantime, the army of the ‘extraterritorial devils’ had already slaughtered their way over.
That god gritted his teeth and flew out of the city. “All gather around me. I’ll bring you to the celestial heavens! Follow me! The strong shall stay at the back to fight off the extraterritorial devils!”
As for the people who were still rushing through the city, he couldn’t take them into consideration anymore. He could only protect those already out.
Qin Mu and the rest landed on the ground. Bai Qingfu immediately led everyone after the god into the darkness, but Pangong Tso stopped them. He shouted angrily. “Everyone, come back! If you want to live, don’t follow that god!”
Bai Qingfu was stunned and looked at this person that had no legs. While carrying a child in one hand, Bai Qu’er raised the dragon bead as light with the other. She asked in puzzlement, “Why shouldn’t we follow him?”
The child began to cry, and her sister-in-law took it to console.
It was Bai Qingfu’s son, and he had still yet to wean.
Qin Mu’s expression was solemn. “That god is protecting tens of thousands of people, so he has a big target written on his back and will definitely be attacked! Everyone, this guy is right. Grandmaster is the most outstanding person I know in terms of escaping for his life; his escaping abilities are unmatched in this world! Grandmaster, you have the most experience so tell us where to go!”
“Which way is the celestial heavens?” Pangong Tso asked in a hurry. Bai Qingfu raised his hand and pointed to the west of Fomalhaut. Pangong Tso then immediately said, “We’ll go east! Quickly!”
The god had already brought the people far into the darkness. Because there was light around Qin Mu and the rest, a hundred people had also gathered around them, and there were still more being attracted by the light.
“Go quickly, kill all those that will lag behind!” Pangong Tso said ruthlessly.
“How can we kill our own people?” Everyone was furious. Bai Qu’er also stopped and prepared to bring more people.
Cold sweat rolled down Pangong Tso’s forehead as he shouted, “Does everyone wish to die here? Do you still want to live? If you’re soft-hearted, all of you can forget about escaping alive!”
The ‘extraterritorial devils’ rushed out of the northern city gates and toward the escapees, slaughtering every single one of them.
Bai Qingfu gritted his teeth and said, “No need to wait for others, let’s go!”
They rushed into the darkness with the chest giving off a faint glow. This should have astonished the others, but no one had the time to inquire about it.
Behind them, the extraterritorial devils were like sharks that had smelt the scent of blood. They pursued after them, so Bai Qingfu and the rest had to cover their retreat, fighting and falling back at the same time.
“Our speed is too slow while bringing along these burdens!” Pangong Tso gritted his teeth and looked fiercely at the people of Hundred Prosperities City around them. An evil grin came onto his face. “It’s also a waste for these scums to live, so why don’t we just kill them all? Only then can we have the possibility of escaping! Cult Master Qin, you also agree with me, right?”
Qin Mu looked at Bai Qu’er and said solemnly, “Qu’er, give your Dragon God Bead to them. I can bring you guys out with the help of my chest if you want a chance to survive; otherwise, we are really going to be dragged down by these people!”
Bai Qu’er shook her head. “How can I abandon everyone just for my own life? We don’t have such people in Bai Family! Brother Mu, High Emperor Celestial Heavens was founded for the people, for the gods to be useful to the people. High Emperor has declared that human lives are greater than heaven!”
Even though her voice was soft, it could rouse even the apathetic. “If we can’t protect the people, what are gods for? High Emperor said that in front of human lives, all gods have to step aside.”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently. “Human lives are greater than heaven?”
Pangong Tso laughed angrily. “Every man for himself, or heaven and earth will combine to destroy you! Human lives are greater than heaven? In my eyes, if High Emperor was faced with such a situation, he would also escape for his life first!”
Bai Qu’er shook her head. “High Emperor definitely wouldn’t do that.”
More extraterritorial devils came from behind, and Qin Mu also moved to the back of the group to deal with those devils while covering the group’s retreat east.
At that moment, he finally saw those ‘extraterritorial devils’ clearly, but they were humans just like them. They weren’t different in any way, and he couldn’t help feeling bewildered. “They are humans as well?”
Both parties didn’t hesitate at all, using their strongest fatal moves the moment they met. They fought each other in a desperate struggle. Qin Mu’s vital qi burst forth, and he executed his sword pellet to attack the ‘extraterritorial devils’. Flying swords flew out and changed unpredictably into all kinds of sword forms, killing the enemies one by one.
“KIll these rebels!” one of the ‘extraterritorial devils’ shouted out loudly. “Accomplish our goals and return back to the celestial heavens as soon as possible!”
The battle was bloody. Bai Qingfu and the rest killed non-stop, but there were more and more extraterritorial devils flooding over. Everyone gained injuries.
Suddenly, someone was pushed into the darkness and got swallowed by the monsters there, turning into a white skeleton. Qin Mu felt a pang of sorrow at that moment, that person was the girl with which he had exchanged blows in Bai Manor.
They fought and retreated at the same time. When the final extraterritorial devil was slain, the surroundings became quiet. Only the whispers of the monsters in the darkness remained.
Qin Mu treated everyone, and Bai Qingfu grinned. “Old Brother Qin also knows about the art of healing? You’re truly talented.”
His left arm had been cut off yet he still could smile. This was really admirable.
“There’s no need to treat me,” a youth who had challenged Qin Mu said. There was a huge hole in his chest. His breath was weak as he raised his head to smile. “I’m unsavable, I can feel my soul shattering. I was greedy and wanted to kill my opponent, but only received a strike from him. Don’t bring my corpse along, just leave it here. I don’t want to become a burden to you guys…”
Qin Mu looked him over, but before he could finish his examination, that youth had already taken his last breath.
Qin Mu was stunned. He rose to treat other people.
The group continued forward through the extremely long night. The sounds of fighting came from the darkness around them which meant that other groups who had escaped were being attacked.
They also faced the pursuers, chasing after them in the darkness like wolves and sometimes catching up.
There were fewer and fewer people around them, giving Pangong Tso no choice but to fight alongside everyone. Even the dragon qilin had joined the battle.
Qin Mu bandaged Bai Qingfu’s severed arm while the youth cradled his son with his right hand, coaxing him to sleep. He handed his son to his wife and said softly, “There’s a relay station right with a worshiping god who will protect you guys. Old Brother Qin, can you lend me this chest?”
Fierce shouting came from behind them which belonged to yet another group of pursuers that were almost upon them.
“Let me go with you.”
“No need.” Bai Qingfu grinned, then his expression softened. “You are only on Six Directions Realm and I’m on Celestial Being Realm. I can return, but you can’t. Just stay here and wait for me. Take good care of my son…”
He turned and left with the chest.
Qin Mu turned around to advance with the group. Bai Qu’er and her sister-in-law watched as Bai Qingfu vanished into the darkness with the chest.
Not long later, the chest caught back up to them, its exterior covered in bloodstains.
The wife of Bai Qingfu coaxed the child that had woken up back to sleep.
“Old Brother Qin, not many of those who can fight are left.” Bai Qingfu’s wife handed the child to Bai Qu’er and smoothed out her hair that was hanging down. She smiled. “People are still required to block the pursuers, so lend me your chest. I might not be able to return it to you though.”
“Brother Bai’s wife, let us follow you.” A few of the young men and young women with missing arms and legs stood up.
Qin Mu nodded and lent the chest to them. Bai Qu’er opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything.
The group continued to head forward.
Not long later, the chest caught up to them once more, and fierce shouting came from the back again.
Qin Mu smiled and got onto the chest. “Fatty Dragon, come, it’s our turn. Grandmaster, go with them.”
“You motherf*cker!” Pangong Tso propped himself up before walking to the chest while cursing. “I came here with you, so if you die, how am I supposed to get back? I have never done any good deed before so treat it as an exception this time… You motherf*cker!”
“No…” Bai Qu’er looked at them and burst into tears.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Bai Qu’er raised the Dragon God Bead up high while carrying Bai Qingfu’s child and turned around to bring the crowd into the darkness.
Dragon God Bead gave off tranquil light that repelled the darkness. They had to hurry to the relay station in front and seek the protection from the god there.
Beside the chest, the dragon qilin let out low growls to invigorate himself. Qin Mu threw the huge cauldron back to Pangong Tso. When the latter saw one of the legs missing, he shook his head and said, “The cauldron is spoiled, its power is weakened so it probably can’t protect us. Luckily I still have other treasures.”
He stuffed the huge cauldron back into his taotie sack and took out a huge calabash. He tried its straps around himself with a chuckle. “Cult Master Qin, this is the spirit weapon of my first lifetime. It’s called Bloodshed Calabash, and it’s the treasure that brought me to fame. It’s been a very long time since I’ve used it. I had always thought to break through and merge what I had learned over the ten thousand years together to refine my Bloodshed Calabash. However, I could never merge so many techniques together.”
He carried the calabash on his back since it was about three feet tall. However, he had no legs so the whole image was a little weird.
“Grandmaster, I never expected you to also be someone of ambition.”
Qin Mu took out a knife sheath from his taotie sack and secured it on his back. He then took out two Pig Slaughtering Knives and put them inside. “What a pity you changed after seeing yourself unable to become a god and walked down the wrong road.”
Pangong Tso looked at his taotie sack and sneered. “Do you think that you wouldn’t change? That’s my taotie sack!”
“I picked it up from Rolan’s Golden Palace.”
Qin Mu took out a huge iron hammer and swung it gently. The huge iron hammer hummed, and its head continuously broke up to expand outward. It did so until it was eight feet long, with the handle as the center of the circle,
When Qin Mu stopped using his magic power, the huge iron hammer shrunk back to its original size.
Qin Mu slotted the hammer into a leather buckle on the knife pouch, securing it there. He then took out a bamboo cane and swung it gently as well, creating a series of afterimages. He secured it on his back as well.
Pangong Tso was startled. He then saw him take out brush, ink, and papers, which he stuffed into his sleeves, and even secure a few scrolls to the knife pouch as well. Pangong Tso couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “Great Cult Master Qin, are you going to perform a play? Your back cannot even be seen!”
Qin Mu took out his poison pouch and sword pellet. It broke up into eight thousand swords, and he took out bottles of various sizes from the pouch. He applied poison to the swords one by one while saying, “There’s no harm in preparing. When I first walked out of Great Ruins, this was how I dressed. Even though it looks crude, it’s practical. When I gained status, I stopped looking this crude. However, since this is a life and death struggle, it’s naturally best to be as basic as possible!”
Upon hearing his words, Pangong Tso took out seven flags from his taotie sack and inserted them into the ground behind him. He then took out a bronze mirror with a strap which he wrapped around the left arm. It looked like a shield.
He then took out a set of flying daggers and hung them on the inside of his shirt on both sides.
Qin Mu was stunned. Pangong Tso then took out a few sword cases and setting them beside his legs. There was also the most common weapon used on the prairie—knife pellets.
However, Pangong Tso’s knife pellets were extraordinary. Their quality far surpassed what the strong practitioners on the prairie used.
He also took out a taiji plate and a buddha shrine with a small buddha. He then took out a thick pillar with glowing rune markings and erected it beside himself.
“Grandmaster, your wealth is still truly astonishing,” Qin Mu praised. “Imperial Preceptor and I looted your golden palace so many times yet you still have so many precious treasures!”
Pangong Tso sneered and said, “Once you’ve lived for ten thousand years, the things you’ll accumulate will be even more than what I have! They are here, eyes awaken!”
His eyes blazed brightly, and he executed his heavenly eyes of Buddhism. Next, among the buddha rays, the Dao eyes of Dao Sect actually formed and transformed into the symbol of yin and yang!
Pangong Tso looked into the darkness and saw flickering silhouettes.
“Awaken!” Qin Mu gave a low shout and executed Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill.
Starlight appeared in his pupils, and the sun lit up in the Milky Way. Then, layers of formation took shape. Blind had merged his Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill with number one divine eyes of Founding Emperor Era, those of God Zi Qing, so their power was even great, and the divine arts were even more powerful. However, this kind of divine eyes exhausted much more magic power, so Qin Mu could only barely open Bright Heaven’s Eyes, with a total of five heavens.
Because of that, he still mainly used Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes.
The darkness in front of them was too dense, however, and Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes couldn’t see far, so he executed Bright Heaven’s Eyes.
The dragon qilin opened his eyes wide to look around, but he couldn’t see anything. “Cult master, what do you see?”
Pangong Tso couldn’t see too far either. All that was within his vision was a dozen silhouettes walking through the darkness. “Cult Master, there are over a dozen of them, right?”
Qin Mu looked straight at the darkness and nodded with a smile. “There’s only over a dozen of divine arts practitioners, don’t worry.”
Pangong Tso let out a sigh of relief and laughed loudly. “I really thought I would die like Bai Qingfu and his wife, like a bunch of scum. I’m not that noble. Seems like following Cult Master Qin is a lucky sign. I won’t die now!”
The dragon qilin also burst into laughter. “Cult Master always turns misfortune into a blessing!”
Xing An’s chest also started opening and closing its cover, laughing in its own way.
Qin Mu also smiled and stretched his hand out to point. The chest split apart and fell to the ground.
Xing An’s chest used materials like the skins and bones of taotie. The bones were used as the structure for the chest and the skins were wrapped around them.
Now that the chest was spread open, the surroundings with a radius of three hundred yards had become a safe space.
Standing in it, they had the divine light of the chest protecting them and didn’t need to worry about the darkness.
Pangong Tso placed all his treasures properly while the dragon qilin looked at the frames of the chest in fear. All kinds of body parts hung on the frames, and when Qin Mu wasn’t looking, Pangong Tso sneakily hung his poisoned leg before grabbing two good ones which he stuffed into his taotie sack.
Qin Mu pretended not to see anything and just looked ahead. With his Bright Heaven’s Eyes, he saw an army of hundreds of ‘extraterritorial devils’ behind the dozen silhouettes!
They stood quietly there with a tall silhouette riding a large, sturdy strange beast in the lead. He was looking at the divine arts practitioners sent forward to scout.
Those divine arts practitioners were only to test their abilities!
Qin Mu kept what he had seen to himself and took in a deep breath. His sword pellet slid out of his sleeves and rolled silently to the border of the chest. There, it dug into the dirt and went underground. Fine flying swords spread out within a radius of three hundred yards.
“Now!”
Qin Mu shouted out, and the two Pig Slaughtering Knives came out of their sheath as he grabbed them.
At the same time, over a dozen divine arts practitioners rushed over, and the dragon qilin opened his mouth to roar. Blazing true fire transformed into a flaming pillar which blasted forward. When it exploded, the silhouettes avoided and went to attack the dragon qilin.
He moved his head, and the flaming pillar swept in all directions. One of the men pressed his hands down, and the ground was supposed to rise up. However, under the chest’s suppression, it couldn’t be lifted at all.
Another person used knife lights with incredibly great knife skills. They swirled frantically around the flaming pillar and sliced it apart. Qin Mu then grabbed his knives and rushed to that person.
The divine arts practitioner was also strong, so he knew life and death was only an instant away when a battle technique practitioner closed in on him. He could only see the other person’s knife skills and footwork.
The two of them moved and swirled rapidly like spinning tops. In the sudden rise and fall of the knife lights, the outcome was decided.
“Wonderful knife skills!”
The person’s head flew up and landed in the darkness mid praise.
While his corpse collapsed, Qin Mu got struck by the palm of another divine arts practitioners on his chest. However, his body coiled like a flood dragon, and his vital qi transformed into one too to coil around the opponent’s arm. Two knives then slashed at an unbelievable speed, throwing out countless knife lights to cut down the enemy!
“Truly wonderful knife skills!” the person praised as darkness swamped his eyes. He could no longer see Qin Mu’s knives.
Thump.
His head landed on the ground and tumbled two rounds. His eyes were still wide open as his consciousness gradually vanished. “To be able to die under this kind of knife skills…”
Pangong Tso’s knife pellets floated into the air, and he attacked at the same time as Qin Mu. His knife pellets crisscrossed, and countless knife lights moved close to the ground while slashing out. At the same time, whooshing sounds came from his Bloodshed Calabash as a bloody waterfall soared into the sky, sweeping up a divine arts practitioner that was avoiding his legs severing knife lights.
There were all kinds of bugs in the waterfall which instantly ate him cleanly!
Sounds of collision rang out as another divine arts practitioners moved while stepping on the knives and closed in on Pangong Tso. With a raise of his hand, divine lightning burst forth.
Pangong Tso went against the lightning and swept his sleeves up. Countless flying daggers poured out in a torrent, stabbing that person’s face until it was full of blades
The dragon qilin roared angrily and revealed his hundred and twenty yards true form, retaliating by smacking his opponents and biting them to death.
After a moment, Qin Mu cut down the last enemy and kicked his corpse out. He spat a mouthful of blood and phlegm. The cultivation of those divine arts practitioners had not been that high. They were mostly on Six Directions and Seven Stars Realm. There was also one expert of Celestial Being Realm that was wrapped by the dragon qilin. The primordial spirit of that person was strong and he almost raised the dragon qilin to throw him into the darkness.
Only with Qin Mu and Pangong Tso working together with him did they manage to kill him in the three hundred yards space.
Pangong Tso had been hit by a few divine arts and his face was dirty. He might as well not hide it from Qin Mu and attach the two divine legs to his body.
Qin Mu turned a blind eye to it and said with a laugh, “Grandmaster, do it faster, the opponent won’t give us a chance.”
“The opponent?” Pangong Tso laughed. “Didn’t we already kill all of them?”
He raised his head to look into the darkness and couldn’t help becoming stunned when he saw black silhouettes rushing over through the darkness. He hurriedly turned in preparation to run, but darkness was behind them, so he didn’t move.
“No way out!” Pangong Tso turned his head back and cried out loudly, “Cult Master Qin, there’s no way out! I was screwed by you!”
Qin Mu went to stand in the center of the space and sheathed his two knives. With a thump, a Sun Jade Eye landed beside him and he shouted, “Cross the border and you’ll die!”
“Boasting shamelessly!”
A divine arts practitioner of the extraterritorial devils rushed over, and a sword light suddenly flew out from underground. It passed close to his chest before piercing his head.
The divine arts practitioner rushed a dozen more steps before collapsing in front of Qin Mu.
He smiled and repeated the same words to the hundreds of extraterritorial devils outside. “Cross the border and you’ll die!”
“I’ll kill you!”
A giant wielding a huge shield in his hands leaped up and threw the shield under his feet to block the sword lights that were surging up at him. At the same time, he roared angrily and his body transformed into the form of a tortoise-backed god that had a huge snake coiled around him. He landed in the space within the chest and threw a punch. The flying serpent hissed and coiled around his fist.
Zheng, zheng!
Two knife lights crisscrossed horizontally and vertically, and the giant split into four pieces.
Qin Mu wiped away the blood on the knives and grinned. “Cross the border and you’ll die!”
“Two of you and a pig taking up three hundred yards of space and you want to block my army?”
A strange beast walked over. On it, the leader of the extraterritorial devil group took off his mask to look down at Qin Mu. He sneered and said, “Seeing how your cultivation isn’t weak and you have the courage, I won’t let you die with an intact corpse! All soldiers listen up, trample over them!”
The extraterritorial devils came flooding over and drowned out the three hundred yards of space.
Eight thousand swords broke through the air and transformed into the first form of Sword Picture, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. They sent everyone in the space of three hundred yards into the Sword Picture!
The leader laughed coldly, and his primordial spirit rose into the air. His magic power burst forth and blew away all the flying swords, breaking Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
Pangong Tso was pale white as he looked at this existence that could easily break Sword Picture. His heart was in despair as he muttered, “Even a general of Life and Death Realm is here, so there’s no way out. I can’t run anymore…”
“There’s a way!” Qin Mu shouted out, and a bright light burst forth, stabbing into the eyes of the general. The instant he put Sword Picture in place, the light of Sun Jade Eye penetrated the heart of his brows and came out the other end!
The other divine arts practitioners rushed toward Qin Mu and drowned him out. Sun Jade Eye was blown away by a few divine arts and rolled aside.
Hope was renewed in Pangong Tso’s heart, and he welcomed the hundreds of people with a fierce face. “Die!”
“Die!” the dragon qilin roared and his scales erupted, flying out from his body.
Bang, bang, bang!
The three hundred yards of space quickly folded and closed up. Several hundred extraterritorial devils were packed into the box along with Pangong Tso, Qin Mu, and the dragon qilin.
In the darkness, the chest gave off a faint glow while inside it was incomparably black darkness. There was no light at all. Loud strikes rang out inside the chest as something kept on hitting each other.
Terrifying sounds of battle came from the chest. Knives were slicing flesh and divine arts exploding. Fresh blood kept leaking out from the chest.
After a long while, the chest finally became peaceful again.
Bang!
A bloody hand pushed open the chest, and a head popped out. Its owner wanted to climb out, he was stabbed by a bamboo cane the next moment. The bamboo cane pierced out from the heart of his brows before getting pulled back.
The chest spat the corpse out.
The peace returned once again. After a moment, dull sounds rang out. The chest opened up again and threw more corpses out.
“When fighting in a black world, whoever is blind will win!” In the chest, Qin Mu stood with his bamboo cane in complete darkness. “My master was just that—a blind man!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The chest went silent, to the extent that no sound, not even that of breathing could be heard!
Qin Mu could move freely in the darkness, and silently as well.
A drop of sweat dripped down into a pool of blood with a slight sound. The owner of that sweat immediately moved, but pain rushed through their heart. It seemed to have been pierced by a bamboo cane.
Qin Mu pulled out the bamboo cane and advanced silently. The sound of the corpse collapsing came from behind him.
It immediately brought out violent reactions, and the extraterritorial devils in the surroundings attacked, exploding with divine arts and bright spirit weapons toward the area from which the sound had come.
Between the flashes of the divine arts and spirit weapons, Qin Mu moved inside the chest like a phantom, and divine arts practitioners died one by one under his hands. When the light vanished, and darkness returned while the corpses of the divine arts practitioners swayed and collapsed.
The surroundings regained silence once more.
The interior of the chest had a radius of three hundred yards, which was an area of about ten hectares or so.
If several hundred people were scattered over such a space, they wouldn’t much feel it, even if one of them was a behemoth like the dragon qilin. Yet to the divine arts practitioners, the space seemed incomparably tightly filled.
Divine arts could reach anyone in an instant, and some powerful ones could even sweep through all corners of the space.
When Qin Mu pulled them all into the chest, everyone had panicked and immediately began to fight, which was why the chest had trembled violently at the start.
Darkness had brought chaos to the group, and to protect themselves, everyone attacked whoever was nearest to them. Because of that, quite a number of strong practitioners died under the hands of their own.
The chaos didn’t last for too long though, since their leader was a strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm who ordered them to stay calm.
That strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm was smart, but he was killed by Qin Mu the next instant, and chaos ensued once more. Qin Mu used his bamboo cane to kill people, and even strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm couldn’t escape from battling him in close quarters.
After the chaos was quelled, someone tried to open the chest to let in some light, but he was stabbed by Qin Mu.
In the meantime, there were a few more life-and-death struggles. Everyone still alive in the chest was fearful for their own safety. They suppressed their breaths, heartbeats, and even the wounds. They didn’t want their blood to flow out and notify Qin Mu of their location.
They even had to close their eyes so they wouldn’t betray their location in the darkness.
As divine arts practitioners, everyone usually cultivated pupil divine arts which gave off light. Those spots of brightness in the dark world were no doubt the best target for Qin Mu!
He was like a bat in the darkness, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. Any sound would catch his attention and bring its owner death.
In such suffocating darkness lay a devil king who could take lives at any moment!
When the chest opened up to spit out a few more corpses, light shone from above and everyone felt their blood run cold. They all moved, no longer daring to remain in the same spot. After a moment, sounds of divine arts colliding and corpses falling could be heard. Some more people died in the chaos.
“I can’t take it anymore!”
One of the ‘extraterritorial devils’ finally couldn’t endure the terrifying atmosphere any longer and mentally broke down. He threw all kinds of divine arts and spirit weapons in all directions while shouting fiercely! “Die, all of you! Die!”
Their power was great and easily covered three hundred yards of space. His spirit weapon was also abnormally sharp. It swept in all directions, forcing the people in the darkness to defend.
In the chest, chaos erupted once more, and fierce shouts rang throughout the place. All kinds of spirit weapons and divine arts rushed around randomly.
After a long time, the divine arts practitioner who had gone crazy panted heavily and stopped. There were no more sounds in the surroundings except for his pants.
“Dead?” The man was stunned. He was surprised and delighted as he laughed loudly. “You guys are all dead! All dead! I’ve survived, only I’m alive!”
Swish!
A bamboo cane stabbed his mouth and came out the back of his head.
The chest opened, and its four sides spread out. Light shone down on the three hundred yards of space. Yet within it, there was only Qin Mu, Pangong Tso with a pale face, as well as the dragon qilin who was shivering in a corner.
He had shrunk to the size of three yards and was hiding behind a bunch of racks. His thick skin and flesh were fine, but spirit weapons of all sizes covered his body. Among them, there were even a few swords that obviously belonged to Qin Mu. It was obvious that quite a number of attacks had hit him in the chaos.
He was large. Even if he tried his best to shrink his body, he still didn’t lack attacks that accidentally landed on him.
The whole ground was strewn with corpses, each one having died differently. Some were stabbed by a bamboo cane, some had their heads split by knives, some were hung in paintings and had their heads erased. There were even some cows and goats as well as divine arts practitioners who were stabbed into porcupines. There were also people who were crushed by the sword pellet and even by the true dragon’s nest.
However, most of them had died under the hands of their own.
The situation had simply been too chaotic. To protect themselves, everyone had no choice but to kill one another. The ones that died under Qin Mu, Pangong Tso, and the dragon qilin’s hands were actually in the minority. They made up at most thirty percent.
Pangong Tso wiped away the bloodstains on his face, still feeling a lingering fear.
In the pitch black darkness, Qin Mu had collided with him once. If he hadn’t executed the ultimate art of Rolan’s Golden Palace so the youth would realize it was him, he might have also been erased by Qin Mu.
In the chaos, he had suffered numerous injuries and gotten rid of quite a number of opponents, but the most dangerous time was still when Qin Mu had gotten close to him.
He had almost lost his life then!
Even though Pangong Tso had escaped from Qin Mu’s sure-kill attack, the pit of his stomach still had a bloody hole from a bamboo cane. This came from him avoiding getting stabbed in the heart. His neck had also been forced to bend at a shocking degree to avoid Pig Slaughtering Knife..
Qin Mu might not have attacked him again after recognizing his divine arts, but Pangong Tso had a suspicion that the brat had known it was him from the start. In the chaos of battle, he simply thought to get rid of him as well.
Of course, Pangong Tso didn’t have any proof for that so it wouldn’t be good for him to bring it up.
Covered in bloodstains, Qin Mu was dragging the corpses out of the chest one by one. He had also suffered numerous injuries and been in an incomparably dangerous situation. He had almost died under the attacks sent wildly in all directions.
Among the opponents, there had been a few strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm. Their divine arts were even stronger than those of others, and the attacks from their primordial spirit were incomparably terrifying. If a single attack had hit, he would have definitely died even if he was using True Dragon Overlord Body.
Still, he had been struck by numerous other divine arts and spirit weapons. If it wasn’t for the ‘extraterritorial devil’ who had suddenly gone crazy, it would have been hard for him to be the last one standing.
Pangong Tso came forward, and the two of them threw the corpses out into the darkness in silence.
Not long later, the chest was cleaned out. Qin Mu hadn’t thrown the spirit weapons of the ‘extraterritorial devils’ out and now put them all into his taotie sack. After that, he called back the spirit weapons he had abandoned during the fights.
Chi, chi, chi.
Lines of blood spurted out from the dragon qilin’s body as a few flying swords pulled themselves out and merged with Qin Mu’s sword pellet.
The dragon qilin looked at the open wounds that were still spurting blood before looking at Qin Mu. “Cult Master, you struck me?”
“I didn’t, don’t say nonsense; it was an accident.” Qin Mu just denied it.
Pangong Tso hesitated for a moment, then took the chance when the dragon qilin was licking his wounds to execute his knife pellets. A few knives came off the dragon qilin’s butt and merged into his knife pellets.
The dragon qilin was furious. “Grandmaster, you also struck me?”
Pangong Tso coughed up blood and looked at Qin Mu who pretended not to see anything. “Accident, it must have been an accident…” He hesitated for a moment, then said, “Cult Master Qin, do you still have dragon saliva? Give some to me, I’m also hurt.”
Qin Mu flipped open his taotie sack and took out a few bottles of dragon saliva. Pangong Tso hesitated but didn’t dare to take them. He scratched his head. “I suddenly feel frightened of using Cult Master Qin’s dragon saliva to treat my injuries. I can’t be sure if it’ll treat my wounds or if I’ll drop dead from poison.”
“Don’t use if you don’t want to.” Qin Mu opened up the dragon saliva and smeared it on his wounds.
Pangong Tso looked at the dragon qilin who was currently executing qilin fire to melt the rest of the spirit weapons on his body. When the dragon qilin saw him walking over shamelessly, he was instantly angered and turned his butt to face him, revealing a few deep wounds. “Is licking wounds fun? You want me to lick your wounds? Come, lick my wounds first!”
Pangong Tso’s face turned black as charcoal, and he said carefully, “I just want to borrow some dragon saliva, and am not asking you to lick. If you could pity me…”
The dragon qilin’s heart softened. He couldn’t bear it and spat out a huge mouthful of dragon saliva. “Lick it yourself!”
Pangong Tso scooped it up and smeared on his wounds.
They treated themselves, and Qin Mu took out some more dragon saliva to smear the wounds on the dragon qilin’s butt. But even after resting for quite a while, their legs were still sore.
In the darkness, sounds of footstep reached them, and Qin Mu struggled to get up. He executed Cinnabar Heaven’s Eyes, and a figure with a blood-red cape showed up in the darkness.
Pangong Tso also stood up shakily and opened the huge bottle gourd behind him. A waterfall of blood flew up and hung in the sky.
The dragon qilin tried to push himself up, but his weak limbs couldn’t hold up his body. He felt better sitting down so he just remained like that and breathed his true fire.
Qin Mu’s arms hung down, unable to raise the sword pellet. He could only flick his finger so that Carefree Sword would fly out to float near his fingertip. It was incomparably fine.
A youth was walking over with a long knife on his back. However, he didn’t walk all the way to them. Instead, he stopped and looked carefully at the hundreds of corpses between them.
In the darkness, the monsters disregarded him. It seemed to only be effective against the people of this world. To a visitor from outer space like him, they were no threat.
“To kill a troop of scouts of my celestial heaven’s Spirit Elite Guards, you are very powerful!” The youth carrying the long knife shook his cape which was full of fresh blood. He looked at Qin Mu across the darkness and said solemnly, “I’m Luo Wushuang of Spirit Elite Guards. Does your distinguished self dares to announce their name?”
Pangong Tso chuckled. “Luo Wushuang, Spirit Elite Guards? Never heard before. Little brat, you seem capable, come to your death!”
The youth with the long knife was indifferent. “I admire everyone here, to actually kill so many experts by relying only on two people and a pig. Your abilities can’t be weak to have achieved that, but they were just scouts. Spirit Elite Guards is the army which selects the best from the elites among the younger generations of the celestial heavens and is not something to which these scouts could compare.
“You guys, the ground beetles of High Emperor, having such abilities is truly worthy of respect so I’ve asked for your names to let your reputation live on after you die. But since you guys don’t want that…”
He pulled out his blade and slashed down against the wind. The knife light seemed like it was practiced thousands of times as it landed down against the wind. It grew from one to two, to four, to eight, to sixteen, dividing in sequence. When the whole bunch came in front of Qin Mu and the rest, they already filled the sky with knife lights!
Pangong Tso shouted furiously and closed his palms together. The blood waterfall transformed into a blood buddha which faced the knife lights. They shattered it. However, with the impact of the blood buddha, the knife lights were unstable for an instant.
Yet Pangong Tso sat down on the ground and panted heavily. He had no more magic power left.
Qin Mu flicked his finger up, and Carefree Sword flew out, stabbing through the net of knives and coming to the youth’s side in an instant.
He tried to use the last of his strength to execute his sword move since he could no longer defend himself. The dragon qilin roared, and the scales on his body flew out. They were like tens of thousands of huge shields that rose up before Qin Mu.
The youth was moving unpredictably to avoid the sword light as he raised his knife to defend. His knife skills had reached perfection, and there was a grandness to it.
Qin Mu used up the last of his strength and vital qi to move his sword. The eighteen sword forms changed unpredictably, and when the last move was executed, the youth gave a grunt; his arm which had been holding the knife was severed.
He grabbed it and immediately retreated, getting a mile away in an instant.
“Who are you? Report your names!” he shouted out sternly.
Qin Mu speculated that his vital qi was about to be exhausted and couldn’t reach a mile away, so he just called back his sword. Carefree Sword swirled quickly around him, making it seem as though he still had strength remaining.
“Heavenly Saint Cult Master, Qin Mu.” He smiled and added leisurely, “Beside me is Grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace.”
Pangong Tso’s expression changed slightly.
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Luo Wushuang turned to leave, and his voice came from afar. “Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu, Rolan’s Golden Palace Grandmaster, when I gain success to some extent in the future, I will definitely repay both of you greatly, taking revenge for my severed arm. Don’t die too early!”
He then vanished in the dense darkness.
Qin Mu continued to stand straight as before, with Carefree Sword circling around him.
He didn’t relax and stared into the darkness. After a moment, he finally left out a sigh of relief.
Pangong Tso’s face turned bitter and he grumbled, “Cult Master Qin, why did you have to announce our names? What should we do now?”
“If we didn’t say our names, he might not have retreated.” Qin Mu’s aura suddenly weakened, and he collapsed into a sitting position. Carefree Sword fell onto the ground, and he didn’t even have the strength to move it anymore. “If he remained to fight to the death, we really couldn’t have won against him. Only after hearing our names would he leave.”
Pangong Tso struggled to get up while looking at him with a calculating gaze. A lump of blood popped out from his Bloodshed Calabash as he calculated if he should take the chance to attack Qin Mu now while pretending to be angry. “You could have said fake names!”
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows, and Carefree Sword which was beside his feet secretly raised its tip while he said weakly, “When I do things, I never say my fake name. What’s more, we are returning back to thirty to forty thousand years later, so how could he even find us?”
Fury blazed in Pangong Tso’s heart as he gritted his teeth. “Cult Master Qin, how is Qin Mu, this name, real? You never say your fake name? How shameless of you to say that.”
More blood came out from the calabash and floated up silently.
He narrowed his eyes and changed to a different expression. He said pleasantly, “However, Cult Master is logical. Who knows, even though this scoundrel Luo Wushuang is slightly capable, he’s too arrogant so he definitely won’t live until thirty to forty thousand years later. Maybe he has already died in the war. Cult Master Qin, do you need me to help you up?”
Qin Mu raised his head with a sincere expression. “Good, my body is now exhausted. If you didn’t lend me a hand, I really wouldn’t be able to get up.”
Pangong Tso suddenly shuddered and hurriedly moved back with a chuckle. “Men should not touch hands. It’s best if I get farther away so there will be no gossip.”
Qin Mu was unconcerned and propped himself up with Carefree Sword. “Luo Wushuang has retreated so we need to leave as soon as possible as well. He might bring the army of Spirit Elite Guards. We can’t stay here for long.”
The dragon qilin pulled his dragon scales back and crawled out of the chest’s area. He heard a few bangs, and the chest closed up once again, becoming neither large nor small.
The dragon qilin climbed onto it while panting from exhaustion. Qin Mu also climbed up with difficulty before turning around to smile. “Grandmaster, come up as well.”
Pangong Tso shook his head and went under the chest, hugging one of its legs. “I’m fine here.”
Qin Mu kicked the dragon qilin and burst into laughter. “You are too careful. We’re using the same chest for transport and have the same enemies, sharing life-and-death together. Do you really think I would still lay my hands on you?”
The dragon qilin raised his front claws which were like blades. The moment Pangong Tso came up, he would be stabbed to death.
“Thank you, Cult Master, for your magnificent hospitality, but I’m used to being careful so I never trust anyone. Cult Master can let Fatty Dragon retract his claws.”
The chest began to walk through the darkness. Qin Mu closed his eyes to take a nap with a sword in his hands while Pangong Tso below was full of energy, trying his best not to sleep. He secretly took out a few spirit pills to stuff them into his mouth to regain his cultivation as soon as possible.
After some time, he felt some of his vital qi recovering, and his gaze flickered. He secretly executed Bloodshed Calabash. ‘This guy is extremely hurt, so it’s the best time to get rid of him…’
Suddenly, he smelt a medicinal fragrance and abandoned all thoughts of attacking.
Qin Mu had one hand in his taotie sack and secretly refined a few furnaces of spirit pills which he stuffed into his mouth from time to time. He then refined a few furnaces for the dragon qilin to eat secretly as well, not making any noise.
However, the medicinal fragrance still couldn’t hide from Pangong Tso’s nose.
‘If I want to scheme against him, it’s a little difficult,’ he thought to himself.
Finally, light could be seen in the distance; they had reached the relay station.
There was a god in there, so numerous people were resting in that area. Bai Qu’er looked around anxiously until she finally saw a bloodstained chest carrying a youth and a fat dragon qilin over.
The chest took wide steps and was crossing the mountains without delay.
Bai Qu’er’s heart pounded with a new emotion. She hurriedly welcomed them while carrying the son of Bai Qingfu. Qin Mu jumped down from the chest and stretched his body, cracking his bones and asking in doubt, “Why haven’t you guys left?”
“Everyone can’t move anymore. These people don’t have much cultivation and are dragged down by their families, the old and the weak are in the majority.” Bai Qu’er suppressed her feelings in her heart and said in a low voice, “The gods of the relay station are no longer here, so I reckon they left to rescue Hundred Prosperities City. With their state unknown, there are only us in the relay station now.”
Qin Mu looked around and saw numerous people sleeping on the ground. Some weren’t though, and under the glowing light of the Dragon God Bead, their eyes were sometimes bright and sometimes dark. They were all quiet, however.
Most of those who had escaped with them were common people. The rich of Hundred Prosperities City had escaped faster, so most of them had gone with that god earlier. Their group was probably a complete wipeout.
The common people had weaker cultivation, so they had escaped a step later and went with them.
“We can’t stay here for long,” Qin Mu muttered. “Why don’t we put them into my chest, let me bring them as far away as possible.”
Bai Qu’er was slightly stunned as she looked at the chest. “Where’s the other person that went with you? He…”
“I’m here.” Pangong Tso showed up from under the chest and chuckled. “Lucky to not have to disappoint you and be still alive. Thanks for your concern.”
Qin Mu had the dragon qilin jumped down and said, “Sister Qu’er, wake them up. We really can’t stay here any longer. Since there’s no god to protect us, we have to move so that the pursuers won’t be able to catch up.”
Bai Qu’er nodded and woke everyone up. Qin Mu spread open the chest so they could enter. Pangong Tso also wanted to enter the chest, but Qin Mu shook his head. “If the pursuers catch up to the chest and there’s no one to defend, we will all be wiped out. Let’s stay outside.”
Even though Xing An’s chest was very sturdy, it couldn’t attack and had no offensive power. If everyone hid inside and an ‘extraterritorial devil’ came around, they would all die miserably.
Pangong Tso held back his anger and sneered. “Cult Master Qin, if we do as you say, it will be hard for us to survive in this chaotic world! We are escaping for our lives from Xing An and don’t have time save other people!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and shook his head. “Grandmaster, I just want to preserve a little innocence and kindness in these times of chaos.”
Pangong Tso snorted and went under the chest while saying angrily, “Call me when the enemies come!”
Bai Qu’er also stayed outside. Together with Qin Mu, she sat on the chest. The dragon qilin also jumped up and lay down quietly. He fell asleep after a while.
“Why does Grandmaster like to be under the chest?” Bai Qu’er was puzzled.
“He is protecting us from divine arts that would come from underground,” Qin Mu explained.
Bai Qu’er finally understood it and said, “Grandmaster is thoughtful.”
The chest walked toward the east on light feet, and Qin Mu looked at the girl beside him. Bai Qu’er had just experienced a huge change, becoming destitute and homeless. She had been young and immature before, but in the span of a night, there was a look of unwavering determination in her eyes, and her gaze had become bright and clear. She had thrown away her former weakness.
Only now did Qin Mu notice that she wasn’t exactly a normal human, but had some characteristics of the dragons. Hidden in her hair were two small dragon horns which were covered by her beautiful hair secured with two hairpins.
He had cupped her face the first time he met her, but he hadn’t noticed the pair of small horns.
On her face was a look of anxiousness that was yet to disperse. She wanted to find someone to rely on, but could only force herself to be strong.
She wasn’t the type of girl that Qin Mu liked. Ever since he was young, he had been taught by the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village that girls had to be plump to be beautiful. Village Chief, Apothecary, and Butcher told him that a girl had to have a round face, thick waist, and huge buttocks.
Bai Qu’er definitely didn’t fit those characteristics. However, the sight of her finding strength in her weakness stirred his heart.
“Are you tired?” Qin Mu chased away his thoughts and said, “If you are tired, you can lean on me and rest for a while.”
Bai Qu’er nodded and gently leaned on his shoulder. The dragon qilin’s soft snores could be heard behind them.
Yet she couldn’t sleep. When she closed her eyes, it was the devastation of Hundred Prosperities City, the figures of her mother and uncles fighting against the extraterritorial devils, the battles in the darkness, the countless people dying miserably, and also the smiles when her brother and sister-in-law when they turned back before going to fight the devils rose in her mind’s eye. From time to time, there were malicious faces of the monsters in the darkness suddenly appearing in her nightmares.
“That’s right, I haven’t asked you, but when we first met, you said you had time traveled here.” Bai Qu’er opened her eyes and asked in a strong voice, “Is it true?”
Qin Mu nodded.
“Where are you from? The past or the future? Is that place at peace?”
“Very far in the future, some thirty-forty thousand years. Over there, it’s still peaceful for now, but it’s hard to say how long it will last.”
“Thirty-forty thousand years?” The girl leaning against his shoulder became silent for a moment. “I don’t know if I can still live for that long. The days here are too bitter, so bitter that it’s hard to live on…”
“You need to live on, the people in the chest still need you.” Qin Mu smiled at her and said in a soft voice, “You’re much stronger than I had imagined. Many people, even men, would have long broken down when faced with such a situation. I know living is very difficult, but you have to carry everyone’s hopes, and also the hopes of your brother and sister-in-law as well as their child.
Bai Qu’er trembled, then nodded lightly.
“Will you walk down with me?” she asked.
Qin Mu was silent for a moment.
“The sky is almost bright.” He looked toward the east. Because of the whole night of fighting, his voice was hoarse and had a unique masculine quality to it. “After the day breaks, I will probably vanish. I had come here because of a wonderful chance, but I don’t know what it means. You might have to lead them for the rest of the journey. Live on…”
Bai Qu’er raised her head and looked at the sky that was suffused with white on the east.
Qin Mu stood up and said with a smile, “Good sister, I probably won’t be able to help anymore, so you will have to walk the rest of the journey by yourself.”
Bai Qu’er’s heart was full of mixed feelings. She stood up in a daze and looked at Bai Qingfu’s son who was still in her arms. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Qin Mu cupped her face and used his purest smile to encourage her. “Live on, you must live on!”
Bai Qu’er’s heart was incomparably confused. She hugged him tightly with one hand while trembling. “Don’t go, I’m afraid I can’t persevere for long enough…”
“All traces of me will probably be wiped clean in this prehistory and nothing I brought over will be left behind. However, I can leave behind a phrase that once moved me.”
The sky gradually brightened, and the first rays of the sun lit up the horizon in the east. The light landed on the mountain, and the darkness around them retreated rapidly.
Qin Mu wrapped one hand around the young girl while motioning at a cliff with his other. Carefree Sword flew out and moved like dragons and snakes, leaving behind his words in stone.
His treasure sword flew back, and Qin Mu tightly hugged the girl who was about to face the dangers before the sunlight reached him. Bai Qu’er hugged him back as if she could keep relying on him like that forever.
A ray of sunlight sprinkled down, and Qin Mu who was in her embrace vanished like smoke.
The chest also vanished, leaving behind a bunch of people who were at a loss.
Bai Qu’er was stunned. She suddenly turned her head back to look at the cliff and saw the words left behind my Qin Mu’s Carefree Sword.
Human lives are greater than heaven!
Bai Qu’er suddenly felt the immense weight of the phrase. The hope of all the people next to her lay on her shoulders, and their hopeful gazes became a terrifying pressure and source of motivation for her.
“Follow me!’ She raised her arm spoke with a voice full of vigor while carrying the child. “I will bring you guys out of desperate straits and find a place where we can survive!”
Hope was renewed in everyone’s heart, and they followed her into the distance.
‘You are from thirty to forty thousand years later?’ Bai Qu’er turned back to look at the cliff where Qin Mu had left his words before turning around again. She brought everyone in the direction of the rising sun. ‘I will live on, and I will find you! Wait for me! I will… reunite with you here.’
‘It will be a reunion that crosses ten thousand years, so wait for me. When you left, I didn’t manage to say I like you, so when we reunite, I hope to not leave any regrets behind again.’
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Time swept through the mountains and lands, bringing away the people in the past. Only memories and forgotten histories were left behind.
Time was like a song, and one that was definitely tragic.
Qin Mu stood on the chest while embracing the girl when sunlight shone down on them like time. When the rays landed on them, the young girl in his embrace became flying sand which flowed back with the darkness.
The penetrating sunlight sprinkled the golden desert and shone upon the scale-shaped dunes. The place had been a valley once. Even though the mountains in the surroundings weren’t high, they created an enchanting scenery.
Yet the passage of time only left behind a sky full of yellow sand.
Qin Mu jumped off the chest. Even though he had known that it would happen, it was still hard to not feel depressed.
The chest opened its cover and threw the dragon qilin out. The chest also seemed to be puzzled, though. There was clearly several hundred people in its stomach earlier so how had they suddenly vanished.
The dragon qilin was terrified and uneasy. He was very superstitious and extremely afraid of ghosts. Now he was so frightened that he buried his head in the sand.
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the bare cliff in front of him standing alone in the yellow desert. After tens of thousands of years of sandstorms, it hadn’t eroded or crumbled.
On the cliff, there were the writings that he had left behind tens of thousands of years ago.
“Human lives are greater than heaven!”
Qin Mu was stunned. He had really left something that belonged to him in history.
Everything that happened last night wasn’t an echo of history or even a dream. He couldn’t understand the marvelous experience he had this night, couldn’t explain how he had returned to thirty-forty thousand years ago and why he would experience a darkness invasion with the people of Hundred Prosperities City.
He also couldn’t explain why he had returned to the present and why High Emperor Era would vanish after the darkness.
Yet everything had truly happened!
He had fought together with the people of tens of thousands of years ago, saw how they laid down their lives and what suffering they faced. He also saw the other celestial heavens about to destroy the celestial heavens of High Emperor Era, and the deaths and devastation that caused.
‘The era of High Emperor was destroyed and the era of Founding Emperor was also destroyed. Is it the same celestial heavens that made it happen?’
He had a guess in his heart, but he didn’t have any solid evidence to prove it.
‘Maybe, the ones that want to destroy Eternal Peace are the same celestial heavens? If so, where are they from?”
Beneath the chest, Pangong Tso got out silently and raised his head to look at the lone cliff in the desert. He examined those words on and said leisurely, “Cult Master Qin, you must be very disappointed and sorrowful now, right? Maybe that girl from Bai Family liked you and you might have liked her very much too, but she knew that you would have to leave, which is why she didn’t say it out. Time is too ruthless…”
His gaze flickered, and the calabash behind him suddenly opened so a lump of blood silently floated up. It made no sound.
Pangong Tso stared at Qin Mu’s back. The lump of blood in the sky was like a venomous snake wiggling its body. His voice was also like a venomous snake tunneling into Qin Mu’s heart, gnawing onto his soul and destroying his Dao heart. This made his youth reveal a flaw.
“If you had remained in that era, maybe your life would be completely different from now.”
Pangong Tso slowly moved forward while adjusting his breath, making his voice more and more bewitching. He told him about a reality that was completely different. “You two might have fallen into the river of love, might have had a lot of children. You might have been faced with numerous setbacks and dangers, but your lives would have been so much more interesting. The come and go of history would be filled with gorgeous colors that you little husband and wife would have experienced… What a pity.”
His tone suddenly changed and became toxic. “What a pity you two had to separate. Separation of tens of thousands of years. Whatever love or liking, whatever future would all become yellow sand throughout such a long time, transforming into fabrication!”
He revealed a strange smile, and his voice also became warped along with his strange smile. “That girl of Bai Family might already be long dead. After you left, she most likely died in the hands of the pursuers! Even if she escaped, she might have already married someone else, given birth to children, and become an old lady. Only when her beauty would have started to fade would she sometimes remember that youth who had suddenly appeared and cupped her face! Cult Master Qin, do you have sorrow in your heart? Is it gnawing at your soul, poisoning it?”
Pangong Tso went closer and closer to him. His voice was strange, like that of the devil king whispering from outer space, luring a person into falling from grace. “She has died, becoming dust. Thirty to forty thousand years ago, in this desert that hides history, other than you, this sentimental boy, no one even remembers her anymore. Just like that, she has drowned in the dust of history and is buried under the rolling yellow sand.”
He chuckled and said, “When young, you never know the taste of woe or sorrow, and up to the top floor you loved to go. Up to the top floor, you loved to go! Now sorrow and woe you’ve tasted, and the bitterness withal, to speak, you wish, and yet you stall! Cult Master Qin, your inner heart is just that brittle, let me end it…”
He was about to make a move, but behind him, the dragon qilin’s body grew larger and larger. He suddenly raised his huge claws and pushed him to the ground.
Pangong Tso hurriedly rose, but was smacked back again. The dragon qilin smacked over and over again, causing him to cough up fresh blood. “Talk some more, talk some more!”
Pangong Tso was suddenly angered. “Fat pig, do you think I’m really afraid of you?”
The dragon qilin’s claws which as sharp as knives suddenly flicked, preparing to slice his belly open.
Suddenly, Qin Mu’s peaceful voice rang out. “Fatty Dragon, no need to beat him up, let him leave.”
The dragon qilin was slightly stunned. He asked in puzzlement, “Cult Master, this guy is truly evil. He is first class in escaping for his life, and he even wants to harm you! If we let him go now, it will be even harder to catch him in the future!”
“We fought together, and he also helped a lot to save those people, risking his life. He deserves a chance to live.” Qin Mu put his hands behind his back and looked at the writings on the cliff. His expression was calm. “Grandmaster, I won’t kill you, so just go. Next time we meet, I’ll take your head.”
Pangong Tso climbed to his feet and patted off the sand on his body. His gaze flickered as he said, “You sure you are letting me go this time and not just lying to me? You won’t kill me when I turn around, right?”
Qin Mu looked at him indifferently. “Too many people died last night, and I don’t want to kill anymore today.”
Pangong Tso turned around and moved back step by step. He stared at Qin Mu’s movements while thinking, ‘Even though this experience was full of danger and filled with life-and-death struggles, it’s not like I didn’t receive any benefits. I’ve got two divine legs at least… Wait a moment, these two divine legs…’
His eyes lit up when he realized that Qin Mu was still standing with his back to him. He couldn’t help growing excited. ‘With these two legs, why should I still be afraid of this brat? I have the divine legs and my escaping abilities are number one in the world. If I can’t defeat him, I can just run! Besides, with my speed being first in the world, my battle power will also rise in a straight line. I can get rid of him!’
He was so excited that his heart was pounding heavily. An ominous glint flashed in his eyes, but just as he was about to stop and make a move, he felt something and hurriedly leaped into the air.
A sword light flew out from the desert and cut off his right leg from the root!
Pangong Tso gasped in pain as he shouted in midair, “Cult Master Qin, you didn’t keep your word!”
Qin Mu turned around and said indifferently, “I did. I only cut off one of your legs last time, so I can return you one. However, I won’t let you have two divine legs. Grandmaster, I won’t see you off.”
Still in midair, Pangong Tso lowered his head to look at the divine leg that had fallen down. He wanted to pick it up, but the yellow sand below had already swallowed it.
Down there, countless sword lights appeared and disappeared like silver needles weaving in and out, protecting the divine leg. It was the eight thousand sword form from Qin Mu’s sword pellet. It was obvious that when he was trying to bewitch Qin Mu, the youth had already sent the sword pellet into the yellow sand.
Pangong Tso immediately knew that he had lost the opportunity and gritted his teeth. A lotus that was almost as high as a human appeared behind him.
He retreated inside it, and they disappeared together.
“Cult Master Qin, the next time we meet, I’ll take your head!” His voice came from farther and farther away before vanishing into the depths of the yellow sand.
“Grandmaster is becoming very courageous and insightful.” Qin Mu turned around, and countless flying swords flew out from the desert, sending the divine leg to the chest. He said softly, “This is a good thing. Once he has courage and insight, it won’t be that exhausting to kill him next time.”
The chest was excited and hurriedly opened its cover to add the leg to its collection.
Qin Mu looked at the writing on the cliff and said in a low voice, “If you are still alive, will you come to find me? Are you still alive? Tens of thousands of years with trials after trials, would they have resulted in the death of a fair lady, turned you into a pink skeleton…”
He waited quietly under the cliff, not leaving.
The mountains in the surroundings had all been eroded, so why was this one still standing?
The hope in his heart hadn’t yet died.
“Cult Master, there’s a big stone tablet beside the mountain!” Suddenly, the dragon qilin had a discovery.
Qin Mu’s heart moved slightly, and he hurried over to take a look. The dragon qilin was standing near a stone tablet. It was half covered by the yellow sand, and it was at the foot of the mountain so it was hard to discover if one didn’t look closely.
The stone tablet seemed to have mysterious power to defend against the wind and sand, so it wasn’t corroded.
There were some words on it.
Qin Mu looked at it and was slightly stunned. The handwriting was aggressive, and the words read: ‘Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu, Rolan’s Golden Palace Grandmaster, buried…’
The writings below were hard to read since they were buried under the yellow sand. The dragon qilin was about to go forward and push it aside, but Qin Mu warned him in a hurry, “Fatty Dragon, it’s a trap! Don’t touch the sand on the tablet!”
When the dragon qilin heard trap, he hurriedly fell back and didn’t dare to stay close even for a second more.
Qin Mu sneered and said, “Using such a method to lay a trap, he’s truly underestimating me. The words below the stone tablet are definitely none other than buried right here. If I moved the sand, I would activate his trap and die a miserable death!”
The dragon qilin shuddered and said, “If it was my name on it, I would definitely go forward to check…”
Qin Mu looked around in all directions and saw that the yellow desert was truly desolate. Other than them, there were no other life forms, so there was no chance that anyone was lying in wait nearby.
“Truth be told, I’m actually slightly curious.”
His gaze flickered and he sized up the stone tablet buried under the yellow sand. The dragon qilin instantly had a bad feeling about it and said, “Cult Master, don’t do anything silly!”
Qin Mu rapidly fell back and said with a smile. “I want to see if the person that left this stone tablet in a scheme against me and Grandmaster left his name. He’s such an arrogant person that he would definitely do it. Let’s retreat a hundred miles and I shall execute a spell to move the sand from the bottom of the stone tablet!”
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu’s plan was already set, and he stopped when he was a hundred miles away. The chest and the dragon qilin were right next to him.
A hundred miles was far enough. Even if the power of the trap was extremely strong, it would have a hard time trying to threaten them from such a distance.
Qin Mu grabbed a handful of yellow sand and gave a gentle blow. The sand formed into a three-inch human which landed on the ground.
This ‘sand giant’ opened its mouth to roar with a fierce look. The yellow sand around its lower body swirled, and the small sand giant rushed toward the mountain cliff that was a hundred miles away, overflowing with murderous intent.
The dragon qilin was full of anticipation, but after a moment, his anticipation started to wane. He still stared into the distance, but there was still nothing happening to the cliff.
Qin Mu jumped onto his head and looked into the distance at the ‘sand giant’. That tiny thin had just flipped across a sand dune and was trying its best to reach the cliff.
The dragon qilin yawned and roused his spirit. “Cult Master, it’s almost there, right?”
Qin Mu calculated for a moment, then said, “About an hour more or so and it will reach the place.”
The dragon qilin laid down and muttered, “Let me sleep for a while first, call me when it reaches.”
About an hour later, Qin Mu kicked this behemoth awake, and the dragon qilin hurriedly rose up while asking excitedly, “Has it reached?”
“It will reach in about half an incense’s time!” Qin Mu smiled and said, “Let’s go up into the air first. If something happens, it’ll be easier for us to escape!”
The chest climbed onto the dragon qilin’s back as well. The fatty immediately stepped on fire clouds to rise into the sky while looking into the distance. From a hundred miles away, a small thing could be faintly seen rushing toward the stone tablet while roaring fiercely. If it wasn’t for his good eyesight, he would have found it hard to differentiate it from all the sand around it.
On the other hand, Qin Mu could see it clearly. That small sand giant roared for half a day and finally came to the bottom of the stone tablet, still full of vigor.
Then, it tried its best to clear the sand away while roaring.
Qin Mu was speechless. The dragon qilin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he closed it again to wait quietly. He thought to himself, ‘If I’m insensitive and mention this, I reckon I won’t have anything to eat tomorrow.”
After a moment, the sand dune giant dug out a small pit and the words under the stone tablet were finally revealed. Before Qin Mu could even see what was written, the sand churned in the sandpit like raising rainbows, drowning out the tiny sand giant.
Not only was that it swallowed up, the area of dozens of miles around turned into a terrifying killing field. Yellow sand churned and covered the desert like an earthy yellow pot. From inside this earthy yellow ball came the sounds of knives crying!
The hair and scales on the dragon qilin’s body were all standing straight up from the shock. Even Qin Mu felt his hair standing on ends.
The trap was actually even more terrifying than he had imagined. Luckily, he was careful and had suggested going a hundred miles away before activating it.
In the earthy yellow pot, knife lights flew in all directions, cutting, slashing, hacking, and slicing. All kinds of transformations filled up the space of dozens of miles!
“This kind of knife skills…”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He suddenly had a bad feeling, like he’d seen something like that before!
But it wasn’t in Eternal Peace. It was last night, the night thirty to forty thousand years ago when he’d faced that youth called Luo Wushuang of the celestial heaven’s Spirit Elite Guards!
The knife skill that Luo Wushuang had executed actually had similarities with the knife lights in the sandpit!
“The one-armed youth is still alive? Grandmaster said that the brat won’t live for too long so I need not worry…”
Qin Mu burst out laughing, but his smile gradually froze. Not long later, his complexion turned green.
The divine art trap that Luo Wushuang had laid here was powerful. It was so unbelievably powerful that even Xing An might not have such boundless magic power.
This meant that not only did Luo Wushuang lived on, he even lived quite well. He seemed to have become very strong, a god!
He had to have kept onto the hatred for his severed arm and once stumbled upon the cliff while roaming about after becoming a god. When he saw Qin Mu’s handwriting, he had left behind a stone tablet.
If Qin Mu found his way here, he would definitely want to know what was written and suffer from the attack!
‘I really shouldn’t have said my real name and made up a fake name… However, the good thing is that we can bear the misfortune together. Luo Wushuang is too petty. Grandmaster also had a leg chopped off by me, and it was even the same leg twice, but he didn’t say anything.”
The divine art that Luo Wushuang had left behind didn’t last for long, and soon, the power dispersed. The yellow sand is the sky was sliced into dust and filled the air, fluttering in all directions when the wind blew.
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, secretly astonished
Yesterday night, when he and Luo Wushuang had clashed, even though Luo Wushuang’s knife skills were incomparably exquisite, they were still inferior to his.
Luo Wushuang used Fission Knife Skill: one splitting into two, two into four, four into eight, and so on. When this knife skill split the tenth time, it would have one thousand and twenty-four knife lights. When it split until the fourteenth time, it could be as much as sixteen thousand.
Yet, there was a very huge flaw to this kind of knife skill, and that was Luo Wushuang’s magic power being fixed. The more times the knife lights split, the weaker the power of each individual one would become. The more splits there were, the lower the offensive power was.
Luo Wushuang could act mighty in front of other experts, but when faced with someone like Qin Mu who was a sword skill expert and a knife skill expert at the same time, he would find it hard to gain an advantage.
Because of that, even though Qin Mu’s magic power had been almost completely exhausted and he was injured, he was still able to sever one of his arms.
However, Qin Mu saw that Luo Wushuang’s knife had improved to a terrifying realm.
In a radius of dozens of miles, yellow sand had filled the sky, but the true danger still lay in the knife lights hiding within it.
It looked like there were knife lights everywhere within a radius of dozens of miles. Yet it seemed like there was only one knife light instead of many as it should have been according to Fission Knife Skill.
When a knife light slashed a grain of sand, it would reflect and bounce off. Because the speed was too fast, it created the illusion that the knife light was everywhere. Yet Luo Wushuang had only slashed once!
Qin Mu guessed that after Luo Wushuang became a god and came here, he saw the words left behind on the stone wall. From the writings, he recognized Qin Mu’s sword skill and decided to erect a stone tablet.
While standing in front of it, he probably slashed his knife down into the yellow sand, hiding its will and divine art in the yellow sand!
Some years later, when Qin Mu came to this place and activated them, they would explore with great power!
‘His knife skills have reached the realm of path.’
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched, and he walked into the dust. He braved the suffocating air and walked toward the cliff.
Luo Wushuang’s knife skills had already reached the realm of path, and like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he was a terrifying existence on the realm of path!
To have entered the path with knife, his comprehension on the knife path would definitely not be weaker than that of Butcher. The more terrifying point was that the density of his cultivation was definitely far superior!
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. The cliff in front of him was still there, and his writings were still there. The cliff was actually not damaged at all. It was as though Luo Wushuang’s divine art had purposely avoided it.
Qin Mu didn’t think much about it and looked at the stone tablet.
It was still around, not damaged at all either.
The words on the stone tablet were revealed, but what came next wasn’t ‘right now’ as Qin Mu had guessed. Instead, there was another sentence written in smaller handwriting.
“You think this is a trap, you think my knife skill here was to kill you? Wrong. Even if you had stood here, you would have been unharmed.
“I’m waiting for you, Heavenly Saint Cult Master. I’ve experienced twenty thousand years, the entire Founding Emperor Era, yet I never found any traces of Heavenly Saint Cult. That was until Founding Emperor Era ended.
“Founding Emperor’s survivors founded Heavenly Saint Cult and only at that point did I realize that the person I was waiting for didn’t exist in the past, but in the future!
“Heavenly Saint Cult, having the word ‘saint’ but, in fact, walking the devil path. Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu is actually Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu!
“Once you activate my trap, my divine art will inform me that you’re here! I’ve waited so long for you to come…”
Qin Mu’s face became grim, and he let out a shaky breath. He jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back and shouted, “Go quickly! We cannot stay here any longer!”
The dragon qilin immediately sprinted out, and the chest followed behind him as they ran for their lives.
Qin Mu’s face turned calm and collected.
It hadn’t been a trap.
Even though it looked majestic, the trap was only that Luo Wushuang would sense his divine art being activated and would know that Heavenly Saint Cult Master had arrived. It was just that!
Luo Wushuang was an old monster who had lived since thirty to forty thousand years ago and had held a grudge against Qin Mu for severing his arm during all that time. To Qin Mu, this was something that had happened last night, but to him, it was something that had happened thirty to forty thousand years ago!
He’d harbored a grudge for that long yet the trap he lay down wasn’t to kill Qin Mu but to inform him of his presence. Luo Wushuang was truly frightening!
He made his trap useless just so he could take Qin Mu’s life personally!
Qin Mu brought the chest to escape far away through the afternoon as the sun was going down in the west. The sun above the yellow desert wasn’t the same as the sun in Eternal Peace, and the whole world didn’t seem to be the same.
They sprinted frantically through the desert, but there seemed to be no end to it. The horizon couldn’t be seen, and the end couldn’t be reached.
Qin Mu couldn’t even find the crack through which they had entered.
Sweat rolled down his forehead. If he couldn’t walk out of here, then he’d die in this weird place even before Luo Wushuang came to kill him!
He could die from thirst, hunger, by becoming crazy from loneliness, or even from old age.
‘Don’t panic, don’t panic, think…’
He calmed himself and thought back to the way they had come. In the vast desert, the path that he had taken had long disappeared. Even if he could find it, he couldn’t backtrack no matter what.
‘Xing An didn’t manage to catch up to us, so he will definitely wait at the entrance of that crack, hoping for me to send myself to him.’ Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, and he raised his head. ‘At the source of Surging River, where broken cliff stretches from east to the west of Great Ruins, I saw five layers of sky overlapping! This means that there are other exits in this world, and I should be able to return to Great Ruins through them!”
The layers of formation markings swirled in his pupils as he rode with lax reins, letting the dragon qilin run west while he just looked at the sky.
When night came, the dragon qilin didn’t dare to head forward so he just jumped onto the chest while Qin Mu laid on it, still looking at the pitch black sky. The chest crossed sand dunes and continue running into the distance.
When daytime returned, Qin Mu looked much more haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot. Yet he still continued staring without slacking even the slightest.
Finally, he saw a cloud.
The world they were in was a desert without any water vapor yet a cloud had inexplicably appeared. It looked small at first, but it grew bigger and bigger the closer they got!
Qin Mu’s spirit was roused, and he jumped up while laughing. “Heaven never bars one’s way; it’s mostly humans themselves barring their own way by giving up hope! I never give up so I can make my way out alive!”
He placed the chest onto the dragon qilin’s back who rose toward that cloud.
As they did so, divine light came from the cliff. On the other side of it was a colorful world with tall vegetation and huge, brightly-colored flowers.
The divine light flowed out from the cliff like a waterfall, connecting the two worlds together.
An apparition of a young girl stepping on flowers walked over from the other world and looked at the writings on the cliff while muttering to herself, “There’s still two hundred more years to forty thousand years, but you should already be born, right? I’m still waiting for you.”
Her face carried some hidden bitterness as she said in a low voice, “I’ve lived on, but over these forty thousand years, I could never forget you… I don’t dare to grow old in fear you won’t recognize me…”
Suddenly, the stone tablet at the side rose and resonated as stones split apart, forming an arched door.
“Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu, my wait is finally over!” A one-armed figure appeared on the other side of the door with a long knife on his back. The man laughed, but it sounded like he was weeping and complaining.
When the gazes of the young girl in the divine light and the one-armed figure met, their hearts trembled.
“Survivor from the High Emperor’s era!”
“Extraterritorial devil!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Under the cliff, two doors leading to two different kinds of worlds had opened, and each of them had their own restraints.
It wasn’t the first time the two people had met, and it wasn’t their first time clashing. They had fought in the past, in the period that High Emperor Era was about to be buried.
After that, they had fought numerous times, but it had been Founding Emperor Era by then!
At the mountain cliff, they had fought numerous times.
Both of them by then had left the desolate world, and it was merely their apparitions that were fighting. Their realms were too high and their abilities were too strong. If there wasn’t an opportunity, their true bodies couldn’t enter this world.
There were no more lifeforms in this world and nothing else that could survive here.
It was the Great Ruins of High Emperor Era.
A place that was even harsher than Founding Emperor Era’s Great Ruins.
Great Ruins at least still had stone statues of gods to protect the people, allowing lifeforms to survive. However, there was only a desert here, and when the darkness invaded at night, there was no place to hide.
There were no more lifeforms left since thirty to forty thousand years ago, only gods.
During the early period of Founding Emperor Era, the gods had left one after another. They went off to other worlds, and the two now fighting were the last two gods to have left.
“Woman of Bai Family from forty thousand years ago, are you here to find the person who left the writing?”
The one-armed god had a tall body, and the long knife behind him hummed. The knife will seemed to be able to penetrate through time and space, slicing into another world. He sneered and said, “Looks like you had also received news of him coming into being. I long knew your sword skills had problems. They surpassed High Emperor Era and even surpassed Founding Emperor Era, but I hadn’t considered that you were actually related to Heavenly Devil Cult Master!”
The body of the woman in the divine light trembled, and delight filled her heart. She was completely unconcerned about his enmity. “He really came? The him who had time traveled had really appeared here?”
“You can’t block me!” The one-armed god in the stone door was incomparably arrogant. “I want to kill him, and you want to stop me. We’ve fought for so many years, but it was all a mess after all. Neither of us could do anything to each other. The reason I left my broken arm as is was to be able to fight him one day and take revenge for my severed arm, to take revenge for the hatred of disgracing my path.”
“If I can’t break his sword skills with my knife skills, I’ll never find it easy to speak my mind, to let my knife path advance another step! For this day, I’ve already waited almost forty thousand years!”
The woman in the cliff’s divine light walked out of the rays and stood on the desert. She was just an apparition and said faintly, “Whatever you say is useless if you can’t come to this world.”
The one-armed god turned around, and his blood red cape trembled to cover the entire door. Suddenly, where the cape was trembling, a knife light sliced apart the barrier between the two worlds!
The knife will was boundless and incomparably terrifying. It had actually sliced open the barrier between the two worlds!
The knife light rang out and burst out from the stone door. Two sand waves were lifted into the air. In the center was a precipice that was raised three thousand yards high, and it stretched for hundreds of miles!
But when the man wanted to step into this world, an invisible force from heaven and earth bounced him back.
The young girl walked back into the divine light and vanished into the cliff. “With your strength, your true body will find it impossible to pass through, give up on this thought.”
The one-armed god in the stone door pulled back his knife and turned to leave. The stone door gradually crumbled. “I will return to this world, just a world barrier is no trouble for me!”
The dragon qilin carried Qin Mu and the chest to the cloud. It was clearly day earlier, but the instant they passed through the cloud, the sky became incomparably dark. The crashing of water could be heard in the dark night, and Qin Mu looked in the direction of the sound. He saw the scattered light on the broken cliff shining through the night.
They had returned to Great Ruins, to the source of Surging River.
It was still that heavenly moat that had stretched from east to west of Great Ruins and the cliff that had a huge drop in elevation separated Great Ruins into east and west. This was also the source of Surging River, and the waterfalls pouring down from the cliff, the water source was worth thinking about.
‘The water of Surging River may come from the other worlds and might even enter some others through the cracks. Maybe there is a different story here…’
Qin Mu looked at the broken cliff, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He saw a headless person standing at the crack!
Xing An!
His hair couldn’t help standing on ends. Xing An was guarding the entrance to the world he just left and waiting for him to walk right into him!
The world of the yellow desert was a world without any lifeforms, a world that was completely dead.
That fellow had actually plucked his head off and left his headless body to stay guard there. When Qin Mu thought about it, the other’s head and eyes were probably still flying randomly in the yellow desert in search of them!
The dragon qilin also noticed this and silently landed. The chest gave off faint light that forced the darkness back, protecting them.
When the dragon qilin reached the ground, Qin Mu crawled silently down his back, keeping himself low.
The dragon qilin tried his best to shrink his body size and climbed onto the chest. Qin Mu also got onto the chest which took wide steps to slowly get close to the river.
The river water here was the source of Surging River. Because the bed wasn’t too wide, the flow rate wasn’t too rapid, so it couldn’t be considered upstream.
The chest entered the river, and its legs gently pushed against the water as it swam silently downstream.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. Xing An had left his head in that world so he would have lost the ability to monitor the surroundings of his body, making it easier for them to remain undiscovered. As long as they got farther, the chances of finding them would become extremely slim.
At that moment, there was a thump as the chest hit a reef. This sound wasn’t loud, but it sounded very ear piercing in the dead of the night.
They weren’t yet far from the waterfall nor Xing An.
Qin Mu turned back to look and saw Xing An who was standing at the crack without any change. His heartbeat calmed, and he smiled. ‘I’m too careful and forgot that Xing An’s head is not here. Without ears and eyes, even if we walked right in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to see or hear us.’
The dragon qilin let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “The sound of the waterfall is so loud, so we have no need to worry he will hear us… Cult Master?”
Qin Mu’s expression suddenly changed drastically, filling with astonishment. In the crack of the cliff, Xing An’s headless body suddenly turned, and his neck seemed to be very long. On each side of it, there was an ear.
His corporeal body was god-like so it was giving off divine light and was extremely eye-catching in the dark.
Xing An had cut off his ears and planted them on his neck!
At this moment, the two ears trembled in the wind and became even larger than the ears of Rolan’s Golden Elephant!
Qin Mu immediately made his decision and used his consciousness to transmit his voice. “Run! Don’t take the waterway! Onto the shore!”
The speed of the chest swimming in the water was much slower than sprinting on land. In the darkness, they needed to rely on the chest to defend against the darkness so its speed was their speed.
The chest was silent in the water, but its footsteps would make some noise when it went ashore. However, now that Xing An had already heard them, escaping for their life on land was the best choice.
In the crack of the cliff, the headless body suddenly flew up and pounced right where Qin Mu and the rest were!
At the same time, an eyeball hurriedly flew over from the crack. When it did so, it stopped in midair. Divine light burst forth from the eyeball and lighted up the surroundings so it could first determine its surroundings
A light pillar then shone down from the divine eye and lighted up a radius of seven hectares while moving forward!
“Crap…”
Qin Mu’s blood went cold. The chest could defend against the darkness, but its speed wasn’t very fast. Now that it was in the water and not on land, its speed was even slower, but they couldn’t abandon it and leave!
Thump!
The headless Xing An landed on the water, not too far away from them. He tilted the ears on his neck and stood motionlessly. The pair of ears became even larger.
Suddenly, the light in the sky shined down like a pillar on the headless Xing An’s body. It then swept forward and shone onto Qin Mu and the dragon qilin who was on the chest, looking extremely nervous.
Qin Mu smiled, and the chest beneath his feet also stopped, freezing on the spot. Qin Mu smiled and said, “Brother Xing An, if I help you break free of the hidden symptoms of your body, can you let me off alive?”
On Xing An’s neck, two ears suddenly began flapping, and the eye in midair also flew forward.
“Your shamelessness astonishes me. You still have the face to mention this?”
When Xing An’s voice came over, a head flew out from the darkness behind his body and landed on his neck.
At the same time, the two ears also flew over and stuck to his ear holes.
Another eye came flying, but it didn’t enter its eye socket. Instead, it remained in the air above Qin Mu, monitoring his movements.
Xing An raised his head and said coldly, “Now I can answer you, no. Great Divine Physician Qin is too crafty. When I wasn’t paying attention for a moment, you even stole my chest. I’m worried about letting you treat me, for you just might steal my life as well! Such a crafty person, only by turning you into a corpse can I be at ease.”
On the river, a wave of fog surged over to them. The water vapor here was very concentrated, and dense fog would frequently spread unchecked.
Qin Mu looked at the dense fog, and his heart shook slightly. He smiled and said, “Brother Xing An is too careful. Actually, you aren’t bad, you are just too attached to immortality. You haven’t been to Eternal Peace during this period of time, right? I have already patched the divine bridge and established its space algebra model. As long as you cultivate it, you will be able to patch the divine bridge completely. Literally, everyone knows about this in Eternal Peace Empire except for you who are still trying to extend your life with other people’s body parts.”
Xing An was about to get rid of him, but he was stunned upon hearing what he had said. He sneered and said, “You’re lying! If you really have this kind of technique, why wouldn’t you keep it to yourself and spread it instead? You’re Heavenly Devil Cult Master so you would naturally impart this technique to the followers of Heavenly Devil Cult instead, strengthening the abilities of your cult! Furthermore, Grandmaster was beside me for some six-seven days, so why would he not mention this to me?”
Qin Mu laughed and said, “Grandmaster wanted to borrow your hands to get rid of me and even wanted you and Shaman God Kui to suffer, so how would he tell you about this? Besides, keeping it for myself… You’re underestimating my breadth of mind.
“If you seek immortality, you can absolutely throw away everything in the chest and abandon the body parts of others. You just have to learn my three techniques: Secrets of Magpie Bridge, Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and Secrets of Divine Crossing. Once your divine bridge is formed, you will be able to cross it and enter the celestial palace, becoming an undying god. Truth be told, someone is already a step ahead of you. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has already become a god.”
The dense fog became thicker and thicker, drowning the both of them out.
Xing An’s eyes were still in the sky and getting closer. They continued to stare at Qin Mu and even with the dense fog, they could still see him clearly.
Xing An’s voice came from the dense fog as he sighed and said, “You are indeed remarkable to have such breadth of mind; I’ve underestimated you. However, you are also underestimating me by thinking I’m taking other people’s body parts just for immortality. My aim is to become a true god, so I will still kill whoever I have to kill, and I will steal seize other people’s body parts. Your divine bridge’s space algebra model is very useful to me so I thank you, but since you’ve already imparted this to everyone…”
Light shot out from Qin Mu’s eyes, and his body suddenly sank into the ground. His vital qi burst forth and transformed into countless runes, wrapping him, the dragon qilin, and the chest!
“What’s the point of leaving you?”
Light shone brightly from Xing An’s eyes and sliced apart the runes around Qin Mu. Yet the youth smiled and pulled out his knives, swinging them like a storm. With each knife, each and every rune that was shattered by the compression of space lighted up again.
Knife lights surrounded him from all directions, and even Xing An couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration. “Your abilities aren’t bad; you aren’t inferior to me in the past.”
His corporeal body rushed in to attack, but just as he was about to strike Qin Mu down, the world swirled and his expression couldn’t help changing drastically. “Crap!”
Swoosh!
His two eyes vanished. His corporeal body had been relying on them to see, so now that they were teleported away by Qin Mu, his sight became a rapidly spinning and moving world!
“Weurgh—”
Xing An opened his mouth to vomit while forcing his primordial spirit to suppress the confused vision. He felt his whole body spinning yet it was just a misperception brought by his sight!
“In the past? Xing An, you aren’t even fit to carry my shoes!” Qin Mu laughed loudly, and runes lighted up again around him.
Xing An heard his voice and immediately rushed over. The moment he moved, he instantly knew it had been a bad idea. A loud crash rang out the next moment as he rushed out dozens of miles into a cliff!
His divine eyes provided him vision, so now that they were spinning rapidly, his sense of space had vanished and he couldn’t determine the direction!
Qin Mu’s vital qi burst forth and runes appeared again. He executed teleportation divine art once more and disappeared with the chest and the dragon qilin!
‘I can teleport Xing An’s eyes dozens of miles away yet when I bring the dragon qilin and the chest along, I can teleport us four miles away at most. But as long as I don’t make any sound, I should be able to escape into the riverbed and slip away…’
Qin Mu who was in the mid of teleportation suddenly heard a loud rumble. His teleportation divine arts failed, and he crashed into a skeleton mountain that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Countless bones flew into the sky upon the collision.
This immediately stunned Qin Mu, leaving him at a loss.
A flailing skeleton flew past him while crying out, “Are you blind or something?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu, the chest, the dragon qilin, as well as the skeletons and bones that were flying throughout the whole sky fell down. Qin Mu’s heart fell into despair. He hadn’t wanted to make any sound so that they could avoid being heard by Xing An, that pervert. However, god’s plans superseded his own. All his plans could be said to have gone to naught.
Bang, bang, bang. They crashed into a pile of bones.
The bunch of skeletons in the surroundings cried out noisily, arguing who had shattered whose pelvis or thigh bone. Some were even seizing each other’s ribs, their voices incomparably loud.
Suddenly, some skeletons started fighting. It was unknown from where they’d gotten bone clubs, but they used them to wave around randomly, cracking one another’s skulls.
Unless Xing An was deaf, it was impossible for him to miss this commotion with his ears!
Qin Mu stood up shakily and looked around in a daze. The dense fog earlier had become much fainter, and there was more light around.
He looked toward the east and couldn’t help being stunned.
Within Surging River’s fog, a vast and obscure world of bones was rapidly forming. It appeared in the center of Great Ruins and overlapped with it!
“You are stepping on me…” a weak voice cried out from under the chest.
It jumped in shock, but when it saw that the one talking was a pile of bones, the chest couldn’t help becoming delighted. It opened in joy and ‘swallowed’ the pile of talking bones.
After its spirit was awakened by Qin Mu, it liked to collect these kinds of weird things.
“Ghost—”
The dragon qilin’s hair and scales all stood up on ends, and his body became stiff. When he saw a whole mountain filled with skeletons, this fatty flipped around and raised his legs straight up toward the sky.
When the chest saw that he was dead, it wanted to swallow him in as well. It started from the tail, but when it swallowed him until the buttocks, the dragon qilin gave a kick and said in a low and anger-filled voice, “Stop messing around, I’m feigning dead…”
“Fengdu, this is the outside world of Fengdu…”
Qin Mu watched the rapidly moving world. When it overlapped with reality, the mountains in the real world seemed to have vanished. It was incomparably strange.
His heart moved slightly, and he kicked the dragon qilin. “Fatty Dragon, get up, your ability to feign dead is not as convincing as that of Ling’er. If you still don’t want to get up. the skeletons will come to eat some meat.”
“Meat, meat!” Below the dragon qilin, a skeleton smelled the fragrance of meat and couldn’t help smiling. It opened its mouth and hugged the dragon qilin’s leg to bite into it.
“Meat! Meat!”
In the sea of skeletons, countless ones became excited and sprinted over in enthusiasm. As they did so, they created a skeleton wave that was as high as three hundred yards.
Whoosh.
The skeleton wave crashed down, and countless skeletons rolled together, transforming into a white bone giant that sprinted frantically, coming over with excitement to eat meat.
“I have no flesh, give me your flesh!”
“Leave a skin for me, my skin has already rotted!”
The dragon qilin hurriedly flipped over and crushed the skeletons that had pounced on him into smithereens. Upon seeing it, he almost fainted again.
The buddha light around Qin Mu shone brightly, and behind him appeared the apparition of a white jade buddha. The skeleton giant that was rushing over instantly crumbled, and the skeletons fled in all directions.
“Not delicious, it’s that young bald donkey from back then! Run—”
Qin Mu was speechless. He took out a gold coin and shone it into the sea of fog. A lone boat was sailing through there.
“All scram!”
Xing An’s voice came from afar. He had already taken back his eyes and rushed over by following the noise. As he closed in, he shattered countless skeletons that were pouncing on him with vibrations and blew them away.
In his fury, he razed an entire skeleton mountain in one strike and shattered countless skeletons. He pounced toward Qin Mu with overflowing might and arrogance.
Qin Mu had caused him setbacks after setbacks, and this made him unable to not feel true anger in his heart. All he wanted to do now was to get rid of this fellow that had made a fool out of him time after time!
Qin Mu hurriedly executed his teleportation divine arts and swept up the chest that was collecting skeletons and the dragon qilin who was shivering. He teleported toward the lone boat that could be faintly seen in the fog!
“You want to use the same move twice? Come down!”
One of Xing An’s eyes flew over and shone in the air. Qin Mu’s teleportation runes were instantly sliced, and he appeared out of space with the chest and the dragon qilin. They fell toward the sea of fog below.
In the sea of fog, monsters were churning, and they were abnormally excited. At that moment, the lone boat suddenly went to where Qin Mu and the rest were falling, catching them.
“Senior Brother Xing An, I trust you have been well since we last met?” The boatman that was controlling the boat raised his bamboo hat and revealed his bony frame, smiling sinisterly.
Xing An who had chased them to the shore was slightly stunned. He stopped then, unable to recognize the other. He asked suspiciously, “Who are you?”
“Senior Brother Xing An doesn’t recognize Daoist Ling Jing anymore? Back then, you chased me everywhere just to seize my divine blood yet you have forgotten all about me by now. How sad does this make me feel.”
The boatman moved his bamboo pole and pushed the boat into the distance while smiling. “This is the world of Fengdu, and Senior Brother Xing An is a living person, so please return. This is not a place you can step into.”
Xing An called back his eyes and took a step into the sea of fog. It instantly churned as the monsters stirred up havoc and became restless.
The monsters in the fog were incomparably strong yet he wasn’t afraid of them in the slightest. He continued to chase after the lone boat while saying indifferently, “If living people couldn’t step in, why could they board the boat? Daoist Ling Jing, you and I are still considered acquaintances after all, so it isn’t good to lie to me like this, don’t you think so?”
His speed was extremely fast, and even in the strange sea of fog, he was just strolling. The lone boat couldn’t get away from at all; instead, the distance was gradually shortening.
“Do you have money?” Daoist Ling Jing asked leisurely. “Money will make the ghost push the boat. The youth has the money to pay the boat expense so he can naturally board my ship and enter Fengdu. You don’t have money so you can only drink the northwest wind. Go back, Fengdu is not a place you can come to. There are too many existences you can’t offend here.”
Xing An gave a cold snort and continued forward. But suddenly, a huge monster rose up from the sea of fog and dragged him down.
In the lone boat, the dragon qilin was shocked. He hurriedly went to the side of the boat to take a look. Daoist Ling Jing raised his bamboo cane and gently pushed his head down. He smiled and said, “Stupid thing, some of the terrifying entities below are unreasonable. Be careful that they don’t bite your head.”
Before he even finished speaking, the sea of fog trembled violently. Roars of monsters rang out, and the huge mountains in the fog trembled violently. What formed those mountains were piles of white bones which changed into giants at that moment to flee.
The dragon qilin hurriedly lay down prone in the hold of the boat and covered his eyes with his two claws, but he kept peeking through the gap between them.
The battle in the sea of fog was becoming more and more intense, raising astonishing waves that even pushed their boat high up before it fell from the tip of the wave.
Qin Mu executed Bright Heaven’s Eyes and barely made out that there was more than one huge monster that was fighting Xing An in the sea of fog. At the sight of it, his heart trembled violently, and he let out a shaky breath. “Xing An is truly remarkable!”
Daoist Ling Jing who was now a skeleton pushed his bamboo cane and smiled sinisterly. “Of course he is remarkable. However, he can’t raise any waves here. The sea of fog is condensed from the grievances of the dead during the end of Founding Emperor Era. After everyone died, they couldn’t continue properly, so they condensed their grievances and transformed into monsters that block everyone who dares to barge into Fengdu. During the end of Founding Emperor Era, too many people died in Great Ruins so the abilities of these monsters are equivalent to those of gods.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. “These skeletons are the people who died during the calamity of Founding Emperor Era? Why can’t they enter Fengdu?”
“Fengdu only accepts useful souls.” In Daoist Ling Jing’s skull, two flames gave off faint glows. “There are useless and didn’t fulfill the requirements. For one to enter Fengdu, they would need to have abilities equivalent to those of gods. Even I had barely passed to be allowed to Fengdu. Thus, all those people could only gather around the outskirts of Fengdu, but not cross this sea of fog…”
Qin Mu had a weird expression. If it was the grievances of the skeletons that formed the sea of fog and changed them into monsters, then it was they themselves who had blocked their way inside!
What goes around comes around.
“King Yama actually had the intention to extradite them, but Fengdu is too small. On top of that, Fengdu even has to be wary of Youdu…”
Daoist Ling Jing obvious knew many secrets, but he wasn’t willing to say more. He was also a person who had died and could only live in Fengdu, situated in a bizarre state that was neither life nor death.
Qin Mu couldn’t see if he was alive or dead.
If he was dead, his flesh would grow when he entered the living realm of the dead. If he was alive, he would immediately die and cease to exist if he left Fengdu.
The movements under the sea of fog became more and more violent. It was obvious that the battle between Xing An and the monsters was becoming more and more intense. It was truly heart-palpitating to see.
One had to say that Xing An was extremely strong. Even when faced with the monsters born from grievances, he could still fight against them!
“This pervert…”
Daoist Ling Jing took a look at the sea of fog and saw Xing An and various monsters fighting their way up the sea. Those monsters reached the clouds and were even larger than the skeleton mountains and islands in the surroundings. Their offensive power was incomparably terrifying, but Xing An was even more terrifying.
“Human Emperor Qin, quickly go ashore.” Daoist Ling Jing’s eyesight was superior, and he said, “He will break free soon. Also, you owe me four Fengdu coins, so plus this time, it will be a total of five coins.”
Qin Mu took out four Fengdu coins and Daoist Ling Jing accepted them. He stretched his back and said with a smile, “They all have someone above them and can enjoy the moment they enter Fengdu. Yet I still have to earn money. When there’s enough money, only then can I enter Fengdu. If I wanted to have a seat in Fengdu, I’d need to pay quite a big price…”
He pushed his boat to leave into the distance, disappearing in the sea of fog. Yet his voice still came over. “Fengdu is interested in living people like you. If you help the dead do some stuff, they will pay you with Fengdu gold coins as a reward. Like that, you will be able to come back to Fengdu frequently. That’s what I did in the past…”
Qin Mu hurriedly brought the dragon qilin and the chest toward Fengdu.
Not much later, he finally came to the boundary stone of the living realm of the dead. At the sight of it, he couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
At that moment, a loud bang rang out behind him. Xing An had finally broken free of the monsters and rushed out of the sea of fog. He landed on the pier.
Qin Mu’s expression changed slightly, and he immediately rushed into the living realm of the dead, hurrying forward frantically.
The dragon qilin also picked up his speed and ran. As he did so, he noticed that his meal master had disappeared and beside him was a skeleton that was running with all his strength!
That skeleton was wearing Qin Mu’s clothes and shoes!
The dragon qilin’s hair stood on ends and he gave off a miserable shriek. At that moment, he saw that he had also become a skeleton.
The dragon qilin’s limbs became soft and he fainted. This time, it wasn’t faked.
Qin Mu stopped and wanted to raise him up to continue running when he saw Xing An rushing into the boundary of the living realm of the dead.
Bang!
On Xing An’s neck, another head squeezed out, and below his arm, another arm suddenly popped out. Then, he grew four more legs!
Qin Mu was stunned, and Xing An was also stunned. There were more popping sounds then, and another body grew out from his body. More heads grew around his head, and it was hard to say how many bodies were trying to squeeze out of him. He grew dozens of arms, dozens of legs, twenty to thirty heads, and even bodies that were grown together!
Thump.
Xing An collapsed onto the floor with numerous arms grasping for something randomly in all directions. His heads were also struggling and roaring as though they wanted to crawl out of his body that was a huge mess.
It was evident that the consciousness of the various limbs wasn’t the same and didn’t belong to one person. There were some twenty to thirty people, and every one of them wanted to crawl out and leave!
“Living realm of the dead, living realm of the dead…” Qin Mu vanquished the thought of escaping and muttered, “So this is then the way to counter Xing An. His body was pieced together from the body parts of twenty to thirty strong practitioners that were close to god level. Upon coming to this world, those parts that had vanished will reappear…”
Suddenly, a huge bird flew over from the darkness and landed on the mountain in front of them. He tilted his head to examine them curiously.
“Is the one that arrived Human Emperor Qin?”
The huge bird flapped its wings and transformed into a bird-headed god. He folded his wings and spoke in human language. “Your actions have been exposed, and King Yama has been looking for you for a long time!”
Qin Mu was astonished. “I’ve done something? How come I did not know that?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The bird-headed god tilted his head and flapped his wings. He said unpleasantly, “How could you not know what you did? Think again! King Yama will behead you later and let you understand why you died.”
Qin Mu was at a loss. He couldn’t remember anything that could have brought upon him King Yama’s ire.
‘Could it be because I drove Moon Ship away? But Moon Ship doesn’t belong to Fengdu, but moon herders. King Yama despised the character of Moon Guardian so he didn’t accept his allegiance. Driving Moon Ship away wouldn’t be a crime, would it?’
He had entered Fengdu to find Village Chief and check if the young patriarch was also there or not. Even though the bird-headed god said he had done something, Qin Mu didn’t worry at all. Instead, he even felt a little anticipation.
Besides, he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.
Suddenly, Xing An’s roars sounded out. “Divine Physician Qin, what have you done to me?”
Qin Mu turned back to look. The existence that was the strongest in the world couldn’t be found anymore. He had all kinds of body parts hanging off him, with some of the heads being those of men and some of women. They were young and old, but none of them actually belonged to him.
Upon coming to the living realm of the dead, the original consciousness of the body parts had recovered, and the missing limbs were restored, seizing back the body parts that originally belonged to them. In comparison, Xing An’s own consciousness became no stronger than those the others occupying his body.
He could no longer control such a strange body that had so many limbs!
“Xing An, what have you done to us?” twenty to thirty heads asked together as the limbs started fighting one another. It was like a round ball rolling around.
“Xing An, it isn’t what I have done to you, but what you’ve done to them. You stole their body parts which created the current you. In this living realm of the dead, the living are the dead, and the dead are the living. Look at me and the dragon qilin, and you will understand my words,” Qin Mu said sorrowfully.
Xing An couldn’t move at all, only the limbs of the other people could do it. He had stolen too many parts from other people’s bodies, and as a result, the only thing that actually belonged to him was the three souls in his body.
Even his primordial spirit was seized from another person!
The bird-headed god tilted his head to look at him. “Xing An, King Yama would also like to see you. You’ve got a primordial spirit that interests him. Everyone, follow me.”
The huge meat ball formed by Xing An roared and even tried its best to leave this world. Yet the body parts didn’t listen. Instead, they took crawled toward Fengdu.
“Let me go!”
Xing An’s voice held a hint of fear. It was the second time he felt fear.
The first time was when he had opened Life and Death Divine Treasure. He noticed that there was an end to his life, that once his lifespan was up, the Youdu below Life and Death Realm would swallow his primordial spirit, sending him into darkness forever!
It was a great terror, an outcome that he couldn’t accept!
After opening Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, he realized that it was broken and with his intelligence, he couldn’t repair it, so Xing An chose another path to immortality.
He seized the body parts of others.
Since he couldn’t become a god himself and his corporeal body would age, he would just have to seize other people’s body parts and replace his aging corporeal body.
He was arrogant, so he decided to become another type of god, and those who could catch his eyes were all top notch existences in the whole world, existences that had reached god realm in some sort of way.
Even though he didn’t kill those sheep, they had still died because of him.
Now that they revived, he died instead. Those people were splitting apart the body of a true god he had painstakingly refined, trying to tear him apart!
He felt great terror again, the fear for his life!
The bird-headed god gently shifted his foot to find a more comfortable position. He then pulled his head back and perched on the mountaintop. “Xing An, what you have done has also been exposed, but the one that King Yama wants isn’t you—it’s the survivor of the celestial heavens within you.”
“Hehehe…” A sinister voice came from Xing An’s body. “What bullshit King Yama? He’s merely a survivor of the old era! You guys are looking for me, right?”
“Shaman God Kui!”
Qin Mu was astonished. He saw Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit swelling up from Xing An’s body that was full of limbs and forming into a fierce and frightening behemoth that was three thousand yards high. It was even bigger and more majestic than mountains, its gaze like the mouths of two volcanoes that were giving off flames. Around them were incomparably intense darkness.
He looked down from above at the bird-headed god on the mountain. He sneered and said, “You are also a survivor of the old era. I’ve met you before, Founding Emperor Era’s night roamer. You were a scops owl that guarded the souls of convicts in Founding Emperor Era, a god that could travel freely between Youdu and reality, and your name is Chi Xiu! Chi Xiu, take my worship!”
He bowed, but the bird-headed god stood steadily on the mountaintop, not moving at all.
Shaman God Kui was astonished and bowed again. The bird-headed god raised a leg and rubbed the corner of his beak.
Shaman God Kui’s heart trembled, and he hurriedly turned to leave, running out of the living realm of the dead frantically.
He hadn’t died yet. His corporeal body was still suppressed in Yang Mountain in Great Ruins, so he didn’t recover in Youdu and only had his primordial spirit. Its speed was unmatched and was even faster than any divine legs.
He moved and crossed the sea of fog in an instant, nearly rushing out of Fengdu.
But at that moment, Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu flapped his wings, and a gale passed Qin Mu and the rest!
He raised his head and saw a human-faced bird with an immeasurable wingspan that covered the sun. With his talons, he caught the majestic primordial spirit of Shaman God Kui!
The next moment, the bird-headed god flapped his wings and came back. He pressing Shaman God Kui against the ground and quietly pruning his feathers while squatting on the mountaintop.
Qin Mu shivered. The bones on his body collided randomly and rattled.
Against such speed, not to say him, even Cripple couldn’t escape in time!
The shape of Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu was extremely weird. When he had flowed out that moment, he had transformed from corporeal body into pure primordial spirit state, so his speed had gained that speed, even greater than that of Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit. It was the reason why he could easily catch up to and capture him.
While he flew back, he transformed back into corporeal body state. This kind of technique that could turn him into immaterial and solid was extremely strange.
‘No wonder Shaman God Kui said he could travel in and out of Youdu freely. It seems like what he said is true,’ Qin Mu thought to himself.
Shaman God Kui was chained down as he struggled endlessly. However, he still couldn’t break free from them.
Even if the fierce god was incomparably strong and evil, he was still helpless at this moment. When he saw he couldn’t break free, he quietened down and sneered. “Chi Xiu, my life belongs to heaven and not King Yama! So what if you can take me down?”
The bird-headed god flapped his wings and another chain flew out to tie up Xing An.
It was made from white bone as though crafted from backbones. It was hard to say how many joints were there.
The white bone chain surrounded Xing An before binding Qin Mu’s hands.
Qin Mu was slightly puzzled. “I can’t run so why must Senior Brother Chi Xiu take the trouble?”
“Don’t talk, I hate the smell of living human.”
The bird-headed god moved, and the white bone chains chained Qin Mu together with Shaman God Kui, bringing them to Fengdu. Qin Mu then immediately said, “I still have a chest and a dragon qilin!”
“Truly troublesome.”
Bird-Headed Chi Xiu undid the chains and said, “Wake up your dragon qilin and hurry up. Don’t try to run, for you can’t run!”
Qin Mu kicked the dragon qilin awake, but it still didn’t regain consciousness. Chi Xiu then plucked a feather and gently brushed it against the dragon qilin’s forehead. Only then did the fatty wake up and shiver in fear.
Qin Mu consoled him. “Fatty Dragon, don’t be scared. Patriarch is also probably here. Now that we have entered Fengdu, we might just be able to meet him.”
The dragon qilin’s mind was blown, and he stuttered, “D-didn’t you say Patriarch became a god?”
Qin Mu was silent for a moment before breaking into a smile. “Patriarch became a god in Fengdu.”
The dragon qilin fell silent and raised his claws to wipe his eye sockets. However, he had no corporeal body now so he had no tears too.
“I knew that you lied to me back then…” He hung his head down.
Qin Mu thought about it and said, “Look, in this world, you and I are dead, but Patriarch is still living well. In our world, we are living, but Patriarch is dead. Maybe, life and death isn’t like what you’re thinking, and after death, it’is just another way of living. You need not be sad.”
The dragon qilin raised his head and said seriously, “But from today onwards, you can’t lie to me again.”
Qin Mu nodded solemnly. “I was scared you’d take it too hard so…”
“I’m not a small child, I can take it.” The dragon qilin’s tone was calm when he said, “I’m already very satisfied that he’s able to live in this world… Cult Master, your tailbone is hurting me.”
Qin Mu stood up and stepped on his head. The dragon qilin followed the bird-headed god through the gates of hell and towards Fengdu City.
Behind them, the chest followed while swaying.
It was stumbling left and right as though it was drunk. Qin Mu turned back to look and was puzzled. He then suddenly remembered something. ‘Not good, it’s all the arms and legs inside the chest!’
Just as he thought that, Xing An’s huge chest couldn’t hold back any longer, and it opened up, vomiting everything that was inside it.
Strange and bizarre people fell out, and a bunch of overjoyed skeletons was also spat into midair.
“We are in Fengdu!”
Those skeletons grew flesh in the air and landed on the ground, transforming into naked men and women. They were overjoyed and sprinted straight toward Fengdu!
Meanwhile, the people spat out by the chest were not complete. Some were missings arms and some were missing legs. There were even people with huge holes in their chests, missing their hearts.
Some were missing ribs, some souls, and some divine treasures. What they lacked were all strange and weird.
These people were at a loss. They were the limbs that Xing An had collected.
The chest went after the people that had run away relentlessly, wanting to capture them back for its collection.
Qin Mu immediately called it back and said, “Those people have come back to life here so there’s no need to collect them anymore. I will give you a few treasures, so just place them into your stomach…”
Bang, bang, bang!
Loud rumbles came from the chest, and it became larger and larger. After a moment, it transformed into a behemoth in front of them.
Qin Mu opened his mouth in astonishment, his jaw almost dropping to the ground. He immediately held onto it.
The dragon qilin’s lower jaw also dropped to the ground as he opened his mouth wide in disbelief.
Their chest monster had become a huge taotie!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu and the dragon qilin had dazed looks. They raised their heads to look at the behemoth beside them, speechless.
The taotie stood beside them like a mountain-sized mountain goat. Its front two limbs were incomparably strong and its back limbs were thick and short. The hair on its body had bronze patterns, going round and round.
The behemoth had a human face, but its facial features were extremely weird. Its eyes were under its armpits, the place where its front limbs were connected to its chest. Its mouth was squarish and wide, filled with tiger’s teeth. Its goat’s horns protruded out like thorns, looking extremely fierce!
Xing An’s chest had been made from taotie’s skin, which was used on the surface of the chest, and bones, which acted as the frame.
One had to know that Qin Mu had two taotie sacks, but the amount of skin used to make one was merely a foot in length and width. Yet the exterior of the huge chest used the skin of one whole taotie!
If one added the taotie bones that were used to support the space inside, the chest could be said to be incomparably luxurious!
Qin Mu’s taotie sack didn’t transform because the interior space wasn’t connected to the outside world. On the other hand, the chest had transformed into taotie because its interior space had connected with the outside world!
The transformation of the chest was slightly slower probably because its interior was a world by itself. To spat out everyone in its stomach, the chest had opened up, which resulted in its interior coming in contact with Fengdu, so the chest was also affected by the living realm of the dead.
Qin Mu pulled away his gaze and hurriedly grabbed the taotie sacks at his waist, thinking to himself, ‘My taotie sacks need to be kept properly, I definitely cannot open them; otherwise, it won’t be two taotie sacks on my waist, but two taoties strapped to me…’
Two mountain-sized taoties strapped to his waist and him stuck in the middle would definitely not be something pleasant. No matter if it was a squeeze or a tug, he would die incomparably miserably!
The taotie transformed from the chest raised its claws, still puzzled why it would change like that.
However, it didn’t think much about it and immediately took off to chase the people that were running toward Fengdu. It opened its mouth in delight and tried to swallow them all.
Even though it was affected by the living realm of the dead and gained flesh and blood, its mind was still simpler. After all, it was a chest awakened by Qin Mu.
The dead that were being chased by it were frightened out of their wits, to the point they had no more will to do anything.
Taotie was one of the most famous evil creatures and ate anything. It was never fussy so it was no wonder they fled everywhere in fear.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and called out to the creature. The taotie chest ran back and looked reluctantly at the escapees. When it saw the dragon qilin, it couldn’t help jumping in joy again and opened its strangely weird mouth.
The dragon qilin’s hair stood on ends, and he immediately said, “You can’t eat me! I treat you as a good brother yet you want to eat me. Where’s the justice?”
Qin Mu consoled him. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t want to eat you. It just likes to collect some bones, hands, and legs… Spit me out, quickly spit me out! Damned chest, stupid chest, even eating me! Quickly spit me out…”
…
Finally, they came to the first divine city in Fengdu. At this place, Qin Mu saw all kinds of strange and weird people. Some of them had no heads, some huge holes in their chests, and some were missing arms or legs.
However, there were also strong practitioners that had died normally, so their arms and legs were intact.
There were many people in the first god city, and there were also strange life forms lingering in the air. They didn’t look like the dead, but like spirits.
“Those are the scattered souls of strong practitioners. Their incomplete souls are lingering around here, but even in Fengdu they don’t have their own corporeal bodies,” Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu said. “Don’t look at them, be careful of being possessed.”
Qin Mu hurriedly looked away. However, his curiosity was roused. Instead of looking at the incomplete souls that were lingering around, he examined other people.
Soon, he discovered something strange. Other than the incomplete souls in the sky, there were actually people without corporeal bodies as well!
There were many who didn’t have an inch of it. Only their primordial spirits were left!
Yet even so, those people were extremely strong. However, the forms of their primordial spirits were different from the human body. They usually were shaped as sacred creatures.
The most common primordial spirit forms were the four great spirit bodies, them being Vermillion Bird God, Black Tortoise God, Green Dragon God, and White Tiger God.
However, there were even more primordial spirits that were something else, some fantastic oddities of every description. There were demon-faced gods with green faces and tusks, bull-headed gods with horns on their heads and fire wrapping around their bodies, gods with human heads and snake bodies, gods with three heads and six arms, and gods with all kinds of other forms.
‘These people aren’t incomplete souls; their primordial spirits are complete. Where are they from? Since they have primordial spirits and not corporeal bodies here, doesn’t that mean that their corporeal bodies are still alive?’
Qin Mu suddenly took note of some crucial points.
The corporeal bodies of those primordial spirits were still alive!
He stared with his eyes wide open. There were numerous primordial spirits of all forms in the city. In just the period of time from when he had entered the city, he had already seen more than two hundred of them. Didn’t this mean that there were two hundred and more gods still alive?
Where were all of them hiding in his world?
Not only that, more than two hundred was just what he had seen when he entered the city. This meant that there were even more primordial spirits in the city.
Besides, this city was only one god city of Fengdu. According to the where he had been the previous time he had come, there should be quite a few Fengdu Cities. The last time he had seen the place, there seemed to be some nine-ten cities, and each one was very large!
In that case, how many gods were still alive in the world?
‘Why did these gods abandon their corporeal bodies and enter Fengdu? Where are their corporeal bodies at… Wait a minute!’
Qin Mu’s mind was blown as qi and blood rushed into his brain, causing his ears to ring.
There were many gods in his world!
It was just that they had already become stone statues!
They were the stone statues protecting the people in Great Ruins!
Didn’t this mean that they could revive anytime and become gods?
This guess was shocking!
All kinds of strange incidents in Great Ruins had troubled Qin Mu for a long time, but if his guess was correct, he could explain part of the strangeness.
For example, the incident at Heavenly King Temple in which the heavenly king’s stone statue had ridden the dragon qilin to slay the dragon king at night!
For example, the incident of the white bat god statues reviving!
And for example, when he and Village Chief roamed the night of Great Ruins and saw the battle between gods and devils!
Of course, there were still numerous unexplainable things. In the incident of slaying the dragon king, the heavenly king of Heavenly King Temple had gone on the order of Founding Emperor to slay the dragon king that had rebelled. Where had this order of Founding Emperor come from?
In the incident of white bat god statues, why was there a god that looked like an Overlord Body petrified in the depths of Ghost Valley? Why was there a passage to Youdu there?
During the battle between the gods and devils, who was the one fighting with the gods of Great Ruins?
On top of that, the primordial spirits of Fengdu’s gods also couldn’t explain the sight of the five worlds overlapping at the source of Surging River. They also couldn’t begin to explain how Qin Mu had returned to the ancient times.
‘The strange sights in Great Ruins are just like the sea of fog. After pushing the fog away, there is more fog, making it hard to see the real thing,’ Qin Mu thought.
They came to a very wide river in the city. There was a flying bridge that connected the two shores. Qin Mu went to the railing to look down, but he only saw dense fog churning instead of water. Once in a while, he could see slimy bodies slithering within it.
“Is this place connected to the sea of fog?” he inquired.
“No. The other end of the dense fog is Youdu. Those things are life forms of Youdu,” Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu said.
“Life forms of Youdu?” Qin Mu’s mind was muddle-headed. He muttered, “Fengdu and Youdu are connected? Won’t Youdu attack this place?”
God Chi Xiu didn’t explain. He led them across the Bridge of Helplessness and came to a sacred hall. It was called Hall of King Qin. When Qin Mu saw the three words on the horizontally inscribed board, he couldn’t help being stunned.
‘Why is this sacred hall called Hall of King Qin? Could the hall master’s surname be Qin?’
He was puzzled, but the bird-headed god escorted them into the hall. At that moment, the hall was brightly lit yet the light gave a feeling of a void. It was as if it wasn’t truly fire. Its light was also hazy.
On both sides of the hall, there were awe-inspiring and solemn sculptures of ghost gods. They were tall and had queer appearances, their body parts different from those of ordinary people. With sashes around their bodies, they held all kinds of weapons in their hands, like knives, spears, swords, halberds, shields, tokens, and even huge snakes.
Qin Mu stopped in front of one sculpture to examine it, wanting to study the rune markings on its body. But suddenly, the eyeballs of the ghost god sculpture rolled and looked at him curiously.
Qin Mu jumped in shock and hurriedly took a step back. The eyeballs of the ghost god sculpture looked forward again then, making him think that he’d been seeing things.
‘These are not sculptures, but real ghost gods!’
Qin Mu instantly became well-behaved and went after God Chi Xiu.
In the main hall, a god cloaked in black sat upright and still, busy reading through memorials.
God Chi Xiu bowed and said, “King Yama, convicts Qin Mu, Xing An, and Shaman God Kui have been captured. Awaiting your orders!”
The black-robed god placed the cinnabar brush in his hand down and raised his head. His face under the black robe couldn’t be seen clearly. Only two dim lights could be seen.
“Xing An’s predestined lifespan is yet to end, and he’s not under the jurisdiction of my Fengdu, so let him go.”
God Chi Xiu was slightly stunned, but he still followed the orders and let Xing An go.
“Xing An, even though you have done much evil, Fengdu doesn’t deal with people who are yet to die,” King Yama said. “You can leave.”
Xing An was surprised but delighted. He sneered and said, “So Fengdu is still a reasonable place. Very good, farewell!”
He was about to move, but the other twenty to thirty bodies on him weren’t willing. They made him unable to take a step!
Xing An was astonished and angry. Those bodies were struggling, screaming and cursing, wanting to repay him with kind!
“How can Hall of King Qin tolerate such clamor?” King Yama’s voice turned unpleasant. “Throw him out.”
Suddenly, two of the ghost god ‘sculptures’ moved. The two ghost gods held military forks with which they stabbed Xing An and threw him out of the hall.
“Didn’t you say you will let me leave? Why are you still keeping me in Fengdu?” Xing An asked angrily.
God Chi Xiu sneered. “How can you blame others if you can’t walk out yourself? Ignorant.”
King Yama then looked at Shaman God Kui who was not frightened at all. He sneered and said, “My predestined lifespan isn’t over as well. Old Man Qin, shouldn’t you let me go as well?”
‘Old Man Qin?’ Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently. ‘King Yama’s surname is also Qin? Who is he exactly?’
King Yama looked over indifferently. “It isn’t difficult for my Fengdu to take a life. You’ve done too much evil, and there are many people in Fengdu who have died in your hands. Their souls had scattered from your worship. There’s nothing to pity about your death.”
Shaman God Kui was fearless and chuckled. “So what can you do to me? Your Fengdu was merely a territory seized by Youdu. Fengdu is merely a place where the survivors gather, constructed by imitating Youdu, trying in vain to overthrow heaven! Youdu paths, skills and divine arts that you manage are basically coarse toys that don’t even catch my eyes. Compared the Youdu divine arts of the celestial heavens, you are still thousands of miles inferior.
“I have received a fief and title from heaven so I’m not under Youdu’s jurisdiction. I can die in anyone’s hands, but I won’t be injured by Youdu’s paths and skills! You can’t kill me!”
King Yama remained unmoved, and his voice was calm. “The reason we captured you instead of killing you is to understand our opponent through you. Fetch Three Lives Mirror and search his paths, skills, and divine arts, as well as his life experiences. Know thyself, know thy enemy!”
A ghost king in Hall of King Qin walked down from the magic altar and came to the front of Shaman God Kui. That ghost king had green skin and had two pitifully small wings. There were horns on his head, and he had tusks that made his mouth seem abnormally large.
It suddenly opened and instantly became wider than his body. That mouth was so huge that it could make one’s hair stand up on ends!
His mouth was like a door in which light gathered for form a huge mirror while shone on Shaman God Kui.
The primordial spirit shrieked and suddenly transformed into a wisp of green smoke that was absorbed into the mirror.
The scenery inside the mirror started changing then. It actually showed the life of Shaman God Kui in reverse, going back from the moment God Chi Xiu had captured him. Time flowed back, continuously moving backward.
All kinds of scenes in the mirror were displayed for a fleeting moment. Xing An subduing Shaman God Kui, him getting schemed by Grandmaster, him using Life and Death Book to worship billions of lives to death, killing enemy generals, all the way back to the battle of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens. The time in the mirror flowed back to ancient times. More and more of his experiences were shown without any reservation!
Qin Mu’s scalp started to crawl. If one was caught by this Three Lives Mirror, who would still have secrets?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In Three Lives Mirror, the time flowed back, returning to more and more ancient days. Then, another world finally appeared. Shaman God Kui and countless gods and devils received orders to descend to the lower bound to crusade against Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens!
At the sight of it, even King Yama couldn’t help becoming agitated and rose to take a closer look at Three Lives Mirror. He wanted to see who was the one who had ordered the destruction of Founding Emperor Celestial Heaven!
The memories of Shaman God Kui were shown from his point of view; they were what his eyes had seen. His field of vision was wide, and it reflected the vast scenery of the true celestial heavens. Countless gods and devils vowed before their troops to join the expedition, planning to wipe out Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens.
This kind of sight roused the hearts yet filled them with fear!
After all, there, even an existence like Shaman God Kui was merely an insignificant soldier among the numerous gods and devils of the true celestial heavens!
The vision in the mirror gradually rose as Shaman God Kui looked at the true gods high above. The vast bodies of the majestic beings were limitless. The gods were like stars surrounding them.
Shaman God Kui looked at the mastermind, the so-called Celestial Emperor of the celestial heavens.
King Yama couldn’t suppress his excitement when Shaman God Kui focused on an incomparably majestic face. But the mirror suddenly distorted!
Shaman God Kui suddenly became blank as if his memory had been wiped by an ineffable power!
King Yama was astonished and pressed his hand against the mirror!
“Secrets of Light Source!”
On the mirror, the picture stabilized, but the next instant, a huge eye appeared within it. The mirror seemed to be able to swallow all light, causing Shaman God Kui’s memory to continuously be erased.
King Yama shouted. His long cape of darkness swirled, and a sword light flew out from it, slashing into the mirror.
In Three Lives Mirror, the time continued to flow back, showing Shaman God Kui’s early experiences. By then, all memory regarding the true celestial heavens in his memory had all been wiped out, as if had never existed!
King Yama put away his sword, and the sword light went into his cape, vanishing without a trace.
“There was an extremely powerful existence that sensed us borrowing Shaman God Kui’s memory to take a look at him, so he erased Shaman God Kui’s memory regarding him.” His voice was forceful and sonorous as he said solemnly, “For him to sense Shaman God Kui recalling him and send his magic power through time and space, he’s truly incomparably terrifying!”
In Hall of King Qin, a bunch of ghost kings shivered. Being able to sense when someone was just recalling them and be able to just erase that memory?
This kind of divine art was simply inconceivable!
Qin Mu was also astonished. Three Lives Mirror could show a person’s entire life, and it was already unimaginable, like a fantasy story. Yet someone could actually detect other people trying to see them like that and erase the memory of the person who’d seen them. Such art was simply too terrifying to imagine!
‘Since they were taking trying to pry into that true celestial heavens, could it be that the person who erased Shaman God Kui’s memory is the celestial emperor of the true celestial heavens?’ Qin Mu secretly wondered.
The remnants of Shaman God Kui’s memory appeared in Three Lives Mirror. He was coming back from Youdu where he’d learned spells and divine arts. Numerous ghost kings were with him to observe everything in detail. Some of them held brush and ink, recording the divine arts, paths, and skills that Shaman God Kui had learned in Youdu.
In Shaman God Kui’s memory, the celestial heavens had sent out numerous divine arts practitioners with extraordinary aptitudes to enter Youdu to learn. Afterward, all these people had extraordinary attainments.
This showed that the true celestial heavens was greatly related to Youdu.
Qin Mu’s heart shook, and he also wanted to go to learn the paths, skills, and divine arts of Youdu.
All of them were very extraordinary. He had only learned Soul Guide of Nine Spectres Sect, but it was incomplete. Even so, it was still extraordinary, able to summon the souls of Apothecary, Granny Si, and the rest back!
When Shaman God Kui worshiped others to death, what he relied on were also the paths, skills, and divine arts of Youdu.
If Qin Mu could learn them wouldn’t he have another powerful method to fight?
However, numerous ghost kings surrounded Three Lives Mirror until they were impenetrable. He was still a ‘convict’ so he couldn’t squeeze past them.
Suddenly, King Yama looked at him, and his gaze under the black robe flashed.
Astonished, Qin Mu tested the waters. “King Yama, my predestined lifespan has not yet ended as well…”
“What you have done is too huge, so don’t think of running! You executed a Youdu spell and seized a few of my people, violating the law of my Fengdu. Your evil is worse than that of Xing An and you still want to go? King Yama, how should he be dealt with?” God Chi Xiu asked.
“Violating the law of Fengdu, even a prince must be punished the same as the multitude of common people, so he indeed needs to be punished. Solving the divine arts, paths, and skills from Shaman God Kui’s memory will require some time, so bring him away for now. I will punish him later by myself!”
God Chi Xiu was astonished. King Yama was going to punish him by himself?
One had to know that even Xing An and Shaman God King didn’t were faced with personal punishment!
Even though what Qin Mu had done seemed huge, it could be big or small. The rules of Fengdu were different from those of Youdu; they didn’t dabble into the affairs of the world of the living.
To living people, Fengdu was the same as Youdu, they both belonged to the netherworld. If the netherworld interfered with the world of the living, there would be unpredictable consequences.
This was common sense.
Fengdu would not interfere with the world of the living, and Youdu was the same.
This was also the main reason why Shaman God Kui said that they couldn’t do anything to him. King Yama couldn’t punish the primordial spirit of a person whose predestined lifespan had not ended.
On top of that, Qin Mu was still the human emperor, so God Chi Xiu had thought that King Yama would save the face of the previous human emperors, raising him high up before gently putting him down, concluding the entire incident with just a few scoldings.
But from the looks of it now, it looked like he was ready to behead Qin Mu and punish him as an example to others!
“Follow me.” God Chi Xiu escorted Qin Mu out. When they were outside the hall, he said softly, “When King Yama comes later, just apologize. Don’t worry, nothing will really happen to you, since you have someone above.”
Qin Mu relaxed and thought to himself, ‘Village Chief’s face is sure big. Come to say of it, he just died not long ago and he’s already a ghost hero?’
Outside the hall, Xing An was like a huge ball filled with the heads and various other body parts. They rolled around, squabbled, and fought. He was being tortured miserably by the limbs on his body.
Suddenly, Xing An saw Qin Mu being escorted out from Hall of King Qin. He sneered and said, “Divine Physician Qin, looks like what you did is still worse than my crimes. I’m already released yet you are still being escorted. You have done too much evil, so you deserve what you have now!”
Qin Mu stopped and asked, “Xing An, what’s your predestined lifespan?”
Xing An was slightly stunned and sneered. “I’m a true god, so my lifespan has no end! What predestined lifespan then?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “What I’m asking is how much predestined lifespan do you still have in your original body. In Fengdu, you are only left with the lifespan of your original body. If the lifespan of your original body is up, you will be counted as dead.”
Xing An’s heart trembled violently.
God Chi Xiu flapped his wings and said lazily, “Once the predestined lifespan is over, there’s is still the age of death. Predestined lifespan belongs to your corporeal body while the age of death belongs to your soul. Don’t worry, once your predestined lifespan is up, you can stay here forever.”
Xing An was terrified. He tried his best to leave Fengdu, but how would the people who had died under his hand let him off?
Xing An couldn’t move a step and instead got dragged toward the city by the hatred of the dead.
“King Yama, you are not a man of your words!” Xing An said sternly. “You want to trap me here and reap my soul!”
“He let you go, it’s just you that can’t leave.” Qin Mu shook his head and said, “Senior Brother Xing An, you still don’t understand King Yama’s meaning? If you want to walk out of Fengdu, the only way is to throw away the body parts of others. Only by using your own body can you walk out. Otherwise, you will die of old age here!”
Xing An’s heart trembled violently.
Making him throw away the divine body of other people was nothing less than denying what he had sought all his life. It would turn all his ideals and attempts to make his corporeal body and primordial spirit as strong as those of a true god useless!
“Are you willing to die of old age here or are you willing to risk your life?” Qin Mu asked. “Ever since you realized you had no hope in becoming god, you lost your fighting spirit, right? From then on, you were no longer the saint that appears once every five hundred years, but just a pitiful bug, hoping to take other people’s parts to improve oneself, yet you didn’t know that all of it was for naught after you died! All your hard work, after coming here, is merely something you can see, but not something you can touch. It has no value and will instead become an obstruction. What’s not yours will never be yours!”
Xing An’s Dao heart shook. Even when Cult Master Li Tianxing had used his Dao heart to strike his Dao heart, he hadn’t been injured at all. Yet now, just a few words from Qin Mu had caused a flaw to appear in his Dao heart!
What he thought was his was actually not his in this end—this was the greatest blow to him!
“The path of god, I have already laid it out for you.” Qin Mu stood in front of him as a skeleton and looked very minute. However, he had a bearing that made Xing An look up to him. He said indifferently, “If you give up on these body parts that don’t belong to you and take back your own body, you can still become a god and walk your own path. Chest, are there still any body parts in your stomach that haven’t become human?”
The taotie behind him shut his mouth tightly, but the dragon qilin pried it open with effort. He stretched his head in to look in the taotie’s stomach and said, “Cult Master, there are indeed a few body parts inside!”
“All body parts changed into humans in Fengdu except for yours, you have yet to die,” Qin Mu said. “Chest, spit them out to return to him. Let him walk back with his own limbs.”
How could taotie be willing to?
The dragon qilin’s muffled voice came from its stomach. “Cult Master, I’ve been eaten up again!”
Qin Mu was furious, punching, and kicking the taotie. “Spit him out, spit him out now!”
The taotie was unmoved. After a moment though, it reluctantly spat the dragon qilin and the body parts out.
The dragon qilin immediately hid behind Qin Mu. The huge chest terrified him.
Qin Mu threw the body parts at Xing An’s face and said indifferently, “Release them, take back your own body and you will live. Otherwise, you die. Fatty Dragon, Chest, let’s go, let him think it over.”
Xing An was silent. The dozens of limbs were beating him frantically again, trying to tear him apart and drag him to death, yet he was still unable to make a decision.
To deny the hard work of his whole life and to admit he was wrong—he still couldn’t do it.
Yet he also knew about torturing a man’s heart rather than cutting up their body. Even though Qin Mu’s cultivation and abilities were far from his, he had already defeated him in the battle of Dao hearts. Qin Mu had completely crushed his Dao heart, and he couldn’t fight it back anymore!
“Cult Master, will Xing An give up those divine body parts?” the dragon qilin asked as he turned back to look.
Qin Mu shook his head and said, “That would depend on his courage. If he returns to his corporeal body, he will only be able to live for a few more years, and it’s impossible to say if he could become a god in such a short time. Yet if he doesn’t change back, he will die of old age here. I also don’t know—”
At that moment, a resounding laugh suddenly echoed. “Chi Xiu, I’ve heard my grand disciple has been captured by you?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the sound and saw a tall and sturdy man with a shirt draped over his shoulders. He seemed slightly lazy, and the shirt on his body was also slightly loose. Yet it gave him a certain kind of aura.
“So it’s Human Emperor Qi Kang,” God Chi Xiu said. “I’m acting on orders. Human Emperor Qin used a Youdu spell to snatch back people, and even King Yama was alarmed. The hearts of the ghosts in Fengdu are anxious that they will be summoned to Youdu and sink there eternally. Because of that, King Yama wants to take him down. It’s not my fault.”
Human Emperor Qi Kang took hold of the shirt draped over his shoulders and smiled. “I know that you are acting on orders so I won’t create trouble for you. I will be bringing Human Emperor Qin away, just drop King Yama a note.”
God Chi Xiu shook his head and said, “That will not do. King Yama still wants to punish him alone later, so I can’t let you take him away…”
At this moment, an old voice suddenly rang out. “Chi Xiu, I heard my disciple’s grand-disciple has been captured by you?”
God Chi Xiu’s expression changed slightly when he saw an elder with white hair walking over. It was none other than the master of Human Emperor Qi Kang. He immediately explained, “So it’s Human Emperor Yi Shan. I can’t make a decision regarding Human Emperor Qin’s matter, since it’s King Yama that wants to punish him for creating a disturbance in Fengdu. I can’t call the shots. Human Emperor Yi Shan, please don’t blame me.”
“I didn’t see how big the matter was.” The white-haired elder had a short stature, and his snow-white beard flew upwards from both sides. His voice was like a great bell as he laughed. “I know you can’t make the decision so I’m not letting you make the decision. I’m the one making the decision. I’ll be bringing Human Emperor Qin away!”
“You can’t!” God Chi Xiu became anxious and said, “King Yama wants to punish him personally. Human Emperor Yi Shan, you can’t make the decision…”
“Chi Xiu, I’ve heard my grand-disciple’s grand-disciple has been captured by you?”
Another voice came over, and God Chi Xiu couldn’t help crying out internally for help. He saw a woman in a blue dress carrying a small bamboo basket walking over. He immediately said, “So it’s Human Emperor Lan Po. About this…”
“Chi Xiu, I’ve heard my grand-disciple’s grand-disciple’s disciple has been captured by you?”
“Chi Xiu, I’ve heard my grand-disciple…”
Chi Xiu!”
…
More and more people surrounded God Chi Xiu who was about to explode. He thought to himself, ‘Could I have poked a hornet’s nest? These human emperors of Hall of Human Emperors are all hornets, right? You usually don’t see them around, but once you poke one, the whole nest comes flying out!”
He felt he couldn’t provoke them and when more and more damned human emperors came over, he could only say, “Everyone, you are all reputable figures so why must you force me? Please don’t give me trouble. I can pass Human Emperor Qin to you guys first, but he cannot leave Fengdu. I have to hand him over to King Yama…”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, we won’t make you trouble!” everyone said noisily.
Qin Mu looked around in a daze and stuttered, “God Chi Xiu, you said I had people above…”
“That’s right!” Chi Xiu tried his best to squeeze out from the crowd while saying angrily, “The human emperors of your Hall of Human Emperors are all bullies and ruffians, and they are a force in my Fengdu that cannot be provoked! One poke and the entire hornet’s nest will come out. I’ll come back for you later!”
He squeezed out of the crowd and flapped his wings away.
Qin Mu looked at the human emperors in the surroundings, slightly at a loss. Everyone was smiling as they examined him. Among them, there were men and women, young and old, tall and short, fat and skinny, well-groomed ones, fierce-looking ones, courageous and strong ones, and also weak-looking ones.
Qin Mu looked toward the crowd, but Village Chief couldn’t be seen. He immediately coughed and greeted, “Young and superficial student Qin Mu, the current human emperor, pays his respects to grand-master, great grand-master, great great grand master, great great great grand master…”
“There no need for such formalities!”
Everyone flooded forward and surrounded him, this little skeleton, in the center, rattling his bones until they were almost falling apart. They gathered around him and walked him toward the city with smiles. “It’s rare to have a living coming to find us so let’s have a nice gathering and liven things up!”
“You haven’t been burning paper money for us. If it wasn’t for that little brat with the surname Su dying and coming to Fengdu, we would have thought that Hall of Human Emperors has been cut short!”
“Why didn’t you sweep our tombs? If you had gone, we would have known that we have a successor. We even left some treasures for you in Hall of Human Emperors.”
…
There were too many questions so Qin Mu could only reply honestly. “Until now, I have yet to visit the Hall of Human Emperors. Village Chief also didn’t tell me where it is…”
Human Emperor Qi Kang couldn’t help becoming furious. “What was that little brat doing? To actually not bring you to Hall of Human Emperors! This scoundrel, when he comes back, I’ll definitely teach him a lesson!”
Human Emperor Yi Shan gave a fierce kick to Human Emperor Qi Kang’s buttocks and blew his beard while giving him a stare before shouting, “How do you teach your disciple? Beating your disciple is never the way to teach a good disciple! It’s because of teachings from people like you that Human Emperor Qin didn’t sweep our tombs!”
After this kick from Human Emperor Yi Shan, his head was immediately punched by Human Emperor Lan Po, and he cradled it in pain. Human Emperor Lan Po said furiously. “Yi Shan, did I teach you like this? How dare you even have the face to say that to Qi Kang ‘how did you teach your disciple’?”
“Lan Po, such a violent girl, throwing my face!”
“Kong Xian, how dare you beat my grand-disciple? You are tired of living!”
…
A bunch of old fellows started to fight in the city, and they couldn’t be broken apart. Qin Mu immediately saw one strange point in that. The past human emperors would help their grand-disciple to beat their disciple.
It seemed that every disciple wasn’t friendly with their own master.
However, the abilities of the past human emperors were indeed all astonishing. Literally, everyone was an existence that had cultivated to the realm of path. Yet what was weird was that they all had their own specialties. The abilities that the disciples and their masters were skilled in were different. Human Emperor Qi Kang was Village Chief’s master, and Village Chief was most proficient in sword skills. He was known as Sword God yet Human Emperor Qi Kang was proficient in fists skills and mudra skills.
They were strong and overbearing. His mudra techniques were even more terrifying than the fist skills of Great Thunderclap Monastery.
Yet his master was Human Emperor Yi Shan who was skilled in divine arts. His master, Human Emperor Lan Po, was skilled in spirit weapons. As for Human Emperor Kong Xian, he was skilled in the divine arts of spells with words.
It seemed as if all of them hated their masters very much and had vowed not to take their path, stubbornly wanting to open up a path of their own.
Qin Mu blinked and looked around. The human emperors that were messing around had razed down a few streets in a few breaths’ time. Only after a few halls were destroyed and countless houses were torn down did they stop fighting.
The gods and devils in the city kept quiet out of fear, none of them daring to make a sound. They had all stopped what they were doing to look.
Some of their halls were destroyed, but they didn’t say anything. They could only grieve internally as numerous imps came forward to help repair the halls.
‘God Chi Xiu said that our Hall of Human Emperor is a force in Fengdu, looks like he was right,’ Qin Mu thought to himself. ‘The past human emperors tore down a few streets yet no one dares to get involved with them. Village Chief must have been living in bliss here, able to walk unhindered. He could even be said to be the little overlord of Fengdu. Still, where did he disappear to?’
Human Emperor Qi Kang’s face was all bruised when he climbed out from under Human Emperor Yi Shan’s legs. He wiped away the blood from his nose and said with a smile, “You must go to Hall of Human Emperors. All of the past human emperors have left their ultimate arts there, hoping someone in the future generation will break through and walk their path. Besides, you have to sweep the tombs, and on every New Year and other festivities, you need to burn some good offerings for us.”
Yi Shan chuckled. “You can burn some enemies for us to play. This Fengdu is good in everything, except having things to play around. We’re before First Ancestor’s Sacred Hall of Five Yang, so let’s go there!”
“First Ancestor?”
Qin Mu’s heart shook slightly. First Ancestor was the first human emperor, a true god who had opened the inheritance of Hall of Human emperors. He had remarkable abilities, and Qin Mu wanted to meet this distinguished person of the past very much!
He had seen the stone statue of the first human emperor in Little Jade Capital, and Hermit Qing You had said that First Ancestor Human Emperor had become a stone statue under utter despair. After Qin Mu had never expected to be able to meet him.
“First Ancestor has left Fengdu for quite a period of time. He said he was going to attend to something very important. Your master went to find him, but he still hasn’t returned. Your master is very weird. He doesn’t seem to have stopped breathing completely, so he can walk out of Fengdu. On the other hand, we have really stopped breathing,” Qi Kang said.
Everyone flooded forward and made the two huge beasts that were guarding Sacred Hall of Five Yang jump in shock. The human-faced beast with a bird’s body on the left hurriedly asked, “Human emperors, are you coming to old master’s house to look for food again? The place has been eaten almost clean by you guys, so why don’t you go to Second Ancestor’s house?”
“Shut up!” the old human emperors shouted in unison. “Second Ancestor’s house has been eaten clean, and the same goes for Third Ancestor’s house! Among all of our past human emperors, only your house still has something left!”
The human-faced bird immediately shut its mouth and pretended not to see anything, letting them barge in.
Qin Mu had the dragon qilin and taotie stay out of the hall. “Stay here, I’ll go in and have a talk with the ancestors.”
The dragon qilin did as told and examined the two huge beasts. He suddenly asked, “Have you guys seen Heavenly Saint Cult’s Patriarch? He looks like a youth and is very handsome.”
The human-faced bird was easier to talk to and said, “Heavenly Saint Cult’s Patriarch? You should go to the nest of Heavenly Saint Cult. All the past cult master stay there, but they are mostly devils and look fiendish; they are not to be provoked.”
The dragon qilin was delighted upon hearing his words and hurriedly asked, “May I ask brothers to show me the way.”
In Hall of Five Yang, Qin Mu couldn’t help sighing ruefully. The human emperors were truly like bandits entering the village, never treating themselves like outsiders. Before they even got seated, Human Emperor Lan Po summoned some imps over and instructed them. “Human Emperor Qin from the world of the living is here, so quickly prepare some good dishes to receive him!”
One of the green-skinned imps braved himself to say, “Old masters, a living person can’t eat the food of Fengdu. Look, Human Emperor Qin is a skeleton without flesh, blood, or intestines; he can’t eat.”
“Pesky! Of course, he’s not the one eating, and we are the ones eating! I’m the disciple of First Ancestor, can I not eat? Go prepare, quickly!” Second Ancestor Human Emperor shouted.
Numerous green-faced imps with fangs scuttled around and prepared the dishes. Qin Mu examined them and was puzzled. They were quite similar to the ghost kings in Hall of King Qin, creatures that weren’t life forms from the world of the living. Could they be life forms from Youdu?
“No one has been sending offerings to us over these years, so we are becoming hungry ghosts! Raise the seats!”
Second Ancestor used his mudra skills, and instantly lotuses bloomed inside the Sacred Hall of Five Yang. They grew taller and larger, lifting them up.
Numerous imps were done with the dishes and carried them up. The past human emperors didn’t care about their looks as they ate and drank gluttonously, sweeping everything clean. Only then were they satisfied.
Qin Mu stared at the sight with wide eyes. The past human emperors looked like they had starved for a few hundred years. Where was any sort of loftiness left?
The food in front of him was untouched because he was only a skeleton and couldn’t eat anything.
“If Human Emperor Qin had not come forward, I still couldn’t have had a full meal. Your master must have hated me very much, so he had never gone tomb sweeping, starving me for a few hundred years.”
Human Emperor Qi Kang sighed and looked at Qin Mu. “Little Brat Su praised you to the heavens, saying his disciple has much better future prospects than my disciple. Let me see how is his disciple much better than my disciple?”
Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ‘Isn’t Grand Master Qi Kang’s disciple Village Chief?’
The other human emperors were also instantly excited. They all said, “Old rules, let’s fight first!”
Qin Mu rose and bowed around him. “Grand-masters, ancestors, I’m only on Seven Stars Realm, I think we can forgo the fight?”
Qi Kang smiled and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t bully you. Of course, we will be fighting with you on the same realm. We won’t hurt you as well, since we just want to see your cultivation and give pointers.”
Qin Mu’s expression became troubled. “In that case, there’s no need to compete. I don’t want to bully grand-masters and ancestors. Hurting you guys isn’t good. Truth be told, your techniques and divine arts are all mostly behind times…”
The surroundings went silent.
“I suddenly feel like beating this rascal to death…” Human Emperor Yi Shan muttered softly.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The past human emperors nodded, sharing the same feeling.
Even though every human emperor looked like they deserved a beating in the eyes of their masters, it was the first time they had met such a human emperor that deserved to be beaten by all of them.
The past human emperors were all top notch practitioners of their generations. It wasn’t status that had commanded respect from other sects, but their abilities which were strong enough, sweeping away everyone in their age and rarely finding a worthy match!
Any human emperor which hadn’t fought a few rounds with the gods of High Heavens would be too embarrassed to meet their ancestors after dying yet how many people were like this in a generation?
Yet, Qin Mu, against overbearing strong practitioners like them, actually said he was afraid of injuring them. He even said that their techniques and divine arts had already fallen behind times, so how could they endure?
Third Ancestor came closer while saying indifferently, “All the past human emperors are very haughty, and every one of them is overflowing with haughtiness after death, wanting to beat this and that. However, you are still the first one to say we are behind times! Human Emperor Qin, how remarkable.”
“Disciple beating master is also common. For example me, I have beaten the old geezer before. However, to beat all the old geezers, Human Emperor Qin’s voice is not small. I would like to see if you actually have this ability!” Fourth Ancestor said indifferently.
Third Ancestor gave him a dark look.
Second Ancestor’s expression was imposing as he said, “Human Emperor Qin is a living person so how we fight is also another problem. However, First Ancestor has a treasure that should still be around here. It’s called Between Life and Death, and it can situate us between life and death, which would be the most suitable to exchange blows.”
The past human emperors all frowned. “First Ancestor is not here, so who can use Between Life and Death?”
Second Ancestor smiled and said, “As the disciple of First Ancestor, I’m the owner of Sacred Hall of Five Yang when he’s not around, so I can naturally use it. Be quiet, I’m very familiar with this place, even more familiar than with my own home. Wait for me, let me fetch Between Life and Death.”
Everyone was slightly curious. They had heard of Between Life and Death but never seen this treasure before. They had heard that it was because First Ancestor missed his wife that he crafted it to create a passage to Youdu so he could meet her there.
However, his treasure didn’t have much use or power, so people that crafted these kinds of items were few in numbers. Yet using Between Life and Death for living people and dead people to fight couldn’t be any more clever.
Not much later, Second Ancestor came back, and everyone saw that his hands were empty. They couldn’t help being bewildered and asked suspiciously, “Second Ancestor, where is Between Life and Death?”
“This is Between Life and Death!”
Second Ancestor’s sleeves trembled, and a long river flew out from his sleeves. The huge river flew out of Sacred Hall of Five Yang, becoming wider and wider. It stretched across several hundred miles and floated in the sky above Fengdu City.
Everyone hurriedly walked out of Sacred Hall of Five Yang where they saw a long river floating in the sky. It even had a flying bridge hanging above it. In the river, there was also a decorated pleasure boat that was berthed under the bridge.
Everyone cheered and exclaimed, “To meet with wife, First Ancestor actually exhausted immense magic power to craft this treasure! Go, go, let’s go up to the bridge!”
Qin Mu also followed them up. The moment they stepped on the bridge, something strange suddenly happened—he actually saw flesh and blood growing on his body!
Upon coming to the living realm of the dead, the dead were revived and the living were changed into skeletons. Yet the river and the bridge could actually allow him to recover his flesh and blood. It was truly strange!
The past human emperors stood on the bridge, but they didn’t shed their flesh and blood too. They still had complete corporeal bodies. From that, it was evident that this was the marvelous ability of Between Life and Death.
‘When I controlled Moon Ship to become Moon Guardian, I had to withstand the suppression of the living realm of the dead while keeping a body of flesh and blood. Looks like First Ancestor’s abilities are definitely much stronger than those of Moon Guardian!’ Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration in his head.
First Ancestor Human Emperor’s abilities were profound mysteries. He was no doubt an outstanding talent of Founding Emperor Era!
‘However, this Between Life and Death isn’t useless; instead, it’s an effective implement!’
He blinked, and his heart pounded. He immediately thought of the greatest use of Between Life and Death which allowed Fengdu to interfere with the world of the living, to interfere with reality!
Between Life and Death could interfere with the world of the living and allow the gods of Fengdu to descend on the world of the living. Even though the surface of the river wasn’t huge, it was still extraordinary!
Thinking about it, the gods and devils of Fengdu were in tens of thousands. If they descended on the mortal world, who could be a match for them?
‘If Between Life and Death was used properly, it’s an immensely powerful weapon!’
Qin Mu stood on the head of the bridge and looked at the river flowing toward Youdu. He could faintly see its darkness on the other side. The river was extremely wonderful, and it was obvious that it wasn’t ordinary in any way.
In Fengdu City, countless gods and devils raised their heads to look at the huge river floating in the sky. It was gently floating and looked extremely elegant.
“Those human emperors again!” A god lowered his head to look away. He then spoke to everyone in the surroundings. “Ever since these fellows came to Fengdu, more and more of them showed up, and they’re becoming more and more arrogant. They are a force of our Fengdu, but I’m afraid only those devils could be a match for them. No need to look, disperse, let them forget themselves in their fight.”
“First Ancestor met his wife by sending this pleasure boat into Youdu to guide the souls of his wife out. They would then meet on the bridge.” On the bridge Between Life and Death, Second Ancestor’s face dimmed. “After the incident of their meetings being discovered by Youdu, the soul of master’s wife was taken away by the messengers of death. First Ancestor actually didn’t know about this and still stood on the bridge to wait for her, but he didn’t see nor hear her for dozens of years. At that time, I had stood beside the river and seen him growing older day by day… Let’s not talk about this!”
He roused his spirit and looked at Qin Mu. He chuckled and said with a smile, “There’s still an Overlord Body here that says we are all behind times. It’s time to let a younger generation know the immensity of heaven and earth!”
Qin Mu was endlessly astonished. “Grand-master, ancestors, you guys also know I’m an Overlord Body?”
On the bridge, the past human emperor all revealed strange smiles and said in unison, “How could we not know? Little Brat Su has told us all about it; we know everything!”
Qin Mu looked at their strange smiles and was bewildered. ‘Do people all become so weird after they die?”
Human Emperor Qi Kang smiled with exultation and chuckled. “Little Brat Su said he found an Overlord Body for a disciple who is very powerful, matchless in this world. When we heard about it, we all said that you will definitely beat him to death after you die and make him die a second time.”
Qin Mu was puzzled. “Why would I beat Village Chief to death?”
Other human emperors were afraid Qi Kang would let the cat out of the bag and coughed repeatedly. Human Emperor Qi Kang understood and smiled. “Overlord Body Qin, you said we are old, useless, outdated, behind times, can’t fight, so now it’s time for us to demand justice!”
“Grand-master, I had only said your techniques and divine arts were outdated, but I didn’t say the rest…” Qin Mu immediately said.
“Tut!” Human Emperor Qi Kang gave a shout and leaped down from the bridge. He stepped on the river surface and raised his head to laugh. “Enough with the nonsense, let’s fight!”
His aura burst forth, and seven explosions sounded out one after another. Seven divine treasures instantly opened one after another. His primordial spirit was incomparably powerful and stood upright on the divine bridge. Stars whooshed and gathered and transformed into a Milky Way to swirl around him. Below the divine bridge was the dark Youdu, and between the heaven and earth were the sun and the moon, five elements. They combined together to become seven stars, each with a god standing upright on them!
Below seven stars was the land formed by the spirit platform, and the six directions was already established!
Human Emperor Qi Kang was incomparably overbearing, and he raised his hand to seal his Divine Bridge Divine Treasure which then vanished gradually. He then sealed his Life and Death Divine Treasure, and Youdu vanished. He then sealed his Celestial Being Realm, and his primordial spirit vanished.
His aura weakened, but the haughtiness remained just as wild. As he stood on the river surface, visions of black volcanoes erupting actually formed behind him!
Human Emperor Qi Kang stretched out his right hand and formed a tight fist. He beckoned Qin Mu with his index finger. “Overlord Body Qin, come over eh!”
Qin Mu’s heart started to pound as though he was delighted at seeing a prey. He couldn’t suppress his excitement, but he still hesitated. “Second Ancestor, Third Ancestor, our human emperor bloodline doesn’t have any three knives and six holes punishment for beating up our grand masters and ancestors, right?”
The past human emperors smiled. “We aren’t a devil cult like Heavenly Devil Cult so why would we have three knives and six holes punishment? Just go!”
Qin Mu relaxed and took a step. Landing on the river surface, he said solemnly, “Grand-master, if I offend you…”
“Just fight if you want to fight!” Human Emperor Qi Kang shouted out and stepped forward with a punch. The visions of the volcanoes behind him instantly became extremely violent as they suddenly erupted. Flames blazed, and black smoke and ashes rushed into the sky. They filled the sky as the river started to boil!
The vibration from his fist power and fist will actually cause the river water around Qin Mu to rise up. It separated it into droplets strung in a line, gently vibrating up while flowing into the sky.
Human Emperor Qi Kang rushed into the river water that was flowing up with his fist becoming bigger and bigger, becoming more and more overbearing. His aura became even more violent!
Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eye, and the Milky Way in his eyes wrapped around the sun. He could clearly see Human Emperor Qi Kang’s face colliding with the droplets of water and the process of the droplets exploding on his face and splattering out.
Blind’s Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill!
Boom!
Violent vibrations came from the river surface, and Qin Mu’s fist collided with Human Emperor Qi Kang’s fist. Their clothes fluttered backward. The magma and flames from the volcanoes by Human Emperor Qi Kang looked like they were suddenly snapped as they soared into the sky. They were sent straight back by a hurricane!
Human Emperor Qi Kang’s expression changed drastically, and he felt an unbearable feeling in his chest. “Such sick vital qi cultivation…”
The river water that was flying in the air suddenly paused, and Qin Mu’s fist changed into palm with his vital qi going berserk!
“Eight thousand swords!”
The droplets of river water in the sky were pulled over and transformed into fine swords. Eight thousand swords executed the seventeen sword forms, changing unpredictably to attack Human Emperor Qi Kang together.
Human Emperor Qi Kang’s expression changed, and he rose into the air to retreat. His body fell back freely as though he was a swan goose flying on the river surface. He went up and down thrice, his body movements extremely strange. He avoided the transformations and attacks of the eight thousand swords time and time again!
Qin Mu took a step forward, his speed unimaginably fast. He raised his hands, and countless water droplets landed in them to form a long sword which slashed down.
Swoosh!
Countless sword lights burst forth from his sword, and the swords that were like a storm drowned out their target.
Human Emperor Qi Kang gave a shout and rose into the sky. He waved his hand, and apparitions of palms filled the sky. Suddenly, the sound of swords breaking through the air rang out as the swords formed by Qin Mu swirled and sliced open his palms. Instantly, the two palms were like sieves.
“Ha!”
Qin Mu’s huge foot stepped heavily on the river surface, and a stream of river water soared into the sky like a water dragon. Qin Mu stretched his hands for a grab and used the water dragon as a spear, moving along with it. Countless traces of a spear stabbed Human Emperor Qi Kang who was in midair.
He was hung on the spear before being swung up by Qin Mu to be smashed ruthlessly onto the river surface. It exploded.
The water dragon spear in Qin Mu’s hand dispersed, and he raised his hands high up toward the sky. Thunder and lightning crisscrossed to transform into a lightning dragon which struck where Human Emperor Qin Kang had fallen!
“Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force!”
Qin Mu raised his hand to throw a mudra out, and behind him stars filled the sky, forming the terrifying great overarching divine art force field. The apparition of three hundred and sixty gods appeared in the force field, all of them striking with their palms.
This strike had no sound.
The huge river trembled violently and warped in the air. This came from the three hundred and sixty different palm forces erupting at the same time, forming a distorted force field.
Qin Mu pulled back his hand, and after a moment, Human Emperor Qi Kang rose from underwater and floated down the river, passing by the long bridge of life and death.
On the bridge, the past human emperors stretched their heads out to look, then turned to each other in dismay. After a moment, Fourth Ancestor said softly, “About Overlord Body, was Little Su lying to us? Could this world really have an Overlord Body?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the bridge, the past human emperors had weird expressions. Village Chief had told them that he had made up overlord body, which was a white lie used to motivate Qin Mu, this mortal body, to work hard. And they had believed him.
Yet at the same realm, Human Emperor Qi Kang was actually at a disadvantage from the first move. Afterward, he was beaten up to a point that no mortal body should be able to do with just hard work!
How could it be possible for a mortal body to rely only on hard work to beat a human emperor to such a point?
Because of that, even the past human emperors couldn’t help doubting if overlord body truly didn’t exist in the world.
On the bridge, Human Emperor Yi Shan’s vital qi transformed into a huge hand and poked Human Emperor Qi Kan, who was floating downstream, with a snow white finger that looked like jade.
Human Emperor Qi Kang lay with his arms spread out and stared at the sky with wide eyes. He was motionless, and after being poked, he sank into the water before floating back up.
“Good disciple, have you accepted having been beaten by your grand-disciple?” Human Emperor Yi Shan asked while holding back a laugh.
“Damned old man, don’t poke me, let me have some peace,” Human Emperor Qi Kang said unpleasantly. “I’m just weirded out by the beating, not that I’ve accepted it! I just want some time to think about how I’ve lost…”
Human Emperor Yi Shan burst into laughter and rejoiced in his misfortune. “Still saying that you haven’t accepted your defeat?”
Human Emperor Qi Kang flipped over and lay on the water with his butt facing upward, letting the current bring him far away.
Qin Mu couldn’t help worrying and shouted, “Grand-master, don’t choke on the water!”
Human Emperor Yi Shan laughed. “This brat is always like this when he loses. Ignore him, he’s wiping his tears and don’t want you to see it.”
Qin Mu felt uneasy in his heart. He had beaten his grand-master until he was wiping tears in the river; this kind of thing was somewhat disgraceful. As a youth taught by Disabled Elderly Village, he usually respected the elders, but of course, Cripple and Mute didn’t suffer a lack of beatings from him when fighting on the same realm.
“I may have been too heavy with my blows. Grand-master, my fist skills are actually inferior to yours, and I just relied on denser cultivation to overwhelm you, so don’t be sad!” Qin Mu jumped on the head of the bridge and leaned on the railing. He stretched himself over and shouted to Qi Kang who was floating away. “I didn’t mean to be so heavy with my blows! I saw grand-master’s abilities being abnormally strong so my competitive spirit couldn’t help arising, and I used my full power straight away. I rarely do that when meeting experts of the same realm nowadays.”
He was slightly desolate and looked sorrowful. “After all, I’m the Overlord Body. I thought I could encounter experts on the same realm who could be a match for me, but who knew that grand-master’s abilities were a little poor. But this isn’t your fault!”
On the bridge, the human emperors held back their anger while watching the young human emperor showing a longing in his eyes as he looked at Qi Kang who was floating down the river. “If only ancestors and grand-masters could be part of the same generation as me, it would’ve been great.
“If we were born in the same generation, you guys could improve with me and be a match for me. It’s a pity you guys lived so long ago and can’t catch up to the generation of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and me when we’re doing the reform. As a result, your divine arts, paths, and skills are behind times…”
The fists of the ancestors cracked, and they held themselves back fiercely from blowing up.
Human Emperor Lan Po hid her smile while gritting her teeth. The sound was horrifying.
Even though the brat’s words were very humble, every sentence could anger living people to death and dead people to life. This made the past human emperors want to just press him down against the ground and beat him up!
“Overlord Body Qin, you have only defeated that brat Qi Kang and are already saying that our paths, skills, and divine arts are behind times. Isn’t it a little too boastful?” Human Emperor Yi Shan’s tone was stiff even if he spoke with a pleasant expression. “Come, come, let me teach you what divine arts are like!”
Qin Mu revealed a troubled expression when he turned around to look at this great grand-master that was only five feet tall. “Ancestor, the path you took was the path of the divine arts, and they are indeed very strong. However, by being so close to me, you’ve already died, one, two, three, four… sixteen, seventeen times.”
Human Emperor Yi Shan couldn’t restrain his anger and raised a ball of lightning in his hands while holding back his urge to smack the brat to death.
“When so close, the experts of Celestial Being Realm wouldn’t be able to even take a move from me.”
Qin Mu seemed to have no emotion as he continued to talk by himself. “What ancestor cultivates is divine arts. However, cultivating divine arts means you are lacking in regard to the corporeal body. Since we are so close, just the time of a sentence the ancestor speak is enough for me to kill you twenty-thirty times.”
Human Emperor Yi Shan almost puked blood, and his face went black. He jumped off a bridge, and a cloud caught his stout figure up as he said angrily, “Rascal’s tone is pretty arrogant! Let me pull our distance first before fighting then!”
The cloud below him feet lifted him up and went upstream urgently. After five or six miles, Human Emperor Yi Shan felt that the distance was about right.
However, he suddenly remembered how fast Qin Mu’s sword skill was and felt that the distance wasn’t too safe either, so he got three more miles back. When he remembered how fast Qin Mu’s speed was and how easy he had caught up to Qi Kang earlier, he distanced himself by another two miles.
‘I can’t move back anymore, or they will think that I’m scared of losing to my great grand-disciple…’
Human Emperor Yi Shan looked back and since the distance was too far, the bridge had already become a fine line and Qin Mu was a dot on the fine line.
Human Emperor Yi Shan blushed. Running so far in a short while was indeed a cowardly act.
“Come down, eh!” Human Emperor Yi Shan had a steady heartbeat and his voice was vigorous; he looked exactly like Human Emperor Qi Kang.
On the bridge, Second Ancestor shouted, “Yi Shan, you’ve forgotten to seal your divine treasures!”
Human Emperor Yi Shan’s face turned red again. He was too nervous and as a result, had forgotten to seal his divine treasures. He immediately sealed his three great divine treasures and shouted again in high spirits, “Come down, eh!”
Thump.
Qin Mu jumped onto the river.
“Connecting Walls Tapping Blue Mountains!”
Human Emperor Yi Shan made the first move, and in his wide sleeves, his five stubby fingers were moving up and down. Instantly, over ten miles of river beneath his feet exploded, and water formed into blue mountains. The ridges and peaks piled up into a range while rumbling.
The huge river transforming into blue mountains might look beautiful, but this was a divine art that secretly contained a killing intent!
Yi Shan’s divine arts had entered the path, but different from other people’s divine arts, his wouldn’t explode with power if they weren’t activated. Only if one was inside his divine art, a slight movement could activate an overwhelming disaster!
The blue mountains that were rising fiercely instantly came to Qin Mu’s side, and he couldn’t help becoming excited. He was so excited that every speck of his vital qi was trembling, even more active than usual!
‘This is… the source of Village Chief’s first move! Village Chief’s Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers is from this move of Human Emperor Yi Shan. From divine art to sword skill, Village Chief is indeed a genius!’
Qin Mu was beyond excited and couldn’t help howling. “True Dragon Overlord Body!”
Too excited!
He had suffered numerous times under Village Chief’s Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers back when he had learned this move for the first time. At the time, he had been defeated repeatedly under Village Chief’s hands. Now that his horizons and knowledge were no longer like before, meeting the origin of Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers made him feel like he was competing with Village Chief once again.
He was so excited that he couldn’t help executing True Dragon Overlord Body. His vital qi grew boundless, and every strand of it that leaked out of his body presented a different dragon form.
True Dragon Overlord Body was the strong corporeal body divine art that he had comprehended by combining the cultivation method of the dragon race from the true dragon’s nest with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His vital qi changed into dragon vitality which shook the surrounding space, forming all kinds of strange dragon markings. They looked like runes and talismans as they lighted up continuously on his body!
He was using corporeal body divine art to fight against a spell divine art!
Qin Mu rushed straight ahead. He stepped on the mountains while sprinting straight for Human Emperor Yi Shan who was over ten miles away.
Boom, boom, boom!
His fists and legs moved swiftly. Hundreds of true dragons danced around him and roared powerfully, smashing the mountains and rivers to smithereens. He let the divine art of Human Emperor Yi Shan bombard him, but it could not break through the defense of his True Dragon Overlord Body.
Human Emperor Yi Shan’s expression changed drastically. The fellow was actually so powerful that he could use his corporeal body to break through the divine art. Yi Shan then immediately changed his divine art and attacked frantically while thinking to himself, ‘Let me see how you break this! You are in for a beating if you come here!’
Mountains crumbled and transformed into rising waves. On the bridge, the past human emperors felt the raging fighting spirit from Qin Mu’s corporeal body assaulting their faces with gales and fluttering their clothes.
“This kind of corporeal body divine art is even stronger than that of Second Ancestor,” Third Ancestor said solemnly. “Tuo Yu, you’re skilled in formation calculation and your attainments in algebra are unmatched in this world, so can you calculate where his flaw is?”
In Human Emperor Tuo Yu’s eyes, countless formations lighted up and dimmed as he frantically calculated the arrangements of all kinds of dragon markings around Qin Mu’s moving body. Based on them, he calculated the transformations of the dragon markings on his skin. From there, he calculated the vital qi circulation in his body, the movement of his muscles, and the operating method of his power.
He then calculated the operating path of Qin Mu’s technique and the circulation path of his vital qi in his divine treasures.
The amount of calculation required was too much, and they were all complicated, but Human Emperor Tuo Yu was unruffled and had plenty of strength left.
He was the strongest formation expert of his era, and his attainments in algebra even won over the Dao Master of that time. As he debated with Dao Sect, none of them was unconvinced!
By then, the past human emperors had already seen how powerful Qin Mu was and speculated that they would only be in for a beating on the same realm. Being defeated was a small matter, but it was a huge matter when considering the humiliation of it.
That was why they had no choice but to ask Human Emperor Tuo Yu to first calculate Qin Mu’s flaw so they could get a chance at a victory.
This was an act of helplessness.
“He has a flaw.”
Human Emperor Tuo Yu’s eyes lighted up. Meanwhile below, Qin Mu was like a hot knife going through butter as he sprinted straight for Human Emperor Yi Shan.
Human Emperor Tuo Yu said solemnly, “His flaw is at his human center. Wait a minute, it has shifted, it’s now at the left shoulder, no, it’s at the back now…”
“Where is it exactly?” Human Emperor Lan Po asked angrily. “Great grand-master, can you do it or not?”
Human Emperor Tuo Yu was about to speak when Human Emperor Yi Shan below executed his strongest divine art which was God Sealing Finger. It attracted everyone’s gaze.
God Sealing Finger sealed the vital qi and primordial spirit by attacking the soul. This was the divine art that Human Emperor Yi Shan used to fight against the gods of High Heavens and even succeeded time and time again!
When he tapped with his finger, waves weren’t raised and wind didn’t blow. Qin Mu had already come before him, and the two of them were only a mile away; however, that strike reached the heart of Qin Mu’s brows instantly, giving him no time to react!
“Nice!” Everyone on the bridge praised in unison. “A finger from god! Let’s see how arrogant can Little Overlord Body still be!”
At that moment, the heart of Qin Mu’s brows split apart, and a tiny spirit embryo appeared. It merged with his soul and transformed into a primordial spirit. Layers of formations swirled frantically in its eyes as the Milky Way coiled around and the sun erupted. Two rays of light shot out while humming. One of them broke through the God Sealing Finger by Human Emperor Yi Shan as easily as smashing rotten wood!
Such a powerful primordial spirit made everyone on the bridge stared down with their eyes wide open. They saw the other ray of light shoot toward Human Emperor Yi Shan’s chest and broke through his body protection divine art, causing a flaw to appear!
“Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!”
The vital qi around Qin Mu’s body that was raging like dragons suddenly transformed into countless flying swords that drowned out Human Emperor Yi Shan. The imposing mountains and rivers made up of ten thousand swords rumbled loudly as Human Emperor Yi Shan was stabbed all over before falling headfirst into the river.
“Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood!”
Suddenly, the ten thousand swords merged, and the long river instantly seemed as though it was dyed with blood. Countless heads of gods and devils floated up, creating a terrifying scene of bloodshed.
Qin Mu shifted sideways and slashed down with his sword. Human Emperor Yi Shan rose from the sea of blood and floated downstream.
After a moment, the vision vanished, and the river water became clear again. Qin Mu looked at the bitter face of Human Emperor Yi Shan who floated away. The white-haired and plump elder stared at him with a look of dying with a grievance.
Qin Mu scratched his head and started, “Ancestor Yi Shan…”
Human Emperor Yi Shan made a splash as he flipped over to face down while his butt faced the sky and floated away silently.
‘Found it!’
Human Emperor Tuo Yu’s eyes lit up, and he said in delight, “His flaw lies in his dantian, the third one counting from the end of his backbone! That’s the source of his flaw!”
“I’ll go beat this rascal to death!” Lan Po was full of zest as she carried her basket while jumping down the bridge. She sprinted straight for Qin Mu with a smile. “Little Qin, let granny fight in spirit weapons with you!”
Human Emperor Tuo Yu hesitated for a moment, feeling that he might have missed something. Suddenly, he slapped his head and cried out, “I’m wrong! He only has three divine treasures and not four! He had merged Six Directions Divine Treasure and Seven Stars Divine Treasures into one! I calculated according to the circulation path of four divine treasures so the flaw calculated is thousands of miles away from the true flaw…”
“Say no more!”
The raging river calmed down, and under the bridge, Human Emperor Lan Po floated by with all kinds of spirit weapons from her basket scattered around. Bitterness was written on her face as she gritted her teeth while saying, “Say no more, great grand-master. The moment I made my move, I knew you had calculated wrongly!”
Human Emperor Tuo Yu’s face turned red, and he looked to the other human emperors on the bridge. “I will not calculate wrongly now… What are these expressions? I really won’t calculate wrongly now!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The other human emperors had weird expressions, and they were all silent.
Tuo Yu was always the most reliable one among them, and his attainments in algebra were known to be unmatched in the world. Yet against Overlord Body Qin, mistakes actually showed up even with his algebra attainments.
When facing an ‘overlord body’ like Qin Mu, any mistake could result in total humiliation!
For precaution, they would rather not trust Human Emperor Tuo Yu’s calculations.
Human Emperor Tuo Yu was angered and jumped down the bridge. “You guys don’t trust me? Can I still be wrong? I’ll go down and cripple this brat for all of you to see!”
“Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force!”
…
On the bridge, Second Ancestor said calmly, “Look, I said his calculations were wrong, right? Now he’s floating. If we believed him, the ones floating now would be us.”
Third Ancestor and the other past emperors had the same sentiments. Human Emperor Qing Ning popped his head out and rejoiced at the other’s misfortune. “Master, where did you calculate wrong now?”
Human Emperor Tuo Yu had nothing left to live for and said with a stupefied expression, “Primordial spirit. I calculated his primordial spirit wrongly; it’s stronger than I reckoned… But I feel that I’ve seen through him now!”
He leaped out from the water and landed on the bridge all drenched. He had a smile of exultation. “I definitely won’t calculate wrongly this time, so I can definitely tell you where his flaw is! Just believe me this once!”
The past human emperors yawned while Human Emperor Qin Ning’s gaze flickered. “Since master has already seen through his flaw, master can go down again and defeat that rascal. We will cheer for master!”
Human Emperor Tuo Yu took out his abacus spirit weapon and slapped his disciple’s head with it. “As a disciple, not only are you not supporting your master, you’re even rejoicing in my misfortune! What have I taught you? I taught you the path of calculation yet you learned some temperament! Go down and beat him up for me!”
Qing Ning turned his head to look at Human Emperor Kong Xian who was overjoyed and kicked him down the bridge. “I taught you temperament yet you cultivated some spells with words? Go down and beat him up for me!”
Human Emperor Kong Xian saw Qin Mu rushing over and immediately waved his hands while shaking his head. “Human Emperor Qin is indeed an overlord body, so there’s no need to fight.”
Qin Mu immediately stopped and smiled. “I’m also not someone who likes fighting. I just feel that the paths, skills, and divine arts of ancestors and grand-masters can still be improved, even if they’re already powerful. If you could continue to develop their power, you would definitely surpass your past selves. Especially Ancestor Kong Xian’s spells with words are extremely extraordinary. It’s the most marvelous divine art I have ever seen!”
Human Emperor Kong Xian was delighted and couldn’t contain his joy. “You also think my divine art is extraordinary?”
Qin Mu nodded, and his two hands moved as he walked on the river. He made the sealing pose and said, “When I saw ancestor attacking Ancestor Qing Ning, you used this move to directly seal Ancestor Qing Ning. I wonder what divine art was that?”
“This is Secrets of Seal Word!”
Human Emperor Kong Xian couldn’t conceal his excitement when talking about his divine art. He taught Qin Mu personally how to execute vital qi for Secrets of Seal Word and how he should speak. “The crux of spells with words lies in soundwave divine arts and talisman divine arts, merging body movements, footwork, and technique into one, then adding arrays of vital qi runes. Only then can you execute it! Look!”
He used his vital qi, and his foot moved two circles while his hands crossed each other. With his vital qi bursting forth, he shouted, “Seal!”
With that shout, his vital qi formed a huge seal word under his feet like ink, and Qin Mu’s eyes instantly turned black. He couldn’t hear any sounds—all his five senses were completely blocked off. He couldn’t even sense his own vital qi.
The next instant, the feeling of his five senses having been sealed vanished.
“Great divine art!”
Qin Mu was beyond excited and consulted Human Emperor Kong Xian again. Then, after a moment, he tried it for himself, executing Secrets of Seal Word. “Seal!”
A huge seal word instantly appeared on the river under his feet!
Human Emperor Kong Xian was stunned. ‘He has managed to learn it so fast? He learned the ultimate art of my life on the first try? Could this world really have an overlord body? It isn’t just a story that Little Su made up?’
He was still slightly uncertain. After Village Chief had entered Fengdu, he had treated lying to Qin Mu about the overlord body as the greatest achievement in his lifetime. He was very proud of it and didn’t hide it from any past human emperors.
It could be said that all the human emperor, with the exception of Qin Mu, knew that overlord body was fake. Only the youth was kept in the dark.
Yet now, Human Emperor felt that Qin Mu could really be an overlord body.
“Let me teach you Secrets of Strength Word.”
Human Emperor Kong Xian’s gaze flickered, and he imparted Secrets of Strength Word to Qin Mu. The youth mastered it in a short time once again, and when he executed it, the ‘strength’ word formed by runes appeared behind him. With the accompaniment of the temperament of the strength word, the power of the runes was activated. and the strength of his corporeal body was multiplied!
Human Emperor Kong Xian was ineffably astonished. It was impossible to master spells with words in such a short time. When he had created the divine art, he was already middle-aged. He had cultivated along with Human Emperor Qing Ning and had astonishing attainments in temperament, but wanting to break free, he had started to study hard and achieved extremely high attainments in calligraphy, runes, formations, body movements, footwork, and fist skills as well.
He had used dozens of years of his life to merge everything he had learned, and only then did he manage to create his ultimate art of spells with words, taking over as the human emperor and managing the Human Emperor’s Seal. All the sects in the martial world had been somewhat respectful of him.
For Qin Mu to master his spells with words in just a short while, didn’t this mean that he also had extremely high attainments in calligraphy, runes, formations, body movements, footwork, and fist skills?
Even if he had extremely high attainments in all these fields, to master the ultimate art that he had spent dozens of years to merge in such a short time was just too astonishing!
Qin Mu then learned Secrets of Fix Word which came out from the palm. The fix word appeared in front of him, and it was mastered by him as easily as all the others.
Human Emperor Kong Xian grew more and more astonished.
Suddenly, Third Ancestor spoke up. “Little Qin, come learn this move from me!”
Human Emperor Kong Xian was awakened from his astonishment and looked around. Only then did he realize that the numerous human emperors had come down from the bridge some time ago and gathered around them. Even Lan Po, Yi Shan, Qi Kang, and the rest who had floated down were also present. They were all staring at Qin Mu with strange gazes.
Human Emperor Kong Xian was puzzled and moved to the side.
Third Ancestor raised his palm and said solemnly, “This move of mine is called Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands. The palm is yin and the back of the hand is yang. Left and right can supplement each other, or you can also do dual yin or yang, flipping the heaven with yin and yang.”
He explained the circulation path of his technique, and with a turn of his hand, pure yang rushed out like thunder, giving off a series of explosions on the river that rang a hundred times. Throughout ten miles, the palm force of the pure yang exploded, and waves were raised dozens of yards high.
The palm of Third Ancestor flipped, and before the river water could land down, it instantly solidified and transformed into resplendent ice sculptures.
“Try it,” Third Ancestor said to Qin Mu while taking a step back.
Qin Mu pondered over it before suddenly taking a step forward. When he turned his hand around as yang, a series of explosions rang out on the river, spreading throughout the ten miles. Next, when he flipped his hand as yin and the palm force shot out, the river water froze in midair.
Third Ancestor raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
“Brat Qin, learn this move from me!” Fifth Ancestor went up to him and said, “This move of my is called Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell, and it’s the combination of thunder skill and fist skill!”
He punched out then. Instantly, a bell rang, and lightning coiled around his body, forming a huge transparent bell that rang in the air.
Fifth Ancestor moved skillfully, his fists and legs direct and efficient. His attack was simple yet effective. Any punch and any kick could make the bell vibrate, and the Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell around him grew big at times and became small at others. It shook continuously, the power bursting forth from sometimes in a hum and sometimes in a haw. It had a certain kind of artistic mood and charm.
He imparted his Five Thunder Heavenly Raising Bell to Qin Mu who was full of anticipation.
The youth muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment before suddenly raising his hands high up. Lightning covered him from above, and every punch and kick from him had great strength and were incomparably heavy. The ringing of a bell reverberated endlessly as Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell shook without end. The power flowed through his fists and legs to strike out in all directions.
“Exactly the same!” Fifth Ancestor narrowed his eyes and let out a shaky breath.
“Come, learn a move from me!” Human Emperor Yi Shan went forward and said, “My divine art is compatible with my technique. A different circulation path of vital qi can transform divine arts, so that when they will burst forth, there will be astonishing power. This move of mine is called Celestial Cave and Milky Way Hanging From Jade Heaven!”
…
Without noticing it, Qin Mu had learned a move or two from the divine arts of all thirty-four human emperors. He would master all of them in a short time and execute them like the real deal. In the same realm, the power was also not inferior at all.
Second Ancestor had a grim expression. He looked at Third Ancestor, Fourth Ancestor, and they all nodded silently.
“Human Emperor Qin, go take a walk around the city,” Second Ancestor said with a smile. “I’ve heard from Little Su that you are also the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. It’s rare that you can come so why don’t you meet the past cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult as well.”
Qin Mu was delighted. “I was planning to!”
Second Ancestor put away Between Life and Death. The huge river, long bridge, and pleasure boat swooshed as they flowed back into his sleeve, and Qin Mu immediately turned back from a body of flesh and blood back to a skeleton wearing clothes. He inquired about the location where the past cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult stayed and begged his pardon from all of the human emperors. Only then did he returned to the city and walk away.
Second Ancestor and the rest of the past human emperors returned to Sacred Hall of Five Yang and looked at one another in dismay before lowering their gazes.
“Is there such a mortal body? I can’t believe it!” Human Emperor Qi Kang let out a shaky breath and shook his head. “I won’t believe even if you beat me to death!”
“I also don’t believe.” Human Emperor Lan Po revealed a look of disbelief and said, “We’re all stubborn like a donkey and unwilling to learn from our masters, wanting to walk our own path no matter what. As a result, our Hall of Human Emperors never had an ultimate art that was properly passed down since everyone wanted to create their own! Different techniques, different divine arts, so if anyone wanted to learn our techniques and divine arts, it would be really strange!
“But he managed to learn all of them, and in little time. In the short while we spent on the river, he learned everything that we taught him and could use it freely as though he had put in a hundred years of hard work.”
Second Ancestor sighed and said, “I suspect he is truly an overlord body. Little Su might be right by accident. This child that he underestimated since he was young is truly the one and only overlord body.”
Everyone was suspicious, and Human Emperor Qi Kang said, “Do you think that Brat Su was trying to make a fool of us? He should have known that Brat Qin was a true overlord body, but purposely said that he was lying to him while in truth he was lying to us to humiliate us?”
“There’s this possibility!” Human Emperor Yi Shan slapped his thigh fiercely and shouted out, “That’s your style, brat! He is your disciple so he is definitely like you, lying without blinking his eyes!”
Human Emperor Qi Kang’s fists crackled from his clenching and he sneered. “The brat went to find First Ancestor. When he comes back, see how will I teach him a lesson!”
“It’s how will we teach him a lesson!” everyone sneered in unison.
At that moment, in secret territories in the depths of Great Ruins, there was a faint glow in the darkness. Village Chief floated through an ancient ruin, coming to another wonderful world. After walking for a moment, he finally revealed a smile.
In front of him was a cluster of ancient buildings that had an interesting and appealing grace of a foreign land that the current generation didn’t possess.
He searched for a moment and finally found the person he was looking for.
The man stood in front of a stone tablet beside a palace, reading the inscriptions there.
“What’s First Ancestor looking at?” Village chief asked curiously.
“This is the last ruin of High Emperor Era. When the celestial heavens of High Emperor Era were wiped out, the remaining survivors escaped here and rebuilt High Emperor Sanctuary. This place was akin to their Carefree Village, but it was wiped out later on. I’m looking for their history.” First Ancestor didn’t look back. “The records they left behind are too few, but I found this.”
Village Chief was slightly stunned while looking at the stone tablet. “What’s recorded there?”
“The legend of the overlord body from forty thousand years ago!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Village Chief felt as though he had been struck by lightning and stood dumbfounded in front of the stone tablet. Legend of the overlord body? From forty thousand years ago?
Wasn’t overlord body something he made up to fool Qin Mu and the people in the village?
Could this world truly have an overlord body?
‘No, no! There must some mistake here! Maybe the overlord body from forty thousand years ago isn’t the same as the overlord body I explained!’
His heart was flustered, and all kinds of thoughts flooded him. However, Village Chief was Village Chief, so he soon cleared his mind. ‘Maybe there’s truly an overlord body in this world, which is a kind of spirit body. Since it was too strong, it was called overlord body by others. This kind of overlord body would be completely different from the overlord body that I made up!’
He composed himself and looked at the stone tablet.
The inscriptions were written using the writings of the dragon race so Village Chief could only ask First Ancestor for help. “What’s written here? The writings of the dragon race are profound and hard to understand, and I’ve not learned them before.”
First Ancestor was very easy to talk to and said, “What’s written is that before High Emperor fell, Bai Family of the dragon race had met a youth who called himself the overlord body. He was talented in many fields and could do what others couldn’t. He was unmatched among his peers. He had a luminous charm and his talent was matchless. No matter if it was sword skills or divine arts, they surpassed High Emperor Era by leaps and bounds.
“Thus, they asked him what was overlord body. The youth then explained that overlord body was matchless. Before the spirit embryo awakened, it would look like a mortal body. But once it was awakened, it gained supreme power and topped his own generation while also possessing exceptional aptitude.”
The corners of Village Chief’s eyes twitched. Qin Mu was different from the other spirit bodies because he wasn’t a spirit body at all. The Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of a spirit body was awakened at the start yet Qin Mu’s Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure had been shut!
The Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of an ordinary person was also shut, so they couldn’t cultivate.
On the other hand, under the lies of Village Chief and the aid of the villagers, Qin Mu had actually opened the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure that couldn’t be opened. From then on, he improved at a godly speed and showed rapid progress!
This kind of situation was actually very similar to what was written on the stone tablet!
‘It must be a coincidence!’
Village Chief composed himself and listened once more to what First Ancestor was saying.
“…overlord body cultivates, it surpasses other spirit bodies by a huge margin. Its comprehension is outstanding, understanding everything straight away and able to comprehend by analogy, deducing many things from one case. The overlord body is matchless, but there are still enemies in this world, the things known as pseudo overlord bodies.”
Village Chief shook his head and blurted out, “What?”
“What’s written on it says that even though the overlord body is matchless, there is still pseudo overlord bodies that are its enemies,” First Ancestor explained patiently. “It’s written that overlord body and pseudo overlord bodies fight over fate, having a connection between them. Pseudo overlord bodies will fight overlord body to seize its fate, making themselves into the true overlord body.
“How weird, why is there such a marvelous physique? I’m ashamed to say this, but when I heard about this overlord body in the past, I had only treated it as a legend. Never had I expected that legend to be real.”
Village Chief’s mind was blown, but after a moment, he came back to his senses and stuttered, “Fir-First Ancestor, you have heard about the legend of the overlord body before?”
First Ancestor nodded. “I’ve heard once before, but I’ve never seen the overlord body. I only treated it as a legend.” His expression became weird. “There actually exists such a fresh and outstanding overlord body.”
Village Chief was silent. He suddenly felt that the surrounding world had become preposterous and variegated.
Could the overlord body that he had made up really exist? On top of that, could it be exactly the same as the lie he used to contain Qin Mu!
Wasn’t this too inconceivable?
Back then, to placate the villagers, he had said the first lie about Qin Mu being an overlord body. Over the years, he had to add to that lie to cover up himself, and he had created the full system of overlord body.
Yet somehow the stone tablet’s description of the overlord body was exactly the same as his overlord body system. He had used those same words to lie to others. But now when reading about it on the stone tablet, he was starting to believe it himself.
The stone tablet was right in front of him, so he had no choice but to believe.
Yet Village Chief was still struggling. He thought of the crux and hurriedly asked, “If there was really an Overlord Body, why would High Emperor Era still be wiped out?”
“It’s not written.” First Ancestor looked over with sorrow and said in a depressed voice, “In the face of the billowing wind, the power of one person is too insignificant. Hehe, so what if he was the overlord body? Wouldn’t he still be unable to quell the disturbance in the universe and reinstate peace to the bright world? This overlord body may have been killed before he even grew up.
“Or maybe his fate had been seized by a pseudo overlord body, or he could have abandon himself to despair at being powerless during the end of High Emperor Era, hiding somewhere full of remorse and becoming a tortoise like me. There are simply too many possibilities. A person is simply too minute in the face of history…”
He seemed to be talking about his own circumstances when talking about the overlord body from forty thousand years ago. When he finished, he sighed and didn’t speak anymore.
Village Chief examined the stone tablet from both sides before growing excited. He took out some ink and paper to record the writings on the stone tablet.
First Ancestor raised his eyebrows, and Village Chief smiled and said, “I’m going to write down these things and bring them back for the other human emperors to see. The true overlord body, there is really an overlord body. I’ve taken a true overlord body as my disciple for the human emperor position… Look at this stone tablet, it will definitely make me happy!”
First Ancestor examined him with astonishment before continuing on his way. “According to the stone tablet, High Emperor Sanctuary was wiped out after High Emperor Era ended. I can’t help being worried about Carefree Village, too.”
Village Chief immediately caught up to him and asked, “What First Ancestor mean is…”
“I’m worried about Carefree Village,” First Ancestor said solemnly. “I haven’t gotten any news of Carefree Village for a long time. Even though it had sent messages a few times and passed down Founding Emperor’s orders, I’m suspecting that it’s no longer the dauntless, go-getter Founding Emperor from before. Carefree, carefree, hehe. He who gives no thought to far-flung problems soon finds suffering nearby! They’ve been staying too long in Carefree Village! I was against building it back then and wanted to fight to the end!”
Village Chief muttered irresolutely to himself before asking, “So the purpose of First Ancestor was to find the people of Founding Emperor Era? High Emperor Era has been gone for way too long, so it’s impossible for any survivors to have lasted till now.”
“No! There are still people alive!” First Emperor looked around. “This High Emperor Sanctuary had gathered the survivors of High Emperor Era and gone through numerous years of development. Their power wasn’t small and wouldn’t be any inferior to that of the current Carefree Village. This place was later invaded by enemies, and I found from the scattered records from the ruin outside that there were people who escaped alive to create another hometown. I wanted to find them to ally them with Carefree Village so maybe we could do something big!”
Village Chief was solemn for a moment. “If the most flourishing period of Founding Emperor Era couldn’t overthrow the heaven, then even if you find the former subordinates of Founding Emperor, your chances will be far inferior to those of the flourishing period. If you didn’t find them to ally together during your strongest, what’s the use of finding them now?”
First Ancestor expression grew pained, and he said astringently, “I know! But I also know that if they continue to hide in Carefree Village and not do anything, there will be no hope forever! I need to do something, be busy. If I stay quiet, my thoughts run wild. I see my comrades dying in front of me, I see the disaster wiping out all the people, I see people struggling in a terrifying place like hell. I need to do something…”
He was insistent and full of his obsession. However, Village Chief understood his feelings and sentiments. “I’ll go with you.”
When Qin Mu came to the residence of the past cult masters of Heavenly Saint Cult in Fengdu, he looked around and saw numerous ghost messengers and ghost servants hurrying about.
Compared to the impoverished past human emperors of Hall of Human Emperors, this place was much more bustling with ghosts coming and going. The palaces were also extraordinary imposing, making it obvious that the past cult masters of Heavenly Saint Cult received the offerings of Heavenly Saint Cult. They weren’t like the past human emperors of Hall of Human Emperors who because of the sparse number of people had no one to sweep their tombs and were all poverty-stricken.
Only First Ancestor, whose corporeal body was petrified and stood in Little Jade Capital, still received some offerings from time to time, so there were some rations at his home, enough to give material assistance to Second Ancestor, Third Ancestor, and the rest.
The palaces of Heavenly Saint Cult stod in row upon row with glazed tiles and vermillion rafters. They were richly ornamented and had layers of towers and pavilions. Between palaces were various formations of long corridors as passageways to connect the palaces together. Numerous imps carried all kinds of bouquets and fruit plates all the time. The whole place was bustling with activity.
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. The people here had also become ghosts, but the treatment was much different.
He went to one palace and raised his head up to look. The place was called Hall of Zu Yang, so he thought, ‘Could this be the palace hall of Cult Master Zu Yang?’
Cut Master Zu Yang was the Heavenly Saint Cult Master before Li Tianxing. Qin Mu didn’t know much about his past achievements, just that Saint Arrival Mountain had a Hall of Zu Yang. Never did he expect that there would be one in Fengdu as well.
In front of the hall was a young person carving a guardian lion with a chisel. Beside him, some imps were picking up shattered rocks.
Qin Mu was about to enter the hall when that youth asked, “What are you here for?”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “I’m here to find Cult Master Zu Yang.”
The youth examined him up and down before placing down his hammer and chisel. Beside him, an imp lifted a jade plate to take them. Another imp fetched a jade basin for him to wash his hands while another imp offered a towel.
The youth cleaned his hands and asked in astonishment, “You have never seen Cult Master Zu Yang before?”
“You are Cult Master Zu Yang?” Qin Mu asked in astonishment.
The youth nodded with a smile. “I am. I see you are all bones so you should still be alive. But what’s weird is that you aren’t Li Tianxing. He was my disciple so I wouldn’t forget him. You are the next cult master?” His interest was roused and he asked excitedly, “You got rid of Li Tianxing?”
Qin Mu hurriedly shook his head and said, “Cult Master Li’s soul has already scattered. He risked his life against Xing An, but he didn’t manage to defeat him. Even though I couldn’t stand Cult Master Li’s character, he still knew how to repent right before he died, it was truly admi—”
“His soul scattered? Wonderful!” Cult Master Zu Yang clapped with a laugh. “Wonderful death! During my later years, I didn’t want to give up the position so that brat took advantage of me when I was cultivating Nine Wither Nine Thrive Mystery Technique and challenged me while my qi and blood had withered. He heavily injured me and seized the position of the cult master! I was severely injured, but when my life came to an end, that scoundrel still came to shed crocodile tears in front of my grave…”
Qin Mu was flabbergasted. After a moment, he asked, “May I ask where is Heavenly Saint Patriarch?”
“Who is Heavenly Saint Patriarch?”
Cult Master Zu Yang was stunned for a moment before he came to realization. “You are talking about my little senior uncle, right? During the later years of my grand-master, he took in a disciple. My little senior uncle had never been the cult master before and he was even younger than me. After I beat my master to death, he actually blamed me so wanted to get rid of him too.
“However, I was afraid of the people in the cult complaining so I gave him an idle appointment to be the Heavenly Saint Cult Patriarch, sending him far far away… Master, over here! The little cult master of our Heavenly Saint Cult is here to visit us!”
A black-robed man walked out of the palace from the side. He also had a handsome appearance and looked thirty-forty years old. He had a majestic appearance and was extraordinarily handsome. When he heard the words, he came over and asked in astonishment, “Little cult master? Our Heavenly Saint Cult has changed another cult master? How did you die?”
Cult Master Zu Yang smiled., “Little cult master hasn’t died yet. Look, he is in a skeleton form. He’s here to find your junior brother, which is my little senior uncle.”
The black-robed man walked over and examined Qin Mu. He smiled then. “You are indeed not dead. Have you taken in a disciple?”
Qin Mu immediately greeted him and said, “Greetings Cult Master Yu Lian. I have yet to take in a disciple.”
“Don’t take in a disciple so soon. The sooner you take one in, the sooner you will die. Look, I was assassinated by my good disciple.” Cult Master Yu Lian turned around and showed sword in the back of his chest. He then repeated his warning with good intentions. “Look, this sword was stabbed there by my good disciple.”
Cult Master Zu Yang was pleased with himself and said with a smile, “Master, you still have the face to carry that sword? What did you say when you assassinated grand-mistress?”
Cult Master Yu Lian chuckled with a pleased expression. “Your grand-mistress wanted to pass down the position to little junior brother, so if I didn’t assassinate her, how could I have become the cult master sacred teacher? How would you then have been able to assassinate me to become cult master? That’s right, who did little cult master assassinate to become the cult master sacred teacher?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu’s face blackened. Only after a moment did he remember that he had no face to turn black.
Heavenly Devil Cult’s tradition seemed a little different from what he had imagined. Not only was there no three knives and six holes punishment for assassinating a cult master, it was actually a kind of traditional ‘virtue’. The cult masters treated assassinating the cult master to take their position as an honor!
“I never assassinated anyone. I was chosen by Heavenly Saint Patriarch who promoted me to the cult master,” Qin Mu said while holding back his temper.
“Master! Master!” Cult Master Yu Lian waved to a young girl. “Little Cult Master is here, and he’s a freak! He actually didn’t assassinate the previous cult master and just stepped up to the position of the cult master!”
The young girl walked out of her palace and headed over to their side. She then said in astonishment, “There actually was such an incident? You didn’t seduce your master, spoil their Dao heart, or make them lose to you in a fight?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “Nope. It was Heavenly Saint Patriarch who made the decision and passed the position to me.”
“Spoiling the tradition of my Heavenly Saint Cult!” The young girl was charming, with two big silver and glittering earrings on her ears. But she had a slight look of disdain toward Qin Mu as she said, “Fighting with brains and brawns with the master is the fine tradition of my Heavenly Saint Cult, and you actually threw away this tradition! How boring! If you don’t challenge the master, how can the next generation become stronger than the previous one? Your position as the cult master as not attained through proper methods!”
Qin Mu was flabbergasted and didn’t know what to say.
The young girl should have been from Si Family, and according to the sequence of the past cult masters, she should be Cult Master Si Yuanwei, an ancestor of Granny Si.
Si Family rarely had a cult master, but there were still one or two. Si Yuanwei was one of them.
“I was originally the saintess of the sacred cult, but then I made Cult Master Fu Yun fall crazy in love with me and spoiled his Dao heart. Cult Master Fu Yun then sighed ruefully and said that the sacred cult would definitely be even stronger in my hands, so he enlightened me and expounded my wisdom. Yet you relied on Patriarch’s assistance to get the position of the cult master, so you are illegitimately conferred!”
Cult Master Zu Yang sneered. “Grand-mistress, the one that passed the position to him is my little senior uncle, so now you know how wrong it was to pass the position to little senior uncle, right? Little senior uncle spoiled the long lasting tradition of my Heavenly Saint Cult after becoming Heavenly Saint Patriarch! This little cult master didn’t get rid or even heavily injure the previous cult master and still had the face to visit us!”
Si Yuanwei’s face turned slightly red. “I thought Little Wen Yuan looked handsome and would spoil my Dao heart, seizing the position of the cult master from me, so I never expect your master to assassinate me. However, Wen Yuan really broke my heart by doing such a thing. Isn’t he already dead? We can then get him over to ask… Master Hu Jun, have you seen Wen Yuan?”
A bewitching handsome man walked over with a smile. “I’ve seen him just now. He was being bothered by a huge skeleton which said to come from the world of the living. It wrapped around him and wept, making him cry a great deal as well. He should be somewhere wiping his snot now. This is…”
“Our sacred cult’s new cult master,” Si Yuanwei said heedlessly. “His position of cult master didn’t come properly! It was actually not fought for but passed down! How embarrassing!”
“Something like that actually happened?” Cult Master Hu Jun’s face turned cold and he sneered. “Of course, each age brings forth a new genius on this noble land, and each generation is worse than the previous! The men of today have sadly degenerated, and even a sacred cult master’s position is no longer even fought for. Do you have a firm hold of your empire?”
Qin Mu remained patient. “Fellow cult masters, I was supported by the hall masters of three hundred and sixty halls and the protectors and the heavenly kings. Only then did I ascend to the position of the cult master. Truth be told, the sacred cult has flourished more and more in my hands and far surpasses the past…”
“Big words!” Another few past cult masters walked over, and a handsome man sneered when he heard his words. “Flourished more and more? I’ve heard that Eternal Peace Empire is the one in power now in the world of the living. It has annexed the world so how are you making the sacred cult flourish? Are you going to betray the cult to seek glory, allowing the emperor to become the cult master?”
Qin Mu held back his anger and smiled. “Who is this?”
The handsome man spread open his folded fan and said, “You have not gone to Hall of Yue Guang on my Saint Arrival Mountain? I’m Cult Master Yue Guang!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and said, “I’ve never paid my respects to the rotten woods in the halls before. On Saint Arrival Mountain, I only respect Woodcutter, Founding Master, and also the three kings. Other cult masters in my eyes are merely flies and not worthy of my respect.”
“How daring!”
Another few cult masters came forward and Qin Mu looked over. All of the people were all handsome men and pretty women. It created an obvious difference between Heavenly Devil Cult and Hall of Human Emperors.
No matter if it was men or women, anyone could be a human emperor in Hall of Human Emperors since they didn’t care about their looks, letting their complexions grow old. They would rarely preserve their youth.
But the cult masters of Heavenly Saint Cult were different. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had Seven Writings of Creation, and cultivating them could allow one to preserve their looks forever. They could even return their appearance back to when they were youths.
Qin Mu looked at the sacred cult masters. They were mostly young men and women who looked beautiful. Even the young patriarch looked young and paid attention to his appearance.
“Little Cult Master also most likely didn’t pay his respects to me, Feng Qiangu in Hall of Qiangu, right?” Cult Master Qiangu walked forward and sneered. “Your position of the cult master was passed down and not snatched using your own strength. Your origin is improper and you still dare say that we are flies and don’t deserve respect. What do you have that deserves our respect?”
“That’s right, you are illegitimately conferred so how do you have the face to visit us and meet your ancestors?”
“You don’t even respect the rules of the sacred cult and show no respect to us, your ancestors. Aren’t you deceiving the master and destroying your ancestors at such a young age?”
“Little Cult Master…”
This continued for a while.
“Silence!” Qin Mu shouted in anger when he could no longer take it.
The surroundings became quiet.
Qin Mu laughed loudly and unfolded his robes to both sides while saying loudly, “When I succeeded the position, the followers’ livelihood had been close to destitution, and there were many things waiting to be done. This was the mess that the previous cult master, Li Tianxing, had left for me. After stepping into my position, I reformed the merits and drawbacks, allying us with Eternal Peace to expel Buddhism and inflict serious damage on Dao Sect, causing these two big sacred grounds to concede defeat.
“I changed the laws and cleared the way, expanded the teachings, set up School Hall, founded Heavenly Saint Academy, gathered the paths, skills, and divine arts of all sects and cults in the world to correct the reputation of my cult!
“I’ve founded the eighteenth sword form and established the primordial spirit in Six Directions.
“The men of my cult are now located prominently in the ten thousand miles from the east to the west. The highest one is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and the lowest ones are commoners and pawns. In all levels of society, there are people of our cult!
“With my cultivation of Seven Stars Realm, I’ve already achieved this much!” He looked around the past sacred cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult and sneered. “What about you guys?
“Under your hands, the sacred cult had fallen into the devil path and was called Heavenly Devil Cult, being scolded and dismissed by everyone!
“What is called the path of the saint is none other than the everyday use of common people yet you had taken a perfectly fine path of the saint and refined it into the path of the devil, turning it into the devil cult. A saint has to established his virtue, his merit, and his ideas in writing, so what have you guys done?
“I respect Saint Woodcutter for imparting his scriptures on the rock and imparting skills to all ages.
“I respect Founding Master for expounding the wisdom of an ancient sage, founding a cult and establish his ideas in writing.
“I respect the three cult masters of Hall of Three Kings who sacrificed themselves in moments of danger to preserve the inheritance.
“But what about you guys?” Qin Mu sneered. “What merit have you established? What virtue? What ideas? Misinterpreting the teachings, cultivating devil techniques, making Heavenly Saint Cult have to carry the reputation of a devil cult! How do I have the face to meet the ancestors? Have the merits you guys established been as big as a finger of mine? Are you guys qualified to be cult masters? Qualified to be sacred teachers? I’m not here to find you guys, since you guys are mediocre and don’t even possess the face to meet me!”
The surroundings went silent.
The sacred cult masters of Heavenly Saint Cult were even more numerous than the human emperors of Hall of Human Emperors, but most of them had died miserably so their cultivations hadn’t been high enough to enter Fengdu, thus the number of sacred cult masters in Fengdu wasn’t that much higher.
Even so, there were close to thirty cult masters gathered, and they were another huge force in Fengdu that few people dared to provoke.
Qin Mu’s long speech had blown everyone’s mind, and the situation had grown terrifyingly cold.
Suddenly, the young patriarch’s voice reached them. “What’s happening? Everyone’s here! I’m late, I’m late!”
Qin Mu looked over and saw cold sweat on the young patriarch’s forehead. He was hurrying over with the large skeleton of dragon qilin following closely behind him.
The young patriarch hurried over and squeezed into the crowd. The cold sweat on his forehead grew as he chuckled. “Cult Masters, how did a simple talk escalate into a quarrel? This is the current Heavenly Saint Cult Master, outstanding talent in the present age that holds to the teachings on the rocks. Cult Master Qin is here to find me, so let’s go, go, come to my place for a seat. The disciples of the sacred cult had burned quite some good things for me.”
The Heavenly Devil Cult Masters in the surroundings were motionless.
Cold sweat rolled down young patriarch’s forehead as he tugged onto Qin Mu’s clothes. He gritted his teeth and said, “Your words are too ruthless. Lower your head and apologize to the ancestors…”
“Apologize? There’s no need for that.” Cult Master Zu Yang laughed loudly and said leisurely, “Cult Master Qin’s small body could actually explode with such astonishing words that were so loud that even the deaf could hear. We were all stunned.”
The young patriarch’s expression changed slightly. Cult Master Zu Yang seemed to be angered, for the more pleasant his smile was, the greater was his fury.
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Cult Master Zu Yang is trying to imply something so why won’t he speak his mind.”
The young patriarch was very anxious while Cult Master Zu Yang just smiled. “The cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult should be good in a fight and not talk with a glib mouth. Your position of the cult master was attained improperly, but since Li Tianxing is already dead, why don’t we old bones substitute him to test you. Let’s see if you have the right to be the cult master sacred teacher!”
The young patriarch hurriedly tugged on the corner of Qin Mu’s shirt, signaling for him to reject.
“To fight on the same realm? Truth be told, I just beat everyone in Hall of Human Emperors.” Qin Mu gently pushed his hand away and said with a smile, “All the human emperors of Hall of Human Emperors are top-notch figures and fighting them was tiring. As for fellow past cult masters, if we are fighting on the same realm…” His voice grew indifferent. “Come up all at once.”
The sweat rolled down young patriarch’s forehead like rain.
The expressions of the past cult masters changed drastically, and Cult Master Yu Lian chuckled. “Cult Master Qin is enthusiastic, but for us to go all together, aren’t your too haughty? For example, let me first test Cult Master Qin’s methods.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “Your realm isn’t enough. One realm as one heaven, one frame of mind as one pass. I stand on top of the pass while looking at all of you, seeing everything clearly. I’m asking all of you guys to come together because I’m respectful of the elderly. If Cult Master Yu Lian wants to fight me alone, wouldn’t you be overestimating yourself?”
The young patriarch sighed and took in a long breath before saying solemnly, “Cult master sacred teachers, you have to keep your promises when you speak. Everyone seal your Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge, these three great divine treasures. As for whether you guys want to fight alone or go together, it’s all up to you guys. Anyway, I’m not the sacred cult master so just do what you like.”
Cult Master Yu Lian was the first to seal his three great divine treasures and take a step forward. With a shout, his devil technique burst forth. His Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures walked down the devil path, and he was truly a great master of the devil path. He had comprehended the paths, skills, and divine arts in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to the extremes of the devil path. Taking one step was a series of specters!
‘Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures are merely an incomplete writing of my Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique yet it was still refined into the devil path by you.’
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes and struck out with a palm. He was fast as lightning in hitting the specters. “Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force!”
Boom!
Cult Master Yu Lian flew back and created a human-shaped hole in Hall of Zu Yang. Next, a series of rumbles rang out from the hall. Cult Master Yu Lian had crashed through over a dozen walls and still couldn’t stop. Finally, a mushroom cloud appeared ten miles away. It was impossible to say how many things he had hit before coming to a stop.
Everyone was yet to come back to their senses when Qin Mu moved and came to the back of Cult Master Zu Yang. The man’s reaction was extremely fast, and he pounced forward, transforming into a shadow that stuck to the floor.
Qin Mu stomped the floor, and the ground split apart, creating a deep ditch. Cult Master Zu Yang’s true body was shaken out from the black shadow form, and a knife slashed down straight at his face. He shouted in anger, and black tortoise body appeared. The huge shield split when it met the knife and he got blown away with two halves of the broken shield.
Qin Mu rushed into the group of the past cult masters and moved around like a phantom. Everyone was astonished, but they didn’t waste time before retaliating upon sensing his attacks.
Bang, bang, bang. A series of explosions rang out when Cult Master Yue Guang’s divine art hit Feng Qiangu’s body, and Feng Qiangu’s devil sword stabbed into Si Yuanwei’s chest. In an instant, everyone was in a mess.
The young patriarch immediately moved back to avoid being caught by the fray. He then saw the ground splitting and shattering. The entire Hall of Zu Yang broke into pieces under the attacks of numerous divine arts, and the broken hall floated into the sky. Everyone was leaping around the debris. Their heads were sometimes up and sometimes down. Sometimes they were shadows on some pillar, and sometimes they transformed into flying or jumping beasts!
“What you used is Dao Sword of Dao Sect, you traitor!” A past cult master roared angrily as he suffered hundreds of swords. He then collapsed headfirst.
“Scoundrel, this is Great Thunderclap Monastery’s technique!”
“This is the divine art of Little Jade Capital!”
“What sword skill is this?”
Bang, bang, bang!
Figures fell down while the shattered palace rose higher and higher. On the glazed tiles and the vermillion rafters, Qin Mu and Cult Master Hu Jun’s bodies crossed. Qin Mu used Secrets of Seal Word to seal the five senses of his opponents. He then turned around and used Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands, and with a raise and lowering of his palm, he made Cult Master Hu Jun puke blood as he fell.
The glazed tiles of the huge hall split apart as Cult Master Yan Ji came over. But what welcomed him was a huge divine art from Qin Mu, Celestial Cave and Milky Way Hanging From Jade Heaven!
The ten thousand stars brought a terrifying palm force to descend from the sky, breaking through Cult Master Yan Ji’s divine art like it was rotten wood. Qin Mu’s palm ruthlessly smacked him down to the ground with a Milky Way.
Boom!
In the air, numerous crumbling fences and dilapidated walls fell down, and the ground shook violently. Where numerous Heavenly Devil Cult Masters had landed, there was a huge palm that had an area of three to five fields.
“Weak old thieves, unable to withstand a single blow.” Qin Mu landed on the ground and dusted off his clothes. He looked at the dumbfounded young patriarch and smiled. “Patriarch, let’s go to your place for a talk.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Hall of Wen Yuan was young patriarch’s place, and it was much shabbier than the halls of the cult masters. This was probably because Patriarch had never been a cult master before, and his status was much lower than that of the cult masters.
However, in Qin Mu’s eyes, it was also because the young patriarch had never been the cult master sacred teacher that he could drop the baggage and achieve things that those cult masters had never done.
The young patriarch and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were half teacher and student and half friends. When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to visit him, he took the initiative to show him Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and also told him about the general teachings of the path of the saint. He then personally wrote a letter to recommend that young man to Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s huge achievements were related to him by a lot too.
Afterward, when Eternal Peace started his reform, it was also related to the young patriarch. Even the founding of Imperial College also had very deep relations with him.
He was the first grand chancellor of Imperial College, and when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor carried out his reform, he would frequently seek his opinion.
Eternal Peace had three big players in the reform. The two big players—Imperial Preceptor and Emperor—were out in the open while the young patriarch was the third big player hidden behind their backs.
Just based on achievements, in the entire history of the sacred cult, there was at most two-three other people who could match up to the achievements of the young patriarch.
Yet because he wasn’t the cult master, he didn’t receive the treatment of the other cult masters, and this made Qin Mu felt grief for him.
“You still haven’t changed your temper.”
The young patriarch brought Qin Mu into the hall while the huge bones and scales of a dragon qilin kept rubbing against him. It was to the point that the young patriarch’s clothes were already torn and his leg had turned bright red.
Yet he acted like it was nothing and said to Qin Mu, “What now? All the past cult masters have been beaten up by you! Do you think they are easy to get along with? They are a force in Fengdu! After you die of old age, how are you going to stand in Fengdu…”
“Patriarch…” Qin Mu suddenly hugged him tightly as his voice shook slightly. He didn’t let him go even after a long time. “I missed you.”
The skeleton boy wanted to wipe his tears, but there were no tears to be wiped. He choked as he said, “I didn’t know you were blocking off the gods of High Heavens in Great Ruins and only heard about it later from Si Yunxiang. Elder of Discipline brought your ashes back, but I wasn’t able to meet you one last time. So I’m here to see you now! I kept hiding it from Fatty Dragon, not daring to tell him, but I couldn’t any longer…”
The young patriarch was stunned. He patted the youth’s back and sighed ruefully. “I’m only living elsewhere. Look, I still have flesh and blood. In my eyes, you guys are the dead ones, so should I cry miserably too? There, there. Cult Master Qin was so fierce when scolding and beating up all the ancestors so why are you acting like a small child now… Enough, dragon qilin, my leg is bleeding from your rubs! Haven’t you rubbed enough?”
The dragon qilin wanted to stick his tongue out to help him lick his injury, but he then remembered that he had no tongue. He then reluctantly retreated. But after a moment, he couldn’t resist coming up to rub himself against the leg again.
The young patriarch was speechless. He had not met the dragon qilin for a long time, so when they first met, they even cried a whole lot because they had been close before. But as that Fatty Dragon kept rubbing against his leg, he was starting to get really annoyed. In a moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to send that fellow far away.
“I’ve thought about meeting Saint Woodcutter who had imparted his teachings on the rock and also Founding Master, as well as the three kings,” Qin Mu said. “Patriarch, are they also in Fengdu?”
“You can’t see the Three Sacred Kings anymore, their souls have dispersed,” the young patriarch said sorrowfully. “They died in battle while forcing themselves to impart the teachings on the rock to the next cult master, so they couldn’t protect their own souls and enter Fengdu. I thought I would meet Founding Master here as well, but I’ve not seen him. Saint Woodcutter is not here too.”
Qin Mu was stunned. Besides Fengdu, where else could Saint Woodcutter and Founding Master have gone?
The stone statue of Woodcutter’s corporeal body still stood in Little Jade Capital, looking toward Great Ruins. His primordial spirit had left his body and went to other places. After Founding Master established his cult and set his ideas in writing, he had not established merit so he still wasn’t a saint. He shouldn’t have been a god as well, so he would have died of old age. Where could he have gone then?
The young patriarch hesitated and said, “You beat up the past cult masters…”
“Patriarch, I’m a cult master, and they are also cult masters, so why should I be lower than them? I’m still a human emperor too, so my status is even above theirs. If you want me to talk to them nicely, I can’t do it,” Qin Mu said.
“The sacred cult has no seniority, and the one who discovers the truth should be the teacher. Even though they are the past cult masters, they also have their own strength of character. If I didn’t beat them, they would say that my cult master title was not attained properly. After beating them, they were speechless. Besides, the sacred cult in their hands had no achievements and their way is corrupted, so they deserved to be beaten.”
The young patriarch sighed and asked curiously, “You don’t have your corporeal body so how did you use your magic power?”
“I’ve come here once with Village Chief, and it was then that I realized that me turning into a skeleton was merely an illusion. Since it was an illusion, my corporeal body disappearing and you guys coming back to life is also an illusion. Grandpa Blind’s divine eyes allowed me to see through everything in Fengdu, and it was from then on that I could use magic power and divine arts in Fengdu. I can sense my own corporeal body. Patriarch, you don’t know this but in my eyes…”
Boundless sorrow flooded his heart, and he didn’t continue to speak.
In front of his divine eyes, Patriarch who was living perfectly fine was only a skeleton.
When Qin Mu walked in Fengdu City, that was all he saw.
Everyone walking to and fro in the bustling city of Fengdu were all skeletons and ghosts. Only he was moving through the city with a corporeal body. He was a lonely soul, isolated and alone.
Even when he talked cheerfully with the past human emperors in Sacred Hall of Five Yang, he had only been talking with dozens of skeletons.
Only within Between Life and Death did he saw the past human emperors gain flesh and blood.
This was the sight Qin Mu saw when he used the divine eyes Blind had imparted to him.
His sight was completely different from the sight the ghosts in Fengdu saw.
In the living realm, life and death were reversed, but Patriarch, the past human emperors, and the past cult masters were still dead.
Qin Mu didn’t say all of this. He was silent for a moment before smiling. “Patriarch, you, Imperial Preceptor, and the emperor are in charge of the reform. Now that you’re here, how will the reform continue on?”
The young patriarch walked side by side with him to prevent the dragon qilin from coming up again. He smiled and said, “The path of the reform has already started and it won’t end. What Imperial Preceptor is reforming are the traditions, the slave nature, the fights between sects so that the divine arts practitioners in the world need not fight for the sects anymore and exhaust their own power for nothing. It is also to change the individual mindset of the sects, to let divine arts practitioners work for the people and serve them. This is the great idea and the great framework.”
He came to the back garden of Hall of Wen Yuan and handed a pair of shears to Qin Mu. He also took one for himself and trimmed the sprays carefully. “The most important thing about the reform is that it changes the bad habits in the hearts of people, pushing down the god statues within them. Destroying gods in people’s hearts is not something divine arts practitioners have to do, but something the whole world has to do. If everyone could destroy the god and buddha in their hearts, this would become a world of prosperity.”
Qin Mu trimmed the sprays and turned a blossom into a hen dragon without feathers. When the young patriarch finished speaking, he stopped and pondered his words before nodding. “The people of the world pray to the gods and buddhas for wind, rain, and a bountiful harvest, for their family to prosper and have lots of children. If the divine arts practitioners could fulfill their wishes, it could indeed assist in breaking the gods in their hearts.”
The young patriarch looked at the flowers and plants that were messily trimmed by him and shifted his gaze after a moment. “I’ve said it to Imperial Preceptor before, that to break the gods in the hearts, he’ll first need to reform the economy. It will improve the statecraft and aid the people. When the economy is open, the knowledge of the people will be opened. To put it in simple words, when divine arts practitioners will use their divine arts to help the farmers harvest their crops, the farmers will pay them, and with the money received, they’ll buy food or resources they need for cultivation.
“This money would then return to the people’s hands. They all have to pay taxes to the empire, so the empire would grow wealthy. When the empire is wealthy, it can open more traffic and irrigation works, which are all for the convenience and benefit of the people. Thus, when the empire is wealthy, people are wealthy, when people are wealthy, the resources are abundant. Divine arts practitioners will be able to buy all kinds of resources, and their cultivations would naturally far surpass the past. The people would become strong, and the empire would become strong.”
Qin Mu was enthralled, but he suddenly heard footsteps. When he turned back to look, he saw Cult Master Zu Yang, Cult Master Yu Lian, Cult Master Si Yuanwei, and the rest entering Hall of Wen Yuan with murderous intent.
Heavenly Devil Cult’s past cult masters didn’t make a move, but instead stopped and listened.
“Commonfolk has been slaves of influential families for too long, and they now have the nature of slaves. Once you kneel down, it’s hard to get up. Imperial Preceptor is now making the people stand up, but this requires time. Still, the reform has been moving slowly. The people now no longer kneel to divine arts practitioners.”
The young patriarch’s thoughts were full of the reform, and he didn’t realize the arrival of guests. He reminisced about the past. “I’ve seen the situation before the reform. At that time, the sects and cults stood in numbers, and the farmers slogged their lives out. They had to kneel and call them old masters, offering up meat and rations. To change this kind of slave nature, Imperial Preceptor and I used some two hundred years. Once the people stand up, it’s also very hard for them to kneel back down.”
Qin Mu remembered the incident where people knelt in front of the stone statues that had popped out from the earth. “They still kneel to god statues.”
The young patriarch’s expression grew a little weird. “Imperial Preceptor said that it’s easy to break the god in the temple, but it’s hard to break the god in the heart. To me, it’s not easy to break the god in the temple as well. I’ve done a small experiment once to test the heart of the people. I built a small temple outside the capital and enlightened a dirty mangy dog, then made it sit on the shrine. Can you guess what happened?”
He sighed and said, “After a few days, the mangy dog’s temple was flourishing with incense, and there were countless old men and old women coming forth to give offerings. The virtue box in front of the mangy dog was stuffed with money. If you put a toad on the shrine, not even a mangy dog, people would still stuff it with money and offer incense!”
Qin Mu laughed, but as he continued, he slowly couldn’t laugh anymore.
“That’s why we need to open the economy and wisen the people. Only then could we break the gods in the temples and the god in the hearts,” the young patriarch said. “And to wisen the people, we need you guys to continue with the reform to increase the number of divine arts practitioners. They need to become more common and become gods.
“When divine arts practitioners that become gods continue to serve the people, the people will no longer pray to the gods in the temples. With the new wisdom, there will only be more divine arts practitioners.”
He then added, “Opening the economy, wisening the people is all part of the path of reform. What you guys are doing now is very good. Divine arts are being used for the people, but time is still required for the people gain wisdom and not kneel to the gods in the temples anymore. This journey is arduous, and it will first touch the benefits of the sects before touching the benefits of the high gods.
“High Heavens are only the dogs of the high gods, so there is probably an even greater danger behind.” He trimmed the sprays as he said, “The reform of Imperial Preceptor has added three more forms to the sword skills and began the change of the paths and skills in the heaven and earth. You spreading the technique to become god by mending the divine bridge has pushed the reform another step ahead.
“Si Yunxiang had offered incense and prayed to me, telling me that you and Princess Yuxiu founded the skill of awakening Six Directions Primordial Spirit. Numerous divine arts practitioners in Eternal Peace Empire had done their bit to help on the foundation and have by now created numerous techniques and divine arts. These are all great deeds.”
He straightened his back. “With the paths, skills, and divine arts improving day after day, there will be more and more gods in Eternal Peace Empire. In time, the gods in the temples will be broken, and when that happens, we won’t be far from breaking the gods in their hearts!”
Qin Mu’s mind trembled, and he threw down the shears. He did a long bow to the ground. “Patriarch is truly the sacred teacher of my Heavenly Saint Cult!”
The young patriarch also hurriedly threw away his shears and helped him up with a smile. “You are the cult master sacred teacher of our cult, so how could you call me sacred teacher? Quickly get up!”
At that moment, all the past cult masters in the surroundings bowed lowly to the ground and said in unison, “Sacred teacher!”
The young patriarch only noticed them now and was at a loss.
“Sacred teacher is a saint who’s a teacher. All the past cult masters aren’t deserving to be called the sacred teacher. Only you are worthy of this title and worthy of the respect of all the past cult masters!”
The young patriarch was flustered, various emotions flooding his heart. He couldn’t help the tears that flowed down his face.
He had never been a cult master before and was always excluded outside the circle of power in Heavenly Saint Cult. He had only carried the burden of Heavenly Saint Cult when it was in trouble.
That was why he had never even dreamed that he would be like Saint Woodcutter, receiving respect from all the past cult masters!
The only one who was worthy of all the cult masters’ respect was only Saint Woodcutter who imparted his teachings on the rock.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Now then I know the aspiration and abilities of Wen Yuan far surpasses those of us, the cult masters.” In the back garden of Hall of Wen Yuan, the previous cult masters all stood up and Si Yuanwei sighed ruefully. She suddenly remembered something and asked, “Why did I take you in as a disciple back then? I suddenly feel that my judgment was actually so good!”
The young patriarch blushed and said, “When master took me in as a disciple, you said I looked pretty and my aptitude was good. Of course, that important part was that I was pretty.”
Qin Mu examined his surroundings, and the people around him were all handsome men and pretty women. The past cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult, including the young patriarch, none of them looked angry at the words.
Si Yuanwei blushed slightly while smiling. “I remember now. I took you in as a disciple with a plan to use you to break my Dao heart with the affairs between man and woman. My Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture mainly cultivated the heart, and I had broken my master’s Dao heart, this way taking the position of the cult master.
“I needed a person who could break my Dao heart. Without destruction there can be no construction. If you could break my Dao heart, you would become the cult master. If you couldn’t, I would be able to take another step forward and might just become a god or devil. However, since I kept putting my guard against you, Cult Master Yu Lian managed to take advantage of my inattention in regards to him and assassinated me.”
Cult Master Yu Lian sounded pleased with himself as he said, “Master only guarded against your affection for little junior brother, but you didn’t know it’s hard to guard against an attack by a hidden enemy. How old was little junior brother then? You kept being concerned about it, but if you didn’t have such thoughts and had guarded against me more, little junior brother might have become the sacred cult master.”
Qin Mu pondered over it. The devil in Heavenly Devil Cult’s name could probably be related to this continued tradition between masters and their disciples.
This kind of style of master letting the disciple assassinate oneself couldn’t not be called evil. It was like Li Tianxing. When he was assassinated by Granny Si, she was only on Celestial Being Realm, so she absolutely couldn’t have used her true strength to kill Li Tianxing who was already on Divine Bridge Realm.
Yet Li Tianxing had given her this chance.
The fights between masters and disciples of Heavenly Devil Cult should have originated from Founding Master whose motive was to make one generation stronger than the previous one, so he had established the rule that when a disciple defeated their master, they could become Heavenly Devil Cult Master.
However, this kind of rule had gradually changed. With the strangeness of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, it was easy to give birth to the devil nature. As a result, the rule that looked very good on paper had gradually changed to what it was now.
The young patriarch smiled and said, “If I had become the sacred cult master, I would most likely have become like everyone, worrying about the benefits of Heavenly Saint Cult and not the people of the world. Not being the cult master had instead made me whole.”
All the past cult master nodded in agreement.
“As for Cult Master Qin…” Si Yuanwei turned to look at Qin Mu and stood silent for a moment. “We won’t argue about how your position of the cult master wasn’t attained properly. After you’ve become the cult master, you’ve done well, but if it was us, we could have also done well.”
Qin Mu was humble. “This is natural. All the previous cult masters are dragons and phoenixes among humans, so if you were in my position, you would definitely do even better than me. It’s just that when you guys were in my position, you guys did nothing.”
The faces of all the past cult master twitched, and their expressions flickered between dark and clear as they fought back the urge to get rid of him.
The brat was fearless, but he was the sacred cult master too. He carried the important responsibility of passing down his position and the teachings on the rock, so if they got rid of him, Heavenly Devil Cult would be finished.
“I was impolite just now, since I felt indignant that seniors are using wrong and outdated rules to limit the later generation, so I offended all of you. I hereby apologize to all the past cult masters,” Qin Mu said.
The expressions of the cult masters softened, and Cult Master Zu Yang immediately helped him up with a smile. “Little Cult Master Qin has done what we didn’t do, and that makes us admire you endlessly. Among the past cult masters, even if you can’t rank in the top three, you could still rank in the top five. People say everything is empty after death, and we won’t bear any grudge just because of a small quarrel.”
Cult Master Hu Jun smiled and said, “Other than admiring your attainments in cultivation, we are more worried that after you go back, you won’t let the cult followers burn offering for us every new year and festive occasions!”
“You’re right, extremely right!”
Everyone laughed and said, “We don’t want to become like those poverty-stricken people from Hall of Human Emperor. They don’t even have a person to burn offerings for them!”
“The current human emperor of Hall of Human Emperor is really unfilial, not giving any offering every new year and on festive occasions. Look at how glorious the human emperors were when they were alive and look at how poor they are now. How are they like us, glorious when we are alive and glorious even after death!”
Everyone laughed loudly, and the young patriarch also gave a few chuckles. But he then suddenly remembered Qin Mu and immediately glanced at him.
Qin Mu also gave a few dry laughs. Luckily he had no face now, or he would have definitely blushed.
The past cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult didn’t know his other identity was the current human emperor and that the past human emperors were so poor because he didn’t give any offerings.
‘After returning to Eternal Peace, I must take a trip to Hall of Human Emperors and allow the past human emperors live wealthily. They can’t be too poor!’ He set a new resolve in his heart.
“Cult Master Qin,” the young patriarch said with a righteous expression. “You have come to meet me so what are you going to do after returning to the world of the living?”
Everyone’s laughs stopped, and they all looked at him to see how he would answer.
Qin Mu was solemn for a moment before smiling. “After returning to Eternal Peace Empire, I will first open roads.”
“Open roads?” The young patriarch frowned and said, “It’s true that the traffic and roads make it convenient for the people to travel, but the cost is also great. Eternal Peace Empire has gone through numerous battles and the treasury is empty. You regard the lives of people as important, so why would you open the roads first? The roads of Eternal Peace Empire are already good, so if you open more now, won’t it be a waste of manpower and resources?”
Qin Mu sighed ruefully. “This is because I’ve just conquered West Earth!”
The young patriarch heart trembled violently, and he cried out, “You led the army to invade West Earth? How big was the army you brought? West Earth is so huge, so how did you conquer it?”
The hearts of the other cult masters also trembled violently as they found it unbelievable.
“By myself, along with the dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er, I conquered West Earth.” Qin Mu smiled lightly. “West Earth has already joined Eternal Peace, but the distance from it to Middle Earth is a hundred thousand miles. If the whip can’t reach, the emperor can’t control it, as they say. West Earth will know its place for a short period of time, but with the roads long and unpaved, as time goes on, West Earth will definitely grow chaotic, so what I want to do is to open traffic between West Earth and Middle Earth!”
The young patriarch and the past cult masters couldn’t believe his words, and they held their foreheads while walking around. Suddenly, a previous cult master stopped and asked solemnly, “West Earth and Middle Earth have a Great Ruins and a flaming desert between them. The closest distance is ten thousand miles! You want to open up a road that’s a hundred thousand miles?”
“Not one, my plan is two roads. Two avenues that have to be incomparably flat for carriages and horses to pass at the greatest speed. The fastest rider should be able to cover those ten thousand miles on a strange beast in a day and night!”
“Wrong!” that cult master shouted out sternly. “Do you have that much money? Does Eternal Peace Empire have that much money? Paving the roads needs money and divine arts; it takes human lives! Even though my sacred cult has Heavenly Works Hall, but if you have them pave the road, then not only tons of money would be spent, many of our Heavenly Works Hall’s disciples would die of exhaustion!”
Qin Mu shook his head. “No. When in West Earth, I’ve seen the roads there, and they are much more advanced than those of Eternal Peace. The divine arts of True Heaven Palace can be used to pave the road, and I have good relations with the influential families of West Earth so I can ask True Heaven Palace Master to lead the divine arts practitioners of West Earth to pave the road. They can pave a thousand miles in a day, so the road of a hundred thousand miles will only need a hundred days. The cost won’t be too high.”
The eyes of the previous cult master lit up, and he smiled. He then took a step back. The other cult masters were still circling around Qin Mu when Si Yuanwei suddenly stopped. “What about the flaming desert? It is tens of thousands of miles wide, and it’s so dry that there’s no water at all. If you open the roads and they get covered by sand, they will be completely useless! When that time comes, the people on the path will grow exhausted and distressed, and will die there!”
“When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor killed True Heaven Old Mother, the flaming desert went out, and only Black Tortoise Bead is required to draw the water to irrigate the desert. Green Dragon Bead can be used to grow vegetation and turn the desert into a forest. The plains on the north have snow mountains which could be used for streams. I’ll draw it from there and create lakes in the desert, solving the irrigation problem!”
Si Yuanwei revealed a smile and also backed off.
Another cult master then stopped to ask, “The closest path is through Great Ruins. It is peaceful during the day, but when night comes, monsters and the darkness invade. How will you protect the traffic?”
“I cannot ensure it, but I can shift stone statues and gather them to defend against the darkness. There will be a town every thousand miles, and a city every ten thousand miles. The cities and the towns will be between the two roads for travelers to have a place to rest their feet. With these cities and towns, goods will come to and fro between West Earth, Great Ruins, and Middle Earth. As a result, trade and commerce will definitely prosper.”
“You still haven’t explained how you’ll solve the issue of money!”
“Once the roads are open and the trade and commerce come and go, the money will naturally pour in!”
“Great Ruins isn’t a level road and there are many strange and bizarre incidents. How can you level the mountains and rivers?”
“Cut into a mountain when meeting a mountain, build a bridge when meeting a river, and pay respect to a god when meeting a god!”
“How wide is the avenue?”
“A hundred and eight yards wide, eight tracks for carriages and four tracks for soldiers.”
“The width of the vehicles and horses tracks in West Earth are different from those in Eternal Peace. How will you ensure smooth traffic on the tracks?”
“In that case, make the tracks similar!”
“The local conditions and customs of West Earth and Eternal Peace are different. What will you do?”
“I’ll make them the same then!”
“The writings are different and the divine arts are different, so what will you do?”
“In that case, spread the same writing system and open up education!”
…
Suddenly, the twenty-eight past cult masters laughed in unison, and they bowed toward Qin Mu. “Cult Master can also be called a saint! You are worthy of the title of the sacred cult master! We tested you on behalf of Cult Master Li, and you’ve passed!”
Qin Mu returned their greeting and said sincerely, “Much thanks to all the cult masters for asking me questions and enlightening me! After returning to the world of the living, I will have the way to carry out the reform. If the reform succeeds to some extent and turns the heavenly moat into thoroughfare, all of you will have the most important merit!”
Everyone laughed loudly and stood up.
The young patriarch was also happy for them. Qin Mu had had a falling out with the past cult masters at first, but now all the grudges were wiped away. And he was glad for it.
Suddenly, Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu’s voice reached them. “Cult Master Qin, King Yama wants to punish you personally. Won’t you come out?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“King Yama wants to punish you? What have you done?” In Hall of Wen Yuan, the past cult masters all frowned greatly, and Cult Master Zu Yang asked, “Is the thing you did big or small? If it’s big, why don’t we revolt?”
The other cult masters were instantly excited and started to plan on how to revolt and rouse the other dead people in Fengdu. They even thought of a few slogans for the revolt.
Qin Mu hurriedly said, “It isn’t a big matter. It’s just a small matter so there’s no need to revolt. In the battle when we blocked off the gods of High Heavens on God Broken Mountain Range, I seized the primordial spirits of a few people who died in battle from Fengdu and revived them.”
The past cult masters became silent. After a moment, Cult Master Hu Jun slapped his thigh and said, “Where were we at? Right, right, the flags used for the revolt! I feel we should use flags of the martial god…”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Just a small matter…”
“Small matter? Seizing people from Fengdu is a small matter?” Numerous cult masters turned to look over at him with anger in their eyes and sneered. “Snatching people at the Bridge of Helplessness scared even us shitless; we thought Youdu had come to attack us! This is definitely not a small matter, and King Yama is going to behead you!”
“If it was a small matter, we would ignore it and let King Yama take you, so he can give you two slaps on your buttocks before releasing you. But this is a huge matter which endangered the whole of Fengdu, so revolt is the only way out now!” Si Yuanwei said.
Outside the hall, God Chi Xiu’s voice rang out once more, a little more impatient now. “Cult Master Qin, if you don’t come out, I’m going in!”
The young patriarch suddenly said, “Cult Master Qin, why did King Yama didn’t punish you directly and let you roam around the city freely? If your crime is really severe, shouldn’t you be guarded tightly in the prison?”
When he asked this, everyone came to a sudden realization—Qin Mu didn’t look like a prisoner was supposed to look. Instead, he could still visit his friends and family in Fengdu and even give them a beating.
“Before King Yama punished you, who else did he see?”
Qin Mu nodded. “He dealt with Xing An and Shaman God Kui. Xing An was released by him and Shaman God Kui was to be studied by numerous ghost kings because of his Youdu spells. King Yama also wanted to study the divine arts of Shaman God Kui so he let me out first.”
“In that case, the thing you have done is small.” The young patriarch smiled. “I know that what Xing An is big, but King Yama still released him. Shaman God Kui is a god of Youdu so the things he did should be even worse. Since they were punished first, this means that their crimes were above yours. Your crime is much smaller than theirs. Follow God Chi Xiu. King Yama won’t give you trouble.”
Numerous cult masters nodded and said, “Just go. If King Yama wants to kill you, we’ll go seize the execution grounds and the passage to reincarnation!”
Qin Mu relaxed and walked out of Hall of Wen Yuan. God Chi Xiu stood on the head of a stone lion pruning his feathers. When he saw him coming out, he pulled out his beak from his feathers and said, “Follow me.”
Qin Mu went over while asking, “Senior Chi Xiu, King Yama is summoning me—”
“Don’t talk, you have the smell of a living person,” Chi Xiu said. “I hate people that still have breath. If you breathe your last, your words will be much more pleasant. Also, King Yama is not summoning you, he wants to interrogate you.”
They came to Hall of King Qin, and Qin Mu looked at the front of the hall. There was a pile of flesh fighting and struggling as Xing An still couldn’t give up the corporeal body parts of other people. It was evident that he was reluctant to give up his own path.
‘Even a wise man like Xing An finds it hard to give up the benefits he had attained. As a result, he’s blinded by greed.’
He couldn’t help shaking his head. By being indecisive, Xing An was delaying his life, but it was no surprise. He had been collecting other people’s body parts diligently his whole life to take them for his own. Making him give them up now was to make him give up his path and deny his entire life; it was indeed hard to accept it.
The greater the achievements and the willpower of a person were, the harder it was for them to change themselves and their understanding. It was hard to admit one’s own mistake.
“The sky is turning bright!”
Suddenly, mournful shouts came from Fengdu City, and Qin Mu hurriedly took a look at the source of them. He saw huge beasts lying on roofs of the halls and looking up at the sky while shouting. “All homes and all cities be careful! The sky is turning bright!”
In Fengdu City, the roaming souls filled the sky as they scrambled in all directions. On the land, numerous awe-inspiring gods and devils were running left and right, trying to find places to hide.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and asked, “God Chi Xiu, what happens when the sky is bright?”
God Chi Xiu was unconcerned. “The sun is coming out. They have to hide or else the fire of pure yang from the sky will burn them. This sun is different from the one you see outside.”
Qin Mu was bewildered. Suddenly, the darkness withdrew rapidly and the foggy Fengdu became incomparably bright!
It was his first time seeing the city in the day, and he saw the streets that were bustling with gods and devils suddenly become cold and cheerless. All of the inhabitants had shut their doors, and the roaming souls had delved into the abyss. The huge beasts on the hall’s had all hid inside, and the entire Fengdu had become quiet instantly.
Next, white light became red as an incomparably huge sun blazing with flames rose in the horizon. In an instant, flames came from the east, surging over like the flowing sea that flooded the sky and covered the earth. All the streets were filled, and all the palaces and houses were drowned out.
The blazing fire of pure yang swallowed up the cities of Fengdu, the blazing heat almost warping the space!
Qin Mu bathed in the fire of pure yang and saw flesh, blood, and meridians gradually appearing on his skeleton body. Looking down, he could even see the five viscera and six bowels in his ribs!
Meanwhile, when he looked into the window of the hall where the gods and devils were hiding, their flesh and blood were gradually fading away, revealing white bones!
The true fire of pure yang was harmless to him, but the corporeal bodies of the gods and devils of Fengdu could be burned while their souls and primordial spirits could be incinerated!
In the east, the huge sun became hotter and hotter until it was bright red. Incomparably huge palace halls could be faintly seen on the sun, and in front of them were giant drums. Valiant gods and devils were beating the drum frantically, sending the true fire of pure yang from the sun into Fengdu.
On the sun, there were ten thousand sacred halls, ten thousand drums, and ten thousand giants that were beating the drums frantically. True fire was spewed out and flooded Fengdu!
“This is…”
Qin Mu’s mind trembled. He suddenly heard a shriek and turned back to look. He saw the big ball of flesh that was Xing An being burned by the true fire of pure yang. Dozens of faces distorted as they struggled and shrieked in pain.
The many bodies were fading away after being burned by the true fire, revealing Xing An’s true body.
Xing An was also in unbearable pain. At that moment, he suddenly jumped up and splashed into the River of Helplessness. The fog in the river under the bridge churned as monsters moved to swallow him.
“Xing An?”
Qin Mu quickly came to the side of the river. The fog became thicker to defend against the flames of the sun so he couldn’t see any traces of Xing An.
“He fell into Youdu.” God Chi Xiu flapped his wings. The true fire of pure yang was ineffective against him, but he still hurried them. “Faster, King Yama is still waiting for you!”
Qin Mu composed himself and followed him into Hall of King Qin.
Inside it, King Yama was still clad in a black cape. His face and body were hidden in the darkness. Qin Mu looked around but didn’t see any of the ghost kings.
“Chi Xiu, you may go now.” King Yama sat on the throne in Hall of King Qin, so his voice came from high above.
“Understood.” God Chi Xiu left Hall of King Qin.
On the throne, King Yama flipped through a book which rustled. Only he and Qin Mu were left in, and he seemed to be perfectly fine from the rising sun.
Qin Mu was anxious, but could do nothing. After a while, King Yama stood up, and the light in Hall of King Qin became dim. Qin Mu instantly felt as though he was shrouded in darkness.
“Are you from Carefree Village? Who is your father?”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, not understanding why he suddenly asked that. “My father is Qin Hanzhen, my ancestral hometown should be Carefree Village, but I wasn’t born the—”
“Qin Hanzhen?” King Yama stared blankly at him as he said in a low voice, “Has it come to the generation of Han? Yu, De, Chang, Ming, Han, Feng, Huan, Zhen. The Qin of your generation should already be more than a hundredth generation.”
He picked up the book he was reading and searched for the Han word. “Han is the hundredth and sixth generation, Feng is the hundredth and seventh generation. Your original name isn’t Qin Mu, since there should be a Feng word in your name.”
Qin Mu nodded, but he didn’t say his original name.
After meeting Grandmaster, he realized how dangerous it was to say his real name. With a person like King Yama who controlled Fengdu, it was even more dangerous.
Even though there was Hall of King Qin and King Yama had the family history of Qin, Qin Mu still had to be careful.
“It’s right that you didn’t tell me your name. The world is indeed abnormally dangerous,” said King Yama. “My surname is also Qin, but it was given to me. I’m adopted. I was originally nothing at all, an orphan that was alone and had nobody to rely on. His Majesty allowed me to enter the family register of Qin Family so my name is on it.”
Qin Mu understood. He said he wasn’t originally from the Qin Family, but he was conferred the surname Qin and taken in as an adopted child.
“It’s been a long time since I saw a visitor from Carefree Village.” King Yama walked to him at the front of the hall. Looking at the Fengdu being bathed in flames, he said, “I had originally thought His Majesty would come back to this place from Carefree Village, but I never expected that even after waiting for twenty thousand years for him I would still not have seen him. Only his hundredth and seventh descendant has come. When you used that Youdu divine art to seize a few souls from me, I noticed that your appearance looks similar to that of His Majesty which was why I didn’t stop you.”
Qin Mu still had some doubts and probed. “What you mean is Founding Emperor is still alive?”
King Yama’s face was shrouded in the black robe, and even the most intense flames couldn’t penetrate into the darkness under it. “His Majesty is still alive. After Carefree Village was opened, he led the last gods out of this world, preserving his strength for a counterattack. His Majesty is powerful and wise, so he knew that danger was approaching long before it came, so he had ordered me to open up Fengdu, making a place for the gods that couldn’t leave in time to hide until the day we will rise again. This wait has lasted for twenty thousand years… You said you weren’t born in Carefree Village earlier, so where were you born?”
Qin Mu was silent for a moment before saying astringently, “Youdu.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Even King Yama couldn’t help being astonished. He suddenly turned to look at Qin Mu, and the black cape fluttered up with a wave motion as though it was being blown by the wind. “Youdu? You weren’t born in Carefree Village but in Youdu?”
Qin Mu still couldn’t see the face under the black robe and just nodded. “My parents were headed to Great Ruins from Carefree Village, but they were ambushed on their way. The casualties were high, and the lucky survivors escaped into Youdu. I was then born there.”
He had discovered his birth in Ghost Valley, and from the time trace in that ship, his mother ha still been holding him in her womb. The precious ship suffered the attacks of gods and devils, getting struck down to the bottom of Ghost Valley, embedding itself between the seal of the two worlds.
To avoid the extraterritorial devils, his mother led the people of the ship to seek refuge in Youdu. Qin Mu should have been born in Youdu, but he didn’t know how he was brought to Great Ruins after he was born and floated down Surging River to Disabled Elderly Village.
Granny Si had heard the cries of an infant and picked him up to bring to the village.
He was born in Youdu, and there was no doubt about that.
“You were born in Youdu…” The tone of King Yama held some disappointment. “I thought it would be an old swallow returning to lead us into battle, finishing what wasn’t done. Never did I expect to see a new swallow. It would have been as well, but in the end, it wasn’t a new swallow either, just one chick. Hehe, Founding Emperor, you are really carefree in Carefree Village, having already forgotten that you still have people waiting for you in this world to make a comeback!”
His tone was slightly angry. “Carefree Village is not a tender village nor an unmoved village; it’s a place for you to make a comeback and not a place for you to sink into oblivion! In Great Ruins, there are still countless gods and devils that are waiting silently for you to return. They are waiting for you to raise your flag and fight!”
His cape was still fluttering. Only when his heart was roused or when his fighting spirit was overflowing n would his cape tremble violently.
Suddenly, his aura weakened, and he became slightly dispirited. “I don’t believe an emperor who had founded an era would be willing to accept defeat and become silent. Yet, I have already waited for twenty thousand years, and the stone statues in Great Ruins and the ghosts in Fengdu have also waited twenty thousand years. Why have you not returned…”
Qin Mu looked at him quietly, not knowing what to say.
King Yama had been anticipating a guest from Carefree Village and hoping for the news of Founding Emperor for twenty thousand years.
Yet what he found was only Qin Mu, a person that was born in Youdu although he had the bloodline of Founding Emperor.
Qin Mu wasn’t the person he was waiting for. Even if it was Qin Hanzhen, at least he could encourage him and bring news of Carefree Village.
Yet Qin Mu who was born in Youdu was completely clueless about Carefree Village.
The identity of Founding Emperor’s descendant couldn’t soothe the heart of loyal soldiers that had waited for twenty thousand years.
After a long time, King Yama’s breath returned to normal. The eyes under the black robe shifted to Qin Mu as he said, “You were born in Youdu, and it is the same Fengdu—they are both the worlds of the dead. I have never heard of humans being born in the world of the dead. Let me see if there’s anything wrong with you.”
Qin Mu stared blankly as he didn’t understand him.
Suddenly, King Yama started walking around him and speaking in a solemn voice. “There are few people in Youdu, but monsters can be born in Youdu. They are a combination of spirits and Youdu’s devil nature. You have seen the monsters under Bridge of Helplessness which are from Youdu. You being born in Youdu is different from how those monsters were born from the grievances of heaven and earth and the devil nature. You were born from the womb, but you might be contaminated by the devil nature of Youdu.”
“Contaminated by the devil nature of Youdu?” Qin Mu probed. “What you mean is?”
He was slightly shocked. A devil god had once said that he was a devil just like him. Had it been not lying, and he actually had devil nature on him?
And he had it since the moment he was born?
King Yama didn’t continue speaking. Instead, he lifted the hood of the black robe and revealed his face beneath it.
Before Qin Mu could see it, the two eyes were like swirling whirlpools which sucked his mind inside.
“Don’t be scared. I’m just exploring your soul to see if it’s different from humans who are born in the normal world.”
Qin Mu felt his world spinning as though he was situated in the center of two eyes. They were scarlet like blood and strangely large. The pupils looked at him with from the left and right while he was spinning continuously, unable to fall to the bottom!
He seemed to just go down into boundless darkness with a never-ending sinking sensation.
When King Yama spoke, his words seemed to be extremely far from him, even further than the nine heavens above. “There has been no human that was ever been born in Youdu before and I don’t know what happens when a human is born in Youdu. However, I can guess that when you were born, something extremely terrifying happened.
“The devil nature and souls roaming around in Youdu would have tried to enter your body. Your mother should have been able to defend against the roaming souls in Youdu, but she might not have been able to keep the devil nature away. I want to see what Youdu has done to you…”
Qin Mu tried his best to stabilize his mind, and the jade pendant on his neck suddenly floated up. The light hummed as it burst outward as though it was defending him against King Yama’s blood eyes.
The two blood eyes grew bigger, and the light of the jade pendant got brighter. In the end though, the two blood eyes of King Yama suppressed the light of the jade pendant.
Qin Mu wanted to struggle, but he couldn’t muster any strength at all. He could only let that two nightmare-like blood eyes to continue prying and suppressing him.
He felt that his corporal body didn’t have any strength, as though it had been detached from his soul.
It felt as though he was drowning and couldn’t breathe anymore. His soul was slowly floating out of his corporeal body.
At that moment, Qin Mu suddenly stopped spinning and whispers came from his surroundings. It was like countless devils hidden in the boundless darkness were talking in low voices.
Those whispers gradually came closer, growing louder and louder, noisier and noisier. They finally became countless voices that bombarded him with different words in different languages, splitting his head with the pain. They were so noisy that his thoughts and consciousness were becoming scattered and messy!
Finally, all of the voices overlapped together and became a single one!
It was Youdu’s devil language!
“Shut up!” Qin Mu shouted out angrily, but what came out from his mouth wasn’t the language of humans. It was Youdu’s devil language!
Suddenly, terrifying energy burst out from his body, and it could suddenly move. He was still located between the two blood eyes, standing there solitarily. Behind him was boundless darkness, but a seam split apart in the there!
It opened up, and whispers began again. The seam grew bigger and bigger, until light flowed out. With a hum, a huge eyeball appeared behind him and rotated left and right.
That eye presented a strange pupil and that was three pupils squeezed together. They were also rotating while changing their directions!
Devil light emanated from the eye as though there were black butterfly wings growing from its sides. It was pretty and flirtatious yet extremely strange.
“Shut up!” Qin Mu hugged his head while shouting angrily. “Stop being noisy!”
Whoosh!
The space in the surroundings trembled violently like cracking glass.
King Yama was shocked by the power in that roar and could only stare blankly at the bewitching eye behind him. He muttered, “You were born in Youdu and are indeed affected by Youdu’s devil nature. It is in your body, but it was being suppressed by the jade pendant. Now that I’ve suppressed the jade pendant, I’ve released your devil nature…”
“Stop being noisy!”
The Youdu’s devil language from Qin Mu’s mouth flowed smoothly like never before, and when his voice rang out, the space in the surroundings instantly shattered. The time and space created by the blood eyes of King Yama crumbled.
Behind him, another seam appeared as another eye was about to open.
King Yama felt his hair stand on ends. It was as if he was standing in front of a huge, terrifying beast that was about to wake up.
“What fierce devil nature! I can’t let you out!”
He made his move brazenly, and the two blood eyes withdrew rapidly. His cape fluttered and covered the heaven and earth, shrouding the entire Hall of King Qin. He mobilized all his strength to suppress the devil nature in Qin Mu’s body.
A voice full of the devil nature came from Hall of King Qin in fluent Youdu. “Merely a small ghost and you dare to suppress me?”
Boom!
Hall of King Qin trembled violently as another rumble rang out. Hall of King Qin trembled a few more times, and the pillars inside fell left and right. The roof of the hall suddenly split, and the hall shuddered as though it could collapse anytime.
Soon though, the hall regained its peace.
Qin Mu opened his eyes and looked around in a daze. In front of him, a few huge pillars had broken as though sliced into pieces by sharp claws. There were a few more that were bent from being smashed.
There was true fire of pure yang leaking in through the cracks within Hall of King Qin, burning the wood with tongues of flame.
It looked as if there had been a huge battle as creaks came from the roof. Lumps of dust and bricks fell from time to time.
“What happened?” Qin Mu was at a loss.
“Don’t you know what had happened?” King Yama’s voice came from the darkness.
Qin Mu immediately looked over and saw King Yama embedded in the center of a bent pillar. It seemed as though he’d been smashed against it by a terrifying power.
Qin Mu was dumbstruck and immediately went forward, wanting to help him, but King Yama waved his hand and struggled out of the pillar himself. “Do you really not know what happened?”
Qin Mu shook his head. He was completely clueless. He only remembered King Yama’s eyes looking at him as he continued to sink between them.
“It’s also good that you don’t know. Keep the jade pendant of Carefree Village with you all the time. You cannot lose it. No matter what, you can’t lose it.” King Yama let out a shaky breath and said calmly, “This jade pendant is of utmost importance to you. If you lose it, terrifying things will happen.”
Qin Mu pushed his jade pendant back under his clothes and asked, “Can I show the jade pendant to others?”
King Yama trembled violently, and he said sternly, “It’s best not to!”
Qin Mu smiled then. “I have taken the jade pendant off to show others numerous times before.”
King Yama let out another shaky breath. “That is their luck, and they should celebrate still being alive. You can go now. Chi Xiu, send him out!”
God Chi Xiu popped his head in and looked around curiously. When he saw the miserable situation of Hall of King Qin, he shrunk his neck back and said, “Cult Master Qin, follow me.”
Qin Mu had doubts. He hurriedly walked out of Hall of King Qin and asked God Chi Xiu in a low voice, “What happened just now?”
“I have no idea.” Chi Xiu shook his head and said, “Seems like some terrifying existence attacked Hall of King Qin. Don’t speak, you have the smell of a human…”
“Also!” King Yama’s voice came from behind. “You can walk into the darkness of Great Ruins and it won’t injure you at all. If there’s a chance, you should take a trip to Youdu.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He turned back to cry out, “I can enter the darkness of Great Ruins?”
Before King Yama could reply, a loud rumble suddenly came from behind them, and Hall of King Qin crumbled straight on the ruler of Fengdu!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu was astonished. He turned to look at Chi Xiu, but the god buried his head in his feathers, pretending to see nothing.
For Chi Xiu to be the trusted aide of King Yama, his reputation wasn’t undeserved. He was firm in not looking at King Yama’s sorry form, which was the wise method of protecting oneself. If it were other people, they would have rushed into the debris to save King Yama
Qin Mu sighed ruefully in his heart. Saving King Yama would show that one was loyal, but the person would also see the sorry state of King Yama, causing damage to his wise and strong image. There were merit and demerit to it, but since one wouldn’t know if the merit or demerit would be bigger, the best was to pretend one didn’t see anything.
Besides, the collapse of the hall wouldn’t hurt King Yama so it was better to not show one’s loyalty by rushing over to him.
‘King Yama said that I can walk through the darkness of Great Ruins and not get hurt. Is this true or not?’
Qin Mu was slightly hesitant because going into the darkness concerned his life. If it wasn’t true, he would die if he went out, so he didn’t dare to try. Ever since he was young, he had been taught by the villagers of Disabled Elderly Village about how there were great terrors in the darkness and he was not to go in no matter what. On top of that, during Qin Mu’s growth, he had also seen the horror of the darkness, so he had never even considered the possibility that the darkness might not touch him.
He had entered the darkness numerous times, but he had always relied on treasures or strong practitioners that were like gods to protect himself from being closed in on by the darkness. He’d used Xing An’s chest, Village Chief’s protection, or Dragon Rearing Sovereign’s protection to remain unharmed.
He was somewhat afraid of attempting to enter the darkness without any protection.
“Let’s go,” Chi Xiu hurried him. “After sending you off, I can rest.”
“God Chi Xiu, I still have to go to where Heavenly Saint Cult and the human emperors are to fetch the dragon qilin and the chest.”
Chi Xiu could only bring him to where the past cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult stayed. All the doors were locked tight, and the dragon qilin was shut outside by the young patriarch. He was currently wagging his tail and saying sweet things to get Patriarch to open the door.
The young patriarch didn’t acknowledge him no matter what, only shouting from inside, “In the journey of life and death, I’m already dead while you are still alive, so we can’t be together. Follow Cult Master out!”
The dragon qilin clawed at the door and cried loudly.
The young patriarch was also choking as he held back his tears. He wanted to open the door, but he was afraid that the fellow would come in and rub against him again, so he steeled his heart.
Qin Mu called the dragon qilin over and said with a smile. “Fatty Dragon, no need to be sad. Patriarch is living fine here and we are living perfectly fine outside. We can always come to see him anytime in the future.”
The dragon qilin walked over. When he was touched by the true fire of pure yang, flesh slowly grew on his body. The incomparably huge sun had risen very high by then and become so large that it looked like it could fall out of the sky at any moment.
Qin Mu raised his head and saw that the sacred halls on the sun were made of gold. The gods and devils in front of them could be faintly seen still beating the drums frantically. They were using the true fire of pure yang to refine Fengdu.
The sun was so close to them that Qin Mu began suspecting that the gods and devils on the sun would attack at any moment.
“They don’t dare to attack.” God Chi Xiu pruned his feathers calmly, unruffled in the mid of the chaos. “This is Fengdu, which is part of Youdu. They look close, but they are actually very far away. There’s a world barrier between us. On top of that, we have fought a few times in the past, and they were the ones on the losing end. They only dare to hide in the sun and beat their drums.”
Qin Mu was puzzled about it, so he asked, “The sun in this sky is different from the one in Eternal Peace, so this sun…”
“Is the sun of Great Ruins. It’s real,” God Chi Xiu said. “The sun of Eternal Peace is fake.”
Qin Mu was speechless. The sun before him was too terrifying. Luckily, they were living in the facade of the sun, moon, and stars. Otherwise, if the people of Eternal Peace saw such a terrifying sun, even the emperor might go crazy.
“Patriarch do you have money?” Qin Mu asked through a slit in the door. “Entering Fengdu requires Fengdu gold coins and I only had three to get here. I need coins to take the boat.”
The young patriarch stuffed a few gold coins out through the slit. “I just died so I don’t have much money, be thrifty.”
Qin Mu acknowledged it and went to knock on the other cult masters’ doors. “Fellow cult masters, if you don’t pay up, I’ll stop your offerings and dismantle your memorial tablets.”
“You scum, who bullies their ancestors? Isn’t it just money? Take it!”
Qin Mu knocked on every door and extorted about two hundred Fengdu gold coins. He then went to the residences of the human emperors and asked the strange beasts in front of Sacred Hall of Five Yang, “Is First Ancestor back?”
The two strange beasts ran into the hall and threw the taotie out. “Old master still hasn’t returned.”
The taotie landed on the ground and got burned by the true fire of pure yang. With a few bangs, it turned back into a huge chest that followed obediently behind the dragon qilin.
“Cult Master Qin, it’s time to leave!” Chi Xiu hurried him.
“God Chi Xiu, please wait a moment.”
Qin Mu went to Second Ancestor’s home who opened the door but didn’t walk out as he was worried about being burned by the true fire of pure yang. “Both of my sleeves are flowing in the breeze, and I really don’t have money, so I can only go to teacher’s house to freeload.”
Qin Mu took out a few Fengdu gold coins and smiled. “I know you have noble character and unquestionable integrity, so I’m here to give you a few gold coins to tide through this period of time. When I go back to Hall of Human Emperors, I’ll burn some money for all the ancestors.”
Second Ancestor was delighted and hurriedly took the gold coins. “You are much more filial than Little Su. Little Su isn’t back yet, but when he returns, we are planning to give him a huge surprise!”
“Second Ancestor, don’t forget to tell Village Chief I came by.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely tell him!” Second Ancestor gritted promised through gritted teeth.
Qin Mu hesitated before saying, “Second Ancestor, can you lend me First Ancestor’s Between Life and Death? I would like to do business…”
Second Ancestor was puzzled. “How would you use Between Life and Death for business?”
Qin Mu smiled. “There are many gods and devils in Fengdu who can’t go to the world of the living, so I would like to use Between Life and Death as a bridge for the divine arts practitioners to make deals through it. Divine arts practitioners can take their gold coins or learn their divine arts, paths, and techniques in payment for helping those already passed on fulfill their wishes. I think this could be a big business! I plan to pave a road through Great Ruins so I require some money to subsidize the expenses.”
Second Ancestor was still puzzled and asked, “Where will the money come from?”
“The divine arts practitioners will have to pay an entrance fee to use Between Life and Death, and I will earn a huge amount from it.”
Second Ancestor came to a realization and scolded him with a smile, “You wily brat.”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Between Life and Death can connect Fengdu to the world of the living, so Second Ancestor can collect money here too, taking entrance fee from the gods and devils. Like that, you can also earn a huge amount. Even if I don’t give offerings, you guys could live comfortably. In just a few years’ time, all the ancestors would become the richest tycoons in Fengdu!”
Second Ancestor was dumbfounded and cried out, “Collecting money from both sides? Such a good deal? Won’t people be jabbing our spine and scolding us?”
“Between Life and Death is in our hands and there’s only this road that can connect the world of the dead and the world of the living. Even if they scold, they will still have no choice but to take our road and pay us.”
Second Ancestor hurriedly rushed out, braving the true fire of pure yang, to get to First Ancestor’s Sacred Hall of Five Yang. He cared not for the blazing fire all over him as he dashed into the hall to fetch Between Life and Death.
The lips of the two huge beasts guarding the door twitched, and they said, “Second master, old master only had this much of property left. You will bleed him dry sooner or later!”
Second Ancestor smiled at them. “My master still regards me as an outsider? When I’m rich, you guys will benefit as well.”
Qin Mu took Between Life and Death, which was a small river that was about three yards long. There was a boat and a bridge within it.
Second Ancestor then instructed him, “Refine this Between Life and Death first. When you perform the rites, I will be able to sense it over here. Remember, perform the rites at night. If you perform it in the day, you’d see the same sight as right now. The gods on the sun would burn us and we wouldn’t be able to do any business.”
Qin Mu acknowledged it and hung the long river on his body. “Second Ancestor, wait for my news.”
Second Ancestor woke up at that moment and said immediately, “Business is a small matter. Don’t spend too much effort on this and focus on your cultivation. Leave collecting money to others.”
Qin Mu nodded and said, “I understand.” After saying so, he took out some more Fengdu gold coins. “Second Ancestor, please hand these over to the other ancestors for them to tide over these few days.”
“Human Emperor Qin is considerate.”
Qin Mu bade farewell, and God Chi Xiu sent him to the boundary stone of the living realm of the dead. “After going past here, there will be no more true fire of pure yang. Just take the boat back.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks. After walking out of the living realm of the dead, his corporeal body returned to normal. He waved to God Chi Xiu who spread his wings to fly away.
The dock was nearby, and Qin Mu called the lone boat in the sea of fog. The skeleton Daoist Ling Jing steered the boat over, carrying him, the dragon qilin, and the chest to the opposite shore.
When they came there, Qin Mu disembarked from the boat and took out three gold coins to pay the fare. Daoist Ling Jing was astonished and immediately said, “They are not humans so there’s no need to pay.”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Daoist, just take them.”
Daoist Ling Jing hurriedly accepted his payment before probing him. “Human Emperor Qin struck a windfall?”
Qin Mu laughed loudly. “I’m going to get rich! Daoist, farewell.”
Daoist Ling Jing saw him off and put away the gold coins properly while thinking to himself, ‘Another few hundred years, and I will be able to buy a house in Fengdu too…’
God Chi Xiu returned to Hall of King Qin and saw that the collapsed building had already returned back to normal. God Chi Xiu carefully walked over and saw King Yama standing at the back of the hall, looking at the flames behind the door.
“Visitor from Carefree Village, very interesting,” King Yama suddenly said. “Even though he wasn’t born in Carefree Village, his lineage is still that of Founding Emperor. He’s extraordinary. From just this short meetup, I actually have great expectations for him. If it was his father that had come, my expectations may be big, but I would still have become dispirited afterward. Yet now, even though I was disappointed when he arrived at first, my anticipation is only going to grow and grow.”
God Chi Xiu didn’t understand. “This Cult Master Qin, Human Emperor Qin, has a temper that jumps all over the place, so why is King Yama holding expectations for him? He stayed half a day in Fengdu and beat up all the past human emperors, smashed the palace of Cult Master Zu Yang, and beat up the past Heavenly Devil Cult Masters. He even went to extort money from the past cult masters and asked for Between Life and Death, planning to connect the world of the dead and the world of the living to do some business! Isn’t this fooling around?”
King Yama turned around and said with a smile, “Fengdu is too cold and cheerless, so let him play crazy and some unexpected changes might happen. I have never seen such an interesting person with such ideas. Maybe he can achieve what others couldn’t. Besides, the secrets about him aren’t as simple as he thinks. This makes me look forward to him even more…”
God Chi Xiu was astonished. “King Yama will really allow him to connect Fengdu to the world of the living for him to do his business?”
King Yama waved his hands and didn’t speak anymore.
Even though the sun had risen, darkness covered Youdu. There was no sky, no land, no sun, moon, or stars.
Xing An floated in the darkness, but at that moment, a faint voice rang out, waking him up.
“Xing An, wake up…”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xing An opened his eyes to look around. There were still all kinds of limbs growing from his body. Not only that, there was also a monster that looked like an octopus stuck to his back. Its limbs were strong and strapped tightly to him while contracting non-stop.
He had fainted from that monster binding him.
“Who is talking?” he asked weakly.
“A human from the world of the living, an interesting life form. Xing An, after reaching such a state, do you still want to return to the world of the living?”
The owner of the voice circled around him. Sometimes it the words came from the left, and sometimes from the right. Sometimes it was above him, and sometimes it was below. It seemed like a fish swimming in the darkness.
“You are a saint that appears once every five hundred years yet you have landed in such a state. This truly makes me sigh in regret. How could you face the people of the world looking like this?”
The limbs on Xing An’s body were held by the monster, and he couldn’t move, so he could take a breather. Before, he’d been in unbelievable torture and suffered more than ever before in his life. He had never been so miserable and helpless before.
Yet now, he still wasn’t at ease as he was in Youdu.
Only after he jumped into the river did he find out where he went, that it was a place where the dead sank.
He was in despair. Youdu was the place where Earth Count ruled, and he had never heard before anyone that could survive after entering Youdu.
He had barged into Fengdu and now he had barged into Youdu. Why was heaven treating him so horribly?
“What exactly are you? Why are you mocking me?”
Xing An let out a shaky breath. He wanted to struggle out of the monster’s binding, but he couldn’t muster any strength. Besides, even if he could break free, the other body parts would rebel and beat him up, cursing him.
He had no strength to escape from the monster. Even if he broke free from the limbs on his body, his lifespan wouldn’t be long, and if it came to an end, he would die in Youdu.
“My name is Lu Li,” the voice said, no longer moving. “Xuan Ming is the left, and Han Lei the right. Lu Li is the front, and Jue Huang the back.”
Xing An gasped for breath. “Lu Li? Did you ask me if I wanted to return to the world of the living? I want to return to the world of the living!”
“You don’t know the meaning of this poem?” The tone of that voice was slightly disappointed as it sighed. “The top-notch practitioner of the world of the living is actually so ignorant, actually not knowing Xuan Ming, Han Lei, Lu Li, and Jue Huang. You guys have fallen that low? Oh well, I won’t bully your ignorance. I can let you return to the world of the living and solve the danger of your corporeal body. I can even erase your death record and let you have no more worries of dying from old age.”
Xing An’s expression loosened, and he asked, “What do I have to do?”
“It’s pleasant to talk with smart people,” Lu Li said. “Ten years ago, there was a child who was born in Youdu and absorbed the qi of Youdu before being brought away. He was sent out, and I need you to send him back. My corporeal body is too strong so I can’t pass through the barrier between Youdu and the world of the living, so I need you to walk there and do my work!”
“How should I find this child?” Xing An asked.
“Very simple. He has a jade pendant, and there’s a unique rune on it. There’s also the word QIn engraved on it, so you will recognize it when you see it,” Lu Li explained. “He should be around seventeen now, almost eighteen. I’ve already drawn his birth data and the shape of the jade pendant. He was born on the eight of the twelfth lunar month, first year of the sixty-year cycle, and the twelfth solar month.”
A picture flew over, and the eight tentacle monster holding Xing An suddenly left, vanishing into the darkness.
At the same time, the limbs on Xing An’s body started rotting, and numerous heads, arms, legs, and bodies fell off. Xing An’s heart trembled violently as he felt his body becoming his once again. He hurriedly grabbed the painting.
Lu Li’s voice rang beside his ear then. “Find this child. You can kill or capture him, but you cannot let his soul disperse. I need you to send his soul in perfect condition to Youdu! If even a hair is gone, you will die incomparably miserably!”
When it said the last word, the limbs suddenly grew back on Xing An’s body.
Lu Li’s chuckles floated around as Xing An’s body returned to normal. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
“I’ll pass you a mirror. After you find him, you can use this mirror to verify his identity.” A mirror suddenly appeared from the darkness and landed in Xing An’s hand. Lu Li then said with a laugh, “This mirror can reflect his identity, but you can’t aim the mirror at him while facing him, do you understand?”
“Can’t aim the mirror at him while facing him?” Xing An stared blankly at the floating object as he didn’t know what the creature meant.
“That’s right. Your back must face him while you use the mirror to observe him!” Lu Li’s tone suddenly became stern. “Remember, when facing him, you can never shine this mirror on him! Your back must face him!”
“I get it, you don’t need to repeat it so many times. Just a small matter…”
“This is definitely not a small matter!” Lu Li sneered. “If you shine it on him while facing him, you will cause a huge problem, a very huge problem! I can extend your life for thirty years, so you’ll have thirty years to do this for me. You can go now!”
“Hold it!” Xing An smiled and said leisurely, “We haven’t met before, but since this mirror can reflect a person, it should be able to reflect you too, right?” He flipped the mirror and pointed its face behind himself.
“You…”
He stared at the mirror and saw the reflection of a peerless beauty. Lu Li’s voice had clearly belonged to a man, yet the mirror reflected a woman!
The beauty flicked her finger, and Xing An started spinning as though he had fallen into a huge whirlpool. When he woke up, he realized he was lying on a long rock under an ancient pine tree as though he had fallen asleep and spent the night in the open there.
The surroundings had birdsong and fragrant flowers, as well as springs and waterfall. There were a few monkeys swinging to and fro among the forest before stopping to pluck some bananas. They peeled them and ate eagerly while looking at him with caution.
Stunned, Xing An looked around. How was he still not at the broken cliff of Great Ruins? There was an ocean in front of him!
“What is this place?” he couldn’t help asking bewilderedly.
“This is South Sea.” The monkey threw a banana peel that hit his head.
“South Sea?”
Xing An immediately got up, at a loss. He was now located at the southernmost part of Great Ruins which was some thirty-forty thousand miles from where he had entered Fengdu!
“You are a strange beast in Great Ruins, but you can talk. It seems like you are a strange breed which awakened your intelligence.”
Xing An picked the banana peel and flicked it away. “Taking into account that you pointed out the location for me, I won’t kill you, but some suffering is inevitable.”
The monkey jumped up. When it landed, a banana peel appeared under its feet, causing it to slip and fall. The monkey was furious, but when it climbed up, wanting to take revenge on Xing An, he had already disappeared without a trace.
“How petty!” The monkey was furious and jumped onto a tree, but to its surprise, what it grabbed was another banana peel, and so it came crashing down from the tree.
The banana peel seemed to have gotten stuck to the monkey. As long as it jumped up, it would automatically fly to its hands or legs, causing it to slip and fall badly.
The monkey was furious and picked up a stone to tear the banana peel to pieces.
By then, Xing An had already left and was mumbling to himself. “Even though Lu Li is remarkable, she can’t enter the world of the living. How can I, Xing An, be manipulated by her? She gave me a lifespan of thirty years and she wants to control me with that? Not so easy! Divine Physician Qin said that he has already established the space algebra model of the divine bridge and spread it around. I shall go to Eternal Peace, and with my comprehension and aptitude, I can become a god in one or two years and break free from her control!”
Suddenly, Lu Li’s voice rang out beside his ears. “Rascal, I’ll take away fifteen years from your lifespan.”
Xing An’s heart trembled violently, and he hurriedly looked around. However, he couldn’t find any traces of Lu Li.
‘This is the world of the living, and she can’t come here! It must be a hallucination!’
Just as he thought that, he suddenly came to a realization and quickly opened his Life and Death Divine Treasure. He saw that it was connected to Youdu which was dark and hazy. A pair of eyes were glowing in the darkness there, staring at him.
Xing An’s blood went cold. He knew he could never break free. Even if he became a god, it would be hard for him to escape from that woman’s control!
‘Who exactly is this person that’s born in Youdu?’
Xing An frowned. There were many seventeen years old, so where was he going to find such a person?
…..
“Fatty Dragon, faster! The sky is almost dark!” Qin Mu hurried. “We need to find a ruin or a village before the night comes!”
The darkness flooded over from the west as Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin and the chest to a ruin full of strange beasts of Great Ruins. They all stayed together in harmony.
The chest took the time to dug out a broken stone tablet from underground and planned to stuff it into its stomach, but it was too huge and didn’t fit inside.
Qin Mu went over to sweep the dust off the stone tablet and read—Big Dipper’s Dark and Light True Purity Heaven Lady Mother of the Chariot. ‘This is the celestial heavens of Founding Emperor Era, the place where Big Dipper’s Lady Mother of the Chariot resided? This Lady Mother of the Chariot should be a powerful goddess, but it’s a pity that even this place has turned into ruin…’
He stood up and went to the entrance of Palace of Lady Mother of the Chariot and looked at the darkness outside.
The darkness seemed like it was blocked by a screen of light at the palace’s entrance. There was a clear separation between light and dark.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before stretching out his thumb, his nail slowly getting closer to the darkness.”
“Cult Master, don’t die—”
The dragon qilin pounced over and bit his leg to drag him back. It resulted in him collecting a lot of dust, and Qin Mu rose to beat the dragon qilin up when he jumped back to his feet.
Roar!
A commotion suddenly broke out in the ruin. Numerous strange beasts and territorial beasts were furious, and they roared all at once while closing in on Qin Mu.
His forehead broke out in sweat, and he slowly stepped back. He looked at the thousands of strange beasts that were closing in on him and tried to explain, “Everyone, listen to me, I’m not breaking the rules of Great Ruins on purpose. It was this Fatty Dragon who made a move first…”
He retreated to the door and leaned against a stone pillar. Some of the huge beasts beat their chests while some snarled and showed their teeth. Some were sharpening their claws and some were preparing their divine arts, ready to kill the fellow who had broken the rules of Great Ruins,
Qin Mu gritted his teeth and suddenly turned. With a headlong dash, he pushed his head into the darkness.
Most of the strange beasts were dumbfounded. The dragon qilin wailed loudly and bit onto Qin Mu’s pants to pull him back. The other strange beasts covered their faces as they knew a skeleton without flesh would be pulled out. Either that or the neck would have been severed cleanly and be all bloody!
“Fatty Dragon, go away.” Qin Mu gave a kick, and the hairs of all strange beasts stood up on ends. Their blood ran cold!
“M—m—moving…” a territorial strange beast stuttered before its voice rose in a shout. “Moving corpse!”
At that moment, Qin Mu entered the darkness with a pop. Before the strange beasts could let out a sigh of relief though, a head suddenly popped back in from the darkness.
Thump!
A strange beast collapsed, having fainted from fright.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu shrunk his head back and looked around. If he had not broken the rules of Great Ruins and been forced out by the strange beasts, he would not have barged into the darkness.
He had never thought before that the day would come when he could step into the darkness by himself. It was completely different from relying on the protection of the stone statues or the chest.
He felt as if he blended into the darkness like a fish in water. It was like he was part of the darkness.
In his eyes, it was no longer pure black, but similar to fog.
‘This isn’t truly darkness, but a special kind of substance.’
Qin Mu was astonished. He was always curious about the darkness in Great Ruins, but his cultivation had been too low to enter the darkness. But even with enough power to enter the darkness, he reckoned he wouldn’t be able to discover the marvel of the darkness because strong practitioners like Village Chief and Xing An were forcing it back and not letting it get close to them.
Forcing the darkness back made it difficult to discover the truth about it.
Qin Mu was, however, blending in with the darkness, so it was much easier for him to see it.
Village Chief had once guessed that the darkness of Great Ruins wasn’t truly darkness. Instead, it was a world that overlapped with Great Ruins, and he named it the dark realm.
It was later that Village Chief discovered that there wasn’t only one dark realm in Great Ruins but several.
He had also called Fengdu a dark realm.
However, as Qin Mu’s understanding of Fengdu increased, he discovered another secret. Fengdu could be called a dark realm, but it was only a corner of it, one which belonged to none other than Youdu.
That place was one of the dark realms in Great Ruins.
Youdu and Fengdu were moving and changing their locations continuously, so they didn’t cover the entire Great Ruins. The one that did it should be another dark realm.
When Qin Mu stepped into the darkness, he discovered another truth of Great Ruins—the darkness was some kind of strange substance.
‘When I entered another world through the broken cliff and realized that the day and night of that world were the opposite of those in Great Ruins, I had a daring guess.’
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered. He remembered what he had seen and guessed in the golden desert.
That world was the Great Ruins of High Emperor Era, where he had gone to avoid Xing An. There was also day and night there, and they were opposite to the day and night in Great Ruins.
Because of that, Qin Mu guessed that the darkness flooded over from the Great Ruins of High Emperor Era. When the sun set, the darkness flowed out through the cracks and went to the Great Ruins of Founding Emperor from the Great Ruins of High Emperor. When High Emperor Great Ruins started a new day, Founding Emperor Great Ruins went to night. When the sun rose, the darkness returned to High Emperor Great Ruins.
The two Great Ruins formed an hourglass, and the darkness was the sand inside, flowing to and fro.
This was Qin Mu’s guess.
However, he had been running from Xing An back then, and there was only Pangong Tso nearby, so he hadn’t voiced his guess to anyone.
When in the darkness now, he discovered that it was some strange substance, and it affirmed his guess.
‘If the cracks on the broken cliff stretching from north to south were blocked, could we lock the darkness in High Emperor Great Ruins? From then on, would there be no more invasions of darkness at night?’
Qin Mu blinked, finding this reasoning realistic. However, he didn’t know if it would succeed or not.
Besides, the broken cliff was very large and had numerous cracks, so it would be connected to more than one world. How to block the cracks was also another problem.
‘Blocking isn’t the best method to solve the problem. The best way to do it is to familiarize myself with the characteristics of the darkness that can swallow people.’
Qin Mu studied the dark substance which was like fog in detail. Black specks had shape, but not physical substance as they could pass through the skin.
‘Strange substance!”
Qin Mu was astonished. He mobilized a strand of vital qi and used it to fix a portion of the black substance in place. His palm passed through it without feeling any obstruction. He also didn’t feel like he had touched anything.
‘What substance is this exactly? What qualities does it have?’
Qin Mu was thinking about it when the dragon qilin’s nervous voice suddenly came from the ruin. “Cult Master, are you still alive?”
The sound seemed to have come from very far away, as though it had passed through a thick wall. “Don’t worry, I’m still alive. I’ll feed you tomorrow morning,” Qin Mu called back.
“Okay.” The dragon qilin made a sound of acknowledgment, then began to argue. “I wasn’t worried about food but Cult Master’s safety. But since Cult Master is fine, I can sleep now. Cult Master, come back once you’re done playing. We have a long day tomorrow.”
Qin Mu studied his surroundings for a while, but couldn’t understand what the dark substance was. At the moment he was about to head back, he saw a monster.
Whispers came from his surroundings. There were numerous monsters hidden in the darkness, shadows of rocks, and the forest watching him quietly. Scuttling sounds could be heard from time to time as black shadows moved around like phantoms, jumping from one patch of darkness to another at an extremely fast speed. Qin Mu found it hard to see their movements even when he activated his divine eyes.
Suddenly, he faintly saw real shadows walking through the darkness.
These figures seemed to be located between the void and reality, and they weren’t monsters but humans!
They were shadows of humans!
‘Why are there people in the darkness?’
Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly, and he hurriedly rushed forward. Other than him, the only people that could walk in the darkness were existences that had the abilities of gods, for example, Village Chief, Xing An. Or it could also be some things that could give off divine light, for example, Xing An’s chest which was made from taotie’s divine bones and skin.
When they entered the darkness, they would give off divine light and force the darkness back.
But the shadows in the darkness didn’t force the darkness back. They were like Qin Mu, blending with it. What was even weirder about them was that they seemed to be formed from the darkness!
Qin Mu went after a shadow which seemed to be just as curious about him. It stopped and seemed to be waiting for him to come.
Qin Mu rushed over and examined the black shadow in front of him curiously. It had two long braids hanging down its shoulders as it examined him as well.
Before him was a girl. Even though he could only see her silhouette, he could guess that she wasn’t too old.
She stretched out her palm in what seemed like an attempt to touch him, and Qin Mu stretched out his hand as well. However, their palms passed through each other like there was nothing there.
The girl in the shadow seemed astonished and said something. However, her words were whispers beside Qin Mu’s ears that he couldn’t make out.
‘So strange!’ Qin Mu was puzzled and scratched his head. “Can you hear what am I saying?”
The girl seemed to be unable to hear what he was saying; their voices were warped by a strange power. Suddenly, the girl squatted down, he braids bouncing from the motion. She stretched out her hand and wrote something on the ground.
Qin Mu lowered his head to look, but he could only see black light flowing below. There was nothing written on the ground.
He also wrote a sentence, but the shadow girl shook her head, expressing that she couldn’t see what he was writing either.
An idea flashed in Qin Mu’s head. Pulling his sword out, he executed Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, but the girl still shook her head, expressing that she didn’t understand what he was doing.
Qin Mu was out of ideas.
Suddenly, the black shadow girl ran forward and stopped after a few steps to beckon him over.
Qin Mu followed after her, and the two of them ran for a while. After some time, the black shadow girl stopped, but Qin Mu couldn’t stop himself and passed straight through her. His motion pushed him to an overhanging cliff that was thirty thousand yards high.
The girl tried to grab his hand, but she couldn’t get hold of him. Luckily, Qin Mu managed to stabilize himself and didn’t drop down the cliff.
The girl pointed forward, and Qin Mu’s mind trembled violently at the sight. Down the cliff stood a magnificent city that possessed a foreign mood to it. Qin Mu had never seen such a vast and majestic construction in Great Ruins before!
‘Strange, this city doesn’t exist in Great Ruins, so could it really be the dark realm overlapping with Great Ruins…’
Qin Mu frowned slightly. If the dark substance could flow between Founding Emperor Great Ruins and High Emperor Great Ruins, wouldn’t this dark realm also exist in the ruins of High Emperor Great Ruins?
Could he really block a world by blocking the cracks in the broken cliff?
‘The darkness of Great Ruins is much more complicated than I imagined. I’m afraid it can’t be blocked…’
Just as he thought that, that shadow girl leaped down from the mountain cliff. She sprinted diagonally down the air as though she was walking on flat ground as she descended into the city below.
Qin Mu also leaped as though he was flying and followed in her footsteps. After a moment, the two of them came to the city, and Qin Mu looked around. The place around him was flourishing, and there were many people bustling to and fro. However, in his eyes, they were all lumps of shadow.
If they were changed into true humans, then he would be visiting an incomparably flourishing city.
He also saw gods and devils in the darkness that were standing on tall buildings while looking around in alert.
Qin Mu was stunned. He felt that there was something wrong.
He had seen a similar sight before.
In Hundred Prosperities City from forty thousand years back in time, the gods and devils had looked around in alert just like this. However, the gods and devils back then had been guarding against the darkness outside the city!
In that case, what was this city in the darkness guarding against?
The shadow girl brought Qin Mu around the city, and all the black shadows in the streets turned their heads to look at them. In their eyes, Qin Mu’s form should have been very strange, for they couldn’t help casting sidelong glances at him.
The two of them passed through many alleys before coming to a mansion built with an extraordinary style. There, an incomparably towering figure slowly rose and opened up its four arms to protect the building. Qin Mu’s arrival seemed to have been what roused the god protecting this mansion.
The shadow girl leaped up onto the palm of that god. She jumped around as though she was flying until she came to the shoulder of the god and said something to him.
The god tilted his head and examined Qin Mu. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were just whispers in Qin Mu’s ears. He couldn’t understand any of them.
After a moment, the god lowered his palm and signaled for Qin Mu to stand on it. Qin Mu hesitated for a while, but when he came over, he couldn’t step onto anything. He almost fell when trying to, and he hurriedly executed his divine art to float over the palm.
Thee dark god was astonished, and he raised another hand to poke Qin Mu with a finger. It passed right through as if there was nothing there.
The dark god scratched his head, not knowing what was happening.
‘This is too strange!’ Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently. ‘Even an almighty god can’t touch me!’
Suddenly, the city burst into a commotion, and the dark god placed down the shadow girl. He immediately rose into the sky and rushed toward the city gate.
Qin Mu hurriedly followed the shadow girl toward a high place. The space outside the city trembled as black holes suddenly appeared. Grotesque gods and devils crawled out from them, bringing countless soldiers to rush at the magnificent city.
A large scale battle erupted.
Not long later, the city was invaded, and countless devils flooded through the streets where everyone began fighting.
Qin Mu followed the shadow girl to hide while the city was in chaos. Divine arts and spirit weapons bursting forth with power flashed everywhere, and houses and palaces crumbled all around.
It was an extremely long night until the crow of a rooster rang through the air. Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly at that moment. The darkness surged along with the city. The devil gods retreated back frantically with the monsters, retreating into space holes that vanished without a trace.
Qin Mu’s figure swayed from the moving darkness. He was about to grab the shadow girl beside him when she vanished along with the city!
A ray of sunlight shone down and lighted up the surroundings. Qin Mu looked around and saw towering mountains and precipitous ridges without any sign of a city having existed in their place.
“Cult Master! Cult Master!”
The dragon qilin’s cries came from a distance. Qin Mu looked toward the source of the sound and saw the ruin where they had been resting the day before. The dragon qilin held his basin as he rushed over to place it down. While wagging his tail, he said with a laugh, “Cult Master, it’s time to eat. You know it’s quite late already…”
Qin Mu looked around, feeling like the night’s events had been just a dream.
‘Great Ruins is too strange. Did I really enter another world last night?’
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After the long journey during the day, it was night time again, but this time, Qin Mu didn’t find a ruin to rest on the way. Instead, he had the chest carry the dragon qilin throughout the night while he walked in the darkness after it.
He saw many strange things during the night. With the appearance of the darkness, numerous cities and countless lifeforms suddenly appeared. There were large scale battles, which was something he hadn’t seen when he followed Village Chief into the darkness of Great Ruins.
Every time he got close to the light of the chest, he wouldn’t be able to see what was truly happening in the darkness. The divine light of the chest brought him back to his original world.
What was strange was that he couldn’t feel the world barrier.
This was something that was impossible.
Any two worlds would have world barriers so traveling through them would cause people to suffer from the squeezing of the two different worlds. The stronger the traveler’s strength was, the stronger the squeeze would be.
Yet there was no barrier between the dark realm and reality, which was weird.
Qin Mu walked into the light of the chest and went into a daze when he sat down on it. In a bit, his eyes lit up, and he smiled. ‘I know an expert in this field, so wouldn’t it be a good idea to call him out?’
Full of excitement, he had the chest stop. He jumped off and took out a white bone sacrificial altar from his taotie sack. On the altar, he placed a four-headed and eight-armed devil god statue.
Qin Mu took out a cinnabar brush and drew all kinds of runes on the devil god statue. He then used his vital qi to activate the runes to cast a spell, executing Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command.
After a moment, his spell was finished, but the devil god statue didn’t move at all.
It made Qin Mu suspicious. He executed the spell once more, but the devil god statue still had no reaction.
“Big Brother Dutian, little brother is summoning you in fear and trepidation, offering up meat and delicacies. May big brother grace me with your presence,” Qin Mu prayed. “If Big Brother Dutian doesn’t come, brother will pray a hundred times a day until big brother descends. Brother…”
“Shut up! Who is your big brother?”
The devil god statue suddenly opened its eyes on one face, its eyeballs rotating rapidly. Only when Dutian discovered that he hadn’t been schemed against did he send a strand of his consciousness down. The other three faces instantly woke up, and he opened his mouth to speak.
“I didn’t become sworn brothers with you, so don’t speak of us being kin. We aren’t familiar! If you prayed a hundred times a day to me, I’d be annoyed to death by you! Cult Master Qin, what have you summon me for?”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “I have a thing that I don’t understand.” He explained what he’d seen in the darkness and asked, “Why when two worlds overlap there’s no world barrier or rejection when passing through them?”
The wooden devil god statue stood up from the sacrificial altar and plucked a white bone to eat it as if it was sugarcane. “I thought you summoned me with some scheme in mind, but it’s just this kind of small matter.”
Qin Mu did the disciple rites and asked, “May Big Brother Dutian enlighten me?”
Dutian Devil King felt his blood run cold and immediately said, “Don’t be so polite! When you are so polite, I can’t help suspecting that you’re going to create trouble for me! What you say actually involves the energy of the world which is always fixed. The birth, cultivation, and death of a person won’t change the structure of the world’s energy. It is the most basic law!”
Qin Mu thought about it before saying, “The birth, cultivation, and death of a person won’t change the energy structure even if they became god or devil, turning into an undying being?”
“Even if one becomes a god or devil, it won’t change the fixed energy in this world. It won’t make the energy of this world become more and it won’t reduce it,” Dutian Devil King said. “The energy of a world is constant and the changes to it are limited. When a person travels to another world from this world, the world will lose the energy of a person while the other world will gain the energy of a person. This results in encountering two times of one’s own energy affecting one’s body, so traveling into another world is very hard and requires blood sacrifice.”
Qin Mu found everything suddenly made sense. “The principle of blood sacrifice is to sacrifice the lifeforms in this world to the other world, becoming the energy of the other world!”
Dutian Devil King nodded. “Meanwhile, the gods and devils who were offered the sacrifice would be the other offering, descending into the new world from their own, replacing the energy lost in the sacrifice and so preserving the balance of the energy between the two worlds. For example, this sacrificial altar of yours. The energy in the bones have been sacrificed by you and went to my Dutian World. As an exchange, I descended into this treacherous world of yours.”
Qin Mu’s eyes lit up and he said, “I see. Now, what did you mean by being able to change the limit of the energy?”
“Blood sacrifice builds a bridge that passes through both worlds. I can steal a portion of energy and import it through the bridge which won’t abide by the balance of energy.” Dutian Devil King smile. “Last time you summoned me, the sacrificial energy was insubstantial, so I had to mobilize a huge amount of energy to descend into this world. That was equivalent to forcefully squeezing myself through. However, the energy to squeeze myself in required me to withstand the pressure from the two worlds, so the energy I could squeeze in was still limited. It soon surpassed my limits. Power that is smuggled over is dependant on the offerer’s abilities.”
Enlightened, Qin Mu frowned. “However, in the darkness of Great Ruins, the world barrier doesn’t exist when the two worlds overlap. How do you explain this?”
Dutian Devil King chuckled. ” What if the energy that’s being squeezed in surpasses the limit that this world can withstand?”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently. “What you mean is…”
“A large scale blood sacrifice which constructed hundreds of thousands of bridges for hundreds of thousand gods and devils to smuggle and pour their energy into that world!” Dutian Devil King gave a sinister smile. “It would burst apart the barrier of that world! Once the world barrier is gone, there will be no barrier anymore, and other worlds can launch a massacre without any obstruction anymore!”
Qin Mu’s blood ran cold, and he shuddered a few times. Disbelief colored his face, and he cried out, “What you mean is that world in the darkness of Great Ruins is a world whose barrier had been burst apart?”
“It might not be that world in the darkness that had its barrier burst open,” Dutian Devil King said while beaming at him. “Don’t you think your world could be the world without the world barrier?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “If this world was the one without it, you could have long descended. That world I saw in the darkness had a lot of space holes opened up by countless devil gods who led their people to attack. It’s clearly a world that had its world barrier burst apart.”
Dutian Devil King sat down on the chest and yawned. Swinging his legs, he said, “Your description of the world in the darkness overlapping with this treacherous world reminds me of a terrifying possibility—world sacrifice!”
Incomparably sinister smiles appeared on the four faces, and the statue almost jumped up in excitement. “World sacrifice is the sacrifice of an entire world. With this terrifying energy that crashes against another world, a million gods and devils can descend together and destroy that world! This is the grandest of plans!”
“There are going to destroy that world?” Qin Mu asked in bewilderment.
The wooden devil god statue creaked as the heads turned. All four pairs of eyes landed on the youth.
Qin Mu’s hair stood up on ends, and he cried out, “You are saying that after the hundreds of thousands of devil gods that burst apart the world barrier of that world in the darkness plan to sacrifice that world to descend here?”
Dutian Devil King’s heads rotated around their necks a few times as he clapped his hands in praise. “Smart! When Great Ruins overlaps with that world, they will sacrifice that world. The resulting energy would be so enormous that it will allow the world filled with devils to descend onto Great Ruins! When that time comes, the terrifying sight of two worlds colliding will be seen, and billions of lifeforms will perish. I’m excited just thinking about it!”
Qin Mu had a blank expression. He suddenly shook his head and said, “Impossible, that’s impossible! The darkness has existed for twenty thousand years. Doesn’t it mean that the fight in that world has already lasted for some twenty thousand years? How could a war last so long? Impossible!”
Dutian Devil King jumped down from the chest and said, “If I were you, I would have long emigrated to another world. A wise man foresees and mitigates risks. When the nest is overturned, there will be no eggs left unbroken. This world is too dangerous, so I’m going back now! Also, don’t annoy me frequently. I’m scared of you!”
Before jumping into the darkness so his soul could return to Dutian World, he shouted out, “When the world in the darkness is destroyed, it will be the day when your world will collide with the devil gods’ world, and that will be your doomsday as well!”
He then rushed into the darkness and was instantly invaded. Qin Mu hurriedly sprinted after him, but only saw the wooden statue shattering into pieces.
He frowned and returned back to the side of the chest. The energy in the white bone altar was also exhausted, so they shattered.
‘Can the words of Dutian Devil King be trusted? That guy doesn’t look trustworthy, and now he describes something that’s so terrifying…’
Qin Mu composed himself. The words of Dutian Devil King were simply too terrifying, so how much could he trust them?
However, when he thought about it, Dutian Devil King’s nature was to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster. He wished for the whole world to be in chaos, so there was no need for him to scare him.
‘Eternal Peace is too weak.’ Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and thought to himself. ‘However, the world in the darkness has already been fighting the devil race for twenty thousand years and has lasted until now. They wouldn’t just be defeated now and get sacrificed by the other party, right? That’s why Eternal Peace still has a lot of time before it’ll have to face the devil world, so there’s no need to worry too much… Hehehe, I had almost wet my pants from Dutian scaring me. Groundless fear, this must be just groundless fear!’
After a few days, Qin Mu finally walked out of Great Ruins and returned back to Eternal Peace. He immediately took a fast ship from Secret Waters Pass to head toward the capital. He wrote a memorial to the emperor and offered up the Black Tortoise Bead that Xiong Xiyu had given him as a tribute. He also talked about the matter regarding paving roads.
Emperor Yanfeng gathered all the civil and military officials to discuss, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also among them. Many of the officials were against paving the roads, but Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor argued with them, standing his ground against the opinions of the masses. Only when Emperor Yanfeng said he was going to execute those who were against the idea with a smile that the matter regarding paving the roads was settled.
Emperor Yanfeng then handed this matter over to the Ministry of Works and let Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor manage it. Qin Mu found him later and said, “The divine arts of West Earth are very suitable for our cult. Heavenly King can bright a few of our elders and hall masters to recruit some talents.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was puzzled. “Cult Master Qin, isn’t this inappropriate for me to handle?
“You are one of the four great heavenly kings of our sacred cult, so of course you will be the one in charge.”
Veins popped out on Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s forehead as he said stiffly, “What about Cult Master?”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “I’m going to find friends and relatives to do business and earn more money.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor pondered over it. After he was forced by Qin Mu to become the heavenly king of Heavenly Saint Cult, he didn’t seem to have done anything much with his new role. It was always Qin Mu and Heavenly Saint Cult helping him without holding back.
Heavenly Saint Cult’s ideology and his didn’t clash. Since he had received its grace, he naturally had to repay the favor.
“Alright, I’ll head to West Earth with a few elders, heavenly kings, and hall masters to recruit more talents for the sacred cult.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sent him out of his manor, but stopped him right after. “Cult Master Qin, as the cult master sacred teacher, you still haven’t spent much time with the cult. You are always fooling outside and don’t even have time to cultivate.
“Remember not to hold back your advancement in cultivation. In the era of great changes, the paths, skills, and divine arts are changing and seeing rapid developments. When I returned to Eternal Peace not long ago, I was also learning the new paths, skills and divine arts that appeared here. Cultivation is a boat going against the current, and you will fall behind if you don’t learn. Cult Master, take note.”
Qin Mu’s heart moved slightly, and he asked, “You are already a god, but you still have to learn the new paths, skills, and divine arts?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. “Among the young experts in Cult Master’s generation, there is no lack of people with ideas. For sword skills, I have already imparted the three basic sword skills I ad founded, and as for Cult Master’s eighteenth sword form, I also imparted it,
“Just these four new basic sword skills were enough to create countless new sword moves. After the cultivation method of Six Directions Primordial Spirit was released, there were even more changes to the paths, skills, and divine arts. The new basic sword skills could only change the sword skills while the change in the cultivation system was much greater.”
Qin Mu deeply agreed with him. Founding a sword skill was difficult, but it was even more difficult to change the foundation. When it was changed, countless people would gain a chance to create something new, and it was a great opportunity for them.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu had founded Primordial Spirit Guide which changed the foundation of cultivation. When it was changed, there appeared countless new possibilities, and many people put their knowledge to work on this new foundation, making the paths, skills and divine arts take the leap forward. Like that, numerous great masters would be born!
However, Qin Mu also had to learn the new paths, skills, and divine arts.
“I suggest you go to Imperial College and the four big academies. Stay in each academy for a period of time and exchange pointers with the young people there.”Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sighed ruefully. “The paths, skills, and divine arts see rapid developments daily, and the ideas of the youths are really endless.
“In just a few months’ time, I’ve already grown old and fallen behind times, needing to learn from those youths. In the future, there will definitely be many more of the younger generation who can cultivate to the god realm!
“Two days before you came to the capital, Dao Master Lin Xuan led a bunch of young disciples to Imperial College to exchange pointers regarding paths, skills, and divine arts where I had also learned. When talking with him, I had quite a lot of thoughts and feelings. Yesterday, Rulai Ma had also brought numerous monks and demons over to debate in Imperial College. However, I didn’t have the time to go.”
“Old Ma is also in the capital?” Qin Mu was delighted. He then asked, “Imperial Preceptor, how many gods are there in Eternal Peace Empire?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned. “Why are you asking this?”
Qin Mu told him about what he had seen in Great Ruins and shared Dutian Devil King’s guess. “The collision with the other world may happen tens of thousands of years later, but it could also happen tomorrow, so we have to make preparations. The more gods there are in Eternal Peace Empire, the better it will be. Or else, we won’t be able to defend against the opponent!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor muttered to himself irresolutely before asking suspiciously, “You were able to enter the darkness?”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before telling him the truth. “I was born in Youdu. King Yama said that I can enter the darkness of Great Ruins and not get hurt. I guess what he meant was that I may be a half-devil from Youdu.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor didn’t think much of it and said, “If heaven wants to wipe out my Eternal Peace, there’s nothing I can do. As of now, the emperor has crossed the divine bridge, and there are over ten gods in the borders.
“I told the emperor that all the gods must be recorded. He has already done that, but to fight against the devil world as dangerous as that, Eternal Peace won’t have the strength even in dozens of years. If that day really comes…” He smiled and said calmly, “I’ll pass all my responsibility to you.”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled, for he knew when he heard the determination of sacrificing one’s life for the empire. “The devils have been attacking that world in the darkness for over twenty thousand years, so there’s no reason that they would win against it tomorrow. Imperial Preceptor doesn’t have to worry about it. Paving the roads is more important.”
The two people bade farewell.
Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin and the chest to Imperial College which was much more bustling than before. There were quite a number of divine arts practitioners from all the lands, even the prairie and the ice plains.
Emperor Yanfeng had ordered the four big academies to split the pressure on Imperial College so River Tomb Academy, Surging River Academy, Li River Academy, and Heavenly Saint Academy were also flourishing. They had a lot of scholars, but compared to Imperial College, they still lacked some experience.
“Cult Master Qin!”
“Grand Chancellor Qin!”
News of Qin Mu’s arrival immediately spread throughout the Imperial College, and Dao Master Lin Xuan brought numerous Daoists over. Old Ma also brought his monks while Gu Linuan brought imperial scholars to welcome him. His friends in Imperial College also came forth to welcome him. Qin Mu hurriedly greeted all of them in the bustling Imperial College.
“Grand Chancellor Qin was a scholar of our Imperial College’s Scholar’s Residence, and even then I’ve known that he was definitely going to be extraordinary and soar like a true dragon!” Gu Linuan’s face glowed as he smiled. “Who would have thought that Scholar Qin would become the grand chancellor of Heavenly Saint Academy? Come to think of it, I’m honored as well!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly. “Lord Gu, I’ve come to seek knowledge once again so I’m still your little scholar!”
Gu Linuan was greatly moved. “Lord Qin, don’t say it like this! Come to think of it, we are old friends. Back when I met you at Surging River Dragon Palace, I already knew you were extraordinary; otherwise, I wouldn’t have given you my Junior Protector Sword. That’s what people call having a sharp eye for recognizing pearls, gifting the treasured sword to the hero. The fate between me and Lord Qin has started from Surging River Dragon Palace! Hahahaha!”
Everyone was lively, and Qin Mu paid his respects to Rulai Ma and Lin Xuan before exchanging conventional greetings with Wei Yong, Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the rest. The devil ape was also among them so it was naturally incomparably lively.
Wei Yong, Chen Wanyun, and the rest had gone to train in the army during the past two years, and their cultivations had also improved rapidly. They had grown into people who could take charge of a section, and Qin Mu was happy for them.
There were also other experts in Imperial College that had long found success and went to other places to become officials.
The devil ape appearing in Imperial College was, however, out of Qin Mu’s expectation.
When Xing An had created a ruckus in Little Thunderclap Monastery, Little Rulai couldn’t take a worship from Shaman God Kui and his soul had scattered. Devil Ape Zhan Kong then led the monks of Little Thunderclap Monastery to Great Thunderclap Monastery as per Little Rulai’s instructions. The journey there had been arduous.
When they came to Great Thunderclap Monastery, the arrival of so many demon monks naturally invoked quite a commotion.
As Little Rulai’s disciple, Devil Ape Zhan Kong was on the same seniority as Old Ma. A human and a demon discussed buddhism on the golden peak of Mount Meru with countless monks standing below.
The devil ape’s words were few, but every word he said was like a pearl. He only had three to five words in a sentence, but each one was shocking and made the men reflect deeply. He made the eminent monks on Mount Meru speechless to the point that they could no longer debate.
This lasted for three days until all the monks fell back in defeat. Luckily, a bearded general of Eternal Peace came up the mountain. When he went to the golden peak and took off his armor, he called himself Monk Ming Xin and debated with the devil ape for a few more days. Only then did Great Thunderclap Monastery gain back some face.
Monk Ming Xin didn’t have many words, and all he talked about was about the life of people. He didn’t talk about any classics nor any buddhist teachings. However, his words held deep meaning and made everyone feel that what he said was buddhism which was really brilliant and varied.
Their debate had shocked the world.
Old Ma praised the two of them for their eloquence and unfettered debate, then took the demon buddhist scriptures from the devil ape and recognized the demon monks as part of Great Thunderclap Monastery. The two houses merged into one.
This incident was a huge matter in Eternal Peace Empire and spread throughout all the sacred grounds and academies. It was known as the Dao Debate on Golden Peak and grew to be very famous as an anecdote for a period of time.
During that time, Qin Mu had been running from Xing An, so he hadn’t managed to witness the happenings on Mount Meru. As for whether or not they were true to the legend, he didn’t know.
This time, Old Ma bringing the devil ape and Monk Ming Xing, as well as a bunch of other monks over, was also a huge matter that shook the city. With Dao Master Lin Xuan bringing numerous Daoists as well, it could be said to be a grand occasion!
After the commotion, everyone sat down in Hall of Supreme Learning. When Qin Mu said he was there to seek knowledge, everyone couldn’t help being astonished, and Gu Linuan had also thought that he had only said it out of courtesy before. Never would he have expected that Qin Mu was really there to seek knowledge.
Gu Linuan then immediately invited the divine arts practitioners from all halls in Imperial Preceptor to talk about their comprehensions. The Daoists and monks of Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery also came forward to talk about their own attainments. For a period of time, all kinds of never before seen divine arts, paths, and skills flooded the room, and even Qin Mu couldn’t help exclaiming endlessly in admiration. He was in awe at the creativity of these divine arts practitioners.
After two days, Ling Yuxiu and Ling Yushu came to the capital for debriefing. When they heard about what was happening in the Imperial College, they joined in to discuss the reform and new developments in the paths, skills, and divine arts.
After a few more days, the younger generations from the other four big academies had also hurried over. The scholars of Heavenly Saint Academy were led by Si Yunxiang. The scholars of River Tomb Academy followed Qin Feiyu who was the disciple of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, the directorate of River Tomb Academy.
Yuyuan Chuyu brought the scholars of Surging River Academy, and as for Li River Academy, its grand chancellor was Ba Shan. Li River was the farthest away, and a talented person was needed to build the academy up, so the emperor had appointed Ba Shan with that position.
The younger generation of the four big academies gathered in Imperial College, and it grew even more bustling. To everyone’s surprise, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu of Little Jade Capital hurried over after a few more days as well.
Before they could even be seated, they heard laughter. “The moment I heard Cult Master has come to Imperial College, I hurried over, but I still seem to be late!”
Qin Mu hurriedly rose to welcome the newcomer with a smile. “Brother Xu, I hope you were well since the parting at Little Thunderclap Monastery?”
Xu Shenghua brought Jing Yan over. “I didn’t hear news of Cult Master for a long time and seeing you well finally puts me at ease.”
Everyone was seated, and Imperial College was extraordinary bustling. The divine arts practitioners of all the factions talked about their skills and paths, their cultivations and primordial spirits. All kinds of strange thoughts and wonderful ideas were voiced. They alarmed Emperor Yanfeng and the court officials so much that they came to listen as well.
Qin Mu, Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, Daoist Lin Xuan, Devil Ape Zhan Kong, Ming Xing, Xu Shenghua, and Wang Muran were all invited up to the stage to talk about their paths, skills, and divine arts. The collision of different types of thoughts and ideas intoxicated the audience listening below.
They all had unique attainments in primordial spirit, and by voicing all the strange thoughts and marvelous ideas, they provoked even more creativity.
“I’ve had a thought!” Qin Mu suddenly said with a smile. “Eternal Peace is becoming bigger and bigger, which makes it hard to communicate when we are located in the north, south, east, or west. However, primordial spirit can travel fast and move millions of miles in an instant. If we could communicate with primordial spirits, wouldn’t that save us all that time of journeying around to meet up?”
His suggestion was instantly met with numerous approvals from the youths in the audience. All of them started to rack their brains to think of ways for different primordial spirits to communicate and voiced them without restraint.
Emperor Yanfeng and Duke Wei looked at each other in dismay. Duke Wei said, “They were still talking normally earlier, but now they’ve begun to talk nonsense. The primordial spirit moves too fast, crossing millions of miles in an instant, so it’s hard to gather it together. It’s hard to control the primordial spirit and even know where it has gone, so what talk could there be about communication in a specific place with it?”
Emperor Yanfeng smiled and said, “Let’s look and see.”
After a moment, Duke Wei and the rest stared with their eyes wide open, dumbfounded. In front of Hall of Supreme Learning, as everyone discussed how to draw various primordial spirits together, all kinds of techniques were easily created. This made Duke Wei, Emperor Yanfeng, and the rest of the older generation exclaim endlessly in admiration.
Qin Mu in the meantime was tidying up the ideas, and after a long time, he finally created a new technique on the foundation of Primordial Spirit Guide.
He imparted the technique to everyone which filled them with excitement. They immediately reconstructed Hall of Supreme Learning and added all kinds of rune markings in its interior.
“Everyone, let’s go a thousand miles north, south, east, and west to hold a primordial spirit assembly!” Qin Mu said excitedly.
The ten million scholars in Hall of Supreme Learning rose with an uproar and left into the distance. The Imperial College instantly emptied out. Only the emperor and the officials were left, looking at the empty hall.
After two hours, Qin Mu’s primordial spirit suddenly appeared, its body gigantic. His consciousness shook slightly as he stated, “The first primordial spirit assembly begins!”
Bang, bang, bang!
Primordial spirits instantly appeared in Hall of Supreme Learning, gathering altogether.
Ten million primordial spirits sat down in the void.
Outside, Emperor Yanfeng and the rest were speechless for a long time, staring blankly before themselves.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“A change in the art of war is imminent!” Duke Wei suddenly sighed ruefully.
Grand General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest nodded when they heard his words.
Qin Mu and the ten thousand scholars as well as the divine arts practitioners of the sacred grounds had messed around and made a primordial spirit assembly. They were having fun and felt that it was something interesting, but the shock it brought to the generals that led the army was incomparably huge.
Since ancient times, the battlefield changed in a matter of seconds. The communications between the army, its reinforcements, supply train, and the emperor posed a huge problem. In the past, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had forged flying ships to soar through the sky. He also forged land ships and paved roads everywhere to make traveling faster.
Besides making it more convenient for people to meet, it allowed for news to travel faster. And because of using both the land and sky, more places were covered.
Yet as the territory of Eternal Peace Empire expanded, the time taken for news to travel from one place to another kept on growing. The time taken for the army to move to the border also increased.
Even though the pill furnace that Qin Mu had improved could increase the speed, the number of medicinal stones burned in just one trip was extremely great.
If a flying ship set off from the capital and headed for True Heaven Palace in West Earth, it would take several days, and the medicinal stones burned would be enough to fight a small-scale battle.
If it was a large scale operation to move soldiers, they would require strange beasts as a mode of transport to help the foot soldiers advance. Relying on flying ships to transport soldiers was too costly.
But with the primordial spirit assembly, they would be able to send news and be in control of a battle that was even two hundred miles away.
In the hands of a general, something like that could literally decide the fate of the battle!
“Your Majesty, Chancellor Qin used the word assembly. He has the heart to rebel!” An old minister knelt onto the floor and said loudly, “Assembly is always a court assembly, and this so-called assembly is meant to collect the civil and military officials in court. Chancellor Qin’s usage of the word assembly shows his ambitious heart! May Your Majesty order his execution!”
Emperor Yanfeng was speechless, and the generals scolded that old minister angrily. The old minister then kowtowed and banged his head against the ground loudly to show his loyalty.
After a moment, Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and said calmly. “Assembly isn’t just used by the imperial court. Elder Yu Ge is lacking in knowledge. Attending the court can mean entering a court assembly, but it can also be used in other ways.
“Back in the day, Heaven Knife had written a poem which he started with words assembly with friends at Wei River. Heaven Knife is a literary hero, and his knowledge surpasses yours by a hundred times, his writings eulogized even until now. He isn’t the emperor, but I don’t see anyone saying he’s trying to rebel by using the word assembly.”
The emperor helped Elder Yu Ge up and told him with a pleasant expression. “Elder Yu Ge, you are old, so I won’t execute you. I permit you to return to your hometown.”
The other ministers were puzzled. ‘His Majesty seems to be in a good mood today. He actually didn’t behead him. Elder Yu Ge only lost his official position but not his head; he’s so fortunate!”
“Everyone, stop talking, be quiet now!” Qin Mu’s voice rang loudly. “Let me first ensure that we can communicate between primordial spirits! Can you guys hear me talking?”
In Hall of Supreme Learning, countless people spoke up. “Can! We can hear you clearly!”
“Execute your techniques, and see if you feel discomfort in your primordial spirit?” he then ordered them.
Numerous primordial spirits made a racket in Hall of Supreme Learning. Suddenly, one person’s primordial spirit vanished with a pop before reappearing after a moment. It was pretty scary.
There were also some primordial spirits that were fading out from time to time while another group of people was floating around. Laughter echoed through the Hall of Supreme Learning that was in turmoil. Everyone was getting headaches from that noise.
Qin Mu recorded everything that happened and clapped. “Alright, dismissed!”
Everyone pulled their primordial spirits back and vanished from Hall of Supreme Learning. The first ever primordial spirit assembly had ended like that.
Emperor Yanfeng turned his head and looked at the scribe behind him. “Have you noted it down?”
That scribe carrying a thick scroll hesitated. “Your Majesty, this primordial spirit assembly was only Lord Qin fooling around with a bunch of scholars. They only said a few sentences in total and most of them were nonsense. Do I have to write them down as well?”
Emperor Yanfeng sighed and tapped heavily on the scroll he used to record all the huge incidents in the imperial court. He then said sincerely and earnestly, “If thousands of years later the future generation of Eternal Peace searches through all the historical records and doesn’t find the record of the first primordial spirit assembly, they are going to jab at your spine and scold you! Not only must you record it, you even have to paint it, this primordial spirit assembly!”
Cold sweat broke out of the forehead of that scribe. He hurriedly recorded the event of the first primordial spirit meeting and the few sentences that Qin Mu and the rest had said. He felt extremely grieved in his heart as he did so. ‘These words are clearly nonsense, so why would the future generations scold me because of this little thing? However, if I don’t record them, His Majesty is going to behead me…’
Two more hours passed, and Qin Mu returned from a thousand miles away. The other scholars also came back to Imperial College. They started a racket as they did so, making the place incomparably lively. Qin Mu gathered experts skilled in algebra and calculated the lacking points in the technique from the abnormal sights he had recorded.
Not long later, the technique approached perfection, and there were no more signs of primordial spirits bouncing all over the place.
Qin Mu climbed onto the Hall of Supreme Learning to fix the wrong rune markings, and after half a day of work, they quickly ran out again to make another test. This time, there were no more abnormal sights from the primordial spirits.
Emperor Yanfeng never left, quietly watching the proceedings until nightfall. With the emperor not moving, the civil and military officials didn’t dare to leave as well, so they all stood there.
After Qin Mu was done, he let the secretaries of Floor of Heavenly Records to record the technique and the rune markings. Only then did Emperor Yanfeng went forward and said, “Chancellor Qin has done merit to the country, so how should I reward you?”
Qin Mu stretched his back and said with a smile, “If Your Majesty wants to reward me, then reward everyone in Imperial College with a dinner. This technique wasn’t founded by me, but by gathering the wisdom of everyone here.”
“Alright!” Emperor Yanfeng then instructed, “Invite all the chefs from the imperial kitchen and let them bring the ingredients as well. I want to reward all the scholars as well as these Daoists and monks that are in Imperial College with food and drinks! If there’s a lack of manpower, officials, invite all the chefs in your respective families as well! I’m going to dine here and eat with them too!”
The lamps in Imperial College shone so bright that it seemed like day, and all the chefs in the capital were probably invited to Imperial College to cook up their best dishes. All kinds of culinary techniques were executed and it was a dazzling sight like all the different kinds of divine arts coming together.
The fragrance of the food drew out the glutton in everyone, and the emperor ordered people to bring over fine wine from the palace.
“Does this technique of yours have a name?” Emperor Yanfeng turned to ask in the banquet.
Qin Mu shook his head, and Emperor Yanfeng smiled. “The path produces one, one produces two, two produce three, and three produce all things. Why don’t we call it Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly? What’s Minister Qin’s opinion?”
Before Qin Mu could even reply, Gu Linuan brought a bunch of ministers to praise the idea. “Your Majesty is of great talent, and this small official prostrates himself in admiration!”
Emperor Yanfeng laughed loudly, now certain about the name of the technique. He then asked, “Minister Qin, what are those runes that you marked inside Hall of Supreme Learning for?”
“Your Majesty, the runes are a guide for the primordial spirits. Their speed is too fast, able to travel ten thousand miles in an instant. With these runes, we are able to guide the primordial spirit to an exact location.”
Emperor Yanfeng frowned. “Wouldn’t these kinds of runes that can attract primordial spirits be used by the enemy? If they use them and guide the primordial spirits of my Eternal Peace’s generals to catch them in one fell swoop, wouldn’t my Eternal Peace be completely wiped out?”
The civil and military officials felt fear in their hearts and nodded together.
Xu Shenghua came over and said, “Your Majesty, you might not know this, but the runes we designed can be interchangeable. There are different ways to line up the runes for them to remain compatible with Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly. There are a billion more combinations than there are people, so this kind of complicated rune arrangement is impossible to solve.”
Emperor Yanfeng sighed ruefully.
A Daoist ran over and took a glance at Qin Mu, then braved himself to say, “Your Majesty, there’s a fox with a huge pig and a large chest down near the lake. They’ve caught two red dragon carp kings and are currently roasting them. How maddening!”
“This style is familiar to my ears.” Emperor Yanfeng looked at Qin Mu and said with a smile, “Minister Qin, yours?”
Qin Mu’s face turned slightly red, and he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, let me hurry over and punish them severely! Truly fooling around!” After he said that, he got up and left.
When he came to the lake, Hu Ling’er was scolding the chest. “You see, the waves you churned were too big and alarmed the Daoist guarding the lake! You’ll eat the fish bones later! Fatty Dragon, lower the fire, don’t burn it…”
Qin Mu walked over and said with a smile, “Leave some for me.”
Hu Ling’er cheered at him and immediately lowered her voice. “Young master, I know you like to eat this kind of fish so I got Fatty Dragon to catch two more. However, the chest was a disappointment. When it was about to hide the fish in its stomach, it was discovered by the Daoist who guards the lake.”
Qin Mu rubbed his hands and said with a smile, “I had long wanted to eat a few more, but I didn’t have the face to steal.”
When the fish was cooked, Hu Ling’er controlled her wind blades to slice the meat. She gave the dragon qilin one portion, Qin Mu another, and one more for herself. The chest lay on the side and waited for them to finish eating so it could collect the fish bones.
Suddenly, laughter rang out. “How fragrant! This is much more fragrant than the imperial cooking! Cult Master Qin is truly a professional in the eating path. Leave some for me!”
Qin Mu turned back to look and saw a devil ape and a young monk. That monk was none other than Monk Ming Xin whose appetite had been wetted when he smelled the fragrance.
Hu Ling’er gave him a chunk of fish, and Qin Mu asked in bewilderment when he saw Ming Xin wolfing it down, “Monk also eats fish?”
Ming Xin didn’t raise his head. “After leaving Cult Master then, in the natural and man-made disaster, I have even gnawed on tree bark, much less fish. I even grabbed worms to eat. When I was starving, I even sliced my own flesh to feed myself…”
He lifted up his robes and showed a scar on his chest. He smiled then. “From then on, I comprehended my own scripture. All living things don’t mean human and demons only, but also includes plants and worms. However, all living things are just a reincarnation. I eat them and after I die, they will eat me—it’s merely that. When a person is struggling in the sea of bitterness, what they seek isn’t buddha but the other shore in one’s heart, and I have already seen the other shore.”
Qin Mu nodded to his words and said with a smile, “Excellent, your frame of mind is very brilliant now.”
Hu Ling’er sliced another chunk of fish for the devil ape who shook its head. “Vegetarian, strong!”
“He doesn’t want it, but I’ll take it.” A hand stretched out from the side and took the fish.
Dao Master Lin Xuan sat down beside the devil ape and said with a smile, “This fish is even more fragrant than the imperial cooking!”
Qin Mu smiled. “You are also a Daoist monk yet you can eat non-vegetarian food too?”
Dao Master Lin Xuan ate the fish in big mouthfuls while saying in a muffled voice, “Even the sky is fake so how is a monk real?”
“The one that herds cows, you are eating my father’s fish again!”
A gust of fragrance assaulted their nostrils as Ling Yuxiu squeezed past Hu Ling’er who was beside Qin Mu and sat down. She patted her hands and tore a chunk of fish before biting into it without a care for scalding her mouth. She sucked in a few quick breaths and praised, “Delicious, truly delicious!”
“Princess Xiu, wait for me!”
Si Yunxiang also ran over and sat down beside the bonfire. She wanted to push Hu Ling’er to the side too, but the fox transformed into a six to seven years old girl with a puff and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She sat angrily between the two girls and didn’t get up no matter what. Si Yunxiang was too embarrassed to push her away and could only let her sit there.
Everyone was talking and laughing while sharing the red dragon carp king. Not long later, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, Long Yu, and Xu Shenghua also found their way over. Wang Muran said with a smile, “You guys won’t be able to finish two carp kings of this size so let us help you. No need to thank me!”
Qin Mu looked around and said with a smile, “It’s rare for the heads of Heaven Alliance to meet up so let’s not go home until we are drunk!”
“What Heaven Alliance?” Ling Yuxiu was puzzled and hurriedly asked, “Is it an alliance to overthrow my father? If it is, count me in!”
Xu Shenghua, Lin Xuan, and Wang Muran hesitated for a moment, not knowing if they should explain it.
Qin Mu then said, “There are no outsiders here so let’s just speak the truth. However, once we say it, you will all become members of my Heaven Alliance. Is there anyone who doesn’t want to listen?”
The dragon qilin immediately got up and bit the chest, dragging it away before it could pick up the fish bones.
“The less we know, the longer we will live!” Fatty Dragon taught the chest.
Suddenly the bonfire flickered, and opposite Qin Mu a youth stretched out his hand to tear a chunk of fish. He then said leisurely, “I would like to know about this Heaven Alliance as well. May Great Divine Physician Qin enlighten me?”
Qin Mu’s blood ran cold, and he hurriedly looked toward the mountaintop of Imperial College.
“The whole imperial court can be a match for me. Your emperor isn’t weak and I reckon he has already cultivated his divine bridge,” the youth said indifferently. “However, before they could hurry over, you guys would all be corpses. Great Divine Physician Qin, don’t be reckless. Come, tell me about Heaven Alliance.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“This is Xing An, the saint before Imperial Preceptor,” Qin Mu roughly introduced Xing An to everyone. They were nervous, especially those of the girls. Si Yunxiang, Hu Ling’er, and Ling Yuxiu had seen Xing An before and knew how powerful and terrifying he was.
They had seen him in the battle at Granny Si’s manor, the place where Heavenly Saint Academy now stood. Half of the experts in the world were injured by Xing An, including Emperor Yanfeng!
He had beaten all those experts into acceptance, and even with so many of them around, no one could handle Xing An. In the end, they still had to rely on Qin Mu’s dose of supplement to force Xing An to have no choice but to retreat.
And now, this murderer was sitting right beside them, so it was impossible for them to not be nervous. Even though Imperial College had gathered all the strongest existences in Eternal Peace and there were even a couple who had patched their divine bridges among the first ranking high officials, Xing An was still the strongest existence in the world!
If he wanted to kill them, no one could stop him, not even the gods in Imperial College!
Qin Mu smiled. “As a saint that appears once every five hundred years, Xing An is a senior and it’s a good thing that he wants to know more about our Heaven Alliance. Everyone, there’s no need to be nervous.”
Even though he said so, Qin Mu’s face was deathly white. It was obvious that he was also extremely nervous.
Xing An’s target was obviously him. As the strongest practitioner of the previous generation, Xing An had his own way of doing things, and he would never lay hands on the younger generation. Even if he wanted to, he would wait for them to grow up and reach the god realm in a certain aspect before making his move to take that body part.
But Qin Mu was an exception, for he had offended him too many a time.
First, it was the battle at Heavenly Saint Academy where he used a supplement to make him experience fleeing in defeat while being chased by Butcher. Xing An had been forced to escape to Great Ruins and spend a very long time to heal his injuries.
Second, quite a number of pieces from his collection had been snatched away by Qin Mu, and it was the most annoying part.
Afterward, it was the battle at Little Thunderclap Monastery where Qin Mu had actually stolen his whole chest and seized all his property!
If that wasn’t enough, Qin Mu had even brought him to Fengdu and made him lose face under the influence of the living realm of the dead. He almost couldn’t return alive.
All of that had naturally counted on Qin Mu’s head!
It was already beyond expectations that he didn’t kill Qin Mu without saying a word.
One had to really admire his attainments in the frame of mind for being able to maintain his elegance even after meeting Qin Mu. The trip to Fengdu had crumbled his Dao heart, and his frame of mind was still very weak, but even so, it still surpassed those of many of the people present.
Qin Mu, Wang Muran, Xu Shenghua, and Dao Master Lin Xuan explained everything together, describing how they had calculated the meteorological phenomenon and how thick the sky was. The surroundings of the bonfire were silent, and even Xing An was speechless as he looked at it.
The bonfire roasted the red dragon carp king until fish oil started to emanate and drip into the flames. The oil sizzled and a fragrance rose into the air, whetting their appetite.
“Minister Qin, are you here to severely punish them? Why have you started to eat here? You have the crime of lying to your ruler, off with yo—”
Emperor Yanfeng walked over with a wine jar, his voice holding a hint of intoxication. But when he saw Xing An opposite Qin Mu, he immediately sobered up and turned to leave!
Xing An looked at him indifferently. “Emperor, it’s best for you to sit down and talk, or else the lives of your grand chancellor and princess will just go poof.”
Emperor Yanfeng carrying the wine jar braced himself to turn back. He then sat down beside the bonfire and forced out a smile. “Brother Xing An, you had left in a hurry the previous time and I had lain on the bed for almost twenty days.”
Xing An’s expression was calm. “I lay for four months.”
Emperor Yanfeng handed the wine jar over to him, his gaze flickering. “However, in these few days of not meeting, I have already crossed the divine bride and become a god. Brother Xing An still has not yet reached this step, right?”
Xing An took the wine jar and said, “I have been laying low in Floor of Heavenly Records and flipping through all kinds of classics, studying Great Divine Physician Qin’s space algebra model over and over again. Cultivating to god is no trouble for me, but I still require a year.”
He raised his head to drink the wine while Emperor Yanfeng stared at his throat. He wanted to attack, but he never found the chance.
Qin Mu and the rest were astonished. Xing An had been hiding in Floor of Heavenly Records for the last couple days, but no one had noticed. This made cold sweat roll down their foreheads.
Xing An put down the wine jar and said, “However, Your Majesty cultivating to god realm or not isn’t a problem to me. Even if you cultivated to god realm, you still aren’t my opponent and just a fake god. Your cultivation is at most slightly denser than before, but you didn’t make any advancement in your paths, skills, and divine arts.
“By calling your civil and military officials, Duke Wei and Grand General of Heavenly Strategies over who’ve become gods, you would have a chance against me. However, Imperial College and your capital city would be finished.”
Veins popped out on Emperor Yanfeng’s forehead before going away. He smiled and said, “What were you guys talking about?”
“Heaven Alliance,” Xing An said, “They discovered that the sky is a hundred thousand miles high and a thousand yards thick, so they formed Heaven Alliance. They plan to unravel the mystery and pierce apart this fake sky.”
Emperor Yanfeng scolded them with a smile. “Fooling around, you are all children that like to create trouble. I also know about this incident as Huo Shanling had reported this to me. When I heard Heaven Alliance, I almost jumped in shock, thinking you guys were planning to overthrow me!” When he finished saying that, he laughed loudly.
His laughter didn’t manage to travel far. Instead, it reverberated in the surroundings and caused the qi and blood of everyone around the bonfire to rise.
Emperor Yanfeng was astonished and hurriedly stopped. He had planned to use his laughter to lure Grand General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest up, but he hadn’t expected that even after cultivating to god realm, Xing An’s magic power would still surpass his by so much and be able to form a strange force field. His laughter was trapped in a small space, making it difficult for him to transmit any sound.
His cultivation was incomparably dense, so his laughter alone had shaken Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu until they puked blood. He thus had no choice but to stop.
Xing An took a glance at Ling Yuxiu and said, “Emperor, don’t be cocky so soon, for it’s dark under some lamps. Your princess is a hero and is making friends, being the leader among the younger generation in various sects and clans. She will become a person who will be preeminent in the region.
“Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Dao Master, High Heavens, Little Jade Capital, Buddhism—all these future leaders are friends with her, and once her power is set, you will have no choice but to give up your position to her. You are only looking at the world, but you can’t see her who’s by your side.”
Emperor Yanfeng was unconcerned. “Senior brother, forget about sowing discord between us father and daughter. Could Senior Brother Xing An be interested in Heaven Alliance?”
Xing An shook his head and said, “I’m only interested in the sky being a thousand yards thick and not Heaven Alliance.”
“In that case, is Senior Brother Xing An here to kill me?” Qin Mu asked.
Xing An shook his head again. “Originally, I had indeed wanted to kill Great Divine Physician Qin as I had suffered time and time again under your hand. My chest was stolen, my property seized, and I indeed hated you to the core. However, as I read the books in Floor of Heavenly Records, saw your divine bridge’s space algebra model, heard your lectures in Imperial College as you imparted your sword skills and even founded Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly in just a few days, I suddenly had no more intention to kill you. Instead, I gained some respect for you.”
His gaze was snow bright, and his expression was calm. He stared straight at Qin Mu as he praised him. “Everyone here is heroes, and the divine arts, paths, and skills founded in these few days surpass the advancement in divine arts, paths, and skills in the past few hundred years. I treasure all of your talents so I’m leaving you guys alive. The world in the future will definitely be very interesting. I anticipate all of you to grow up well, and I’ll hunt you then. This would be the most meaningful thing.”
The expressions of Xu Shenghua, Wang Muran, and the rest flickered.
Wang Muran then said indifferently, “Senior Xing An views himself highly and treats us as his possessions, but under the same realm, you would only be inferior to us! Does senior have the guts to fight us on the same realm?”
Xing An’s gaze was strange, but he shook his head. “There’s no need for that. You guys are not my match on the same realm. Among those of you here, maybe Great Divine Physician Qin and Xu Shenghua of High Heavens alone could be. Other than the two of them, the only other person who could match me on the same realm in Eternal Peace is none other than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.
Wang Muran’s complexion turned snow white.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was the opponent he wanted to defeat and take revenge on for the death of his master. When he heard Xing An saying that only three people could be a match for him, and Wang Muran was not among them, despair couldn’t help growing in his heart.
Qin Mu, on the other hand, was at ease. Even though Xing An was weird and his character was unreasonable, he always kept his word, which was worthy of respect. When he said he wouldn’t make a move, then as long as one didn’t provoke him, he wouldn’t make a move. His life was safe.
“Is Senior Brother Xing An thinking of going to the sky to have a look?” Qin Mu asked. “My Grandpa Butcher had once gone up, but he went there in a hurry so he only took a glance at the numerous formations and gods. Senior Brother, your body parts can never be taken back and have been lost in Fengdu. There is also nothing in the chest anymore. However, there are numerous gods in the sky so you can go there to collect some limbs.”
Xing An was unmoved. “I’ll have to go to the sky sooner or later, but I have not come for the heaven but a person. Heavenly Devil Cult, Dao Sect, Buddhism, Little Jade Capital, High Heavens, and even Eternal Peace Court—all of you have extremely great power so you can help me find that person.”
He didn’t let anyone have the chance to refute and continued. “The person I want to find was born on the eight of the twelfth lunar month seventeen years ago. It was first year of the sixty-year cycle, twelfth solar month, midnight. With everyone’s abilities, especially those of the emperor, it shouldn’t be hard to investigate and pick out some people from this time, right? Once everyone agrees to do this for me, nobody will need to die.”
He smiled and tore himself some more fish, soaking it in the wine jar before sending it to his mouth. His expression was calm when he said, “Otherwise, it will be hard to say how many will survive in this capital city. I won’t kill everyone here, but the lives of everyone else in Imperial College and the capital will have to depend on everyone’s sincerity.”
Cold sweat rolled down Emperor Yanfeng’s forehead, and he said, “Alright! I’ll help you find everyone in this empire born at this time! After it’s done, I wish for Senior Brother Xing An to keep to himself for a period of time!”
Xing An looked around and smiled slightly. “Other than the emperor, are the others not going to do their best?”
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and said solemnly, “Heavenly Saint Cult will also help Senior Brother Xing An to find that person.”
Dao Master Lin Xuan nodded and said, “My Dao Sect will be in charge of the territories under Dao Sect.”
The devil ape also didn’t keep quiet. “Excellent!”
Xu Shenghua hesitated for a moment before saying, “Since West Earth has already been annexed into Eternal Peace, I can go back to High Heavens and take a look. But if I will succeed or not, I can’t really say.”
Xing An clapped his hands and said with a smile, “In that case, things will be much easier. Great Cult Master Qin, if you are free, why don’t you stay by my side and nurse my body.”
Cold sweat rand down Qin Mu’s forehead, and he immediately said, “I still have things to do! I need to do a big business!”
Xing An didn’t mind that and kept on smiling. “In that case, I can stay beside you too. Your Majesty, you can fall back now.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Emperor Yanfeng rose in anger as his gaze flickered. “Return my wine to me!”
Xing An sat still with his hand clasping on the mouth of the wine jar. Emperor Yanfeng slowly stretched his palm out, but it was extremely difficult. Just a short distance took him the time of half an incense.
Beside the bonfire, Qin Mu, Xu Shenghua, and the rest were silent as they stared at their palms.
Xing An’s palm was extremely stable, and his arm clasping the wine jar didn’t move at all. However, the arm that Emperor Yanfeng stretched out was gently shaking, his five fingers trembling non-stop. The impact of each vibration sent to Qin Mu and the rest was hard to describe.
Every time his five fingers shook, it was equivalent to executing a divine art. The high concentration of his vital qi could be faintly seen transforming into incomparably fine flood dragons that were between the vein lines of his arm and palm!
Under his skin, there seemed to be a true dragon coiling and concentrating power. However, its power wasn’t always in a tyrannical state, but was tightening and slackening.
What Emperor Yanfeng cultivated was Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that he had once imparted to Qin Mu. The youth had later comprehended another type of Nine Dragons Monarch Technique which he imparted to Ling Yuxiu that passed it to her father as well.
Emperor Yanfeng was also a peerless talent. His Nine Dragons Monarch Technique wasn’t any remarkable technique at first, but he had improved it continuously and developed its power to the extreme, making it extraordinary in the end. So much so that the technique could be a match for the three big sacred grounds.
After receiving the technique from the true dragon’s nest, he had erased all of his hidden flaws, and his divine treasures had become even stronger than before. The durability of his divine treasures had also received Xing An’s recognition as he felt that they had already reached the god realm!
Now that he had crossed the divine bridge and stepped into the realm of god, his cultivation was also denser than before.
When Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu saw the power of the true dragon under his skin tightening and slackening in a regular pattern, their minds trembled violently, and they had many thoughts and realizations.
The Nine Dragons Monarch Technique that Qin Mu had imparted to Ling Yuxiu wasn’t the complete true dragon’s technique since he hadn’t managed to read all of the dragon race’s writings. After the help of the brother and sister of Bai Family, he learned the meaning of even more writings and took the technique to another level. However, after returning to Eternal Peace, he hadn’t yet had the time to impart the more complete technique to Ling Yuxiu.
For Emperor Yanfeng to cultivate to this step with just an incomplete technique, Nine Dragons Monarch Technique was truly inconceivable! He had cultivated as though he had the entire path.
Yet even if Emperor Yanfeng’s true dragon divine art entered the path, it was still difficult for him to move in front of Xing An.
Every inch was a challenge for him. Even though the transformations of all kinds of divine arts were hidden well by him, they were still inferior to Xing An’s palm that was steady as a mountain.
Finally, Emperor Yanfeng grabbed the mouth of the jar, but Xing An suddenly flicked a finger toward his palm.
Emperor Yanfeng flicked a finger up as well, and their fingers collided. A slight breeze could be heard moving in the wine jar as though the motion raised by their fingers.
At the mouth of the jar, the two fingers were quick as shadows, exchanging countless blows at a rapid speed.
“Kacha.”
Emperor Yanfeng’s expression changed as his middle finger was broken.
He endured the pain and released his palm with a smile on his face. He slowly fell back and said, “Since senior brother loves the wine so much, I shall gift it to him.”
Xing An placed the wine jar down nonchalantly and said, “My liquor tolerance is low and I’m already done.”
When the wine jar was placed down by him, Hu Ling’er’s wine addiction was aroused, and she walked over to get a whiff of it. She said with a smile, “Since you guys don’t want to drink, let me have a taste.”
Suddenly, she heard soft wind moving within the wine jar and looked into it. The wine was swirling inside as something seemed to be moving around in it and fighting.
She moved her small head closer to the mouth of the jar to examine it in detail when someone suddenly caught her by her collar, lifting her up.
Qin Mu pulled her back and placed her beside the bonfire. He shook his head and said, “Don’t look, it’s dangerous. If you want wine, I can get Yuxiu to bring a few jars for you.”
“Young master, inside the jar…”
“Is very terrifying.” Qin Mu sneaked a glance at the surroundings and said quietly, “There are too many people here. I’ll poke it later and show you. It’ll definitely be magnificent.”
Hu Ling’er couldn’t contain her excitement and looked continuously at the wine jar.
The wind within it became louder and louder, which only spiked her curiosity. She kept on raising her head, unable to wait
The fragrance from the wine jar also seemed to be getting thicker and thicker.
Emperor Yanfeng returned to the banquet, and Grand General of Heavenly Strategies came forward to ask, “Your Majesty, is it time to make a move?”
Emperor Yanfeng’s brows raised slightly. “You sensed it?”
Grand General of Heavenly Strategies nodded. “A very powerful person. Did Your Majesty clash with him? Let me call Duke Wei over.”
By the time he said that, Duke Wei had already appeared behind him and began speaking in a low voice. “When Your Majesty was making a move, old minister felt an abnormal motion from underground; your divine arts had shaken the ley lines. That person had to be very strong, Your Majesty…”
Emperor Yanfeng shook his head, “Don’t bother about it. The person was Xing An, and he’s temporarily not a threat. However…” He hesitated for a moment. “It’s going to be hard on Minister Qin, who is a truly loyal subject. To delay Xing An, he was willing to keep that man by his side. Never did I expect for a Heavenly Devil Cult Master to be so heroic and courageous.”
He sighed repeatedly.
“Cult Master said there’s a big business?” Si Yunxiang asked while blinking at Qin Mu, “Can we get rich?”
Hu Ling’er was paying attention to the jar of wine from which she smelled a fragrance which made her crave it. However, when she heard the two words get rich, her head didn’t move, but her whole body did. She then slowly twisted her small head around. “Big business? Get rich? Young master, what business is it?”
“My trip to Fengdu with Senior Brother Xing An has given me a treasure called Between Life and Death. It can link Fengdu and the world of the living.”
Qin Mu took a glance at Xing An. This expressions of this man who had always been calm changed drastically at that moment. It was obvious that he had recalled his humiliation in Fengdu.
Qin Mu gave a slight smile and said, “The business I want to do is in the world of the living. There are numerous primordial spirits of gods and devils in Fengdu who may be dead, but who are still living well in Fengdu. Some of these gods and devils still haven’t had their wishes fulfilled, but are stuck in Fengdu and unable to leave. Because of that, most of them would be willing to pay a big price for the people in the world of the living to do stuff for them.
“There are many things I have to do so I don’t have much time, which is why I want to use this treasure to open a path for divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace to accept missions from the dead. This is a training and also cultivation. They could even get rich from it.”
He smiled and said leisurely, “The gods and devils of Fengdu can even impart techniques and divine arts to divine arts practitioners who had completed their wishes or pay them in Fengdu gold coins to enter Fengdu. What concerns me, I plan to take a travel fee from the divine arts practitioners that enter Between Life and Death to cover my expenses.”
“Techniques and divine arts of gods and devils?” The faces of everyone beside the bonfire changed in unison, and their hearts all shook.
They didn’t know what Fengdu gold coins were, but the techniques and divine arts of gods and devils were definitely something that moved their hearts!
One had to know that Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was a technique that could turn one into god or a devil, and this kind of technique was the bible of Heavenly Devil Cult.
The Dao Sword of Dao Sect and Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra were also techniques that could turn one into a god or a buddha, which was why they could become the big sacred grounds.
Even if the techniques and divine arts of the gods and devils in Fengdu were inferior to those of the three big sacred grounds, they were still no small matter!
“Ever since Cult Master Qin established divine bridge’s space algebra model and spread Secrets of Magpie Bridge, Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and Secrets of Divine Crossing, the divine bridge is no longer the biggest obstruction to becoming a god,” Long Yu said.
“Not having techniques of the god realm is the true obstruction! Truth be told, these few days, there were quite a number of old seniors that had come to Little Jade Capital to seek techniques, but what we have in my Little Jade Capital is at most of Divine Bridge Realm. There are no techniques above them.”
Dao Master Lin Xuan nodded and said, “Our Dao Sect also doesn’t have the god technique of Pre-Celestial Supreme Mystery Technique. These words from Cult Master Qin have moved my heart.”
The biggest problem for the strong practitioners in Eternal Peace Empire was that once the impassable path was paved, they didn’t have any techniques they could cultivate and they didn’t know how to continue.
If Qin Mu could really use Between Life and Death to link both worlds together and allow them to receive techniques of the realms beyond, it would be an immeasurable merit. It would be worth it no matter how much money he asked!
Even Xing An was slightly moved. However, thinking about how Fengdu suppressed him, he could only give up on that thought.
‘These younger generations, if they can really receive the techniques after god realm, it’ll be hard to tell if I’ll be the one taking their body parts or if they’ll be the ones dispersing my souls when the time comes.’
His gaze flickered, and at that moment, his murderousness had indeed awakened for a second. However, he was still a great master, so he suppressed it in no time.
Si Yunxiang and Hu Ling’er’s breathing became heavy, and their eyes turned bright. The same thought appeared in both of their minds: ‘We’re getting rich! Our wealth will rival the empire’s! ‘Once Between Life and Death is set up, even the emperor won’t be able to resist taking a trip to Fengdu!’
Hu Ling’er raised her two furry ears and flicked them back and forth in excitement. “Young master, how much should we charge the emperor?”
Si Yunxiang also was filled with excitement. “The old immortals of Little Jade Capital, the monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery, the old Daoists of Dao Sects are all plump lambs waiting to be slaughtered!”
Monk Ming Xin, Daoist Lin Xuan, Wang Muran, and Ling Yuxiu’s faces turned green. Before they could even say anything, Si Yunxiang and Hu Ling’er looked each other in the eyes and remembered something at the same time. They asked in unison, “Young master, if we are collecting money from the world of the living, what about the world of the dead? We can also collect money there!”
“Blinded by greed! You two are not generous at all! Leave some income for other people,” Qin Mu said while shaking his head. “I had handed the collection of money there to the past human emperors of Hall of Human Emperors. The income is theirs, so you can forget about it.”
Si Yunxiang and Hu Ling’er were slightly disappointed. Hu Ling’er’s tails that had stood straight moments ago drooped down. However, when she thought of how she was going to get rich, her tails went up once more.
The sky started growing white, and the banquet was dispersed.
Qin Mu waited for everyone on the mountain to go back before pulling Hu Ling’er to run a distance away from the wine jar. He then tossed a small stone inside it.
The stone fell into the wine jar, but for a moment there was no reaction.
Hu Ling’er grew suspicious. “Young master, could you have been wrong?”
Qin Mu shook his head and turned to look at Xing An who was beside him. “Senior Brother Xing An, this jar…”
“Is being suppressed by mem,” Xing An said indifferently. “If you want to release the power inside it, I can do as you wish. How many such jade mountains are there in your Imperial College?”
“Don’t release it!” But by the time Qin Mu began saying that, Xing An had already released his magic power and was looking at him with a strange smile. “Great Divine Physician, I also hold grudges.”
Qin Mu felt his hair stand up on ends and pulled onto Hu Ling’er to run away. “We can’t stay in the capital anymore. The emperor is definitely going to behead me. Let’s go, now!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There was a scribe-written account from the winter of the seventeenth year of the sixty year cycle. It described the event of the jade mountain of Imperial College sinking fifty yards as scarlet flames came out of its caves in a radius of eight hundred miles, which had been an abnormally beautiful sight.
However, the scribe hadn’t recorded the cause of the event. He only used sublime words with deep meaning to mention Heavenly Saint Academy’s Grand Chancellor Qin neglecting his teachings and being punished by the emperor to forfeit his salary of the next two years. His rank had also been dropped from fourth ranking to lower fifth.
According to the people in the palace, it had been an early morning that day when the emperor was alarmed by a loud explosion. He hurriedly flew to have a look and saw that the place of the explosion was Jade Dragon Lake. Countless red dragon carps in the lake were hit and floated on the water’s surface. Jade Dragon Lake itself was several times larger than normal and several times deeper.
The emperor had then flown into a rage.
According to the reports, there was an injury on the emperor’s hand while he was shouting to behead someone.
At that time, the emperor carried a knife while wandering around the mountain, but he couldn’t find that someone. He only stumbled upon a sleeping dragon qilin and chest. He stood guard beside them, but when he still didn’t see the person by the afternoon, he finally gave up.
Rumors said that someone had escaped a thousand miles away in the early morning, so when afternoon came, the dragon qilin who had woken up had to ride the chest for two days and two nights to catch up.
There were other rumors saying that the emperor had gone to the army camp and loitered around Sunshot Divine Cannon for half a day before finally sighing. “His merit is greater than his trouble, so his crime is not worthy of death yet. I should just demote him and take away his salary.” After that, he put away his huge knife and turned to leave.
Of course, these were all rumors and there was no way to verify them. The scribes of the imperial court would never record such things that had no basis.
Over ten days later, Qin Mu set up Between Life and Death in Great Ruins’ Border Dragon City, and a long river stretched through the sky. Border Dragon City became a place connected to Fengdu, and it was extraordinary bustling for a period of time.
Border Dragon City was originally Qin Family’s property, and most of the shops in it belonged to Heavenly Saint Cult. Eternal Peace would ship goods there to sell to Great Ruins, and Great Ruins’ goods would be sent through there to be sold to Eternal Peace.
That city was the first station before entering Great Ruins, so the divine arts practitioners would usually choose it to settle down. After Qin Mu’s arrival, the number of divine arts practitioners in Border Dragon City had multiplied, and the prices were skyrocketing. Si Yunxiang and Hu Ling’er were so happy that they were beaming with joy.
After a few days, an official of Ministry of Revenue came to Great Ruins wanting to collect tax and was attacked verbally by Qin Mu. He then went back to complain to Emperor Yanfeng who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Great Ruins is not part of Eternal Peace’s territory, so him not killing you when you went to collect tax is already giving me face. According to the rules of their Great Ruins, you should have been beheaded. Don’t create trouble, Great Ruins isn’t our land.”
“Your Majesty, Grand Chancellor Qin is earning money too fiercely. The trade and commerce in Border Dragon City is a huge business!” Minister of Revenue protested. “On top of that, Your Majesty has to pave roads which will connect West Earth and Eternal Peace, but they will have to pass through Border Dragon City! The two roads planned by Grand Chancellor Qin both have to pass through there!
“Border Dragon City will definitely become the first strategic town of Great Ruins, and its wealth will be leading in the world! This minister thinks that Grand Chancellor definitely has selfish motives, borrowing the imperial court’s money to pave roads for his hometown!”
With a sense of helplessness, Emperor Yanfeng looked deeply into his eyes. He then said meaningfully, “West Earth was conquered by him, saving us all the funds and provisions that would’ve been required for the troops. He also spared the countless soldiers from dying in the war.”
“However, the divine arts practitioners that go to Border Dragon City are all people of my Eternal Peace. If they spend money there and can’t be taxed, that place will become a country in a country, and our Eternal Peace’s wealth will definitely be lost! If this continues, how dreadful would it be? Our Eternal Peace will have no money to use!” the ministered stated.
Emperor Yanfeng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Daoist Yuan Feng, you are an algebra expert of Daoism so how can you not understand?”
Minister of Revenue was puzzled. “This small official is slow-witted. May Your Majesty enlighten me?”
Emperor Yanfeng smiled at him. “The divine arts practitioners that go to Border Dragon City use the great abundance coins of my Eternal Peace. If they want to spend the money, they still have to earn it in my Eternal Peace, so they will still have to return.”
Minister of Revenue frowned. “But what if great abundance coins circulate in Great Ruins and don’t return to Eternal Peace?”
Emperor Yanfeng smiled. “If great abundance coins could replace gold, silver, and treasures that circulate in Great Ruins, that would be even more wonderful! Think, the imperial court is the one minting coins. With that, wouldn’t the imperial court be in control of Great Ruins’ which couldn’t mint its own coins? Wouldn’t the imperial court then have a say in how much wealth Great Ruins have?
“When great abundance coins replace gold and silver, the imperial court will be able to use great abundance coins to buy mines and rivers. With great abundance coins everywhere, unifying Great Ruins would be just around the corner!”
Minister of Revenue was tongue-tied.
Emperor Yanfeng threw his memorial and stood up to look outside with a deep gaze. “To not spend a soldier and just great abundance coins to gain a rich land like Great Ruins, what a bargain are we getting for this deal? You are still too straightforward, thinking that the money flowing into Great Ruins is a bad thing. You don’t know how to use money to unify the lands, which is the highest quality of invasion.
“When ruling a country, one cannot be bothered with minor gains or losses, but have to see far, dozens or even hundreds of years into the future. When Grand Chancellor wants to earn money, it’s just a few coins. When I want to earn money, it’s about rivers and mountains, no blood on the men’s swords, aiding the people, and unifying the economy!”
Minister of Revenue was completely won over. “Your Majesty’s words can be used to alert the later generations.”
In Border Dragon City, Qin Mu looked at the divine arts practitioners bustling in the streets and the merchants coming and going endlessly. Those people of Eternal Peace Empire made Border Dragon City much livelier than before.
“If Imperial Preceptor managed to bring the divine arts practitioners of West Earth to pave the road and open a path between West Earth and Eternal Peace, the people of Great Ruins wouldn’t have to live so bitterly.”
Qin Mu calculated. Over a month had passed since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had led the people of Heavenly Works Hall to the West. Thus, they should have already turned the desert into green plains.
By using Green Dragon Bead of West Earth, they could achieve that with quite some ease. After that, they would need to create streams by drawing water from the snow on the mountains into the desert for dense vegetation to stay alive and grow.
If Heavenly Works Hall could bore a hole in the mountains to the south of the desert, they could draw the water vapor above the south sea to the north. With that, the desert would have no shortage of water, and they wouldn’t have to worry about making rain and snow fall.
In just a few years, the flaming desert would become history.
Once the road was paved, West Earth, Great Ruins, and Eternal Peace would be connected by a smooth road without any obstructions. Merchants would go past the towns and cities in Great Ruins on their way, and the people of Great Ruins would become rich as well.
“Divine Physician Qin, I heard you are a person from Great Ruins.” Xing An who stood behind him broke into his thoughts. “You are a person of Great Ruins yet you bring the power of Eternal Peace Empire into it. You are a sinner.”
“There is no country in Great Ruins so how am I a sinner?” Qin Mu was bewildered. “The people of Great Ruins make the best use of local resources without any ruler. Even if Eternal Peace Empire came, the people from there would also become the people of Great Ruins. The guest will not become the owner here, for they must follow the rules of Great Ruins. Over here, they are the only way to live instead of any law of the emperor.”
Xing An shook his head. “I haven’t interacted much with Emperor Yanfeng, but I can see his great skills and strategy. He will unify Great Ruins in the future. When that time comes, you will regret it.”
Qin Mu smiled. “If the emperor dares to make a move on Great Ruins, he won’t be able to sit on his throne for much longer. You should know how terrifying Great Ruins is. These stone statues…” he said while pointing at the temples in Border Dragon City.
“They are waiting for a call to revive. Once they do, the world is going to flip. Eternal Peace will never become the owner of this land, since it is someone else.”
His gaze flickered as he smiled. “I chased away the Minister of Revenue, and the emperor still hasn’t found trouble for me, so I can see his plans clearly. It’s just that his ideas are empty thoughts. If the emperor could surpass Founding Emperor, they might have a chance of coming true; otherwise, they’re nothing but an illusion. I’m about to go sweep the tombs, will Senior Brother Xing An be coming along?”
Xing An glanced at the chest that had grown legs, then looked away. “I’ll follow wherever you go. I’ll leave only when I’ll find the person I want.”
Qin Mu frowned. “I’ll go sweep the tomb after you settle your thing.”
Hall of Human Emperors was a secret that only the past human emperors knew about. With Xing An by his side, he couldn’t head to Hall of Human Emperors; otherwise, its location would be exposed and bring unnecessary trouble.
Besides, who knew if Xing An wouldn’t dig out the bodies of the past human emperors to collect them?
After a dozen days, the imperial court, Heavenly Saint Cult, Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and the rest collected the information of the people born at the specified time. There were up to thirty thousand people.
The official that had sent the information said, “Knowledge from the prairie, snow plains, and West Earth hasn’t been gathered completely yet.”
Xing An looked at the thirty thousand scrolls and couldn’t help feeling a heavy weight settle on his shoulders. After a moment, he said, “The person I want to find is a man, so separate the men from the women.
The official immediately gave instructions to those under him, and once everything was sorted out, he said, “There is a total of seventeen thousand men of which only eight thousand are alive. Most of them had died in the battles and disasters.”
After a moment, Xing An said, “Exclude those that aren’t divine arts practitioners.”
The official gave his orders again and let the officials of Ministry of Revenue sort the information again. After a while, he reported, “There are four hundred divine arts practitioners left.”
Xing An was silent for a moment before saying, “Check if there were any abnormal sights when these four hundred people were born. I’m looking for a divine practitioner who wears a jade pendant.”
The official then ordered to check the four hundred men.
Qin Mu watched the proceedings with a doubt growing in his heart. ‘Every time Xing An gives an order, he hesitates as though it’s not him that’s giving the order. It’s like he is listening to someone else’s words.
‘That’s right, he jumped off the Bridge of Helplessness and sunk into Youdu which is much more dangerous than Fengdu. Monsters overflowing with grievances are everywhere there, so how did he get back? Could it be…’
His gaze flickered, and a Gate of Heaven Influence suddenly appeared behind him. Once it formed, Qin Mu transformed into a snake-headed human, and a straight eye opened up at the heart of his brows.
Xing An immediately noticed it and turned around to face him. His eyes were dense with divine light which blocked Qin Mu’s gaze. He then said indifferently, “Divine Physician Qin, there are some things you are better off not knowing.”
Qin Mu laughed and dispersed his Saturn Sovereign form. Inside, he was ineffably shocked. When he looked at Xing An while the man was off guard, he had seen a terrifying eye hidden in the other’s Life and Death Divine Treasure!
Just then, that terrifying eye had noticed his gaze and was about to look at him. However, it was intercepted by Xing An!
The official came to report at that moment. “We couldn’t find any divine arts practitioner wearing a jade pendant when he was born. After all, being born with a jade in the mouth is a legend.”
“That person wasn’t born with a jade in the mouth.” Xing An was silent for a moment before taking out a drawing. “His jade pendant is used to suppress his devil nature. This is the picture of it. Since you can’t find that divine arts practitioner that’s born at the right time, hang pictures of this jade pendant in every city and find its location! Divine Physician Qin, order your men to make a thousand copies of this drawing!”
Qin Mu took the painting and his gaze fell on the picture of the jade pendant.
Xing An saw that he was looking at it in detail and asked, “Has Divine Physician Qin seen this kind of pendant before?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I’ve never seen it before.”
Xing An’s gaze flickered, and he took out a mirror. “I’ve forgotten to ask, but how old is Divine Physician Qin now?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“I’m twenty-three this year,” Qin Mu said honestly. “I’ve wasted twenty-three years of my life and still have achieved nothing. I can’t help sighing endlessly and shedding silent tears.”
“Divine Physician Qin is twenty-three years old and has already achieved so much. It is already extraordinary.” Xing An turned around and raised the mirror in his hand. In the meantime, he exclaimed in admiration sincerely. “Not only are you Heavenly Devil Cult Master who controls a million divine arts practitioners at twenty-three years, but you also have other high positions like Heavenly Saint Academy Grand Chancellor and Human Emperor.
“You are the richest in the world and have a vast group of friends. How many people could have your kind of achievements at twenty-three years old? It’s just you!”
He raised his mirror to catch a glimpse of the youth, but he couldn’t see him at all. Stunned, he heard Qin Mu’s voice coming from afar. “Fatty Dragon, Fatty Dragon! Tell the divine arts practitioners that just arrived to not run around at night. This is Great Ruins; they will die! Those with loud voices, come. Give a few shouts for the divine arts practitioners to not go out of the city at night!”
Xing An put away his mirror and went after him. When Qin Mu finally stopped for a moment, he took out the mirror to capture his reflection, yet there was no figure of Qin Mu in the mirror once more.
The youth’s voice came from far away again. “Yuxiu, can you find a few painters from the palace? Brother Xing An gave me a drawing of which I need to make a thousand copies to send to all parts of the empire.”
Xing An’s eyebrows rose as he thought to himself, ‘If the person Lu Li wants to find is him, he wouldn’t have examined that drawing of the jade pendant in such detail. Could I be too suspicious? However, why is he trying to avoid me?’
He caught up to Qin Mu once more as his gaze flickered. ‘If he runs again, I’ll suppress him in place with my magic power!’
At that moment, the well-rounded young woman of Ling Family took a glance at the painting and said in astonishment, “This jade pendant, I seem to have seen it before!”
Xing An’s attention was caught, and he stopped bothering with Qin Mu right away. He hurriedly asked, “Princess of Ling Family, have you really seen this before?”
Ling Yuxiu had been in charge of the military situation on the northern border, so her skin was very fair under the nourishment of the snow plains. She was going through puberty as well so her face had become slightly longer, looking more delicate and pretty. However, her body was still well-rounded.
When she returned to the capital for debriefing, Qin Mu had set up Between Life and Death, so she took the chance to come to Border Dragon City. Other than to rendezvous with her lover, she also went there for training.
“I’ve seen it once before.” Ling Yuxiu had undergone the training of the army so she was much more mature than before. However, she still liked to dress as a man and looked very suave. “I’ve seen it in one of the ruins in Great Ruins.”
“Great Ruins!” Xing An’s heart trembled violently, and he asked in a hurry, “Was the person a youth?”
“Not really. I just saw this kind of writings in the ruin. There was also a swaddle and a wooden horse there, so it looked like a child had lived there before.”
Qin Mu looked at Xing An who went silent again. It was evident that he was communicating with the weird eye in his Life and Death Divine Treasure.
He looked at the mirror in Xing An’s hand with curiosity. Xing An had kept on trying to point it at him, which was why he had avoided it.
“Senior Brother Xing An, you also like to carry mirrors? Could this mirror be some remarkable treasure?” Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, and he made a grab for the mirror. “Can you lend it to me? I think I have a pimple on my face, so I want to take a look—”
Piak!
Xing An slapped his hand away and stuffed the mirror into his taotie sack while saying indifferently, “Don’t touch my stuff. You are poisonous. Princess Ling, where’s the place you had gone to before? Can you bring me there?”
He had communicated with the weird eye in his Life and Death Divine Treasure, so it was probably the weird eye that wanted him to go take a look.
Ling Yuxiu hesitated for a moment before saying, “I would still like to make a trip to Fengdu so I don’t have the time to bring you there. However, I remember the way there so I can draw it for you.”
Xing An gave his thanks.
Ling Yuxiu asked for brush and ink from Qin Mu and drew a geographical map. Xing An then asked calmly, “Is there any danger there?”
Ling Yuxiu smiled at him. “If there was danger, how could I have lived to return? Who else could be the strongest in the world other than Senior Xing An?”
Xing An smiled back at her. “If you could live to return, I naturally can too. Divine Physician Qin, come with me.”
Qin Mu hesitated. “Senior brother, why do you need to bring me along if you’re just going to Great Ruins to find a person? I’ve already helped you look for him, and I’m still going to help you hang his drawing throughout Eternal Peace. As long as there’s news, I will inform you. You can find the tracks of the jade pendant while I go to Hall of Human Emperors to sweep their tombs. If I keep delaying it, all of the past human emperors are going to curse me to join them sooner.”
Xing An looked at the geographical map that Ling Yuxiu had drawn and said seriously, “Princess Ling, if I don’t find the word on the jade pendant there, you should know the consequences. Your Ling Family will be wiped out from this world!”
Ling Yuxiu shuddered as she forced a smile. “I didn’t lie to you…”
Xing An turned to leave.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu let out sighs of relief. Ling Yuxiu wiped off the sweat on her forehead and was about to speak, but Qin Mu raised his hand. She then hurriedly closed her mouth.
They knew what the other was thinking, and their primordial spirits left their bodies to move far away.
After getting tens of thousands of miles away from Border Dragon City, Ling Yuxiu’s primordial spirit asked, “The one that herds cows, what is that place? Is it dangerous? The lives of my Ling Family rest on this!”
The reason why she said that was because Qin Mu had taken the chance when Xing An was off guard to use the brainwaves of Heavenly Feather Clan to communicate with her, telling her what to draw.
Between Heavenly Feather Clansmen, words weren’t needed. They all relied on brainwaves to communicate with each other. Without a sound, just by moving one’s consciousness, they could tell the other party what they were thinking. They could move together as one, which made them very flexible.
Even though there was a very huge flaw in communicating with consciousness, this kind of method was very useful for keeping secrets.
“Don’t worry, all that you told Xing An, he will find there. However, he won’t learn anything useful there,” Qin Mu’s primordial spirit said. “After he goes there, if he immediately turns back, he’ll still be able to walk out. But if he is insistent on going further to find more clues, it will depend on his wisdom if he’ll be able to walk out or not.
“Back then when Village Chief and the rest barged in, they almost couldn’t return. It was Grandpa Mute who had rescued them. After Xing An returns, he won’t kill you because of this, since you didn’t lie at all.”
The place to which Xing An was going was where they had once suspected to be Carefree Village. It was a huge ship that was forged by Heavenly Works God Race, but they hadn’t managed to reach Carefree Village. They had suffered an ambush from the enemy and got trapped in an incomparably gigantic cube along with the ship.
Heavenly Works God Race had spent countless generations and sacrificed countless people to finally let a child walk out of the seal. Qin Mu suspected that Mute was that child
After all, VIllage Chief and the rest had relied on Mute to lead them out.
If Xing An stepped into that place and turned back immediately, he could still barge out. However, if he entered, he would be trapped by the seals.
Ling Yuxiu let out a sigh of relief and asked, “Why is Xing An looking for you? That jade pendant is clearly yours.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I also don’t know. However, there’s an extremely powerful being hiding in his Life and Death Realm, and it is extremely terrifying. Xing An must have been threatened by it. I only saw the eye of that being and not the body. However, for Xing An to fall into Youdu and come back alive, that eye in his divine treasure must belong to a devil god of Youdu!”
Ling Yuxiu frowned. “If Xing An is able to escape?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “It should be able to trap him for half a year. After he comes out, we will continue to help him find the jade pendant youth.” His gaze became weird when he said in a low voice, “When he comes out, he will discover that no matter if it’s Middle Earth or West Earth, the prairie, the snow plains, or Great Ruins, this jade pendant can be found everywhere. Try guessing why that is so?”
Ling Yuxiu rolled her eyes at him. “I know you are capable, stop bragging!”
Qin Mu laughed, and their primordial spirits returned to their corporeal bodies. The sky outside had already turned dark. Beside the river in Between Life and Death, a pleasure boat was about to sail. Hu Ling’er and Si Yunxiang let the people who had paid money to board it, and they went through the river in the sky toward Fengdu. Ling Yuxiu had also boarded that boat.
Outside the city, Qin Mu walked into the darkness, followed by the dragon qilin sitting on the chest which was filled with items like fruits and sacrificial offerings. The chest was displeased about these things, but it was helpless since Qin Mu had forcefully stuffed all of them into its stomach.
‘Hall of Human Emperors is the same as Little Jade Capital, another broken piece of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens.’
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered as he walked through the darkness while holding a black lump in his hand. He thought to himself, ‘Second Ancestor and the rest didn’t tell me where to go, just that I need to activate Human Emperor’s Seal. But how is it going to find Hall of Human Emperor…’
His vital qi flooded into Human Emperor’s Seal, and it trembled gently. It was different from when he’d activated Human Emperor’s Seal the previous time. The last time he had executed the seal, he saw the years of hardship of the human race after eradication of Founding Emperor Era. The consciousness hidden in the Human Emperor’s Seal had struck out in all directions and spread through the world.
However, Village Chief and a group of experts had helped him back then. Now there was only Qin Mu, so he naturally couldn’t unleash the call of Human Emperor’s Seal with just his consciousness.
Qin Mu used his vital qi to test it, and his heart suddenly shook. His vital qi had touched a marking in the Human Emperor’s Seal.
The next instant, Human Emperor’s Seal gently trembled, and a ray of light shot out, hitting Qin Mu’s eyes. The light then vanished.
Qin Mu shook his head and opened his eyes to look. A light shone down from somewhere and landed directly under his legs.
Astonished, Qin Mu turned back to look. “Fatty Dragon, can you see the light?”
The dragon qilin was asleep, but he hurriedly raised his head to look around. “What light?”
‘Only I can see this light?’
Qin Mu hurriedly took out a mirror and pointed it at himself. He saw that there was a strange rune in his eyes, and he reckoned that it was the reason he saw that light!
‘So that’s how you go to Hall of Human Emperors!’ Qin Mu followed the light.
Meanwhile, Village Chief returned to Fengdu which was currently very lively. There was a long river and a bridge in the sky above the city. The bridge was crowded with gods and devils while a bunch of skeletons stood on the pleasure boat underneath.
‘What is happening?’
Village Chief was astonished. He suddenly saw Human Emperor Qi Kang on the bridge, and his eyes lit up. He waved and shouted to him, “Old Man Qi Kang, over here! I’m back! I have astonishing news, something about the overlord body! Hehe, you won’t believe this. Forty thousand years ago, there was actually an appearance of the overlord body! Come down quickly, I have a rubbing of the inscription here!”
Human Emperor Qi Kang jumped off the bridge and pointed at Village Chief. “Don’t move, don’t move! I’ll call Second Ancestor and the rest over!”
Village Chief smiled at him. “Aren’t you going to take a look at the inscription first?”
“Enjoying happiness alone is not as great as sharing it. Let’s wait for the other human emperors to come before we read it together.” Human Emperor Qi Kang looked at him with sincerity in his eyes.
Village Chief was puzzled. ‘This old fart’s smile seems to be a little familiar. Why is he so polite to me today…’
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What are those human emperors doing again? Why is it so bustling?” In Fengdu City, King Yama stood in front of Hall of King Qin and looked into the city. He could see palaces collapsing one after another, and asked suspiciously, “Are the disciples beating the masters again? The beatings look quite ruthless…”
A huge bird flew over and landed on the ground to transform into Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu. He pruned his feathers and shook his head. “King Yama has guessed wrong. It’s not disciples beating up the masters, but the masters ganging up with the ancestors to beat the last disciple. Human Emperor Su has come back and got beaten up by his master, grand-master, and all the ancestors. He is getting beaten quite miserably, but he can’t die even if he wanted.”
King Yama was quite astonished. “They have changed the rules?”
“I also don’t know, but it seems to be about the overlord body. Human Emperor Su brought an inscription and said that it’s the legend of the overlord body from forty thousand years ago. Second Ancestor and the rest had smiled while listening, but after that, they surrounded him and started beating him up.”
God Chi Xiu paused for a moment. “After that, when Human Emperor Su resisted, he got beaten up even more miserably. They talked about how he deceived the masters and ancestors, how he schemed them and allowed the little human emperor to beat them. I only heard bits and pieces, but Human Emperor Su is getting beaten quite badly.
“The other gods and devils don’t dare to go forward to break up the fight. The cult masters of Heavenly Saint Cult are even cheering on the fight and wishing for the whole world to be in chaos. Should I stop them?”
King Yama was silent for a moment. “No need for that. If you go and stop them, they will gang up on you.”
Deep in the night, it was still extremely lively in the darkness of Great Ruins. Countless monsters appeared while Xing An hurried past them. The divine light around his body forced back the invasion of the dark substances as he headed toward the location Ling Yuxiu had marked.
His mind trembled when he saw a huge sealed space. Pieces of forest were located up, down, left, and right of the gigantic cube, covering its every side. Meanwhile, in the sealed space, there was a humongous ship that was countless times larger than Sun Ship and Moon Ship!
It was the huge ship forged by Heavenly Works God Race of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens to head toward Carefree Village, Paramita Ark!
This ship was tattered, which made it evident that a bloody battle had happened on it. That was the reason why the ship was destroyed and could no longer advance!
Xing An could see the danger, and he hesitated slightly. In the end though, he still stepped inside.
He was the strongest existence in the current world, so even though he had seen the danger, he was confident that he could leave it easily!
Not long later, he came to the little village in the forest, and Xing An’s mind trembled. He indeed saw the pictures that were similar to the jade pendant. “The little princess of Ling Family didn’t lie to me!”
At that moment, he discovered that he was not the only one there.
The door of a courtyard was open, and he saw someone’s back there.
‘This is the person I’m looking for?’
Xing An couldn’t help growing excited. He took out his mirror and turned around to point it at that person. The man turned around, revealing his face full of wrinkles. He smiled at him. “Ah ah!”
Xing An was slightly stunned. It was an elder and not the person he was looking for. The elder was carrying a chest and had an iron forging furnace nearby.
“You are very strong.” Xing An turned to face him with a calm expression. “You have made me feel the delight in seeing a prey after noticing the boundless energy in your body. It’s extremely terrifying! You might be the most terrifying opponent I’ve met in recent years.”
“Ah ah!” The elder’s face wrinkled like the skin of a tangerine. He smiled happily and signaled twice.
Xing An didn’t understand and talked by himself. “I want to collect you very much. Show me your strongest moves and let me see your abilities.”
Boom!
The furnace beside the elder blazed, and flames rushed over ten miles into the sky. Xing An instantly felt the space burning, but the most terrifying thing wasn’t that furnace. The threat came from the body of the elder.
His dantian suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, like a small sun exploding with incomparable energy!
Xing An was excited when he saw a divine bridge behind the elder stretching into the sky. On it was his primordial spirit that had a bird’s head and a human’s body while extreme heat energy radiated off it. The primordial spirit leaped up and crossed the bridge, entering the celestial heavens above it.
Boom!
The magic power of the elder exploded violently once again, and the blazing heat could warp the space. Suddenly, the chest opened by itself, and countless silver pellets flew out like flowing water. They covered the elder’s body and instantly turned him into a general clad in silver armor. Two silver lights became two huge hammers which smashed toward Xing An!
When the hammer hit him, Xing An felt like an obstinate iron on an iron felt. He was being forged into a form that the elder wanted!
“How strong! Your dantian is even stronger than the god realm’s dantians I collected from the other strong practitioners!”
Xing An was ineffably excited. He raised his hand and ripples swirled. An apparition of a vast sea appeared behind his body, and sounds of waves rushed into the sky. He took the strike head on and was blown out of the little village. The elder rushed after him, his huge hammers rising and falling as they attacked.
The two people fought among the mountains and forests, moving and attacking non-stop. Xing An laughed loudly.
“Superb body, superb dantian! I will definitely add you to my collection! Yin alone or Yang alone cannot result in longevity. The path you took is the path of pure yang which is fierce and overbearing, but that has difficulty in lasting long! Your strength to taking too big of a toll on your corporeal body which resulted in you looking so old.
“Unless you refine your corporeal body to the god realm, you won’t be able to endure the divine might of the dantian great furnace. If you continue fighting like this, you will definitely exceed the limits of your body. You are bound to lose!”
At that moment, the elder was already finding it hard to continue anymore. He suddenly pulled back his hammers, and the silver armor flowed down to his legs to become a silver horse, which he then rode away.
Xing An hurriedly gave chase, but his feet suddenly stepped into emptiness. They had come to the space of Parimita Ark, and everywhere were shattered pieces of the ark which were incomparably huge.
Xing An saw the speed of the silver horse under the elder’s hip slowing down and understood just how strong was the dantian of the person before him. It had already harmed the man’s body, however, so he couldn’t endure any longer.
Xing An gave chase once more.
After a moment, cold sweat rolled off his forehead. He had lost all track of the elder and found himself trapped in a dangerous place. Seals were everywhere, and it made it hard for him to tread around.
Suddenly, the elder appeared again, sitting at the bow of a small, silver boat. From somewhere, he had even gotten a bamboo hat.
Xing An composed himself as the corner of his eye twitched. He wanted to rush over, but he was blocked by a seal that was floating in space.
The elder grinned at him, revealing his lack of tongue. He did a cutting gesture over his neck, and his small, silver boat sailed away.
Xing An flew into a fury, but he suddenly felt that the elder’s smile was slightly familiar. He seemed to have seen it somewhere before.
‘This smile, I’ve definitely seen it before, definitely…’
He calmed himself down and threw the smile of that elder to the back of his head. He focused on finding the path out, but just as he was about to solve the first talisman seal, Qin Mu’s smile suddenly flashed across his mind and overlapped with the smile of the mute elder. He grew flustered and was then struck away by the talisman seal.
Qin Mu’s smiles and the mute elder’s smile overlapped nearly perfectly. The only difference was that Qin Mu’s smile was sincere while that mute elder’s smile had a hint of craftiness!
“I…” Xing An’s god blood rose up to his throat, but was forced back down by him. “I won’t be angry, I won’t be angry. I will definitely not let him spoil my Dao heart. I— Euargh”
He still couldn’t resist puking out a mouthful of god blood. With the expression of defeat, he let out an angry roar. “Divine Physician Qin, I will never let you off!”
Qin Mu followed the light that was guiding the way and walked out of Great Ruins. As he continued on his journey, he walked to the southern borders of Eternal Peace. There were numerous bugs and snakes there, and people were scarce. The further he walked, the more desolate it became.
Finally, slightly after dawn, the guiding light formed a door that wasn’t very big before him on one of the mountaintops.
There were no other doors formed by light on the small mountaintop. Qin Mu looked around and saw barren mountains and wild lands. There were no people here, only empty terrain.
The dragon qilin raised his head to examine the surroundings. When he saw the sun coming up, he couldn’t help cheering up. “Cult Master, it’s daybreak, time for breakfast…”
Qin Mu pushed open the door, and it opened with light shining out from inside. He walked into that light.
The dragon qilin hurried in after him. Their figures vanished, and the door of light became dimmer and dimmer before vanishing.
After a moment, Qin Mu appeared on a desolate land. The emptiness earlier was nothing compared to what he saw now.
In front of him were collapsed sacred halls with fog covering everything. Hidden by it were slabs of tombstones with burial mounds behind them. The broken fences and dilapidated walls struck deep into Qin Mu’s heart.
In the distance, there was a palace standing tall alone in the fog.
Qin Mu went forward while looking around. The space was extremely vast, but the countless tombstones in the fog were the only scenery of Hall of Human Emperors.
He came to the first burial mound and looked at the tombstone. On it was written: Celestial Heavens West General Wei Ming. Beside the tombstone was a shield dyed with blood.
Qin Mu came to the second burial mound with words: Celestial Heavens Brave Tiger Guards High Official Ding Yunhe. Under the tombstone was a helmet.
He continued to walk forward in complete silence. Even the dragon qilin who was clamoring for breakfast didn’t dare to speak. He shrunk his tail back and suddenly lifted the chest hide inside it; he didn’t dare to show his face.
Qin Mu checked tombstone by tombstone, but many of them weren’t even carved. The person that had erected the tombstones had probably not known their names.
Both named and unnamed tombs paved a way that led to Hall of Human Emperors which stood in the fog.
It was hard to say how much later it was when Qin Mu finally came close to it. Before his eyes, a straw hut took form. Inside it, a dried up skeleton sat with its skull hanging down. Beside him was a collapsed tombstone. Even though only the bones were left, Qin Mu could still see that the person had possessed a tall and sturdy physique. The knuckles on his hands were thick and big, so he should have been skilled in mudra skills, palm skills, and fist skills.
Qin Mu dusted off the dirt on the stone tablet and couldn’t help being stunned.
The words on it were: Human Emperor Qi Kang. Seeing how I’ve achieved nothing in my life, I’m too ashamed to erect a tombstone for myself and I’m too ashamed to meet my ancestors. I shall die in this straw hut and not bury my bones.
Qin Mu opened the chest and took out some candles, paper money, and offerings. He offered incense and sacrifices to Human Emperor Qi Kang with respect.
He walked out of the straw hut and saw another one nearby. Inside it was a few severed arms and legs near a tombstone that had fallen over. On it was only the word Su written with a sword. It had been carved halfway before the broken sword was stabbed into the tombstone, leaving the character unfinished.
Qin Mu looked at the severed arms and legs. At the severed parts, there were sword wounds, and the corners of his eyes trembled. He then paid his respects.
“Village Chief!”
He knew that Village Chief had come here once wanting to end his life, but since he had not passed down Human Emperor’s Seal, he couldn’t do it. Because of that, he had only buried his severed arms and legs.
He hadn’t even dared to write his name as he hadn’t left his inheritance behind at that time.
Qin Mu came to the third straw hut where he saw a skeleton that was only five feet tall. It was Human Emperor Yi Shan.
On the tombstone, there were only a few simple words.
Human Emperor Yi Shan, defeated by High Heaven. I’ve no face to bury myself and meet my teacher. The later generation doesn’t need to pay their respects to me.
Qin Mu came to the fourth straw hut where he found another skeleton. It held a flower basket in its hand.
Human Emperor Lan Po. I’ve achieved nothing in my life, and I’m ashamed to have failed my teacher’s teachings…
Qin Mu entered each and every straw hut to pay his respects. He witnessed the twenty thousand years of history of Hall of Human Emperors. He had met all the human emperors in Fengdu where they were scolding and beating their own masters, not getting along well. However, over here in the straw huts of Hall of Human Emperors, Qin Mu saw their respect for their teachers and the remorse of their own failures.
He came to the far end of Hall of Human Emperors and saw the view of a back.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Up ahead was a figure that was tall and sturdy. Qin Mu walked up the steps of the sacred hall with the chest clattering behind him. He raised his hand, and the chest stopped outside. It pulled back its four legs and landed on the floor.
The chest creaked as its top opened up. In the gap, the dragon qilin looked around and saw tombstones everywhere. He gave it some thought before crawling out with difficulty. His stomach stayed close to the ground as he followed Qin Mu while his tail was lowered, but not to the point it touched the floor. He didn’t dare to make a sound.
Suddenly, the dragon qilin felt something stepping on his tail and let out a shriek. The hair and scales on his body all rose up.
Qin Mu turned back to take a look and saw the dragon qilin with both his paws stuffed in his mouth. Only then did he make himself from making the noise.
When he turned back, he saw the chest tiptoeing behind him. It was this thing that had stepped on his tail and scared the hell out of him.
Qin Mu’s head started to ache, and he wanted to chase them out, but he felt like it wouldn’t be appropriate in such a sacred and solemn place. He could only brace himself and let them follow behind him. “If you two fool around again, I’ll turn one of you into firewood and the other into dinner!”
When he came to the back of the figure, only then did he realize that he was much shorter than the other party. As a youth, he was merely an inch shorter.
However, the impression that the figure gave him was of a very tall person. It was the impact the person’s aura and manner brought to his heart.
The figure belonged to First Ancestor Human Emperor whose stone statue Qin Mu had seen in Little Jade Capital.
“You should be the thirty-sixth human emperor, right?”
First Ancestor tilted his head to look at him. He was a man who looked to be in his thirties. He had a full beard and looked robust, radiating the aura of reliability.
“I’m the thirty-seventh,” Qin Mu corrected. “Village Chief is my master and the person who had taken me in, but this is still the first time I’ve come here.”
He looked forward and was slightly stunned. He realized at what First Ancestor Human Emperor had been looking.
It was rows and rows of bookshelves stored with countless books. Hall of Human Emperor was very huge, but it didn’t have any gold or jade accessories like Qin Mu had expected. There was no tall and majestic god statue or any luxury at all. There were only rows and rows of bookshelves.
He walked forward and picked up a book. The words written on it were unfamiliar to him, but he could feel a familiar kind of sword will from them.
It was a book that Village Chief had written.
In it, he talked about the techniques and divine arts of High Heaven’s Star Sovereign Qiao. He had written numerous weakness of them and studied their flaws.
Qin Mu returned the book to its place and picked up another one. On it was written numerous pros and cons of Jade Sovereign’s techniques and divine arts. He flipped through the other books, and most of them were experiences of facing the techniques of the gods of High Heavens.
Qin Mu even found Sword Picture. There was a big pile of scrolls which recorded how Village Chief had cultivated his sword picture. The path and the mood of every kind of sword skill were recorded inside, which made it evident that he had prepared it for the descendants.
The youth came to the second bookshelf where the words were filled with a boundless atmosphere. It had a kind of passion that was like volcanoes erupting, so the books there were most likely written by Human Emperor Qi Kang.
His were also mostly about the techniques of the gods of High Heavens as well as the way to face them calculated by him. Besides that, the rest were the techniques and divine arts of Human Emperor Qi Kang.
However, he mentioned that anyone who would cultivate his techniques would be an idiot. He had never defeated the gods of High Heavens, so cultivating his techniques would only allow one to walk the same path as him. There was a hint of disappointment in his words.
‘No wonder every human emperor wouldn’t cultivate the technique of their master, but instead insist on founding new techniques.’ Qin Mu suddenly understood the feelings of the past human emperors.
They were all failures and didn’t want their disciples to walk their old path. The reason they left their techniques was probably because they were the hard work of their whole lives. They wanted to have a successor, but it couldn’t be their own disciple.
This was probably their biggest regret.
“These books are all strategies on how to pacify High Heavens.” First Ancestor Human Emperor walked over and caressed the books on the bookshelves. “They viewed High Heavens as their biggest enemy and used all their effort to take it down. However, it’s a pity that all of them failed. You can stay here and study for some time. It will help you in finding your own path.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “The gods of High Heavens are mostly dead, all of the four sovereigns already gone. The High Heavens now is not a big problem anymore. The books in these bookshelves are no longer of much use. My goal isn’t the gods of High Heavens or the conquer of that place.”
First Ancestor Human Emperor looked at him with astonishment. “What is your goal?”
Qin Mu looked straight at this predecessor and said solemnly, “My goal is to tear apart this fake sky, to reform this unfair world, to seek advancement with reform, to rebuild a flourishing era that doesn’t belong to Founding Emperor!” His gaze was fervent when he asked loudly, “First Ancestor, this is also your goal, right?”
“No.” First Ancestor’s eyes dimmed, and he shook his head. “My ideal is not as ambitious as yours. I’ve been worn down by time and many enemies. You are still young and have the drive while I’m just a dispirited old man. The day will come when time and your enemies will wear you out too.
“When that time comes, you will come to Hall of Human Emperors and leave your book like the other human emperors. You will write down your failures and hope for your descendant to do what you couldn’t.”
His voice was slightly cold and grew crueler and crueler with each word. “You are a failure, just like them. You will quietly build a straw hut and sit in it with all hope lost. You won’t want for anyone to walk the same path as you, but the responsibility of the human emperor will make you have no choice but to find a successor. In the straw hut, you will shed tears of regret, you will hate the master you respect, and you will carve a tombstone for yourself on which you will write your failures.”
He sneered and said, “You’ll feel that you’re unworthy of a grave, unworthy of meeting your ancestor, then you will take your last breath and become like the other skeletons in the straw huts!”
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open, full of disbelief. The heroic and wise image of First Ancestor Human Emperor suddenly crumbled in his heart!
“Do you still want to be the human emperor? Let me tell you a cruel truth, there’s no human emperor in this world!” His voice was cold to the extreme. “Back then, when I saved my people from the big disaster, I already knew that I was a failure! I saved them because I was weak and couldn’t see these ordinary people die in front of me. However, that made me a deserter!”
He laughed loudly and pointed at the countless burial mounds in the fog outside Hall of Human Emperors. “I am a deserter. When escaping, all I thought about was how to leave that hell! So I escaped! I didn’t fight with them, but run away alone! I’ve thought about it countless times: what if I had stayed with them at that time? There’s only one answer to that, and that’s I’d have become a corpse just like them!”
He laughed a little maniacally. “That’s right, they died while I lived and became the human emperor in the hearts of the world! The people respect me because I brought them to a place where they could live, but so what? I only turned them into prisoners. Even the sky is fake in this huge cage, an inescapable prison! Everyone is just a prisoner in this cage! I didn’t bring them out, but only sent them into this prison of gods!
“Human emperor? Ha ha, human emperor! There’s no such thing as a human emperor in this world!”
His hair blew upwards from the anger, and he took a step forward. When he closed in on Qin Mu, his terrifying aura forced the youth to fall back continuously. “Throw away that laughable dream of yours and let go of your burden. You are not the human emperor. From the beginning to the end, the human emperor was a fake, merely a murderer who had sent the people of the world to the cage of gods!”
His aura didn’t allow Qin Mu to even breathe. He had no choice but to use his vital qi at full strength to fight back.
“Then why have you come back?” Qin Mu’s chest was almost compressed, and he could barely suck in a breath, but she still shouted out, “Why have you come back to erect tombstones for the ones who had died in battle? Why have you buried them? Why have you placed the weapons they used under their tombstones?”
First Ancestor’s aura suddenly calmed, and he lowered his head. “I went back, back to this battlefield to bury them because I have guilt in my heart. I know I’m not worthy to be the human emperor so I’ve come to redeem my sins.”
Qin Mu found it hard to believe. “Do you really not have any hope in your heart?”
First Ancestor was expressionless. “No. Young man, put down the dream in your heart. This human emperor farce should have ended long ago.”
Qin Mu lowered his head, but after a moment, he raised it with a smile, a radiant smile that a big boy like him always wore. “You failed, they failed, but I have never failed before. Since you can’t be the human emperor, I shall do it.”
First Ancestor sneered at him, his expression full of scorn. “In what way do you think you’re capable of that?”
“My surname is Qin, and my ancestor is Founding Emperor. I have the lineage of Carefree Village’s Qin family, and I’m also the overlord body! Is there a problem?” Qin Mu asked in a loud shout.
First Ancestor tilted his head, the scorn still there. “You have too many titles and too much honor in your heart. So what if you have the lineage of Founding Emperor? He also lost and hasn’t shown his face for twenty thousand years. What can an overlord body do? I’ve heard about its legend, but I’ve never heard of any of its achievements. You’re just a silly boy, just a kid… Let me shatter your illusion!”
He swept up his sleeves and suddenly attacked.
Astonished, Qin Mu hurriedly blocked. However, he felt that the power in the strike wasn’t great, so he couldn’t help becoming stunned.
First Ancestor’s power burst forth, and the ripple of the divine art threw the books on the shelves into the air.
“Don’t destroy these books!” Qin Mu shouted at him angrily and struck out with his fist. Behind him, a huge buddha appeared, and fourteen layers of heavenly gods and buddhas surrounded him, transforming into fourteen rays.
“Technique of Great Thunderclap Monastery, small tricks.” First Ancestor broke it easily and punched Qin Mu in the chest while saying indifferently, “With just this, you can’t protect yourself, let alone those books.”
Qin Mu was blown back, but his body transformed into a shadow, swooping into the ground. First Ancestor tapped the floor with his feet and shook him out. With his vital qi as a sword, he stabbed toward Qin Mu’s heart of brows.
“With just this low ability, your future will have nothing but death!” First Ancestor scorned. “You are also a failure.”
Qin Mu flew into a rage and gathered his qi into a sword. When he pointed his finger, the vital qi swords clashed and hummed. The collisions rang endlessly, and books kept dropping out to be shredded by the sword qi.
Qin Mu stared at their pieces with hatred burning in his eyes. “Don’t destroy their blood, sweat, and tears!”
“Come and stop me then.” First Ancestor chuckled. “If you can’t defeat me, you’re merely another pile of junk!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
A few more books were destroyed, and Qin Mu’s anger reached its breaking point. First Ancestor Human Emperor didn’t treat the efforts of the past human emperor as a thing. The efforts of Village Chief, Human Emperor Qi Kang, and the rest were being destroyed like they were nothing in his hands!
Qin Mu’s vital qi shook and suddenly exploded. The scarlet red vital qi transformed into a sea of blood with countless corpses of gods and devils drifting within it.
The second form of Village Chief’s sword picture, Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood!
His sword skill was different from that of Village Chief. He had incorporated eighteen sword forms into this move instead of the fourteen. Besides the inferior mood and some flaws, the power of his sword skill had already far surpassed that of Village Chief.
Just as he executed it, First Ancestor’s figure rose from the sea of blood. His sword skill split apart the sea of blood, paving a way for him. The corpses of gods and devils danced and became his helping hands as they pounced on Qin Mu.
Bang, bang, bang!
Streaks of blood rand down Qin Mu’s body as he flew back. They came from the injuries inflicted by First Ancestor’s stabs.
He crashed heavily against a wall of Hall of Human Emperors before sliding down and collapsing on the ground.
The dragon qilin was furious and roared loudly, then pounced at First Ancestor Human Emperor.
The man’s five fingers moved. When they spread out, runes burst forth and formed a runic seal that was about three yards big and sealed the dragon qilin’s wide mouth.
The qilin true fire in the dragon qilin’s mouth was instantly blocked, and he got sent against a wall by a sweep of a sleeve.
The chest rushed forward with its cover open, planning to swallow the man up. First Ancestor Human Emperor tapped the chest with a foot and sent it straight at the dragon qilin who had been sliding down the wall. The two of them tumbled out of Hall of Human Emperors and rolled down the steps.
“You should have seen it now. Your so-called overlord body, your so-called lineage of Founding Emperor, they are nothing more than empty names.”
First Ancestor waved his hand and a bookshelf flew into the air. The books in it fell out, and with a sweep of his sleeves, the efforts of the past human emperors turned into paper butterflies.
First Ancestor had an indifferent expression. “These books are just like you, nothing at all. No matter how hard you work, it’s useless. So why struggle? Why continue to struggle, to fight for that laughable dream of yours?”
Qin Mu stood up, and his ten fingers moved up and down, tapping on the wounds around his body to seal them up. He then rushed toward First Ancestor once more. “If you couldn’t do something, it doesn’t mean that I won’t be able too! Seal!”
“Forbid!”
“Fix!”
“River!”
“Mountain!”
He rushed over frantically and executed Human Emperor Kong Xian’s Spell with Words. The word seal appeared beneath First Ancestor Human Emperor’s feet, and the word forbid brought him in. The word fix appeared in front of his face, and the word river was like a flood dragon coiling around him. Last came the word mountain which pressed down on his head.
Spell with Words could have five words executed at once, and it was the wonderful technique that Human Emperor Kong Xian had created.
Yet those five words shattered one after another. First Ancestor Human Emperor’s palm seemed to be flipping the heaven and earth around when he slammed it down.
Qin Mu roared angrily, his actions full of fierceness. His tendons were like huge dragons coiling around his bones while his spine was like a soaring true dragon.
True Dragon Overlord Body!
He had cultivated the technique from the true dragon’s nest after merging it with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. It had allowed his corporeal body to reach a height never seen before.
It was his strongest corporeal body divine art.
With his right hand turned over as yang and his left hand as yin, the heart of the palms moved to face First Ancestor Human Emperor’s palm strike.
Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands!
It was the technique of Third Ancestor Human Emperor, but he had only taught Qin Mu the introductory style of Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands. However, Qin Mu had comprehended the use of overlapping palms by himself.
At that moment, he overlapped the pure yin palm force with pure yang palm force. With yin and yang exploding at the same time, the fusion of the two powers caused their strength to increase exponentially!
Boom!
Qin Mu stumbled backward. His left hand had been yang and his right hand yin, but when he overlapped them to face First Ancestor’s fist, its power had destroyed his yin and yang before he could even unleash his attack. He was blown away just like that!
“The third generation human emperor was also a failure, so you are doomed to fail if you use his moves.”
First Ancestor Human Emperor smacked then ground with the wind from his palm. Qin Mu who had just landed floated up uncontrollably from the vibration. Next, he was struck down by a mudra and sprawled onto the ground once more.
Clang.
Two rays of divine light shot out from his eyes and struck Qin Mu. The powerful gaze seemed ready to break his back, and the ground in the surroundings was scorched red hot.
Qin Mu flipped up and sprinted away to avoid his gaze. He moved around the hall as though he was flying while divine light gathered in his eyes. Two rays shot out from his eyes and collided with First Ancestor’s gaze.
Bang.
His divine eyes lost and he got pinned against a wall.
“You’ve met him?” First Ancestor Human Emperor pulled back his gaze and walked to the bookshelf of Third Ancestor. He took down a book, and it was none other than Third Ancestor’s technique. “You now know that the technique he spent his whole life to perfect is completely useless and should have been thrown into the toilet a long time ago! The book he wrote isn’t even worthy to wipe asses.”
Qin Mu slid down from the wall with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He looked at First Ancestor Human Emperor who was tearing up the books and suffered a setback.
It was the first time he had met such a powerful opponent. First Ancestor was using the same realm as him, so they were both fighting with Seven Stars Divine Treasure. The only difference was that Qin Mu’s Seven Stars Divine Treasure had already merged with Six Directions Divine Treasure and had no barrier between them, while First Ancestor’s divine treasures still had a realm barrier.
From this point alone, Qin Mu’s vital qi surpassed First Ancestor by a lot, but when they fought, it wasn’t that way at all.
First Ancestor was a person who had no shortcomings. He didn’t merge his divine treasures, but his corporeal body far surpassed that of Qin Mu.
He was like a young true god. His fists, legs, muscles, skin, hair, bones, and tendons had all reached realms that far surpassed Qin Mu!
His five viscera and six bowels were abnormally developed, and his heart which was providing the body with blood circulation was also strong. It was like a huge bell ringing as it sent qi and blood to all parts of his body in an instant and made his magic power move even quicker.
His breath was also long-lasting. When he breathed, wind and clouds would sweep past, allowing his lungs to contain even more air. His kidney mobilized the strength of his corporeal body and allowed his body to stay in an incomparably stable state at all times as well.
His five viscera and six directions corresponded directly with his five elements and six directions, merging perfectly with his divine treasures.
His eyes were like the sun and the moon, combining perfectly with the five elements and six directions and transforming into seven stars.
His comprehension of the realm had reached a height that Qin Mu had never seen before too!
His dantian was burning like a great furnace, similar to that of Mute. It was like a brilliantly shining sun that was the source of energy that moved his corporeal body and kept it at peak performance at all times.
This type of corporeal body state was like that of Xing An—flawless. In truth, it was even more powerful!
His primordial spirit had also reached an inconceivable level.
Primordial spirit was the spirit embryo, the spirit of the vital qi. Qin Mu was really proud of his primordial spirit since it was stronger than of everyone else, and his soul was much more stable as well. He could let his primordial spirit roam the void at Six Directions Realm, unlike the others.
He had even dual cultivated with primordial spirit and founded Primordial Spirit Guide. After cultivating in Six Directions Realm for a period of time, his primordial spirit had strengthened, and among his peers, he was matchless. Even Xu Shenghua’s primordial spirit was a line inferior to his.
Yet compared to that of First Ancestor Human Emperor, his primordial spirit was much inferior.
First Ancestor Human Emperor’s primordial spirit and corporeal body were perfectly matched as one. The movement of his heart led to attacks of the corporeal body, and the movement of his spirit became vital qi divine art. The movement of his will combined these two kinds of attacks into one.
This resulted in First Ancestor’s attacks being incomparably fast, to the point that Qin Mu could not withstand them at all. They were always coming at him like the storm!
No matter if it was First Ancestor’s corporeal body or divine arts, they were all perfectly united as one. He was the perfect divine arts practitioner.
He was the youth form of a true god!
Yet such a strong being had become a deserter when disaster and war broke out during the end years of Founding Emperor Era!
Even such a strong existence that looked to be unbeatable had become a deserter, afraid to die with his comrades, so how strong did the enemy have to be?
“Stop tearing…” Qin Mu was gasping for his breath.
First Ancestor continued to tear the book apart, turning the efforts of Third Ancestors into scattered pieces. He then said indifferently, “What’s the point of leaving them? The people that had written these books are useless, so the books are also useless. They are just taking up space, so isn’t it better to tear them up? And you’re no different. You will become a useless person like them in the future, for even if you cultivated to my level, you would still be useless.”
His expression grew scornful, and he walked to Second Ancestor’s bookshelf and took out a book to rip it apart. He sneered. “They treated High Heavens as their rival. Hehe, High Heavens? High Heavens are merely dogs! But they couldn’t even defeat dogs, so what talk can there be about a counterattack? You’re also a useless person. You can’t even defeat me, so what bullsh*t ambition, what bullsh*t dream? Quickly go home, find a woman, and give birth to a baby…”
Qin Mu pounced over while shouting angrily. The spirit embryo in the heart of his brows merged with his soul to form his primordial spirit. He combined his corporeal body and primordial spirit as one since he’d noticed the reason why First Ancestor was so powerful and immediately used it for himself.
“I told you not to tear anymore!”
His speed increased drastically, and his palm force became boundless and terrifying. However, the next moment, he was sent away by First Ancestor once more.
“Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force!”
Qin Mu pounced over again. Boom! He was blown back again.
Bang.
Bang, bang.
Dull thuds of heavy strikes came from Hall of Human Emperors for a while. They stopped only after quite some time had passed.
First Ancestor Human Emperor looked at Qin Mu who was crawling up with difficulty and shook his head. “You still haven’t given up? You’re different from the previous human emperors. They were lied to by their masters and had no choice but to become human emperors. If they had received my permission to not become human emperors, they would have definitely been overjoyed and given up their positions in delight. What about you? You were lied to as well, weren’t you?”
Qin Mu stood up shakily and sealed the wounds on his body. He wiped away the blood on the corner of his lips while panting heavily. “Village Chief didn’t lie to me. He told me before that there are no benefits in becoming the human emperor and I might even be chased, becoming the target of everyone which would put me in constant danger…”
“Then why do you still stand?” First Ancestor was puzzled. “Why don’t you give up? Why do you want to do something that doesn’t benefit you? Are you dumb?”
Qin Mu grinned. His teeth were already dyed red by blood. “If no one does it, wouldn’t there be no more hope forever? If you don’t want to do it, why don’t you let me do it?”
“Because you are dumb!”
First Ancestor Human Emperor attacked him, each of his blows heavier than the one before. He shouted angrily, “You are a dumbass that doesn’t know how to give up! You will only give your life away! There will be countless enemies like me in the future, and if you can’t even fight against me, how are you going to fight them? My mistake shouldn’t be born by the later generations! Give up now!”
Boom!
Qin Mu took the blow head on and stumbled backward. First Ancestor’s attacks came to patter him like the storm. Each strike was as heavy as a mountain and as sharp as a blade. “Give up! Give up! You better give up now!”
Qin Mu tumbled out of Hall of Human Emperors. When he was about to crawl up, First Ancestor had already come to his side. He crossed a mudra as heaven and a mudra as earth and threw him away again.
When Qin Mu crashed between two burial mounds, First Ancestor suddenly appeared to step on his chest. “Have you given up?”
Qin Mu grabbed his ankle and pulled him away. He stood up once again and rushed at him while shouting, “The title of human emperor isn’t what you gave yourself, but something given to you by all of the races! You can’t take it back!”
“Human emperor is fake! Let me break the illusion in your heart!”
With a cold gaze, First Ancestor stretched out his hands to grab Qin Mu’s neck and raised him into the air. Qin Mu grabbed hold of his hands by force and encircled them like a huge python before flipping him over.
Bang!
He was blown into midair by First Ancestor and fell back down once again.
First Ancestor stood up and came to the straw hut. He sneered and said, “It is these useless people who created the illusion that the human emperor should sacrifice and struggle for the people that a hot-blooded youth like you was pushed into acting rashly. Let me destroy their corpses, turn the skeletons of these people angling for fame to dust!”
He barged into the closest straw hut and crushed the tombstone of Second Ancestor into powder. He then grabbed Second Ancestor’s skeleton.
“You dare!”
A gale whooshed in as Qin Mu roared angrily. First Ancestor turned and raised his palm to face the punch that was coming for him. It was a bloodied fist, a fist that brought along boundless anger and whose fingers were trembling.
Boom!
Countless bolts of lightning struck First Ancestor’s face, blowing him away.
The straw hut exploded, and a bloodied man caught Second Ancestor’s skeleton and placed it properly before giving his respects. He then shot out like an arrow released from a bow after First Ancestor who was in midair!
“If you can’t, then let me do it! I can!”
A dull crashing sound came from afar as a gray cloud rose into the sky.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu landed on the ground with mud raising all around him. He was covered in blood, and droplets of it mixed with the mud. His hair fluttered up from fury as he walked toward First Ancestor Human Emperor who had just gotten up to his feet.
“You are the deserter of this battlefield; you don’t have the right to look down on anyone!” Qin Mu roared and rushed at First Ancestor Human Emperor.
Even though his injuries were heavy, his aura was even fiercer than before, and the power of his moves was even more astonishing.
Anger filled his chest. When First Ancestor was about to destroy Second Ancestor’s skeleton, he felt as if all the blood in his chest was going to come bursting out. His primordial spirit merged with his corporeal body from where it stood on the spirit platform in his divine treasures. As his primordial spirit held up the sky with his head while his feet stepped on the earth, he was flooded with the mist of six directions that surged in from all directions.
Qin Mu’s vital qi fused with his primordial spirit which had fused with his corporeal body, and the vital qi reached all parts of his body.
Suddenly, he comprehended the most important point about First Ancestor’s primordial spirit merging with his corporeal body.
Circulation of techniques needed time, and so did any divine art to burst forth with energy. The only difference was between a long and short time, a strong and weak power.
With primordial spirit located in the divine treasures, vital qi would enter the body directly from them, saving the time required for vital qi circulation.
First Ancestor Human Emperor was extremely fast was not only because every part of his corporeal body was on the god realm, but due to the usage of primordial spirit fusion with the corporeal body.
At this moment, the five stars in Qin Mu’s Five Elements Divine Treasure corresponded with his five viscera: heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney, which were fire, wood, earth, metal, and water respectively. Five stars entered five viscera, the five star sovereigns moving into his heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney. Each of his five viscera now had a god staying inside it!
The heart was where the bull-headed Mars Sovereign moved. The liver was where the Jupiter Sovereign with a bird’s body and human head took his position. The spleen was where the Saturn Sovereign with the body of the snake and the head of a human slithered. The lungs were where the tiger-headed Venus Sovereign took his seat. The kidney was where the red-haired Mercury Sovereign with the snake body resided.
Five Elements and the corporeal body complimented each other, and his strength increased little by little, which gave him the strength to send First Ancestor who was planning to destroy Second Ancestor’s skeleton flying in one blow!
“Yes, they have lost, they have lost miserably!”
The two palms collided, and a terrifying force burst forth. The white fog in the surroundings gave off a slicing sound when the two palms clashed to create an air current.
The palm force was like an incomparably sharp knife that sliced the fog in half a three hundred year distance.
“They did it, but you’ve done nothing, so what right do you have to criticize them?”
Qin Mu roared angrily, and all of his vital qi burst forth. His tendons moved fiercely under his skin and pushed back against First Ancestor. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Under their feet, the ground exploded continuously until there were three hundred yards of clean space around them, without any fog.
It was, after all, the compressed force from Qin Mu’s violent palm strike. All the fog had thus gathered behind it, which meant it was now behind First Ancestor.
“Other than establishing Hall of Human Emperors, what else have you done?” Qin Mu asked, and volcanoes erupted behind him, flames rushing into the sky. They were from Human Emperor Qi Kang’s fist skill which gathered heart fire as power for an explosion.
First Ancestor Human Emperor’s expression changed slightly. The force in Qin Mu’s palm suddenly increased exponentially and sent him flying away.
“You’ve done nothing!”
First Ancestor Human Emperor was in the midair when he saw Qin Mu raise one leg. His body spun a round while his vital qi transformed into all kinds of spirit weapons to bombard his target!
It was Human Emperor Lan Po’s spell for refining spirit weapons!
First Ancestor Human Emperor’s sleeves swept up and shattered all the spirit weapons. But before he even landed on the ground, he saw Qin Mu raise a finger in his direction. Mountains then burst forth and drowned him out.
“Connecting Walls Tapping Blue Mountains!
“If they’re inferior to you, teach them! You can teach them!”
First Ancestor Human Emperor broke the move by force, but he could still not land for a huge bell rushed at him. Qin Mu came to his face and attacked the bell, all his punches and kicks landing on its walls.
The bell shook, and its power grew fiercer and fiercer. It was sometimes tilted, sometimes facing down, sometimes up, and sometimes its mouth was aimed at First Ancestor.
Fifth Ancestor’s Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell!
First Ancestor Human Emperor fell back repeatedly while Qin Mu speaking to him angrily through the ringing of the bell. “How did Second Ancestor die? From old age!”
Boom!
First Ancestor Human Emperor’s footsteps were messed up.
“How did Third Ancestor die? From old age!
“How did Fourth Ancestor die? From old age!
“Were the aptitudes or the comprehension of all the human emperors inferior to yours? If you couldn’t do it, you should have imparted your technique to become a god and let them do it! Why did you let them die of old age?”
Qin Mu executed the divine arts of all thirty-four human emperors that he had learned in Fengdu. The thirty-four human emperors had tested his aptitude and comprehension with them, but they hadn’t imparted the full techniques, hoping that he would go to Hall of Human Emperors to receive their complete teaching.
They taught Qin Mu roughly and didn’t expect him to learn much. Yet their divine arts burst forth with astonishing power in his hands, making First Ancestor retreat step by step.
“You clearly have the technique to become a god so you should have taught them! Why didn’t you teach them?
“What have they received from you? Other than a broken seal! Other than a bunch of responsibilities and burdens, they didn’t receive anything!
“They couldn’t learn your techniques and divine arts yet they were still helping you carry the burden you couldn’t lift by yourself, struggle and fight with the enemies you feared! Yet you destroy their hard work and even want to destroy their corpses! They were all ashamed to face you after they died, ashamed to not have succeeded!
“Yet you want to destroy everything they left behind! How do you have the face to call them useless, to call them incapable?”
Qin Mu unleashed his final move, but First Ancestor suddenly stretched his hand to grab his fist and swung him up before smashing him ruthlessly against the ground.
Qin Mu jumped up, and First Ancestor counterattacked with fist skills, body movements, sword skills, and formation skills, each one of which was extremely marvelous. He easily broke all of Qin Mu’s attacks and sent him into a defensive position.
He was still incomparably strong and the retreat moments ago seemed to have been just a trick for Qin Mu to weaken. Now he was going to destroy him completely, crushing his confidence and body together!
His battle experience was incomparably abundant, and his corporeal body stayed in the most perfect state. His control of vital qi had reached an unbelievable realm. Qin Mu let loose his feelings and indulged himself in unleashing them in his divine arts, while First Ancestor could control his feelings perfectly and didn’t waste any excess energy to vent his emotions.
Bang, bang, bang.
Qin Mu received countless punches, kicks, and divine arts. Compared to the young true god’s corporeal body that First Ancestor had, he was still too tender.
His True Dragon Overlord Body couldn’t be maintained anymore, and a finger from First Ancestor Human Emperor that touched the heart of his brows broke it.
Qin Mu was thrown high up before falling down like a tattered sack filled of grain in front of Second Ancestor’s dilapidated straw hut.
He tried to struggle to get up, but he couldn’t rise no matter what.
First Ancestor Human Emperor walked over with a cold expression. He came to his side and said emotionlessly, “You talked so much, but was it useful? If you can, defeat me; otherwise, you can never carry the title of the human emperor. Once you take it, the enemies you’ll have to face will be much stronger and much more ruthless than me.”
Qin Mu stared with eyes wide open as he walked to Second Ancestor’s straw hut and lifted the man’s skeleton.
“Don’t…” Qin Mu crawled forward with difficulty till he could grab First Ancestor’s ankle. With a sob, he pleaded, “I beg you!”
Kacha.
The skeleton of Second Ancestor shattered and fell to the ground.
First Ancestor lifted his feet and gave two stomps while saying coldly, “If you can’t beat me, you will never beat them. This is the first time you had the chance to face me, so you still have thirty-four chances.”
Qin Mu’s vision became blurry as his cheeks went ice cold. First Ancestor Human Emperor lifted him up and threw him onto the chest. He said coldly, “Every time you lose to me, I will destroy the skeleton of a human emperor. If you continue to lose, the skeletons of these failures will cease to exist. Go!”
The dragon qilin opened his mouth to roar at him, but his mouth was still sealed; he couldn’t make a sound.
First Ancestor Human Emperor looked at him, and the dragon qilin lowered his head. He brought the chest with Qin Mu back to where they had come from.
“I’ll kill you!” Qin Mu’s voice came from atop the chest. “I’ll definitely kill you!”
First Ancestor Human Emperor trembled, but he didn’t turn back. The dragon qilin then brought the chest with Qin Mu out of the ancient fragment of the celestial heavens.
“I’m sorry…”
Ba-thump.
First Ancestor Human Emperor knelt down in front of Second Ancestor’s straw hut with a cloud of dust. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t really mean to destroy your remains, I’m sorry…”
“I’ve already forgiven you.”
A ghost rose from the remains. It had a discernible Second Ancestor’s figure that was smiling. “I’ve long forgiven you. I know your thoughts. You want to make him grow up faster because he is the overlord body, right? He can carry the burden we didn’t manage to, right? I’ve forgiven you, so return to Fengdu. They will also forgive you…”
In the dilapidated straw hut, skeletons raised their heads and looked silently at the kneeling First Ancestor Human Emperor.
“We have all forgiven you…”
They looked at their ancestor. First Ancestor Human Emperor had not imparted the technique to become god to them, but he had imparted a spirit that couldn’t be described with words, a kind of spirit that was undying and unwilling to give up.
“I can’t forgive myself.”
First Ancestor Human Emperor knelt on the ground, and his body slowly changed into a stone statue as his primordial spirit left for far away.
The chest clattered as it ran, carrying Qin Mu over many mountains. In front of it, the dragon qilin looked ahead in alert, in case any strange beast in the wild tried to attack them.
Two days later, they came to Border Dragon City. Si Yunxiang and Hu Ling’er hurriedly took over Qin Mu’s care. After a few days, he recovered and nursed himself back to full health.
“I’ll kill him.” Qin Mu’s eyes were lifeless as he sat on the head of a dragon pillar in the city. “I will definitely kill him. I will never forgive him…” he told Ling Yuxiu who had brought him up there.
She looked at his dispirited self of the last couple days. She didn’t know how to console him, so she thought to bring him to this place where they had played together back then in a hope to alleviate some of the dark clouds in his heart.
“Father is summoning me back; he says he’s sending me to West Earth.” Ling Yuxiu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Even though West Earth has submitted to us, there’s no power of the imperial court within it. Do you want to take a stroll with me in West Earth? Don’t keep thinking about it by yourself. It’s quite scary… Tell me about it, maybe I’ll have an idea!”
Qin Mu looked at her with a stupefied expression, his eyes lacking any life. The stubborn beard hairs that he liked to pluck had already become a stubble after not being touched for a few days. He asked lifelessly, “How do I beat a true god?”
Ling Yuxiu was stunned.
Qin Mu laid down. “Go to West Earth. The emperor told you to go to West Earth and Crown Prince Yushu to the north which was recently conquered, so if you rule West Earth better than he, you will gain the title of the crown princess. If you want it, I can help you. I have people in West Earth, but I can’t go with you. I have to think about some things.”
Ling Yuxiu laid down beside him and placed her hands behind her head while looking blankly at the sky. “A few years ago when we were lying here together, everything was so carefree. I liked you, you also liked me, so why after we grew up, there are suddenly so many worries? How I miss those times…”
“It’s probably because we grew up,” Qin Mu said in a low voice after closing his eyes.
Ling Yuxiu flipped over and looked at him from the side. She plucked a long hair from his beard and asked, “Are you still the original you?”
Qin Mu was stunned. “Xing An said that a person’s body changes completely every seven years. Some three-four years have already passed, so I should only be left with half of me.”
Ling Yuxiu shuddered and plucked out a few more strands from his beard ruthlessly while saying angrily, “You’re scaring me again! You will never become Xing An!” She tilted her head and pondered over it. “If you don’t want me to go to West Earth, I can stay with you.”
“Do you want to go?” Qin Mu asked.
“I want!” Ling Yuxiu stood up and looked down at the mountains and rivers of Great Ruins from high above while speaking with high spirits. “I want to become a female emperor and defeat my father! I want to make him know that I’m better and more powerful than all of his sons!”
A flicker of light flashed in Qin Mu’s lifeless eyes. He felt inspiration surge through him after witnessing her motivated speech, and vigor returned to his body. It was as if he had come back to life.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ling Yuxiu sent Qin Mu to Heavenly Saint Academy before returning to the capital in two days where she needed to wait for the emperor’s arrangement.
When the emperor wanted to open four new big academies to be the highest educational establishments second only to Imperial College, the hall masters, elders, and heavenly kings of Heavenly Saint Cult fought hard in the imperial court. Their labor gave fruit, and Heavenly Saint Academy was given permission to be set up. It used Granny Si’s manor, and after the battle with Xing An, Granny Si, Mute, Blind, and Apothecary had stayed there.
There were numerous members of Heavenly Saint Cult in the imperial court. The highest ones were Imperial Preceptor and Duke Wei while the lowest were soldiers and bailiffs everywhere, so Qin Mu didn’t need to fight for the academy as others did it in his name.
Granny Si, Mute, and Blind had become directorates of Heavenly Saint Academy, teaching lessons once in a while. The other directorates were mostly the hall masters of Heavenly Saint Cult.
When Qin Mu came there, he was just in time for class, but he couldn’t see anyone in the academy. There was only a bunch of flood dragons frolicking in the lake. When they saw Qin Mu, they were first stunned, then jumped up onto the shore in a frenzy.
Qin Mu instantly knew that the situation was bad and turned to run. ‘Weren’t these flood dragons brought by Saintess Xiang to be reared in Saint Arrival Mountain? Why have they come to Heavenly Saint Academy?’
“Ma ha! Ma ha! Ma ha!”
A bunch of flood dragons passed by the dragon qilin and the chest. After a moment, Qin Mu was captured by the flood dragons. Afterward, he could only drag his exhausted body forward with over a dozen flood dragons rubbing their heads against him, their horns opening bloody wounds on his neck.
“Ma ha…” The little flood dragons clung onto him with narrowed eyes as though they were sleepy.
Qin Mu’s body was all drenched as though he had been just fished out from the water.
The dragon qilin let out a long sigh of relief, and the flood dragons turned to look at him in unison. The dragon qilin realized he was in trouble and turned to run in a hurry.
“Ma ha! Ma ha! Ma ha!”
A bunch of flood dragons ran past the chest, and after a moment, Qin Mu saw the dragon qilin barely able to crawl forward. His neck, body, and four limbs were covered with flood dragons.
“Ma ha.” The flood dragons rubbed against the dragon qilin until this big fatty was bloody.
“Ma ha?” The bunch of flood dragons raised their heads to look at the chest in curiosity.
The chest had taken a step to follow behind Qin Mu, but at that moment, it realized that it was also in trouble and started running.
The flood dragons slipped down from the dragon qilin and rushed toward the chest while crying out in delight, “Ma ha! Ma ha! Ma ha!”
The dragon qilin let out a sigh of relief and collapsed on the ground. After a moment, the chest ran back, making Qin Mu and the dragon qilin stare at it with their eyes wide open. There were no flood dragons on the chest at all.
“Ma ha—” The chest opened up and over a dozen dragon heads popped out. They cried out in unison, very happy.
This sight was akin to a chest with daffodils of all colors showing their heads.
The chest was rather pleased with and followed after them as if the flood dragons weren’t heavy at all.
“Mu’er is back?”
When the bell rang for the end of class, Granny Si walked out of a big hall. She saw Qin Mu and hurriedly came over to welcome him with a smile. “Haven’t seen you in a long while. You’re truly a grand chancellor who asks others to work but does nothing himself. You threw all these scholars here and slipped away while making us help you look after them…”
Qin Mu hugged her tightly, and his tears flowed out uncontrollably. “Granny!”
Stunned, Granny Si smiled at him gently. “You’ve suffered? How can a great cult master cry so miserably? You’re still the grand chancellor of Heavenly Saint Academy, so stop crying. It’s not good for the scholars to see you like this. Tell granny what happened, and granny will take justice for you.”
Qin Mu felt himself calming down and let go of her. He shook his head and said, “What happened with these flood dragons? Weren’t they sent to Saint Arrival Mountain?”
“Lassie Xiang wanted to send them to Saint Arrival Mountain, but she disliked the fact that they ate spirit pills, and not even of one type. They were too costly so she sent them back,” Granny Si explained.
“Lassie Xiang is really stingy, and she keeps a close watch on the purse of Heavenly Saint Cult. However, it’s good to put them in the academy. When scholars learn how to refine pills from your Grandpa Apothecary, the pills they refine are just fine to feed these flood dragons.
“Actually, these little ones are quite famous in the academy. When scholars want to paint dragons, refine dragon-shaped spirit weapons, or to cultivate dragon-based divine arts, they all need them.
“But what happened to you? Who provoked you? Cripple! Apothecary! Blind! Come over, Mu’er has been bullied by others!”
Bang.
There was a loud boom, and Cripple suddenly appeared beside Qin Mu. He asked bewilderment, “Who bullied our Mu’er? Is he tired of living?”
“It’s First Ancestor Human Emperor, a true god. Grandpa Cripple…” Qin Mu said.
Cripple shuddered and turned to leave. Blind grabbed hold of him and asked with a smile, “Cripple, you’re scared?”
“Like hell I’m not scared!” Cripple muttered. ” It’s just that Xing An that scoundrel isn’t even a true god yet he beat us all up quite miserably. First Ancestor Human Emperor is a real true god, so won’t we just be seeking death by provoking him?”
Apothecary walked over and pondered over it. “First Ancestor Human Emperor? True god? Can it be settled with poison?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I want to defeat him fair and square, by fighting him on the same realm. I want to get rid of him by myself.”
Apothecary shuddered before shrugging his shoulders. “My abilities are useless in this.”
Cripple sighed. “I also don’t have anything to offer. Where’s Mute?”
“He ran out a few days ago.” Butcher held onto the shirt on his shoulder as he walked over while speaking in a booming voice. “That fellow always slip away from time to time, going god knows where. Mu’er, how are the abilities of a true god?”
“He’s stronger than me in all fields. He runs faster than me, his strength is greater than mine, his spirit and body are one, his divine eyes surpass my divine eyes, the power of his fists is astonishing, and his paths, skills, and divine arts have merged into one with his corporeal body.”
Qin Mu’s face dimmed. “He has already entered the path in every field, so the only thing in which I’m stronger is magic power.”
Blind frowned and asked, “He’s stronger than my divine eyes?”
Qin Mu nodded gently.
Butcher who wasn’t afraid of the heaven and earth also locked his eyebrows in a frown. After a moment, he asked, “My knife skills…”
“Were easily broken by him.”
Deaf walked over. “What about the painting path?”
“No chance to execute.”
“What about Heavenly Saint Cult’s divine arts?” Granny Si asked.
Qin Mu shook his head. Everyone frowned together.
“Have you tried running?” Cripple asked with some nervousness.
“He caught up with me.”
“Poison… Forget it, forget it.” Apothecary waved his hands and said, “I’ve confidence in poisoning a god, but to poison a true god with no weakness at all, I don’t think I could do that.”
Qin Mu smiled at them. “You guys don’t need to worry about my matter. I’ve thought over it quietly for the last couple days, and I’ve realized something. Even though he looks invincible, he escaped from the battlefield back then, which means that there are people who are stronger than him. He isn’t invincible, so I can definitely find a way to surpass him.”
Granny Si smiled and said, “It’s rare for you to come back so stay at Heavenly Saint Academy for some time. Let us help you think of a solution.”
Qin Mu nodded and went to put down his luggage.
Granny Si, Butcher, Blind, and the rest gathered together and looked at his back. Butcher frowned and said, “This is the first time Qin Mu has lost his confidence. He was not like this in the past, always so full of trust in himself, but now…” He shook his head.
Blind narrowed his eyes. “True gods, are they really so terrifying? Surpassing my divine eyes? I don’t really believe!”
“We should train him while he’s here!” Deaf suddenly said. “To learn without thinking is blindness, to think without learning is idleness. He is currently at the stage of learning and thinking. Mu’er’s fight with First Ancestor Human Emperor is not just a battle of cultivation, but also a battle of Dao heart.
“If he walks out of it, it’ll probably be a huge improvement in the cultivation of his Dao heart. If he can’t do it, I’m afraid the overlord body will become a useless body. Let’s train him well, so he doesn’t become useless!”
Everyone nodded.
After Qin Mu settled down, it was as if he had returned to Disabled Elderly Village. Butcher, Blind, Deaf, Cripple, and Granny Si would call him over from time to time and feed him moves, flipping the heaven and earth in the academy with the fights.
Most of the scholars in the academy were from Heavenly Saint Cult while others had come from the other academies in the world to seek knowledge here. The next few days were an eye-opener for them as they witnessed the legendary abilities of all the directorates.
After a few days, Granny Si and the rest all frowned. Qin Mu was still fearful and nervous, not daring to attack, which resulted in him being frequently beaten up by them. The worst part was that even though those few times when he attacked his moves were incomparably exquisite, he would execute them halfway and stop.
Butcher was furious and beat him up while scolding sternly, “Why did you not finish your move?”
Qin Mu didn’t retaliate and just shook his head. “It’s all wrong…”
“You have to finish it even if it’s wrong!”
Granny Si hurriedly pulled Butcher away and said angrily, “He isn’t in the right state, so stop beating him! What if you make him dumb like that?”
Deaf nodded and said, “There is too much stuff accumulated in his brain and he thinks too much. He has burrowed himself into a dead end and can’t get out, so you won’t gain anything by beating him up like this. Once he finds his way out, he will become a great master.”
Butcher stared at them. “What if he doesn’t find his way out?”
Everyone was silent.
“Mu’er, you won’t learn anything in the academy so it’s better for you to take a stroll and drive away your cares,” Granny Si said.
Qin Mu nodded and packed his luggage, leaving the academy with a muddled head.
Cripple followed him for a period of time, but only saw Qin Mu walking randomly. When he saw that he wasn’t in any danger, he calmed down and returned to the academy.
One day, Qin Mu came to Surging River and sat down on its shore. Almost instantly, he heard a voice from behind him. “Qin brat!”
Qin Mu turned around and saw a luxuriously dressed youth standing behind him with a look of terror, ready to escape anytime.
“Oh, it’s Grandmaster.” Qin Mu turned back and continued to look at the river.
Pangong Tso propped himself up since his one leg was a deer leg. He had planned to escape the moment the youth attacked him, but when he saw him continuing to sit beside the shore without any intention to attack him, his guts grew. He got closer and asked, “Cult Master Qin seems to have some troubles? You and I are old friends, so why don’t you tell me about what’s eating at you? Maybe I can help you solve your problem.”
Qin Mu was bored to death and threw a stone into the river. “I’m thinking about how I can defeat a true god on the same realm, but I can’t find the answer. Grandmaster, can you teach me?”
Pangong Tso’s eyes lit up, and he got closer and closer. He said with a smile, “I see. You must be very troubled now, right? You feel you’re very useless, right? That life is uninteresting? In that case, what’s the point of living? Let me help you finish things, hehe…”
Whoosh.
The river churned, and Dragon Rearing Sovereign’s huge head rose up high like a mountain. His whiskers hung in the air beside Pangong Tso.
The youth’s body turned stiff, and his face turned yellow. He immediately turned to leave. “Sorry for disturbing, farewell!” Once he said that, he vanished without a trace.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign watching him leave and shook his head. “This brat is even more slippery than a loach. Your Majesty, I can’t solve your problems. Even though I’m a god, I don’t have the power to get rid of a true god.”
Qin Mu sighed while on the mountain behind him God Bai Xi swished his tail in annoyance. “I also don’t have the ability! Your Majesty, can I change the mountain? This one is too small, and my temple is only this high! It can’t even fit my hoof!”
Qin Mu got up and rode the dragon qilin away.
“Human Emperor Qin, you’ve come to my Little Jade Capital to proceed with Five Qi Breakthrough and Six Directions Breakthrough?” Hermit Qing You hurriedly came to welcome him with a smile.
“It’s been a while since my Little Jade Capital had any visitors. Hall of Five Qi and Hall of Six Directions have been waiting for the arrival of Human Emperor. That’s right, there’s still a thing I haven’t told you about. A few months ago, the stone statue of your First Ancestor Human Emperor seemed to have come back to life. He left Little Jade Capital, but I’ve no idea where he went.”
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched, and he said, “I met him.”
Astonishment showed up on Hermit Qing You’s face. “You met him? In that case, do you also know that the stone statue of Saint Woodcutter has also come back to life and left Little Jade Capital?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Saint Woodcutter’s stone statue has revived?” Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he hurriedly asked, “Where is he?”
“He left as well. If you were a few days earlier, you could have met him. Saint Woodcutter had left then with his ax. When he awakened, I jumped in shock, wondering why such two existences had woken up one after another,” Hermit Qing You said. “As for where he went, I do not know.”
Qin Mu composed himself. First Ancestor Human Emperor of Hall of Human Emperors and Saint Woodcutter of Heavenly Saint Cult waking up one after another was indeed strange. Why did it happen?
Where could Saint Woodcutter go?
Heavenly Saint Cult wasn’t founded by him, but by Founding Master. Saint Woodcutter had only wanted to leave behind his legacy, so it was doubtful he’d go to Heavenly Saint Cult.
But besides it, where else could he go?
Wang Muran and the rest were not in Little Jade Capital since they had gone to Border Dragon City, so there were only some old immortals left on the mountain. Hermit Qing You examined Qin Mu and said, “Human Emperor Qin’s state doesn’t seem right. Do you really want to enter Hall of Five Qi? You look out of sorts now.”
Qin Mu shook his head and said, “May I ask Hermit Qing You to open Hall of Five Qi, Hall of Six Directions and Hall of Seven Stars? I want to go in and take a look.”
Hermit Qing You hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t too at ease with the youth’s current state. “If Human Emperor is insistent on entering, my Little Jade Capital will naturally do its best to satisfy you. However, your state doesn’t seem right now, and barging in by force will not be good for you. You only have one chance after all,
“Passing Five Qi Breakthrough, Six Directions Breakthrough, and Seven Stars Breakthrough would definitely increase your foundation drastically, so don’t waste this chance and come only when in your best state.”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “I just want to go in and take a look, not to challenge.”
Hermit Qing You was helpless. “Please follow me.” He led Qin Mu to Hall of Three Aeons while saying, “You passed through Three Aeons Breakthrough so after you enter the hall, you will automatically enter Hall of Five Qi. If you pass through it, you will enter Hall of Six Directions. After it will be Hall of Seven Stars. You aren’t in the right state, so to prevent you from making any mistakes, I will host this personally.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks and walked into Hall of Three Aeons. Before he could even steady himself, the scenery in front of his eyes changed, and five huge stars rose in the sky, shining in gold, green, blue, red, and yellow colors. Each one of them had a palace on it.
Qin Mu focused himself, and besides the five stars, he could also see the sun and moon in the sky. However, they were extremely far from him as though there was a world separating them.
The five stars in the sky were huge beyond belief, but they were at different distances, some far and some close. In the five sacred halls, gods who corresponded to the five star sovereigns stood up.
Suddenly, Hermit Qing You’s voice came from afar. “Senior Sister Ying He, let me replace you for this stage.”
A red-haired god with a snake’s body stood up and transformed into a flowing light that left into the distance.
Another ray of bright light flew over and landed in that sacred hall. Hermit Qing You changed into a red-haired god with a snake’s body and said, “Human Emperor Qin, Hall of Five Qi is separated into metal, wood, water, fire, and earth breakthroughs. Which element will you choose?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “My trip here was to take a look at the divine treasures of a true god, so may Hermit Qing You make things easy for me.”
Hermit Qing You frowned, and so did the other four immortals. One of them said, “The founder of my Little Jade Capital left behind Hall of Three Aeons to teach the later generations and fill in what they lack. It isn’t for us to observe his divine treasures.”
An elderly woman frowned. “The people who’ve come in to challenge here had never made such a weird request before. Senior Brother Qing You…”
“Human Emperor Qin is not an outsider.” Hermit Qing You pondered over it before saying, “He shared the method to become god with the world and we have all received his grace. Little Jade Capital should satisfy his request. Besides, the ancestor who left the test also was surnamed Qin.”
The other four old immortals spoke no more.
“Human Emperor Qin, you only have one chance to challenge us, and if you succeed, you would receive the divine vitality of the five qi. This could supplement the deficiency of your Five Elements Divine Treasure’s cultivation. Are you sure you just want to take a look at the divine treasures of this god?”
Qin Mu bowed. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime. I’m willing to give up the divine vitality of the five qi.”
Hermit Qin You broke into a smile. “Alright. I thought Human Emperor Qin’s frame of mind was unstable and worried that you had lost your wisdom and would lose the challenge, but your boldness makes me admire you. In that case, come up!”
His green light fell to the ground, and Qin Mu was raised up by it, landing on the water element star. The red-haired god with a snake body that Hermit Qing You had transformed into led him into his sacred hall. “Human Emperor Qin, feel free to look. It will depend on your abilities how much you will be able to comprehend.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks and examined everything in detail. He observed the rune markings on the four walls of the sacred hall, paying close attention to them.
There were sacred halls on all five stars in Five Elements Divine Treasure, and they were all naturally formed.
Every divine arts practitioner that cultivated to this realm would refine five stars in their Five Elements Divine Treasure. The five stars would correspond to five elements.
The stars were naturally formed and the palace halls on the stars were also naturally formed. However, different techniques would form different rune markings. They would then combine with the vital qi and become the gods in the palace halls.
In the Five Elements Divine Treasure of any divine arts practitioner, when the gods of the five elements breathed out their vital qi, its attributes changed. That was why such a name as five qi was created.
Qin Mu’s Five Elements Divine Treasure has already been cultivated to the extremes, so it was difficult for him to take any more steps further. However, the fight between him and First Ancestor had made him realize that his limit wasn’t everyone’s limit.
He observed in detail, and Hermit Qing You was very patient. He kept waiting for him.
It was hard to say how long had past when Qin Mu closed his eyes, having studied enough.
When he opened them, he looked toward Hermit Qing You. “I have an unreasonable request.”
Hermit Qing You understood and changed into a ray of bright light that left. Only Qin Mu was then alone in the sacred hall. The rune markings on the walls instantly lit up, and his body changed against his will, turning him into a red-haired god with a snake’s body.
After a long time, Qin Mu dispersed the god form and left the sacred hall. He went to another star and entered another palace hall, observing the rune markings there.
After a dozen days, he finally walked finished with all five stars and went to Six Directions Divine Treasure.
He spent a dozen days more there before entering Seven Stars Divine Treasure. Many more days passed. After that, he couldn’t proceed anymore since Celestial Being Divine Treasure and Life and Death Divine Treasure had no one to host them.
When Qin Mu walked out of Hall of Three Aeons looking a little haggard and with a stubby beard, Hermit Qing You knew that the youth had not been sleeping the whole time. He felt slightly pained for him and asked, “Has Human Emperor Qin found what he wanted?”
Qin Mu was in good spirits. The improvement in his Five Elements, Six Directions, and Seven Stars Divine Treasures had given him a lot, renewing his confidence. He gave his thanks. “Much thanks, immortal. As for whether I found what I wanted, I still need to confirm it. May I ask, comparing the founder of Little Jade Capital to First Ancestor Human Emperor of Hall of Human Emperors, whose abilities were better?”
“I can’t really say whose abilities were stronger, since both of them are seniors who had become true gods twenty thousand years ago and I’ve never seen them fight before. However, Little Jade Capital has a few old scrolls that speak about the ancestor once going to find the first generation human emperor. He had wanted to make him leave a mountain, but he returned in low spirits from a defeat and had to nurse his injuries for several months.
“The scroll stated that the first generation human emperor had used immense magic power to move the fragment of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens and that his abilities were extremely strong. Hall of Human Emperors is a hundred times bigger than Little Jade Capital and is known to be terrifying.
“I think that the ancestors of Little Jade Capital had all went out of their way to protect themselves while the first generation human emperor had brought countless people from various races to battlefields all the time. From that, it’s not that hard to make a guess whose abilities were stronger.”
Qin Mu’s face turned ashen. After a long time, he bowed. “I understand, much thanks, immortal.”
Hermit Qing You frowned and felt that the youth’s state of mind was even worse than when he had come. “You haven’t been sleeping for a month and more, so you should take a rest first.”
Qin Mu agreed.
Hermit Qing You arranged a room for him and let him sleep.
Qin Mu woke up after a dozen more days, but his complexion still wasn’t good. He insisted on leaving, and Hermit Qing You didn’t keep him back any longer. “If Saint Woodcutter comes back, where do I go to inform you?”
“I’ll have to trouble immortal to go to Border Dragon City. I might be there.”
Hermit Qing You saw him off while thinking in bewilderment, ‘Back when Human Emperor Qin came here for the first time, he was so full of mettle, so why has he become so dispirited?’
Qin Mu sat on the chest that brought him away. He poured a full basin of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills mixed with Fire Element Divine Vitality Pill to the delighted and surprised yet nervous dragon qilin. ‘Why has Cult Master become so kind today? Is it because I starved for over a month or is he preparing to put me on the table? No matter what, I need to eat first!’
After he finished the basin, Qin Mu poured him another one.
The dragon qilin hesitated for a moment while looking down at the basin full of spirit pills. He suddenly began to cry miserably as he lowered his head to eat more.
Qin Mu looked at him in bewilderment. “What are you crying for?”
“It’s good to die as a full ghost!” the dragon qilin said through a full mouth while wiping his eyes. “At least I can head on my way with a full stomach. Cult Master, make it a swift one!”
Qin Mu shook his head and said, “I’ve starved you these few days so I’m paying you back. I ain’t going to kill you for your meat.”
The dragon qilin was delighted and ate all the spirit pills in the basin.
When they passed by a city, Qin Mu stopped to buy some medicinal ingredients. He went to several cities and refined numerous Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and Fire Elements Divine Vitality Pill which he stuffed into the chest. The dragon qilin was ineffably moved by such actions. ‘Cult Master is really good to me!”
Qin Mu bought some black iron and black gold to forge strange spirit weapons on the way.
The dragon qilin couldn’t understand what he wanted to do. He only saw some of the things refined by Qin Mu were flags, some were sacrificial altars, and some were tools of calculation like eight trigrams, taiji, abacus, and five element talismans.
After a few days, they came to Border Dragon City, but did not enter it.
Qin Mu used eight trigrams platform, taiji diagram, and numerous other tools of calculation to calculate while looking around his surroundings. He found the terrain and used a ruler to measure a nearby mountain. He then recorded a series of runes on a paper. The dragon qilin went over to take a look, but he couldn’t understand anything.
There was no end to the calculations even when the sun was about to descend and the darkness about to come.
When Qin Mu finally finished, he set up a sacrificial altar with flags all around it. He then stood upon it after chasing the dragon qilin and the chest away.
“Cult Master, what is this for?” the dragon qilin asked from beside the chest.
Qin Mu executed the flags and looked at the darkness in the surroundings. Another world soon appeared and overlapped with Great Ruins. In that world, countless devils moved around with their smoke-like bodies as they came from huge space holes.
In Qin Mu’s eyes, the people of the other world were fighting back against those devils. He was faced with a large-scale battlefield that was incomparably vast.
“Fatty Dragon, I’ve prepared enough spirit pills to last you a long time. Just stay with the chest for a few days. I plan to…” His gaze was fixated on a running devil general on the battlefield. On the sacrificial altar, countless runes lit up, and the teleportation flags rustled. “Go to another world!”
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out, and Qin Mu and the teleportation flags instantly vanished. Instead, on the sacrificial altar, a devil general that was tall and sturdy suddenly appeared and looked around in a daze.
Toot, toot!
The sound of the bugle horn was long, and countless flags fluttered, swirling to form a huge circle. Qin Mu suddenly appeared in the middle of a vast battlefield where countless soldiers of the devil army were rushing forward.
They swept him along in their charge.
In front of them was an incomparably majestic city with huge ships flying in the sky. Gods stood upright there with divine weapons in their hands and swept up countless soldiers and horses with each strike!
Qin Mu had used the spell of sacrifice and teleportation formation to come to the world of the girl in the darkness!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The dragon qilin was stunned for a moment before coming to a realization: Qin Mu had used the method of sacrifice to turn himself into a sacrificial offering. Like that, he transferred himself to another world while his existence was replaced by a devil general of another world to maintain the balance of the two worlds!
‘Has Cult Master’s calculations reached such a profound level already? How did he calculate that?’
The dragon qilin stared with his eyes wide open. After following the young patriarch for many years, he also had extremely high attainments in calculations. If it wasn’t because he was lazy, he would have certainly become one of the top-notch calculation experts in the world.
However, the technique of calculation Qin Mu had used baffled even him.
He knew the theory, but when thinking about how to execute it, his mind was a blank sheet of paper.
The method of sacrifice transformed blood and flesh into energy, transferring them into another world to replace the lifeform in the other world. However, Qin Mu didn’t change himself into energy, but transferred himself in a complete state to the other world. There were too many considerations required for that, which surpassed the dragon qilin’s scope and horizons.
Qin Mu not only used calculation, but also included Dutian Devil King’s method of sacrifice, as well as the methods of space measurement, teleportation. All of that required unbelievable amounts of knowledge. Only part of what he did would be more than enough for numerous divine arts practitioners to study for life.
‘Cult Master used himself as a sacrificial offering to transfer himself to another world this time, but how is he coming back?’ The dragon qilin immediately thought of the crux of the matter and looked at the devil general who was still in a daze. He then immediately shouted out, “Stand there and don’t move!”
The devil general was still confused at what had just happened. He was clearly rushing forward earlier, but it was cleared not through this place. He lowered his head and saw a monster that looked like a hybrid between a pig and dragon covered in scales and an even stranger chest. It was the unbelievably fat monster that had spoken.
The devil general looked around himself, noting the incomparably intense darkness. He muttered, “Ye ke ha ei (What is this place)?”
The dragon qilin lifted the chest up and threw it at that devil general. The creature gave a cold snort and raised his hands to grab the projectile. The next moment, however, the chest opened up and swallowed him with a gulp!
Bang.
The chest landed on the sacrificial altar with the devil general overturning seas and rivers inside it. He made the chest stagger left and right from the beatings, jumping up and down irregularly.
The moment the dragon qilin threw the chest out, he had risen into the air. When the chest landed, he landed on its top, pressing down on it. The devil general in the chest was extremely strong and nearly blew him off still.
He hurriedly said, “We can’t let him out! No matter what, we can’t let him out! We have to keep him around so that when Cult Master wants to come back, he can sacrifice him again! But the spirit pills that Cult Master left for me can’t last too long… Wait a minute, my spirit pills are all in the chest!”
The dragon qilin let out a miserable cry.
…
The voice of a bugle horn became more and more resounding as though the instrument was blown beside Qin Mu’s ears, nearly deafening him. He turned back to take a look, and violent air current flooded over. The sound waves suppressed it, making his skin ripple.
Behind him were long elephant tusks that were over thirty yards long and filled with steel knives.
Three huge elephants that had devil markings all over its body was pulling a cloud chariot. Its tusks swung left and right, impaling over a dozen devils on the steel knives. Once caught, those people could only flail about with the swinging motion.
On the cloud chariot was a horn of a strange beast that was even longer than the elephant’s tusks. It had been hollowed out and turned into a bugle horn at whose end two or even three men could stand. A deafening sound came from that bugle horn.
On the chariot, a devil giant roused his vital qi to blow the bugle horn. The sound was so loud that it spread throughout the entire battlefield.
The incomparably huge cloud chariot disregarded friend and foe, crushing everything in its way with the huge elephant and wheels. They crushed so many devils that were rushing forward that blood and flesh were splattered everywhere!
Qin Mu’s surroundings were filled with devils clad in black armor swinging their weapons. Without much thought, he began to sprint frantically in the same direction, toward the battlefield.
“A pu gao nen ham (Who are you)?” A devil immediately realized that Qin Mu wasn’t one of them and gave him a puzzled look.
The next moment, his head flew up high.
The sword pellet flew out from Qin Mu’s taotie sack and into his hand. It hummed there, and countless swords rushed out from the two sides of his fist. They created an illusion of a double-edged longsword. Both sides were pointy, and the blade was forty yards long.
Qin Mu rotated his sword in a circle and swept it in all directions. All of the devil soldiers pouncing over instantly turned into limbs flying in the sky. The huge elephant that ran toward him also had its front feet severed and crashed headlong into the ground, snapping its tusks.
Behind, the huge cloud chariot was rose into midair and flipped over as it flew over Qin Mu’s head.
The devil giant on the chariot watched him while standing upside down. When he saw Qin Mu, his eyes widened in astonishment. Next, a sword stabbed his head and nailed him to the chariot.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief after he settled the danger of being trampled by the huge elephant and the cloud chariot. He looked back, and his scalp couldn’t help crawling.
Behind him were countless huge elephants pulling cloud chariots driven by devils toward the battlefield on the opposite side.
The noise from the heavy feet landing repeatedly on the ground was like thunder rumbling across the battlefield.
Behind the huge cloud chariots, there were numerous strange beasts that were even larger than the huge elephants. They sprinted frantically with fierce-looking devil gods standing on their backs with devil god weapons in their hands.
Those weapons exploded with terrifying power and swept through the sky of the battlefield, humming as they went straight for the gods on the opposite side.
Magnificent and dazzling yet abnormally terrifying ripples wrecked havoc in the sky above the battlefield. The power of the gods and devils’ weapons collided and warped space.
All kinds of lights danced in the sky, world-shaking blades of color sweeping to and fro in the sky. Ripples spread in all directions, promising sure death for those flying!
Qin Mu quickly determined his situation, and his expression became grim. The place he was at was right in front of the devil army!
The soldiers located at this position were obviously the lowest cannon fodder, expendables used to rush the enemy’s base and test its defense!
Since Qin Mu was located among the expendables and about to clash with the enemy’s people, there was a high chance he’d become an expendable too!
“A pu gao nen han?”
A shouted question came from the cloud chariot in the back as numerous devil giants looked at him in suspicion.
“Ku de gei lou (One of you)!” Qin Mu immediately shouted back at them.
Countless devil soldiers jumped out of the cloud chariots, but unlike before, they were the elites of the devil race. They swarmed in like a flood, rushing at him frantically while shouting, “Ha ti la (Kill)!”
Qin Mu no longer hesitated and turned to run. He was confused though. ‘I said that I was one of them so why do they still want to kill me?”
The elites were not the lowly devils that were rushing forward as the vanguard. These people had powerful abilities and belonged to the Heavenly Devil Horde. Qin Mu had once fought with it in the living realm of the dead and so knew that their abilities were indeed astonishing.
Heavenly Devil Horde was hidden behind the cloud chariot and would only attack after the lowly devils in the vanguard had barged into the battle formation of the enemy and scattered them.
At this moment, countless people from Heavenly Devil Horde went chasing after Qin Mu, planning to get rid of this human divine arts practitioners that had appeared from god alone knew where.
Shouts came from the back, and the lowly devils received the order to attack Qin Mu who was running away as well.
There was an extremely high number of lowly devils, and they swarmed over like a black flood, drowning Qin Mu out.
“Eight thousand swords!” he shouted out furiously, and the huge sword in his hand suddenly burst forth. Countless sword lights swirled frantically, and the vanguard was instantly sliced into chunks of flesh. The eight thousand swords were like a huge ball of light that rolled around the vanguard, mincing everything in its path.
Whoosh!
The rolling ball of light crushed the horde until a strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm among the lowly devils roared angrily. His body expanded, his bulging muscles bursting apart his clothes and armor. He grew to over thirty yards tall, and swept his huge mace in all directions to get rid of the lowly devils in his way.
His mace was forged using secret techniques and could be separated into thirty-six sections. They were interlocked and spun rapidly in different directions, slicing his own people into pieces.
That devil officer swept everyone away and raised his huge mace over Qin Mu. He could hear endless clinks as the eight thousand swords gathered rapidly to form a huge shield, blocking his attack.
The body of the devil officer swayed, and two bangs rang out as two more arms popped out from under his armpits. They caught the huge shield in place while his other two hands raised the mace high up to smash down once more.
Qin Mu transformed into Saturn Sovereign. Behind him, Gate of Heaven Influence, which was dozens of yards tall, appeared and opened up. The gate protected his back by taking the souls of all the devils rushing at his back into Youdu.
Boom!
He raised his hands and sent his palm against the devil officer. Both of their magic powers burst forth along with their divine arts. Before the mace of the devil officer could even land, his body was blown into the air by Qin Mu and sent into a bunch of devils. Some of those lowly beings died straight away.
But by then, the fastest of Heavenly Devil Horde had already reached them. A knife pellet flew through the sky, heading straight for Qin Mu’s face.
That knife pellet spun frantically, and countless devil knives flew out, slashing at him frantically!
“Heavenly Spirits Escarpment!” Qin Mu shouted out, and his hands pushed forward.
Chancellor Ba Shan’s Heavenly Spirits Escarpment was easily executed, and stars spread out like chess pieces. Sun, moon, and the five element stars were the main seven stars. They were the biggest and transformed into a light screen which caught the curved blades in the air.
Next, Heavenly Spirit Escarpment suddenly shattered.
Qin Mu gave a dull grunt and stumbled backward. The first person from Heavenly Devil Horde who had rushed over was a handsome youth of the asura race among the eight divisions of the heavenly devil. He stretched his hands out, and countless curved knives flew over to form a knife pellet in his hand.
The asura swung his hand, and his knife pellet rang as it formed two long knives. At the same time, the other curved knives in the knife pellet became incomparably fine and flew out through the gaps of his fingers like flowing sand to swirl around him.
The asura raised the curved knives in his hands and attacked Qin Mu like a whirlwind.
Clang!
The two of them clashed, and Qin Mu moved to shake off the strength of a blow.
‘What strength!’
The asura was also blown back. He took a fraction of a moment to compose himself, then rushed toward Qin Mu at an even faster speed.
Qin Mu took a step and pushed forward with a palm. The light in front of him wavered, and his vital qi transformed into a fix word. The asura’s body froze for a moment. When he was about to move again though, Qin Mu’s sword swept across him, and a heart flew into the sky.
“Even though you’re very strong, you’re still slightly inferior to me.”
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes as even more Heavenly Devil Horde people came to his side. Every one of them was no inferior to the asura, which made his scalp crawl.
At that moment, however, a world-shaking bang came from the battlefield; it was the collision of the two armies. In an instant, flesh and blood flew into the air.
The sky suddenly turned dark, and in the center of the battlefield, a sacrificial altar rose through the gore. The rising land threw Qin Mu and the Heavenly Devil Horde soldiers away.
Qin Mu looked over in a hurry, and his heart couldn’t help leaping in shock. That sacrificial altar was used for blood sacrifice and was quite similar to the one he had made to teleport himself to this world.
The main use of the giant altar was clearly to use the flesh and blood in the battle as sacrifices for a powerful existence from another world!
‘This sacrificial altar is hundreds of times larger than the one I made… Who could have buried it here?’
When he landed on the ground, he was drowned out by the Heavenly Devil Horde before he had time to think more.
The sacrificial altar at that moment lit up, and countless runes swirled on its sides, shining in all directions. Blood light streaked across the sky, rushing up to blow a hole through the clouds.
Boom!
A huge ax descended from the sky, followed by a gorgeous and fierce tiger. Its body was surrounded with all kinds of gorgeous divine markings.
“My lord!”
The fierce tiger roared, and a familiar figure appeared on its back. Qin Mu looked at it with a blank expression. Because of his distraction, he was almost gutted by the Heavenly Devil Horde.
On the sacrificial altar, he had seen a familiar person holding an ax while riding the divine tiger.
It was Saint Woodcutter who had imparted his teachings on the rock.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
‘Why would Saint Woodcutter appear here? The sacrificial altar he used seemed to have been long prepared, so could it be that the people of this world were the ones who had summoned him?’
Qin Mu’s mind was blown. The sacrificial altar had been buried right in the center of the battlefield so when the two armies clashed, flesh and blood activated it, summoning Saint Woodcutter.
It was evident that this had been long prepared!
Qin Mu immediately remembered Hermit Qing You’s saying about Saint Woodcutter reviving a month ago and leaving with his ax. Saint Woodcutter had to have received some news, which was why he woke up from his slumber to use a sacrificial ceremony to descend to this world.
Qin Mu blocked the opponent’s attack from behind him, and Gate of Heaven Influence suddenly grew bigger. His body spun, and Gate of Heaven Influence also swirled after, instantly sending many souls to Youdu before they could even grunt.
Whoosh!
The tiger god that was carrying Saint Woodcutter jumped off the sacrificial altar and headed straight for the enemy camp. He looked at Qin Mu with astonishment, and a world-shaking voice rumbled. “My lord, that looks like your younger generation!”
From the tiger’s back, Saint Woodcutter looked back and saw Qin Mu fighting the Heavenly Devil Horde with the Gate of Heaven Influence. His gaze was bright, and he lighted up the whole area around the sacrificial altar.
“Weird, how did he come to Supreme Emperor Heaven…”
Saint Woodcutter looked away. Wherever the tiger god passed, devils and horses were thrown aside. When the tiger god roared, sound waves burst forth, sending countless devils into the air.
When Qin Mu saw this sight, the dragon qilin’s oversized tummy flashed through his mind. He couldn’t help envying Saint Woodcutter. ‘This tiger god refers to him as his lord, so he should be his mount. He’s truly majestic!’
On the tiger’s back, Saint Woodcutter raised the ax in his hand and split apart devil gods’ divine arts that were flying at him. With a few ups and down, the tiger god carried him into the enemy camp.
From the time the tiger god leaped down the sacrificial altar to when he reached the enemy camp was only a matter of a few breaths.
Saint Woodcutter raised his huge ax, and with a raise and a fall of his hand, the four heads of a four-headed devil god in the camp flew off before he could even get up.
“Ha ti la!”
Devil gods rushed over and circled the tiger god. Saint Woodcutter who sat on its back raised his huge ax. Its light surged forth like a flood.
‘Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures!’ No, what he executed should be the complete Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!’
Qin Mu was forced back continuously by the Heavenly Devil Horde and had to move up the altar. While doing so, he’d noticed Saint Woodcutter’s attack just then from the corner of his eye. ‘His comprehension of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique far surpasses mine!’
Saint Woodcutter wasn’t only swinging his ax. His other hand was executing all kinds of divine arts from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. However, they weren’t just single arts, but were combinations of different ones, just like Li Tianxing’s Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force. After mastering hundreds of divine arts via comprehensive study, he matched them into a kind of divine art.
If it were others, they wouldn’t have been able to see that his divine art was even Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. However, as Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Qin Mu immediately recognized it.
Around Saint Woodcutter, all kinds of strange force fields burst forth and blew the devil gods away. At that instant, a huge ax suddenly went to them and cut off their heads. The strength of its battle power was extremely terrifying.
Qin Mu wanted to observe Saint Woodcutter’s divine arts in detail, but more and more of the Heavenly Devil Horde surrounded him. After Saint Woodcutter had been summoned, he went for the head of the enemy and entered the camp to kill devil gods. He ignored the rest of the Heavenly Devil Army, so countless devils were still flooding into the battlefield and killing the enemies.
At this moment, even more, Heavenly Devil Horde flooded over, but the divine arts practitioners behind the sacrificial altar were also pushing forward. The noise of the battle was world-shaking.
In this kind of large-scaled divine arts battle, the power of one man was insignificant. If a person got distracted, they could die under the enemy’s attack at any moment.
Qin Mu couldn’t waste any more time and abandoned all considerations to just fight with all he had.
The abilities of Heavenly Devil Horde were strangely powerful. The techniques and divine arts of the devils and Eternal Peace were poles apart. The former may be lacking in intricateness of the moves, but they were outstanding in their magic power. Heavenly Devil Horde had its extraordinary points there.
Their corporeal bodies were different from those of the human race. Their eight divisions were as such: fish-scaled webbed frogs, magma giants, beautiful youths, ugly women, scorpion-tailed ladies, eight-clawed women, eight-tentacled mutants, and snake-handed mutants.
These devils had a higher bloodline and were natural fighting machines that had extremely strong battle power. The ones around Qin Mu were the elites and not one was any weaker than him.
More and more Heavenly Devil Horde rushed up the sacrificial altar, and there were as many as ten people. They saw that the Gate of Heaven Influence behind Qin Mu was incomparably strange and avoided it while working together to attack.
Qin Mu fought against them with all his strength, and the eight thousand swords shuttled back and forth. Countless sword lights flooded in when the flying swords scattered like locusts. In a split second, mountains and rivers appeared, forming Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
On the sacrificial altar, mountains stretched endlessly, waterfalls fell, and long rivers flowed. The terrifying fights earlier had vanished without a trace.
Yet the next moment, blood flowed out from this picture of mountains and rivers, dying the mountains and rivers red.
They then crumbled, and a magma giant swung a huge hammer after raising from the shattered mountains and rivers.
Qin Mu retreated and raised his hands up high. Carefree Sword flew over, and the other eight thousand swords rushed over. In the blink of an eye, they all merged into Carefree Sword.
The magma giant smashed down with a hammer, and terrifying air currents rushed in all directions, sweeping countless corpses around the sacrificial altars into the air.
Qin Mu held his sword in both hands against that magma giant’s hammer that spun as fast as the wind. Only a clink was heard when they collided, but Qin Mu trembled violently as he got sent into midair.
At that moment, the magma giant was sliced into two along with his hammer!
Before Qin Mu even landed on the ground, he saw an eight-clawed woman opening her claws wide. The corpses in midair were blasted apart, and the blood covered the surroundings, drowning the youth.
Qin Mu swung Carefree Sword, and it separated. Eight thousand swords combined to form two long knives which crossed each other. Knife lights created something akin to a moon in the sky.
The moonlit knife lights merged into one and suddenly exploded. Rays of light shot down like meteors.
Swoosh!
The blood fog was cut, and the eight-clawed woman saw starlight. Her claws tapped it, and sounds of collision rang out. Moonlight and starlight penetrated her body, dismembering her.
The sixth form of Butcher’s Pig Slaughtering Knife Skills: The Long Knife Hangs Below the Moonlight, Among the Stars the Heavenly Horses are startled.
Qin Mu loosened his grip on the sword, and the two long knives flew up to separate into countless flying swords that circled around him to block the thousands of devil knives coming at him.
Flipping his hand to strike out with a mudra, the knife skill devil expert that was attacking runted before exploding into pieces.
Boom, boom, boom.
Thunder rumbled and exploded over ten miles. Wherever Qin Mu’s Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands passed, people and horses were overturned.
With another mudra from his main hand, the ice froze the land for over ten miles. An index finger tapped on the heart of brows, and the flying swords followed the path of Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands to spiral forward and make blood to flow like the river!
Spiral Sword Form!
Suddenly, two huge pythons coiled around Qin Mu and twisted crazily. A snake woman had jumped into the air and bound him with her arms which were snakes.
Qin Mu raised his head, and two rays shot out from his eyes. Holes opened up in the chest of the snake woman, killing her, but the snake arms still brought him to midair as well.
Below him, an ugly woman suddenly slammed the calabash behind her, and its mouth opened. With a whoosh, blood-colored devil qi spewed out and went straight for Qin Mu.
“True Dragon Overlord Body!” Qin Mu shouted out furiously and broke free of the snake arms. With a mudra, the apparition of a volcano suddenly appeared behind him. It stood tall as it suddenly erupted!
Magnetic Raging Inferno Palm!
He smacking his palm in the direction below himself, and the blood-colored devil qi was incinerated along with the ugly woman.
“Superb divine art! Among the divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm, you can place in the top ten!”
Qin Mu was astonished when he heard the stiff voice. He looked down and saw a great general of Heavenly Devil Horde running up the sacrificial altar with his head raised to look at him.
That Heavenly Devil Great General had huge flags behind his back. While rushing up, his body suddenly shook, and four heads, as well as eight arms, popped out. He held long knives which crossed each other. His footsteps changed unpredictably as he killed all the divine arts practitioners on his way.
“Primordial Spirit Projection!”
The Heavenly Devil Great General smacked the back of his knife against his head, and a primordial spirit that was thirty yards tall leaped out from his body. It roared toward the sky and raised its hand to blast a mudra at Qin Mu. It was almost half a field wide, with markings coiling around one another within it and displaying all kinds of devil markings that were glowing bright before dimming at intervals.
Devil markings danced, but before they even came to Qin Mu’s sides, devil runes that looked like chains appeared around him to bind him.
Yet he definitely couldn’t receive the power of that palm!
Carefree Sword and the other flying swords were flying back, but they were too far away to save him.
At that moment, Qin Mu saw that Saint Woodcutter’s five fingers come together and all kinds of divine arts from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures merge into one. Their power burst forth and blew a devil god into pieces.
Inspiration struck Qin Mu, and he also put all his five fingers together.
His Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique instantly circulated in a strange pattern. His spirit embryo and soul merged together, the five elements shone brightly, the six directions became one, seven stars rose into the sky, and the sun and moon rotated.
Bang, bang, bang!
Boundless energy flooded out from Qin Mu’s body and snapped the devil marking chains around him. He then raised his hand to welcome the fierce palm from the Heavenly Devil Great General’s primordial spirit.
Qin Mu grunted and bounced up high into the sky where countless divine arts, as well as weapons of the gods and devils, were wreaking havoc. If he went any higher, he would definitely die miserably!
Countless runes appeared around his body and swirled around him. Just as Qin Mu was about to fly into the forbidden area in the sky, he vanished.
Bang!
He fell over ten miles away. The terrifying palm force from the Heavenly Devil Great General’s primordial spirit had made him tumble and crash into a bunch of divine arts practitioners that were rushing forward.
Qin Mu tumbled dozens of times before stabilizing himself.
Countless divine arts practitioners rushed past him. Soon after, they raised all kinds of spirit weapons into the air before sending them to the ground diagonally like rain, completely covering the land before themselves. It was hard to say how many devils had died from that avalanche of spirit weapons.
‘I’m still alive?’
Qin Mu hurriedly checked his body and discovered that even though he was covered in injuries, the sure-kill attack from that Heavenly Devil Great General had not injured him. He couldn’t help being surprised and delighted.
‘That move of Saint Woodcutter has unbelievable power! Could he have known I was in trouble and purposely executed this move for me to learn and survive that sure death situation?’
He stretched his hand out to grab emptiness. Carefree Sword brought the other flying swords back before they changed back into a sword pellet in his palm.
Suddenly, a crisp voice came from behind him. “I seem to have seen you before!”
Qin Mu turned back and saw a towering god behind him. On its shoulder was a girl with two braids. Her head was tilted as she examined him.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“You’re… the long braid girl!” As Qin Mu examined the girl with the two long braids, he couldn’t help thinking about the girl he had met in the darkness. In delight, he asked, “Is that really you?”
The girl back then had also had two long braids, but because they were situated in two different worlds, they couldn’t talk or even see each other’s faces. They could only take note of the other’s silhouette.
They had once been through a long night together and avoided the pursuit of the Heavenly Devil Horde. But the sun had risen, and the darkness retreated. The girl had then vanished along with the dark realm.
The girl standing on the shoulder of the god in front of Qin Mu also had long braids that were hanging down to her waist.
When she heard the mention of a girl with longs braids, and she couldn’t help becoming delighted and surprised. She hurriedly jumped down from the shoulder of the god and came to Qin Mu in a few footsteps. Two small dimples appeared on her cheeks. “You’re that shadow boy! Father, he is that shadow boy that later disappeared!”
The god lowered his head and looked at Qin Mu. He asked suspiciously, “If you’re that shadow, why do you have a physical body now? We saw you battling earlier, and it was truly extraordinary. We were wondering where had such an expert came from! You’re on Seven Stars Realm? For divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm to have such achievements like yours is very rare in Supreme Emperor Heaven. You’re a truly formidable youth!”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly, “There are divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm here that are stronger than me? Are they overlord bodies?”
“Overlord bodies?” The god picked them up to carry forward while asking with a blank face, “What’s overlord body? I’ve never heard of it before. They are all youths with the aptitude of true gods, the kings among the spirit bodies. They were born extraordinary and aren’t any overlord bodies.”
“Kings of the spirit bodies?”
Qin Mu blinked. He had never heard of kings among the spirit bodies, and his mind blanked out. However, excitement grew in his heart once more. Kings among the spirit bodies, youths with aptitudes of true gods—he had been right to come to this world!
He had treated himself as an offering to teleport his body to this world. In the battlefield, he had already noticed the extraordinary points of the Heavenly Devil Horde. Their abilities were extremely strong, and if any of them were put in Eternal Peace, they would all be people who wouldn’t be inferior to Pangong Tso. Of course, in terms of escaping abilities, Pangong Tso would still be unrivaled.
‘Supreme Emperor Heaven has been through some twenty thousand years of baptism of war. The paths, skills, and divine arts here must have improved at a godly speed. Over here, I might find the way to defeat First Ancestor Human Emperor!’
His hands clenched into tight fists. Defeating First Ancestor Human Emperor had become his biggest goal. Since he couldn’t find hope in defeating him in Eternal Peace, he might as well go look for it in Supreme Emperor Heaven!
Even if he couldn’t find it, knowing more paths, skills, and divine arts could also assist him in improving himself.
Suddenly, the god rushed into the battlefield, leaving them behind. “You guys remain here!”
Far away, a tear ripped open in space, and six pitch black hands pulled out. They grabbed hold of the corners of the crack and tried to pull it open wider.
The god rushed forward and pulled out his sword to cut off those hands. But just as he took care of two, a huge hammer suddenly came and sent him away. A devil god had arrived to stop him.
The long braid girl watched the battlefield with concentration for a time. She only let out a sigh of relief when she saw that her father was fine and had returned to kill the devil that had attacked him.
“Hey, you guys were not here originally, so why have you appeared here?”
He was slightly confused. The place in which he had met this girl was the hinterland of Great Ruins while this place was the borders of Great Ruins that were twenty to thirty thousand miles apart. By right, she shouldn’t have been anywhere nearby.
The long braid girl’s face fell. “After you vanished, our city was invaded and many people died. Father was the one that rescued us and brought us to this Brilliance Injured City…”
She rushed forward, and Qin Mu followed after her in a hurry. “When I disappeared, it was just as the night became day, so didn’t the devils in your Supreme Emperor Heaven vanish?”
The long braid girl was puzzled. “Why would they vanish?”
Qin Mu was stunned.
He had thought that Supreme Emperor Heaven was like Great Ruins and also faced the invasion of darkness. When he had walked through it and the darkness retreated, he had also left Supreme Emperor Heaven. But from the looks of it now, the situation in Supreme Emperor Heaven was different from that of Great Ruins. The devils didn’t vanish upon the rising of the sun, but stayed without any limits.
‘It looks like Dutian Devil King was right. The world barrier between Supreme Emperor Heaven and the devils’ world has been compressed and broken.’ Qin Mu was astonished. ‘Since his guess was completely accurate, his other guess will probably come true as well. After the devils take over Supreme Emperor Heaven, they will sacrifice it for the devil world to collide with Eternal Peace World! But how can I stop that?’
The long braid girl rushed down to the altar while saying quickly, “You have fought for a while so you should go to Brilliance Injured City to rest first. I still need to fight with the army.”
“This bit of injury is nothing.” Qin Mu quickly caught up with her and said, “I’m also an apothecary and am quite famous in my world. I’ve already treated myself just now. I’ve come here to seek stronger skills, since many in my world have been lost throughout the ages.”
The mountain-like sacrificial altar had already been taken by the Heavenly Devil Horde with the lead of the Heavenly Devil General that had blown Qin Mu over ten miles away. Several hundred soldiers of the Heavenly Devil Horde were fighting with divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven up the altar. The latter’s situation was extremely bitter.
The Heavenly Devil General at the highest point of the sacrificial altar was casting divine arts. In the sky, lumps of dark lightning rolled and scattered through the ground. Everywhere they passed, the flesh of divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven would dissolve, turning them into running skeletons.
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. The fierceness and strangeness of the divine arts of the devil race were even higher than what the divine arts practitioners that cultivated the devil path in Heavenly Devil Cult could show!
The long braid girl rushed up the altar. “My father and I had seen it when we were observing the battle in Brilliance Injured City. Even though you are very powerful, your magic power is ridiculously strong, your divine arts are incomparably exquisite, your achievements in the divine arts are extremely high, your techniques seemed to have a problem. You showed no true god level techniques, and my father said that there’s a gap in your civilization.”
The girl faced a Heavenly Devil Horde soldier who was an asura with extremely strong abilities and corporeal body. His attacks were incomparably fast when he suddenly trembled, revealing all kinds of rune markings as though they were carved into his skin.
However, the corporeal body of the long braid girl was also ridiculously strong. The two of them fought with speed, hiding their divine arts between their palms and fingers. Like that, the outcome of the battle was decided in an instant.
The long braid girl shattered the heart of her opponent by jabbing at the heart of his brows. The head of that asura exploded, and his corpse fell to the ground, rolling down the steps of the altar.
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched. He saw that the divine arts of the girl weren’t more exquisite than his—in truth, they were really crude—but her technique had extraordinary points.
The long braid girl continued to fight her way up the altar while speaking to him. “Father said that many parts of your body are already no inferior to those of the divine arts practitioners with aptitudes of true god. For example, your hands, heart, dantian, legs, and eyes have already reached extremely high achievements.
“However, your hands are hands, legs are legs, heart is heart, dantian is dantian. Looking at them alone, your achievements are extremely high, but your corporeal body hasn’t unified them, so you have not reached the aptitude of a true god. Compared to a young true god, you’re slightly inferior.”
Throughout her speech, she killed several people with her fierceness. She walked step by step up to the top of the sacrificial altar.
With her breaking up the disposition of troops, the other divine arts practitioners gained spirit and frantically rushed toward the top of the altar as well. Yet more Heavenly Devil Horde flooded over to block them, holding back their momentum.
Qin Mu transformed into Saturn Sovereign’s form and swept Gate of Heaven Influence forward. The Heavenly Devil Horde soldiers which got caught instantly lost their souls and collapsed.
He looked around and nodded; the long braid girl had been right. The divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven indeed possessed an advantage over the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace.
Their divine arts weren’t exquisite, but their power was much stronger. Their changes in moves couldn’t be compared to those in Eternal Peace, but because of their strong corporeal bodies, the power of their moves was much greater.
This should have been the effect of their techniques.
Even people as powerful as Butcher, Mute, Cripple, Granny Si, Blind, and the rest had only one thing in which they were skilled and had cultivated to god realm. They couldn’t reach such heights in all fields.
Even if it was a sicko like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, the saint that appears once every five hundred years, he too couldn’t reach god realm in every field.
Yet the techniques of the divine arts practitioners in Supreme Emperor Heaven were a grade higher, so all parts of their bodies had received training. They developed in all fields, and so their battle power was even greater!
‘No wonder all of the divine arts practitioners and devils in Supreme Emperor Heaven are so strong!’
Qin Mu suddenly had a feeling of the dark clouds parting and the sky becoming clear. The purpose of his journey was to find the method to defeat First Ancestor Human Emperor, and now he finally saw a ray of dawn.
“However, your magic power is strong and your divine arts are exquisite, so even though you are lacking, you can still hold your place in a battlefield. In Supreme Emperor Heaven, there shouldn’t be many people stronger than you on the same realm.”
The long braid girl continued to talk in a loud voice, telling Qin Mu about her father’s opinion of him. “Your technique is too scattered, though. When you train your eyes, you just train your eyes. When you train your hands, you just train your hands. And when you train your heart, you just train your heart. You’re training all of them separately.
“If you unified all parts of your body and was able to cultivate your corporeal body, magic power, primordial spirit, and also divine arts together, you would have another astonishing leap in power! However, all of this happened because your technique was too scattered. If you wanted to combine everything into one now, it would probably be incomparably difficult.”
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath. The long braid girl was only passing on her father’s opinion since she couldn’t have that kind of judgment and knowledge herself, but she had indeed pointed out Qin Mu’s weakness, or in fact, the entire Eternal Peace Empire’s weakness.
Throughout that land’s history, as long as the divine arts practitioners gained achievements in one area, it would be enough for them to stand at the top of the world. However, since they didn’t string all these achievements together, the technique had never become a system.
This was because they were all the later generations of people who had escaped from the disaster twenty thousand years, and there was a huge gap in their inheritance. They had cultivated hard and the wise had researched the divine arts, but they could never break through the shackles of technique.
The two finally fought to the top of the sacrificial altar. Hundreds of divine arts practitioners fought against the Heavenly Devil Horde that was attacking up from below while the rest surrounded Heavenly Devil General.
“A bunch of dogs and chickens!” The Heavenly Devil General laughed loudly with his primordial spirit standing behind him overflowing with flames. His four heads surveyed the surroundings as the huge flags on his back flew up. He sneered and said, “Killing you guys is as easy as flipping over a palm!”
The long braid girl and the rest looked at him with grim expressions. The Heavenly Devil General’s abilities were extremely high, and even Qin Mu didn’t dare to receive his attack head-on. The four-headed devil could probably take one of their lives with a single move.
‘Looks like the next step of Eternal Peace Empire’s reform should deal with technique…’
Beside the braid girl, Qin Mu seemed to be in deep thought as he took out a huge jade eye from his taotie sack. His hand made some tweak at its back.
“Do you think I can construct a bridge to connect Eternal Peace to your Supreme Emperor Heaven?” Qin Mu asked. “I want the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace to come here for experience and to open up their horizons.”
The long braid girl was extremely nervous, and cold sweat kept rolling down her forehead. She said angrily, “Why are you asking so many questions? Stop thinking about other things for now! With the enemy in front of us, if we don’t kill him…”
Light burst forth from the jade eye, and the Heavenly Devil General leaped up, but he was still split apart in midair.
Qin Mu closed the jade eye and took out a bunch of tools for calculation along with stacks of papers before squatting down on the ground to record some numerical symbols. Next, he took out a bunch of measuring spirit weapons, then continued to draw.
He didn’t even raise his head and when he said, “I want to construct a bridge that could connect the two worlds together. However, that requires a huge amount of calculations. Do you have any experts skilled in calculations? I think if we can maintain the balance of the two worlds’ energy, it should be possible… What happened? Why are you all looking at me with such strange gazes?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The two halves of the Heavenly Devil General fell from the sky before he had even breathed his last. When he landed], he twitched a few times.
He was an expert of Celestial Being Realm and had even grown four heads. Qin Mu had used Moon Jade Eye to slice him into half, but with his powerful lifeforce, he didn’t die from that right away.
His four heads stared ruthlessly at Qin Mu, but he gradually ran out of energy and died.
In the surroundings, numerous divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven couldn’t wipe away the astonishment on their faces. They stared blankly at the big boy that was calculating by himself in the bloody battlefield.
The fiendish Heavenly Devil General had been a great expert of Celestial Being Realm, and a famous young strong practitioner among the devil race to top that. His abilities were profound and ineffable, so if he had made his move, hundreds of people would have probably died on the altar. Yet he had been stopped.
“Who is this?” a divine arts practitioner of Supreme Emperor Heaven asked in a low voice.
Beside him, someone said, “He was Devil God Fu Riluo’s disciple, and among the devil experts of Celestial Being Realm, he is ranked number seven. He was known as a strong practitioner that would grow into a true devil, the most favorite disciple of Furiluo…”
“No, I’m talking about him.”
“I have no idea…”
…
The long braid girl pulled Qin Mu up with a smile. “You just killed Fu Yuxiao. This fellow had a very high position among the devils of Celestial Being Realm. You’ve done huge merit!”
Qin Mu took a glance at the corpse with astonishment. “His position was high? No wonder then that he was so powerful. If I hadn’t learned that move from Saint Woodcutter, I probably wouldn’t have even been able to take a blow from him.”
He squatted down again and continued to calculate.
The long braid girl looked at the jade eye and asked suspiciously, “How did you kill him? This eye…”
“It was made by gods during High Emperor Era. They constructed the formation on the moon to use its power,” Qin Mu said before focusing on his calculations once more. “Fu Yuxiao had four heads which controlled his body as the same time. This would result in a conflict of consciousness, but when he encountered something, his four heads didn’t control his body separately.
“His reaction should have been muscle memory. I just needed to calculate it according to his divine arts and moves and what his muscles would do when he’s in danger. After knowing that, I activated this Moon Jade Eye. When he jumped into the sky, he would collide with the ray and kill himself.”
The long braid girl stared at him with her eyes wide open, astonishment evident on her face. He would jump into the attack to kill himself?
Calculations could be used like that? How had he calculated it?
“Do you have any experts skilled in algebra here?” Qin Mu opened his taotie sack, and the calculation spirit weapons flew back inside. He frowned and said, “To build the world bridge, a lot of calculations are needed. If it was just me doing it, I reckon I’d need half a year to calculate the equation for sacrificial spirit energy conversion and shifting. Only then would I be able to establish the space algebra model for the bridge that stretches across the two worlds.”
The surroundings were silent.
After a moment, the long braid girl asked in an astringent voice, “What did you just say? Equation?”
“Equation. Mathematical equation is used to find the variable… Variable? You guys don’t know what’s variable? Variable is the unknown. I algebra, it’s the unknown quantity.”
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the expressions of the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven. These people looked at him as though they were listening to a heavenly book.
He couldn’t help having a bad feeling and probed, “You guys don’t have Ten Computational Canons here? The most basic nine writings of calculation? Also never learned them before? How about Computational Canon of Supreme Mystery? Have you learned Computational Canon of Native Woman? You should have learned the Circulatory Cycle Stars Array Equation at least, right? This is the calculation regarding meteorological phenomenon!”
Everyone in the surroundings shook their heads in a daze.
The long braid girl said, “What’s the use of learning calculations?”
The other people nodded and said with smiles, “We’re always fighting on the battlefield so where would we find the time to learn this? The fastest way to raise our abilities is to train, learn divine arts, and comprehend them!”
Qin Mu looked at them with anger. “You guys don’t calculate meteorological phenomenon? You guys should have calculated the trajectory of the stars in the sky at least, right?”
Everyone’s expression grew weird, and Qin Mu was bewildered by it. Suddenly, a divine arts practitioner said, “There are no stars in the sky so what do we calculate?”
Qin Mu was stunned and raised his head to look at the sky.
The sky of Supreme Emperor Heaven was pitch black, without any stars, just two halves of a sun.
Qin Mu saw some large scale constructions on the broken surfaces, but they weren’t complete. The half suns were actually forged. They weren’t naturally formed!
The thing that made him not know whether to laugh or cry was that the halves weren’t even round!
When he had come here the last time, he didn’t see any sun since it had been night time. Only this time did he see that the sun of Supreme Emperor Heaven was made up of two separate halves, and neither of them was even circular! One was a little cubic, the other a little oval, and both distorted in some areas!
Qin Mu wanted for nothing more than to fly to the sky and destroy the two suns!
Even if Eternal Peace’s astronomical phenomenon were fake, they were all formations, and the gods and devils that had constructed them to trick the people were extremely serious. No matter if it was the sun or the moon, they were all round and without any flaws.
Even the stars, constellations, and galaxies in the sky were made quite vividly, hiding their fake nature from Dao Sect’s Daoists for twenty thousand years. As a result, Dao Master Lin Xuan’s Dao heart had collapsed the moment he realized this secret.
But it was even worse for Supreme Emperor Heaven, since their half suns had been made extremely sloppily!
With a blank mind, Qin Mu shook his head. The impact that this sight brought him was even stronger than the first sighting of Sun Ship. Of course, it had been a shock brought by the superlative craftsmanship while this one was the shock brought by the sloppiness of the craft!
“Not even one star. You guys indeed don’t need Circulatory Cycle Stars Array Equation…”
Qin Mu nodded repeatedly, and the dragon qilin came to his mind. ‘The divine arts practitioners of this world don’t have high attainments in algebra, I I had only brought Fatty Dragon along, things would be much easier for me…’
The divine arts practitioners of this world were fighting daily because of the invasion of the devil race. If they wanted to live, they had to continuously improve their abilities. The best way to do so was to train their divine arts, strengthen their bodies, and forget better spirit weapons.
Algebra to them wasn’t very important, and it was even something extremely dry and dull. It didn’t improve their abilities at all, so throughout the generations, their attainments in algebra grew worse and worse.
More and more divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven came to the sacrificial altar and looked down from above. They all took out longbows and pulled the bowstrings to shoot downward. Arrow lights pierced through the battlefield and killed many devils.
There were some divine arts practitioners that were raising sword pellets and knife pellets to attack the enemies from afar as well.
Qin Mu suddenly thought of something and asked in a hurry, “How did you guys forge this sacrificial altar?”
The long braid girl was also skilled in archery and pulled her bow to shoot enemies. “The sacrificial altar has existed for a long time. I heard from my dad that it was left in Supreme Emperor Heaven for the day we could no longer last. At that time, we could summon a god sacred teacher who would come forward to help us.
“Now, Supreme Emperor Heaven is on the verge of falling, so the gods of Brilliance Injured City placed the altar in the center of the battlefield. With the deaths of everyone fighting, they sacrificed enough blood and flesh…”
Her face fell. Many people who were sacrificed were divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven.
“A sacrificial altar left behind from twenty thousand years ago.” Qin Mu looked at Saint Woodcutter who was fighting far away. Over there, the battle was even more intense. Saint Woodcutter was bringing down the enemy’s camp!
“The sacrificial altar should have been left behind by Saint Woodcutter for Supreme Emperor Heaven to summon him when won’t be able to withstand the attacks any longer. In that case, his goal should be to drag the time for Eternal Peace…”
Qin Mu set up his Moon Jade Eye and adjusted the direction. Light rays shot out and killed experts of the devil race.
The range of Moon Jade Eye was even greater than that of the bows, and its power was superior as well. He killed the strong practitioners of the devil race with ease, and Qin Mu targeted mostly the generals. Once they died, the devils lost their leaders and with no command, it became hard for them to form any steady push forward.
Even so, more and more Heavenly Devils were flooding toward the sacrificial altar. People had no time to just shoot the devils far away and were forced to hit whatever was beneath them.
Under the sacrificial altar, corpses piled up into mountains, but the black swarm of devils still continued to come for them. They were about to reach the top of the sacrificial altar.
Qin Mu put away his Moon Jade Eye and grabbed his sword pellet to guard the sacrificial altar. The two parties fought fiercely on the top of the altar.
The Heavenly Devil Horde was abnormally brave. Its soldiers weren’t afraid of death, and if it wasn’t for the extraordinary abilities of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s divine arts practitioners, it would have been difficult to block their attacks.
Beside Qin Mu and the long braid girl, divine arts practitioners started to fall one by one. Even Qin Mu and the long braid girl’s situation was bad. They had nearly died a few times under the attacks of the enemy.
Less and less of their own remained on the sacrificial altar, and soon, only twenty-thirty were left. Suddenly, a world-shaking shout came from afar, and the devils flooding toward the altar listened to the news. They then quickly fell back.
It was like a burden had been lifted off the shoulders of everyone on the sacrificial altar. They took in deep breaths and collapsed onto the floor. All of them were covered in blood.
Behind them, a resounding call of the bugle-horns and drums rang out. An army of tens of thousands rushed out of Brilliance Injured City to chase after the escaping devil army.
The long braid girl struggled to get up, wanting to chase after the deserters of the devil army, but her legs wobbled, and she could only sit down once again.
Qin Mu looked at the army of Brilliance Injured City that was rushing into the distance. As he did so, he suddenly recalled something. “We’ve been through life and death twice together, yet I still don’t know your name. My name is Qin Mu, what’s yours?”
The long braid girl lay in a pool of blood while looking at one misshapen half of a sun. She calmed her breath and said, “My name is Sang Hua. That day, I said many things to you, but you couldn’t hear anything. I was lucky to have you beside me, and it was only because of it that I was able to endure through the fight. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to last that long. Guess!” She turned around with two small dimples in her cheeks. “Guess, what did I say to you?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “There were two worlds between us; I couldn’t hear anything at all.”
Sang Hua looked at the sky. “Look, the sun is really big. Our Supreme Emperor Heaven had no sun, but these two were constructed by us with the help of a god. We called him Sun Creator, but before he completed them, Sun Creator God was killed by the devil gods… These suns are very magnificent, right?”
“En, magnificent…” Qin Mu acknowledged against his will before curiosity got the better of him. “So what did you say to me that night?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Sang Hua sat up and turned her back to Qin MU. She unbuttoned her shirt to see the wounds under her snow-white neck. She took out a jade bottle and squeezed out the clotted blood in her wounds before applying the medicine on herself.
“I told you so many things that night that I don’t remember them anymore.” Her ears turned slightly red.
Actually, that night when she had felt that she couldn’t escape anymore, she told Qin Mu a lot of silly things, and some of those words could make even boys blush. However, she had said them daringly because Qin Mu wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway.
Unexpectedly, she lived through the night, and when she thought she would never see Qin Mu again, the nonsense she’d spoken that night became a different kind of emotion in her memory. Never had she even considered that she would be able to see the boy in the darkness to whom she had shared everything on her mind.
Qin Mu raised his head to see the sun and barely resisted the urge to fly up the sky to grind the suns into dust. He then went around the girl and stretched out his hand to help her apply the medicine.
Sang Hua hurriedly covered herself up. “Men and women should not touch…”
“I’m an apothecary, and I only want to help you apply the medicine. I treat patients like their parents would and don’t have any impure thoughts.”
Only when Sang Hua remembered him saying that he was a somewhat famous apothecary that her heart eased. She looked curiously at how he applied the medicine on her, noticing that his hand techniques were indeed well-trained. She asked suspiciously, “Your algebra attainments are very high so why are you also skilled in the art of healing?”
Qin Mu observed the wound on her chest in detail. “I’ve learned the art of healing for over ten years while I’ve only studied algebra for three years. When you put it like that, I’m much better at healing.”
“How long are you going to look?” Sang Hua said angrily and raised her hands to cover herself up.
Qin Mu hurriedly stopped her and carefully pushed her clothes down to her shoulder. He said, “I treat my patients as their parents would. En, your skin is very white and your shoulders are very smooth… Stop!”
He frowned slightly. Sang Hua’s wound was left behind by a devil expert, and there was a divine art and devil qi within it, corroding her flesh and vital qi.
It was hard to stop the bleeding for this kind of wound, and it was difficult to get rid of the devil qi too. The ointment that was applied to the wound had already been pushed black. It was evident that the medicinal energy had also been tainted by the devil qi.
Qin Mu squeezed out the ointment that had turned black and took a sniff. He shook his head.
This kind of ointment wasn’t effective.
“Ow! This ointment is for pulling out the poison. After application, it collects some devil qi and has to be changed.” Sang Hua cried out in pain and took out a few bottles of ointment. “For this kind of wound, I will have to apply it over a dozen times to completely pull the poison out… Your eyes keep sneaking glances, so let me do it!”
Qin Mu took out some medicinal ingredients from his taotie sack and used his method of refining pills to refine some medicine. “Devil poison isn’t poison. The problem is in the vital qi attributes of your god path technique that you cultivated clashing with the devil path technique. The ointment you’re using isn’t an ointment for pulling poison, but a variant of spirit pills which weren’t refined to their best state, so they’re in an ointment form. This kind of ointment just gets tainted by the devil qi so it’s a waste to use it to pull out the devil qi.”
While he was speaking, a pill furnace formed by vital qi appeared on his palm and he just refined his pills within it. He reversed fire and water, mixed them, and used many others kinds of pill refinement methods which dazzled Sang Hua’s eyes.
After a moment, Qin Mu dispersed his vital qi and over a dozen pills landed in his palm.
He crushed one and smeared it on Sang Hua’s wound. “In my world, I’m Heavenly Saint Cult Master who is called Heavenly Devil Cult Master by the people. I have an understanding regarding the devil path. Devil is born in the heart; whether one is a god or a devil, it’s all in the heart. Anyway, l have experience in treating wounds made by divine arts of the devil path.”
Soon, Sang Hua felt her wound begin to feel cool, and the devil qi was all pulled out. Her wound started to itch, which was the symptom of the wound starting to heal.
“My wound is healing so fast? Didn’t you just say that you were only a little famous in that world of yours?” Sang Hua stared with her eyes wide open before secretly bringing her braids to cover her chest. She asked curiously, “A little famous apothecary can refine spirit medicine to counter the devil qi so quickly?”
Qin Mu handed the rest of the spirit pills to her and grinned. “I was being humble. Actually, I’m not a little famous, but very famous in that world. But you didn’t understand it from my words, did you?” He couldn’t help feeling pleased. “Most people can’t hear it!”
Sang Hua was bewildered. “You aren’t going to help me apply the medicine?”
Qin Mu walked toward other people to treat their injuries. “I was only examining the wound back there; you can apply the medicine yourself. Other people need to be saved too.”
Sang Hua pulled up her shirt and looked at him who was hurrying here and there. She thought to herself, ‘He indeed treats his patients like their parents would and doesn’t have any impure thoughts. This person is a rare gentleman, just that he likes to glance around…’
Qin Mu treated the injured divine arts practitioners on the sacrificial altar before looking down at the countless people and Heavenly Devil Horde soldiers lying on the battlefield. There were people moving the injured, and there were others finishing off the devils that were still alive.
The vast battlefield was full of flames left behind by divine arts. They had ignited chariots, collapsed bodies, flags, and spirit weapons standing diagonally in the ground.
Far into the distance, the killing was still continuing.
The world Qin Mu had entered was strangely cruel. Even though he’d passed by many battlefields before, the sight in front of his eyes was still shocking to his heart.
“The art of healing can’t save this world?”
Qin Mu shook his head. His healing could only save a few people. If he wanted to get to all the injured in this battlefield, he would need months. There was one small battle every three days and one big battle every five days. He didn’t have the ability to heal everyone at such a rate.
He raised his head to look at the sky. The irregular suns in the sky dimmed and became red.
The two suns were fixed and never moved. It was probably also set that at a certain hour they would just start to dim.
‘The god that created these two suns had good ideas, but his attainments in algebra weren’t high…’ Qin Mu looked away, feeling that the suns were burning his eyes. ‘Too ugly! If I continue to look at them, I won’t be able to resist going to repair them…’
He moved slowly around the sacrificial altar while mobilizing his vital qi to execute Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His spirit embryo and soul merged to form primordial spirit, combining his spirit and body into one.
His primordial spirit stepped on the spirit platform and united the six directions. With sun and moon above his head, his vital qi moved, flowing through all parts of his body. His hair fluttered gently.
In the fight, he had seen what made the divine arts practitioners of this world so powerful. Experiencing life and death of the battlefield had subconsciously changed his mentality for the better.
Since the battle with First Ancestor Human Emperor, he had been depressed. When fighting, he couldn’t even execute his moves and was scolded fiercely by Butcher.
It wasn’t because he didn’t dare to make a move. He just felt that no matter what move or what divine art he executed, they were all wrong.
The reason why they were wrong wasn’t because his confidence had suffered a setback from facing First Ancestor Human Emperor. The problem lay in the fact that the clash had raised his horizons to a height he had never imagined before.
When standing there and looking down on all the moves and divine arts he had learned before, he saw flaws everywhere!
His horizons were high, but his foundation wasn’t enough for him to change and enter the next realm, so he could not execute any moves or divine arts. He felt that they would be broken anyway and he would die in the next instant.
He had treated his opponents as First Ancestor Human Emperor which was why he had this kind of feeling.
Yet on the battlefield, Qin Mu didn’t have the time to think about all that. The situation there changed every instant, so he couldn’t care if there were any flaws in his moves. He could only execute them and kill all the powerful enemies or die.
After the battle, Qin Mu felt that he had stepped to the threshold of a huge transformation.
As long as he crossed that gate, he would definitely see a piece of blue sky, a vast road ahead of him!
His body began to shine with splendid sunlight as his vital qi moved within him, connecting the spirit embryo, five elements, and six directions. The sun, moon, and stars gave off light that lit up the divine treasures, turning him into something like a person of light.
Even the Celestial Being Divine Treasure in his body shone until the door to it could be seen.
Meanwhile, below Six Directions Divine Treasure, a deep and dark door was also faintly discernible. It was the door of Life and Death Realm which connected to Youdu.
Qin Mu walked at a steady speed. In Little Jade Capital, he had observed the divine treasures of Little Jade Capital’s God Qin Chongming for quite a long time.
From then on, he had begun to improve his divine treasures and patch up whatever he was lacking.
Roooar!
The vital qi in his body shook and gave off waves of dragon roars. Dragon qi coiled around his body, worming in and out to temper it. Suddenly, with his hands as knives, Qin Mu attacked while walking around the border of the sacrificial altar.
The wind grew louder, and knives fell like rain: Midnight Battle across Stormy Cities.
The sun rose and jumped out of the surface of the sea: Sun on East Sea Thousand Layer Waves.
A golden knife adorned with white jade pierced the night with its light through the window: Man of Fifty Years yet Nothing Made Carrying Knife in Eight Wilderness All Alone.
After a crisis comes hope, and the whole journey becomes nothing but smoke!
In the vast and bloody battlefield, Butcher’s knife skills suddenly became very moving and alive, reflecting the calamity of the world.
Qin Mu’s knife skills became faster and faster. Suddenly, the knife lights vanished. The wind, the rain, the sun, the sea, they all vanished as well. Qin Mu put his fingers together into a sword, and his vital qi vibrated to form a sword thread. He gently flicked and smeared it, his sword skills incomparably exquisite. Suddenly, they became faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, his long sword swept through the air and danced above the sky of the sacrificial altar like a silver flood dragon,
Qin Mu walked around the sacrificial altar while the sword light sweeping through the air, becoming faster and faster, more and more urgent.
The calamity of Supreme Emperor Heaven had allowed him to gain something, and this subconsciously made him release all of his emotions. He learned through his sword skills, through his vital qi!
Third form of Sword Picture, Calamity of High Emperor.
Yet when the calamity was at its fiercest point, Qin Mu suddenly dispersed all sword light and his sword finger suddenly tapped at the heart of his brows. It not only touched the physical place on his body, but also the heart of his spirit embryo’s brows.
All his spirit, sword qi had been gathered in his finger.
He had comprehended what calamity meant.
Calamity was a disaster in which people struggled for their lives. It was finding hope in hell, a hero like Butcher using his knives to carve it for people, a human emperor like Village Chief undertaking hardship and toiling for everyone throughout his life, and also the struggle of people behind the back of a hero.
It was the life of burying the dead every day.
Qin Mu’s two fingers stabbed forward, and a rainbow-like sword stretched across ten miles.
In the sky, one of the half suns had dimmed, and only the sword light could be seen.
While it shone in the sky, Qin Mu stood on the sacrificial altar in a daze. That move had had nothing to do with Village Chief’s Sword Picture. Suddenly, the youth felt that he had his own path.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
‘Just this sword skill alone still isn’t enough for me to defeat First Ancestor Human Emperor.’
Qin Mu put away his sword and looked at Supreme Emperor Heaven that was shrouded in darkness. When he did that, the astonishing sword light in the sky vanished.
On the battlefield, crackling flames were still blazing, yet to be extinguished. The smell of burning flesh was everywhere.
Qin Mu had vented all of his emotions and feelings in that sword earlier and reached a height that he had never achieved before. However, there was still quite a large difference between First Ancestor Human Emperor and him.
Yet without First Ancestor Human Emperor’s pressure and without the encounter in the dark realm, it would have been very hard for him to take that step, to walk out of Village Chief’s Sword Picture, of Butcher’s knife skills.
When he had stabbed with that sword, it hadn’t been just him founding a sword skill that belonged to him. He had also attacked the dark clouds that had been clouding his heart lately.
Sang Hua looked at his back. The youth’s sword training on the sacrificial altar left a deep impression on her.
It was especially so for his last move, when he had tapped the heart of his brows and stabbed with a sword. The mood hidden inside it had unleashed on a great scale. Suddenly, she could almost see a world changing due to a reform, countless ambitious people fighting in foul wind and bloody rain, rushing forward after someone.
In the sword skills that Qin Mu had executed earlier, their intricacy had dispersed the spirit. Even though Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers was imposing and had the spirit of a heavenly god advancing courageously, it was only describing the mountains and rivers.
Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood was overflowing with murderous intent and was overbearing, having the aptitude of the sword god, but the sword will was commemorating the martyrs, still obsessed with the past.
Calamity of High Emperor was full of sorrowful, describing the death of High Emperor Era.
These three sword skills had their pros, but they also had their cons.
In terms of spirit, Sang Hua felt that they were all inferior to Qin Mu’s last move. As to which were better in battle, she couldn’t say clearly.
“Superb sword skill.” She stood up and came to Qin Mu’s side. “What sword skill was that?”
“Calamity Sword.”
Qin Mu turned his head and saw her walking over. She then raised her head to look into the distance.
Suddenly, a gale swept in their faces and transformed into an incomparably handsome tiger. It had yellow and black stripes, which were swirling with the movement of the fur and looking extraordinary impressive. Small tufts of soft fur grew on his ears as well, able to rotate in all directions.
“Superb sword skill! That sword skill was indeed impressive!”
The tiger god walked up the stone steps of the sacrificial altar. When he was halfway up, his feet left the ground and he transformed into a tiger-headed god which walked up to Qin Mu. His voice boomed when he spoke. “Why is it called Calamity Sword?”
The tiger god was Saint Woodcutter’s mount who had been summoned to this world along its lord. He had carried Saint Woodcutter into battle and was very brave.
Qin Mu’s heart moved slightly. The black tiger god returning from the frontlines meant that its lord had quelled the devil gods in the frontlines. “The change of heaven and earth means a great calamity! Heaven and earth may change not only because of natural disasters, invasion of heavenly devils, nor people dying to fire and floods. The change of heaven and earth is also a change in thinking of the people and a reform of divine arts, turning skills into Great Dao.”
The tiger god turned to him and sneered as he walked up. “Changing the people’s hearts, divine arts, laws, paths, what a haughty tone! Just your sword skill alone, can it change this world, change this universe, change the thinking of every living being? Your sword skill isn’t bad, but your heart is too ambitious!”
Qin Mu’s gaze became fervent, and his tone filled with excitement. “If people’s hearts change, they won’t fear gods anymore, and when people won’t fear gods, the gods will have no power. When this happens, divine arts will be free to be changed. With that, laws will change, and so will the paths. Just like that, the heaven and earth will change too!”
Sang Hua looked at the youth beside her who was full of spirit. Even when facing the black tiger god with extraordinary aura, he wasn’t fearful in the least.
Qin Mu raised his hand and pointed at the miserable battlefield in the darkness. His voice was slightly hoarse, but it was also heart gripping in the night.
“Look! This is the calamity gods and devils have thrown on us, for the people to keep the gods and devils in awe, to fear and respect, worship them! My Calamity Sword then shall open the calamity of changing people’s heart, one of changing divine arts and paths. From there, I’ll change the world!”
He became more and more passionate. Even though Sang Hua couldn’t understand what he was saying, she could sense the passion burning in his heart!
The youth seemed to have an infectious charm that could make people listen to him, unable to resist getting influenced by his emotions.
That black tiger god came to the bottom of the sacrificial altar in a few steps. His body far surpassed that of Qin Mu and the rest and so put extremely strong pressure on them.
This tiger god looked down at Qin Mu before smiling as his whiskers spread apart. “I knew you were remarkable. I don’t understand all you’ve said, but I felt that they were powerful words. What’s the name of this move of yours?”
Qin Mu raised his head to look up at him and said solemnly, “This sword skill is called Opening Calamity!”
The black tiger god was slightly stunned. “Opening the calamity for the change in people’s heart? For the change in divine arts? For the change in paths? Great name!”
Sang Hua also understood some of it. The youth beside her that had come from a different world was going to send a calamity to the gods and devils that were making their lives miserable, and so the skill was called Opening Calamity.
It walked the route of reform, improving the ways of the past and changing the lives of gods and devils.
“How many moves does your Calamity Sword have?” the black tiger god asked.
Qin Mu blushed and muttered, “So far only one move. I feel that I’ve already used up all my knowledge just to create this move…”
“That should be about right. You couldn’t have accumulated much at your age.” The whiskers of the black tiger god stuck to his face. “At your age, to be able to found a sword skill is already pretty remarkable. I’m under the orders of my lord to fetch you. He is coming to blows with someone and needs you; follow me.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, but he couldn’t help growing excited. “Saint Woodcutter wants to see me?”
The black tiger god returned to his true form and said, “Didn’t you hear clearly? He was fighting with someone when he suddenly thought of you, so he wants you to go over. Come onto my back. There are still dangers on the path with the devils running around, so you couldn’t reach the place by yourself.”
“Saint Woodcutter is fighting with someone… Bah, if he is fighting, why does he need me there?”
Qin Mu was puzzled, but he still jumped onto his back. Sang Hua hurriedly jumped up as well while saying, “My father is also on the front lines; I want to look for him!”
The gorgeous tiger god in black and yellow sprinted to the frontlines. His speed was extremely fast.
Even though his body was huge, he was covered with lean muscles and was completely silent when he ran. There was no sound at all.
‘Much faster than Fatty Dragon!’
Qin Mu gripped his fists tightly and suddenly felt his heart aching. Even though the dragon qilin was much faster than before, his steps were still heavy and would even shatter mountain rocks when he ran at full speed.
Sang Hua looked at the pitch black night, slightly worried. They had left the battlefield and leaped across the frontlines. They were heading for Li City in which the devils had their camp. Many devil gods gathered there, and among them was also True Devil Fu Riluo!
Back when Li City had been invaded, it was Fu Riluo who had attacked personally. He executed his devil technique and massacred countless people in the city. Even two true gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven were killed by him. He was truly fearsome!
The black tiger god leaped across the army and went straight for the city. With such actions, wasn’t he just seeking death?
“How do the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven determine if a person has the aptitude of a true god?” Qin Mu remembered asked a girl beside him after remembering it. “How do you guys cultivate?”
Sang Hua suppressed the unease in her heart and said, “First, we look at the aptitude. Spirit bodies that have the aptitudes of kings won’t have bad aptitudes. If they get a famed teacher, their corporeal bodies can reach the extent of a young true god. Other than that, our Supreme Emperor Heaven also has a test that is called God Suppression Pagoda. Those who are able to walk out of the pagoda will be recognized as those who have the aptitude of a true god.”
Qin Mu blinked at her. “God Suppression Pagoda? What is it?”
Before Sang Hua could answer, the black tiger god’s voice reached them. “God Suppression Pagoda is a treasure from Founding Emperor Era and is used to test the attainments of a corporeal body. If a person one can pass, it doesn’t really mean that they have the aptitude of a true god, just that their corporeal body barely reaches the extent of a young true god.
“Among those who have passed God Suppression Pagoda in Supreme Emperor Heaven, at most half have the aptitude of a true god. Being a true god is beyond difficult, so where’s the logic in anyone becoming a true god just by cultivating the techniques of true god diligently?”
Sang Hua also couldn’t help becoming curious. “Senior, in that case, what is considered to have the aptitude of a true god?”
“The true aptitude does not only lie in the corporeal body, but also in the primordial spirit which is split in spirit and soul. Has your spirit embryo reached the aptitude of a true god? Has your soul reached the aptitude of a true god?
“Other than primordial spirit, there’s still the frame of mind. But even if reaches the god realm, it still isn’t enough to become a true god, because other those things, there’s also divine arts and paths,” the black tiger god explained.
“The divine arts practitioners who you guys see as having the aptitude of a true god are still a long way from becoming such! For example… youth, what is your name?”
“My name is Qin Mu!” He then hurriedly added, “The current Heavenly Saint Cult Master.”
“Heavenly Saint Cult Master? Never heard before.”
Qin Mu’s expression became black. Ever since Heavenly Devil Cult was founded, everyone had viewed Saint Woodcutter and the patriarch and the sacred teachers. Never would they have expected for his mount to not have even heard of them!
The black tiger then continued with his speech. “For example Qin Mu, his abilities aren’t weak, but in your eyes, his corporeal body has not reached the aptitude of a true god. Yet with his strong abilities, he’s able to fight against those so-called divine arts practitioners with the aptitude of a true god.”
“That’s because I’m the overlord body!” Qin Mu said with excitement.
“Overlord body? Never heard before.” The black tiger god sprinted through the night while speaking. “Your sword skill is almost close to the realm of path, so your comprehension of paths, skills, and divine arts is almost at the aptitude of a true god. Your frame of mind is slightly weaker, though, and not strong enough.
“As for the primordial spirit, it’s very powerful and can be considered first class among the divine arts practitioners of the current generation. That’s why he has the strength to fight against young experts with the aptitude of a true god… We’re at Li City!”
In front of them, flames rushed into the sky. A magnificent city was shrouded in the light. On top of it, devil gods and countless devils stood.
Sang Hua looked at this sight in fear. Yet the devil gods and devils didn’t stop the black tiger god, letting them into the city without a word.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Sang Hua was extremely nervous. The black tiger god had brought them into the enemy’s nest, so could he have turned sides?
‘However, he is a god. There would have been no need to lie to us. If he wanted to kill us, he could have just taken us down or eaten us.’
Even though logic said that, she still felt nervous in her heart.
After all, they were in the enemy’s camp!
The devil race had existed in Supreme Emperor Heaven for some twenty thousand years, and in her memory, they were all fiendish and utterly evil. If anyone landed in their hands, it would be fortunate for them to find death!
And now, they were in their camp.
She looked around and saw countless devils staring at them. The heavenly devils sent chills down her back. They looked like hungry beasts hiding in the darkness, ready to pounce and tear them into pieces!
Sang Hua’s palms were covered in cold sweat. Her gaze landed on one devil god, and she couldn’t shift it away.
That man was topless, but his face didn’t look like that of a normal human. There were only groups of flame markings that covered his whole body.
His eyes were extremely strange, flickering in his eye sockets like two balls of fire. When he saw them, he smiled. “Young lady, I’ve seen you before. Your family has died under my hands, right?”
Sang Hua’s hands formed into tight fists, but she didn’t say anything.
Qin Mu took a look at that devil god, and his pupils contracted. He remembered that the first time he met Sang Hua, heavenly devils had attacked that city, and Sang Hua’s father had gone to defend when he was encircled. A devil god had then pushed his way toward Sang Hua’s family and killed most of the people.
Back then, the sight had been terrifying. Even though he couldn’t see Sang Hua’s face, he could feel her fear and anger.
Qin Mu had run everywhere with her, and only then did she survive unscathed.
Back then, Qin Mu and Sang Hua had been in two different worlds, so he couldn’t see the face of that devil god clearly, but judging from Sang Hua’s current expression, he could confirm that this topless devil god was the one that had massacre her family.
“The style of construction here is quite similar to that of our Great Ruins. I’ve seen numerous ruins of Founding Emperor Era, and they are similar to the palaces here.” Qin Mu suddenly smiled. “Sister Sang Hua, your Supreme Emperor Heaven might just be related to our Great Ruins.”
He wanted to divert her attention, but she was plagued with matters of the heart and couldn’t pay him much attention.
The black tiger god answered instead. “Supreme Emperor Heaven belonged to Founding Emperor. It was part of the first heaven of the thirty-three heavens, so it’s not strange that the buildings look similar.”
“Supreme Emperor Heaven is from Founding Emperor Era?” Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he cried out, “What kind of place is thirty-three heavens? Hasn’t Founding Emperor Era ended?”
The black tiger god was bewildered. “Founding Emperor Era has ended? When did that happen? How could it have ended when Founding Emperor is still alive? As long as Founding Emperor is still alive, Founding Emperor Era will never end!”
Qin Mu was flustered, and his heart pounded crazily. Founding Emperor Era had yet to end!
This news was too shocking!
He immediately thought of his encounters in Great Ruins and Fengdu, how the heavenly king’s god statue had acted on Founding Emperor’s orders and rode the dragon qilin to kill the dragon king and how King Yama of Fengdu had mentioned Founding Emperor going to Carefree Village.
These two matters were clear signs that Founding Emperor Era had not yet ended!
However, when the black tiger god said this personally, it still gave Qin Mu a great shock.
“Your frame of mind is unstable, so it will be bad for your fight later.” The black tiger god was stern, and his voice loud. “Your attainments in frame of mind aren’t great to begin with, so won’t you at least stabilize your mind?”
Qin Mu was muddle-headed. He asked in puzzlement, “What fight?”
“We’re here!”
The black tiger god suddenly stopped,. and his body trembled, pushing Qin Mu and Sang Hua off. When the two of them landed on the ground, the black tiger god shook and transformed back into a tiger-headed god. He looked down and frowned at the two people.
He then said loudly, “Mu lord, these two people are useless; their minds are all flustered! They will probably lose miserably if you send them to fight!”
Sang Hua had seen the devil god that had almost wiped out her whole family and her mind was agitated, making it hard for her to restrain herself. Qin Mu’s mind was also shaken, but his by the information the black tiger god had told him. He was still in a daze, so neither of them was in a good state now.
However, after hearing the black tiger god’s words, the two of them came back to their senses and looked ahead of themselves. The sight astonished them.
The palaces up ahead laid out in a picturesque disorder were extremely strange. Some of them were bathed in fire, but not destroyed. The flames seemed to be emanated by the palaces themselves, even though it left them almost transparent from the scorching heat. The youths could see the interior of the palaces from the outside.
The flames lighted up the whole city like it was daytime!
In the sky above the palaces, gods and devils were facing each other, and Qin Mu immediately saw Saint Woodcutter. He also saw numerous gods standing behind him. Among them was Sang Hua’s father.
Opposite them was a devil god that did not look like a devil, but was even somewhat refined and graceful. The only problem was that he didn’t have ears.
In the place of his left ear, there was a face, and it was the same where his right ear was supposed to be.
Qin Mu couldn’t see his back so he didn’t know if there was a face on the back of his head too.
Suddenly, a black pillar rose that was several yards thick. It was like a black pagoda that stabbed diagonally the vast courtyard.
An unbelievably huge ax was also sent into the plaza. That ax was almost as thick as the black pillar.
Only now did Qin Mu notice that it wasn’t a black pillar nor was it a black pagoda, but a huge spear.
It crossed with Saint Woodcutter’s ax and stood upright in the plaza
The two spirit weapons were too large, and cracks formed on the ground from the pressure.
“Enter the plaza.” The black tiger god hurried them. “Once the people in front die, it will be your turn.”
Qin Mu and Sang Hua walked forward to the borders of the plaza. There were several divine arts practitioners inside, all covered in blood. They were all adjusting their breaths while standing with armor; they should have come from the battlefield.
On the other side, there were also other young divine arts practitioners, but they were devils. They should have also come from the battlefield, since a few had injuries. They all looked fierce and brave.
“My lord, they are here.” The black tiger god bowed to Saint Woodcutter in the sky above.
“Why are their minds not peaceful?”
The black tiger god immediately answered. “The cultivation of his frame of mind is simply too weak. When he heard it was still Founding Emperor Era now, his soul wandered off.”
Saint Woodcutter gave him a stare, and the two long ears moved back and stuck to the back of the tiger god’s head. He became submissive and didn’t dare to talk.
Saint Woodcutter looked at Qin Mu who was flipped through his taotie sack before taking out a chunk of black iron. He then poked at the fire emanating from the palace.
“Mind not at ease and a bouncy temper. I wonder if he’s useful? Could I have been wrong in my judgment? He clearly wasn’t that curious and lively in the battlefield…”
The black iron in Qin Mu’s hand was immediately affected by the heat and got scorching to the touch. Qin Mu threw it down without any hesitation. The flames on the chunk of black iron had yet to extinguish when it became a pile of molten iron.
It kept burning though, and in not even a breath’s time, it changed into ashes.
“No wonder this place is called Li City, this is actually Li Fire!”
Saint Woodcutter frowned slightly while a junior behind him cried out in astonishment, breaking the silence.
“Not only is there Li Fire, but there’s even devil fire!” Qin Mu stated.
The black tiger god couldn’t help explaining, “This place was conquered by the devils and their fire is hidden inside Li Fire, which is their scheme! Don’t touch it and be careful of burning yourself to death. That’s right, how did you know there’s devil fire in Li Fire?”
“Li Fire has high heat and is good for forging since it can easily melt black iron, but it won’t burn it cleanly,” Qin Mu explained. “Devil fire has a very terrifying corrosive characteristic, but its temperature isn’t high. What melted black iron was Li Fire while what burned it cleanly away was devil fire.”
Suddenly, his eyes shined, and the black tiger god jumped in shock.
“Devil fire can be used to smelt spirit weapons while Li Fire is an even better divine fire! This trip is great; my sword pellet can be improved even more!” Qin Mu cried out in excitement.
Mute had taught him the marvel of smelting, and he knew the use of every kind of fire. Now that he could see two of them, he couldn’t help becoming excited. He immediately took out an iron board and a frame before taking out a black iron hammer.
“Brother Tiger, you don’t know it, but my sword pellet has already been cultivated to the flexibility of wrapping around a finger. Another step forward would be like flowing water. All this time, I couldn’t find any high-quality flames, but now, I finally found some!”
Qin Mu took out his sword pellet and looked at the dumbfounded black tiger god. He said with a smile, “Devil fire can burn away black iron, but it can’t burn black gold essence. My swords are made out of black gold essence with divine metal mixed into it. By smelting them with the devil fire, I can remove the impurities.”
The gods and devils in the surroundings were stunned. They saw Qin Mu quickly constructing a smelting table before taking out a black felt apron to tie around his waist. He threw the flying swords onto the smelting table, then picked one to stuff into the flames.
Clang!
The sound of beating metal dispersed the solemn atmosphere. Qin Mu hammered each and every one of his spirit weapons seriously. Every strike of his was fully focused.
“The one who threshes grains!” Sang Hua called out softly. “How do you know how to forge treasures too?”
Qin Mu didn’t raise his head when he said humbly, “I’ve learned it for over ten years, so I’m slightly better at it than algebra.”
Sang Hua stuck out her tongue and looked at him forging. Her heart suddenly calmed down from its flustered state.
When her father had seen her having come as well, he frowned slightly and opened his mouth. However, he resisted speaking.
Clang, clang, clang.
Qin Mu forged continuously. Even though there were over a dozen gods and devils around, the only sound was that of him beating metal, and it was irritating everyone.
Suddenly, the devil god opposite of Saint Woodcutter turned his head to face him with another face. He said pleasantly, “Fu Riluo has finally met the heavenly master of the fake celestial heavens from back then. It’s true that your reputation can’t be compared to meeting you in person. This successor of yours is truly interesting, but are you sure you want him to fight for you?”
Saint Woodcutter had an indifferent expression. “Cultivating a heart is like forging ironware. His heart was uneasy earlier, so he’s merely using forging to calm his flustered emotions for his inner heart to calm down. This is a kind of profound cultivation method for the frame of mind, Fu Riluo. Can’t you see that?”
Clang, clang, clang.
Qin Mu swung his huge hammer up and smacked the blades non-stop. He didn’t look like he was cultivating his heart at all. Instead, he looked like he was really forging ironware.
The corners of Saint Woodcutter’s eyes twitched, and he almost couldn’t put up a straight face anymore. ‘Why is he still beating them?’
Below, Qin Mu put away the swords that were done and took out another huge batch to be calcined in the fire.
Veins popped out on Saint Woodcutter’s forehead, but they were forced down by him straight away.
Fu Riluo laughed loudly. “It’s hard for you to get rid of me, and I also can’t get rid of you. In that case, let these juniors fight for us! Heavenly Master, if my side wins, you shall scram back and continue envisioning your beautiful dream. If your side wins, I’ll leave Li City to you!”
Saint Woodcutter hesitated for a moment, and the clanging reached his ears once more. Qin Mu was still beating the iron seriously.
Nearby, Brilliance Injured City Lord said in a low voice, “Heavenly Master, don’t worry, my Supreme Emperor Heaven also has young talents. They are all youths with the aptitude of a true god, and they won’t be any weaker than Fu Riluo’s disciple.”
Saint Woodcutter looked at Qin Mu was still beating the iron, and he could only nod.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Saint Woodcutter looked at the opposite side where a few devil gods had brought their proud students. Those young devil experts were all overflowing with fierce auras. Every one of them had terrifying corporeal bodies and were extremely strong. They were obviously experts that had been through life and death.
He’d fought with the devils before and deeply knew the strength of this race. Purely based on corporeal body, even if the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven had the aptitude of a true god, they would still be slightly inferior.
On top of that, because there were many battles in Supreme Emperor Heaven, they frequently had to fight with the devils, so it was difficult for them to form schools and academies like Eternal Peace did. They also couldn’t form large-scale sects, so it was usually gods finding outstanding talents to personally teach them.
There were advantages and disadvantages to doing so. The advantages were that with the personal teachings of the gods and devils, every one of them was elites with extremely powerful abilities. There were no flaws in the inheritance of paths, skills, and divine arts in Supreme Emperor Heaven. Even god level techniques could be passed down. For example Sang Hua, she was personally taught by her father Sang Ye.
The disadvantage was that one person could only learn what their master had to teach and that’s it. They found it very difficult to learn other people’s ultimate arts. For example, Sang Hua cultivated Sang Ye’s technique and divine arts, so she had never learned a divine art that he did not possess. Even if she learned it, the other party wouldn’t be able to teach her as diligently as Sang Ye.
By without learning the techniques and divine arts of others, one could only be skilled in a specialized area, but this resulted in the paths, skills, and divine arts of Supreme Emperor Heaven not showing any improvement. They were much inferior to those of Eternal Peace.
Qin Mu was able to see that which meant that Saint Woodcutter could naturally see it too.
He looked at the youth who was still forging and couldn’t help doubting himself. ‘When I saw him in danger in the battlefield, I executed a divine art that he could comprehend, and he learned it immediately, escaping successfully. By right, this successor of mine should have unmatched talent and have cultivated the technique I had passed down to the degree of perfection, which was why he was able to comprehend my divine art in an instant. Yet why has he become so unreliable now? Could my judgment have really been wrong?’
At that moment, a god walked over and bowed. “Heavenly Master, the Seven Stars Realm’s experts of Supreme Emperor Heaven are here!”
Saint Woodcutter looked at them and nodded gently. “Let them come in.”
Sang Hua looked around, and her eyes suddenly lit up. “The one who threshes grains, that girl is called Yu He! She’s the number one divine arts practitioner of Seven Stars Realm!”
Qin Mu pulled out a sword from the fire wall and examined it. The heat still wasn’t there yet, so he stuffed it back in.
Sang Hua was beyond excited. She said to Qin Mu, “Yu He is the disciple of True God Pang Yu and has passed through the test of God Suppression Pagoda. She has slain three devil experts at the level of a young true devil and is acclaimed as the number one in Seven Stars Realm! That’s her, the girl who bunned up her hair so high that it looks like a small pagoda. She’s very pretty!”
The black tiger god looked over at the girl called Yu He who had a cold expression. She removed her earrings, bracelets, and tidied her clothes. It was evident that she was ready for a life and death struggle.
“She’s indeed not bad, an expert,” the black tiger god praised. “She removed the extra accessories from her body for her movements to be unrestricted. She can be said to have been forged in hundreds of battles.”
“The one who threshes grains, look, look! The top ten divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm are all here… Wait, that’s not right, there are two people missing. Could they have died in battle?”
Qin Mu focused on his forging and shook to transform into the true form of Mercury Sovereign. He drew cold water vapor to cool down the sword. He then grabbed the flying sword and poured his vital qi in. Rubbing his hands, he turned the shiny sword into a pellet.
He then nodded in satisfaction.
Sang Hua was ineffably excited. “Look, that’s Shu Yao! His master is True God Yan Shuo, but he, unfortunately, died in the last fight with Fu Riluo… However, Shu Yao is indeed abnormally powerful. He has the manner of a master and his technique is overbearing while his divine arts are fierce. What he walks is the route of the corporeal body becoming that of a saint!”
The black tiger god looked at Shu Yao and saw that this youth had a calm bearing that wouldn’t be alarmed even if the heaven fell. Even when faced with so many gods and devils, he didn’t have a change in expression.
“He’s much steadier than the one who threshes grains that looked around in wonder all the time. This Shu Yao is also an expert,” the black tiger god praised.
Shu Yao walked over. He was an extremely earnest youth, and his bearing was extraordinary calm.
The few people beside him were also extremely unordinary. Every one of them, no matter if it was a boy or girl, they all had thick murderous aura surrounding them. All of them should have just come from the battlefield.
Sang Hua was excited to the highest level. “These people that could walk out of God Suppression Pagoda are all young experts, and each of them is legendary! That’s Huang Yue over there. He has been through numerous big battles and is known for his outstanding military service! He’s also the disciple of True God Pang Yu and was the fastest to pass through God Suppression Pagoda. It’s just that his ranking is a little low, at rank three!”
Qin Mu put away all the flying swords he had finished refining while stuffing all the others into Li Fire to continue working non-stop.
The black tiger god looked at Huang Yue who was obviously a martial maniac. Even under such a situation, he was still cultivating. He didn’t forget to execute his technique even when he was walking, and clouds floated above his head.
His technique was very strange, and he had already cultivated his primordial spirit. Even though he couldn’t project it yet, he could already have it breathe vital qi in and out.
The clouds above his head were visions formed from his primordial spirit condensing his vital qi.
“The cultivation of this man is extremely dense!” The eyes of the black tiger god lit up, and he praised, “Another martial maniac, but his thoughts are very pure. He doesn’t have any other thoughts besides growing stronger, so his frame of mind is naturally great! The one who threshes grains and long braid girl, you two should learn from him.”
Sang Hua knew that he was giving her pointers and hurriedly nodded.
The black tiger god looked at Qin Mu who took out another bunch of flying swords to stab them into the fire. He smacked another one with his hammer to refine away the impurities within it.
The black tiger god’s complexion turned black.
Yu He looked over and her gaze landed on Qin Mu who was busy forging his swords. She frowned slightly and asked Sang Hua, “Junior Sister Sang Hua, this person is?”
Sang Hua looked at her in admiration and replied with a smile, “This is Qin Mu; he’s from another world. His Qin is the Qin from threshing grains. Senior sister, you’ve become world famous in the battle in Shi City…”
Yu He’s expression fell. “However, Shi City still fell into the enemy’s hands. The devils’ abilities are indeed slightly stronger than ours. However, the divine arts practitioners of my Supreme Emperor Heaven are no weaker than the devils who are just relying on their numbers!”
Shu Yao walked over and gave Sang Hua a gentle smile. “Sister Sang Hua, you haven’t entered God Suppression Pagoda yet, right? I see your abilities are also extraordinary and have improved a lot since we last met. You will definitely be able to pass the test of God Suppression Pagoda.”
Sang Hua’s chest brimmed with pride.
Shu Yao looked at Qin Mu and slightly frowned. He asked in a low voice, “This is?”
“Qin Mu who threshes the grains.”
Yu He felt helpless. “He’s from another world and his temper is a little weird. He came all the way here to forge.”
Sang Hua blushed and said in a low voice, “Qin Mu is very powerful. He has a gate that I’ve never seen before. Wherever it passes, nothing will live. He killed many experts of the devil race. He also has a Moon Jade Eyes that killed Fu Yuxiao in one shot. His attainments in algebra are extremely high, but his medical expertise is even higher. His forging is also better than his algebra…”
“Fu Riluo’s disciple Fu Yuxiao was killed by him?”
Everyone was astonished and they all looked at Qin Mu only to see him still forging. Yu He said with a calm expression, “The treasures of this Senior Brother Qin are truly extraordinary.”
The others all nodded. Fu Yuxiao was famous among the younger generation as an expert of Celestial Being Realm. For Qin Mu to be able to kill Fu Yuxiao, it had to have been due to the power of that so-called Moon Jade Eye.
“It isn’t entirely the credit of the treasure, since it was accomplished only because of the one who threshes grains very high attainments in algebra. He said he had relied on algebra to calculate the next step of Fu Yuxiao to be able to shoot him… ”
While saying that, Sang Hua became less and less confident.
“Algebra?”
Everyone shook their heads, and Huang Yue said indifferently, “What use is algebra? Not only will it not increase one’s battle power, but it will also take up the time from cultivation.”
The black tiger god gave a cough and said solemnly, “Everyone, go and calm down your minds first. There will be fierce battles later! My lord has already fought with Fu Riluo numerous times just now, but the outcome was hard to determine, so a new idea was brought up. The younger generation shall fight to determine the ownership of Li City! We’ll need to use everyone’s abilities if we’ll want to take back Li City!”
Shu Yao looked at Qin Mu who was still forging and said with a frown, “How can we calm our minds with this senior brother forging over here?”
The others all nodded.
The black tiger god looked at them helplessly. “Please pardon him. His frame of mind isn’t like yours, so he needs to rely on forging to stabilize it.”
Suddenly, Huang Yue’s gaze fell with intensity on the other side, and his voice grew slightly hoarse. “Zhe Huali, Fu Riluo’s proudest disciple! I’ve met him on the battlefield, and in the darkness, I almost died in his hands. Luckily, reinforcements came on time.”
Shu Yao also stared at that young devil expert. The knife on his back trembled, giving off knife cries. The young expert then said in a low voice, “I’ve also exchanged blows with him and lost. Maybe only Senior Sister Yu He can defeat him…”
Yu He’s gaze landed on Zhe Huali and she shook her head. “I encountered him in the battlefield just now. Even though we were broken up by the battle formation after two moves, it was enough for me to determine his abilities. I’m not a hundred percent confident in defeating him… You guys must be careful when fighting him!”
The black tiger god looked at the young expert of the devil race and was slightly stunned. Up ahead was a cultured and refined youth. Based on his appearance, one couldn’t see that he was a devil at all.
‘That’s not right! He isn’t a devil, but a human!’ The black tiger god’s heart trembled slightly, and he instantly realized Zhe Huali’s background. He said in a low voice, “He’s not only the disciple of Fu Riluo, but someone from the upper bound!”
Yu He, Shu Yao, and Huang Yue were all astonished. They wanted to ask for details, but the black tiger god leaped into the sky. He said to Saint Woodcutter, “My lord, something is wrong with the origin of that Zhe Huali. He’s not a devil, so he should have come from the upper bound!”
Saint Woodcutter nodded and looked at the other side. He said solemnly, “Fu Riluo, it seems you are also related to the so-called celestial heavens. This disciple of yours is from the upper bound. I wonder which high god is he the disciple of?”
Fu Riluo laughed loudly and said leisurely, “Zhe Huali has a stable foundation and his devil technique is right behind mine. His abilities are outstanding, and he is the disciple that I think the most highly of. However, your guess isn’t wrong, and his background is great. He has another master, and you also know him. This person is the Knife God who calls himself Wushuang. You’ve exchanged blows before.”
Saint Woodcutter’s expression sunk, and he nodded. “Divine Knife Luo Wushaung, the top general of Spirit Elite Guards. He’s indeed an old friend. Never would I have thought that you would actually become related to him.”
The ears of Qin Mu who had been forging suddenly twitched, and he placed the iron hammer in his hand. He raised his head and asked Sang Hua, “What guards? What Wushuang?”
“Spirit Elite Guards, Luo Wushuang.”
Yu He said indifferently, “My master True God Pang Yu had mentioned him. Luo Wushuang is a broken arm knife god of the ancient times, a true god with very powerful knife skills! He only has one arm, but his knife skills have reached perfection!”
Qin Mu was stunned. He suddenly recalled the night forty thousand years ago and the Luo Wushuang of the Spirit Elite Guards that he had encountered.
That night, he had stood on the chest to cover for the escape and cut off one of Luo Wushuang’s arm.
Could the two Luo Wushuangs be the same person?
Qin Mu hurriedly looked at Zhe Huali, and Shu Yao smiled as he inquired, “Senior Brother Qin who threshes the grains, why aren’t you forging anymore?”
Qin Mu didn’t answer, and Zhe Huali on the opposite side immediately felt his gaze. He raised his head, and their eyes met. Qin Mu’s gaze landed on Zhe Huali’s back where he saw a long knife that was very demonic and evil. There was an eye on its hilt.
That eye suddenly opened and stared at Qin Mu.
Zhe Huali saw Qin Mu’s face and was slightly stunned. His expression filled with disbelief, and he took out a scroll from his chest. He examined it and took another look at Qin Mu before suddenly smiling in delight.
Qin Mu’s gaze was fixated on that demon knife when he said solemnly, “Sister Sang Hua, if I tell you that the arm of Divine Knife Luo Wushuang had been cut off by me, will you believe me?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Divine Knife Luo Wushuang’s arm was cut off by you?”
Everyone in the surroundings found it extremely preposterous. Even the most stable Shu Yao couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “Senior Brother Qin who threshes the grains, just focus your mind on forging.”
Qin Mu looked away, but his expression became strangely serious. Suddenly, Yu He, Huang Yue, Shu Yao, Sang Hua, and the rest moved a step away from Qin Mu, bewildered.
For that instant, they felt that this youth forging beside them had suddenly become a sword that was about to be unsheathed. Light rays had been about to burst forth in all directions. His acute spirit was threatening, but it was left in the sword sheath without being drawn.
The youth had moved because of natural instinct, avoiding a terrifying fighting spirit and murderous intent.
Clang, clang.
The sound of metal being beaten rang out as Qin Mu went back to the smelting table, focusing on hammering his flying swords.
Everyone couldn’t help doubting that if it was their senses that had went wild for a moment.
Meanwhile, on the other side, a female devil beside Zhe Huali took a glance and said in astonishment, “The person in your painting looks like that brat forging on the other side!”
Zhe Huali rolled up the painting and put it away. He said indifferently, “My master has been looking for him for a long time. He said that the reason his knife skills reached such a level was all thanks to him. Old man executed his sword skill for me to see before I left for the lower bound and gave this painting to me. He wanted me to find that person and execute his knife skills to show him.”
The female devil couldn’t help shuddering as she chuckled. “Your master seems to be quite concerned about him. His order for you is to make this forging brat see how powerful his knife skills are. I can feel the hatred in your master’s heart, but there should also be a hint of respect. However, that forging brat is only a youth, so how could he have caught the attention of your master?”
“This I do not know.” Zhe Huali’s gaze landed on Qin Mu. “Just a few months ago, master even crossed realms to contact me, saying that the person he wanted to find has appeared. He asked me to take a trip to that world to look for him. However, with the incoming big battle, I didn’t have the time to go that world. Never did I expect to encounter him here.”
He let out a shaky breath and added in a low voice, “For the Knife God to view him so highly, I’d like to meet him very much!”
Qin Mu who was forging revealed no emotions and just continued to forge his flying swords without a care. However, Zhe Huali could still sense that his gaze was making this youth uncomfortable.
When his gaze landed on Qin Mu’s body, he could clearly see the youth adjusting his posture.
Zhe Huali smile, unable to quell his excitement. The eye on the demon knife also became excited and rotated a few rounds, increasing in size and becoming bloody.
Suddenly, Fu Riluo’s voice rang out. “Heavenly Master, since everyone is already here, let us begin.”
“Should we set any rules?”
“Rules? Where are the rules in a life and death struggle?”
Fu Riluo laughed loudly, and in the courtyard, the black spear trembled. The plaza cracked, and explosions came from the ground as ravines spread out in all directions.
The footing of Qin Mu and the rest instantly became unstable. They hurriedly roused their vital qi.
Saint Woodcutter raised his eyebrows, and the huge ax also shook to fight with the devil spear. The collision of the two divine weapons suddenly tore the space in the center of the plaza and stretched it!
Among the world-shaking explosions, the expressions of Qin Mu and the rest changed drastically. The land under their feet suddenly rose high up. They couldn’t even stand with two legs if they wanted to keep them, but had to jump on only one because of the expanding land.
The terrain of the plaza under their feet had changed. In an instant, mountains had been raised, and the distance between them was still rapidly growing greater!
The power of the two divine weapons collided and actually stretched the plaza as though there was a boundless power creating mountains from nothing at all!
Ravines crossed each other and mountains rose and stretched into the distance. This kind of magnificent power made the youths look up in awe.
Qin Mu looked at the transformations in front of him in astonishment. The flat plaza was like the blue sea turning into mulberry fields. It was undergoing transformations that could only happen after hundreds of thousands or even millions of years in just a short while!
This was the mighty force of gods and devils, the power that mortals couldn’t achieve!
Only now did he see how much power a true god controlled. It was a power that Xing An, a god that was pieced together, could never hope of possessing!
“For Fu Riluo to be able to block Saint Woodcutter, his abilities are indeed extraordinary.”
Qin Mu’s heart shook when he sensed his flying swords. There was a portion of them that had been being calcined in the Li fire and devil fire, and he hadn’t summoned them back in time.
He immediately called them to himself, and the flying swords rose in the distance. They were over twenty miles from him, but he immediately saw a strange sight.
The speed of his flying swords was extremely fast, but the distance between them was gradually increasing!
This was obviously due to the gods and devils as they created a world. The speed at which space was expanding surpassed the movement speed of the flying swords!
Boom!
Suddenly, the space shook violently and the mountains stopped growing. The space stabilized.
The flying swords came whooshing over, and Qin Mu raised his hand. The flying swords collided and transformed into a sword pellet which spun in the air.
He let out a sigh of relief and looked around. He could no longer see Sang Hua and the rest.
There was an extreme number of mountains in the surroundings, but they weren’t especially high. They were like the mountains in the outside world, but shrunk over ten times. Qin Mu sliced a chunk of rock and examined it in detail. He then crushed it into powder.
Moments later, the rock turned into fine rune markings which gave off their final glow before dispersing with the wind and vanishing completely.
“They are indeed not real.”
Qin Mu straightened his back and looked around. The mountains which stretched up and down into the distance should have been materialized by Fu Riluo and Saint Woodcutter using runes. Their abilities didn’t seem to have reached the level where they could create real matter.
Suddenly, Fu Riluo’s voice boomed as though it was thunder from outer space. “In battles of life and death, there are no rules! This sand table will be their battlegrounds, and each side will have ten people in total. The side that comes out victorious will be the winner! How is this suggestion?”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly. ‘Sand table?’
He raised his head to look toward the source of the voice and saw Fu Riluo and Saint Woodcutter’s incomparably huge faces beyond the sky. They looked like planets in outer space.
‘This means that even though the plaza looks countless times larger, it should still be the same from the outside.’
Qin Mu was endlessly astonished. This kind of thing was simply beyond his imagination!
Upon coming, he had already calculated the size of the plaza.
It had a palace on each side. They were most likely located in the left yin and the right yang.
Qin Mu had walked all the way down the main road, then went up the steps to enter the plaza. It was not even a hundred yards in width and had a length of a hundred and fifty yards. Both sides had steps which led to the palaces beside.
If one looked down from the sky, the two palaces and plaza would present the divinatory diagram from Li Divinatory Trigrams, so Li Fire was born.
Now, the interior space of the plaza had been expanded numerous times, but to the outside world, it still looked a hundred fifty by a hundred yards. It was still the divinatory diagram from Li Divinatory Trigram with the two big palace halls.
To Saint Woodcutter, Fu Riluo, Pang Yu, and the rest of the gods and devils, Qin Mu was located on a small sand table. All of his movements could be clearly seen like the markings on the palm.
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. Now he had two roads to take. One road was to retreat back to the side of the big palace hall and continue to use Li Fire to refine his swords. The other road was to head to the center of the sand table world.
That place was where Saint Woodcutter and Fu Riluo’s spear were. Instead of searching around, it would be better to go somewhere where everyone knew others would head too.
As long as they were smart, they would realize that the first to reach the place where the axe and spear crossed would have the upper hand. That was because being a step earlier would allow them to set up traps and formations while waiting for others to deliver themselves!
‘I refined three hundred and sixteen swords; that’s enough for me.’
Qin Mu moved, swiftly increasing his speed to rush toward the center of the sand table world. Cripple’s Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs were executed to their extreme, and he became as fast as flowing light!
Boom!
His speed surpassed sound, and the wall of air in front of him exploded like a white cloud. Vapor brushed his face as he passed through it.
At that moment, Qin Mu heard loud explosions and looked in the direction of the noise. Figures in the distance had also broken through the speed of sound and left behind vapor clouds among the mountains.
The circular vapor clouds gradually spread out in an extremely eye-catching manner.
There were a total of nineteen clouds, and they betrayed nineteen experts with incomparably powerful corporeal bodies surpassing the speed of sound at the same time!
It was evident that they had all realized that if they were a step earlier than the others in reaching the place where the ax and the spear crossed, they would be at a great advantage and hold the upper hand!
Veins popped on Qin Mu’s head. Only now did he realize that he was the slowest among the twenty people in the sand table world!
Even Sang Hua’s speed was actually a bit faster than his!
The nineteen experts were all people who were equivalent to young true gods. The techniques they cultivated allowed their bodies to reach a height that surpassed Qin Mu!
Just like that, the speed that Qin Mu was so proud of finally lost to experts on the same realm!
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and turned to leave. Everyone was heading to where the axe and the spear crossed so that place would be the most dangerous place instead. Everyone couldn’t shake each other off in speed, so the result of running there would be a collision of twenty divine arts practitioners. In the end, it would become a huge and messy brawl.
In such a chaotic situation, it was easy for accidents to happen. Even if he possessed better abilities, he could be surrounded and killed.
Since it was like that, he might as well not go there.
The next moment, the nineteen figures that were rushing toward the place where the ax and spear crossed suddenly turned invisible and vanished. He couldn’t see where they went.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, and his expression became grim. ‘The ones that have survived for so long in Supreme Emperor Heaven are indeed not stupid and have all thought of the same thing. Interesting, I’ve finally met my match… In that case, I won’t look for you guys, but will wait for you to find me!”
His body suddenly broke through the air and sprinted straight to the borders of the sand table world. Over there was a wall of fire that was dozens of miles high and the burning palace hall formed the wall between Li Fire and the devil fire.
After a moment, the sound of iron being beaten came from the sand table world. It could be heard ten miles away.
In no time, Qin Mu saw the first person coming over. It was an alluring girl with a graceful posture.
“The ten divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven are all powerful, but you’re the weak link.” The alluring girl looked at Qin Mu’s back and giggled. “I don’t have the confidence to deal with the other people, so I could only come to take the first credit.”
“Sister.” Qin Mu turned his head to give her a radiant smile. “You might have stubbed your toe on a hard rock.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The waist of the alluring woman was soft as though it was a willow branch in the wind. She swayed left and right as she walked toward Qin Mu and chuckled. “How tough could you be? I’ve seen it just now that your speed is the slowest. Even though it isn’t much slower, it showed that your corporeal body’s attainments are slightly inferior. But even a slight difference is a world of difference in abilities.”
Her feet stopped just right before the flying swords that were hidden in a circle around him.
The flying swords that Qin Mu had put underground were the first form of Sword Picture, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. The girl just needed to step forward, and Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers would activate, shredding her apart. She would become a bloody waterfall in the picture of mountains and rivers.
However, for her feet to stop just before the trap, she should have noticed that something was wrong.
The corner of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched, and he praised. “How smart. Good sister, what’s your name?”
“My name is Tapo Xiangyun, and I’m the disciple of True Devil Qian Tapo.” The woman was bewildered by his actions though. “When the people of Supreme Emperor Heaven meet the devils, they always shout at us angrily and never smile. How could you be one of them, calling me good sister the moment you meet me? If all of the people of Supreme Emperor Heaven were like you, I wouldn’t have to kill so many divine arts practitioners. I’m actually curious, what is your background?”
Qin Mu opened his mouth to answer, but Tapo Xiangyun stomped her feet that moment. The ground trembled, and flying swords instantly broke into the surface!
Qin Mu’s face changed slightly, and he raised his hand to grab them. All of the flying swords gathered in his palm and turned into a sword pellet that was about to land in his hand.
While he was retrieving his sword, Tapo Xiangyun rushed forward at a speed that was no slower than that of his flying swords. Before Qin Mu’s sword pellet was even formed, spider legs appeared behind the woman’s back and stabbed forward, scattering the sword pellet apart!
The woman was incomparably smart, and her spider legs attacked like the storm, breaking the sword pellet to not give Qin Mu any chance!
“You’re truly the weakest one, and I shall claim the first blood!”
Tapo Xiangyun burst into soft laughter as two incomparably sharp bone spikes appeared in her hands. She stabbed them toward Qin Mu’s chest!
“Eh?”
Just as she did so, she felt that something was wrong. She saw Qin Mu’s smile becoming stiff and falling down into a pool of ink.
But he was not the only one to change. Even the Li fire and the devil fire behind him also turned into ink!
Tapo Xiangyun hurriedly looked back and saw herself in a frame. Outside it, another Qin Mu was walking calmly toward her.
Only then did she realize that she had entered a painting when she was pouncing at him!
“This is a painting? How could a drawing move and even speak? How did I not see any flaws?”
Tapo Xiangyun was astonished. She leaped up, wanting to jump out of the painting, but she remained trapped inside. Everything was blank besides the ink on the ground that was yet to dry.
The woman hissed, and the eight claws behind her back stabbed ruthlessly toward the outside.
Chi, chi, chi. The spider legs pierced through the painting, and Tapo Xiangyun was delighted. She wanted to tear apart the painting and jump out.
Yet at this moment, Qin Mu blew a mouthful of air, and the painting fluttered away, landing in a wall of fire that was in that direction.
In the thick Li fire and devil fire, miserable shrieks could be heard as the painting burned into ashes. They formed the shape of a spider lady who was still struggling. In time, she collapsed in the flames and there was no more movement.
“Sister Xiangyun, I would have liked it very much to have a fair fight with you, but there are too many experts and I have to save my stamina for stronger opponents,” Qin Mu said apologetically. “You are indeed very strong, but you are still not my opponent…”
Suddenly, the ground under Qin Mu’s feet rose up and threw him high up.
A giant’s footprint appeared in the moving ground, and the moment Qin Mu was kicked up, incomparably sharp stone spikes shot out from the ground toward him!
While he was in midair, his sword pellet came flying over and countless flying swords spiraled to shred all the stone spikes. When he was about to locate the enemy’s position, the ground exploded once more, and a huge hand formed from magma grabbed at him.
Qin Mu punched down. With a loud explosion, a huge volcano rose up and erupted. The power of the punch was instantly increased drastically.
The punch and the huge hand collided, and the magma rocks instantly shattered. They flew in random directions and tumbled continuously to gather together once more to form a palm.
It closed into a first as devil fire burned in the places between the rocks.
“The magma giant from Heavenly Devil Horde?”
When Qin Mu was up, his arm was almost broken. He looked down only to see the ground trembling violently. A Heavenly Devil Horde transformed into the shape of magma to break out of the earth.
When this person landed on the ground, he roared loudly, and Qin Mu’s body that was in midair was struck by soundwaves which had materialized. They pushed him into the wall of fire.”
“Weakli—”
The magma giant sneered, thinking to leave, but suspicion bloomed in his heart, and he turned his head back. Up ahead, Qin Mu was floating in the wall of fire. However, he had now become a bull-headed mutant with a thick tail.
“This kind brother, could you finish saying that word before you leave?”
Qin Mu walked out of the wall of fire. The devil fire and Li fire flowed out from the wall with him and transformed into two fire dragons on which he stepped.
Qin Mu’s expression was cold. “It’s not weakli, but weakling!”
“Fire Element Star’s Mars Sovereign?” The magma giant looked at him with doubt. “Mars Sovereign can control fire, but only god fire, how did you control the devil fire? Do the humans really have such an intricate technique? That’s not right, you’re using the technique of the devil path! You’re also a devil?”
He got more confused with each revelation. Qin Mu had transformed into a mutant with a bull’s head and a human body. The form of Mars Sovereign clearly had a god’s body, but devil flames were flowing out from him as he controlled the devil fire.
On top of that, there were flowers of flame markings on Qin Mu that looked like fire burning, and one of the two fire dragons under his feet was a devil dragon!
Only a devil could control such an intricate divine art!
Beyond the sky, Saint Woodcutter and the black tiger god saw this sight, and the latter’s eyes filled with suspicion. He asked in a low voice, “My lord, do you feel that?”
Saint Woodcutter gently nodded. “I can feel it. Appearance is born from the heart while the devil is born from the heart. The devil appearance is born from his face.”
The black tiger god was puzzled. “But I clearly feel something weird is in his body; he seems partly a devil, not purely human… My lord, you’re lying again, right?”
Saint Woodcutter frowned slightly and shouted at him, “When have I ever lied?”
The black tiger god opened his mouth to speak, then shut it when he saw the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven behind him. ‘I need to save some face for this old liar…’
Saint Woodcutter’s gaze flickered, repeatedly returning to Qin Mu’s body. His thoughts were unknown.
He pulled back his gaze and turned to Fu Riluo on the other side. The devil god was also watching Qin Mu, seeming quite interested.
“Half devil? His magic power is actually so powerful, a match for Su Mo’s disciple Shi Quansong. He’s using his magic power to supplement what he is lacking in strength and corporeal body.” Fu Riluo smiled and said, “Heavenly Master, your successor is an interesting youth, half devil…”
Saint Woodcutter was astonished, but he said indifferently, “What devil? He is a human who had merely cultivated a technique of the devil path. Who knows them better than me?”
Fu Riluo gave a gentle laugh and didn’t speak anymore.
The magma giant took in a long breath and his body expanded little by little as he rushed toward Qin Mu. “You’re still merely a weakling! Your corporeal body has yet to reach the level of a young true god. Even if you’ve cultivated the forms of the star sovereigns, you will still collapse in one blow!”
Qin Mu’s vital qi was close to violent as the two dragons under his feet sprinted forward. The stars gathered together behind him while shining brightly. They formed a galaxy in each star was connected with the others with a trail of silver light.
If one’s gaze was clear enough, they would see that there were gods standing upright on each and every one of the stars.
The starlight connecting them was the rays giving off by them.
They weaved and formed a strange forcefield.
It was the divine art that Li Tianxing had created after comprehending the Unity Technique of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force!
In terms of divine arts, Qin Mu had never seen a more intricate one among those who were yet to become gods!
The magma giant sneered, and his huge fist came toward Qin Mu. With a loud boom, mountain rocks crumbled and Qin Mu fell. Turning his body around, he rushed over once more.
The magma giant roared furiously, and the devil flames on his body burned even fiercely. He suddenly took a step to rush at Qin Mu, and they collided once again. The twin dragons under Qin Mu’s feet were squashed into pieces by the repelling force, and he fell back.
Rocks flew off in all directions from the magma giant’s body, but the next moment, trails of devil fire pulled them back. That devil fire that flowed through his limbs was like his blood, but also like his tendons. It was very strange.
However, at this moment, a sword pellet flew over and merged into his magma body with the rocks.
Swoosh!
Eight thousand swords exploded, slicing through the rocks and the devil fire. In a split second, they flowed through the whole body of the magma giant like river water and severed all his joints.
The magma giant was stunned for a moment before collapsing to the ground.
Qin Mu also crashed to himself, but he flipped himself up right away. Blood was leaking out from the corner of his lips, but he still rushed over frantically and danced in the sky with eight thousand swords. As he was running, he was also tapping furiously with his sword fingers.
On the ground, countless rocks and devil fire were tumbling about to form two thick rock legs. They mixed with the devil fire to flow up and accumulate continuously. The waist was rapidly formed, and the body of the magma giant was about to be reconstructed.
His lifeforce was extremely strange. He was one of the few races that could reconstruct their bodies.
“Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!”
Eight thousand swords instantly formed mountains and rivers of light. The moment the magma giant reconstructed himself to the neck, he was swallowed by the mountains and rivers and ended up as countless shattered rocks.
Qin Mu sprinted over furiously. With his left hand as yin and his right hand as yang, he crossed them as he pressed down on the sword picture formed by Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
Yin Yang Heavenly Flipping Hands, Overlapping Hands!
The overlapping palm force of yin and yang exploded, and the qi of pure yin and pure yang merged with the sword picture. Yin lightning and yang lightning exploded, sending the shattered rocks in all directions. Finally, the last bud of devil fire was extinguished.
Qin Mu held onto his knees with both hands and spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. He tilted his head and saw another devil expert walking out from the mountain to the side. He then grumbled angrily, “Another one? I’ve already fought two matches, so can’t you find another person to fight?”
The devil expert walked over with a slight smile. “Who told you to hammer your iron for no reason at all?”
Qin Mu’s face was black like iron.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“You ran the slowest and even in the sky before landing here. Since you revealed your location like that, of course, it attracted hunters.” The devil expert looked warily at the shattered rocks on the ground, but his expression was quite relaxed. “On top of that, you look to be the easiest to bully among the group, so how could I not come? However, your abilities are somewhat out of my expectations…”
He looked at the shattered rocks on the ground and his pupils slightly contracted. He slowly released his aura bit by bit. “You look easy to bully, but your abilities are extremely strong. Even though you don’t have the aptitude of a true god, your abilities are already there. You’re no weaker than Shu Yao, Huang Yue, and the rest. I really wish I could know how many of your abilities are you still withholding after the battle between you and Shi Quansong. Is this peach easy for me to pluck?”
On the ground, flying swords gently floated up and Qin Mu straightened his back while taking in deep breaths. Suddenly, his breathing returned to normal and he smiled. “Ever since I’ve become the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, no one has said that I look easy to bully. If you want to pluck this peach, why don’t you try it for yourself?”
He’d been breathless moments ago, but now it was as if there was nothing wrong with him.
The devil expert smiled slightly. “Shi Quansong’s abilities are extremely powerful, to the point that even I needed to be somewhat wary of them. After a life and death fight with him, your injuries can’t be light. You suppressed your breathing, but you can’t hide your injuries. However, don’t worry, if your abilities are strong enough to threaten me, I will turn and leave to find other people.”
He surveyed the surroundings and said leisurely, “After all, there is still an unknown number of opponents hidden in this forest so I have to preserve my strength to deal with them, right?”
His voice had a devilish ring to it as though he was a kind neighboring brother who was really concerned about the other. However, Qin Mu’s mind was still clear.
He was the Heavenly Devil Cult Master. Even though he frequently called himself Heavenly Saint Cult Master, there were numerous great experts that were proficient in the devil path in Heavenly Devil Cult. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were extremely strange and changed along with the heart.
“If there was devil nature in one’s heart, Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures would hold devil techniques, and if god nature was in one’s heart, they would be righteous.
As Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Qin Mu wasn’t at the level where he could be bluffed by the devil voice.
He didn’t believe even one word that the devil expert had said!
Those words were for Qin Mu let his guard down. All that nonsense about turning to leave and having an unknown number of opponent hidden—if he believed it, he would die!
Qin Mu stood still, not moving. Eight thousand swords were strewn at random in the air and floated around him. They were waiting in the battle array of Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers to unleash its power.
The devil expert suddenly moved, rushing straight at Qin Mu. The energy which exploded from the corporeal body of this young true devil was terrifying. When Qin Mu’s Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers was released, he was ready to rush through them.
Qin Mu shouted out, and Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers still managed to trap his body. The devil expert then took out a huge flag and swept it toward the sword light—a huge chunk went missing from the picture of mountains and rivers.
“Formation expert!”
Qin Mu was astonished. The huge flag was stabbed into the ground where it spread open and revealed countless devil markings. They swirled around, and an eye took shape.
The devil expert fell back and jumped inside it, vanishing without a trace. The Sword Treading Mountains and River exploded, but it couldn’t do anything to that devil flag. It was evident that the devil flag was an unusual treasure.
Qin Mu was about to mobilize Carefree Sword to cut it apart when the devil expert appeared behind him. Qin Mu swung his sword there, but another huge flag appeared. The devil expert jumped into it to disappear again, causing his attack to miss. Only a huge flag was left in the ground.
Soon, there were eight flags around Qin Mu. They spread out, and the end of each flag connected to another one, forming an octagonal formation that took up the area of a sport’s field. In the center of each flag, there was an opened devil eye.
Qin Mu frowned as trails of devil qi shot out from the devil eyes, bombarding him.
Vital qi around his body rose and transformed into a huge bell that was there yet not there. Around the bell’s wall, countless lightning markings coiled. He was using Fifth Ancestor Human Emperor’s Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell!
Clang, clang, clang!
Loud explosions rang out as Qin Mu struck outward from the inside of the bell, fighting with the trails of devil qi. Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell was sometimes big and sometimes small, sometimes powerful and sometimes weak.
In the meantime, the devil flags swirled continuously, and the devil qi from the devil eyes was sometimes thick and sometimes thin, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. This caused the bell to ring continuously and churn Qin Mu’s qi and blood.
He moved, and Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell also moved with him. However, the devil flags outside also moved along with him.
Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell was Fifth Ancestor Human Emperor’s ultimate art which mixed corporeal body divine arts with lightning divine arts. Five lightning were the five big thunderclouds, and he used his strong corporeal body to execute them to form bell markings. Every punch and every kick would cause the five bolts of lightning to spread, and the bell would contract before expanding. The power of the five thunderclouds could increase by a lot, so it was the most suitable to destroy devil techniques.
Yet now, Qin Mu couldn’t break it.
He suddenly transformed into the form of Saturn Sovereign. Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him and he spun around, sweeping it past the eight huge flags. Soon though, it was shattered by the beams of the devil qi.
Gate of Heaven Influence hadn’t managed to force out the true form of the devil expert.
“Eyes awaken!”
Layers of formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eyes, and he looked around himself. Yet no matter in which direction he turned, he couldn’t find the devil expert. He could only see figures moving quickly through the flags as though they were phantoms.
Within the formation, the huge bell that was struck by the devil qi didn’t completely disperse it. Instead, they moved in fine lines that could be seen by the naked eye. Those lines were laid in the space and sliced it into numerous chunks. Each cubic space had runes of the devil path continuously forming inside.
The devil was a formation expert. The attack earlier had been a diversion while his true goal was to trap Qin Mu in his killing formation and purifying him!
In this way, he could preserve his strength to deal with other people.
He was planning to use the smallest amount of energy possible to get rid of Qin Mu.
The human youth’s magic power far surpassed that of his peers, and his divine arts were overbearing and fierce. There were many people that could force him to guard, but only a few strong practitioners like First Ancestor Human Emperor and Village Chief could be able to suppress him on the same realm. However, the devil expert he now faced was also one of them.
First Ancestor and Village Chief were experts that had entered the path, so it was not surprising for them to be able to that. However, the devil expert was of the younger generation. From just this point, it could be seen how profound were his formation attainments.
“Formation skill?”
Qin Mu suddenly dispersed Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell and stretched his hand to grab his sword pellet with a tight grip. Fine flying swords flowed out like water and transformed into a huge spear.
If anyone was to look at it in detail, they would see that it was constructed from countless fine flying swords which were moving non-stop. Every sword was executing Spiral Sword Form, and the tip of the spear was Carefree Sword that was incomparably sharp.
At the same time, runes appeared around Qin Mu’s body. They weren’t powerful divine arts markings, but symbols of algebra and mathematics, taiji diagram, wuji diagram, sun and moon runes, five elements runes, six directions arrays, eight trigrams arrays, sixty-four hexagrams. They were changing continuously, constructing a kind of system that calculated the isometric space.
The runes changed irregularly, calculating the formation’s structure that was formed by the eight devil flags. Countless runes bounced around, and the calculation speed was dazzling to behold
Qin M focused his vision, and his body moved with the spear. It flew out like a dragon covered in silver light. Every beam of devil qi hit by it was shattered.
Suddenly, the eight flags swayed and were taken back. The formation of the devil expert was broken, and his true form was revealed. He swept up the flags and immediately left. He laughed and said, “It’s rare to meet an expert skilled in calculations! Your abilities are very strong, farewell!”
The flag covered him, and he instantly vanished.
Qin Mu stabbed the huge spear in the ground, his spirit unrivaled. He didn’t relax at all.
After a moment though, his aura suddenly weakened and he coughed up blood. He gasped for breath and sat down on his butt.
At that moment, the devil expert appeared behind him like a phantom and stabbed his huge flag which like a spear at Qin Mu. He laughed again. “You truly have no more strength left so I’m back again!”
A strange smile appeared on Qin Mu’s face. He was sitting with his back toward the devil youth as the huge spear in his hand separated into two huge knives. Holding one of them properly and the other in reverse, he hid one behind his back to block the huge flag that came straight for his heart. The other knife was hidden in front of his chest.
Qin Mu spun around and slashed with the huge knife which he’d held at the front at the huge flag.
The devil expert was astonished, and the flag in his hand swayed until both of his arms went numb.
“Do you know the sure kill technique of the battle technique school?”
Both of them were leaning forward, and Qin Mu spoke into his opponent’s ear. His feet were off the ground, but he was still sitting, as though that devil’s move had turned him around like a spinner.
This was a trick that Butcher had frequently played on Qin Mu when he had no legs. It was used to test his move—Raising the Knife from Forbidden.
It was the most dangerous move among Butcher’s knife skills!
The devil expert moved irregularly and his body shifted like a phantom, but he could never shake Qin Mu off. His speed was indeed faster, but Qin Mu stuck to his back as though their bodies were glued together.
The devil expert’s figure transformed continuously, and his body movements were truly strange and unpredictable. In time, he managed to shake off Qin Mu and was delighted. He could finally deal with him face to face.
At this moment, Qin Mu’s voice came from beside his ears. “What’s your name?”
“My name is…”
Knife light shone, and Qin Mu raised his blade with a reverse grip. The devil expert couldn’t even finish his answer before the power of this move burst forth.
“Sorry, I didn’t let you finish speaking.”
Qin Mu put away his knives. They flowed down from his hands like quicksand, changing into a sword pellet.
The devil expert’s belly was sliced open, and his corporeal body collapsed on the ground.
Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and shook his head. “Another expert and I will be dead.”
He tilted his head to listen, but there was no noise in the mountains surrounding him. After a moment, he repeatedly weakly, “Another expert and I will be dead.”
The majestic mountains in the surroundings still had no movement.
“Weurgh—”
Qin Mu opened his mouth and spat out blood before collapsing onto the ground. He twitched twice and gave a kick with his leg before taking his last breath.
The surrounding mountains were still silent, without any movement at all.
Qin Mu’s face turned green and his body grew stiff. His blood and flesh hardened, but there was still no movement in the surroundings. After a moment, Qin Mu got up and went back to the wall of fire to forge his flying swords without a change in expression.
A female devil on a mountaintop raised her head and watched the youth from above. She then suddenly turned around and left without any hesitation.
‘The forging brat is even more devilish than me. I can’t provoke him!’
At that moment, Huang Yue stopped and raised his head to look at the mountain top. There was a person carrying a long knife standing upright there.
“Zhe Huali!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The cloud vapor above Huang Yue’s head steamed, the vision formed from his primordial spirit breathing vital qi in and out. At this moment, his gaze landed on the person on the mountain and the vapor cloud grew. It gained an area of half a field.
The vital qi in the vapor cloud condensed into droplets of rainwater that could be faintly seen falling to the ground. When they landed on the young man’s head, they evaporated and went back up into the vapor cloud again. This looped over and over again.
The mountain had been raised by Saint Woodcutter and Fu Riluo’s vital qi runes and not made by true creation, so it wasn’t too high. Huang Yue scaled it, coming to the mountaintop in a few steps before stopping when he was still over a hundred yards away from Zhe Huali.
“When I met you in the battlefield, I almost died at your hands.”
Huang Yue’s aura rose dramatically, and his fighting spirit overflowed. Even if he was defeated before, he wasn’t the least bit afraid. Instead, his boundless fighting spirit was ignited!
He was a battle maniac and had no fear!
“I’ve always been searching for you to take revenge for my loss.” Huang Yue was excited. “May senior brother give me this chance!”
Zhe Huali turned around and his gaze fell on him. The devil eye on the handle of the demon knife behind his back didn’t open, however.
His right foot suddenly shifted, and the tip of his foot pointed diagonally. His feet weren’t lined up as he pointed his left foot at Huang Yue and his right foot at another woman that was scaling up the mountain. She appeared in front of them the next moment.
Huang Yue’s expression sunk, and he said coldly, “Chan Yuan, don’t interfere with my matter; otherwise, I will kill you as well!”
Chan Yuan was also a divine arts practitioner of Supreme Emperor Heaven. Huang Yue and the rest had first rushed toward the place where the ax and spear crossed when they had entered the sand table world. However, when everyone was heading there, the place lost its meaning, so they had all entered hiding.
The only one who didn’t hide was Qin Mu.
He had sprinted furiously through midair, and because of his great speed, he’d left a trail of clouds all the way to the border of the sand table world, guiding the others toward him.
Next, Qin Mu hadn’t bothered to hide and began hammering iron, luring numerous devil experts into trying to hunt him down.
With the devil experts busy, the experts of Supreme Emperor Heaven had the rare chance to hunt the devil experts that were on the route.
Chan Yuan had noticed this and had stayed guard on the route that had to be taken to get to Qin Mu. She discovered Zhe Huali who was standing on the mountain top and also seen Huang Yue. In delight, she scaled up the mountain, planning to work with Huang Yue, the rank three strong practitioner, to get rid of the devil expert.
“Senior Brother Huang Yue, you and Senior Sister Yu He are both disciples of True God Pang Yu so you should know that the general situation is more important.”
Chan Yuan stared at Zhe Huali with a grim expression. She then added solemnly, “This duel isn’t just about your personal grudge nor is it a chance for you to chase the extremes of your paths, skills, and divine arts. It concerns the ownership of Li City and the fate of our Supreme Emperor Heaven. No matter if it’s me or you, it will be hard for either of us to deal with this person, but together we can take him down!”
“I won’t work together with you, so fall back.” Huang Ye had a firm expression and shook his head. “Seeing that we are both divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven, I won’t kill you. However, if you take the chance to kill Senior Brother Zhe Huali while we are fighting, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
His gaze was firm when he looked at Zhe Huali. His desire to seek Dao was incomparably intense, and he chuckled. “If I’m victorious, he will die at my hands. If I’m defeated, he will also be heavily injured. You can take the chance to make your move then and not play with the fate of Li City! You just have to watch; otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Chan Yuan frowned slightly, but she took a step back.
Huang Yue became excited and his aura became even more intense. “Zhe Huali, please guide me!”
“You aren’t my opponent. The so-called young true gods of your Supreme Emperor Heaven are merely a joke in my eyes.” Zhe Huali’s expression was indifferent. “You guys don’t know the true meaning of being a true god. You think you’re destined to be one just because your corporeal body reaches the level of a young true god. You have no idea that you are still far off. There are three things that make a young true god, and those are the corporeal body, primordial spirit, and path. You guys have only achieved one, but I’m different.”
The demon knife on his back trembled gently and hummed. He said leisurely, “Before I came down to the lower bound, I have already achieved two, with only my path still lacking. My descent to pay respect to Fu Riluo as my master is my cultivation in seeking my Dao. Huang Yue, you are obsessed with the paths, skills, and divine arts so you are about to achieve the second requirement. I admire this determination of yours so come together, don’t lose your life for nothing.”
“Don’t look down on me nor my paths, skills, and divine arts! Without destruction, there can be no creation! One can only become stronger when encountering someone stronger! Army Vanquishing Mountain!”
Huang Yue howled and sprinted forward furiously. As he did so, his attack was unleashed, and his fist skill transformed into a divine art. In that instant, countless apparitions of fists appeared and accumulated into a mountain. The next moment, they were like an Army Vanquishing Star!
His fists were so heavy that the wind from them could compress the air and send waves of explosions as though thunder was rumbling.
This move from Huang Yue showed his astonishing attainments in fist skills. When he had fought with Zhe Huali on the battlefield, he had realized his inadequateness and when he met Zhe Huali now, under the pressure of a strong enemy, he was actually able to improve by another step. His divine art Army Vanquishing Mountain was about to reach perfection.
Behind Zhe Huali’s back, the demon knife suddenly opened its eye and swirled, expanding while turning the color of blood.
Zhe Huali stretched his hand to pull out his knife and slashed at Army Vanquishing Mountain. Instantly, knife light burst forth and collided with the fist apparitions. The knife light ricocheted and seemed to transform into ten thousand knife lights in an instant, forming a knife mountain that broke Army Vanquishing Mountain!
Ten thousand knife lights suddenly merged. The one then came for Huang Yue’s head.
He clasped his hands to grab it, but the demon knife suddenly split into two and Huang Yue’s expression changed slightly. Flesh grew under his armpits and two arms clasped the second knife light.
Before he could even let out a sigh of relief though, the two demon knives separated into four.
Huang Yue shouted angrily and more flesh wriggled under his armpits. Four more arms grew out to grab the knife lights that were slashing toward him.
Then, he looked in despair as the four knife lights separated into eight to slash him.
Chi, chi, chi, chi.
The new knife lights slashed down, and Huang Yue lowered his head, looking those that had vanished into the ground. Four long and straight wounds appeared on his face, growing longer and larger.
Zhe Huali shook his demon knife and gently sheathed it on his back while Huang Yue split into several pieces.
He then looked at Chan Yuan who had a grim expression and was slowly moving back.
“Go, I don’t kill a woman,” Zhe Huali said indifferently.
Chan Yuan still didn’t relax and continued to move back calmly. When she was a mile away, she turned and ran furiously for her life. At that moment, Zhe Huali’s muscles tensed up, and he sprinted forward with all his strength. With a loud explosion, he surpassed the speed of sound and pulled out his knife with both hands to slash straight down!
The knife instantly reached Chan Yuan’s back. She turned in the air, throwing out her sword pellet which expanded outwards. Before the flying swords could even shoot out, the knife cut her from the top of her head!
Zhe Huali stopped and put away his knife, turning to leave.
“I need to have the man from the painting see my master’s knife skills, so I cannot be injured and had to slay you from the back.” With a calm expression, he tilted his head to listen for the source of the hammer. “Woman, the instant you turned around, your flaw was the biggest. Never show your back in front of me.”
Behind him, Chan Yuan fell down.
On the other side, mountains crumbled as two figures were fighting fiercely among them. Mountains with blade-like precipices were pierced through and shattered into runes, vanishing into the air.
The battle ended very quickly, and Yu He touched the wound on her face. Her opponent had died, but he had still injured her.
She raised her head and looked at the knife light which flashed and disappeared in the sky, then knitted her eyebrows.
‘Zhe Huali, you and the blacksmith are equally showy, but I don’t have absolute confidence that I can defeat you!’ She turned to leave. ‘I need to find junior brothers and sisters before eliminating you!’
The sand table world was vast, making it hard to find other people.
There were battles erupting at several mountains. The divine arts practitioners met the experts of the devil race, and they naturally used all of their strength to slay their opponents.
That was why after any two people from opposing sides met, the battle would usually end in a short while. The divine arts practitioners would end up either dead or crippled, making the situation quite grim.
However, even if it was just for a short while, it was enough time for them to fight over a dozen miles. Everywhere they passed, mountains were cut and even crumbled. The destruction they caused was quite a sight.
There were even some who used huge divine arts to destroy an area of a hundred miles, which was terrifying.
Of course, this was the sand table world and not the real world. If it was the world outside, even though the divine arts practitioners on Seven Stars Realm weren’t weak, they didn’t have such destructive force.
The place where the ax and spear crossed was one of tranquility.
Sang Hua set up her trap excitedly and lay in ambush. She quietly waited for enemies to fall into her sure-death trap.
Time passed by slowly. After two hours, the young girl popped her head out from her hiding place with her two long braids hanging down.
Another two hours passed, and Sang Hua sat down on the head of the ax. Her palm supported her chin while she swayed her legs in utter boredom.
Another two hours passed, and Sang Hua lay down on the ax. She looked at the sky while wondering, “Where is everybody?”
She suddenly sat up, a little crazed. “Where have they all went? Isn’t this place where everyone was sure to fight? No matter if it’s friend or foe, someone just come here!”
Outside the sand table world, the gods and devils looked at the battle inside with both delight and anxiousness. It hadn’t been long, but plenty of battles had already been fought.
When Qin Mu had killed three devils and lay down on the ground as a corpse to lure the fourth opponent, most of the devil gods couldn’t help becoming nervous. They were all breaking out in cold sweat for the female devil that was hiding in the mountain top nearby.
Luckily, she wasn’t tricked and just turned to leave. Most of the devil gods let out sighs of relief then.
“My lord, he is truly your successor!” the black tiger god stated with excitement.
Saint Woodcutter was expressionless while Fu Riluo smiled. Their gazes met before shifting away.
When everyone saw Zhe Huali slaying the two young experts, Huang Yue and Chan Yuan, with two knives, most of the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven couldn’t help breaking out in cold sweat. They were truly worried for the other divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven.
However, the most worried one was still Sang Hua’s father, God Sang Ye. He gripped his fists tightly, his palms all sweaty.
‘Good daughter, don’t come out, just stay there obediently…’
God Sang Ye stared intensely at the place where the ax and spear crossed and saw Sang Hua jumping down from the ax. His expression couldn’t help changing, and he chanted to himself, ‘Don’t go out, don’t ever go out.’
Sang Hua ran out.
‘Don’t meet an enemy, don’t meet an enemy…’
A female devil was heading over straight for her.
God Sang Ye nearly fainted. ‘She’s going to die…’
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Suddenly, Sang Hua seemed to feel something and stopped in her footsteps. The female devil in front also felt danger and immediately stopped. With not high but precipitous mountain separating them, they executed their divine arts. It happened nearly at the same time, each of them imprinting on the mountain in front of them.
The violent divine arts of the two women collided, and after a moment of silence, the mountain crumbled and dust rose into the sky like fog.
Within it, rune markings began to disintegrate and turned into spots of bright light as though they were exploding fireworks. The two women couldn’t see each other, and their sword and knife pellets flew out of their sleeves to circle around their beautiful bodies. The fine flying swords and curved knives fluttered around their clothing like fireflies dancing in the sky.
Sang Hua had learned from her father, God Sang Ye, so what she knew was sword skills. The female devil on the other side was Devil Knife Fu Luotuo’s disciple, so she cultivated knife skills.
They touched each other at the same instant, and they were like two butterflies flying around each other as their pellets spun. Incomparably fine knives and swords clashed, and sparks burst out.
“God Sang Ye’s sword skills, you are Sang Hua!”
“Devil Knife Fu Luotuo’s knife skills, you are Bi Yi!”
The two girls immediately recognized each other’s skills. Among the knife lights and sword shadows, the two graceful girls unleashed their divine arts at close range. A knife light penetrated through divine arts, and the sword light swept past hair. The bright light given off by the rolling pellets lit up their eyes and shone on their bodies.
Even though their corporeal bodies looked delicate, they possessed energy that even surpassed that of Qin Mu. When they saw each other, their bodies had already reacted before they could even form thoughts. With their palms, elbows, shoulders, legs, and knees, they attacked their opponent like a raging storm!
The two girls grunted and suffered from the other’s moves, falling out of the fireworks. They rolled down the mountain like tattered sacks and only stopped after some six-seven miles.
When they were about to stop rolling, the sword pellet and knife pellets that they had used to attack each other had come to their heads. The swords and knives rained down, and in an instant, hundreds of curved knives and flying swords poured down.
The two girls tumbled and flipped. Sang Hua took down the bow on her back and rolled around like a leopard cat. With every tumble, there would be over a dozen arrows shooting out. In the meantime, thirteen miles on the other side, Bi Yi had also taken out her devil bow to attack back.
Behind them, the knife and sword lights were still clashing.
The two girls went around a mountain and fought across it. The vibration of the bowstrings created crisp sounds as the mountain was pierced, gaining numerous holes.
As the two were sprinting at high speed to avoid each other’s arrows, swords, and knives, Sang Hua suddenly saw the huge ax and spear. They had actually gone back to the place where the two large weapons crossed.
One of the girls sprinted up the huge ax while the other jumped onto the black spear. They moved like snakes while attacking each other. When they finally fought to the peak of the two divine weapons, the two girls suddenly fell like shooting stars after executing all kinds of moves in midair.
Sang Hua hurriedly took a look and saw Bi Yi falling into the trap she had laid earlier. She then immediately activated the sword pellet formation she had set up!
“Ahhhh—”
As the only child of God Sang Ye, Sang Hua could have anything she wanted. Even though she couldn’t refine a sword pellet like Qin Mu, she felt no lack of sword pellets.
She had placed seven of them in her Seven Stars Sword Diagram. The divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven were too lazy to cultivate algebra, so they used the simplest method and that was to copy the sword diagrams that the ancestors had left behind. By refining treasure according to the methods left behind, the time they saved could be used on cultivation.
Seven Stars Sword Diagram was one such formation.
Seven Stars Sword Picture wasn’t very complicated and many divine arts practitioners just copied the sword diagrams. Their power wasn’t great, but with seven sword pellets, it would be no small matter.
In a life and death struggle, even if it was a short while in which one was hindered, it was enough to determine their fate. There was nothing then that needed to be said about falling into a trap.
Sang Hua acted without thinking. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. The curved bow shot numerous arrow lights into the sword diagrams. Bi Yi blocked left and right, defending hard against the attacks, but the next moment, the sword pellet from Sang Hua’s hand flew out and the flying swords formed a line. The first one stabbed through the devil’s heart of the brows, then the second followed right after, and so did the others. A few hundred swords flew out one after another from the back of her head.
Bi Yi’s body turned stiff as she was swallowed by the countless swords bursting forth from the Seven Stars Sword Diagram.
“I won?”
Sang Hua was stunned, and her confidence gained a huge boost. She put away her Seven Stars Sword Picture and her sword pellets, leaving the place where the ax and spear crossed to continue searching for opponents.
Outside the sand table world, God Sang Ye’s sweat was falling like rain. He was a god and was experienced, so he naturally knew that his daughter had won by luck.
Sang Hua might have experienced the massacre and been training diligently for a long time while experiencing numerous struggles of life and death, but she was still inferior compared to Bi Yi, this devil expert that had been in hundreds of battles. Her experience was a drop in the ocean in comparison.
Defeating Bi Yi was a fortunate event, but she couldn’t win by luck every time. If she encountered other devil experts, wouldn’t his last kin be killed in front of him?
Suddenly, God Sang Ye went still, stunned as he surveyed the sand table world.
Within it, another few battles had ended, and the number of devil experts had been reduced significantly. Only two people were left: Fu Riluo’s disciple Zhe Huali and True Devil Su Mo’s other disciple Jiang Yi.
The young experts of Supreme Emperor Heaven were left with Qin Mu, Yu He, Sang Hua, and Shu Yao. Yu He had found Shu Yao and the two of them worked together to kill strong practitioners with the advantage of numbers.
Of course, most of the enemies were still killed by Qin Mu, the grain thresher.
It was because he had killed three devil experts in a row that the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven were able to hold an advantage.
Jiang Yi’s abilities were extremely high, but his injuries were quite serious after fighting head-on with the opponent, so his remaining battle power wasn’t too high. Maybe this would be enough for Sang Hua’s survival.
‘However, Yu He and Shu Yao also seem to be injured…”
God Sang Ye’s heart shook again. He watched as his daughter ran in the direction of the forging brat.
Meanwhile, at the border of the sand table world, Zhe Huali carried a demon knife like an ascetic monk, walking forward step by step. He didn’t use any divine arts so his speed wasn’t fast. His footsteps seemed to have been measured accurately by a ruler and every step he took was exactly a foot long. The length of each one was exactly the same, not an inch longer or an inch shorter.
This was the rule of his knife skills.
The experts of the devil race were usually open, and their moves were flashy and big, unbothered by trifles. They would burst forth with astonishing battle power without warning.
But Zhe Huali had learned from Divine Knife Luo Wushuang, an existence that was a knife god. Luo Wushuang’s knife skills were proficient in calculations and had awe-inspiring practices. The position, strength, footwork, body motions, and even muscle movement was measured extremely strictly. There was no room for any error.
Vital qi circulation at a deeper level, the mobilization of the primordial spirit, the intention, the essence all had to fulfill the requirements too.
Zhe Huali had grown up under such teachings so he was different from the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven. To learn Luo Wushuang’s knife skills, he needed to be skilled in calculations. On top of that, he needed extremely high attainments in them.
Even though he had come down to Supreme Emperor Heaven under orders and become a disciple to Fu Riluo, he didn’t learn the unrestrained heroism from his new master. He was still using the rules he had learned from Luo Wushuang to restrain his words and actions, acting prim and proper at all times.
He came to the wall of fire of the sand table world and raised his head. Qin Mu’s back was facing him. The youth raised a sword to examine his craft in the light of the flame.
In contrast to Zhe Huali’s cautiousness, the youth had the same unrestrained heroism as Fu Riluo.
His figure when raising his sword had a kind of heroic bearing. Admiring a sword in front of the fire was a heroic emotion one couldn’t learn.
Zhe Huali’s heart couldn’t help but beat slightly faster. However, he swiftly calmed his mind down. At that moment, the youth with the sword seemed to have heard the speed of his heartbeat changing, for he lowered his head and glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.
However, Zhe Huali soon realized that the youth wasn’t looking at him from the corner of his eyes. Instead, he was looking at his sword and using the mirror-like surface to see what was happening behind him.
‘The reason he made it seem like he was looking at me from the corner of his eyes was to throw off my judgment. If I took the chance to make a move, my judgment would’ve been wrong and he would have gained the upper hand.’
Zhe Huali raised his eyebrows slightly. If experts like them were to make a wrong judgment from a minute movement of the enemy’s body, the enemy would not let go of it.
Sometimes, victory or defeat came from the simplest of errors!
‘He’s so experienced that it doesn’t fit his age.’
Zhe Huali took in a deep breath and pushed his shoulders back. It was this young man that his master Divine Knife couldn’t forget. He was someone to whom he even had to show his knife skills!
Zhe Huali suddenly bowed to Qin Mu and said solemnly, “My master is Luo Wushuang.”
Qin Mu turned around and placed the sword in his hand on the smelting table. “I know, I remember him.”
Zhe Huali didn’t get up and continued to say, “My master said that if I meet you, I need to ask you to see the knife skills he had founded!”
When he bowed, the demon eye on the demon knife behind his back suddenly opened, and bloody, vertical pupil swirled around. Its gaze was on the young man.
Qin Mu smiled and placed his palm on the smelting table. Flying swords flowed to him like fine sand and gathered under his palm, forming a perfect circular ball that was the size of a thumb.
“I would also like to see his knife skills very much.” Qin Mu held the sword pellet in his hand and said, “You’ll be executing his knife skills on behalf of him so you greeted me, but it was because you respect him and not because you respect me, isn’t that right?”
Zhe Huali straightened his back and nodded.
Qin Mu smiled lightly. “He executes his knife with one arm, so have you learned his knife skills with one arm too or two arms?”
Zhe Huali’s pupils contracted.
Qin Mu didn’t miss any minute changes in his expression and noticed his reaction. The smile on his face grew wider. “Zhe Huali, you can execute his knife skills to show me.”
Zhe Huali instantly felt an invisible pressure pressing down on his Dao heart!
Qin Mu had asked him if he mastered one arm or two arms, and this had given his Dao heart immense pressure. This was because Luo Wushuang was One-Armed Divine Knife!
If he mastered the skills with one arm, it meant that his other arm would end up useless. If he didn’t use that arm in battle, no matter what divine arts he executed, they would never be perfectly matched with his knife skills. In this case, he would have a large flaw.
If he had mastered the skills with two arms, it would mean that he had not learned Luo Wushuang’s One-Armed Divine Knife. Executing Luo Wushuang’s knife skills with two arms would mean that he could never execute them perfectly, that he would not master their essence!
Other than to fulfill Luo Wushuang’s wish, Zhe Huali had come down to the lower bound to find a method to perfect his knife skills from Fu Riluo. It was to patch his inadequateness through experience and battle, to advance another step closer to becoming a young true god in paths, skills, and divine arts.
And now, at the first face-off, he was completely seen through by his opponent. No matter if he were to execute his knife or not, it was impossible for him to stop halfway!
Outside the sand table world, Saint Woodcutter’s eyes lit up and he took a glance at the black tiger god beside him and said solemnly. “His frame of mind is clearly ridiculously strong, pressuring Zhe Huali the moment they met, so why did you say his frame of mind was weak?”
The black tiger god covered his ears and whimpered in grievance. “His frame of mind is really very weak, his expressions keep changing drastically… That’s right, my lord, didn’t you also say he had a bouncy temper and that the cultivation of his frame of mind was too weak?”
Saint Woodcutter’s expression didn’t change. “I didn’t, don’t speak nonsense, you have heard wrong.”
The black tiger god pouted, and a vein popped out on Saint Woodcutter’s forehead. The black tiger god then immediately looked down and laughed. “It was this little tiger who had heard wrong.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Saint Woodcutter took advantage of the chance to get off the hook and preserve his face. However, Zhe Huali was riding on the tiger’s back and unable to get off the hook.
Cold sweat broke out on the young man’s forehead, and he looked at his right arm. Luo Wushuang didn’t have it and wielded his knife with his left, so the marvel of his skills relied on that.
If Zhe Huali wanted to execute Luo Wushuang’s knife skills without any flaw, he would have to cut off his right arm!
More and more cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He was indignant!
Before he could exchange blows with Qin Mu, he had to sever one of his arms? Who could tolerate that? Who could be willing?
However, if he didn’t cut off his right hand, his knife skills wouldn’t be as perfect as those of his master Luo Wushuang. And he didn’t feel well executing an imperfect knife skill in front of Qin Mu.
“The frame of mind doesn’t affect the abilities as much as you think.”
Suddenly, a voice came from the back and startled Zhe Huali who was in a dilemma.
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows and looked at the asura. He had been forging lately, so he didn’t recognize Jiang Yi.
The young man was covered in blood, but it was hard to say whether it was his or his opponents’. However, from the looks of it, his injuries were not light.
He was a randomly-sliced fish with hundreds of wounds of all sizes that had been scalded by hot water on top of that.
Yet even with all those extremely heavy injuries, his fighting spirit was still blazing and his aura was dense. His blood and qi soared into the sky, and the moment he walked over, the scent of blood and rotting corpses assaulted Qin Mu’s nostrils. It was as if he had brought along a sea of corpses.
Jiang Yi’s gaze shifted away from Zhe Huali and landed on Qin Mu. “The frame of mind isn’t part of one’s abilities. They are born from the corporeal body, primordial spirit, path, skills, and divine arts. The frame of mind has little to no effect on one’s abilities. The onlooker sees clear. Zhe Huali, you’ve fallen into his trap. Aren’t you going to jump out?”
Zhe Huali’s eyes lit up, and his breathing calmed down.
Jiang Yi was one of his rare good friends in Supreme Emperor Heaven, and the two of them frequently exchanged what they had learned. They were bosom buddies and had sworn to live and die together. On the battlefield, Jiang Yi had saved his life before and he had also saved Jiang Yi’s life.
“What affect abilities the most are the corporeal body, primordial spirit, paths, skills, and divine arts. Zhe Huali, your corporeal body and mine are both stronger than his. Your primordial spirit is stronger than mine, so it’s also naturally stronger than his.
“As for paths, skills, and divine arts, your knife skills have been learned from Divine Knife Luo Wushuang and you learned the devil technique of True Devil Fu Riluo. You are skilled in both sides so could your paths, skills, and divine arts be weaker? He hasn’t even succeeded in cultivating the body of a true god so how high could his abilities be?”
Zhe Huali’s confidence suddenly returned, and his mind relaxed. He smiled and said, “Sometimes, a divine arts practitioner needs to have a good teacher and a helpful friend. Jiang Yi, you’re my helpful friend!”
After hearing Jiang Yi’s words, he finally regained his confidence and his frame of mind subconsciously returned back to its peak.
His abilities had increased by a lot once he had acquired the corporeal body and the primordial spirit of a young true god.
Even though his knife skills hadn’t reached the extent of path, he wasn’t afraid of anyone within the sand table world in terms of abilities!
His advantage was his corporeal body of a young true god, and on this point, he certainly surpassed Qin Mu. This would give him an advantage in speed, strength, reaction, and power.
The second advantage was his own primordial spirit which was as strong as that of a young true god. Even though a divine arts practitioner of Seven Stars Realm couldn’t bring out their primordial spirit’s full power, its proper usage was often the thing that led to victory.
Zhe Huali had two masters: Luo Wushuang and Fu Riluo. The latter was a devil word, and it meant vajra. Fu Riluo’s primordial spirit was extremely powerful, and he had learned some techniques for it to improve to another step.
Based on that, he was certain that Qin Mu wouldn’t be a match for him.
The third advantage was his knife skills and the demon knife. It was his spirit weapon which was personally forged for him by Luo Wushuang. His knife skills were also taught by him, and for them to reach their extremes, his master had worked for close to forty thousand years!
His weakness was his frame of mind, however, but it didn’t affect his abilities by much.
His frame of mind being inferior to that of Qin Mu would never be the deciding factor in victory or defeat between them!
Jiang Yi smiled, happy. “Your abilities are even above mine. It’s just that you were affected by his words after subconsciously falling into his trap.”
Zhe Huali also smiled. With such a friend, what more could he ask for?
What concerned such a sworn buddy, one was enough!
Qin Mu frowned slightly. Zhe Huali alone had already made him feel uneasy, but now even Jiang Yi had come. He truly had no odds for success.
Suddenly, Sang Hua popped her head out, her braids swinging beneath it. She then waved excitedly at him. “The one who threshes grains! No worries, I’m here! Is there only us here? Where’s Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao, and Senior Brother Huang Yue? Have they died in battle?”
Once she spoke, Yu He walked out with an expression of helplessness. Shu Yao also frowned and followed out behind her.
“Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao, what were you hiding in the mountain for? We have four people, so it’s more than enough to deal with the two of them! Senior Brother Huang Yue? Is he also hiding in the mountain with you guys?”
Yu He’s expression became even more helpless, and Shu Yao’s eyebrows scrunched up even tighter.
The two of them had hidden in the dark, ready to assassinate Jiang Yi and Zhe Huali. However, once they were called out by the girl, they had no choice but to walk out. This made them seem as people who were not just and honorable.
“I had long discovered you two since you couldn’t hide the murderous intent in your hearts. As for Huang Yue, I’ve slain him with my knife,” Zhe Huali said indifferently.
“Junior Sister Sang Hua, we just saw Junior Brother Huang Yue’s corpse. As for other people, they are also all dead. Only we are left. They died a glorious death after fighting so many devils. They sacrificed themselves to bring the devils down with them, because of which we now have the numbers advantage,” Yu He said.
She felt quite helpless when thinking about God Sang Ye’s little daughter. Sang Hua had actually pointed out their hiding spot and rendered their plans completely useless.
On top of that, even though they looked like they outnumbered the enemies, it wasn’t of much use.
Sang Hua’s abilities were low, and she hadn’t even passed the test of God Suppression Pagoda. Without the aptitude of a true god, she was completely useless. Yu He was almost certain that Sang Hua had hidden after entering the battlefield. This pure maiden had never met an enemy, which was why she was able to live for this long.
Qin Mu was also a youth who only knew how to forge. He acted rashly and kept forging by himself before they entered the sand table world. He didn’t communicate with his peers or even observe the enemies.
The reason why Qin Mu had survived was most likely because he was a lucky bastard like Sang Hua as well. The devil experts that had come to kill him probably got intercepted by the young experts of Supreme Emperor Heaven on the journey. They fought to the death, and as a result, the forging youth was able to live.
In Yu He’s heart, even with Qin Mu and Sang Hua, it was no different from having no assistance. To defeat Zhe Huali and Jiang Yi, she could only rely on Shu Yao.
‘Hope these two nitwits won’t create any trouble…’ she thought secretly to herself.
It was just that with only her and Shu Yao, she was not confident that they could defeat Zhe Huali and Jiang Yi.
Shu Yao looked at Qin Mu, frowning. He smiled warmly, “Senior Brother Qin who threshes the grains, you aren’t forging anymore?”
Qin Mu smiled to the two of them to acknowledge them, and the smile on Yu He’s face vanished. Shu Yao also pretended not to see anything. On the other hand, Sang Hua rushed over excitedly and asked, “Are your swords done?”
Qin Mu nodded and smiled warmly at her. “Sister Hua, the swords are done.”
Her eyes lit up. “How’s the power?”
“Just now, Zhe Huali said that his master asked him to execute his knife skills for me to see so I still haven’t had the time to test out my swords. I don’t know what’s their power like.”
The two of them then whispered about how to test the swords. Yu He knew she was facing her greatest enemies yet and tried her best to stabilize her mind, to not listen to what they were saying.
Her gaze landed on Jiang Yi and Zhe Huali, and she said in a low voice, “Junior Brother Shu Yao, you shall deal with Jiang Yi while I will face Zhe Huali. I don’t think I can defeat him, but Jiang Yi’s injuries are heavier, so quickly get rid of him and come to assist me!”
Shu Yao took in a long breath and said solemnly, “Senior sister, don’t worry, leave Jiang Yi to me!”
Zhe Huali’s gaze flickered, and he said in a low voice, “Senior Brother Jiang Yi, do you choose the strong or the weak one?”
“Using the weak to stop the strong and using the strong to attack the weak, this is the art of war!”
Jiang Yi laughed, and his heroism rushed into the clouds. “I will stop the strong and you will kill the weak. Later, we brothers can work together to achieve victory!”
Zhe Huali had a sorrowful expression. “Your injuries are very heavy, you might die.”
“Don’t underestimate me. I learned from True Devil Su Mo and have yet to execute my Heavenly Devil Sacrifice.” Jiang Yi laughed loudly. “Don’t worry, I will live!”
He strode toward Qin Mu.
Yu He and Shu Yao were stunned. Jiang Yi had clearly said he would be stopping the strong and let Zhe Huali kill the weak so why was he walking toward Qin Mu?
Could the devil have gone crazy and thought that Qin Mu was strong while they were weak?
“Be careful of tricks.” Yu He whispered under her breath.
Shu Yao nodded and looked at Zhe Huali who was walking over.
On the other side, Qin Mu looked at Jiang Yi and frowned slightly. “Sister Hua, wait a moment, let me test my swords.”
Sang Hua took a step back, and Qin Mu tapped a finger on the heart of his brows. The sword pellet floated up, coming near his forehead.
Suddenly, Fu Riluo’s voice came from outer space and echoed throughout the sand table world. “We have lost. Give up Li City, hold your hands!”
No matter if it was inside or outside the sand table world, everyone was stunned. Even the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven couldn’t help becoming surprised and delighted.
Jiang Yi expression filled with disbelief, and he raised his head to shout, “I haven’t died yet so why do you say we have lost? Fu Riluo, I won’t accept your orders!”
In outer space, Fu Riluo’s huge face covered the sky and looked down at him coldly. “Brat, you don’t know what’s good for you. Su Mo, put your disciple in place and make him quickly admit defeat so he can come out!”
True Devil Su Mo frowned and said, “Jiang Yi, it’s considered that we have lost this round. Admit defeat with Zhe Huali.”
Jiang Yi couldn’t contain his anger and shouted out, “So many brothers have died to take Li City and you are making me leave like this? Master, you might be willing to, but I’m not!”
Su Mo was helpless and said to Fu Riluo, “Senior brother, I know your wisdom is unparalleled, but it wouldn’t be good to admit defeat like this and throw away Li City, right?”
Fu Riluo looked at him coldly. “Throwing away Li City is much better than throwing the lives of our disciples. We have already lost this battle…”
“Heavenly Devil Sacrifice!” Jiang Yi hissed, and all of his cultivation burst forth. Instantly, the blood sea in the sand table world boiled. Countless rotting corpses piled up to form a huge sacrificial altar made from flesh and blood. Jiang Yi stood on it before rushing at Qin Mu while shouting sternly, “I won’t die, the devils won’t lose!”
A sword light broke through the air, stunning all the onlookers. It pierced through the sea of blood and flashed through the heart of the young devil’s brows. The sword light covered ten miles of the sky.
Qin Mu lowered his sword finger from the heart of his brows, and the sword light shrunk back into a sword pellet that came flying back.
“Zhe Huali, this move is called Opening Calamity,” he said indifferently. “Zhe Huali, you can bring this corpse back for your master to see my sword skill.”
Zhe Huali looked at the corpse falling from the sacrificial altar. The hatred in his eyes burst, and two streams of bloody tears flowed down his cheeks. His aura suddenly became violent as well. His hair rushed upwards in fury, and he couldn’t stop screaming.
“Admit defeat!” Fu Riluo’s cold voice came from outer space. “You aren’t a match for the four of them!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhe Huali shouted loudly and took another step toward Qin Mu.
“Admit defeat!” From beyond the sky, Fu Riluo’s voice boomed like thunder. “Your knife skills are prim, proper, and full of calculations. However, your frame of mind is already in disorder, so you will lose fast and die even faster! Your close friends are dead so you have to take revenge for them. If you don’t take revenge and just give up your life, you’d be nothing more than a boorish man!”
Zhe Huali’s expression distorted, and he suddenly pulled out his knife with his left hand.
Outside the sand table world, Fu Riluo frowned, but he didn’t make a move to stop Zhe Huali who was in the sand table world.
That land was created by him and Saint Woodcutter, so if he interfered, Saint Woodcutter on the other side would also interfere. If that happened, things would become hopelessly muddled, and he couldn’t be sure of success.
Saint Woodcutter had been summoned from the other world earlier in the day and disrupted his arrangements and plans, catching him off guard. That was why he could only set up such a bet. He couldn’t breach the rules he set up himself, or he might lose everything completely.
He needed time.
Even though he admired Zhe Huali and the youth had his own master, he also viewed him as his own successor. However, for the great cause of the devil race, he could only endure the pain and lose him, no matter how much he admired that young man.
The corners of Zhe Huali’s eyes twitched, and the demon eye at the handle of the demon knife became stranger and stranger. The location where it was staring at wasn’t Qin Mu though, but Zhe Huali’s right arm.
Zhe Huali raised it along with the knife.
Qin Mu was right: He couldn’t execute the knife skills of Luo Wushuang perfectly. If he wanted to do that, he needed to cut off his right arm; otherwise, it would become a burden to him.
His motive when coming to the lower bound was to find a way to hold knives in both hands. He wanted his knife skills to enter the path and walk out of Luo Wushuang’s shadow.
Just then, Qin Mu’s sword had been incomparably stunning, and he felt that even he himself wouldn’t have been able to avoid it. Only with a broken arm could he unleash Luo Wushuang’s knife skills to the fullest.
However, if he cut off his arm, he would never walk out of Luo Wushuang’s knife skills and would never find his own knife path. This would be the same as cutting his own path short.
Zhe Huali’s face flickered with many emotions. Then, the knife light slashed down against the ground.
“I’ve lost.”
He collapsed and knelt on the ground. But he didn’t kneel to Qin Mu or Yu He and the rest. No, he knelt to the corpse of Jiang Yi.
Zhe Huali bowed and got up. He picked up Jiang Yi’s corpse and turned his head around. “I’ve seen your sword skill, but I won’t let my master see it because I want to kill you personally and take revenge for my close friend!”
Qin Mu nodded solemnly. “If that day comes, I will die without regrets.”
Zhe Huali walked toward the wall of fire. His demon knife flew up and slashed it open, paving a way out. Zhe Huali carried Jiang Yi out, and their bodies vanished.
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched; Zhe Huali’s actions left him slightly uneasy.
Zhe Huali was no inferior to him, and the knife skill used to slash apart the sea of fire was extremely exquisite. His corporeal body, magic power, primordial spirit, and even his knife skills that showed his attainments in paths, skills, and divine arts were all no inferior to those of Qin Mu. His corporeal body was even much superior.
The Zhe Huali now was like Qin Mu after First Ancestor Human Emperor had given him a ruthless blow. He was on the border of breaking down and transforming.
If he walked out, having found his own path, he would be like Qin Mu who had founded the first form of his Calamity Sword. He would also found his knife skill and walk out from Luo Wushuang’s knife skills in his search for revenge.
‘When he turned around to walk out through the wall of fire, if I had sent a sword at him, I could have gotten rid of him… If it was Grandpa Cripple, he would have definitely done that without a moment’s hesitation!’ Qin Mu’s face flickered between clear and dark.
Outside the sand table world, the black tiger god caught his expression and immediately became excited. “My lord, my lord! Did you see that? The corners of this brat’s eyes are twitching often and his expression keeps changing tremendously, flickering between clear and dark. He even cries out in astonishment sometimes! His frame of mind is clearly not good!”
Saint Woodcutter gave him a stare, and the black tiger god’s expression changed. He hurriedly covered his ears.
Saint Woodcutter stretched out his palm and caught the handle of the divine ax. At the same time, Fu Riluo stretched his hand out to take hold of his devil spear. Both of them pulled out their weapons.
Qin Mu who was located in the sand table world immediately discovered that something was wrong. The space started crumbling from the place where the ax and the spear had crossed. Everything was shrinking continuously, swallowing the majestic mountains!
“Quickly, go!” Qin Mu pulled Sang Hua without any explanation and beautiful runes appeared around him. They swirled as he said, “Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao, quickly come to me!”
Yu He and Shu Yao still stood in a daze and looked at him blankly. They seemed to have yet to return to their senses.
The crumbling space was gradually closing in on them, and Qin Mu gritted his teeth as he executed his teleportation divine arts. With a flash, he vanished with Sang Hua.
Only then Yu He and Shu Yao come back to themselves and turned back to look. Their expressions couldn’t help changing drastically, and Yu He shouted, “Junior Brother Shu Yao, let’s work together to break apart the wall of fire to rush out of this place!”
Their speed was extremely fast, but when they raised their legs, they realized that they had underestimated the danger. They were extremely fast and surpassed even the speed of sound. They were faster than Qin Mu running at full speed yet the speed of the space collapsing was even greater!
The wall of fire was clearly right in front of them yet no matter how fast they ran, they could not get close to it.
Not only that, the distance was even widening and they got closer and closer to the crumbling space!
Cold sweat broke out on Yu He and Shu Yao’s foreheads. Inside the crumbling space hid the power of the collision between Saint Woodcutter’s divine ax and Fu Riluo’s devil spear. This power had created the sand table world earlier, turning a plaza that was a hundred yards by a hundred fifty yards into a vast world with a thousand miles mountain range.
The falling apart of that world would definitely release the power generated by the collision of the divine axe and devil spear!
This power was not something that divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm could defend against. They would most likely be vaporized to the point there would be nothing left even of their souls!
“Could that Qin Mu who was calling us just now have wanted to bring us out?”
Only now did they start to regret. They were astonished by the light of Qin Mu’s sword and went into a daze, so they didn’t hear what he was trying to say after that. When they came back to their senses, it was already too late.
At this moment, a light flashed by them, and Qin Mu suddenly appeared beside them. The countless runes swirled around them and burst forth with light. Yu He and Shu Yao felt the world spin for a long while. When they finally stepped on the ground, they opened their eyes to take a look and realized that they had come out of the plaza.
“Move!” Qin Mu shouted out and ran forward. “Hide behind the big palace!”
Yu He and Shu Yao hurriedly followed him toward where Sang Hua was already hiding. When the four of them reunited, Qin Mu squatted down, closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and covered his ears. Sang Hua immediately did the same upon seeing his actions.
Before Yu He and Shu Yao could even think to do the same, a terrifying wave burst forth from the center of the plaza and incomparably bright lights shone. In an instant, they were blinded, and when they closed their eyes, two lines of bloody tears were streaming down their faces!
Next, the wave formed by the collapse of space rushed over them. Yu He and Shu Yao’s body were pulled longer and longer as though they were noodles,.
Terrifying sounds rang out for a moment before their ears could hear nothing at all. It was strangely silent!
Warm blood started to flow out of their ears.
Above the big palace, the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven released their god power and raised a wall of divine light, blocking the energy blasting out from the collapsed space. Even so, the two youths were tormented terribly.
On the other hand, Qin Mu and Sang Hua who had squatted down weren’t affected much. After the light dispersed and the wave left into the distance, the two of them closed their mouths and opened their eyes.
Yu He and Shu Yao landed on the ground with a thump and sprawled motionlessly. When they got up, both of their faces were covered in blood.
The two of them couldn’t hear or see anything.
“Senior sister and senior brother are still too young and hasn’t experienced anything like this.” Qin Mu shook his head and went forward to examine the two of them. “I have encountered something similar to this before and knew what would happen if I was near where a god and a devil fought… They’re not too badly hurt. I will refine some medicine for them later to regrow their eye membranes and eardrums.”
Sang Hua was worried. “What happened?”
“Their eye membranes were burned and their eardrums were torn. It isn’t a big problem.” Qin Mu flipped through his taotie sack in search of medicinal ingredients. “If their eyes had exploded and the bones in their ears had broken, I wouldn’t be able to cure it. At that point, even the brain would be all fried. Their eye membranes weren’t fully burned and their eardrums only had a small hole pierced, so they can still grow back.
“Senior Sister Yu He and Senior Brother Shu Yao’s corporeal bodies are indeed strong, stronger than me. If it was me, my eye membranes would have burned off completely.”
Sang Hua stuck out her tongue and looked around. She saw that close to half of the buildings in Li City were destroyed. Everywhere were collapsed houses and pavilions. Numerous devils had collapsed to the floor and were rolling on the ground in extreme pain.
Fu Riluo pulled out his devil spear and his three faces shouted in unison. “One must always honor a bet! All the devils, listen up and abandon the city! Junior Brother Su Mo, bring all the men out of Li City!”
The devil gods received their orders and restrained their own devils in preparation to withdraw.
“Heavenly Teacher, today is not a good day to fight with you. We’ll continue another day.”
“Not a problem, not a problem.”
Fu Riluo jumped down from the palace and led everyone in leaving. Qin Mu at that time was refining pills to treat Yu He and Shu Yao’s injuries. When he saw Fu Riluo walking out from the corner of his eyes, he hurriedly looked at him and couldn’t help becoming stunned.
He saw that the back of Fu Riluo’s head had thick curly hair and had no fourth face. Instead, two sharp ears were there, and they were very straight.
‘He only has three faces.”
Like that, Qin Mu settled one of the questions gnawing at his heart. Ever since he saw Fu Riluo, he had wanted to know how many faces the devil had. He kept thinking about it and finally got his answer.
Fu Riluo sensed his gaze and twisted his neck to reveal a face that had a smile. He said leisurely, “Your name is Qin Mu? The blacksmith Qin Mu?”
The youth was about to say something when a figure flashed before him and Saint Woodcutter appeared in front of him, blocking Fu Riluo’s line of sight.
Qin Mu still popped his head out from the back and said with a smile. “Yes, my name is Qin Mu. I pay my respects to Vajra Devil God.”
“You understand the devil language? Fu Riluo indeed means vajra.” Fu Riluo nodded and said with deep meaning, “You and I are fated, so we will meet again.”
When he was done, he turned around and walked away. “Zhe Huali, follow up.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhe Huali carried Jiang Yi’s corpse while following behind Fu Riluo. When he passed by Qin Mu, he turned his head to look at him.
Qin Mu was refining pills, but he hurriedly nodded in acknowledgment. “Senior Brother Zhe Huali, let’s meet again if we have the chance.”
Expressionless, Zhe Huali left with Fu Riluo.
The black tiger god jumped down from the palace and took a glance at Qin Mu before taking another glance at Saint Woodcutter. The god’s big ax had been put away somewhere while he observed Qin Mu’s hand technique in refining pills.
The other gods also jumped down and gathered around them. Everyone had something to say as well as numerous questions they wanted to ask. However, they all kept themselves in check.
Before Saint Woodcutter spoke, none of them dared to voice anything first.
God Sang Ye hurriedly pulled Sang Hua over. He wanted to scold his daughter sternly, but since no one was speaking, it wasn’t good for him to break the silence.
Qin Mu was at a crucial stage of his spirit pill refinement. He was completely focused and had no other thoughts. He didn’t pay attention to anyone around him, but with the gazes from all the gods focusing on him, even he felt the pressure. Droplets of sweat appeared on his forehead, evenly spread out.
After a moment, Qin Mu finished refining the spirit pills and gently crushed them. He fetched some water and dissolved them before dripping the solution onto Yu He and Shu Yao’s eyes and ears.
He carefully observed the growth of the eye membranes and eardrums of the two people, then frowned slightly. He rummaged through his taotie sack and took out several herbs and created an ointment. He carefully applied it on the injured places.
“Why did you have to apply medicine twice?” Saint Woodcutter asked, puzzled. “The first time was for their eye membranes and eardrums to grow back, but the second medicine seemed to contain slight toxicity. Why so?”
Qin Mu examined Yu He and Shu Yao’s eyes and looked at their ear holes again. He then explained, “This ointment isn’t poison, but a spirit medicine used to suppress growth. The first spirit medicine that I refined was for their damaged eye membranes and eardrums to grow, but since it’s the first time I had to refine something like that, the dosage wasn’t right and the medicinal properties were too strong.
“If I didn’t do anything, their eardrums and eye membranes would have become thick and affect their eyesight and hearing. That’s why I needed a second medicine to suppress the growth.” He stretched his waist and said with a smile, “Now, they’re almost fine. Their eyesight and hearing won’t be any inferior to before.”
In the surroundings, the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven all let out sighs of relief. Yu He and Shu Yao were the strongest experts in Supreme Emperor Heaven of Seven Stars Realm. They were also the youngest generation with the most hope to become gods. If they went blind or deaf, it would be a huge loss for Supreme Emperor Heaven.
The deaths of Huang Yue and the rest in the sand table world were already a huge enough loss to them.
Qin Mu paid his respects to Saint Woodcutter. “Disciple Qin Mu pays his respects to Patriarch.”
Saint Woodcutter stretched out his arms to help him up and said with a smile, “You should have received the teachings I have imparted. Since you have been taught by me personally, you are my disciple and there’s no need for you to call me Patriarch.”
Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. If he became Saint Woodcutter’s disciple, his seniority would rise. If he met the past Heavenly Devil Cult Masters again, those old fogeys could forget about using seniority to pressure him!
He hesitated for a moment and probed. “Heavenly Teacher, have you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult?”
“Heavenly Saint Cult?” Bewildered, Saint Woodcutter shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it before.”
Qin Mu’s face went ashen and he became dispirited.
Saint Woodcutter had indeed not heard of Heavenly Saint Cult!
He was still unwilling to accept that fact and probed some more. “In that case, the sacred tree that Sacred Teacher left behind as well as the Saint’s Rock and the ax mark, is there any deeper meaning to them?”
“That old locust tree still hasn’t died?” Saint Woodcutter was astonished. He calculated for a bit and said, “That tree should be about twenty thousand years old, right? I’ve chopped it so many times yet it’s actually still alive. It’s probably going to become a demon soon.”
Qin Mu stuttered in his next words. “S-sacred Teacher, t-that Saint’s Rock…”
“What Saint’s Rock? Oh, you mean the rock on which I was sitting while I was imparting my teachings? What about it?”
It was as though Qin Mu was struck by thunder which threw his mind into a mess. He muttered, “Every time it comes to big festive occasions, our Heavenly Saint Cult has to kowtow to that Saint’s Rock and the sacred tree. Only cult masters and elders in the cult that had done meritorious service can have the right to have their ashes buried under the sacred tree…”
Saint Woodcutter shook his head. “So much etiquette? I hate etiquette the most. Could Heavenly Saint Cult have been established by that disciple of mine? Your big brother didn’t learn all of the abilities and instead made quite a number of rules instead. By focusing on the rules, he had lost sight of the meaning of me imparting my teachings to him. What a good-for-nothing, what a good-for-nothing!”
The ‘disciple’ and ‘big brother’ he was speaking about was Founding Master. It was an elusive person whom Qin Mu hadn’t seen even in Fengdu.
That man had never come to Fengdu, so Qin Mu didn’t know where he had gone.
Still, his face flickered between dark and clear. The sacred tree and Saint’s Rock that everyone in the cult viewed as treasures were actually such worthless stuff in the eyes of Saint Woodcutter!
If this fact was to be spread about, everyone in Heavenly Saint Cult, including the young patriarch and the past cult masters in Fengdu, would probably go crazy!
The black tiger looked at his dazed state and opened his mouth. However, he held himself back from speaking and just thought to himself, ‘My lord always scolds me frequently and doesn’t believe that this brat’s mental state isn’t good at all. Yet in just a short while, this brat has changed over a dozen different expressions…’
True God Pang Yu walked up and checked Yu He’s eyes and ears. He also checked Shu Yao. When he saw that they were fine, only then did he say in a low voice, “Little Friend Qin Mu has saved you two, so why aren’t you coming up to give your thanks? The reason why you two could walk out of the sand table world was also because he risked himself to lure in the enemies, getting rid of three of them first.”
Yu He and Shu Yao’s heart trembled violently and they cried out, “He got rid of three strong practitioners by himself?”
“Counting Jiang Yi, it’s four.” Pang Yu sighed and said, “Among the ten devil experts, four had died at his hands. It was almost half in an instant. If we add the devil expert that the girl from Sang Ye’s family had gotten rid of, the two of them had seized half of the military service. The others including you two fought to the point of six of you dying yet you guys only got rid of four of the enemy. The devil race is still not to be underestimated, their abilities are still…”
He shook his head and didn’t say anything else.
Yu He and Shu Yao were silent. They looked at each other with bitter expressions.
Nine people had died in the devil race and Qin Mu had personally gotten rid of four while Sang Hua had taken care of one. That was indeed more than half of the battle service.
Meanwhile, Yu He and Shu Yao had each taken care of a devil expert and worked together to get rid of another one. This meant that the other six human experts who had died in battle had only achieved one kill with their lives.
The battle power of the devils was indeed higher than that of the humans. If it wasn’t for the unexpected addition of Qin Mu, they would have faced a complete annihilation of the greatest of their younger generation!
Yu He and Shu Yao let out a shaky breath. They came to Qin Mu who was still dispirited and in a daze and gave their thanks.
Qin Mu hurriedly returned greeting while full of smiles. “I was obsessed with raising the power of my flying swords and didn’t introduce myself to senior sister and senior brother. My name is Qin Mu, Qin from threshing grains with two men holding a pestle and Mu from herding the cows. I pay my respects to Senior Sister Yu He and Senior Brother Shu Yao.”
The black tiger god saw his dark and clear face changing into a radiant smile in the blink of an eye and couldn’t help snorting coldly. ‘My lord just can’t see how fast the face of this brat changes!’
Yu He and Shu Yao immediately returned his greeting, and Shu Yao said apologetically, “We scorned Senior Brother Qin several times just now and called you as someone who threshes grains and forges iron, I hope senior brother won’t hold a grudge.”
With a solemn expression, Qin Mu said firmly, “The method of writing the word Qin is from two men holding pestles and threshing the grains, and I’m not joking. Truth be told, this little brother learned to read all kinds of writings from my teacher and all kinds of languages, like those of devils, dragons, buddha, Youdu, and even some of the god one. Sometimes I like to be punctilious about minutiae of wording, so it isn’t purely just showing off.”
‘The expression of this brat changed again!’ The black tiger god gritted his teeth. ‘Yet my lord just can’t see it!’
“Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao.” Qin Mu’s solemn expression vanished, and his smile became like the spring wind. With his eyebrows moving up and down, he asked, “Have you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult? Truth be told, this little brother is the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult. It was founded by my master, which is this sacred teacher. You guys have also seen him before and know that he’s wise, heroic, and a man of few words. However, the teachings of our Heavenly Saint Cult are really good and really wonderful. The so-called path of the saint is none other than the everyday use for common people…”
After a moment, Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and beamed at Yu He and Shu Yao who had just joined his cult. He thought to himself, ‘My sacred cult has just branched out into Supreme Emperor Heaven. My luck isn’t bad today, recruiting two hall masters with the potential to become gods! It’s fine if Saint Woodcutter doesn’t admit knowing Heavenly Saint Cult; it’s all good as long as he remains silent. That’s right, there’s also Sister Hua!’
The black tiger god twitched his ears in utter boredom. ‘My lord can’t see…’
Qin Mu rushed toward Sang Ye and Sang Hua, but he was stopped by numerous gods. They praised him one after another, and Qin Mu could only reply them humbly. With the praises of numerous gods, his confidence was boosted and he was overjoyed.
‘My lord still can’t see…’ The black tiger god flipped one ear forward and the other backward as he thought to himself.
Qin Mu was obstructed by numerous gods. When the commotion dispersed, the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven immediately hurried off to mobilize their army to populate Li City from so it wouldn’t be seized back by the devils moments later. Sang Hua was also brought away by God Sang Ye, which made Qin Mu sigh to himself in pity.
“Follow me, I have some things to ask you,” Saint Woodcutter said.
Qin Mu hurriedly went after him. The black tiger god wanted to follow as well, but Saint Woodcutter turned back to look at him and he stopped. The black tiger god turned his head to look elsewhere.
“Are you a devil or a human?” Qin Mu had followed Saint Woodcutter to a quiet place where he received a dozen questions. “Even though you have learned my techniques and received my inheritance, there’s still a weird power in your body of the devil race. You had suddenly appeared in the battlefield and in the middle of the devils so your actions are suspicious. Tell me, where are you from exactly?”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Carefree Village.”
Saint Woodcutter suddenly turned and looked straight at him as if he was trying to see if he was saying the truth or lying.
Qin Mu had a calm expression when he said, “I wasn’t born in Carefree Village. My mother was carrying me in her womb when my parents left it. They encountered enemies on the journey and she finally gave birth to me in Youdu. King Yama of Fengdu said that because I was born there, something unexpected must have happened, resulting in the devil nature of Youdu entering my body.”
‘My lord, his expression has turned calm again yet you still can’t see it even when staring at his face!” Far away, the black tiger god was seething with fury.
“You say you are from Carefree Village, but do you have any keepsake?” Saint Woodcutter asked.
Qin Mu hurriedly removed the jade pendant from his neck.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Even though Qin Mu pulled out the jade pendant, he didn’t take it off. He said with hesitation, “King Yama said that this jade pendant suppresses the devil nature in my body and I can’t show it easily to anyone. If the pendant leaves too far from my body, bad things will happen.”
Saint Woodcutter shook his head. “With me by your side, what bad things could happen? It’s at most small tricks like some curses or lightning strikes which are nothing to me.”
Qin Mu gritted his teeth and took the jade pendant off. ‘In the past, I’ve taken the jade pendant off and showed it to the people in the village. I’ve also shown it to Sister Jing and nothing bad had ever happened. Nothing should happen this time too.’
Saint Woodcutter took the jade pendant. He focused his gaze on it and nodded. “It is indeed the jade pendant of Founding Emperor’s bloodline. Eh, this one doesn’t seem to be exactly the same as those. There’s a strange sealing formation in its depths. Could it be the formation to seal your devil nature?”
“Someone had brought me out from Youdu and to Great Ruins. I was picked up by Granny Si. Besides me, the basket, and the swaddling cloth, I had only the jade pendant. The person who had sent me there had died of severe injuries…”
Qin Mu’s face dimmed as he continued to speak, “Granny Si is the saintess of my Heavenly Saint Cult, and it was her who had nurtured me into an adult. This jade pendant had always been on me. Granny Si and the rest couldn’t find any use for it besides forcing the darkness of Great Ruins back; however, it was only big enough to protect a baby.
“After that, the village chief discovered that the jade pendant had an ability which could lead us to Carefree Village, but it was only a trap. The jade pendant brought me to Fengdu and we encountered the devil god that had ambushed us outside it.”
“There are indeed even more secrets.” Saint Woodcutter fiddled with the jade pendant until his gaze went abnormal. “This jade pendant can not only lead you to Carefree Village, but it can also lead you to Youdu since it was forged there. On top of that, the person that forged it was extremely powerful, even more powerful than me. Strange, such a strong seal, what is it trying to seal?”
His gaze flickered as his curiosity arose. “Once I suppress the sealing formation in the jade pendant, I will be able to know what it is sealing…”
Qin Mu was also filled with anticipation. When King Yama had tried to do so, he had lost his consciousness and didn’t see what had happened afterward.
He was also very curious about what the jade pendant was sealing and what would happen after undoing the seal.
Saint Woodcutter looked at his expression and muttered to himself irresolutely while holding onto the jade pendant. He then stuffed the jade pendant back into Qin Mu’s hands.
The young man was puzzled.
“The person who forged this jade pendant is very powerful and should be one of the most powerful existences in Youdu. That is a mysterious place whose true face only a few people can discover. Even Founding Emperor didn’t know how many experts were hidden inside it,” Saint Woodcutter said.
“There must be a reason for this jade pendant to be by your side. I think it’s best not to probe into it. Since King Yama said to not let this jade pendant leave your body, you shall do as he says.”
He wanted to know what would happen if he suppressed the seal of the jade pendant, but he endured it.
Qin Mu could only take back his jade pendant and continue to carry it around his neck.
By then, there were already a number of divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven entering Li City and repairing the broken constructions, building up the city defenses. Qin Mu looked around, but didn’t see weapons like True Origin Cannon or Sunshot Divine Cannon.
Even though the abilities of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s divine arts practitioners were very strong and a level above the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace, their algebra was very weak. Weapons like True Origin Cannon required very high attainments in algebra, soo these people couldn’t forge them.
Even if Qin Mu drew the blueprints and gave it to them, they still probably wouldn’t be able to forge them. Only Eternal Peace Empire that had countless divine arts experts with strong algebra was able to do it.
“How did you come to Supreme Emperor Heaven?” Saint Woodcutter asked.
Qin Mu roughly told him how he had changed the sacrificial method of blood sacrifice and exchanged himself for a devil general, transporting himself into Supreme Emperor Heaven. Saint Woodcutter shook his head, “Truly reckless, exchanging yourself with people of the enemy camp. Aren’t you afraid of death?”
Qin Mu took in a long breath and said solemnly, “To defeat First Ancestor Human Emperor, it’s worth the risk! Can Sacred Teacher teach me the method to become a young true god?”
Saint Woodcutter was slightly stunned. “You want to become a young true god and defeat that army deserter of Hall of Human Emperors?”
Qin Mu nodded solemnly.
Saint Woodcutter smiled. “You don’t know about his background?”
Qin Mu was in a daze.
“You and him are the same, both of your surnames are Qin and both of you are my disciples. Fu Riluo calls me Heavenly Teacher which means the teacher conforming to the heavenly laws. It is also the teacher of Son of Heaven. I’m actually just a teacher. Back then, under Founding Emperor’s orders, I taught the princes and among them was that army deserter of Hall of Human Emperors.”
Saint Woodcutter walked toward the east city gate of Li City while reminiscing about the past. His gaze was faint.
“This prince had an extraordinary aptitude and his comprehension was also high. However, when the disaster erupted and the celestial heavens fell in battle, the prince was terrified of death and escaped. By coincidence or fate, he rescued some people and became revered as Human Emperor.
“I had also lived, so he had come to visit me numerous times. I wasn’t willing to meet him though. Afterward, I turned into a stone statue while my primordial spirit roamed the world in search of answers so I never saw him again. It’ll be very hard for you if you want to defeat him.”
Qin Mu clenched his hands into tight fists and said loudly, “However, Sacred Teacher must have a way, right?”
Saint Woodcutter scaled up the tall city tower. Since they needed to defend from the devil invasion, the city towers were all constructed very high, so scaling one was like climbing a mountain.
“I’ve taught him before, and his aptitude and comprehension were the best among all of the princes I’ve taught. He could master any divine art the moment he learned it and one comprehension of his was equivalent to a hundred of others. He respected his teachers and placed importance on the teachings. Even though I despise him for being a desert, I still admire him very much. If you want to defeat me, it’s useless if you just rely on me to teach you.”
Saint Woodcutter was like a mortal, ascending step by step instead of using any divine art. “I’m a teacher of Founding Emperor and have the reputation of Heavenly Teacher, in terms of battle power, I wasn’t the strongest at the time. On the contrary, my battle power could only be considered mid-level standard. If I teach you, you won’t surpass that deserter. On top of that”—he smiled—”haven’t I already taught you?”
Qin Mu was stunned. What he meant were the teachings on the rock, so logically, Saint Woodcutter had already taught him. However, Qin Mu was indignant about receiving this kind of teaching.
Saint Woodcutter clearly had an even more powerful divine art. In the battlefield, Qin Mu had met Fu Yuxiao and was almost killed by him. It would have certainly happened if not for Saint Woodcutter who had executed a move for Qin Mu to learn and escape from harm.
Since he had even powerful divine arts, why wasn’t he willing to teach?
Qin Mu wanted to learn the techniques and divine arts that could allow him to become a young true god. He wanted to unify his corporeal body and surpass First Ancestor Human Emperor on the same realm, to press him down in the mud, break his bones and make him puke blood. He wanted to beat him until he knelt on the floor and begged for forgiveness, until he kowtowed and apologized to the past human emperors!
“If I teach you my divine art, you won’t rack your brains to comprehend Calamity Sword. Opening Calamity Sword was a wonderful thing, but I can’t teach you that.”
Saint Woodcutter ascended the city tower and sat down. He patted the step beside him and signaled for Qin Mu to sit down as well.
Qin Mu sat down on the icy cold surface.
He turned back and saw that the black tiger god was standing below the tower. He didn’t come up.
“The divine arts I know are all hidden in the scriptures. You just need to use your heart to comprehend and you will be able to learn them. Those scriptures were taught to me by Founding Emperor.
“The things I’ve learned are too numerous and variegated, so even if I received Founding Emperor’s supreme arts, I still couldn’t take a step forward. I can only be considered mid-level among the gods and devils,” Saint Woodcutter explained. ‘In time, I realized that learning too many things might not be a good thing. Come, let’s watch the sunrise.”
“Sunrise?”
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched when he looked at the sky. A broken sun was gradually giving off a red glow. Its distorted form was stinging his eyes.
His face instantly became black, and he hurriedly looked away. He then suppressed the urge in his heart. Beside him, Saint Woodcutter’s face also gradually turned black and he lowered his head.
The sunrise of Supreme Emperor Heaven had made both of them feel like they were sitting on pins and needles. They were both restless.
Qin Mu was the Heavenly Devil Cult Master and skilled in algebra. He learned carpentry from Old Ma and sought perfection in all crafts. Even the furniture that Granny Si had personally made was all amended by Qin Mu, so how could such a horrible-looking sun in the sky be left alone?
Heavenly Devil Cult also had Craftsman Hall and Heavenly Works Hall that had strict requirements for their crafts. The two were from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and were halls that had branched out from the techniques of calculation and craftsmanship in the scriptures. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were imparted by Saint Woodcutter, so one didn’t need to think a lot to know that he had astonishing attainments in algebra.
The divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven were very proud that the suns in the sky were forged by their gods, but to the two of them, the suns were an eyesore.
In the sky, another sun gradually became brighter too, and the two suns hung motionlessly.
The corners of Saint Woodcutter’s eyes twitched, and he tried his best to not raise his head. “The fellows of Supreme Emperor Heaven have already forgotten all about craftsmanship!”
“The god that forged the sun seems to be called Sun Forger,” Qin Mu said with his head lowered.
“Bah! What Sun Forger? I know that fellow! He was merely a chef in the celestial heavens!”
Qin Mu was stunned.
Saint Woodcutter got up and said, “You have to comprehend the method to become a young true god by yourself; it’s better than me teaching you. What I teach is mine after all and what you comprehend are the things that suit you the most. I will bring you to the door, but you will have to walk the rest of the journey by yourself.”
He raised his head to look into the distance. The south, west, and north of Li City still had devil qi surging around like huge pot lids covering the heaven and earth. “I’ve come to Supreme Emperor Heaven this time only to stop the devils from sacrificing Supreme Emperor Heaven. Fu Riluo is a wise commander and withdrew because he didn’t have enough power to deal with my abrupt arrival. The next time he comes, he will bring forth a world-shattering blow!”
Qin Mu’s heart jumped in shock and he hurriedly asked, “Can Supreme Emperor Heaven block it?”
Boom!
The ground trembled and Qin Mu hurriedly looked toward the source of the sound. In a battlefield far away, numerous divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven piled up the corpses of the devils and humans that had died in battle, turning them into corpse mountains.
Suddenly, the ground split apart and huge sacrificial altars gradually rose from the ground. The glow of blood sacrifice flashed, and a beam of red light rushed into the sky. Within it, tall stone statues appeared.
Boom, boom. Violent tremors reached them as the battlefield shook non-stop. More and more sacrificial altars appeared.
On them, beams of red light that were like tall towers rushed into the sky, and stone statues formed on the altars!
Agitation filled Qin Mu, and he looked at Saint Woodcutter, anticipating his reply.
“We can’t” Saint Woodcutter poured cold water all over him. “We can only delay them for a period of time.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the sacrificial altars, the stone statues were reviving at a steady speed. Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s pupils, and he focused his gaze with some suspicion.
The god statues all had special characteristics. One was a god with a tortoise’s shell, another with a leopard’s tail, one with a bird’s head while another with a dragon’s, and numerous others. There were twenty-four sacrificial altars and twenty-four different god forms.
However, Qin Mu felt like he’d seen some of these gods somewhere.
‘The stone statues in Great Ruins!’ he finally recalled. The stone statues that he felt were familiar had come from Great Ruins!
This meant that all of them were probably from there!
The stone statues were about to become gods, and it meant that all of the stone statues in Great Ruins had the possibility to revive. They could return to being living gods, which affirmed his earlier guess!
Twenty-four stone statues entered Supreme Emperor Heaven, so it would have an extra twenty-four gods to assist them. They were probably friends of Saint Woodcutter and their abilities should all be extraordinary.
Yet Saint Woodcutter said that they couldn’t defend against the devils and could only delay for a period of time.
What exactly was the origin of the devil race?
How did they have such terrifying abilities?
When he voiced out his questions, Saint Woodcutter looked at the stone statues and was silent for a moment.
“The origin of the devils is very mysterious, and even I am not clear on it. However, some rumors say that they come from Youdu, are its lifeforms. It’s said that they separated themselves, but I don’t know if that’s the case or not. The devils have many worlds and their abilities were always powerful, so it’s only natural that Supreme Emperor Heaven can’t defend against them.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly. “In that case, what’s the relationship between the devils and the so-called true celestial heavens that destroyed Founding Emperor Era? Zhe Huali is from that place and his master Luo Wushuang is even the head of celestial heavens’ Spirit Elite Guards. He had sent his disciple to train among the devils, so it’s clear that there’s some relationship between the two powers.”
“They are related, but not as boss and subordinate.” Saint Woodcutter knew quite a lot regarding this, but he didn’t explain in detail. “Their relationship is more of two people using each other. The so-called celestial heavens frequently use the devils to do some stuff that isn’t convenient for them, and to survive, the devils are also happy to be used. My primordial spirit has been roaming the universe for many years in search celestial heavens’ origin, but I didn’t find anything too useful”
He stepped on the air and walked to the sacrificial altars. “Since you are already in Supreme Emperor Heaven, stay here for some training. I need to do some other stuff.”
Qin Mu was about to give chase, but he saw Saint Woodcutter leaving farther and farther away. The space his feet covered looked normal yet was really great, making it impossible for him to catch up. “Sacred Teacher, I still have things I want to ask!”
However, Saint Woodcutter had already left into the distance, and Qin Mu’s cultivation wasn’t high enough for his voice travel that far.
“Little tiger, stay with him.” Saint Woodcutter’s voice came from the distance. “Don’t let him create trouble everywhere.”
The black tiger god immediately acknowledged and went up to Qin Mu’s back. Its large shadow covered the youth.
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Sacred Teacher is a poor judge of character. I’m the sacred cult master and not a child, so why would I create trouble?”
The black tiger god looked down at him with a black face. “Aren’t you self aware in regards to creating trouble everywhere you go?”
Qin Mu raised his head. The black tiger god was simply too tall, so it was quite tiring to talk to him. “Senior Brother Tiger, can you shrink yourself?”
“Senior brother?” The black tiger god’s expression instantly changed into one of pleasantness. His two ears went upright, making him look pretty majestic. He said with a smile, “Seeing how you call me senior brother, I won’t look down on you from high above. You could also see that I’m not just a mount, but a disciple of my lord so in terms of seniority, you should indeed call me senior brother.”
His body gradually shrank, and after a moment, his height became similar to that of Qin Mu, and he looked like a youth with a tiger’s head. It was just that his two ears were still extremely nimble and would twitch from time to time.
“Senior Brother Tiger, Sacred Teacher said to not create any trouble and this is creating an incident. Creating trouble and creating incident has a huge difference and can’t be put together,” Qin Mu said seriously.
The black tiger god wasn’t taken in by him and shook his head. “My lord told me to watch you. I won’t let you out of my sight.”
Qin Mu’s head ached, but he could only let him follow him while thinking, ‘I had planned to have Sacred Teacher help me design the world bridge to connect Eternal Peace and Supreme Emperor Heaven, but he has things to attend to, so it looks like I can only finish it myself.’
Li City had grown busy, but he didn’t recognize anyone, so he could only settle down in the city tower. He took out stacks of papers and tools of calculation to begin calculating and designing the world bridge.
The black tiger god stood behind him and looked for a long time. When his curiosity got the better of him, he finally asked, “What are you calculating?”
Qin Mu didn’t even raise his head. “I’m calculating the equation for the exchange of spirit energy and one for the shifting of it. I want the exchange ratio of spirit energy for the divine arts practitioners in the different worlds as well as the ratio of mutual shift between the two worlds.”
What he said was slightly profound yet the black tiger god understood it. He said with a smile, “The equation for the exchange of spirit energy is the method of blood sacrifice and the equation for the mutual shift of spirit energy is the method of the teleportation divine art, right?”
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at him in disbelief.
The two equations required an extremely large amount of calculations and involved an extreme amount of learning which included the exchange of the soul, corporeal body, and energy. This also included space teleportation and calculating the shifting. If these were presented to a divine arts practitioner of Supreme Emperor Heaven, they would have blanked out after hearing all that. However, the black tiger god managed to find and say the crux of the matter in just a sentence!
‘That’s right, he is the mount of Sacred Teacher and his Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures have profound methods of calculation. He must have learned quite a bit by listening to them frequently.’
Qin Mu then probed, “How’s Brother Tiger’s attainments in calculation?”
The black tiger god picked up a paper from the ground and said, “I just noticed a mistake in your calculation. Here it is wrong.”
Qin Mu looked at the paper and hurriedly used his tools of calculation to calculate again. There was indeed a mistake.
The youth was impressed. “Brother Tiger’s calculation is profound and even faster and more accurate than mine. This stupid brother is impressed. These two equations are somewhat hard and there are too many things that need to be solved. Can Brother Tiger help me?”
The black tiger god smiled at him. “As long as you don’t create trouble, what’s the trouble in helping you? What’s the reason for your calculations? What are you going to construct with the equations?”
Qin Mu told him about the world bridge he planned to construct and took out the sacrificial altar and teleportation flag that he had designed. “I used this method to replace a devil general and came to Supreme Emperor Heaven. However, now I want to construct a world bridge to connect Eternal Peace and Supreme Emperor Heaven. The bridge needs to be very stable for a person to travel back and forth between the two worlds.”
The black tiger god muttered to himself for a moment before saying, “That would be Space Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. It can be designed as a funnel. After it is opened up, the spirit energy of the two worlds will be constantly in flow. If people of Supreme Emperor Heaven want to go to Eternal Peace, Eternal Peace will have to lose a portion of energy. It’d be the same vice versa… you have quite the idea, junior brother!”
He patted Qin Mu’s shoulder heavily, and the youth’s expression changed drastically. He quietly reattached his dislocated shoulder and was completely won over by the black tiger god.
An idea flashed through the black tiger god’s mind, and he clapped his palms. “I have an idea. There’s no need to design the sacrificial altar since my lord has a huge one that’s ready for use. There’s also a similar sacrificial altar in Great Ruins which was a retreat route that my lord had left for himself. If Supreme Emperor Heaven is invaded, he could use it to go back.
“The two sacrificial altars are both used to summon true gods so they can be used to connect the world bridge. There’s no need to worry about the energy being congested and the bridge collapsing. The only problem would be to calculate the two equations!”
Qin Mu was excited. Not only did the black tiger god run fast, but his attainments in calculation were also unexpectedly profound. Qin Mu couldn’t even compare to him. With his help, the Space Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge that stretched across the two worlds could be constructed even sooner and connect Supreme Emperor Heaven with Eternal Peace!
Suddenly, he thought of the dragon qilin and felt an unexplainable pain in his heart. ‘They’re both mounts yet… Brother Tiger can run faster, and his realm is higher too. On top of that, he’s not picky about his food and his calculation is even more profound than mine…’
He soon abandoned the sourness in his heart though and put all his energy into calculating everything with the black tiger god.
The other’s calculation speed was indeed astonishing. Qin Mu had to use taiji plate, eight trigrams plate, and other calculation spirit weapons to construct a huge tool of calculation to be able to follow him.
In the end, he just gave him his calculation spirit weapons and let him calculate while he provided him with his thoughts.
“The tools of calculation that you have prepared are too few, so I’ll make a couple more!”
Once the black tiger god said that, he quickly refined a bunch of calculation spirit weapons and multitasked, controlling six large-scale tools of calculation.
‘Fatty Dragon doesn’t know how to forge spirit weapons either…’ Qin Mu felt sourness in his heart once more.
He voiced his thoughts about the equations, and the black tiger god immediately said the answers. His speed was extremely fast.
The human and the tiger didn’t sleep nor rest, calculating non-stop in the tower of Li City’s east gate. After eight days, the tower was piled up with thick stacks of writings.
Suddenly, Sang Hua’s voice could be heard. “Brother who threshes the grains, what are you guys doing here?”
Qin Mu raised his head from the piles of paper, his eyes were bloodshot. He saw Sang Hua, Yu He, Shu Yao, and a few young divine arts practitioners have come over. They were all looking around curiously.
Everyone was shocked. The manuscripts had piled up higher than a person, and they were all placed into neat rows. In the center of all the paper, Qin Mu and a tiger-headed youth had heavy eye bags below their bloodshot gazes. Qin Mu’s beard had long turned into a messy stubble, but he didn’t care about his appearance one bit.
“So it’s you guys.” Qin Mu looked away and continued to write on the paper. “Guys, wait a moment. Brother Tiger and I have already finished with the two equations and have used them to calculate the space spirit energy exchange runes. We’re currently designing the infrastructure of the world bridge.”
Yu He, Shu Yao, and the rest of the divine arts practitioners looked at him in a daze. After a moment, Shu Yao asked guiltily, “Junior Sister Sang Hua, have you understood anything he said?”
The girl shook her head with a blank expression.
Qin Mu and the black tiger god changed their vital qi into incomparably exquisite scales and drew for quite a while on the paper. After they finished marking all of the scales, they finally got up.
“Go, let’s construct this world bridge and test if it can connect the two worlds!” the black tiger god said with excitement.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. “Sacred Teacher told me not to create any trouble. This world bridge is yet to be tested. If we create it now, I’m afraid…”
The black tiger god was even more excited than him and patted his own chest while saying with heroism reaching the clouds, “This isn’t creating trouble, at most creating an incident. No worries, I’ll take responsibility for any problems!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu was still slightly uneasy and planned to recalculate everything to check if he had made any mistakes. It wasn’t because he didn’t trust the black tiger god, but because connecting the two worlds and building a Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge had never been done before. If something went wrong, he didn’t know what would happen.
For example, every new kind of spirit pill that Qin Mu had refined to cure injuries had the possibility of strange side effects. He could salvage it when it was a medicinal problem, but how could he salvage if the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge that connected two worlds went haywire?
The black tiger god collected the blueprints rapidly and rushed outside excitedly, “Quickly, quickly! I can’t wait to test it out!”
Qin Mu could only follow him out if the city tower. On his way, he asked Sang Hua, “Sister Hua, is something the matter?”
“Li City has already been reconstructed, but the surroundings still have plenty of devil activity. The devils use the flesh, blood, and soul of the people of our Supreme Emperor Heaven to cultivate and pose a huge danger,” the girl answered. “We’ve spent quite some time searching for you to go training together. We want to get rid of those roaming divine arts practitioners of the devil race.”
“When Fu Riluo was in Li City, he had restrained the devils to not harm any of the people, but now that he’s gone, the remaining devils cannot hold themselves back anymore. To them, we humans are food and materials for cultivation and treasure refinement,” Yu He said.
“That’s why during these few days, the villages in the surroundings were trampled. Junior Sister Sang Hua had wanted to go God Suppression Pagoda, but she has no choice but to push that back.”
Qin Mu frowned and asked, “Fu Riluo restrained the devils from harming people? Why did he give such an order?”
“To win the people’s hearts,” Shu Yao said with a grim face. “The city can be invaded, the empire can fall, gods can also die in battle, yet the hearts of the people are the hardest to win. Fu Riluo is a devil god with great ambition, so his way of conquering was not that simple too.
“If he didn’t hurt the people, they wouldn’t fight back And even if he squeezed them a little more, turning them into slaves for mining ores and growing all kinds of medicinal ingredients, they would still remain docile.
“Like this, he could make those lowly devils put their hearts into the battle. Such an enemy that can strike at the heart is the strongest enemy.”
Qin Mu nodded, and his impression of Fu Riluo changed drastically.
Fu Riluo wasn’t a boorish man that only knew how to invade cities and seize lands. He understood the method of governing and knew what he had to do to reap the biggest benefit for the devil race.
Lowly devils have low status, and Qin Mu had already seen the fate of the lowly devils in the battlefield. They were expendables in the battle. If he turned them into slaves before forcing them to become expendables, it would be hard for him to rule.
To avoid that, Fu Riluo made humans into slaves so lowly devils would be waited upon comfortably. They would then go to battle with their lives on the line without a care, and he could sustain his rule.
And because the humans could still live, they didn’t fight back even though they had become slaves. Like that, Fu Riluo’s backlines were stable. With humans providing a constant supply of resources, he could put all his efforts into the battle on the front lines.
“Fu Riluo is a great talent. No wonder Sacred Teacher is so wary of him.” Qin Mu pondered it for a moment before saying, “There should be a lot of devils’ spirit weapons collected from the battlefield, right? How are you guys going to deal with them?”
“Because they contain devil nature and qi, they are destroyed so the devils won’t have a chance to reclaim them,” Yu He said.
Qin Mu smiled at her. “Brother Tiger and I will be setting up the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, so we need a lot of black gold and black iron. Since the spirit weapons of the devils are useless, could you guys lend them to us? The devil nature and qi in them is just what we need!”
Yu He smiled back at him. “My master can get numerous devil spirit weapons. I wonder how much does Cult Master need?”
“The more the better!” Qin Mu said solemnly, “Thanks for the trouble, Hall Master Yu!”
Turning to leave, she said, “Cult Master is too courteous. Those things of the devils are useless anyway. You guys can go first. My master and I will deliver the weapons later.”
Qin Mu looked at Sang Hua and the rest and he hesitated for a moment. “Sister Hua, Brother Tiger and I need some time to set up the bridge so you guys should go train. Come back after ten days. We should be done by then, and I might even be able to introduce you to some new friends.”
“Besides finding you for training, there’s another purpose for our visit. We would like to join your cult,” Sang Hua said in a low voice.
The divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven present all hurriedly nodded.
Qin Mu stared dumbfoundedly at Shu Yao.
“After Cult Master told us about the philosophy of Heavenly Saint Cult, Senior Sister Yu He and I found it really agreeable, so we joined and became hall masters. Later, I was too talkative and told my friends about the aim of the cult and they felt that it was good as well, so they also came to join.”
“Can we have the positions of hall masters as well?” Sang Hua asked with excitement.
Qin Mu was overjoyed, but he didn’t show it. “Heavenly Saint Cult is righteous and outstanding in Eternal Peace, so not anyone can join. However, I’m moved by everyone who fights the devils without a care for their lives and knows that everyone here are righteous people. We are like-minded, so I won’t make it difficult for all of you to join.
“However, to become hall masters, you need proficiency in a particular field. My sacred cult has three hundred and sixty-one halls which represent three hundred and sixty-one professions, so it’s not about the strength of your abilities.”
Sang Hua and the rest were slightly disappointed, but Qin Mu smiled at them. “However, the sacred cult has just established a branch in Supreme Emperor Heaven, so there are many things to do. We need to handle the urgent things in a swift manner, so there’s no need to look too much into it. That’s why, everyone can become a hall master of the sacred cult in Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
Sang Hua cheered. “Do we need to smear our lips with the blood of sacrifices and pledge to never betray the cult?”
Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head and said, “Our Heavenly Saint Cult is not a devil cult with a bad reputation, so we don’t do things like smearing ourselves with blood. No one needs to worship the cult master either. You just have to greet me; there’s no formal etiquette. The cult master is the sacred teacher and not an emperor.
“I’m currently hurrying to build the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge so I got no time to talk. Come back after ten days. When the two worlds connect, I will have the brothers from Eternal Peace’s sacred cult explain everything in detail.”
Sang Hua and the rest were satisfied and left with Shu Yao.
‘Establishing a cult in Supreme Emperor Heaven is much simpler than I thought.’ Qin Mu sighed ruefully, then his gaze flickered when he took a glance at the black tiger god beside him. “Does Brother Tiger want to join the cult?”
The black tiger god rolled his eyes at him and sneered. “My lord has never acknowledged your Heavenly Saint Cult. Don’t waste your energy and let’s just build the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge!”
The human and the tiger soon came to the front of a huge sacrificial altar which was as towering as a mountain. It had steps that led toward the sky where there was a level platform. Blood sacrifice runes were imprinted around it, and countless corpses of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s divine arts practitioners were piled up on the ground. Only because of that were the stone statues and the primordial spirits of gods be summoned from Great Ruins.
The runes of Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge that Qin Mu and the black tiger god had designed were formed on the foundation of the sacrifice runes, so only minor changes needed to be done to the runes on the sacrificial altar. The human and the tiger immediately made their moves to do exactly that.
After a moment, True God Pang Yu brought Yu He and numerous devil spirit weapons that piled into a mountain. He said with a smile, “Little friend, is this enough for you? If not, there’s another, much larger batch in Brilliance Injured City.”
Delighted, Qin Mu smiled. “These are enough, much thanks, true god!”
“Is there any place in which you need our help?” True God Pang Yu asked. Yu He also couldn’t wait to assist.
The black tiger god was about to accept their help, but Qin Mu hurriedly shook his head. “There’s no need for that! True god is busy, and Senior Sister Yu He also needs to go train. I don’t dare to trouble you two!”
True God Pang Yu was indeed plagued with many matters so he bid farewell with Yu He and left.
“There are many parts that need to be forged for Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, and the two of us will take a very long time to do it. Why didn’t you let them help?” the black tiger god grumbled.
“Senior brother, look at the suns in the sky!”
The black tiger god raised his head and came to a realization. “We indeed can’t let the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven help; otherwise, it’s impossible to know what trouble they’d bring!”
The human and the tiger started smelting all of the devil weapons. Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge required didn’t need for the devil nature to be removed, so they just smelted and reforged everything.
They were both professionals in forging and skilled in calculation, so each and every component was done with great precision. The rune markings on all things had to be exact and as precise as the digits of Shun Xi. They sought perfection.
Sun Forger God had forged the sun crooked because when he was designing it, he didn’t seek for his every component to be precise. In Qin Mu’s hypothesis, the blueprints of the half sun were at most calculated to the digits of Hu or Wei, which resulted in the final product being crooked and unbearable to look at.
For the sun in the sky to look round, the digits had to be calculated to Xu Yu or Shun Xi at the least.
The half sun was dozens of times bigger than the huge sacrificial altar, so the degree of preciseness that Qin Mu required was extremely high. Every component had to be calculated to the Shun Xi digit, since he couldn’t look at the sun in the sky which was a truly horrific sight.
Saint Woodcutter was an expert in calculation and forging, so he also couldn’t bear to see the sun of Supreme Emperor Heaven.
After ten days, Sang Hua, Shu Yao, and the rest hurried over with hundreds of divine arts practitioners in tow. They came to see Qin Mu and the black tiger god activating Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge.
Qin Mu and the black tiger god were still hurrying to and fro on the sacrificial altar, doing various tests and adjustments. They didn’t dare to relax even in the slightest. Over the ten days, they had only slept twice or thrice and were truly exhausted, but their spirits were still high.
Not much later, True God Pang Yu, God Sang Ye, and the rest of the gods also came with thousands of divine arts practitioners. Everyone looked at the sacrificial altar with all kinds of huge, pitch black components merged into it. They were of different lengths and looked half-smelted spears, halberds, knives, and swords that all aimed at the sky.
They were covered in profound runes that were difficult to understand. Most were near the ground. The bottom part of the sacrificial altar had been nearly cleared out by Qin Mu, and there were numerous large components placed instead. Everything looked extremely complicated.
Many passageways had been dug out throughout the sacrificial altar, and all of them were made of countless components. The runes connected each and every component.
The entire sacrificial altars was an entire body and yet it had incomparably complicated inner structure at the same time.
Thousands of divine arts practitioners and gods surrounded the area and walked a few rounds around it while exclaiming in admiration. Qin Mu and the black tiger god had shown them a new beauty that a huge metal artifact could posses!
This kind of beauty wasn’t regular, but uneven. Shadows fell disorderly while metal pieces and runes exhibited a strange kind of beauty.
Qin Mu and the black tiger god installed the last component and aligned it with the sacrificial altar in the other world. The two of them looked at each other and saw the excitement in the other’s eyes.
“Are you ready?”
The black tiger god raised his eyebrows. “I’m ready to activate the power of the runes!”
Qin Mu nodded heavily, and a beam of divine vitality surged out from the black tiger god to activate the rune. The bright light slowly went forward, lighting up more runes. As if that was too slow, it soon split into two and flowed toward even more runes like running water!
A humming could be heard as bright light flowed into the interior of the sacrificial altar and leaked out to the steps, slowly lighting up all of the rune markings.
Finally, it flowed to the bottom and gathered there.
Twang!
A violent tremor reverberated, and the steps of the sacrificial altar floated into the sky. They separated into more than nine hundred layers according to the steps. Each of them rotated in different directions, and after every rotation, the runes on different layers would link with each other. The process looked incomparably intricate!
Qin Mu and the black tiger stood on one of the steps full of excitement. The divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven below the altar and the gods standing upright in the sky also couldn’t help becoming excited.
The sight of the huge metal artifact being activated was simply too magnificent!
The sacrificial altar spun continuously, and every quarter of a rotation, there were waves of spirit energy rushing out. They were the devil qi and nature hidden in the weapons that were being activated!
Based on Qin Mu and the black tiger god’s careful calculation, as long as they broke through the barrier of the two worlds and constructed a funnel-shaped Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, the energy of the two worlds would maintain the stability, and the passage wouldn’t crumble easily. All the devil qi and nature of the weapons would be completely exhausted in the moment of connection.
The layers of the sacrificial altar rotated countless times. When a great amount of energy was accumulated, a beam of black light suddenly rushed into the sky. The boundless power howled while shaking the world!
Thousands of divine arts practitioners and gods, as well as Qin Mu and the black tiger god, raised their heads to look into the sky with a smile. It then froze on their faces.
Up above, that beam of black light was incomparably fierce when it struck the half sun. The macabre creation was instantly vaporized.
The black tiger god’s ears, which were upright, bent down toward the back of his head, and his mouth went wide open. “We’re going to die… Junior brother, is this creating trouble or starting an incident?”
Bead-sized sweat hung down from Qin Mu’s left eyelid and fell on his cheek. The sweat then came rolling down his forehead like a stream before forming two trails down both his eyes.
Qin Mu turned his head with difficulty and looked to his companion. The black tiger god with a youthful appearance had more sweat rolling down his face, and his shirt was already drenched.
“Senior brother, take a look at the expression of the people below?” Qin Mu’s voice was hoarse as he suppressed its volume.
“You look, for I don’t dare. I’m afraid they won’t be able to resist beating us to death… Do you think they will beat us to death?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
‘I can settle this, I can settle this!” Qin Mu consoled himself continuously as his face flickered between clear and dark. “The adults in the village taught me that if I can create trouble, I definitely can settle it as well. I can definitely settle it this time too…
‘Let’s be real, I probably can’t settle it…’
The trouble this time was too big.
Supreme Emperor Heaven had no sun, but Sun Forger God had led the divine arts practitioners to painstakingly construct the half that they raised into the sky. It became the pride of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s people, yet the two of them had completely destroyed it.
It wasn’t that Qin Mu didn’t consider creating a new sun in return to Supreme Emperor Heaven, but that it wouldn’t be that easy. Creating a perfect sphere was not difficult, but how was he to turn it into a sun?
Sun Forger God was a chef from Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens, a man who controlled the power of the divine fire, so even though his craftsmanship was bad and he had constructed a sun that was unbearable to see, it could still light up and provide warmth to Supreme Emperor Heaven.
This kind of divine fire was probably of an even higher quality than Li fire, so getting the right fire was the biggest problem in reconstructing a sun.
After the black light pillar destroyed the half sun, it pierced through the void. The next instant, the rippling of space could be seen with the naked eye. They undulated and spread through the surroundings.
“The other sun!”
The black tiger god’s heart shook as he looked at the ripples traveling to the other construction in the sky.
Under the sacrificial altar, thousands of divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven and gods floating in the sky had their hearts in their throats. They couldn’t help clenching their fists tightly, their nails almost piercing their flesh.
The ripples spread and went for the other half sun. When they touched, the sun was squeezed until it was like an oval egg yolk. When the curve of the ripple passed through it, the sun was stretched and became ten or more times longer.
Everyone looked at the sky in fear, but after the ripples, the sun was still hanging in the sky. All the nervous people sighed in relief then.
Suddenly, the now complete-looking sun gave off a loud noise, and a huge piece fell its surface.
The component that had fallen off was as large as a mountain and left a long trail of fire in the sky. Thick smoke billowed as it slid diagonally and crashed somewhere far in the distance.
The sun in the sky had not round to begin with, but now it looked like it had been chewed by a mouth with uneven teeth.
“Junior brother, should we run for our lives?” the black tiger god asked in a low voice.
“Gentlemen, I have two good news to tell everyone!” Qin Mu swept his sleeves up to wipe away the cold sweat rolling down his forehead like a waterfall while still standing on the sacrificial altar. He made himself look righteous and confident before taking a look around the surroundings and saying loudly, “The first good news is that the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge is connected!
“This bridge links Supreme Emperor Heaven with Eternal Peace, so everyone here will have an escape route. Even if we can’t defend against the devils, we can retreat to Eternal Peace and save our people!”
Under the sacrificial altar, thousands of divine arts practitioners still had a dazed look as they turned their heads with difficulty to look at him.
After Qin Mu finished saying his first good news, he waited quietly for a moment for everyone to digest this information.
This was to show off his accomplishment.
Supreme Emperor Heaven had never had a path of retreat. If the gods and divine arts practitioners lost, the people could only be treated like food by the devils. But now that Qin Mu constructed Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, he created everyone in Supreme Emperor Heaven an escape route to preserve the legacy of their race.
How huge was this merit?
Qin Mu chose to show it off because it was simply too great. Even if the divine arts practitioners and gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven were angered, they wouldn’t beat him and the tiger god to death.
Pang Yu was a true god after all, so he was the first to come back to his senses. He nodded slowly. “Little Friend Qin and Brother Black Tiger created Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge for the people of our Supreme Emperor Heaven to have an escape route. This is indeed a huge merit!”
God Sang Ye and the rest of the gods nodded too. This achievement was truly great.
Besides connecting the two worlds and providing an escape route, the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace Empire could also give assistance, helping Supreme Emperor Heaven last even longer.
At that moment, one divine arts practitioner stuttered, “B-but the sun in the sky…”
Qin Mu’s face was glowing with vigor, and he laughed. “This is the other good news I wanted to say. Truly happy news!” His voice was deafening to the ears. “Everyone, your suns were old and dilapidated, but now we can change them for two new suns! Round suns, perfect suns!”
The surroundings were silent.
Suddenly, Sang Ye became excited and raised her two hands up high. “Yay!”
This cheer was piercing to the ears, and her voice soon grew softer and softer. Finally, the long braid girl took note of the situation and gave two coughs to cover her awkwardness. She didn’t dare to speak anymore.
“Don’t speak.” True God Pang Yu maintained a stiff smile on his face as he spoke to the other gods in a low voice. “Maintain the smiles, maintain the composure, don’t reveal any murderous intent. They are the disciples of Heavenly Teacher, after all, so we need to keep our faces.”
“Will they really help us reconstruct new suns?” one god asked in a low voice while maintaining the smile on his face.
“I have no idea,” True God Pang Yu said with a smile. “If they don’t, we won’t let them leave Supreme Emperor Heaven. However, looking at their expressions that are full of confidence, they might be able to do it.”
Qin Mu looked at the numerous divine arts practitioners and gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven that had black faces, and cold sweat poured down his back. There seemed to be a flood about to break through a dam there, right about to surge out.
“Junior Brother, they don’t look happy. Did they realize that we don’t know how to create the divine fire to ignite the sun?” the black tiger god asked in a soft voice.
“Shut up, senior brother.” Qin Mu maintained a stiff smile and spoke through gritted teeth. “Just maintain your smile and act as if we can create the suns.”
The black tiger god did as told, then spoke through the gaps of his teeth. “This is the first time we activated Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge so we don’t even know if it had really connected with the sacrificial altar in Great Ruins. If it didn’t succeed, would they count the two debts together and beat us to death?”
“Shut up, senior brother!” Qin Mu almost couldn’t hold the smile on his face. “Now that Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge is set up, can we enter Great Ruins from here?”
“If something goes wrong when we cross the bridge, we might be ground into pieces and come out as a pile of minced meat on the other end,” the black tiger god said softly.
Cold wind blew through the silent surroundings.
In Great Ruins, the sky was about to turn dark.
Stone giants were walking through a forest with raised huge stone hammers to smash the ground. They were leveling the land. Along the journey, towering trees uprooted themselves and actually walked like humans. They opened up a path and planted themselves back on both sides of the road, forming two rows.
After the stone giants paved the way, thousands of women went through the road. They were dressed in clothing of all colors that made them look like beautiful flowers. They were chit-chatting while squarish stone slabs floated through the sky and automatically landed under their feet.
Behind them, tree giants were using wooden hammers to secure the stone slabs, interlocking them regularly and leveling the road.
Behind the tree giants, Heavenly Works Hall Master led numerous divine arts practitioners of his hall to imprint runes. Every slab was gained rune markings which would make the road more durable. The road wouldn’t fall out even when chariots and huge beasts travelled on it.
Using stone slab to pave the road made it much more convenient to repair them in the future. They just had to take out any faulty piece and replace it with a new one.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Xiong Xiyu walked side by side. They were searching for stone statues and moving them to the side of the road. It was even better when they found village, since they would move them and their people closer to become towns in the future.
Before they moved any stone statue, they offered incense, which was very important. It was what Qin Mu had told Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, so the speed of paving the road was slightly slower than what Qin Mu had predicted.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Xiong Xiyu, the True Heaven Palace Master, had been busy for quite a long time. They had paved the road all the way to the territory of Great Ruins by then, and in just another month’s time, they would reach Border Dragon City. When that time came, they would already be close to Eternal Peace Empire.
Qin Mu knew many people in West Earth and was friends with all the influential families. Paving a road to Middle Earth was a huge project, but all of the influential families had supported this idea and sent quite a number of divine arts practitioners to assist.
“Let’s take a break!” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took a look at the sky and said loudly, “The darkness is about to arrive so quickly go to the stone statues. Don’t move around at night!”
Everyone hurriedly did as told and started fires to cook their meals. The girls were chatting excitedly about the men of Eternal Peace. They took glances at the divine arts practitioners of Heavenly Works Hall and laughed softly. The divine arts practitioners blushed and didn’t dare to speak.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor gazed at the setting sun. Even though Qin Mu had thrown all the responsibility and dirty work to him while he went out to play, he didn’t have any complaint.
When conquering West Earth, he had also thrown all the dirty work to Qin Mu, and the youth had done a very good job.
At that moment, the sky shook, and a beam of black light descended from the sky. It spun down frantically and hit the ground
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s face changed slightly, and he looked toward the place where the black light had landed.
Boom!
It hit the ground, and the land trembled. Vibrations reached even their feet. It felt like some terrifying monster was about to break out from the earth!
“Imperial Preceptor!” Two beams of light shot out from the eyes of Heavenly Works Hall Master as he looked toward the abnormal change. His expression changed drastically, and he shouted loudly, “There’s a huge change in the meteorological phenomenon! The ground is surging into big mountains which is probably the work of a demon!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor got up and said solemnly, “You guys stay here. I will go and take a look.”
The darkness surged around, but Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked through it until he came to where the black light had fallen. Its energy was exhausted, and a beam of blue light rushed into the sky from underground, piercing through space. The blue light formed a passage of flowing light.
What had released the blue light was a huge sacrificial altar that looked like a mountain. At this moment, all of the runes on it were lighting up one after another.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor examined the sacrificial altar that had suddenly risen up. He muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment before walking up and entering the blue light.
In Supreme Emperor Heaven, the smiles of Qin Mu and the black tiger god were icy. In the sky, the smiles of True God Pang Yu, God Sang Ye, and the other gods were also no different. Everyone had gone still for quite a period of time.
Right then, from the light in the center of the sacrificial altar, a lanky figure of a middle-aged man walked out. He looked around in bewilderment, then his gaze landed on Qin Mu.
“So it’s Cult Master Qin. What remarkable thing have you done this time? What is this place?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin mu exhaled deeply. Seeing Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was like seeing a family member. The man had actually come to Supreme Emperor Heaven from Great Ruins and tested the usability of Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. He was a timely assistant!
Otherwise, it was hard to say how long they would have stayed frozen.
Qin Mu, however, wouldn’t have dared to personally enter the bridge to see if it was safe. Both he and the black tiger god were worried that they might be shredded to death if there was an error in the design.
Luckily, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came.
Their main concern was that they had destroyed the suns, and if Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge was unusable, the divine arts practitioners and gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven would probably cripple them if not kill them outright.
Luckily, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came.
“The sun in the sky…” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his head at the sun that was missing a side and hurriedly looked away. He composed himself before asking, “Cult Master, what is this place? These Dao friends are?”
“Just in time, Imperial Preceptor!” Qin Mu said loudly. “Everyone, let me introduce you! This is the saint that appears once every five hundred years, Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace Empire. Truth be told, the divine bridges of Eternal Peace’s people have been broken and Imperial Preceptor is the first person to cultivate to godhood. He is also the leader of Eternal Peace’s reform! Imperial Preceptor, this is Supreme Emperor Heaven, the first heaven of the thirty-three heavens, and the person in the sky in True God Pang Yu!”
True God Pang Yu and the rest of the gods couldn’t help being moved. They immediately landed and greeted Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. True God Pang Yu said with a smile, “So it’s the saint that appears once every five hundred years! It’s an honor to meet you! Truth be told, I had once heard about the legend of the saint that appears once every five hundred years but thought it was some weird talk. Never did I expect to meet the true person!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor returned his greeting and said humbly, “Dao brother is too polite. I’m merely a small person from the countryside who has never seen the big world before. The so-called saint that appears once every five hundred years is merely the flattering of my small country.”
Pang Yu laughed loudly and shook his head. “Imperial Preceptor is mistaken! If your world is a countryside, then our Supreme Emperor Heaven is even worse off. Founding Emperor Era, High Emperor Era—all of them were located right where you are. The reason Supreme Emperor Heaven has fought the devils bitterly for twenty thousand years is also only to protect your world.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s heart trembled violently, and Qin Mu’s expression went dazed. They hadn’t expected True God Pang Yu to say something like that.
There was too much information in his words, and the two men needed some time to digest it.
“This Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge established contact between the two worlds, which is a good thing to our Supreme Emperor Heaven. If we can’t hold on anymore, we shall preserve our full strength to head to the celestial heavens.”
Pang Yu bowed to Qin Mu and said sincerely, “No matter if Little Friend Qin can forge another two suns or not, my Supreme Emperor Heaven will remember this great benevolence of yours!”
Qin Mu immediately returned the greeting. “True God is polite. This is what I needed to do, so there’s no need to remember it.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned his head around and looked at the incomparably complicated Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge and sacrificial altar. He sighed in admiration. “Spirit Energy Mutual Shift, it’s indeed something Cult Master made. I saw a huge change in the meteorological phenomenon and the ground flooding to the sacrificial altar. A light bridge that was like two funnels connected, and I wondered which devil had broken through to Eternal Peace to create havoc.
“When I came to the sacrificial altar and took a look, I saw truly impressive craftsmanship. The algebra used was extraordinary, taking use of the exchange of spirit energy and the mutual shift of spirit energy. I was suspicious so I came to have a look. It showed up that it was really Cult Master who could have such a marvelous thought.”
Qin Mu was greatly satisfied and said humbly, “Imperial Preceptor praises me too much. This is mostly thanks to Senior Brother Black Tiger.”
He introduced Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor to all of the gods and said meaningfully, “Imperial Preceptor, Saint Woodcutter is also here in Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
“Saint Woodcutter!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s heart trembled in agitation. The reason he had started the reform was because of the phrase from Heavenly Saint Cult—for the everyday use of common people.
The path of the saint was what he was chasing his entire life!
And to become a saint, he had to first establish his virtue, his merit, and his ideas in writing. That was what he had done.
He didn’t think that the legendary existence would be in such a place, so how could he not be agitated?
He wanted to meet this senior that had brought him to the path of reform.
Qin Mu rarely saw him being this perturbed and smiled. “Saint Woodcutter is not here now, but fighting the devils with the twenty-four gods. Imperial Preceptor, you have just come and don’t understand Supreme Emperor Heaven. Once I tell you everything, you will know how wonderful is this Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge.”
He then added meaningfully, “The inheritance of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s paths and skills had never been broken.”
“What?” Disbelief filled Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor face, and he cried out, “The inheritance of the paths and skills has never broken? You mean their techniques, skills, and divine arts were all preserved completely? Impossible! Look at that sun in the sky! Such a standard of algebra is thousands of miles inferior to ours. It’s even worse than what the scholars of Imperial College could do!”
The black tiger god pouted while thinking, ‘This saint that appears once every five hundred years is also a fellow who hasn’t cultivated his frame of mind as well. Just a piece of small information is enough to agitate him so much. His expression has changed drastically, making it hard for him to control his emotions. The so-called saint doesn’t live up to his reputation!’
Feeling slightly awkward, Qin Mu muttered, “It is indeed a little unbearable to look at…”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor sneered and said, “How is it just unbearable? All I want to do is to bring a knife up to even the sun! If the scholars of Imperial College forged such a rough artifact, I’d definitely expel them and send them back to recultivate!”
In the surroundings, all of the gods filled with embarrassment. They looked at one another speechlessly.
With helplessness in his voice, Qin Mu said, “Imperial Preceptor, lower your voice. Even though the algebra of Supreme Emperor Heaven has downgraded, their inheritance of paths has never been broken. With my abilities, among the divine arts practitioners of the same realm, I can only rank in the top ten.”
“Cult Master is being humble, right?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked suspiciously.
Qin Mu gave it some thought and said honestly, “I was indeed a little humble. However, Supreme Emperor Heaven does have numerous divine arts practitioners that have the corporeal body of a young true god. Their speed is faster than mine, their strength is greater than mine, their reactions, power of the divine arts and divine eyes, and even their techniques surpass those of Eternal Peace.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor exhaled deeply and composed himself.
The reason why he was so agitated was mainly because there was a huge gap in the inheritance of Eternal Peace’s paths, skills, and divine arts!
This huge gap had appeared twenty thousand years ago. At that time, the paths, skills and divine arts had become incomparably rough and couldn’t form a system at all. Hall of Human Emperors, Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Heavenly Saint Cult were imparting what they knew in all directions, but due to limitations of such an action, the paths, skills and divine art they imparted weren’t complete.
Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery had suffered destruction in the calamity while Hall of Human Emperors had only one successor every generation. Heavenly Saint Cult was established after the incident and only then started to impart its paths.
Little Jade Capital was also constructed at that time, but since it didn’t meddle in worldly affairs, there was no ancestor walking the world to impart their path.
With time, other sects had slowly formed, and their paths, skills, and divine arts could be said to be established from no foundation at all. Afterward, there were fights between sects, between righteous and evil, which threw the world of Eternal Peace into chaos. The sects fought each other with no end, and the three big sacred grounds stopped interfering. They kept to themselves, making the interactions between paths, skills, and divine arts their biggest concern.
The chaos lasted until Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor assisted Emperor Yanfeng with the reform. Only then did things change. The fights between the sects and righteous versus evil were turned into the battles between the sects and Eternal Peace Empire’s benefits.
When Qin Mu became Heavenly Devil Cult Master, he led his sacred ground in support of Emperor Yanfeng whole-heartedly and crushed Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and all of the other rebellious forces. Only then did the fighting stop for real. With all the techniques united, Eternal Peace Empire’s paths, skills, and divine arts could take a huge step forward.
Qin Mu had then spread the space algebra model for all the divine arts practitioners to have a chance to become gods and break free from the limitation of the human body.
Yet even so, Eternal Peace Empire’s foundation was weak, and the cultivation system was incomplete. Those who could cultivate to god realm were in the minority, and there weren’t many strong practitioners.
The construction of Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge by Qin Mu allowed Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor too see the arrival of a new generation!
“Cult Master has done a huge service to the people of Supreme Emperor Heaven and a huge service to the people of Eternal Peace!” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor suddenly bowed to the floor and said sincerely to Qin Mu, “I thank you on behalf of all living beings!”
Qin Mu hurriedly returned his greeting. “I don’t dare. The devils are attacking Supreme Emperor Heaven, and it won’t be able to withstand them for much longer. Once it is invaded, the devils will go for Great Ruins and Eternal Peace. If we helped these people, they could last for a bit longer.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor got up and said solemnly, “After I return, I will definitely send a memorial to the emperor to ask him to assist Supreme Emperor Heaven!”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “In that case, this matter shall be handled by Imperial Preceptor and True God Pang Yu. You guys can set the regulations for the people to come and go through Supreme Emperor Heaven. You should also decide how Eternal Peace can support Supreme Emperor Heaven and how to exchange pointers regarding paths, skills and divine arts.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was silent for a moment before saying, “You’re going to wash your hands off this too?”
Qin Mu stretched his back and said with a smile, “Brother Tiger and I haven’t rest in days so we need to sleep for a time. I also need to go out for training. This kind of matter is better settled by Imperial Preceptor. That’s right, about the sun, see if you can help them with that as well.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor could only nod before shifting his gaze to True God Pang Yu. “Dao brother, even though there’s no complete cultivation system in Eternal Peace, the reform has accomplished a lot in the paths, skills, and divine arts, and Supreme Emperor Heaven will certainly find things to learn as well. With the interaction between the two worlds, numerous experts will definitely be born.”
True God Pang Yu instructed a few gods to protect the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge while smiling. “Imperial Preceptor, let’s go to Li City to discuss this in more detail.”
“Please!”
Qin Mu saw them off and let out a sigh of relief. “Senior Brother Tiger, let’s go rest now.”
The two of them returned to the tower and lay down on the ground to sleep like logs. When Qin Mu woke up, the sky outside was bright. As he washed up, the black tiger god also woke up.
“What spirit pills does senior brother eat? Let me prepare your meal,” the youth said.
“Spirit pills?” The black tiger god licked his paws to clean his face and shook his head. “I don’t eat that, so you don’t have to trouble yourself. As a god, I just cultivate daily without any need for food. Anything that can fill the stomach is fine.”
Qin Mu was stunned. He thought of the dragon qilin and couldn’t help becoming sorrowful again.
After the two of them had breakfast, Sang Hua, Yu He, and the rest came in search of them, and Yu He said, “Cult Master, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor has already gone back, and he said that the divine arts practitioner army and gods of Eternal Peace Empire will be coming over in a few days’ time.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. “Is there any news of Heavenly Teacher?”
Yu He shook her head. “Now that Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge has been constructed, my master True God Pang Yu gave the order for normal people to withdraw out of Supreme Emperor Heaven. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor will prepare soldiers and flying ships to receive them in Great Ruins. We came to find Cult Master because we plan to infiltrate the devils’ territories to help the people there migrate.”
Qin Mu turned his head to look at black tiger god and probed, “Senior Brother, helping the people in the devils’ territory migrate isn’t considered creating trouble, right?
The black tiger god shook his head. “We even shot the sun down, so who cares about barging into the devils’ territory? It cannot even be considered a small matter. With me around, you guys can be at ease. I assure you that nothing will go wrong!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu was delighted. The purpose of his visit was to gain experience, to take a look at the strength of divine arts practitioners in the boundless worlds and learn from their strong points. He wanted to grow so that he could fight First Ancestor Human Emperor.
The devil experts in Supreme Emperor Heaven were numerous, and they were the best opponents for him to test his skills!
On top of that, with black tiger god around, there was no need for them to worry about not being able to run away after meeting a devil god.
The black tiger god’s speed was extremely fast, so even if he was faced with three or five devil gods, he could still leave easily.
To top it, with the black tiger god’s last sentence, even if they created any trouble, he would be the one to take on all of the responsibility. Great Cult Master Qin would have nothing to do with it.
Sang Hua and Yu He also relaxed. With the black tiger god with them, their journey wouldn’t be dangerous at all.
Everyone walked down the city tower. Yu He was courageous and careful, more mature than Sang Hua, so she was the first to suggest, “Senior Tiger, since we’re going to the devils’ territory, it’s best if senior wouldn’t release your aura. Otherwise, devil gods will show up to stop us.
“It’d be best if you pretended to be a normal divine arts practitioner. The reason why the gods of our Supreme Emperor Heaven can’t come is because devil gods are extremely sensitive to their presence.”
The black tiger god retracted his aura in and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t give the game away and lure the devil gods over. It’s your training, so I will only observe from the side and not interfere.”
Their footsteps were very fast, so that divine arts practitioners that had slightly lower cultivation couldn’t follow. Since Yu He wanted to infiltrate the devils’ territory, the people she brought were all elites and experts in the army. They had all experienced life and death struggles before.
When they were near their destination, the sky gradually turned dark as traces of devil qi floated to and fro the forest. The place looked like it was shrouded by grey fog. They could see but not far.
One divine arts practitioner thought to use a flame divine art to light up the way, but he was instantly stopped by Shu Yao. “This is the territory of the devils, so unless you are in a life and death situation, no one should use divine arts that give off light. Otherwise, we will be exposed! Remember, when we encounter an enemy, we have to get rid of them instantly and end the battle. We cannot let the fight continue and risk attracting more enemies!”
Everyone hurriedly acknowledged his words.
“Shu Yao’s breadth of mind ain’t bad,” Qin Mu praised, then turned to Sang Hua. “Have you went to God Suppression Pagoda?”
Sang Hua shook her head, her long braids bouncing in front of her chest. “I haven’t had the time. There were simply too many things that needed to be done these few days, so I couldn’t get away. There has been no activity from the devils recently, and this terrifies me. Also, Heavenly Teacher had brought away twenty-four gods, and there has been no news of them. I can’t have a bad feeling about it.”
Qin Mu frowned slightly. Saint Woodcutter had left with the twenty-four gods, but there was still no news of any huge battle. It was indeed strange.
“Be careful. We’ve already entered the territory of the devils! Ding Yun, scout the path with your primordial spirit!”
Once Yu He gave her commands, a divine arts practitioner sat down in a lotus position and his primordial spirit was projected out. Another divine arts practitioner then came forward to carry him on his back.
Most of them were divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm and could project their primordial spirit. However, without experiencing the reform of primordial spirit in Eternal Peace Empire, their primordial spirits were not too strong enough and couldn’t fly too far. However, they could still be used to scout the way.
Everyone hurried on their way. After a moment, Ding Yun’s primordial spirit flew back and said, “Two hundred miles southwest from here there’s a town. It has about two thousand people enslaved by the devils, but I have no idea what they are constructing.
“There are also some villages nearby with old and young, women and children. However, there are six watchtowers on the way, and they’re very high. I didn’t dare to examine them in detail since I was afraid the devil divine arts practitioners would detect my primordial spirit.”
“How far apart are the pagodas?” Yu He asked.
Ding Yun blushed and murmured, “My calculations aren’t good; I never learned before…”
Yu He frowned. “The devils in the watchtower should be divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm or Seven Stars Realm. They are extremely alert, so if we alarm them and news spread, it won’t be a few scattered soldiers that will be welcoming us. Strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm or even Life and Death Realm would show up!”
Ding Yun shook his head. “The other places also have watchtowers, and they’re numerous as well.”
Shu Yao pondered over it and said, “In that case, we can only sneak over secretly and get rid of the devils in the watchtowers. If even one devil notices us in advance, we must all retreat…”
Qin Mu thought about it, then asked, “Whose vital qi is the most durable, the strongest?”
Everyone looked at him. Their mouths opened, but they didn’t say anything. Yu He and Shu Yao hesitated for a moment, but kept quiet as well.
“If one’s vital qi is strong enough, they can execute a sword pellet from a hundred miles away. In such a way, we can destroy the devils in the watchtowers without giving them a chance to react!”
Everyone’s mouth stayed wide open, but they didn’t speak.
Qin Mu was bewildered. When he thought to speak again though, Sang Hua, who was more straightforward than others, said, “Brother Cult Master that threshes the grains, aside from Senior Tiger, among all of the divine arts practitioners, isn’t your vital qi the most durable and strongest?”
Everyone hurriedly nodded.
“We are all impressed that Cult Master could slay four strong devil practitioners in the battle of Li City, so if you continue to be humble, it will be fake,” Shu Yao said helplessly.
Qin Mu scratched his head, only then remembering in what ways he surpassed Yu He and Shu Yao. Besides sword skill divine arts and primordial spirit, the other was his vital qi cultivation.
“Alright, I’ll clean the watchtower. Follow closely behind me!” Qin Mu got up and tapped the heart of his brows. “Primordial Spirit Projection!”
His primordial spirit flashed and vanished.
“What a strong primordial spirit!”
Everyone, including Yu He, jumped in shock. Qin Mu’s primordial spirit had been cultivated into substance and was no inferior to the primordial spirit of divine arts practitioners of Celestial Being Realm. It was truly powerful!
‘Even though I’m the number one among Supreme Emperor Heaven’s Seven Stars Realm and have reached the standard of a young true god in many fields, my primordial spirit is still inferior to his,’ the woman thought.
Sang Hua went over to pick up Qin Mu up so they could hurry on their way, but she saw him begin to run forward. His speed gradually increased, leaving her dumbfounded.
The black tiger god strode after Qin Mu. “Stop staring. This is Spirit Control Spell, a spell by my lord. Quickly, follow!”
Everyone hurried to do as told. When they caught up to Qin Mu, his primordial spirit suddenly floated back and returned to his body. He smacked his taotie sack, and a sword pellet flew out. It spun and suddenly rushed through the air at an extremely fast speed.
Qin Mu suddenly increased his pace and rushed forward furiously. With a boom, he actually surpassed the speed of sound, no longer keeping a low profile.
Yu He and the rest of the divine arts practitioners frowned. Qin Mu could catch the enemies off guard, but the sound would definitely travel to the other watchtowers.
When Ding Yun had scouted the way, other than the six watchtowers that they had to pass, there were also other watchtowers that were not on their path. Qin Mu had made a loud noise which would alarm the other pagodas and reveal their group, giving them no other choice than to retreat.
Yu He gritted her teeth. “Let’s follow!”
Everyone hurriedly increased their speed and ran furiously, raising their speed to the extreme. Explosions rang out as all of their speeds surpassed the speed of sound. However, the people in the group were not equal in strength.
Yu He, Shu Yao, and Sang Hua were the fastest, even faster than Qin Mu. The three of them caught up to him and looked forward. The sword pellet had already come to the first watchtower!
That sword pellet was still over thirty yards away, but countless swords had flown out and rushed into the watchtower. Over a dozen of the others suddenly pointed downwards and went close to the ground. In the meantime, the rest merged back into the sword pellet. It didn’t pause for a moment though, continuing to rush forward.
Qin Mu was also doing the same, and he saw the second watchtower moments later. There were a couple devils drinking merrily under it while two others looked around from the top.
The dozen swords that were flying close to the ground flew over, and the devils that were drinking didn’t even have time to react. Their heads flew off, and the swords rushed upwards with blood light, colliding with the sword pellet that flew out from the watchtower.
Whoosh!
Qin Mu flew over, and furious wind swept past the watchtower. He rushed to the third watchtower.
Yu He, Shu Yao, and Sang Ye followed after him and came to the third pagoda. Qin Mu suddenly stopped, but his sword pellet had already rushed toward the fourth watchtower.
Qin Mu’s feet were not perpendicular nor were they spread out. With his right hand forming a sword technique, his vital qi streamed through his body, and he staggered around like a drunk. His sword fingers stabbed into nothing from time to time while keeping with the sword techniques.
The sword pellet crashed into the watchtowers, and countless flying swords shuttled in all directions like flying fish. They killed all of the devil divine arts practitioners standing guard. In some time, the pellet broke through the fourth, fifth, and sixth watchtowers.
The other divine arts practitioners hurried over to the four people. When they stopped, Ding Yun projected his primordial spirit and chased after Qin Mu’s sword pellet. He saw that after it had broken through the sixth watchtower, it separated, and the eight thousand swords split into two groups before forming two slightly smaller sword pellet and flying in the opposite directions.
Ding Yun was shocked, but his primordial spirit chased after one of the sword pellets. He saw that it was following a set pattern and moving in an arc at a terrifying speed. All of the devils in the watchtowers were slain without any time to react.
When the sword pellet had come to the last watcher, Ding Yun finally heard the boom that was caused by them moving faster than the speed of sound. But, it wasn’t loud anymore. The devil divine arts practitioners stretched his head out to look, but behind him, the sword pellet flew into the pagoda and burst forth with sword light, drowning him out.
Ding Yun immediately called back his primordial spirit. When he returned to his corporeal body, he saw the sword pellet flying back. There was another one whooshing back as well.
The two sword pellets clinked in front of Qin Mu and became a slightly bigger sword pellet before landing gently in his hands.
“Fortunately, I was able to accomplish the mission.” Qin Mu raised his head and smiled.
Everyone gasped for air. They had suddenly stopped and had yet to look around the,.
Shu Yao looked at Ding Yun who nodded. “In a radius of one hundred and fifty miles, any watchtowers that could have heard the rumblings have all been destroyed by Cult Master. Places that are farther couldn’t have heard the noise from here.”
“One hundred and fifty miles?”
Yu He’s expression filled with disbelief. Qin Mu had only mentioned a hundred miles just now, but he had actually destroyed all the watchtowers in a hundred and fifty-mile radius. His vital qi cultivation was too strong!
‘Looks like he was indeed being humble,’ she thought secretly to herself.
“Let’s go over quickly! Cult Master, you’ve controlled so many swords, do you need to rest?” Shu Yao asked.
Qin Mu shook his head. “No worries, my vital qi is still abundant.”
Shu Yao jumped in shock and exclaimed to himself that Qin Mu was a pervert. Everyone went past the destroyed watchtowers in a hurry. Soon, they weren’t far from the small town which Ding Yun had mentioned earlier.
Everyone covered their traces and looked forward, their hearts trembling.
In front of them, the place could no longer be called a small town. Instead, it was a giant altar that was no smaller than the sacrificial altar that Saint Woodcutter had used to descend!
Thousands of strong humans were constructing it under the supervision of devil soldiers.
The sacrificial altar had already been half constructed, and numerous devil divine arts practitioners were carrying buckets of fresh blood to imprint rune markings.
“Hasn’t the devils already opened the barrier of Supreme Emperor Heaven? The world barrier between Supreme Emperor Heaven and the devil world can no longer stop the descent of the devils, so why are they still constructing a sacrificial altar?”
Qin Mu was puzzled. He then said in a low voice, “Unless, the god or devil they are planning to summon is not someone from the devil world? Could it be…”
He thought of Zhe Hua Li’s origin, and unease filled his heart.
Zhe Huali was Luo Wushuang’s disciple who came from the so-called true celestial heavens!
“There’s a strong practitioner of Celestial Being Realm here! Everyone look away, don’t let him notice you!” Shu Yao hurriedly said.
Everyone did as told. Beside the sacrificial altar, a strong devil practitioner had a primordial spirit of over thirty yards standing behind him. He was tall and strong, and his primordial spirit seemed to sense something for it looked around. However, it didn’t notice anything abnormal.
Qin Mu took out a mirror and used it to reflect the surroundings. “The devils here aren’t numerous. Besides that Celestial Being Expert, the others should not be hard to deal with…”
At this moment, he saw a figure walking out from inside of the sacrificial altar, and his expression instantly changed.
“Fu Riluo!”
Qin Mu’s palm was shaking as Fu Riluo in the mirror walked out of the sacrificial altar and raised his head to look straight at him.
“Run…” Qin Mu croaked in a hoarse voice.
Fu Riluo who was in the mirror took a stride forward and walked out of the mirror. His body became bigger and bigger, like a nightmare descending.
“Run quickly!” Qin Mu shouted out sternly.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Why do we need to run?”
Shu Yao, Yu He, and the rest had no idea why he’d said that. The black tiger god’s ears suddenly rose, and he looked at the sacrificial altar that was still being constructed.
Around it, the devil soldiers had heard Qin Mu’s shout and looked over with suspicion. The devil general of Celestial Being Realm immediately gave two shouts and sent a few devils to check.
They flew over, and one of them opened a black jar. Numerous wasps came flying out and grew to the size of two feet.
The black tiger god’s ears folded back down again, and he asked in bewilderment, “Run why These devils aren’t difficult for you to deal with. That general of Celestial Being Realm is slightly trickier, but it’s not like he can’t fight him at all.”
Qin Mu’s forehead broke out in cold sweat, and he felt the mirror in his hands becoming heavier and heavier. It was like carrying a huge mountain from which Fu Riluo was about to walk out!
“It’s Fu Riluo! He is over at that sacrificial altar!” His voice was hoarse. “Don’t you guys see him? He’s striding toward us!”
Everyone was astonished and hurriedly looked around. Yu He was puzzled. “Where’s Fu Riluo?”
The black tiger god looked around, and his ears flickered as he tried to hear anything, but he still shook his head in the end. “There’s no sign of Fu Riluo. Are you muddle-headed? Fu Riluo is the commander-in-chief of the devil race, so what would he be doing here instead of overseeing the main camp?”
The mirror in Qin Mu’s hands was incomparably heavy and crashed onto the ground. “Didn’t you guys see Fu Riluo in the mirror? Just now he walked out from the sacrificial altar, and I saw him in the mirror!”
Everyone hurriedly looked at the mirror, then shook their heads. “Cult Master, there’s nothing in the mirror. Are your eyes blurry?”
“The enemies are about to reach us. Prepare to face them!” Shu Yao hurriedly said.
The black tiger god looked at the clear mirror with a solemn face. He couldn’t see any Fu Riluo, but he sensed that something was wrong.
Qin Mu’s strength might not be comparable to that of Yu He, Shu Yao, and Sang Hua, but it wasn’t to the extent that he couldn’t hold onto a mirror!
It’s fall to the ground meant that it had grown too heavy, surpassing the limits of Qin Mu’s strength!
This was something that was impossible!
The black tiger god walked toward the mirror and said solemnly, “There are really no signs of Fu Riluo beside the altar. Did you really see him in the mirror?”
Qin Mu’s eyes were still staring at that mirror as if he couldn’t shift his gaze away. Beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. Even though the mirror had dropped on the ground, it hadn’t shattered. It stood upright in front of him as though an indescribable force held it there.
The black tiger good looked into the mirror, but there was still no Fu Riluo inside, only Qin Mu’s reflection.
The black tiger god’s heart trembled, and he hurriedly went to the other side and looked into Qin Mu’s eyes.
The youth was still staring at the mirror and with terror. In each of his eyes, there was a figure that was gradually growing bigger and bigger, filling his pupils!
In a bit, the black tiger god saw the appearance of that figure which had three faces. It was none other than the True Devil Commander of the devil race, Fu Riluo!
“Crap! Fu Riluo isn’t in the mirror, but in your eyes! You crossed gazes with him before!” The black tiger god’s expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly moved to smash the mirror. With the other hand, he grabbed Qin Mu. “Don’t look at the mirror! He’s borrowing your eyes and the reflection in the mirror to show himself!”
At this moment, a pair of black hands suddenly popped out from the mirror in front of Qin Mu and grabbed his shoulders. The youth instantly turned into a paper man and was dragged into the mirror.
The black tiger god had wanted to shatter the mirror, but stopped himself. He looked at his hand that was holding onto thin air.
He hurriedly turned the mirror around, but it was empty. Only the pair of black hands and Qin Mu were rapidly moving away, becoming smaller and smaller.
The black tiger god jumped toward the mirror, but just as he was about to enter, he heard a loud noise—the mirror had been shattered by him.
The black tiger god climbed up in a daze.
Yu He, Shu Yao, and the rest had been readying to face the enemies, but now they were too stunned by what had just happened. Yet they didn’t have the time to think and had to fight their enemy.
‘Fu Riluo had long wanted to seize junior brother. In Li City, he crossed gazes with Junior Brother Qin and planted the divine art of the devil path in his eyes…’
Cold sweat started rolling down the black tiger god’s forehead. Fu Riluo’s divine art of the devil path had to hide from terrifying existences like Saint Woodcutter and True God Pang Yu, so it should have had no power.
This meany that Fu Riluo had only imprinted his shadow in the depths of Qin Mu’s eyes. This shadow didn’t have any power, since it was the only way to hide it from the gods like Saint Woodcutter.
Only when Qin Mu stepped into the territory of the devils and absorbed devil qi would the shadow gain strength. It would grow, but it would still not be enough to capture the youth.
That was because the shadow was only an imprint in Qin Mu’s eyes, and Fu Riluo’s body within it was reversed. It was flipped horizontally when compared to the Fu Riluo in the real world and that included his five viscera and six bowels, the imprint of the divine arts, and even the smallest atom in his body.
Only when Qin Mu raised a mirror and looked at it that Fu Riluo in his eyes righted itself. He was then able to execute his divine arts and kidnap Qin Mu.
The moment the youth entered the devils’ territory and raised a mirror, he had activated Fu Riluo’s divine art.
‘If only I had realized it earlier…’ The sweat rolled down like rain over the tiger god’s forehead, and his eyelids were like two water screens. ‘It isn’t Junior Brother Qin that created trouble this time, but me… Now that I’ve lost Junior Brother Qin, how am I supposed to answer to my lord… I’m finished!’
Qin Mu looked around his new surroundings. He had appeared in a place that was desolate beyond imagination. There were several huge planets in the sky, but they were tattered, desolate, and lonely.
He was located in a huge swamp, standing on water. Flames floated in the distance, burning above the swamp’s ground layer.
He didn’t know where he was, but devil qi was lingering everywhere like fog.
“Fu Riluo!” Qin Mu shouted. “You are a senior that has captured me, so why aren’t you showing yourself?”
There was no sound in the surroundings as if he was the only living being around.
Qin Mu frowned and walked forward. A crisp sound rang out under his feet, and he lowered his head to look. He had stepped on a rotting corpse. From the clothing and body size, it should have been a devil that had died quite some time ago.
Somewhat stunned, Qin Mu looked at the swamp around himself. There were corpses floating everywhere, and they were all of the devils. There was no end to them, and they were even piled up in hills. Devil Fire burned, burning them as well as pieces of wood and straw huts. The latter probably came from collapsed houses.
There was no sun in the sky, only the broken planets.
Suddenly, fire snakes streaked through the air. Hundreds of them swarmed down. They were fragments of the broken planets the size of mountains fell straight at him!
Qin Mu wanted to dodge, but it was too late.
Boom!
Loud explosions rang out as terrifying flames pounced at his face like huge waves sweeping over with incomparably terrifying tornadoes, swallowing him up.
Qin Mu stood in the flames and the tornadoes, but he was not hurt at all. The terrifying waves washed over him again and again, but when they reached his body, they were stopped by a strange power.
The corpses in the swamp, however, had no such protection. They disintegrated in the devastating collision. The warped bodies turned into ashes and were blown away by the wind.
The swamp dried up in an instant, but before Qin Mu could even come back to his senses, he went into a daze. A broken planet had moved above his head and raised a terrifying tsunami.
Thunder-like explosions rang out in the sky, and a wave that was even higher than Mount Meru crashed toward him. The ground split open, and volcanoes rose up. They erupted and spewed out pillars of magma that connected heaven and earth.
Lightning flashed in the sky, and Qin Mu saw thousands of volcanoes and flaming pillars getting swept away by a huge wave. Even thunder and lightning were swallowed. The huge wave came crashing over, and it was a mighty force of heaven and earth that he could not defend against.
Qin Mu stood still and awaited his fate, but when the terrifying wave reached him, it was once again blocked by a strange power which tore it apart. He wasn’t injured at all.
The planet in the sky shifted back, and everything returned back to normal. Another vast swamp was formed, and who knew from where, broken bodies floated on the water surface once again.
‘Strange place…’
Qin Mu composed himself and walked forward. He knew that he had been taken away by Fu Riluo, but the devil god hadn’t killed him. Instead, he’d thrown him into this place.
He had to be planning something.
The youth’s speed was extremely fast, and he walked forward faster that he had never done before. During the journey, he experienced the terrifying meteorological phenomenon a few more times. There were floods, earthquakes, thunderstorms, volcanoes, fragments of planets recklessly destroying the world.
“Respectable king!” Suddenly, a devil god descended from the sky and bowed. “Respectable king, the sacrificial altar is built. Please give your command.”
Qin Mu was astonished by the devil god being extremely respectful to him. He didn’t seem able to see that he was a human.
“Okay,” Qin Mu replied vaguely. “Lead the way.”
The devil god did so, and not long later, they came to a huge community of cities. There were thousands of sacrificial altars that were like golden pyramids. Devil gods stood upright on them while countless devils knelt at the bottom of the stone steps, waiting to be sacrificed.
“Respectable king, our world can’t last much longer. Please give your command!”
The devil gods looked at him with fervent gazes, and Qin Mu nodded in a daze.
The countless devils kneeling on the stone steps raised their knives and cut their throats. Fresh blood instantly poured over the sacrificial altar.
Resounding voices rang out, speaking in the devil language. Qin Mu had learned it before and could understand what everyone was saying.
They were sacrificing and worshiping themselves to find a way for the later generations to survive. Their world was about to be destroyed, and they needed a new one to live in.
The towering pyramids became incomparably bright as pillars of light rushed into the sky and split it apart. They tore open the barrier of their world and another one, burning through the sky like a thin membrane.
It was shedding irregularly, and the other world gradually showed its true appearance.
Qin Mu raised his head to look and saw that it was… Supreme Emperor Heaven.
He lowered his head and looked at the water beneath his feet. In it, he could the reflection of his face.
The water showed three faces and sharps ears behind his head.
He was the ruler of this world about to die, the respectable king of the devil race—Fu Riluo.
Qin Mu raised his head and watched the incomparably magnificent yet sorrowful sight which was like a painting turning yellow and burning up.
The illusion was fading away.
Fu Riluo walked toward him while bathed in flames.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The sky was like a burning scroll with Fu Riluo at the center. The places that were touched by the flames turned into ashes, and soon half of the land was burned. When everything to the top of Qin Mu’s head was burned, the sky was cleaned out.
The devil world disappeared and another world appeared in his eyes.
Qin Mu didn’t look at Fu Riluo who was walking over, but around himself. Pitch black tall towers stood up ahead like a forest in the gray fog. Numerous devils were akin to hard-working ants hurrying to and fro, forging huge machines to attack the city. There were also some devils practicing to fight.
Only when Qin Mu saw the dim and broken sun hanging in the east did he let out a sigh of relief.
He was still in Supreme Emperor Heaven; the devil world that Fu Riluo had shown him was simply terrifying. He really didn’t want to stay in that place of destruction.
The sun of Supreme Emperor Heaven was god-forged, and its light wasn’t intense, unable to get rid of the devil qi in the devils’ territory. The little light that shone onto Qin Mu’s body was also cold, not warming him up in the least.
The world that Fu Riluo had shown him had been merely an illusion.
“Senior Fu Riluo shouldn’t have spent so much effort to kidnap me just to show the bitter history of his people?” Qin Mu looked away and said solemnly, “You guys should know that your bitter history has nothing to do with me, however, you had invaded Supreme Emperor Heaven and pushed the bitterness onto the human race, now that has something to do with me.”
Fu Riluo came to his side and said slowly, “Is Little Friend Qin so sure that he’s a human?”
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered. “What is Fu Riluo trying to say? Why don’t you make yourself clear?”
“You are a devil.” One of Fu Riluo’s faces looked straight at him and spoke. “Furthermore, you are a devil of extremely high quality. Your bloodline might even be higher than mine!”
Qin Mu was stunned and pointed at the devil with a chortle. He laughed until he couldn’t catch his breath.
Fu Riluo didn’t say anything and just waited for him to finish laughing. When he could laugh no longer, he slowly said, “Has no one ever told you that you are a devil?”
Qin Mu straightened his back and exhaled deeply. He said with a smile, “Someone had indeed said that before. When I was young, I had met a devil god sealed in Doom Suppression Palace that told me I was a devil. However, he said that to trick me, wanting to steal my body to break free of the seal, so what does Senior Fu Riluo want from me?”
Fu Riluo walked forward, and his neck turned. The back of his head shifted to his left side and he said, “I’m not trying to trick you. Even though half of what we devils say is fake, the other half is true. When that devil god wanted to seize your body, he told you that you are a devil to gain your trust. It had been the truth.”
Qin Mu suddenly melted, and his body became a black shadow that moved over the ground.
His speed was extremely fast, and he sprinted a hundred miles in a flash.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and walked out from the black shadow state. He then heard Fu Riluo’s voice. “You might not believe it, but don’t you feel your vital qi flowing smoothly when you execute the mudra of the devils, without any obstruction at all?”
Qin Mu was stunned. When he looked around, he saw that he was not far from Fu Riluo. It was just that now he was on the left instead of behind.
“For you to be able to learn the divine arts of the devil race so easily and execute them without obstruction, there’s only one explanation—you’re also a devil!” Fu Riluo said with a smile.
Qin Mu rose into the sky and executed Heaven Pilfering Divine Legs to the limits and broke through the air.
After a moment, he saw Fu Riluo in front of him, and his expression couldn’t help changing drastically. He hurriedly turned around and sprinted away.
After a moment, he found himself returning back, sprinting on the right of Fu Riluo.
Qin Mu paused and fell from the sky, sinking into the ground. When he moved quite a distance underground, he popped his head out to see that he was behind Fu Riluo.
He was still near the towers, and Fu Riluo was walking at a steady pace.
“However, you’re also human, so you’re skilled in cultivating the divine arts of the human race as well.” Fu Riluo’s voice came from the front. “You’re half human and half devil, so you are able to easily master the divine arts of the two races. I pity a talent like you, which is why I invited you here.”
Qin Mu patted the dirt on his clothes and sneered. “Respectable king, your method of inviting someone is quite unique.”
He stopped trying to escape and followed after Fu Riluo. When the devil heard that he no longer called him senior but changed to respectable king, one of his faces smiled.
The two names might have looked unintentional, but they were actually well thought out. Calling the other a senior was to let the other party know that he was a junior, and a senior laying hands on a junior’s life was disgraceful.
The title of respectable king was also a thought out response. It was how the devils addressed Fu Riluo, and Qin Mu was placing himself on the level of a devil to lower Fu Riluo’s guard.
Of course, these kind of small tricks were of no use against Fu Riluo.
“The devils aren’t like those of humans who have vast and rich lands, blessed by heaven. We devils are from Youdu.” Fu Riluo signaled for him to follow and began speaking. “There were so many damned souls in Youdu that their grievances and devil nature gave birth to the ancestors of the devil race. They were the devil gods that carried evil thoughts from heaven and earth, giving birth to the devils when they reproduced with one another.”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, not understanding why he was being told all that.
“After the devils were born, they weren’t viewed highly by Youdu and got chased out by Earth Count. That’s why my devils were vagrants from the moment we were born and were forced to find a place to settle themselves. We were not welcomed by the other races, so the places we could pick were usually treacherous. However, even like that, we still survived. Yet…”
His other face turned around and said, “Yet our world sank from destruction, and for the survival of our race, we had no choice but to invade Supreme Emperor Heaven. Actually, the reason I’ve come to find you is to find a method for humans and devils to live together. When I first saw you, a thought took root in my mind!”
Fu Riluo’s face was incredibly sincere, and he suggested a very tempting idea. “If you could help me unite Supreme Emperor Heaven, I would let you rule the humans! Like that, the humans would be safe under your rule while the devils would be safe under my rule! Isn’t this the best of both worlds?”
His gaze was full of vigor when it landed on Qin Mu, anticipating his reply.
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then probed, “Respectable king, it is only half of what a devil says is true. Now, I would like to ask, which are the truths and which are the lies in the sentences the respectable king just said?”
Fu Riluo turned his neck and changed his face. This one was gloomy and said indifferently, “What do you think?”
Qin Mu smiled. “Respectable king’s suggestion is very good. Why don’t we do as what you’ve said?” Fu Riluo was stunned, but Qin Mu continued, “Supreme Emperor Heaven will be separated into two, and I will rule the human race while you will rule the devil race, and everyone will live peacefully. Respectable king, you can now hand all of the humans in your devil territory to me.”
Fu Riluo’s gloomy face stared straight at him, then there were two cracks. His neck slowly rotated around, and his third face appeared. It was green-skinned and had ferocious fangs. It looked both malicious and terrifying.
Qin Mu exhaled and said with a smile, “Now I know how many of respectable king’s words are true and how many false. Respectable king, your aim isn’t Supreme Emperor Heaven, but Great Ruins. This place is just a springboard for you. If I help you swallow Supreme Emperor Heaven, you will sacrifice it to enter Great Ruins!”
Fu Riluo gave a cold snort and brought him forward to the front of a broken cliff with a malicious expression. “Didn’t my disciple Fu Yuxiao die in your hands? I can put away this grudge and give you luxury, but you treat me like an idiot! Do you think Heavenly Teacher can stop me? Do you think those gods of yours can stop me?
Qin Mu walked up a few steps and looked down. His expression changed drastically.
In front of him was an abyss in which countless devils and humans were busy sculpting huge and majestic altars.
There were about a few hundred of them!
When Saint Woodcutter had summoned his friends, twenty-four stone statues had descended from Great Ruins. They had revived and become gods. Their twenty-four pyramid altars had looked quite magnificent in a line.
Yet now, below him were much more than twenty-four sacrificial altars!
There were a few hundred of them, and they were all going to summon devil gods!
The corner of Qin Mu’s eyes trembled, and he said in a hoarse voice, “It’s impossible for you to summon so many gods and devils! Even if the celestial heavens assist you, they wouldn’t give you that much power! You also wouldn’t dare to accept such a huge army of gods and devils!”
Fu Riluo shook his head. “I can invite the gods and devils of the Celestial Heavens down to the lower bound, but I indeed don’t dare to do that.”
Cold sweat rolled down Qin Mu’s forehead, and he immediately shook his head. “That world of yours has long been connected to Supreme Emperor Heaven, so there aren’t any more devil gods. If there were, they could come in directly.
“With the war ongoing for twenty thousand years, many of your devil gods must have died in battle. There aren’t many left, so there’s no need for so many sacrificial altars…”
Fu Rilup looked at him coldly. “Continue to guess. I’ll give you a way to survive if you guess correctly.”
Qin Mu’s heart shook violently, and he gripped his hands. He instantly knew what Fu Riluo was planning to summon.
“The ancestors of the devils, the devil gods born from the devil nature, grievances, and evil thoughts of Youdu! You’re planning to summon those things!”
Fu Riluo laughed loudly and looked rather pleased. “What do you think about this idea?”
Qin Mu composed himself and shook his head. “Respectable king has also come to a dead end, to even consider summoning them. With the characteristics of those devil gods, it wouldn’t end with just the elimination of the human race. The whole Supreme Emperor Heaven would be destroyed!”
“That’s why we are sacrificing Supreme Emperor Heaven.” Fu Riluo smiled, and the three faces spoke in unison. “We’re going to turn Supreme Emperor Heaven into the stepping stone to enter Great Ruins! However, I have an even better idea. I’ve heard you constructed a Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. If you forge a few bridges like that for my people, I could spare your life.”
“Respectable king would dare to let me build bridges for his devils? Aren’t you afraid of me tampering with thm?” Qin Mu asked.
Fu Riluo’s expression changed slightly, and he said coldly, “So you are fixated on rejecting me?”
“Senior…” Qin Mu hurriedly said,
Fu Riluo swept his sleeves up and sneered. “Stop trying to act smart! There’s no use in calling me senior! I’ve treated you sincerely and think highly of your outstanding talent. Even Heavenly Teacher couldn’t come up with such a thing like Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. But you did, so I pitied your talent and let you live this long! Do you really think I won’t kill you? When had my devils lost their reputation?”
His fierce aura erupted, and Qin Mu’s expression changed drastically. He couldn’t breathe from the pressure and hurriedly took a few steps back. With the last breath in his chest, he shouted, “Actually I’m from Carefree Village!”
Fu Riluo was about to kill him, but stopped when he heard what he had said. “You’re from Carefree Village? What proof do you have?”
Qin Mu’s face was flushed, and he couldn’t catch his breath.
Fu Riluo pulled his devil aura back, and Qin Mu gasped for breath. He took out the jade pendant and said, “I have the token of Carefree Village as proof! Respectable king, you should recognize it, right?”
Fu Riluo stretched his hand out, and the jade pendant broke free from Qin Mu’s grasp, flying into his hands.
Qin Mu’s heart beat furiously, but he suppressed it, forcing his heart rate to go back to normal. ‘King Yama said I can’t let the jade pendant leave my side, or bad things will happen. Now I can only rely on this to escape. I hope it works… Eh, how come the bad things aren’t happening yet? Could I be too close to the jade pendant?’
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu blinked and secretly moved back two steps, but there were still no bad things happening. He moved back another two steps, but everything was still normal.
“This jade pendant… It is indeed a jade pendant from Carefree Village!” Fu Riluo examined it over and over again. His faces were flickering between clear and dark while muttering to one another. “That’s not right, not right; he is lying to us! How can a person from Carefree Village be half human and half devil? He is definitely lying to us!”
“This brat is very crafty. He may look honest, but he’s actually very scheming. You can’t believe his words!”
“However, this is indeed a jade pendant of Carefree Village. If we caught a person of Carefree Village and found that place through him, the celestial heavens would definitely reward us handsomely after we report it to them. They would then certainly give a place for the devils to live peacefully!”
“We can’t trust the celestial heavens! Pigs are more likely to fly than them being reliable!”
…
Qin Mu secretly moved back a few more steps while the three faces of Fu Riluo were quarreling. He suddenly turned around and ran, but the next instant, he saw Fu Riluo before him.
Fu Riluo was still standing on the same spot from which he hadn’t moved an inch. The three faces were still quarreling, and Qin Mu couldn’t help falling into despair.
Fu Riluo was too strong, so strong that he could distort space and prevent those weaker than him from escaping. Qin Mu couldn’t even step away from the jade pendant!
“Carefree Village is very mysterious. It had established a great civilization and large celestial heavens! However, how could Carefree Village have a devil descendant? That’s very suspicious!”
“That’s right, it’s very suspicious. I think we should kill this brat! Let’s kill him now!”
“Wait a minute, this jade pendant is weird. There’s a seal hidden inside. What is it for? Could it be hiding the secrets of Carefree Village?”
Qin Mu stared dumbfoundedly at the three faces of Fu Riluo. There were actually three different consciousness in Fu Riluo’s body, and they were like three different souls. At this moment, they were fighting each other to see who can finish studying the jade pendant first and unravel the secret of its seal.
Qin Mu stood obediently and didn’t move. Since he couldn’t leave, he decided to be as obedient and honest as possible.
At that moment, he heard voices, some familiar whispers. They were no strangers to him as he had heard them when King Yama had played with his jade pendant in Fengdu.
They were very noisy. It sounded as though countless spirits were hiding in the dark and speaking alluring words with distorted and strange expressions in an attempt to lure him in.
Qin Mu shook his head, but the whispers came closer and closer, as though their owners were sprawled beside his ears and speaking straight into them
He raised his hand to wave them away, but he couldn’t touch nor feel those voices in the real world.
The next instant, he felt as though the voices entered his mind. The sound was simply too loud, nearly splitting his mind apart.
Qin Mu tilted his head to the right and patted his left ear as if he wanted to shake the voices out from his mind. However, they grew louder and louder before suddenly overlapping.
HIs head lowered, and he froze. His body swayed back and forth, his arms hanging weakly beside him.
“Hehe, the seal is almost suppressed by us!”
“This thing definitely has some secret!”
“Maybe it can let us discover the marvel of Carefree Village!”
Fu Riluo’s three faces were still chatting incessantly when a voice suddenly rang out from the side. “Smash it.”
Fu Riluo turned his head around and looked at the source of that voice. He saw Qin Mu with his head lowered just standing there. His body swayed back and forth.
Bewildered, Fu Riluo asked with a smile, “What did you say?”
An incomparably evil voice came from Qin Mu’s mouth as he chuckled. “I’m telling you to smash it. Something interesting will happen then. Quick, smash it.”
Fu Riluo’s three faces frowned. The extent of evil in the voice made him shudder not from the cold. He was the respectable king who was incomparably evil, so it should have been close to impossible to make him find someone else evil or shudder without feeling cold.
“Why aren’t you making your move?”
Behind Qin Mu, space suddenly cracked open. With a hum, a huge evil eye opened up, and butterfly-wing-shaped devil light burst forth from it.
The space in the surroundings cracked from the vibrations and looked ready to shatter at any moment. The devil light filled the cracks, creating an extremely bewitching and evil sight.
“Pitiful little things, what a lowly and weak bloodline…”
Qin Mu’s voice became more and more evil as it floated around. He was clearly standing in one place, yet he gave Fu Riluo a feeling that he was present everywhere.
The devil god frowned. In Qin Mu’s manner of speech, he had become a pitiful thing, someone from a race with lowly and weak bloodline. He couldn’t accept that!
However, he felt a hint of danger and fear bloomed in his heart, but there was even more excitement in his heart. “Is this the secret of your jade pendant? The secret of Carefree Village?”
Behind Qin Mu, a second crack in space opened up, and another strange devil eye showed up. The space cracked open again and again, and devil light poured out from all directions.
“Incomparably weak and little existence, lowly and pitiful worm, how dare you not listen to my command?” Qin Mu smiled with his head still lowered. “Shi shi shi, you’re seeking death, eh. How should I kill you to make it interesting…”
Fu Riluo’s mind went blank when he saw the third eye. It was located slightly above the first two eyes, right in the center between them.
This eye seemed to contain boundless devil fire, but when it wanted to open, it was unable to do so. Only a tiny gap could be seen, but even so, the power of the devil fire hidden inside it made people shudder not from the cold.
Fu Riluo slowly raised his head and looked at the three evil devil eyes that were rising slowly. In a few moments, he saw a majestic devil god that was blazing with the devil fire of Youdu. He was looking down on Fu Riluo from high above.
The devil god lowered his head with difficulty and looked at Qin Mu. His other two faces were trying their best to rotate their eyeballs and to see what exactly was happening around him.
“This is impossible, this is definitely impossible!” Fu Riluo’s throat went dry, and he spoke to himself in a hoarse voice. “It’s impossible for your body to have such a powerful primordial spirit of a primordial devil! This isn’t logical…”
“Destroy the jade pendant for me!”
Qin Mu suddenly raised his head up, and his pupils were completely black. Black devil fire burst forth from them like butterfly wings, and his terrifying words used frightening devil voice to assault its target.
Fu Riluo felt violent wind hit him in the face, and his clothes fluttered backward. Wrinkles formed on his face from the vibrations, accumulating together.
In his surroundings, sand and rocks flew from the violent devil voice that had formed a black storm!
He narrowed his eyes and took a good look around. There was also an eye at the heart of Qin Mu’s brows, but it hadn’t opened yet. There was only a small gap at the bottom.
“This is… You were born in Youdu!” Fu Riluo instantly came to realization and screeched. “You…”
Boom!
A huge fist crashed against his body, and Fu Riluo coughed up blood. The surrounding space crackled, and majestic mountains passed by him in a flash. In the next instant, his body fell into the abyss and crashed into an altar in the middle of construction.
It crumbled on the spot, and rocks flew in all directions. Fu Riluo couldn’t help becoming furious, and three growls escaped his mouths. His body began growing once he stopped restraining it. His muscles expanded outward, and he stretched out his hand to grab the devil spear. He was about to soar into the sky when the world suddenly turned dim.
Fu Riluo didn’t stop to think and just stabbed his devil spear upwards. He was a true devil of the devil race and was an existence that was revered as respectable king by the other devil gods. Even though his skills couldn’t be said to be matchless, he was a top-notch practitioner in Supreme Emperor Heaven. Only Saint Woodcutter’s ax could block his devil spear.
Yet when the incomparably thick devil spear collided with the huge fist, it actually bent from the crushing force!
Fu Riluo grunted, and the body of the spear slid backward in his hands, slicing his skin open and painting the shaft crimson.
Soon, he could withstand it no more, and the devil spear flew out from his hands.
“Destroy that jade pendant!”
With the roar, another huge fist crashed ruthlessly onto Fu Riluo’s body. His bones shook and cracked, then went numb. Devil blood spurted out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he flew backward.
Bang, bang, bang. Dull thuds rang out as his huge body crashed into sacrificial altars which could not stop his momentum.
At that moment, he saw light, the light of Qin Mu’s eyes. They were two beams of devil light.
Twang!
Two flames swept forward like light pillars and hit Fu Riluo’s chest. It exploded, revealing his insides.
He was a true devil, so he had a strong cultivation and astonishing lifeforce. He hurriedly sealed his wounds, but he still went through countless altars.
As rocks flew in all directions, he saw Qin Mu leaping around with a strange posture, passing through the rubble in the air and closing in on him rapidly.
Fu Riluo’s momentum gradually weakened, and he finally stopped when he reached the last sacrificial altar. He was completely stuck within it.
He raised his head with difficulty and saw Qin Mu in front of him with an evil expression on his face. He was currently examining him with interest.
Fu Riluo revealed a hint of smile with difficulty and said in a hoarse voice, “Let me tell you a small secret…”
“What secret?” Qin Mu tilted his head. “I love to hear the little secrets of others before they die. Quickly, tell me!”
“I will”—Fu Riluo raised his palm and smacked the youth’s head—”return the jade pendant to you!”
Qin Mu’s expression changed drastically. “You wish to scheme against me? I will kill you, you little s—”
Suddenly, the violent aura around his body faded, and his eyes regained clarity. The eye in the heart of his brows closed unwillingly, and the face of the primordial devil’s primordial spirit behind him distorted before vanishing.
Fu Riluo let out a sigh. At this moment, the jade pendant that was stuck on Qin Mu’s forehead dropped to the ground.
Fu Riluo felt his blood run cold and exerted all his strength before relaxing again. “Luckily it didn’t shatter…”
He fainted with a smile.
After a moment, Qin Mu climbed up and looked around groggily. When he saw Fu Riluo embedded in the sacrificial altar, he couldn’t help jumping in shock.
When he saw all of the destruction at the abyss, he couldn’t help feeling a lingering fear.
‘Saint Woodcutter was right, once the jade pendant leaves me, a great curse will be unleashed. Even this true devil Fu Riluo was beaten to such a state. Looks like this curse isn’t simply just heavenly lightning or heavenly fire!’
The youth’s gaze flickered, and he turned to run in a hurry. ‘Let me take this chance when he has fainted to quickly get away.’
After taking two steps, he turned back and searched around for his jade pendant. He put it on and only then did he leave.
‘Luckily I didn’t lose it! The curse in this jade pendant is very useful, so it would be a pity if I lost it!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Soon, Qin Mu knocked out a devil divine arts practitioner and stripped his clothes. He changed appearance and just walked flamboyantly through the devil lands while they swarmed toward the abyss.
There had been a sudden change in that area. The activity was noticed by everyone, and the whole city was alarmed. Even though the events happened fast and stopped soon, the power that had burst forth had been extremely terrifying.
Whoosh!
Two devil gods flew toward the abyss. Numerous devils who had wings followed right after them.
Qin Mu went against the crowd, slowly squeezing forward. In time, he walked out of the crowd and moved toward the city gate.
He didn’t dare to fly as he was in the city of the devils. He didn’t know how many devil gods or experts of Divine Bridge Realm and Life and Death Realm were hiding around.
Even the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven wouldn’t dare to be reckless here, so he could only slowly inch forward. While doing that, he became anxious again.
When the two devil gods reached the bottom of the abyss, they would find the fainted Fu Riluo, and it wouldn’t take them but a moment to bring him back to consciousness. When the devil god opened his eyes, he would definitely order a lockdown on all cities to look for Qin Mu,
If he couldn’t leave before the order for the lockdown was given, he might not be able to escape at all!
The city had once been a divine city of Supreme Emperor Heaven, and it was unbelievably vast. It would take him some time to reach its outer walls.
Qin Mu hurried until he finally came to the city gate. At that moment, a shout came from the abyss. “Respectable king has commanded to immediately lock down the whole city. Restrict all devils from going out!”
“Activate the formation, lock down the city!”
“The ground, the sky, lock down all of them so even a mosquito would have to forget about going out!”
Qin Mu’s expression changed slightly as he looked at the city gate. There were numerous strong workers of the devil race pushing the huge city gate forcefully to shut it. On the towers and other tall buildings, formation markings and runes lighted up. They flowed down from the tops of the buildings like water and went toward the city walls.
Once the formation and rune markings on the city wall lighted up, beams of dazzling lights shot into the sky. Between the markings, a huge space barrier began forming in the sky.
At the base of the wall, there were quite a number of rune and formation markings flowing into the ground!
Even the capital city of Eternal Peace didn’t have such defensive preparations. If the formation markings in the sky fused with the formation markings in the ground, Qin Mu would have to forget about leaving the city!
He seemed to suddenly melt, turning into a black shadow that moved quickly along the corner of the wall. It was heading straight for the city gate!
Gates were huge and heavy. Even with dozens of strong devil workers working together, they could only slowly push it closed.
The strong workers had cultivated corporeal body divine arts and had boundless strength, not spells and spirit weapons. They only cultivate their muscles, and bones, raising their physical strength!
There were similar strong workers in the army of Heavenly Saint Cult and Eternal Peace Empire. When a couple who had cultivated their strength to the extreme, they could even carry a stone statue that was the corporeal body of a god!
Yet the city gate of this divine city required dozens of strong workers to push it!
The shadow that was Qin Mu leaped through the shadows of the buildings like a phantom. He seemed akin to a spirit that was rushing to the bottom of the city gate. Before it closed, he had to leave or else he would have no way out!
With the effort of the numerous strong devil workers, the gate was about to be closed. There was only a small gap left between the two huge doors.
Suddenly, a shiny bead rolled over and got jammed right between the two doors, preventing it from being closed.
A strong worker beside the door saw this and kicked the bead out of the city. He grumbled and pushed the huge doors shut.
It just that he didn’t see that when he kicked, his ‘shadow’ had rolled out together with the bead, fusing with the shadow of the bead.
The bead continued to roll for over thirty yards. It rolled to the side of the moat and gradually stopped there.
The oval-shaped shadow under the bead suddenly grew limbs, and its two shadow-like arms became longer and longer. They soon put force on the shiny bead, and it rolled forward and dropped into the river with a plop.
After a moment, in the shadow on the opposite the moat, a pitch-black shadow crawled out and moved close to the ground.
Soon, the city gate opened wide and countless devils rushed out of the city. “That person is not in the city. Find him immediately; we can’t let him leave our territory!”
Qin Mu hid and dodged, avoiding all the watchtowers. He utilized his Phantom Illusion Technique to its extreme for that. In time, he went up high and looked afar, but he still couldn’t see Li City.
‘Fu Riluo had brought me to the territory of the devils, but where exactly is this place? How far is it from the human territory?’
The land was vast and the sky was dim. The sun in the east was cold as it gradually became red, signaling the coming of night.
Qin Mu composed himself and hid his figure. ‘Supreme Emperor Heaven doesn’t have even one star, so it’s hard to orient oneself. I can only hurry on my way in the morning.’
The scouts of the devil race searched everywhere while Qin Mu hid here and there. When he was about to be discovered, he killed the devil scout and changed into his thick black iron armor. With the helmet and a long black iron devil spear hanging on the hooks of the horse, he roamed on a Devil Fire Nightmare through the fog of the devil territory.
On the second day, the ugly broken sun lit up as usual, and Qin Mu pushed open the face cover of the black iron helmet to orient himself. He used devil language to steer the Devil Fire Nightmare toward the east.
When afternoon came, Qin Mu raised his head toward the sun, and his face changed drastically. The broken sun in the east had suddenly extinguished!
‘Imperial Preceptor, aren’t you being a little too efficient?’
Qin Mu almost spewed out a mouthful of old blood. He had told Imperial Preceptor to assist Supreme Emperor Heaven in designing two suns, so the broken sun’s disappearance from the sky was definitely linked to him!
This had to be because Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor found the sun unbearable to look at and summoned all of the divine arts practitioners to Supreme Emperor Heaven to get rid of the thing and reforge it.
With the sun gone, it was almost impossible for Qin Mu to orient himself!
***
In Li City, flames blazed and lit up the darkness. With the light of Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge connecting Supreme Emperor Heaven with Great Ruins, numerous divine arts practitioners were pouring in from Eternal Peace. They had built a huge factory beside Li City and begun forging giants as well as all kinds of components day and night.
True God Pang Yu fetched the blueprints that nobody understood. They displayed Sun Great Furnace and were left behind by Sun Forger God. The god hadn’t had time to finish forging the second sun before he was assassinated by the devils, but luckily his blueprints had survived.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor summoned numerous divine arts practitioners skilled in algebra and recalculated, improving the blueprints. He set extremely high requirements for precision.
What the divine arts practitioners of Li City were forging was the Sun Great Furnace.
“My lord, I’ve lost junior brother…”
On the city tower of Li City, the black tiger god tumbled to the ground and transformed into a little black tiger that was only a foot tall. It had black and yellow stripes running down his body. He lighted up a stick of incense and prayed respectfully.
The smoke of the incense rose in spirals and condensed into a cloud above him. It transformed into Saint Woodcutter’s face which was staring at him expressionlessly.
The little tiger bowed his head and glued his ears together at the back of his head, not daring to speak.
After a moment, Saint Woodcutter’s voice reached him. “What do I need you for?”
The black tiger god felt his blood run cold and hurriedly said, “Don’t worry, my lord, I will definitely find Junior Brother Qin!”
After the smoke dispersed, Saint Woodcutter’s voice spoke again. “I’ve gone to the world of the devils, and I’m temporarily unable to return. If I come back and don’t see that disciple of mine, you shall stay in this form forever and can forget about turning back!”
The black tiger god let out a sigh of relief. At this moment, he heard a crisp and loud voice from afar. “Fatty Dragon, even though young master is in this world, won’t you starve if we don’t find him after you had eaten all your spirit pills in one go?”
There was a chuckle, and another muffled voice spoke. “Sister Ling’er, you might not have noticed, but when I had painstakingly snatched back some of my spirit pills from the devil general in the chest, I’ve only dared to eat a spirit pill a day! I’ve already starved to the point that I’m only bones. Look, take a look, I’m much skinnier than before! To prevent young master from not being able to recognize me, I had decided to eat all of the remaining spirit pills. Yet even so, I’m worried that I won’t recover to my previous state…”
“I’ve heard young master is lost. If we can’t find him, you’ll starve to death!”
“Cult Master is so clever, how could he be lost?”
The black tiger god looked toward the source of the voices. He first saw a huge chest, then a behemoth with a huge tummy. When he walked up the city tower, his fats were jiggling randomly. It seemed like a huge monster that had the bloodline of a dragon and a qilin.
On the head of this fatty sat an adorable little girl that looked to be five or six years old. She had six snow white fox tails behind her, and there were two furry ears on her head.
Sang Hua, Yu He, and the rest were following behind. There were two young girls he had not seen before among them.
The little girl with the furry tail and furry ears saw him, and her eyes couldn’t help shining brightly. She jumped down from the big fatty’s head and giggled as she rushed straight for the black tiger god. She clapped her hands and said with a smile, “What a cute little tigwer, let me hug you!”
The black tiger god smelt the odor of a fox, and his face turned black. He trembled and transformed into a beautiful and big black tiger that was over thirty yards large. He roared toward the sky, and his god aura and fierceness assaulted the surrounding area.
The expression of the little fox demon changed drastically, and she turned around to run toward the unfamiliar girls. She jumped into the embrace of one of them before starting to bawl. “Big tigwer…”
The young girl turned the demon fox away from him while the big fatty sat down on his buttocks and raised his head to look at the behemoth in front of him in awe.
Sang Hua hurriedly went forward and said, “Senior Tiger, these few are the friends of Cult Master Qin.”
The black tiger god dispersed his god aura and fierceness before transforming back into a black tiger youth. He retracted his sharp claws and his ears flapped twice. “I’ve been scammed by a fox in my early years so I can’t meet a fox demon, pardon me.”
Little fox demon popped her head out and said with a smile, “I don’t scam people.” She collected her courage and walked out from Ling Yuxiu’s back to examine the black tiger god. “Can I touch your ears?” she asked with curiosity.
The black tiger god hesitated before lowering his head. “I’ve scared you just now so I’ll let you do it.”
Hu Ling’er touched them and exclaimed in admiration, “How soft! You guys, try touching!”
Ling Yuxiu hesitated. “Wouldn’t this not be good?” After saying that, she encouraged herself to try it and cried out in astonishment. “They’re really very soft and smooth!”
The other girls also stretched out their hands to touch, and the black tiger god felt somewhat comfortable. However, he still didn’t think it was proper. He was a demon god after all, and it was quite embarrassing to be touched like this.
However, it was indeed very comfortable.
The dragon qilin came forward and planned to have a try as well. The black tiger god immediately raised his paw and pressed the fellow on the ground.
After a moment, everyone was satisfied, and the black tiger god asked, “How do you guys plan to find Junior Brother Qin?”
“Very simple, Primordial Spirit Assembly!” Si Yunxiang said with a smile.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Primordial Spirit Assembly?”
The black tiger god was puzzled; he had never heard of this phrase before. Si Yunxiang took out a huge stack of blueprints and laid them out in the city tower. Drawn on them were all kinds of rune markings.
“This is a technique that Cult Master and divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace worked together to create, and it was named Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly by the emperor.”
Si Yunxiang searched for a moment and found Qin Mu’s primordial spirit marking, then took out cinnabar and brush. After dissolving the cinnabar, she started drawing on the pillars of the city tower.
“Cult Master once imprinted everyone’s primordial spirit marking in Imperial College’s Hall of Supreme Learning. His own marking was also there. Primordial Spirit Assembly uses them to attract a person’s primordial spirit over, so everyone could gather with their primordial spirits to discuss matters.”
Ling Yuxiu took out a stick of incense and stabbed it below the primordial spirit marking, then lit it up. “This Soul Guide Incense that cowherd had created from the divine art Soul Guide. It is used to bring a primordial spirit over. We want to use it and the markings to make a connection with his primordial spirit, then guide it over her and ask him about his location.”
The two girls looked at each other, and Si Yunxiang released her vital qi, lighting up Qin Mu’s primordial spirit marking. Ling Yuxiu in the meantime used her vital qi to wrap the fragrance of Soul Guide Incense to send it into the primordial spirit marking.
Everyone waited quietly in the tower and watched the Soul Guide Incense burn down. Its smoke rose in spirals, but the fragrance wasn’t too thick, more like refreshing.
Incense didn’t last for too long, so as the Soul Guide Incense burned down bit by bit, everyone’s heart was on tenterhooks. The primordial spirit marking and Soul Guide Incense would invoke a reaction with Qin Mu’s primordial spirit, so he would just need to execute Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly to be able to come to them.
However, if he’d met with some bad luck, he wouldn’t be able to come to meet them.
When Soul Guide Incense was halfway done and there was still no activity, everyone became worried. But at that moment, wind howled and rushed into the city tower.
Everyone was delighted. They saw that Qin Mu’s primordial spirit was faintly discernible and not stable.
“Cult Master, where are you?” The dragon qilin was extremely delighted and cried out hurriedly, “The spirit pills you have prepared are finished. Come back quickly!”
“I prepared enough pills for three-four months for you, so how have you finished them already?”
“This…” The dragon qilin was speechless.
“Young master, we’re looking for you. Where are you now?” Hu Ling’er asked.
Qin Mu shook his head. “I also don’t know. I’m in the devils’ territory, but there are no sun, moon, or stars in the sky to orient myself. I was kidnapped by Fu Riluo, but managed to escape with difficulty. Now I’m being pursued by the elites of the devil race so my primordial spirit can’t stay here for long.”
Everyone frowned greatly.
Sang Hua suddenly spoke up. “Brother who threshes the grains, look at the terrain of the surrounding mountains and remember them. Check if there are any cities around. Supreme Emperor Heaven has sixty-four cities, and the name of each one is different. The terrain around each city is also different, so whatever you tell us, we’ll be able to determine your location.”
Qin Mu’s primordial spirit picked up the cinnabar brush and drew on the ground. He quickly painted the terrain around him. “I didn’t see any god city.”
Sang Hua, Yu He, and the rest of the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven took a look, then shook their heads. They were too young and hadn’t been to the devils’ territory before.
“Let me call my father!” Sang Hua left in a hurry.
Suddenly Qin Mu’s primordial spirit dimmed. “The enemies are here. I need to go back!”
A gust of violent wind blew out of the city tower, and the primordial spirit disappeared without a trace. Not long later, Sang Hua brought God Sang Ye over, and he examined the terrain that Qin Mu had drawn in detail. He thought for a moment before crying out, “He’s near the devils’ old nest! He is in Black Sun Mountain Range that’s beside Returning Maiden City!”
Yu He frowned. “Returning Maiden City? Wasn’t that god city destroyed? I’ve heard that that place has become an ominous land…”
God Sang Ye nodded. “When the devils invaded, they first appeared in Returning Maiden City and completely destroyed it. In front of Black Sun Mountain Range is the battlefield of Returning Maiden City. That place was the cruelest battlefield in Supreme Emperor Heaven; close to a thousand gods and devils died there! The numbers of divine arts practitioners that lost their lives on both sides are uncountable! If he continues walking forward, he will enter that ominous land!”
“Why do you say that place is ominous?” Ling Yuxiu asked in puzzlement.
“Too many gods and devils died there, and their blood has all gathered together, forming an extremely strange zone. It is filled with the undying wills of gods and devils as well as curses and devil nature of the damned souls. So many divine arts practitioners, gods, and devils were lost there that they could make the entire zone light up like day when night falls.”
There was a hint of terror in his voice when he continued. “What light up the night are barn lanterns. They hang on the small boats that come from Youdu. Countless messengers of death sailed around, making that old battlefield a treacherous place. Back then, I had yet to cultivate to the god realm and was only a small soldier…”
After the huge battle, the place had become incomparably desolate. Young Sang Ye had suffered heavy injuries in the battle, and when he woke up, the sky was already dark.
When he crawled up from the pile of corpses, he saw an unforgettable sight. Small boats sailed from the darkness, and under their lanterns were thousands of elders that looked exactly the same. They went around silently and reaped the souls from the battlefield.
The elders didn’t make a sound yet the night was filled with the wails of countless souls who didn’t want to fall into Youdu. However, none of them were spared from the grasp of the messengers of death. They followed the small boats and floated into the darkness of Youdu.
God Sang Ye could never forget that sight!
“The broken souls weren’t taken away by the messengers of death, so as time went by, that place became an ominous land. There have been numerous strange incidents in there, and numerous peculiar things hide in that place.”
God Sang Ye composed himself before continuing. “Afterwards, both us and the devils have given up on that place. If Cult Master Qin continues to go forward, he will step into that ominous land.”
The dragon qilin suddenly cried out. “The mixing of god blood and devil blood can give birth to terrifying things like Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon! Quickly inform Cult Master to avoid that place!” the dragon qilin cried out.
“How strong is Lonely Mountain Ridge Root Demon?” God Sang Ye asked.
“About equivalent to a strong practitioner of Life and Death Realm.”
God Sang Ye sneered. “That should only be a little fellow. The things in the ominous land are even stronger than divine arts practitioners of Life and Death Realm. Quickly tell him to avoid that place!”
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu hurriedly contacted Qin Mu again yet even when the incense had finished burning, he still hadn’t responded.
“He should have encountered enemies so he doesn’t have the time to reply! This is bad!” Si Yunxiang said. “Those enemies must be strong, and they might even force him into the ominous land!”
“I shall go over there and fetch him back!” the black tiger god said resolutely.
God Sang Ye shook his head. “You can’t go. The journey would be too long, and there are too many variables. If you meet a devil god on the way, even you would die there. It’s best if you guys stay here and wait for his primordial spirit to reply, hoping that he will be able to walk out of the ominous land. Only by walking out could he have the chance to survive.”
The black tiger god frowned and shook his head. “I was the one that lost him. I need to find him!”
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu looked at each other and said in unison, “We’ll follow you!”
“Me too!” Hu Ling’er raised her tails and looked at her companion.
The dragon qilin hesitated. Hu Ling’er’s eyes narrowed, and she said gently, “Fatty Dragon, if we can’t find young master, you will have to starve.”
The dragon qilin was instantly full of vitality. “Count me in!”
Sang Hua looked at her father and said, “Father, they are unfamiliar with this place…”
God Sang Ye felt a headache coming. “Just be careful. A day after you guys enter the devils’ territory, I will lead troops to attack and attract their attention. You guys will be safer that way.”
At the borders of the ominous land, the Devil Fire Nightmare under Qin Mu let out a cry when its legs were cut off by a series of knife lights. A devil divine arts practitioners sliced open the horse’s belly and attacked Qin Mu who was on its back.
Qin Mu leaped up while pressing down with his palm. He shattered the devil along with the horse in a single move.
Whoosh!
An old woman rushed over with a huge calabash. Blood light poured out from it like a flood and drowned Qin Mu out. With a bloody stink, it swirled frantically before taking the shape of a huge crimson python that coiled around Qin Mu, snapping his bones.
Formation markings swirled in Qin Mu’s eyes, and sun rose from the Milky Way. Two beams of light shot out. One severed the head of the snake while the other severed the neck of the old woman.
A scorpion lady swung her barbed tail, and it pierced through Qin Mu’s shoulder, lifting him up high. She smashed him ruthlessly onto the ground, and a devil youth carrying eight big flags bowed toward Qin Mu. The eight flags flew out and poles stabbed into the ground around Qin Mu
“Devil Connecting Mountain Formation! Suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress!”
When the devil youth shouted the word eight times, eight mountain apparitions descended from the sky with loud explosions. The ground trembled from them.
Suddenly, countless stars flashed in the apparitions of the eight mountains and transformed into Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield. With a palm of Qin Mu, the eight mountains shattered.
He rushed out of the flag formation and saw over a dozen knife pellets swirling furiously toward him. He hurriedly pointed his hand in that direction, and a huge fix word appeared in the air. The dozens of knife pellets froze in the air. The next moment though, the began to spin and countless devil knives shot out, slashing the fix word into pieces!
Qin Mu turned, and, stepping on stars, he avoided the countless devil knives by a hair’s breadth. His sword pellet flew up then. Sweeping against the wind, it shattered all the blades in the air.
Over a dozen devil soldiers with three heads and four arms rushed over. They advanced and retreated, attacked and defended as they fought furiously with Qin Mu.
He blocked over and over again, suffering from dozens of blows in the blink of an eye. He then hurriedly escaped underground. The four-armed devils pressed their hands against it, causing the ground to bulge up, and Qin Mu was forced out.
He leaped into midair, but crashed down a moment later. He moved like a dragon and slithered like a snake, rushing into a huge swamp before him.
Numerous devil soldiers chased him to the side of the big swamp, but suddenly they all stopped and frowned.
“Should we go in?” a devil divine arts practitioner asked in a low voice.
Qin Mu walked into the huge swamp and looked around. There were thick fog and devil qi all around. Below the clear water, corpses floated. They would occasionally pop out onto the surface of the swamp, revealing their skeletons and some rusted spirit weapons.
He pondered for a moment before coming closer. He gently knocked the skeleton on the ground and asked with a smile, “This brother, how do I navigate here?”
The skeleton sat up and turned to look at him. He opened his mouth. “This is the road to the Yellow Springs. You can enter, but there’s no return.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu sat beside the skeleton and took out ointments to treat his own injuries. “I’m originally from the Yellow Spring so why should I be scared of them?” he said with a smile.
The skeleton stood up and said, “This place is an ominous land in which no one can survive. The only way for you to live is to immediately turn around and leave.”
Qin Mu squeezed the spoiled blood from his wounds and pulled out the devil qi. “Going back is then the path to death, so I will still have a chance if I advance forward. Do you know which path is safer?”
The skeleton shook its head.
Qin Mu finished applying medicine to himself and executed his vital qi. He circulated it one round, and when his wounds didn’t burst open, he stood up. “Do you know where’s north, south, east, and west?”
“That’s east!” The skeleton pointed his finger forward.
“Thank you.”
Qin Mu turned in the direction the skeleton had pointed out and begun walking. Two steps later, he stopped and turned back with a smile. “Brother, why are you following me?”
The skeleton was right behind him. It hurriedly stopped when it saw him stop. “I was in a daze and couldn’t remember what had happened to me when I was alive, but now I’ve recalled some hazy memories. And since you’re the one that awoke me, I naturally have to follow you.”
Qin Mu burst out laughing. “Humans and ghosts walk different paths. You can’t keep following me, so just go back to sleep.”
“When I was in a daze, I could sleep and not care about the seasons or the battles of the world. However, you awakened me and now I can’t sleep. You have disturbed my slumber and have to take responsibility for that.”
“You’re such an unreasonable ghost!” Feeling helpless, Qin Mu turned around and explained seriously, “I saw that you still had some soul so I used Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to wake you up to ask for directions; however, you don’t know anything. You can’t show me the path that would keep me alive. Besides, you’re dead, so even if I manage to leave this ominous land alive, you won’t be able to follow me to the world of the living. Brother, you’re already dead, so just go back to sleep.”
The skeleton shook his head. “I had no worries before, but you woke me up and now I worry again. You need to help me settle it.”
Qin Mu’s head ached, but he still said with a smile, “In that case, I will execute Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to pull out your broken soul, allowing you to go back to heaven and earth. You will be returned to slumber. How’s that?”
“No.” The skeleton shook his head. “Since I’ve already awoken, dispersing my sou is the same as killing me. That pain of it, I’m not willing.”
Qin Mu truly had a headache. He turned around and continued to head east. Behind him, the skeleton continued to follow him.
Since he felt troubled, Qin Mu wanted to try persuading the skeleton again, but water churned from both sides of the swamp. A corpse that had soaked in the water until it was snow white stood up and looked straight at him.
Qin Mu’s heart swiveled up. The people in the swamp had died countless years ago yet their corpses had yet to decompose. The armor on their bodies was tattered, but present, and their eyes still glowed with blood light, their sinister air evident.
The corpses had been extremely powerful when they were alive, so their corpses also had a thick aura after death. They were extremely terrifying.
Suddenly, the huge skeleton behind Qin Mu let out a loud roar. The corpses in the water seemed to have received an order and sank into the water one after another.
Qin Mu was astonished. “Why do they listen to you?”
The skeleton was also in a daze. He thought for a moment, then said, “I can faintly remember that they are my subordinates that died here alongside me. I saw that they wanted to hurt you so I scolded them. Luckily they still listen to me.”
Qin Mu became interested and asked with a smile, “Who were you before you died? Do you still remember?”
The skeleton pondered over it, but then shook his head. “I don’t remember.”
Qin Mu’s interest grew even greater, and he stopped in his footsteps. “I have a divine art that can establish access to Youdu, allowing broken souls to gather. Let me cast it, and I might be able to let you remember some stuff. If you manage that, you won’t have to follow me anymore.”
Delighted, the skeleton said with a smile, “If I could do so, I would definitely repay this huge favor.”
Qin Mu plucked down his hairpin and let his hair fall around his shoulders. He then took up his Saturn Sovereign True Form with Gate of Heaven Influence behind him. After that, he cast Soul Guide of Nine Spectres Sect with low-spoken and cryptic devil language.
When he was halfway through his chant, his heart suddenly shook. He felt like there was some unfamiliar knowledge in his mind. When he subconsciously used it, his devil language became even more ancient and cryptic.
The devil qi around him became thicker and thicker, purer and purer. It rolled and spread throughout the swamp like a sea of pitch black. The Gate of Heaven Influence also became more and more majestic as it stood in the sea of devil qi.
With creaks, the incomparably heavy door slowly opened up.
In the darkness, shrieks could be heard. Incomparably miserable ghost-like wails and wolf-like howls of countless spirit poured out from the Gate of Heaven Influence!
Qin Mu jumped in shock. “So many spirits?”
They flooded out from Youdu and gathered in the huge swamp. In an instant, it was full of phosphorescence, making it look like it was filled with bright stars. They flew around in the darkness of the devil qi and tunneled into the corpses.
Countless corpses stood up and looked around in a daze.
Tens of thousands of beings had risen in the desolate swamp. Some stood on the water, some floated in the sky, and some sat on the ground in a daze.
“Who is disturbing the peace of Youdu?”
Qin Mu was still casting his spell when a loud voice rang in his mind. It blew him away, and he became muddle-headed. His magic power was instantly cut off, and the Gate of Heaven Influence behind him swallowed up the devil qi like a whale swallowing the heaven and earth. Wind swept all of the devil qi back into Youdu!
Qin Mu hurriedly dispersed his Saturn Sovereign’s form. Never would he have expected that Gate of Heaven Influence would remain open and not close. Spots of lamplights came from the darkness in Youdu.
They were boats with barn lanterns!
Qin Mu’s scalp went numb, and he hurriedly reversed his technique, but the Gate of Heaven Influence still didn’t close.
The boats sailed over from the darkness and passed through the Gate of Heaven Influence!
“I remember who I am!”
Beside him, the skeleton suddenly cried out in delight and laughed loudly. “I remember now! Celestial Heavens Southern Heaven Southern Dipper Division, Seven Kills Star Sovereign. I was under the order of Founding Emperor to guard Supreme Emperor Heaven and its Provincial Governor Wei Liao! Where’s my armor? Where’s my battle ax?”
Boom!
The swamp under Qin Mu’s suddenly rolled and boundless divine light rushed into the sky. Pieces of battle armor broke through the water and the ground. They flew out from the bottom of the swamp.
Clank, clank, clank. Crisp sounds of collision rang out as pieces of broken battle armor covered the body of the skeleton beside Qin Mu. Even a broken helmet flew over to cover his skull.
Qin Mu was dumbfounded. Suddenly, a huge mountain split apart in the swamp, and a few broken divine weapon pieces rushed out. They assembled in midair and formed a huge battle-ax that came swirling over. The skeleton stretched his hand out and grabbed it.
The battle-ax represented the authority of Celestial Emperor. On the left was an ax, and on the right was a knife while on the top was a sharp spear tip with a dragon marking coiling around it.
Once the skeleton caught the battle-ax, his world-shaking aura burst forth. He raised his weapon and gave it a swing, crumbling the Gate of Heaven Influence behind Qin Mu. He crushed it with brute force and broke the path of Youdu’s messengers of death.
He then roared with anger, “Where are my soldiers?”
The devil qi in the darkness had dispersed, and countless skeletons stood on the surface of the swamp while looking at him quietly. Suddenly, world-shaking shouts came from all of the corpses. “General, we are here!”
The skeleton laughed loudly and asked toward the sky, “Where is our Majesty?”
He waited for a long time, but no one replied to him.
After a moment, Qin Mu said, “Provincial Governor, twenty thousand years have passed since Founding Emperor Era.”
In a daze, the skeleton lowered his head to look at him. He muttered, “Twenty thousand years?”
Qin Mu expression filled with pain. “It’s been twenty thousand years. You guys have been dead for twenty thousand years…”
Bathump.
The skeleton sat down and muttered to himself, “Twenty thousand years, how did it become like this? The blood we spilled, the lives we risked to stop the enemies. Yet we still not manage to protect our era…”
Qin Mu sighed. “The broken soul of Provincial Governor is undying and your fighting spirit will live on forever. Today, I have awoken your broken souls and broken spirits, disturbing your peace. You’ve now returned to the world of the living, but I don’t know what I can do about it. Since Provincial Governor was the commander of Supreme Emperor Heaven during Founding Emperor Era, I believe you won’t create trouble for the people. If I live to go back, I will ask King Yama if he could take you guys in. May Provincial Governor restrain his soldiers to this ominous land. Myself, I need to continue forward.”
He bade farewell and turned to leave.
The skeleton was still sitting there dispiritedly, and the will-o’-the-wisps in his eyes flickered as he muttered, “Twenty thousand years, how did it become like this…”
At the borders of the ominous land, more and more pursuing devils appeared. Soon, there were close to a thousand devil divine arts practitioners gathered there. However, no one dared to step into the ominous land.
After a moment, a violent gale suddenly blew over and stopped. A great general appeared in front of the numerous divine arts practitioners and examined the ominous land.
“General Xiu Luo!”
Numerous devils bowed in greeting, feeling both surprised and delighted. The devil general waved his hand and said, “My master Fu Riluo ordered me to chase after Qin Mu while in command of you guys. Now, where is that Qin Mu?”
“He has entered the ominous land.”
Xiu Luo frowned slightly. He was about to give the order to enter when devil qi poured out from the depths of the ominous land, creating a devil sea. A huge door stood upright, looking extremely strange.
Astonished, Xiu Luo hurriedly stopped. After a moment, that sea of devil qi vanished without a trace and the huge door also disappeared.
“Ominous land is truly strange and unpredictable,” Xiu Luo muttered irresolutely. After a moment, he said with a low voice, “That brat will probably die after barging into this place, but master gave the order to bring no matter if he’s alive or dead, so we need to capture him… Soldiers, listen, follow me into this ominous land!”
The thousand divine arts practitioners received the command and followed him into the ominous land.
Qin Mu was walking through the swamp when he heard the sound of fighting behind him. The shouts were deafening, but they didn’t last long. Peace returned shortly, and he had no idea what had happened.
“This place is truly strange…” Qin Mu shook his head, having no idea that he was the biggest mystery in the whole swamp.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What’s stranger is that when I was executing Soul Guide, words of the devil language that I had never learned before appeared in my mind…”
Qin Mu frowned. The sudden knowledge in his head was still there, and it was a kind of extremely ancient language.
His heart stirred slightly, and he took up Saturn Sovereign’s True Form. Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him, and the apparition of an ancient book took shape in his hand.
Qin Mu composed himself and stretched his hand to open the ancient book. When the writing entered his eyes, he immediately felt like the scribbles were rapidly reforming themselves. Every one of the incomparably strange symbols immediately gained meaning as though he had memorized them by heart!
Qin Mu was in a daze. The book had been written in Youdu language, and he had absolutely no knowledge about its writing system!
Dutian Devil King had known a little and taught him a phrase which was Gate of Heaven Influence. But he had even lied to him, which almost resulted in Qin Mu dying in Youdu.
As for the writings in the book, Dutian Devil King had never taught him them.
Yet now he understood all of them and was fluent in the language without studying as though he’d always known it!
‘This ominous land is indeed extremely strange. I couldn’t even recognize the words in this book yet now I can actually read them! The writings on the first page look like a technique yet they’re not like those of a cultivation technique. They might contain some strange knowledge regarding the soul, but it doesn’t seem like it either. They’re like a divine art…’
Qin Mu was astonished to no end. The Youdu language in the book was just too strange. It was the first time he had encountered such weird writing that was like those of a technique yet not, like simple knowledge yet not, like a divine art yet not one either.
He hesitated for a moment, but he couldn’t resist it. He began reading aloud what was written on the first page. His tone was cryptic and profound, with a wonderful rhythm to it.
The writings couldn’t be expressed with his language because humans simply didn’t have similar phrases. Even the meaning was impossible to express, so he could only use Youdu language itself to do so.
Qin Mu had just read the first sentence when his soul began palpitating. The vital qi in his body changed, turning into devil qi. Suddenly, waves of sinister wind blew past and gloomy clouds came to hang above his head. The swamp started to churn around him.
Qin Mu immediately stopped and looked around. Everything turned back to normal.
He continued to read, and the wind returned. The water in the swamp also churned once again like a boiling pot. The gloomy clouds gathered above his head and turned into a swirling whirlpool which attracted devil qi from all directions. A portion of it was like a flood dragon with its tail hanging down as it floated in the center of the whirlpool.
Qin Mu’s mind trembled. The devil qi had already entered his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure from the heart of his brows and started to merge with the spirit embryo with the power of his voice. The spirit embryo then returned the favor, and the devil qi flowed grandiosely through his Five Elements and Six Directions Divine Treasures. Even the sun, moon, and stars were tainted by the devil qi and became dim.
As Qin Mu continued to read the ancient book, skeletons stood up from the swamp around him. There were also quite a number of corpses that climbed up from beneath the water.
He stopped in a hurry from astonishment. He closed the ancient book and dispersed his Saturn Sovereign True Form to look around carefully.
The moment his voice stopped, the corpses and skeletons collapsed back down.
“Too strange, this ominous land is too strange…”
Qin Mu composed himself and decided to leave as soon as possible.
‘Maybe if I leave this ominous land, the Youdu words in my head will vanish and I won’t recognize the writings in the book anymore. Eh, my cultivation seems to have risen slightly…’
He examined his cultivation and couldn’t help becoming astonished. In just a short while, it had actually increased by quite a bit!
He had established access between Six Directions Divine Treasures and Seven Stars Divine Treasure, which made his cultivation extremely dense and not any weaker than that of an expert of Celestial Being Realm. However, the density of his cultivation also caused him to become slightly slower in advancing through his realm.
Yet in just a short while, he felt like his cultivation had actually increased by a lot. This kind of advancement could only be described as terrifying!
“Something is wrong, something is wrong… There’s definitely something wrong with this place. There’s definitely something strange about the ancient book as well…”
Qin Mu examined himself in detail and finally found what was wrong.
There was actually a shut door in his body!
It stood opposite of his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!
It was another Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!
“This doesn’t seem to be right. Isn’t it said that everyone only has one Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure? Why do I have a second one? I’m also not two people… I think no one has told me that humans are not able to have two Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. Yes, that’s definitely the upside of having Overlord Body…”
Qin Mu pushed the explanation of another Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure to his Overlord Body and stopped worrying about it.
He roused his vital qi to bombard the door, and a gap opened up. Pure devil qi poured out and merged with his vital qi. Moments later, strange devil voices came from the door and pushed back his cultivation.
He immediately stopped.
‘This spirit embryo is the divine treasure of the devil path and not the god path. I have once heard a mysterious god voice and now it’s the devil voices that pushed back my cultivation, not letting me open my Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure… I should ask Village Chief since he understands Overlord Body the most. He will definitely be able to answer my doubts!’
Qin Mu temporarily put away this matter and raised his head to look around his surroundings. The Provincial Governor who had pointed out the direction for him had said that he only needed to walk toward the east to get out of the ominous land. The problem with that was that the vastness of the swamp surpassed Qin Mu’s estimation.
He oriented himself once more and began walking. After some time, he had covered a thousand miles yet he still wasn’t out the huge swamp.
In that time, he saw over a hundred lakes of all sizes. They were traces of ancient battles.
When Qin Mu had approached one, he’d felt a terrifying vibration coming from the water
“These lakes are traces of fights between the gods and devils.”
Qin Mu was careful and didn’t go closer. The power of the ancient gods and devils’ divine arts was still around, resting at the bottom of the lake. It was very unstable, and terrifying things would happen if he stepped onto the lake.
But right then, he saw an even stranger sight. Multi-colored lights rose from the lake, and a tinkling came from It. The sound reminded him of treasures colliding, which was a very pleasant noise.
Qin Mu stopped walking and looked around. He saw the multi-colored light becoming thicker and thicker. He could faintly see lotus petals swirling within it, and a huge lotus throne rose from the lake. However, it looked like it had been destroyed for the petals had fallen off. Yet the lotus throne still had a strange force of attraction which made the petals swirl around it.
Meanwhile, in the center of the light, there were weapons colliding with one another like flood dragons.
Qin Mu turned and walked along the lakeside.
At that moment, peals of laughter came from the lake, and he looked toward the source of the sound to see a couple of girls covered only in veils. They were playing near the lake, and some of them jumped into the water. Others sat on the surface and played around with each other.
Qin Mu’s eyes lit up, and he took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to start drawing. After a moment, he finished a painting of a lake and girls bathing. It also had the lotus throne.
He then jumped into the painting and began to play with the girls there with satisfaction.
The painting was erected beside the lake. In it, the youth was as pleased as Punch. He sat on the lotus throne while the girls leaned against it. He hugged them left and right, and even put the extraordinary spirit weapons into his taotie sack. He was truly at the peak of his life!
Light surged on the lake, and suddenly everything disappeared. There seemed to be some huge monster moving under the lake, closing in rapidly. It looked like a small island was moving.
Whoosh.
The lake split apart, and a huge eyeball jumped out from the water. Flames covered its body, so it was probably an eye of a devil god.
Its consciousness could have awakened as time went by, or maybe it had been possessed by some broken soul. Yet what was even weirder was that it had actually grown arms and legs. It had four of each. Behind the eye were even two pairs of small wings. The creature came to the painting and looked inside, jealousy for Qin Mu growing within it.
“Kuku!” The devil eye was beyond excited.
Suddenly, it shrunk its body to the size of a face basin and flapped its wings to rush into the painting. It entered with a pop.
The moment the devil eye entered the painting, its eye opened up and revealed a huge mouth. It was filled with razor-sharp teeth. “Kuku!” the monster roared.
Qin Mu scrambled down from the throne in utter fear and fled for his life.
The devil eye was pleased with itself and jumped onto the lotus throne. It pulled the girls to him and embraced them left and right, instantly feeling like it was at the peak of its monster life.
Qin Mu jumped out of the painting and wiped away one stroke. The girls and the devil eye monster were instantly fixed in place.
‘What a truly interesting monster. Its abilities are much stronger than mine, but it’s a little stupid and doesn’t know how treacherous the human heart is. It tried to use treasures and women to tempt me, yet it was enticed by me and delivered itself into the trap.’
Qin Mu took out his seal and breathed hot mist onto it. He stamped the lower right corner of the painting and sealed it. He then rolled up the paper and placed it in his taotie sack.
‘The abilities of this monster are no small matter. If I meet an enemy I can’t fight, I can release it to fight in my place.’
Qin Mu continued to walk forward filled with anticipation. ‘If I could find even more ominous objects in this land, I could make great use of them! They’re all remarkable treasures. If it was Xing An, he would definitely love this place. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I met him…”
He finally walked out of the swamp and came to the ruin of a city. There were collapsed buildings everywhere, none of which looked like they had been disturbed in a long time. Shattered bones lined the worn down street. A cold wind blew by, and broken skulls clattered, rolling around.
Suddenly, the street cracked open from a long backbone that rose like a dragon. Its ribs acted as legs that sprinted furiously to attack Qin Mu!
The tip of the backbone was a fierce-looking skull which should once been the head of a devil god. Its top was filled with bone spikes without any sign of hair. The resulting creature looked incomparably fierce, and it opened its mouth wide when it pounced over.
Qin Mu chose to run. As he did so, he saw a battlefield in front of him where countless skeletons were fighting. All kinds of broken spirit weapons clashed, raising sand and dust.
Qin Mu wanted to take a detour, but the huge backbone rose into the sky while stepping on devil fire, so he could only grit his teeth and rush into the battlefield.
The moment he did so, he knew it had been a horrible decision. Each skeleton that was extremely strong. The weakest one was not much weaker than him!
Thud, thud, thud!
The sound of drums rushed through the battlefield when two white bone giants that were three hundred yards tall pulled out thigh bones and shook their heads with excitement. They used their bones to beat the battle drums. Each hit made a noise like thunder, and the skeletons fighting nearby went into an even greater frenzy.
Qin Mu rushed through the fighters while sneaking glances at the devil god’s skull with backbone which was crashing through everyone to reach him.
“Wei Liao is here. Mere demons and ghosts, forget about being savage!”
Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice and saw Seven Kills Star Sovereign with his battle-ax in lead of countless corpses and skeletons. With a loud noise, the new army flooded the battlefield, and wherever they passed by, countless shattered skulls flew into the sky.
Wei Liao swung his battle-ax and smashed the skull of the devil god chasing Qin Mu. He then shouted out loudly, “Live as a hero, die as a heroic ghost! Eradicate these devils and conquer this ominous land! We’re going to become the new rulers here!”
Qin Mu stared with eyes wide open as Wei Liao led everyone through the battlefield. In no time, bones were lying everywhere while the victorious army was grinning. They chose complete bones on the ground to replace their own shattered ones.
Wei Liao walked over in large strides and said, “The ominous land is extremely dangerous, little friend. Let us send you off!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Tens of thousands of skeletons and corpses surrounded Qin Mu while rushing toward the east like a flood. Wherever they passed, everything was drowned out.
The ominous land was filled with all kinds of strange things. They were mostly strange lifeforms formed from the grievances or broken souls of divine arts practitioners that had died in the great battle. These lifeforms were born of the divine arts left behind by the gods and devils, so they were abnormally strong as well as weird and terrifying.
It was because the battle had been simply too bitter, and the gods, devils, and divine arts practitioners that had died then were filled with negative emotions which fused with the godly blood, forming the strange place known as the ominous land. The lifeforms in it also had warped mindsets.
During the journey, Qin Mu saw numerous strange objects. There were mountains formed from a mixture of gods and devils’ flesh and blood, white bone centipede with hundreds of heads, and a monster with a dragon’s head, horse’s body, and a long tail which was entirely of bone.
However, no matter how powerful these ominous creatures were, Seven Kills Star Sovereign dealt death to all of them. They were razed by the happy skeleton and corpse army.
The vastness of the ominous land was difficult to imagine. Even though the speed of Qin Mu and the rest wasn’t slow, they had to walk for over two days to reach the border.
“Little Friend Qin, you just need to head a bit more and you will leave the ominous land. We can’t send you any farther than this.” Wei Liao stopped and bid farewell in a traditional way. “Farewell for now.”
Qin Mu returned the greeting. “Farewell for now. After I leave, I will definitely go to Fengdu and ask King Yama if he can find a place for all of you. Everyone, wait for my news.” After he said that, he turned to leave.
Wei Liao watched him go, then suddenly said loudly, “Little Friend Qin, your surname is Qin too. What’s your relationship with Founding Emperor?”
Qin Mu turned back and waved his hand. “Founding Emperor is my ancestor!”
“No wonder, no wonder…” Wei Liao was slightly stunned and followed the figure walking out of the ominous land with his eyes. He then became excited and cheered repeatedly. “My men, let’s go, let’s conquer this ominous land and rule it. We’ll wait for the arrival of Founding Emperor!”
Countless skeletons and corpses followed him and cheered as they rushed into the depths of the ominous land that was shrouded in devil qi.
Qin Mu turned back to look when he left the strange zone. Terrifying vibrations reached him from the ominous land which should have come from Seven Kills Star Sovereign Wei Liao fighting against some new strange creature.
‘Even though they’ve died once, they still fight lustily, repaying the benefaction of their sovereign as bones. Truly a heroic bunch!’
He walked towards the east through the darkness. The ominous land would become the territory of Wei Liao, and it would become like a nail stabbed into the heart of the devils.
‘Eh, I still remember that Youdu language!’
Qin Mu blinked. The Youdu language hadn’t disappeared from his mind! Could the strangeness of the ominous land still be following him?
Not only that, he could even see the door to the other Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. It was still opposite his original one.’
‘So I’ve mastered Youdu language just like that. Now this is weird…’
He changed once again into Saturn Sovereign, and Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him. The ancient book appeared again, and he opened it. He silently read page after page, not voicing a single word, and put all of them to memory.
After an hour, he memorized the book and dispersed the form of Saturn Sovereign. The Gate of Heaven Influence behind him also vanished.
‘I’ve seen Gate of Heaven Influence on the stone statue that was like the overlord body in Ghost Valley. However, that stone statue was not holding a scroll. Out of all the gods and divine arts practitioners I’ve seen so far, I’m the only one who has an ancient scroll in my hand when I change into my Saturn Sovereign’s form.’
Qin Mu pondered it for a time, then he suddenly came to a realization. ‘That overlord body in the underground of Ghost Valley must be like Xu Shenghua; they are both pseudo overlord bodies. Only true overlord body would have an ancient scroll in their hand! I shall ask Village Chief about it when I get back. He should know more than me!’
After he decided that, he threw the matter to the back of his head. Youdu language came from his mouth again, and he chanted the contents of the book as he sprinted east.
Devil qi poured toward him and tunneled into the heart of his brows. This made his cultivation of the devil path increase drastically.
This time there was no abnormal situation of the dead coming back to life. That should have been due to the usage of the ancient book. Qin Mu relaxed. As long as he didn’t take out the ancient book, the Youdu language would remain as a strange cultivation method. He wouldn’t have to worry about disrupting Youdu or being chased by the messengers of death.
As he ran furiously, the devil qi flocked to him like signal smoke. He didn’t look like a divine arts practitioner, but a great devil rushing on his way.
Suddenly, he stopped speaking the Youdu language, and the cryptic god language came out from his mouth instead. His devil vitality struck the door of his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of the devil path. Devil language instantly rang out within his mind, coming from the depths of the nine springs below. The voice was strange and disrupted his devil vitality, preventing him from breaking through the door.
The god language contained a strange power which could contend with the devil language that had suddenly appeared.
Back when Qin Mu had opened his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, he’d heard god language that seemed to come from the nine heavens above and disrupted his Spirit Embryo Breakthrough. He had then borrowed devil voice and buddha voice to forcefully break the wall to be able to cultivate his spirit embryo.
That time could only be considered luck.
Now, he did the same thing again, and his attainments in god language far surpassed what he possessed back then. He used the god language to deal with the devil voice from the nine springs below, and everything went smoothly and easily. His devil vitality flowed without obstruction and struck the Spirit Embryo Wall!
Boom!
Explosions as loud as thunder came from his body when the door to the other Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure burst open. The cultivation of his devil path instantly grew exponentially and attracted even more devil qi, while the devil voice from the nine springs below just stopped.
‘There is no spirit embryo of the devil path in this Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!’
Qin Mu was astonished. His Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of the devil path was empty, with only a spirit platform. Strange runes of the devil path were carved on it.
“Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!”
Qin Mu executed it, and the devil vitality in his body surged into the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of the devil path. Light flashed the, and his spirit embryo suddenly appeared in this Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, sitting on the spirit platform. It started to breath devil vitality in and out.
In almost no time, it formed a devil sun and devil moon.
‘Village Chief is truly remarkable! The Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique he taught me can also be cultivated for the devil path!’
Qin Mu was completely in awe of Village Chief. Silently, he exclaimed in admiration, “When can I have so much knowledge and such wide horizons?”
Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique didn’t go against the Youdu language that was coming from his mouth. It mobilized devil vitality, and the spirit embryo breathed it in and out. Meanwhile, the Youdu language was leading the devil qi into his body and making his cultivation of the devil path denser and denser.
It rose continuously, and not long later, the forms of the devil sun and devil moon in the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure were basically set. They corresponded with the sun and moon of the other Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, looking like mirror reflections.
When Qin Mu felt that his cultivation was perfected, he rushed at Five Elements Divine Treasure, and a loud explosion rang out, signaling the breaking through Five Elements Divine Treasure. Five element stars of the devil path rose in the sky and flashed with strange devil light.
Qin Mu’s Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique became more and more complicated as he circulated it, and his devil vitality connected to the five stars to circulate in a strange way. His cultivation of the devil path grew denser and denser.
‘Cultivating at this speed… I’m afraid that in a few days, my cultivation of the devil path will catch up to the god path.’
A number of experts were searching him, having formed into groups for their hunt. There were also quite a few devil experts that had seen Qin Mu from afar but hadn’t paid any attention. They had no idea that the fellow that was even more devilish than them could be the Qin Mu they were searching for.
Qin Mu’s road had no obstructions as he continued to head east. After walking for some six-seven days, a spot of light suddenly appeared in the sky.
He raised his head and saw that light growing larger and larger, brighter and brighter. A round sun took shake above him and brought some light to the devil territory.
Overjoyed, Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. “This sun is round and not flat! Imperial Preceptor is truly remarkable!”
He looked at the location where the sun was rising and examined his shadow on the ground. He sprinted another twenty miles and calculated the angle of the shadow. ‘I’ve over ten thousand miles away from where the sun rose. Fu Riluo indeed has remarkable abilities, to be able to kidnap me so far away!’
The sun in the sky was round, and he had the feeling of clouds having parted to reveal clear blue sky. His mood instantly improved.
Suddenly, a god city rose in front of him. There were numerous devils walking to and fro around it.
Groups of devils and horses searched in all directions, stopping even the devils crossing to check their identity. Qin Mu frowned slightly and decided to take a detour.
Yet the clattering of hooves reached him, and a group of devils rushed over, having seen him from afar. “Halt!”
Qin Mu stopped, and the rider in the lead looked at him. He then shook his head, saying, “It’s not who we’re looking for, let’s continue!” The next moment, he rushed away with the other devil divine arts practitioners.
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief, but a familiar voice came from behind him. “You brat, I still need a retainer. Come here, be my retainer!”
Slightly stunned, Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice. He saw a youth carrying a demon knife on his back a short distance away from him. It was none other than Zhe Huali.
Qin Mu walked over, and the demon eye on the hilt of the demon knife suddenly opened. It swirled till it became crimson, then stared at him excitedly. After a moment, the demon eye of closed.
Zhe Huali walked over and said, “Follow me.”
Qin Mu hurriedly did as told, and Zhe Huali brought him to the east, leaving the god city behind them. There were numerous posts of inspection, but when the devils saw Zhe Huali, they didn’t ask anything.
When they were a hundred miles to the east of the city, Zhe Huali stopped and said indifferently, “You can continue to head east.”
Qin Mu heading forward according to his words. Soon, he felt a pair of eyes landing on his body. like two knives stabbing into him!
His muscles went stiff, then twitched twice and shattered the knife will.
When it shattered, it actually gave off crisp clinks.
“It is you,” Zhe Huali said from behind him.
Qin Mu scattered the devil qi around him and said with a smile, “Zhe Huali, your knife skills have improved a lot.”
The young man’s gaze had been like a knife, which gave Qin Mu no choice but to shatter it. After Li City, Zhe Huali’s knife skills had obviously improved by leaps and bounds!
“Brother Qin escaping from Enveloping City and even surviving the crossing through the ominous land is truly astonishing. After the parting in Li City, I examined your sword skill in detail. Opening Calamity Sword Skill is truly strong, but I also have my own comprehension,” Zhe Huali said indifferently.
“I won’t let you die in the hands of other people; only I can kill you! All the disciples of the devil gods in Supreme Emperor Heaven are looking for you. Don’t die on the way.”
“Much thanks.” Qin Mu bowed.
Zhe Huali didn’t accept it and just left in a flash.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu looked at his back that was leaving, then suddenly asked, “Zhe Huali, don’t you want to show me your master’s knife skill?”
Zhe Huali stopped and turned his head back to say, “No, I want you to see my knife skills.”
Qin Mu smiled and said leisurely, “When you told me you want to let me see Luo Wushuang’s knife skills, I knew you were not my opponent, that’s because the knife skills belonged to Luo Wushuang and not you. No matter how perfect you cultivated them, they will still belong to Luo Wushuang. Now you want me to see your knife skills, so you finally have the right to be my opponent. Alright, I’ll wait for you!”
Zhe Huali left, but his voice still reached Qin Mu. “Don’t die. Master Fu Riluo has declared a bounty for you, and numerous disciples of devil gods are waiting on the road in front for you.”
‘This fellow is much cuter than his master Luo Wushuang. His knife skills have improved a lot as well, advancing at a godly speed.”
Qin Mu saw him off and felt a heavy pressure settle on him. His muscles trembled, and he shattered the knife will from Zhe Huali’s eyes. There were even crisp cracking sounds as though the man’s gaze had materialized!
Such speed was very terrifying!
Zhe Huali’s improvement on his knife path was extremely great, and he had the corporeal body and primordial spirit of a young true god. If he entered the extreme boundary of his knife skills, it would be impossible for Qin Mu to defeat him.
He had already stepped into the boundary of his knife skills, so if he took another step forward, he would create his own knife skill, like how Qin Mu had created Calamity Sword. He would also found his own knife skills, and they would be close to the path!
The reason Zhe Huali improved at such a godly speed was because of the pressure he felt from Qin Mu. But now the tables had turned. It was Qin Mu’s turn to feel pressured by Zhe Huali.
‘The weakest point of my corporeal body is that I’m training all parts separately. My hands are hands, legs are legs, eyes are eyes, and heart is heart. I can’t unify all of the power into one. If I could do that, my corporeal body would not be any weaker than those so-called young true gods and young true devils. I would even be stronger than them!’
Qin Mu headed toward the sun while thinking. The reason Zhe Huali, Yu He, and the rest had such strong corporeal bodies was because the techniques they cultivated had been imparted to them by gods and devils. These techniques had gone through years of refinement and could train every aspect of the body to the extreme.
Zhe Huali, Yu He, and the rest of the young experts didn’t need to think why their technique had to be circulated in a certain way, just to cultivate it according to the instruction. This was enough for their corporeal bodies to reach an extremely high realm.
However, it was different for Qin Mu. He had only learned the first technique of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique from Village Chief, it had only techniques but no skills or divine arts. He mixed and matched, fusing a whole bunch when he had the chance. Good and bad came out from it, but in the end, his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was King of Rubbish. It was like the clothes of a beggar which were filled with holes and had to be mended frequently.
Later, he had learned Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and comprehended Unity Technique. He then realized from Qin Hanzhen that they were the skills of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
Only at that time could Qin Mu’s technique be considered to have taken shape.
When he received the true dragon’s nest and merged the technique of the true dragon lord with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, the latter was patched up in a lot of places.
Yet there were too many patches. Fist skills were fist skills, leg skills were leg skills, and divine eyes were divine eyes. Ultimately, it was still the problem of his technique that had caused his corporeal body to be inferior to those of Yu He, Zhe Huali, and the rest. It was even slightly inferior to that of Sang Hua.
His thinking was all over the place. He could come up with things that others couldn’t and think what others didn’t dare to think. He wasn’t restrained by tradition, so he was able to create Primordial Spirit Guide, the eighteenth sword form, Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly, and all kinds of other strange techniques and divine arts. It was also why he could create such a huge artifact like Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge to connect the two worlds together.
However, it was also because his thinking was everywhere that his technique was lacking.
‘I’ve already settled the problem of my sword skill entering the path; I just need to comprehend along the lines of Calamity Sword. Now the problem is about how to make my technique enter the path!’
Qin Mu stopped, his expression turned blank. He went into a daze.
Suddenly, his vital qi flowed out and quickly formed his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure in front of him. It showed up with all details, and even the sun and moon were constructed. Next, his vital qi flow spread outwards, raising metal, wood, water, fire, and earth stars. The spirit platform expanded into a large field and established the six directions. The five stars and the sun and the moon orbited around each other.
With this as the foundation, Qin Mu’s fingers came together, and he refined his qi into a thread to surround his spirit embryo, five elements, six directions, constructing the circulation path of his vital qi continuously.
After a moment, he had an incomparably complicated network of his vital qi circulation. It resembled blood vessels surrounding the three great divine treasures to form the shape of a human body.
The was the path of circulation of his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
His technique was extremely complicated, which was why the network he had constructed was also extremely complicated.
Qin Mu measured and fixed some places that had mistakes. Next, his vital qi flowed out to create his bones and organs before creating the flesh, blood, tendons, and blood vessels in the incomparably complicated human body network.
His five fingers spread open, and the human body in front of him became ten yards tall. It was incomparably clear.
As Qin Mu walked around it, he got rid of the overlapping branches and combined some paths of circulation, making his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique less complicated. Then, he examined it thoroughly and added some paths where his vital qi circulation couldn’t reach when he was training his corporeal body.
The more places he fixed, the more paths he removed.
Qin Mu became more and more excited. His spirit embryo was moving quickly throughout his body to survey its structure as he was continuously tweaking the vital qi human body.
After a long time, his spirit embryo returned to his divine treasure and sat on the spirit platform. Qin Mu’s hands separated, and the flesh, blood, and bones of the vital qi human body dispersed one after another. Only the vital qi network and the structure of three great divine treasures remained.
His devil vitality then flew out and constructed the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of the devil path, corresponding to Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. With the two as reflections of one another, he continued to modify.
When he felt they were perfect, Qin Mu executed this new Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that had undergone a complete revamp by him. He carefully experienced what was lacking when he circulated it and did modifications on the vital qi human body. He tried continuously to make his technique even more perfect.
His vital qi circulation gradually became less complicated and more effective. After the improvements, it could refine basically every corner of his corporeal body.
‘My technique is still not perfect enough! In regards to the circulation of the devil vitality, there are still many places that can be improved! The vital qi circulation in the divine eyes is also another extremely complicated matter.’
After trying everything out, he discovered numerous places in which he was lacking. He cared for nothing but improving himself at that moment.
“Qin Mu!”
Suddenly a few devils took notice of him from afar. One of them laughed loudly in delight. “We’ve traveled far and wide to look for you only to find you easily. Today is the day when I, Tuo Shu, shall claim my achievement! Qin Mu, fight me!”
Qin Mu paid him no attention, his ten fingers moving up and down as he improved the network of the vital qi human body while continuing to move forward.
Tuo Shu frowned and flew up. Two huge black wings spread out, and he flew over while flapping them.
Qin Mu didn’t notice at all. Tuo Shu cried out and came to only dozens of yards in front of the youth. Suddenly, he flipped around, and countless feather swords flew out from his wings, all aimed at Qin Mu!
“Disciple of Devil God Xiu Qi, Asura Division Tuo Shu, much obliged!”
Tuo Shu announced his name but he saw that Qin Mu’s footsteps did not change in the least, and he also paid no attention to the feather swords. However, when they came to his side, he suddenly moved in a peculiar manner and avoided the countless feather swords. The devil’s sword skills actually couldn’t hurt him at all.
Whoosh!
Qin Mu passed by, his eyes still focused on the network of the vital qi human body in front of him. His vision was filled with vigor, and his five fingers were gently raised. The network of the vital qi human body dispersed, leaving only the two networks of the divine eyes formation formed by the vital qi.
In the center of the network was a cluster of stars. The sun was in the center, and the outer layer was the system of formation markings of the heavens.
This was the divine eyes technique that Blind had created by fusing his Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill with Zi Qing’s number one divine eyes.
Qin Mu’s spirit was highly stimulated, and he was highly concentrated on improving the path of his vital qi circulation, so he paid no attention to Tuo Shu who he had just passed.
Tuo Shu’s wings were like knives with which he slashed repeatedly. His body flipped and tumbled as he used different techniques. Sometimes he swirled to slash horizontally while at other times he spun like a top. His knife skills were incomparably intricate.
Feather changed into swords, and the devil danced around Qin Mu. His sword skills were also extremely intricate.
Devil God Xiu Qi was known as Knife and Sword Absolute. As a disciple, Tuo Shu was also cultivating both knife and sword.
However, Qin Mu’s body twisted, and his footsteps became more strange. He walked out of Tuo Shu’s range of attack before the other could even manage to land a hit. The devil couldn’t help becoming stunned.
The other devils rushed over, and they all attacked together. They were all experts and proud disciples that the devil gods had diligently taught. One devil roared fiercely and transformed into a magma giant. Devil flames surrounded him, and balls of devil fire danced around his body.
He punched, and the devil fire exploded with world-shaking power.
Another devil divine arts practitioner had a devil dragon coiling around his body. It flew off him and danced here and there. In just a breath’s time, it covered dozens of yards. When it breathed in and out, its attacks were strange and unpredictable.
There was also an eight clawed woman that spat out webs which were incomparably sharp. She laid down a huge formation.
After a moment, all of them were left in a daze. They couldn’t touch Qin Mu at all.
He had stepped into the spider threads and entered the killing formation, yet he avoided the relentless attacks of the spider lady and walked out like nothing, leaving the spider lady in a daze behind him. He then came face to face with the magma giant. Stepping on his fist, he walked up his arm to his face and left down his back.
The devil expert that cultivated the devil dragon divine art didn’t even manage to touch him and just saw the excited human brat brushing past him.
Cold sweat rolled down everyone’s forehead. Tuo Shu chased after Qin Mu who was in front of him while shouting sternly, “Inform the other experts!”
The magma giant gave a loud roar and punched his fist into the sky. A ball of devil fire exploded and transformed into a blazing devil eye that had an area of dozens of fields.
Many devil experts in the distanced were alarmed and all rushed over.
In no time, a hundred devil experts were chasing after Qin Mu, and one had a huge river surging in midair. It held the water of Yellow Springs refined into a spirit weapon. The river rushed at Qin Mu, but he stood on the tip of the river and got sent far away.
“Earthquake Heavenly Stars!”
A strong devil practitioner raised his hands up high, and meteors came falling from the sky. As they rushed down with billowing smoke, they crashed onto the ground and caused huge tremors. Qin Mu walked through the meteors without any injuries.
“Life Taking Spirits!”
An old woman waved her white bone banner, and countless spirits flew out. They shuttled back and forth, flooding Qin Mu. Seconds later, walked out of them without a scratch.
“Blood Skeletons!”
Another person opened up his calabash, and countless bloody skulls flew out. They pounced at Qin Mu, but they also couldn’t keep him back.
“A bunch of idiots!” Suddenly a devil expert sneered and said, “There’s no use attacking him now that he is comprehending his Dao. Those strange vital qi eyes in front of him are his comprehension, so destroy them!”
Everyone’s spirit was roused, and they threw their divine arts in that direction. The huge eyes constructed by Qin Mu’s vital qi were instantly shattered.
Everyone was delighted when they saw the muddle-headed Qin Mu finally stop. He slowly raised his head.
“You guys…” Qin Mu was still slightly confused, but it quickly changed into anger. He seemed to be smiling yet not smiling, crying yet not crying. “You guys dared to disturb me when I was comprehending my technique…”
The devil expert that had made everyone aware that Qin Mu was comprehending his Dao immediately became excited and shouted, “Now that he has been broken out of his comprehension, his body movements and divine arts are all much weaker. Kill him!”
Everyone pounced over.
Sword light shone, followed by Qin Mu’s furious voice.
“You guys are seeking death!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The snow bright sword light burst forth like a small sun and rapidly expanded!
Once it covered over a dozen yards, it rapidly shrunk back. The next moment, it became a sword pellet in front of Qin Mu’s heart of brows. It gave off intense rays and burst forth once more!
Whoosh!
The sword light that burst forth then surpassed three hundred yards, and the hundred devil experts shouted furiously. They executed all kinds of techniques to block the terrifying sword light. Sounds of collision rang out one after another.
“There’s no need to be afraid of him!” the devil expert that had called for breaking Qin Mu’s comprehension shouted out. “I have also experience comprehending Dao before. During it, the body will become one with the Dao, so any action would contain the marvel of Dao, making it hard to hit the person. But now that he has left the Dao, he’s a mere mortal. We can get rid of him easily.”
The flying swords spread out, and everyone had seventy to eighty of them around them, executing all kinds of basic sword forms. Even though the moves were extremely simple, there were thousands of different ways to attack. Different flying swords had different combinations, and the moves everyone received were different.
At that moment, Qin Mu’s body moved like a phantom among the eight thousand flying swords, and time seemed to slow down. The flying swords were like petals that were slowly floating in his eyes. The postures, attacks, and divine arts of every devil expert had become abnormally slow.
Like what the expert that had broken Qin Mu’s comprehension had said, once a person was forced out of the realm of comprehending Dao, they wouldn’t be able to maintain the state of body and Dao as one. However, what the expert didn’t expect was that Qin Mu hadn’t been comprehending his paths, skills, and divine arts.
He had been comprehending his technique.
He had been entering the path with his technique.
Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was abnormally marvelous from the start and brought Qin Mu incomparably dense cultivation in magic power. It had also allowed his primordial spirit to surpass those of his peers; otherwise, Qin Mu wouldn’t have been able to slay four young true devils while possessing ab inferior corporeal body.
Right then he had comprehended his technique and brought it to the level of path, patching up this problem of his.
His corporeal body reached a state of perfection. All his body parts could stand alone or unite, allowing him to combine all of the power and energy in them.
His speed reached its extreme and far surpassed what it was previously. The strong devil practitioners who were defending against the swords could only see a line of Qin Mus sprinting forward.
Chi!
Qin Mu grabbed a flying sword and stabbed forward with it. Blood suddenly spurted out from the throat of a devil expert who had been defending against the attacks of the flying swords around him.
By the next instant, Qin Mu had already let go of the flying sword and went to the back of the second person. He picked another sword, and it pierced the back of a devil’s heart, penetrating all the way to come out the other side.
Boom!
Qin Mu clashed face to face with a strong practitioner who had rushed out from the encirclement of the swords, and their fists collided. Tempest of the Nine Dragons had burst forth an instant before their fists collided, but even after, it was still rushing outwards despite the fact that the entire arm and all the bones of the strong devil practitioner had broken through the back of his shoulders to shoot off in all directions.
When Qin Mu left and stabbed a sword into the heart of another person’s brows, only then did his previous divine art hit the strong devil practitioner and shattered his chest. The back of his shirt blasted into pieces as forty-five divine dragons flew out from his heart, bringing along all his qi and blood!
Qin Mu seemed to have entered a world where time flowed slowly. His improvement covered all areas.
Blood burst out from the fatal spots of the enemies before the power of their divine arts could even burst forth, turning them into blood flowers slowly blooming in the sky. After the power of the divine arts burst forth, Qin Mu was already no longer there.
The divine arts of the enemies had also become abnormally slow in his eyes, and he could see the vital qi transforming into runes before taking the shape of the spell. The explosion of the power of the spell looked abnormally beautiful.
The devil divine arts practitioners were all not weaklings, but disciples taught out by devil gods. They were known as the elites among the devils, and besides having great power, their divine arts were also very intricate. Every instant in which the divine arts changed was extremely dazzling and beautiful.
Qin Mu admired this kind of beauty very much. Under his Nine Heavens Divine Eyes, the process of the divine arts blooming was a pleasure to watch.
It was especially so when fresh blood splattered in midair, forming blood flowers. They decorated the divine arts of the hundred strong devil practitioners, making them seem even more rich and gorgeous.
This time, Qin Mu had chosen another path and used a strange method to construct the path of circulation for his technique, reconstructing it. By perfecting Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, he had not merely improved his corporeal body, but also increased the speed of his vital qi circulation, raising the power of his divine arts!
He slithered among the hundred strong devil practitioners and executed the most basic sword forms without being garish. However, under the sharp increase in his offensive speed and power, the simple moves had become abnormally effective.
In his divine eyes, everyone had become slow. It didn’t matter if it were their divine arts or spirit weapons, or the movement of their bodies, they had all become slow. He could clearly see everyone’s every flaw.
Qin Mu stopped, and his flying swords came whooshing over. They collided with Carefree Sword in his hand and vanished. Soon, all eight thousand swords became one.
Behind him, countless divine arts exploded, and spirit weapons danced in the sky, destroying the tallest trees of a forest below. Rumblings and explosions rang out incessantly.
After a moment, everything returned to silence.
Then thumping sounds rang out as corpses of the devil experts collapsed left and right.
Qin Mu gently rubbed Carefree Sword in his hand, and it turned into a sword pellet. He turned around and looked at the only standing devil expert on the battlefield.
It was none other than the person who had suggested to everyone to break him out of his comprehension.
At that moment, the devil’s legs were shaky, and huge beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Fear was written all over his face.
Qin Mu put away the sword pellet, and his vital qi flowed out to reconstruct the path of vital qi circulation in the divine eyes. However, no matter what, he couldn’t enter that state of comprehending Dao.
The devil expert looked at him blankly, not daring to move.
The more Qin Mu wanted to enter Dao comprehension, the more he couldn’t do so. Agitation grew within him, and he shattered the divine eyes formed by his vital qi with a punch.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
He became frantic and struck forward furiously. In an instant, a series of thunderclaps rang out, their sound incredibly concentrated. The air in front of him became a wall which slowly grew thicker and thicker, until it was visible to the naked eye. The wall was pushed forward by the wind from his fist, causing trees to collapse and rocks to shatter. Among the flying sand and rolling stones, the wall was sent over ten miles away, and a chasm was plowed open.
Qin Mu finished venting his anger and suddenly turned his head around. The corner of his eyes landed on the devil expert. “You were the one who told them to break me out from my comprehension? You’re very smart, aren’t you!”
The devil expert looked at him in a daze, then his will to survive suddenly defeated his fear. He let out a scream and rushed into the sky, transforming into a trail of devil qi to escape.
Qin Mu shook his head and layers of formation markings appeared in his eyes. The Milky Way in his pupils swirled frantically.
Twang!
Two beams of light from his eyes shone, intercepting the devil qi. A head, two legs, and half a body fell.
“Talk some more!” Qin Mu left angrily and shattered a rock that was the height of a human with a kick.
After a moment, new figures descended from the sky and landed around the battlefield. In the lead was a devil god with a strong aura.
“Master, Devil Xi Jue’s disciple is dead!”
“King Yan’s disciple has also been killed!”
“Devil King You’s disciple as well!”
“There’s also Xiu Qi’s disciple here!”
“Devil King Liu Ye’s disciple!”
“Master, sixth junior brother has also been harmed!”
…
The devil god gave an angry roar, and violent wind blew through the forest. The fog in the sky tumbled before vanishing straight away.
“You’ve killed so many elites of my devil race and nearly created a gap in the ranks of our Six Directions and Seven Stars Realm practitioners. Since you dare to behave so atrociously in front of my people, you can forget about walking out of the devil territory! Pass down my orders, release the Youdu divine dogs to search for him. Spare no effort to find him!”
A devil expert of Celestial Being Realm hesitated for a moment. “Master, Fu Riluo’s orders were that if we’re able to capture him alive, we should capture him alive. If we can’t, it’s best to leave a complete corpse. Respectable king has said that the body of this human holds a big secret…”
The devil god swept a cold gaze over, and the devil expert immediately shut his mouth. He hurriedly passed down the orders.
Qin Mu heard roars from afar, and his heart shook. He couldn’t help muttering that the devils were all brave and good in battle. They were all battle maniacs and liked to show off their martial prowess. The best way to do it was to kill strong practitioners, so among those that were chasing after Qin Mu, the most excited ones were the experts of Seven Stars Realm.
However, in a single battle, most of the devil gods’ disciples of Seven Star Realm had died in his hands.
In that case, what level strong practitioners would be chasing after him now?
He wasn’t considered far from the frontlines, and the number of strategic towns and soldiers grew gradually. From them, Qin Mu soon how powerful were the devils.
Large black dogs were leaping through the mountains behind him as though they were flying. They carried five to six strong devil practitioners while sniffing around for his trail. From afar, they looked like small hills with two heads. Their eyes were like big red lanterns, and their bodies were filled with muscles.
They didn’t have just two eyes on each head, but three. The one on the forehead even shot out beams of red light from time to time, scanning the surroundings.
Qin Mu’s expression became grim. Numerous devil dogs had already found his scent and were gathering together to head toward him.
‘I need to poison them. Only with that can I escape!’
He flipped through his taotie sack and found some medicinal herbs. This time, he didn’t use his vital qi to transform into a pill furnace to refine the pills. Instead, he took out a sealed furnace and refined his poison there.
Qin Mu held his breath and sealed all of his pores. After thinking about it, he took off his shoes and opened up the sealed furnace. He carefully took out some poison and scattered it on his shoes while thinking, ‘Even though I don’t have the time to refine poison that could poison a devil god, poisoning the devil dogs shouldn’t be a problem.’
He threw down his shoes and left barefooted.
After a moment, tiger roars shook the land, and Qin Mu hurriedly turned back to take a look. He saw a god’s aura spreading out as a black tiger tore apart the devil dogs and the strong devil practitioners that were on them.
“Brother Tiger! I can smell Cult Master’s scent!” the dragon qilin said in the distance. His voice was filled with delight. “Come follow me… Cult Master’s shoes are even here. What a smelly shoe… Crap… I’m poisoned…”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
‘It’s Fatty Dragon! Senior Brother Tiger and the rest are also here! They have come to find me!’
Qin Mu hurriedly sprinted back while refining the antidote. From afar, he could see the dragon qilin swaying and vomiting white foaming from his mouth. His body then went stiff, and his legs stuck up straight into the sky as he collapsed to the ground.
Qin Mu rushed over at his full speed from three hundred yards away. The moment he finished the antidote, he flicked his fingers. The vital qi furnace exploded, and the antidote flew into the dragon qilin’s mouth.
Qin Mu’s hand techniques changed rapidly as he landed near Fatty Dragon. In a blink of an eye, countless mudras surrounded the dragon qilin’s body as though he had grown a thousand arms. He smacked the body of the big fatty to spread the medicinal energy as fast as possible so the dragon qilin’s corporeal body wouldn’t be hurt.
‘Seems like he has gotten fatter again..’ When Qin Mu’s palm landed on the dragon qilin’s body, he felt the rebound of his fat, which made it hard to execute his hand techniques. Upon noticing it, he wondered in bewilderment, ‘I didn’t leave him too many pills so how did he get so fat? Could I have wronged him? Is he really the type that could grow fat even if he only drinks water?’
Sang Hua, Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and Hu Ling’er were all nearby. When they saw a person rushing over, they had planned to defend against him, but once they recognized Qin Mu, they were delighted and waited quietly for him to treat the dragon qilin.
Qin Mu’s vital qi steamed as he smacked the big faty countless times to spread the medicinal energy to all parts of his body. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief and take out a towel to wipe off the sweat on his forehead.
‘Luckily the poison I made this time wasn’t particularly powerful…’
The dragon qilin stared at him with eyes wide open and full of grievance. He had a look of having nothing left to be worried about.
Qin Mu let out a sigh and consoled him, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s not a big problem. You will be able to stand after a while. Your sense of smell will be damaged temporarily, but it will be fine after a day or two. Chest, don’t eat him, he’s not dead yet… He’s really not dead! And you couldn’t eat him even if he was dead, so spit him out… Why have you guys come?”
The chest reluctantly spat the dragon qilin out.
Hu Ling’er created a whirlwind to send Qin Mu’s smelly shoes far away. She jumped onto the head of the dragon qilin and said with a smile, “After you went missing, Senior Twiger informed Imperial Preceptor, but he said that you’re fine and won’t die so easily. However, he still ordered someone to inform Heavenly Saint Cult, and Saintess Xiang brought us over.
This girl couldn’t pronounce tiger properly.
The black tiger god examined Qin Mu then opened the youth’s eyes to take a look inside. Only after such an examination did he relax. “Since we entered the territory of the devils, the princess and the saintess have kept trying to contact your primordial spirit, but they never got a reply. We were afraid of disturbing you, so we stopped doing that after a while.
“We originally planned to go to the ominous land, but before we even reached there, we met numerous devils heading east. They spoke about you heading there, so we tracked them. The dragon qilin was most familiar with you, so he could track your scent, and that’s how we found you.”
Qin Mu pondered over it before saying, “When you guys contacted me, I should have still been in the ominous land. That place is very strange, which is probably why didn’t detect the primordial spirits of Saintess and Sister Xiu. You guys didn’t meet any danger since you entered the devil territory?”
Ling Yuxiu picked the dragon qilin and placed him on the chest. “Sister Sang Hua is very powerful; it’s all thanks to her that we were able to avoid all the strategically placed towns of the devils.
“Besides, most devils were chasing you, and there we’ve even heard rumors saying that you heavily injured Fu Riluo. The majority of the devil gods have gathered in the main camp to protect their leader, make sure that no one takes the chance to sneak in and kill him.”
Qin Mu burst out laughing. “Isn’t the rumor describing me as a bit too terrifying? Fu Riluo was actually hurt by a curse which had nothing to do with me. He has indeed been injured, but he should be fine by now.”
Sang Hua looked around and saw numerous devils heading over toward them. She hurriedly said, “Senior Tiger just massacred many devils, and it will attract a devil god or two, so we can’t stay here for long. Let’s leave this place first and talk in detail later! Senior Tiger, your body is too big and will attract the attention of the devil gods. We need to trouble you.”
The black tiger god heard this and immediately shrunk his body to the size of a small tiger that was a foot tall.
The girls looked at one another and all petted it, feeling rather gratified. The black tiger god paid no attention to them.
‘Could Senior Brother Tiger have relied on this to reach the depths of the devil territory?’ Qin Mu wondered.
They began to walk east, and the chest immediately followed after them.
The black tiger god went next to Qin Mu and raised his head to look at him. “What was that about Fu Riluo being injured by a curse? This rumor shouldn’t be fake, but that guy is a true devil, the overlord of the devil race, so how could he be injured by a curse?”
“It’s my jade pendant. There’s a curse hidden in it. As for what’s the exact situation, I do not know it. Saint Woodcutter knows, but he didn’t tell me.”
Soon, the dragon qilin was finally able to move but his limbs were still wobbly so he couldn’t crawl up. He said in grievance, “Cult Master, I’m hungry…”
“If you eat spirit pills now, they will agitate your stomach, and you will only vomit them out,” Qin Mu immediately explained.
The dragon qilin was silent for a moment, then said, “Cult Master, this little dragon risked his life to search for Cult Master in the devil territory, yet you harmed me…”
Qin Mu blinked, but didn’t say anything.
“Still hungry,” the dragon qilin said.
Feeling helpless, Qin Mu could only take out a few spirit herbs to match with Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills.
“I like Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills. I don’t like the taste of Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills.”
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows, but suppressed his anger. He placed aside the pills he had matched and found the herbs for Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills.
He finished refining them, and the dragon qilin opened his mouth, waiting for him to feed him.
Veins popped out on Qin Mu’s forehead, but he threw two pills over, and the dragon qilin crunched them. “The taste isn’t right, it’s not as delicious….” the dragon qilin said suspiciously.
“The toxin injured the nerves that control your smell and taste, so food doesn’t feel the same when you eat it,” Qin Mu explained.
“Cult Master, give me the spirit pills. I’ll eat them when my senses recover.”
Qin Mu handed the Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills that were done to him. The dragon qilin hid them inside the chest then said weakly, “I’m still hungry. I want to try Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills. Maybe they won’t be as hard to swallow.”
Qin Mu took out the herbs he had matched moments before and refined a furnace of Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills, and the dragon qilin tried two. “The taste seems to be much better; they aren’t as bad. Cult Master, can you refine two more furnaces?”
“Eating so much, be careful of getting stuff to death! Look at how fat you’ve gotten! Even the chest can’t carry you anymore!” Qin Mu said with his anger finally bursting forth.
The dragon qilin looked as if he had nothing to live for and said resentfully, “I’m poisoned, and I don’t know if I can even taste the flavor of the Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills again. It’s a pity my mother left early, and Patriarch has also left…”
Qin Mu couldn’t bear to see him like this and refined another two furnaces of pills for him. The dragon qilin no longer muttered after that.
Upon sneaking a glance back, Qin Mu saw that the fellow didn’t eat many pills. He secretly opened up the chest and stored the excess inside.
‘What has Fatty Dragon experienced during these days I wasn’t around?’ Qin Mu was puzzled.
The dragon qilin lay on the chest quietly. He took out a book and grabbed a brush with his claws, then carefully wrote something.
Qin Mu fell back to take a look, but the dragon qilin hurriedly covered up. Smiling, Qin Mu said “Fatty Dragon also knows how to work hard. Ling’er, you should learn more from him.”
Hu Ling’er had been hugging her tails and licking their fur clean. When she heard his words, she said seriously, “I’ve been studying along Grandpa Deaf these days, and he praised me for my knowledge!”
The black tiger god jumped onto the chest and moved over to look at the writings.
The dragon qilin didn’t dare to be arrogant and let him sit between his front claws. The black tiger god took a look and burst out laughing. “This also works?”
“Of course it does!” the dragon qilin said with a serious expression. “I have basically mastered hu— En, the path of controlling humans. This technique of mine will definitely shine in the future!”
The black tiger shook his head. “You spend too much effort on these little things and don’t use them on the right path. For example, there’s completely no need to eat Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills or Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills, cultivating by yourself is more useful than anything!”
“Has Brother Tiger eaten spirit pills before?” the dragon qilin asked.
The black tiger shook his head again. “My lord said that cultivating by oneself is the true cultivation. No one has given me any spirit pills before.”
The dragon qilin took out a Fire Element Divine Vitality Pill. “Try this.”
The black tiger god ate one and said in astonishment. “Such a good taste? So much better than normal food!”
The dragon qilin sneered at him. “Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills taste even better! Try a Scarlet Fire Spirit Pill!”
The black tiger god ate one, and his body shook. He couldn’t help the tears falling from his eyes.
“Now you know how good they are, right? Because you didn’t learn my technique, that’s why your lord is lazy. Your own cultivation is the true cultivation? That’s because you’re not hardworking and have too few tricks! You’re being subdued by him instead of you being the one who is subduing him. Only by learning my Human Rearing Scriptures can you eat well.”
The black tiger god looked at Qin Mu and said with a smile, “Junior brother, Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills indeed have a nice taste. Can you give me a few furnaces?”
Qin Mu looked at him in bewilderment., “Senior brother, you’re already a demon god, so why do you want to eat?”
“The taste is not too bad, I can eat them as a snack.”
Qin Mu frowned and asked patiently, “What are the attributes of senior brother’s demon vital qi?”
“Gold and water.”
Qin Mu calculated for a moment and wrote down a recipe. “This is for Gold Water Mixed Vitality Pill. It has gold qi and water qi inside, which can raise your gold and water vital qi. I also used complimenting spirit herbs to increase the fragrance and flavor. Senior brother, me making the spirit pills for you is not a solution. You’re a god so you make them yourself. I will teach you how to refine.”
The black tiger god was delighted and said with a smile, “Begging someone is never better than relying on oneself. If I can learn to refine pills, I indeed won’t need to trouble you!”
Qin Mu taught him how to refine Gold Water Mixed Vitality Pills and gave him some herbs. The black tiger god was incredibly intelligent and managed to learn quickly. He refined the pills pretty well.
Not long later, the black tiger god came to him to ask for some more medicinal ingredients. Qin Mu gave him them.
When the next day arrived, Qin Mu had a feeling that his demon god senior brother had become fatter. He wondered if it was just his misconception.
However, when the little black tiger lay next to the dragon qilin, he didn’t look fat at all, so it was probably just a trick of the light before.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Senior Twiger feels even nicer to touch like this!” Hu Ling’er said to Qin Mu with a serious face. The little fox had gone to touch twice, and she felt that he was quite chubby.
Qin Mu was slightly worried that his senior brother won’t be able to stop himself and grow fat from eating too many Gold Water Mixed Vitality Pills.
However, the black tiger god was his senior brother and had followed Saint Woodcutter much longer. On top of that, he was a famous god, so as a junior brother, Qin Mu wasn’t really in a place to say anything.
Even if he asked the black tiger god to eat fewer Mixed Vitality Pills, he reckoned he wouldn’t listen to him. The black tiger god listened more to the dragon qilin than him.
‘I should let Saint Woodcutter have the headache.’
Qin Mu turned around and saw trails of devil qi rushing into the sky. Some of it was in the form of lotuses and some were like clouds. There were also some shaped like peacocks and devil gods. All of these were apparitions formed by the vital qi of the devil experts.
To be able to create them, they had to be experts of Celestial Being Realm or even above!
Yet the strong devil practitioners didn’t rush over to kill them. It was as if they were waiting for something.
“An expert of Divine Bridge Realm has arrived!”
Qin Mu focused his gaze and suddenly saw a divine bridge stretching dozens of miles across the sky. A devil god primordial spirit walked through it with the celestial palaces of the devil path above him. This was the apparition of a strong practitioner of Divine Bridge Realm.
In Eternal Peace, those on Divine Bridge Realm were existences of cult master level. Their abilities had been the greatest, but that was in the past. After Qin Mu spread the method to repair the divine bridge and enter the celestial palaces, one could only be considered an expert of the cult master level once they became a god.
However, the divine arts practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm were still extremely powerful existences. If they gave chase, only the black tiger god could protect the group from harm!
In a bit, Qin Mu saw a second divine bridge, followed by a third and a fourth…
More and more strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm appeared behind them. They had all kinds of primordial spirits, and their locations on the divine bridges were different, representing different levels of cultivation.
The primordial spirits looked at them from afar as beams of devil light kept sweeping past them recklessly.
Yet even though so many strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm had come, they still didn’t attack.
‘They’re waiting for an even stronger existence to descend!’ Qin Mu narrowed his eyes and looked away while thinking, ‘The only ones stronger than the divine bridge practitioners will be devil gods who had entered the celestial palaces! It’s just that there’s no way to know if the devil god that’s hurrying over has crossed Southern Heavenly Gate or not…”
He took a look at the black tiger god who was lying on the chest with the dragon qilin. Ever since the two had found a common topic, they had become lazy. The black tiger god was always lying on the chest and whispering something with the dragon qilin.
Qin Mu felt an uneasiness brewing in his heart. ‘Hope the one that comes hasn’t crossed Southern Heavenly Gate yet…’
With a worried expression, Sang Hua said in a low voice, “Brother Cult Master, if we continue heading forward, we’ll soon reach the frontlines There are numerous strong devil practitioners there.”
Qin Mu’s mind shook. He instantly knew what the devils were waiting for.
‘There are numerous strong practitioners in front of us, and with the pursuers chasing behind, they will be able to pincer us, making it hard for us to take care of both our front and back. The devils behind are not waiting for the devil god since they’re among them already, waiting for us to fall into the trap!’
Qin Mu composed himself and came to the side of the chest. The black tiger god and the dragon qilin were muttering something, but when they saw him coming, they immediately shut their mouths.
Qin Mu told them about his guess and said solemnly, “Senior Brother Tiger, the more we go forward, the closer we get to the frontlines, and the more dangerous it gets for us! When we come close enough, there will definitely be a devil god that will lead an army to block our path. Meanwhile, from the back, another devil god will block our retreat! If we are pincered between the two sides, we will be vanquished!”
The black tiger god stood up like a huge cat and said solemnly, “Great strategy! However, they’re looking down on me! I had followed my lord to conquer the north and south and experienced countless battles. I’ve earned fame by bathing in the blood of my enemies! After my lord turned into a rock, I had also fallen into slumber. Looks like these devil brats have forgotten about my awe! Don’t be afraid. When we’re a thousand miles away from the frontlines, call me!”
Qin Mu opened his mouth, but didn’t speak.
The black tiger god lay down again, then raised his head after a moment. “Do you still have any spirit herbs? The ones you gave me were all refined into pills. Give me some more; I can kill better with a full stomach.”
Qin Mu took out some spirit herbs from his taotie sack, just enough for one furnace. He handed them over and said, “Senior Brother Tiger, don’t eat too much, be careful of becoming like Fatty Dragon.”
The black tiger god laughed, looking rather conceited. “You’re underestimating me. I can dissolve these spirit pills just by cultivating and won’t have any excess flab. I know my limits. I shall show you how awe-inspiring I am later!”
“Sister Hua, how far are we from the frontlines?” Qin Mu inquired.
Sang Hua took out a geographic map and searched around it. She took out a ruler and measured. “This is… Cloud Gathering Mountain. We are still four thousand miles away.”
Qin Mu looked at the ratio and measured the distance himself. He shook his head and said, “Four thousand two hundred and sixty-one miles.”
“Why do you need to be so accurate for?” Sang Hua asked with a smile.
Qin Mu shook his head. ‘It’s because the algebra of your Supreme Emperor Heaven is so lousy. Even your sun was forged so crookedly that it’s unbearable to look at.’
Of course, he couldn’t say this directly in her face.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang called Sang Hua over the moment she was free. The three girls chatted noisily and exchanged pointers on the paths, skills, and divine arts of Supreme Emperor Heaven and Eternal Peace.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang sincerely sought knowledge from Sang Hua about the method of cultivating to a young true god, and Sang Hua told them everything she knew without holding back. She also asked them about the spells of Eternal Peace, and the two girls taught her the divine art that was recently created in Eternal Peace—Primordial Spirit Guide.
“Primordial Spirit Guide needs dual cultivation, so this technique should only be used between husband and wife,” Sang Hua said in astonishment.
Ling Yuxiu smiled at her. “Nonsense! As long as the primordial spirits are able to resonate, anyone will be able to cultivate. Even numerous monks and Daoists in Eternal Peace have cultivated it!”
Sang Hua was dumbfounded. After a moment, she asked suspiciously, “Even monks and Daoists have cultivated? You two have also cultivated it?”
“I cultivated it with the one who herds cows,” Ling Yuxiu said.
Sang Hua was slightly disappointed and jealous. She looked at Si Yunxiang and asked, “What about Sister Xiang?”
Si Yunxiang smiled at her. “I have also cultivated with Cult Master. His primordial spirit is very strong, and you will improve very fast if you dual cultivate your primordial spirit with him!”
Sang Hua’s eyes went wide, and she cried out, “How can you… two of…. that’s not right! Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation clearly only allows one Dao partner!”
As she almost went into a frenzy, Si Yunxiang said bewitchingly, “Once you dual cultivate with Cult Master, you will understand. His primordial spirit is very strong!”
Sang Hua blushed and said with a low voice, “The rules our Supreme Emperor Heaven have regarding Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation is different from those of your Eternal Peace. Primordial Spirit Dual Cultivation here is a taboo; only husband and wife can dual cultivate. Even being engaged is not enough.”
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang looked at each other and seemed to know the other’s thoughts. “The rules of Supreme Emperor Heaven are too old, but this is not your fault. Every place has its own rules. For example, all of West Earth’s women are little vixens. To pave the road, Imperial Preceptor had brought a thousand demoness and caused quite some trouble!”
Qin Mu went up high to look far into the distance. He saw incredibly thick devil qi rolling a thousand miles away from them. It was like a high wall that stretched ten thousand miles.
‘The devils’ main camp in the frontlines!’
He observed with Nine Heavens Divine Eyes and saw all kinds of variegated and gorgeous vision. They were apparitions formed by the experts of Celestial Being Realm, Life and Death Realm, and Divine Bridge Realm in the army of the devils!
“Sister Hua, give me the geographical map!”
She took out the map, and Qin Mu used his vital qi as a ruler to measure it precisely. He turned back to look at the pursuers and the devil qi which was becoming thicker and thicker. His gaze flickered. ‘There’s still eleven hundred miles. Senior Brother Tiger told me to call him at a thousand miles, but he seems to have become even fatter during this period of time.’
Qin Mu turned his head around and looked at the black tiger god on the chest. He said solemnly, “Senior Brother Tiger, we are a thousand miles away from the frontlines.”
The little tiger leaped from the chest and laughed. “Stay here and look at my methods!” Once he said so, he rushed towards the pursuers behind them.
Qin Mu looked at the black tiger god and saw him running faster and faster. As he ran, his corporeal body changed, and in not even a breath’s time, he went from a little black tiger that was a foot tall to a behemoth that was like a mountain. He was awe-inspiring, although his tummy seemed a little bit too big.
When the black tiger god ran, he moved from four legs on the ground to only the two hind ones exerting force. All kinds of runes spread throughout his body like an armor covering his entire being. Two huge hammers appeared in his front paws.
In a breath’s time, the black tiger god had already collided with the pursuers, and the bones of countless strong devil practitioners were broken. Their bodies flipped in the sky and fell down limply.
A devil god had indeed hidden himself, and he rushed into the sky at that moment with a battle-halbert to face the two huge hammers of the black tiger god. The latter was incomparably brave, but the devil god wasn’t weak as well. The instant the two of them clashed, Qin Mu immediately saw a mountain top floating up after being slashed.
“Let’s go quickly!” Qin Mu said rapidly. “Advance a hundred miles forward! Fatty Dragon, come down from the chest!”
Sang Hua didn’t understand what he was saying, but she still heeded his words, bringing the chest to hurry forward. The dragon qilin jumped and followed after them.
Behind them, there were numerous devil experts that had not died in the hands of the black tiger god. They immediately left the black tiger god behind to chase after the small group.
Meanwhile, in front of the main camp, the battle between the black tiger god and the devil god created ripples that alarmed the devil experts in the vicinity. Immediately, devil qi separated from the mass above the main camp and surged towards Qin Mu. It was most likely a strong practitioner of the devil race rushing to pincer them.
Qin Mu sprinted a hundred miles with everyone, then shouted, “Halt!”
Behind, a world-shaking explosion suddenly rang out as the black tiger god and the devil god flashed past while dueling. With a roar from the tiger, mountains and vegetations were sent flying, and random rocks rushed into the sky.
The black tiger god arrived frantically, and his huge hammers smashed the strong practitioners chasing after Qin Mu one after another.
Qin Mu saw the situation and immediately said, “Retreat a hundred miles.”
Sang Hua, Ling Yuxiu, and the rest didn’t understand, but they still sprinted backward according to his words. After the black tiger god killed the pursuers, he leaped over their heads and faced the numerous devil experts that were chasing them.
The devil experts were led by a devil god, but their battle formation was disrupted by the black tiger god. The two gods started fighting while the rest o the experts took a detour around them and rushed toward Qin Mu and the rest.
After Qin Mu brought everyone back a hundred miles, he stopped and said solemnly, “We should be safe now.”
After a moment, the primordial spirits of the strong devil practitioners arrived, and their divine arts rushed over from afar. Everyone’s expressions changed slightly, but a huge hammer came flying out of nowhere, smashing the divine arts and the primordial spirits of the strong devil practitioners into smithereens!
The black tiger god’s body flashed by them, and he grabbed the huge hammer that was flying towards everyone. He shook it forcefully and laughed loudly. “I believe I did not disappoint! Everyone, climb onto my back, and follow me into the enemy’s main camp. I’ll bring all of you back to Li City!”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself, ‘Brother Tiger has indeed grown fatter these days. His weight has increased, and his speed has decreased by ten percent, so I added an extra distance of a hundred miles, and looks like I was right to do that!’
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The black tiger laid down on the ground, and Qin Mu hurriedly threw the chest onto his back. He then carried Hu Ling’er up with him while the three girls and the dragon qilin followed after.
The black tiger god immediately began sprinting and passed the mountains in a flash. His speed was unmatched.
Qin Mu lay close to the tiger’s back and listened to the tiger god’s breathing. It gradually grew faster, and he thought, ‘I was right, Senior Brother Tiger’s lifetime of cultivation has been ruined by Fatty Dragon in one day. He has been brainwashed by Fatty Dragon. Hope he doesn’t grow too fat or else I won’t be able to explain myself to Sacred Teacher… Right, it’s still unknown if we can break through the enemy camp and return to Li City…’
Right then, a sound akin to that of a huge dam crumbling and water flooding out deafened him. Qin Mu ignored the wind that was blowing in his face and looked forward. He saw sword lights tearing apart the devil qi and ripping a huge hole in the devils’ main camp.
What followed after were big calabashes floating in midair with divine arts practitioners around them. They executed their divine arts, and lightning poured out from the calabashes, raining down on the devils’ main camp.
Behind the lightning calabashes were countless sword pellets. Tens of thousands of them were swirling furiously. After the lightning strikes, countless swords rained down on the devils’ main camp.
Behind the sword pellets, there were waves and waves of flying ships. True Origin Cannons were installed on them, and with the cannon beams plowing the ground, the main camp was destroyed!
“It’s the army of Eternal Peace!” Qin Mu’s spirits rose swiftly. “It was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s sword light that broke the camp! This fellow always secures his gains with the safest method. That devil god who rushed out of the main camp to kill us should have been the commander of the main camp. The moment he left, Imperial Preceptor saw the opening and took advantage of it to break the formation! Only Imperial Preceptor could be so sneaky!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s sword skill had entered the path, and it cultivated his Dao heart. No opening of an enemy could escape his eyes nor his sword lights. It was the same for the formation of the enemies. He had turned his sword path into the path of war, and it was successful in every battle.
Qin Mu relaxed. Even though the black tiger god was already gasping for breath, he was still able to bring them out of the devil territory.
At the front, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Duke Wei were opening a path for the flying ships behind them. The numerous soldiers with the lightning calabashes lowered themselves and landed on the flying ships.
Meanwhile in the back, there was an army formed by countless strange beasts and divine arts practitioners.
The black tiger god rushed into the battlefield and shook his body, flinging everyone away. He stood up and grabbed his two huge hammers to spin like a windmill, smashing the enemies around him like a storm.
Boom!
When the black tiger smashed his hammer against the ground, its boundless power swept in all directions. Countless devils were blown into the sky.
The black tiger god attacked the enemies’ battle formations while roaring. “You guys go back first. I shall stay and digest the spirit pills, using up the excess fats in my tummy so that my lord would recognize me!”
After saying that, the demon god destroyed everything around him and went to the frontlines to take the lead. He destroyed an enemy formation and opened his mouth wide to blow away a devil god that was rushing over with an intense beam of white light. It extended for a hundred miles before gradually fading away.
Qin Mu was dumbfounded. He turned to look at the round and fat dragon qilin that was thrown into the sky. He suddenly felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. ‘Sacred Teacher’s mount is still better. Even if he is slightly gluttonous, he still knows to train and maintain his figure. He won’t delay his cultivation…’
The dragon qilin was also dumbfounded. When he took a glance and saw Qin Mu’s sorrowful expression, he sunk into his thoughts.
A flying ship flew over from the sky and brushed past their bodies. A young general stood on its bow. With a wave of his hand, golden lotuses came into being. They lifted everyone up and brought them to the ship.
“Qin Feiyue, Little General Qin!” Qin Mu greeted in a hurry, full of astonishment.
Qin Feiyu wore a suit of armor, but he still bowed slightly to return the greeting. “Cult Master Qin, Princess Xiu. This general is wearing armor, so it’s inconvenient for me to greet.”
From behind him, a person rushed out—it was Qin Yu. There was a young dragon coiled around his body. “Qin Yu pays his respects to Cult Master Qin, Princess Xiu, and Saintess Xiang,” he swiftly greeted.
The two brothers had been born in the Qin Family of General of Heavenly Strategies, and they were part of Imperial Preceptor’s many disciples. They followed him to cultivate for a period of time, they had their success and assumed positions in the army.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had many disciples, and most of them entered the army and took up high positions. Ling Yuxiu’s nature was open-minded, so she had made friends with a lot of heroes which were disciples of Imperial Preceptor.
The first time Qin Mu had met Ling Yuxiu, she had entered Great Ruins with Qin Feiyue, planning to draw the terrain to conquer Great Ruins at a later date.
The young dragon on Qin Yu’s body raised its head in curiosity and examined Qin Mu. It suddenly slithered down and climbed onto him. It rubbed its horns against Qin Mu’s face and gently cried out, “Ma ha…”
Qin Yu was stunned. He hurriedly took out his dragon bead and tried to summon his young dragon back, but it was reluctant to leave Qin Mu.
Qin Yu’s heart was on tenterhooks. ‘I was already no match for him in Imperial College. I got beaten by him several times, and after he became the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, I was even less of match for him. Is my dragon also going to be snatched away by him?’
Qin Mu plucked the little dragon and examined him over and over again. He then asked in astonishment, “Could this be the true dragon from Surging River Dragon Palace?”
Qin Feiyue nodded. “Imperial Preceptor called Little Poison King and saved its life. He then gave it to my brother.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly, and he asked with a smile, “Junior Brother Qin Yu, can you lend me this little dragon of yours for a few days?”
Qin Yu hesitated for a moment, and Qin Feiyue said with a smile, “Cult Master’s position is extraordinary, and he’s the grand chancellor of Heavenly Saint Academy. How could he lie to you?”
Qin Yu could only nod then, and Qin Mu said with a smile, “Junior Brother Qin Yu, I won’t borrow it for nothing. I will give you something good. After I return this small dragon to you, you will understand.”
The young dragon shrunk and climbed onto his earlobe. It hung there like an earring.
Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw the army of Supreme Emperor taking the chance when Eternal Peace Army broke through the enemy’s formation to rush over, intercepting the reinforcements of the devil army. They were like two punches that crashed ruthlessly on the enemy’s vital points.
Around the group, the flying ships were led by young officers into the fight. Cannonfire plowed through the ranks below, and the divine arts practitioners on the ship executed sword pellets. Their divine arts bombarded the ground.
Once the land was cleared, strong workers paved the land while the strange beast army and soldiers massacred any devils that had survived the main assault.
“The officers on the ships are also Imperial Preceptor’s disciples!” Ling Yuxiu said after looking around. “The disciples of Imperial Preceptor are usually honorary directorates of River Tomb Academy. They frequently give lessons over there, and most of them are experts from the army. Look, there are more familiar people over there. It’s senior and junior brothers from Imperial College!”
Qin Mu looked where she pointed and saw Wei Yong, Chen Wanyun, and the rest, so he immediately waved at them. However, they were focusing on executing their spirit weapons to bombard the ground and didn’t see.
After a moment, the flying ships dispersed the enemy’s formation. The devil army was blown into pieces, and with the strange beasts trampling their battles lines, it was a very bitter fight for the devils.
Qin Feiyue ordered the flying ships to stop and end their cannon fire. He wanted for the spirit weapons to continue attacking the enemies that were escaping in all directions while they secured the land.
He explained to Qin Mu, “The reason why our Eternal Peace Army is the vanguard is because the algebra skills of Supreme Emperor Heaven are too weak. Their formations are loose and normal. Imperial Preceptor felt their impact wasn’t enough so our Eternal Peace Army was sent first to break the devils’ formation.”
“Imperial Preceptor is a great talent. The algebra of Supreme Emperor Heaven is indeed somewhat weaker,” Qin Mu said.
Sang Hua blushed and lowered her head in silence.
“Even though Supreme Emperor Heaven’s algebra is very weak, their divine arts are very strong. They have what our Eternal Peace lacks in the path of cultivation so we can only rely on battle formations to charge while the close-combat fights will have to rely on the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
Qin Feiyue executed his sword pellets and looked down at the devils from above. He sighed ruefully. “I thought I was extraordinary in Celestial Being Realm, but after encountering these divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven, my eyes were opened. With my current cultivation, I can’t even be ranked here! Imperial Preceptor ordered that in this battle, no one is to leave the ship to fight on their own. This is because on the same realm, our soldiers are no match for the devils.”
The battle lasted for a long time, until the sun in the sky went out. Only then did both sides beat the gong to recall troops.
“We have clearly won the war so why do we have to retreat? Why can’t we just take this chance when the enemies are escaping to enter the city?” Sang Hua asked in bewilderment.
“Our military strength isn’t enough. If we rush into the city, we’ll only scatter our soldiers, giving the devils a chance to break us. Imperial Preceptor chose to retreat right after achieving victory because he is using the method of nibbling away at the devils. By continuously doing so, the devils will be weakened until they’re all exhausted. In that case, they won’t be able to pose any threat!”
Qin Mu recalled Saint Woodcutter saying that Supreme Emperor Heaven was undefendable, and he couldn’t help becoming worried.
Saint Woodcutter wouldn’t speak nonsense, so since he said it couldn’t be defended, it really meant that it was impossible to guard it. The devils would definitely not follow the battle plan Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hoped they would use. Fu Riluo would definitely have other ideas.
In the darkness on the battlefield, numerous will-o’-the-wisps suddenly appeared from another world. They were lanterns on small boats sailing out of Youdu with elders whose faces were blurry. They were there to fetch the heroes that had died.
No matter if they were human or devil, as long as they became ghosts, they would be fetched by Youdu.
In the meantime, the army retreating below moved silently, ignoring the messengers of death. It seemed that they were used to this sight.
Qin Mu stood on the bow of the flying ship, overlooking the battlefield. He couldn’t help sighing ruefully inside his heart, but he didn’t say anything.
At that moment, a small boat sailed over in front of the flying ship. The elder in it stood up and raised the lantern to shine on Qin Mu.
“Qin Fengqing, you have disturbed Youdu. Earth Count invites you for a visit to talk about the cause and effects of your actions.”
Astonished internally, Qin Mu said with a smile, “Who is Qing Fengqing? Elder, you are mistaken.”
The lantern shone on his face, but the elder behind it didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, black light flashed, and the black tiger god appeared at the bow of the ship, blocking Qin Mu behind himself. “Messengers of Death only care about the matters of the dead. When have you started to manage the matters of the living as well?”
The face behind the lantern was blurry. “Youdu has its rules. Youdu does not look into the matter in the world of the living unless a person from there disrupts the order of Youdu. Youdu then has to take control of the situation.
“Qin Fengqing released forty-eight thousand souls from Youdu and broke the rules of Youdu. Fifteen days ago, we came to inform and invite him to Youdu to talk about it, but he has a treasure which blocks the messengers of death.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked over and asked in a solemn voice, “What if I don’t let you take him?”
“Numerous worlds have been destroyed because of that,” the elder said from behind the lantern.
Qin Mu couldn’t help remembering what he’d seen before—Dutian Devil King wailing in the darkness and shedding sorrowful tears. “Imperial Preceptor, Senior Brother Tiger, no need to say more. I’ll go with him.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor frowned and looked at the battlefield. There were numerous will-o’-the-wisps that were messengers of death carrying lanterns. The boats carried the souls that had died in battle toward Youdu.
If they didn’t let the messenger of death bring Qin Mu away and tried fighting, so many messengers of death would probably turn Supreme Emperor Heaven into a white land!
He looked at Qin Mu and muttered to himself irresolutely.
“I’ve been to Youdu twice already. The first time I was lured in by Dutian Devil King…”
“I was the one who saved you and sent you back to the world of the living,’ said the elder from behind the lantern.
Astonished, Qin Mu looked over. He still couldn’t see the man’s face however.
“The second time, Grandmaster, Fatty Dragon, White Bat Brothers, and I fell into Youdu together, and we survived again.”
Qin Mu composed himself and walked out of the flying ship. He came to the small boat and turned back to wave at everyone. He said with a warm smile, “Youdu isn’t as dangerous as you guys imagine it to be. I’m going to talk about the cause and effect of the forty-eight thousand souls being back, and I’ll be back once it’s done.”
The dragon qilin opened his mouth, wishing to speak, but he gave it some thought and suppressed the urge. ‘Cult Master is being foolish. How is Youdu not dangerous? There are strange monsters everywhere, and there is even Saturn Star Sovereign, that terrifying monster… However, my position is now in danger as well. I look bad with Brother Tiger for comparison, so it’s best if I don’t talk. Otherwise, if Cult Master blows up now, I won’t be able to get any more spirit pills again.”
The black tiger god took a step forward and was about to talk, but Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his hand to stop him. He shook his head and said, “Does Cult Master want to leave his corporeal body behind?”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly, and he instantly understood what the other was trying to say—Imperial Preceptor wanted him to leave his corporeal body behind. If Qin Mu couldn’t return, they could cast Soul Guide to seize his soul back by force.
“Imperial Preceptor doesn’t have to worry.” Qin Mu plucked the young dragon from his ear and sent it away before waving at everyone. “It’s safer for me to bring my corporeal body along. I shall borrow this little dragon once I’m back from Youdu.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned, not understanding his intention. While he wondered about it, the small boat sailed away leisurely and vanished into the darkness. The young dragon flew back onto the ship and ran to Qin Yu to coil around his body.
“Why didn’t Cult Master leave his corporeal body behind?” Puzzled, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor kept muttering under his breath. “If a few gods executed the spell Soul Guide at the same time, we should be able to summon his soul back from Youdu…”
Qin Mu stood on the small boat and looked around. He saw boats full of souls in the darkness, all sailing towards the depths of Youdu. Their lanterns were very dim, and from far away, they looked like stars moving through a pure black sky.
King Yama had once told Qin Mu to go to Youdu at least once if he got the chance. This was why he had rejected Imperial Preceptor’s suggestion.
King Yama wasn’t clear with his words, but Qin Mu could still detect that his birth in Youdu wasn’t simple. Earth Count’s summon was a rare chance, so he might even discover the secret of his birth.
The little boat floated at a very fast speed, but he couldn’t feel its movement while sitting inside. He could only see the dim world rushing past him.
Qin Mu’s heart trembled. He had boarded the boat in Supreme Emperor Heaven, and he could see it disappearing into the distance.
While in the boat, he saw numerous other worlds. From magnificent ones, small boats with lanterns came sailing out without end.
Looking from far away, the dark sky in those worlds and the faint lamplight brought wild and fanciful thoughts. He couldn’t help fantasizing about those worlds, the stories that were unfolding there on a magnificent scale. Maybe they were of melancholy and hidden bitterness, maybe of heroism, or just human emotions.
“It’s actually the fourth time you are in Youdu.” At the bow of the boat, the messenger of death hung his lantern and turned around to face Qin Mu. He said in a steady voice, “You were born in Youdu so this is the fourth time.”
Qin Mu’s interest was aroused and he asked, “Senior, I have no memory of when I was born, so may I ask if senior could tell me about it?”
“When you were born, you created quite a commotion and shook all the worlds in Youdu. In the end, most of the big shots came to an agreement to exile you.”
Qin Mu examined the face of the elder in detail, but he still couldn’t see his true appearance.
“Thus, you were exiled. As for what happened afterward, I don’t know,” the messenger of death said slowly.
Qin Mu was stunned and burst out into laughter. “When I was born, I was definitely a small baby, so how could I have caused a huge commotion? And for the big shots of Youdu to exile a baby, isn’t it a bit too much?”
“It’s already very generous,” the messenger of death said steadily/ “In my eyes, us exiling you after all you’ve done was already very generous of us. After you were out, those big shots were so happy they celebrated for days.”
“What exactly did I do?” Qin Mu was even more puzzled. “What could an infant do?”
The messenger of death didn’t answer. The small boat sailed into a world and went through it. After a moment, they came to a small world inside it.
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the sun, moon, and the five elements as well as the stars in the sky that were abnormally beautiful. They shone with multicolored lights.
There was also a divine bridge in the sky with a primordial spirit in the shape of a god.
“This is the divine treasure of a strong practitioner of Divine Bridge Realm!” Qin Mu was astonished. “We have entered the divine treasure of a strong practitioner.”
The messenger of death took out a notebook and flipped it open. He found a name and said, “Han Zhen, your lifespan is over. I will fetch you after three days, settle what you need to do.”
The primordial spirit on the bridge looked down with a dim gaze. “I understand. Thank you, Messenger of Death, for giving me three days’ time.”
The messenger of death nodded. His small boat sailed out of the small world and returned to Youdu. He continued to head forward.
“Once a person is born, they make a pact with Earth Count for their souls to go to Youdu after their lifespan runs out. The messenger of death that was going to inform you had planned to enter your Life and Death Divine Treasure to tell you about Earth Count’s orders, but who would’ve known that he’d be blocked by the treasure on your body. That’s why I had no other choice but to go to the world of the living to find you. The longer this matter is delayed, the worse it will be for you.”
Feeling even more bewildered, Qin Mu asked with a smile, “I’m on Six Directions Realm so my Life and Death Divine Treasure hasn’t even opened yet, so how could the messenger of death enter it?”
“To you, it may be shut, but to the messengers of death, they are all open. When we enter a person’s Life and Death Divine Treasure to send information, it’s like giving them a dream,” the messenger of death said. “However, we were blocked by the treasure on your body and couldn’t enter your dream.”
Qin Mu took out his jade pendant and asked, “The treasure you keep mentioning, is it this jade pendant? Where did it come from? Does it have some curse?”
“Wear it properly. Don’t take it down,” the messenger of death admonished him in a hurry.
Qin Mu could only hide it back under his clothes.
The messenger of death was still wary and took out a yellow joss paper to stick it on Qin Mu’s face. He took down the lantern and shone it on the surrounding darkness. “Which Dao friend is lying low in the vicinity?”
Qin Mu poked two holes in the yellow joss paper and looked around. Everything was dark, and he couldn’t see anything.
Suddenly, the light of the lantern fell on a slimy body. It moved quickly, and its scales reflected all kinds of lights which soon vanished.
The messenger of death muttered irresolutely for a moment before sneering. “He is someone Earth Count wants to meet so don’t try anything; otherwise, you won’t be able to pay for your crimes!”
Soft laughter came from the surroundings of the boat as strange devil eyes lighted up. Those eyes were huge and surrounded the whole boat.
“Earth Count wants to see him so we won’t obstruct. After all, we also live in Youdu and seek a place under the name of Earth Count. However, we also have masters and have received an order to find him.”
Voices came from all directions, followed by strange laughter. They were like worms crawling in one’s body and speaking as they gnawed on the bone.
“Sovereign Equal to Heaven, you’re General Governor of Heavenly Talismans, an Official Sovereign of Youdu, so we should be somewhat respectful to you. However, you covered his face to prevent us from seeing his face and learning his identity. So how are we going to answer our master? Remove the yellow talisman and we will let you take him away!”
The messenger of death sneered, and the eyes suddenly closed and vanished. A boat came sailing over. It had an elder carrying a lantern that lit up the surroundings.
In the darkness, numerous slimy bodies slithered away from the light.
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, and he saw more and more small boats sailing toward them. They overlapped with their boat, and the messengers of death also did the same. In the blink of an eye, some sixty-seventy boats and messengers of death overlapped to become one!
“Now we won’t have to worry about them,” he said.
“Who were the ones who stopped us?” Qin Mu asked immediately
“Gods and devils planted by the celestial heavens.” The messenger of death shook his head. “A bunch of fellows who reap things they did not sow.”
Qin Mu fell into his thoughts as the small boat continued to sail forward. Finally, he saw Earth Count once more. Of course, it wasn’t the complete form, just the horns of nine bends.
Layers of worlds formed them. The closer the boat went, the bigger the two horns looked, forming incomparably huge lands on them. Countless volcanoes erupted to connect the lands together.
The paper boat traveled through one, and Qin Mu saw countless souls moving with difficulty through a world of magma.
The boat sailed leisurely, and he didn’t know how much later and how many planes of Earth Count’s horns they had passed before they came to a stop. There was no heart palpitating hell in that piece of land, just a cluster of majestic palaces.
The small boat descended and stopped in front of them. The palace hall had a name in the language of Youdu, and Qin Mu looked over. He instantly knew the meaning of the words there—Manor of Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven.
The messenger entered the hall and said, “This is my manor. Your body is too small so Earth Count can’t meet you directly. Wait for a moment, Earth Count’s clone will come and question you.”
Qin Mu checked the murals in the manor while waiting. They portrayed various myths and legends.
Suddenly, magma flowed out from the center of the hall, and the floor became bubbling magma. It swirled, and a pair of twisted horns rose up, followed by the whole body of Earth Count that was over thirty yards tall.
The messenger of death bowed and took out a book. “I’ve brought Qin Fengqing. All the evils he has done is recorded in this book, may Earth Count go through it.”
Qin Mu hurriedly came closer and saw that the book was terrifyingly thick. He hurriedly said, “I didn’t do all of those things in the book! I’m just eighteen years old, so how could I have done so many bad things?”
The magma Earth Count took the book and flipped through it to check. Divine lights blazed in his eyes as he said, “The things recorded here are not the things you have done in the world of the living, but in Youdu. Is the jade pendant I made for you still around? I could feel the seal loosening recently.”
Qin Mu’s eyes opened wide in disbelief, and his heart trembled. His jade pendant had actually been crafted by Earth Count?
His jade pendant should have belonged to Qin Family and he had worn it ever since he was young, so how could it have been crafted by Earth Count?
What was the relationship between them?
Was it because he had truly done so much evil that Earth Count sealed him with the jade pendant?
However, he should have only been a baby, so how could he have committed evil?
He didn’t have any memory of that. And besides, in Eternal Peace and Supreme Emperor Heaven, who didn’t know that Cult Master Qin was a noble, benevolent, and a broad-minded character? So how could he have committed evil before?
“The seal should have become loose.” The magma Earth Count continued to flip through the book. “There was once a few gods and devils who tried to break the seal, but they didn’t succeed; however, the seal seems to have gotten loose and almost released you. It’s fine, I’ll reinforce it later.”
His browsing speed was extremely fast, and he quickly read through all of the evils Qin Mu had committed. When he came to the last page, he said, “In the ominous land of Supreme Emperor Heaven, Son of Qin family Qin Fengqing used Soul Guide to disrupt Youdu, seizing forty-eight thousand souls by force, injuring the messenger of death…”
“Using Soul Guide to bring away the forty-eight thousand souls was indeed my doing, but injuring the messenger of death wasn’t. It was Seven Kills Star Sovereign Wei Liao who did it, so find him if you want.”
The magma Earth Count turned his head to look at Elder Messenger of Death and asked, “Was it Seven Kills Star Sovereign Wei Liao who injured the messenger of death?”
“There was Seven Kills Star Sovereign Wei Liao’s name in Life and Death Book, but after he died and his soul scattered twenty thousand years ago, it was removed, so he is no longer in Youdu’s jurisdiction. The reason why the forty-eight thousand souls escaped though was still mainly because of Qin Fengqing helping Seven Kills Star Sovereign retrieve his soul and patch it back together. Because of that, the debt of injuring the messenger of death has to be recorded in Qin Fengqing’s book. After all, he’s still alive and his name is still in the Life and Death Book,” the Elder Messenger of Death who was a clone of Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven replied.
The magma Earth Count looked at Qin Mu and said, “Do you accept for this debt to be recorded under your name?”
“I don’t!” Qin Mu said instantly.
“Record it under his name,” the magma Earth Count told Elder Messenger of Death. “Settle it in the future.”
Qin Mu’s face instantly turned black. “If you’re going to record it under my name, why even bother asking me?” However, when Earth Count said to settle the debt in the future, hope lit up in his heart.
His words meant that Earth Count really only wanted to talk to him about the cause and effect of his actions and not seek reparations.
The magma Earth Count closed the thick book and lowered his head to look at the tiny Qin Mu below him. “Why did you disrupt the order of Youdu and summoned those souls into the world of the living? Did you remember something? Are there images of Youdu flashing in your mind?”
Qin Mu stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head. “When I was sent… exiled out of Youdu, I should have only been one or two months old, right? How could I have images of Youdu flashing in my mind? As for summoning the souls in the ominous land, I had no choice but to do so.”
He told them about the reason why he had executed Soul Guide, then stood still, waiting for his punishment quietly.
The magma Earth Count kept staring at him. After a moment, he asked. “Are there really no images flashing in your mind? You don’t recall anything?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “What could I recall?” he asked with a smile.
“If you didn’t recall anything, how did you become proficient in Youdu language?” The magma Earth Count kept staring at him like he could see through him. In a while, he said in a slower voice, “Proficiency in Youdu language allows you to cultivate the paths, skills, and divine arts of Youdu, to open the door to the divine treasures of the devil path. Aren’t you curious about how you were able to open the divine treasures of the devil path?”
“Devils are descendants of the devil gods in Youdu, so they can open up their divine treasures of the devil path. Aren’t you curious about how you are also able to do so?” Elder Messenger of Death asked from beside him.
“I am!” Qin Mu looked at him with curiosity. “How was I able to open up the divine treasures of the devil path as well as divine treasures of the god path?”
“That’s because you are the descendant of Carefree Village and also a lifeform born in Youdu…”
Just as Elder Messenger of Death said that, the magma Earth Count intercepted him. “He doesn’t need to know all of that, and we don’t need to explain it to him. He was summoned to be questioned, not to worm out facts from us.”
That Elder Messenger of Death came to realization and said with a smile, “He managed to worm a fact out of me. This brat’s expression is simply abominable. He made me fall for his tricks.”
Qin Mu blushed and said with embarrassment, “My curiosity was piqued by Official Sovereign, so I just asked that, I wasn’t trying to worm facts out from the two of you. I’m just a small child that turned eighteen…”
Elder Messenger of Deaths shook his head. “Really can’t see that he’s lying.”
The magma Earth Count nodded and said, “This is an acquired slyness. He learned it from the living people. It wasn’t part of his nature, but training changed that.”
“In that case, how much of what he said is true and how much is fake?”
The magma Earth Count knew Qin Mu inside out, so he said, “When he talked about the cause of bringing back the souls to the ominous land, every word was true. After that, he might have seemed to have said a lot, but he didn’t say anything at all. Instead, he was trying to ask and worm facts out of us.”
Elder Messenger of Death thought it over in detail and realized that it was truly so.
“My nature isn’t like this, I was just taught some bad stuff by the elders in my village, which is why I turned out this way. I really don’t have any flashbacks of Youdu.”
“This sentence is true,” the magma Earth Count said. “The seal is still there, so it should be just the memory regarding language that has awoken. He doesn’t recall anything of what he had experienced.”
With sweat pouring down his forehead, Qin Mu probed, “I have killed some people in the past. Will that make my sins heavier?”
“This sentence is fake. He’s fishing for facts,” the magma Earth Count said. “However, what he wants to ask isn’t a secret, so you may reply to him.”
“All kinds of evil committed before death will be viewed as equal after death. Youdu is not a place of judgment, but where death belongs. Unless people are guilty of terrible crimes or disrupting the order of Youdu, they won’t be eaten by Earth Count.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief, but Elder Messenger of Death wasn’t finished yet.
“Those who are guilty of terrible crimes are plagued by sin and have to be burned by karma fire which is incredibly painful. Earth Count eats them to absorb their sins and karma fire. People like you who disrupt the order of Youdu and don’t let dead people remain dead are also eaten by Earth Count.”
Qin Mu became nervous again. Elder Messenger of Death looked at his face, then revealed a satisfied expression. “However, Youdu doesn’t dabble in the affairs of the living world. You’re still alive, so we can’t deal with you and need to wait until you die.”
“Official Sovereign, you got tricked by his expression again,’ said the magma Earth Count.
Stunned, Elder Messenger of Death cried out, “His original intention was to ask me if he would be punished right now? It’s truly impossible to guard against hi—”
The magma Earth Count nodded, then his gaze landed on Qin Mu’s face once again. He said, “Don’t speak first. Let me ask him.”
Qin Mu stood silent.
The magma Earth Count looked at his obedient expression and pondered over it. He then decided not to say anything and just raised his finger gently. The jade pendant on Qin Mu’s neck slowly floated up and came to rest onto his palm.
The magma Earth Count pluck down one of the long horns on his head and stabbed it into the jade pendant. The entire long horn sunk inside and vanished without a trace.
Rings of fire spread out from the jade pendant before gradually dispersing.
The jade pendant flew up and went back to rest around Qin Mu’s neck. He hid it beneath his shirt, keeping it close to himself.
The magma Earth Count waved his hand and said, “I wanted to see the seal of the jade pendant. Since it’s been stabilized, send him back. We’ll talk about everything after he dies.”
Elder Messenger of Death hurriedly said, “After he dies, won’t he still—”
The magma Earth Count shot him a glance, and Earth Count suddenly remembered being ordered not to talk. He hurriedly kept the rest of the sentence to himself.
The body of magma Earth Count swirled, and his voice came from the magma. “Don’t let anyone touch your jade pendant! Official Sovereign, when you send him off, don’t talk to him!”
“Earth Count, I want to meet my mother, is that possible?” Qin Mu asked in a hurry.
The magma Earth Count vanished.
Qin Mu stood with a blank look on his face. After a moment, he said, “I just want to meet my mother. I’ve never seen her before… Official Sovereign, do you know how she looks like?”
Elder Messenger of Death pondered over it and nodded.
Qin Mu looked at him with eyes filled with anticipation. Elder Messenger of Death was truly troubled, and he hesitated for a moment. “Earth Count has ordered me to not speak to you.”
“Official Sovereign, is my mother still alive?” he asked with excitement.
The messenger of death hesitated for a moment. Qin Mu’s expression really gripped at his heart, so he could only nod at him. “Stop asking things; I’m very troubled. I have already gone against Earth Count’s orders by talking to you. Go, it’s not yet daytime in Supreme Emperor Heaven. I’ll send you back to the world of the living.”
Qin Mu could only follow him and board the small boat. He was silent on the way.
The small boat sailed leisurely. They left the broken plane on Earth Count’s horns and went into the darkness.
The true body of Earth Count was incomparably huge. Qin Mu didn’t know how tall or large it was, but the small boat required a lot of time to leave the two Nine Bends Yellow Springs.
Elder Messenger of Death kept looking around. From time to time, he would raise the lantern to shine it around them. In a bit, he threw a yellow talisman to Qin Mu and said, “The fellows looking for you will not give up this chance. Stick this yellow talisman on your face, and no gods or devils will be able to see your face. Whatever they glimpse would be fake, just like how I look like now.”
Qin Mu stuck the yellow talisman onto his face and didn’t move.
“Why haven’t you made any holes yet?” Elder Messenger of Death asked curiously.
Dispirited, Qin Mu said resentfully, “Not interested.”
“Little child throwing a tantrum.”
At that moment, the small boat stopped.
Elder Messenger of Death quickly stood up and raised his lantern while saying indifferently. “Are you still not giving up?”
“May Official Sovereign give us a way out!” a voice said from the darkness, but it was a cacophony of many having fused into one. “We just need his face and identity in the world of the living! We don’t want his life now!”
“You guys are meddling too much. Retreat quickly, or if my true body descends, you guys can forget about even being ghosts!” Elder Messenger of Death said coldly.
On the boat, Qin Mu secretly took out the Life and Death Book he had taken from Shaman God Kui and shone it into the darkness. His body couldn’t help shuddering when a name appeared on the page.
“Hehehehe, you still gave the game away…” The weird voice from the darkness moved away rapidly.
Elder Messenger of Death turned his head back, and his gaze landed on the Life and Death Book in Qin Mu’s hands. He sighed and said, “Now you know his true identity, but he also knows your true identity. What you used is the Life and Death Book of the celestial heavens, and there aren’t many of them around. He will find you soon. You… take care of yourself!”
For a moment, Qin Mu was stunned. Only then did he realize what the game had been.
Qin Mu’s Life and Death Book had been taken from Shaman God Kui, and those who knew that it was in his hands were Xing An, Pangong Tso, as well as the demon monks of Thunderclap Monastery.
Shaman God Kui should have been the Heavenly Official or Earthly Official, a god that managed souls.
It was unlikely that he had made it himself, but that it had been gifted to him. There was little doubt that celestial heavens wouldn’t have many such treasures, and each one would have an owner. Because of that, Elder Messenger of Death was certain that Qin Mu would be tracked rather quickly.
Tracking the whereabouts of Life and Death Book was much simpler than tracking Qin Mu.
“The name that appeared on the Life and Death Book just now was Jue Huang.” Qin Mu flipped the yellow talisman up and revealed half of his face. “What god is Jue Huang?”
“He’s a god in the Yellow Springs. After he inhales or exhales, floods rise in the worlds and reap the souls there. He is one of the four great commanders that the celestial heavens have stationed in Youdu,” Elder Messenger of Death said.
“He’s not the only one looking for you though. There are three other great commanders: Xuan Ming who manages the souls, Han Lei who manages fate, and Lu Li who manages the prison. You shouldn’t have taken out the Life and Death Book. With it, it won’t be hard for them to track you down.”
Qin Mu grew solemn. After a moment, he frowned and spoke in a troubled voice, “If I give the Life and Death Book to Grandmaster or Xing An, pushing everything on them, I should remain unknown…”
Elder Messenger of Death looked at him. “You’re just eighteen years old, so you can only sabotage youths of your age; the two people you mentioned are not suitable. Besides, after the four great commanders reap the soul of whoever you’d chosen to throw at them, they would discover your ruse, so it’s not as simple to sabotage others as you think… Bah! Why am I helping you look for crooked ideas?”
Qin Mu released the yellow talisman, and it covered his face once more. He said while blushing, “A just cause attracts much support, while an unjust one finds little. Official Sovereign must have found me honest, which is why you shared your wisdom. Since we can’t sabotage, can the four gods leave Youdu and enter Supreme Emperor Heaven or Eternal Peace?”
The small boat sailed leisurely toward Supreme Emperor Heaven. Elder Messenger of Death placed his lantern on the pole and sat down. “Their abilities are too powerful, so it’s not easy for them to enter other worlds. However, they will find a way to capture you. Once you cultivate to Life and Death Realm and open the divine treasure, they could enter through there after locating you.”
Qin Mu shuddered. Entering from his Life and Death Divine Treasure?
Wouldn’t all the divine arts practitioners of Life and Death Realm be in extreme danger?
“However, Youdu has its own rules. Entering a Life and Death Divine Treasure to seize another’s life is against Youdu’s rules, so they won’t be able to do it easily.”
Elder Messenger of Death had already share a lot of information, so he felt like he might as well say everything. “However, even though their true body can’t leave, they can send their disciples to Supreme Emperor Heaven or Eternal Peace, or they could find other people to act as their hands to kill you.
“Or when Supreme Emperor Heaven gets sacrificed by the devils to connect their world to Eternal Peace, the world barrier will cease to exist. At that time, they’ll be able to enter Eternal Peace at leisure.”
Qin Mu relaxed and said with a smile, “It’s not easy to kill me, and it’s also not easy to attack Supreme Emperor Heaven. It has tolled through twenty thousand years, and now with the backing of Eternal Peace Empire and endless reinforcements, it’ll be easy to last another twenty thousand years.”
Elder Messenger of Death sneered at him. “You underestimate the devils. It’s hard to say how long Supreme Emperor Heaven will last… We’re here, you can take off the yellow talisman and return.”
Qin Mu looked over in a hurry and saw that they were already in the battlefield from before. It seemed that they were exactly from where he had been taken, and so he just jumped out of the boat.
“Return me my yellow talisman!” Elder Messenger of Death shouted.
Qin Mu fled with the yellow talisman on his face as though he was a thief that got discovered.
“Damn it!”
As Elder Messenger of Death saw him slipping away, he couldn’t help seething with rage. He was about to give chase, but he suddenly stopped and burst out laughing. “It’s just a yellow talisman. I shall gift it to him so he doesn’t cause any trouble.” The small boat turned back and vanished into the darkness.
Qin Mu covered over ten miles before daring to look back. Only when he saw that Elder Messenger of Death really didn’t give chase that he let out a sigh of relief. He plucked the yellow talisman from his face and examined it before putting it away.
‘This yellow talisman is a good thing. Even gods and devils wouldn’t be able to recognize me if I stick it on my face. At least I’ve gotten some good things from this trip to Youdu.’
He raised his head up and was slightly stunned. He saw flying ships sailing toward Li City, and they were only several hundred miles away from him. The pill furnaces of the flying ship spewed out intense light for them to remain airborne.
“I’ve left Supreme Emperor Heaven for quite a long time, some six hours, at least, so how did the flying ships only cover several hundred miles? According to their speed, it should’ve been thousands of miles. It looks as if only fifteen minutes have passed…’
Qin Mu sprinted with all his strength to catch up. First, he caught up with the army traveling on land, and not long later, he caught up to the fleet of the flying ships. He came to the main ship.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and the black tiger god were looking at each other in horror, and so were everyone else in the surroundings. They were still discussing how Qin Mu had been invited into Youdu by the messenger of death, and what would happen next. Qin Mu chose that moment to ran out from behind them.
“I’m back. How long have I been away?” he asked with a smile.
“N-not even an hour,” Sang Hua stuttered in astonishment. “You were taken by the messenger of death and returned from Youdu already?”
“The messenger of death was the official sovereign of Youdu. He even brought me to another world and found a strong practitioner of Divine Bridge Realm named Han Zhen. He said he would reap his soul after three days. He then brought me to Earth Count and talked about the cause and effect of my actions. Earth Count said he would deal with me after I die, then shooed me back. On the way, we also met some gods and devils who wanted to take me.”
Qin Mu shared everything, finding it quite weird as well to have done so many things in such a short while. It would have taken three to five days in the world of living to accomplish all that.
It was much shorter in Youdu, and even less time had passed in the world of the living in the meantime.
“Youdu is like a dream. Your trip to Youdu is equivalent to a dream.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s eyes flashed, and he said, “As long as you returned alive, it doesn’t matter. Is Earth Count very scary?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “Earth Count is easy to talk to. It’s the same for the messenger of death.”
Everyone’s faces grew weird. Earth Count and the messenger of death were easy to talk to? Only Qin Mu could say something like that!
Anyone, no matter if they were gods or devils, would change their act when talking about Earth Count. They were even more tight-lipped about the messengers of death.
“Ma ha…”
The young dragon on Qin Yu’s body quickly slithered down and ran to Qin Mu to rub against him. Feeling somewhat resentful, Qin Yu thought to himself, ‘I haven’t even felt its warmth yet, and it’s lured away by him again…”
Qin Mu caressed the little dragon and moved it to his ear. Its head hung down while its dragon’s whiskers swayed in the air.
Jealousy took root in Qin Yu’s heart.
“Junior Brother Qin, lend me your little dragon for a period of time. I might even need to bring him to Great Ruins. I will return him to you after I come back, and you will definitely be surprised!” Qin Mu said with a smile. “I was captured by Fu Riluo and struggled for my life. After going to Youdu, I’m truly tired, so I shall take a rest first.”
Qin Yu looked at him bringing the little dragon away and thought to himself, ‘I wonder if my little dragon will really be mine after a few days? Its soul was already lured away by him…’
…
Elder Messenger of Death returned to Manor of Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven and flipped open a thick book. It was the book he had handed to the magma Earth Count.
Qin Mu had wanted to read it as well, but magma Earth Count was too tall. He also needed to act obediently, so he didn’t get to see the contents of the book.
Elder Messenger of Death turned the first page and saw flowing pictures. There was a piece of dark land on which a pregnant woman was giving birth. Boundless devil qi and grievances of the broken souls flowed furiously toward the small delivery room.
That place seemed to contain a terrifying devil king that was swallowing the evil devil nature and devil qi of Youdu like a whale.
Meanwhile, outside that piece of land, countless devil gods were alarmed and hid in the darkness, looking nervously at the first lifeform that was born from the womb in the history of Youdu.
“The descent of the Son of God!” a devil god said in the corner of the page.
In the sky above the delivery room, scarlet red eyes opened. There was one, two, no, three of them.
Elder Messenger of Death flipped to the second page, and the picture changed. A big fat boy jumped down from the embrace of the woman, his three-eyed formed catching the messenger of death’s attention. The boy was wreaking havoc on a dark land, his two chubby fists holding tight the two devil gods that had come to assassinate him. His three eyes opened up, and three beams shot out. They scorched the land, burning numerous monsters into oblivion.
All ghosts there, big and small, were fleeing for their lives. Even ghost kings didn’t look back on their way out. Their malicious faces were filled with terror, creating a surreal sight.
The baby brought the devil god to his mouth and bit off half a head. It was a bloody event.
Elder Messenger of Death shook his head and continued to browse. The next page was about how after the baby had swallowed countless souls and ate two devil gods, he became ridiculously huge and terrified everyone who saw his ferocious appearance. He crushed numerous levels of hells, killing all of the devil gods that came after his mother and clansmen. He made them all piss their pants and flee for their lives.
However, the baby seemed to contain incomparably evil thoughts in nature. It didn’t matter to him if before him were devils who were chasing after them or ghosts who were simply residing in Youdu. He killed and ate all of them.
Elder Messenger of Death saw panic and fear on the mother’s face. She was looked afraid of her own son, his devil nature.
Elder Messenger of Death flipped to the next page, and it was another picture of the baby slaughtering everyone. In the picture, he was standing on a huge devil dragon while slitting open its belly. His three eyes revealed a murderous glint.
Yet at the end of the painting, when the baby finished eating, he changed back into a small form and asked his mother to carry him.
Elder Messenger of Death flipped page after page, watching things that were harder and harder to see. The baby crushed waves and waves of devil gods chasing after them, and this massacre alarmed the big shots hiding in Youdu.
They crusaded against the baby and fought with him until heaven fell and earth rent.
Near the end of the book, the baby had relied on his evil nature and ruthlessness to become one of the powers in Youdu. One day, he came to the borders of Youdu and used his huge scarlet eyes to peep into the world of the living with an excited gaze.
On the other side of the picture, the big shots of Youdu were talking about something to Earth Count. The mother was also there, appealing to the lord.
The Earth Count picked a broken piece of jade from the corner of his horn and refined it into a jade pendant. The mother held back her tears as he put down a seal on it. She then called her son over and put the jade pendant around his neck.
The devil nature within him was suppressed along with his god nature. His body returned to normal, changing back into the most ordinary baby, a really tiny thing. He lay in his swaddling clothes and raised his arms and legs while crying ee ee aa aa. He then sucked his toe very seriously.
The mother carried him up and gave him a few kisses before reluctantly putting him into a basket. Some woman picked it up and took a paper boat to leave into the distance.
At the back, ghost kings, other ghosts of all sizes, as well as the devil gods that were faintly discernible beat drums and gongs to celebrate the baby’s departure.
Elder Messenger of Death flipped to the last page which was of Qin Mu in the ominous land. With his long hair draped over his shoulders, he cast a spell with his sword raised and opened Gate of Heaven Influence to summon the souls from the world of the dead.
At that time, the jade pendant on his neck had floated up.
“Eighteen years.” Elder Messenger of Death closed the book and hid it properly. He then exhaled deeply. “It’s completely impossible to see what this brat had been like before. I truly hope his devil nature will never awaken and control him again… Luckily Earth Count sealed and exiled him to the world of the living; otherwise, what would Youdu have become by today? Yet if he’d been left in Youdu, he probably wouldn’t have lived to eighteen years old. He probably would have been eaten by Earth Count long ago for doing too much evil…”
There’s still one suspicious point from Qin Fengqing’s incident, and that is that Earth Count had already sealed him. By right, all of his divine treasures should have been sealed so he wouldn’t have been able to cultivate or even open his divine treasures, let alone become a divine arts practitioner.’
Elder Messenger of Death paced around while thinking about the matter. ‘He could only live like a mortal till his body stopped functioning, which is for around hundred years at most. Yet how was he able to open his divine treasures?”
Earth Count had sealed Qin Mu’s devil nature and his memory. His god nature was also sealed along with it.
During the process, Earth Count’s voice had formed a seal on Qin Mu’s divine treasures. It was an accidental act, and the suppression was a side effect of sealing his god nature and devil nature.
The seal hadn’t been meant to be that terrifying, but it ended up cutting off his path of cultivation.
This also meant that there was no god or devil nature in Qin Mu’s body. All of his divine treasures, no matter whether they were god or devil, were sealed and could never be opened. It was thus impossible for him to cultivate and improve himself.
After Qin Mu went to the world of the living, he should have led a life like a normal human being and spent his life ordinarily.
Yet his divine treasures had opened. To make matters worse, he had also cultivated so fast that he had already opened Seven Stars Divine Treasure and even merged Seven Stars and Six Directions into one.
At first, he’d opened the divine treasures of his divine path while now the speed of his devil path cultivation was as though he had the assistance of a god!
It was extremely strange.
Opening Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure requires one to rely on their abilities. Nobody else could help even if they wanted to, so he could have only relied on himself. Yet the seal on his divine treasures was a hundred times harder than those of an ordinary person.
This was because if he tried to break the Spirit Embryo Wall, he would activate Earth Count’s seal, and the Nine Heavens God Language of Earth Count would come from above. And if he tried to open the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of the devil path, he would encounter Earth Count’s Youdu Devil Language.’
Elder Messenger of Death couldn’t think of an explanation no matter what. He wasn’t omniscient and omnipotent, and he also couldn’t return to the night when Qin Mu had consumed the blood of the four spirits.
He didn’t know that on that night, there had been an old man whose limbs were severed sitting beside the bonfire in Disabled Elderly Village and speaking to the fiendish villagers around him. “My guess is that Mu’er has another type of constitution, one that combines the strength of the four great constitutions—an Overlord Body!” he had said at that time.
With that sentence, a legend had been born, turning the impossible possible.
The villagers of Disabled Elderly Village found even more blood of the four spirits, going all out for Qin Mu to consume as much as possible. The youth had also worked much harder as he had the belief of being invincible in his heart.
He was the overlord body, the strongest spirit body!
If he couldn’t open his divine treasure, it would definitely be because he wasn’t working hard enough and didn’t deserve the title of Overlord Body!
And like that, Earth Count’s seal got thinner and thinner from his grind, and he learned the devil and god languages. He then used the instant when the god, devil, and buddha languages crossed to break open his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!
From then onwards, his future had become bright.
Earth Count’s seal was still there, and his devil and god nature were still sealed. However, the even stronger belief to grow that flooded out from the tiny body was something that Earth Count and the other big shots in Youdu would have never expected.
The story of a legend had begun from a white lie by an elder who looked like a human rod and lay beside a bonfire that night.
‘Besides that, there’s also the weird incident from that time he was exiled out from Youdu and left in Great Ruins. What had happened back then?’
Elder Messenger of Death shut his eyes, then opened them after a long moment and took out Youdu’s Life and Death Book. ‘What happened must be related. I should find that woman who had carried him away back and ask her about what happened. If she’s still alive, I can locate her with Life and Death Book, and if she has died, her soul should have returned to Youdu…’
He flipped through Youdu’s Life and Death Book, and his expression slowly became grim.
The woman’s name had already been removed from the Life and Death Book. This meant that there were two possibilities. First, her soul might have scattered, just like that of Seven Kills Star Sovereign. When souls ceased to exist, their names would automatically vanish from the Life and Death Book.
Second, her soul had landed in Fengdu or some other place that was similar to Youdu.
‘What exactly did she experience?’
Elder Messenger of Death sighed and closed the Life and Death Book. His body shook, and he separated a number of himself out. They each got into a boat to leave.
‘Now the little overlord of Youdu is much cuter than in the past. I like this brat call Qin Mu more and don’t want to see Qin Fengqing again. However, the seal has already become loose once, and celestial heavens is also looking for him. If the seal breaks in the future and Qin Mu turns back into Qin Fengqing, I’m afraid Youdu will be in danger…’
…
In Li City, Qin Mu opened his eyes in a daze, his face damp. Qin Yu’s little dragon was lying on his face and licking his cheek.
Qin Mu pinched the tail of the little thing and lifted him up. The small dragon raised his head and climbed onto his arms. It went up his shoulders and hung himself down from his ear.
Qin Mu took a pail of water to wash his face, and the little dragon also took the chance to bury his face in the water. It sucked in a mouthful and spat it out to play around.
Qin Mu walked out of the cabin and stretched his back. He had been sleeping on the ship the whole night. Hu Ling’er, Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, and Sang Hua had woken up early and were cooking. Upon seeing him awake, they greeted him.
The chest clattered over and rubbed against Qin Mu’s legs. It opened up and showed him the bones it had collected.
The dragon qilin bit onto a huge basin and walked over. He wagged his tail and placed the basin at Qin Mu’s feet.
“Fatty Dragon, haven’t you hid a few furnaces of spirit pills in the chest?”
Qin Mu took out an apron and went to help the girls cook. He said with a smile, “Let me do it.”
“Cult Master even knows how to cook?” Sang Hua asked with astonishment.
“Cult Master is an expert in cooking; the dishes he makes are delicious! During the days when Princess Xiu and I were seized by Grandpa Blind to marry him, it was Cult Master who did all the cooking. I even got addicted to his food and wanted to marry him for real!” Si Yuanxing explained in an excited voice.
Ling Yuxiu’s eyes lit up. “I was also addicted and even hoped Grandpa Blind could try to force us to marry once more. Let’s just wait for cowherd to send up the delicacies!”
Qin Mu received the ladle, and his heart moved slightly, turning his vital qi into fire. He said with a smile, “Actually, Grandpa Mute in our village cooks the best dishes, Grandpa Apothecary’s medicinal cuisine tastes the most delicious, while Grandpa Ma is a master of vegetarian dishes. Granny Si also cooks well, but no one dares to eat them, since we don’t know what kind of ingredients she uses. The others can’t really cook.”
The dragon qilin looked at the chest, and it showed him its collections of bones, seemingly very happy. It then threw two bones at him. The dragon qilin rummaged through the chest’s insides until he found some spirit pills.
The black tiger god walked over, his voice booming like thunder. “Fatty Dragon, stop eating, I shall bring you to train! The best time to train is right after waking up in the morning! You taught me many things, so I’m going to teach you as well. I shall help you get rid of the excess flab on your body! Junior brother, I’m going to borrow your fatty!”
“Senior brother feel free,” Qin Mu hurriedly said.
The dragon qilin tried to finish all of the spirit pills in his basin in one swallow, but before he could get all of them inside his mouth, the black tiger god grabbed his tail and dragged him away.
“My bowl!” The dragon qilin’s cries rang loud in the air. “I haven’t even licked it clean—”
“Little fox, come over after you finish your breakfast and train with me. I shall bring you guys to attack the enemy camp!” the black tiger shouted from afar.
Hu Ling’er acknowledged, and the black tiger dragged the dragon qilin by his tail.
Qin Mu finished cooking and took off his apron. He sat down with the girls in front of the dining table while Hu Ling’er scooped porridge for them before sitting down as well.
The small dragon on Qin Mu’s ear secretly stretched out its claws and quickly grabbed a piece of stir-fried clam meat before retreating. It hugged the meat and started eating.
Everyone ate and chatted. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang had also went to Fengdu before and learned some techniques and divine arts from the gods and devils there. However, the techniques and divine arts they cultivated weren’t complete, and the gods and devils of Fengdu could only teach. They still had to comprehend them by themselves.
“However, Supreme Emperor Heaven’s inheritances are complete, and we’ve learned quite a number of good things during these few days that we were here.”
“With Imperial Preceptor keeping the battle line, there won’t be any huge battles after this victory for the time being. We can take this chance to learn from senior sisters and brothers of Supreme Emperor Heaven before exchanging blows with senior brothers and sisters of the devil race. There is quite a number of disciples from our Heavenly Devil Cult that have come here. Sister Sang Hua had also said she wanted to go to Heavenly Saint Academy to learn for a period of time,” Si Yuanxiang said.
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment. “We might be able to establish a branch of Heavenly Saint Academy here and invite famous gods, devils, and Divine Bride Realm practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven to give lectures. The people of Supreme Emperor Heaven could also go to Heavenly Saint Academy to cultivate for a period of time. This way we could interact frequently and not hold up the situation of the battle.”
They ate and chatted around the dining table. After Hu Ling’er finished eating, she rushed out to train with the black tiger god and the dragon qilin.
Qin Mu and the girls stayed back to wash the dishes. When Yu He boarded the ship, he couldn’t help becoming astonished when she saw Qin Mu washing the dishes. With a strange expression, she said hesitantly, “Cult Master, some devil scouts are lingering around in the battlefield. I’d like to bring Sang Hua and the rest for guerrilla warfare and meet them.”
Qin Mu nodded and said with a smile, “You guys go ahead, I shall do the dishes.”
Si Yunxiang immediately ran off after pulling Ling Yuxiu and Sang Hua along with her. From afar, Yu He’s voice came in a whisper, “Isn’t it improper to let Cult Master wash the dishes? How can he do such trivial matter as a cult master…”
Si Yunxiang smiled at her. “Our Heavenly Saint Cult is impudent like this. We don’t have that many rules.”
Yu He relaxed and said with a smile, “Cult Master once said that our Heavenly Saint Cult is outstanding in the righteous path, and upon seeing his action as he serves as a role model, I finally understand that it isn’t by chance that our Heavenly Saint is outstanding in the righteous path.”
“This…” Si Yunxiang stared wide-eyed, not knowing what she should say.
Qin Mu finished cleaning up, and the chest clattered over to him again. It opened up and showed the bones it had collected.
Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He took out some spirit weapons of the devil race and placed them inside it. “During this trip out, I killed numerous devil experts and took their spirit weapons. You should start collecting them instead of just always focusing on bones.”
The chest threw out the spirit weapons, choosing to continue to collect bones.
Qin Mu shook his head and took out the true dragon’s nest. He plucked out the little dragon from his ear and said with a smile, “Little Dao friend, you’ve been pestering me because the item you want to see is this.”
The eyes of the little dragon lit up, and he cried out ma ha ma ha without stopping.
Qin Mu laughed and brought the little dragon into the true dragon’s nest.
The human and dragon landed inside, and Qin Mu let go of the small creature. The little dragon immediately flew round and round the nest, ineffably excited.
Qin Mu took out Emperor’s Disk and threw it into the sky. The Emperor’s Disk changed into the true dragon lord and became compatible with the nest. Instantly, a vast and boundless dragon qi spread out, and countless writings of the dragon race appeared.
That little dragon flew to and fro to read all of them. His ma ha ma ha cries turned into cryptic dragon language that was hard to understand. He was comprehending the writings on the true dragon’s nest!
The bloodline of the little dragon was very pure since he was the son of Surging River Dragon King. Qin Mu called him little Dao friend, but his actual age was actually over twenty thousand years. It was just that he had been frozen in the dragon bead by Surging River Dragon King that he could never grow.
The dragon language from his mouth became more and more cryptic. He was the son of the dragon king, and his bloodline was even higher than that of Bai Qingfu and Bai Qu’er that Qin Mu had met forty thousand years ago when he had traveled back in time to High Emperor Era. While listening, he could decipher more and more of the dragon language.
Qin Mu just stood and listened to the dragon roars while mobilizing his vital qi to check the true dragon technique he had learned previously. His comprehension naturally became better and better as well.
The little dragon flew up and down many times. It was hard to say how long had passed when he finally deciphered all of the writings. He then suddenly landed on the ground, and his body trembled, changing into that of a youth. He had a handsome appearance and majestic bearing. He looked slightly similar to Qin Yu, and he bowed in gratitude. “Much thanks to Cult Master Qin for bestowing the technique and assistance for me to awaken my intelligence.”
Qin Mu returned the greeting and said with a smile, “I lent you a hand to learn the technique of the true dragon’s nest, so there’s no need to thank me. May I ask how I should address little Dao friend?”
“My family uses Jiang as a surname, and my mother bestowed the name Miao on me, so I’m called Jiang Miao,” he answered. “Even though I have deciphered the writings on the true dragon’s nest once, I’m still a second generation and my bloodline isn’t pure enough. We’ll need a divine dragon to decipher it for us to gain the complete true dragon lord’s technique.”
Qin Mu frowned. “There’s no true dragon in Supreme Emperor Heaven that has become god. Where can we find a divine dragon?”
“There’s a divine dragon in Great Ruins. While following Qin Yu, I heard his calls from time to time.”
Qin Mu’s spirit was greatly aroused, and he said with a smile, “In that case, let’s head to Great Ruins!”
…
In the broken Paramita Ark in Great Ruins, huge chunks of land floated in a large seal.
Suddenly, a long roar sounded out as a divine bridge broke through the air. Xing An’s primordial spirit crossed it and soared to the celestial palaces on the other shore.
“I’m out!” Xing An retrieved his primordial spirit and rose up. He shouted sternly, “You mute, come here! You’ve been meddling with me time and time again. Now that I have crossed the divine bridge, come out and die!”
“Die, die die—” His echo rang back. The mute had long fled.
Xing An’s face turned black. and he rushed out in wide strides. At this moment, his body trembled slightly. In his Life and Death Divine Treasure, Lu Li’s devil eye appeared once more, and her sinister voice rang out. “The person you’re looking for has a Life and Death Book that once belonged to Shaman God Kui. Find that person!”
Lu Li’s devil eye vanished.
Xing An stood motionless in the air with a dumbfounded gaze.
“Great Physician Qin, so it’s you…” Xing An was dispirited, and his heart was flustered. “So it was you… I’ve trusted you time and time again, and not once did I expect for you to be even worse than that mute… It’s you! I would like to see what tricks can you play this time!”
Qin Mu brought Little Dragon Jiang Miao out through Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge and looked around. He couldn’t help the astonishment that welled up in him.
Great Ruins’ Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge was right in the center of it, and there was two stone-paved road that was a hundred yards each on both sides of the sacrificial altar. Meanwhile, surrounding Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge were ancient temples, shrines, and divine palaces like a city that was twice larger than Border Dragon City. People came and went, making the place quite bustling.
The temples and ruins had all been moved from elsewhere in Great Ruins to defend against the darkness. There were also numerous stone statues being worshipped with endless streams of incense.
Many villages had settled in the city and no longer had to struggle for their lives daily. They became merchants which connected Middle Earth and West Earth.
A primary school and a college had been also established to teach techniques and divine arts. It was just that they didn’t have any sacred ground like the four great academies or Imperial College.
There were also huge ruins outside the city for the strange beasts nearby to hide from the darkness. It was all very thoughtful.
In this city, new and old constructions were in a picturesque disorder, setting each other off nicely. Qin Mu only took a rough look, and he could already tell that the person that planned the city was of rather high culture, self-cultivation, and had talent in city planning. His admiration for beauty had also reached extremely high attainments.
‘New branches from an old tree, creating contrast between the old and new. It’s indeed not bad. It might be because I’ve seen too many crooked constructions in Supreme Emperor Heaven that I feel so much more at home in Great Ruins…’
The chest ran out from Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge behind him, and Qin Mu shook his head. The chest kept sticking to him. Since the dragon qilin and Hu Ling’er had been brought to the battlefield for training, it followed him without sparing any effort.
“Cult Master, I feel the call of the divine dragon again.” Jiang Miao said after looking around. “Follow me!”
He shook his body and transformed into a little dragon. He flew out of the city, and Qin Mu brought the chest to chase after him, going into the depths of Great Ruins.
Even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had finished the construction of the two roads which linked West Earth, Great Ruins, and Eternal Peace, there were still endless vast lands with few people around. Those places were all very mysterious.
Qin Mu followed Jiang Miao to deeper into Great Ruins. They flipped through mountains and rivers, walking across pieces of ancient ruins. When night came, he let Jiang Miao lay on the chest while he walked through the darkness. The chest followed close behind him.
Great Ruins in the darkness was completely different from Great Ruins in the day. When Qin Mu walked by himself through it, he could see Supreme Emperor Heaven that had become the darkness and numerous devils moving unpredictably.
They would move along with them continuously or jump onto trees from time to time. Sometimes they would hide behind rocks and observe them secretly, not daring to get close.
‘These devils aren’t Supreme Emperor Heaven’s devils! The dark realms in Great Ruins aren’t only Supreme Emperor Heaven!’
Qin Mu was astonished. He had originally thought that the devils in the darkness of Great Ruins were from Supreme Emperor Heaven and that he had unraveled the whole mystery. Yet from the looks of it, the devils around him had nothing to do with Supreme Emperor Heaven.
That was because when the people of Supreme Emperor Heaven saw Great Ruins in the darkness, all they could see were blurry shadows. Back then, Sang Hua had seen Qin Mu as a boy made of darkness. And once the time was up, he scattered like black sand.
While in the darkness of Great Ruins, Qin Mu saw the people of Supreme Emperor Heaven the same way. They were from two different worlds, and they couldn’t touch each other or interact in any way.
Yet the monsters in the darkness of Great Ruins were different—they had truly existed in the darkness of Great Ruins!
‘There are just so many secrets in Great Ruins…’
Qin Mu sighed, and Jiang Miao pointed out the direction for him. They continued to head forward.
Two days later, they came to the northwest side of Great Ruins as the sun rose as usual. Qin Mu swept his gaze around and said with a smile, “This place isn’t too far from Paramita Ark. I once drove Moon Ship through here. Look, here’s its footprint.”
The huge imprint had already become a small lake, and there were even some weird fish swimming inside.
“The call of the divine dragon is in the vicinity!”
Jiang Miao rose into the sky, then looked around and headed west.
Qin Mu hurriedly caught up to him, and they came to a canyon. Suddenly, everything became silent; not a sound could be heard. Qin Mu frowned and looked at their surroundings. He pulled back Jiang Miao who was about to enter the canyon by following the call of the divine dragon and said, “Keep calm, don’t get excited.”
Jiang Miao didn’t understand what he meant.
Qin Mu surveyed the surroundings, and his gaze landed on the footprints of Moon Ship. “This is the place where Paramita Ark was sealed. Paramita Ark is a ship forged by Heavenly Works God Race for emigration. They had wanted to use it to bring all the lives of their land as well as the gods and devils of Founding Emperor Era to Carefree Village. However, it crashed here because of an attack using brute force. The call of the divine dragon might not be real. This place shouldn’t have even a single strange beast…”
When he’d used Moon Ship to pass this place, he had entered the overlapping space that sealed Paramita Ark nearby.
The footprints left behind by Moon Ship vanished by where they were standing.
Back then, he had faced numerous monsters and devil gods. They had pounced on Moon Ship furiously and many lost their lives.
Yet when he returned to this place, he couldn’t even see a bone.
In front of the lakes of the canyon, sand covered the land. There was not a single rock to be found, not even the size of a fingernail.
There were huge words covering the walls on both sides, but they weren’t in human language. Instead of being squarish, they looked like complicated runes.
Qin Mu didn’t enter the canyon but stood outside while examining the runes on the wall. “It’s a kind of god writing used for sealing.”
He executed Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique, and small whirlwinds rose in the canyon as he tried to raise a dune giant.
However, the sand flowed and everything returned back to normal.
‘Impossible! Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique can enlighten all things, giving them spirit, so why couldn’t it enlighten the sand and stone here?’
He squatted down and grabbed a handful of yellow sand. He suddenly grunted as he lifted his hand up with difficulty.
Jiang Miao was puzzled and tried to lift a handful as well. Every grain of the yellow sand was incomparably heavy, equivalent to the weight of a mountain!
Qin Mu splayed his fingers, and the fine sand trickled down. When they smashed against the ground, they gave off loud rumbles similar to thunder.
“This isn’t sand, but spirit weapons!”
One grain of sand was left on Qin Mu’s palm, and he blew on it with his vital qi. It instantly flew up and swirled, transforming into a sandstone with a radius of dozens of fields. When it flew in the sky, the sound of air breaking was deafening!
When the vital qi from that breath of Qin Mu was finally exhausted, the sandstone shrunk and fell down as a grain of sand.
Jiang Miao jumped in shock and looked at the yellow sand in the canyon.
The grains of sand were too numerous to count, probably in the billions. If each grain was as huge as the one Qin Mu had brought up, how astonishing would their weight be?
“The god writings on both sides of the canyon are seals to hold the power of the sand in check. Once we go in, the seal and the formation will be activated.”
Qin Mu opened his divine eyes and looked at the sky. He suddenly let out a breath, and fog instantly spread through the sky. Rain started to fall slowly.
Yet it didn’t reach the canyon. Instead, it got blocked by an invisible barrier. The rainwater formed cubes in the sky.
“The seals here are similar to the seal of Paramita Ark. One cannot enter from the sky.”
He flew up and looked into the depths of the canyon, frowning slightly. The canyon was over ten miles long. Yet it suddenly vanished after that distance. It was as though it was cut off!
‘The back of the canyon should be hidden.’ Qin Mu started to fret. “If Grandpa Blind was here, he could try to solve this, but with my abilities, it’d be too difficult to deal with this god level sealing and killing formation. It’s very dangerous… Jiang Miao, let’s return. We can’t step in here.”
Jiang Miao revealed a disappointed look. However, his abilities were far inferior to those of Qin Mu. If even Qin Mu said they couldn’t step in, he also couldn’t do anything about it.
Suddenly, Qin Mu was slightly stunned the next moment. In front of the lake, he saw space tear open, revealing a door.
The sky and the earth were flipped open. The sky was still okay as one couldn’t see any abnormalities if they didn’t look closely. However, the earth kept trembling, and pieces of land appeared out of thin air, distancing themselves from the door. In an instant, they were a hundred miles away.
Next, Qin Mu saw a familiar figure walking out of the door.
The moment it appeared, he instantly knew that things were bad and turned around to flee with Jiang Miao and the chest. But the sky and earth overlapped once again and brought them to the door.
“Great Cult Master Qin,” the familiar figure said in a familiar voice which had a hint of astonishment and delight. “What a small world. You even brought a dragon and my chest with you… Don’t turn around, keep your back to me.”
Qin Mu felt the murderous intent coming from the person behind him, and the smile of his face froze. “Senior Brother Xing An has already found the source of the jade pendant, right? I didn’t lie to you, did I?”
“You didn’t lie to me. I had indeed found numerous ruins with traces of the jade pendant.” Xing An took out the mirror that Lu Li had handed to him. With his back against Qin Mu, he raised the mirror and said indifferently, “You weren’t lying, but you had purposely lured me there and had a mischievous mute trap me there for half a year. If I hadn’t become a god and made that mute know that he’s in trouble, who knows how long I would have been trapped there! The Life and Death Book is in your hands, right?”
Qin Mu was frozen in place by his aura, but his heart trembled violently. Without changing his expression, he said, “Life and Death Book was seized by a youth. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was actually not his opponent and he seized it by force.”
Xing An’s gaze landed on the mirror where Qin Mu looked as usual. The next moment though, the mirror image slowly turned its head around.
The corners of Xing An’s eyes twitched furiously. He saw the youth in the mirror change, and a devil eye filled with devil nature and desire for destruction appeared in Qin Mu’s forehead. This devil eye was slowly opening while gripping his soul.
Xing An’s hand trembled, and the mirror suddenly shattered.
Xing An hurriedly looked behind himself, but Qin Mu’s back was still facing him; he hadn’t turned around. However, the Qin Mu in the mirror had clearly looked back!
His mind raced, and his aura wavered. Qin Mu took hold of this chance to grab the chest and the little dragon to rush into the canyon!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Qin Mu brought the chest and Jiang Miao into the canyon, he saw the light flowing from the huge runes on both sides of the cliff. The next instant, all the sand in the entire canyon flew up as though a sandstorm was raising!
“Don’t breathe!” Qin Mu shouted out. “Seal up all your pores!”
Jiang Miao instantly understood what was happening and held his breath while sealing up all of his pores.
The sand in the canyon wasn’t just yellow sand, but spirit weapons, and any grain of sand could expand anytime to become a huge sandstone the size of dozens of fields!
If they breathed in numerous grains of sands into their nasal cavity, throat, or lungs, the result would not be pretty.
If a few grains of sand entered their pores and expanded outwards, it would also be extremely terrible for them.
The instant before the violent sand reached them, Qin Mu poured vital qi into his sword pellet and it instantly expanded. Flying swords flowed like water and transformed into a perfect metal sphere, hiding them within.
Even the most exquisite sword skills would find it difficult to defend against the bombardment of the violent sand. He couldn’t ensure that he would be able to block every grain of sand, so he might as well use his sword pellet to form the most perfect sphere to protect him.
In Li City, he had already forged his flying swords into flowing water. Like Mute’s sword pellets, it could transform into any form he wanted.
For having refined a weapon to such a step, his forging method could be considered god level.
The moment Qin Mu hid inside the sword pellet, the violent sand arrived, and in an instant, small dents marred the sphere where numerous grains of sand had hit!
The materials that Si Yunxiang had given Qin Mu to forge his swords were of the highest quality. He might have been resentful about the resulting swords being too heavy earlier, which resulted in it being hard to execute, but now he was thankful that Si Yunxiang had given him the best materials. It was the main reason why his sword pellet didn’t shatter from the initial impact.
Even so, the sword pellet was blown away and crashed around the canyon at a terrifying speed, bouncing here and there!
Qin Mu and Jiang Miao’s body shook violently inside, and they were in so much discomfort that they almost vomited blood. Even though they could avoid the flying sand in the sword pellet, the vibrations from collision almost tore them apart!
Qin Mu used all he could to execute flowing water characteristic of the sword pellet to its limit.
Every time a dent appeared, it would repair itself automatically. However, Qin Mu’s vital qi would usually be shattered into pieces by the flying sand, so it was hard for him to execute the sword pellet. This resulted in more and more dents.
‘This killing formation is even more terrifying than what I imagined!’ Despair filled Qin Mu’s heart.
When they had stepped into the canyon, Xing An had followed right after. He had stretched his hand to grab the sword pellet when violent sand suddenly flew toward him. Xing An’s expression changed slightly, and his fingers trembled. His divine art burst forth to blow the sand back.
‘There’s something wrong about this sand. Wait, they’re spirit weapons and not really sand! My corporeal body is the body of a true god, so why should I be afraid of mere sand?’
He immediately saw the clues and speculated the correct answer. Since he had already entered the god realm, he had rushed into the canyon to chase after Qin Mu’s sword pellet.
His abilities were much stronger than in the past, yet even so, it was still extremely difficult for him to advance through the valley. Every step was a challenge.
Yellow sand flew everywhere, covering the land. It assaulted him from all directions. Xing An’s hands moved, and all kinds of divine arts came bursting forth to block the flying sand. Even though there were grains that he couldn’t block, they could only cause pain to his corporeal body and not hurt him.
Suddenly, he felt his feet becoming heavier and heavier. Noticing that some sand had fallen into his shoes, Xing An stopped. He raised his feet to shake out the sand, but more and more sand landed on his body. The grains actually seemed to come alive and flow up his body.
Cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and he used his strength to shake off the yellow sand off himself.
In the meantime, loud explosions rang out non-stop as Qin Mu’s sword pellet got smashed around like a shooting star. It was filled with dents and seemed like it would shatter at any moment.
Soon, Xing An’s legs sank into the yellow sand, and he found it even harder to break free. YEt Qin Mu’s sword pellet was also crooked from the bombardment, making it hard for him to continue.
‘If the brat wants to die, I don’t have to die with him. I shall leave this place first! Human King Creation Technique!’
Xing An gave a low shout, and his body suddenly shrunk into a speck of dust. Like this, he planned to escape the ill fate of being buried alive in the sand.
His creation technique was from Pangong Tso who had cultivated Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures before. Xing An’s attainments in it far surpassed those of Pangong Tso, and even those of Qin Mu, the Heavenly Devil Cult Master.
The moment he shrunk his body, the grains of sand expanded rapidly, and Xing An’s expression went blank. He saw countless huge stone come flying toward him like planets!
Big and small were relative terms. He had shrunk countless times, and so the sand had expanded countless times. The grains of sand became huge planets to crush him.
He felt like he’d fallen into a vast galaxy which was incomparably terrifying and chaotic!
‘This is a killing formation for true gods! This kind of transformation changed star sand into constellations, shifting the formation according to how I change!”
Xing An gave a dull grunt when he was caught between two planet-sized star grains of sand. He almost coughed up blood. After the two planet-sized star grains of sand crashed into him, they separated, and another two grains came. They crashed into Xing An who didn’t have the time to avoid.
Boom, boom, boom!”
The collisions rang with loud noise, and Xing An’s face turned pale. He finally couldn’t hold back vomiting a mouthful of god blood. The star sand grains weren’t actually stars but spirit weapons the size of dozens of fields. The force of the collisions wasn’t too terrifying, but the speed at which they happened was simply astonishing. A series of them had severely injured Xing An!
he shouted and used all his energy to execute his divine art, blowing away the star sand. He suddenly roared, and water flooded from behind him like a huge river and lifted his body up.
The river danced in the air and traveled rapidly between the star sand, avoiding the planets by a hairbreadth.
Xing An let out a sigh of relief, but at that moment, the grains of star sand became incomparably bright and burst forth with starlight.
In the sky, the beams connected, and the tens of thousands of star sand grains combined to form an incomparably strange eye.
‘Crap…’
Just as Xing An thought that, a beam of light shot out from that evil eye formed by the countless stars and struck his body.
The long river under his feet crumbled, and he fell back while vomiting blood.
The power of the sand wasn’t too great, but when the grains combined, they were extremely terrifying and had the ability to hurt him!
And in the vast galaxy, countless star sand grains gathered and turned into eyes floating in the sky. Beams of starlight shot to and fro, attacking him from all directions.
Those beams were starlight sword qi which was incomparably sharp. Even if Xing An’s body was the corporeal body of a true god, it was still difficult for him to defend himself!
‘I was lured into the formation, and now I can no longer leave it…’
Despair filled Xing An’s heart, and he hurriedly looked toward Qin Mu. The youth was also facing a similar situation once sword pellet had broken open. However, Qin Mu was using Phantom Illusion Technique to transform into a shadow to avoid the strikes of the star sand and keep himself alive for the moment.
As for the chest and the little dragon, he must have placed them into his taotie sack.
With all the star sand combining into Star Sand Evil Eyes, starlight sword qi encircled both of them.
Xing An tried his best to avoid the beams of light while thinking, ‘It’s not a loss to have this brat die with me… Wait, that’s not right! I have just become a god, so to die along with this brat would be a huge loss!’
On the other side, Qin Mu suddenly froze. He raised his head to look at a Star Sand Evil Eye and stayed still as if he had accepted his fate. He waited quietly for his end.
Xing An had strong cultivation, and his corporeal body was incomparably strong, so he could still endure. As long as he could find the transformation in algebra inside the Star Sand Killing Formation, he would have a chance to escape.
Right then, Qin Mu’s corporeal body suddenly returned back to normal. When he raised his hand to do a mudra, a huge star formation of Great Overarching Heavenly Stars lined up and collided with the starlight sword qi that was shooting at him.
A strange thing happened then. The constellation of Great Overarching Heavenly Stars was lit up by the starlight sword qi, the stars that formed it becoming incomparably bright. With a hum, a thick beam of light shot out and shattered one of the Star Sand Evil Eyes!
Xing An was stunned. He had recognized Qin Mu’s mudra. It was what Li Tianxing had executed against him, and it was called Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force! In the end though, Li Tianxing had still died in the hands of Xing An.
Yet one couldn’t deny that what he used was an extremely powerful divine art. However, Li Tianxing’s cultivation had been lacking, which made it so he was not a match for Xing An.
Yet Qin Mu had now used the same divine art to block the starlight sword qi of the Star Sand Evil Eye. It was truly strange.
In the distance, Qin Mu executed Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield and struck out with Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force, crushing Star Sand Evil Eyes one by one. He walked toward the depths of the canyon as though he was out for a walk.
Xing An looked at him vanishing up ahead, then also tried to execute Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force, but he had only learned the creation techniques of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and not the complete thing.
‘How could that brat solve this formation that can kill even gods?’ Doubt arose in his heart.
After a long time, Qin Mu walked out of the canyon that was ten miles long, leaving the yellow sand behind himself. He then released Jiao Miao and the chest from his taotie sack.
Jiang Miao turned his head back and saw Star Sand Evil Eye flying to and fro. Starlight sword qi flashed around them, and his heart shook from astonishment. He wondered how Qin Mu had walked out of that.
Qin Mu examined his surroundings silently and saw yellow sand still flowing continuously in the sky. He walked forward some more, and saw the source of it. There was a huge cauldron filled with the sand.
The ten miles of life-threatening danger originated from it.
Behind it though, there was a majestic palace with vermillion walls and glazed tiles with dragons and phoenixes carved on them. It looked extraordinary and sacred. On the eaves. there were ten sculptures of divine beasts sitting while at the front there was a person riding a crane.
Strangely though, chains stretched out from the palace into all directions, going deep into the cliffs of the canyon.
The chains rattled from time to time despite looking very heavy.
Jiang Miao became excited and said in a low voice, “I can hear the call of the divine dragon. His voice is coming from here! I can hear it even more clearly now.”
Qin Mu couldn’t hear that voice probably because he wasn’t a dragon. Only those with the bloodline could hear the call.
“Don’t just go there,” Qin Mu told him and walked toward the chains. He examined one carefully and raised his hand to brush it gently. Instantly, gorgeous rune markings lit up, and small sparks floated in the air where they scattered with the wind.
He went to the side of the cliff and examined the runes there. They were god writings yet the ten miles of yellow sand was a devil formation used to refine a true god to death. What was even stranger was that the devil formation had been powered by god writings, and the usage of both of them was extremely exquisite.
“To act straightforwardly, to be free from nature, that’s the meaning of path. That’s why no matter if it’s god or devil, why is it my business?” Qin Mu’s expression was unmoved, and he said, “Jiang Miao, this is the teaching of Heavenly Saint Cult. Stretch your hand out.”
Jiang Miao did as told, and Qin Mu used cinnabar to draw a rune on his palm that was almost the same as the god writing on the wall. “Let’s go, let’s go in.”
Jiang Miao didn’t understand what he had done, but hurriedly entered the palace anyway.
In the hall, a divine dragon was heavily chained. The chains went right through his body to keep him locked in place.
The divine dragon was incomparably tall, sturdy, and sacred-looking. His dragon qi and dragon aura would make people look up at him in awe.
The divine dragon opened his eyes and looked at Qin Mu and Jiang Miao. He then suddenly opened his mouth to say in a rumbling voice, “My clansman, you have finally arrived!”
“Cult Master, let’s quickly rescue this Senior Divine Dragon!” Jiang Miao said swiftly.
Qin Mu shook his head. His gaze focused on the chained giant dragon and he said in a gentle voice, “This Senior Divine Dragon, there’s something I can’t figure out, why were you chained here by the founding master of my Heavenly Saint Cult?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The divine dragon was slightly stunned, and his pupils contracted continuously. He focused his gaze on Qin Mu.
His eyes were very huge, and if Qin Mu came to his face and stood under his eyelid, he wouldn’t be able to reach its top even with his hands stretched up high.
It wasn’t comfortable being stared at by the pair of dragon’s eyes.
They held awe that made people shudder without feeling cold and aroused respect and fear in the heart.
Qin Mu seemed to not feel anything though and slowly walked forward. He examined the decorations in the hall, noting numerous murals, but most of them had been destroyed.
Dragons liked to show off their achievements and usually carved their deeds into murals, decorating their palaces to be sumptuous and shining brilliantly in gold. In addition, numerous murals described their glorious achievements. It was truly pleasant for them emotionally and physically to live inside such places.
Not to mentioned the destroyed murals, even the treasures in the palace were all pillaged. Any incense burner or screen, any jade couch, teapot, book, painting, chess box, or zither were all moved away. Qin Mu even saw the holes where luminous pearls had once been, and not only that, there were also numerous tiles missing from the floor. From their position, they had all been at the center of the hall. There should have been a beautiful picture there which represented the owner’s wealth and status.
They had been taken away though and revealed the stones below. It was very painful to look at such a sigh.
The stones, however, all had runes written all over them. Qin Mu examined them in detail, but didn’t touch.
“So the person who tricked me is your Patriarch?” the divine dragon asked with a hint of anger in his voice.
“It’s not my founding master; he’s my big senior brother.”
Qin Mu searched around carefully, looking for a treasure or two that Founding Master might have left behind carelessly, but the cleanliness of the place left him helpless. Clearly, if his big senior brother had gone to open a bathhouse in Eternal Peace, his business would have boomed.
The palace had been scrubbed so clean by Founding Master, that there wasn’t a single thing left worthy of being taken away.
The only things left were Founding Master’s cauldron with ten miles of yellow sand and the huge palace, but that was impossible. The two treasures were used to suppress the divine dragon.
“I saw star sand gathering in Star Sand Evil Eyes in the ten miles of yellow sand. The star arrangements and the connection between the starlight as well as the attributes and structure of the stars were the arrangements of the divine arts of my Heavenly Saint Cult’s Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.”
Qin Mu searched for half a day but to no avail. At that time, he finally looked at the divine dragon and said, “Once I saw that, I came to a realization. I had learned Ten Miles Star Sand Calamity Formation before, and it’s hidden inside Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. After comprehending that, even though the formation could kill a true god, it became quite simple for me, and I was able to walk out alive.”
He walked two rounds around the chained divine dragon while speaking. “However, I still didn’t dare to be certain that the killing formation was left behind by big senior brother, so after I walked out of the Star Sand Calamity Formation, I went to check the god markings on the wall and the devil writings on the chains.”
Jiang Miao followed his footsteps and walked two rounds around the divine dragon. He pondered over it and said, “So the words you said just now weren’t targeted at me nor were they your comprehension?”
“The sentence was what I saw in the god and devil writings that big senior brother left behind, and I was talking about the cultivation of his frame of mind.”
Qin Mu turned and sat in front of the divine dragon. He stopped in his footsteps and explained to him, “My big senior brother is the founding master of Heavenly Saint Cult, and the cultivation of his frame of mind has reached very high attainments. Heavenly Saint Cult has the saying that one has to do three things to become saint: found a cult, gain merit, and put their ideas in writing.
“Big senior brother established a cult and put his ideas in writing, but he hadn’t gained merit, so he couldn’t be a saint and cultivate to the realm of Saint Woodcutter. Yet among all the cult masters, other than him, no one could achieve even two things of the three, so it could only be him that suppressed the divine dragon. The other cult masters couldn’t have done it.”
Jiang Miao also stopped walking and looked at him with puzzlement. “In that case, why did your big senior brother want to suppress the divine dragon?”
“We will have to ask Senior Divine Dragon about that.”
Qin Mu raised his head and looked up at the huge divine dragon. Even when he was chained up and all his divine arts and transformation were restricted, his huge body was enough to make them look up.
Its whiskers hung down like clouds tinged with sunset hues floating around them. There was no way anyone could see any evil in such an extraordinary and martial existence.
Qin Mu raised his head to ask, “Big senior brother probably chained you here to gain merit to become a saint. In that case, what evil have you done for him to have to trap you here? Senior, please enlighten me!”
The divine dragon looked at him with a cold gaze, then suddenly grinned, revealing razor-sharp teeth. “Such a clever child, so why do you wish to die? You are so smart so why don’t you know that you should act blind? Sometimes you can live longer only when you don’t speak the truth and pretend to be dumb.”
Jiang Miao shuddered and raised his head. “In that case, what’s the motive behind senior calling me?”
The divine dragon’s body twisted, and his neck swept in a peculiar arc. The chains were pulled taut by him, but he looked into Jiang Miao’s eyes. His long whiskers almost touched Qin Mu and Jiao Miao, but with the restraint of the chains, they were just out of reach.
When Qin Mu had brought Jiang Miao to walk around the divine dragon, he had calculated the length of the chains, and his calculations were incomparably marvelous. They were just out of the giant creature’s attack range.
The breath coming out from the divine dragon’s mouth creased the skin on their faces when he spoke. “Of course I summoned you to save me, son of Surging River Dragon King…”
Jiang Miao was stunned. “You recognize me?”
“Of course I do.”
The divine dragon stretched his body, trying to leave his coiled around himself position. However, with the chains penetrating his body, he couldn’t stretch himself, but even, he had managed to shake the palace.
“Come to think of it, you’re my nephew. When you were just born, I even carried you, and you peed all over me. I even gave a flick on your little pee pee.”
Jiang Miao’s face flushed, and he turned back to look at Qin Mu with a troubled expression. “Cult Master, don’t tell anyone about this…” he said in a low voice.
Qin Mu smiled at him. “So what about it? I also got my little pee pee flicked by Grandpa Blind and Grandpa Cripple when I was little. This is an act of love from the seniors. Also, before your intelligence awakened, you licked my face when I was sleeping and covered it in saliva.”
Jiang Miao’s face turned red like a cloth that was just dyed. He muttered, “Can we not talk about this anymore?”
“Alright, but when you met me for the first time, you even pounced at me and rubbed my face before hanging yourself by the tail on my ear while crying ma ha…”
Jiang Miao didn’t want anything more than to find a hole to hide himself inside. With shame in his voice, he said, “Cult Master, can we never mention that again?”
Qin Mu laughed loudly. “After you become famous in the future, a divine dragon of an era, I will definitely tell your sons and descendants about this! I was also thinking, Junior Brother Qin Yu is still waiting for your return. After we come back, how are you going to face him? Are you still going to cling to his body?”
Jiang Miao was stunned.
The divine dragon was suddenly angered and asked in a sinister voice, “Have you guys finished talking?”
Qin Mu walked a step back and said with a smile, “Your uncle is furious, so let’s not talk drivel but focus on the important matters at hand. This is your family matters though, so I shall just listen on the side.”
The chest of the divine dragon heaved up and down. After a moment, he composed himself and said solemnly, “Jiang Miao, the brat with you is the junior brother of an evil man. He ain’t a good thing, and you need to stay farther away from him. You are my nephew and I’m your uncle, so you should help me break free.”
Jiang Miao hesitated. He looked at him the back at Qin Mu with a troubled expression.
“You could hear my call so you should know our bloodlines are close. Do you not trust me? Raise your hand, when our palms touch, you should know how closely related we are,” the divine dragon said in a gentle voice.
Jiang Miao raised his palm, and the divine dragon also raised his huge claw with a hint of excitement in his eyes. The instant before the palm and claw touched, the strange rune Qin Mu had left behind on Jiang Miao’s palms suddenly shone with dazzling light.
It instantly activated the hidden devil markings on the chains, and they shone brightly. The devil fire boiled and tunneled into the divine dragon, making him tremble violently from the burning sensation. His body distorted from the pain, and his roars rang out endlessly, shaking the hall!
Jiang Miao hurriedly pulled back his hand and looked at Qin Mu.
The youth smiled and walked over. He said leisurely. “Jiang Miao, your mother is Surging River Dragon King, and she died to protect you. There are countless dragon kings in the east sea of Great Ruins worshipped in the dragon king temples. This happened because they’d had no choice and were forced by the situation to petrify themselves.
“Twenty thousand years ago, when Founding Emperor Era came to an end and the disasters struck heaven and earth, the gods and devils of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens either headed to Carefree Village or chose to petrify themselves. So why didn’t your uncle choose to petrify himself or head to Carefree Village? Don’t you find it weird?”
Jiang Miao was stunned.
Qin Mu continued to speak. “Over here, Paramita Ark that was headed for Carefree Village suffered an assault. It was ambushed and destroyed by the enemy before getting sealed. However, there were still descendants of Heavenly Works God Race in Paramita Ark. To prevent them from breaking the seal and walking out, the enemy needed a strong practitioner to stay guard. And this guard, could it be your uncle?”
Jiang Miao looked at the divine dragon. The expression of huge creature changed slightly, and he said coldly, “You’d rather believe an outsider and not your own uncle?”
Qin Mu walked forward and looked up at the divine dragon. He suddenly said, “Jiang Miao, I’ve seen you a long time ago in Surging River Dragon Palace. The soul of your mother was floating around you and singing a sorrowful song in the dragon language. You were frozen by the mysterious ice, and there was a broken sword stabbed into your chest. The broken sword had pierced through your heart, and your mother had used her life to protect you, keeping you alive in anticipation that someone would revive you one day.”
Jiang Miao shed tears. After he was revived, he had gone to Surging River Dragon Palace with Qin Yu before and seen the skeleton of his mother.
“Your mother, Surging River Dragon King, was extremely powerful, so how could she die?” Qin Mu’s face was calm when he continued speaking. “Why did you not die even when a sword pierced your chest? Could the person that injured you have not killed you on purpose? Could their motive have been to make use of your injury to make your mother exhaust her dragon bead to extend your life? As a result, her cultivation fell drastically, making it easy to kill her. In that case, wouldn’t it take a very close person to be able to get close to her while she’s protecting you?”
Jiang Miao’s body trembled.
“Why didn’t this uncle with remarkable abilities come to save you even when you were frozen for twenty thousand years?” Qin Mu asked. “Where’s that broken sword that had pierced your heart?”
“I have always kept it.” Jiang Miao opened his mouth and spat it out.
Qin Mu’s gaze landed on the broken sword that had pierced through Jiang Miao’s heart. Dragon blood still stained it.
“Do you want to know the owner of this sword?” he asked.
Jiang Miao’s face filled with fear, and he shook his head. “Cult Master, my heart is very confused…”
Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the divine dragon. “If this is your sword, you can execute it to kill us easily and even severe the chains. You sensed Jiang Miao’s aura and kept calling him because of this sword too, right? Now this sword is here, senior, please.”
The divine dragon narrowed his eyes and stared relentlessly at him.
Qin Mu smiled.
Suddenly, light flowed through that broken sword, and it rose into the sky with a roar!
At the same time, the devil light on the chain shone brightly, and devil fire poured into the body of the divine dragon, burning him until he couldn’t stop twitching. The magic power he had just gathered was broken once again!
Clank.
The broken sword landed on the ground.
Qin Mu walked up and picked up the broken sword with a sigh. “Jiang Miao, your mother died unjustly.”
Jiang Miao raised his head and looked at the divine dragon in front of him. The creature laughed loudly and said sternly, “Only an outstanding talent can recognize current trends! Your mother and I were from the same dragon nest, transformed from the essence of the dragon vein. We were twin dragons! So why was she Surging River Dragon King and I only a Well Dragon King? The celestial heavens promised me more benefits, so I had to grab the chance! My sister was my proof of allegiance! However, so what even if I tell you? What can you do to me?”
He looked ruthlessly at Qin Mu and sneered, “That big senior brother of yours had abilities that surpass yours ten thousand times and wasn’t he still unable to kill me? He used all he knew and yet he could only trap me here!”
Behind Qin Mu, a Gate of Heaven Influence appeared and opened wide. “In this world, there’s nothing I can’t kill. Big senior brother might not be able to kill you, but it’s not a problem for me,” he said indifferently.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The divine dragon looked at the Gate of Heaven Influence with a look of suspicion.
Jiang Miao asked in a low voice, “Cult Master, will you really be able to get rid of him?”
“I don’t know,” Qin Mu said softly.
Wide-eyed, Jiang Miao cried out, “Don’t know?”
“I haven’t tested if this gate can kill gods or not; I’ve only killed devil experts of Celestial Being Realm in the past. I was trying to scare him just now, since he has fallen to such a state, yet he still wants to act all high and mighty, so we need to be more ruthless than him no matter what…”
Qin Mu finished his explanation and apologized to the divine dragon. “Senior, if I can’t kill you, please don’t laugh at me.”
He was about to execute Gate of Heaven Influence when the divine dragon looked like he’d remembered something, and his expression changed drastically. “Wait a minute!”
Qin Mu stopped, and Gate of Heaven Influence instantly paused. He said very patiently, “Senior, please speak.”
The divine dragon stared at this gate of his with a hint of fear in his gaze. He screeched, “I’ve seen this gate before! What’s your relationship with Mingdu Heavenly King? He also has a gate like this!”
“Mingdu Heavenly King also has Gate of Heaven Influence?” Qin Mu asked with suspicion. “I remember seeing a person open Gate of Heaven Influence in Ghost Valley. Could he have been the Mingdu Heavenly King you’re talking about?”
“You’re a descendant of Mingdu Heavenly King? No wonder, no wonder you can also open this gate…” the divine dragon said in a trembling voice.
Qin Mu shook his head and said with a smile, “My surname is Qin, Qin of Carefree Village. Who is this Mingdu Heavenly King? Is his surname Qin as well?”
The divine dragon seemed to not be listening to him though, having fallen into a deep and terrifying recollection. He muttered to himself, “Mingdu Heavenly King controls a gate connected to Youdu. Countless strong enemies died in his hands, and Founding Emperor conferred him the title of Heavenly King, ordering him to open Youdu.
“Founding Emperor had great ambitions and wanted to annex Youdu as well. He wanted to control the marvel of life and death, but he angered Earth Count. Earth Count wasn’t willing to submit, so Founding Emperor ordered Heavenly Works God Race to forge a divine knife. Mingdu Heavenly King sliced off a huge piece of Youdu with it, and Founding Emperor ordered people to construct Fengdu in that land…”
Qin Mu was stunned. “Mingdu Heavenly King sliced off a piece of Youdu and turned it into Fengdu? He was so powerful?”
“By stealing some territory of Youdu, Mingdu Heavenly King had angered Earth Count. However, Mingdu was clever, so he petrified himself and his primordial spirit escaped into Fengdu. Back then, the gods and devils that had died under his gate were uncountable, for which he was conferred to be the heavenly king in charge of the souls… This gate of yours, it’s impossible for it to be the same as his!”
Qin Mu’s eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked, “Senior, I’ve seen a stone statue in Ghost Valley with a gate that connects to Youdu behind it, however, it sealed up gods and devils with a beehive seal. Could that person have been Mingdu Heavenly King?”
The divine dragon was in a daze while muttering to himself. “Your gate cannot be the same as his. You don’t have the ability to hurt me. You’re just a country bumpkin that’s as weak as a hen dragon…”
Qin Mu’s face flushed, and he said, “Senior, you’re insulting all humans like this! I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this Mingdu Heavenly King before, and according to my guess, he should only be a fake Overlord Body. He didn’t cultivate to my standard at all!”
The divine dragon came back to his senses and sneered, “You call this gate as Gate of Heaven Influence? Truly ridiculous! This gate was known as God Slaying Mysterious Gate during Founding Emperor Era, for even the gods from the nine heavens above and the devil gods from the nine underworlds below couldn’t escape it!
“Once the door opened and closed, gods and devils would have their souls returned to Youdu, giving it the name God Slaying! You don’t even know that so it’s obvious that yours isn’t the orthodox one! Come slay me, let me see what abilities you have!”
Qin Mu spun around, and devil qi from Youdu leaked out from Gate of Heaven Influence. It was extremely dense as it spread through the hall.
The gate opened up and swept toward the divine dragon.
“Hold it!” Cold sweat rolled down the forehead of the divine dragon as he stared at the gate that was about to consume him.
Qin Mu stopped, being very patient. “What does senior want to say?”
“What’s your cultivation?” the divine dragon asked in a hoarse voice while staring at Gate of Heaven Influence.
“Junior has cultivated to Six Directions Realm, but I’ve also awakened my Seven Stars Divine Treasure.”
The divine dragon was stunned. “Six Direction Realm with Seven Stars Divine Treasure awakened? What is this logic… Yet even if we take that you’re on Seven Star Realm, you actually want to kill me like that? Hahahaha, you are truly an ignorant hen dragon that’s not afraid of a real dragon!” He relaxed and said proudly, “Let me see how you slay me!”
Qin Mu continued to execute Gate of Heaven Influence, and more of Youdu’s devil qi spread out. Suddenly though, the divine dragon shouted out, “Hold it!”
Qin Mu’s patience waned, and he couldn’t help hurrying. “Senior, if you have anything to say, say it all at once.”
The divine dragon sneered at him. “Little brat, for trying to slay me, I will eradicate your whole family, are you clear? This seed you’ve planted today, it will result in your family being wiped out in the future!”
Qin Mu nodded and continued to execute Gate of Heaven Influence. “I’m clear on that. If you don’t die, come and wipe out my family anytime.”
Gate of Heaven Influence shifted, and cryptic voice came from Qin Mu’s mouth. He chanted the hard to understand Youdu’s devil language.
The divine dragon hurriedly said, “Hold it! This gate of yours is different from what I’ve seen before, what’s the language you are speaki—”
Whoosh!
Gate of Heaven Influence became even more towering when it swept past his body. Inside the gate was pitch black darkness. Within it, a pair of incomparably huge, curved horns could be faintly seen emanating with flames.
The gate came to an abrupt stop then, and the body of the divine dragon turned stiff. Suddenly, a head crashed to the ground, and the body relaxed. The dragon turned limp like a dead snake, motionless.
Qin Mu scattered Gate of Heaven Influence, and an intense pain came from the heart of his brows. A drop of black blood flowed down.
Qin Mu hurriedly covered the heart of his brows, but the stinging pain became more and more intense. The pain was so unbearable that he knelt on the ground and hugged his head!
From a few steps away, Jiang Miao had seen that when Gate of Heaven Influence took in the divine dragon, a huge mouth suddenly appeared in the darkness, swallowing the primordial spirit of the divine dragon in one bite!
Jiang Miao was in a daze. The malicious mouth had been incomparably evil, and even he was frightened!
When he came back to his senses and checked on the divine dragon, he couldn’t help feeling astonished. The body had no more breath left!
Its primordial spirit had indeed been swallowed by the huge mouth instead of entering Youdu!
“Cult Master Qin, there seems to be a ghost in this gate of yours… Cult Master Qin!”
Jiang Miao heard Qin Mu’s whimpers, and he hurriedly came over to help him up. Qin Mu was trembling from the intense pain, and from his chest, his jade pendant suddenly shot off beams of faint light, forcing back the stinging pain.
“I’m fine, I just suddenly felt my head aching.” Qin Mu looked around in a daze and pushed away Jiang Miao’s hand. He shook his head and said, “It’s much better now; it should just have been a side effect of executing Gate of Heaven Influence. Strange, this kind of weird incident had never happened before when I did this in the past…”
Jiang Miao looked blankly at the heart of his brows, and Qin Mu glanced at him. He asked with a smile, “What do you see?”
“There’s a bloody mark at the heart of your brows, and there seems to be something inside…” he said with astonishment.
Qin Mu hurriedly took out a mirror and checked his reflection. He indeed saw a bloody marking at the heart of his brows. It was long and narrow, about an inch or more in length. The two ends were pointy while the center was slightly wider.
What was even weirder was that the bloody mark bulged out slightly. It looked as though he had knocked his head and it was swollen.
He stretched his hand and touched the bloody mark. There seemed to be some round thing inside, yet he didn’t feel any pain when he exerted some force on it.
‘Could I have knocked my head after that intense pain… That thing is moving!’
Qin Mu was shocked. His finger had clearly felt the thing under the bloody mark moving!
‘Could I have been possessed by the divine dragon?’
He hurriedly executed his primordial spirit and looked into his body. He didn’t discover any abnormalities after searching for half a day, and even when his primordial spirit came to the heart of his brows, he also couldn’t find the thing left behind by the bloody mark.
Jiang Miao examined the heart of his brows carefully and suddenly raised a finger. “Cult Master, look at my finger.”
Qin Mu did as told, and Jiang Miao moved his finger while looking at the heart of his brows. Instantly, Qin Mu realized that the thing in the bloody mark was moving along with the finger.
Jiang Miao tested and let out a sigh of relief. “It should be an eye below the bloody mark.”
“An eye?” Qin Mu was puzzled. Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures did have some strange techniques for him grow a third eye, but he hadn’t transformed into Saturn Sovereign or Mars Sovereign so where did the third eye come from?
“Cult Master Qin, I saw a ghost in that gate of yours just now!” Jiang Miao said after composing himself. He remembered the sight he had just seen and shuddered without feeling cold. “When my uncle was swallowed by your Gate of Heaven Influence, his primordial spirit was pulled out and fell toward the god with horns. At that moment, a huge mouth suddenly appeared and ate my uncle’s primordial spirit!”
“A huge mouth appeared to eat your uncle?” Stunned, Qin Mu rubbed his forehead. “There are numerous monsters with ferocious nature in Youdu, condensed from Youdu’s broken souls and devil nature. They are malicious and terrifying. Could this have been the act of one of them?”
Jiang Miao shook his head. “I don’t know about this. I only saw that huge mouth swallowing my uncle. It gave a cruel smile before vanishing, and your gate closed shut.”
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment, then sighed. “Earth Count’s control over Youdu is getting weaker and weaker, as a result, all these monsters are running out… We came here in search of a true dragon to explain the writings on the true dragon’s nest, but now we are out of leads again…”
Suddenly, he saw that the chains had fallen off the divine dragon, and the devil writings on them no longer flowed. This made his heart skip a beat.
‘Crap! Ten Miles Star Sand Calamity Formation will also stop!’
Qin Mu sprinted out and saw the yellow sand flowing like a dragon in the sky above the canyon. It rushed back into the huge cauldron.
Meanwhile, on both sides of the canyon, the runes on the walls were burning up and turning into ashes.
In the sky full of yellow sand, Xing An was covered in blood as he dragged himself over with heavy footsteps. His expression was very dark.
Qin Mu hurriedly ran over and hugged the huge cauldron with a grunt. He couldn’t pick it up, however. The star sand was simply too heavy for him to carry.
He roused his vital qi and tried to execute the star sand in the cauldron, and a few grains of star sand flew into the sky, slowly floating forward.
Qin Mu’s face instantly turned blacker than that of Xing An.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
‘This star sand that big senior brother made is too heavy! I can’t execute it at all with my abilities!’
Qin Mu abandoned the huge cauldron and turned to rush into the huge palace hall. Jiang Miao watched him rush back in a hurry and jump onto the divine dragon’s body, not knowing what he was about to do.
Qin Mu executed Dragon Rearing Scriptures, but how could it work when the dragon was already dead. His primordial spirit had even been swallowed by a ‘malicious spirit’, so there was no way to borrow the cultivation of the divine dragon. With, he might have been able to face Xing An, but alas.
Qin Mu looked at Jiang Miao, then shook his head. ‘His cultivation is too weak, even inferior to mine, so I won’t get much power even if I use Dragon Rearing Scriptures… Teleportation Divine Art!’
Runes flew around his body, and he was prepared to escape with Jiang Miao. However, with his cultivation, he was only able to bring Jiang Miao dozens of miles away at most. This kind of distance was only a matter of seconds to Xing An.
Before his teleportation runes could even be executed though, they suddenly stopped moving and froze in the air.
Not only were the runes frozen, but even Qin Mu and Jiang Miao were themselves were restricted. They couldn’t move.
Xing An walked into the hall with a gloomy face and stretched out a hand. When he spread apart his fingers, they were still dripping with blood. After he patched his divine bridge and reached the celestial palaces to become a god, his cultivation had an astonishing raise. His abilities were simply too powerful and could easily restrict Qin Mu.
He had suffered heavy injuries in the ten miles of yellow sand, but he was a god and had immeasurable power. Even with the remnants of his magic power, he could still trap Qin Mu.
Cold sweat rolled down Qin Mu’s forehead as he forcefully squeezed out a smile. “Senior Brother Xing An, I will just return the chest to you…”
“What I want isn’t the chest, but you,” Xing An said before spitting out bloody phlegm.
The wounds on his body were of various sizes, but all looked extremely horrifying. Flesh could be seen in many places, and in a few even white bone.
If one was to think of it, he was truly unlucky. First, he had been trapped in Paramita Ark, which was incomparably dangerous, for half a year. All kinds of seals and killing formation were everywhere, and he still needed to face some mute’s harassment from time to time.
The moment he came out, he met Qin Mu and were lured into Ten Miles Star Sand Calamity Formation. The youth had left easily yet he sank into the formation and his situation got worse and worse.
Only by unleashing all that he knew was he able to endure for so long. If it wasn’t because the formation had suddenly stopped, he definitely couldn’t have lasted much longer and would have been turned into dust!
“Great Divine Physician, why is it so difficult to catch you?” Xing An asked after swallowing the blood that rushed up his throat. “Luckily, you still haven’t escaped from my grasp!”
Incomparably intense darkness poured out from under his feet; it was his Life and Death Divine Treasure. He walked over as though he was walking on black water.
At that moment, two eyes appeared in the darkness under his feet. Next, a beautiful woman revealed her face, and her alluring figure floated into view.
Xing An looked like he was stepping on the black water, and the woman was like his reflection. However, one was a man and the other a beautiful women.
This was an extremely peculiar sight.
The two people walked toward Qin Mu in unison, raising and putting down their feet at the same time.
Right before the darkness touched Qin Mu, Xing An suddenly stopped and no longer walked forward. The beauty also stopped. It was as if she could only move if Xing An moved.
A male voice came from the mouth of the beauty. It was very rough and heavy, “Xing An, why aren’t you walking forward anymore? Take him into your Life and Death Divine Treasure and hand him to me. Once I have him, our agreement will be finished!”
“Lu Li, I’ve already found him for you, which is what I had promised. Whether or not you can capture him is your own business. I’m not fond of being threatened,” Xing An said indifferently.
Under his feet, the beauty was stunned for a moment. She then sneered, “You think that just because you went to the celestial palaces and became a fake god, you can bargain with me? Xing An, how dare you!”
“Bargain?” Xing An shook his head. “This isn’t bargaining, you sent me out of Youdu so I helped you find him. This is the trade. I’ve already done my part. As for whether you can capture him, that’s your problem.”
He stretched his hand in a grabbing motion, and the body of the divine dragon rose while Qin Mu and Jiang Miao suddenly fell to the ground. They regained control of their bodies and could execute vital qi as they liked.
Qin Mu was bewildered. He raised his head to see the body of the divine dragon shrinking. Its chains fell off due to the change in size.
Xing An grabbed the divine dragon, then straightened it out and coiled around his waist like a belt. He suddenly said coldly, “Lu Li, get out of my Life and Death Divine Treasure!”
Under his feet, the beauty flew into a furious bout. “How dare you talk to me like this! Do you think a small god like you can escape from my grasp?”
“My divine treasure, who are you to talk? Scram!” Xing An shouted out, and his primordial spirit suddenly appeared in his Life and Death Divine Treasure. Sun, moon, and five elements lined up, and whenever their light came close, the beauty hurriedly avoided. She was forced to retreat by the light of the seven stars.
“Xing An, you dare scam a high god, I will definitely—”
“Scram!”
God’s aura burst forth from Xing An, and his clothes and hair fluttered. The divine treasures in his body shone brightly and lit up his Life and Death Divine Treasure, forcing her back into Youdu!
Xing An’s aura returned to normal, and his fluttering black air also fell back down to drape his shoulders. With clothes back to normal, he looked at Qin Mu. “Where’s my chest?”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then took out the chest from his taotie sack. The chest sprinted toward Xing An, but turned its head back when it was halfway across to ‘look’ at Qin Mu. It then sprinted toward Xing An and came to his side.
Xing An turned around and walked out of the hall while saying indifferently, “Divine Physician Qin, don’t let me meet you again.”
“Why aren’t you killing me?” Qin Mu suddenly asked.
“Why should I kill you?” Xing An stopped and turned his head. “I have my own principles when doing things. The Secrets of Magpie Bridge, Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and Secrets of Divine Crossing have helped me cultivate to godhood and escape from worrying about my lifespan, so the grudge between us is written off.
“Me finding you was just to settle the agreement between me and Lu Li. Now it is also written off. You are a great master, but do you think I can’t know and act as one? You underestimate me too much.”
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “I have indeed underestimated you in the past.”
Xing An saw that smile of his, and the corner of his eyes twitched. He gave a cold snort while turning to walk out of the hall. “Don’t smile at me. I will come back to find you. You have founded numerous things, like Eighteenth Sword Form, Primordial Spirit Guide, and I’m someone who appreciates talented people, but when your corporeal body reaches a level where it comes into my view, I will find you. I want the corporeal body of an overlord body.”
Qin Mu was dumbfounded as he watched Xing An leave into the distance.
When Xing An reached the huge cauldron, his gaze wavered. He was about to take the treasure when the star sand moved in the cauldron. It gradually rose and formed the shape of a young man.
Astonished, Xing An rushed away, crossing the ten mile long canyon in a flash.
He was afraid that the formation might erupt once again.
Qin Mu brought Jiang Miao out of the hall and saw a sand human standing in the center of the huge cauldron. The star sand flowed continuously on the surface.
“Big senior brother?” Qin Mu probed. “Heavenly Saint Cult’s Founding Master, I’m the current cult master, and I met Saint Woodcutter not long ago. Big brother, are you still alive?”
The sand human opened his mouth, but it couldn’t speak. Suddenly, it crumbled, and the star sand flowed on the ground to make a picture.
Qin Mu hurriedly looked over and saw geographical maps all over the ground. Mountains and rivers, all of them were captured on the ground.
The terrain in the geographical map changed non-stop, and Qin Mu hurriedly memorized them by heart. The star sand transformed over a dozen times before flowing back into the huge cauldron.
Qin Mu frowned slightly then. Besides the first map, he had no idea about the other ones, and when he thought about Great Ruins, there was no place in it that fitted the other pictures.
The first map of Great Ruins, but the other thirteen didn’t represent any terrain present in Eternal Peace or West Earth. It was also different from the terrain of Supreme Emperor Heaven.
‘What is big senior brother trying to say?’
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. Heavenly Saint Cult’s Founding Master had to have detected that the divine dragon died, and since it was his merit, he had activated his star sand to become his body to look at the situation. However, he was probably not in Great Ruins or Eternal Peace, but in another world, which was why his voice couldn’t transmit over.
Because of that, he used star sand to arrange the geographical map to guide Qin Mu to his side.
‘The fourteen geographical maps were incomparably complicated, so why should I go to find him?’ Qin Mu suddenly came to a realization. ‘My horizons are narrow, but Saint Woodcutter must have seen the world and would definitely recognize all these maps! However, I might be able to find some clues from the first geographical map, so why don’t I go over to take a look first.’
When he decided on that, he relaxed and said, “Jiang Miao, let’s go!”
Jiang Miao acknowledged.
Qin Mu suddenly turned back at that moment and hugged the huge cauldron. He tried to raise it forcefully while Jiang Miao scratched his head. “Aren’t you going to help?” Qin Mu asked him in a shout.
Jiang Miao went over in a hurry, and both their faces flushed as they used all their strength yet still couldn’t lift the huge cauldron. Jiang Miao gasped for breath and tried to ask, “Cult Master, I think we should forget about it? Your big senior brother’s abilities are too great, and even Xing An didn’t dare to take this huge cauldron away. We definitely can’t carry it…”
Qin Mu could only give up. At that moment though, he saw the chains that had shackled the dragon, and his eyes lit up. He sprinted over in a hurry.
“It won’t be too bad if we can at least take a few chains! They could hold a divine dragon so the materials used to make have to be of the highest quality! Even if they were melted and turned into treasures, they would be of the highest grade among the highest grade!”
Jiang Miao could only follow over. The two of them dragged a thick chain forcefully, barely managing to get it out of the hall.
Qin Mu opened his taotie sack and tried to put one end of the chain inside, but the chain was too thick and he couldn’t put it in at all. On top of that, the other end of the chain was deeply embedded into the cliff and he couldn’t pull it out.
The two youths stared at each other, out of ideas. Qin Mu was furious and turned to leave. “To think you’re my big senior brother, what a miser!”
Jiang Miao hurriedly followed after him, and Qin Mu flew into the sky with a gloomy face. He looked in the surroundings and checked the terrain, then chose the direction marked in the first geographical map.
Two days later, they came to a small village which was the marked location.
Qin Mu and Jiang Miao walked inside and examined their surroundings. The small village was similar to all the ordinary village in Great Ruins. However, there were sculptures of gods with dragon heads and human bodies all around it.
‘Why did big senior brother want us to come here?’
While feeling puzzled, Qin Mu saw a white-haired elder who was weaving a fishing net in front of a small straw hut. He hurriedly walked forward and bowed in a respectful greeting. “Elder, what is this place?”
The white-haired elder looked at him with blurry eyes full of astonishment. “I gave the Emperor’s Disk to Ling Family, so why is it with you?” he asked with a smile.
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open, speechless.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The white-haired elder wore green clothing that had been washed pale. He placed the fishing net in his hands, and Qin Mu felt something moving on his chest. Next, he saw the Emperor’s Disk change into a small dragon that popped its head out from under his collar.
When Jiang Miao saw the small dragon, he couldn’t help changing back into his true form. He became a small dragon also and hid behind Qin Mu with a low growl that was both respectful and fearful. “Ma ha—”
The little dragon with its head out was a true dragon lord. It opened its mouth to yawn before slowly crawling out from Qin Mu’s collar and slithering to the hand of the white-haired elder. It coiled up in his hand and closed its eyes sleepily.
Immediately, numerous young men and women walked out from the small village, surrounding Qin Mu and Jiang Miao. One of the robust young men asked, “Old Ancestor, are they here to create trouble?”
The white-haired elder smiled. “No, they aren’t. Don’t scare them, these two have some fate with our village.”
The young men and women lost their enmity then and examined Qin Mu and the Little Dragon Jiang Miao that was behind him.
Qin Mu was astonished. The young men and women all had vigorous vital qi, and every one of them was hiding their light under a bushel. However, when they had surrounded them, Qin Mu had heard seven explosions from opening the divine treasures coming from the youngest girl’s body, making it clear that she was an expert on Divine Bridge Realm!
Yet she should’ve been the weakest in the village as everyone was protecting her!
Even the weakest villager in this place that was by no means large was on Divine Bridge Realm!
Qin Mu had thought that Disabled Elderly Village was the strongest village in Great Ruins, but from the looks of it, Great Ruins was really a place of concealed talents.
“Besides the Emperor’s Disk, you also have the true dragon’s nest.”
The white-haired elder looked astonished when his gaze landed on the youth’s waist. Qin Mu took off the taotie sack and brought out the true dragon’s nest, placing it respectfully in front of the white-haired elder. “May senior take a look at it.”
The spirit of the true dragon lord immediately rose and swam into the true dragon’s nest.
When the other villagers saw it, their spirits rose, and they wanted to tunnel into the dragon’s nest with that little dragon.
However, they resisted the urge.
‘Could the villagers here be dragons and not humans? Is this a village of dragons?’
Qin Mu made his own guesses after noticing everyone’s reaction.
“The Emperor’s Disk of Ling Family was stolen by my Grandpa Cripple who gave it to me. As for the true dragon’s nest, it was refined by Dragon Rearing Sovereign of High Heavens. Since I subdued him, the true dragon’s nest also fell into my hands. Senior, you are the god that refined the Emperor’s Disk, right?”
The white-haired elder’s gaze landed on the true dragon’s nest, and he spoke with a smile that was not a smile. “Back when I refined the true dragon lord into the Emperor’s Disk and entered Middle Earth to find a successor, I met a young fellow with extraordinary aptitude and comprehension. He was the old ancestor of Ling Family. I saw that he had the qi of the true dragon so I gave the Emperor’s Disk to him and imparted the dragon language and technique on the Emperor’s Disk.
“But what could I do that his mind wasn’t on this and he went to chase after some girl instead? In the end, he managed to chase catch that girl, but by then he had forgotten most of the dragon language and technique I had taught him. It was then that I knew that this young fellow wasn’t the true dragon lord.”
Qin Mu had once heard Ling Yuxiu talk about this before and had found it funny. But never had he expected it to be true!
“However, I’m lazy by nature and I had been asked by another to refine the true dragon lord and find a successor. Since the successor wasn’t useless, I let him be,” the white-haired elder said with a smile.
“Who would have thought that even though the young fellow wasn’t hard working, his descendants were all very hard working and managed to strengthen Eternal Peace Empire to its current state. Since Emperor’s Disk fell into your hands and you also have the true dragon’s nest, you must be after the technique on it, right?”
“Senior, I’m indeed rather interested in the technique on the true dragon’s nest; however, I’ve come here because of Heavenly Saint Cult’s Founding Master. He is my big senior brother and he left a geographical map which marked this village, so I’ve found my way here,” Qin Mu explained respectfully.
The white-haired elder was stunned and pondered over it. “Heavenly Saint Cult’s Founding Master? Is that the young fellow whose name is Wei Fengsui?”
Qin Mu hesitated. He didn’t know what was the name of his big senior brother.
The white-haired elder saw his expression and smiled. “He once came to find me and asked me how to gain merit. He wasn’t a bad youth and his abilities were extremely extraordinary. Teacher had found a good disciple.
“However, if Wei Fengsui wanted to become a saint, it was very hard for him to gain merit as the path he walked was Teacher’s path, and it is very difficult. I couldn’t teach him anything. If you are his junior brother and have also come to ask me on how to become a saint, I can’t teach you anything as well.”
The teacher he had been mentioning probably referred to Saint Woodcutter who once was the heavenly teacher of Founding Emperor Celestial Heaven. He’d been in charge of teaching all the princes and princesses of Founding Emperor’s bloodline.
“May I ask if my big senior brother mentioned where he was planning to go?” Qin Mu asked.
The white-haired elder shook his head. “He didn’t say where he planned to go, but he left something behind. If he made you look for me, it should be for that item.”
He stood up and walked into the straw hut. After a moment, he brought out a red box and handed it over.
Qin Mu opened it and saw a palm-sized token engraved with a picture of a ferocious beast.
Qin Mu flipped it around, but he still didn’t understand what it was. He sincerely sought enlightenment and asked, “May I ask senior what is the use of this token?”
“This is a commander’s seal used to mobilize soldiers. There’s a formation with positions for gods in it, but it’s extremely ancient, so it’s most likely useless now,” the white-haired elder said.”Even I don’t recognize some of the runes on this, so it might be a commander’s seal from High Emperor Era or even earlier.”
He took back the commander’s seal and activated it with his magic power. They saw stars rise from the commander’s seal and swirl around them. “These stars are the positions for gods. If they’re all taken, they could use this formation to face the enemy and fight against it.”
Qin Mu raised his head and noticed that the stars that had flown out of the commander’s seal weren’t truly stars. They were apparitions, but there was an extremely high number of them. There were probably several thousand stars, and his heart couldn’t help shuddering. He muttered, “A formation of several thousand gods… What kind of battle requires several thousand gods and devils?”
“Your horizons are too narrow.” The white-haired elder retrieved his magic power, and the star apparitions vanished. He said with a smile, “During Founding Emperor Era, there were more than a few such battles. The formation in this commander’s seal isn’t of much use anymore, but it’s still a pretty nice collectible.”
Qin Mu looked at him in bewilderment. “How is the formation useless?”
The white-haired elder handed the commander’s seal to him and said, “Tthe Great Dao of Heaven and Earth have changed, so the formation in the commander’s seal is no longer compatible with it. The formation also has no more power left. This item is very ancient, and it’s no longer compatible with the Dao. It’s probably something from tens of thousands of years ago, but as for which era it comes, that’s not something that I know.”
Qin Mu placed the commander’s seal back into the red box and put it away in his taotie sack.
Since Founding Master Wei Fengsui had left the red box and the commander’s seal with the white-haired elder, it meant that this item was definitely very important. His reason to lead Qin Mu to the village was definitely for it.
“Forgive this junior’s impudence, but may I ask for senior’s name?” Qin Mu said.
The white-haired elder smiled at him. “I thought a descendant of Qin Family would know my name, but you actually don’t. I’m a dragon vein that attained Dao and cultivated itself into a true dragon. Back then, I followed after your ancestor. Because I was just born and didn’t know how to talk, I could only cry out ma ha, so your ancestor named me like that. My surname is Ma and my name is Haqing; he used it to make fun of me.”
Qin Mu looked at him with a weird expression. “Ma Haqing…”
Jiang Miao popped his head out from Qin Mu’s back and said timidly, “Ma ha—”
The white-haired elder continued his story. “Afterwards, I became an official in the celestial heavens which had four great celestial palaces. I oversaw Green Dragon Palace and its Sixty Star God Divisions. All of them was under my administration. I was honored as Green Emperor, but I disliked this title since it was too overbearing, and I changed my name to Qing Huang. Now that Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens was eradicated and Green Dragon Celestial Palace no longer exists, you can just call me Elder Qing Huang.”
Qin Mu greeted him once again and said, “Qin Family’s one hundred seventh descendant Qin Mu pays his respects to Elder Qing Huang.”
Elder Qing Huang hurriedly motioned for him to straighten. “Please rise. When I saw you coming here, I immediately knew your bloodline and guessed you were a descendant of Founding Emperor. You want to learn the dragon language of this true dragon’s nest? I can teach you.”
Qin Mu was overjoyed and bowed in gratitude. “Thanks for the trouble, senior.”
Elder Qing Huang brought him into the true dragon’s nest and said, “I see that your paths, skills, and divine arts have already gained small success, and you seem to be cultivating both god and devil paths. You seem to have opened your divine treasures of both, which is very strange. Seeing how you have already found your path, learning the technique of my dragon race will only be decorating something that’s already perfect. On the other hand, for this little dragon, you should receive a lot of benefits.”
Jiang Miao which was a little dragon at that moment tiptoed behind Qin Mu. When he heard what Elder Qing Huang said, he shrunk his head back and said, “Ma ha…”
Elder Qing Huang smiled at him. “No need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank him. That’s right, Qin Mu, I can sense something very strange about your body, and it’s on your neck. It seems to be a jade pendant with a very powerful seal hidden inside it.”
“Is this what the senior has sensed?” Qin Mu took out his jade pendant and said, “It was crafted by Earth Count, and he said it’s to seal my devil nature. I was born in Youdu and got invaded by the devil nature lingering in there, so Earth Count crafted this for me. As long as I wear it, it can suppress my devil nature.”
Elder Qing Huang looked at the jade pendant and sneered. “Earth Count sealed your devil nature? Why would he be so nice? Give me that jade pendant, I’ll help you undo the seal!”
“This…” Qin Mu looked at him with a troubled expression and said in a low voice, “Senior, King Yama once tried to undo it and suffered the curse of the jade pendant. Also, Fu Riluo of the devil race also tried to undo the seal and got cursed as well; he ended up in quite a miserable state. My master and King Yama said that it’s best to not undo the seal in the jade pendant and that I shouldn’t let the jade pendant leave my body. Otherwise, terrifying things will happen…”
“What is there to fear from a mere curse?” Elder Qing Huang said with a smile. “However, if even Teacher said so, then there must be a reason, Come, let me clear your doubts in regards to the true dragon technique on the true dragon’s nest!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the true dragon’s nest, Qin Mu finally achieved what he wanted and comprehended all of the dragon language inside it.
Elder Qing Huang was a divine dragon so he knew all of the dragon language. His abilities were extremely high, to the point that Qin Mu didn’t know what realm he was exactly.
However, to be able to become the master of Green Dragon Palace, one of the four great celestial palaces of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens, he should have been stronger than Saint Woodcutter or King Yama.
The combination of the stars was known as the celestial heavens, but separately they were known as the five palaces. Green Dragon Celestial Palace ruled the sixty stars of Eastern Heaven, White Tiger Celestial Palace ruled the twenty-seven stars of Western Heaven, Vermillion Bird Celestial Palace ruled the thirty-nine stars of Southern Heaven, and Black Tortoise Celestial Heaven ruled the Northern Heaven.
In the center was Heavenly Emperor Celestial Palace which ruled Heavenly Emperor Stars.
Besides it, Green Dragon Celestial Palace was in the lead of the other four great celestial palaces, so one could well imagine how strong was Elder Qing Huang.
He didn’t decipher the technique of the true dragon lord like Little Dragon Jiang Miao who went through word by word. Instead, he directly transformed all of the writings into techniques and imparted them to both of them, from the simplest to the hardest.
The main technique was called Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, and it utilized all of the dragon language to reverberate in the corporeal body and primordial spirit with the dragon roars. The method of vital qi, divine art, and body refinement cultivation were all hidden in the writings.
To a cultivator, this technique raised all of their aspects. What concerned the vigor of the vital qi, the exquisiteness of the divine arts, and the strength of the corporeal body—these were the most top-notch techniques that were on the level of Dao realm!
If Qin Mu could comprehend everything completely, entering the path of technique would not be a difficult task.
This was the first time Qin Mu had seen a technique on such a level, and it was even complete.
The fourteen writings of Dao Sword were incomplete because the stars in the sky were fake. The fourteenth writing couldn’t be comprehended no matter what, so the fourteenth sword could never reach the realm of path.
Great Thunderclap Monastery’s Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra could only cultivate the frame of mind to the realm of path while the cultivation realm could only be cultivated to the twentieth heaven. Once one reached Brahma Realm, there were no further techniques.
Little Jade Capital’s technique could allow people to cultivate to the realm of god, after which it was broken off.
Heavenly Saint Cult’s Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had extremely high attainments in the divine arts, but it also had no techniques after becoming a god.
Because there was a gap in Eternal Peace Empire’s inheritance, there was a natural inadequateness. All the techniques in each and every one of the sacred grounds were lacking.
Supreme Emperor Heaven might have complete inheritance and have numerous gods and devil gods, Qin Mu hadn’t seen a technique that could allow a person to reach the realm of path. Neither had he heard of it before.
Even the true god of Supreme Emperor Heaven could only cultivate one aspect of themselves to the realm of path. If they wanted to cultivate all aspects to the realm of path, they needed to comprehend and train.
The techniques of Supreme Emperor Heaven couldn’t let anyone cultivate to the realm of path.
The one technique which could reach the realm of path straightaway was Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique. By following it, one could cultivate the Ancestral Dragon Primordial Spirit and raise their comprehension of the dragons’ divine arts to the realm of path. Their comprehension of the corporeal body could also reach such a level, making it a heaven-defying technique!
‘It surpasses even my Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!’ Qin Mu couldn’t help sighing ruefully.
When he bade farewell to Zhe Huali in Supreme Emperor Heaven, he had fallen into the state of technique entering the Dao in which he had revised all the divine arts of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and reached the most perfect state. However, it was a pity that he got interrupted by a bunch of devil experts during the process of fusing the divine eyes.
Even so, he had taken the first step of technique entering the path.
But that was different from path realm technique. Technique entering the path could allow his corporeal body, primordial spirit, and divine arts to reach the state of a young true god.
The path realm technique was a level higher and could allow one’s divine arts, the corporeal body, and the primordial spirit to reach the path of realm. On top of that, it had a technique after entering god realm.
‘Even though this technique is good, it’s more suitable for dragons to cultivate. If I cultivate Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, my achievements will definitely be inferior to those of Jiang Miao. To me, only the most suitable technique for me is the best technique.’
Qin Mu pushed the weight off his shoulders. Even though the Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique was good, he still chose Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique over it.
However, Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique was still very useful to him. He could borrow the path of refinement within it to refine his corporeal body, primordial spirit, and divine arts and perfect his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
This method of refinement was called Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon, and it was an extremely overbearing method. It was separated into Sticking Voice, Killing Voice, Seizing Voice, Absorbing Voice, Guiding Voice, Spinning Voice, Hammering Voice, and Refining Voice.
Qin Mu immediately tried it out, and the circulation of his vital qi vibrated with a strange rhythm. Sticking Voice burst forth, and his vital qi became incomparably sluggish, vibrating at an extremely high frequency. In an instant, Qin Mu felt a marvelous change happening in his corporeal body. His blood became sticky and astonishing booms would burst forth when he circulated it!
The circulation of his qi and blood had become even more boundless, like an avalanche rolling down snow mountains. When his qi and blood circulated to his palm, it became as big as a palm-leaf fan. Circulating vital qi in his palm gave off loud explosions like thunder rumbling.
He used Sticking Voice to refine his blood vessels, then after one round, he dispersed it, feeling refreshed.
Qin Mu then executed Killing Voice. It trembled his consciousness, refining it to become incomparably pure.
He executed Seizing Voice, and his three souls almost got scattered.
Seizing Voice refined the three souls, Absorbing Voice refined the seven spirits, Guiding Voice refined the heart, Spinning Voice refined the spirit, and Refining Voice refined the Dao heart.
Qin Mu refined them one by one, gaining some understanding of the Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon. He then scattered his vital qi in high spirits and used it to construct the circulation path of his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His next step was to incorporate what he’d learned into his own technique.
In front of him, vital qi created various circulation paths which led to a form somewhat similar to a human. But looking at it in detail, one could see a complicated structure.
It dealt with Qin Mu’s Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, and Six Directions Divine Treasure. His vital qi circulated in these divine treasures and formed an incomparably complicated system. The path of his vital qi in every divine treasure was different.
Not only that, if one looked at every organ in his body, one would discover that his vital qi had a different path of circulation in his heart than his kidneys, and the path of circulation in his legs was also different from his five viscera and six bowels. It was truly extremely exquisite.
He tried to incorporate Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon into his vital qi circulation. Surprisingly, there were not many places he needed to change. He just needed to utilize Guiding Voice when his vital qi reached the heart, Sticking Voice when his vital qi reached the blood vessels, and Spinning Voice when his vital qi reached the spirit embryo. It was all as simple as that.
He altered his technique in true dragon’s nest while ignoring everything in his surroundings. Elder Qing Huang and Jiang Miao were immediately attracted by the activity, and their gazes landed on the circulation diagram in front of him.
“Stop looking,” Elder Qing Huang said with a shake of his head to Jiang Miao. “You can’t learn it. This youth is very wide, and he’s like a monster. His foundation and wisdom have reached a step that you will never walk onto. Let me talk to you about the marvel of Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique to answer any questions you might still have.”
“Ma ha,” Jiang Miao replied in a soft voice.
Elder Qing Huang smiled at him. “You don’t have to be scared of me.”
Jiang Miao picked back his courage and transformed into a human. He stood obediently on the side.
Elder Qing Huang explained to him Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique. He tried to simplify it in case the youth didn’t understand.
The lecture just went on for four to five days, until Qin Mu finally incorporated Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon into his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. When he executed it and his vital qi circulated, it would naturally give off Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon to refine his corporeal body, primordial spirit, vital qi, and Dao heart.
Even when he executed his divine arts, Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon operated and refined them!
Qin Mu slithered through true dragon’s nest while executing divine arts after divine arts. Dragon roars rang out endlessly, and the power of the moves became stronger and stronger. He couldn’t help becoming delighted at the sight of it.
Zhnng!
He pulled out two Pig Slaughtering Knives and swung them to execute Midnight Battles Across the Stormy Cities. However, the moment he did so, the two knives in his hands shattered into pieces from the vibration!
Qin Mu was stunned and took out a bamboo cane from his taotie sack and stabbed out with it. The bamboo cane turned into fine powder.
‘The power of Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon is too strong! No random spirit weapon can be used with it.’
He took out a sword pellet, and flying swords rushed out like flowing water to form into a long knife. Qin Mu grabbed it and pulled to the sides. The long knife separated into two, and he executed Every Cloud has a Silver Lining!
The knife lights crossed each other, and the power become was even stronger than before. It nearly severed the pillars of true dragon’s nest, and Qin Mu hurriedly pulled back his move before he demolished the dragon’s nest.
He examined the two long knives, then threw them into the sky. The long knives separated into flying swords and swirled around him.
Qin Mu examined them in detail and let out a shaky breath. He said with excitement, “Luckily, my flying swords were refined well; otherwise, I really wouldn’t have any weapon to use.”
He sank into his thoughts again. Besides Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon, there were other divine arts in the technique from which he could learn.
Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique had numerous divine arts with unpredictable changes, and they could even be changed into buddhism divine arts. Some could even become divine arts of Dao Sect or even be executed as divine arts of the devil path!
Qin Mu felt that numerous divine arts could also be changed into sword skills. If treated as knife skills, they would also possess great power.
There were also a lot of extraordinary points about the body movement divine arts, and the pupil divine arts were also very astonishing.
The deeper Qin Mu studied Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, the better he understood how extraordinary it was. He hated himself for not being a dragon and being unable to unleash the divine arts of this technique to the extreme.
When he awoke once again, he saw that Elder Qing Huang and Jiang Miao where both no longer inside the true dragon’s nest. He hurriedly flew out and saw Jiang Miao cultivating Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique.
The youth had transformed into a sapphire blue dragon which slithered around as he executed his technique and skills. He used the fighting skill from Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, and in just a few short days, his cultivation and abilities had increased drastically. His change was more than just eye-catching.
Qin Mu sighed. He saw that numerous young men and women were observing Jiang Miao training by the side, full of cheers.
Qin Mu walked to a young girl who was about the same age as him. She was probably only a year or two younger than him. He asked her with a smile, “How do I address this little sister?”
The young girl’s face instantly turned red and she said, “My name is Qing Ya. Don’t call me little sister though. I’m already three hundred years old. How old are you?”
Qin Mu flushed and looked at the youth beside him whose age was similar to his as well. He probed him. “This brother…”
“I’m six hundred and thirty-seven years old this year,” said that youth.
Qin Mu gave a dull grunt. The young men and women in the village all had terrifying ages.
A middle-aged man said with a smile, “I’m twenty thousand and eight hundred years old.”
Qin Mu no longer asked for anyone’s age.
His spirit suddenly rose though and he said with a smile, “Have you guys been to Eternal Peace? I’m the cult master of Eternal Peace’s Heavenly Saint Cult, and we are in need of people currently…”
Elder Qing Huang raised his fishing net and walked over with a black face. “Don’t even think about my village! I’ve already imparted you the technique, so you should go!”
“Senior, now that Supreme Emperor Heaven is fighting for its survival, even my master has gone to help…” Qin Mu hurriedly said.
“Qing Ya, see off the guest,” Elder Qing Huang ordered.
The young girl named Qing Ya burst forth with incomparably terrifying vital qi. She restricted Qin Mu in a split second, making him unable to move.
Qing Ya stretched out her other hand to grab Jiang Miao and said, “Both of you, don’t move. I’m going to send you guys a thousand miles away!” After she said that, she spewed out a breath, and clouds instantly filled the sky. It sent the two youths flying far into the distance.
‘Such terrifying cultivation?’ Somewhat shocked, Qin Mu shouted out, “Senior, I still have things I want to say…”
Suddenly, the cloud vapor dispersed, and they landed on a mountain. Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He looked for the small mountain village, but he could no longer see it.
Before he could even finish his sentence, he was sent a thousand miles away by the young girl that looked the same age as him.
“Ma ha!” There was envy on Jiang Miao’s face.
“You will also be so powerful.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh. Suddenly, the true dragon’s nest came flying over right in front of them in an instant. Qin Mu’s face changed drastically. The true dragon’s nest was incomparably heavy, and he rushed to avoid it, but then saw it pause before landing gently on the mountaintop. Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief while filled with astonishment.
‘Was the true dragon’s nest thrown by Qing Ya as well? Isn’t her magic power too strong? I can only execute two-three hundred pounds of flying swords for a distance of no more than two hundred miles, yet she was able to control the true dragon’s nest a thousand miles away…”
“Ma ha!” Jiang Miao said enviously.
Feeling helpless, Qin Mu turned back to him and said, “Dao Friend Jiang, you can speak human language now. Strange, I’m not an unlucky star, so why was Elder Qing Huang unwilling to let me stay…”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qing Ya had sent Qin Mu from the tiny dragon village before using her vital qi to wrap around the true dragon’s nest to send it a thousand miles to the youth’s side. While doing so, she asked Elder Qing Huang, “Old Ancestor, why did you send Brother Qin away so fast? Isn’t he a descendant of Founding Emperor?”
The other villagers were also curious and all crowded up to hear the answer. “Old Ancestor has said that you and Founding Emperor once swore to live and die together, so it was truly unreasonable to chase away Brother Qin.”
Elder Qing Huang gave them a stare. “How was I being unreasonable? Back then, Founding Emperor and I had sworn to live and die together, but it was mostly me that was suffering and him constantly benefitting at others’ expense! Founding Emperor brought his family to Carefree Village to be carefree and threw his terrible mess to us while he himself lived without any concern. He wants me to clean up his shit? In his dreams!”
Qing Ya and the rest looked at one another in dismay.
Elder Qing Huang grew angrier with each word he spoke. “Never seen me speak vulgarities before? I was the most famous expert of vulgarity in Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens. I once even scolded a bull god to death! Founding Emperor left behind a terrible mess and many Dao friends are waiting for him to make a comeback, but what’s next?”
He turned his back on the fishing net and walked out of the village with a hint of anger in his voice. “Until now, he still hasn’t shown his face. How many of our brothers’ hearts have turned cold? This Qin Mu is his one hundred seventh descendant, but a fallen feather of a phoenix is inferior even to a hen dragon.
“The name of one hundred seventh descendant is merely a title. Which one hundred seventh descendant of an emperor is still a prince? Such far off descendant of a true dragon is even inferior to a long worm! If Founding Emperor wants to ask me out of the mountain, he will have to come out of Carefree Village to do that personally; otherwise, even if the crown prince comes, I won’t bother with him!”
Everyone followed him and came to a cold pond.
Elder Qing Huang threw the net into the water, but he didn’t pick it back even after a while. After some time, he said, “This Qin Mu has some abilities but they’re still not enough. Far from enough… His motive for coming here was to take back the commander’s seal and learn Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, and I gave him both of them. The bloodline of us green dragons no longer owes him anything. We no longer owe Qin Family anything…”
Qing Ya and the rest didn’t say a word, but a middle-aged man coughed once. “Old Ancestor, if you don’t pull out the net, all the fish are going to escape.”
Elder Qing Huang kept muttering to himself. “This Qin Mu is a young fellow who is used to creating trouble. I’m very accurate when judging people and will never make a mistake. His temper is similar to that of Founding Emperor back then; they both can’t sit still and like to create trouble while fiddling with things. I’m worried that if you guys follow him, you’ll be in danger. We have lived in this village for twenty thousand years, and even though life is very plain, we are living peacefully…”
“Old Ancestor, the fish have really escaped!” Qing Ya said nervously.
“Even though that Founding Emperor fellow is very hateful and I had to always to be afraid for my life when being around him, I miss that time. When I reminisce about it, my heart grows warm. And my eyes become moist…”
Qing Ya dove into the cold pond with a plop and brought a huge scarlet red fish out after a moment.
Elder Qing Huang still didn’t stop muttering to himself. “Why would I miss that time? Could I have become old… No, I can’t let you guys out of the village. This Qin Mu is crafty looking and I could see at first glance that he’s full of mischievous ideas!”
The villagers of the dragon village spewed fire to roast the fish after leaving Elder Qing Huang beside the pond. Since they were a distance away, Qing Ya said, “I think that Brother Qin has delicate features and looks quite handsome. With his big, clear eyes, he doesn’t look like a bad guy…”
“Don’t talk so much. Old Ancestor is waging a war between Man and Heaven. In addition, Old Ancestor is a vulgar person by nature. How could he have anything nice to say?” the middle-aged man said in a low voice.
“Uncle Yan, has Old Ancestor really scolded a bull god to death before?” the young people all asked in curiosity.
The middle-aged man Qing Yan hesitated for a moment before nodding. He whispered, “He was a true god who got scolded for three days and two nights straight, and there wasn’t a single repeated vulgarity that came out from Old Ancestor’s mouth. The bull god could retaliate neither verbally nor physically, so he was angered to death just like that. Rumors said that the blood he had vomited formed a river, and he cried for three days before taking his last breath…”
Everyone was startled and turned back to look at Elder Qing Huang who was still muttering to himself in a daze beside the pond.
“There’s devil nature within this mischievous brat, a devil nature that’s so deep that even Earth Count had to suppress him. Earth Count usually only suppress great evils so he’s indeed nothing good… However, this little brat learns things pretty quickly, and he has his own ideas, which makes him a talent. But if he likes to create trouble so much, it’s easy for him to dance into death’s embrace…”
While the young people of the dragon village ate the roasted fish, Qing Ya asked with puzzlement, “Is Old Ancestor praising Brother Qin or scolding him?”
Elder Qing Huang still continued to wage war. “I can’t let the younger generations waste their lives away with me here. Maybe letting them out of the village would not be a bad thing…”
Everyone finished the fish and left the ground covered in fish bones.
Elder Qing Huang finally finished his battles and shook off the water from the net. He prepared to pull it out and said with a smile, “Qing Yan, we shall eat roasted fish tonight. After we finish eating, I permit you guys to take a walk around Great Ruins.”
Qing Ya and the rest cheered before dispersing.
Elder Qing Huang was stunned for a moment before just shaking his head.
…
Jiang Miao changed into a youth that looked somewhat similar to Qin Yu. He followed Qin Mu while cultivating Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique. He executed all kinds of moves and divine arts, training his body continuously. He was very hard working.
Qin Mu executed his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and with every circulation, Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon would ring once. With the endless dragon roars, he continuously refined his body.
The two of them walked toward Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge; their speed wasn’t too slow.
Qin Mu refined Jiang Miao a few Water Element Divine Vitality Pills to replenish his energy when he was tired from cultivation. Jiang Miao wasn’t picky, but the taste of Water Element Divine Vitality Pills wasn’t good. However, it was compatible with his vital qi so he ate them and even praised Qin Mu’s craft.
Qin Mu thought of the dragon qilin and gave a silent sigh. Right then, he suddenly stopped and looked around. Jiang Miao hurriedly did the same and asked with curiosity, “Cult Master, what’s wrong?”
Qin Mu pondered over it before saying, “I feel something closing in fast, but if I try to focus on it, I don’t see anything. Strange. Could I have been wrong…”
He continued to head forward. After they had walked far into the distance, a medicinal peony flower suddenly floated over like smoke before transforming into Pangong Tso. He looked like himself, just that he had a deer leg.
‘The brat could actually detect me. My cultivation has clearly risen drastically, but he still discovered me. The improvement of this brat’s cultivation isn’t slow either. He even has a small brat that looks to be a dragon beside him. The brat is truly a lucky bastard, to receive the assistance of a true dragon… It might even be that he’s kidnapping and selling true dragons! Someone is coming!’
While Pangong Tso was thinking, his ears caught a sound, and his body shook to transform into a huge tree. Two eyeballs appeared on its branches.
Whoosh.
A bunch of green dragons whizzed past him while riding on a violent gale. The sight stunned him—the shortest of the green dragons were some hundred fifty yards long. The group seemed to be chasing after Qin Mu.
Whoosh!
The violent gale rushed over, and the dozens of green dragons stopped in the vicinity of Pangong Tso. The shortest dragon shook her body and transformed into a young girl in green. She checked the surroundings and said, “He just left so he shouldn’t have gone far! We will be able to catch up to him in a bit!”
Suddenly, the biggest green dragon coiled around that tree that was Pangong Tso and stared at him. “There’s something strange about this tree.”
Pangong Tso didn’t dare to be impudent and hurriedly revealed his true form. He smiled apologetically, “Senior dragons, might you guys be chasing after a youth called Qin Mu? This junior saw a fierce-looking man escaping into that direction. He even had a kidnapped dragon youth beside him.”
“You saw him?” Qing Ya was surprised and delighted. She asked in a hurry, “Where has he went?”
“Junior can lead the way for seniors. That fellow will definitely not have any way to escape!” Pangong Tso said righteously.
Everyone was overjoyed and smiled at him. “If you can lead us to him, it’ll save us the trouble of tracking him.”
Pangong Tso acted politely and swiftly hobbled ahead to lead the way. He smiled. “The brat is very slippery and he runs fast. However, he can never escape from me. Everyone, please follow me!”
Numerous green dragons transformed into young men and women along with the middle-aged man Qing Yan. They followed Pangong Tso who was tracking Qin Mu.
…
Qin Mu and Jiang Miao’s speed was rather fast, and they could soon see the light rising from Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Energy. The two of them increased their speed and reached a city. Qin Mu gathered some herbs and said, “When we return to Supreme Emperor Heaven, you will have to follow Qin Yu since I promised him to only borrow you for a few days.”
Jiang Miao looked at him with a troubled expression. “In the past, my intelligence had yet to awaken, so I had followed him, but how could I still do the same and coil around him? Cult Master, can you go and talk to him? I still owe him gratitude, so it isn’t easy for me to speak.”
Qin Mu pondered over it, then said with a smile, “I borrowed a young dragon from him and now am returning him a man; I also can’t speak about this stuff. Tell him yourself.”
Jiang Miao frowned.
They came to Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, but Jiang Miao dillydallied, willing to enter. Qin Mu smiled at him. “When we reach Supreme Emperor Heaven, I will ask for you two to become sworn brothers, how about that?”
Relief flooded Jiang Miao, and he smiled back at Qin Mu. “In that case, thanks for the trouble, Cult Master.”
The two of them were about to enter Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge when Pangong Tso suddenly hobbled over in a strut. He laughed out loud. “Cult Master, what a small world, I trust you have been well?”
Qin Mu’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. “So it’s Grandmaster. Do you still remember when you stood behind my back and tried to harm me. What did I tell you then? The next time I meet you, I’ll take your head. How do you want to die?”
“You’re doomed and you still want to take my head?” Pangong Tso sneered at him. “Look who is behind me.”
Qing Yan, Qing Ya, and the rest of the strong practitioners of the dragon village walked out. Qing Ya waved her hand at Qing Mu excitedly and said with a smile, “Brother Qin, Old Ancestor permitted us to leave the village!”
Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. He hurriedly said, “Elder Qing Huang allowed you guys to leave the village to gain experience? Truth be told, my Heavenly Saint Cult is currently in need of people…”
Pangong Tso was dumbfounded, then his expression changed to one of terror. He couldn’t help exclaiming inside, ‘This guy didn’t just kidnap one young dragon, but a whole bunch of them! This is bad, this is bad… There’s no time to lose, time to flee!’
Just as he was about to go, a middle-aged man appeared behind him.
Qing Yan’s huge hand pressed down on his shoulder as he smiled down at him. “Brother Qin, this little Dao friend should be your friend, right? It’s all thanks to him that we were able to find you so quickly.”
Qin Mu looked at them with a smile that wasn’t really a smile. “I indeed have to thank Grandmaster! Brother Yan, seize him, this guy is a god at escaping!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Just as Qing Yan finished speaking, his hand became empty when Pangong Tso fell to the floor, having become a shadow!
Astonished, Qing Yan grabbed for the shadow, but it scattered with a poof and turned into smoke, so his hand grasped only air!
The smoke separated into a dozen parts and flew away by the ground. The young experts of the dragon village rose into the air and pounced at them from different directions, each chasing after one part. They dispersed each trail of smoke, but there were no traces of Pangong Tso.
Suddenly, Qin Mu raised his hand and a sword light flew out. Blood light shone, and a leg landed on the ground with a splattering of blood from out of nowhere.
Qin Mu controlled his sword with qi, and sword lights flashed, yet he didn’t hit anything.
More and more smoke spread out in all directions, escaping through various streets. Pangong Tso’s astonished and angry voice soon came from every direction. “Qin brat, you and I cannot exist together!”
The place had numerous people walking to and fro, so once the smoke filled up all the streets, quite a number of them cried out in astonishment.
The crowd made it extremely difficult for the dragon experts to search for traces of Pangong Tso.
Qing Yan’s expression flickered. He was a dragon god yet he had allowed Pangong Tso to slip away under his watch; he felt ashamed. If that wasn’t enough, Pangong Tso was a cripple with one short and one long leg, the former of which even belonged to a deer. Yet that youth had still managed to escape, leaving him embarrassed.
However, he couldn’t be blamed. He didn’t have any enmity with Pangong Tso, so he just patted the other’s shoulder instead of seizing him. And by the Qin Mu said his warning, it was already too late to restrict the man.
Pangong Tso’s ability to escape was unmatched in the world, and even Qin Mu had to admit being inferior in that regard. When Xing An wanted to capture him, he had to face him head-on in the end, unlike Pangong Tso.
Qin Mu saw that every one of the dragon village was dejected and said, “There’s no need for everyone to be upset. I have to admit to being inferior to Pangong Tso in escaping abilities. I have fought with him numerous times on the same realm, and I could never take him down. My best achievement was cutting off one of his legs.
“Now that he’s a realm higher than me and is already a great expert of Celestial Being Realm, his abilities have improved by leaps and bounds again. He’s now able to execute even more escaping divine arts than before, so it’s even harder to catch hold of him. For me to be able to cut off one of his legs with everyone’s help is already a rather extraordinary feat.”
“For having such escaping abilities in Celestial Being Realm, he’s truly remarkable.” Every one of the dragon village sighed endlessly in admiration.
However, everyone felt quite uncomfortable. Pangong Tso had been left with a deer leg yet he was still able to escape from their grasp. His ability to escape was truly terrifying!
When they left the village, they held hopes to become famous after their first battle. Not one of them had expected that they might meet a freak like Pangong Tso straight away and suffer a setback.
“To have met such an interesting person the first day we are out of the village, the world outside the village is more interesting than what I’ve imagined!” Qing Ya said with excitement.
However, the other people of the dragon village were not as excited as her.
Qin Mu saw it and said with a smile, “It’s been a long time since you guys have come into contact with the outside world, and your paths, skills, and divine arts are a little outdated, so don’t be in a rush to return to the village. Why don’t you follow me to Supreme Emperor Heaven to train and get in touch with the paths, skills, and divine arts of the current world?”
Everyone acknowledged.
“When we left the village, Old Ancestor warned us to not walk too close to you…” Qing Yan said with some hesitation.
Qin Mu picked up Pangong Tso’s leg and sealed the section where it had been severed. He refined some medicinal liquid and placed the leg inside it. He smiled and said, “Elder Qing Huang is too careful. You guys should be able to see that I’m not a bad person. When you reach Supreme Emperor Heaven, feel free to ask about Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu. I guarantee you that my reputation is very good!”
“Uncle Yan once went to Eternal Peace and upon his return talked about Heavenly Saint Cult which is called Heavenly Devil Cult. Its reputation wasn’t too good,” Qing Ya said.
Qin Mu was full of smiles. “There must’ve been a misunderstanding. Now that’s it’s been cleared, every voice in Eternal Peace would definitely give praise to my Heavenly Saint Cult!”
Great Cult Master Qin turned around and walked into Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge while thinking to himself, ‘Those who called Heavenly Saint Cult a devil cult have almost all been crippled by me. But there might still be people talking bad about me behind my back, so it’d be best to go Supreme Emperor Heaven. My and Heavenly Saint Cult’s reputation is very good there, and if they hear it, they won’t be far from joining the cult…’
Qing Yan brought the young men and young women into Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge with him, and the sky instantly swirled. They felt the fleetingness of time and space, and a vast and different world appeared in front of their eyes!
Everyone clicked their tongues in wonder.
Qin Mu looked into the distance and his face became grim.
In the sky, the artisans of Eternal Peace were assembling the second sun which was already half complete. Yet even the light of two suns couldn’t light up the entire Supreme Emperor Heaven.
Far into the distance, the sky was dim. The devil qi there was like fog which shrouded the heaven and earth.
It was the territory of the devils, and huge sacrificial altars as tall as mountains were bursting forth with intense black light in their lands. The black lights were like smoke that rushed straight into the clouds.
Through them, humongous bodies descended from time to time!
‘The devil gods are doing blood sacrifices again. Are they inviting their old ancestors from Youdu, the devil gods born from the accumulation of devil nature and grievances?’
Qin Mu composed himself. After he was kidnapped by Fu Riluo, he saw many majestic sacrificial altars in the old nest of the devils. From Fu Riluo, he knew that they would be used to summon Youdu Devil Gods!
Back then, Fu Riluo had activated the curse in the jade pendant and was defeated by it. He was injured, and numerous sacrificial altars were also destroyed.
But from the looks of it now, the devils had reconstructed the sacrificial altars in little time!
And that day, they were activated, and Youdu Devil Gods broke through the barrier between Youdu and Supreme Emperor Heaven to come in one after another. They kept descending like there would be no end to them!
‘The situation is getting serious…’
Qin Mu composed himself and summoned a guard of Supreme Emperor Heaven who was in charge of guarding Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. “If you see a youth with one deer leg coming through the bridge, just slay him. Don’t give him any chance to reason with you!”
The guard took the painting from Qin Mu’s hand and passed the message to the other guards. “Cult Master, don’t worry. If this deer leg youth really walks through Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, he won’t be able to escape death!”
“I hope you guys can get rid of him…”
Qin Mu brought everyone in a hurry to Li City.
The place felt like it had already encountered a great enemy, since weapons were being refined on every corner. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Pang Yu, and the rest of the gods stood on the city tower and looked at the thousands of soldiers and cavalries changing formation below them. Qin Mu brought Qing Yan and the rest up to them; it was resting place in the city anyway.
“Cult Master Qin, these people are?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked as he examined Qing Yan, Qing Ya, and the rest with his heart in shock.
He could see that the thirty-seven people behind Qin Mu were extraordinary, and besides Jiang Miao, every single one of them had incomparably dense cultivation. Two of them might even be gods.
He had no idea where Qin Mu could have gotten such a huge group of experts.
“Imperial Preceptor, they are from Great Ruins’ Dragon Village. It’s somewhat far away from my Disabled Elderly Village, but I managed to invite them to join us after much difficulty.”
Qin Mu then introduced them. “Brother Qing Yan, Sister Qing He, this is Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace Empire, the saint that appears once every five hundred years.”
“How can the saint that appears once every five hundred years be compared to the overlord body that is rarely seen in the world? Cult Master Qin, the villages of your Great Ruins are really concealing talents. First were the nine elders of Disabled Elder Village, now the thirty-six heroes of Dragon Village. Your homeland is truly enigmatic and impossible to predict.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor then greeted Qing Yan, Qing He, and the rest before saying with a smile, “I was worried about how we can fight this battle, but with everyone’s assistance, the pressure I feel has gone down by a lot.”
Qing Yan hurriedly returned the greeting and said, “I’ve heard of Imperial Preceptor’s reputation long ago, and now I can finally see the man for myself. The legend of the saint that appears once every five hundred years comes from long ago; I have already heard about it during Founding Emperor Era. Brother Qin is actually the overlord body though?”
He looked at Qin Mu and said with a smile, “Truth be told, I’ve heard about the legend of the overlord body from Elder Qing Huang before!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was astonished and thought, ‘There’s really an overlord body in this world? I was still somewhat doubtful…’
He roused his spirit and said, “Everyone, the devils have called for a lot of reinforcements, and Heavenly Teacher has yet to return after going to the devil world. We have no idea what has happened to him. Even though Supreme Emperor Heaven has the support of Eternal Peace, our gods are few in number, so there cannot be any comparison to what the devils have summoner…”
True God Pang Yu and the rest had grim expressions. God Sang Ye said, “Youdu Devil Gods are the ancestors of the devils and they only know how to kill. They are even more vicious than the devils, and they have even brought numerous monsters that are extremely terrifying. Their abilities are stronger than those of high-class devils, and they’re very varied. We probably can’t protect Supreme Emperor Heaven anymore…”
Everyone was silent.
Qin Mu looked afar; there were still more Youdu Devil Gods being summoned over by the beams of black light. ‘In Xing An’s Life and Death Realm, that woman called Lu Li was from Youdu. Why was she looking for me though? I wonder if she’s among the Youdu Devil Gods that Fu Riluo has summoned…’
…
In the great capital of the devils, Fu Riluo rubbed his chest and looked at the sacrificial altar in front of him. Devil light swirled furiously, and numerous devil soldiers were slaughtering humans and lowly devils, treating them as offerings for blood sacrifice.
There were many offerings for the upcoming one, which made it obvious that the Youdu Devil God that was being summoned had extremely strong abilities.
If not so, Fu Riluo wouldn’t have been alerted.
After a moment, the devil light in the sky suddenly gathered up and fell. When it dispersed, a peerless beauty stood in the center of the sacrificial altar.
When Fu Riluo saw her, his face changed drastically, filling up with joy. He laughed and said, “Lu LI of the four great commanders of Youdu, why would you respond to my summons and descend personally?”
The peerless beauty walked leisurely down the steps of the sacrificial altar while looking around herself. A male voice came from her mouth when she spoke with a smile. “I’m here to find a person, a youth that’s eighteen years old. He has a jade pendant with Qin written on it which he always carries with himself.”
Fu Riluo gave a grunt and felt the wound on his chest ache again. It was the wound that Qin Mu had inflicted upon him.
“Lu Li, I’ve seen this youth that you want to find,” Fu Riluo said indifferently. “His jade pendant is very weird, but he is even weirder.”
“You must have plucked his jade pendant and tried out the seal within it.” Lu Li chuckled. “Your wound that has yet to heal must be from him, right? Foolish.”
Fu Riluo’s expression turned black, but Lu Li just smiled at him. “If you capture this youth with the surname Qin, I’ll help you annex Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
Fu Riluo grinned at her, the corners of his lips almost reaching his ears. “Commander Lu Li, we are honored by your presence. It brings light to our humble dwelling!”
“Fu Riluo, the wise sage of the devils, how can you lure the youth with the surname Qin?” Lu Li inquired.
Fu Riluo smiled and said leisurely, “One of the four great commanders of Youdu, Lu Li, how are you going to help me annex Supreme Emperor Heaven?”
Lu Li looked at that the huge sacrificial altars of the devil race and Youdu Devil Gods walking down from them. One such god grabbed over a hundred devil divine arts practitioners without any reason and stuffed them into his mouth. It alarmed the other devils, and they fled in all directions.
Beside the sacrificial altar, the devil gods of the devil race rushed forward to intercept the newcomers. Youdu Devil Gods were the ancestors of the devil race, and they only knew how to kill: they didn’t have much intelligence. Numerous devil gods created a huge cover to trap the ancestor inside.
He roared and tried to destroy the cover, but he couldn’t shatter it.
The devil gods summoned back the numerous devil divine arts practitioners. A hundred strong workers pulled a huge cart over and moved the cover inside it. They then pulled it away with all their strength. There were a thousand devil divine arts practitioners pushing the cart from the back as well. Their goal was to bring the devil ancestor to the frontline.
“Your army is too weak, and the devil ancestors you summoned are too hard to control. They only know how to swallow,” Lu Li said indifferently. “If you want to borrow their strength to destroy the army of Supreme Emperor Heaven, it will end with devastation on both sides. The gains will not make up for the losses. When you conquer Supreme Emperor Heaven, it will be thoroughly destroyed, little better than your Luofu Heaven.”
Fu Riluo’s gaze wavered. “You should know my goal isn’t Supreme Emperor Heaven, but the place of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens.”
Lu Li looked at him with a smile that was not really a smile. “Fu Riluo, you want to use Supreme Emperor Heaven as a springboard, sacrificing it to connect Luofu Heaven, Supreme Emperor Heaven, and Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens. Your wish is to descend to that world.”
Fu Riluo smiled silently. “Dao brother is also a devil. Don’t you wish to see our devil race growing stronger?”
Lu Li was silent for a moment before shaking her head. “Your ambition is great, but your abilities are lacking; you will only bring trouble to yourself. However, I’m also a devil and will still assist you. You can’t control the devil ancestors, but I can.”
She swept her sleeves up, and the cover on the huge cart in the distance suddenly split apart. The devil ancestor inside roared angrily and jumped out. He roared toward the sky and hammered his chest in fury. Devil qi rushed out to him.
Fu Riluo’s face changed, and the devil gods in the surroundings were also alarmed. They all rushed to the devil ancestor in a hurry.
Yet the devil ancestor suddenly rose into the air and flew over to Fu Riluo. He landed on the ground heavily and stood beside Lu Li motionlessly.
The devil gods rushed over, but Fu Riluo raised his hand. “Fall back.”
He looked at the devil ancestor, and the green face and fangs of this ancient devil god. He was covered in extremely ancient markings that seemed to be carved on his skin.
Fu Riluo let out a shaky breath and said, “How many devil ancestors can Dao brother control?”
Lu Li’s beautiful face blossomed with a smile. “I can control as many as you can summon.”
Fu Riluo’s three faces couldn’t help changing their expressions. Lu Li’s control over the devil ancestors meant that she could also make them attack his people and overthrow him!
The reason he didn’t want to be related to the celestial heavens was because he wanted to preserve his ruling position. He was afraid that the devils might fall into the control of the celestial heavens, so he didn’t ask that place for help. Instead, he summoned the devil ancestors of Youdu.
However, when he thought about it, he had been seeing it too simply.
The celestial heavens already had control over the devil ancestors of Youdu, which meant that they wanted to control all of the devils!
The moment Fu Riluo had summoned Lu Li, he was no longer in charge of the devils!
“Now you can tell me how to capture that youth with the surname Qin, right?” Lu Li said.
Fu Riluo composed himself and said, “It’s not hard to capture him. Take the cities and seize the territories, go straight for the heart. As long as those people are humans, they will have weakness. The divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven that are afraid of death are not few in number, and more than a few of them have come to our side. One of them is even a god. As long as I give the command, someone will capture him and bring him to see me.”
Lu Li’s eyes lit up. “You have a spy in Supreme Emperor Heaven who’s even a god? Who is he?”
…
Qin Mu stood in front of the Li city tower and watched the black tiger god leaping through the air as though he was flying. He brought the dragon qilin and Hu Ling’er back from the faraway devil territory. Along with them returned hundreds of Supreme Emperor Heaven and Eternal Peace’s divine arts practitioners.
“Fatty Dragon seems to have become skinnier!”
Qin Mu’s eyes lit up. While he was not around, the dragon qilin seemed to have actually become skinnier. Even though he still had a big tummy, it at least didn’t touch the ground anymore.
Qin Mu was glad to see that. After a moment, the black tiger god reached the city gates and looked up to see him standing above. He immediately brought the dragon qilin and Hu Ling’er up with him and land beside Qin Mu. He then shook his body and transformed into a smiling youth. “Junior brother, you are finally back! Fatty Dragon, spit out your dragon bead to show my junior brother!”
The dragon qilin saw Qin Mu like long lost family. He was about to pounce over to ask for spirit pills, but after the tiger god’s words he could only sit down obediently and spit out his bead. It was evident that he hadn’t faced a lack of beating during this period of time, for he had become very obedient.
The bead rose into the sky, and instantly flames surged from inside it. The beat shone with multicolored light that had extraordinary splendor, lighting up the area of dozens of miles!
There was a dragon-shaped marking in the bead that swam continuously inside it. There was an abnormally strong water vapor fluctuation because of it!
Qin Mu cheered, but he was also feeling that something was strange. This dragon bead of the dragon qilin was much smaller than the other dragon beads he had seen before. It was only the size of a thumb, while the smallest dragon bead he had seen was the size of a fist.
‘Isn’t Fatty Dragon fire attribute? How is the dragon bead of water attribute? And it’s so small… Could I have given him the wrong spirit pills?’
Just as he thought that, the dragon qilin spat out a bead which was like a blazing sun in the sky, emanating with blazing heat energy. Even Qin Mu felt a stinging pain when its light landed on him!
‘Two dragon beads! No, the other bead is a qilin bead!’
Qin Mu was astonished at first, but then he understood what had happened. The second bead wasn’t a dragon bead and had a strange beast marking in the shape of a qilin. It was standing on fire clouds with its mouth open for roaring.
The qilin bead was unusually big, almost the size of a round-bottomed basket that was two feet wide. Inside it was incomparably terrifying qilin fire!
Qilin fire was incomparably fierce, and its heat was outstanding. When Qin Mu looked at the qilin bead, he had a suspicion that the dragon qilin might have cultivated to Life and Death Realm.
‘The dragon bead has water attribute while the qilin bead has fire attribute. Could Fatty Dragon be water and fire attribute…’
Qin Mu had a blank gaze. He only knew that the dragon qilin liked to eat fire attribute spirit pills, like Scarlet Fire Spirit and Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills, so he had never expected for him to also have a water attribute!
Now, one of the two beads was very large while the other extremely small. It was obvious it stemmed from the dragon qiling being picky about his food!
The black tiger god was proud of his achievements and said with a smile, “Junior brother, Fatty Dragon has eaten too many spirit pills which have all accumulated in his body, resulting in his corporeal body being fat. This fellow is also exceptionally lazy, so he has never cultivated before. He only cultivated by eating, so he kept growing fatter and fatter.
“When I brought him out and made him fight the devil brats, it squeezed out his potential and he was finally able to refine the energy from the pills into the beads and become skinnier. Here, I’ll return Fatty Dragon to you. It’s so annoying, during these couple days, I haven’t found a single devil god with which I could fight to my heart’s content!”
Qin Mu was full of gratitude and smiled at him. “Senior brother, thanks for the trouble.”
The black tiger god smiled back. “I’m off! Don’t start any trouble now and just wait here obediently for me to return! That’s right, don’t feed Fatty Dragon anymore Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills or Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills since there is still accumulated energy within his body. Once he finishes refining all of it, the qilin bead will become more than thrice bigger!” Once he said that, he leaped off the tower and vanished.
When the dragon qilin saw him leaving, he choked on his tears, unable to speak.
Qin Mu was very happy with the proceedings. “Fatty Dragon must have missed me so he’s crying from being emotional.”
Hu Ling’er hesitated for a moment, then said in a soft voice, “Young master, Fatty Dragon is crying cause he is hungry and because of the black tiger god’s training. He finished all the spirit pills you left for him a long time ago, and he doesn’t like to eat anything else. Yet the black tiger god kept making him fight with strong devil practitioners without giving him time to rest. Now that his oppressor is finally gone, he started to weep in grievance.”
The dragon qilin nodded repeatedly.
Qin Mu took out herbs to refine pills and said with a smile, “I knew you would be hungry, so when I came back, I bought numerous spirit herbs. My biggest gain this time is still finding Fatty Dragon a cultivation technique! However, you also have the bloodline of a qilin, so Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique won’t activate all of your potential.”
He rapidly finished refining a furnace of spirit pills and handed it over to the dragon qilin. They were Water Element Divine Vitality Pills, the same spirit pills he had fed Jiang Miao.
The dragon qilin licked one spirit pill and instantly noticed that the taste was different. He held back his tears while eating that one, then put the rest away.
“Fatty Dragon, why didn’t you eat all of them?” Hu Ling’er asked with curiosity.
“I’m scared of starving so I want to save some. Besides, the taste of this spirit pill isn’t right; it’s not Scarlet Fire Spirit Pill.” The dragon qilin then turned to Qin Mu and asked carefully, “Cult Master, can you refine a few more buckets of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills?”
Qin Mu turned a deaf ear to him and summoned Jiang Miao. “Junior Brother Jiang Miao, teach Fatty Dragon Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique while I refine more Water Element Divine Vitality Pills to give the two of you.”
Jiang Miao acknowledged and imparted Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique to the dragon qilin, explaining to him the parts that were difficult to understand.
The dragon qilin’s comprehension wasn’t bad; he was just too lazy. However, with the black tiger god’s harsh training, he didn’t dare to slack off and managed to learn what he was told quickly.
Qin Mu refined a few more furnace of Water Element Divine Vitality Pills and gave to Jiang Miao and the dragon qilin.
“Cult Master Qin, you are back!” Qin Yu’s voice rang out, and he sprinted up the tower. He was next to them with a face full of smiles in a heartbeat. “Cult Master is a man of his word. I trust you will return that little dragon of mine to…”
The smile on Jiang Miao’s face froze, and he looked over helplessly.
Qin Mu welcomed their guest and said with a smile, “Junior Brother Qin Yu, let me tell you a piece of wonderful news. That little dragon of yours learned a god technique that’s very powerful, so he can definitely become a dragon king in the future!”
Qin Yu was elated and looked around. “Much thanks, Cult Master! Where’s my good boy?”
“Junior Brother Jiang Miao, come. Junior Brother Qin Yu is calling you.”
Qin Mu beckoned with his hand, and Jiang Miao braced himself before walking forward. Hu Ling’er’s mouth dropped open, and she looked blankly as the youth walked toward Qin Yu. She kicked the dragon qilin and asked, “Fatty Dragon, do you have any popcorns
The dragon qilin shook his head.
Qin Yu stared with a blank expression at the youth who was walking over. The young man looked similar to him, just more handsome than him. Even though he was somewhat shy, he had an impressive appearance, and his abilities weren’t weak.
“Cult Master Qin…”
Qin Yu turned his head to look at Qin Mu, his gaze full of astonishment, fear, helplessness, confusion, and not knowing what to do.
“Jiang Miao is that little dragon of yours, the son of Surging River Dragon King. He has cultivated Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique and won’t have any problems in cultivating to a dragon god or a dragon king in the future.”
Qin Mu took out a few sticks of incense and stabbed them in the tower’s walls. “Now I returned him to you, you two can have a long chat.”
He was about to leave when Qin Yu grabbed his sleeve and said helplessly, “Cult Master Qin, I lent you a dragon and you return me a…”
Jiang Miao grabbed his other sleeve, and Qin Mu felt helpless. He could only say, “I’ll take charge and make you guys become sworn brothers, how about that? Junior Brother Qin Yu, how old are you?”
Qin Yu nodded in a daze. “I’m seventeen years old…”
Qin Mu looked at Jiang Miao, and the youth calculated for a moment. “I’m twenty thousand and eighty-seven years old.”
“Your ages are just right, the difference isn’t too big!” Qin Mu clapped his hands and said with a smile, “From today onwards, Jiang Miao will be Qing Yu’s sworn big brother, and Qin Yu will be Jiang Miao’s sworn little brother. Now things won’t be too awkward! Come, you two can kowtow and become sworn brothers.” After he said that, he pressed both of them to kneel down.
Jiang Miao and Qin Yu had blank expressions as they were forced by him to kowtow several times.
Qin Mu wiped away his cold sweat and quickly said, “Congratulations! Ling’er, Fatty Dragon, let me bring you two to meet some seniors of the dragon race. Let’s go—”
Hu Ling’er wanted to continue watching the show, but she was placed onto the back of the dragon qilin and brought away by Qin Mu. Only Qin Yu and Jiang Miao were left in the city tower.
“Young master, I want to see how they will get along!”
Hu Ling’er was full of curiosity and turned her head back to look. Qin Yu and Jiang Miao were still facing each other, standing speechless.
From Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, a young man with two deer legs walked out and raised his head to look around in utter astonishment. He muttered, “This world is much more vast than Eternal Peace. There are gods and devils everywhere… The brat had actually constructed such a bridge to connect to the other world; this is truly superlative craftsmanship. The little rascal clearly likes to create nonsense like this and isn’t focused on cultivating. Making this bridge had to have taken him quite a while, so how did his cultivation still rise so quickly…”
“Leader!” One of the guards on the side pouted and whispered, “Look at that deer-legged youth. Is he the one on the portrait that Cult Master Qin had drawn?”
The guard hurriedly took out Qin Mu’s painting and did a comparison. His eyes lit up. ‘Exactly the same! However, the youth in the painting only has one deer leg while this youth has two deer legs. Is it him or not…’
While he was hesitating, he saw that youth begin to walk down the stone steps.
‘No matter what, we should take him down first!’
The guard shot a glance to the other guards, and they all understood the silent command. They rose into the sky, and all kinds of divine arts and spirit weapons burst forth. Sword pellets, knife pellets, tall buildings, pagodas, huge cauldrons, and other spirit weapons came smashing down at a great speed and drowned out the deer-legged youth. Terrifying ripples spread in all directions, reverberating for a long time.
Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge was of utmost importance to both worlds, so the ones guarding it were mostly experts. The lowest of them was on Life and Death Realm, while there were many of them on Divine Bridge Realm.
Everyone then retrieved their spirit weapons and quickly came to the bottom of the sacrificial altar to take a look. They saw white ground, but no trace of the deer-legged youth.
Astonished, they looked around. Light burst forth from their eyes and penetrated through everything in a hundred miles radius. Suddenly, they saw a deer-legged youth a hundred miles away, running forward with gentle steps.
“Let’s shoot him with our divine eyes!” the guard ordered, and divine light gathered rapidly in the eyes of the numerous guards. They transformed into beams of light with astonishing power, and rushed toward the deer-legged youth.
He vanished just before the pupil divine arts hit his body. When he reappeared, he was another hundred miles away. By then, he was two hundred miles away from Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge.
Everyone was ready to use their pupil divine arts, but the deer-legged youth vanished again and could no longer be seen.
The guards looked at one another, aghast. They didn’t know what to do next.
At that moment, they heard the sound of footsteps behind them, and a youth walked out from the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. A huge chest followed behind him.
It had several legs and clattered as it walked after the youth with delicate facial features.
“It seems like Cult Master Qin’s chest, but this person isn’t Cult Master Qin…”
Everyone was bewildered when the youth with eyes like stars spoke in a nice voice, “Is this Supreme Emperor Heaven? Where are the true devils?”
“Is little brother a person of Eternal Peace? Why would you be looking for true devils? If you want to find some of their kind, just head to the devil territory over there. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is currently training soldiers in Li City, so you may first want to go there and look for him. It would make things more convenient.”
The youth shook his head, “I just want to collect the corporeal bodies and primordial spirits of some devil gods, so why should I find Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, this junior? The him now is still not worthy to be part of my collection.”
He was about to leave when an old man full of wrinkles walked out of the bridge while carrying a huge chest and furnace of his back. He was full of smiles and looked quite happy.
‘Why are all the people coming from Eternal Peace today weird?’ All of the guards were bewildered. ‘First it was a youth with two deer legs, next it’s two weird men bringing along their chests…’
The youth had a drastic change in expression when he saw the old man carrying the furnace and the chest. His face turned incomparably dark. “Mute, I’ve been looking for you for a long time!”
When the old man saw him, his expression changed. The smile on his face froze. “Aba, ah, ah!”
“That’s right, it’s me, Xing An!”
Xing An’s murder intent rushed to the sky, and he said coldly, “Although I no longer have the need to collect your parts, you trapped me inside for so long that I have to take revenge…”
“Mute, you run so fast!”
Light flashed from Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, and an incomparably sturdy man cloaked with an overcoat walked out. He carried a huge knife on his shoulder and spoke with a smile. “Your chest is still good, transforming into a boat for you to run around. I could barely catch up to… Xing An!”
“Heaven Knife!”
The corner of Xing An’s eyes twitched, and the chest behind him suddenly pulled its legs back to hide behind him. It was obvious that it still remembered Butcher chopping it into pieces.
Xing An put his hands behind his back and said indifferently, “You have also broken through the divine bridge and entered the celestial palaces? One mute, one Heaven Knife, both gods, both enemies! Hehe, you can both come together.”
Butcher’s eyes lit up, and he laughed loudly. “Xing An, I’ve chased you through eighty thousand miles, but you still escaped. You are truly remarkable! That old fellow Village Chief says that your abilities are extremely strong, but it’s a pity he’s dead. However, you are still alive, so I wanted to meet you for a long time!”
Xing An gave a slight smile and said leisurely, “Human Emperor Sword God? He is no longer my match. Both of you can come together. I’ll settle my debts with the two of you and go hunt some devil gods to enrich my collection.”
Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge flashed again, and an elder dressed in green walked out with an extraordinary bearing as though he was a prince that was high above. He touched his iron ears and gave a sigh of relief after discovering that they were still there. He asked suspiciously, “Was this bridge really constructed by Mu’er? He is becoming more and more capable… Xing An!”
“Deaf, Xing An this brat has cultivated to godhood!” Butcher shouted out. “You are the weakest so be careful!”
Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge flashed again, and everyone’s eyes lighted up when a peerless beauty walked out of the light. The sweep of her beautiful gaze caused everyone to fall into a daze.
“Xing An?” she cried out in astonishment.
“Granny Si, become older, don’t make me lose focus!” Butcher shouted angrily. “Let’s all go together and thrash this fellow!”
Another short elder walked out from Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge with a black dragon spear on his back. He said leisurely, “Xing An, what arrogance.”
He was followed by a skinny elder with an honest smile. When he saw Xing An, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly turned to go back into the bridge. However, he was grabbed by the elder with the black spear and could only walk forward with him.
Xing An’s gaze shifted from Granny Si’s face and landed on Blind’s body. He said coldly, “My old enemies are all here. I can send all of you on the way then.”
Right then, a tall man wearing a bronze mask walked in while gasping loudly for breath. “You guys run too fast. I had to exhaust all my energy just to barely catch up. Why are you guys not running anymore… Eh? Xing An is also here?”
Xing An’s face changed drastically, and he picked up the chest to escape. With a boom, his figure broke through the air and left behind a cloud of vapor. He sprinted over a hundred miles away before anyone could react.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at his speed.
Apothecary touched the mask on his face and spoke, sounding a little weirded out. “Why did he run so fast? I didn’t even have the time to make a move…”
“Teacher Heaven Knife—” From Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, a booming voice rang out; it was deafening. “I see you, stop running! Green bull, run faster! Teacher, I have many things I want to say to you— you— you—”
Butcher’s expression turned ashen, and he hurriedly said, “Ba Shan is catching up, let’s run!”
Granny Si and the rest left with his words. After a moment, a sturdy green bull man that was over thirty yards tall descended from the sky with a peony flower in his mouth. His muscles bounced while he walked out from the light in excitement. In a moment, he was followed by another sturdy man who looked around while saying in delight, “Teacher’s knife light is eye-catching, so he can’t hide from me! Green bull, show your true form!”
The sturdy green bull man gave a loud moo and transformed into a green bull that was over a hundred and twenty yards tall. He was covered in green hair and dragon scales. The sturdy man jumped onto the bull’s back, and it rushed into the sky.
The guards of Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge looked at one another in dismay. After a moment, their leader let out a shaky breath, “There are really quite a lot of weird people today…”
Before he even finished speaking, the light flashed again, and one old and two young monks walked out of the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. The old monk had a dignified expression as he walked with twenty heavens behind him. Several hundred eminent monks of all sizes and ages sat in them. Some of them were humans and some demons.
One of the young monks had a face like a full moon with a dignified expression. The other was sturdy like a black pagoda and held a khakkhara staff in his hand.
“Zhan Kong, ask the way,” the old monk said.
The black-pagoda-like hairy monk walked forward and greeted the guards with one hand. He asked the one in the lead, “Road?”
That leader was confused, but still tried asking, “Good? Evil?”
“Good,” the black monk replied.
“There!” The guard raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Li City.
The old monk strode in that direction, and the two young monks followed him down the bridge. While they walked, Ming Xin exclaimed in admiration, “Rulai, Senior Brother Zhan Kong is really straightforward in asking for the way. He managed to do it in just two words! This disciple has learned much.”
Rulai Ma nodded and said, “He has great wisdom.”
The guards saw them off with blank expressions, but before they could even come back to their senses, a few more old Daoists and nuns walked out from the bridge while surrounding a young Daoist.
“Is this the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge constructed by Old Devil Qin? His attainments in algebra have truly reached the peak!”
Numerous old Daoists and nuns took out all kinds of calculation tools. With no regard for the guards, they started to measure all kinds of rune markings on the bridge and began to discuss them in excitement.
The guards looked at one another in dismay, planning to ask the young Daoist about what they were doing when they saw him being even more excited than the old Daoists. He was measuring and calculating everything while muttering to himself. He seemed almost feverish, intoxicated with his work.
‘The fellows of Eternal Peace are all weird people!’
The Daoists were still measuring when a few elders with immortal air came out with some young men and women. When they saw the daoists, one of them asked with a smile, “Dao Master Lin Xuan, what are you guys doing?”
“So it’s seniors of Little Jade Capital! Senior Brother Muran is also here!” Dao Master Lin Xuan raised his head and said excitedly, “The algebra that Cult Master Qin used for this bridge is too astonishing. We are still calculating!”
Wang Muran smiled at him. “Dao Master, even if you guys calculate for a while, you might not be able to find all of the knowledge lying here. Why don’t you just ask Cult Master Qin for the blueprints?”
Dao Master Lin Xuan came to the realization of his mistake and summoned all of the Daoists. He then said with a smile, “When we saw this bridge, we forgot that there might be a shortcut. That’s right, has Senior Brother Xu Shenghua arrived as well?”
“After he returned from High Heavens, he went to Supreme Emperor Heaven, so he should have already reached this place. He must have gone to God Suppression Pagoda to see if he could pass the test of the young true god,” Mu Qingdai said.
While bustling with conversations, they all headed towards the direction of Li City. It was obvious that some disciples had come here before, since they were familiar with the path and left the guards behind them in a daze.
“Were all those people Cult Master Qin’s friends? They are all weirdos!” the guard in the lead muttered to himself. “How did such a good and normal person like Cult Master Qin make friends with all those weird people?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Truly a beautiful world!”
Wang Muran, Dao Master Lin Xuan, and the rest admired the magnificence of Supreme Emperor Heaven. There were two suns in the sky, which made them exclaim endlessly in awe. Far in the distance, huge sacrificial altars sent black light into the clouds. The group had no idea that such a thing was an abnormal sight caused by the descending of the devil ancestors.
“When I heard that the sun was unbearable to look at, I didn’t dare to come,” Dao Master Lin Xuan said with a smile. “Only now that Imperial Preceptor has begun his reconstruction did I dare to enter.”
They came to the outskirts of Li City where many soldiers came over to check them. When they heard that they were divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace, they hurriedly said, “There have been numerous devils coming out recently, so we had no choice but to tighten the security, pardon us.”
Wang Muran looked around and saw the army training outside the city. Battle flags were waving in the wind while divine arts practitioners were running like wolves and rushing through a huge formation like wild boars. Their cultivations were all remarkable, and their battle power was extremely strong, making him eager to test himself.
“Muran, calm down,” Hermit Qing You said. “The legacy of Supreme Emperor Heaven is complete, and a level higher than that of Eternal Peace. Even though you have gained an inheritance from Fengdu, you are still inferior to the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven. If you want to exchange pointers with someone, you need to find a divine arts practitioner that’s a realm lower than you.”
Wang Muran was unwilling to accept that and shook his head. “Senior Uncle, besides Cult Master Qin, I haven’t lost to anyone on the same realm in Eternal Peace!”
Dao Master Lin Xuan raised his eyebrows and gave a cough.
Wang Muran looked at him and spoke at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow. “Does Dao Master Lin Xuan has any opinion?”
Dao Master Lin Xuan smiled and said, “If we haven’t fought before, how do you know you don’t lose to anyone?”
The light in Wang Muran’s eyes grew brighter. “You are right. You and I are both leaders in Heaven Alliance yet we had never fought before. You are the Dao Master of Dao Sect after all, so your position is way higher than mine. I’m merely a student of Little Jade Capital. However, the higher you are, the less are you actually required to fight. I wonder if you can even fight anymore.”
“You have fought many people, but they were all weaker than you. Sometimes, a battle with a strong practitioner can surpass a hundred with ordinary people. What does Senior Brother Muran think?” Dao Master Lin Xuan said leisurely.
The two of them were blazing with fighting spirit and were about to make their moves when an astonishing rumble rang out. They saw two female generals fighting in the formation; they were Princess Yuxiu of Eternal Peace and Saintess Si Yunxiang of Heavenly Saint Cult.
The two women were in charge of training different camps, and they fought fiercely from the first minute they clashed. Ling Yuxiu raised her foot to give a heavy stomp, and mud flew into the sky. Countless bolts of lightning instantly appeared in the sky, and they formed a huge whirlpool. Lightning green dragons danced within it.
Boom!
The two women collided, and lightning struck around them. Ling Yuxiu swung her hammer, and countless lightning green dragons descended from the sky. Various divine arts exploded. Their power was so great that Wang Muran and Dao Master Lin Xuan’s eyelids twitched furiously.
The path Ling Yuxiu had taken was the fusion of battle techniques and Dao spells. By hiding spell divine arts in her battle technique, she used lightning to refine her body, and her magic power was incomparably dense. The power of her divine arts was truly terrifying.
Si Yunxiang, who was fighting against her, had taken the path of hiding swords in her divine arts. She had inherited the strong points of Heavenly Saint Cult’s divine arts, their strangeness and unpredictability. In terms of cultivation, she was inferior to Ling Yuxiu, but by combining all kinds of divine arts of Heavenly Saint Cult, she could burst forth with extraordinary power.
“How biased of Cult Master to impart Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique to you! Lassie Xiu, even if you kill me, I am still the genuine cult mistress!”
“Lassie Xiang, you are the cult mistress? I was the one that got married first, so you are the second one at most! We were childhood sweethearts with the cowherd boy and have long exchanged tokens of love. This huge hammer was given to me by him!”
“Pah! What kind of token of love is a huge hammer? Cult Master is then bound to me for life since he gave me his Junior Protector Sword!”
“Pah! You clearly extorted it from him and even sold it afterward!”
…
Dao Master Lin Xuan, Wang Muran, and the rest stood with their eyes wide-open. All kinds of divine arts and skills were exploding in the battle formations of the two girls. Their power was truly terrifying. It was just that they allowed their anger to get the better of them, and when the battle formations changed, they just continued to fight instead of following up.
Suddenly, a young girl with long braids came between the two of them and separated them. “Sisters, this is a practice and not a real life and death fight!”
“Sang Hua, are you going to interfere?”
The three girls fought until heaven fell and earth rent. Lin Xuan and Wang Muran looked at each other in astonishment, their hearts were heavy. They didn’t recognize Sang Hua, but they were very familiar with Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu. These two girls were also members of Heaven Alliance, and even though they were outstanding, their abilities had been slightly inferior to theirs.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang had entered Supreme Emperor Heaven earlier than them, and in just one month, their cultivation had improved to the point they would have never imagined. This really put a lot of pressure on them.
“Just a month of not seeing them, and we might not be able to defeat them. Why should we even fight over who is stronger?” Dao Master Lin Xuan smiled bitterly. “We should be obedient students and study Supreme Emperor Heaven’s path of cultivation.”
Wang Muran nodded. “For Princess Xiu and Saintess Xiang to have such drastic improvements in such a short time, there has to be a huge deficiency in Eternal Peace’s cultivation system. As long as we patch this weakness, our abilities will also have a chance to take a large leap!”
The battle formation changed, and more troops came joined the battlefield. Dao Master Lin Xuan looked over and saw numerous Eternal Peace’s scholars training with the troops. The abilities of Wei Yong, Qin Yu, Chen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the rest had also improved tremendously. The rise in their battle prowess was extremely huge. This pressured the two young men even more.
“Xu Shenghua entered Supreme Emperor Heaven a few days earlier than us, and he is a very clever fellow. I reckon he has already grasped the marvel of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s cultivation and passed the test of God Suppression Pagoda with ease.”
They walked into the city and saw numerous school halls of Heavenly Saint Academy on both sides of the street. The scholars inside them were listening to the path of cultivation being taught by strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm and the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven.
“Cult Master Qin really knows how to grab onto personal benefits!”
Dao Master Lin Xuan was stunned for a moment, then he said to the old Daoists and nuns beside him, “Our Dao Sect is too shut off. We have to learn Supreme Emperor Heaven’s path of cultivation; otherwise, we will never be able to raise our heads from under the pressure of Heavenly Saint Cult. Cult Master Qin’s methods are good, and as long as they’re useful, we shall learn from them.”
Dan Yangzi and the rest acknowledged.
After passing by a palace, they heard buddha voices reverberating in the air. Inside, eminent monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery were sitting in a hall. In the center of them was Rulai Ma. Numerous eminent monks chanted the buddha incantations and layers of buddha heavens hovered above their heads.
The twenty heavens became more and more real. The buddhas, gods, bodhisattvas on each heaven grew discernible, as if they were walking into reality from emptiness!
“Senior Uncle, what are they doing?” Wang Muran asked Hermit Qing You.
“Opening a passage to Buddha Realm,” Hermit Qing You explained. “According to the records of Little Jade Capital, buddhism has its own world which is called Heavens of Buddhism. During Founding Emperor Era, numerous buddhas levitated heavenwards to Heavens of Buddhism and left Great Thunderclap Monastery. After Founding Emperor Era ended, the road to Buddha Realm was broken.
“With even the sky being fake, since it was a huge seal, it was natural for them to be unable to go to Buddha Realm. However, the world barrier of Supreme Emperor Heaven is incomparably thin, so Rulai Ma must be planning to open up the Heavens of Buddhism here and establish contact with the ancient buddhas.”
“Rulai Ma is planning to find the follow-up technique to Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra?” Long Yu asked.
Hermit Qing You nodded. “Most likely. Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra can only be cultivated to twenty heavens. The moment anyone enters the buddha realm, there are no more follow-up techniques. Rulai Ma’s has great ambitions so he must be doing this for the path of cultivation to the heavens after Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra.”
Dao Master Lin Xuan was very envious and asked Dan Yangzi, “Senior Uncle, does our Dao Sect have a Dao Realm?”
Dan Yangzi shook his head. “I’ve never heard of one before.”
Dao Master Lin Xuan shoulders slumped, and he sighed. “When the ancestors don’t work hard, the descendants suffer. Weren’t the past Dao masters too indifferent to worldly rewards? If we don’t work hard, we are going to be defeated by Great Thunderclap Monastery! How are we going to continue to be the sacred ground of Daoism? Dao Sect can’t continue being so slack!”
Dan Yangzi whispered, “Dao Master, even though our Dao Sect doesn’t have heavens like Dao Realm, we have gods that attained the Dao hiding in everyone else’s heavens. This Supreme Emperor Heaven is also a big heaven, so it should have experts of our Dao Sect. As long as we find one, we will be able to complete the cultivation system of our Dao Sect’s Daoism and make the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword complete. We can even receive the complete Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique…”
Dao Master Lin Xuan’s spirit rose, but he soon became dejected once again. “There’s definitely no experts of our Dao Sect here; otherwise, how would the algebra here be so bad?”
While they were speaking, a god of Supreme Emperor Heaven walked over while wearing a Dao robe and holding a horsetail whisk in his hand. With an air of an immortal, he asked, “Are fellow friends people of Dao Sect?”
Dao Master Lin Xuan and the rest of the Daoists of Dao Sect were overjoyed. Lin Xuan hurriedly returned the greeting and asked in a trembling voice, “Junior Lin Xuan is ashamed to be the Dao Master of Dao Sect. Is senior an expert who had attained the Dao of our Dao Sect?”
Delighted, the god of Supreme Emperor Heaven said, “You are indeed from Dao Sect! I’m also considered from Dao Sect. My name is Cha, while name in religion is Daoist Cha. I was originally a strange beast guarding the gates of Kunlun, but when the disaster struck, I followed Daoist Qing Tian to attain the Dao. After he died in battle, I remained in this Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
All of the Daoists stared with their eyes wide open, not knowing what to do. Apparently, there was indeed an expert of Dao Sect in Supreme Emperor Heaven, but he was a strange beast who had guarded the gate before attaining the Dao. This meant that he wasn’t proficient in Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique and Dao Sword!
That was because all of Dao Sect’s ultimate arts were built on top of the foundation of algebra, and since Supreme Emperor Heaven’s algebra was so bad, it was completely impossible for any profound algebra to have been passed down!
Daoist Cha had to have mostly relied on other techniques to attain the Dao!
The Daoists were all disappointed, but Dao Master Lin Xuan forced a smile. “It’s been hard on Senior Cha these years. Could senior make things convenient for us and help our Dao Sect settle down? These few are Dao friends of Little Jade Capital, and they temporarily also don’t have a place to settle down.”
Daoist Cha smiled at them. “This is simple, Cult Master Qin and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor instructed that as long as those who come are friends from Eternal Peace, we must not be complacent. Come to think of it, you guys know Cult Master Qin, right?
“Truly a strange man, his reputation is illustrious in our Supreme Emperor Heaven and his position is extraordinary. I’ve heard he is even the Heavenly Saint Cult Master, born as a saint and the famous Overlord Body. Many people admire his reputation and so have gone to seek a place in Heavenly Saint Cult…”
Dao Master Lin Xuan looked at him with a weird expression while cursing in his heart. ‘Isn’t it just a devil cult?’
“Heavenly Saint Cult started from Heavenly Teacher who is extremely famous, but our Dao Sect can’t be pushed down by them. That’s right, before Daoist Tian Qing died in battle, he left some things with me. I have always kept them safe…” said Daoist Cha.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Dao Master Lin Xuan and the rest were delighted. Daoist Cha took off the Dao crown from his head and gently spun the Yin Yang Taiji Diagram on it. He took out some books, a fork, and a few pieces of stone wall with sword traces on them. The fork was probably his divine weapon.
“I have always kept these books with me, but I don’t understand their strange symbols,” he said.
Thick white hair grew from the front of his head to the back while the hair at his temples was black in color. Unlike other Daoists who had their hair worn in a coil, he had a flattop haircut. The white hair on the top of his head was shaved neatly and made him look very lively.
The flattop Daoist stabbed the fork back into his Dao crown and sealed it up with the taiji seal before putting the crown back on his head.
Dao Master Lin Xuan flipped through the books and examined the sword traces on the stone slabs. His heart pounded furiously, and he couldn’t help shedding a tear. “My master and the past Dao masters have been studying the fourteenth sword for their entire lives, but they could never comprehend it completely. It turns out that the profound theory didn’t lie in the sword, but in the astronomical phenomenon. If master was still alive, he would have been very glad…”
Numerous Daoists remembered the past Dao master and cried.
Once Dao Master Lin Xuan glanced through the books, he passed them to everyone. They contained Precelestial Supreme Mystery Technique and the learnings of Daoist Qing Tian after he had studied the follow-up sword skills of Dao Sword.
Daoist Tian Qing had recorded everything in fine detail, and his calculations were very meticulous. It was no wonder then that Daoist Cha couldn’t understand them.
“Senior Uncle Qing You, does our Little Jade Capital have any profound inheritance?” Wang Muran asked in a low voice.
Hermit Qing You shook his head. “We don’t.”
“Isn’t our Little Jade Capital the number one sacred ground in Eternal Peace? Dao Sect and Great Thunderclap Monastery both have even more profound inheritances, but our Little Jade Capital doesn’t, so how are we supposed to fight against them? Even Heavenly Saint Cult has a Heavenly Teacher so how could our Little Jade Capital not have god level techniques passed down by strong practitioners like Jade Emperor and so on?” Wang Muran said with anger his voice.
“Our Little Jade Capital has always stood aloof from worldly affairs and never fought for the title of the number one sacred ground,” Hermit Qing You said patiently. “It is a false reputation that the people of the world have given us; it’d be better if we didn’t have it.”
Wang Muran was speechless from anger, and he could only turn to ask Daoist Cha from helplessness, “Daoist, may I ask where is Cult Master?”
“Cult Master Qin? Many people have been looking for him today, and they are all weird people; there’s even one riding on a bull. However, Cult Master is not in Li City currently. He left a bit earlier saying he was going over to the devils to train his mount.”
Wang Muran cried out in astonishment, “He went to the territory of the devils alone?”
“Not really. My Supreme Emperor Heaven has already taken back some territory, and we constructed a sentry tower in Without Embroiling City. God Sang Ye is stationed there. Numerous divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven and Eternal Peace are all searching for devil soldiers scattered around there,” Daoist Cha explained.
“There have been no battles recently, so it’s still quite peaceful. The armies have yet to make their moves, so it’s just the divine arts practitioners of the devils and humans challenging each other at the border. Cult Master Qin will be fine.”
What he was talking about was an unwritten rule of Supreme Emperor Heaven. Martial custom was prosperous in it, and both devils and humans respected martial power. When there were no large scale battles, the divine arts practitioners of both sides would roam around, and numerous young devil and human divine arts practitioners would exchange blows.
Gods and devils would rarely interfere, allowing the trainees on both sides to clash. This was an extreme way to train the younger generation. It was a well-known thing here, but since had come to Supreme Emperor Heaven for the first time, he still didn’t know it.
“Has Cult Master Qin passed the test of God Suppression Pagoda?” Wang Muran asked.
“Why would he need to?” Daoist Cha’s expression filled with admiration. “The moment he came to Supreme Emperor Heaven, he killed four greatest experts in the bet for Li City and forced True Devil Fu Riluo’s proudest disciple to admit defeat. After that, he became a legend.
“Later, he was kidnapped by Fu Riluo, escaped and ran for a hundred thousand miles while nearly killing all of the Six Directions and Seven Stars Realm’s disciples of the devil gods! There were even quite a number of Celestial Being Realm’s disciples that had died under his hands! With Cult Master Qin’s abilities, there’s no need for him to pass the test of God Suppression Pagoda.”
Wang Muran’s body trembled violently as his expression filled with disbelief. He suddenly turned his head. “Senior uncle, do we really not have any profound inheritance?”
Hermit Qing You smiled at him. “Aren’t the inheritance of our Little Jade Capital good enough? Even though it has flaws, it has only top-notch techniques. As long as the flaws are patched, you won’t be any inferior to Dao Master. And Supreme Emperor Heaven is a good place to do that. You can learn from the strong points of other people and fuse them with the techniques of our Little Jade Capital.”
“There are so many techniques in Little Jade Capital; how could it be an easy task to fuse all of them?” Wang Muran muttered to himself.
Hermit Qing You looked at him with encouragement. “When there’s a will, there’s a way; I view you highly! After you comprehend them well, teach them to me first. I’m old and my mind isn’t as clever as that of youngsters like you.”
…
“Young master, why hasn’t Fatty Dragon morphed like Jiang Miao?” Between Without Embroiling City and Li City, there were over two thousand miles of land. Hu Ling’er followed beside Qin Mu and looked at the dragon qilin fighting with a strong devil practitioner of Celestial Being Realm. “Jiang Miao could morph so Fatty Dragon should be able to do it too!”
Qin Mu took in a deep breath, and Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique circulated in his body while his vital qi gave off dragon roars. “I also don’t know. Could he be too fat and unable to morph? It doesn’t look like it…”
“I think it’s because he is still too lazy,”
The qilin bead was extremely strong, so his cultivation was no longer any inferior to that of great experts of Life and Death Realm, yet his overall battle power wasn’t high. He was covered in injuries from fighting with a single strong devil practitioner.
Qin Mu didn’t help but just stood on the side and watched. The other devil experts side also didn’t interfere. They just stood and watched the battle.
The rules of Supreme Emperor Heaven were very strange. As long as it was an encounter between divine arts practitioners, they would usually fight one on one and rarely swarm up. When Qin Mu was escaping for his life during the hundred thousand miles and was chased by numerous devil divine arts practitioners, it was different however. The reason behind why the devils didn’t abide by the rules and kept swarming him was because the devil gods had laid down an order for him to be killed.
The dragon qilin fought hard. A bit later, he suddenly comprehended the marvel of Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique. He then instantly executed his qilin bead and changed qilin fire into countless dragon-shaped flames. They swept at his opponent.
Next, his body shook, and the dragon scales flew up, transforming into bright mirrors to reflect the divine art of the opponent.
The strong devil practitioner was flustered by having to face his own divine art and the fire dragons. Suddenly, dragon scales flipped over and swirled around him furiously.
The strong devil practitioner couldn’t unleash any attack, for all divine arts were reflected back by the scales. The area in which they swirled became smaller and smaller. The qilin bead flew into the surrounded area and shone brightly with flames. A miserable shriek came from inside, and the strong devil practitioner was burned to ashes.
The dragon qilin shook his body and called back his dragon scales. He swallowed down the qilin bead with surprised delight. He cried out, “Cult Master, I’ve won! I’ve finally won for the first time!”
Qin Mu was suspicious. “Ling’er, when Fatty Dragon was cultivating with Senior Brother Tiger, he had never won even once?”
Hu Ling’er nodded. “Not even once. The black tiger god said he was embarrassing at first and wanted him to kowtow and apologize to the devils that had defeated him. Afterwards, the black tiger god got used to it, and Fatty Dragon also got used to it.”
Qin Mu was speechless.
The dragon qilin arrogantly scampered over on the tips of his feet, his tail held up high. He walked a few rounds around Qin Mu and Hu Ling’er, very pleased with himself.
A devil expert walked over from the other side and called out, “Are you Cult Master Qin Mu?”
“It is I. May I ask who you are?” Qin Mu said.
“A nameless person, farewell!”
The devil experts separated and left in a hurry, and Qin Mu frowned slightly. The devils were all strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm, so it would’ve been very difficult to defeat them by himself. Yet they had made the unwise decision to separate. Wasn’t this giving him a chance to get rid of at least one of them?
“Young master, the devils seem to be escaping for their lives.” Hu Ling’er took out a huge basin for him to produce some dragon saliva which she would apply on his body. With suspicion, she said, “If they combined their powers together, their abilities would probably be greater than ours, yet they fled without a word. Could they be trying to pass information? For safety reasons, we should return to Li City immediately!”
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows. “If we walk forward, we will reach the sentry of Without Embroiling City. We are too far from Li City; the sentry tower is closer. With God Sang Ye, mere devils won’t dare to come over.”
He jumped onto the back of the dragon qilin, and Hu Ling’er did the same with her basin. The dragon qilin immediately sprinted toward Without Embroiling City.
There were still two hundred miles away, but Qin Mu could already see God Sang Ye’s aura from afar. It was the divine light giving off by God Sang Ye, and it reached the clouds like a pillar.
That was the purpose of a sentry, to show a safepoint for Supreme Emperor Heaven’s divine arts practitioners that were in the wilderness. If they were in danger, they could head there for protection.
Suddenly, a voice filled with delight rang out. “Are you Cult Master Qin?”
A small mountain was village in the wilderness around them. There were a few divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven resting their feet there. They were the only people around.
The group consisted of familiar faces. One of the girls was called Guan He who had been introduced to Qin Mu by Yu He, and she was an expert of Celestial Being Realm. She was ranked nine in Supreme Emperor Heaven on her level, and her abilities were extremely strong.
She was the disciple of a god and was proficient in sword skills.
Because Qin Mu was expanding Heavenly Saint Cult in Supreme Emperor Heaven, he had appointed Guan He as the hall master of Sword Hall of the new branch.
“Guan He, why are you guys here?” Qin Mu jumped down from the back of the dragon qilin and looked to the other divine arts practitioners. They were also hall masters and incense masters of Supreme Emperor Heaven’s Heavenly Saint Cult.
“It’s really Cult Master,” Guan He said with a smile. “We were training in the vicinity when we encountered some devil experts. One of them was extremely strong, so I had to fight with all I had before executing him.”
Qin Mu looked in the direction she had pointed and recognized the devil expert as one of those who had escaped. There were still signs of a hard battle in the surroundings.
“I see.” Qin Mu smiled at her. “Hall Master Guan, it was hard on you. The sky is almost dark and I’m planning to head to the sentry. Do you guys want to tag along?”
Guan He’s eyes lit up, and she walked over with a smile on her face. “We were also planning on going back!”
The other people came too, and Qin Mu headed at the front of the group to the sentry in Without Embroiling City.
Guan He hurriedly cam to his side and said with a smile, “Why is Cult Master in such a hurry? We are all experts of the cult, so how could we be afraid of anyone?”
“I was recognized by the devils, and I’m afraid they would inform strong practitioners to intercept me up ahead.” Qin Mu smiled at the girl then. “Hall Master Guan, who is your master again? When Yu He introduced you to me, I had forgotten to ask.”
“My master is Tian Fenggou, Cult Master has met her before.”
“So it’s Goddess Tian Fenggou.” Qin Mu nodded and turned to rest with curiosity. “Hall and incense masters, what about your masters?
“We are also disciples of Tian Fenggou,” one youth said.
Qin Mu nodded again and patted the thick neck of the dragon qilin beside him while saying with a smile, “Hall Master Guan, when you guys were fighting with that strong devil practitioner of Celestial Being Realm, you must have ended the battle quickly. Looking at the traces of divine arts you guys left behind, they aren’t from fatal attacks even if they’re not simple.
“The true fatal blow was the sword that pierced the devil’s back, killing his primordial spirit straight away. Back then, the distance between Hall Master Guan and that devil expert should have been as close as we are now. From this close up, Hall Master Guan had killed him.”
Guan He’s expression changed slightly, and a huge qilin bead suddenly rose into the sky. In an instant, blazing qilin flames were everywhere, incinerating everything!
Among the flames, a flying sword rushed out. Just as the woman executed her sword skill, Qin Mu tapped with his sword fingers the heart of his brows. His sword pellet transformed into dazzling sword light that swept forward, crushing Guan He’s sword skill and the heart of her brows!
Qin Mu pulled back his sword and watched his surroundings in which hall masters and incense masters of Heavenly Saint Cult were shrieking miserably. The next moment, their heads were cut off by huge dragon scales!
The dragon qilin shook his body and they returned.
Qin Mu grabbed his sword pellet and said gently, “Fatty Dragon, you have won a few more battles.”
“Young master, they were the people that those devils wanted to call over?” Hu Ling’er popped her head out from the dragon qilin’s ear. “In that case, Goddess Tian Fenggou…”
Qin Mu was about to speak when his ears twitched, and he turned around abruptly. “Who’s there?”
A roe deer ran out from the forest and swayed its little tail while looking at him curiously. It was then followed by a herd of roe deers that ran out from the forest to examine his group curiously.
“So it’s a bunch of silly roe deers.” Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief.
The silly roe deers went forward and raised their heads to look at him daringly. Qin Mu’s shook slightly, and a clear voice suddenly rang out from before him. “Cult Master Qin, you just killed my disciples. Don’t you think you should give me an explanation?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu took out Sun Jade Eye and Moon Jade Eye in a hurry and erected them behind him. At the same time, flags danced around him, confining all lifeforms in a radius of ten steps into the formation.
Those were teleportation flags. He needed some time to use the teleportation divine art so teleportation flags were much more convenient, since he could activate them in an instant and teleport further away.
He had made them escape any attacks from gods and devils so he would be less prone to falling into a situation similar to when he was captured by Fu Riluo.
Even though the teleportation flags were only slightly faster, the slight amount of time could save lives!
To his surprise, just as the teleportation flags swirled and the runes on them lit up, they suddenly exploded into pieces. The torn cloth fluttered in the air like butterflies. Only flag poles were left in the ground!
‘The speed of a god is much faster than I anticipated!’
Qin Mu didn’t waste any time as he activated the two jade eyes. The qi of supreme yin transformed into moonlight while the qi of supreme yang transformed into sunlight, and they were both incomparably intense. The two jade eyes were in his hands, and he was ready to welcome the enemy anytime.
The beams of the jade eyes were thick, and they would sweep through everything in front of him.
When the pupils of the two jade eyes expanded, they didn’t have much power and could only be used as a light source. However, as long as Qin Mu’s palms controlled their nerve system, he could change the formations within and condense the light of the two stars into one line!
The two lines of light had the power to injure even gods!
He had tested it long ago on the body of Dragon Rearing Sovereign.
Qin Mu examined his surroundings while saying in a solemn voice, “Could you be Goddess Tian Fenggou?”
“It is I.”
A woman in snow white clothing slowly walked over into the moonlight of Sun Jade Eye, and she was a truly beautiful woman. Her hair was coiled into buns before being piled on top of her head, leaning slightly to one side.
The movement of her dress was captivating, and the palace cloth on her upper body was quite loose, but her waist was very slender, so slender that an arm could go around it.
She had a kind of different bearing, and her eyes were cold. It was as if there was nothing in this world that could move her heart.
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched. If such a woman made up her mind about something, it would be very difficult to change.
The silly roe deers beside him were completely unafraid of Tian Fenggou who was walking over. They continued to bite on his clothes while licking them with their tongues. There were even a few silly roe deers raising their heads to look at him curiously while a male roe deer bayed at him.
Qin Mu acted as if he was facing a great enemy and stared nervously at Tian Fenggou, not daring to miss any of her movements.
However, the roe deers were pulling too hard so he had no choice but to pull his clothes back out from their mouths.
“Yooou! Yooou—”
A few male roe deers were angered and they lowered their heads to headbutt him. One of them moved a step back after doing it once to gather energy once again while another followed in his steps.
Qin Mu stood as steady as a mountain and let the roe deers headbutt him over and over again. ‘No wonder Grandmaster wanted to attach deer legs to himself; these roe deers are too good at tormenting people!’
Tian Fenggou swept a glance at the roe deers that were attacking Qin Mu, and her gaze fell onto the two jade eyes. “Doesn’t Cult Master Qin owe me an explanation for killing my disciples? And all of them at once? I only had these few disciples whom I had taught diligently, and yet they were all killed by Cult Master Qin in one go. Even if you are the disciple of Heavenly Teacher, you still have to make yourself clear.”
“Looks like Goddess Tian Fenggou has no idea what her disciples have done.”
The nervous expression on Qin Mu’s face vanished, and he let out a huge sigh of relief. With a sincere gaze, he said, “Fenggou, your disciple Guan He and the rest had submitted themselves to the devil race and tried to harm me. I had no choice but to be ruthless or my life would have been endangered.”
Tian Fenggou gave an oh and said, “Cult Master Qin said my disciples submitted to the devil race, so you definitely have evidence, right?”
Qin Mu slowly moved back while holding onto the jade eyes. “Goddess Fenggou, please follow me.”
He walked back step by step, the two jade eyes firmly held in his hands so he could react anytime. The dragon qilin also walked back while carrying the little fox. From behind, the nine silly roe deers were still headbutting them foolishly. They were very stubborn.
Qin Mu slowly moved back to the small mountain village and said solemnly, “Fenggou, please take a look.”
Tian Fenggou looked at the corpse of the strong devil practitioner of Celestial Being Realm, and her pupils contracted.
“The traces of divine arts here belong to Fenggou’s disciples, right? This isn’t the divine art of one person, but five. Guan He had told me she fought bitterly with this devil expert and only managed to kill him after some effort so why are there divine arts of five people here?”
“It’s also possible that Guan He wanted to claim credit,” Tian Fenggou said indifferently.
“Can’t Goddess Fenggou see the lethal blow on the corpse? You are a sword skill expert so you should be able to see it. For someone to stab the primordial spirit so swiftly, the two people have to at be an extremely close distance,” Qin Mu said solemnly.
“From the expression of the corpse, he absolutely didn’t expect Guan He to lay her hands on him, so he was shocked. Guan He was so close and he didn’t put his guard up, allowing his primordial spirit to be slain, so how could the two have been enemies? Since they weren’t opponents, they had to be friends. Goddess Fenggou’s disciples had allied themselves with the devils. Is there any need for more evidence?”
Tian Fenggou’s gaze flickered, and she said softly, “I need, I’m still slightly puzzled. Since they were in cahoots with the devils, why did Guan He had to kill that devil?”
“That’s because she wanted to use the life of this devil expert to gain my trust,” Qin mu said. “Only like that could she get close to me successfully. Goddess Fenggou, look again, are there any devil divine arts here? If it was a fight, why did this devil expert die before he could unleash even one divine art? With your eyesight, it surely isn’t hard to see this.”
Tian Fenggou was expressionless. “And then?”
“The traces of divine arts here show that the battle was very intense yet no divine art damaged this small mountain village here. They haven’t even touched it. This means that the five of them were all involved. At that time, they had cast their divine arts from this small mountain village to destroy the scene. This certainly can be counted as evidence, right?”
Tian Fenggou let out a shaky breath and a smile spread on her expressionless face. She said softly, “Cult Master Qin is wise and impartial. Looks like my disciples have indeed submitted to the devil race. I was negligent in choosing my disciples and have nearly caused huge trouble.”
Hu Ling’er’s face was full of suspicion, but Qin Mu looked as though a burden had dropped off his shoulders and said with a smile, “I can’t blame someone that’s kept in the dark. The devils are the evil ones, and they are incomparably sly. Goddess Fenggou was only blinded by them for a time, you will realize it in the future and place righteousness before family.”
Behind him, the silly roe deers were still headbutting him.
Qin Mu rubbed his buttocks that were searing with pain. ‘These roe deers sure are ruthless and tough…’
Tian Fenggou was still smiling at him. “Since the misunderstanding is resolved, I won’t be disturbing… Who’s there?”
Her voice became slightly piercing to the ears, but just as she spoke, God Sang Ye’s voice rang out. “Fenggou, don’t be mistaken, it’s me.”
Qin Mu finally relaxed, and the hands that were holding onto the jade eyes loosened up. His palms were clammy from cold sweat.
Hu Ling’er also felt like a burden had dropped off her shoulders and said softly, “Young master—”
Qin Mu shook his head. “Not now.”
He had noticed some time ago that the divine light given off by God Sang Ye had suddenly vanished from the sentry in Without Embroiling City. The god had to have discovered the activity here.
After all, Qin Mu had killed Guan He with the first form of Calamity Sword. Opening Calamity was extremely huge, and ten miles of sword light had burst forth nearly in an instant. It would have been hard for God Sang Ye not to notice something like that.
The god had seen this move by Qin Mu before, so he would definitely rush over when he saw it. That was because opponents that required Qin Mu to use Calamity Sword would definitely be remarkable enemies!
When he came over to check, it no longer mattered if Tian Fenggou was a spy for the devil race or not. Whatever the case, Qin Mu was safe.
When he had moved back step by step, walking to the small mountain village, it might have looked like he was explaining things to Tian Fenggou, but he had actually been doing that for God Sang Ye.
“So it’s Senior Brother Sang Ye.” Tian Fenggou relaxed, her expression calming down. “Cult Master Qin and I had some misunderstanding earlier, but it’s all resolved now.”
God Sang Ye walked over and said, “It’s great that the misunderstanding is resolved, but there’s a matter that makes me very confused. Why did all the disciples of Senior Sister Fenggou submit to the devils? It’d be normal if one had done so when faced with a choice of life and death, since it’s hard for one to stay true to good or evil in such situation, but when a whole family betrays their land, it’s somewhat strange.”
Tian Fenggou raised her eyebrows and said, “What does God Sang Ye think about this?”
God Sang Ye walked past Qin Mu and stopped before Tian Fenggou. “When all five disciples submit to the devils, it’s hard not to suspect that master might have done so as well. Fenggou was once the mistress of Coupling City, right? One thousand and five hundred years ago, when it was invaded, only you and a small number of your people lived.
“On the other hand, when my Nearing City was invaded, even though my whole family died in battle, leaving only me and my daughter as sole survivors, I had protected quite a number of Nearing City’s commoners. There were ten times more survivors.”
He put his hands behind his back. “There’s also Adorning, Returning, Concording People, Great Possessing, and other god cities that I know about. There were many more survivors in them than in Fenggou’s Coupling City.”
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, and he looked at the palms behind God Sang Ye’s back.
They were making some strange gestures which meant that the situation was urgent and they should leave immediately.
‘Could God Sang Ye not be Tian Fenggou’s match?”
Qin Mu was astonished, but he still gave a cough. “Two gods, I still have some matters to attend to so I’ll be taking my leave now.”
The direction in which he was leaving was in God Sang Ye’s shadow. As he moved back step by step, he never stepped from Sang Ye’s back, as this was the only way he could avoid Tian Fenggou’s gaze.
“Cult Master Qin is planning to go to Without Embroiling City? Are you sure God Sang Ye is not the traitor? Why did my disciples that had betrayed us stay so close to Without Embroiling City? The one guarding the sentry is God Sang Ye, and if he’s the traitor, you will just be delivering yourself into the enemy’s hands. There will definitely be a devil god waiting there for you. You are so clever, so you won’t put yourself in any danger, right?”
Hu Ling’er’s head became heavy, and she felt that her mind just wasn’t fast enough. She asked in a low voice, “Young master, which one of them is the traitor?”
Tian Fenggou spoke again. “God Sang Ye had initiated building a sentry in Without Embroiling City, right? The sentry is right in the devil territory, and it has already been more than half a month since it was finished, but there have been no devil gods coming to find trouble. Is your luck just that good, or is there something else?”
Qin Mu stopped, his head also feeling heavy.
It was indeed strange that no devil god had come to find trouble with God Sang Ye even after he had built a sentry in the devil territory.
Tian Fenggou continued. “Even though not many people of my Coupling City survived, there were still two other gods besides me. How many gods of your Nearing City survived? Not one besides you, right? Could they all have died under the hands of devil gods?”
“Where are those two senior brothers that walked out from Coupling City with you? According to what I know, even though they left the city, they died in the battle for Without Embroiling City. And just like that, you are also the only one that had survived Coupling City,” Sang Ye said calmly.
Hu Ling’er hugged her six tails. “Young master, I’m already giddy…”
Qin Mu looked at her. “Me too… But, there’s still one method to determine who’s the traitor, and that’s to go to the ruins of Without Embroiling City. If God Sang Ye is really a traitor, there will definitely be strong practitioners of the devil race waiting for us to deliver ourselves there. If there aren’t…”
Just as he said that, a huge body descended from the sky on his right.
It was a devil god!
The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched slightly. He had seen this devil god twice before. The first time was in the battle of Nearing City where he had killed everyone in Sang Ye’s family!
The second time was in Li City. On that day, he and Sang Hua had been brought to Li City by the black tiger god, and Sang Hua had kept staring at that devil god.
He had flame markings on his body, and his eyes were like two dancing fires!
When he descended, the three god existences stood like the three legs of a tripod.
“Devil God Huo Chaluo came from your Without Embroiling City, right?” Tian Fenggou said in a soft voice.
God Sang Ye’s pupils contracted suddenly, and he gritted his teeth. “Huo Chaluo killed my whole family besides my daughter! How could I submit to the devil race, to him?”
Huo Chaluo frowned slightly. His voice boomed and shook the forest. “Now that the matter has come to this, why do we still need to hide when we are two against one? Just shed all pretense and end this quickly. Respectable King Fu Riluo can no longer wait to see this brat with the surname Qin!”
The surroundings went silent.
After a moment, Tian Fenggou laughed gently. “Cult Master Qin likes to deduce the truth from clues, so I wanted to play with him, to laugh at him and play with his heart. Isn’t that what a devil god likes to do?”
Qin Mu’s blood went cold.
Tian Fenggou smiled and said, “Huo Chaluo, you shall take down Cult Master Qin. I will send God Sang Ye on his way.”
Huo Cha Luo turned his head to look at Qin Mu ho moved back nervously. He suddenly heard a thump and felt a searing pain as one of the silly roe deer headbutted him again. In anger, he drew his sword and placed it on the neck of the male roe deer while saying ruthlessly, “Hit me again and I’ll kill you!”
Tian Fenggou chuckled and pounced at God Sang Ye. At the same time, Huo Chaluo bent over with a grin as he stretched his hand out to grab Qin Mu. “You were that black shadow in Nearing City that day? You were the one who protected the lassie of Sang Family, right? How heroic, I couldn’t even kill you. However, trying escaping now?”
The roe deer under Qin Mu’s sword suddenly burst apart, and an incomparably breathtaking knife light shone through the forest. It even split apart the sky. The knife light passed through Huo Chaluo’s palm and neck, leaving behind an incomparably fine black line in the sky!
The thinnest of the black line was inconceivable, like there was none of it.
It looked like space had been sliced apart and didn’t have the time to heal!
The breathtaking knife light then suddenly stopped before Qin Mu’s neck, and a tall and sturdy elder stood up from the roe deer skin that had split apart. He was fierce-looking and had a messy beard that grew furiously in all directions.
The elder’s face was full of anger, and he held the knife at Qin Mu’s neck while grumbling furiously, “Mu’er, so what if I headbutt you? Cripple, Blind, and Mute were the ones that kept headbutting you. I just did it once and you wanted to kill me! Tell me, aren’t you biased? Do you think they love you more dearly than I do?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu hurriedly pulled back his sword and looked at the tall elder in front of him in surprise and delight. He cried out happily, “Grandpa Butcher!”
Before he even finished speaking, the other roe deers burst apart, and their figures rushed into the sky to intercept Tian Fenggou who was rushing at God Sang Ye. Her sword light was already stabbing forward, so she had no time to change her move.
A long spear transformed into a black dragon to disturb the sword light. Tian Fenggou’s body trembled violently. The black dragon kept aiming for the backbone of her sword moves, causing her magic power to be cut off repeatedly and making it tough for her to unleash her power.
She was proficient in the sword path, and her attainments in the sword skills could be considered top one or top two in Supreme Emperor Heaven. Of course, that was before Qin Mu had established access between Supreme Emperor Heaven and Eternal Peace. When Eternal Peace’s sword skills were imparted to Supreme Emperor Heaven, her sword skills could no longer be considered at the very top.
In Eternal Peace Empire, there were way too many experts whose sword skills surpassed hers.
What made her terrified was that the black dragon spear could actually break her strength with little power, shattering her magic!
The stars in the sky shone and weaved Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield. The moment she and the black dragon spear collided again, it suddenly crashed against her chest.
This was an unusual kind of divine art that used stars and astrology as a divine art.
In regards to the transformation of divine arts, Eternal Peace’s divine arts surpassed Supreme Emperor Heaven by way too much.
Tian Fenggou vomited blood with a grunt and stepped back in a hurry Suddenly though, she felt a chill in her heart. At some point in time, the elder with the knife had come behind her. By backing, she had walked right into his knife, stabbing herself through the back.
The power of the knife wasn’t strong, so it was obvious that the honest-looking elder was only proficient in backstabbing. He was lacking real power in his moves.
Tian Fenggou swept her sword backward, but before the sword light could sweep the elder behind her, another old man—this one carrying a furnace—hit her with a hammer!
Flames rose from the furnace on his back; the strike had actually been incomparably heavy. Its power was terrifying. From that one strike, Tian Fenggou’s bones and tendons broke, and she tumbled to the ground before bouncing back up and landing down again for a couple of times!
Her abilities were exceptional, even surpassing those of God Sang Ye, so she still wasn’t dead. She knew she had fallen into an ambush and was definitely not a match for so many experts, so she immediately chose to escape.
She leaped a hundred miles away, then turned around to see an incomparably tall elder raising his palm to sweep the sky.
Tian Fenggou was stunned. The elder had a pair of bright iron ears and incredibly tall. He was much taller than true gods and devils, and he could actually fold up the space in which she was in!
‘It’s impossible for him to have such terrifying magic power…’
As she thought that, she realized that the iron-eared elder wasn’t folding up space. Instead, after she was severely injured by the old blacksmith, she had fallen into a painting.
Now, she was fleeing through it.
Tian Fenggou immediately executed her divine sword to tear open space, and the painting instantly tore apart. One sword light flew straight for the face of the iron-eared elder.
He looked incomparably tall, and his abilities were world-shaking, but his abilities were actually lacking as well. When he saw the sword light rushing over, he knew he couldn’t fight it and turned to leave.
The black dragon spear suddenly struck forward and scattered the move of Tian Fenggou’s divine sword.
She jumped out of the painting and met a sturdy man wearing sable fur and riding a green bull. His knife skills were matchless, and his moves were complicated. He was using knife skills she had never seen before, and the spells hidden inside them had extraordinary power!
She had underestimated it and instantly suffered. The knife light flashed, and her right hand which was holding the sword got severed by brute force. Blood spurted and scattered in the air.
Tian Fenggou grunted and caught her sword with her left hand. She was about to stab at the sturdy man riding the green bull, but she saw a peerless beauty clenching her palm. With her move, space broke down and shrunk. Tian Fenggou’s body instantly flew towards the palm against her will.
Boom!
The old blacksmith rushed over and struck her head with his hammer, stunning her while the short elder broke the moves of her divine sword with his black dragon spear. The sword lights turned weirdly in the air and stabbed her chest.
Bang!
Her face smacked against the palm of the peerless beauty, and Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Palm Force exploded, turning her face into a bloody mess.
The hands of the beauty moved quickly, sliding through her body as they sealed her primordial spirit and soul.
Tian Fenggou fell to the ground with her primordial spirit unable to escape. It was sealed in her broken body.
She still hadn’t breathed her last, but her gaze was dim. At that moment, a bronze-masked man rushed to her side and stabbed silver needles into her body. As he spoke, his voice sounded further and further away. “With me around, she can’t die. Don’t worry, we can just restrain her soul and pull it out for interrogation later.”
God Sang Ye stood in a daze, not knowing what had just happened. Before he could even fight Tian Fenggou, she was already settled by the weird newcomers.
However, Tian Fenggou had been an extremely powerful existence. Even though her power was inferior to that of a true god, she wasn’t too far from it. He was definitely not her match.
Sang Ye was prepared to sacrifice himself for righteousness at any time, but it was a pity that Qin Mu would most likely have to die with him. Luckily though, the weird people had popped out from somewhere and fought messily until they severely injured Tian Fenggou and sealed her.
Otherwise, he and Qin Mu would have definitely died.
To the side, Qin Mu carefully pushed away the huge knife next to his neck. Butcher grunted, and the huge knife remained in its place.
Qin Mu pushed again, but Butcher still didn’t allow for it to be moved. It was obvious he was still angry.
“Grandpa Butcher, you had cloaked yourself with the skin of a roe deer. Granny’s spell is so exquisite that I couldn’t see through it and didn’t know it was you. If I knew, I wouldn’t have held the sword to your neck…” Qin Mu said carefully.
“I don’t care!” Butcher said coldly. “I raised you up painstakingly yet you want to kill me just because I hit your buttocks. My heart is dead!”
Behind him, Huo Chaluo’s five fingers suddenly separated evenly and fell to the ground like meat pillars.
“Luo…”
A strange sound came from Huo Chaluo’s throat, and he slowly pulled back his arms. He touched his neck shakily, trying to maintain his balance. He didn’t dare to move too fast, so his every action was very careful.
However, before he could even touch his neck, his head lost its balance and slid off to the side.
Huo Chaluo’s hands became even faster, and he made a grab for the head!
Bang.
A loud clap rang out as his two hands collided above his neck. When his head fell to the side, blood spurted from his neck, dying his hands red.
“What a quick knife—”
Huo Chaluo’s head let out an ear-piercing scream and tumbled two rounds on the ground before flames in his eyes finally extinguished.
Qin Mu was very envious and praised, “Grandpa Butcher’s divine knife has reached perfection. I’m inferior.”
“Stop licking my boots!” Butcher had a gloomy face, and his hand didn’t move at all. His knife was still held at Qin Mu’s neck. “You’re biased and don’t love me! You love Mute, Cripple and Blind, those three scumbags, but not me! I saw them having fun hitting you, so I tried it once and you wanted to kill me!”
“Junior brother!” Ba Shan jumped from the bull’s back and ran over in delight. “Junior brother, you made teacher angry? Teacher has agreed to take me back in as a disciple, but his request is for me to lower my voice a little and talk less.
“When everyone said they were going to look for you, I said that little junior brother was too smart so he would never get into any trouble, and see, there was no problem at all! Teacher Heaven Knife, why are you holding the knife to Junior Brother’s throat though? Put it down, we are all one big family, so we can talk things out…”
Butcher swung his knife and it landed on Grand Chancellor Ba Shan’s shoulder. He immediately shut his mouth. His face was all red from holding back his words.
“Senior Brother Ba Shan, Grandpa Butcher had only feigned his death and didn’t kick you out of his family, so why did you have to formally become his disciple again?” Qin Mu asked in puzzlement.
Ba Shan came to a realization and pushed the knife away. His voice suddenly become twice or more louder as he shouted in anger, “Old man, you tricked me!”
Butcher’s ears trembled from the vibration, and he looked at Qin Mu in fury.
Qin Mu rubbed his buttocks that were still sore.
Blind, Mute, and Cripple were truly ruthless—his buttocks were almost messed up.
‘I should have long suspected something when these silly roe deers kept headbutting me. Grandpa Mute, Grandpa Blind, and Grandpa Cripple are the meanest, and even Grandpa Butcher has been brought astray by them….’
Blind walked over with his black dragon spear. Upon reaching Qin Mu, he grinned. Qin Mu looked at him with a black face and went to find Granny Si. Blind scratched his head and said angrily, “Butcher, you betrayed me!”
Butcher felt somewhat guilty and scratched his head. “When did I? Old Blind, stop accusing me for no reason.”
Deaf walked over and said, “I’ve heard everything. You betrayed Blind, Mute and even Cripple.”
“You are deaf, what can you even hear!” Butcher burst into laughter from extreme anger.
The huge hammer in Mute’s hand transformed back into sword pellets that flowed back into the chest. He brought it over and said righteously, “Aba, aba!”
“Well said!” Cripple clapped. “Butcher’s mouth has no lock on it!”
Butcher rolled his eyes and pulled the knife away from Chancellor Ba Shan’s neck while saying pleasantly, “Ba Shan, this old man can’t win against them in talking, so come help me argue!”
Ba Shan’s two fists crackled from him clenching them, and he walked with big steps to the front of everyone. He cleared his throat and was about to open his mouth when God Sang Ye said, “Are seniors from the celestial heavens?”
“Seniors? Celestial heavens?” Blind raised his head and looked at this god. He chuckled. “We are from Great Ruins and not celestial heavens. First, may I ask how old senior brother is?”
God Sang Ye smiled. “Great Ruins was Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens once. I’m twenty thousand and eighty-four years old.”
Blind leaned back with a grunt. “I’m five hundred and sixty-two years old…”
Everyone suddenly felt they were very young and filled with energy.
Qin Mu came to Granny Si’s side and saw her levitating Tian Fenggou with her magic power. She was using the spells inside Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to pull out the primordial spirit of Tian Fenggo to interrogate it.
Apothecary was refining medicine at the side, using anesthesia for the soul to lessen Tian Fenggou’s ability to resist.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures had numerous extremely strange spells. They often looked like they were of the devil path, but they could also be understood with a righteous mind. Qin Mu had done his studies in this field.
When God Sang Ye looked over, his heart shook a little upon seeing Granny Si’s spells. ‘These friends from the celestial heavens seem to be from improper origins. They are even so proficient in spells of the devil path… En, Cult Master Qin also seems like he’s from an improper origin…”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu looked excitedly at Granny Si’s divine arts. The nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village all had their strong points. Besides here beauty, Granny Si was known for the exquisiteness of her spells.
However, since what she cultivated was the devil path, she hadn’t been willing to teach Qin Mu too many spells. She only let Village Chief, Butcher, and Old Ma teach him.
Afterward, when Qin Mu become the young cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, she had imparted Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to him and allowed him to comprehend them by himself. She didn’t teach Qin Mu any techniques or divine arts.
This was mainly because she walked the devil path and her comprehension of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was slightly askew. She hoped that if Qin Mu followed Deaf, Old Ma, and the rest in cultivation and reading the classics, he would have a more proper comprehension of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.
Qin Mu was originally indifferent to righteous or devil, but later, he realized that both were born from the heart. When intentions were devilish, no matter how righteous the spell was, it would still be devilish. And if the intentions were righteous, then no matter how devilish the spell was, it would still be righteous. That was why he had basically no problem with going between righteous and devil.
After that, Qin Mu discovered that the struggle between righteous and devil was the struggle of the heart while the one between god and devil was the struggle of standpoint and survival, so he became even more indifferent to the struggle of righteous and devil.
In the past, when he fought with Great Thunderclap Monastery, Dao Sect, and the other sects, he had long ago abandoned all prejudices and didn’t place the struggle of righteous and devil in his heart.
Now, he had even opened the divine treasure of the devil path and was halfway into the devil path. His horizons were even broader than before.
This was growth.
A person usually grows up unknowingly, not realizing it themselves. But when they look back, they would notice that they were growing all the time, their mind becoming more mature.
Even if God Sang Ye was a god that stood high above, his horizons might not be superior to those of Qin Mu.
Other than personal aptitude and comprehension, opportunities were also a part of it. Ever since he was young, Qin Mu had undergone the nurture of the Disabled Elderly Village’s Nine Elders, then had left Great Ruins just at the time of Eternal Peace’s reform, If his birth and experiences in Youdu and Fengdu were added, his horizons could be said to have risen to an extremely high height.
Granny Si finally seized the primordial spirit of Tian Fenggou from her body, It was bound, so she couldn’t escape. If it did, it could take over another person’s body or even grass or tree spirits.
If the god took someone’s body, it would be possession, and if she took the body of a grass or tree spirit, it would be different cultivation.
“Which one of you is going to interrogate her?” Granny Si asked while turning her head back. “She definitely knows many secrets of the devil race, so it would be very useful for Supreme Emperor Heaven if we could get that information out from her. My methods are too cruel and aren’t suitable for interrogating her; she’s a beauty after all.”
God Sang Ye was introducing himself to Blind and the rest when he heard that and shuddered. He took a glance at Tian Fenggou’s body. ‘Truly ruthless. This woman first flattened Tian Fenggou’s chest before flattening her face as well…’
His gaze fell on Granny Si’s face, and he found it hard to avert his gaze. In his heart, the thoughts of finding a step-mother for Sang Ye suddenly popped up, but he hurriedly composed himself. He shifted his gaze away, not daring to have any improper thoughts.
“We should hand the matter of interrogating Tian Fenggou to True God Pang Yu. Tian Fenggou is a god of my Supreme Emperor Heaven after all, and she was also a leader with a high position. It would be a bit out of place if we interrogate her privately.”
Cripple chuckled and said, “Why be so troublesome? Let Apothecary feed her some insects and she will definitely confess to everything in just two hours.”
“We can also ask Grandpa Blind to use his black dragon speed to separate the spirit embryo and the soul of her primordial spirit, turning her into an ordinary human!” Hu Ling’er said excitedly.
Blind stroked her little head and said with a smile, “This spear of mine is called Long Tuo. It’s not a black dragon spear.”
“That’s right!”
The black dragon spear on his back suddenly came alive and swam around the little fox. The black dragon with only its bones left slowly said, “My name is Long Tuo, and I’m a dragon king of the devil race. And you are completely right, my lord and I can indeed separate her soul from her primordial spirit, though that would be abnormally painful.”
Hu Ling’er examined Divine Spear Long Tuo and suddenly thought of an idea. She hurriedly raised her hand up with sparkling eyes. “I still have, I still have! I thought of another idea! We can ask Grandpa Mute to smelt her in his furnace to turn her primordial spirit into water before pouring molten iron on it. We’ll see if she will talk or not!”
‘This little fox is also not easy to deal with!’ God Sang Ye shuddered and hurriedly said, “Let me bring her away for interrogation. Gentlemen, I will be leaving first, Without Embroiling City is just in front of us, so may you guys help me guard it for two days!” After saying so, he grabbed Tian Fenggou’s body and primordial spirit and left in a hurry.
“Granny, Grandpa Apothecary, why have you all of you guys come to Supreme Emperor Heaven?” Qin Mu immediately asked.
Granny Si raised her hand and stroked his head. Qin Mu immediately lowered his head so Granny Si could continue stroking with a smile. “You’ve grown even taller and are about to catch up to Apothecary. If you grow a little higher, Blind will only be able to reach your waist.”
Blind wasn’t very happy to hear that. “Granny, my body is still growing. Did you see God Sang Ye just now? He’s twenty thousand years old and his height is terrifying. It shows that the longer you live, the taller you will grow!”
Granny Si rolled her eyes at him. “Blind, your intelligence is also only so high. Mu’er, we came to see you and to look at the methods of cultivation here, to see if we can find a way to break through. We have all reached our bottlenecks, and the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven that you had sent to Heavenly Saint Academy were quite useful. We watched them and learned a little, but if we wanted the whole cultivation system, we still needed to come to Supreme Emperor Heaven to look for more profound methods.”
Qin Mu had indeed discussed with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and True God Pang Yu to dispatch some young divine arts practitioners to Eternal Peace to learn the paths, skills, and divine arts. At the same time, they could impart the techniques of Supreme Emperor Heaven to Eternal Peace, patching up where the cultivation of Eternal Peace’s techniques was lacking.
With the divine arts practitioners on both sides complementing each other, they could all advance at astonishing speed.
However, that only applied to divine arts practitioners. To people like Granny Si who had already patched her divine bridge and entered the celestial palaces or strong practitioners that were about to enter the celestial palaces, that wasn’t enough.
After all, the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven that headed to Eternal Peace to seek knowledge usually didn’t have high cultivation. Furthermore, Granny Si and the rest required a god level cultivation system.
Qin Mu pondered it for a moment, then said, “In that case, who is in charge of Heavenly Saint Academy now?”
“Heavenly King Shi, Heavenly King Yu, and the rest of them. There’s also a few elders there,” Granny Si said while chuckling. “The scholars of Supreme Emperor Heaven are very dumb and pitifully stupid. They couldn’t learn algebra no matter what, so it’s best to let the elders and heavenly kings of Heavenly Saint Cult have the headache. God Sang Ye asked for our help in guarding Without Embroiling City so let’s head there.”
Qin Mu nodded. Everyone was chatting and laughing with one another, so he also quickly forgot about his bloody buttocks and played around with Blind, Mute, and Cripple.
The green bull saw the four short legs of the dragon qilin, and his eyes lit up. He scampered over and stood up like a human to walk a couple rounds around him.
The dragon qilin’s face turned dark, but he didn’t say a word. He continued to walk forward.
Divine Spear Long Tuo transformed into the skeleton frame of the black dragon and rattled as it swam in the air. Coming to Hu Ling’er’s side, it thrust its head and lifted the little fox while asking with curiosity, “They have a grudge?”
“How is it only a grudge? It’s hatred for a seized wife!” Hu Ling’er whispered.
She told everything she knew, about how the grudge between the dragon qilin and the green bull had started from the time Qin Mu had entered Imperial College. The green bull was a flirtatious fellow, but he just had to be blind and thought that the dragon qilin was a female. He harassed him every day when he passed by the mountain gate and even gave him some flowers and grass.
The dragon qilin knew he couldn’t defeat Ba Shan, so he could only suffer in silence before bewitching Qin Mu to knock out the green bull with anesthesia. Qin Mu had refined Lost Fragrance, and when the imperial physicians of Hall of Supreme Healing learned of it, there was quite a havoc.
Only then did the green bull learn that the dragon qilin was a male and was sad for quite some time before going off to flirt with some little cows happily. Of course, the two strange beasts began to feud after such events.
“The green bull thought the dragon qilin is a female, but he’s a male, so isn’t this like the hatred for a seized wife?” Hu Ling’er said.
The black dragon trembled his skeletal frame and said in astonishment, “They actually have such a past?”
The dragon qilin looked down, looking calm, but he was twitching his ears.
The green bull sneered. “What are you twitching your ears for? Damned fatty, you were very slim and looked like a female; why have you become so fat now? I can’t even see if you are walking on your feet or rolling on your stomach. Look at me!”
He bent his arm and all the muscles on his body popped out as he sneered. “These are muscles, and what you have is only fat! Fighting makes you bold and powerful only when you are like me. Each of my punches uses all of my muscles, and every strike is powerful!”
The dragon qilin narrowed his eyes and opened its mouth, spitting out a qilin bead that had a radius of two feet. The bead blazed furiously in mid-air, lighting up the surroundings.
The green bull shuddered and fell back a step, transforming back into a big green bull. With his tail tucked between his legs, he slipped back to Ba Shan’s side.
The dragon qilin opened his mouth to recall the qilin bead and sneered. “Fats? Do you know how much effort it took to refine such a big qilin bead?”
Hu Ling’er whispered, “Fatty Dragon, gaining a small advantage will do, know when to stop. If the two of you really fight, you might not be able to defeat that bull! You’ve eaten fewer spirit pills than the number of fights he’s been in with Ba Shan. Be careful or he’ll see that you are just strong on the outside.”
The dragon qilin shivered with fear. He knew that the bull was a battle maniac like Ba Shan. His speed was faster than his, and his endurance was better as well, so if they really fought, he might not be his opponent.
‘I need to cultivate Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique more. If this bull sees that I’m not his match, he will definitely be coming to beat me up!’
He executed Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique and trained diligently. Qin Mu saw this and he felt incredibly happy. He said with a smile, “I no longer need to worry about Fatty Dragon, he knows how to cultivate by himself. That’s right, Bull Two!”
The green bull hurriedly ran over and said with a smile, “Little old master, please speak! Little old master has forgotten, I’m Bull Three. Ling’er is the big sister, Fatty is Dragon Two and I’m ranked third. However, I’ll be able to get rid of the dragon qilin soon and be ranked second!”
Qin Mu smiled. “You have the Green Dragon’s bloodline too, right? I have received a technique not long ago that it’s even more powerful than Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. It’s the number one technique I have seen in my life. Since you have the bloodline of the dragon race as well, I shall teach it to you.”
The green bull was delighted and said while choked with emotions, “Little old master is so good to little cow. Little cow has nothing to give in return. I can only pay back little old master’s benefaction by offering my life in sacrifice!”
“You saved my life in the golden palace and I still have yet to thank you. How can this little thing be worth anything?” Qin Mu said with a smile.
He went through Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, and not only was the green bull was enthralled, but even Butcher, Granny Si, Blind, and the rest were intoxicated.
“Great technique!” Butcher let out a shaky breath and said solemnly, “A god technique that has never been seen before! Mu’er, this should be a technique that could reach Numinous Sky Hall of the celestial palaces and ascend to the Emperor’s Throne, right?”
An intense sense of danger grew in the dragon qilin’s heart, and he cursed silently to himself. ‘How will it be good once this damned bull learns Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique? Won’t he be able to beat me to death? That can’t be! I need to cultivate, and I also need to eat more Water Element Divine Vitality Pills!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There were numerous divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven gathered in Without Embroiling City, some of which had come from Eternal Peace. Among them, there were scholars of Heavenly Saint Academy. When they saw Qin Mu, Granny Si, and the rest coming to the sentry tower, they were both surprised and delighted. They came forward to greet them. “Chancellor! Teacher Si, Teacher Blind!”
There were also some that were scholars of Li River Academy, so they greeted Chancellor Ba Shan. The place became very lively.
Ba Shan chuckled. “You brats sure run fast, to have actually come here faster than me.”
He was the Grand Chancellor of Li River Academy, and he hadn’t come to find Butcher, but in search of the path for a breakthrough in Supreme Emperor Heaven. Only when he passed by Heavenly Saint Academy and saw Butcher and the rest preparing to leave that he gave chase in a hurry.
The affairs regarding Li River Academy had been handed over to Grand General who Crowns the Army Ma Dingshan. He was a great expert that was no inferior to him, and after quelling the rebellion, Emperor Yanfeng had kept his title and even conferred him as chancellor of Li River Academy to assist Ba Shan.
There were also disciples of River Tomb Academy and Surging River Academy in the area. The grand chancellor of River Tomb Academy was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor while the grand chancellor of Surging River Academy was High Official Su Yunzhi, with the assistance of Yuyuan Chuyun and Yuyuan Chuyu.
Su Yunzhi had even sent Yuyuan Chuyu to find Qin Mu to borrow Surging River Dragon King Dragon Rearing Sovereign and Hundred Years Mountain God Bai Xi so they would give lectures at Surging River Academy.
Qin Mu wasn’t at Heavenly Saint Academy, so it was Hu Ling’er and Si Yunxiang who had received Yuyuan Chuyu and secured lesson fees for Dragon Rearing Sovereign and God Bai Xi. They gave permission for scholars of Surging River Academy to frequently head to Surging River and Hundred Years Mountain and offer sacrifices, which moved God Bai Xi to tears.
Everyone caught up for a moment, and Qin Mu asked Butcher, “Grandpa, what was the Emperor’s Throne technique you mentioned earlier? God techniques still have a classification of levels?”
“After I crossed the divine bridge and entered the celestial palaces, I could only stand outside Southern Heavenly Gate. However, from there, I could see all the celestial palaces and some sacred grounds that had boundless ambiance and looked extraordinarily sacred. Because of that, I guessed that there are several realms within god realm, and they should be separated into those sacred grounds. The highest and most sacred of them was the Emperor’s Throne in Celestial Palace Hall of Numinous Sky!”
Everyone crowded up, and Butcher felt pressured. “I totally don’t understand the realm of god, so I ain’t clear how they’re separated. Mute, Mute, come over, they are all staring at me like a bunch of silly roe deers! You know the most so tell them!”
Mute placed his chest on the ground and took out a pipe to take two puffs. He said leisurely, “Ah, ah, aba…”
The numerous scholars of Imperial College obviously knew the rules and immediately looked toward Deaf. He stared at Mute, and Mute let out a puff of smoke which transformed into a gate.
“The first realm of god is Outside Southern Heavenly Gate. People who reach it are known as honored gods, and this is only the first step after crossing the divine bridge. Entering Southern Heavenly Gate is the second realm, and such people are called true gods. However, only after all aspects of the body are cultivated to god realm could one endure the pressure of Southern Heavenly Gate and walk through it.”
“Mute still knows the most. What happens then?” Blind said with praises.
Mute puffed out a smoke ring which transformed into Jasper Pool. Deaf then continued, “The third realm is called Jasper Pool, also known as Heavenly Pool, Jasper Terrace. People that reach it are called heavenly gods.”
Mute’s smoke transformed into a stage for killing. It was a sacred ground as well, but the aura of murder was extremely heavy. The crowd shivered from just a look.
“The fourth realm is called God Execution Stage, and there’s great danger to it. If one cannot cross it, they will die.”
Mute’s smoke transformed into the fifth picture, and it was of a cluster of palaces.
“This sacred ground is called Jade Capital, the imperial city in which Celestial Emperor resides. Jade Capital is the fifth realm.”
Mute puffed out another smoke ring which transformed into Numinous Sky Hall. “This is Numinous Sky Hall which Butcher had seen. The sixth realm is most likely called Numinous Sky,” Deaf explained.
While everyone looked, Mute blew a puff of smoke into Numinous Sky Hall and transformed it into the Emperor’s Throne. It was the seventh realm.
Ba Shan looked at Deaf, then at Mute. Full of doubt, he asked in a low voice, “Junior brother, what did Senior Uncle Mute say exactly?”
“Exactly what Grandpa Deaf said,” Qin Mu whispered back.
Ba Shan scratched his head, still full of doubt. “How does Senior Uncle Mute know so much? Even the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven don’t seem to know much about the later god realms. How then does he know about them in such detail?”
Qin Mu looked at him with a helpless expression. “In our village, Grandpa Mute knows the most but speaks the least. He usually doesn’t like to talk. I guess the secrets he knows mostly come from Paramita Ark since he’s a descendant of Heavenly Works Race…”
When the night descended, all the various divine arts practitioners went to rest. Qin Mu followed Granny Si, Blind, and the rest out of the sentry post to check on the ruins of Without Embroiling City.
The battle there had to have been very bitter. Supreme Emperor Heaven had a total of sixty-four god cities in which there had been brutal battles, but most of them remained standing. There weren’t many god cities that were completely destroyed by the war, but Without Embroiling City was one of such cities.
Yet even with only ruins and dilapidated walls everywhere, one could still see how extraordinary this god city had once been.
There were many remnants of divine arts left behind from the war between gods and devils lying dormant. They were like floating bubbles of multicolored sunlight, giving off a faint glow in the darkness. The remnant divine arts were very eye-catching, like lotuses gleaming in the darkness. They were growing in the debris of the battle.
The silent lotuses bloomed and attracted people who had entered the area by mistake to gather them. If anyone touched them though, the power of the divine arts left behind by the gods and devils would activate!
If it was to burst forth, it would definitely be extremely terrifying. They could shatter the bones of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm or Life and Death Realm without any difficulty!
The divine arts left behind in the ruins were not only in the shapes of lotuses, but everything that could come to one’s mind. Their sizes weren’t uniform either. There were pieces of forest, lush grasslands, ground beasts like white foxes and flyers like vermillion birds. Some even looked like treasures of gods and devils. There were things like flying swords, pagodas, and cauldron.
If anyone touched them though, they’d die a miserable death.
Qin Mu looked around. The rune markings of gods and devils formed the remnants of the divine arts, so it was difficult for them to dissipate even through the passage of time. This led to the area becoming abnormally dangerous.
Qin Mu had seen similar things in the ominous land, but he had luckily avoided all of them.
When he thought about it, God Sang Ye had to have spent quite some effort to clear out a safe zone in such a place so he could build a sentry post. It now provided a place for the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven to rest their feet.
Granny Si, Blind, and the rest studied the divine arts in detail, looking pretty entranced. Blind’s divine eyes could break down the marvel of all the divine arts, and he explained them to everyone.
Their path of cultivation was very different from divine arts practitioners like Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua. To Granny Si, Butcher, Deaf, and the rest, there was no need to witness divine arts in fights. They just needed to examine their remnants, and they would see their marvel without trouble. They could then absorb the essence of the divine arts to make up for what they were lacking.
“The divine arts of these gods and devils are still rough and require improvement.” Granny Si checked the one before her carefully and shook her head. “Because the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace had no way to become gods for twenty thousand years, we instead used that time to improve all kinds of divine arts until they were incomparably exquisite. We created new ones all the time, so our divine arts are much more exquisite than those of Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
“Yet their cultivation methods are more powerful than ours, and their techniques can train all aspects of their corporeal body,” Blind said after another examination. “For gods and devils to execute such rough divine arts and be able to unleash such inconceivable power, their corporeal bodies, primordial spirits, and the density of their vital qi have to be much stronger than those of people from Eternal Peace. Mu’er, don’t underestimate them just because you are the overlord body.”
Qin Mu nodded solemnly and said respectfully, “Don’t worry, Grandpa Blind. I won’t underestimate anybody.”
Hu Ling’er hesitated for a moment, but didn’t make a sound.
Blind and the rest had just come to Supreme Emperor Heaven, so they still didn’t know what Qin Mu had done. After the battle in Li City, he was already the strongest divine arts practitioner of Seven Stars Realm in Supreme Emperor Heaven. He had even experienced running a hundred thousand miles while killing almost all of the devil god disciples of Seven Stars and Six Directions Realm. No random strong devil practitioner of Celestial Being Realm would dare to fight with him recklessly.
As long as one went to ask around, they would know about Qin Mu’s fame.
Suddenly, he went still as he looked at a shadow in the ruins. It moved around in the ruins as though the divine arts there had no effect on him.
“Mu’er, what are you looking at?” Deaf asked curiously.
Qin Mu’s body trembled slightly, and he suddenly left everyone to run toward the shadow. The elders of Disabled Elderly Village were shocked as there were divine arts left behind by gods everywhere. If he was to touch any one of them by accident, he wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences.
If a chain reaction was invoked and all of the divine arts in Without Embroiling City exploded, then even they might not barge in recklessly.
Blind hurriedly gave chase while shouting, “You guys stay here, I’ll find him!”
Qin Mu activated Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill all the way to avoid the remnant divine arts while getting closer and closer to the shadow.
It appeared faintly discernible in the restricted area as though it was flowing sand, scattering and gathering from time to time. However, the shadow also seemed to have noticed him, for it suddenly stopped.
Qin Mu avoided the last remnant of the divine arts between them and stopped in front of the black shadow, looking at the other party with his eyes bright and face full of excitement.
The black shadow was also staring at him with curiosity.
Neither of them could see the other’s appearance, only the body which was like black sand.
Qin Mu stretched out his hand, and the shadow did the same. The two palms touched, then without any resistance passed through each other.
Qin Mu’s body trembled, and he froze as he looked at the figure silently.
Blind quickly came to his side and pulled him away while saying solemnly, “Mu’er, this shadow should be a remnant of a divine art by some god or devil. Why are you so careless? Why did you barge into this restricted area?”
Rustling sounds that sounded like a monster whispering in the darkness reached them, and the two of them looked at the shadow in astonishment.
It was the shadow’s voice!
“Grandpa Blind, he isn’t a remnant of a divine art, but a person.” The astonishment hadn’t dispersed from Qin Mu’s face when he muttered, “Like me, he can travel in the darkness of Great Ruins. He is like me… only a devil blending with the darkness can be seen by a person in Supreme Emperor Heaven! I think I might have encountered the overlord body of the devil race! Strange, why did it appear in Great Ruins…”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The time of Great Ruins hadn’t matched that of Supreme Emperor Heaven, and because its algebra was too bad, the suns’ cycles didn’t even consist of twenty-four hours. Because of that, the day and night times of Supreme Emperor Heaven weren’t accurate.
After Qin Mu had destroyed one of the suns, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor forged a sun which used the twenty-four-hour cycle of Eternal Peace Empire.
However, Imperial Preceptor had an obsessive-compulsive disorder, so he tried to perfect everything. The moment the sun lit up, it matched the sun of Eternal Peace. This meant that the moment the darkness descended on Great Ruins was also matched without a second’s difference.
It was night time in Great Ruins at that moment.
There were only two ways to travel in the darkness of Great Ruins. Otherwise, the person would die miserably from either a curse or being eaten by monsters in the darkness.
The first way to not fear such fate was to have abilities akin to those of a god.
The second way was to have been born in Youdu, like Qin Mu had done.
The first method required for a strong practitioner to use their god’s aura to force back the darkness. The second method, however, required to have an unusual birth, like that of Qin Mu’s, so when he entered the darkness, the curse and the monsters weren’t able to hurt him.
With the first method, the strong practitioners that entered the darkness of Great Ruins wouldn’t be able to see Supreme Emperor Heaven, and the people in Supreme Emperor Heaven wouldn’t be able to see them either.
But with the latter, they would be able to walk through Supreme Emperor Heaven and the people there would be able to see them as a shadow, something made of black sand. Qin Mu had gotten to know Sang Hua through this method.
However, even though the latter could allow one to see people of Supreme Emperor Heaven, they couldn’t communicate or pass any useful information.
Still, upon seeing another person that could walk through the darkness of Great Ruins, Qin Mu couldn’t help becoming shocked.
‘King Yama and Earth Count said that I’m the first lifeform that was born in Youdu, so could it be that there were other people born in Youdu after me? Why didn’t Earth Count mention that?’
Puzzled, he examined the shadow while being examined by the other as well. The person seemed to be thinking of something.
The two of them circled each other, trying to find some clues.
Qin Mu stopped and that shadow also stopped. It then turned it head around to say something, but the words weren’t clear.
‘He should have someone beside him!’ Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly. ‘But that person isn’t walking in the darkness. He’s forcing the darkness back, so I can’t see them.’
The shadow suddenly turned and leaped as though he was flying before vanishing.
Qin Mu didn’t give chase since the other party was in Great Ruins. If he wanted to hide, there were many ways, and he could just vanish by entering a ruin.
‘Overlord body of the devil race… How did he appear in Great Ruins? Impossible. He definitely has a devil god level existence beside him, but if a devil god wanted to pass through Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, they would have definitely been discovered.’
He was confused and muttered, “Could there be other ways to enter Great Ruins?”
There were many secrets in Great Ruins; Qin Mu had once even entered High Emperor Era. He had also gone to Youdu from Ghost Valley and even visited Fengu thrice. This showed that Great Ruins indeed link to other worlds.
‘God Sang Ye and the rest referred to Great Ruins as Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens, so there are still numerous secrets waiting for me to be discovered… En, I can ask Official Sovereign of Youdu!’
Qin Mu roused his spirit, and his body trembled. A Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him, and the door slowly opened. The devil qi of Youdu poured out, making the darkness darker.
Blind frowned slightly, but after thinking about it, he didn’t stop Qin Mu. ‘Mu’er is always full of ideas. Might as well not bother him and see what he plans to do.’
Qin Mu composed himself, and the drawn-out cadence of Youdu devil language came from his mouth. He only chanted it and didn’t execute Soul Guide.
After a moment, a lamp shone from within Gate of Heaven Influence. When Blind looked into the gate, he saw a small boat sailing over from the darkness. The light had come from the lantern at the bow of the boat.
“Messenger of death!” Blind was astonished, and Divine Spear Long Tuo behind him gave a low dragon roar as it became incomparably nervous.
“Grandpa Blind, Senior Long Tuo, there’s no need to be nervous. This is Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven of Youdu, a big shot in Youdu. He is referred to as Youdu Official Sovereign,” Qin Mu explained.
Blind stared with his eyes wide open and his heart trembling violently. ‘Mu’er has even hooked up with Youdu? And even the official sovereign of Youdu? Just a few days of not seeing him, and this brat has become so much more capable!”
Even so, he still didn’t dare to relax. Long Tuo changed into his spear form and coiled around him, ready to strike at any time.
“You again…”
A paper boat sailed out from Gate of Heaven Influence, and the lantern was taken down. The elder on the boat was expressionless as he hid behind the light which he shone on Qin Mu’s face. The elder’s voice was emotionless when he spoke. “Don’t create trouble and use Youdu language for no reason; it’s not good for you. Be careful of touching the seal or one day it will be too late for you to regret.”
Qin Mu hurriedly gave an apologetic smile and said, “Official Sovereign, I have invited you this time…”
Elder Messenger of Death shook his head and said, “You didn’t invite me, your words forced me to come without giving me a choice. Did you create more trouble again? What is it? Speak your mind. As long as it doesn’t touch the rules of Youdu, I can help you solve whatever you want, but if it’s too difficult, then farewell.”
Blind’s eyes lit up, and he looked at the face of the elder behind the lantern. But no matter what, he couldn’t see the appearance of the official sovereign, making him astonished.
His cultivation had already improved by a lot, and he had also crossed the divine bridge to stand outside Southern Heavenly Gate. The power of his divine eyes had also naturally increased, yet he was still unable to see the face of the official sovereign. This showed that his abilities were immeasurable.
‘Mu’er is actually friends with Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven!’ Blind exclaimed to himself in admiration. ‘Mu’er is indeed like me, with friends everywhere in the world. He didn’t forget my many years of teaching.’
Qin Mu voiced his two guesses. “May I ask Official Sovereign, after I was born, was there a second lifeform that was born in Youdu? And was that person also born from the womb?”
Elder Messenger of Death sneered. “After one Qin Fengqing, how would we dare to let a second Qin Fengqing be born? One such a fiendish and mischievous fellow is already tormenting us more than enough. After you were born, Earth Count examined all realms of Youdu so there would be no second one!”
Qin Mu was puzzled. “In that case, why could this shadow enter the darkness of Great Ruins like me?”
“You mentioned two guesses, but you don’t know about the third possibility,” Elder Messenger of Death said. “The darkness in Great Ruins is a curse and also a seal. It wasn’t born from nothing, but was created by someone. The maker of the darkness in Great Ruins can naturally walk through it.”
Qin Mu’s body trembled and his mind was blown!
Elder Messenger of Death was right. The maker of the darkness in Great Ruins could certainly enter the darkness without being harmed by it!
Just then, he’d had the misconception of meeting his own kind so he’d guessed it was an overlord body from Youdu and didn’t consider other options. But now that he thought about it, the shadow should have been a youth. His speed wasn’t very fast, making it obvious that his cultivation hadn’t reached the god realm yet.
If the shadow youth was related to the maker of the darkness in Great Ruins—maybe was his successor—and was proficient in the curse and seal if the darkness, he would definitely have a method to not be harmed by the darkness after entering it!
“I’ve solved your question for you.” Elder Messenger of Death boarded his paper boat and hung the lantern on the bow. He turned the boat and said coldly, “Don’t speak Youdu language for no reason! I was doing a job, collecting Huo Chaluo’s soul, when I heard your voice. My own soul was almost scared out by you! If you create any more trouble, just wait for your comeuppance after dying!” After he said that, he pushed the little boat to sail back into Gate of Heaven Influence.
Qin Mu hurriedly waved his hand and said with a smile, “Official Sovereign, after I die, I’ll bring good food and toys for you!”
“I don’t need them!” a stiff voice said from within Gate of Heaven Influence.
“Mu’er, you sure have a knack for making friends. They’re all around the world, even in Youdu,” Blind praised sincerely. “I can see this Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven likes you very much.”
“This is all thanks to Grandpa Blind’s teachings. I have listened to them and upheld myself as a humble person, only then was I able to receive the favor of Official Sovereign,” Qin Mu said humbly.
“You don’t have it!” The voice of Elder Messenger of Death came from far away and sounded very faint.
Qin Mu and Blind pretended they had never heard anything and flattered each other. At this moment, they were both glowing with vigor, and Qin Mu shut the Gate of Heaven Influence before pondering. ‘Why would the disciple of the maker of darkness appear in Great Ruins? For what matter would they enter it?’
Blind put away his Divine Spear Long Tuo back and walked in the direction of Granny Si and the rest. He said calmly, “Because of Eternal Peace’s reform, all kinds of monsters are coming out. Numerous stone statues and meteorological weapons have popped up everywhere, even if they show no signs of activity for now.
“The divine weapons have been taken away by Imperial Preceptor to be sealed up, so it’s natural that there are people coming out to take a look. You don’t have to worry too much. Great Ruins are safe and won’t be in any danger. On the other hand, Eternal Peace needs to be more careful.”
Qin Mu placed this matter aside temporarily.
Beside the disciple of the maker of the darkness should have been a god. It was just that Qin Mu didn’t know if it was a god or a devil. The two were a danger, whatever the case.
However, Eternal Peace was no longer what it was in the past. It had numerous experts, and there were a few gods that stayed behind to guard it. Emperor Yanfeng was also in the capital, so there shouldn’t be too many problems.
…
“The two figures we saw were very strange.” In the darkness of Great Ruins, a youth similar in age to Qin Mu stopped and said to a towering god beside him. “That youth examined me, seemingly astonished by my appearance, but he didn’t find it weird, as though he had seen such a thing before. Sun Sovereign, that person is somewhat suspicious.”
Beside him, a god with three legs blazed with fire. The wings behind his back made him look like a moving sun. His voice rumbled when he said, “Young Master Qi is overthinking. I have come down from the sun to assist you in finding that youth called Qin Mu, but may I ask what has this person done?”
“News from Youdu say that he is a devil born in Youdu who was later exiled to Eternal Peace. The higher-ups view this as important, but they can’t send the celestial troops and generals down to the lower bound, so they sent me to seize him.
“The higher-ups don’t trust the devils, and Lu Li certainly has her own plans. She wants to seize this Qin Mu and become one of the overlords in Youdu. The other reason the higher-ups sent me is to activate the meteorological weapons and plunge Eternal Peace into disaster as soon as possible.”
The three-legged Sun Sovereign frowned. “The meteorological divine weapons were all taken by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and no one knows where they were hidden.”
Young Master Qi was unconcerned and just smiled leisurely. “Isn’t this Qin Mu that’s born in Youdu the biggest meteorological divine weapon? Once we break his seal, he will destroy Eternal Peace by himself. This task couldn’t be more simple.”
Sun Sovereign’s body trembled violently, and he praised with heartfelt emotion, “Young Master Qi is wise!”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Mu continued to explore the ruins of Without Embroiling City with Granny Si and the rest. All of them had something in which they were proficient in so what they could see from the remnant of divine arts was different. Everyone discussed it together, and Qin Mu benefited quite a lot.
Even though he had comprehended his technique and entered the path, every aspect of his body was much inferior to those of Granny Si, Blind, and the rest.
This was mainly because his technique cultivated all aspects of his corporeal body, primordial spirit, and vital qi, so he was definitely not as fast as Blind, Mute, and the rest who specialized in a single field. He also didn’t have the time to research and study everything as in depth as they did.
However, when Blind and the rest discussed, it was beneficial to everybody since they could improve themselves by accepting criticism from outside. On top of that, they were all strong practitioners that had reached the extreme in a certain field.
From the divine arts left behind by the gods and devils of Supreme Emperor Heaven, they also saw what they were lacking and could verify with one another.
“Granny, I have already combined all of the cultivation systems of Supreme Emperor Heaven and comprehended the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that could train the whole body!”
Qin Mu sent out his vital qi so that it would form the inner structure of the human body. He showed the path of vital qi circulation of the divine eyes, the brain, the dantian, the four limbs, the bones, the spirit embryo, the five elements, and the six directions and the seven stars without any restraint.
Granny Si, Blind, Butcher, Mute, and the rest were instantly lured over and examined the structure of the human body in detail.
The more they looked, the more astonished they became.
There was a hidden space in Qin Mu’s divine eyes which exhibited the circulation structure of the divine eyes. There were also different structures of vital qi circulation in the brain which were used to strengthen their power. No matter if it was hands, legs, skin, or even the five viscera and six bowels, all of them had detailed paths of vital qi circulation.
Meanwhile, in the divine treasures, the vital qi circulation followed each marvel. The combination of the spirit embryo and soul borrowed the flow of vital qi to strengthen the primordial spirit. The vital qi in Five Elements Divine Treasures was separated into five elements while the Five Elements Gods sat in their shrines in the five stars. The vital qi everywhere moved according to a different circulation path.
In Six Directions Divine Treasure, earth qi of the land was flowing at a great speed, transforming into earth magnetic force.
Seven Stars Divine Treasures controlled five element stars, sun, and moon, unifying all of their strength to support the primordial spirit.
Not only that, the fusion of Qin Mu’s spirit embryo and soul was inseparably close with the corporeal body. In this way, it formed his vital qi circulation throughout the whole body. When the vital qi in the primordial spirit used the same path of circulation, he could cultivate his primordial spirit at the same time as he cultivated his corporeal body!
The path of circulation of Qin Mu’s technique was a three-dimensional structure, and it was extremely exquisite. In every organ of the corporeal body, profound theories were hidden, forming the three-dimensional technique system. The cultivation method of any organ could easily be taken out and used as a technique to cultivate a certain aspect to god realm!
What was even stranger was that Qin Mu had unified these incomparably detailed techniques with the method of fusing the primordial spirit and corporeal body like he was separating the wheat from the chaff. Complicated techniques which should have been impossible to fuse together were fused into one by him.
This was Qin Mu’s greatest feat!
“This Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique of Mu’er is really matchless!”
Granny Si, Cripple, and the rest exclaimed in admiration, feeling like the clouds had parted and they finally got to see the sun. In the past, they had cultivated one aspect diligently and pushed them to the god realm. They had run out of road forward, and they didn’t know how they were supposed to cultivate the other parts of the body at the same time.
“Mu’er, this technique is difficult in that it’s complicated during circulation. When cultivating according to normal techniques, we would need dozens of different techniques to achieve what he was able to simplify into his technique.”
Butcher sighed in admiration. “The most crucial point is that he managed to fuse his primordial spirit with his corporeal body. The five element stars correspond with the five viscera and six bowels, the sun and moon correspond with his eyes, and the six directions land transformed from the spirit embryo corresponds with his dantian. In this way, he unified all the techniques.”
Granny Si nodded. “This is then the most exquisite point of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Without this kind of method to fuse the primordial spirit and corporeal body, he wouldn’t have been able to unify the techniques. Mu’er, did you learn it from the gods and devils of Supreme Emperor Heaven?”
Qin Mu’s face turned dim, and he shook his head. “I comprehended this method from First Ancestor Human Emperor.”
“First Ancestor Human Emperor?” Everyone in Disabled Elderly Village was instantly full of energy, and they praised the man endlessly. “The senior indeed has remarkable abilities. This kind of cultivation method solved the huge problem that has been plaguing us for years!”
As he listened to them, Qin Mu felt even more depressed.
Butcher and Granny Si were right. The reason why his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique could become such a success was because of the fusion of the primordial spirit and corporeal body who had become as inseparable as if they were one.
And it was something which he had learned from First Ancestor Human Emperor.
He had chosen defeating First Ancestor Human Emperor to be his goal, which was why he had entered Supreme Emperor Heaven and worked so hard. He comprehended diligently and learned the strong points of the gods and devils there.
Yet he had never expected that the thing that would allow him to have a huge breakthrough would still be something from First Ancestor Human Emperor.
He wanted to defeat him, but even if they were on the same realm, it was very very difficult.
However, he had a way!
“Granny, Grandpa Butcher, this is only half the circulation path of my Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique,” Qin Mu said suddenly.
The elders were busy observing the shape of the vital qi human body in detail and learning what was useful to them. Butcher was slightly stunned when he heard Qin Mu’s words and cried out, “This is only half of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique?”
Qin Mu nodded, and the vital qi human body in front of him instantly changed. Divine treasures of the devil path appeared, and the circulation path split into two, displaying the technique of the devil path.
Everyone’s heart trembled violently; they were speechless.
Divine treasures of the devil path—this wasn’t something that humans could cultivate!
There were actually two kinds of divine treasures in Qin Mu’s body which were unified by him. The two corresponded with each other, and the vital qi in them also circulated similarly!
Blind turned his head and looked at Qin Mu. His eyes were fast as lightning, and Qin Mu didn’t hold back. He opened up his divine treasures of the devil path to let him check them out. He exhibited his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, but it wasn’t showing off. He was truly sincere about wanting to help the people of Disabled Elderly Village to comprehend his technique and break through as soon as possible, without straying into the wrong path as much as possible.
Everyone also surrounded him and examined him in detail. They studied for a long time, but even Butcher didn’t manage to gain anything.
“I can’t learn it.” Having suffered a setback Butcher shook his head, “I’m not the overlord body. You guys won’t be able to learn it either. That old fellow Village Chief was right—Mu’er is the one and only overlord body.”
Even if Qin Mu showed the methods of his techniques, they couldn’t learn anything. This was because they had no divine treasures of the devil path.
Blind examined the youth for a long time before settling his gaze full of suspicion at the willow leaf-shaped mark on the heart of Qin Mu’s brows. “Mu’er, even though your techniques are extremely exquisite, the technique inside your divine eyes seems to be incomplete.”
Qin Mu nodded and told them about how he was cut off by the devil experts when he was comprehending his divine eyes. Blind smiled and said, “I see. However, you have one more eye, so not completing the technique of the divine eyes might have been a good thing. I can help you complete the technique of your divine eyes! Give me some time, and I promise I’ll open this eye in the heart of your brows!”
He was excited and eager to get into action.
Qin Mu had always had suspicions about the eye that had suddenly appeared at the heart of his brows. “This eye might not be due to the technique. Since it had appeared so suddenly, I’m afraid there would be danger in me opening it.”
Everyone went forward and looked at the eye in the heart of his brows. Apothecary checked it carefully and shook his head. “This is a devil eye that is refined from the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure of the devil path, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. You can just open it. If Blind can’t complete the divine eyes technique, I can help you force it open.”
Everyone threw him to the side and continued to examine the vital qi human body, comprehending the marvel of it.
In a little while, they returned to the sentry post and went to comprehend by themselves, tidying up their own techniques. Qin Mu show of the circulation system of his technique had brought them greater benefits than what they had gained from observing the ruins of Without Embroiling City. It allowed them to see a shortcut to break through their bottleneck!
Granny Si’s algebra wasn’t extremely great, and her advancement was the slowest. She could only seek knowledge from Blind and the others, so everyone had gathered together to combine all their strong points and discuss various ideas with one another. Hu Ling’er had followed Deaf to learn calligraphy and painting for a time, so she had also learned algebra from Blind, in which she was quite accomplished. Because of that, she mixed among them and learned their techniques.
Chancellor Ba Shan also joined, and everyone advanced even faster.
When the sky grew bright once more, everyone finished with many benefits.
When Qin Mu was done with breakfast, he saw that Granny Si, Blind, and the rest had discussed their ideas the whole night. They were polishing the gathered strong points of everyone which they had forged into the foundation of a technique, so he didn’t disturb them and just called Hu Ling’er over to eat.
“Cult Master, I want to eat Water Element Divine Vitality Pills.” The dragon qilin bit his basin and brought it over. “I want half a bucket!”
Qin Mu was beyond overjoyed and praised him, “Fatty Dragon has really grown up. Let me give you one bucket!”
The dragon qilin was also overjoyed. When Qin Mu finished refining spirit pills, he turned around to the green bull. His eyes lit up, and he asked with a smile, “Bull Three, what pills do you eat?”
The green bull also hadn’t slept the whole night, having cultivated Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique. However, he was still full of vigor. He walked over and bowed. “Little old master, I don’t eat spirit pills. Cultivation that relies on spirit pills results only in excess fats.”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “Spirit pills can raise your cultivation quickly, and if you cultivate diligently, you can refine the excess medicinal energy in them. Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique consumes a lot of energy, so if you don’t make it up with spirit pills, you will damage your corporeal body, and it’ll wither, posing a threat to your life. You have the bloodline of the green dragon which has the wind and lightning attributes, en… I’ll prescribe you Wind Lightning Sun God Pills! Wait a moment!”
The green bull was delighted and hurriedly said, “Little cow is moved to tears. If little old master can add some fragrance of flowers, that would be even better.”
Qin Mu nodded and matched herbs to create Wind Lightning Sun God Pills. He then asked for some flowers and grass from the green bull and refined the pills. An unusual fragrance assaulted his nostrils.
The green bull tasted pill and was overjoyed. He praised Qin Mu endlessly, then immediately went to cultivate.
The dragon qilin felt his blood run cold and hurriedly finished all of the Water Element Divine Vitality Pills before going away to cultivate. But as he did so, he suddenly came to a realization. ‘That’s not right! Cult Master seems to have grabbed hold of my weakness. He first imparted Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique to the green bull and now even refined pills for him. This is forcing me to work hard! Could it be… my Human Rearing Scriptures!’
He took out Human Rearing Scriptures in a hurry and let out a sigh of relief. ‘I am too paranoid.’
Qin Mu and Hu Ling’er sat down to eat breakfast, and he took out a small booklet through which he flipped leisurely. Hu Ling’er hurriedly said, “Young master, after you finish reading it once, you must burn it. You can’t let him know that I had copied it.”
Qin Mu nodded and continued to flip through the pages with a sneer. “This Fatty Dragon, to play me like this me. Luckily I’ve discovered it early, or I would have become his medicine boy! Ling’er, don’t worry, I won’t betray you.”
Suddenly, Blind’s voice rang out full of delight. “Mu’er, I have patched all the incomplete parts of your divine eyes! Come and try to cultivate them!”
Qin Mu put down his bowl and chopsticks. He hurriedly went over, and Blind used his vital qi to exhibit the circulation path of his technique. He said with a smile, “The few of us did some research and we feel that this is the way to awaken your third eye. Look at it first and see if there’s anything missing.”
Qin Mu checked it carefully. The path of the divine eyes that Blind and the rest had completed made up for what his divine eyes were lacking. On top of that, they had even added a vital qi circulation technique for the third eye.
He calculated carefully and shook his head. “Grandpa Blind, I can’t see anything missing.”
He recorded the vital qi circulation path and instantly executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique according to it.
Everyone looked nervously at the heart of his brows, waiting for this eye to open.
Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and dragon roars reverberated from his vital qi coming to the heart of his brows. Suddenly, from the willow leaf-shaped mark, a drop of black blood flowed out.
Then, the eyelids retracted to both sides, opening the eye.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At the heart of Qin Mu’s brows, the willow leaf-shaped eye gradually opened. From the gap, dazzling light in the shape of butterfly wings leaked out.
“How pretty!” Granny Si couldn’t resist crying out in admiration. Yet even though the butterfly wing-shaped markings were gorgeous, there seemed to be something extremely terrifying hidden within them.
Butcher, Blind, and the rest came forward to check it in detail. Qin Mu was executing his technique, and the vertical eye gradually opened wider and wider. It looked like Qin Mu’s head was becoming a huge butterfly!
Of course, this butterfly had grown in front of his forehead.
Suddenly, Butcher and the rest felt terrifying pulses as though there was some terrifying monster waking up in the abyss, gradually opening its blood-red eye!
“What is that?”
Butcher, Blind, and Mute were the first to come back to their senses after releasing waves of divine might!
They had sensed a threat, and their bodies had reacted on instinct. Butcher’s speed was the fastest, and with a clear cry, his divine knife soared up and made a circle before hanging still in the air.
Mute was next, and a beam of flames rushed into the sky from the forging furnace behind him. The flaming pillar swirled furiously and scorched the air scarlet red.
Blind’s speed was slightly slower. Divine Spear Long Tuo rattled as it shook and transformed into a black dragon coiling around his body, waiting to strike while accumulating power.
Next was Granny Si who had also involuntarily released her aura. Countless stars had appeared behind her, forming Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield to fight against the terrifying pulses!
Boom!
Cripple turned and ran, creating a hundred miles distance between them. Only then did he realize something. ‘It seems to be coming from Mu’er’s body and not from some terrifying monster…’
Zhnng!
Ba Shan drew his knife and looked around in alarm while shouting, “Where’s the monster?”
He was also a great master. Even though his knife skills weren’t comparable to those of strong practitioners like Butcher, he had still created a faction of battle spells and was also extremely sensitive to the danger.
Deaf and Apothecary had blank expressions. It was especially so for Apothecary who had completely no idea what had just happened.
Deaf’s cultivation had not yet reached the god realm. He had only cultivated to the middle of Divine Bridge Realm so he hadn’t even started on the patching process. His problem was that he was intoxicated with the path of painting and paid no attention to the affairs of the world, so his reaction was somewhat slow.
Apothecary had finally broken through his Life and Death Wall two years ago, but he was still on it. He didn’t view his cultivation highly, so it rose very slowly.
Only after Qin Mu had spread out Secrets of Magpie Bridge, Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and Secrets of Divine Crossing that he began focusing on cultivation. However, he still had many women around him who delayed the advance in his cultivation.
The two of them were the slowest, but they also soon realized that something was wrong. The pulses that had suddenly went past them seemed to come from an incomparably terrifying monster that was gradually waking up. Yet the source of them was the third eye that Qin Mu was currently opening!
Everyone looked toward the heart of his brows. Light was still bursting forth from it, becoming more and more gorgeous. Within it, a black figure could be seen.
It was very tiny as though it was a baby. However, it was stepping on light and slowly walking out of the depths of Qin Mu’s third eye. As he walked, it was also continuously growing and becoming bigger. Soon, it filled up Qin Mu’s whole third eye!
“Mu’er, stop executing Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique!” Butcher shouted loudly as though he was facing a great enemy. “There’s something weird in your eye! Stop quickly!”
Yet it was already too late. The black figure had already filled up Qin Mu’s vertical eye and was about to walk out.
“I feel like I’m filled with power…” Delirious ravings came from Qin Mu’s mouth. “Power to destroy everything!”
When he said that, the elders of Disabled Elderly Village felt their blood run cold. They could hear two voices speaking at the same time!
They had overlapped while coming out from Qin Mu’s mouth.
Kacha!
The sky vibrated violently as the light coming out from the third eye distorted space. Terrifying power leaked out and caused the space to be unstable. Cracks began to appear continuously among the rumblings of thunder!
Because of the devils’ actions, the space of Supreme Emperor Heaven was not too stable to begin with, and it could easily be torn open. However, it wasn’t something that ordinary divine art practitioners could do; one needed to at least have the power of a god.
Yet the power from Qin Mu’s eye was actually causing the space in the surroundings to crumble continuously. The densely-packed cracks stretched without end!
There dozens of divine arts practitioners within the sentry post of Supreme Emperor Heaven. When they saw cracks spreading out, they fled in a hurry. The dragon qilin who was training diligently hurriedly raised his head and also jumped away when he saw a crack rushing toward him.
The crack tore apart the land on which he’d been standing moments earlier, and instantly, a long ditch that stretched for over ten miles appeared. It was still growing deeper and deeper!
The dragon qilin shuddered, and Hu Ling’er leaped onto his head. She shouted, “Fatty Dragon, run! Young master is revealing his true form!”
The dragon qilin scrambled away in a hurry, leaving world-shaking explosions behind himself. Hu Ling’er turned back to take a look and saw the green bull also escaping for his life. Behind him was the sentry post which was three hundred yards tall and covered a hectare.
The explosions were from the sentry tower.
It was distorted by the cracks in space and split into countless pieces. Each chunk of rubble was floating in a different piece of shattered space!
Soon, more explosions rang in the air as the divine arts left behind by the gods and devils in the ruins of Without Embroiling City were touched. It resulted in a chain reaction as they burst forth one after another. Fireworks bloomed in the shattered space and looked abnormally beautiful. The sight was indescribably pretty.
Hu Ling’er didn’t have the time to admire it. Her gaze was fixated on the butterfly wing-shaped light. It left her slightly disappointed. “Young master isn’t a fox spirit, but a butterfly spirit…”
Qin Mu stood on the ground that was crumbling around him non-stop, making him sink down. The same thing was happening under Butcher, Blind, and the rest until fire-red magma was beneath them!
The ruins of Without Embroiling City sank underground. Huge rocks and dilapidated walls fell into bubbling magma that burst in flames.
Everyone tried their best to stabilize themselves. Butcher, Mute, Blind, Granny Si, and Ba Shan worked together to fight against the torn space, protecting Apothecary and Deaf while Cripple just kept shuttling to and fro among the shattered space, trying to get close.
Everyone was astonished by the events.
Blind stretched his hand out to grab Divine Spear Long Tuo. The spear moved along with his body, and in an instant, he struck out with countless spear images, blocking the dangerous power in the space surrounding them. He shouted, “Butcher, help me reach him so I can seal the eye!”
Butcher grabbed his Heaven Knife and rushed to his side. “Granny, Mute, you guys protect the others!”
The two of them allied together and closed in on Qin Mu step by step. However, with the space being split apart continuously, crossing the distance between them and Qin Mu wasn’t an easy task.
The two of them tried their best to rush forward, past the strange power breaking the space around them. Butcher suddenly looked down and saw the entire Without Embroiling City sinking into the magma. There was only a sea of fire below them.
Incomparably strange devil qi suddenly poured out from it. The devil qi was different from the one in the devil territory of Supreme Emperor Heaven. That one was only a kind of spirit qi that was contaminated by devil nature while the devil qi from the sea of fire was more primordial, ancient.
It was Youdu devil qi!
It was obvious that the monster in Qin Mu’s body had awakened and torn the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead, connecting reality to Youdu!
The two elders slowly closed in on Qin Mu until they were only three to six yards away. However, this distance seemed incomparably far, and the two of them pushed through only with extreme difficulty. Butcher’s knife and Blind’s spear were both fixed in the air by a strong power which they couldn’t fight!
Their corporeal bodies creaked from the power pressing on them from all directions. Blind’s body became even smaller, and Butcher also became much shorter.
The two of them nearly became round as balls. Butcher roused all his strength to pave the way for Blind, and blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth. Blind used that moment to with stab with Divine Spear Long Tuo toward the third eye of Qin Mu with trembling hands.
He was a formation expert and his art of sealing was extremely high. However, hs spear could not touch the heart of Qin Mu’s brows.
“Mu’er, wake up!”
Blind gritted his teeth and pushed Divine Spear Long Tuo forward with difficulty. The skin on both of his hands had started to rip, and droplets of blood seeped out from the ripped skin that was being vaporized.
“Butcher, I can’t hold on any longer…” A mouthful of blood poured out from Blind’s throat as he spoke with difficulty.
The dragon head of Divine Spear Long Tuo also let out a cry. “My lord, I also can’t hold on much longer…”
The tip of the spear had already started to break down, and Blind’s hands were shaking bad. The flesh and blood on his arms were also falling apart.
Right then, Qin Mu raised his palm and grabbed the jade pendant on his chest, tugging it off.
“Don’t throw…” Blind said in a soft voice with difficulty.
Qin Mu’s expression was indifferent. He opened his fingers and let the jade pendant fall into the sea of fire below.
Despair filled everyone’s hearts. Cripple traveled rapidly through space to grab the jade pendant, but it was already too late.
At that moment, magma suddenly churned as two sharp horns with nine bends rose from it to reveal a majestic god with the head of a bull and the eyes of a tiger.
Cripple hurriedly avoided him while crying out, “Earth Count!”
“Earth Count, you are ruining my plans again!” Qin Mu said with anger.
Earth Count grabbed the jade pendant and sent it up with a pointed finger. The jade pendant touched the heart of Qin Mu’s brows and sealed the devil eye.
The pendant vanished then, having entered Qin Mu’s third eye.
The abnormalities in the surroundings suddenly stopped, and the torn space returned back to normal. The magma Earth Count’s body crumbled, falling back into the boiling magma.
Qin Mu also fell, and Blind hurriedly threw Divine Spear Long Tuo. It swam while changing into the skeletal frame of a black dragon to catch the youth. It then soared into the sky and landed outside the ruins of Without Embroiling City.
Blind spat out a mouth of blood while Butcher, Granny Si, and the rest took in a deep breath before coming out from the ruins and landing on the ground.
Qin Mu had fainted with his third eye shut. Cripple ran over in a hurry and looked at the fainted youth with lingering fear.
“The thing in his eye, it’s still there? Why don’t we open his eyelid to check…”
Everyone glowered at Cripple, and he hurriedly shut up.
Granny Si muttered to herself for a moment before saying, “Even though that weird thing in the eye was sealed by Earth Count, we still have to make sure…”
She stretched out her trembling hand to open up the eyelid of the third eye. Yet before she could reach it, it opened up by itself.
Astonished, Granny Si fell back, while Qin Mu sat up. He looked at her with bewilderment. “Granny Si, why are you guys all crowding around me?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Butcher, Blind, and Mute crowded up to look at his eyes with bright and emotion-filled gazes. They observed his third eye without blinking.
Suddenly, they heard a loud boom and saw Cripple having run a hundred miles away. When he turned back and saw Butcher and the rest still surrounding Qin Mu, even he who usually had an astonishingly thick skin couldn’t help blushing in shame and running back.
Everyone knew he was timid yet they didn’t make fun of him. Instead, they were all focused on examining Qin Mu’s eyes.
His eyeball rolled around, and he muttered, “Granny, grandpas, what are you guys looking at?”
Granny Si looked at his vertical eye with extreme attention, but she didn’t discover any abnormalities within it. She could only see that the pupil had a butterfly pattern. The vein lines were also different, their structure like that of butterfly wings. Furthermore, they were moving and changing continuously.
“Mu’er, do you really not remember what happened just now?” Granny Si asked.
Qin Mu pondered over it with some bitterness, then his eyes suddenly lit up. “I remember!”
Everyone couldn’t help becoming nervous when the youth began speaking again with a smile. “I executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. When I circulated to the third eye according to the divine eye technique that Grandpa Blind had completed, I felt a wave of boundless power flooding through me as though I was omnipotent. Then…”
He scrunched his brows and sank back into deep thoughts. There was blankness in place of what had happened after. It was as though he had lost a part of his memories.
This wasn’t the first time it had happened. In Fengdu, when King Yama had unsealed his jade pendant, it had happened once. Afterward, when Fu Riluo had unsealed his jade pendant, it had happened again.
This time was unrelated to the jade pendant, yet he had lost some memory as well.
“Jade pendant… Where’s my jade pendant?”
Qin Mu suddenly felt his scalp crawl, and he hurriedly stood up. He searched his body, his limbs going cold. In a trembling voice, he said, “My family heirloom is gone… Bah, it’s not a family heirloom. The jade pendant crafted by Earth Count to suppress my devil nature is gone! Granny, Grandpa Blind, have you guys seen my jade pendant… Grandpa Cripple, you must be the one who took it! Stop playing or a curse will come! Return it to me quickly!”
Cripple shook his head. “I didn’t steal your jade pendant, but the curse has indeed come.”
Qin Mu trembled violently, and he froze in a daze. Only now did he notice a huge pit in front of him.
Where Without Embroiling City had once stood, there was an incomparably huge abyss. Boiling magma covered the ground there.
The sea of fire was terrifyingly vast.
“The power of this curse had to have been terrifying. It’s a hundred times worse when I had fallen into Fu Riluo’s grasp…” Qin Mu muttered.
“Mu’er, Earth Count had shown up and placed your jade pendant in your third eye,” Granny Si said while walking over. “You should get your bearings first. Let us go over there to discuss some matters.”
Qin Mu nodded with a blank expression.
Granny Si took a glance at Blind who was instantly alerted. He was about to flee, but Butcher and Mute squeezed him between themselves. One grabbed his left arm and the other his right.
“What are you guys doing?” Blind was brought away by them without his feet even touching the ground. He cried out, “We are all from the same village, so what do you guys want to do? Leave some face for me! Mu’er, Mu’er…”
Butcher and Mute brought him away with faces full of smiles. Qin Mu turned around and wanted to ask what was happening, but Granny Si smiled gently at him. “Mu’er, we’re going to discuss some things. You don’t have to follow, just rest up for now. Cripple, Deaf, let’s go. Ba Shan, follow us as well.”
Everyone left.
“Don’t go overboard, no need to be rough. We meet regularly, and you all took part in creating the technique for the divine eyes. When I taught it to Qin Mu, you guys were all on the side, nodding in approval… You guys really beat me… Cripple, you dare to beat me? Ba Shan, I’m your senior uncle, our relationship is the best… You guys are biased! Qin Mu caused the trouble, so why don’t you guys beat him? Mu’er, Mu’er, save me!”
Feeling suspicious, Qin Mu took out a mirror to examine the eye in the heart of his brows. It looked normal; he couldn’t see anything special about it.
‘What exactly is the use of this eye?’ he wondered.
After a moment, everyone returned to the side of the abyss satisfied. Blind’s face was bruised and his clothes were disheveled.
Qin Mu turned his head back and said in astonishment and delight. “Granny Si, I executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique just now and finally discover the secret of this third eye!”
The hair on Granny Si and the rest’s bodies stood up on ends. They were about to escape, but when Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and nothing terrifying happened, they let out sighs of relief, secretly ashamed.
Qin Mu was full of excitement as he showed them what he’d noticed. “When I execute this vertical eye I can see the boundless Youdu, what is below everyone’s Life and Death Realm. I think I can use this eye to tear the Youdu of the Life and Death Realm to snatch my opponents’ life away!”
Butcher gave a cough and said, “Mu’er, killing people with a stare isn’t too good, is it? It’s damaging to the natural order of things and is harmful to the secret virtue. It’s still better to slay them with a knife. This eye of yours, it’s best not to use it.”
Granny Si, Blind, and the rest nodded repeatedly. Cripple then said, “If you could stab them in the back, it would be even better than staring them to death with your third eye.”
Qin Mu was puzzled. “Isn’t it the same?”
“Of course it isn’t the same. If you use this eye, I’m afraid—” Ba Shan said in his loud voice.
Butcher placed his knife on Chancellor Ba Shan’s neck with a solemn face, and he immediately shut his mouth.
Qin Mu looked at them suspiciously.
…
“Fu Riluo, do you feel it?” Lu Li sensed the terrifying energy coming from Qin Mu’s third eye which caused the space to distort. She then said in a low voice, “This is the power of the son of Youdu! I can assist you in coming to rule Supreme Emperor Heaven, but you need to assist me in getting him! If I get my hands on him, what kind of power will I have?”
Fu Riluo looked in the direction of Without Embroiling City with a grave expression. He could also feel the terrifying pulses that burst forth from Qin Mu when he lost control. “Huo Chaluo is dead. Could it be related to him? Tian Fenggou, don’t disappoint me…”
Away from them, devil gods from Youdu were leading a Youdu monster army toward Li City. When Qin Mu lost control, the bodies of the devil ancestors had frozen. They looked in the direction from which Qin Mu’s aura was coming in fear.
The monster army of Youdu also started rioting. They were extremely terrified and didn’t dare to move forward. Instead, they all turned to flood back, trampling each other.
In an instant, the Youdu monsters were everywhere, and some monsters disliked their comrades for running slow. They laid their weapons on them, and the devil army erupted with chaos!
On top of that, the devil ancestors turned back to flee, running away in all directions. They wished for nothing more than to return to the depths of the darkness in Youdu.
They held deep fear for Qin Mu who’d lost control. Even though they were muddle-headed and didn’t have much intelligence, they could never forget the large baby that had massacred and eaten their comrades!
Suddenly, Lu Li screamed loudly, and ineffably strange Youdu language came from her mouth. The devil ancestors calmed down and stopped running away. They restrained the Youdu monsters and killed all the deserters.
Not much later, the magma clone of Earth Count appeared and sealed Qin Mu. Once the terrifying aura vanished, the Youdu monsters stopped fleeing in all directions. They reorganized the army and continued to head east.
…
In the world of the devils, Saint Woodcutter and twenty-five gods from Great Ruins raised their heads to look at the sky. They could sense the abnormal movements coming from Supreme Emperor Heaven even in Luofu Heaven where they were staying right then.
“It’s the devil nature suppressed by the jade pendant that has erupted.” Saint Woodcutter let out a shaky breath and said in a low voice, “Luckily I didn’t undo the seal on the jade pendant directly. I heard he was born in Youdu and knew something was wrong…”
“Who is the one that Heavenly Teacher is talking about?” one god asked..
Saint Woodcutter felt a slight headache. “My little disciple… Let’s not talk about him and continue.”
The twenty-five gods became busy again, forging huge, pyramid-shaped sacrificial altars in Luofu Heaven.
…
In Li City, Brilliance Injured City, and the rest of the places, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, True God Pang Yu, and the rest of the gods could also sense the terrifying pulses. They flew into the air and looked in the direction from which they came in astonishment.
“Looks like the direction of Without Embroiling City! It’s at the sentry post!” God Sang Ye cried out. “Crap! Cult Master Qin and those strange Dao friends are still there!”
At the same time, light flashed in Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. A youth and a three-legged god with wings walked out, and they immediately sensed the out-of-control, violent aura. Astonishment appeared on their faces.
“Why did that Qin Mu lose control now? If he starts to massacre the people here, it won’t be easy to lure him into Eternal Peace…” Young Master Qin’s gaze flickered, but soon Qin Mu’s violent aura vanished, and he let out a sigh of relief. He smiled and said, “That’s right, good boy.”
Suddenly, Sun Sovereign cried out, “Young master, I can sense my hand!”
He raised his right arm which was missing a hand!
“That Heaven Knife that chopped off my right hand is in Supreme Emperor Heaven! He is actually not dead yet!” Sun Sovereign’s expression changed slightly, and he sneered, “I cut him in two, and he still survived!”
…
Beside the abyss of Without Embroiling City, Butcher’s heart stirred slightly, and he clutched his taotie sack. It was slightly smaller than Qin Mu’s and not as exquisite, but it could store a lot of items inside.
In his taotie sack, a hand bone was bouncing up and down continuously as though it wanted to fly out and return to its owner.
On Butcher’s back, Heaven Knife vibrated and let out a cry.
“I’m leaving,” Butcher said loudly while tightening his clothes. “One of my old friends has arrived. It’s time for me to settle this grudge once and for all. Ba Shan, don’t follow me. Stay right here.”
Chancellor Ba Shan’s tiger eyes lighted up and he sneered. “Teacher, you’re still thinking of leaving me behind? It’s that god that cut you at the waist, right? Back then, you fell in shame and crawled away with your upper body into Great Ruins. You made me look for you for so long while crying your name! If you want to meet him alone, bring me so I can at least pick your corpse for you! Even if you get cut up again, I want to see you take your last breath before giving up.”
Butcher’s hand trembled, and he resisted the urge to chop his own disciple into half.
“Grandpa Butcher, your body is fine while your old friend is missing a hand, right? So you aren’t the one at a disadvantage, he is. Even if you don’t go look for him, he himself will come to find you. Why then waste the energy looking for him instead of just staying here and waiting for him to come?” Qin Mu suggested in a hurry.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The guards guarding Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge saw Young Master Qi and Sun Sovereign. Even though they were astonished at how strong Sun Sovereign was, they didn’t question him as there were numerous gods in Eternal Peace and they frequently came to Supreme Emperor Heaven to learn.
The gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven had abilities much more powerful than the gods of Eternal Peace; they were just lacking in algebra and divine arts. A few of them had taken the chance of the peaceful moment to run to Eternal Peace to learn algebra and divine arts.
“This senior, please register your name.” A guard held a brush while walking forward. He bowed upon coming close to them.
Sun Sovereign picked up the brush and wrote down his name on the register. He then looked at Young Master Qi with inquiry. “Write it down,” Young Master Qi said indifferently.
Sun Sovereign acknowledged and wrote down the youth’s name on the register before giving back the brush and leaving.
‘Strange, this god seemed to be listening to the orders of that young master. The youth doesn’t seem to have strong abilities, so how did he making a god follow him?’
Astonished, the guard lowered his head to take a look. He saw ‘Young Master Qi Jiuyi’ written on the register.
Everyone was bewildered. “What exactly is the background of this Qi Jiuyi?”
…
Beside the sea of fire in Without Embroiling City’s abyss, the dragon qilin and the green bull stared at each other while using all the time they had to cultivate. The two huge beasts knew that they were each other’s nemesis. The green bull was afraid of the dragon qilin’s qilin bead, and the dragon qilin knew the green bull’s battle experience and endurance was much better than his, so he cultivated diligently.
The green bull knew that the damned fatty dragon qilin was a schemer and wanted to get rid of him since a long time ago. When he saw the dragon qilin cultivating diligently and spitting out a dragon bead that was growing bigger and bigger, he felt a growing danger, so he also worked much harder.
The contest between the two huge beasts made Qin Mu very happy.
Suddenly, a rumble of thunder came from his body as he broke through his Six Direction Wall of the divine treasures of the devil path. This made his vital qi improve by quite a bit.
He executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, which was separated into god and devil parts. The god vitality and the devil vitality flowed along the circulation paths that were corresponding to each other. However, because the Seven Stars Divine Treasure of the devil path wasn’t yet open, they didn’t match completely when he operated his technique.
If they did, it would be much easier for him to execute Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Now, his devil vitality had to stop at Six Directions Divine Treasure and wait for the god vitality to circulate through Seven Stars Divine Treasure before continuing to complete a cycle of circulation.
Because of that, there was some loss of time. But that wasn’t all. Not only was it easy to get distracted, his advancement could also be affected since he couldn’t focus his energy on breaking into Celestial Being Realm.
‘After opening the Seven Stars Divine Treasure of the devil path, I’ll still need to establish access between Seven Stars and Six Directions. Only then would my cultivation stabilize and have the chance to break into Celestial Being Realm.’
Vital qi continuously circulated in his body and his third eye which had been sealed by Mute. Granny Si had said that it was for his own good. Even though the eye was sealed, Qin Mu didn’t feel any abnormalities. His vital qi could still enter it and circulate according to the path, raising the eye’s strength.
Mute had used a golden willow leaf, which he required a lot of time to forge, to seal his third eye. Blind, Granny Si, Butcher, Deaf, and the rest had helped on the side, forging all the necessary parts it with great effort. Blind had personally designed a sealing formation, and everyone had had to imprint their magic power on the tiny golden willow leaf for it to be finished.
Granny Si personally pasted the golden willow leaf on the heart of Qin Mu’s brows. The elders of Disabled Elderly Village instructed and warned him to never take the golden willow leaf down unless he was in extreme danger.
Numerous exquisite and detailed vein lines appeared on the golden willow leaf, making it look very pretty. Hu Ling’er saw it and was very envious. She made noises about wanting to have a willow leaf too.
Blind, Deaf, and the rest pampered her, so they talked Mute into forging another golden willow leaf, but it was without a seal this time. Instead, Blind and Deaf imprinted divine eyes and a world inside the painting onto it. The incomparably complicated formation was then imprinted on the willow leaf.
Deaf pasted it on Hu Ling’er’s forehead, and she was unexplainably excited. She would activate it from time to time, and a beam of light would shoot out from the heart of her brows, slicing open mountain rocks and creating huge pits on the ground.
Hu Ling’er had learned spells from Fox Immortal of the Five Immortals so her cultivation wasn’t weak. Fox Immortal was a Dao friend of the now ‘deceased’ Village Chief, and she was in charge of the demon race of Eternal Peace Empire. Qin Mu had invited her a few times to give lessons for scholars of Heavenly Saint Cult, so their relationship was very good.
Granny Si, Butcher and the rest had tidied up the technique suitable for their cultivation. They discussed the vital qi circulation path inside the human body and constructed a vital qi human body that had gathered the strong points of everyone.
However, their main areas of cultivation were different, so everyone made some adjustment on the foundation to suit themselves more.
Qin Mu asked Granny Si for vital qi circulation diagram of the human body they had constructed and put it away with utmost care.
“Mu’er, you already have a better technique so why do you still want to keep our technique?” Granny Si was rather puzzled.
“Granny, you guys have done a great deed. This vital qi circulation diagram of the human body that you guys constructed could be said to be a kind of technique that can train all aspects of the corporeal body and primordial spirit,” Qin Mu said righteously.
“Other people will find it hard to learn my technique; if one isn’t the overlord body, they wouldn’t be able to learn it so it’s hard to pass down. I feel that this technique which has gathered the strong points of everyone in Disabled Elderly Village is very simple to cultivate, so we can share it with other cultivators. I want this technique to be passed down for generations, so maybe in the future, all of the gods in Eternal Peace will be your disciples and successors!”
Granny Si was stunned. She said with a smile, “We didn’t think that much.”
Qin Mu was unexplainably agitated in his heart. When he first constructed the vital qi circulation path of the human body, he didn’t think of it much. In his state of comprehension, he had only considered constructing a set of techniques that were most suitable for him, so he had entered the realm of path with his technique.
Later, he had passed it to Granny Si, Mute, Butcher, and the rest, and they hadn’t thought much of it either. They had only wanted to gather everyone’s strong points to make up for what they were lacking so they could have the aptitude of a true god.
Yet such an unintentional action had created a technique that could train all aspects of the corporeal body and all aspects of the primordial spirit.
This was Eternal Peace’s first technique on the true god level that could be passed down and spread far and wide!
This achievement and virtue could be said to be immeasurable!
Granny Si and the rest might not realize it, but Qin Mu did.
Once this technique was spread, most of the gods in the future within Eternal Peace Empire would be the disciples of Granny Si, Butcher, and the rest. It could be said that they would have students all over the world!
Qin Mu looked around and saw that Without Embroiling City had indeed suffered from a disaster which had turned it into a huge abyss of fire. ‘What are we supposed to say to God Sang Ye? He asked us to take care of the sentry post for a few days’ time before he would return. Now, however, Without Embroiling City is gone, much less the sentry post. Should we rebuild it…’
Blind’s body suddenly trembled slightly, and his closed eyes ‘looked’ toward the west as he said solemnly, “The devils are currently advancing their army over here. The vanguard is already not far from this place!”
Qin Mu hurriedly looked to the west where he could see mountains and devil qi all around. His gaze could only cover a few hundred miles. He couldn’t see any devil army.
Granny Si and the rest took a look, and they also could only see devil qi moving about. They couldn’t see what Blind had mentioned.
“The vanguard of the devil race is still five thousand miles away from here.” Blind opened his eyes and said solemnly, “Your divine eyes still haven’t reached perfection, so your divine mind eyes have yet to be cultivated and you can’t see that far.”
Qin Mu knew that Blind’s divine mind eyes were extremely powerful, so they could see what divine eyes couldn’t, but he’d never thought that he could actually see things that were five thousand miles away.
“The vanguard consists of elites, countless devil monsters. Their speed is fast and their abilities are powerful!” Blind said quickly upon closing his eyes again. “There are also numerous devil gods supervising the army! They are very terrifying and have noticed me watching them. They are currently investigating the source of the disturbance! Quickly, inform Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor or we won’t have time to react!”
“I will use Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly to inform Saintess Xiang and the rest in Li City!” Qin Mu immediately said. His primordial spirit projected from his body as he left to contact Si Yunxiang, Ling Yuxiu, and the rest.
Five thousand miles away, numerous incomparably tall devil ancestors stretched their bodies, and beams of surging flames burst from their eyes as they searched for the source of the gaze they’d sensed.
Blind had used the divine arts of divine mind eyes to ‘look’ at them, and they had sensed an enemy spying on them with their acute perception. However, they couldn’t find this spy, so the devil gods roared in anger. They hurried the Youdu monsters to flood across the mountains, heading east.
Blind continued to spy while speaking solemnly, “The number of devil gods isn’t small, and their abilities are all very powerful. We have no place to base here, so we have to leave as fast as possible! Their speed is fast!”
Apothecary shook his head. “But the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven and Eternal Peace are all training in the surroundings. We may be able to leave, but they can’t. We can leave the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven to take care of themselves, but most of the divine arts practitioner of Eternal Peace are scholars of the college and the academies. If they all die here, we will probably lose half of the elites of the younger generation!”
Chancellor Ba Shan frowned. “If we allowed the devil army to rush over, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor won’t have time to organize the army and will be caught off guard. We need to help him and stall for some time!”
Qin Mu called back his primordial spirit and said solemnly, “We have a base! It’s none other than this abyss of Without Embroiling City!”
Butcher laughed. “That’s right, it’s right here. We’ll block those devil brats!”
“Teacher, how would we do that?” Chancellor Ba Shan asked.
Everyone suddenly turned their heads to look at Deaf.
“Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor once said that there was a person who could rival an army of a million. He called him Art Saint and constructed Pavilion of Art Saint to worship that person!” Butcher said solemnly.
His gaze flickered and landed on Deaf. “This person is unrivaled in both calligraphy and painting, and he once killed an army of a hundred thousand people in Eternal Peace. Now, Heavenly Painting Crown Prince, how have your abilities improved since back then?”
Deaf took out his brush and gave it a gentle shake. The brush became as large as a beam and he said calmly, “Using a brush to draw mountains and rivers, to create a world and gods, can I do it?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Can!” Granny Si and the rest shouted in unison.
Deaf grabbed toward the abyss of Without Embroiling City, and his magic power poured out. A pillar of magma rushed into the sky. Deaf used the magma as ink and the land as paper, twisting and turning his brush to paint on the ground.
He used the tail of a fire wolf that had cultivated to near the god realm as the hair of the drawing brush and a god’s bone he had found in a ruin in Great Ruins as the handle. Qin Mu had frequently played with it when he was young and always got smacked on the hand by Deaf when he found out.
Fire wolf’s tail could not be damaged even when bathed in fire, and the god’s bone allowed him to release his power as he liked. He could write to his heart’s content!
Deaf was always cultured and refined, and sometimes even slightly inflexible. He had an extraordinary bearing when he was rich and seemed like a prince roaming the land for pleasures. Yet when he was poor and in dire straits, he didn’t dare to give a shout but rather squatted in a corner of some street to sell his paintings.
Now, as he held onto his brush, the tip of it suddenly become wild, and he also suddenly became wild. He had the unique spirit of a scholar that was full of vim, a unique deranged and unrestrained side to him!
“Deaf, let me assist you!”
Heroism couldn’t help rising inside of Butcher when he saw the tip of that brush painting a blazing picture in the fire. With a wave of his knife, he leveled the land so that Deaf could paint to his heart’s content.
With his vital qi as a pillar, Butcher stirred the magma continuously so it wouldn’t solidify into rock. While doing so, he recited, “One’s writing brush moves like a dragon or snake, and poetry pours out like a river, achieving character and skill at a prime age! Reporting to the main hall of the emperor, personally selecting and crowning an ensemble of heroes. Who doesn’t want to take the head of the dragon, leading straight to riches and extraordinary meritorious achievements?
“Contrary to expectations, creating something big is attaining a good reputation! Former memory, place of worship, Heavenly Painting Country then, Without Embroiling City now. The white-haired and green clothed sigh, creating a gate for visitors once more. Carefully gifting a book of poetry, relying on the immortal wind, blowing to the ocean!
“Returning to the land, with magnificent words, becoming an old scholar!”
His passion for poetry erupted in a poem with a different kind of heroic feeling that described Deaf’s life. From Heavenly Painting Crown Prince whose skills were outstanding and who had all the books in the world, he’d went to become someone with a ruined country whose people were dead. He fell into dire straits and had to sell paintings to survive. The poem not only made people feel angry, but also held some sorrow of one growing old.
“Aba!”
Mute stuck his thumb up and a loud explosion rumbled in his dantian. It sounded like a huge sun blazing, and the furnace behind him erupted like a volcano, pouring fire energy at the magma.
Intense fire blazed, and Butcher used his vital qi as a rod to stir the magma. The light of the flame shone on his face and chest, roasting his skin red.
Deaf laughed loudly as though he was drunk and let himself loose. He stumbled around, and his huge brush started to have less and less of a fixed path. It moved like a dragon and a phoenix in flight, like a dragonfly lightly touching the water, like a baby swallow learning to fly, and like an old bull plowing the land.
Behind him, his primordial spirit appeared and raised his brush to paint along with him. He poured all of his meticulous care when writing essays and painting mountains and rivers so that it would unfold on a magnificent scale.
On the side, Qin Mu, Chancellor Ba Shan, Granny Si, and the rest were all stunned.
They had never thought that the solemn and docile Deaf would actually have such a wild and unrestrained side to him.
With magma as ink and the land as paper, he covered a dozen fields of land in flames in just a short time. The painting shrouded in flames was a dazzling sight to behold.
Who would have thought that an old scholar would have such unrestrained heroism?
Deaf drew non-stop, painting the heaven and earth. The sky was white and the land was green. He drew majestic mountains and gods in all kinds of poses, without any two being the same. He drew countless soldiers who looked stern and fierce. They had iron-like muscles and sharp, bright knives and swords.
He painted a battlefield and countless athletic bodies that were mid-leap. Qin Mu and the rest were certain that the gods and the fierce army in the painting wanted to jump out!
The explosive force of the figures’ muscles with which they were swinging their knives, thunder and lightning that was about to burst forth from the cloud layer, the heavy rain that was about to fall, the gales that came blowing, the tornadoes that were wreaking havoc, the mountains that were crumbling, and the boiling sea were extremely real!
Deaf was drawing a vast world and bringing it into reality!
Butcher’s poem had caused his inspiration to explode, and it poured out of him. The awakened heroism and power of creation in his chest made him sink into a kind of crazy creation. He spoke without restraint, indulging in his own fantasy.
After some time, Blind said nervously, “The army of the devils is almost here! They’re some hundred miles away from here!”
Deaf didn’t listen and continued to paint.
Blind frowned and said, “Eighty miles!”
Qin Mu raised his head to look and saw the pitch black devil qi there rolling around there like a black fog. Formation markings opened in his eyes, and his heart trembled violently. He saw countless huge devil monsters passing by mountains like a flood. As they ran, they swung all kinds of weird spirit weapons while screaming all the way.
Their clothes were tattered and did little to cover their bodies. They didn’t look like devils of Luofu Heaven but like people escaping for their lives.
They had huge bodies and ran as if they were flying. They were in all kinds of strange shapes as if they had been pieced together from different lifeforms. Their muscles and organs were all deformed, and they were much scarier than the devils.
Some monsters had heads of all kinds of creatures, and their arms were formed from countless arms twisted together. Some of the monsters were only white bones, somehow formed from skeletal frames. There were some who had eyeballs of all sizes on their faces and some who were like centipedes with countless legs.
Their weapons were extremely primitive—big bone clubs with flesh on them. Their eyes sparkled with bloodlust and they destroyed everything in their way.
“These aren’t devils but monsters from Youdu!”
Qin Mu suppressed the trembling of his heart. Rushing toward them were monsters born from wandering souls in Youdu that had absorbed the devil qi and devil nature!
Youdu wasn’t fully controlled by Earth Count, and Qin Mu had once roamed through it. Even though the time hadn’t been long, he’d noticed that Earth Count didn’t put much importance on power.
What Earth Count cared about the most were rules—Youdu’s rules.
As long as one didn’t break Youdu’s rule, he would rarely interfere with the lifeforms in his territory.
The Youdu monsters were the result of Earth Count not caring.
Suddenly, incomparably thick beams of devil light brought black-colored flames from the back of the devil army. Pillars of fire swept in front of the devil army, plowing through the ground, melting the mountains, vaporizing the river, and setting ablaze the trees!
Qin Mu’s gaze passed by the monsters and focused on the source of the devil light. Looking at the army behind, he saw devil gods that were like blazing volcanoes with tall and sturdy bodies. They walked very slowly, but their steps were so large that one required Youdu monster to sprint for quite a long time to cover it.
“They are devil gods born from evil thoughts and devil nature in Youdu, the old ancestors of the devil race!”
Qin Mu’s mind was in disorder. Suddenly, he saw quite a number of divine arts practitioners escaping in a hurry. They obviously had been training and didn’t know that the army of Youdu monsters was coming. When they noticed, it was already too late.
Twang!
A pillar of black flames plowed past them, and over ten divine arts practitioners were vaporized immediately, leaving no corpse behind. The other divine arts practitioners dodged in a hurry and avoided the gaze of the devil god by a hair’s breadth. But they were flooded by the monster army the next moment.
The divine arts practitioners couldn’t raise any waves and vanished without a trace.
“Forty miles!” Blind said nervously in a loud voice. “Deaf, are you done? Thirty miles! Prepare for battle!”
Just as he finished speaking, Deaf suddenly put away his brush and gave a heavy tap to his painting, bringing it to life. Flames rushed across the huge painting of a hundred fields.
With his brush as a spear, Deaf gave a heavy flick, and the painting suddenly stood upright. It then gave off an indescribable aura.
The painting fused with heaven and earth, vanishing from in front of their faces.
Rumble, rumble.
Thunder came from the sky, and a bolt of lightning jolted everyone. They raised their heads up and saw dark clouds covering the sky. Flames surged within them, and they were intense beyond imagination.
The area which those dark clouds with flowing flames covered grew greater and greater. Suddenly, a gale rose, and an incomparably thick tornado descended from the sky. There was one, two, three…
In an instant, countless flame tornadoes, like the dragon of Heaven Duke, hung down their tails and tore apart the land! They set everything ablaze while rushing forward furiously!
Whoosh!
It started pouring, but it wasn’t rainwater that was falling down but magma. Chunks of lava fell from the sky like rain droplets and crashed into the Youdu monster army, creating quite a chaos among the ranks.
Countless tornadoes rushed in after, and bodies twisted out of shape littered the ground. They tumbled around and were brought into the air before being shredded by the violent winds. Either that or they were burned by the lightning that fell from the sky.
Suddenly, gods led thousands of soldiers and cavalries down from the clouds, descending on the army on the ground. The slaughter was a racket deafening to the ears.
The gods with their soldiers were an army of a million, and they rushed down to collide with the Youdu monster army. Countless limbs flew into the air, creating a magnificent sight of carnage.
Qin Mu, Blind, and the rest looked at it with blank expressions. They didn’t even need to join in the battle or risk their lives. The vanguard of the devil race was actually blocked just like that.
By one person!
Deaf continued to draw freely. Gods and soldiers continued to jump out from under his brush and rush into the battlefield. Not one of them was afraid of death. The wind, rain, lightning, and thunder struck without restraint, but they never hit the army of the gods. They only landed on the army of the devils.
The army of gods belonged to the painting, so the wind, rain, lightning, and thunder in the painting were unrelated to them.
‘Could these Youdu monsters have rushed into Grandpa Deaf’s world in the painting?”
Qin Mu’s heart suddenly moved when he thought of a possibility. Deaf’s painting definitely had to have a boundary, but where did it lie?
He looked around, but couldn’t see any boundary marking.
Deaf’s painting path was to be highly revered. It was so profound that Qin Mu had to put his heart into learning once again!
‘Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said that Grandpa Deaf could fight against a million bold warriors by himself and his words weren’t just empty talk!
‘However, this was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s evaluation of him after Heavenly Painting Country was wiped out and the country had turned into eighteen levels of hell.’
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The army of a million rushed over and clashed with the Youdu monster army. In an instant, blood and flesh flew into the sky in the intense battles The devils only knew how to kill and held to no battle formations. They relied on their own abilities to fight and paid no attention to their comrades, so their side suffered countless casualties.
A place of slaughter was born dozens of miles in front of Without Embroiling City. Countless soldiers from Deaf’s world in the painting were killed. Upon death, they turned into rocks. They left no corpses.
However, there were countless soldiers from the army of gods rushing out, replacing those who’d fallen. They continued to slaughter with their endless numbers!
There seemed to be a Count of Wind controlling the air currents in the sky, and he was assisted by Master of Rain, God of Thunder, and Goddess of Lightning which all attacked the Youdu monster army.
The vanguard was blocked, and the roars of devil ancestors who were as big as mountains rang in the air. They exerted all of their strength to rush into the battlefield. Where their feet passed, everyone—no matter if they were friends or foes—was blown into the sky by their incomparably thick legs which shattered their bones!
The devil ancestors rushed into the battlefield and swept all those before them like dead branches which broke in midair.
Twang.
The gazes of the devil ancestors filled with surging devil flames which swept across the army of the gods. The black-colored flame pillars swirled furiously and burned everything they passed into ashes. Even the gods drawn by Deaf couldn’t escape the terrifying divine art!
The devil ancestors’ corporeal bodies were natural weapons of destruction when they swung their huge weapons. They had no match!
‘The gods in Deaf’s painting cannot hold back these devil ancestors!’
Butcher blazed with fighting spirit and gripped his huge knife. With his lightning-like gaze, he said solemnly, “It’s our turn! Ba Shan, as my disciple, let me see if you have improved over the years!”
Ba Shan laughed loudly and called his green bull over. He jumped onto its back and shouted, “Teacher, let me go with you and show you my progress!”
Divine Spear Long Tuo transformed into a black dragon, and Blind stretched his hand to grab it. With a strong jolt, the black dragon spear became straight and gave off a low, excited growl.
Great Overarching Heavenly Stars appeared behind Granny Si, and the flames of the furnace behind Mute’s back also rushed into the sky. Cripple hesitated for a moment before saying in a troubled voice, “I don’t have a divine weapon I can use, so I won’t be going…”
Apothecary jumped onto Cripple’s back and said with a smile, “I’m your divine weapon. Let us wreak havoc!”
Cripple’s old face turned black, and he said resentfully, “Medicine man, aren’t you afraid your women will all become widows?”
“Bah! Old man’s words carry no harm. Great luck great profit!”
From the basket on Apothecary’s back, countless insects climbed out and grew in the wind. They transformed into behemoths that either ran on the land or flew in the sky. Their toxins were so great that they formed clouds in the sky.
“Let us go hunt the devil ancestors!” Butcher rushed into the battlefield first while shouting. “Mu’er, look after Deaf. If you see the situation turning bad, just pick him up and run!”
Qin Mu acknowledged it and looked at Chancellor Ba Shan riding a huge green cow into the world in the painting. He was followed by Granny Si, Mute, Blind, and the rest. Together, they attacked the devil ancestors.
The green bull leaped as though it was flying; even with its huge body, it was incomparably nimble. When he stepped on the huge monsters, his hooves smashed their heads into smithereens while avoiding their attacks. It was evident that with his speed and quick wits, he had excess strength in this situation and could move about as he wished.
Qin Mu looked at the dragon qilin beside him, also wanting to ride into battle to fight the monsters. But after some thought, he held himself back.
‘Fatty Dragon’s speed is good, but his endurance isn’t. His reaction speed isn’t as fast as the green bull’s, and if he rushes in, I will die very fast. Fatty Dragon still lacks training…’
He took out teleportation flags, and with a wave of his hand, he planted them around Deaf. He led the dragon qilin and Hu Ling’er into the area surrounded by the flags as well so they could leave anytime.
Behind the army of Youdu monsters, devil gods led the army of devils in orderly ranks. It was evident that the military management was stern; they weren’t a ragtag bunch like the Youdu monsters.
They were relying on those creatures as the vanguard to scatter Li City’s defenses. They would then take the chance during the chaos to take down Li City and the resistance of Supreme Emperor Heaven in one fell swoop.
However, they didn’t expect in Without Embroiling City, this place which been destroyed and turned into the ruin of the devil race, millions of soldiers would appear out nowhere and actually block the Youdu monsters’ advance!
Compared to the Youdu monsters, the foot soldiers of the devil army were much slower. The distance between them had grown great in time, so they couldn’t support the front lines right away.
The Army of the Center was even further away, and Fu Riluo looked at the battlefield from far away with a slight frown. His three faces looked around as he asked in astonishment, “Who knows from where this army of gods popped out?”
The devil gods beside him all shook their heads.
Youdu’s devil monsters and devil ancestors relied on their instincts to kill and eat while the devils were like humans. They possessed extremely high intelligence; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to develop such a great civilization and cultivation system.
Yet even with their outstanding intelligence, they still had no idea from where the army of a million had come and why they had entered the battle.
Even though Eternal Peace was very powerful, it was still weaker than Supreme Emperor Heaven. Its army was still the main force while Eternal Peace’s divine arts practitioners were the assisting force.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had completely no idea of this surprise attack, so he could have never brought so many soldiers to block the Youdu monster army.
In that case, from where had this army of gods come?
Fu Riluo looked at Lu Li, but the peerless beauty was also bewildered. She shook her head and said, “Respectable king, I also don’t know from where they came. Eternal Peace doesn’t have many experts, but Great Ruins does. Could they be from there…”
Astonished, Fu Riluo shouted out, “Pass down my orders, the army is to set up camp, build a city, and set up defenses against the attacks of the enemy! Send scouts to investigate from where this army of gods came!”
By the time he finished speaking, the first troop of devils had already reached the ruin of Without Embroiling City under the leadership of a devil god. They were some four hundred miles from the battlefield when they received the order to immediately set up camp and not join the battle.
Numerous devil soldiers and strong workers moved mountains and erected rocks to quickly build a city wall. They then slaughtered huge beasts and used their blood to write devil writings all over them to strengthen the city’s defenses.
The devils in the city constructed sentry and archer towers. They were very busy.
The devil god gave a shout and led a few generals out of the city to head to the frontlines. They observed the origin of the Supreme Emperor Heaven’s army fighting up ahead.
When they came to the mountaintop right in front of the battlefield, the devil god erected a huge mirror that was over thirty yards tall to reflect the situation ahead.
After a moment, Fu Riluo took out a mirror and examined what it showed. Upon seeing the battle situation reflected to him, suspicion filled his face.
His gaze was sharp, and he could make out some clues. The army of gods that had suddenly appeared wasn’t truly made up of life forms. Even though their abilities were very strong, they seemed to be gods created with the art of creation.
However, he noticed that there was more than just the army of gods in that battlefield. There were also a few extremely strong people that were assassinating the devil ancestors in the chaos!
They were experts of the god level. One of them was a butcher with a sturdy physique, another an old blacksmith, while a third was a shorty wielding a black dragon bone spear. These three people were the most terrifying. When they worked together, even devil ancestors could be assassinated in the chaos!
Besides them, there was also a peerless beauty, a sturdy man riding a green bull, and an old man in green carrying a bronze-masked man shuttling back and forth throughout the battlefield. Countless venomous creatures were spewing venom everywhere and killing waves of Youdu monsters.
The bronze-masked man was the most terrifying out of this group. Everywhere he passed, his poison killed waves of devil monsters. The damage he dealt to the overall army was much greater than what the other strong practitioners had managed. Numerous devil monsters were either poisoned to death or decomposed into mush. His methods were much more terrifying than those of gods!
Even the Youdu monster army that the devil race had summoned from Youdu couldn’t handle the poison of this person!
“Where did these people come from? Where did this army of gods that had been created come from?”
Fu Riluo couldn’t see their origin, so he said solemnly, “Lu Li, the army of gods on the other side is both real and fake. There are true gods hidden among the illusions, and I don’t know how many of them are really present there. May your distinguished self call back the devil monster army so we can think about our next step!”
Lu Li moved alluringly and raised her beautiful brows. She looked very beautiful, but her voice was very rough. “Fu Riluo, you should be able to see that the enemy’s abilities aren’t actually that great; there are only five-six real gods among them. You just need to kill them and your devil army will be able to crush the other side! If we retreat now and give Supreme Emperor Heaven time to take in a breath, it will be a bit more difficult to just crush them the next time!”
Fu Riluo shook his head. “The opponents are already on their guard. We no longer have time to catch Li City unawares, so why don’t we reorganize the troops and take the chance to clarify what’s real and what’s fake. Besides, how do you know there are only five-six gods? What if more are hidden among them? We would only suffer more casualties that way. I can’t gamble with the future of my devil race!”
Helpless, Lu Li could only give a loud cry, screeching in Youdu devil language.
In the frontlines, numerous devil ancestors heard her voice and cried out as well, calling the monster army to retreat.
Qin Mu heard Lu Li’s voice and his spirit stirred slightly. “This is… Youdu devil language? I know it too!”
Without thinking, he also used Youdu devil language which exploded in the sky above the battlefield. His voice could be heard in some twenty-thirty miles of land.
The devil ancestors that heard his voice all stopped and turned their heads back. Dull devil language came out from their mouths as they replied to him.
Qin Mu shouted a few phrases loudly, and the devil ancestors turned around and knelt down on one knee while lowering their heads.
Butcher, Mute, and the rest were covered in blood. They were planning to give chase, but stopped when they saw this sight. They had no idea what to do.
Far away, Fu Riluo saw the devil monsters and the devil ancestors stop, and he instantly knew that something was wrong. He looked at Lu Li.
Cold sweat rolled down Lu Li’s forehead, and she chuckled. “Fu Riluo, aren’t you a little too useless, to actually let this little thing live? That little thing is right in the enemy camp! Little thing, you want to steal my right to control them? Dream on!”
Her voice became very mournful, and her devil voice rumbled like thunder as it exploded above the battlefield. Her voice covered Qin Mu’s so that not a word he said could be heard.
Qin Mu gave a grunt and tried to speak Youdu devil language louder, but his voice didn’t go far.
The devil ancestors revealed blank expressions and got up. They restrained their Youdu monsters and retreated.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Butcher, Mute, Blind, and the rest followed the army of gods to give chase to the numerous devil ancestors fleeing with the Youdu monsters.
After chasing for some thirty-fifty miles, the army of gods suddenly stopped while Cripple still carried Apothecary, rushing headlong. When they suddenly realized there was no one around them, they shuddered and ran back. Only when they returned to the army did they feel at ease.
“This is Deaf’s limit so we can’t go any further. If we continue to give chase, we will give the game away,” Granny whispered.
“You guys didn’t even inform us ahead of time, made me still continue to push forward…” Cripple grumbled.
Apothecary climbed down from his back, his legs still trembling. “Damned Cripple I almost died to the devils because of you!”
On the other side, Deaf was still waving his brush around with his face flushed. Qin Mu saw that something was wrong and immediately went forward to pull onto Deaf. His clear voice rang like the roars of a dragon beside the man’s ears. “Grandpa Deaf, the enemies have retreated, wake up!”
Deaf immediately stopped the brush and revealed a blank expression. He felt sweetness rising up his throat and a mouthful of fresh blood poured out.
Qin Mu’s face changed slightly, and his hand quickly moved to tap on the elder’s throat and heart. He sealed his qi and blood which had gone frantic. Next, he tapped on the heart of his brows and quickly moved around his body while executing Heavenly Devil Creation Technique. He tapped Deaf’s body repeatedly to control the energy!
Deaf could be said to have exerted all his power, and he had damaged his heart and primordial spirit. The heart was the central administration of the qi and blood. Because they had become frantic, his blood vessels couldn’t endure any longer and his heart was taxed too, so he coughed up blood.
Qin Mu sealed the places where his heart and throat were, forcing the blood back.
Deaf’s primordial spirit was also overly exhausted, so it was unstable, showing signs of being on the verge of crumbling. Qin Mu thus used Heavenly Devil Creation Technique to seal his three souls and seven spirits, preventing them from leaving his body.
In this way, he could delay the problem for a bit and make it easier t treat him.
Qin Mu quickly took out herbs to refine pills. After a moment, the pills were done and he pinched open Deaf’s mouth to send the pills in. He then used all kinds of hand techniques to catalyze the medicinal energy.
Granny Si, Blind, and the rest returned, and Apothecary went to take over. He treated Deaf and said, “Luckily Mu’er saw that something was wrong early so Deaf won’t have any lasting problems. His vital qi is greatly exhausted, but with me around, I assure you he will alive and be jumping by tonight.”
Deaf gave a snort and said indifferently, “I won’t be jumping around. How can a scholar be jumping around like a monkey?”
Everyone was relieved, and Granny Si asked, “Deaf, how long can your painting last?”
“As long as the world in the painting doesn’t shatter, this army of gods will be able to exist forever.”
Deaf sat down and Apothecary treated him with care, hurrying to and fro. Qin Mu stayed at the side to assist him while Hu Ling’er carried the needle plate to assist Qin Mu. It was very lively as the three of them conversed with one another.
“However, it isn’t too troublesome to destroy this world in the painting. It’s only because the devils were caught off guard, not knowing what’s real and what’s fake that I managed to have my way with them.”
Deaf’s face was filled with silver needles, and the corners of his eyes twitched randomly. Apothecary stabbed another needle at the corner of his eyes, and they no longer twitched. However, he felt half of his face go numb.
Deaf’s eyes slanted to one side. One of his eyeballs was higher than the other, he drooled from the corner of his mouth. “If I can recover my vital qi by tonight, I’ll draw another painting and make them even more afraid… Apoothecary, I feel that mai face is not maine anymore… I can’t fend mai tong…”
“This needle is used for acupuncture and moxibustion of your primordial spirit, but it affects the nerves on your face. They will temporarily be dysfunctional. Don’t worry! Mu’er, you did well by sealing his souls and spirits. Take a look at this needle, where should I use it?”
Apothecary looked slightly hesitant when he pointed at a spot near Deaf’s backbone. “I’m not sure if I should use it here or not…” he said while giving Qin Mu a look
Qin Mu examined it in detail and said with a smile, “Grandpa Apothecary is testing me. If you use it in this position, you will pierce the earth soul and fix his primordial at the genitals. The needle will also pierce his Life and Death Divine Treasure, and the devil qi and devil nature of Youdu will be able to invade and taint the perineum as well as the earth soul. He will definitely be unable to give birth and even have a huge change in temperament.”
Apothecary pulled the silver needle back with a straight face and nodded slowly. “I was testing you, and you actually managed to see through it.”
Qin Mu smiled at him. “I knew you were testing me! Grandpa Apothecary should have been planning to stab this needle through his Life and Death Realm and Divine Bridge Realm, allowing Grandpa Deaf’s vital qi to travel between the two divine treasures! It will pierce Divine Bridge Realm and guide the vital qi there to Life and Death Realm, which will be just enough to suppress the devil nature and devil qi of Life and Death Realm without Grandpa Deaf’s breeding function.”
His finger moved a few spaces up, and he looked at Apothecary in anticipation. “This is the position in which Grandpa Apothecary would have really stabbed! Right?”
Apothecary let out a long sound of acknowledgment. His face didn’t turn red and his heart didn’t skip a beat. He sighed to himself in shame. ‘Mu’er, this little fellow, is no doubt the person who established the space algebra model of the divine bridge. His understanding of the divine bridge is just a little better than mine…’
Deaf heard their discussion and cold sweat formed on his forehead. Big droplets started rolling down.
“What if we stab Grandpa Deaf in this place?” Hu Ling’er asked with excitement as she pointed at Deaf’s qi sea.
Qin Mu and Apothecary immediately spoke together. “We can’t stab there. If we were careless, his cultivation would be destroyed!”
Deaf’s face turned ashen, and he narrowed his eyes at the girl. “Ling’er, I’ve even taught you to reed!”
Apothecary was still superior to Qin Mu. The youth only had more understanding of Divine Bridge Divine Treasure while Apothecary knew all the other treasures much better, so Qin Mu could only look most of the time.
Finally, Deaf’s primordial spirit was stabilized, and Apothecary matched herbs to let him recover his vital qi.
When night settled, mournful screeches came from far away. The devils kept up the commotion the whole night and even beat their drums from time to time, acting like they were about to attack. Yet they never made a move. It was all to harass Qin Mu and the rest, not letting them have the time to rest.
The next day, the rest of the devil army’s troops reached the impromptu city one after another. The devils had extremely great military power, and there were troops hurrying over from everywhere.
Numerous devil god commanders reached the frontline and looked at the abyss of Without Embroiling City from far away. They were astonished when they saw the incomparably magnificent god city had suddenly appeared where the ruin of Without Embroiling City had been just recently!
The god city reached three hundred yards in height. The city walls were like mountains that stretched across heaven and earth. The buildings in the city stood tall, and there were divine cannons set up along the city’s battlements. On the high towers, there were up to a hundred huge eyeball-shaped Sun Shot Divine Cannon!
Countless god officers and soldiers in golden looked awe-inspiring while on the city wall. They patrolled along the top, walking to and fro.
In the sky above the god city, there were auspicious clouds rising in spirals, and a thousand rays of multicolored sunlight. It was a vision given off by the aura of gods!
Unease started to spread among the devils, and all the devil god commanders looked at one another in dismay. The place where the ruin should have stood suddenly had a magnificent-looking god city in its place, and there actually so many gods standing guard on its walls!
The top of the city was even densely packed with divine cannons which looked extremely scary. There were enough of them to blow the devil army that came rushing in to smithereens.
The Sunshot Divine Cannons farther away made their hair stand in anger even more. A hundred Sunshot Divine Cannons, how was this still a war? So much firepower was enough to destroy an entire world!
When the devil gods saw everything, they couldn’t help the fear that spread over them, and they held back their troops. They prayed that the opponent wouldn’t attack first.
A devil god spread his wings and said softly, “I shall report this to Respectable King Fu Riluo first. You guys stay guard, don’t let the other side break through our main camp.”
He flew for quite some time to welcome Fu Riluo who was leading the main army. He told him about the situation.
Fu Riluo looked at him in astonishment. “To actually have something like this? Don’t attack first, send some scouts over to check if they are real or fake. The army I’m leading will reach you at night time by the latest.”
The devil god acknowledged and flew back. He ordered a group of scouts to go investigate.
When they were still thirty miles away from the god city, dozens of cannons suddenly shot beams of light and turned the group of scouts into ashes.
The devil god with wings immediately flew back and reported to Fu Riluo. “Respectable king, I’ve sent scouts, but they were killed by cannons thirty miles away! The cannons are all real!”
Fu Riluo felt his scalp crawl and cried out, “How can there be such a god city? If Supreme Emperor Heaven had this kind of city, my devil race would have long been wiped out! It’s impossible for Supreme Emperor Heaven to have something like that, and it’s also impossible for Eternal Peace to possess it! This city can’t be real!”
The devil god with wings didn’t dare to say a word.
Fu Riluo’s expressions flickered. He then shouted, “Pass the order down to the frontline, no one is to retreat. Whoever dares to retreat, I’ll take their head as a sacrifice! When my army arrives, we will raze the place down!
The devil god acknowledged meekly and flew back.
When night came, Fu Riluo finally led his main army to the frontlines. Looking at the god city from far away, he couldn’t see through it. His expression flickered as he couldn’t make a decision.
If the god city was real, even devil gods would be severely injured if they attacked. He didn’t dare to gamble with the future of the devil race.
In the city, Qin Mu and the rest tidied up their baggage, ready to retreat.
The god city was fake. Deaf had drawn it overnight, but even though the entire city was fake, the dozens of cannons on the city walls were real. Qin Mu had instructed Si Yunxiang to send them at night by Primordial Spirit Assembly.
It was because of them that the devils got scared. All of the devil gods and Fu Riluo couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake.
However, if Fu Riluo made the decision to attack, they wouldn’t even need the main force of their army Just the Youdu devil gods and devil monsters would be enough to raze the city.
Because of that, Qin Mu and the rest could only slip away. Otherwise, if Fu Riluo’s attack came, they wouldn’t be able to leave anymore.
Qin Mu and the rest walked out of the city gate and rushed toward Li City. Suddenly though, the dark night became bright as a sun slowly rose in the sky and lighted up a radius of several thousand miles!
It had been night moments before, so how could it become day out of nowhere!
‘Could Imperial Preceptor have gotten the hours wrong when he forged the sun?’
Qin Mu and the rest wondered about it when they saw a three-legged god blazing furiously with divine flames walking over to them.
When he moved, the sun in the sky followed after him!
“Sun Sovereign, this should be the place where I met that youth’s shadow in Great Ruins,” a clear voice said. Walking in front of the three-legged god was a very handsome young man. He looked at Qin Mu and the rest with a smile. “There was another person whose build wasn’t great, and there was some weapon like a spear on his back. It’d be quite easy to recognize…”
His gaze fell on Blind who was walking out of the city before circling around everyone and finally landing on Qin Mu. He said with a smile, “Son of Youdu Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing? You aren’t bad. I would have never expected for you to have been the one I saw in Great Ruins. I felt strange back then and thought that you were weird and extraordinary.”
Qin Mu disregarded him, his gaze falling on the right hand of the three-legged god with wings. There was no hand there. ‘He is the god that cut Grandpa Butcher in half and the guardian of the fake sky in Eternal Peace!”
Butcher took out the severed hand and said calmly, “God of the sky above, have you given chase by following the aura of this thing? You want to take revenge for your severed hand? I also want to take revenge for what you did to me. However, your hand is still with me while my body has already recovered. I won’t take advantage of you.”
He threw the hand bone, and it streaked across the sky like a meteor before landing on Sun Sovereign’s right wrist which automatically connected with it.
Sun Sovereign’s gaze landed on his body, and he moved his hand around. He said softly, “You returned my hand bone which shows you are straightforward and upright, but where’s the blood, flesh, and skin?”
“Eaten by Grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace. He couldn’t chew your chicken bone so only the chicken claw is left.” Butcher raised his knife and said indifferently, “We fight right here?”
Sun Sovereign looked at Qin Mu and hesitated. He then looked at Young Master Qi Jiuyi and hesitated again.
Qin Mu also looked at Young Master Qin and asked curiously, “This brother, what did you say earlier?” He looked at him apologetically. “Can you repeat yourself? I wasn’t paying attention.”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Jiuyu raised his eyebrows and didn’t repeat what he had said, not acquiescing to Qin Mu’s demands. His mind was extremely keen, and he noticed the sharp blade hidden in the youth’s words straight away.
Qin Mu was an expert in mind battles and good at putting pressure on his opponent’s mental state. When he met strong practitioners, he would become terrified if that would serve his purposes, and he would run if that would give him what he wanted. But when he met an opponent on his level, he would start to put pressure on the other person’s mind from the moment their eyes met!
He would first attack the mind and spirit of the opponent to suppress them. Any action or word that looked to be casual was there to add pressure on the other party, turning them into the weaker side. In other words, the opponent’s aura would be pressured by him.
When this happened, the opponent would begin moving with his rhythm, and when they made their moves, there would be minute changes when they attacked each other.
With time, a slight advantage would slowly widen and become the crux of victory or defeat.
No matter if it was Pangong Tso or Xu Shenghua, they had both experienced this kind of fighting method when they faced Qin Mu.
After experiencing such a thing, mental walls would raise up in some people’s heads, and Qin Mu would become the shadow on their Dao heart. Others would begin to treat him as their source of motivation and force themselves to work harder, scaling over mountains after mountains.
The former represented Pangong Tso and the latter represented Xu Shenghua and Zhe Huali.
After Pangong Tso was defeated by Qin Mu over and over again, he had naturally lost the courage to fight him face to face. When they met, he would subconsciously place himself in the position of the loser and fall back before the fight had even started.
On the other hand, after Xu Shenghua was defeated by Qin Mu, he fought fiercer and fiercer, even creating a method to combine Six Directions Divine Treasure and Seven Stars Divine Treasures together. This made Qin Mu have to learn from him sincerely and thus, giving Xu Shenghua an upper hand.
After Zhe Huali was defeated by Qin Mu, he walked further and further on the path of his knife skills and even chose to save Qin Mu when he saw that he was in danger. Huge improvements could be clearly seen in his Dao heart, and this made Qin Mu felt much pressure. He then used it to enter the path in technique.
Even though battles of the mind weren’t gorgeous, they were quite a test to the Dao heart.
‘He should have learned this kind of mental attack from this expert who wields the knife.’ Qi Jiuyi looked at Butcher. ‘This knife god and Sun Sovereign’s battle is imminent yet he took the initiative to return Sun Sovereign’s hand bone to him. This is an extremely superior skill to crush the opponent’s Dao heart. It may look like he is just returning his hand, but it’s actually slashing at the other’s Dao heart. Sun Sovereign looked like he was asking about the blood and flesh on his hand, but he was actually breaking the skill. This Qin Mu should have learned do act like that too.”
The last step of learning was acting with the knowledge one had gained. It was evident that Qin Mu had already done it.
Qi Jiuyi smiled at him. “This place isn’t the most suitable for you guys to fight. The army of the devils is right in front, and they can easily break through, destroying your god city that looks incomparably magnificent. It will be very easy for the army of the devils to rush straight here and eliminate all of you. Sun Sovereign is also worried that all of you will work together to kill him and then me.
“You guys are worried about your own lives and he is worried about my safety, so why don’t we change our battlegrounds.”
Once he said that, Blind, Mute, and the rest looked at him. Qin Mu also re-examined him with grim admiration. He had originally thought that the youth was the disciple of Sun Sovereign, but from his words, he could see that he wasn’t so simple, he had some other extraordinary background.
Furthermore, his words eliminated and resolved the question Qin Mu had asked earlier, which showed that he had extremely high attainments in Dao heart!
Such a Dao heart even surpassed that of Xu Shenghua when Qin Mu had fought him the first time.
At that time, Xu Shenghua’s Dao heart had almost crumbled completely the beating Qin Mu had given it!
“Mu’er, this person will a tough enemy for you,” Blind said softly. “He can see through the facade of the god city Deaf had painted! Fu Riluo and the rest of the devil gods couldn’t do it, so it’s obvious that this person has astonishing attainments in divine eyes!”
Qin Mu nodded. Since the youth was able to see through Deaf’s painting, he indeed had to be outstanding. He immediately asked, “Brother, how do I address you?”
Qi Jiuyi smiled lightly, and Sun Sovereign said, “This Young Master is Qi Jiuyi.”
Somewhat astonished, Qin Mu said leisurely, “Yi means intelligent ever since you were young, and you are exceptionally noble. Jiuyi means that you are so intelligent that one head couldn’t contain your wisdom so you need nine. I’ve heard that Jiuyi usually refers to an ancient parasol tree, the wood on which a phoenix perches. In other words, it’s a place where a phoenix lives, Jiuyi sometimes means phoenix too. Young Master Qi, you aren’t human?”
Qi Jiuyi looked at him in astonishment. “Brother Qin is extremely knowledgeable. May I ask who did you learn from?”
Qin Mu raised his hand to invite Deaf over and said solemnly, “My teacher, Art Saint Deaf!”
Qi Jiuyi greeted him and praised, “Since you are the Art Saint, this city must be your work. It is truly a magnificent sight. You deserve respect from me.”
Deaf accepted the greeting with an arrogant expression.
Qin Mu smiled. “Young Master Qi said that this place was not suitable for battle, so where do you think we should fight?”
“I heard Brother Qin is the Heavenly Devil Cult Master of Eternal Peace, so why don’t we go to Eternal Peace? If we fight on your territory, I’m sure you will be more at ease,” Qi Jiuyi said leisurely.
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered. “Brother Qi, the journey back to Eternal Peace would be long, at least a couple days. Now that the devils are attacking Supreme Emperor Heaven, we can’t leave for so long. Why don’t I choose a place to fight then?”
Qi Jiuyi frowned slightly. “In that case, what place would Brother Qin choose?”
Qin Mu pointed behind himself.
Qi Jiuyi smiled and said indifferently, “This city? It was drawn by Mister Art Saint, so aren’t you afraid of breaking it and giving the game away?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I didn’t mean in the city, but before the two armies. You came for me, right? In that case, I shall choose the battlefield! And I choose to fight between a million bold devil warriors and this god city! Brother Qi, do you dare accept?”
Qi Jiuyi raised his brows.
Mute, Blind, and the rest looked at one another, feeling somewhat uneasy.
Qin Mu had said that they would be fighting in front of the two armies, but it was actually only in front of the devils. After all, the god city was only a painting. Most of the cannons and all of the gods were fake. No matter if they were True Origin Cannons or Sunshot Divine Cannons, they were just there for looks and didn’t have much power.
This meant that if the devils attacked, they would be drowned out by the army and definitely unable to survive!
Butcher laughed loudly and said, “Mu’er is certainly the one with the boldest spirit! Nice! I shall also fight this god above the sky in front of the two armies! This bird god, do you dare?”
Sun Sovereign hesitated for a moment and looked at Qi Jiuyi. The youth muttered to himself for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. “Even Brother Qin dares, so why would I not dare? Sun Sovereign, you’re worrying too much. You put too much importance on me, and if you fight an expert with such a mental state, you will lose the advantage easily. Aren’t you going to adjust your frame of mind?”
Sun Sovereign was astonished.
Qi Jiuyi smiled. “Since Brother Qin invited, in that case… Please!”
Qin Mu turned around and walked toward the god city while full of admiration. ‘This Qi Jiuyi is indeed extraordinary. I wonder where he’s from, to actually have trained his Dao heart to the point where it’s no inferior to mine. Truly remarkable!’
Butcher walked up to him in wide steps. Granny Si, Mute, and the rest followed behind while looking at one another with frowns. Deaf said in a low voice, “Should we go up together and just get rid of this Sun Sovereign and the nine-headed bird? If we make our move together, it’s won’t be hard to get rid of them. We could kill them in just fifteen minutes!”
“If we fight here, the devils will be able to see what’s real and what’s fake easily.” Deaf shook his head and said, “This Sun Sovereign won’t be easy to deal with. A huge sun follows him around, and it must have attracted the attention of the devils long ago. They just don’t know if the newcomers are friends or foes so they’re still waiting to make a move. If we fight with him, even if we are pressuring him, the devils will see that we had encountered an enemy.”
Everyone had grim expressions. If they couldn’t get rid of Sun Sovereign in the shortest time possible, Fu Riluo would be able to see through them and know that they were using an empty city as a ruse.
And if Sun Sovereign destroyed the god city during battle, Fu Riluo would also see through the facade.
The best route was exactly what Qin Mu had suggested—to challenge them openly in front of the devils, defeating and even killing Sun Sovereign and Qi Jiuyi!
Even though it was dangerous, it was the option with the best chances of survival!
In the main camp of the devils, devil gods were executing their devil eyes to survey the god city on the other side.
Fu Riluo couldn’t hold back any longer and was about to take down the god city when its gate suddenly opened wide. Astonished, Fu Riluo swallowed back the words he’d been about to say. He raised his hand to stop the devil army that was ready to attack.
Qin Mu, Qi Jiuyi, Butcher, and Sun Sovereign continued to walk forward. It looked like they were planning to walk straight into the devil’s main camp.
‘Only these few people have walked out of the city. What tricks is True God Pang Yu playing?’ Fu Riluo sneered and said, “Merely a few weak gods! Who is coming with me to slay them?”
“Wait a moment!” When Lu Li saw Qi Jiuyi and Sun Sovereign, her face changed drastically. She hurriedly raised her hand and said solemnly, “The person on the other side is a noble from the celestial heavens. Fu Riluo, you cannot offend a noble!”
Fu Riluo’s heart jumped. “Noble? Could it be…”
Lu Li’s expression flickered between. Her teeth clenched and ground against each other. She sneered, “It indeed is a noble that has descended. Why would this noble come down to the lower bound? Could the higher-ups already know about the little brat of Qin Family and have come here to reap the benefits… It must be those fellows in Youdu that betrayed me! Damn it, was it Han Lei or Xuan Ming? Or could it be Jue Huang? They’re sure good at backstabbing me, but when I want them to help me, they don’t even bother moving their asses!”
“Dao Friend Lu, that youth with the surname Qin is right beside the noble you have mentioned!” Fu Riluo said with a solemn expression.
Lu Li’s gaze landed on Qin Mu, and he sensed it. He raised his head to look at the main camp. He didn’t know whose gaze it was, but he still revealed a radiant smile.
Lu Li snorted. “He has grown much prettier. When he was young, he was so ugly he could scare a ghost to death!”
Qin Mu stopped a hundred miles in front of the devil’s main camp and said in a loud and clear voice, “Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu pays his respects to all the heroes of the devil race and the heroes of the celestial heavens. May I ask outstanding talents of the devil race, is there any of you who dare to come and teach me a lesson?”
His voice took a moment to reach the main camp of the devils. Even though it was very faint, it still clearly fell into the ears of numerous devil gods.
Their expression flickered between. Among the disciples of the devil gods, the devil experts on the same realm as Qin Mu had basically all been killed by him.
“Experts of Celestial Being Realm, Life and Death Realm, and Divine Bridge Realm can also come forward to teach me a lesson.” Qin Mu’s voice continued to ring loud and clear. “Those with lower cultivation can come as well; I will seal my divine treasure and fight you fairly! Does anyone dare to fight me?”
After a moment without any reply, his voice rang throughout the main camp of the devils again. “The devils are cowards. Brother Qi, looks like you and I will have to fight by ourselves.”
Suddenly, the gate of the devils’ main camp opened, and angry devil experts rushed out. They shouted furiously, “Little human brat, how dare you bully us for having no devils!”
Qin Mu revealed a smile and said to Qi Jiuyi, “What do you think about us having a small warm up first?”
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Could Cult Master Qin want to get someone else to do the dirty work?” Sun Sovereign looked at Qin Mu and said unpleasantly, “Even though Cult Master Qin is young, he doesn’t lack cleverness. Young Master Qi, don’t be tricked by him. If you kill a devil, we will fall into a passive state.”
Qi Jiuyi was unconcerned. “Sun Sovereign, don’t worry. The devils are merely dogs raised by the celestial heavens, and there’s no problem if a few dogs die. Brother Qin wants to take this chance to see my abilities, and I’d like to see his too.”
Qin Mu smiled. “Brother Qi’s breadth of mind is much wider than that of Sun Sovereign. He has to speak to Brother Qi in a meek tone and worries too much; this should be because his position is much lower than yours. Brother Qi is probably from the so-called celestial heavens? And the reason you came is to find me?”
Qin Jiuyi gave him a small smile. “Brother Qin is intelligent. You should be called Qin Yi instead.”
“It wasn’t difficult for me to guess your motive, so I can’t really be called intelligent or named Jiuyi. When you tried to invite me to fight in Eternal Peace, there had to have been a reason for that.”
Qi Jiuyi was secretly astonished, but on the outside, he just smiled without saying anything.
Qin Mu raised his head to look at the three-legged god. “Sun Sovereign, why aren’t you putting your mind on the battle with Grandpa Butcher? You’ll die at the first knife slash like that. Just wait and see if my words are accurate or not.”
Sun Sovereign snorted. “Cult Master Qin wants to crush my Dao heart?”
Qin Mu didn’t pay attention to him and looked over to the other side. He saw numerous devil experts rushing at them one after another. There were quite a number of experts on Divine Bridge Realm and those of Five Elements Realm and Celestial Being Realm. They had to have been agitated by him and couldn’t resist rushing over.
Devils revered martial prowess, and every divine arts practitioner of theirs was ranked among them on every realm. Qin Mu had fought some experts of Seven Stars Realm in Li City before, and they were all devil gods’ disciples which were ranked top ten. Among them, Zhe Huali had been ranked first.
The other realms also had similar rankings.
There were no divine arts practitioners of Seven Stars Realm and Six Directions Realm that came over as basically all the experts of the two realms were killed by Qin Mu.
Everyone rushed over with fierce auras, but one of the strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm took the lead. Everyone stopped upon seeing that.
The strong practitioner of Divine Bridge Realm was already close to god realm and was extremely strong, astonishing Granny Si and the rest. They felt threatened.
Even though they had patched what they were lacking in the technique, the period of time they had cultivated it was still too short. They were still slightly inferior to the experts of the devil race who had cultivated the methods of true gods ever since they were young.
However, after some time, they could also train all aspects of their body to the realm of true god. Besides, the vital qi human body network that Qin Mu had imparted to them was the door to technique entering the path. Such a thing covered all aspects to make one a true god. Not only did it cultivate the corporeal body, but also the primordial spirit, refining the vital qi and improving the paths, skills, and divine arts.
When only the corporeal body reached the level of a young true god, the person was still far from comparable to a young true god.
“Cult Master Qin of Eternal Peace!” The gaze of that strong devil practitioner of Divine Bridge Realm fell on Qin Mu, and he said solemnly, “You don’t have any opponent on Seven Stars Realm, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anyone already on other realm. I, Shu Ye, Fu Riluo’s disciple, is here to test you!”
“Senior Brother Shu Ye, what’s your rank among those in Divine Bridge Realm?” Qin Mu asked curiously.
“Number two!” Shu Ye said indifferently. “The first ranked person is Tu Jun, but he’s close to entering the devil celestial palaces and is about to become a devil god, so he isn’t participating in the battle. I will soon be number one!”
Qin Mu shook his head. “You should go and invite him, for you won’t do. I’ve already killed a disciple of Fu Riluo before, Fu Yuxiao who was on Celestial Being Realm. His abilities were very strong yet he was far inferior to me on the same realm.”
Shu Ye was furious, but Fu Riluo suddenly descended from the sky. He landed in front of the numerous devils. Shu Ye and the other devil experts hurriedly greeted him. “Respectable king!”
Fu Riluo raised his hand and signaled for everyone to drop the formalities. “On the same realm, none of you are a match for Little Friend Qin. If you aren’t ranked first on your realm, there’s no point for you to make a move and die in his hands!”
Mute, Butcher, and the rest were astonished. A true god had descended, and even if they all rushed him together, they might still not be his match!
Fu Riluo’s gaze moved away from Butcher’s face and landed on Mute. It then landed on Sun Sovereign before moving to Qin Mu.
The youth was alarmed and hurriedly made a grab for his chest. Only then did he remember that the jade pendant was no longer hanging there; it had been pushed into his vertical eye at the heart of his brows by Earth Count.
Fu Riluo saw him making a motion of grabbing the jade pendant, and his heart jumped. When he remembered the time when Qin Mu lost control, he felt his chest hurting, and he laughed. “Little Friend Qin, don’t be alarmed, I mean no harm. I came out to be a witness; I won’t lay my hands on you.”
Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and lowered his hands from his chest. He bowed and said, “Fu Riluo is a senior and always fair. I admire you.”
Qi Jiuyi’s gaze fell on his chest, and his heart moved slightly. He revealed a smile. ‘He really wears that jade pendant on his neck. Since I know where it is, it’s much easier.’
Suddenly, a remarkable beauty walked over with her face was glowing. She appeared beside Fu Riluo, and her gaze swept past Butcher, Mute, Sun Sovereign, and the rest before landing on Granny Si. The glow on her face instantly dimmed.
The woman was also a peerless beauty, but before Granny Si, her beauty paled in comparison.
One was a remarkable beauty and one was peerless beauty. It was impossible to see them as people on the same level.
When Qin Mu saw the woman, he probed, “Lu Li of Youdu?”
“That’s me.” Lu Li looked, but a hint of jealousy took root in her heart. She smiled sweetly and acted extremely flirtatious, but her voice was as rough as that of a man. “Peerless beauty, making me feel pity for you and even a hint of jealousy. How do I address this sister?”
Granny Si was about to reply when Qin Mu shook his head and said in a low voice, “Granny, Youdu’s spells are targeted at the soul. If she learns your real name, she will have methods to deal with you.”
Granny Si immediately abandoned the idea of saying her real name.
Lu Li chuckled. “Qin Fengqing, I have never thought that you would actually reach such a state one day; you truly disappoint me. I was planning to get the body of this peerless beauty to play with her! Also, this noble, is your surname perhaps Qi?”
Qi Jiuyi smiled at her. “Qi Jiuyi of Qi Family pays his respects to Provincial Governor Lu Li.”
Lu Li’s voice was still very rough, but her tone grew very sweet and piteous. “Looks like the celestial heavens can’t trust me. To actually send Young Master Qi as well; this makes me really disappointed.”
“If Provincial Governor has no ill intentions, why does she care about me?” Qi Jiuyi said leisurely.
Lu Li sneered. “Since I’m already here, you will not bring away the one with the surname Qin!”
Qi Jiuyi smiled. “I have never thought of taking him away. After I finish using Brother Qin, I can hand him to you.”
Lu Li’s eyes lit up. “Deal!”
Qi Jiuyi smiled without saying anything.
Qin Mu frowned; Fu Riluo’s action of coming forward personally had spoiled his plans. He had wanted to let Qi Jiuyi fight with the devil experts and see what abilities this youth from the celestial heavens had and make him incur the hatred of the devils as well.
However, Fu Riluo descended and prevented the strong practitioners of the devil race from challenging them.
Lu Li, who had been hiding in Xing An’s Life and Death Divine Treasure before, had popped out too. She had controlled Xing An to capture Qin Mu, but the man had turned the tables on her, chasing her out of his Life and Death Divine Treasure.
She and Qi Jiuyu were rivals, both wanting to capture Qin Mu, but Qi Jiuyi managed to wipe out Lu Li’s enmity with just a few words. Being the single enemy, Qin Mu now became a mutual goal for them.
‘My plans can’t catch up to the changes. I can’t possibly have everything under my control…’ He was getting slightly worried.
“Rascal has screwed up…” Cripple muttered behind him.
Sun Sovereign took a glance at Qin Mu and smiled. He suddenly felt at ease. “Cult Master Qin’s mind seems to be in some disorder; your plans have been messed up. This kind of worrying state makes you vulnerable to being killed by Young Master Qi. Does Cult Master Qin need some time to adjust his state?”
“Yes!” Qin Mu immediately said. “I indeed need to adjust my mental state. Grandpa Butcher, Sun Sovereign, how about you guys settle your dispute first?”
The smile on Sun Sovereign’s face froze. He hadn’t expected the brat to actually agree.
Butcher laughed and opened his shirt to reveal his chest. Raising his head to the sky, he shouted, “Damned heavens, I have scolded you for so long, and now I can finally make you bleed! Sun Sovereign, please!”
His knife will rushed into the sky and split a cloud into two halves!
Butcher’s fighting spirit overflowed into the heavens and landed on Sun Sovereign’s body.
Sun Sovereign felt the other’s eyes piercing him like knives and was left astonished. He rose into the sky and shone brightly with golden light. His body grew taller and taller while the wings behind his back spread open. The next moment, golden feathers began to grow all over his body.
With feathers covering his skin more and more, Sun Sovereign changed from a human into a three-legged divine bird that was glowing brilliantly. He became compatible with the sun in midair as though he was the golden crow within it!
The golden crow let out a screech that was incomparably ear-piercing. “Heaven Knife, I cut you in half and broke all of your knife skills last time, so what do you think you’re even doing here?”
“Do you think I’ve done nothing at all during my years in Disabled Elderly Village?”
Butcher pulled out his knife with a loud roar and rose into the sky. Each of his steps seemed to land on clouds. His body trembled and became incomparably tall and sturdy. The knife light in the sky instantly became incomparably bright, even overshadowing the blazing sun as it slashed toward it!
“Knife Opening the Bright Moon Ring!” Qin Mu couldn’t help becoming excited. “The ninth move of Pig Slaughtering Knife Skills!”
Ba Shan’s gaze was blank as he looked at the sky. The Pig Slaughter Knife Skills that Qin Mu had mentioned were Eight Skills of Heaven Knife; however, they only had eight moves. Butcher had executed a knife skill which Ba Shan had never seen before.
Heaven Knife had a ninth move.
Nine Skills of Heaven Knife!
Knife Opening the Bright Moon Ring!
In the sky, snow bright sword light gathered, and Butcher’s body disappeared. Only incomparably bright knife light could be seen gathering like a bright moon as it collided against the radiant sun on the opposite side!
In the sun, countless golden feathers gathered into a sword filled with true fire of the blazing sun. The weapon that rushed forward to attack.
Clang!
The golden sword true fire rushed into the bright moon, and the bright moon suddenly shone brightly. Like a true moon, it seemed to absorb the sunlight to reflect it back as moonlight. The light of the knife suddenly became several times more intense!
The bright moon dispersed and transformed into a world-shaking knife light!
Qin Mu was ineffably agitated, and he recited loudly, “Enlisting in Jade Pass, chasing barbarians in Altai Mountains. Playing the tune of the plum blossoms, knife opening the bright moon ring!”
What he recited was the knife secrets of Knife Opening the Bright Moon Ring!
From midair, blood fell like rain.
Butcher’s strong body stood between heaven and earth. He bathed himself in the god blood and blazing fire while his Heaven Knife flowed with light after slicing apart the sun. He laughed loudly and said, “The beatings of drum rumbled on the sea, the aura of soldiers poured into the clouds. Hoping to behead a heavenly god, chasing them out of Innocence Pass!”
At that moment, a human youth carrying a demon knife on his back walked out from the devils’ main camp and raised his head. His mind couldn’t help trembling, and he involuntarily fell into a comprehension.
Sun Sovereign’s head fell, crashing in front of the devils’ main camp with a loud explosion.
“Superb knife skills!” Fu Riluo looked at Butcher who was shining with brilliant light and he couldn’t resist praising, “Truly superb knife skills! Even a place like Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens derives glory from an illustrious hero, but even in an era in which paths, skills, and divine arts have flaws, there are still such outstanding people. It is truly a good place!”
Upon seeing Butcher’s knife skills, he began to long even more for Great Ruins.
In comparison to him, Butcher was very ‘young’. Even though he didn’t receive the complete cultivation system, his knife skills had already entered the path. It was something that even numerous gods and devils in Supreme Emperor Heaven hadn’t managed to do.
Fu Riluo could see that if Butcher patched all his shortcomings, he’d have hope to become a true god. To have such attainments at such a young age, it had to be the effect of Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens!
“He didn’t teach me this move…” When Chancellor Ba Shan opened his mouth wide, his voice rumbled like lightning. He turned to look at Qin Mu. “Did teacher teach it to you?”
“He did. However, my realm isn’t high enough so I can’t execute it,” Qin Mu said honestly.
Chancellor Ba Shan grew furious. “Old man is biased! This move is too powerful, too powerful…”
It wasn’t really because Butcher was biased. When Butcher had crawled to Disabled Elderly Village with only half of his body, he was crazy most of the time and kept scolding the damned heavens, wanting to split them apart. When he was sober, he was a man of few words and just kept quiet.
During that time, he was very bitter, but it wasn’t only because he had just his upper body left. He was disappointed that he couldn’t fight his way up to the heavens and take revenge for his good friends, cleaning the regret off his knife.
To deal with Sun Sovereign and the rest of the gods in the sky, he toiled like a crazy man, thinking of countless knife skills. Yet none of them could break the divine arts in the sky.
The reason why he was crazy was because he thought too much.
But ever since Granny Si picked up Qin Mu from the riverside, Butcher’s crazy heart slowly opened up due to the little baby. Because of it, he found someone who he could rely on in his heart.
From that moment onwards, Butcher spent less and less time being crazy. He had thought too much previously, which had made him crazy, but after Qin Mu’s arrival, his heart was at peace. He comprehended everything that had once eluded him.
When his knife skills entered the path, he created the ninth form of Heaven Knife, Knife Opening the Bright Moon Ring.
This move was his work of entering the path and becoming an unrivaled great master of the knife path.
Chancellor Ba Shan had learned Eight Skills of Heaven Knife a long time ago. Butcher found him annoying, so he always took a long detour every time he saw him, so only not long ago had he been caught. Because of that, he hadn’t had the time to teach him this move.
Besides, Knife Opening the Bright Moon Ring required not only extremely high cultivation, but also extremely great attainments in knife skills. Chancellor Ba Shan walked the path of battle spells, so he could never enter the path with knife skills. Thus, even if Butcher taught him, he might not be able to master it.
Sun Sovereign’s blood scattered on the ground and transformed a hundred miles area into a sea of fire. His blood was the blood of the golden crow, and inside it was the sun essence that transformed into flames once it touched the ground. And they didn’t die out for a long time.
Suddenly, a huge sun crashed into the land. The ground trembled, and the place where the sun had crashed also turned into a sea of fire.
Qi Jiuyi frowned, but his brows soon smoothed out.
Sun Sovereign has died, but this wasn’t a bad thing to him. The man was just a helper he had invited to join him in the lower bound. After all, Sun Sovereign had always stayed there and was familiar with the geography.
But Qi Jiuyi’s main motive for bringing Sun Sovereign along was to use him to find Qin Mu. Since it was already done, Sun Sovereign’s life and death were of no concern to him.
Butcher walked over with his long knife. Sun Sovereign’s blood had spilled on him and ignited his body, but since he was a Vermillion Bird Spirit Body, this kind of injury was nothing.
“Awesome!” A huge opening split apart on Butcher’s chest, and one could faintly see the ribs and the beating heart underneath. It was obvious that he didn’t have it easy in his clash with Sun Sovereign earlier. His injury was not light, but he could still smile. “Several hundred years of craziness finally split with one knife, how f*cking awesome!”
Apothecary immediately went up and looked at his wound. He frowned. “Butcher, you were almost killed. what’s there to be so happy about? Your wound has the remnant of Sun Sovereign’s divine art. I can’t help you get rid of that, so you will have to do it yourself. Be careful, don’t burst your heart from squeezing it; you aren’t Xing An who can just change his heart. You might have felt awesome when killing him, but you have almost lost your life as well. You shouldn’t be so reckless.”
“Knife skills don’t have as many transformations as sword skills, so true knife skills start and end with first fatal strike. If you can receive it, you live! If you can’t, you die! It’s that simple!”
Butcher returned his knife into its sheath and gave a shout. Countless tiny knives flashed in front of the wound on his chest and erased the divine art that Sun Sovereign had left behind. He said solemnly, “In the past, my knife skills were particular about being exquisite, complicated and ever-changing, However, after they entered the path, I changed them from complicated to simple.
“In the past, Midnight Battle Across Stormy Citie and, Sun on East Sea Thousand Layer Waves were too troublesome. Now, Long Knife Hangs Below the Moonlight and Knife Opening the Bright Moon Ring are much simpler.”
Fu Riluo looked left and right while saying to numerous devil divine arts practitioners, “Remember his words, for they are very logical. Spells, divine arts, battle techniques, you must simplify them in the future.
“However, he didn’t go down to the roots. His simple is derived from complicated, so the journey to having complicated is a must. If you don’t experience it, you can never comprehend simple. The so-called simple is gathering your strength and your whole path into one line.”
Numerous devil divine arts practitioners seemed to understand and yet not understand, but they all nodded in agreement.
Qin Mu heard what Fu Riluo said, and he couldn’t help praising him as well. ‘Fu Riluo’s horizons are truly great, and he is a remarkable great master. He is no doubt a true devil, a respectable king. When I created the first form of Calamity Sword, I had also entered simple from complicated. The so-called simple isn’t simple at all. The sword skill may look simple, but it actually mobilizes all the strength and brings along the charm of the path, thus the power is extraordinary.’
Normal divine arts could mobilize from ten to twenty percent of one’s strength. The reason they looked strong was because their bodies were extremely powerful. For example, one’s right hand and one’s left hand may have a hundred pounds of strength each. One’s legs would have a hundred pounds of strength each too, but one couldn’t unleash four hundred pounds of strength when they punched.
And the strength of a divine arts practitioner’s body was even more complicated. There was strength from the qi and blood, one that stemmed from the tendons, the primordial spirit, divine treasures, and also the different kinds of rune markings.
Only by unleashing all these strengths could one use divine arts.
Great divine arts which were able to mobilize from fifty to sixty percent were rare and remarkable. Only by creating divine arts could people suit themselves better and unleash even more strength.
When they comprehended a divine art that had entered the path, the amount of strength they could unleash would become extremely terrifying. Basically, the strength in the entire body would be tapped into.
Complicated was the process of discovering all kinds of strengths in one’s body, so it couldn’t be taken out.
“Fu Riluo’s understanding isn’t bad,” Qi Jiuyi praised.
Qin Mu took a look at him and praised, “Brother Qi’s knowledge isn’t bad as well.”
Qi Jiuyi gave a slight smile.
Apothecary examined Butcher’s wound and used silver needles to pull out the fire poison. He said with a smile, “There’s no need to trouble me with this kind of small wound. Mu’er, get your fatty here to give a lick. He just needs to improve the blood circulation and make the muscles grow.”
The fatty dragon hurriedly ran over with small steps and smiled apologetically. “Grandpa Butcher, little dragon is going to start licking.”
Butcher hurriedly looked at Qin Mu. “Mu’er, do you have any in bottles?”
“Fresh dragon saliva is the best. The one in bottles isn’t fresh, and the wound will heal much slower!” Apothecary said firmly.
Butcher was skeptical.
“Brother Qin, Sun Sovereign has already settled his dispute, and Heaven Knife’s injury isn’t much of a problem, so your mind should have calmed down by now, right?” Qi Jiuyi looked at Qin Mu while speaking with a smile. “It should our turn.”
Qin Mu was about to say something when a knife light shone. It split from one into two, then into four, into eight, and continued even more!
‘Zhe Huali!’
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly, and the knife lights that filled the sky suddenly gathered back, transforming into a knife light that came slashing down. Where the knife fell, the air split in two!
Fu Riluo swept his sleeves and pushed back everyone that the knife light was going to cut. The knife light came from ten miles away, and it came straight for Qi Jiuyi!
The youth’s pupils contracted. But he relaxed and let the knife light come at him.
It suddenly shook and split apart, transforming into over a dozen of knife lights that slashed toward Qi Jiuyi like a peacock opening its tail. Yet they gathered back together once more just next to the tip of Qi Jiuyi’s nose.
The knife light disappeared, for ten miles away, Zhe Huali sheathed the demon knife behind his back. Even though his complexion wasn’t good, he was full of spirit and walked with long strides. It was obvious that he had suffered quite a bit of hardship these days just to break through.
Butcher looked at Zhe Huali and suddenly sighed. He said with a bleak expression, “My two disciples, one took the path of battle spells and the other comprehended the sword path; neither of them actually mastered the essence of knife skills. Yet this person who only saw my knife skill once went and comprehended it.”
Chancellor Ba Shan blushed while Qin Mu spoke without any shame in a cool and collected voice. “My sword skills have entered the path. I’m much more promising than Senior Brother Ba Shan, and Village Chief is very happy.”
Fu Riluo looked at Zhe Huali and exclaimed, “Zhe Huali, you can finish your apprenticeship now!”
Zhe Huali bowed and gave his thanks. He then straightened his back, and his sharp gaze fell on Qin Mu before shifting to Qi Jiuyi’s face. The knife light in his eyes jumped. “Qin Mu is mine. If you want to kill him before me, I’ll kill you first.”
Cripple was astonished. “Mu’er, you’re pretty popular.”
Qin Mu’s face instantly turned black.
“Zhe Huali, you are under the apprenticeship of High General Luo Wushuang of the Spirit Elite Guards? I can see traces of Luo Wushuang in your knife skill. He is in charge of teaching the younger generation of Spirit Elite Guards in the celestial heavens. It’s good for you to have attained his true teachings, but do you know who am I?” Qi Jiuyi asked indifferently.
Zhe Huali shook his head. “I won’t bother asking who you are. If you want to kill him, you will die first.”
Qi Jiuyi shook his head as well. “Luo Wushuang’s disciple, isn’t your opinion of your own abilities a little too exaggerated? You comprehended just one move so you could walk out of Luo Wushuang’s shadow, and you think you can be a match for me? Brother Qin, do you still want to see me fight a devil expert? Let me give you a chance.”
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes; he felt an extremely dangerous air coming from the youth near him!
He felt like there was a prehistoric beast gradually awakening in Qi Jiuyi’s body!
This kind of felling was similar when a true dragon executed Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, but Qi Jiuyi was definitely not a dragon. He was most likely a phoenix!
‘This is bad!’ Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently. ‘Qi Jiuyi cultivates a technique that can go up to Emperor’s Throne!”
Unbeknownst to him, Cripple appeared behind him and instructed earnestly, “Mu’er, you should become a coward when it’s time to be a coward and flee when it’s time to flee. Believe in Grandpa Cripple’s teaching. I’m definitely right.”
Qin Mu suddenly became excited and fisted his hands tightly. His voice also grew slightly hoarse. “Grandpa Cripple, I haven’t beaten someone who has cultivated Emperor’s Throne technique before!”
Cripple was furious and shouted, “Mu’er, Grandpa Cripple’s good traditions have all been forgotten by you. You only know how to be brave and fierce like Butcher, and you will get cut in half sooner or later too… Butcher, what’s this expression of yours? Put your knife down! We talk amiably here. I’m only thinking what’s best for Mu’er…”
He carefully pushed the knife away from his neck.
Qin Mu smiled at him. “Grandpa Cripple, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. The so-called Emperor’s Throne technique he uses was created by his predecessors and not by him, so it’s still up to his comprehension and cultivation to how much power he can unleash. This will make the technique drop by a realm, to Numinous Sky technique.
“Besides, Eternal Peace is undergoing a reform while the celestial heavens definitely hasn’t done so, which means that Qi Jiuyi’s Emperor’s Throne technique will be another level lower, going down to Jade Capital technique.”
With just a few words, he lowered an Emperor’s Throne technique by two levels.
“Even if it’s a Jade Capital technique, it’s still a few levels higher! True God, Jade Lake, God Execution Stage, and only then Jade Capital!” Cripple said coldly.
Qin Mu was brimming with confidence. “Because my true god technique is self-created, I can unleash all of its power, which raised it by a level, making it equivalent to a Jade Lake technique. In addition, I’m the overlord body, so I’m basically on par with God Execution Stage technique, which makes the difference not that large.”
Cripple was speechless from anger.
“Cripple, this is the reason why you still can’t cross the divine bridge and enter the celestial palaces. You are too timid, afraid of this and that, afraid that you can’t cross the divine bridge. Actually, your cultivation is enough to do it. Luckily, Mu’er didn’t learn from you or else he would never succeed in anything,” Granny Si said.
Cripple couldn’t be angry at her and just said angrily, “Dote on him more, I don’t care anymore. I’ll see him get beaten to death sooner or later!”
Even though he said so, he was still extremely concerned about Qin Mu. Back when Granny Si had picked him from the river, he was the first in the village to accept Qin Mu. Granny Si was annoyed at him wetting the bed and sent him away, but Cripple had brought him back time and time again without any complaint.
After Qin Mu grew slightly older, he didn’t have a playmate so it was always this old boy that played together with him. Of course, he tended to bully Qin Mu, stealing the candy Granny Si had bought for him or seizing toys Old Ma had made for him. It was always him who made Qin Mu cry and then was beaten by Granny Si until she was satisfied.
During those years, Village Chief had been dispirited, Blind’s Dao heart was broken by Xing An, Granny Si was worrying about Li Tianxing who was in her Dao heart, Mute only forged silently without talking to anyone, Apothecary had a buttload of love debts, Deaf didn’t bother about anyone, Old Ma was reminded of his departed wife and children when he saw Qin Mu, while Butcher was frequently crazy because he knew the truth about the sky.
Back then, they all had yet to undo the knots in their hearts. Cripple was the only one who had simply been forced into the village by Imperial Preceptor. He had a light burden, and so he was able to treat Qin Mu wholeheartedly.
When Fu Riluo saw the group squabbling, he was bewildered. The relationships between gods were usually one of politeness and courtesy. Even if they were enemies, both sides would usually treat one another with respect. It was rare to see gods quarreling every day like the gods of Disabled Elderly Village.
“Zhe Huali, you need to be careful when fighting with Young Master Qi.” Fu Riluo didn’t stop Zhe Huali from fighting altogether. “Now that you have finished your apprenticeship, there’s nothing more I can teach you. It’s the same for your other teacher, Luo Wushuang. From today onwards, you need to comprehend with your own cultivation. Fighting with Young Master Qi is your wish, and so I won’t stop you, just go.”
As the respectable king of the devil race, he had an abnormal bearing. Even if he was the enemy, his way of doing things was still very admirable.
Zhe Huali gave his thanks and looked at Qi Jiuyi. There seemed to be a knife light flashing in his eyes.
His knife skill had just taken shape, and he desperately needed someone to confirm his abilities!
“Fu Riluo, this disciple of yours won’t be a match for Young Master Qi,” Lu Li said in a low voice, “You have no idea how terrifying his inheritance is! His master is an ancient big shot of the celestial heavens, a prehistoric existence! Great Ruins was created by that existence!”
Fu Riluo’s left face’s voice was indifferent. “So what? From the ancient times until now, paths, skills, and divine arts have all changed so much that prehistoric things might no longer be powerful. You’re making the celestial heavens too much of a legend.
“Even if Zhe Huali isn’t a devil, he has still inherited our spirit—he becomes stronger when facing the strong, and he fights fiercer and fiercer! He also has extremely high comprehension and was able to comprehend the Dao when Heaven Knife slew Sun Sovereign with one knife. Who else could have done a similar thing? Zhe Huali might not lose this battle!”
Lu Li snorted and didn’t say anything else.
Zhnng!
The knife light shone, and Zhe Huali made his move!
He used Luo Wushuang’s knife skills, and the knife light started to split. The demon knife in his hands instantly became excited, and the demon eye opened to lock its gaze on Qi Jiuyi. When the knife light split, it multiplied again and again!
Qi Jiuyi stood motionless. Suddenly though, flames fluttered behind him as if he was a phoenix flapping its wings. The wings went before him, sending feathers forward. They were gorgeous and didn’t break even when they collided with the knife light.
In an instant, Zhe Huali’s Fission Knife Skills separated in ten thousand knife lights yet when they collided with the feathers of the phoenix, they could not break through the feathers.
On the contrary, the flaming feathers broke through the knife lights and rushed at Zhe Huali.
His body suddenly vanished before reappearing the next instant. Every step he took, his body would pause for a moment, and the demon knife in his hand would slash down. All kinds of basic knife forms were executed, and they burst forth like a huge sun, a devil god splitting a mountain, or flowers and leaves of a lotus pond. All kinds of apparitions poured out, filling the sky with knife lights slashing at Qi Jiuyi.
His speed was extremely fast, and the speed of his young true god’s corporeal body was such that he left a series of afterimages. This speed was no inferior to that of Qin Mu.
Such fast speed and strong corporeal body allowed him to leave afterimages in an area of a hundred fields around Qi Jiuyi. They surrounded him and attack as one!
Not only that, even the sky was filled with Zhe Huali’s figures. They were horizontal, lying flat, standing diagonally, and even upside down. They attacked from all kinds of strange angles!
Qi Jiuyi still stood unmoving. Yet he seemed to be able to see the sky and the earth. All around him, his phoenix feathers bloomed continuously, and more of them appeared. They gradually filled the area of several yards, preventing the demon knife of Zhe Huali from getting close.
Some of them even chased after Zhe Huali. Even if his speed was fast and his battle power was strong, Qin Mu and the rest could see that the phoenix feathers were a great threat to him!
Zhe Huali’s speed was like a clap of rolling thunder, yet each one seemed to be measured, and the distance they covered was exactly the same.
If the places where his feet touched the ground were connected together, the first two steps set the boundaries of a circle, next three made a triangle, the four after a square, then five a pentagon, and so on and so forth.
The more footsteps there were, the closer they came to a perfect circle.
All of the shapes used Qi Jiuyi as the center, and Zhe Huali swirled around him as he walked. Furthermore, he wasn’t walking on a flat surface, but a three-dimensional space that was sometimes far and sometimes close, sometimes above and sometimes below, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right. If all the lines were connected, the sight would definitely be extremely dazzling.
It was also because of this that his body movements and knife skills were unpredictable.
His movements had to have been inherited from Divine Knife Luo Wushuang. That man’s footsteps, as well as his knife, were extremely strict.
Yet Zhe Huali slowly left further and further away from his opponent.
Qi Jiuyi still stood in the same spot without moving. The space taken up by the phoenix feathers grew, forcing Zhe Huali to continuously fall back.
The feathers were his divine arts, not his spirit weapon. With just his divine art, he made Zhe Huali unable to get close!
Not only that, the phoenix feathers gradually formed a kind of apparition.
It was a tree, an ancient parasol tree that was overflowing with light.
It stood tall behind the youth, its crown covering the sky. The light flowed down in various colors, and Qi Jiuyi was like a god under the tree bathed under a colored light.
The people observing the battle couldn’t help the grim expressions that surfaced on their faces. It was especially evident on Granny Si.
Her spells were the strongest in Disabled Elderly Village, and she had great comprehension of divine arts. After experiencing the baptism of the heart devil, she was on the verge of entering the path with spell divine arts, which meant that her future was bright.
Her divine arts could be ranked first in Disabled Elderly Village and in the whole Eternal Peace Empire.
Yet Qi Jiuyi’s divine art made her see an even more beautiful and profound level of attainment in divine arts. The ancient parasol tree wasn’t the divine art that Qi Jiuyi had comprehended, but a divine art of his technique.
Qi Jiuyi had only used what he learned, yet the power of the divine art surpassed all those on the same realm.
Just based on the exquisiteness of the divine art, Granny Si admitted that she was inferior.
The ancient parasol tree was condensed from countless feather divine arts. The construction was so exquisite that it was something she had never seen before!
And Qi Jiuyi’s power was finally ready!
“Mu’er, listen to your Grandpa Cripple and admit defeat,” Granny Si said to Qin Mu. “He is yet to use his spirit weapon, and he is already able to do this much; his cultivation is terrifyingly dense. His spell divine art can already be called a Dao spell! You won’t be looked down upon if you admit defeat.”
Qin Mu fisted his hands tightly while staring nervously at the battlefield. He was oblivious to her words.
The ancient parasol tree was being nourished more and continued to spread out, becoming even more perfect.
There was even a phoenix’s nest on among its branches, constructed from feathers. At this moment, Zhe Huali was already fifty yards away from Qi Jiuyi. Even though his attacks were fierce, they no longer posed any threat to Qi Jiuyi.
Once the phoenix’s nest was constructed, a phoenix gradually took shape within it!
Indescribable pulses went out as the phoenix grew more and more perfect. It was a nine-headed phoenix with nine slender and elegant necks that were either raised up or hung down from the nest as it examined the surroundings.
Qin Mu had felt the aura of a prehistoric beast from Qi Jiuyi’s body, and this was most likely the reason.
The pulse became stronger and stronger, and the nine-headed phoenix also became more and more beautiful, more and more real!
The nine-headed phoenix and ancient parasol tree didn’t pressure only Zhe Huali. It was extremely terrifying to everyone watching the surroundings.
“Brother Qin, didn’t you want to take a look at my divine arts?”
Under the ancient parasol tree, Qi Jiuyi’s expression was incomparably sacred. Zhe Huali finally exploded under the huge pressure, and he slashed down with his knife. It was the first knife move he had created after he had entered the path!
A huge demon eye appeared behind his back and opened up. A beam of light shot on the knife with which he had slashed, and its power instantly increased drastically. It had the power of Qin Mu’s Opening Calamity Sword that could conquer every obstacle!
‘Superb knife skills! He has the ability to fight me!’
The thumb and index finger of Qi Jiuyi’s right hand pinched together, and the mudra which was like a phoenix head smashed toward the knife light that had broken through the crown of the ancient parasol tree!
A clear phoenix’s cry rang out, and the nine-headed phoenix flapped its wings. However, it didn’t fly towards Zhe Huali, but rushed toward Qin Mu like flowing light!
Zhe Huali’s demon knife welcomed the mudra of Qi Jiuyi. Once it was out, the ancient parasol tree fell onto the demon knife. Qi Jiuyi actually unleashed his strongest attack at Zhe Huali and Qin Mu at the same time!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What a strong divine art!”
Qin Mu couldn’t help becoming excited. Before the nine-headed phoenix even arrived, the gale raised by the power of the great divine arts had already undone the ribbon tying his hair. It fluttered backward while his hair went horizontal!
The skin on his face was blown into creases, and an incomparably scorching heat made it hard for him to breathe.
Zhe Huali and Qin Mu were on par with each other. Qi Jiuyi attack on both of them at the same time showed just how confident he was.
He had the confidence to take down both Zhe Huali and Qin Mu, these two young experts!
As the disciple of an ancient existence in the celestial heavens, he was outstanding in that high up place. Upon coming down to the lower bound to settle matters, he looked refined and elegant, dealing with matters courteously and keeping to etiquette no matter if he was faced with a friend or a foe. However, deep within, he still looked down on the strong practitioners of the lower bound, thinking that they were all country bumpkins.
His divine art had already been brewing for a long time. As he and Zhe Huali tested each other, he slowly completed the great divine art, Nine Phoenixes Perching on Ancient Parasol Tree.
It was a great divine art of an Emperor’s Throne Technique, and once it was complete, he could crush all enemies on the same realm. It was definitely unrivaled!
He wanted to take down Qin Mu and Zhe Huali to show the awe of the celestial heavens and make the country bumpkins of the lower bound understand the heaven’s might!
Qin Mu’s blood boiled. Qi Jiuyi was attacking two people at once, but he felt as if he was facing Qi Jiuyi’s attack by himself. It was evident that the youth from the celestial heavens was a terrifying opponent like none he’d seen before!
Even though Qi Jiuyi’s great divine art needed a long time to take shape, its power excited Qin Mu!
He had never seen such a terrifying opponent before!
He couldn’t help letting out a loud shout, and dragon roars reverberated through his body. In that instant, they rang out eight times as Eight Voices of Ancestral Dragon sounded out. Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique circulated one cycle!
The nine-headed phoenix flew over with multi-colored lights which were dazzling and eye-catching. It was also giving off an astonishing power!
The nine-headed phoenix reached Qin Mu’s body in an instant. It had looked incomparably huge on the tree, but when it flew to Qin Mu’s face, it was no bigger than a foot.
But even though it had become smaller, the power had only become stronger, and the threat posed by it was even greater.
Qi Jiuyi used a mudra, and the ancient parasol tree fell onto the demon knife. When the two came close to colliding, pulses spread out in all directions, followed by gales filled with flames and knife lights. The gales whooshed and swept out in all directions.
The ground was instantly melted and became lava upon which knife lights jumped around. The moment the two great divine arts collided, demon knives leaped out from the lava, and the knife skill each of them executed was different. The handles of the demon knives all had a demon eyes which were extremely strange. They locked their gazes on Qi Jiuyi, and the path which each demon knife took seemed to be controlled by them.
Small, ancient parasol trees appeared in the lava to block the demon knives. There were phoenix nests on the trees, and as they gave off multi-colored light, the demon knives that had flown out from the lava were shattered.
At the same time, Qin Mu’s sword pellet flew up and floated in front of the heart of his brows. When his sword fingers tapped that place, the tiny sword pellet formed from eight thousand swords instantly changed its shape.
Eight thousand swords turned into a sword light. It became incomparably intense the moment he pointed with his sword fingers. Once he gathered all his strength and energy, he stabbed with them in the direction of the nine-headed phoenix.
Swoosh!
The sword light collided with the phoenix. The instant the sword light burst forth, it was thick as a pillar, but after it rushed out from his sword fingers, it became incomparably fine. It was like a cold ray.
Yet upon closer inspection, it seemed to contains countless sights.
The first form of his Calamity Sword was called Opening Calamity Sword, and Carefree Sword was the core of it. Carefree Sword had a total of eight sides to its blade, and what they reflected were the runes of Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique that shone in all directions.
The sword light reflected the runes on the child sword, activating its power which was then reflected on the rest. The blade of every sword was like an eight-sided mirror, and in just an instant, all eight thousand swords lit up, executing all of their power!
The eight thousand swords were continuously moving, and the path of each sword was different. In time, all of the power of the eight thousand swords gathered together in Carefree Sword.
This was the marvel of Opening Calamity Sword.
Based solely on appearance, Qin Mu had merely tapped the heart of his brows and gave a stab which looked extremely simple. However, something this simple included the cultivation and comprehension of his whole life as well as the strength of his corporeal body, primordial spirit, paths, skills, and divine arts, and even his physical power.
When Butcher and Fu Riluo talked about entering simple from complicated, the reason why Qin Mu had thought high of it was because he had already taken that step!
In comparison to Qi Jiuyi’s great divine art which had to take some time to activate and prepare, his great divine art Calamity Sword was abnormally fast!
This was the difference between creating and learning. Qin Mu had stepped into technique entering the path and created his own Calamity Sword, so his reaction speed was incomparably quick.
Zhe Huali walked the path of knife skills entering the path. His knife skill was created by himself, but his technique was from others. He had learned Luo Wushuang’s technique as well as that of Fu Riluo, so he was slightly slower than Qin Mu in entering the path with knife skills.
Yet even though it was slightly slower, it was still much faster than the time required for Qi Jiuyi to unleash his great divine arts.
However, Qi Jiuyi cultivated an Emperor’s Throne Technique of the celestial heavens, and the power of his divine art was incomparably powerful. It was rarely seen in the worlds, and its power alone surpassed the techniques of True God by leaps!
However, the great divine art was split into two. The nine-headed phoenix was aimed at Qin Mu while the ancient parasol tree was thrown at Zhe Huali. This had also split its power into two!
Chi!
Qin Mu’s sword light pierced through the heads of the nine-headed phoenix. Even though it looked small, it was formed from countless divine arts. Upon contact, they instantly burst forth!
The power of the eight thousand swords hidden in Qin Mu’s sword also burst forth. Eight thousand incomparably fine swords that were hard for the naked eye to see jumped out and executed different sword moves, slicing apart the divine arts in the nine-headed phoenix’s body.
In a swift clash, the nine-headed phoenix was obliterated, and the fine sword lights rushed toward Qi Jiuyi.
When Qi Jiuyi’s divine art was broken, he gave a grunt. Suddenly, flames erupted behind him, and he twisted his neck so another eight long necks could have space to grow. They were covered in fine phoenix feathers which were all of seven colors.
The phoenix heads that followed rose with plumes at the top. Qi Jiuyi looked like the emperor of the birds, and each phoenix head pecked down toward Qin Mu’s sword light.
The moment he diverted his attention to deal with Qin Mu, the pressure on Zhe Huali was weakened, and countless demon knives leaped out from the lava. They combined into one and slashed down on Qi Jiuyi!
Behind the youth, his gorgeous wings that were like knives opened up. His feathers were like swords when they rose to face the incoming demon knife.
Qin Mu quickly followed after the sword light. His feet moved quickly, exploding with a loud rumble. He went forward with a punch, which sucked in all the air surrounding Qi Jiuyi. All of it was compressed into his fist!
From around his fist, bolts of lightning burst forth in all directions!
Qi Jiuyi raised his hand to receive the attack, but on the other side, Zhe Huali rushed over with long strides like a furious devil god. Devil language rang out from his mouth as his qi and blood turned violent when he struck out with a mudra!
Qi Jiuyi’s other hand clenched into a mudra, and he prepared to fight against the two of them. They came with incomparably terrifying strength, and two loud rumbles rang out.
The youth gave a grunt, and his nine heads coughed up blood at the same time.
Qin Mu’s other hand opened up, and the flying swords that had been sent away by the eight phoenix heads transformed back into a sword pellet that fell into his hand. His grip grew forceful, and a snow-bright sword pillar formed by eight thousand swords swirling furiously swept towards Qi Jiuyi’s neck, ready to cut off his nine heads.
The swirling sword light sliced through the air. If Qi Jiuyi came anywhere close to it, he would shatter into pieces and get minced into the finest chunks of meat!
Zhe Huali grabbed his knife, and with a clank, it welcomed Qin Mu’s sword. Knife lights burst forth and dispersed Qin Mu’s sword light. The young man sneered and said, “He’s mine. It’s best if Cult Master Qin does not interfere.”
Their bodies trembled violently, and their arms turned numb. The demon knife and the sword pellet were jolted out from their hands from the vibrations. Qin Mu stretched his other hand out to grab the demon knife, and his footsteps crisscrossed as he slashed down. With a sneer, he said, “Zhe Huali, you are brainless. This person is our enemy, so we need to kill him before we can we be at ease!”
His knife was imposing and majestic. He had inherited Butcher’s wild and overbearing spirit in his knife skills, so his power was actually not much inferior to that of Zhe Huali with the knife.
Suddenly, he felt a pain in his hand. When he looked down, he saw that the demon eye at the handle of the knife had actually grown a mouth. It was full of razor-sharp teeth, and they bit down on his palm, drawing blood.
While he was busy with that, Zhe Huali grabbed the sword pellet. He was slightly stunned upon catching hold of it, and the sword pellet nearly fell from his hand as he had never expected for it to be so heavy. He nearly lost his grip on it.
But he quickly adjusted, and the sword pellet actually burst forth with sword light. He didn’t have much attainments with sword skills and there were eight thousand swords in the sword pellet, making it hard and tiring to control, but he still raised the sword light to defend against the demon knife that Qin Mu had just used. Without an expression, he said, “He and you are the same—both of you will be killed by me! Your fate is to fall under my knife!”
The instant the sword and the knife collided, Zhe Huali gave a grunt and stumbled back. Qin Mu was proficient in knife skills, so even though he got bit by the demon knife, the power of his move was still great. On top of that, his magic power was more vigorous than Zhe Huali’s, which made it hard for the other to defend.
The knife and sword broke free from their grips, and the demon knife trembled in midair. Countless knife lights surrounded the three people and danced in the sky, colliding with one another.
Qin Mu immediately used his own magic power to control the sword pellet. Sword light rushed out and transformed into a mountain and river painting to press down on them, drowning out the three people.
Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
“How impudent! To dare to disregard me!”
Qi Jiuyi was both astonished and furious. His body shook again, and he revealed his nine heads on the human body which had bird claws and wings. He was about to explode with power and kill the two pests when Qin Mu and Zhe Huali suddenly worked together to severely injure him.
Qi Jiuyi coughed blood. Qin Mu and Zhe Huali attacked each other ruthlessly while surrounding him. Whenever he had the slightest idea to fight back, they would join hands to heavily injure him. Every time Qin Mu attacked him, Zhe Huali would defend him, and whenever Zhe Huali attacked him, he would be blocked by Qin Mu who was throwing a tantrum.
Covered in blood, Qi Jiuyi finally felt fear and loss spread through him. If faced with Qin Mu or Zhe Huali alone, he would win ten times out of ten. but when facing the two of them, he could only receive a beating.
‘Why is it like this?’ He was very puzzled.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
If Qi Jiuyi hadn’t acted generous and attacked Qin Mu and Zhe Huali at the same time, he would have smoothly defeated Zhe Huali and not landed in such a state.
Qin Mu and Zhe Huali knew that his great divine art was astonishing, so when he attacked them, they had first heavily injured him. Qi Jiuyi then became their side dish while they were the only ones fighting for real. The eight thousand flying swords and countless knives were like pattering rain as they collided again and again.
Qi Jiuyi was located in the center of the battlefield, so he was always surrounded by Qin Mu’s sword lights and Zhe Huali’s knife lights. The moment he got ready to burst forth, he suffered attacks from the two people at the same time. This kind of situation was something he had never expected.
Qin Mu and Zhe Huali’s footstep were quick, and they sometimes drew close and sometimes went away. The two of them mainly fought with their swords and knives while only occasionally assisting themselves with spells or clashing with their corporeal bodies.
Zhe Huali gradually fell into a disadvantage, and Qi Jiuyi saw an opportunity. When Qin Mu attacked Zhe Huali, he also did the same, trying to ally himself with Qin Mu to get rid of Zhe Huali.
But at the same moment, he felt a chill coming near his heart and lowered his head. A sword tip was sticking out from the front of his chest.
Zhe Huali was blown away by Qin Mu and tumbled back. He flew over ten miles before stopping with heavy injuries.
Qi Jiuyi’s nine heads all turned around and saw Qin Mu standing in the air with a harmless smile.
Qin Mu smacked forward with his hand, his fingers splayed out. It was Yin Yang Heaven Flipping Hands that he had learned from Third Ancestor Human Emperor, and he used it together with, Fifth Ancestor Human Emperor’s Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell.
Over ten miles away, Zhe Huali just managed to stabilize his body when the power from Qin Mu’s palm went after him. Zhe Huali flew up like a tattered rucksack. He got frozen into an ice sculpture by the pure yin palm force, and Five Thunder Bell appeared near him. If it rang, it could shatter him into pieces since he was an ice sculpture!
In the meantime, Qin Mu grabbed the sharp sword of his sword pellet with his other hand and sent his magic power into all eight thousand swords. Fine flying swords were dancing around with various sword moves in Qi Jiuyi’s body and even rushing into his divine treasures!
The second move of Sword Picture, Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood!
Around Qin Mu’s body, crimson spread out and drowned him out like a sea of blood. The smile on the youth’s face was reflected in it, and it seemed to become strange and evil, making people shudder without feeling cold.
“I’ve never lost a group scuffle before…”
Qi Jiuyi’s hair stood up on ends upon hearing his voice. The power of Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood exploded, and Five Thunder Heaven Raising Bell covered Zhe Huali. The bell then rang!
The two young experts were about to die under his hands!
At that moment, the bell disintegrated from Fu Riluo’s majestic magic power that came from a single palm move. On the other side, Lu Li tapped on the sword tip in Qi Jiuyi’s chest. Flying swords flew backward one by one, leaving Qi Jiuyi’s body!
Butcher pulled out his knife, Blind took hold of his spear, and flames rushed into the sky behind Mute. They each took a step forward while Cripple grabbed Qin Mu to fall back. In a blink, he appeared behind Butcher and the rest!
Fu Riluo and Lu Li had saved Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi, but they didn’t make any moves after that.
“Little Friend Qi, you’ve stayed in the celestial heavens and don’t know about the craftiness of the people in the lower bound. Now you have suffered, right?” Lu Li said with a smile.
Qi Jiuyi was silent for a moment. “Jiuyi is willing to ally himself with Provincial Governor.”
Fu Riluo’s heart moved slightly, and he dissipated the qi of pure yin that plagued Zhe Huali’s body, releasing him from the frozen state.
Zhe Huali was still in shock when he suddenly saw the ground folding up. In the next instant, he was back beside Fu Riluo who had been over ten miles away. It was obvious that Fu Riluo had folded up space.
Butcher and the rest were astonished. Fu Riluo’s abilities were much greater than what they had imagined. These kinds of abilities meant that he was no mere true devil!
Fu Riluo’s left face looked at Zhe Huali, and he said calmly, “Victory and defeat are common in war. The true victory and defeat is life and death, so as long as you don’t die, you haven’t lost completely. Do you understand?”
Zhe Huali sheathed the demon knife on his back. He bowed and said, “Disciple understands.”
Fu Riluo was happy. “Your Dao heart is trained well, so your success will definitely surpass that of Luo Wushuang in the future.”
Behind Butcher and the rest, Cripple was overjoyed and patted Qin Mu heavily on the shoulder. “Mu’er, you didn’t throw Grandpa Cripple’s face! That move earlier was truly sinister, hiding a blade in your smile while you injured him with a hidden arrow. As expected of one that’s been taught by me! When I saw your smile just then, even I couldn’t help shivering!”
Qin Mu hurriedly said humbly, “It’s all because of Grandpa Cripple’s good teaching. If it wasn’t for Grandpa Cripple, I wouldn’t have defeated them. In regards to hiding a blade in my smile, I can at most rank number two. Grandpa Cripple is still the best in the world!”
Cripple stroked his mountain goat beard and laughed loudly. He was pretty pleased with himself.
Deaf sneered and said, “The men of today have sadly degenerated…”
Lu Li paid no attention to Butcher and the rest that had nervous expressions. She looked at the divine city that Deaf had drawn and suddenly said with a smile, “Fu Riluo, have you seen through the real and the fake?”
Fu Riluo turned his head and his three faces looked at the god city. After a moment, he said, “I can’t see through it. May you enlighten me?”
“Look at the souls of the gods there,” Lu Li said with a smile.
Fu Riluo was astonished and sought enlightenment sincerely. “How do I look at the souls?”
Butcher, Mute, and Blind knew that things were going bad and gradually moved back.
Deaf’s face changed slightly, and he instantly knew that Lu Li had seen through their ruse. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His painting could pass off as genuine, which meant that no flaws could be seen in the world in the painting he had created and even the connection to reality was seamless as well.
However, he couldn’t create souls!
Lu Li had to be a strong practitioner from Youdu with extremely deep attainments in the spells of the soul to have seen through the marvel of Deaf’s painting.
Everyone’s palms went sweaty, and they surrounded Qin Mu while they continuously fell back. Their unease grew stronger and stronger.
Fu Riluo and Lu Li seemed to pay no attention to them, allowing them to leave.
Lu Li turned around and raised her slender jade hand to draw a circle in the air. Light leaked out from it, and it became a huge and bright mirror that floated in the sky. “Respectable king, please look at the scene in the mirror.”
Fu Riluo did so, and what the mirror reflected was the majestic god city in front of them. It included Butcher, Qin Mu, Granny Si, and the rest in front of it.
Some of their souls were standing in front of the Southern Heavenly Gate of the celestial palaces. Some of them were on the divine bridge, and there was even the soul of a person standing in Life and Death Realm. Under his feet was the dark Youdu.
But what was weird was that the god city in the mirror was only a huge pit. Not only did the god city not exist, but even the gods and the army of a million weren’t there!
However, Butcher and the rest that were retreating toward the god city could be seen. The mirror showed all of their souls. Fu Riluo took a look at himself, and he saw his three-headed true form standing among the devil celestial palaces!
He was a devil god with three heads. The three faces were only an illusion created after he had cultivated the three heads into one.
Fu Riluo looked at Qi Jiuyi who was reflected in the mirror, and his reflection was that of a nine-headed phoenix that was bathing in blazing golden light and divine fire. He looked sacred and extraordinary.
Zhe Huali, when reflected in the mirror, was a normal human, except for the demon knife behind his back. It was a one-eyed demon beast full of a terrifying demon ai; it was extremely frightening!
Yet the most terrifying one in the mirror was still Qin Mu!
The youth had three eyes and was glowing with crimson light. He was incomparably huge, and his three eyes looked over, seemingly having detected him peeking.
Fu Riluo felt his soul tremble, and his chest started to ache again.
Lu Li hurriedly turned the mirror away from Qin Mu at the rest. She said, “Are you clear now?”
The mirror was pointed in the direction of the devil camp. A few devil experts behind them looked toward it and saw the souls of the devil gods and devils in the mirror.
Fu Riluo’s disciple Shu Ye was slightly stunned when he saw a slightly strange soul among the devils.
That person was actually standing among the celestial palaces! Furthermore, his soul was tattered and filled with patches that seemed to be stitched together from numerous people’s souls!
Shu Ye was about to look in detail when Lu Li had pulled back the mirror.
‘Could I have seen wrongly?’ Shu Ye was bewildered.
Fu Riluo shuddered, and his voice was hoarse when he spoke. “Those three eyes…”
“Sealed by Earth Count,” Lu Li said with a smile. “You can forget about coveting him. Your aim is just Supreme Emperor Heaven.”
Fu Riluo composed himself and said solemnly, “I can finally see the true face of the god city. IT was creating flowers from emptiness, creating reality and passing off fake as genuine. With the painting as a world, they connected fake and real, making it hard to distinguish the two. To create gods and all things with the painting path, the person’s attainments have to have reached the peak of the painting path.”
His voice reached the ears of Deaf, Granny Si and the rest. “For Dao friends to have been able to trick me and stop my devil army for several days, giving Supreme Emperor Heaven time to take a breather and prepare, even if all of you die, you can be proud of yourselves.”
The expressions of everyone in the group changed drastically. They saw the space around them warp. Even though they were moving back, the distance between them and Fu Riluo was decreasing!
“We’re done for, done for…” Cripple’s expression was ashen as he muttered softly to himself.
The green bull under Chancellor Ba Shan’s leg mooed angrily and sprinted furiously toward the god city. However, no matter how fast he sprinted, he got farther and farther away while getting closer to Fu Riluo!
The green bull hurriedly stopped, not daring to move anymore.
“Respectable king, I only want Qin Fengqing. Hand him to me, and I’ll give you a Supreme Emperor Heaven!” Lu Li said with a smile.
“Don’t worry, now that I’ve seen the fake from the real, they cannot run anymore.”
Fu Riluo took a step and walked toward everyone. The air instantly warped violently, and everyone involuntarily got closer to him.
Butcher shouted angrily and swung the knife to slash toward the sky and the ground, trying to sever the warped space. Yet his knife light was instantly warped and vanished without a trace.
Suddenly though, the sky trembled violently, and Fu Riluo stopped. He raised his head to look at the sky, and his expression filled with astonishment.
Lu Li also hurriedly raised her head in astonishment.
In the sky, incomparably thick beams of light shone down and connected to the ground. Next, it transformed into turbulent blood light!
Huge but broken planets suddenly squeezed out from space and appeared in the sky of Supreme Emperor Heaven!
Then a second dilapidated planet appeared, followed by a third…
An astonishing sight appeared in the sky. A huge land pressed down on the bunch of planets that had suddenly appeared in the sky above Supreme Emperor Heaven!
The appearance of the vast land in the sky made Fu Riluo trembled and he forgot to control his divine art. In the devils’ main camp, the soldiers of the devil race raised their heads and looked at the vision in the sky with blank expressions.
Not only them, almost all of the lifeforms in the entire Supreme Emperor Heaven, no matter if they were human or devil, slave or god, or even strange beasts and insects living in the mountains and sea. They all raised their heads at this very moment and looked at the huge planets that were pressing down from the sky and also at that magnificent and boundless land.
That was a sight so shocking that it couldn’t be described with words. It was a magnificent sight that they had never seen before in their lives!
The huge planets were so low that it seemed they could be touched with their hands. The mountains on the land were like hanging sharp precipice hanging down. The sea in the land was like a sapphire blue gem.
What was even stranger was even though it was hanging above Supreme Emperor Heaven, the water from the sea didn’t fall and flow into Supreme Emperor Heaven.
Fu Riluo’s body trembled and he forgot to seize Butcher, Qin Mu and the rest.
Qin Mu looked at it in detail and those beams of light that were connecting that land with Supreme Emperor were from tall sacrificial altars and these sacrificial altars were as astonishing as the mountains. Even if one raised their head from Supreme Emperor Heaven, they could faintly see.
Qin Mu cried out, “That is… Luofu Heaven!”
His voice broke the astonishment and silence in the surrounding. The hearts of Butcher, Granny Si, and the rest trembled and Cripple hurriedly asked, “Mu’er, what kind of damned place is Luofu Heaven?”
“The world of the devil race, which is also the world of where these devils in Supreme Emperor Heaven resides in.”
Qin Mu took out teleportation flags and quickly stabbed around them. “I have suffered from Fu Riluo’s pupil divine art and got seized by him. In his illusion, I became him and I saw Luofu Heaven before. That world is basically almost destroyed.”
“The devil race suddenly pulled their Luofu Heaven over, what are they preparing to do?”
Granny Si was rather puzzled and she said with a low voice, “Could they have planned to let all devil enter Supreme Emperor Heaven?”
Blind’s gaze was deep and he shook his head, “Granny, you can’t see the details in Luofu Heaven. This Luofu Heaven isn’t moved over by the devil race, there are still twenty and more gods on the sacrificial altars so it should be done by them. Furthermore, they aren’t moving Luofu Heaven to Supreme Emperor Heaven, they are…”
His voice was slightly excited. “They are blood sacrificing Luofu Heaven!”
“Blood sacrificing Luofu Heaven!”
Everyone was astonished and just as they were about to check in detail, Qin Mu had already executed the teleportation flag and the huge flags swirled to send them into that god city.
Right in the instant Qin Mu executed the teleportation flag, the devils’ main camp was also in chaos as a true devil got attacked by surprise!
That was a true dragon that flew out from the youth’s waist and attacked when everyone was looking up the sky in a daze. That divine dragon injured that true devil severely. Meanwhile, the movement of the ‘devil youth’ was strange and he came to the back of that true devil as though he was floating.
His divine art was even stranger and after a series of attacks, that true devil was chopped in eight chunks.
The main camp was in chaos and before the devil gods could even react, they saw that ‘devil youth’ taking out a chest and the chest automatically opened to swallow the chopped devil god up.
That ‘devil youth’ raised the chest and stepped on the divine dragon to rise into the sky. Behind him, devil gods gave chase furiously!
At the same time, light in the god city shook and the teleportation formation appeared. Before anyone people could come back to their senses, Qin Mu executed the teleportation flags again and the light shone again before the light even extinguished, sending everyone out of the city.
He executed the teleportation repeatedly and did it over and over again until they finally escaped four to five hundred miles away.
Qin Mu’s magic power was exhausted and he swept his sleeves to keep the teleportation flag. “I can only teleport to here.”
Hu Ling’er said, “I know, it’s Fatty Dragon that’s too heavy!”
The dragon qilin lowered his head in shame.
Everyone hurriedly rushed towards Li City and on the way, they focused their gazes to look at the sky but they still couldn’t see too clearly.
Yet in Blind’s eyes, he could see the terrains of Luofu Heaven, the lakes and the seas were all crumbling. Mountains crumbled and the sea vaporized. The rivers located in Luofu Heaven were like twisting snakes that were squirming in midair!
This sight was truly terrifying!
Blood sacrificing the entire world made everyone felt that it was a spectacular yet sorrowful sight.
At this moment, they heard a loud cry coming from the sky like the sorrowful cry of a whale in the sea, it was incomparably long-lasting like the sorrowful cry of a world that was dying. Even though human emotions couldn’t be heard from the cry, it still made people couldn’t help tearing up.
Even though that world was the world of the devil race, but every world was the mother of all lifeforms born there. When they heard the sorrowful cry of their dying mother, they made people couldn’t help feeling the same way too.
“Luofu Heaven isn’t being pulled closer.”
Granny Si suddenly came to a realization and she hurriedly ran to Li City with everyone. She said with a low voice, “Luofu Heaven is still at its original position, it’s actually this power of blood sacrifice that had established access between Luofu Heaven and Supreme Emperor Heaven, making Luofu Heaven seem to be above our head.”
Fu Riluo’s heart was cold. He raised his head to look at his Luofu Heaven that had raised him up. Even when Qin Mu had escaped, even when Xing An had created havoc in the devils’ main camp, he didn’t bother to even take a look.
Luofu Heaven of the devil race transformed into pure energy in the blood sacrifice and they were currently pouring into Supreme Emperor Heaven.
Saint Woodcutter has succeeded.
He was abnormally clever so he naturally knew who had done it.
After Saint Woodcutter had taken a bet at Li City, he had vanished for a period of time and didn’t reappear until now. He must have been planning to take drastic measures, entering Luofu Heaven, the old nest of the devils, to set up the sacrificial altars needed to sacrifice Luofu Heaven!
And now, Saint Woodcutter has already attained the means to sacrifice Luofu Heaven!
Lu Li was long used to this sight as she has already long seen worlds after worlds being destroyed in her eyes. There were countless worlds that got destroyed in Youdu before and formed Earth Count’s horns of nine bends. Countless broken souls were wailing miserably in those world in pitch black darkness.
“Capturing that brat with the surname Qin is more important!”
She immediately made a decision and rushed towards the direction where Qin Mu and the rest had teleported to. At this moment, Luofu Heaven which was sinking into destruction suddenly stopped and they suddenly heard a voice coming from the other world. “Fu Riluo, do you want to stop the battle or for Luofu Heaven to be obliterated?”
Lu Li knew it was bad and she turned her head to look at Fu Riluo. Fu Riluo’s three faces were stupefied and one of the face raised up to look at Luofu Heaven. Fu Riluo’s booming voice rang out, “Heavenly Teacher, you and I will make a pact to temporarily stop the battle! We will make peace and my devil race will split the world into two with the gods of your Supreme Emperor Heaven, my devil race will take half of Supreme Emperor Heaven while the other half belongs to you. Since you have the weakness of my devil race by controlling Luofu Heaven, you can also be at ease.”
“Alright!”
The sky was ripped apart and Saint Woodcutter’s face appeared in the sky. There was only the face and no ears. This face just suddenly appeared in the sky and looked down at Fu Riluo. His voice rumbled in the sky like heavenly thunder, “Make an oath to Earth Count?”
Fu Riluo said sternly, “An oath to Earth Count!”
Butcher, Blind and the rest that were rushing towards Li City furiously also saw this sight and they also heard Saint Woodcutter and Fu Riluo’s conversation. Granny Si shook her head, “Who is this foolish old man? He looks foolish and to actually dare to make an oath to Earth Count with the respectable king of the devil race? He needs to be careful not to have even his underwear trick away by Fu Riluo!”
Everyone in Disabled Elderly Village nodded their heads.
Qin Mu said carefully, “Granny, look at this face in the sky, does it look similar to the face of Saint Woodcutter on the mural in our Saint Arrival Mountain?”
Granny Si examined it and she gave a shudder. Wasn’t this face that of Saint Woodcutter?
“So it’s the Saint.”
Granny Si showed off her beauty and it was very charming when she smiled, “In that case, he won’t be at a disadvantage when making an oath to Earth Count with Fu Riluo. There are so many crafty people in Heavenly Saint Cult and they had all learn it from Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures so, in terms of craftiness, this saint is our old ancestor.”
Everyone’s mind was blank by her smile and they just selectively forgot about Granny Si scolding Saint Woodcutter a foolish old man involuntarily.
Lu Li’s gaze flickered and she looked into the distance. She was about to chase after Qin Mu when Fu Riluo said calmly, “When this concerns the existence of my Luofu Heaven, it’s best for Dao Friend Lu Li to not make any reckless move.”
Lu Li’s beautiful brows frowned, this chance was rare and she really wanted to seize Qin Mu but she was also very afraid of that face in the sky. If she forcefully made a move, Fu Riluo might even make a move on her from being threatened so she resisted herself.
“Don’t worry. I said I will bring this brat to you so I won’t eat my words,” Fu Riluo said.
Lu Li chuckled and said, “If you dare to eat your words, I can assist Supreme Emperor Heaven in getting rid of your devil race.”
Fu Riluo shook his head, “You won’t. Heavenly Teacher is from Founding Emperor Celestial Heaven, the grudge between the two of you is even great that your grudge to the devil race, it’s impossible to resolve.”
Lu Li took a glance at the direction where Qin Mu and the rest had escaped and she suppressed herself. She wasn’t afraid of Fu Riluo or Saint Woodcutter but if the both of them attacked her at the same time, she wouldn’t have it easy.
“However, I promise you I can definitely do it.”
Fu Riluo’s front face was signing a Pact of Earth Count with the face in the sky while the face on the left was talking to Lu Li. “He has already suffered from my divine art so no matter if it’s a mirror or a water surface, he will still fall into my grasp.”
Only then did Lu Li place her heart down and said with a smile, “In regards to your art of space, I am indeed very impressed.”
Qi Jiuyi frowned slightly and said, “So Provincial Governor, the agreement between you and I…”
Lu Li smiled at him sweetly and it was so lovely and sweet that it was terrifying. With a rough voice, she said, “Whether or not I should lend Qin Mu to you will depend on what you plan to do. Even though Young Master Qi is a noble of the celestial heavens, the sky is high and the emperor is far. Even His Majesty wouldn’t be able to control the provincial governor that’s in control of an area, right?”
Qi Jiuyi said with an unmoved expression, “I understand. If you lend me, I will give you benefits.”
Finally, Qin Mu and the rest hurried to Li City and only then did they let out a sigh of relief.
Li City was long stationed with soldiers and horses. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, True God Pang Yu and the rest were holding the lines. When they saw them hurrying back safely, only then were they at ease.
Apothecary took out a mirror to tidy himself up to prevent him from losing his image.
Qin Mu popped his head to take a look and his expression changed drastically. His eyes stared at the mirror and inside the mirror, Fu Riluo was walking towards him.
Apothecary coincidentally kept the mirror and he said with a smile, “Mu’er, you don’t have any lesser mirrors than me so why do you need to borrow mine?”
Qin Mu shook his head and cried out, “Granny, I’ve suffered from the same move again!”
He talked about how he got kidnapped by Fu Riluo the previous time and everyone in Disabled Elderly Village revealed a look of disdain. Cripple sneered and said, “Mu’er, to fall at the same place twice, you have disappointed our teaching!”
Blind nodded his head. “I saw Mu’er is still young and too innocent!”
Apothecary sighed and said, “That’s right, Village Chief that old fogey always nags that Qin Mu is too innocent and is afraid of him losing out. His words have come true, to fall for the same thing twice!”
Cold sweat rolled down Qin Mu’s forehead. “Stop saying cynical remarks. what should I do?”
Mute did a few strokes and Deaf caught them in his eyes. He said, “This is simple, just don’t look in the mirror, you aren’t a little girl. Mute said that, not me.”
Apothecary took out the mirror and aimed it at Qin Mu to examine his reaction. He saw Qin Mu’s eyes immediately going out of focus as if there was a figure walking out from his eyes. He immediately kept the mirror and said, “It’s easy not to look in the mirror but what about washing his face? Or if he meets other people that shine their mirror at Qin Mu? He just needs to arrange a devil or a spy and use a mirror to shine at Qin Mu, Mu’er just need to take a look and he will fall into the move again. The divine arts practitioners that had submitted to the devils wouldn’t be low in numbers, there’s definitely not only Tian Fenggou!”
Butcher snatched the mirror from him and shone it at Qin Mu. Qin Mu’s eyes went out of focus again as he stared at the mirror. The body of a Fu Riluo walked over in his eyes and was slightly closer than just now.
Butcher jumped in shock and hurriedly flipped the mirror over. Only then did the Fu Riluo in Qin Mu’s eyes vanish.
“How powerful!”
Butcher couldn’t help praising, “Fu Riluo’s divine art is truly strange, to actually be able to come out from Qin Mu’s eyes! Why don’t we just lure him out and gather a bunch of true gods to chop him to death, we will see how he terrorize you again!”
Qin Mu shook his head and said, “It’s useless, he doesn’t really appear, the mirror will only activate his divine art and once the divine art is activated, he will pull me to his side, he won’t appear in front of us at all.”
Butcher praised again, “To actually be able to achieve such a step? He’s truly remarkable!”
Mute snatched the mirror and also shone it at Qin Mu. Qin Mu involuntarily looked over and the Fu Riluo in his eyes walked another distance closer.
Mute hurriedly flipped the mirror over and said sternly, “Aba!”
Blind hurriedly took over the mirror and planned to shine it at Qin Mu when Granny became furious and rewarded him with a punch on his head. She said angrily, “You old farts, if you shine some more, Mu’er is going to be taken away by that three-faced weird man!”
Blind was furious. “Granny, they had all shone so why did you only beat me?”
Granny Si snatched the mirror away and Cripple was waiting to try on one side. When he saw Granny Si protecting her calf, he could only hold himself back.
Granny Si also wanted to shine the mirror at Qin Mu but he was still her child that was raised up by him so she could only resist the temptation. However, she always felt itchy and wanted to shine the mirror on him.
In Disabled Elderly Village, other than Cripple, the one with the most playful heart was her.
“If he can’t look at the mirror and he also can’t pull Fu Riluo over, doesn’t this mean that this divine art will remain forever in Mu’er’s eyes?” Everyone was out of ideas.
Even though they all had remarkable abilities, Fu Riluo’s divine arts were truly bizarre. They didn’t know how to solve it.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and True God Pang Yu walked over. “Fellow Dao friends are back? We were still organizing the army so it wasn’t convenient to save you, may everyone pardon us.”
“Imperial Preceptor always has ideas, maybe he can think of an idea!”
Everyone hurriedly told Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor about it and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, “To actually have such a thing? Let me take a look!” After saying so, he took out a mirror from his chest and planned to shine it at Qin Mu.
Butcher, Blind and the rest had weird expressions. Even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a middle-aged man, he was still handsome and well-dressed. It was obvious he paid attention to his appearance and also carried a mirror with him.
Granny Si clenched her fist tightly and was ready to hit Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s head.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor saw this situation and he placed down his mirror while saying with a smile, “Dao Friend Si, if I don’t activate the divine art in his eyes, how could I think of a method to break it? Please put aside your hostility.”
Granny Si said, “Don’t shine for too long.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shone the mirror at Qin Mu and he saw the figure of Fu Riluo who was currently walking out from Qin Mu’s eyes. He was astonished and hurriedly covered the mirror while muttering irresolutely to himself, “Excellent divine art! This kind of divine art is imprinted in the eyes of Cult Master Qin, one would fall for it once they looked at him in the eye. Fu Riluo’s divine art is actually remarkable to such an extent?”
Granny Si hurriedly said, “Does Imperial Preceptor have any method to solve it?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor paced to and fro. He hesitated for a moment and said, “Why don’t I take another look?”
Granny Si couldn’t resist any longer and gave a hard blow on his head. Everyone was stunned. Even Emperor Yanfeng didn’t dare to hammer Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s head yet Granny Si actually dared!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor accepted the beating calmly and said, “Dao Friend Si, it’s still not enough for me to solve Fu Riluo’s divine art with just a look, maybe if I can have a few more looks, I might just be able to find the way to solve this.”
Granny Si said coldly, “What if you can’t?”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly, “If in the morning I was to gain knowledge of the correct path, I will be able to die without regrets at sunset!”
Granny Si was still not familiar with him or else she would have kicked him away long ago like how she had done to Blind. She took a glance at True God Pang Yu and asked patiently, “The abilities of a true god are remarkable, you must have a method to solve this, right?”
True God Pang Yu hesitated for a moment. He also has the intention of shining the mirror at Qin Mu but he felt that it was difficult for him to escape the fist of this woman. “If Imperial Preceptor can’t, I also can’t. I admire Imperial Preceptor’s paths, skills and divine arts very much. Fu Riluo’s attainments in divine arts are actually even higher than mine, it is especially so a divine art in the eyes. In terms of attainments in divine art, the one on par with Fu Riluo can only be Heavenly Teacher, You guys should be finding Heavenly Teacher.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly. Saint Woodcutter indeed has remarkable abilities so he just might be able to break Fu Riluo’s divine art.
“Heavenly Teacher is now in Luofu Heaven, it’s not difficult to find him.”
True God Pang Yu hesitated for a moment. “By right, I should be bringing you guys over but now that the two armies are in a face off. If the devil race doesn’t withdraw their army, I will still have to stay here.”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s heart was rather moved and he wanted to meet this saint. However, he was also impeded, he didn’t have the time to head to Luofu Heaven.
The world barrier between Luofu Heaven and Supreme Emperor Heaven was already very thin so it wasn’t hard to go to Luofu Heaven. When the devil race attacked Supreme Emperor Heaven, it was also the devil gods that had torn open the world barrier, allowing devils to flow in continuously in Supreme Emperor Heaven.
Granny Si was delighted and she said with a smile, “I’ll follow Mu’er to see the first saint of my Heavenly Devil Cult!”
She couldn’t conceal her excitement. Saint Woodcutter imparting his teachings under the tree and imparting the scriptures on the rock to Founding Master. Founding Master established a cult and created Heavenly Saint Cult. Afterward, the cult master of every generation was the disciple of Saint Woodcutter and they need to experience his teachings on the rock once.
To the disciples of Heavenly Saint Cult, Saint Woodcutter was an existence that was high above, requiring everyone to look up and worship him!
To be able to meet this legend was a huge dream to the disciples of the cult!
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment and he looked at the excited Granny Si. Finally, he still decided not to tell her the truth.
‘Saint Woodcutter is the originator of Heavenly Saint Cult but he had never heard of Heavenly Saint Cult Before. Even him imparting his scriptures on the rock was only a moment of interest, imparting his teachings to Founding Master… If Granny Si knows about this, she will definitely be dejected.’ He thought to himself.
True God Pang Yu said, “My Supreme Emperor Heaven had once attack back at Luofu Heaven and I was the commander then. However, the counterattack had failed but I still had some understanding of the terrain there. There are swamps everyone in Luofu Heaven and there are even mirrors formed by shattered pieces of space.”
Granny Si took out a white silk ribbon to cover Qin Mu’s eyes. She said, “This will do. Mu’er, you can release your primordial spirit out, use the eyes of your primordial spirit to look!”
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hurriedly said, “That won’t do! Fu Riluo’s divine art is also reflected onto his primordial spirit, if his primordial spirit looks at a mirror, it will also activate Fu Riluo’s divine art!
Granny Si said in astonishment, “Fu Riluo actually has such kind of ability? Mu’er, release your primordial spirit!”
Qin Mu listened to her and his primordial spirit was projected out to stand on an auspicious cloud that floated behind his head. Granny Si used the mirror to shine at Qin Mu and Qin Mu’s primordial spirit looked towards the mirror. The eyes of his primordial spirit instantly went out of focus as he stared at the mirror. Fu Riluo’s figure appeared in his eyes and he walked out!
At this moment, Fu Riluo has already walked to the position of Qin Mu’s pupils!
Granny Si examined in detail and she kept her mirror back with satisfaction on finally accomplishing a load on her mind. She said with a smile, “True God Pang Yu, how do we go to Luofu Heaven?”
“I’ll open up space and send you guys over!”
Qin Mu’s eyes were wiped black and he could only use his other senses to feel the surroundings. His naked eyes couldn’t see the surroundings so Granny Si led him by the hand and pulled him forward.
True God Pang Yu tore open the space and revealed another world. “Luofu isn’t like Supreme Emperor Heaven, there’s danger in every corner of Luofu Heaven, you guys need to be careful.”
Granny Si held onto his hand and rushed into the crack excitedly. The dragon qilin and Hu Ling’er also wanted to follow over but True God Pang Yu had already closed the crack in space so they could only give up.
Apothecary said solemnly, “Let us go to Fengdu from Great Ruins to find Village Chief, we can think of ideas together as well. Ling’er, you frequently go to Fengdu through Between Life and Death, you shall lead the way.”
Hu Ling’er acknowledged and she said to the disappointed dragon qilin, “Young master has gone to Luofu Heaven, Fatty Dragon, follow us to Fengdu.”
The dragon qilin’s heart was empty and he shook his head to say, “I want to stay here and wait for Cult Master to be back, he had gone in a hurry and didn’t have time to make my rations…”
Hu Ling’er said with a smile, “With Grandpa Apothecary around, how would you have a lack of ration? Young master’s art of healing and art of pills are all learned from Grandpa Apothecary!”
The dragon qilin was overjoyed and he immediately shook his body, revealing his true form that was one hundred and twenty yards. He smiled apologetically and said, “Old masters, please come onto little dragon’s back, little dragon’s footsteps are rather fast and I can bring old masters towards Fengdu! I have also been to Fengdu before!”
Cripple, Butcher, Blind and the rest climbed onto his back and Butcher said with a smile, “I had originally said to let this fatty go onto the table with the hen dragons in the village during New Year, he could be a main dish as well. Never would I expect him to be even more sensible that the hen dragons. Those hen dragons have rebelled. The last time I returned to the village, they pecked me until my entire face was bloody.”
Apothecary said with a smile, “What pills does Fatty Dragon eat? How much do you eat?”
The dragon qilin said in a hurry, “Little dragon eats Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills and Water Element Divine Vitality Pills, one meal I need to eat… one bucket!”
“One bucket every meal?”
Apothecary was astonished and cried out, “Three kinds of spirit pills, that’s three buckets! Three meals every day, that’s nine buckets! Your appetite ain’t small eh, you actually didn’t turn Mu’er poor from your eating habits!”
The dragon qilin was also shocked. He was surprised and delighted. He had originally wanted to push his luck and eat one bucket of spirit pills a day, Never did he expect it to become nine buckets.
Apothecary did some calculation and he said, “Nine buckets of spirit pills is a little much but luckily, I have the money so I can still feed you…”
Blind was very envious. There were many rich people in the village. Apothecary helps to treat officials and nobles so his money flowed in endlessly. Numerous women of noble family came forward upon hearing his reputation. Deaf’s paintings were also like hot cakes. Butcher sold meat daily and Mute forged ironwares daily so they could also have enough to survive. There was no need to talk about Cripple. Meanwhile, Granny Si’s Si family was in charge of Heavenly Saint Cult’s treasury so she naturally didn’t need to worry about having not enough to eat and drink.
Only Blind had to survive by relying on fortune telling so his life was slightly bitter and hard. This was why he had slight resentment to the wealthy people in the village. He thought to himself, ‘Luckily Village Chief is poorer than me, what a pity he’s dead…”
Hu Ling’er’s eyeballs rotated randomly but she didn’t say the truth. She thought to herself, ‘Fatty Dragon is going to eat so much spirit pills in a day, young master will definitely be in for a shock when he comes back. I also like to see how fat he will get…”
In Luofu Heaven, Qin Mu raised his hand secretly to peel off the golden willow leaf that was covering his third eye. Granny Si smacked his hand down and nagged, “This eye of yours is weird, don’t peel it off recklessly!”
Qin Mu argued, “Granny, I can’t see anything and it’s also not convenient for me to walk. I can’t always let Granny lead me, can I? What if we were in a dangerous situation, I will only be a burden to granny.”
“You still can’t take it off!”
Granny Si pondered over it and said with a smile, “But what you said is also right, you can move conveniently if you can’t see, let me help you take it down. However, you aren’t allowed to execute Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.” After saying that, she pinched the golden willow leaf and peeled the leaf down.
On the heart of Qin Mu’s brows, his eyelids parted to two sides and revealed his third eye. It rotated right and left to look at the surroundings.
“Mu’er, let me take a look at your eye.”
Granny Si stared at his eyes for a while and she didn’t see Fu Riluo in this eye. She used a mirror to reflect but there was still no trace of Fu Riluo in these eyes. Only then was she at ease and she instructed, “You can use this eye but don’t use your magic power, granny will handle any danger we meet. After we meet Saint Woodcutter, you will still have to use this golden willow leaf to cover it up properly.”
Qin Mu nodded his head and kept the golden willow leaf.
It was still his first time using the third eye in the heart of his brows to observe the world. He looked around curiously and the world as seen by this eye was somewhat different from the things he saw with his two normal eyes.
When his two normal eyes looked at divine arts practitioners, they would see the outer appearance while in the vision of his third eye, everything became strange.
When he looked at Granny Si, other than seeing Granny Si’s outer appearance, he could even clearly see Granny Si’s divine treasures and even Granny Si’s primordial spirit.
The most terrifying thing was when Qin Mu saw Granny Si’s primordial spirit, he actually felt that it was delicious. There was a pang of hunger making him want to eat her primordial spirit very much!
He didn’t know where this feeling was coming from but he felt his stomach was rumbling with hunger, having a terrifying desire to just grab Granny Si’s primordial spirit out from her body to swallow!
The starvation was real and this made him have an urge to swallow everything!
When they were in the ruins of Without Embroiling City, he opened his third eye for the first time and Earth Count appeared to smack his jade pendant into his third eye. Mute, Blind and the rest then forge the golden willow leaf to seal this eye, therefore he didn’t feel any difference.
Now after opening his third eye, only then did he notice the peculiarity
‘Is it the problem of this eye or is it the problem of Luofu Heaven?’
Qin Mu suppressed his urge to swallow Granny Si’s primordial spirit and he fell in deep thoughts. ‘It shouldn’t be the problem of Luofu Heaven. Luofu Heaven is a world of the devils, even if there’s a problem, it should only be the problem of the devil qi. The devil qi wouldn’t make me feel hungry so this problem still lies in this eye. Strange, why would I feel hunger when this eye opens?”
He was puzzled and could only put this question aside. He followed Granny Si to head forward to the closest sacrificial altar.
Saint Woodcutter and the twenty-four gods had constructed numerous tall pyramid sacrificial altars used to sacrifice Supreme Emperor Heaven, forcing Fu Riluo to stop the war. To prevent the sacrificial altars from being destroyed, Saint Woodcutter would definitely protect these sacrificial altars and before these altars are destroyed, Fu Riluo and the rest would also not make a move and clash with Supreme Emperor Heaven.
Heading to the sacrificial altars to find Saint Woodcutter was the best choice of action.
Qin Mu looked around and the Luofu Heaven he saw was basically the same as the Luofu Heaven Fu Riluo showed him. It was even more treacherous!
Huge planets moved above Luofu Heaven and the magnetic force of the planets was disrupting with Luofu Heaven’s magnetic force, causing the ground to quake violently. The magnitude to the earthquake was so terrifying that it caused volcanoes to erupt, the speed of the storm even surpassed the speed of the storm by dozens of times!
The gales were like blades and seemed to be spirit weapons with the strongest power. Everywhere they blew past and even volcanoes that just rose were turned into powder under the sharp gusts!
The most terrifying thing was still the ocean. Waves that reached the sky was moving at terrifyingly high speed and the speed of the waves has also surpassed the speed of sound, destroying everything in its path!
Earthquakes, gales, waves, volcanoes, this was earth, water, wind, and fire. These elements had made Luofu Heaven unsuitable for any lifeforms to live on it.
This place was that scary as a result, the space had become unstable too. The shattered space formed a long and narrow crack between heaven and earth. Like mirrors without any thickness, it reflected sights that were either far or near.
These space cracks were either so long that one couldn’t see the end of them or they were very short, being only two to three feet. Because there was no thickness, it was very difficult to notice, therefore every step had to be very careful.
If one was to pass through a crack in space by accident, they would most likely be split cleanly into two halves!
The space was too sharp and one would probably realize they were already dead after they were sliced.
Qin Mu and Granny Si were defending against the huge waves that were rushing over and they saw a huge wave that was over ten thousand feet being sliced apart by an astonishing space crack, splitting the wave into two halves!
Stars flashed in front and behind Granny Si and formed Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield and she borrowed the forcefield to sense the dangers n her surroundings. At the same time, the forcefield could defend against the disaster of Luofu Heaven.
Granny Si was already an existence who had entered god realm and even though Luofu Heaven was dangerous, it still wasn’t a threat to her life.
Qin Mu looked around and he looked at this place that was as terrifying as hell. There were countless souls floating around and those were souls of Luofu Heaven’s devils that had died. This hugely raised his appetite.
He hurriedly controlled his desire of swallowing those souls and he felt fear. ‘What monster has this eye turned me into…’
Right at this moment, they suddenly saw a huge corpse of a devil god proned in the center of a storm, on the barren plains in front of them. No matter how the strong the storm was, it was unable to move the corpse at all.
They came to the front and even when the corpse was proned on the ground, it was still over a hundred yards tall. This corpse grew wings which had also turned into bones and his four hooves were like huge bull hooves, however, they were shiny golden.
Not only that, Qin Mu even saw glowing divine treasures in the body of this devil god. There were sun, moon, stars and even land inside.
The divine treasures were already destroyed and the land was submerged in water.
Qin Mu and Granny Si entered from a hole in the divine treasure and they saw the water had already submerged the entire land in the divine treasures. Even the sun, moon and stars in the sky were broken here and there.
What was even stranger was that there were even houses in that land and numerous houses were already submerged under the water.
“This was once a refugee camp of the devil race, looks like it was only destroyed several hundred years ago.”
Granny Si was astonished and she pondered. “Could it be that after the disaster of Luofu Heaven, some devil gods were willing to sacrifice their corporeal body for the devil lifeforms to live in their own divine treasures?”
Qin Mu used his third eye to look around and he saw in a place far away, above the broken galaxy, there was a devil god celestial palace that was already dilapidated.
In the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure of this devil god, a flying bridge was connected to the devil celestial palace.
He could faintly see that there was a soul in the devil celestial palace which was very faint. It stood there alone and seemed to be in sorrow.
He had an urge of wanting to fly over and eat this sorrowful soul but his inner heart could no longer feel hunger. Instead, his heart was filled with respect.
This devil god only had his soul left.
He had let out his divine treasures for his clansmen to reside in, to protect the lives of his clansmen yet his corporeal body also couldn’t defend against the natural disasters. His corporeal body died.
His clansmen might have lived in his divine treasure for a long time but in the end, his divine treasures were also broken through by the natural disasters.
“He had exhausted his primordial spirit and only his soul wasn’t wipe out. However, his clansmen have still died. His soul must have been standing here for a few hundred years already…”
Qin Mu looked around and this third eye could see numerous wandering souls. Those were the devil commoners that had died in the divine treasures of this god. The messenger of death didn’t come here and Qin Mu looked towards the Life and Death Divine Treasure of this devil god. The Life and Death Divine Treasure had already been destroyed by this devil god and that was probably the reason why the souls of these devil commoners were trapped here.
“Every race has inspiring and tragic figures.”
Qin Mu closed the eye on the heart of his brows. He felt disgusted at his thoughts of wanting to eat these souls.
This was definitely not his ideas!
It was definitely not his subconsciousness!
He couldn’t have such evil subconsciousness!
‘No matter what is this thing that’s affecting my thoughts, you disgust me!’
Qin Mu opened his eye and turned around. Youdu language came from his mouth and a Gate of Heaven Influence rose behind him. The gate opened wide and this time, he didn’t execute Soul Guide, he changed the divine art instead.
He wanted to send these spirits of the devil race to Youdu.
In the divine treasures of the devil god, waves of cold wind blew and went into Gate of Heaven Influence, flying into the darkness.
On the other side of Gate of Heaven Influence, numerous small boats sailed over and fetched the spirits. Not long later, the cold wind stopped and a lantern shone its light over onto Qin Mu’s face.
“It is you. You actually didn’t commit any trouble?” In the gate, the voice of Elder Messenger of Death traveled over and he sounded astonished.
Qin Mu waved his hand and closed Gate of Heaven Influence. “Granny, let us go.”
Granny Si nodded her head gently and looked at him. She said with an expression of gratification, “Mu’er has really grown up.”
Just as they were about to leave, a feeble voice suddenly came from a place far away. “Much thanks…”
Qin Mu heard this voice and he was slightly stunned. He turned his head back and saw that the soul of that devil god was currently crumbling and dispersing in the devil celestial palace. The majestic palace was also crumbling rapidly and stars were being wiped out one after another.
“Mu’er, there’s no need to look anymore, his soul has already dispersed.”
Granny Si held his hand and brought him out of the divine treasures quickly. “The wish of this devil god wasn’t fulfilled so his soul didn’t disperse, otherwise, his soul would have long turn into dust. When his soul disperses, his divine treasures will also crumble!”
Just as they rushed out, a heart-palpitating shockwave came from behind and the divine treasures were obliterated in the rumbles. Violent explosions swept out in all directions!
Granny Si hurriedly brought Qin Mu to escape far away and the shockwave from the explosions came assaulting over, throwing them both high up!
Granny Si tried her best to spread open Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield to protect Qin Mu and at this moment, a beam of black light flew out from the destruction and broke through Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield, moving like a flood dragon!
“Mu’er assisted you and send the souls of your people to Youdu yet you still dare to harm him?”
Granny Si was furious and wanted to make a move when that beam of black light circled around to the back of Qin Mu’s head and transformed into a black glow. In the center of the black glow were lines of intense red light which formed a red circle as though it was a blood-colored devil moon.
Qin Mu turned his head back but he couldn’t see this devil moon.
He hurriedly took out a mirror to reflect the back of his head and he saw the devil moon slowly swirling behind him. In the black glow were countless devil writings that were continuously changing and flowing.
Granny Si’s anger turned into joy and she said with a smile, “At least you still have a conscience. Mu’er, this devil moon is transformed from the remaining energy in that devil god’s divine treasures, he had used it to repay you. This thing is not bad, it can help you increase the cultivation of your devil path.”
Qin Mu also immediately felt the appearance of this devil moon and his devil vitality was also increasing rapidly. It might be assumed that not much longer, he would be able to break through Seven Star Divine Treasure in one go!
“Granny, that devil god’s soul should be able to see that I’m a human, why did he still help me?” Qin Mu was puzzled and he asked.
Granny Si walked towards the sacrificial altars in the distance and she said, “You are clearly a human so why did you help the spirits of those devils, sending them to Youdu?”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned.
Granny Si said with a smile, “You have the heart of a newborn child and he also knows how to repay the kindness. There are also heroes in the devil race, there are also people worthy of respect.”
Qin Mu’s face that was covered with the white ribbon was stunned for a moment. After a moment, his face broke into a radiant smile and he caught up to Granny Si with quick steps.
The third eye on the heart of his brows looked at Granny Si. He could see Granny Si’s primordial spirit yet this time, he no longer had the desire to eat Granny Si’s primordial spirit.
His heart was in peace. Maybe there was still faces as beautiful as Granny Si in this world but under every beautiful face, not everyone would have a soul as beautiful and kind as Granny Si.
In fact, Qin Mu was truly grateful that it was Granny Si that had picked him up and raised him up painstakingly.
His kindness was inherited from none other than Granny Si.
Even though she was known as Heavenly Devil Cult Saintess and carried the name of the evil woman who killed her own husband, she was actually the kindest people in Disabled Elderly Village.
Everyone person in Disabled Elder Village had their own evil and they hid from the world for all sorts of reasons, entering Great Ruins. Granny Si was the only one that got forced into Great Ruins by herself. She felt that she was a femme fatale because of her beauty that was why she rather dressed up as an old woman and not see the people of the world fight over one another after seeing her beauty.
Other people wanted to make themselves prettier and treated their beauty as a weapon. On the other hand, she was trying her best to make herself uglier.
‘I can already control the desire brought by this eye.’
Qin Mu was gratified and examined the surroundings. Even though he could see numerous broken souls of the devil race, he could already accept what he saw and no longer had the thoughts of wanting to absorb them.
Granny Si turned her head back and said sweetly, “Mu’er, your aura seems to have changed. Something had happened?”
“Something very marvelous!”
Qin Mu was in great mood and he said with a smile, “Something that makes me happy.”
Granny asked curiously, “What’s the marvelous thing? Tell me about it.”
Qin Mu said loudly, “I feel granny is the prettiest woman in the world, you are also the kindest woman in the world!”
Granny Si shook her head and the pearl earrings dangling from her ears swayed. “How can a demoness from Heavenly Devil Cult be the kindest person? I’m not. Mu’er, you are then the kindest person.”
Qin Mu laughed and said, “The cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult is also no kind soul.”
Granny’s feeling also somehow become much better and the two of them talked and laughed as they head towards the closest sacrificial altar.
Suddenly, Qin Mu and Granny Si stopped at the same time and looked over there. Far away, the sacrificial altar was as tall as a mountain and there were steps on all four sides.
The steps were like a pathway to heaven, leading up into the clouds.
The sacrificial altar was so tall that it was like a magnificent mountain standing upright. On the steps, they were countless runes that flickered on and off. These were runes used to sacrifice Luofu Heaven.
Saint Woodcutter constructed this sacrificial altar using the method of blood sacrifice from the devil race but he wanted to sacrifice the entire world so the effect of one sacrificial altar wasn’t enough. He required numerous sacrificial altars and only then would he be able to tear Luofu Heaven into pieces, transforming it into pure energy!
This action definitely has an unknown drawback so Saint Woodcutter didn’t dare to use it easily as well. It was just that Supreme Emperor Heaven really has no chances of victory so he had no choice but to do this.
The reason why Supreme Emperor Heaven has no chances of victory wasn’t because the devil race was too powerful, it was because Supreme Emperor Heaven had to be destroyed and only then was the devil race able to enter Eternal Peace!
The devil race wasn’t strong, what was strong was the power to destroy Supreme Emperor Heaven.
At this moment, on the top of the sacrificial altar, a god stood there wielding a battle-ax. With qi and blood rushed into the sky.
Under the sacrificial altar, tens of thousands of devil soldiers were like a bunch of insects swarming up the peak and attacking towards the top of the sacrificial altar!
That god stood on the peak of the sacrificial altar and waved his battle-ax. Snow bright lights slashed down from the peak and as they swept through, countless limbs flew into the air.
One man and one battle-ax blocked down tens of thousands of devil soldiers, turning their blood into rivers and dying the sacrificial altar red. The blood flowed down step by step.
Whrrng, whrrng, whrrng—
Sound of the battle-ax swing rang out wave after waves. Corpses had already filled up the steps but the other devils were still not afraid of death. They continued to rush forward like a flood and climbed up the top of the sacrificial altar frantically, wanting to kill that god.
“Granny Si, these devils are only ordinary divine arts practitioners, they are definitely not a match for this god.”
Qin Mu saw this in eyes and his heart was puzzled. “Why do they want to give up their lives just like that?”
Granny Si was also slightly puzzled. These devils were indeed sending themselves to death. Even if there were strong practitioners of Divine Bridge Realm among them, they were far from being a match for that god.
That god was one of the twenty for honored gods that Saint Woodcutter has invited and he had powerful abilities. Even if he was inferior to Saint Woodcutter, he was still pretty remarkable among the gods.
Even if more devils poured forward, he still couldn’t be eliminated!
“Fu Riluo wouldn’t be so dumb.”
Granny Si pondered and said, “In that case, what’s the aim of these devils rushing forward to their death? These devils won’t waste much of this god’s energy… Could a devil god be hiding among these devils?”
Qin Mu focused his gaze and his third eye could see the divine treasures of everyone very clearly. He didn’t discover any devil gods hiding among them.
“This is a… blood sacrifice!”
He suddenly came to a realization and cried out, “Fu Riluo is planning on using a blood sacrifice in exchange for the descent of a terrifying being! There’s definitely a devil god nearby that’s preparing to carry out the sacrificial rite!”
Just as he said until here, the blood on the sacrificial altar suddenly stopped flowing. All of the corpses and bodies of living devils froze and they involuntarily floated into the air. Afterward, no matter if they were corpses or living bodies, their bodies all disintegrated in an instant and their flesh, blood, bones and even primordial spirits were vibrated into the smallest atom, transforming into a blood river that swirled around that sacrificial altar and that god!
That god on the peak of the sacrificial altar swung his battle-ax and exploded with terrifying divine might. The moves of the battle-ax were exquisite and the spell divine art he executed were also extremely astonishing, yet he couldn’t break this sacrificial rite!
Qin Mu immediately looked around the surroundings and searched places that are even further, trying to find that devil god that was sacrificing his own clansmen!
That devil god that was hosting this blood sacrifice needed to be here personally so he was definitely nearby.
Granny Si had also came to a realization and began to look around.
She has already constructed her human body network of vital qi circulation and among them included Blind’s divine eyes. Her pupil divine arts were exactly the same as Blind’s Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill but it wasn’t as exquisite as Blind.
Even so, with her cultivation on the god realm executing the divine eyes, her eyesight was also extremely terrifying.
Yet after searching around, she still couldn’t find where the devil god that was hosting the sacrificial rite was hiding.
“If I knew I would have called Blind along!” Granny Si was a little anxious.
Yet at this moment, Qin Mu who was beside her, gave a low cry, “Granny, I’ve found him!”
Granny Si was slightly stunned. She didn’t have the time to think and hurriedly asked, “Where is he?”
Qin Mu pointed his finger up into the sky above the sacrificial altar and Granny Si hurriedly took a look. She could only see the blood river in the sky swirling furiously in a circle but she still couldn’t see where that devil god was at exactly.
‘This eye of Mu’er is indeed extraordinary. To actually be able to find that devil god.’
She was slightly bewildered, “This eye, what’s its origin? Why does even Earth Count want to seal it?”
Even though Qin Mu could only open the eye on the heart of his brows but his eyesight was extremely strange. He could see things that other divine eyes couldn’t and that devil god’s method of hiding was extremely marvelous. It was evident that he had a kind of extremely strange concealment divine art.
He hid inside a space crack above the sacrificial altar and cast his spell. He sometimes upside down, sometimes having messy and loose hair, disorderly footsteps, and seemed to be crazy and wild.
Qin Mu said solemnly, “Granny, look at the direction where my vital qi thread is extending to! I will show you the precise location with my vital qi thread, you must kill him!”
Granny Si shouted, “You are not allowed to use Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, you can only use your vital qi thread to point out the direction! Pass me Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures!”
Qin Mu’s heart moved slightly and a ball of thread flew out. Next, his vital qi transformed into thread and a thread stretched out quickly into the sky above the sacrificial altar.
This vital qi thread pointed straight at the place where the devil god that was casting the spell was hiding. At the same time, Granny Si controlled the scriptures of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and countless runes danced in the sky like a thread.
The thread transformed by the scriptures and stuck closely to Qin Mu’s vital qi thread, extending rapidly.
Granny Si’s magic power poured into the writings in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and this was imparted by Founding Master of Heavenly Saint Cult. Founding Master refined the scriptures into treasure and as long as the scriptures don’t open up, it was a small and delicate ball of thread. However, if it was spread open and expanded with vital qi, that would be countless writings.
Not only that, the scriptures could be used as spirit weapons and it possessed extremely strong power.
Granny Si once used the scriptures to fight with numerous strong practitioners in Border Dragon City and when Qin Mu entered the darkness of Great Ruins with Village Chief for the first time, the scriptures were also one of the treasures he had brought along with him to protect him.
It was just that afterward, Qin Mu had his own spirit weapon so he rarely used Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures anymore.
The scripture was already no longer convenient for him to use.
Yet to Granny Si, the scriptures was the best spirit weapon for her and it was the most compatible with her technique and nature. She could even use Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to execute transformations that only divine art could execute. It was only because Qin Mu was the Heavenly Devil Cult Master so it was natural for Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures to be kept by Qin Mu, thus she didn’t ask for it from Qin Mu.
This vital qi thread of Qin Mu extended fifty miles and it was about to reach the hiding spot of that devil god. However, the durability of his vital qi thread had reached its limit. If he could execute Overlord Body, he could extend his vital qi six times more than now but if he didn’t execute his technique, his vital qi could only extend fifty miles.
“Mu’er, you can never execute your technique! With your vital qi thread confirming the direction, I will be able to kill him!”
Granny Si instructed once again and a divine bridge stretched across the sky behind her. Her primordial spirit appeared and crossed the bridge, reaching the celestial palaces on the end of the divine bridge!
Granny Si shouted and there was actually divine might bursting forth from her body. Outside the Southern Heavenly Gate, light shone into the nine heavens and the writings of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture was like the finest spirit snake slithering into the hiding spot of that devil god!
That devil god was in the most crucial part of the spell. Light instantly rushed into the sky and a silver line pierced right into the heart of his brows!
That devil god was astonished and he hurriedly grabbed towards the heart of his brows, pinching onto a thread.
He was slightly stunned. “What is this?”
Beside Qin Mu, Granny Si’s beautiful hair fluttered and she was like a butterfly with her clothes dancing in the wind. Divine art after divine art came bombarding over.
That devil god had a huge change in expression and he was about to pull this thread out from his body when Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures suddenly expanded, transforming into hundreds of divine arts which exploded.
Bang bang bang bang—
Countless vibrations came out from that space crack and next, the blood of the devil god poured out from that space crack. It was like a wound in the sky which had blood pouring out like a waterfall.
Granny Si let out a sigh of relief and kept Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures. She raised her head and saw that the blood sacrifice hasn’t ended.
Even though that devil god was dead, the blood sacrifice was already completed.
Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures was still a ball of thread and Granny Si wanted to hand the ball of thread over to Qin Mu who shook his head. “Granny, keep the scriptures first, there are still many dangers in Luofu Heaven, it’s useless for it to be with me.”
Granny Si took out a small bamboo basket and it was a small flower basket that had a circular top and squarish bottom. There were also some cloth strips and things like scissors and silver needles. They should be her spirit weapons.
The two of them looked at the swirling blood river in the sky and they saw that blood river trapping that god wielding that battle-ax in the center. The goal of this sacrifice didn’t merely seem to be summoning a god.
The blood river didn’t transform into the blood light which summons the gods and instead, lumps of blood would break off and transform into different kinds of marvelous markings. Those runes were very profound and they should be the sacrificial method of the devil race.
Sacrificial rites were originally from the devil race and Qin Mu had learned some methods before. Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command was a kind of sacrificial method that was from Dutian Devil King. Dutian Devil King had spread this sacrificial method to Eternal Peace with the aim of summoning himself over to invade Eternal Peace. After meeting Qin Mu, he dropped that thought.
The devil race also has numerous heavens. Dutian and Luofu Heaven were one part of the devil race’s heavens and these two worlds have sunk into destruction. They were both searching for ways to extend the lives and numbers of their people.
In fact, most of the sacrificial methods were from the devil race. The devil race had created numerous sacrificial methods and built their own unique civilization which was very different from Eternal Peace and Supreme Emperor Heaven.
The human race has also learned some sacrificial methods from the devil race and for example, numerous sacrificial methods in Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures were also cultivation techniques of the devil path.
The human race not only learn the sacrificial methods and also numerous other devil techniques. For example, Rolan’s Golden Palace’s shaman spells was from Shaman God Kui and Shaman God Kui was a devil god that was dispatched from the celestial heavens to Youdu.
“Something is not right!”
Granny Si examined the blood river around the sacrificial altar and more of those blood-colored runes appeared. Meanwhile, under the encirclement of the blood river, that god that had come from Great Ruins seemed to have been trapped. He tried to crash out of this sacrificial rites repeatedly but he could never break out of it.
He even tried to rush out of the sacrificial altar but he couldn’t rush out either.
The abilities of that devil god that was hosting the sacrificial rites weren’t strong, otherwise, he wouldn’t have died under Granny Si’s surprise attack. His abilities should be far inferior to the battle-ax god but his sacrificial method was profound.
Even when he had died in Granny Si’s hands, the blood sacrifice could still trap the battle-ax god in the center and made him unable to escape!”
“He is planning to sacrifice this battle-ax god together!”
Granny Si shuddered and she muttered, “He has treated the battle-ax god as a sacrificial offering as well, offering him to some ancient being along with the blood river, summoning that being to descend…”
Qin Mu didn’t research much about sacrifice and his attainments were actually inferior to Granny Si. Even so, he could see that the battle-ax god was in a bad position.
This battle-ax god wore armor and there were already droplets of blood slowly flowing out. It floated into the air and fused with the blood river!
Not only that, the battle-ax in his hands and the armor in his body were all starting to lose the essence!
That devil god’s sacrificial method was simply too powerful!
The god that wielded the battle-ax was already much weaker than before and he had already become frail. The qi and blood he lost, the harder it would be for him to defend against this sacrificial rite.
“The devil god that Granny had killed just now was probably one of the top-notch sacrificial rite expert! You killed an extremely important devil god!” Qin Mu looked at that god that wielded his battle-ax and he cried out.
Granny Si said sorrowfully, “But I can’t save that god on the altar. We will only send ourselves to death if we rushed into the sacrificial altar. We can’t stop this sacrifice nor can we stop the descent of this ancient existence…”
On the sacrificial altar, that battle-ax god charged left and right, yet he was only exhausting himself even more. Finally, he gave up on fighting back and stood at the peak of the sacrificial altar, raising his head up the sky to look at something.
This was the end of a god’s road and he was about to be broken down as a sacrificial offering, becoming the fertilizer for another ancient being.
“I should have died long ago…”
The voice of that battle-ax god traveled over and he sounded slightly bleak. He stood on the sacrificial altar and spoke loudly, his voice traveling far and wide. He muttered to himself, “I should have died long ago, I should have died in the disaster twenty thousand years ago. I should have died with my comrades on the battlefield, I shouldn’t have laid dormant, I shouldn’t have turned into a stone statue in Great Ruins, I shouldn’t have struggled on whilst at death’s door until now, to protect some bullshit hope, some bullshit future…”
Qin Mu and Granny Si were stunned. They looked at the god on the sacrificial altar and even though they wanted to save him, they were helpless.
That god knelt down with one knee and sat down. He wielded his battle-ax to defend against this blood sacrifice. His voice became solemn. “Hope, future, Carefree Village… We have been silent for too long, Founding Emperor! We have been so silent that we have lost our fighting spirit, so silent that the stone statues are frozen, so silent that the people we had to protect back then has already all died. I already can’t see any familiar face, so silent that these mountains had also changed! What about you…”
His voice suddenly became loud and he reprimanded the sky with a deafening voice. “Founding Emperor, what about you? Where are you?”
“The ideal world in your heart is that Carefree Village you are turtling in?”
“Could you bear to see your subordinates, the old soldiers that followed you wither and die one by one?”
“Can you bear to see the mountains and rivers shift, to see the people that you protect die from old age?”
“Why didn’t you appear?”
“Twenty thousand years, have you still not walk out from defeat? Have you not pick up your confidence up, do you still not bear to walk out of Carefree Village? We are waiting, waiting for your summon, to fight that celestial heavens once again! Where are you?”
…
Qin Mu and Granny Si heard his voice reverberating among heaven and earth. There was no one in Luofu Heaven who could reply to his reproach.
“My goose wing, dispel with me!”
On top of the high sacrificial altar, in the intense blood-colored light, that god tried his best to execute his spirit weapon and in that moment, incomparably intense light burst forth from the peak of the sacrificial altar. The light was so dazzling that it made it difficult for one to open their eyes.
“Without Founding Emperor, protection still exists!”
“I, former subordinate of Founding Emperor, Heavenly Emperor Star, Alkaid Division Soldier Luo Yu, shall use this broken body to protect our people, to prevent your from descending!”
“Weapon dispel—”
“Spirit dispel—”
Rays burst out and a world-shaking rumble traveled out. Terrifying pulses instantly poured out in all directions of the sacrificial altar and Granny Si immediately opened up Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield to protect herself and Qin Mu. The boundless waves drowned them out!
Intense rings of light swept across Great Overarching Heavenly Stars Forcefield and the ground churned like charred biscuits. As the rings of light shattered, a broken planet in the sky shifted over and raised huge overflowing waves. Yet the huge waves that stood between heaven and earth was also stopped by this explosion. Next, the waves moved back and the water spread out!
This explosion was extremely short and not long later, the surroundings of the sacrificial altar regained peace. The blood river that shrouded the top of the sacrificial altar no longer existed. On the sacrificial altar, the god and his battle-ax were erased and the broken sacrificial altar emanated blood color.
That god had already dispelled his weapon and his primordial spirit, using the power of his sacrifice to stop this sacrificial rite, making that ancient being that the devil god wanted to summon be unable to descend.
Qin Mu looked at sacrificial altar that was dyed blood red and he didn’t move even after a while. Granny Si couldn’t resist saying, “Mu’er, let’s go. He chose to free himself and this is a good thing to him. After all, he fulfilled his promise and completed his world. Let us head for the next sacrificial altar, hopefully, we can meet Saint Woodcutter…”
Qin Mu followed her and he didn’t say anything. Granny Si was slightly unused to him being like this so she turned around and asked with a smile, “Mu’er, what are you thinking? This isn’t like you.”
“I’m thinking, maybe my ancestor, that Founding Emperor, he might not be the great hero I’m imagining him to be.”
Qin Mu was in a daze and he said, “After I knew I’m from Carefree Village, after I knew I was the descendant of Founding Emperor, I always have a thought and that was to become an indomitable hero like Founding Emperor, a great hero. He had supreme ideals and there were countless heroic figures following after him. He was definitely amiable and venerable. Yet…”
He shook his head and remained silent for a moment. “Maybe he’s not that kind of person. Maybe he’s just an old man that’s afraid of death. He doesn’t have that kind of courage, that kind of breadth of mind. He only hides in Carefree Village to live his own drunken dream. Maybe he has let down countless heroes that had followed him…”
Granny Si blinked her eyes and burst out into laughter. “Mu’er, you are still a child, why are you thinking so much for? When I was your age… Enm Li Tianxing has already taken a liking to me and I was thinking about how to get rid of him… When Village Chief was your age, he was still playing in mud!”
Qin Mu said with a smile, “Village Chief had most likely paid respects to a master and was being groomed as the next human emperor, how could he still be playing in mud? Granny, you’re joking again.”
Granny Si saw him smiling and she smiled. “You are the child I’ve raised and even though I didn’t treat you well when you peed your bed and didn’t want to raise you, I’m always worried you will leave me after you grow up, to leave the village. I keep thinking if you are well or not, always worrying that you will suffer. Maybe this is the mindset of a parent. I don’t want you to grow up so fast and to have so many troubles, you should be carefree… It’s all Village Chief that old fart’s fault, making you a human emperor for what? After going back, old woman I, is going to pour black dog’s blood all over his stone statue!”
Coming to the surroundings of the second altar, looking from afar, there was a devil god attacking this altar and trying to take over the control.
The two gods fought fiercely and the sight was astonishing.
“Ain’t Fu Riluo afraid that Saint Woodcutter become ruthless and just sacrifice Luofu Heaven?” Qin Mu shook his head.
Granny Si put down her small flower basket and took out a pair of scissors from the basket. She took out a few cloth strips and her fingers moved up and down as she threaded the line to weaved a tattered shirt. She said with a smile, “Fu Riluo is preparing some tokens for negotiation! The more sacrificial altars he takes down, the more advantage he will have in negotiation! Up—”
The tattered shirt she just weaved flew up and flew into the battlefield. That shirt pounced and automatically wore itself on the devil god’s body.